#Miner'sRespite – October 26, 2013

Va'ynna is already sitting at the bar, alone. An empty plate is being collected by the bar staff at this moment, which should explain why. There's an almost-empty glass of beer on the counter before her. As for her clothing, it looks like what she wore the last time she was down here.

Jason enters the Respite in his typical blue-and-white hardsuit and strolls past the customers sitting around the establishment, heading straight for the bar. Spotting Va'ynna, he takes a seat on the stool beside her and orders his regular drink. "Evening V." he says with a smile.

Va'ynna hesitate for a brief moment bfore looking up at the human taking the seat beside her, and returns a weak smile. "Hey," she says. "How... are you?" She wraps a hand around her drink, but it remains on the table for now.

Jason shrugs and gives the bartender a nod as his drink is set in front of him. "Can't complain, I suppose. Not much going on at the moment. How about you? Any excitement on your end?"

Va'ynna remains quiet for a second before shaking her head. "No," she replies, "I'm still looking for work... no luck." She brings her glass up to her lips. "With only eighteen days' worth of creds left... it's worrying."

Jason takes a sip of his drink and nods quietly to himself. "What are your options if you can't find work before then?"

Va'ynna turns towards the counter, remaining silent for a couple seconds. "I... don't know," she says, placing the drink back on the counter. "I just hope it won't come to that."

Va'ynna stares at her drink, taking a deep breath. "There's... mother," she says, "but I haven't heard from her since-... for a long time."

Jason leans forward, resting his forearms against the counter. "Think if you reached out to her she'd help you out?"

Va'ynna brings a hand up to her forehead. "I don't know," she murmurs. "I doubt it. It's been decades." A pause follows as she picks up her glass and sips the remainder of it. "She could have moved to another world by now, even."

Jason raises an eyebrow. "Decades?" he asks, "I don't mean to pry-..." he begins before shrugging, "Alright... That's exactly what I mean to do. Why haven't you spoken to your family in so long?"

Va'ynna sighs. "She's... um," she murmurs, frowning. "I don't want to talk about it." She looks up at the menu without purpose. "I hope that's okay?"

Jason shrugs. "Fine by me." he says, eyeing his drink, "Family tends to be a bit of a touchy subject for most people, so I certainly understand. Still... You've got nothing to lose by reaching out and trying, right?"

Va'ynna remains still for a few seconds, followed by a slight nod of her head. "I guess not," she says. "It's just... never mind." She pauses. "Besides, I still got those eighteen days."

Jason shifts a bit but continues to lean against the counter, "It's just what?" he asks, watching the asari, "Something on your mind, V?"

Va'ynna thinks for a few seconds, and then shakes her head. "No, nothing," she says before turning back to face Jason. "So, uh, how's your agency coming along?"

Jason chuckles to himself and shakes his head. "Real subtle." he says before leaning back and sighing, "I don't know, to be honest. Like I said before, my better half does all the real work. She hasn't exactly been keeping me in the loop. But, if I'm being honest, I don't particularly want to be 'kept in the loop'. Contracts and permits don't really interest me all that much." he says with a shrug and takes another swig of his drink, "So I leave all that to her. She needs me to go pick something up. I pick it up. I try not to ask too many questions, because if I do she might, you know, expect me to stop spending all day here and help her."

Va'ynna chuckles. "Yeah, that would be terrible," she says. "The only other person I know here is that turian." She looks around for a bartender before signaling him to come over.

Jason smiles and shrugs, "Or don't. Then who would I have to talk to?"

Va'ynna | "The turian?" she asks, not sounding too serious. "And yeah, I'll try. I think I have something that's less... formal, but I can't really go out and buy anything before I get a job." A bartender comes around to serve her and she orders an arbitrarily chosen light alcoholic drink.

Jason mutters to himself. "Shit-for-brains doesn't strike me as the best company. Seems to do everything he can to get under everyone elses skin. Not sure what his problem is..." he says. He lifts his glass and takes a brief sip before setting it back down. "Anyways... Can't say I have a very long list of people I know out here either. Aside from you, I suppose that leaves Asshat, boss lady, and Tarlon." he says before elaborating, "Uhh... The salarian you met." After a short delay, he raises a hand, "Oh! And there was a woman here looking for work... Victoria? Yeah... That's about it."

Va'ynna nods. "I know; he introduced himself as Tarlon... Well, an entire sentence that ended with Tarlon," she says. "Is it bad if I don't remember half of it?" The bartender places her ordered drink on the counter.

Jason chuckles loudly. "Hell, I've known him for some time now, and I don't even know his entire name. Think the first time he introduced himself, I fell asleep part way through and woke up in time to hear 'Tarlon'."

Va'ynna glances away, giggling a bit. "I was about to call him Sur'kesh," she says followed by a sheepish smile. "I've done that before, even... not my favorite day at work back home." She picks up her drink and takes a sip of it.

Jason laughs, smiling widely. "Can't imagine that went over too well, huh? It wasn't your boss, was it?"

Va'ynna shakes her head. "Thankfully, no," she says. "It was just an annoying customer, and he'd tell me how to do my job, that our computer system was wrong about something being sold out... all that." She takes another sip of her drink. "Using the first name of an order form, I wished him a nice day, and well, he wasn't very happy to start."

Jason smirks as he listens to the amusing story. "And that's why I'm happy I have someone else to take care of the client side of my business... What kind of work were you doing?"

Va'ynna | "Retail," she answers as she places her drink on the counter, still facing the human. "It was an electronics store, but they also sold many pieces of entertainment media."

Jason raises his glass, emptying the last of its contents. "Can't say I'm jealous..." he says, setting down the empty glass on the counter. "Takes a lot of patience for that kind of life, and I just don't have it." he sighs, "What about you? Did you enjoy that line of work?"

Va'ynna | "It had it's moments," she says. "Many of the customers are nice enough, but some just expect too much." She picks up her glass and sips it. "If I find retail work here, I'll apply. I don't have the time to be picky."

Jason shakes his head, "No thanks. I'd choose getting shot at any day of the week over-..." he gives a mock shudder, "...dealing with customers." He waves down the bartender and signals for a refill. "What about if it were up to you?" he asks, turning back to Va'ynna, "If it were in your hands, what would you do for a living?"

Va'ynna looks away for a moment. "Silly as it may sound, I'd want something.... exciting, like the military, or a merc, or something like that," she says. "Or maybe I just watched too many action vids a kid."

Jason smiles and pulls his refilled glass closer. "Maybe... It's certainly not as glamorous as they make it seem," he shrugs, "but I wouldn't have it any other way. Joined the Alliance as soon as I was old enough, so this is pretty much the only life I've ever known. Merc work has its ups and downs. There's potential to do some real good. Help people out. But it can definitely be dangerous..." he looks down towards the counter and nods to himself, sighing loudly.

Va'ynna picks up her drink, thinking for a moment. "I didn't really have the biotic skill necessary when I got old enough," she says. "The only real useful ability I have is making stasis fields, which I've practiced a little on the side for the last four years."

Jason pats at his thigh where his Phalanx is holstered. "As long as you're good with one of these, you don't need biotics to be successful in this field." he says with a wink.

Va'ynna nods. "I can fire a gun," she says, "but about ten-fifteen visits to a shooting range is about all experience I've got. And I've heard the protective gear isn't cheap."

Jason raps his gauntleted knuckles against his hardsuit, causing a loud clink. "Can get pretty expensive. But the stakes are too high to risk taking on a job without it. But as long as you take care of it, it'll last. This is the only hardsuit I've ever owned. She's taken a beating over the years, but she's saved my life on more occasions than I can count." he says, tapping numerous locations on the hardsuit where the paint has chipped away, or dings have had to be pounded out, leaving behind a slightly distorted finish, "I've thought about getting a replacement. But I don't think it'd feel right. Like turning my back on an old friend." he smirks.

Va'ynna glances over the hardsuit, her eyes following his hand which tapped on it. "There's probably more to it than the skills and gear, right?" she says. "Like, um, not freaking out when things get hot?" She picks up her drink and takes a long sip of it.

Jason rotates on his stool, facing the asari completely and leaning an elbow against the counter. "Well, sure. But that comes with training and experience. It's not really a career that you can just decide to enter into. Like most things in life, it's just not for everyone. For me, it's pretty much the only thing I've ever been good at. I tried building a normal life. Tried settling down on Earth. Had a small apartment. Regular job with a construction company." he gives a slight shake of his head, "I just couldn't do it. It felt-... It felt like a dead end, you know?" He gives another sigh and drinks from his glass, "I know this line of work will probably get me killed one day. Like somebody once told me, 'Nobody is lucky forever.' But it's the only time I feel like I'm at my best." he says, a slightly sad tone in his voice.

Va'ynna remains silent for a seconds after the human stops speaking. "Oh," she says. "I've only had dead-end jobs... and right now I'm looking for another." She picks up her drink and drinks most of the remainder, as it wasn't a large glass. "I've most of my maiden years ahead of me, I'll figure something out soon enough, I hope."

Jason cringes, realizing his words may have offended. "No... I didn't mean dead end in a, uh, bad way..." he sighs, "Okay... Well maybe I did, but just because they seem like dead end jobs to me, doesn't mean they are. I'm just trying to say that everyone has a different calling. Right? What's right for me, might not be right for you."

Va'ynna raises her brows for a short moment. "Hey, I have maybe a thousand years left," she begins, followed by a faint chuckle. "I think I can afford going down a few more dead ends while I figure out what to do with my life."

Jason 's smile returns once he realizes he didn't upset the asari. "I suppose that's one of the perks of living so long, huh? Well, in the mean time, maybe you should hit the range a bit more. I'm sure we'll be needing more guns when we're up and running." he teases.

Va'ynna returns a slight smile, humming thoughtfully. "At least it'll wait until I can spend creds on less essential things," she says before sipping the last of her drink. "I think I'll get going," she says before standing up. "It was good talking with you, Jason."

Jason nods in response. "Take care, V. I'll see you around." he says. He goes to take a sip of his drink but stops and calls out to Va'ynna, "Oh... And keep me updated on that whole work situation. Not sure what I can do for ya, but I'm certainly not gonna let you go hungry. If you can't find a job in the next couple weeks, we'll figure something out."

Va'ynna nods and is about to leave when the human speaks up, and she turns to face him, a grateful smile forming while he speaks. "That's... Thank you," she says. "I'll do my best to find a job before then, though, but the offer means a lot." She pauses. "I'll see you again." She lingers fro a few seconds, before making her way towards the stairs, and up to the second floor.

Jason returns to his drink with plans on spending the rest of the night parked on his stool.