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Liara watched in awe as the woman savored the taste of the tea for a few moments in her mouth before swallowing. It wasn’t often that she found herself attracted to female humans, but the Specialist was like none other she’d met. She was smart, witty, and more observant than most. The asari had half a mind to ask her to be one of her operatives, but no one on the ship yet knew that she was the galaxy’s current Shadow Broker; or that she was running her operation from the Normandy. Though, the Specialist had made several inquiries regarding her hardware that made Liara think that the woman was onto her. 

Traynor sighed and looked out the window again, her shoulders drooping. “I just wish he’d leave me alone.”

Liara blinked and felt her head tilt to the side. “What do you mean?”

“That knob-head won’t stop flirting with me.” Traynor shook her head and then looked back to meet Liara’s gaze. “I’ve told him that he’s barking up the wrong tree - I’ve even explicitly told him I only shag women and the daft git still insists on trying to get me alone.” 

Liara reached out and placed her hand on the woman’s forearm as she took a step forward. “You’ll have to forgive me, but I’m not quite up to date on all of the human phrases you’re using.” She attempted to smile but moved her thumb along the taut forearm underneath her hand. “Though, I’m sorry to hear that he’s being unreasonable.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about, Dr. T’Soni,” Traynor said as her brows furrowed. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Be that as it may,” Liara said softly, caught off guard by the formality of being called a doctor by the woman in front of her. “I am sympathetic. His attention is… intense.”

“Wait,” Traynor started as one of her eyebrows arched upwards. “You mean he’s like this with everyone?”

“I’m not sure about everyone,” Liara admitted. “But he definitely tried with me for a time.”

Traynor’s brown eyes went excitedly wide as a grin spread across her face. “Oh, this I have to hear!” She then moved her hand to gently grab Liara’s and began walking towards the couch.

Liara felt her cheeks increase in temperature at the feeling of the Specialist’s hand around her own. Her skin was soft and her grip was firm, but not forceful. 

Traynor sat on the couch, leading the asari to do the same. Once Liara was situated, the Specialist moved so that she was facing her directly, pulling on leg up underneath her other. Her knee gently pressed into Liara’s thigh, but the mischievous smile on her face had yet to leave. 

“Well?” Traynor started. 

Liara cleared her throat, forcing her mind to ignore the pressure against her thigh and the warmth radiating from Traynor, as one of her arms lay across the back of the couch, mere centimeters from her own shoulders. 

“When I first met Alan, he saved me from a dig site. And, well, I’d never really interacted with humans before, as I spent most of my time in the field, studying ancient prothean ruins.” Liara sighed and took a sip of her tea. “I made the mistake of telling him that I found him interesting. What with his ability to meld with ancient prothean ciphers and all... What I meant as scientific intrigue, he took as-”

“Sexual interest?”

Liara nodded. “Yes. I was young and inexperienced. Looking back on it now, there were things I would not have said. But I seemed to encourage his behavior without realizing it. And. He… well… kissed me one night.”

“He did?!” Traynor gasped, leaning in closer as she listened eagerly.

Liara nodded. 

“Annnd?” Traynor probed.

“Oh, I didn’t care for it,” Liara admitted with a soft chuckle. “I don’t have much experience with physical intimacy, especially not with humans. But… he was somewhat forceful. And his facial hair felt like… I’m not sure how to describe it.”

“Rubbing off on sandpaper?” Traynor offered.

Liara felt her eyes narrow. “I don’t believe I’ve ever felt paper made of sand.”

A laugh radiated out of the Specialist, making her eyes squint. After a moment she smiled, a reddish hue tinting her cheeks and neckline. “It was rough and scratchy?”

“Oh, yes.” Liara nodded. “He hadn’t shaved for several solar days when it happened.”

Traynor smirked. “Yeah. Sandpaper. It’s ruddy gross.” Her smirk then pulled farther to the right, taking on a mischievous look. “Kissing human women isn’t anything like that,” she said suggestively.

The switch in her tone sent a pulse through Liara, ending deep into her azure. The woman’s tone had dropped slightly lower and her eyes relentlessly held Liara’s own. She’d never experienced such a reaction in herself like this before but it gave her a surge of confidence. Despite being still relatively inexperienced, there was something about the Specialist that made her feel comfortable. Like she was in a space where it was safe for her to act on feelings she’d only ever read about in silly books when her mind needed a break from the never-ending information feed of being the Shadow Broker. 

Most of all, though, this wasn’t the first time Traynor had caught the attention of her entire body. They’d worked together to establish the GUI interface after Liara had joined the ship. It had been helpful, as Liara had been able to divert the needed power and cabling that she needed for her various systems while she worked alongside Traynor in the ducts. Since then, they often shared tea together after missions or when Liara happened across her in the mess. She was the best company on the ship without question. Always eager to talk to her and always able to match her level of scientific inquiry.

“Well, I am an asari of science,” she started as she bent over, placing her mug of tea on the ground by the leg of the couch. Samantha watched her curiously but stayed quiet, listening attentively. “I can’t come to a proper conclusion without proper testing.”

Traynor’s gaze locked with Liara’s as she rolled her bottom lip through her teeth. She then moved, bending and putting her own mug down on the floor before sitting back up. Samantha looked Liara’s face over again. “As a woman of science and math myself,” she started, her tone maintaining its suggestive lilt. “Data integrity is extremely important to the scientific process. Which means you should gather all of the data personally.”

Liara smiled. “It would be negligent of me to proceed any other way.” 

The pressure of Traynor’s knee against her leg increased as she leaned forward. Her brown eyes roved over Liara’s body. And for once, it didn’t feel like she was being assessed or an object that someone wanted to devour or judge. Traynor’s gaze was playful and appreciative. 

“I’d be happy to help you gather the data,” she said, her voice soft and only for Liara to hear. “For the sake of science, of course.” But Traynor remained still, her posture leaned in and her eyes never leaving Liara’s. 

Liara could feel her heart thrumming through her bones. She had spent enough time with humans now to be sure that Traynor’s banter was flirtatious. The way she leaned in, the way her pink lips were parted just so made it apparent that she was genuinely offering despite the playfulness of her suggestion. In other circumstances, others would have simply moved in and kissed her; but Traynor stayed still. Waiting. 

Her cheeks flushed with warmth when it clicked: Traynor was giving her the option. She didn’t have to kiss her if she didn’t want to, and it seemed clear that the Specialist wasn’t going to kiss her and then blame her for leading her on as Shepard had done all those years ago. Traynor was leaving the space open so Liara had time to make the decision herself. The realization made Liara’s heart flutter more sporadically, but she smiled and leaned in. 

“Strictly for science,” Liara teased back, her words spoken just before she pressed her lips against the Specialist’s. When their lips met, a hum of satisfaction radiated out of Liara’s throat that she wasn’t at all expecting. But the sound seemed to intrigue Samantha, as she leaned further in, placing a delicate hand on the side of Liara’s face.

By the goddess, she thought as Samantha’s tongue slid against her own. The movement of their mouths sent another pulse that radiated throughout her body, but ached demandingly, deep in her azure. At first, she wasn’t sure what her body was doing until she felt the distinct pull in the back part of her mind. She could feel her entire nervous system as it yearned for her to engage in a meld as her lips and tongue moved with Samantha’s. But just as she registered what it was that her body and mind wanted, Samantha began to lean away. 

Liara wanted to grab for her, to not let the moment stop. But Traynor had been so respectful about letting her make the decision to engage that she knew it would be rude of her to try and keep her longer than she felt comfortable. 

As their lips parted, Liara’s eyes opened slowly and watched as the honey-skinned woman leaned away, a satisfied smile playing along her lips. Her eyes then opened from their half-lidded state, going slightly wide as her hand moved higher, her thumb caressing along Liara’s brow.

“Your eyes,” she said breathlessly. “They’re black.”

“What?” Liara blinked and turned away. But as she did so, she felt it too - the haze around her vision. An indication that her body still wanted to meld minds with the woman in front of her. “I’m so sorry. It’s… it’s not normally like this,” Liara said frantically.

Samantha’s hand gently pulled her to look back towards her, her thumb caressing along Liara’s cheekbone. “Is everything alright? Are you in pain?” Her voice was saturated with concern, her previous mischievous and suggestive lilt nowhere to be heard. 

Liara closed her eyes and placed her hand overtop Samantha’s, leaning her cheek into the touch. “No. Quite the contrary, actually.”

“What do you mean?”

Liara waited to respond and forced her mind to relax. A meld with someone, especially a meld with someone who she was so attracted to, was dangerous to do this quickly. She could show too much, or go too quickly and hurt Traynor, or she could lose herself and her control and have an unplanned child. Despite how naturally it came on from the Specialist’s touch, it was not the time for it.

“Have you heard of the asari mind meld?” Liara asked, as she slowly opened her eyes. The haze around her vision was gone. Samantha’s own eyes blinked and Liara swore she heard the woman say “wow” under her breath. The indicators all pointed to her eyes having gone back to their natural blue.

“I’ve read quite a bit about it, yeah.”

Liara simply nodded, ignoring the warmth radiating into her cheeks again. “I’ve never had it start on its own before. Normally it takes a fair bit of mental effort to engage.”

Samantha smirked. “So are you saying we just…”

“No,” Liara said softly. “It didn’t fully manifest. It did catch me by surprise, however.” She then smiled to herself and made direct eye contact with Samantha. “Perhaps all human women have a similar effect on Asari.”

“Or maybe perhaps just this one?” Traynor asked, her tone returning to is previously playful canter as her eyebrows waggled up and down. 

“I think I’d need to gather more data on that,” Liara said, allowing herself to smile.

“On other human women?” Traynor asked. 

Liara might have imagined it but Traynor’s tone shifted into uncertainty and nervousness. 

“No,” Liara said as she put her hand down onto Traynor’s thigh, her fingers pulling at the seam of her Alliance fatigues and applying pressure to indicate she wanted the woman closer. “Just this one,” she repeated.

Traynor smiled, moving forward as Liara’s not so subtle fingers demanded. “Take all the data you need.”

Their lips crashed together, hungrier than before. Liara let her hands move up to wrap around Traynor’s neck to pull her even closer. Her body was more than eager to move and pushed forward, her hands going to Liara’s shoulders as she realigned her body to pin the asari to the couch.

“For the love of -” Lieutenant Commander Williams’ voice echoed through the observatory room. “I sleep in here! Don’t you have an entire room of your own?!”

Samantha tore her lips away from Liara as they both looked to the doorway. Before Liara wanted to respond, but she was distracted by the haze of her vision again. 

“Terribly sorry,” Samantha said as she stood up from the couch, her hand firmly grabbing Liara’s hand and guiding her up. “We were just about to leave.”

“I’m sure,” Williams said as she crossed her arms over her chest and jutted her hip out to the side. 

Liara let Traynor lead her from the couch and across the room. She had half a mind to try and grab for their mugs, but the Specialist’s steps were too quick. They both muttered another apology to the LC before passing her in the doorway to leave.

“Ugh, when did the Normandy become the damn SS Love Boat?” they heard Williams mutter as the door closed behind them. 

The haze dissipated from her vision just as her eyes met Traynor’s again. They both broke into a fit of laughter, holding onto each others’ arms just outside of the observatory room door. 

With laughter still shining in her eyes, Traynor confidently took Liara’s hand again and took a preemptive step down the hall. “Would you like to maybe continue what was interrupted in your quarters?”