Leah continues down the road towards her house. It's been a bit of a walk, but she has taken both bags now that she hasn't had to drag her gear crate along behind her, leaving Tara with nothing to carry. In no small part due to her discussion with Vasquez. As she starts down the small dirt path leading to the porch, a small smile tugs at her lips. "Soooo~ this is my house." she says, unable to contain her excitement
#Leah'sHouse – May 16, 2016
Tara has remained quiet for the walk, but her gaze has wandered with a hint of fascination in her expression as she studied the various buildings and then the nature they encountered, and the ring in the sky has grabbed her attention for quite some time. She seems a bit uneasy about Leah carrying all the luggage, but hasn't spoken up about it. As they approach the house her attention moves to studying the building and its
The house is a single story house with a porch that wraps around to their right. It sits off the road a fair bit, atop a hill that gives a pretty good view in every direction with Freedom Falls to the east.
Leah gives Tara a nudge with her elbow and smiles warmly at the woman before starting up the stairs to the porch. She tosses her bags onto the small bench and approaches the door to unlock it. "We've got a spare room inside that you can have." she says, poking at the door's interface for a moment before it finally starts to slide open, revealing a wide living room. Family photos adorn the walls, showcasing Leah with
her mother and father throughout various times in her life. A television, coffee table, couch and a comfy recliner are off to the left of the front door and a desk is off to their right along with a small table containing even more family photos as well as a now-dead vase of flowers.
Viper is sitting on the couch, wearing her sleek black armor. Her feet are on the coffee table and she's scooping food out of a tin can with a spoon while watching the news on the TV. She turns her head towards the door as it slides open and gives a casual shrug. "Well, this is awkward..."
Leah takes a single step inside before noticing Viper. Her hand darts into her jacket, resting on her holstered pistol. Her entire body gains a blue shine as her thumb slides over the emblem emblazoned on the grip. "Wh-.... You!? What in the hell are you doing here!? In my house!?" she shouts. Her fingers tighten around the grip of her gun, but she doesn't draw it.
Tara 's eyes go wide at the sight of the strange woman, and as she registers the tense situation she seems unsure what to do, remaining frozen in place for the moment.
Viper takes another bite of her canned food - some unrecognizable alien mush - and gives another shrug. "Well, you weren't really using it..." she says with a smirk and a look of feigned innocence.
Viper gives a look of utter incomprehension as to where Leah's frustration is coming from. She seems unfazed by her aggressive stance and swirling biotic energy. "Weeeell... it's a nice house. And like I said, you weren't using it. So why not, right?" She leans forward a bit, shooting a glance at Tara and then pointing at her with her spoon. "Long as we're asking questions, why is there a ghost behind you? Is that your dead twin
Leah gives a glance back at Tara, but quickly shakes her head and refocuses on Viper. "Don't worry about her! This is about you!" She releases her grip on her pistol and the biotic energy slowly dissipates as she steps closer, realizing the obnoxious woman isn't a threat. "You-..." she sighs and merely shrugs her shoulders, suddenly seeming more confused than angry. "...What's going on?"
Viper 's gaze left eye slowly wanders back to the screen, while her right stays on Leah. "Hmh... I'm watching TV, what does it look like?"
Leah only looks to be getting more confused. "Urgh-... Answers! I need answers! Why were you here that night! Did-..." her hand flinches slightly, slowly moving back into her jacket, "...did Cerberus hire you...?"
Viper raises an eyebrow, putting down the can on the table and moving her feet to the floor as she leans forward. "To eliminate their own failsafe? Come on, use your head."
Viper shrugs. "Don't know." She furrows her eyebrows and adds. "Of course, even if I did, I probably wouldn't tell you."
Tara continues to stand in place, placing a hand on her right arm and keeping her gaze on the floor, clearly uneasy.
Leah cocks her head to the side. "Oh? Is that right? Then get the hell out of my house." she says, stepping to the side to give Viper a clear view of the door. She looks back and forth between Viper and the front door and her shoulders slump as she gains a guilty look. The woman did save her life. Well, allegedly. "I'm tired of all of these games, okay? I just want my life back. If you don't have answers for me,
Viper rolls her eyes and grabs her can, pushing off from the couch into a standing position without the use of her hands. She tilts her head as her reptilian eyes study Leah, a faint, smug grin on her face. "If it's answers you're looking for I might be able to find them. For the right price, of course." she says as her grin widens. She opens her mouth wide, unsettlingly so, and lifts the can, pouring the remaining food directly
Viper into her gaping maw as she takes a few steps towards the door, and Leah and Tara. "My schedule is wide open these days..."
Leah grimaces at the gross display. She seems to consider Viper's offer for a few moments before recalling the datapad. "I just want to be left alone..." she says, in almost a whisper, "...I don't need to kick the hornet's nest again. I've put enough people in danger..."
Viper steps a bit closer still, presumably on her way to the door, tilting her head again. "See, that's what I'm having trouble with... the particular hornets you've enraged... they're not ones to leave someone well enough alone. It's interesting." she says with a nod. She shoots Tara another glance. "Seriously though. Who are you?"
Leah frowns and steps between Viper and Tara. "She's my friend. Just leave her out of this." she says. "And I didn't enrage anyone. They came after me. They started this whole ordeal and now I just want it to be over with, okay? They've made it pretty clear that there's nowhere I can go that they can't find me, so I'm done running." She lets out a deep breath and shifts in place somewhat, "They said they'd
Leah leave me alone if I just stopped digging..." she adds quietly, "...I don't have any other choice than to-... I don't know, just hope they're telling the truth.... Not unless I want to spend the rest of my life on the run..."
Viper meets Leah's gaze again as she steps in between the two of them. "See, that is interesting. You know someone on the inside, don't you...?" she theorizes. She seems to be in no rush to leave.
Leah blinks a couple times. "No! I-... Someone-..." she lowers her gaze to the floor and shakes her head. "I don't know... Someone helped me, but-... I have no idea why..." she admits. "I started doing a little digging and-..." she sighs, "...well they reached out to me. Told me they knew what I was doing and unless I wanted to draw attention back on me, I needed to stop..." She looks back to Viper, almost as if
Viper maintains a nonchalant look, and seems a little amused by Leah's forthcomingness. "Hmmh... no it doesn't. Interesting..." she muses, leaning against the frame of the front door.
Leah gives a shake of her head. "I don't know what else to do. I appreciate what you did for me that night, but I just want this whole nightmare to be over, okay? So-..." she shrugs once again, looking towards Viper apologetically, "...please just stay away, alright?"
Viper grins widely - too widely - and shrugs before heading out the door, her cloak activating. "No promises..."
Leah lets out a deep breath as Viper leaves and moves to close the door. "I'm sorry about that, Tara..." she says, turning to face her with an apologetic shrug of her shoulders. "...Maybe it was a bad idea coming back here." she adds, looking around the room as her joy for being home quickly drains from her.
Tara seems to relax when Viper leaves, but frowns as she notices Leah's drop in mood. She steps further into the house, looking around before turning back to her. She hesitates for a moment before speaking up. "Y-... your home is nice." she says simply, her voice quiet as usual.
Leah seems to perk up slightly at the small compliment. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?" she says mainly to herself as she continues to look around. After a few moments, however, her shoulders droop once more and she turns to face Tara. "You know I'm not your master, right...?" she asks, Vasquez' words continuing to bother her.
Leah steps closer, grabbing each of Tara's wrists softly and giving her a gentle shake. "I'm your friend, Tara. Okay? And you're my friend. Equal footing, right?" she shifts in place, kicking the toe of her boot against the ground. "No owners, no masters, no-... any of that. The only person you answer to now, is you, understand?"
Tara looks confused, and almost scared as she lifts her gaze slightly, looking at the floor behind Leah. "N-Not my place..." she says, her voice barely above a whisper. "I serve."
Leah shakes her head a bunch of times. "No." she says, scrunching up her nose as she releases her grip on Tara's wrists. "Not anymore you don't. You're free! I'm not your master, Tara." She sighs, taking a step away from Tara and giving a sigh, "I know this is hard to understand, but I don't want you to serve me." she puts her hands up, palms out as she realizes that, given the woman's life, that may sound insulting,
"And it's not because of anything you've done! It's just because it's wrong, understand? The only person you need to serve is you. And I'm going to help you however I can, but you have to trust me on this, okay?"
Tara frowns as she meets Leah's gaze, clearly struggling with the idea. "You are kind. Not cruel. I want to serve you. Please."
Leah shakes her head again. "That's no kind of life, Tara. You can live here as long as you want. I'll buy you some clothes of your own. You're free to eat and drink whatever you want-..." she scrunches up her nose and glances towards the kitchen, "...just not until we go shopping... Most of that probably isn't very good anymore. Probably stinks..." She returns her gaze to Tara and gives a sheepish shrug. "We'll find
you a job. A job, not a master. A way to earn money. And I'll be right here to help you every step of the way. As a friend."
Tara gives a faint, hesitant nod. "Y-... yeah. Okay." She fidgets uneasily, looking uncertain. "You are... different." she says without any explanation of what this means.
Leah scrunches her nose up again and shrugs. "...Yeah." she mutters, frowning to herself, "You're not the first person to tell me that..." Realizing the woman probably-... hopefully didn't mean it in the same way, she forces a small smile and shrugs. "What do you mean?"
Tara seems worried that she's caused offense, gaining a small frown of her own. "You... killed my master. You have power. I should serve. Instead you help me. I don't understand why."
Leah blinks a couple times before shaking her head. "No, that's not-... Your master was evil! Nobody has the right to own somebody, Tara. Not him. Not me. I'm helping you because you deserve a chance to live your own life. Because it's the right thing to do. Understand? No more 'serving'." She scrunches up her nose in distaste at even having to explain something like this. "I can't imagine what you've been
through, but you have a chance at a new life. A real life, free from those monsters. Don't you want that...?"
Tara 's shoulders drop along with her gaze, and she almost whispers "I don't know how...". From her voice it is obvious that she's struggling with everything.
Leah pushes a big bright smile back into place and moves a hand up to Tara's shoulder. "And that's what I'm here for, right? I'll be here to help you every step of the way. It's gonna be fine!"
Tara looks up to meet Leah's gaze and after a moment's hesitation she nods faintly. "I-... I'll try my best."
Leah's smile grows and she withdraws her hand, clapping it against her other hand. "Great!" she exclaims, reaching back out and taking Tara by the wrist as she starts off towards the opening to the kitchen, "Then let me show you your room!" As she enters the kitchen, she gestures around the room. "This is the kitchen. I'm gonna clean the fridge out after we get all settled, but it's probably best if you just avoid
eating anything from there until I get a chance to go pick up some more groceries. I'll probably do that tomorrow morning if I'm not absolutely dead, that trip really sucked, didn't it? My neck is sooooo sore, so I might just sleep all day tomorrow." she rambles before stopping in place to turn and face Tara, her eyes going wide, "It is going to be sooooooo great to sleep in my own bed again!" she says, as
if the thought had just occurred to her. Then, right back to rambling without missing a beat, "But everything in the pantry should be fine! Canned goods and stuff. If you're hungry, help yourself. The back left burner on the stove can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but if you just wiggle the knob a bit, it's usually fine." She turns left just inside of the kitchen and exits into a connecting hall, tugging
Tara along with her, "That's dad's room-..." she nods to the door across from the kitchen, "Hopefully you'll get a chance to meet him soon enough. He can be a handful, but he means well. Bathroom is at the far end on the left-..." she points past the door to her father's room, then drags her finger across the hall to a door opposite of the bathroom, "....and that is my room." She releases her grip on Tara's
wrist and does a little spin on the heel of her boots, coming to a stop as she faces in the opposite direction. "And this?" she continues, gesturing towards a door at the opposite end of the hall from the bathroom, "Is your room." She goes quiet for a moment, clearly wanting it to seem as if it's a big reveal, but she's unable to follow through and after a mere moment of silence is right back to talking. "It's
not perfect, but you'll have your own bed, and a place to put your stuff-... not that you have stuff, but you will have stuff! We need to get you a TV, so for now you'll have to use the one in the living room, but they're not too expensive, so I should be able to get ya one soon enough!"
Tara follows along as she is dragged across the house and introduced to each of the rooms, nodding slightly every now and then. As they reach her room she stares at the door in silence, eventually taking a few hesitant steps forward, reaching out towards the door's interface and pressing the button to open it.
The door slides open, revealing a small room with a bed to the right and a dresser to the left. A window is between the two, opposite of the door. It has a fairly good view of the surrounding landscape.
Leah steps up beside Tara, peeking into the room. "I know it's not anything special, but it's yours." she says with a shrug, "And-.... And like I said! We'll get you some clothes and a TV and-... and whatever else you need. This is home for as long as you want it to be, Tara. I mean it..."
Tara slowly walks into the room, looking around with wide eyes. Her expression looks almost overwhelmed as her gaze wanders around every detail. She walks up to the window, pressing a palm against the glass and after looking out at the landscape for a while she lowers her head. Soon a quiet sob can be heard, but she remains turned away.
Leah steps inside behind Tara, but remains near the door. She clasps her hands together, watching Tara's reaction. "Is-... Is everything alright...?" she asks tentatively, "If there's something wrong with the room just tell me and I'll do my best to fix it."
Tara wraps her hands around her own arms, more or less hugging herself as she sits down on the edge of the bed, staring out at the ground outside the window. Tears are rolling down her cheeks as her crying intensifies, but any noises that escape remain quiet.
Leah moves over to the window and leans against the wall beside it, peering out. "I know this is-... probably really weird." she sighs. "I just-... I want you to have the best life you possibly can, Tara. And if you need anything? Just ask, okay? Whatever it is, I'll do my best to help." She looks towards Tara and gives a somewhat sad smile as she shrugs her shoulders, "You're a strong person. You've been through
Tara lowers her gaze to the floor, her arms on her legs as she leans forward, still crying. When adressed she eventually looks up at Leah, her head continuously tilted to the left in gratitude and respect as she drops to her knees in front of her, near enough grovelling. "Your generosity is-... I can never repay you." she says quietly, keeping her gaze on Leah's feet.
Leah quickly follows Tara down as she begins her 'groveling', her heart breaking at just how obviously broken this poor girl is. Once on her knees, she reaches out to lift Tara's chin to meet her gaze. "No, no, no, no, no! You don't- have to..." she begins, looking uncomfortable as if Vasquez may burst in at any second and say 'Told you!' "Equals, remember?" She stands back up, urging Tara to stand with her. "You
don't need to repay me, or thank me, or-... or anything! Just-... don't feel like you owe me anything. Because you don't. Really. Seriously. For real. Okay?"
Tara stands up at Leah's urging, wiping away her tears and then starting to look a bit worried. "I-.. I'm sorry..."
Leah shakes her head a number of times, causing her ponytail to flop from side to side. "Nothing to be sorry for! This is all new to you and you've got a lot to get used to. It takes time, but it's gonna be fine. You'll see." she assures her, big bright smile returning. "Sooooo~ How about I order a few greasy burgers and we go watch 'The Bold & the Burdened'!? I think Amanda's wedding to Cornelius is supposed to