#RedrockAgency – November 20, 2016

Leah blinks in turn, though her bright smile returns as the woman speaks and she reaches out to take her hand and shake, the previous encounter involving her biotics all but forgotten. "Well, Sofia, it's nice to meet you." she says, "I'm Leah." She gives a gesture towards her friend, "And this is Tara. And you're not alone. I don't think any of us got much of a warning. I just woke up to a message the other day telling me to

Sofia smiles broadly, the praise practically making her radiate with pride. "Oh, well, thank you! That's really nice of you to say, Leah." She then turns her smile to Tara, slightly awkward once more as she looks to the woman. "And it's lovely to meet you too, Tara. And, again, sorry for running into you. I'm a bit of a klutz sometimes... I mean, not as bad as Nate is, but pretty close. It seems to be a family trait,"-

Vasquez tries and fails to hide a quiet chuckle under an annoyed grunt as she heads towards the door, and out into the corridor. "...and the fact that you picked out hte most ridiculous thing you could find specifically for me is beside the point, right?" she asks, eyeing Jason's own costume, which, while silly, is considerably less embarassing.

Jason gives Vasquez a poke from behind as he continues to follow her. "What are you talking about!? Blasto? The toughest sonovabitch in the galaxy?" he lists, as if it should be explanation enough, "I couldn't think of a more fitting costume for you." His grin widens slightly as he gives a quick shrug of his shoulders, "Guess seeing you prance around in that dumb pink bodysuit was just a bonus..." he snickers.

Kim thinks for a moment on what she was told. "Hm... infested? Where was this? Please tell me it wasn't on Aite..."

Halisi doesn't seem particularly eager to dwell on the subject. She folds her arms across her chest, bottle still in one hand. "No." she says with a shake of her head. "An asteroid mine. Far from here. It was-... it's been dealt with. Surely you know? I would've thought anyone that has been with Redrock for some time..."

Li is still fighting a vicious battle with her prey. The plastic bag of candies has yet to surrender its contents, and, absorbed by her efforts, she tumbles backwards into the seat of the couch, finding herself staring up at the ceiling, flailing to right herself.

Va'ynna giggles as she spots the girl at the couch wrestling the bag of candy. She slips away from Victoria's side to make her way over to the couch, sitting down beside her. "Hey," she says. "May I help you?" Va'ynna has lost to tretcherous candy packaging before, but she wasn't exactly 'fighting fit' then.

Vasquez rolls her eyes, tugging at her jacket to make sure it covers the costume beneath before entering the rec room. She scans across the rooms, lingering on each outfit for a moment. A hint of a smile tugs at one corner of her mouth as she walks up to Ilyna. "Hey. How's it going? She having fun?"

Li manages to rotate herself around and sit up in the couch next to Va'ynna. She narrows her eyes under her hood as she studies the asari, perhaps wondering if she can be trusted with the candy. After a moment's consideration she holds out the bag in a reluctant admission of defeat.

Kim sighs with a small nod. "Yes, I've heard of it. I don't know much more than that's the mission where Jason lost his arm," she explained before glancing around the room. Habits die hard. "I was mostly MIA for a while before that, so I don't know much more than that."

Victoria once in the rec room, she gives the room a quick once over to see who is here and what they are. The tiny dinosaur standing out, due to her flailing on the couch. She then notices the beer and decides to grab one for herself.

Tara seems rather confused over how to deal with being addressed in this way. She looks a little flustered as she has to stop herself from apologizing again, and instead settles for a slight nod, hands folded on front of her.

Zaylus still lingers near the counter, comfortable nearest the booze. As Victoria makes her way to the stash he tips his own drink in greeting. "Victoria." He says with familiar gruff, "Nice... costume?" He compliments sarcastically as he looks over the woman's outfit.

Halisi gains a distant look, nodding as Kim speaks. "It was-... it was bad. Be glad you weren't around for it. Those... things..." she shakes her head, meeting the woman's gaze. "You don't ever want to see those things. Trust me."

Leah listens to the story silently, her smile growing a bit more as it continues. When Sofia finishes rambling, she simply gives a quick chuckle. "Don't mention it." she responds for Tara since she has chosen to remain quiet, "Accidents happen." She gestures to one of the empty chairs at the table, leaning forward to rest her elbow on the edge of the table, "Sit! Relax!" she insists, "I don't plan on letting you get too far from

Va'ynna takes the candy bag with a reassuring smile, noticing the child's reluctance. "What... are you?" she asks. After some struggle tearing the packaging, she manages to create a small opening at the top of it that's just about the width of her thumb.

Li raises her 'claws', pouncing at the air in front of Va'ynna with a growl. "I'm a dinnosaur! Grrr!"

Jason steps inside as Vasquez stops to speak with Ilyna, slipping just between the two. He gives Ilyna a nudge as he does and moves over towards the sofa to plop down beside Va'ynna, on the side opposite of Li, and tosses a synthetic hand over Va'ynna's shoulder as he continues to cradle his beer in his other hand. "Dinnosaur!" he says in tune with Li, rustling Va'ynna a bit.

Sofia giggles and slides into a free seat. She sits rather delicately, folding her hands onto her lap. "I knew there was something I liked about you, Leah." She smiles, canting her head to the side. "Now, is there anything in particular you are looking for? Because he's probably done every sort of embarrassing thing I can think of at one point or another."

Kim looks towards Halisi intently as she speaks, then nods in understanding at the end of it. "I can believe it. There's some really screwed up things out there. I'll be happier never having to see any of them again..."

Victoria takes a sip of the beer she 'looted' "Zaylus." She has absolutely no idea what the turian is meant to be. "Yeah, I got no idea what you are meant to be."

Ilyna is a bit started at being spoken to, as her gaze was towards the couch, but she smiles in return – showing the fangs. She tilts her head at the oddly contrasting collar of her fatigues. "Mhm, I don't think she's ever had this much fun before," she says, "and everyone's nice to her."

Halisi remains silent for a moment, her gaze falling until she forces a smile. "...excuse me. Hardly the place for this kind of talk." She takes a step back, eyeing Kim up and down. "What are you supposed to be?" she asks, sipping her root beer.

Zaylus shakes his hand, waving a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Clearly I don't understand the concept." He replies in mock bitterness. With the hand that holds his drink he points at Vicky's fake gun. "I'm sure you could've made the outfit more realistic, whatever you're aiming for."

Leah leans forward against the table, casting a glance in Nathan's direction all sneaky-like before resting her gaze back on Sofia. "Something I can blindside him with when he's being an asshat!" she explains before scrunching up her nose and deciding, "...Nothing too mean, though. I'm not an animal."

Vasquez raises an eyebrow as she notices the fangs, a small grin manifesting briefly, but her focus soon turns to Li in the couch. "I... I'm glad. I know I didn't treat her too well back when... but I was wrong. She's a good kid. And it's a good thing you're doing." She glances at Ilyna, offering a genuine, if faint smile, and, after a moment's hesitation, a hand on the asari's caped shoulder.

Nathan is currently engaged with stuffing a doughnut into his mouth, trying to find a way around the plastic fangs. He's staying in character dammit, he can deal with it!

Va'ynna mocks a frightened expression, but Jason blocks her escape path and she ends up between them. "Okay, take the candy, just don't... hurt me," she holds out the candy bag, her tone and the wide smile belying her feigned panic. There is only a thumb-sized hole in it, but expanding it shouldn't require much strength.

Kim nods and glances down at her half-rushed costume. "Oh, this? I'm a zombie... it's one of those old concepts back before we managed to get into space. I read some stories about them when I was young, so..." she trailed off with an embarrassed shrug. She looked towards Halisi's red-stained costume and saw. "How about you? I think I get the gist of what you are, but are you a

Jason shifts in place a bit, his position causing the cheap plastic sword to dig into his side. He reaches up to tug his fake beard back down, allowing it to sit around his neck once more as he sips at his beer. "We haven't had much time to talk lately, V." he says, looking to the asari at his side, "How has everything been...?"

Li grabs the bag, tearing it open with a mighty roar, candies pouring into her lap. She immediately stuffs a handful into her mouth, perhaps not having anticipated the chewiness.

Halisi shakes her head with a smirk. "Oh, no... no one specific. It was the best I could do on such short notice, I grabbed what I could find. I think it turned out alright though..." she muses, raising an eyebrow questioningly, menacing grin manifesting as she brandishes her bloody bonesaw.

Sofia smirks and taps a delicate finger to her chin, perking her brow in thought. "Hmm... well, there was this time in High School where he decided to drift off to sleep. He had stayed up gaming with some friends or something, I dunno. Anyway, on the verge of falling asleep, he suddenly let out a loud moan that woke him up. And the whole class just... stared in silence, wondering why he suddenly let out his sexual like mo

Tara remains silent as Leah and Sofia talks, her gaze focused solely on the table at first, but slowly lifting to wander around the room, seemingly not particularly interested in the conversation.

Victoria draws the toy gun and twirls it with her finger "I am a pirate. sir. Well, the classic human movie pirate." She stops twirling the gun. "I could have grabbed a real gun, but this one allows me to shoot people here without killing."

Sofia - moan in the middle of class! He tried to cover it up. Didn't work." She giggles softly, looking to Leah. "Teased relentlessly for the rest of the year."

Zaylus pauses, a puzzled expression appearing as if he's contemplating the notion. "Uhh... sure. Whatever you say." He says uncertainly, turning away to take a drink and muttering something about not understanding humans.

Ilyna chuckles as she sees Li spill the candy bag's content in the corner of her vision.. "Thank you," she says with another smile, "but I couldn't have done it without your help. So...," begins, glancing at the pink collar once more, "what's your costume?"

Leah's eyes go wide and she brings a hand up to cover her mouth as laughter escapes her. "No!" she exclaims, looking towards Nathan as he fingers a donut into his food-hole. "That's horrifying!" she says, scrunching up her nose as she considers it and then files it away for later use.

Nathan blinks, his back-talk radar going off. He slowly peers around, a doughnut half pushed into his mouth. He narrows his eyes suspiciously, humming softly.

Va'ynna sighs. "It's... been stressful," she admits, "but... for good reasons. D'Inea hired Tara, and... I'm supposed to train her." She looks down, though she doesn't want to say explictly that she's not exactly comfortable with that role. "At least... she's doing well."

Kim laughs and raises her arms in mock non-aggression. "Careful. Don't want me to become a zombie for real and come after you, now."

Vasquez shrugs apologetically. "Halloween's not really... my thing. There's enough customes, right? I ordered a ton of candy, I figure that'll be enough, d-..."

Cynthia practically bursts into the rec room with a flourish, immediately wrapping an arm Vasquez' neck and leaning in close. She's wearing a spiked leather jacket, her mohawk dyed neon green and her face covered in white make up, eyes and mouth shaded not unlike a skull. "Boo!"

Jason nods a few times silently before looking back to the asari. "Yeah... I guess I meant... Is everything else alright...?" he asks, obviously avoiding much context. He lets out a short sigh before reluctantly clarifying. "We didn't speak much after-.... everything, V. I just want to-... are you alright?"

Victoria loads the toy gun with a toy dart and fires it at Zaylus "Never turn your back on a pirate. Let that be a lesson to ye."

Li is silent still. Quite possibly because she is very busy chewing.

Ilyna raises an eyebrow and steps back. Had it been any other day and any other place, she would have intervened if a stranger comes out of nowhere like that, but today it just evokes a chuckle as she watches for Vasquez' reaction.

Sofia laughs along with Leah, idly letting her leg swing. "Mhmm. It was funny," she says idly. "So, what do you do here, Leah? Nate hasn't mentioned much about Redrock. Only that he's the armourer or something. I dunno."

Va'ynna appears unsure for a moment, growing more uncomfortable as this isn't really a topic she would want to discuss in a setting like this. "I... still don't go out alone, but...," she looks off to Victoria, "I don't have to."

Vasquez startles when Cynthia jumps her, reflexively elbowing her friend and reaching for a weapon she's not carrying as she spins around, stepping away from her in a combat-ready stance - only to quickly try to cover it up as she realizes who it is, relaxing and stepping closer. "Fucking hell, Cyn... don't do that. You okay?"

Cynthia doubles over as she takes an elbow to the stomach, letting out a pained groan. As she's addressed she waves her hand dismissively, standing back up with a grin. "Urgh... guess I had that coming. Happy Halloween, Chief! Sorry I'm late!"

Zaylus jumps back a step as the dart bounces off his head, quickly bringing up his free hand in an agressive gesture. "The hell was that?" He spits, looking between Vicky and the little dart on the ground. Frowning, he shoots the woman a glare in response.

Halisi lowers the saw as her grin turns less malicious, glancing towards the entrance with slight confusion as she notices Vasquez elbowing Cynthia.

Jason follows her gaze and his lopsided grin returns. "That's good to hear, V." he says, realizing now is probably not the time nor the place to discuss such serious topics. He looks back to the asari and gives her a quick shake, "That last job didn't go as planned and I was away for a little longer than expected, but I don't plan on going anywhere for a while, alright? So... you know.... If you want to talk or anything..." he

Tara is still looking around in silence, hands in her lap. Unseen under the table a finger is tapping along with the music, the faintest shadow of a smile on her face.

Victoria just grins at the turian and picks up the dart. "Just teaching you a lesson." She takes a sip of her drink and begins walking towards Va'ynna.

Kim looks in confusion towards Linda and Cynthia when Halisi does the same, then frowns slightly at the incident that had just finished. She sighs and walks to the fridge to get a second beer before looking to see what will happen next between the two.

Ilyna steps closer once that stand-off is complete, chuckling as the chief reaction's lived up to expectations – not that she would admit that. She didn't want to just stand around awkwardly.... "I don't believe we've met," she says. "I'm Ilyna, I help out with the managment here."

Va'ynna looks up at Jason. "I... know, I've been meaning to, but..." she murmurs, barely audible above the music. "I... just want to-... I didn't want to talk about... what happened."

Vasquez shakes her head to herself once she's certain that Cynthia is fine, glancing at Ilyna as the asari talks to her.

Jason sighs and gives Va'ynna another brief shake. Somewhat of a one-armed side hug with the arm slung over her shoulder. "I get it, V. I just want you to know you've got people willing to listen. That's all." he explains, propping his smirk back up despite the obvious sadness behind the subject matter in question. As Vicky approaches, he glances up to her and begins climbing to his feet slowly and awkwardly given his position

Cynthia stretches a bit, wincing and letting out a grunt before extending a hand to Ilyna. "Cynthia Spunkmeyer. Alliance marine and long-time friend of the CHief's. I was wondering when I'd meet you, I've been in town for a while now!"

Nathan resumes his doughnut consumption, although he narrows his eyes at his sister.

Zaylus lets out a grunt as Vicky turns, forcing his hand back down as he leans against the counter, looking down at his feet.

Halisi starts to head towards the kitchen corner as well, although she is in no need of another drink. She stops near Nathan, leaning back against the counter and looking him over. She leans in and whispers: "You've got Ilyna beat, you know." with a smirk.

Nathan turns to look at Halisi, finishing off his doughnut with a smirk. "Thanks, Halisi," he responds in an equal whisper. "By the by, your costume is equal parts terrifying and awesome. However, it seriously makes me question my decision to go see you as my doctor." He grins, turning to lean against the table.

Leah sweeps a bit of stray hair behind her ear as she glances off to the side, considering the woman's question. "Wellllll~" she sings, returning her attention to Sofia, "We're private military contractors, I guess." she decides on with a shrug. "Most of our regular contracts are providing security around town here in Freedom Falls. For now I'm working security down at a bar-slash-inn in town called the Miner's Respite." she

Victoria gives Jason a once over when she approaches "Kind of surprised you did not dress up as a wolf or something. Little disappointed, Jason." She then loads her toy gun and shoots Jason in the chest. "Guess I had you figured out wrong."

Jason's smirk grows and he gives Victoria a wink.

Sofia blinks and leans back slightly in the chair. "Me? Oh, well, I only got here recently. Came to visit Nate and catch up with him. It's... been a while since I saw him." She smiles lightly. She doesn't seem to yet go into any detail about what she does. "Sooooo it may have been a surprise visit that he didn't know about. But those are the best ones, right?"

Li seems to pay little attention to Jason and Va'ynna's discussion, although since she's finally finished chewing she looks to Victoria, tilting her head curiously. "What are you?"

Halisi snickers, letting the meat hook twirl around her hand once and then giving a small shrug. "That's the price I'll have to pay. I wanted to do the best I could, costume-wise. The girl deserves to have some fun, poor thing."

Vasquez shakes her head. "No need to explain yourself, Ilyna. I understand you need to be there for her." she says, doing her best to look reassuring before turning her gaze to Cynthia. "What... are you supposed to be, anyway?"

Cynthia gives a shrug as she starts to head past the two of them. "Punk ghost. What? Not spooky enough?" she asks, her eyes scanning around until she spots the beer, immediately heading straight for it, as if laser-guided.

Leah continues leaning forward on her elbows. "Absolutely!" she agrees, "So where are you from? You don't seem like the 'Terminus type'." she says before instantly deciding that sounds too judgemental and scrunching up her nose. "Errr, not that there's a specific type, per se. I mean, hell, I probably don't seem like the 'Terminus type'! But don't let that scare you away! Freedom Falls is great!" She winces and tilts her

Va'ynna gives a smile as she's half-hugged from the side and nods. "Thank you," she murmurs. She lets out a brief giggle at Victoria shooting Jason with that toy gun. "Why... a wolf?" she asks, the pun completely lost in translation.

Tara glances at Cynthia she passes the table, before her gaze goes out towards the other end of the room again.

Nathan grins, eyes following the meat-hook as it twirls. "A noble sacrifice. But, aye, it works. And I think the kid likes it. She seems to be having a good time." He pauses and glances to Li, a small smile playing on his face. He does murmur to Halisi, "Please don't wear that when I come to visit. It makes me fear for my limbs."

Victoria looks at Va'ynna "I thought he would have been a werewolf, since his last name is Wolfe." She then realises that the asari may not know what a wolf is. "A wolf is a wild dogs. That is the fastest way to explain it."

Jason returns to his spot at the counter and slugs back the last few drops of his beer before tossing it in the nearby bin. He wastes no time uncapping a second and holding it up towards Cynthia in greeting as he spots her. "Hey! Didn't expect to see you here. How are you enjoying Freedom Falls?" he asks, his goofy beard moving in an unrealistic fashion with each word.

Sofia giggles again, smiling brightly to Leah. "Same as Nate. Earthborn, Hamburg. And don't worry, I wasn't planning on leaving the city and Nate's side for the most part. But I can look after myself," she says softly, a knowing grin on her face. "So, you're not from here, Leah?"

Victoria looks at the little dinosaur "Me? Well little one, I am a pirate." She clearly knows what Li is dressed as but decides to ask anyway. "And what are you?"

Halisi raises an eyebrow. "I... wasn't planning on it. Although fearing for your limbs seems wise, considering how recklessly you've treated that arm of yours." she admonishes. "You really should've taken more care. It's hard to keep you all safe when you don't listen to my advice."

Li flashes a beaming smile. "I'm a dinnosaur! A Tyrantosaurus Rex!" she explains proudly, but a moment later she furrows her eyebrows. "What's a pirate?"

Nathan pouts. "Okay, in my defense, I did not expect to be stranded on a desert world with giant creatures and violent natives." He rolls his arm, giving it a light testing swing. "And it's doing fine! I've been taking the boosters." He smiles lightly, chuckling. "I did listen. Mostly. But come! Had to adapt."

Va'ynna glances up at Victoria, looking a bit concerned about how she's going to describe piracy. "I'm her first mate," she says. "I think that's... um, like a pirate 'squrrell'?" The asari may have forgotten how to pronounce the alien word she believes means apperentice.

Cynthia grabs the beer, raising an eyebrow and nodding appreciatingly at the easy uncapping. She takes a sip and looks out across the room. "It's a nice place. Lively. Gotta admit I'm not a huge fan of the snow, though. Elysium never gets this much. But yeah, 'course I had to come. Was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Chief wearing some goofy ass costume though. No luck there..."

Leah gives a quick shake of her head, her ponytail bouncing back and forth as she does. "Aite? No way. I was born on Earth, but my career saw me all over the place." she explains, not going into the 'why' of it. "Alliance." she clarifies, "I... wasn't with them for too long. Just a few years after all of my training finished. But-... yeah. I've been around." she settles on, punctuating it with a smile.

Ehanis puts down the empty beer glass on the counter and walks out of the crowded counter. Overhearing Nathan's defence makes her stop, however, and turn towards them . "Mostly, huh? It's more between 'barely' and 'almost never'." she interjects with a smrik, the hypocrite that she is.

Halisi 's eyebrows shoot up as she looks to Nathan, eagerly awaiting an explanation for Ehanis' accusations. "Interesting..."

Jason briefly looks as if he's going to protest the taking of his beer, but realizes he may have brought that on himself and plays it off, deciding simply to reach for another one and thumb the cap off before taking a long sip. "I had her in a Blasto costume for all of ten seconds!" he brags. "But I have a feeling she'd probably slit both of our throats before she ever let anyone catch sight of her in that thing again." A brief

Sofia cants her head to the side. "You were Alliance? Cool! My older sisters are Alliance. Dad was too. They enjoy it, I think. So, why Aite? Why come out here?"

Victoria crouches down in front of the couch. "Well pirates are normally 'bad' people. A long time before I was even born, pirates use to ride on boats and take what they want from good people." She stops for a moment and tries to figure out a way to make herself sound less like a villain. "But I am a good pirate, I steal from the bad guys and give it to the poor." She looks at Va'ynna for a second to correct her "First mate is the second in

Leah gains a brief, uncomfortable expression before it washes away. "It's-... a long story." she says. Though that has never stopped her before. The obvious implication is 'it's an uncomfortable story'. "I guess I'm here for my dad." she finally says with a shrug of her shoulders. The irony not lost on her that her father is no longer here and she is. "My mom-..." she leans forward slightly, giving an almost-apologetic shrug of

Li nods slowly. "Ok!" she suddenly exclaims, and then slips out of the couch, going back to dinnosaur mode.

Ilyna gives a tiny smile at the reassurance, though she wasn't really all that necessary when both of them were home. "Just let me know if you need days off," she says, though she pauses as she decides against mentioning her pregnancy. "You deserve it."

Tara 's focus turns back to Leah, remaining silent as ever, but a subtle sadness taking form in her face.

Cynthia almost spits out her beer at the mental image, snickering as she looks over towards Vasquez. "Aw man, wish I coulda seen it. Can't believe you got it on her at all... Chief must really like you."

Vasquez shakes her head. "Days off? I'm fine. It's not like I'm doing fieldwork..."

Ilyna tilts her head. "I meant the paperwork, meeting with applicants, …clients…," she says. "Especially when Jason is out in the field." She felt increasingly uninvolved in the agency lately, far past what she thinks necessary to take care of Li.

Jason raises an eyebrow at Cynthia. "Uhh... I... hope so?" he says. "I mean, she is marrying me, right? So either she likes me, or she's using me for my body." He gives a quick shrug as he glances across the room to Linda, his smirk returning, "I'm fine with it either way." he jokes.

Va'ynna frowns at her mistake, her cheeks slightly more purple. With so many things to think about – and worry about –, some details may have slipped her mind. "Oh," she says. "Well..., Oops." She gives her a quick kiss on the cheek before standing up from the couch. "We... can spend time together later," she says in a barely audible murmur, "you should... talk with your coworkers now that they're gathered here."