#Miner'sRespite – August 8, 2014

Renala is sitting at the bar, an empty plate and a half-empty glass of beer just before her. She's clad as yesterday, with a dark-red top instead that shows a little more below her neck, although not much.

Gregorij comes down the stairs, alone, oddly enough. His mood seems worse than usual. He walks up to the bar and produces a pill bottle from his jacket as he waits for the bartender. He swallows a handful of pills with a grunt.

Renala is glances at the man, but doesn't say anything to him. She was unsure if she's met him before.

Aylena makes her way over to him. "What can I get you today?" she says. "A bottle of whiskey, maybe?"

Gregorij nods faintly, not lifting his gaze from the counter.

Aylena nods, and makes a beeline for the shelf where the whiskey is. She picks up a bottle and returns with it. "Want me to pour a glass, or are you just bringing it upstairs?" She picks out a glass while awaiting his answer.

Renala glances once more at him, now more sure who he is, and thus leaves him alone.

Gregorij mumbles "glass" before glancing at Renala without saying anything.

Aylena pours the glass before leaving both the bottle and glass on the counter before him. She makes her way over to the nearest terminal and starts gets back to her paperworkd.

Gregorij nurses the drink in his hand for a while, while rubbing his temple, before taking a swig of the whiskey.

Renala returns the glance with a raised eyebrow. "Pills, and booze," she begins. "Sure those play nice together?"

Gregorij slowly looks to his side at the asari with a dulled gaze. "Sure... just about the only thing that helps."

Gregorij smirks faintly. "Keeps my brain from ripping itself apart." He mutters as he sips his drink.

Renala nods. "Fair enough," she says. "I heard things are calm at the hospital in town, maybe they have something better for you."

Gregorij shakes his head. "No meds in the world that'll help. Alliance is good at making their damage unfixable. Best I can do is dull everything." He looks more frustrated the longer he talks, and as soon as he's done he empties his glass.

Gregorij looks rather offended. He puts the glass down with a loud clank and turns to face Renala. "You fucking kidding me? I'm an L2. You know what that means? They poisoned our mothers, took us as kids, experimented on us. All because they wanted biotics like all you aliens!"

Renala frowns, looking at her glass for a moment. "It's not like you got L2 written on your forehead," she says. "Yeah, I've heard about it, just didn't think the... side effects were like that."

Gregorij lets out a tired sigh and sinks down in his seat, turning back to the bar and starting to refill his glass. "Well... now you know. Those fuckers ruined my life and left me to fend for myself when they didn't get the results they wanted."

Gregorij chuckles briefly, but soon stops with a pained groan. "Nothing."

Renala raises an eyebrow. "Someone's paying for that?" she jokes. "Where do I sign up?"

Gregorij sips his drink, taking a fair while to respond. "I took out a... bonus, when I left the Alliance. It'll last me a while yet."

Gregorij shrugs. "Whatever. I don't exactly have a lot of... marketable skills." He chuckles to himself and sips his drink once more, dull gaze staring down the bar.

Renala snorts. "That just means you'll have to start looking as soon as possible," she says before shrugging, "but suit yourself." She turns back to the bar, taking another long sip of her beer.

Gregorij grunts and returns his attention to the drink.

Renala does not make any further attempts at talking with him, sipping her beer occasionally.

Vaden enters the Respite, looking rather troubled as he makes his way towards the bar. When he notices Renala he takes a seat next to her, putting his elbows up on the counter.

Gregorij continues to drink in silence, occasionally mumbling to himself.

Renala looks up at the salarian appoaching, a smile creeping up. "Hey Vaden," she says. "How's it going?"

Vaden turns his gaze to Renala. "Not well. Cannot afford growing replacement hand. And Chief Vasquez says the Agency will not replace lost limbs."

Renala frowns, placing a hand on the salarian's shoulder. "What the hell?" she says with a raised eyebrow. "I'll be sure to let them know what I think about that. This isn't the agency I signed up with."

Vaden gains a faint smile. "Appreciate that. Without second hand... feel useless. Having trouble handling omni-tool. Do not know what to do."

Renala nods. "I understand," she says. "I would go crazy if I couldn't do my work." She pauses, picking up her almost-empty glass of beer. "And I'm pretty sure they promised to cover our medical needs."

Vaden sighs. "The chief said replacement limbs weren't covered by that guarantee. I... did not want to question her."

Vaden seems to ponder this for a moment. Eventually he nods faintly. "Yes. Maybe... I'll talk to him. Don't know what else to do."

Renala lets out a tiny smile. "If Jason doesn't want to help, we'll figure something out," she says, "but I sure hope Jason's better than just leaving us to rot if shit happens."

Vaden nods once more and then goes silent for a brief moment before speaking: "Thank you. You and Halisi are really my only friends in this town. Wanted to get to know people at the Agency, but things have been so... quiet. After the mission."

Renala chuckles. "I've not been much better," she says. "I took a long vacation, and haven't been down here much since getting back. Even got a bit of a talking to from Jason about it."

Vaden blinks. "Noticed you were gone. Did not know why. Where have you been?"

Vaden looks rather curious. "You have a daughter? But... not here. Living with bondmate?"

Vaden doesn't fully seem to understand the concept of "things not working out", but listens regardless, remaining silent.

Vaden nods a few times. "If personal interaction is important, why not move closer?" He eventually asks.

Renala considers the question for a few seconds before sighing. "I wanted to take a break from the matron's life," she says. "And then I got pretty much attached to this place." A chuckle follows.

Vaden reflects on this briefly before responding. "I'm sure you can tell I am not a matron..." he says with a grin. "...but can understand. Came here for adventure. Found... too much. But over now. Ready for adventure. Or... would be." He lifts his stump.

Renala smirks at his first comment, before it fades. "I'm sure we all did," she says, "but right now I would be very happy to get less exciting merc jobs. I seriously doubt Jason would be okay with that, though."

Vaden blinks and glances out at the Respite. "If not looking for excitement... may be better to seek job in different field."

Renala nods. "I did," she says, "but I didn't get the job, and had to sign up with Redrock since my credits were running out."

Vaden smacks his lips. "Ah. I was not aware."

Vaden nods. "Unsurprising. Significant reliance on low-tech solutions common on frontier worlds."

Vaden can't help but laugh at the last remark. He goes silent, but soon speaks up: "Maybe I should go talk to... Jason."

Vaden offers a smile as he stands up. "I hope you're right about Jason. We'll talk soon, I'm sure." He starts to head out of the Respite, not having ordered anything during his visit.

Renala remains there for a few minutes before making her way upstairs to her room.