The evening after that, after dinner and once again on the couch, Shepard noticed that Saren was clenching his mandibles as he shifted his legs, trying to find some position that afforded the least amount of pain.
She caught his gaze so that he would not be taken by surprise, and took a bare foot in her hands. The first firm press of her fingers had him sighing, and as she went on, experimenting and seeking out where she could soothe him, he could do nothing, nothing at all but give up and just feel. He didn't have the presence of mind to even care that he was purring, loudly and unreservedly. He might've snapped at her if she made a quizzical look or comment. She kept her eyes on the game on the vidscreen instead.
Shepard preferred to have him distracted, of course. When he was alert, the atmosphere of the safehouse soured. In the times when he had no need of her presence, sunning and brooding, she kept her workouts on, building ramparts in preparation for the storm of his biotics and temper once his legs obeyed him again.
She continued to experiment with dextro cooking, and he found her giving him meals with unexpected richness or sweetness. She hit upon unexpected combinations, such as delicately sliced raw fillet of dextro fishes, blue and purple tinged flesh dipped in sauces and garnished with spicy herbs usually reserved for curries or stews. He called her an idiot for that, despite eating every last piece and then licking the plate when her back was turned. She just rolled her eyes at his sniping and gave him more candy.
He developed a habit despite himself; after dinner, while she watched some sport or another, he'd park his feet on her lap. Besides this, he would not look at her. Occasionally he would make biting comment about the game on screen, which amused her. When she spent longer than he liked channel surfing instead of tending to his feet, he would start to fidget, wiggling his toes. Shepard would smile, he'd make half-hearted grumbling sounds that quickly turned into more purring when she got to work, and he'd sink into the couch cushions.
Saren would doze in the solarium and his thoughts were no longer heavy with suspicion. He remembered histories and stories about ancient Palavan, some recited to him in Desolas' particular cadence. Did any of those long ago warlords or princes know of such indulgence? When they earned respite from battle, did they know anything comparable to this, being floated lightly, gently, from pleasure to pleasure, unmindful of anything but the next drop of sweetness on the tongue, the brush of fingers across bare hide? He was under investigation, how could he let himself be so distracted? He needed to think on his next moves, of seeing to how he could salvage the situation, but... Later. Later, now it's time for lunch, there's the aroma of a tisane and Shepard has just lifted him up into the air again.
He finally asks how she came to best him that first time, by what teachers did she come by those techniques. She candidly revealed that the biotic techniques based on the asari canon had inspired people who were aficionados of certain ancient martial arts. Fanciful concepts from legend and tradition could now perhaps be made real. That thousands of years of asari biotic standardization were for a reason did not stop the humans who dreamed.
"The first is called "Crashing Waves". It mimics the motion of objects caught by wave movements, a curling motion that returns with force onto the shore after pulling away. I didn't really get it until a bunch of us got some surfing lessons, for the feel."
Saren commented that he personally was not interested in direct experience of it in order to mimic it. Shepard nodded in understanding.
"The second is called "Embracing Serpent". There are schools of kung fu that mimic animal movement. This was one of the successful applications."
The move attuned the user to the breathing of their target and they would mimic the practice of constricting predators on their prey, applying increasing pressure with every exhale.
"It's a slow process and leaves you open to flanking attacks. It's a very niche choice to make."
Of course, that leads to them discussing under what circumstances such a move could be best utilized. Her tactics were different and she was cunning. It was refreshing to Saren to have such a conversation at all; too long had he been alone during and after missions, cut off from others.
tbc