AN – Yeah. I don't really know. This just... happened. Also, Vari really needs someone to play off that isn't a boring old adult. It was going to be Sarah. But she's kind of an asshole.
Name doesn't really have anything to do with anything, just comes from the name of a really cool musician. eh makes sweet mash-ups and doesn't afraid of anything. You should wrap your lug holes around him sometime. He's awesome.

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"Girl Talk"

2193 CE - Athena Nebula/Parnitha System/Thessia/Armali
Shepard-T'Soni Estate

Shepard blew the long strands of hair out of her eyes with barely restrained rage. She was beginning to regret her decision to grow it out. It had never reached past her shoulders before, and her previous line of work all but demanded she keep it short. Now however, with her biggest foe being the occasional spider that crept into the house on wet days - Out of all the species in the universe, why did it have to be spiders that managed to colonise every home world and settlement in existence? - The Commander decided to grow it long, out of an odd curiosity if nothing else.

Shaking the idle thoughts from her head, Shepard returned to glaring at the contraption in front of her. Having felled Geth and Reaper alike, the fabled Commander cursed as she was rendered useless by the blasted Asari script. She should know what the symbol for a 40°C Spin Cycle was by now. Her features flattened. Should probably look into tha-

Her eyes shot up to the ceiling as language that would make Aethyta blush reached her ears, coming from a voice far too small and high pitched to understand the meaning behind the words. She frowned. Shoving the remaining clothes in the machine, Shepard spun the dial to something that looked passably like a four, before setting off upstairs to the source of the commotion.

Edging open the door, Shepard poked her head inside and watched with mild amusement as Vari sat in the middle of her room, surrounded by an assortment of arts and crafts paraphernalia, muttering angrily to herself.

"Little help, Baby Blue?"

Vari's head snapped round, her eyes wide with equal parts fright and guilt. Vari swallowed as Human and Asari silently regarded one another for a moment, before it became apparent she would not be getting in trouble. Upon such realization, the child relaxed, her shoulders slumping visibly.

"I- no, no, it's fine."

"It doesn't look 'fine'." Shepard chided, moving further into the room. When she craned her neck to get a better view of the source of Vari's frustration, the young Asari moved awkwardly, hastily trying to shield the project from the Commander as purple bloomed in her cheeks. Now properly worried, Shepard sat opposite her daughter on the floor. Extending her hand, she delicately lifted Vari's chin, bringing her eyes up to meet the Commander's own gentle gaze. Vari gave a petulant glare as she finally rescinded, offering to answer her father's unasked question. Her eyes fell nervously to the orange mess in front of her as she spoke, her words rushed and voice harried.

"In school we started learning about Council history and Matron Tireya wants us to write and do a play on the first battle of the Citadel. I have to play you and I have the costume almost made, apart from this." She gathered several orange ribbons and a hairnet in her hand before letting them fall back to the floor as she sighed. "Hair is so stupid."

Shepard listened silently, unable to stop the grin that spread across her face at the child's vexation. When Vari looked back up at the Commander expectantly, she was met with her father's soft gaze, tinged with puzzlement.

"Sweetie, if you're having trouble, why didn't you come ask for help?"

Vari gave a weak shrug.

"I-I wanted it to be a surprise."

Shepard gave a sympathetic smile as she moved to pick up a strand of ribbon. Raising it to eye level, she peered at it quizzically.

"Where did you get all this?"

"The crafts shop, last week, when I went with Mama-"

"When you bought half the store?"

Vari blushed again, her hands moving down to fiddle with the hem of her dress.

"Yeah. I wanted a proper wig but they didn't have anything that looked right and since Mama always said your hair was soft and smooth..." She gave another shrug. "It was either this or tinsel."

Shepard now picked up the hairnet, examining it. The minute holes were far too small for the ribbons, instead better suited for a fine thread. Slowly, she raised a single eyebrow as her mind began to formulate a solution. She flicked her eyes back to the child, who had taken a renewed interest in fiddling with the ribbons at her feet.

"Well, since I've ruined the surprise, would you like help now?"

A nervous smile overtook the small Asari as she nodded fervently. Shepard beamed.

"Alright, pass me those scissors."

Vari did as she was told, despite the confusion swarming her face. She watched, rapt as Shepard gathered her hair into a loose ponytail with one hand, the scissors in her other. The child's eyes widened in horror as the Scissors descended on the fist, wincing and clutching the tips of her crest as Shepard brought steel down upon the locks. Twisting around to pick up the discarded hair, she turned back, only to be met with the terror struck visage of her daughter.

"Goddess, Dad, I- you-?!"

"I cut... my hair... off." Shepard spoke slowly, perplexed by Vari's sudden ashen appearance.

"I can see that! D-does it hurt?" She leapt her feet, quickly making her way to the back of her father's head. "Are you bleeding?"

"What? I-hey, no!" She jerked out of her daughter's grasp. "I'm fine."

Vari remained unconvinced, examining Shepard with the same painfully worried expression she shared with her mother.

"Sweetie, I'm fine." Shepard grabbed the child's wrists gently, clasping them in one hand, the bundle of hair in the other.

"Now," she said, letting go of the young Asari and picking up the hair net. "If you want a Shepard wig, you need Shepard hair. Lucky for you this was our last batch-"

"But Mama likes your hair. Won't she be mad?"

"Maybe," Shepard shrugged. "But I'll make it up to her. And anyway, it'll grow back."

"Really?" Vari's eyes widened as she looked down at the auburn bundle with a renewed scientific interest.

"Oh yeah," Shepard nodded vigorously, reveling in the opportunity to impart her wisdom. While not stupid by any means, Shepard's lack of formal schooling, coupled with her seclusion from any kind of information network growing up, left the Commander with a rather limited knowledge base. Out with the ability to survive in environments that would kill most others, Shepard couldn't really claim to be an expert on any subject other than those that related to killing, which didn't tend to go down well at dinner parties. So she seized any chance to show off what she did know, first to Liara and then her daughter and couldn't help but feel just that little bit smug at the hint of wonderment that always flickered across their faces. "Inch for inch, enough hair tied together is stronger at holding stuff than steel."

"And you grow this?"

And there it was, that little glimmer in the child's eye as she absorbed the information, itself bringing out a small smile on the Commander's face. Vari remained silent for a few moments more, before looking back up at her father in earnest.

"You know, for a species that's really gross, humans can be pretty cool sometimes."

Shepard snorted.

"I'll make sure to tell all my super gross friends that." Her face softened slightly. "Now, you go fetch that armour you were making and we can see about making it Reaper proof."

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The pair sat in silence, cross legged on the floor as Shepard threaded the last few strands of hair into the net, Vari sitting opposite, her tongue sticking out between her teeth and oversized magnifying goggles attached to her face as she took care to get the N7 designation just right on the DIY cuirass.

"So, if you're playing me, who's the lucky kid that gets to pretend to be Mama?"

Vari gave a disapproving grumble.

"Sarah."

Shepard frowned. "She's a human, isn't she? Wouldn't it make more sense for you to switch roles?"

"Yeah," Vari sighed, laying down her paint brush. Shepard's brow quirked as she braced herself for the incoming rant. "That's what I said, but apparently, Matron Tireya thinks she doesn't have the same 'tortured eyes of a warrior poet' like I do." Vari gave an exasperated roll of said sensory organs. "I think she has a crush on you. Plus she romanticizes humans far too much."

"Are you sure? Maybe we're deeper than you think, kiddo."

Shepard grinned at the scolding look the child shot at her.

"The same species with such an unhealthy fascination in fart and phallus jokes? I don't think so."

Phall-? Oh.

"You found out what that meant, did you?"

"Papa," Vari started, condescending, if explaining something to a small child. "You didn't tell me what it meant when I asked. I have the extranet. What did you think would happen?"

Jack you son of a bitch. 'Hey, Liara, aren't you a little uncomfortable having V stay the week with a self styled psychotic biotic?' 'Nooo Shepard. It's totally fine, now come here while I smush our brains together!'. Ugh. Damn Asari and their dirty mind tricks. Her stomach sank. It can't be time for 'the talk' already?

"We, uh, we're going to have to have a small conver-"

"Don't worry," Vari cut her off as she continued to scrutinize her work. "Mama and I have already talked about it. And rest assured, it did little to change my opinion of your species."

"Oh." Shepard sat with the wig in her hands, flummoxed. "Okay." That's... Good. Right?

"But yeah," Vari continued, obviously not as blindsided by the conversation as her father. "To play the part, Sarah has to go round in blue face paint and have her hair all gelled up in a crest to look like Mama, but she just ends up looking like me." Vari scrunched up her nose in distaste. "It's weird."

"Mhmm." Shepard gave a non committal agreement, focused on the next step of her plan as she stared down at the wig in her possession."Alright, c'mere Baby Blue. Sit here. Now, this is going to be a little itchy until you get used to it. So just trust me and sit still."

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It was Shepard's turn to scrunch her face and stick her tongue out in concentration as she carefully cut the lengthy wig into a more natural shape, taking care to hide the peaks of Vari's crest while doing so. They sat in silence, the child occasionally sneezing or struggling to keep her squirming under control. She watched her father intently as Shepard carefully shaped her fringe into the shape she had spent years perfecting. Unable to stifle her idle musings any further, Vari spoke up.

"You'd make a good mama."

Shepard momentarily stopped her sculpting to look down at the child with narrowed, confused eyes.

"I-Thank... you?" Moving to the side of the child's head, Shepard resumed her work. "What makes you say that?"

"Well," Vari wrinkled her face, thinking of how best to phrase her response. "You're a good papa. I just think you'd be a good mama too." Behind the young Asari, Shepard blushed as she continued her work.

"Papa," Vari began, again, hesitant. "Have you ever wanted to be a Mama?"

Shepard brought the scissors down to her side while she considered the question. Her brow knit slightly as she thought.

"I-yeah, I guess. I mean, everyone goes on about how glowing and magical it feels, and how painful it is. But I've broken every bone in my body, like twice. It can't be that bad, right?"

So why haven't you?"

Shepard shrugged, once again unprepared for such a line of questioning, becoming ever so slightly uncomfortable.

"I never had time. Before I joined the Alliance, we had plenty mouths to feed as it was, and after, I was too busy with my career, I guess."

"But you have all in the time in the world now, so why don't you?"

Shepard gave a small laugh.

"It's not that easy, Sweetie. For one I'd need a Human male-"

"Really?" Vari made a tutting sound. "That's so inefficient." She dropped her gaze downward for a minute, thinking. "Why don't you make one in a test tube, like how Grunt was made? Or do that thing Sarah's two mamas did."

"Well, to do that, you need the part of you that makes babies to work at least a little bit." Shepard's eyes glazed over, focusing on nothing in particular as her voice trailed off, quiet as she gave a small shrug. "Mine's broken."

She was broken from her reverie by a shocked gasp in front of her.

"Your brain is broken!?"

"Wait, what?" It took Shepard a moment before she followed the child's train of thought, giving a small laugh as she did so. "No, no, Ahh..." She smiled weakly, returning to sculpting the wig. "Human reproduction isn't exactly the same as Asari. It's a lot more... Physical. Hell, you don't even have to like someone to have a kid with them."

Vari gave a small shake of her head and Shepard could have sworn she heard a small muttering of 'weird'. Noting the child's still tensed shoulders, Shepard remained quiet, waiting for the next inevitable question.

"So, how did it break then?"

Shepard frowned slightly as she attempted to formulate a response.

"Well, I-" she sighed, giving up on that approach. "Do you remember me or Mama ever talking about my... accident?"

Vari gave a murmured agreement, expecting a small admonishment.

"There was something... During one of our melds. I reached out to touch it and Mama got really scared. Mama never gets scared."

Out of the child's line of sight, Shepard grimaced. She wasn't looking forward to the day they would have to tell Vari the truth. With half the Galaxy still unbelieving and the couple's own hesitancy around the subject, Shepard's death had become a rather taboo topic of conversation.

"And you know how Aunt Miri helped fix me? Well," Shepard's brow furrowed slightly at her admission. "Sometimes you can't fix everything ."

Vari nodded in silent acknowledgement whilst she angrily cursed herself. You and your big mouth. You know how Mama and Papa get upset when people talk about the Cerberus years. Goddess be damned. Her ruminations were cut short as Papa spoke, Vari grimly noting the forced levity in her voice.

"Anyway, what's brought on this inquisition?"

Vari gave a small shrug of her shoulders.

"I dunno. Sarah was annoying me, saying how awesome it was to have a brother. And she said..." Vari kept her eyes firmly on the ground as she absently sifted some hair clippings lying on the floor. Shepard paused her ministrations, waiting for the child to continue.

"What did she say, sweetie?"

Vari gave a heavy sigh, unwilling to part with her words.

"She said... That it must be really weird for you to have a family that isn't even the same species as you, especially when you're supposed to be the mama."

Laying the scissors down, Shepard moved around to face the child, ducking her head to make eye contact when Vari wouldn't look up.

"V, you know that's nonse-"

"No its not!" Vari's eyes finally snapped up to Shepard's, a pained expression flitting across her face. "She's right! You don't get to do half the stuff you would do with humans."

Shepard frowned slightly, though it kindly.

"Like what?"

"Like-like," Vari gave a flustered huff, her arms flapping in exasperation. "Hair stuff! An-and make up! Like riding bikes and playing ballfoot and stuff. Face it; you'd be happier with a human child. The news even said so, on that Westerlund and TFNN...N?"

The small grin Shepard had been nursing vanished at the sight of the dejected child. Bundling her into her arms, Shepard lifted the young Asari into her lap, rocking her gently.

"Sweetie, we can do all the stuff if you want to." While her tone remained gentle, the firm edge she had honed as Commander eased into her voice."And don't for one second think that I don't love you as much as I do. You're not some consolation prize. I would love you just as much if you were a Human, or a Turian or even a Yahg." She gave light snort. "Mama might freak out with that last one though." She glanced down to see the child burrowing her face into her chest and hugged tighter.

"You're my daughter, V. Nothing's going to change that." She continued to rub the child's arm reassuringly as they rocked, making sure her tone remained casual. "Would you rather have another Asari as your dad?"

"What!? No!" Vari's head jerked up, a scandalized expression playing across her features. "Of course not. That's a silly question."

"It is, isn't it?"

Vari's brow knit as she nestled onto Shepard's embrace, listening to the steady beat of her father's heart before Shepard spoke once more.

"Looks like we're stuck with each other, V. That okay with you?"

Shepard felt the child nod against her chest, more animated than before. She smiled.

"So, you wanna stick your armour and see how you match up to the coolest Spectre in the whole entire Galaxy?"

Vari nodded again, giving a soft, lopsided grin as she got to her feet. Lifting the Papier-mâché cuirass over her head, she spoke up, words muffled slightly.

"Y'know, when Mama took me to that shop, we bought lots'a stuff, like face paint. If I have to dress up, so do you."

Shepard arched her eyebrows, not at all at ease with the coy smirk the spread itself across the child's lips.

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Coming through the front door of their house, Liara let out a sigh. It had been a tiring day, giving the guest seminar at the university, but a rewarding one. She doubted she would ever get tired of talking about Protheans, even with the ever acerbic Javik cutting in to amend her every ten or so minutes.

It was a different excitement, however, that fueled her grin this evening; one of a more subdued but no less thrilling nature. She could already guess with certainty the Commander's answer but nevertheless felt the small flutter of nerves in her core at the mere thought of it.

Placing her bag down, the Asari moved into the kitchen and glanced out the window. The large tree that served as the centerpiece to their garden was swaying slightly, its branches and leaves rustling if in a high wind. Liara frowned. It was perfectly calm outside a second ago. As if to answer her puzzlement, seconds later she watched as Vari dropped down, swinging by one hand on the purple branch, shooting nerf darts at biotically propelled projectiles several feet away. Liara raises her brow in comprehension and gave a small smile, before it furrowed once more as the Asari took in just what her daughter was wearing.

While clearly not the correct material, it was a stunning replica of Shepard's old N7 armour. And, on her head, was that...?

Stepping out on the veranda to get a better look, Liara stopped dead in her tracks at the blue silhouette just off to her left. She cleared her throat.

"Um, Hello?"

Setting down the mug in her hand, the figure glanced around, her eyes widening upon recognizing Liara.

"Hey Sweetie," she stood straight, walking over to join the Asari. "How was the talk?"

Liara failed to hear the question, her mind busy absorbing the image of Shepard in front of her.

Every visible patch of skin had been painted bright blue, the only tinge of pink being around her lips where the mug had wiped them clean. The Commander's hair was likewise painted, albeit in a different shade and styled back in an exaggerated pompadour, tapering off at an exaggerated point.

"What-what is that?" She finally managed to say, pointing at the humans get up, unable to control the amused grin spreading over her lips. Looking her Bondmate in the eyes, Liara could swear that Shepard was blushing under the copious amounts of face paint.

The Commander straightened her stance, bringing herself to her full height, placing hands on her hips and attempting to edge some authority into her voice "Well," and failing. "V had this costume she had to make for school and when we were done, she wanted to see what I'd look like as an Asari. So... She did my make-up and..." She motioned gingerly down to the ill fitting dress.

While Shepard's toned body did things to Liara she hadn't realised possible, seeing the taught muscles rippling under too tight silk while Shepard stood awkwardly, broad shoulders jutting from the soft yellow ensemble, brought out an amused grin that the Asari could do little to hide.

"Apparently, that includes dressing like one." She grimaced slightly. "For what it's worth, I think it looks better on you."

Liara buried her laughter in Shepard's neck as they embraced, before turning back to the tree Vari had just fallen out of with a quiet thump, once again using words she shouldn't even know.

They stood for several minutes in a companionable silence before Liara glanced at her Bondmate, noticing her hardened expression Shepard sported when deep in thought. Squeezing the arm around her waist, she got the Human's attention, who glanced at her apologetically.

"Do y-?" Shepard sighed, shaking her head. "Nothing."

Raising an eyebrow, Liara stared Shepard down, unyielding. The Human complied, albeit with a slight frown and petted lip. She took a deep breath.

"Did- I haven't... forced you into anything, have I?"

Liara's quirked eyebrow was joined by its twin as she tried to filter Shepard's question.

"I- what?"

Shepard's shoulders slumped as she glowered at having to explain herself.

"Well, it's just-" she sighed, collecting herself. "Even though you're like, a hundred years older than me-"

"Charming." Liara folded her arms and cocked her hip as she watched her Bondmate fumble further.

"- Even though you're older than me, I'm further along in my species' life cycle. I'm- well, you know what I'm like around kids! It's like my ovaries go into overload!" Her gaze dropped, finding a renewed interest in her feet. "An-And you're a Maiden. Asari don't usually have kids for another two hundred years. I-I just hope you haven't rushed into anything or feel like you have to do something just because I'm going through a phase."

Liara squared her shoulders where she stood, her overly stern glare betrayed by the tweaking of the corners of her lips.

"So our daughter's 'just a phase'?"

"By the gods, no!" Shepard stared dumbfounded at the Asari, scandalized. "She's the best thing that's ever happened to me." Her voice quietened again, flustering. "But I- I mean, it's just-"

"Calm down, Shepard," Liara chuckled, taking pity on the floundering human, convinced she could feel her Bondmate glowing through the thick paint coating her face. Moving closer, she wrapped her hands around Shepard's waist, ducking her head to catch the Human's eyes, chuckling. "I'm only joking. Goddess, love; you're far too easy."

"That's not what you said last night," Shepard murmured, a touch of humour returning to her voice. Liara rolled her eyes theatrically but nevertheless leaning into the Human further.

"Shepard. I love you. I do. And while you have managed to talk me into a number of questionable activities, I would never commit to anything unless I was certain of it."

"Like that bath with all the nozzles you didn't want? I told you that you'd like it." Shepard lifted her head, a wry grin creeping across her lips. Liara gave a small shake of her head. Humans. Audacious creatures. The lot of them.

"I was referring to our progeny." She slipped around the Commander, resting her chin on the Human's shoulder and hugging her from behind as they watched Vari begin her ascent once more up the mottled bark. "We did good, didn't we?"

"Yeah," Shepard replied, a smile on her face as she leaned back into her wife's embrace. "We did."

The slight tightening of Liara's muscles was barely noticeable as she swallowed. Now or never, T'Soni. Keep it cool. Opening her mouth, she gave an internal groan at the waiver in her voice.

"It'd be a shame for us to keep such talents from the universe, don't you think?"

"Mhmm?" Shepard's neck straightened slightly as she craned to look down at the Asari's face. Flicking her eyes upwards, Liara caught her gaze.

"It's been something I've been mulling over for a while, actually. You always talk so glowingly of the children you grew up on Earth with. And I won't lie, there is a small part of me that is envious of your tales camaraderie as a child." Her eyes drifted back to the rustling branches of the tree as she continued. "I always wanted a sister. Younger or older, I wouldn't have minded. Just someone to share things with. Someone who knew what it was like to live as I did." Her eyes flitted back up to the Human's momentarily, apologetic. "I don't mean to compare our childhoods or start some... Oh, how did James put it?" She paused momentarily. "A dick waving contest with you and imply they were analogous. But it was lonely. Growing up as a highly sought after Matriarch's daughter. What little friends I did have were fleeting, mere pawns on a political chess board. I could never be certain anyone was interested in me and not my Mother."

Shepard remained silent, but nodded along with her wife's words, rubbing the side of her head against the Asari's crest soothingly.

"And I can't imagine it's going to be any easier with the 'Saviour of the Galaxy' and 'Reaper Eater Supreme' as a father."

"And let's not forget having 'the most influential and powerful Asari in history without which none of the aforementioned Reaper eating would have ever been possible' as a very territorial Mama Bear." Shepard paused, frowning slightly. "I never was very good with names."

Liara chuckled softly, tightening her grip around the Human.

"There is that. But my question still stands. Together, you and I made something so utterly perfect." At that moment, as if striving to prove her mother wrong, Vari decided to take a tumble down the tree branches, her foot snagging just before she was clear, leaving her dangling, an unimpressed pout etched in her face as she swayed upside down, grouching in the breeze. "Well, practically perfect. And I do worry about her." She smiled, leaving a trail of kisses up the Human's neck, coming to a rest on her earlobe, grimacing slightly at the taste of the paint.

"So I put it to you, my valiant and dashing Commander; can you repeat the feat?"

"I-seriously?" Shepard spun round, catching Liara by the arms before she could fall into a stumble. "You want- we could- baby?"

Liara merely tilted her head, smug over how smooth she was managing to remain. "Well, I wouldn't want to force you into anything."

The Human gave a dark chuckle that left a throbbing in Liara's core.

"I'd like to see you try."

Feeling her self-restraint rapidly depleting and unwilling to mentally scar her child by ravishing her father so fervently out in the open, Liara let her eyes wander down to the comically ill fitting dress.

"Actually, it may take some force to free you from that." Her brow flattened slightly as methods of liberating the Commander from the garment flitted through her head, all involving some kind of tearing. Deliciously. Feral. Tearing. Preferably with teeth. "A pity. I always like that one. But tell me," She continued, eyes widening a touch as she spied the hints of two hardening peaks on the Commander's chest, her imagination firing with a rapid flurry of lewd inspiration. "Is... everything...blue?"

She gazed back up into Shepard's eyes, taken aback ever so slightly by the raw hunger that shone in them. In response, the Commander barely managed a whimper. Liara sighed, amused. There was always something that thrilled her in occasionally having the upper hand in their dalliances. One of the many things that drew Liara to the Commander had been the Human's utter self confidence and brashness in face of opposition and sense of overriding justice, as if acting as the vessel for all of Humanity's self-assured, cocky indomitability But to see said Human reduced to a whimpering mess with a few carefully chosen words and well placed touches lit an entirely different fire within the Asari that she couldn't quite explain. And to know that she was the only one privileged to wield such power was... comforting, as strange as that sounded. To feel so utterly and entirely wanted was something Liara doubted she would ever get used to. Nor would she ever want to.

Realising she was getting lost in her thoughts and that Shepard would not be initiating any conversation in her current state, Liara gave a smirk, trailing a finger down Shepard's cheek, uncovering some of the Human's delightfully blushing skin as she did so. She gave her head a small shake.

"At any rate, I'd rather the father of my next child be my delightfully pig-headed human Bondmate as opposed to the admittedly delectable Asari standing in front of me."

The pink tinged skin Liara had uncovered darkened as Shepard gave a bashful grin.

"Well, uh, this stuff's kind of heavy duty. Gonna take a lot of scrubbing."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that," A coy grin found its way across the Asari's face. "Our bath's got nozzles, don't you know? Even the high pressured ones that you were so insistent upon."

The Commander comically frowned as she cleared her throat, trying to regain some semblance of self-control, but unable to stop her voice raising an octave.

"A-Are you propositioning me, Dr T'Soni?" Shepard swallowed thickly, giving up futilely on being anything other than a stuttering mess.

"Perhaps. What do you think?"

The Asari's eyes flashed black and the barrage of images that had assaulted Liara previously were transferred to the Commander, teasing out a guttural groan as she stared with a glazed expression, into the Asari's darkened pits. Just as the two began to lose themselves in one another's minds, they were awoken by the light stomping of boots on wooden steps. Barely having time to come to her senses, Shepard looked down to see Vari already in full flow as she pointed to a crack that ran diagonally down the cuirass.

"-think its structural integrity isn't very good, but I should be able to fix it with another batch of Papier-mâché." She glanced up, looking between her parents, her brow furrowing in distaste.

"Are you guys seriously out of breath? All you've been doing is standing here! Ugh. How you two managed to beat the Reapers, I'll never know."

As she trudged past them, Liara outstretched a hand, plucking a stray leaf from the child's wig. She quirked a brow at Shepard, who was watching the young Asari disappear. Turning back to her wife despondently, Shepard stood as the heat Liara had ignited in her core fizzled, the illicit imagery flooding her mind becoming little more than a fond dream. Her shoulders slumped and grumbling, she traipsed into the house. She sighed.

"I'll get the newspaper."