Chapter 11: When Two Worlds Collide
"They have a what here?"
Shepard's head turned remarkably fast, and Liara caught the way the eyebrows disappeared beneath the rim of the sunglasses to pinch, as if in pain. A hand briefly clutched the forehead a second later. The concussion, antagonized. She laid a worried hand on the soldier's shoulder.
"They have a fishing department here," Liara repeated.
She chuckled over the way the human struggled to tame her enthusiasm, to appear all cool and collected when she clearly was anything but.
"Forgotten what it feels like to be enamoured? I do not think so, Shepard."
"Can we..." Shepard seemed conflicted as she looked up in the direction they needed to go to find the Chancellor's office. "After, maybe...?"
"We could go now. There may not be chance to afterwards, unless you would like to inform the Chancellor she is under arrest, but state you will come back at a later time to do so."
Shepard tilted her head down as she pushed the sunglasses to rest on the middle of her nose, her once-intimidating illuminating eyes now the subject of great entertainment, even with that warning look.
"I'm the fisher, Dr. T'Soni," she murmured the reminder. "You'll need to work harder to bait me."
"So on that note, why don't we visit the fishing department first? The university has it's own controlled-fishing lake, as well as a sanctuary beside it to preserve species on the verge of extinction."
"Who thought it was a great idea to build a sanctuary beside the very reason why the fish are going extinct in the first place?"
Shepard's bewilderment was endearing, and Liara was finding herself being baited hard the more the turtle came out of it's shell. She took it upon herself to be the one to grab a wrist and lead, telling herself it was all for the sake of maintaining their cover of being bondmates. The reminder of that served a blush to her cheeks.
"It is not always because of fishing, and the sanctuary encompasses many other wildlife. It could be environmental changes, or a shift in the predator chain where the predators' population booms, and as a result, eats all the fish. With great efforts, some species has returned to a state of balance, where the threat of extinction no longer exists. Come. You can see it all for yourself. The sanctuary is a peaceful place with an abundance of educational material of how Thessia's nature is able to function. I dare say you may enjoy the sanctuary more than the fishing."
"I... I can't fish while I am on a 'tour', Liara."
Oh, those begging eyes. She most definitely wanted to fish even while on this mission.
"The Chancellor is not aware we are here, Shepard. She will not run for no reason. The University of Serrice takes a lot to manage, as you can see for yourself. Her duties will keep her in office all day."
"Stop tempting me," the soldier hissed pleadingly.
Glorious.
"Let's just visit the sanctuary and go from there, okay? It may be some time before we visit the lake."
Shepard looked around. Then, urgently, she had twisted her hand so that she was the one that grabbed the archaeologist's wrist, and pulled along as they went back inside the campus building. They curled around the corridor's corner and soon enough, Liara found herself in a bathroom, locked up in a stall with a human far too close for comfort. A gloved hand slipped over her mouth. Heat pressed into some parts of her body as they sandwiched together, hair brushed her temples, a warm whisper licking the edge of her aural.
"We're being followed."
It took time for the words to be registered. There was incoherent screaming again with the overload of all the sensations crashing down on Liara, along with the change of pace. Her heart kickstarted back to life with panic upon the next whisper.
"Stay here. I'll apprehend them for questioning."
Liara twisted her head away from the hand. "You're sure we're being followed?"
Shepard nodded. "They've been tailing us since the geology unit."
Before the archaeologist could think this through, she was left alone. The chill rolled through her bones. Tension - of which she was not even aware - had melted out of her muscles as they thawed, no longer seized by the hurricane that had hit her. Her hand rested over her heart, where she could feel each fierce hammer. Was it fear over how quickly things could go bad? Was it her growing adoration of the human compounding with her hopes that Shepard would just know what she was feeling and reciprocate them by taking the lead?
"She is only now navigating her emotions. I think she is a little more occupied with the potential dangers here." A small smile. "And the prospect of fishing."
It wasn't long that she was left alone. She heard the doors hiss open, and multiple feet. She awkwardly squished herself into the corner of the stall after she quickly locked it, then bent down a little to inspect the feet. She recognized the military boots, but not the worn shoes. They were a familiar brand, one that marketed itself as affordable - and affordable it was, for a credit-stripped student. The pair of feet stood in front of her stall, and the door rattled.
"Let us in," Shepard whispered.
Liara quickly unlocked the stall, squishing herself against the wall again when two bodies came into the overbearingly tight space. The soldier blindly reached behind her to lock the stall again, her other hand never letting from it's twisted grip in the mysterious asari's lab coat. The other asari glanced over at Liara with eyes wide with terror, and then recognition.
"You?" Liara asked in disbelief. "You've been following us?"
"You know her?" Shepard questioned.
For some reason, the dread that had pooled in the archaeologist's stomach had completely washed away. Instead, an overwhelming sense of guilt threatened to drown her as the pieces clicked together.
"Oh Goddess, I am so sorry," Liara blurted. She looked over at the soldier. "Let her go, she's of no harm to us."
"We haven't even heard what she has to say," Shepard growled threateningly as she tightened her grip. "Why the hell else would she be following us?"
The poor student was too shaken to say anything. She was utterly frozen, and her eyes glossed with thick unshed tears.
"She's of no harm to us," Liara repeated, "I promise. Please..."
She approached - not that she had to move far - and laid a gently hand on the soldier's wrist. The air seared in here now, for all the wrong reasons. The student quivered in her fright, especially when Shepard refused to release her.
"She's a student from the geology lab," Liara explained calmly. "She was in that group I worked with. Do you remember?"
"I only watched you," the soldier hissed her heated conviction, becoming more and more menacing the longer she went without her answers. She slightly shook the student and slammed her against the wall. "Tell me why you were following us. Who are you working for? Did you give them intel about us?"
"Shepard," the archaeologist warned lowly. "Let her go."
"Your compassion will get you killed someday, Dr. T'Soni. I can't be there every time to protect you."
Frustration flared a little as patience whittled. "I do not need your protection. Let her go."
"Answer me," Shepard redirected her attention to the student, and out of nowhere, a knife slipped out to press to the asari's throat.
Liara had enough. She ripped the knife away with her biotics and had pushed Shepard out through the door, curling an arm around the student's shoulders to provide support as legs had given out. Her instincts were trying to tell her something, but it was in support of the soldier and her current severe lapse of judgment. She squashed that voice - nothing could justify this insanity.
"You're safe now. Tell her why you were following us," Liara gently asked the student, but kept her eyes on the soldier the entire time.
"I-I..."
The student's voice cracked, faded into nothing before she could even explain. Her entire body shook harder with her fear. Her legs gave out regardless and she fell to the ground, sucking in deep breaths. Liara knelt beside her and soothingly rubbed her back, sliding the cursed knife back to the apathetic soldier.
"Take your time," Liara encouraged. "Take a deep breath."
The student listened, tears flowing freely as her words warbled to life. "I... Had an answer for you, for that mineral. But also a question. We found out what it was classified as, but it possessed abnormal properties of another mineral. So I-"
"Get out." Shepard ordered. "And tell nobody about this, or I will find out and you will regret it."
Before Liara could wrap the student in a protective bubble and chastise for the threat, the shaken asari scrambled out of the bathroom. Shepard rose and locked the door so no one else could enter. She didn't turn around. Didn't confront. And Liara was ready to blow.
"You dragged an innocent child and threatened her with a knife? What's gotten into you, Commander? You knew she wasn't a threat."
"I wasn't going to take that chance. I got ambushed at Benezia's estate by an asari I knew was an untrained civilian, but she fought like an experienced veteran. I barely escaped with my life. Besides, she wasn't a child."
Shepard still didn't turn around.
"In asari years, she is. Even I'm still considered a child and I'm 106."
Terse silence hung over their heads like dark clouds, and the chill of the bathroom was a stark contrast to the heat Liara felt bundled up in her face. She approached the soldier and grabbed her shoulder to try to force her to turn, to force her to look. She took it upon herself to take off Shepard's sunglasses, and hit the button to turn the lights off in the bathroom. All she could see were the glowing green lines of the optic implants of eyes that were having a difficult time staying on hers.
"I am not going to apologize for working to keep us safe," Shepard muttered.
"That, you don't. But you went too far. Why didn't you listen to me?"
The green lines flicked away and soldered somewhere in the darkness.
"I'm the Commander. I make the judgment calls."
"Then who corrects you if you're making the wrong call?"
Shepard sucked in a sharp breath. That tense silence came back. Liara blindly reached in the darkness until she cupped some kind of limb in her hand.
"Why didn't you trust me?" Liara questioned next. "You trusted me in mother's home. You saw what I am capable of. I am not so helpless that I must be protected by someone, Shepard. You may have just jeopardized our position here as well. That student is going to report what happened. Campus security is going to come looking for you, and then they will find out your true identity."
"Then we have to go confront the Chancellor now."
"Not until I get my answers."
Green lines landed back on her, changed shape, as if Shepard was narrowing her eyes.
"I don't have to answer to you."
"No, you do not have to, you're correct there. But I should hope that our friendship has come to mean something to you, that in honour of that, I deserve an answer. Don't I?"
The bathroom lights flicked back on. Hands grabbed her shoulders and she yelped when she was pushed along again until a cold wall chilled her back.
"Of course you do," Shepard hissed in frustration. "What answer can I give you? You were right. I went too far. In that regard, I made the wrong call. But that's my job right there, Dr. T'Soni. There is no such thing as a right call. What if that student did turn out to be like the others we've fought? I was just being cautious, I was rattling her to observe her, to make sure she was genuine and had emotion, unlike the others. In that moment, I acted on what I know and what I don't yet know. So I'm sorry that I took it too far with her, but I'm not sorry that I had done so in the first place. Our mission is too important for us to be captured or assassinated here. We have to be careful with anyone and everyone we cross."
Liara frowned - then winced when her adrenaline began to fade away, and she looked over at her own shoulder where the soldier's hand had a crushing grip. Shepard relaxed immediately upon noticing.
"Sorry," she whispered gently, then pulled away entirely as she slipped her sunglasses on. "Come on, we'll discuss this more at length, but later. We need to go before security is on us. I need the advantage of the Chancellor not knowing who I am, yet."
Shepard unlocked the bathroom and slithered out without another word. Try as she might, the slumping posture of her shoulders was indicative of what emotion she had felt now. Liara still had her misgivings, still was upset over the situation, but... She understood. It saddened her, but she understood. An innocent child had nearly become collateral damage in the hurricane's bid to seek and destroy those who are in the wrong, but in order to do so, must do things that are in the wrong herself.
{But that's my job right there, Dr. T'Soni. There is no such thing as a right call.}
With great effort, Liara forced herself to leave and follow the soldier before she was left behind for questioning herself. Thankfully, she wasn't, as Shepard had opted to hide in the corridor across and waited for her. The archaeologist took the lead as to where they were to go, occasionally hiding whenever they spotted security guards.
When they were finally in front of the Chancellor's office, Shepard went from being a follower, to an overprotective leader as she used her body as a shield when she stepped in front of Liara. She bent and reached down as her synthetic leg rose, lifting the lip of her boot in order for a compartment to pop open, and she procured the knife she had used not too long ago. The soldier seemed to be adamant about not looking behind her now.
"She's already treating the Chancellor as a suspect," Liara frowned. "Is it because of my own suspicions?"
The knife was flipped upside down and carefully hid under the sleeve of the turtleneck, the blade firmly pressed against the synthetic forearm. Shepard rose her arm to knock on the door.
And it opened before she could.
The Chancellor stood before them with a calm and pleasant smile.
"A pleasure to finally meet you Dr. T'Soni," the Chancellor tilted her head in order to see over the shoulder of the overprotective soldier, as if she wasn't at all bothered.
Shepard tensed even more for it, and Liara couldn't deny that her brain was frantically waving all kinds of red flags over this - but Matriarch Epentha was always an eccentric individual in this manner, or so the stories went. This was the first time they had met in person.
"So this is humanity's first Spectre?" Epentha asked as her gaze combed the human.
Shepard glanced over her shoulder, her eyebrows pinched with confusion. Liara shrugged as her answer.
"Well, would you two like to enter my office, or do you prefer to discuss sensitive subjects in public?"
"How do you know who I am?" The soldier growled her demand, and was the first to tail hot on the Chancellor's heels when Epentha turned to enter her office.
"I am the one who gave the guard permission to let you through, despite not having your I.D. verified," Epentha explained. She took seat at her table, her polite smile never wavering. "In my position, it is prudent to keep up with galactic affairs. You are at a disadvantage to lie about who you are, Spectre, with videos of your inauguration out on the ethernet, if one had missed the live broadcast that day. Which I did not." She pointed almost amusedly at the tactical vest. "And that vest does not tell anyone you are here to meet the professors, unless you meant to meet them on the battlefield."
Liara quietly closed the door and inspected the office before the attention was turned on her, but not before spotting something critical.
The 'poor' student, lab coat now unshed, youthful makeup washed away to reveal the lines of age and wisdom. She firmly looked away when she had spotted Shepard noticing the same thing, and the head turning quickly towards her as a result - as if to justify an 'I told you so' somewhere.
"I am blissfully unaware," Liara hummed to herself.
"If you know who we are, then do you know why we're here?" Shepard grumbled as she crossed her arms. She was still hiding her knife, wasn't she?
"I do not doubt that Dr. T'Soni has details to share with me upon her latest expedition - but beyond that, I can only speculate." Epentha aimed her smile at the archaeologist. "Details surrounding you have become mysteriously classified as of recently, Dr. T'Soni. I will respect that, but do let me know if you are in trouble of some kind."
"Is that why you set up cameras in her place?" Shepard accused, and that seemed to inflict confusion upon the Chancellor.
"Cameras?"
Liara stepped forward, mindful of the mysterious asari in the corner, now aware that they were being followed for intel. She stepped past the soldier and briefly sensed the tension as she did, casting a quick reassuring smile over her shoulder to ease any protective tendencies away. She helped herself to one of the chairs in front of the Chancellor's desk.
"I cannot divulge all the details, but I have found myself in something of a predicament lately, yes," Liara answered. "I came here more so to ask if it is possible for someone to be sent to Therum to retrieve my equipment, as circumstances then had forced an immediate departure."
"What kind of circumstances?" Epentha inquired, then immediately rose her hand and shook her head. "Ah, forgive me. You do not need to think of a lie, child. Classified information, I am sure." Her hand fell and she smiled amiably. "Very well, I will send out a team to Therum. May I at least know if there are any threats they should be wary of?"
Liara glanced over at Shepard for the answer, who had settled in a military stance as her arms folded rigidly behind her back.
"Yes. Geth," the soldier replied curtly. "They should not be there anymore, but if you desire and if it is within your capacity to, I would recommend sending out a military entourage with whomever will be retrieving Dr. T'Soni's equipment. However, any information that can be gathered from her equipment is also classified. Any attempt to gather it-"
"Rest easy, Spectre. I am not so foolish as to earn the Council's ire. I will personally communicate with Councillor Tevos and we will resolve what to do then with where to send Dr. T'Soni's equipment. Is that a suitable compromise for you?"
"...Affirmative." Shepard fell silent for a moment, then bristled. "If you knew, why did you let me proceed through the checkpoint? Why have someone follow us?"
"Curiosity, I suppose," Epentha shrugged. "I may not look it, but I am essentially this university's guard, after all. All students here are my charges, my responsibility to ensure not just the quality of their education, but their safety. Forgive me if Matriarch Talia here has made you feel unwelcome and suspicious. I was merely being cautious as to what a Spectre was doing on my grounds, and if I needed to be preemptive in securing the safety of my students here. We have had serious incidents in the past, after all. I had assumed Councillor Tevos may have deployed you here in order to put a stop to whatever is in motion."
This subtle dance between them was getting them nowhere, or so Liara had felt. She was not getting the sense that the soldier was interrogating or actively working to retrieve information of any relation to Saren's cause. She herself did not know what to say, or how much was safe to say. Would it be okay to discuss her findings of her latest expedition? She kept quiet and observed the observers, mostly looking to Shepard for guidance.
"There are no immediate threats," Shepard asserted. "None that are seeking to cause any bodily harm to your students. You can rest assured of that, Chancellor." She turned her head towards the asari in the corner. "May I request privacy? The information I am able to divulge is still sensitive."
Matriarch Talia nodded and took her leave without an issue. Liara found that a promising sign, but for some reason, she had felt even more tense for it. Should Epentha prove herself to be a threat, they could easily subdue her. Then a hand came to rest upon her shoulder.
"You too, Dr. T'Soni."
"What?" Liara's head shot up at the soldier with worry. "You want me to leave?"
Her only answer was a squeeze. What kind of answer was that? She needed more clarification. She needed reassurance that knife up the sleeve would remain there. Epentha was at risk for receiving worse treatment than the disguised student in the bathroom, now that the truth had come out. The Chancellor chuckled and rose from her table, heading over to the vast windows that looked over the prestigious grounds.
"All will be well, child." Epentha glanced over her shoulder with an amused glint in her eye. "You should listen to your bondmate."
Liara nearly choked. She blushed fiercely and all but scrambled to get out of there in a race to save her dignity.
Outside, she was faced by Matriarch Talia, whom had waited patiently on the bench nearby. The elder asari cast a warm smile and patted the empty spot beside her. Without thinking, Liara obliged, now utterly mortified for what actually went on in the bathroom. She sat awkwardly and tried not to fidget too much, scraping away at imaginary pills of fabric on her lap. The Matriarch chuckled, sharing a good-natured pat on the knee.
"You were brave to go against the Spectre like that. I thank you for your concerns and intentions, then, to protect me. However, I would advise you trust her, the next time a similar situation arises. I have felt her desire to protect you more than anything else."
Liara glanced down at her feet, sheepish. "I... Suppose I had not trusted her. I felt she was too reckless, yet too cautious, and I was concerned she was imagining threats that weren't there. I appreciate her vigilance, but..."
"Her instincts are sharp because they've been sharpened. But so are yours, young one. Trust in yourself the next time they speak to you. In due time, you will be sharpened as well. Try not to lose sight of yourself the way she has, however."
Silence fell between them, and Liara's nerves had settled somewhat, now that she had some due time to process all these rapid changes in events. She watched the door with worry - part of her felt foolish as if she was waiting to be reprimanded for some misdemeanour in a lab. It felt like years had passed before it finally opened, and Shepard walked out with Matriarch Epentha, looking significantly relaxed.
"Thank you for taking the time to debrief me, Chancellor. Please let me know if you come across any new vital information and send it to the frequency I've provided you."
"You are very welcome, Spectre. I will always help however I can, you have but to ask. I hope you enjoy yourself for the remainder you spend here, before your departure."
Epentha approached the bench and Talia had rose, giving a slight bow in respect. Liara shot up nervously, having forgotten herself. She bowed her head and was washed over with a sense of timidity upon hearing the Chancellor's soft chuckle.
"You can relax, I care not for formality." Epentha had actually patted Liara's shoulder, as if a casual friend. "You may benefit from visiting our archives, as there is new information on the Protheans there that may aid you in your endeavours. I would encourage you upload your thesis papers in our database as well."
Liara frowned at that. "To what end? Nobody will accept my theories. They will only be criticized, as they have been."
Something in Epentha's eyes tried to reveal something, though it was hidden behind her smile and cryptic words.
"For now."
The Chancellor folded her hands behind her as she slinked back to her office, with Matriarch Talia dutifully in tow. There was a simple wave of goodbye from Epentha, and a respectful bow from Talia. The door slipped shut and Shepard was immediately in Liara's face, conjuring panic and anxiety that there was something horribly wrong despite these amiable appearances.
"But first: fishing," was all the soldier said.
Liara laughed with the new sense of urgency as a hand got grabby with her wrist.
Comfortable silence fell between them. Liara sat on the shore's edge as Shepard had waded in knee-deep with donated gear to protect her from the eezo in the lake. The fishing line flicked deftly as if there was no disturbance of time from whenever was the last time she could partake in this. She hadn't even seemed bothered by the other fishers in the lake.
As Shepard lost herself in the water, Liara lost herself in her thoughts and mused on what Matriarch Talia said. She watched the soldier's back, watched how shoulders relaxed the most they've ever been. When the sun began it's descent, the sunglasses came off. They stayed even as other fishers departed, stayed even when the air turned chilly, and Liara could see her breaths. She tried to ignore her shivers and drew her knees to her chest. It was beginning to feel like Shepard would never tear herself away from her rekindled love.
And then she saw it.
In the moonlight, upon the next flick, the soldier's head turned to follow the line she had cast. There was a dried trail down her cheek from the side Liara could spot. Her heart cried out in empathy. Hopefully that dry tearstruck trail was because of happiness to indulge in fishing, rather than remembering the last happy day she had to fish with someone else.
{The lake isn't the same anymore... But we can go fishing. Make new memories and honour old ones.}
"Who knows when we may go to Mindoir, with this mission."
Liara engaged her omni-tool out of curiosity, looking up what had even happened to the colony in order for it to be rebuilt - and perhaps when Shepard lost her parents. There were articles after articles, each bringing with it a wave of despair upon the shared words many articles had in their titles: The Rape of Mindoir.
There was only a single perspective from a marine, likely the only information the Alliance could afford to declassify on the event. There were perspectives from people only after the batarian slaver attack, people who had volunteered to rebuild, and consequently colonized. The only survivor's perspective was a report from what little information they could get from a traumatized 16 year old girl. Liara's eyes widened at the name when she skimmed that particular article.
Lucy Fair Shepard.
Liara's attention was captured immediately. She went back to the beginning and read more thoroughly what she had skimmed. Her hand slipped over her mouth without thought, her eyes burning and brimming with tears.
On April 11th, 2170 CE, Mindoir was attacked. The report mentioned it was the sole survivor's 16th birthday. From the disjointed sentences the teenage girl was barely able to string together, Lucy Fair Shepard reported she had been in a different city with her parents to celebrate her birthday, and her parents pushed her out of the way when batarian slavers came to raid Mindoir. She watched her parents get captured before she ran to hide. Anyone who had not died in the raid was enslaved, forced to undergo cranial implants without anaesthesia.
The first child of Mindoir was Shepard, born under the Whole Foods Consortium to produce crops and livestock to help feed humanity on their home world and their growing colonization efforts in space. Little else was known about her life because of her traumatized state. Most information was details of the attack itself, as if she had committed only that to memory. The report mentioned she had burst to tears with any questions the Alliance investigators asked of her family, apologizing for an unknown figure named 'Shifty'. It mentioned how she had burst with inconsolable anger with any questions asked of batarians.
Ground troops were deployed in shuttles, armed with non-lethal weaponry to capture citizens either through harpoons or incapacitating gas. The Alliance reported that the FTL comm buoy was destroyed prior to the raid, likely to prevent any calls for help. Air-burst EMP charges were laid throughout Mindoir to knock down the power everywhere. The raid took 3 days, and Shepard - dubbed 'The Survivor of Mindoir' in the article - was rescued on day 7 after the initial attack. She survived by eating scraps from missing inhabitants, unable to leave the city with vehicles disabled.
Other details became too difficult to read, with the world blurring. The more Liara had, though, the more she realized that this raid was far too coordinated and executed almost too flawlessly to be considered as just a slave raid, and the article later suggested it near the end of the attack details. However, there was no evidence left behind to implicate that the Batarian Hegemony was retaliating in this way as a response to humanity's colonization in space.
More politics in the article were discussed, apart from what actions and policies that the Alliance Bureau of Colonization and the Bureau of Colonial Affairs installed to not be caught 'unprepared' again in the future. Liara had skimmed that part as she sought out more information on Shepard. Her heart fell apart upon reading the total number of deaths and enslaved citizens. 2000.
And only a single young girl survived that massacre.
The Survivor of Mindoir. The Lone Wolf. The Commander of the Normandy. The First Human Spectre.
She was more than those titles, though. She was a lover of boring procedural shows, a lover of improvised engineering, a lover of revenge, a lover of fishing, a lover of fuzzy insects, a lover of knowledge. This article made her make so much more sense, now. Her over-protectiveness. Her hyper-vigilance. Her no longer knowing what it means to relax even in a city, in a school. What was supposed to be a normal and happy day to be celebrated was instead turned into likely the worst day of her life, where the wolf lost her entire pack. She was not a lone wolf by her own free will. Life threw her in that cage.
"I think you should stop whatever you are reading, Liara," came the gentle voice.
The omni-tool was shut off in an instant, and Liara panicked. She wondered if she was caught with what she was reading. Her only answer was the soldier coming to kneel in front of her, reaching to squeeze Liara's shoulder with eyebrows subtly pinched in concern.
"I... Don't know what to say - how to comfort," Shepard confessed, "But I am here."
"Say about what? Did she somehow see what I was reading? Did she come behind me without me realizing? I was so absorbed by the article..."
The hand on Liara's shoulder tentatively came up to her face, the glove removed. It was the synthetic hand. The cold thumb wiped across, under her eye, spreading moisture across her air-chilled skin. Then Shepard did the same thing on the other cheek, and kept alternating cheeks until she had taken off her other glove and used both her hands to try and wipe away the tears. The more she did, the more frustrated she seemed to get, until she abruptly pulled on the archaeologist's shoulders into an awkward embrace.
"I'm here, Liara. Please stop crying." A brief pause, a sharp suck of breath. "The only tears I will tolerate is if we are being poisoned by your horrible cooking."
A wry laugh hiccuped in Liara's chest. "What if I get shot?"
"Oh, no, then. Absolutely no tears at all."
"Oh, of course not. How foolish am I to ask?"
"Very, very, foolish, Dr. T'Soni. It's unbecoming of one with your intelligence."
That stoic and dry tone was more comforting than the soldier would ever know. Liara tilted her head and buried her eyes in the rigid shoulder, wishing it was the organic one. She smiled away at the way a hand rubbed timid circles on her back, as if mimicking what may have been observed earlier in the day. She selfishly indulged in the embrace and ensured there was no escape as she wound her arms around Shepard to return the gesture, and soak up every ounce of comfort.
"Even with all she's survived, she's 'here'. She's never forgotten how to be human at all."
"Would you like to fish with me, to take your mind off of... Whatever has got you like this?" Shepard whispered, then rushed out the next sentence. "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to. Well, I mean, I wouldn't know what to do with it even if you did, so... So fish with me?"
"I'd share, usually. This would be a good opportunity to, especially for her. But not with this article."
And so, dark secrets were locked away. Liara nodded and missed the bodily warmth that repelled the chilly air, shivering when the soldier relinquished herself to step away. Shepard offered her hand, and the archaeologist offered her wrist to be taken as she was helped into standing. She tensed when hands furiously rubbed up and down from her shoulders to her elbows.
"Let's fish another time," Shepard stated. "We can't afford to catch cold and it's already late, we have a long trip ahead of us. Let's head back to the Normandy. Where do I return all this gear?"
"Doesn't this mean our mission has finished, then? I don't have any other ideas of where else we can go for information."
"I do. It does mean it's finished. I'll debrief with Tali first to see what the status is with your apartment, then we will see if it is safe enough to return to grab whatever else you feel you need before we depart from Thessia."
Shepard twisted slightly, then stood beside the archaeologist as they stared at the way the lake glittered under the moonlight, faint luminescent waves wafting away from the surface of the water to indicate the element zero that lurked in the depths. Liara conjured the courage to press her shoulder against the soldier's and siphoned what little warmth could be offered there. There was an emptiness growing inside of her, of knowing these blissful moments would be few and far in between once they returned to their ship.
"Thank you, you know," Shepard nudged a little harder with her shoulder herself. "For letting me get carried away here. I know you wanted to go to the sanctuary. It... Means a lot to me that you let me have this though." She looked over with a small spark in her eyes. "Your fish are fucking crazy, by the way. I literally saw one biotic it's ass off my hook and then warp it in revenge. I have no idea how you asari are supposed to catch them."
Liara chuckled, mildly caught off guard by the informal swearing. She smiled with amusement.
"We use our biotics to catch them before they are able to warp our hooks."
"Oh, right, how could I forget the species with the strongest of them?" Shepard rolled her eyes. "If only my biotics were as strong and precise as yours. I'd make a killing as a fish vendor, then."
"Perhaps, one day, when you are done and tired with war, you will. I hope that day comes for you."
Liara kept it to herself and hummed. Her smile grew when the soldier abruptly left her, an air of awkwardness settling between them. Shepard went in the direction to sanctuary, where their walk was silent but peaceful, the stars bright above their heads. Liara stopped to stare at them and reached up. Footsteps returned to her. She expected - or rather hoped - to see another hand reach up with her. She yelped instead, when hands snatched her waist and threw her up, panicking and scrambling for balance when shoulders nestled beneath her thighs. She was riding Shepard's shoulders. A fishing rod was shoved up towards her before she could question what madness has consumed the soldier.
"Carry this for me," Shepard grunted as she adjusted how Liara sat. "Can't carry you and it at the same time." Her head tilted up, her smile odd to see from this angle. "There, now you're even closer to reach and grab them. And by this time tomorrow? We'll be sailing among that sea of stars."
They took off again, and eventually Liara was able to sync her balance with Shepard's gait. She was impressed of which she could even be carried like this without a single hint that there was any strain on the soldier.
{The program that I was in, it's to prepare you for the challenges that cybernetics will hit you with. You need to train harder than even the more elite of special forces, to be even stronger in order to handle what you're given.}
Liara nibbled on the edge of her tongue and invested her focus in the present rather than the past. She glanced down, unsure of what to do with her hands as she biotically lifted the fishing rod to carry it with them that way. She tentatively sunk her fingers in the human's hair, careful not to grip, but pretended as though that was the purpose - to hide her indulging her curiosities over the textures and sensations. Shepard slowed for a brief moment before she regained her pace. The archaeologist bravely turned a nail in and gently scratched the scalp.
"Feels nice," Shepard hummed contentedly.
"You're not having your back pains by doing this, are you?"
"I'm fine, I promise."
"So that means you are."
"Uh huh." The soldier looked up with a smirk. "And you can't do anything about it. So stop worrying."
{Massage. I could massage your back, when it gets achy.}
Liara blushed at her memory and wisely stayed silent. She was let down when they came to sanctuary's entrance, where Shepard disappeared inside to return the gear she was given. The archaeologist carefully took out the minerals from her pocket as she studied the colours, where one was a rusty orange and the other a dull silver.
"Whatever these are, they're Earth minerals since it seemed like she actively sought them out in that section. Even if I cannot run my tests, I can still look up minerals on the ethernet to see if I can find any visual similarities."
Shepard returned, but she seemed dumbfounded by something as she froze in her spot, staring. Liara cocked her head in confusion, especially when the soldier suddenly smiled - in that usual subtle way of hers - and marched on over. The archaeologist safeguarded the minerals as she tucked it back into her pocket.
"What was that smile for?" Liara asked, glancing over her shoulder to check. There was nothing there. "Did you see something?"
"Yeah."
That smile grew the tiniest bit.
"You."