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#SteveRenalaApartment – October 18, 2017
It's the evening of November 25th. Steve has been distant ever since he and Renala paid a visit to Henrik. Most of his time has been spent in his room. Any inquiries into his state would've been met with deflection, claims of needing rest in the face of the wounds he faced from Rakhana.
Renala opens the door to the apartment, and hangs up her jacket with a sigh. The asari briefly opens the door to her own bedroom to throw a plastic bag onto her bed. She hasn't been very talkative either after the incident, so she's left Steve to recover without protest.
Steve is seated atop the counter, back against the wall that serves as part of the entryway to the living room as a game plays on the TV. The spot he usually would sit at to watch TV before his injuries. Shirtless and in jeans and scuffed up boots as usual, his numerous wounds from Rakhana are on full display. The massive bruising that was present across his torso has mostly healed, though. His left hand, however, still remains in a
cast. At his side are a couple of empty beer bottles and he cradles a full bottle in his right hand. The remainder of a six-pack sits at his feet.
Steve casts a glance Renala's way as she enters. Once she finishes in her room, he gives a nod her way. "Evenin', Ren." he says. "Long day...?" he probes, obviously having something on his mind but not wanting to cut right to it after days of radio silence from him.
Renala approaches the counter. "Yeah," she says. "I don't want Fergus fucking things up while I'm on the other side of the galaxy." She grabs a beer from the six-pack and hops up to sit on the counter beside him. "Though, knowing my luck...." The asari is wearing a zipped-up white fleece jacket and simple black pants.
Steve gives a short snicker as he leans to his side to scoop up the bottle opener and pass it Renala's way. "How long you gonna be gone?" he asks, casting a glance towards the TV as he takes a sip of his beer.
Renala takes the bottle-opener with a nod. "I don't know," she says. "As long as I can get away with." She opens the bottle and takes a long swig of it.
Steve gives an understanding nod to accompany another snicker. "Ain't gonna be the same without you here." he says as he watches the TV, not particularly paying it much attention. "I'll try not to throw any wild parties and trash the place while you're gone." he jokes. After a moment, he looks down to his beer before leveling his gaze back on the asari, adding in a much more serious tone: "...Or get the place shot up."
Renala chuckles at first, but the last bit immediately brings the mood down. "Yeah, try not to make a habit of that," she says, only half joking. "It's apparantly not easy to get a place in this town if we get that kind of reputation."
Steve allows another chuckle out, but it's forced and his gaze immediately moves back to his beer. With a sigh, he leans his head back against the wall behind him. An uncomfortable silence overtakes him, leaving only the biotiball game on TV to fill the air. Finally, after nearly a full minute of silence passes, Steve looks back to Renala. "...I feel like I owe you an explanation, Ren." he nearly spits out.
Renala also turns her gaze to the TV when no immediate response comes, taking another sip of her beer. An eyebrow is raised when he does speak up, and she turns her attention to him. She squeezes the beer bottle, and looks slightly frustrated for a moment. "There's still things you haven't told me?" she asks, "about Eclipse?"
Steve gives a shake of his head. "No I-..." he sighs, returning his attention to the TV. "...I don't know, Ren. There's a lot to-..." he trails off, making no attempt at tactfully dodging the question and instead simply ignoring it. "Henrik." he says, refocusing the topic. He rests his beer in his lap, slowly turning the bottle in place idly as he speaks. "What happened back there. It was somethin' that needed to
happen." he assures her. "Was somethin' I should've done a long time ago." He glances her way apologetically, "...Maybe if I had, you wouldn't have been dragged into all that."
Renala gives a brief nod. "You have no idea how lucky you were that night," she says. "Had that fucking script failed one more time..." She looks down on her beer bottle, and lets out a long sigh. "I don't care anymore if you're in the right or wrong," she says wearily. "All I want is for this crap to be done so that I can start fixing things."
Steve lowers his gaze, giving a short nod. "I don't think anyone is in the right on this one, Ren." he sighs, leaning his head back against the wall. "But I'd be lyin' if I said I didn't dig this hole all on my own." he admits. He takes a moment to sip at his drink before returning the bottle back to his lap, holding it in place with his casted hand. "Ya know, I was still just a kid when I finished my trainin' with the
Alliance." he continues, the change of direction seemingly out of nowhere as he looks to Renala again. "Came home to a-... big ol'..." he reaches out in front of him with his free hand, swiping his free hand across the air in front of him as he recalls the image in his head from all those years ago, "...sign painted across my garage. Said 'Freaks not welcome'. And there was my ol' man. Standin' on a ladder an' tryin'
Renala frowns, staying quiet for a while even after he's done speaking. The pureblood knew all too well how bad people could be, so she gives a knowing nod. "Freak?" she asks. "...because of your biotics?"
Steve takes another swig of his drink as he nods, gaze focused on the wall straight ahead. A humorless chuckle follows. "Yep. Us humans, we ain't as-.... comfortable with this type of shit as your people." he explains, though it might not exactly be new information to the asari. "I was one of their... 'early models'. Before they managed to work all the kinks out." he continues, downplaying the severity of exactly what that
means with another chuckle and a shake of his head. "Anyway... They stripped us down. at Jump Zero-..." he glances Renala's way as he realizes she probably has no idea what that is, "...Where I trained. Just... broke us. Three. Years." Another humorless chuckle follows as he slugs back a much larger drink. There's an obvious sadness to his voice that he doesn't often show, and it's clear that the memories are still
fresh wounds to him. "We were just kids, ya know? But they put us through hell. Beat me like I was a grown-ass man. Then they tried justifyin' it all to us like we were gonna be a part of somethin' bigger. Somethin' important. Freaks not welcome." he nods, raising his beer in a toast to the wall opposite of him, "...That's all we ended up bein' a part of."
Renala listens attentively at what he has to say, but she does not raise a toast in turn. "That's fucked up," she says. "Why the hell did the Alliance sanction those assholes' power trip?"
Steve gives a shrug. It's a question he's asked himself, but the answer never seemed particularly important. "I don't know, Ren... Power? After seein' what the rest of the galaxy was capable of, I guess they figured they had some catchin' up to do... Anyway. Seein' my old man up on that ladder cleanin' up that graffiti just-..." he falls silent again, his gaze moving back to his bottle. "Was hard to respect him after that.
Maybe that ain't fair to him, but it's true. He was just takin' someone else's shit, hangin' his head, and cleanin' it up. All because-..." he bites back on his anger, tightening his jaw. "All because of what I am. Turned out it was the guy across the street. He'd been our neighbor my whole life. Guess he'd been givin' my parents shit ever since I went away to BAaT." he doesn't bother clarifying what that was,
assuming the contextual clues give it away, "His son was my best friend. So, like my old man, I took it. Spent my first day home cleanin' up his hateful shit. Didn't take long for me to wash out of the Alliance, though. Just-..." he shakes his head, deciding the details of that whole ordeal better left undisclosed, "...Wasn't cut out for it. So, back home I went. Once again, big black letters. Fresh. Bastard must've
heard I was comin' home. 'Not wanted here.' But I was tired of just 'takin' it'. I 'took it' all throughout BAaT. I 'took it' all throughout my time with the Alliance. I 'took it' everytime someone got a good look at my implant..."
Renala winces as he trails off. "I... well, I have a feeling where this is going," she sighs. "I don't know what to say.... I'm... sorry, Steve." She throws her free arm over his shoulder, which she rarely does to someone that much bigger than her – or anyone lately.
Steve snorts, giving a shake of his head. "You didn't stick this thing in the back of my head, Ren..." he says. He doesn't return the gesture, but the tension that leaves his shoulders as her arm lays across them implies the gesture is appreciated. "He was alive when I left..." he clarifies, "...But I couldn't imagine that ordeal was gonna make my life back there any easier. So I packed up my shit and never looked back.
Figured-... what the hell. The Alliance made me into a weapon. Might as well go where weapons just sorta disappear into the background." he snickers humorlessly. "I was stayin' with an old couple on Omega when I met Henrik. They never had kids. Guess they sorta-..." he shakes his head, stopping himself short of going on a tangent about them. It isn't important. "...Point is, Henrik was there when I needed him.
Sorta-... took me under his wing, I guess. And for a long time, I considered him and his sister family." he explains. "He got us in with Eclipse. Always had a way with words. Silver tongue. He looked out for me and Karen..." he continues, growing a bit more distant with each word as it becomes clear that a bit of guilt is settling back in. After a moment of silence, he sucks in a deep breath, consciously willing
himself to snap out of it. "...To make a long story short, I did a lot of bad shit, Ren. A lot of bad shit. I ain't gonna pretend otherwise. I ain't gonna make any excuses. But when I killed Henrik's sister?" he continues non-chalantly- no reason to dance around it when Henrik outright said it in front of Renala, "...It was for the right reasons. I just-... I couldn't bring myself to finish it off. I knew Henrik
would come after me. I know how it works. You never leave loose ends but I-..." he shakes his head once more, assuming the implication can go unsaid, "...None of it matters, Ren. I just-... I felt like I owed you an explanation." As soon as the final word leaves his mouth, he falls entirely silent, focusing his gaze right back on his beer. Talking about his life- his past- isn't something that comes easy to him and
it's easy to tell by the discomfort on his face. But the nagging feeling in the back of his head- the worry of what she may think of him after that day- made this something he had to do.
Renala lets the silence last for a good ten seconds, looking down at her beer. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't... considering leaving this town," she says. "I've stuck with you for over a year, and... well, look where it's gotten me." She looks around the room. "Everything around me crumbles, and I don't know how much longer I can keep lying to Atana." She sighs, and lifts her bottle up near her lips,
and sighs. "I feel like I'm back on Omega again, keeping everyone and everything at an arm's length...."
Steve gives a few slow nods. It's certainly understandable after everything that's happened. "Can't say I'd blame ya, Ren..." he sighs as he raises his bottle to take another sip. Another period of silence passes- leaving hm with his thoughts- before he finally looks to the asari. "I don't want you to go." he says plainly, fighting against his better judgement. A small smile crosses his lips and he gives a somewhat
embarassed shrug. "I just-... It's selfish, Ren. I know. But I don't want you to go. Been all across this shithole of a galaxy, and you're the first person I've met that didn't make me feel like a means to an end. That didn't treat me like a weapon. Just a-..." he spits most of it out at once, only slowing down near the end as more embarassment begins to settle in. And a bit of guilt over being so blatantly
selfish. "...A friend. You've had my back even when it was prolly in your best interest to turn tail and head for the hills. That means somethin' to me." he admits with no small amount of difficulty. He raises his arms, holding his beer in one hand, "So... there it is. I don't explain it to change your mind or anything. You got a lil' girl to think about but-..." he trails off, sucking another deep breath in as he
Renala is, once again, quiet for a few tense seconds before taking a long sip of her beer. "What I wouldn't give to be back with Aeyna,... and Nalena," she says. "For how much crap I talk about the latter, she...- Those were the best decades of my life." She sighs. "Problem is, she didn't give me a chance to fix things," she says followed by a deep breath. "My life here, though – I... still have that
Steve listens silently as Renala speaks. When she finishes, he gives a sigh and finally returns the sentiment, carefully lifting his cast-covered arm and tossing it over Renala's shoulder. "Take it from me, Ren. You can't spend your life dwellin' on the shit ya can't change." he says before rolling his eyes at his own statement to someone who just used 'decades' as a measurement for a short time in her life. "Hell, what am
I talkin' 'bout? You're ten times my age, darlin'. Guessin' I ain't tellin' ya anything you don't already know." He shifts in place a bit in an attempt at getting comfortable. Well, as comfortable as you can get while sitting on a kitchen counter. "What happened between you and her, anyway?"
Renala sighs, shifting closer as well. "I'm not," she says before downing the remainder of her bottle. "This is 'shit' I can change." She lets out a slightly forced chuckle. As the topic moves to Nalena, she sets her bottle down and reaches down to grab another beer. "Me and her didn't see eye to eye about raising Aeyna right," she says. "Pressure kept building for a while, and one day things just snapped."
She grabs the bottle- opener. "Aeyna had hurt someone. Wasn't anything serious, really, but... well, you could guess whose fault Nalena thought it was...."
Steve gives a humorless snort at the story. "Lil' Aeyna's got your fightin' spirit, eh?" he asks as he gestures for her to pass the final beer that remains in the six pack his way. "What were you doin' at the time for her to pin the blame on you?" he asks.
Renala opens hers before she reaches for the beer and hands it over to him along with the opener. "I'm the one that spent centuries on the bad side of the galaxy," she says. "I'm not saying she didn't have good reason to, I wanted our kid to stand up for herself." She takes a sip of her beer. "What she did was wrong, of course, but... it wasn't completely in the wrong direction."
Steve tucks the beer between his legs to hold it in place so he can open it without pulling his arm from Renala's shoulder. "And your entire relationship fell apart over a child gettin' in a fight?" he asks, casting a glance at the asari at his side. He whistles loudly to accompany a shake of his head. "That's-... That's somethin', Ren..."
Renala snorts. "Like I said, it had been tearing at the seams for a long time," she says, "but yeah, she overreacted over nothing." She takes a long swig of her beer. "And here I am, trying to find out what the fuck to do with my life."
Steve looks Renala over, a small smile returning to his lips. "Well, I s'pose that makes two of us, darlin'." he offers with a snicker and a shake of his head. "We'll figure it out. For now? You get your shit handled and go visit your baby girl." he says as he takes a swig of his fresh drink. He gives Renala a pat on the arm opposite of him with his casted arm that's over her shoulder. "...But then you come home. Cuz I
Renala nods. "Count on it," she says, "but I'll have to trust you to keep trouble at bay for a few weeks, maybe a month." She takes a small sip of her drink. "I'll probably leave a day or two after the wedding," she says, before looking up at Steve. "You prepared for that, by the way?"
Steve gives a chuckle at the mention of trouble. A whole month without the only dependable person on this rock. Not exactly the best news he's gotten, but he had already stepped out of line enough for one night. He said his piece and that was enough for now. When she finishes speaking, he gives a nod. "Can't say I'm jumpin' for joy at the idea of spendin' all of tomorrow at those two jokers' wedding, but I'll survive.
Survived worse." he says, raising his casted arm a bit against her shoulder as he compares Jason and Vasquez' wedding to being stranded on a deserted planet with a murderous drell. "Gotta say I'm a lil' offended, though. You still ain't asked me to be your wedding date." he jokes.
Renala chuckles at his comparison, but raises an eyebrow at the last bit. "Neither am I, but something tells me they're going to notice if I'm not there," she says. "When and where is almost the extent of what I know about this celebration, I'm even trusting Atana that the dress I've got is appropriate."
Steve cocks an eyebrow. "Dress? You're goin' the whole nine yards for this. Figured I'd prolly just show up like this." he says, glancing down at his bruised and scarred bare torso. The smile returns to his face as he looks Renala's way. "Think they'd fire me?"
Renala follows his glance with a snort. "If they'd only fire you is the better question," she says. "Let's not find out."
Steve's shoulders rise and fall as he begins to laugh. After a moment, however, he winces as a sharp pain shoots through his arm from the uneven movements his laughter caused and he retracts it from around Renala's shoulder. "Look what ya made me do." he teases as he bends his arm at the elbow, resting his cast in his lap. Despite the teasing, he certainly seems to be in better spirits than he was when she first arrived.