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It was far too beautiful of a drive to ever truly get used to.
Once the skycar left the city in its rearview, it was all rolling hills and lush foliage, a few towering estates here and there until the road finally swept out toward the call of the sea. With the waves crashing on one side, the wind-rustled tree line on the other, the final leg of the trip was always, by far, the most breathtaking. The most inspiring. The most peaceful. And not solely because it was nice to look at, but…because it led home.
The car rounded a curve in the road and slowed to a stop in front of a glowing security checkpoint. Within a fraction of a second, the flashing red STOP symbol changed to a bright green WELCOME, and the vehicle slipped in through the shimmering forcefield of a surprisingly modest private residence. Past a reasonably well-maintained lawn with only a few worn patches from the scuff of little feet – and some bigger ones, too – during a game of backyard biotiball. Past a small grove of trees, branches alive with hundreds of bright violet blossoms that dropped their petals like stardust onto the grass below. And, finally, up to the front door of a spacious white farmhouse, where the skycar paused to deliver its single occupant.
Liara stepped out onto the synthetic brick pathway and stared up at the house with a smile, a soft sigh escaping her lungs as she reached back into the car to retrieve an armful of shopping bags. Then, the skycar closed its doors and dutifully drove off to park itself in the nearby garage. By the time it had shut off its engines and settled into place, Liara had already disappeared inside, pausing just a few steps into the foyer to listen for any indication of which room her bondmate was currently located in.
Soft, frustrated grunting from the back of the first floor was her answer.
She readjusted the bags over her arm and followed the noise, rounding the corner and stopping in the doorway of their home gym. There, on the far side of the room, she found Shepard; red hair swept up into a short, messy ponytail, clad only in a sports bra and tight – much appreciated from behind, Liara had to admit – little workout shorts, and clearly struggling mid-rep on the pull-up bar.
A grin quirked at the corners of Liara’s lips, and she lifted one eyebrow in amusement as she listened to the muttered string of curses tumbling off of Shepard’s tongue.
“Come on, you…fucking…limp-ass…noodle,” she huffed.
Liara couldn’t resist a snort at that, and the sound startled Shepard enough that she shot a glance back over her shoulder before dropping down to the floor with a pained wince.
“Hey, beautiful,” Shepard smiled at her, stretching out her arms and not-so-subtly flexing her abs as she crossed the room to deliver a kiss to Liara’s lips.
“Hello, my love,” Liara chuckled. She brought her free hand up to trail her fingertips across Shepard’s middle, reveling in the proud grin Shepard flashed her in response, and then she kissed her again. Dropped her voice to a whisper. “Thanks for the show.”
“I try.”
With another grin and a sparkling wink, Shepard took the bags from Liara’s hand and threw her other arm around her shoulder, guiding them back out toward the main living area.
“Get everything you needed?”
“Everything I needed, everything I wanted, and also a few things I didn’t realize I needed or wanted until I saw them on the shelf.”
Shepard laughed and gave her a squeeze.
“Only the best for you, my love.”
“Would you like to see the party favors I selected?”
There was something in the tone of her voice, teasing and mischievous, that gave Shepard pause. She raised her eyebrows, set the bags down on the kitchen counter, and crossed her arms over her chest while Liara practically beamed at her, eyes bright and twinkling.
“I don’t know,” Shepard said slowly. “Do I?”
“Oh, I think so.”
Liara rustled through her spoils from the day’s shopping trip and smiled triumphantly when she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a t-shirt, black with some sort of red and gray design on the front, and she let it roll open for Shepard to observe. When she realized what she was looking at, the warm laughter that rippled out of her was enough to make Liara’s heart do a backflip.
In a jagged, aggressive script, the shirt screamed ‘fUcK thE ReApeRS!’ in bright red letters, a gray shadow making the words stand out even more against the dark color of the fabric beneath. Down in the bottom corner of the design, a tiny cartoon Shepard raised her middle finger, tongue out and eyes flashing in animated defiance.
“You like?” Liara asked quietly.
Shepard chuckled again and took the shirt from Liara’s hands, dropping it back into the bag it came from as she leaned in to steal a kiss.
“Yeah,” she answered finally. She left another light kiss on the tip of Liara’s nose before adding, “It’s perfect. And I can already hear the jokes about my resemblance to the little cartoon ‘me’ so…thanks for that.”
“Only the best for you, my love.”
In response to the smug grin Liara sent her way, Shepard poked her in the side, left and then right, then pulled her into a hug when she started to squirm. They were both still laughing when Liara’s hands laced around her back, head resting on her shoulder. For a moment, as the laughter began to calm, they simply held each other. Relaxed and content, Shepard’s hands softly roving up and down Liara’s spine, Liara’s breath warm against the base of her throat.
After a minute, Liara lifted her head to peer up at Shepard, leaning back a little without breaking out of the embrace.
“So,” she said quietly, “what was your count? Before I interrupted?”
Shepard shook her head and sighed, the beginnings of a frown crinkling along her forehead.
“A hundred and fucking thirty. And I could barely squeeze those out.”
“Would that be why you called yourself a ‘limp-ass noodle’?” Liara asked innocently.
She was pleased to earn another light chuckle, though she knew, beneath it, Shepard was indeed quite frustrated with herself.
“I was actually calling my arm a limp-ass noodle,” Shepard corrected with a smile, “but…yes. That would be why.”
She shook her head again and let out another sigh.
“It’s been almost two years since the last time we managed to get everyone together like this, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let Vega show me up after all the little jabs he’s gotten in about me ‘going soft’ in the group chat.”
“Personally,” Liara whispered, letting her hands roam up Shepard’s skin, slipping underneath the band of her sports bra just enough to tease before looping her elbows around the back of her neck and pulling her in so close their lips brushed together as she continued speaking, “I love that you’ve gone a little soft.”
A hint of pink crept into Shepard’s cheeks. She cleared her throat a little and shook her head.
“But…but that’s not-”
When Liara kissed her, the protest died on her lips. Unlike their chaste greeting, or their brief pecks between laughs, this kiss was slow, and warm, and rippling with desire through a connection neither had even realized they’d opened between them. It sparked the flicker of flame low in her hips, delicious tendrils of heat in her chest, her ears, her cheeks. By the time Liara finally broke the kiss and pulled back to smile at her through lidded eyes, Shepard’s heart was positively racing.
“Whoa,” she breathed, resting her forehead against Liara’s as she felt her chuckle a little into the air between them.
Liara let one hand drift down to her chest and gave it a gentle pat.
“Well,” she said quietly, “I suppose it wouldn’t do to let Vega best you in your own home.”
“Mmm…Vega who?”
Liara laughed again and gave her light shove backward.
“How many do you need for the new record?”
“To beat my own…” She trailed off as her gaze wandered its way down Liara’s body and back again, meeting her raised eyebrows with a start before coughing lightly and adding, “It’s…uh…hundred and eighty-four.”
With another amused grin, Liara took her by the hand.
“Then I suppose we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
“We?”
At the look Liara gave her, Shepard felt the blush in her cheeks burn into a bright crimson.
“Yes, we.” Soft blue hands traveled up over her wrists, her elbows, resting on her biceps with a light squeeze. Liara leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “The kids are with their granddad while we get ready for our guests…and I can think of several ways to exercise those arms of yours, darling.”
For a second, maybe two, the only sound Shepard could hear was the pounding of her own heart.
Then she grinned.
Hooked her hands under Liara’s thighs and hoisted her up into her arms, kissing her, feeling her surprised chuckle echo into her mouth as she moved them toward the stairs.
“I think…I’m going to need a lot…of special conditioning,” she muttered between breaths.
Liara took her face into her hands, bright blue eyes meeting hazy green, and she reached up to tangle her fingers in her hair. She grinned at Shepard, felt the whisper of her consciousness asking a silent question, and in its answer, her eyes darkened to black.
“Then let’s get started, love.”