Renala is sitting in one of the booths, the one nearest the bar on the right side when looking from the bottom of the stairs. There's a cup of coffee and an empty plate on the table before her. Her omni-tool is enabled, with two 'screens' with text projected from it, an image of a Carnifex on one of them should give a hint. As for the other, it's just a bunch of text written in some asari language.
#Miner'sRespite – August 16, 2013
Steve slowly makes his way down the stairs of the Respite, a sluggishness in his step hinting at his lingering fatigue. His white t-shirt and jeans are accompanied by a new accessory: a white gauze pad on his cheek. Once he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he spots Renala and a faint smile crosses his lips as he moves towards the bar to place his order.
Renala spots Steve in the corner of her eyes, and nods to him with a slight smile. She begins tapping on her omni-tool. She takes another sip of her coffee.
Steve speaks with the bartender for a few moments. Once served, he grabs his plate and glass and approaches Renala's booth. "Morning." he says, setting his breakfast on the table and sliding into a seat across from the asari, "Sleep well?"
Renala nods. "Morning," she says as she let the two omni-tool projected 'screens' dissipate. "Yeah, I slept well enough." She picks up her coffee cup and takes a small sip of the still warm liquid. "How about you?"
Steve sighs and shakes his head. "I got a couple hours." he says as he pokes at his eggs. "Were you able to get in touch with the kid?"
Renala | "Yeah," she says. "There's no surprise she tried to call me nine times while I was off on that job. She did that the day I traveled here too." She takes another sip of her coffee.
Iressa gradually makes her way down the steps, yawning into her hand. Slipping into a seat at the bar, she blinks her tired eyes, spotting the Krogan's morning drink from a few seats away. She chuckles, "I should be surprised, but I'm really not. Ever heard of breakfast?"
Renala nods, a small smile visible on her face. "Yeah, of course," she says. "The girl's just very worrisome. I think she has that from her mother." She picks up the coffee cup.
Iressa smirks in response, getting up and closing the gap between them, settling into a closer seat. "I might just have to take you up on that offer, provided you don't consider this liquid death you're drinking to be 'breakfast." She forces a disgusted look directed at the bottle resting on the counter, shuddering visibly.
Darsk orders breakfast for both. " Aliens are just too delicate to appreciate the fine edge of a good ryncol."
Steve runs his hand along the gauze on his cheek, checking to make sure it stayed in place. "It's good to have someone in your life that worries about you. Gives you a reason to look after yourself."
Renala leans a bit back, bringing the cup up to take a small sip of it. "Yeah, I suppose so," she says, "though she's too quick to assume the worst when I don't answer calls."
Iressa holds her up hands, "Hey, no one's disputing that. All I'm saying is that you can keep it. Really."
Steve chuckles and nods to himself. "She cares about you. And that's why you need to find yourself a job that doesn't require you to hike through the freezing cold to count dead bodies."
Renala sighs. "Yeah, though that seems to be easier said than done," she says. "I'm not going to do anything for Hinpinn anymore. That's for sure."
Iressa snatches up the bottle with sly grin, peering inside. "You know what, maybe I just haven't given it enough of a chance. You seem to enjoy it, how bad could it be?" Hopping off the seat, she turns from him, pretending to take a good long drink.
Steve snorts and takes a large swig of coffee. "No argument there. An absolute waste of time. With what they're paying it's no wonder their employees decided to make off with a truck full of equipment."
Iressa shakes her head in a 'How's he buying this?' sort of way, poking at her breakfast to pass the time.
Renala frowns. "Good point. Can't say I'd blame them for that." She pauses, taking a sip of her almost-empty cup of coffee. "Maybe I'll check out that IT firm," she says. "Might not be exciting work there, but at least it could be more stable in the long term."
Steve takes another bite of his food. "That doesn't sound half bad." he says, gesturing with his fork, "Stable is good. Stable puts food on the table and keeps you out of trouble." He jabs his fork into the last remaining piece of egg and pushes it around his plate for a moment before scooping it into his mouth. "I'm tired of 'exciting'. Give me stable any day of the week." he mutters as he sets his fork down and pushes the plate aside.
Renala | "I admit I still like excitement, even if I put the maiden stage behind me decades ago," she says, "but I can't argue with that." She pauses. "Hopefully their hiring for anything other than 'IT helpdesk'."
Steve drains the rest of his cup and sets it on his plate. "What were you doing before you decided to travel here?"
Galatea enters the bar in her usual fashion, walking smoothly towards the bar in a businesslike fashion and calmly waiting to be served.
Renala drinks the rest of her cup, as it was nearly empty, but doesn't put it on the table yet. "I worked as a programmer for a company in Armali for nearly twenty years," she answers. "I still question my decision to quit that job, but what's done is done."
Iressa stacks the plates from her and Darsk's meal on the counter, pushing them away. Precise footsteps catch her attention, and she spots Galatea taking up a seat near her. Almost tentatively, she offers a greeting. "Good morning."
Steve nods. "Ain't that the truth..." he says with a sigh. "Well, I'm due for a refill." he begins, grabbing his empty coffee cup, "How about you let me buy ya another cup of coffee?"
Iressa blinks, "I... well, that's good. Say, I remember seeing you around, but I don't believe I know your name."
You are correct. I am called Galatea. I believe social protocol requires me to ask for your name in turn, is that correct?
Renala nods and places her empty cup on the table. "Yeah, that'd be much appreciated," she says with a small smile.
Iressa furrows her brow, slowly offering her response. "Iressa. You can call me Iressa. I believe that's the protocol."
Renala thinks for a moment. "Normal coffee, I guess." She don't really know too much about the drink, let alone the various types of it.
Iressa shrugs, "It's fairly mild. Nothing to complain about." She taps her fingers against the counter, not sure how to ask what's on her mind with any sort of tact. "You have a very... precise way of speaking, did anyone ever tell you that?"
Not on those exact words, but it is often the subject of some concern among those I converse with. I do not see the problem. The primary purpose of conversation is the exchange of information, it should therefore be presented in as concise and structured a way as possible.
Steve raises an eyebrow. "Normal, eh?" he asks playfully, "Not much of a coffee drinker, are ya? It's okay, I won't hold it against you." he says with a wink. After moving to the bar, a familiar figure comes into view. Steve sets the two cups on the counter and unwittingly stands between Galatea and Iressa. "Two more. Black." he says as the bartender approaches before turning to Galatea. "How ya doin', Gal?" he asks, unaware of the conversation he's interrupting.
Renala nods to his question, but remains at the booth. While waiting, she continues reading the article she was reading earlier: something about the Carnifex pistol.
Iressa observes the two conversing, figuring the human must be far more used to her way of speaking than she is. Taking the oppertunity, she gets up from her seat and walks about the bar to stretch her legs.
Steve retrieves the two cups that are placed on the counter. "Uhh... You're welcome? ....Anyway, Rens waiting on me." he says, nodding towards the booth, "You're more than welcome to join us."
Steve heads back to the booth and sets one of the cups in front of Renala. "One normal coffee." he says with a smile before sliding back into his seat.
Renala takes the cup with a nod, returning the smile. "Thank you," she says before turning her gaze towards Galatea. "Hey 'Tea. How's it going?"
Renala is interrupted by her omni-tool's beeping, frowning. "I told that girl how to check my local time," she mutters. "Sorry, I got to go." She stands up and makes her way out of the booth. "I'll be right back." Without awaiting response, she makes her way upstairs, answering the call while doing so.
Steve slides further in his seat and watches Renala until she disappears out of sight. "Looks like it's just you and me, Gal. What's new?"
Steve furrows his brow. "Uhh... Is anything-..." he pauses, carefully considering his words, "Has anything in your life changed since we last spoke?"
I am achieving positive responses in conversations with a 45% higher success rate, which leads me to believe I am approaching optimization of the process of exchanging information efficiently and correctly.
I will have contributed new and highly valuable insights for Cord-Hislop's software development division which could lead to a whole new series of innovations.
Iressa continues to wander the establishment, giving patrons a respectable berth but still catching bits of their conversations. Eventually she comes to the enterance, and casts a quick glance toward the stairs behind her before slipping out the door with a grin.
Steve pivots in his seat, leaning his elbow against the table. "Dumb it down. Drop the technical mumbo jumbo and just-... Dumb it down."
But it is an inefficient and imprecise method of communication. If exact words exist for what I wish to express, clearly I should use them to leave the least possible room for misinterpretation in my statements.
Steve smiles and shakes his head. "We're inefficient and imprecise beings, Gal. You can't just-..." he stops sharply and shakes his head once again, "Nevermind. You're right. Keep doing what you do." he says, realizing it's not worth debating.
Steve takes a long sip of his coffee and sets the cup back down. "Anytime. Hey, sorry to cut and run but it's been a long couple of days... You won't hold it against me if I go and try to catch up on some sleep, will ya?"
Steve gives her a nod and heads towards the stairs, taking a slight detour to drop off his plate and cup at the bar before disappearing up the stairs.
Galatea stays there by herself, occasionally sipping her drink and otherwise seeming busy with processing what Steve told her.
Renala returns a minute later, descending the staircase. A slight frown crosses her face as she sees Steve isn't there, and she didn't meet him in the stairs. She wanders over to the booth. "Sorry about that," she says to Galatea before reclaiming her previous seat and picking up her cup of coffee.
Renala takes a somewhat long sip of her coffee, the temperature fallen to slightly warm. "How is your work going?"
Galatea pulls an odd face, as though concentrating really hard. "It's goin' pretty well, what 'bout yerself?"
Renala tils her head, raising her brows in surprise. "Goddess. What happened with your way of speaking?" she asks, curious. "As my work, I'll be lying if I said it was going well. That Hinpinn job's pay was a joke."
Galatea still seems to be putting a great deal of effort into her speech. "Aww, bugger. Trying to speak differently now, Steve said I should 'dumb it down'."
Renala chuckles. "I think he's got a point," she says. "I've dealt with managment back in my old job, so I don't mind formaily, but I can see the reasons for simplifying the language. Besides, won't most of your data gathered here be relevant to informal conversation?"