A/N

Written for the Mass Effect kinkmeme

Prompt: "What would alien perfume smell like? I know that the primary interspecies femslash pair is femShep/Liara, and I'm totally fine with them, if authoranon so chooses to write them, but I'd love a more out-there pairing up of species."

This piece takes place in the timeline of ME1. So this has a young Tali and a pre-LOTSB and pre-Shepard death Liara. Much lighter in quality. :)

Liara touched the fabric of the exosuit with an almost reverent pat. She scrunched up some of the fabric between her thumb and index finger and rolled it between them, feeling the protective layers slip by underneath her fingers one by one.

"I don't know how you do it," she breathed. "Living in an exosuit for your whole life."

Tali sighed. This was a sentiment that she encountered often, and in a way most quarians found it rude, as if their way of life was somehow of lower quality. But she knew Liara didn't mean it this way; nobody on the Normandy crew meant it this way.

Tali shrugged. "Well, you get over it pretty quickly when you're a quarian. In fact, I feel stranger outside of one than I do in one. "

Liara furrowed her brow, her eyes squinting slightly as she chewed on the thought. "Why is that?"

Tali shook her head, remembering the last time she had taken her suit off for more than a few minutes. "Everything is completely different. In some ways, it's too much; in others it's not enough. I'm used to experiencing life in a suit. Being outside one makes me feel…"

Liara cocked her head slightly to the side, blue eyes probing, attempting, wanting to understand. Tali wrung her hands together uncomfortably, turning her glowing eyes downward.

"It makes me feel…" The pause felt like it was made from solid lead. "Disconnected."

To her surprise, she heard Liara's bell-toned laughter.

"Wow, I'd never have thought…" Liara stifled a giggle under her hand. She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, but that was the last answer I would have expected."

"No offence taken. I assume you've never had to wear an exosuit before," Tali reassured.

"No, you're right. I haven't. I almost had to wear one at a particularly sensitive dig site but that trip fell through." Liara smiled.

"People always assume that removing a barrier connects two things, but I don't think this is true." Tali put three books on the desk beside them, standing them upright, all in a row. Liara stared, intrigued.

Tali pointed to the red leather book on the end. "This book is like a quarian." She tapped the book on the far side. "This book is the outside." She pulled out the thinner green book that was sandwiched between the two. "This book is the suit, and when you take it out, a space remains." The quarian's long pointer finger waggled in the void created. "A disconnect."

"I see," said Liara. The explanation had been both simple and complex. It was both counterintuitive and obvious at the same time. Her cheeks flushed a deeper purple—she should have known. Perhaps deep down, even a part of her still doubted quarian intuition.

Liara raised a hand to examine the seals surrounding Tali's hazy faceplate. She couldn't help but stare deep into Tali's eyes. She saw purest white, skin like dusk, but she had no idea if this was what Tali really looked like. "Forgive my ignorance, what are the differences? How can you sense the world around you if you are locked inside?"

Tali reached up and curled her hand around Liara's. "I can feel when I touch things because of the pressure sensors in my suit." She squeezed harder, feeling the flesh give way. "I can feel some textures, like soft, hard, and rough, but not many. "

"And without the suit?" Liara asked.

"Oh, Keelah," Tali cursed, turning away from the asari. "Without the suit, it's too much information. Since we really only receive input to our skin from the suits, having too much texture is overwhelming sometimes. I'm sure I'd get used to it, like I did as a child in a bubble, but it has been a long time since any quarian ever has tried as an adult." She let go of Liara's hand.

"What about your hearing? What is it like to see through the glass?" A million speculations formed in Liara's mind. For all the knowledge she had collected over the years, surprisingly little of it was about quarians.

Tali held her head in her hands. "The suit actually enhances my hearing and sight, so when I'm out of it, my vision is all blurry and unfocussed…and my hearing…just isn't right."

"I can see how that could be disconcerting."

"You're telling me," she said. "And the headaches, from everything. It just makes me want to go right back in. Not to mention how many times I've stubbed my toe in trying to get around blind."

"Wow." Liara was amazed. "And I know that you eat food that has been decontaminated, so that's probably not any different."

"Well, not that we'd know." Tali threw her hands up. "The only sense that I really doubt is smell."

"Smell?" Echoed Liara. "How so?"

"The air filter of my suit removes a large quantity of the particles in the air before it can get to my respiratory tract. Obviously this is done to make sure that we don't die of bronchitis or pneumonia or some other disease of the lungs. But when I pick up the most fragrant flower, can only get a little bit of it, just a glimmer."

Tali sighed. "Oh, this is just a stupid waste of time. I'm sorry to complain to you about things that cannot be changed."

"Don't call it a waste of time," said Liara. "Here, smell this."

Liara pulled out a small, green, intricately blown glass vial. She unscrewed the cap and handed it to Tali.

"Swirl it to get the best of the bouquet," said Liara. "Then, breathe in deep."

The quarian swirled the vial several times, her suit hissing as she sucked in the air. She did it again, and again. Then finally, she stopped.

"It figures." Tali passed it back to Liara. "If this is a subtle perfume, then I certainly won't be able to register it. And, if I decided to have I purified to smell in private, I'm sure that the chemical compounds will be irreversibly altered."

"It is very subtle." Liara stroked Tali's arm. "It's the scent of the flowers of Thessia mixed with the smell of lightning cutting through the atmosphere. This is the scent that makes me feel most alive."

"That sounds nice," Tali trailed off. "It is too bad that I will never know it."

"There is a way, if you wish it," Liara intoned. "If you allow me to meld with you, I can give you my memory of it."

"You'd do that?" Tali stepped back. "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course." Liara stepped so that they were mere inches apart. The condensation of Liara's breath fogged and ebb and flow on Tali's face plate.

"Just relax," Liara ran her fingers up and down Tali's arms, who shivered at the sensation. "Relax."

"Embrace eternity!"

Tali was thrown back into a world of grey. She was spinning, unfocussed, wafting around in a world of visions.

Then there it was. The smell of flowers dominated her nose, not in an overpowering way, but just strong. She could feel the sun on her skin, the wet rain on the grass below her feet. The electricity in the air was palpable, the sparks available both in her nose and tasted heavily on her tongue. It was clean, light, with an undertone of danger…

She was floating in it, her oversensitive nerves stimulated by it, but it was not too much…she was lost.

Oh Keelah…

Liara released her mind. The quarian rubbed her head as the presence of the other mind pulled back, disentangling itself with hers..

"I'm sorry, I wasn't as careful as I should be in letting you go," Liara apologized. "Truth be told, I usually take memories from others, not give them."

Tali shook her head. "That was absolutely wonderful." She stepped backwards, placing a hand to her chest breathing heavily.

Liara panted, exhausted from the joining. "I need to go rest. I'm not used to this."

"I feel like I have taken more than I have given you," said Tali. "When you're better, would you like to take my memories of living in a suit? I don't mind."

"You can have anything of mine," she added.

"You're up for more?" Liara gasped.

"That is if you will have me." Tali clarified. "I didn't mean to imply that I want you to do this no matter what. Only if you want."

The asari smiled, the light dancing in her eyes. "No, I would love that, to see the world through your eyes instead of mine. Let's do it later."

"Sounds good," said Tali. "I need a rest too, and I didn't even do the hard part. I'll see you later."

The quarian felt a hand on her shoulder when she turned around. "I didn't mean later as in tomorrow Tali,"

A jolt of energy ran through her body, heat welling up from within.

"I see," said Tali. "We have a lot to share. Let's get to our nap, shall we?"

Liara slipped her hand around Tali's round, full hips. "Yes. And let's take all the time in the world."