Vasquez is not at her desk, for once, but rather on the floor of her office, doing pushups. Things are just as messy as always on the desk - if not more so, paper documents and datapads abound. Eezo Credits music is blasting from the speakers of her computer terminal - which is also showing a projection of the band. She's in a tanktop rather than the full uniform she often wears.
#RedrockAgency – August 5, 2014
Jason gives a quick rap of his knuckles against the door to Vasquez' office, but doesn't bother waiting for a response before hitting the panel and stepping through the open door. As usual, he's in his hardsuit sans helmet. He has a box tucked under his arm. He whistles chauvinistically as he spots Vasquez on the floor. "Loo~kin' good." he sings as he walks past her and tosses the box on her desk haphazardly.
Vasquez grunts in response, not aknowledging his presence otherwise. She's keeping up a good pace, especially considering the circumstances. Sweat is dripping from her face and her tank top is stained. It's clear she's been at it for a while. As the box lands on the desk it causes a datapad and a few papers to fly off behind the desk.
Jason doesn't pay any mind to the fact that he probably just knocked important documents all over the room. He turns around and parks his ass on the edge of the desk. "What're you at?" he asks, raising an eyebrow curiously.
Vasquez does her best to keep up the same pace as she responds. "Hngh... what's it... hngh... look like? Getting... hngh... back in shape!" She says as loud as she can manage, to be heard over the music.
Jason rolls his eyes, "Well duh, captain obvious. I mean what're you at? Thirty? Fourty? What's your count at?"
Vasquez clearly can't hear Jason, but she soon stops, her motor control issues apparent as she moves to a sitting position. She brings up her omni-tool and turns the music down while panting. She runs a hand through her hair to get the bangs out of her face and then looks up at the ceiling.
Jason remains seated on the desk, but begins to slide off. "How long have you been goin' at it?" he asks, gripping the edge of the desk as he awkwardly tries to readjust his position without falling off.
Vasquez shrugs. "Lost... track of time. Feels pretty good. I'm... getting closer. To my old... performance." She leans back against the wall, still panting faintly.
Jason nods a few times and runs a gauntleted hand across his bicep, suddenly feeling somewhat immasculated. "Oh, yeah... I- uhh... I just finished up with a set of two-.... four-hundred myself." he says matter-of-factly, trying to further sell it by nodding some more, "Feeling that burn. But yeah... Yeah, that's great. You'll be back in fighting-form in no time." he adds with a smirk.
Vasquez looks over at Jason and an ever-rare smile forms across her face. "That's what I'm hoping." The smile fades just as quickly as it appeared. "I won't be caught unable to fight again..."
Well, shit... Looked like you handled yourself just fine out there. I mean, you're still alive-and-kicking.
Vasquez ' face quickly grows grim, as her stare moves to Jason. "You know what the fuck I mean, Jason. Everyone else died. Because I wasn't combat-capable."
Jason puts his hands up, palms outward, and slowly begins to slide off the edge of the desk again. "Hey, we all nearly died out there... I've been kicking myself in the ass over it ever since we got back, but there's nothing we can do to fix it. It wasn't anybody's fault..." he sighs, "There's only so much anyone can do, ya know?"
Vasquez mumbles "Sure..." in an unconvinced tone. "I'm just making sure I can do more next time." She tries to stand up, stumbling forward as she's too slow to get her balance right. She falls to her knees and ends up punching the floor with a frustrated yell.
Jason winces and hops off the edge of the desk. "Lemme give you a hand..." he says, extending a gauntleted hand towards her.
Vasquez accepts Jason's help - something she's learned to do during the long recovery period. She grabs his hand and gets back on her feet, standing without issue in a moment. She doesn't meet his gaze.
Jason puts a hand on the woman's shoulder and gives it a squeeze. "You're getting there, Linda... It just takes time. But think about how far you've come already." he says, attempting to be supportive.
Vasquez doesn't answer him, looking over at the desk instead. She strokes some sticky hair from her face and studies the box with furrowed eyebrows. "What's that?"
Jason 's eyes light up a bit and his lopsided smirk creeps back up. "Oh! Wanted to show you these." he says as he marches over to the desk, "Now, I know the agencies funds aren't looking amazing right now, but I got a good deal. There's a metalworker in town that does some impressive shit." he continues as he begins opening the box. He grabs something from inside and thrusts it towards Vasquez. "Take a look at these." It's a small, metal, rectangular plaque. Mostly plain aside from the decorative border. The name 'Maria Penttilä' is engraved in the center with a simple font. Jason gives a slight shrug, "I just thought-... I don't know. It helps. Gives me-... us something to remember them by. All of them. Helps me keep things in perspective and-... remember that people are relying on me to get them home..." He looks away briefly.
Vasquez blinks, looking at the plaque for a moment before grabbing it, studying the piece of metal in silence for a while. She hands it back to him and nods, offering a faint but sincere smile, impaired by her still troubled facial muscles. "Good idea, Jason..."
Jason 's smirk returns. After a moment it grows into a full smile. "Yeah. I thought so. Figure we can hang them in the briefing room. Show everyone that they're more than just resources to us..." he sets the plaque down in the box and pulls out another. He looks it over for a second before turning it around and displaying it to Vasquez. His smile grows, but there's a slight sadness to it. The name displayed is 'Justus Tacitus'. "We've lost a lot of people..." he muses, "I know it's stupid, but it helps me feel like-... like they're still with us... You know?"
Vasquez is silent for a while as she looks at the plaque and then nods once more. "You don't have to explain yourself to me." She reaches for Jason's free hand. "It's a good idea. A good way... to remember."
Jason sets the plaque back into the box and grips Vasquez' hand with his own. He pulls her into a hug and rests his chin against her forehead. He remains quiet for a short while before speaking again, "Ran into Renala the other day." he says, staring idly at the wall, "Told her we may have some information to go on... A way to stop whatever caused those-... things at the mine, but she didn't sound too interested. It might be difficult convincing people to tag along after what they saw back there..."
Vasquez lets out a loud sigh. "We'll deal with that when we get there... not ready by a longshot to launch yet. Don't have a location... or enough intel. Hell, don't even have the resources for fuck's sake."
Jason doesn't react, seemingly deep in thought. "What do we know so far?" he asks after a few moments.
Vasquez lets go of Jason, running a hand through her hair as she collects her thoughts. "Not enough. They're out there. They're doing this. Some kind of crazy cult. They've been around for a long time... or there's been others like them. Machine cultists. That's what they're called. Spacer legend, some say. That's bullshit. I know. You know. It's real. Someone's doing this. There's a lot of crackpots and conspiracists to sift through to find decent intel. Half the shit I read I don't even understand. I don't know what they're worshipping. The geth? I mean, there's obviously a connection."
Jason sighs and backsteps, retaking his seat on the edge of the desk. "A few of the reports I read were from the geth attack on the Citadel. There's definitely some sort of connection..." He rubs at the back of his neck. "I just want to put a stop to it. We've come across this shit twice already. Twice. If there's going to be a third, I want it to be on our terms."
Vasquez nods a few times. "That's my intention. I'm going to figure it out... and then we'll make these assholes pay. But it might take time."
Jason | "We just need to make sure we're prepared. No half-assing it... I don't plan on ending up like the rest of the people on that mining platform... On the Evening Star..." he sighs, "But what about in the meantime? Do we have any work coming in? Something to keep us afloat?"
Vasquez ponders the question for a moment. "Maybe. I'm in talks with a few clients. Hopefully at least one of them will hire us. We need a proper mission."
Jason sighs and shrugs, "But it's not worth worrying about... We'll just keep doing the best we can."