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#Spaceport – July 21, 2016
The spaceport proper is full of activity just as the terminal. A large freighter thunders loudly as it takes off above, belly covered in freshly loaded cargo containers. Hangars are mixed with open landing pads, and the massive, open area in the center of the fenced in field is all but entirely occupied by quarians. Small freighters, corvettes and shuttles, landed for several weeks judging by the snow buildup on top of them, and surrounded by a haphazard mixture of tents, booths, cargo crates and basic prefabs - the inhabitants of the cramped ships have taken the opportunity to spread their legs for a while. The masked aliens make up a large portion of the people moving about, but several visitors of other species are present, talking and trading with the emissaries of the Flotilla.
Yan Sun looks up as the freighter passes above, but her focus is soon redirected to the quarian camp, stopping as she takes in the busy scene. There is no snowfall right now, but a layer covers the ground regardless, of course.
Jessica pauses in place once outside to watch the freighter take off. It's not a sight she has been afforded many times throughout her life, tucked away in Adrasteia. A smile crosses her face as she watches it for much longer than Yan Sun, to the point of falling slightly behind her. Once she notices, she wipes the smile from her face and jogs a bit to catch up, hoping it went unnoticed. She stops beside Yan Sun as she looks over
the quarian camp. "Mmmm. Plenty of options to find what you're looking for, yes?" she asks, briefly glancing upwards in the direction of the rapidly disappearing freighter.
Yan Sun seems confused as she notices Jessica isn't with her, and just about has time to glance over her shoulder before she catches up. She furrows her eyebrows briefly, hazarding a guess as to what had her so captivated: "Ships like that are all over the docks in Hong Kong. It's a big port city. I'd sit and watch them sometimes. They come in over the water, just like the waterships."
Jessica shrugs dismissively, as if she's not impressed, but she glances upwards yet again then tries to hide it by acting as if she's adjusting her cap. Finally her gaze settles back on Yan Sun. "I only see them when I come here." she admits, "...I never imagined I would be on a ship like the Saint Lucia." she adds, sounding somewhat distant, but a small smile soon follows. "Martin would be so jealous."
Yan Sun mirrors Jessica's smile with a small one of her own as she notices it, but she says nothing, instead starting to move towards the quarians. "Let's see what we can find..." she says as they enter into a makeshift alley between booths and crates. Several quarian traders are set up here, ones that presumably couldn't or wouldn't buy a spot in the market. "Handmade cloths of the finest quality, with traditional patterns of
the Flotilla!" one calls out from the nearest booth as soon as they enter. "Decorate your home with an exotic flair! Or wear it to shield against the cold! Special materials ensure they are easily cleaned of oil and grease!"
Jessica follows right behind Yan Sun, keeping her credit chit firmly in the palm of the hand in her pocket. She's heard the stories. She gets sidetracked by the cloth salesman, stopping briefly to look over the wares more out of interest than any real desire to purchase anything.
Yan Sun stops as she notices Jessica, and joins her in looking at the various cloths. "Very... old-fashioned. Hand-fashioned cloths..." she muses. The merchant lights up as he gains their attention, or at least that seems to be the case - hard to know for sure with his face being hidden. "Beautiful, no?" he asks enthusiastically, holding up one of the cloths. A dark purple, with wavy silver patterns and a black edge..
"Handwoven with traditional patterns, usually unique to different ships and families. These are made special for outsiders."
Jessica runs her hand over a few of the cloths on display, paying little mind to the merchant. "Is nice, yes?" she asks, casting a glance over to Yan Sun. "My mother-... She wore a-..." she brings her hand up, gesturing over the top of her head, indicating a hood of some sort, "...You know-... hijab...?" she asks tentatively, unsure if Yan Sun knows what she's referencing. "Mmm. She had one with a pattern sort of like this. Was my
favorite." she recalls fondly, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she runs her fingertips over the cloth.
Yan Sun raises an eyebrow, watching Jessica's gestures curiously, and soon nods in recognition. "Yeah... I've seen a lot women wearing them in the south and west." she says, neglecting to provide context to the location as she takes a closer look at the cloth Jessica is holding, touching it as well. "I never realized the similarity to quarian cloths..." she trails off, not really wanting to interrupt the reminiscing. The
merchant is happy to interrupt however. "Wonderful pattern. Woven by my cousin. Only a hundred credits. You want to buy, yes?"
Jessica casts a glance at Yan Sun as she speaks and looks as though she's about to ask a question when the merchant interrupts. Never the sentimental type, she quickly loses interest in the cloth and rolls her eyes at the merchant, "No." she says plainly, nudging Yan Sun to continue on their way.
Yan Sun seems like she was about to dig out a credit chit, but follows Jessica's lead, shaking her head to the merchant and departing further down the alley. The merchant stalls soon give way to a more open area, the ramp of one of the quarian freighters open nearby, with several people sitting around talking on small crates outside of it. Two quarian kids are running around outside, under the close supervision of a woman
with an elaborate green envirosuit. The children seem delighted to be outside, laughing and shouting as they run through the snow, despite being separated from their surroundings by transparent plastic bubbles, not unlike a high-tech hamster ball. Opposite to the ship is what looks to be a setup of several grills, with a young quarian man manning them. A krogan recieves a charred varren skewer and enthusiastically
chomps down on it. To the right of the grill is another 'alley', going deeper into the camp. Music can be heard from somewhere ahead, clearly quarian in origin.
Jessica walks alongside Yan Sun as they venture deeper into the quarian encampment. Her gaze drifts left and right as she looks around, enjoying the alien culture all around her. "Mmm." she hums with a nod, "I think I like quarians." she says as if having just decided it, despite- or possibly partially because of- the pushy nature of the merchant she just encountered. The experience isn't all that different from stories her brother
would tell her of their home on Earth. She pulls her hand from her pocket, credit chit still palmed, and tosses her arm over Yan Sun's shoulder as a wide smile crosses her face at the sound of the music. She takes a big whiff of the nearby food in through her nose and shifts her weight to try and aim Yan Sun in the direction of the grills. "Fooooood." she nearly roars, "I want fooooood!"
Yan Sun is likewise taking in all the sights and sounds of the camp around them, all of it new to her, although some of it reminding her of the shantytowns of her home. She snickers at Jessica's exclamation and quickly relents, allowing herelf to be guided towards the grills. The man on the other side gestures with the sharp instrument in his hand, turning a big steak before turning his attention to the skewers that
occupy the majority of the grill, still looking up at Yan Sun and Jessica though. "Welcome! Hungry? I'm Qan'Zafah nar Tonbay, the best levo chef in the Flotilla!" he boasts loudly, promting another quarian who is busy moving a crate behind the grills to chime in with: "You're the only levo chef in the Flotilla, Qan..."
Jessica's eye is immediately drawn to the food on the grill, nearly salivating at the thought of filling her empty belly. She pulls her arm from around Yan Sun and rubs her hands together as she stares at the food. "Mmm. We are verrrry hungry Qan'Za-..." she drawls, but gives up half way through saying his whole name and makes no attempt at covering her laziness up, instead she simply points at the skewered meat. "Two of-... of
whatever those are." she says before nudging at Yan Sun with her elbow, "...And whatever she wants."
Yan Sun seems mildly amused by the exchange, but her attention soon turns to the food, and while it's not exactly her preferred meal she's quite hungry too. "I'll have one." she says with a small smile, fishing out a credit chit and handing it over to the quarian, who draws some credits before handing it back. "These just got done." he says, handing over two rather charred skewers of varren meat to Jessica, his movements freezing
for a couple of seconds as his gaze seems to fall on her face. It's not too hard to guess what caught his attention. After an awkward few seconds he hurries back to work, handing another skewer to Yan Sun. "Enjoy! And tell your friends about Qan'Zafah! I'm here for some time yet!"
Jessica gains an uncomfortable look as he studies her face. She takes the skewers in one hand and lowers her gaze slightly, her mood visibly dampened as old habits pick up and she adjusts her cap, pulling the brim ever-so-slightly lower in an attempt at concealing as much of her face as possible. "...Thanks." she mutters, allowing Yan Sun to pay without interuption.
Yan Sun starts to walk away from the grills, skewer in hand, when she notices Jessica's mood and stops. She nudges her lightly. "Hey, you okay...?" she asks with a faint frown, leaning down slightly to try and meet her gaze under the cap. "We've got food..." she says in a weak attempt at cheering her up.
Jessica gives a brief nod from beneath the bill of her cap. "Mmmm." she hums dismissively, "Am fine. Just get what you need so we can go." she says in a mutter before taking a large bite from her food. She chews sloppily for a moment and swallows hard. "Is-..." she begins, but stops to lick her lips, "...Is no different. Humans. Quarians. Whatever. All the same, mmm? They wear a fucking tank for fishies on their head, yet I am the
one who gets stared at." Her frown deepens, "...Just-... Just get your thing, yes?" she repeats, most of the fight drained from her by the hangover.
Yan Sun 's frown deepens, and she wraps an arm around Jessica's waist, giving her a quick hug with her left hand. "Come on... don't let him get you down... who cares what they think when you have me, hm?" she says, some of Jessica's own cocky attitude rubbing off on her perhaps. She forces a small grin and leans in to plant a kiss on her right cheek, bumping the cap up slightly in the process.
The varren meat is definitely a bit too charred, and the outer layer is crispy, tasting sort of burnt. The Flotilla's best levo chef needs more practice with the grill it seems.
Jessica rolls her eyes. "Lucky me..." she says sarcastically, although she's unable to keep a grin from manifesting. She quickly takes another bite of her food. "Is not too bad..." she says with a mouthful as she greedily takes another bite, hoping to avoid any more sympathy from Yan Sun. After all the puking she did any food in her belly is good food at this point, her hunger overwhelming the subpar food.
Yan Sun seems satisfied with the grin, and eyes her own food skeptically before taking a bite, teeth tearing at the burnt surface, but being used to more cooperative meals, she struggles to tear a piece of meat off the skewer, quiet growling noises escaping her. She starts heading towards the path leading further into the labyrinth of stalls, tents and sheds. Suddenly, without warning, one of the quarian children runs right
into Jessica from behind, hard enough to unbalance her in all likelihood. The child falls over inside his bubble, which bounces from the impact before rolling off as the woman who was watching the kids play runs up to stop the rolling ball.
Jessica stumbles forward, causing her to drop one of her skewers. She only manages to stay upright by grabbing on to the side of one of the stalls. "Hey-... What the fu-..." she begins as she swings around, looking as if she's ready to throw a skewer-clenched-fist. As she spots her bouncey-balled assailant, she gains a sheepish look and glances towards Yan Sun. "I-..." she begins to explain but cuts herself off as her gaze moves to
the woman chasing the rolling ball. "Maybe is smart to watch where they are going, yes?" she says to the woman through a scowl, "Now I lose my food." she adds with a gesture towards the floored skewer.
Yan Sun seems startled as Jessica stumbles, and tries to save the skewer to no avail. She turns with her and can't help but let out a giggle as she spots the child.
The woman manages to catch and stop the rolling ball, and admonishes the child after he's upright, her words too fast and distant to be caught by the translator. She sends him off towards the ship, giving a small boost to the bubble with a pat before turning to Jessica, speaking as she walks up to them. "I'm so sorry! This is Ani's first time outdoors, and he loves the snow so, he got distracted. I've told him to watch where
he's going!" She spots the skewer on the ground and adds "I can replace that." before repeating "So sorry!", clearly quite embarassed by the incident.
Jessica's frown deepens momentarily before returning to a neutral expression and she lets out a sigh. "...Is fine..." she mutters hollowly, "...I have another." She holds her second skewer up in a tightly clenched fist, as if gripping an ice cream cone or something. She glances towards the bubble as it rolls away and does her best to fight the smirk tugging at her lips, but fails. "Really... Is fine." she repeats, sounding somewhat
more sincere this time as she's unable to force herself to remain angry with that stupid bubble still within sight. Her gaze lowers to her lost skewer. RIP.
The quarian nods slightly, looking a bit hesitant. "Are you sure? I-... alright. Again, I'm sorry." she says while starting to back up, and she then turns around to hurry back to the child, who is struggling to get up the ramp of the ship, as he keeps loosing traction and rolling back down. She helps him, rolling the bubble up the ramp while talking to him, and giving an awkward wave to Jessica before disappearing into the ship.
Yan Sun grins as she watches the bubble child get rolled into the ship before turning to Jessica and extending her skewer. "You can have mine. I'm not having much luck eating it anyway." she says with a shrug.
Jessica returns the awkward wave with an awkward wave of her own. She hesitates, but accepts Yan Sun's skewer before taking another big bite into her own. "Do you think-..." she begins with a mouthful of food, turning to begin walking in the direction they were going before being bowled into, "...maybe they will sell us one of those bubbles, mmm? Maybe is one way to make walking safer for you?" she asks. She brings her hand up to