Parallax

A/n: Some of this chapter came easily. Other parts were tough to write. I'm not 100% happy with it, but what can you do? Thank you for the many hits. I would appreciate reviews, but I understand that not many people do that. Just keep in mind that it helps the authors to write more! :D


Anyway, I hope everybody enjoys this chapter. There's UST on top of UST with some UST and a dash of UST on the side. UST is for dessert btw.


To say that Dr. Liara T’Soni was upset would be a gross understatement. The dim lighting of her small room did little to hide her despondent countenance. She had always suspected that Shepard and Lieutenant Alenko had some sort of special relationship, and recent events proved her suspicions very likely to be true. If only she had confessed her feelings to Shepard earlier! Maybe she would have had a chance. These worries left the young Asari without an appetite.

Liara put her head in her hands as she thought. No, she never stood a chance with Shepard. It was best this way. According to her research, the Lieutenant had everything a human female desired. He was tall, muscular, handsome, smart, and according to recent rumors, had a very large penis. Apparently the bigger this penis was, the more attractive the male. At least, that was the conclusion Liara came to. She didn’t even have one of those. And based on what Shepard said about a “ferret” creature, she was glad she didn’t! Though, it would seem strange that such an organ would be covered in fur and come equipped with claws and teeth. She startled when the door to her makeshift abode opened to reveal Dr. Chakwas, a tray of food in her hands.

“Dr. T’Soni,” she said, “I have taken the liberty to bring some food to you since you seem to not want to bring yourself to it.” Her face showed the barest hint of concern before she set the tray next to the defeated Asari.

“Dr. Chakwas,” she began, her voice taking on the innocent tone of a young child, “I don’t understand why a human woman would want a man with a penis that looks like a ferret.” Her big blue eyes turned to look at the Doctor, whose face was rapidly reddening. Had she said something wrong again?

Dr. Chakwas scrunched her eyes shut, trying to choose her next words carefully. “That was just referring to the size,” she coughed awkwardly. “It would be similar to the phrase ‘I’m so hungry I could eat a horse’. It doesn’t mean that there’s literally a ferret in his pants.” Chakwas let out the breath that she had been holding. Mission accomplished, hopefully. God knew she used enough pronouns to sugar coat the situation.

Liara’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh, by the Goddess!” the young Asari began to laugh. “That makes much more sense. I… I believe I will eat now. Thank you for your concern.” Chakwas wasn’t entirely convinced by Liara’s false bravado.

“What are you really upset about?” her cobalt eyes pierced into Liara’s. The Doctor was ever insightful.

“I just…” the Asari’s countenance dimmed, “I am happy for Shepard and the Lieutenant. But I wish I had the courage to tell Shepard how I felt before it was too late. I know now that I would have had no chance with her, but it still would have made me feel better.”

“Do you still feel that way?” the ship’s doctor’s expression softened.

“Yes,” Liara smiled. “I appreciate all Shepard has done for me, regardless of her romantic interest. She is truly one of the most caring beings I have ever encountered.”

“Then maybe you should tell her that,” Chakwas smiled and put her hand on Liara’s shoulder. “Shepard has immense pressure put on her to perform. I’m sure she would appreciate hearing that.”

Dr. T’Soni sighed. “Why bother when she already has a lover to appreciate everything about her?” She ran her hands down the sides of her face in frustration.

“Just because someone has a lover doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate a friend,” Chakwas said as she stood. “Now, please eat. I don’t want Shepard to think I’m not doing my job well.”

“Thank you, Dr. Chakwas,” Liara smiled softly, “I believe you are right. I will talk to Shepard when I get the chance.”

Chakwas nodded and left, the doors opening and generating a light breeze. When the air hit Liara’s nose, she put her head in her hands again. Dr. Chakwas smelled very similar to Benezia.

It was strange how little things like that would remind her of her late mother and the awkward relationship they never had the opportunity to repair. She began to pick at the food, disheartened once again. Slowly, she forced herself to eat. Liara knew that it was logical to eat and furthermore, it would be rude to not eat the food that the doctor had brought her. Her thoughts drifted to Shepard and her despondence grew. After eating half of the proffered food, Liara had enough. She stood up and walked to the mess to dispose of the tray of food.

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A feminine hand selected a crouton from a plate and moved it to a bowl of ranch. The hapless crouton was pursed between a delicate thumb and forefinger and submerged three times in the dressing, its dairy baptism smothering it for its demise. The hand dropped it into an awaiting open mouth; the crouton’s final sounds were muffled crunches as it was crushed into oblivion by hungry jaws and blunt human teeth.

Shepard selected another and repeated the process, the crunching of the large croutons audible to anyone within a ten foot radius of the mess.

Kaidan cringed when another loud series of crunches reached his ears. He couldn’t concentrate with all the noises Shepard’s snack created. The frazzled Lieutenant put his tools down and figured he could at least investigate the source of the excessive crunching. He walked the short distance to the table and sat down next to Shepard; in front of her lay a plate of croutons and a bowl of ranch dressing. Her right forefinger and thumb were lightly coated in the dressing. The Lieutenant watched Shepard repeat the process she had been at for an upwards of ten minutes.

Her hand reached for another crouton and thoroughly coated it in dressing. This time, however, Shepard considered the crouton carefully before extending her hand to Alenko’s bemused face. He quickly caught her wrist as it appeared that the mischievous Commander was going to try to smash the food directly in his face. Shepard began to pout and Kaidan knew that his assumption was correct.

“We’re not going to do that, now,” he chided, his voice barely above a whisper. The Lieutenant took the opportunity of Shepard’s hand being immobilized to slowly bring his mouth closer to the Commander’s exceedingly strange snack. His lips parted as he snagged the crouton in his teeth, taking it from her hand and crunching down on it. He considered Shepard’s fingers for a brief second before drawing them into his mouth, suckling gently to remove the dressing. Slowly, he drew back to remove her fingers from his mouth, his tongue running along the sensitive bottom of her index finger. Kaidan looked up into Shepard’s eyes and she shuddered, her cheeks red from the sensual contact.

The Lieutenant released Shepard’s wrist with a start when the med bay doors opened to reveal Liara, a tray of partially eaten food in her hand. His face turned red to match Shepard’s. Just what the hell was he thinking? He was licking his Commander’s fingers for God’s sake! This was unacceptable, no matter how much he enjoyed it. But that wasn’t to say he enjoyed it. Well, maybe he did enjoy it, but just only a little bit. Shepard’s voice snapped him out of his mini mental meltdown.

“Liara,” she smiled, “I haven’t seen you much lately. Sit down and talk with us.” The Commander motioned to the seat across from her. It amazed the Lieutenant how this woman could be caught in an awkward moment then suddenly be perfectly fine the next minute. He, on the other hand, didn’t recover well from embarrassment.

Liara disposed of her tray and sat down. She couldn’t look at them. She sighed; Shepard referred to herself and Alenko as ‘us’. There was the proof, undeniable and staring her in the face. Liara steeled herself. She would live for a thousand years; this was merely an upset in the road of life. The young Asari forced her face into a half-hearted smile. Benezia’s imparted wisdom would surely guide her.

“You’ve been thinking about Benezia, haven’t you?” Shepard’s soothing voice drifted across the table.

Liara blinked. That was certainly unexpected, but then again, Shepard was a very perceptive woman. “Yes,” she sighed, “but it is alright. There isn’t anything to say about it.”

“I’m not entirely convinced, Liara, but I’ll respect your privacy. You can talk to us about anything, you know that,” Shepard looked Liara straight in the eyes. The word ‘us’ was reasserted. Liara looked down at the table to avoid Shepard’s piercing gaze. The Commander’s snack caught her eye.

“Is it customary for humans to make a snack of salad toppings?” Liara questioned. She wondered if she had said something wrong again; Shepard was laughing.

“No,” the Commander shook her head, “it’s a habit I picked up when I was very poor. It was just something to eat. Now and then I get a craving for it.” She smiled as she ate another crouton.

“I see,” Liara replied. “Shepard, you truly are the most unique person I have ever met.”

Kaidan’s mouth quirked into a wicked smirk. “Damn right she’s unique. More like a sadistic weirdo.” He thought back on how Shepard hid the bottle of booze in his pants. Yes, the Commander was intentionally sadistic.

“Sadistic weirdo?!” Shepard’s expression was that of mock anger. “Whatever you say, mister ‘extranet fetish’.”

“Shepard!” the Lieutenant’s cheeks began to stain red. “You know I didn’t mean that!”

“Though you are right, I am a little sadistic,” Shepard supplied; a devilish grin stretched across her features.

“Really?” he questioned, leaning in to her.

“Though I will admit that I prefer to be on the receiving end of said sadism,” the Commander’s voice lowered to a conspiratorial tone.

“Heh, so you like being roughed up, then?” He ran a shaky hand through his hair in nervous anticipation. Their faces were mere inches apart.

“Why yes, I do,” came Shepard’s breathy reply. She leaned back to look Kaidan over, her eyes searing a trail down the length of his body.

“Ma’am, I believe you are objectifying me,” he said, his heart racing.

“Perhaps,” she responded and bit her lower lip. Her hand casually reached for another crouton and coated it; Shepard ate the crouton and looked across the table.

Liara was gone.

Kaidan shook his head, trying desperately to stave off the hazy cloud of lust that settled in his mind. “I think we scared her off,” he chuckled. Sometimes they went overboard in the flirting department. The Lieutenant constantly broke protocol around Shepard. Luckily, the Commander didn’t seem to mind; on the contrary, she seemed to enjoy their sexual banter.

“Too hot to handle,” Shepard mumbled. She grabbed her snack and gave the Lieutenant a nod before disappearing to her quarters. It was time to get some more work done.

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Liara pushed the elevator button, but it wouldn’t come up fast enough. She may have been naïve, but she knew what a fetish was. And she wasn’t about to sit around in that thick cloud of lust. One could practically taste the sexual tension between the Commander and Lieutenant. The young Asari decided to make herself scarce after she heard that Shepard liked to be roughed up. She would go to the engineering room and seek out someone to talk with there; human couplings were notoriously loud and she wasn’t sure if the Captain’s quarters were soundproofed. She’d talk to Shepard later when she didn’t have coupling on her mind. Then again, humans were known to constantly have sex on their minds, especially the males. That was obvious enough from the constant sexual advances Alenko made on the Commander.

The elevator mercifully closed behind Liara as she heard Shepard begin to walk to her quarters. It slowly trekked to the engineering level, its Asari cargo unmindful of its lethargic speed. At the bottom, the doors opened and Liara stepped out to find Tali talking with the Requisitions Officer. They seemed like decently distracting company.

“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do my best,” the Officer addressed the Quarian.

“Thank you,” Tali’s metallic accent chimed throughout the bay. She noticed the Asari that approached them. There was a strange look on her face. “Hello, Liara,” she said, her smile lost in her helmet, “what troubles you?”

Liara blinked. Was she truly that easy to read?

“Shepard and Alenko were getting um…” Liara felt her face turning purple as she began to blush, “they were talking about something and I decided it would be best for me to leave.” That sounded evasive enough to her.

“What were they talking about?” the Requisitions Officer leaned in, eager to hear the newest chunk of gossip revolving around the couple.

“Fetishes…” she looked around the room, her discomfort growing. Better to get the whole thing out as quickly as possible and find another place to hide. “I’m not quite sure. The Lieutenant said that he didn’t mean something that he did and then Shepard told him she was sadistic but preferred to be on the receiving end of the sadism. And then he said, ‘So you like to be roughed up, then?’ and she said yes.” Her story came out in a gigantic, nervous chunk of rushed speech.

The Requisitions Officer’s eyes were impossibly large. “What did he do that he didn’t mean to do?” Now, this was the dirt everyone wanted to know.

“I-I don’t know,” Liara stammered. She had the distinct feeling that she had said way more than she should have. This man had a very predatory gleam in his eyes. “I should go, I need to… do something…” the Asari scientist backed away slowly and turned, walking as fast as possible away from the precarious situation. She hoped to the goddess that what she said hadn’t been damaging.

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Shepard sat in front of her computer, trying to concentrate on various reports. It was times like this when she was alone that the weight of responsibility pressed heavily on her heart. Of course, she knew that she’d have to make difficult choices when she enlisted. She also knew that she’d see her friends die. Having been in a gang, she figured she could handle it. The deeper she got into service, however, the more she questioned her grip on the situation.

Sometimes she had to make difficult decisions. Shepard was glad she had friends to see her through, but what if she lost those friends? She already lost Ash. What if she lost Kaidan too?

She swallowed as her eyes misted. Her head bowed and she ran her hands through her hair. Thinking about these things wasn’t going to help. Perhaps she just needed a quick nap to refresh her mind. They would be landing on Noveria soon to pick up some recently found information at Peak 15. She needed to be at her best.

Commander Shepard fell into a restless sleep, unaware of the rumors of blindfolds and handcuffs circulating below her.