Liselle T'Loak froze at the sound of stomping, muffled footsteps beyond her bedroom door. It was enough for her to tell her mother was not only home, but not happy. It had not happened often, but frequently enough for Liselle to tell that her mother was distressed about something. And when Aria got distressed she never got depressed or cried. She got angry. And any examples of her remaining calm and saving face for her troops, the public or whoever had pissed her off so much were exhausted by the time she got home. She didn't need to do that here after all. Anything she had bottled up and hidden from anybody who would see her as being weak to get emotional or distressed by something was set free when she entered her own palace. Afterlife was for her image, but this is where Aria truly was herself.
Liselle clasped the collar of dress she was trying on around her throat to secure it before leaving her room, where she found Aria already muttering and pacing about the main living room. Aria swore a couple of times more loudly before using her biotics to send an innocent and expensive vase shattering against the wall, some of its wayward shards tearing up some canvas on a nearby painting that was, until that moment, just as valuable. Liselle stood there and waited, and it took another couple of lengths of the room before Aria looked up and saw her daughter waiting there. She stopped with a loud sigh, hands on her hips as she looked briefly at the floor before meeting Liselle's eyes with a frustrated scowl. Liselle could tell it was not directed at her, but merely the result from her mother's frustrated demeanor.
"Liselle. Good. You're home," Aria stated firmly. "That saves me sending somebody for you."
"Why?" Liselle queried, the two horizontal curves of violet above each eye becoming angled as she frowned. "What happened?"
"Best you not know," Aria said, clearly sick of talking about the matter long ago and not wanting to deal with it again. "All you need to know is one thing." Aria paused briefly and gave Liselle a very serious glare. "Don't. Leave. The house."
"What? But I was planning on going out to-"
"All plans are off!" Aria interrupted firmly. "You are staying here. There is no room for discussion on the matter."
"For how long?" Liselle said with frustration.
"Until I say otherwise," Aria stated, crossing her arms unwaveringly. "You need anything, I will organize it. No friends though. And no outside calls. And when I say 'need' I mean 'need' too. No mere wants or frivolities. You come to me and I'll determine if it's necessary or not. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes," Liselle nodded. "Except for the why of it all?"
"I already said it's best that you didn't know," Aria repeated. "Let's just say that somebody has fucked with me, and seem to be going out of their way to continue doing so. And until I can remove them, nowhere is safe and nobody is to be trusted."
"No jobs for me then?" Liselle asked straightforwardly.
"Can't risk it," Aria said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "You're too closely linked to me. Your stranded here until it blows over." A pause. "Or up." Another pause and a sigh. "Don't worry, I will compensate you for any work you'll be missing out on," Aria finished, trying to sound reassuring.
"If it's so dangerous, what about you?" Liselle queried, crossing her arms. While Liselle was concerned for her mother's safety, the way she said it sounded more like she knew Aria wasn't going to trap herself in the same manner and it wasn't fair that her mother didn't apply the same restrictions on herself.
"I must continue on as if everything is normal," Aria said firmly. "It would show weakness to not. I doubt they will be so bold as to make any moves at Afterlife anyway. Even if they did, they'd fail."
"Can I at least call the girls and tell them I won't be there tonight?" Liselle huffed.
"No direct calls," Aria stated firmly. "Text-based Extranet message and that's it. After that, no external communications. Understood?"
Liselle just nodded and Aria returned one, then stomped off again, muttering once more with frustration.
For the next five days Liselle was stranded in her own home, while Aria left early in the morning and returned late in the evening. Liselle soon became restless, sick of watching vids and playing video games. They had a personal gym, but even working out wasn't helping. Liselle needed somebody to talk to and interact with. All of Aria's men who were guarding the place were doing so from outside and they were forbidden from interacting with Liselle by Aria's strict orders. The only other person inside was their long-serving asari maid Melayna that cleaned the place and served Liselle any food she might want, but she too had told Liselle on the first day that Aria had instructed her to not speak with Liselle and only do her duties. Even when her mother returned from work, Aria mostly ignored Liselle and pored over datapads and other information in her office.
It was on the night of that fifth day when things changed for Liselle. Aria came home, later than normal, and looking more frustrated and exhausted than usual. Liselle hadn't noticed the latter though, blinded by her own frustrations. She couldn't take any more, and the fact that she'd been holding onto the rant she was planning for so long because her mother was so late back only made it worse. Before Aria could even catch her breath after entering the house, Liselle stormed up to her and did what few dared to do: yelled at Aria T'Loak.
"It's about fucking time you got back! You need to tell me what the fuck is going on now, mother! Because, by the Goddess, I am fucking sick of being cooped up in this fucking house with nobody to talk to and nothing to do for a reason I don't even fucking know!"
Liselle's answer came a few seconds later as a firm slap across the face, strong enough to send the younger T'Loak reeling and stumbling. She managed to stabilize herself before falling and looked at Aria with wide-eyed shock. Aria's blue eyes seemed to burn back at Liselle, her mouth beneath them an emotionless line. Aria's show of dominance and strength didn't last though as she let out a frustrated sigh and her once proud, tall stance loosened and her whole body seemed to sag.
"By the Goddess, Liselle," Aria muttered. "Now's not the time. I've don't far too much today to fix everything and yet get nowhere to put up with your unappreciative prattle."
Aria walked past Liselle before her daughter could respond, straight to the bar behind her to get herself a drink. She'd already had plenty that day, her domain of Afterlife meaning she had easily access to the stuff. Yet it still hadn't been enough. Liselle just watched Aria silently as she downed a quick shot and her mother looked at her with a creased brow. Aria sighed and snagged another shot glass from the counter between two fingers and flicked it to her daughter, who caught it more as a reflex than anything else.
"Come on. Join me," Aria said, then she let out a small laugh as Liselle carefully approached. "You say we never spend enough time doing stuff together."
Liselle looked into her mother's eyes and saw at least some of her mother's strength remained, even if she seemed at the end of her rope. Liselle placed the shot glass face-up on the counter and slid it back over to her mother, nodding after Aria stopped it. Aria smiled again and dribbled some liquid into it, then sent it back across the counter into Liselle's waiting hand. Liselle smiled briefly as thanks to her mother, then downed the shot.
"I'm surprised if you're as frustrated as you say that you didn't raid this stuff already," Aria smirked, pouring another for herself.
"Are you kidding," Liselle said, slightly raspy from the shot she'd just taken. She slid the glass back once Aria had finished pouring her second. "You'd have killed me."
"No," Aria said, filling another for Liselle. "I'd have just thrown you outside and let my enemies do it for me." She flashed a sinister, yet playful, grin. "That way they'd be doing me a favor and I'd have less blood to clean off my clothing."
Liselle laughed, catching her returning shot. She downed it, shook her head then let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, mother."
"Damn fucking right you are!" Aria snapped back, the base of the bottle in her hand thundering down upon the bench. "If you had any idea what I'm out there doing to make sure this shit doesn't get worse and keeping your pretty purple ass from harm, you wouldn't be so fucking impudent!"
"But I don't know," Liselle defended, cracks of frustration rippling across her words. "That's the biggest problem. I'm stuck here in the dark. Alone. Bored. Confused. Angry. Horny. Frustrated."
"I'm not telling you," Aria stated in that manner that said the matter was closed. That didn't hinder Liselle this time though.
"Why not!"
"Because you're too much like me!" Aria snapped back, leaning forward on the counter to stare her daughter directly in the eyes.
Liselle just blinked at her mother, and Aria sighed in frustration and leaned back again. She poured herself another shot and knocked it back.
"You can stay here now because I've ordered you do," Aria stated plainly. "Because you know what I'll do if you disobey me. That's all well and good when that's all it is and you know nothing else. But as soon as you get even a morsel of what's going on, you'll start sniffing out the scent and try and get to the bottom of it all. Because that's what I'd do."
"Wh-what's wrong with that?" Liselle said. "You complimented me. In the highest way."
"Stop sucking up," Aria stated. "It's beneath you."
Liselle lowered her head, shamed by her mother's comment. Aria cleared her throat and continued. "You're young, that's what's wrong. Inexperienced. You aren't ready for conflict in this scale yet. I wouldn't have been when I was your age either."
Liselle's brow twisted in thought and she gave a small nod. "I think I understand."
"Good," Aria said, and she threw another shot back. "Deal with the inconvenience. You'll grow stronger for it. You think these last five days are frustrating for you? You think you're the only one sacrificing your life for this?"
"No," Liselle responded, starting to feel guilty.
"Damn fucking right you're not!" Aria said firmly. "I've lost men over this. Seven good men today alone. So don't you tell about 'sacrifice' until you know it."
"Sorry. I won't," Liselle said, shrinking back.
"And I'm not just talking about these past few days," Aria said. "You've got it easy. You can afford to normally go out with your friends every week. You can just have fun in your time off. You can get laid without it being a liability." Aria paused and looked directly at Liselle. "Running Omega doesn't afford as much freedom as you may think."
"Why is getting laid a liability for you?" Liselle asked. "You're the Queen of Omega. You could have anybody you wanted."
"I can only afford to get close to so many," Aria stated with clear frustration. "Anybody who I get close to is somebody that can be used against me, and somebody that can be put at risk. It causes problems for me, and problems for them. That's why I've tended to only get involved with anybody who can take care of themselves." Aria swallowed back another shot. "And why it's been such a long time since I have."
Aria reached forward and grabbed Liselle's glass then started to fill it. She smirked at her daughter. "So you're not the only one that's been horny."
Liselle blushed, then almost missed the glass when Aria slid it back. She raised it to her lips and slid the liquid down her throat slower this time, watching as Aria winced and rubbed her neck and shoulders with a pained expression.
