Closer

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"Sex appeal." Aethyta shrugged indifferently, oblivious to her daughter who'd started shooting nervous glances at the various aliens passing them by or standing within earshot...

Finally noticing her daughter's darkened cheeks, a smile tugged at the matriarch's lips as she continued her torment, "Most species only pay attention if they want to have sex with you... So you have to be available, mysterious..."

"What?" Liara's eyes settled on her father again. "That's not true!"

Aethyta slightly tilted her head to the side, an amused smile on her face as she watched her daughter's inner turmoil.

Liara swallowed under her father's gaze. The matriarch obviously expected an explanation for her outburst (even if it had just been meant to stop her father's speech)...

Inhaling deeply, Liara placed both her hands on the bar and leaned forward to underline her next words. "Shepard listens to me," she stated, pushing herself off the bar and crossing her arms in front of her chest triumphantly.

Her father gave a short laugh and leniently shook her head at her daughter's naiveness. "And you're single, aren't you?"

Liara's brows furrowed in confusion. What did it matter if-

"You think Shepard is..." Her eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. "No." Aethyta nodded encouragingly. "No!" Liara repeated, more determined this time.

Her father's smile and suggestively raised eyebrow only increased the younger asari's confusion and so she shook her head once more before taking a few steps back from the bar as if by putting more distance between herself and her father, she could run away from the matriarch's words and the unsettling feelings they had started...

"I... need to go..." she murmured and spun on her heels, storming away from her father's gleaming eyes.

"Go get her!" Aethyta yelled after her daughter, not caring about the aliens turning their heads towards her. Instead, she gave her daughter the thumbs up when Liara paused and turned back to the bar. "Trust me," the matriarch yelled, encouraged by her daughter's obvious interest in her advice... (Eh, what the hell... She just liked to yell...) Leaning forward on the bar, Aethyta added, "If it's all civilized, you're not doing it right." She nodded, smiling suggestively at a turian leaning against the bar who'd almost choked on his drink and hastily turned away from the asari's gaze.

Liara's eyebrow rose involuntarily. How that person could be her other parent was beyond her. She honestly doubted having any of Aethyta's genetic material in her...

She noticed in horror that her father opened her mouth again (probably preparing herself to yell how to seduce the commander and what to do once she got her alone in her cabin across the entire plaza) and Liara hastily shook her (now almost entirely purple) head and stormed up the remaining stairs, hoping that would stop her father.

It did...

Seeing Liara storm away, Aethyta shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the turian, leaning closer to the nervous alien while he tried to evade her gleaming eyes. "Ever had sex with a hanar?" She gave a short, husky laugh. "I could tell you stories, my friend..."

"Please don't!"

A few steps away, Liara had meanwhile reached the end of the stairs and was passing the holographic commercials on her way to the elevator, keeping her head low in her pace.

Her father was wrong! Shepard wasn't interested in her, it was impossible! She'd heard it herself...

"Sorry, Ma'am. Maybe I got a bad signal. I mean if you're a— Maybe there's someone else you'd rather confide in, Ma'am."

Liara paused. This conversation she'd stumbled upon seemed rather personal and she wasn't one to eavesdrop, but Kaidan and whoever he was talking to were standing in the Mess Hall and there was no way for Liara to sneak past them and make it into the Med Bay without being noticed...

"All right, Alenko." Shepard's voice sounded tired, almost annoyed – or maybe that was just Liara's hope... imagination! she quickly corrected herself before slightly leaning closer to where the voices came from.

"Off the record, permission to speak candidly, cross my heart and hope to die. What are you talking about?"

"Uh, Dr. T'Soni, Ma'am."

Liara's breathing stopped for a moment and she involuntarily pressed her back against the elevator wall, trying not to gasp for air when her lungs started burning. Instead, she forced herself to take quiet, shallow breaths from time to time while she waited. Her body tensed even more at Kaidan's next words.

"There's a lower-deck rumor that she's, uh, interested in you. As more than a source of Prothean data."

How did they know that? Who had started that rumor? Liara bit her lower lip. She'd thought she'd concealed her emotions rather well so far...

Shepard's heavy sigh jolted her out of her troubling thoughts as she'd started recalling all the times she'd been around other crew members, wondering when it might have been that she'd involuntarily revealed her intentions to one of them...

"Once the galaxy is safe, I might start caring about all the rumors I come across, but until then I still have a job to do and I intend on finishing it without participating in wearisome teenage love-triangles, so keep your jealousy to yourself. Don't you have anything better to do with your time, Alenko?"

"I... yes, Ma'am, you're right, I... we should focus on the mission."

"That all? Or are there any other lingering issues? Would you like to know how I like my coffee in the morning or what toothpaste I use?" A short, sarcastic laugh followed. "Oh, silly me, I'm sure there are already rumors about that too..."

"If I knew how you like your coffee, Ma'am, I could-"

"I'm not interested! Not in you and not in anyone else for that matter! I'm here to do my job, nothing more."

Liara had reached the Citadel's main elevator and waited for its doors to open, biting her lower lip in thought.

Ever since that incident, Kaidan had stopped his advances and Liara herself had given up her efforts, dismissing the thought quickly. As far as she knew, no one had kept Shepard company on their way to Ilos (Liara had accidentally found a reason to stay in the Med Bay and start a conversation with Dr. Chakwas to keep an eye on the commander's cabin across the hall... just in case...) and she had mainly kept to herself while taking out the Collector base (as the new Shadow Broker, it only seemed to be thoughtful of Liara to keep an eye on her friend...) and now that they were both back onboard the same ship again, neither Samantha's british accent nor James' body seemed to evoke any kind of interest in the commander. The woman's self-control was admirable, no doubt, and Liara wished she had more of it herself whenever they had returned from previous missions and she'd watched the commander peel out of her armor in the shuttle bay, but maybe that was something being expected from a soldier. Something neither an archeologist and Prothean expert nor a Shadow Broker would ever fully understand...

But the seed of doubt had been planted... She sighed, brushing her hand over her forehead. Thank you, Dad...

The elevator doors opened and Shepard raised her head, smiling at the frozen asari standing before her.

"On your way back to the Normandy too?"

Liara simply nodded but remained standing in front of the elevator. Of all people...

Shepard tilted her head to the side and shot Liara another warm smile. "Need help?" It wasn't so much a tease as actual concern as she observed her friend standing stock-still in front of her.

"What?" Liara blinked and finally seemed to realize that her legs weren't moving. She shook her head as if trying to clear her thoughts and approached the elevator while Shepard held the doors open for her.

The asari stood next to Shepard and faced the closed elevator doors, her sideglances not going unnoticed, however. Shepard tried to keep her relaxed expression, but something seemed to trouble her friend, which, in return, started troubling her... Well, there was the war that had started taking its toll on her entire crew, but this seemed to be about something else... She turned her head, smiling at Liara just as she shot her another sideglance. The asari quickly turned her head back to the elevator doors and Shepard's brows furrowed. What's going through your mind?

Why was her body making it so hard for her all of a sudden? Shepard was a good friend, they'd been through a lot and she had decided long ago to rather have her in her life as a friend than not at all, so why had her heart started racing again after all those years that she'd thought she had her emotions under control?

Liara glanced at the woman standing next to her. While all around them, people were gathering what they could – including love – in fear of losing it all or not having enough time left in this war, Shepard was standing next to her in this elevator, the all too familiar relaxed expression on her face as if such a thought had never crossed her mind...

Liara had done her research on human behavior – on alien behavior in general, really... it wasn't that different – and it seemed most species felt the need to bond. Humans especially since their species still had – along with salarians – one of the shortest life spans in the galaxy... So how was it possible that everyone else's need to bond seemed to just be... absent in this one person? This one person Liara would still be willing to give up anything for, if it meant to overcome the friendly distance they still kept...

Her heart skipped a beat. Even though she'd settled for 'just friends', if there was even a small chance for more, she needed to know!

Determined, she turned to face Shepard fully. "Shepard, I..."

"Hm?"

Those blue eyes were on her again and Liara's voice drifted off. Shepard's smile made Liara fear that her legs might give way under her. She couldn't do it...

The commander turned to face her companion fully. This wasn't like Liara at all... She was almost reminded of their first meeting and the following time they'd spent on the original Normandy. Shepard had thought Liara had left the shy archeologist persona behind her a long time ago, but it seemed the asari was once more unable to finish a sentence, evading the commander's eyes like she had during their first conversations. Was it something she'd said?

Shepard placed a hand on Liara's shoulder and squeezed it encouragingly. "We've been friends a long time, Liara. What's on your mind?"

She felt Liara tense under her hand and quickly dropped it again, not wanting to make the asari feel even more uncomfortable than she obviously already did...

Liara's shoulder immediately felt cold as Shepard's hand left it, but before her body could fully respond to the loss, her omni-tool started blinking and Liara gave a sigh of relief at the sudden, unexpected help... Her relief, however, vanished as soon as her father's face appeared, the matriarch's eyes settling on Shepard immediately.

"Heh, so you've already managed to get her alone. That's my girl! Now, what you need to do is-"

Slamming a hand on her omni-tool, Liara immediately cut her father off, frantically turning off the entire omni-tool and – just to be sure – hiding her arm behind her back as she shot Shepard an apologetic smile, swallowing once.

Shepard's eyebrow rose. "What was that?"

"Well..." This was her chance... Her father had involuntarily given her a reason to blame him... Serves him right... "My father seems to think that... you might have a... romantic interest in..." She stopped, averting her eyes. She just couldn't do it... Even though, technically, her father more than deserved to take the blame for all of this...

"In you?" Shepard's smile widened, but it wasn't a sarcastic smile, as Liara noticed with relief after another nervous sideglance. Nor was her tone any indication that she was making fun of her... The commander gave a short laugh and turned back to the still closed elevator doors, nodding in thought. "Yeah... this whole war..." She paused. "And seeing close friends dying definitely gives you a new perspective," she mused, just as the elevator doors opened.

Without another word of explanation, Shepard stepped out of the elevator and made her way towards the docked Normandy.

Feeling even more nervous and confused now, Liara hurried after the commander, still not sure if she should pursue the topic and demand a satisfying answer.

The war has given her a new perspective? What does that mean? She sighed inwardly. Why couldn't I fall in love with an elcor? At least they don't even have a choice whether or not to talk about what they feel...

Deep in thought, Liara followed Shepard to the Normandy, through the CIC and into the elevator without taking her eyes off the commander, who, as soon as she'd entered the elevator, turned around, smiled at her widely and-

Was that a wink? What is that supposed to mean? Did she just wink at me... or was it meant for Samantha... or... Joker?

Shepard's eyes lit up as she watched Liara follow her into the elevator, an amused smile on the commander's face. Her friend was obviously troubled by her words... Maybe she should have added some sort of explanation, but then again, she couldn't help but enjoy their little game. She wanted to see how far Liara was willing to go... Not to tease her, but to know how far she herself was allowed to go...

It wasn't that the thought had never crossed her mind, but she had always been aware of the responsibility she'd held. For her crew, for her ship, and now, as it seemed, almost for the entire galaxy as everyone's eyes were on her... She'd been lucky to have friends accompanying her along the way. People that had accepted her choice to focus on her missions and until now, that had been enough for her. That didn't mean she had been oblivious to people's interest in her. Some – like a certain shy asari scientist's – welcome, others – like a certain human biotic's – a bit less welcome... But while Kaidan's retreat didn't affect her in the slightest, a part of her had always regretted noticing that – for some strange reason – Liara seemed to have done the same, making Shepard more than once wonder if she'd just imagined things in the first place...

Shooting another sideglance at the asari still deep in thought next to her, Shepard turned to the elevator controls and activated her floor. She took a step aside to give Liara access to the controls as well, but the asari just bit her lower lip and searched Shepard's eyes. The commander turned back to the already closed elevator doors, seemingly unimpressed by Liara's hesitation, and leaned against the elevator walls as the cabin started its ascent.

Liara shot another sideglance at Shepard, noticing the commander's amused smile. She crossed her arms in front of her chest to stop her hands from shaking as the distance to her own office increased with every passing second. She could still activate her floor on the elevator controls. She could let Shepard exit at her floor and then ride back down to her own floor again, but somehow, Shepard's smile made her 'take her chances', as humans sometimes put it...

The elevator finally stopped and its doors hissed open, the letters 'Captain's Cabin' greeting Liara as if trying to remind her again that she wasn't supposed to be here...

I can't just follow her into her cabin, she hasn't even invited me up... Well, not officially... But she's my superior, I can't-

Liara's thoughts were once more interrupted as Shepard shot her another warm – inviting? – smile before she stepped out of the elevator and approached her cabin door.

Liara took a deep breath before she exited the elevator as well, following Shepard all the way into her cabin without a word from either one of them. She stopped in the cabin's entrance area and waited, suddenly feeling unsure of what to do next once more... This wasn't like her at all, what was she even thinking? She should just go...

Shepard had meanwhile reached her aquarium and, after one more step, finally stopped, turning back around to Liara. She tilted her head lightly, but as she noticed the asari's shocked expression at that simple motion (probably thinking she'd done something wrong), the commander smiled and held out her hand. That should clear things up...

Giving a heavy sigh of relief, Liara approached the waiting woman and thankfully took the offered hand, letting herself be pulled into Shepard's arms. Shepard's lips found hers and Liara gave a soft sigh. How many times she'd wondered how it would feel to kiss her...

Her thoughts raced as every scent, every taste, the feeling of Shepard's body close to hers flooded her senses now while she tried to memorize every single one of them...

Another sigh escaped her. She would have to thank Aethyta later...

Thank you, Dad. You're the best father a girl could wish for...

At a distance, leaning against the bar, Aethyta turned off her omni-tool, still grinning. She was too old to buy her a damn pony anyway... she mused as she straightened up. She'd heard enough. Her daughter deserved some privacy... Shaking her head, she gave a short laugh. It had been almost too easy to plant that bug on her daughter... She'd have to make sure to heighten Liara's sense of awareness the next time she came by. Embarrassment was no excuse for carelessness!

Still, the matriarch couldn't stop smiling as she whispered to herself, "You're welcome, kid. You're welcome..." But speaking of awareness... Her head whipped around to a human who immediately jumped at her booming voice. "Ey, you just gonna stand there and stare or are you going to order something?"

"D-Do you have a... Canadian lager?"

A/N: I just thought it might help me getting a feeling for Liara's character, that's why I wrote this... The title (as well as the story) was kinda inspired by "Closer" by Frida Amundsen, in case you wondered... Oh and there definitely need to be more Aethyta-stories... :)