Renala arrives in Freedom Falls around six in the morning on the 12th; another gray winter morning that's slightly more windy than the previous day. Steve would know that she's expected back around this time, but she does not notify him in case he's still asleep. Renala has a lot waiting for her at the office, but her first stop is her apartment.
#SteveRenalaApartment – January 22, 2019
Renala has just returned to Freedom Falls after her vacation on Thessia.
Steve is, in fact, up and about. Maybe due to his knowledge regarding Renala's return. Or maybe it's another been another night of tossing and turning. Probably a combination of the two. At any rate, he's wide awake, seated at the coffee table in the living room. From the look of things, he's been up for some time. Armor plating is strewn about the table and he's in a solid black undersuit. The plating matches the boots
he's wearing. Deep red in color with chrome trim. It's of a similar make and model to the armor he lost. The sound of the door causes him to take a quick sip of his coffee and set the mug aside, lifting his head. "That you, Ren?" he calls out, small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he cranes his neck to try and see towards the door from his position.
Renala closes the door behind her and lets out a long sigh. She has only been up for the last few hours of the trip here from Illium, but the 2.5 day journey has still left her a bit exhausted and restless. "I've forgotten just how cold this town is," she says as she removes her red winter jacket. She leaves the bag by the door and walks into the apartment, her eyes drawn to Steve and his armor strewn
Steve rises from his seat to meet the asari near the entrance to the living room, smile growing. "Prolly regrettin' your decision to come back, ain't ya." he snickers to her observation about the weather. Her question causes him to shoot a glance back towards the coffee table before looking down over his current attire. He squares up his shoulders as he looks back to Renala with a shake of his head. "Nah. Just tryin' on
the new threads is all." he says, lifting each leg in turn as if stretching out the fabric for emphasis. "With everyone either on the mend or takin' personal time, they cleared me for some shifts down at the Respite so I figured I should-..." he cocks a thumb back towards his gear before furrowing his brow and giving a shake of his head, suddenly deciding none of that is all too important. "Ya know what? You just got
back. You don't need to be worryin' 'bout any of that, darlin'. How was your trip?!" he asks, mustering up what enthusiasm he can as his smile widens. "You get to spend some quality time with the lil' one?"
Renala looks him over while he shows off his armor, nodding in agreement. She is about to tell him her opinion, but takes his cue to change the topic. "Yeah, definitely," she says, a small smile showing up. "No wires, no lines of code, no guns, no soldering iron, not even a single log line." She's not counting the alert message referred to in the message to Steve. "Just me and her making up for lost
time," Renala says before letting a sigh, the smile fading a little. "Though, I'm nowhere close to clearing that 'debt'."
Steve nods along as Renala speaks, smile remaining. It slips away a bit towards the tail end when it becomes obvious that she would much rather still be with her family. His gaze lowers briefly as he acknowledges the sentiment with another small nod. "Are we ever?" he asks with a lighthearted snort. Sure, their situations may not be the same. But he's got more than his own fair share of 'debt' out there. Most of it waiting
to catch him in a back alley, unfortunately. "Can't let that weigh ya down. You'll see her again soon enough." he assures.
Renala nods. "For as much fun we had, I feel it Aeyna's enjoyment of it was undercut by that it was going to end," she says. "When I wrote you that message, I had taken her to a quiet spot in a park outside town. We needed to talk, and... just be the two of us without distraction no matter how much fun it is to play games or go somewhere fun." Renala looks down for a moment, closing her eyes. "In her
eyes, we were wasting precious time," she says, her tone deflated. "She shouted... and stormed off to go home without me. I had her omni-tool tracked per Nallie's request, so I wasn't worried, but... you know, it says something about just how little time we spend together." She looks back up at him.
Steve falls silent as Renala speaks, hand eventually coming to rest on her shoulder. He certainly doesn't have any parental advice for her. No seeds of wisdom. "Yeah..." he sighs, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. After a moment, he gives a few pats, propping a small smile back up. "But she knows ya love her, Ren. That's what's important." he offers, doing his best to sound confident despite his utter lack of real
experience with the subject matter. It causes his mind to begin to drift, but he doesn't allow it to. Not now. "Besides. Nothin' stoppin' you from headin' back her way in a few months, right? I mean, what is Redrock gonna do? Fire ya? They wouldn't be able to tell their ass from a hole in the ground without you." he snickers.
Renala gives an unsure hum. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she says. "Nallie, she... is trying to be a good mother, but I don't think she's trying hard enough. She helps her with homework with a matriarch's patience, makes great food and all that, but... she doesn't connect with her the way I did." Renala chuckles, and lets out a sigh. "You can bet that I'll go again as soon as the opportunity presents
itself," she says. "T'Rea couldn't even wait for me to leave Illium before sending me work, so I'm not getting fired anytime soon... not that I'll cry if they do."
Steve gives a stern nod at the sentiment that Renala will be returning soon enough, adding an enthusiastic, "Damn right you will." to go along with it. Her follow-up statement about recieving work gets a snicker out of him that quickly turns to a drawn out sigh. "Yeah, well that don't surprise me one bit." he says, withdrawing his hand and resting it against his hip. "Like I said, the roster is lookin' a bit thin right
now. And, after sittin' in on that meetin', it ain't a surprise, either." He gives a small shake of his head as he draws in a breath. "Fuckin' Collectors, Ren. You believe that shit?"
Renala couldn't last ten sentences without pessimism to seep in when talking about her vacation, so the mention of the collectors does quick work of the remaining positivity. "Ask me one year ago, and I'd call you out for being full of it," she says, "but after Ogofau? My heart rate still goes up if the door to the next room is open and the lights are off inside." She looks down. "So yeah, I can believe
it," she says, "especially the part where Redrock Agency has found a way to piss them off." She raises her brows for a moment in realization and adds, "Did you find out why they wanted Li, though?"
Steve breaks eye contact at the mention of Ogofau. Not exactly one of his most pleasant memories either. Just another dark corner of his mind that he avoids. The question causes him to give a shake of his head. "They said one of the cultists from that compound we hit on Di Yu survived. S'pose it could be as simple as them comin' for what they believe is theirs." he says as he meets the asari's gaze once more, though his
words sound more like a question than a statement. "I don't know, Ren. Whole situation is fucked. Sounded like they're worried 'bout a potential Collector invasion, now, too..."
Renala steps closer, looks up to him and places a hand on his upper arm. "Doesn't seem to imminent when the bosses finds time for a vacation of their own, though," she says. "Remember what you just said? No need to be worrying about that, darling." She makes no attempt to imitate his voice while quoting him. "So, how have you been?" Renala asks, then bobs her head towards the armor on the table.
Steve allows a small smile to return at Renala's awful, low-effort immitation of him, which seems to help clear away any lingering questions that may have been gnawing at him. "That was-..." he begins, having to pause to give a shake of his head. "That was truly awful, darlin'." he says, putting a little extra emphasis in his southern American accent to play it up. He snickers to himself before drawing in a breath as
he considers her final question. "Eh. Been tryin'. Mostly by sittin' on my ass and watchin' a whole lot of TV." he snickers, "Other than that? Just tryin' not to tear my hair out from boredom and checkin' in with the doc." He gives a lift of his arm, now free of the cast, and rotates his hand at the wrist. "Ain't got a full range of motion yet, but it'll do. Still aches a bit in the mornin', though." He casts a
brief glance in the direction of his armor. "New gear came in the other day." he confirms, "The fit is right and everything seems in order, so-..." he gives a small roll of his shoulder and tilts his head from one side to the other, "...Guess I'm back in business."
Renala frowns. She doesn't comment on his appraisal of her imitation, as she wasn't even trying. "Hasn't the weather even let up long enough for a walk?" she asks. "If you're ready to head back into the field, getting out every now and then shouldn't be a tall order, right?"
Steve casts a glance in the general direction of the window with a tilt of his head. Truth be told, it hasn't been the weather keeping him home. Or his injuries. If anything, his injury has mostly just been an excuse for him to stay inside. After everything that transpired with Henrik, he's still been very much on edge. Late nights watching out the window. Waiting. "Ya know what? You're prolly right." he admits, stowing
those concerns away for another day. "And since they got me back workin' shifts at the Respite, I've got an excuse to." He studies the asari through a friendly smile for a few moments, hand on his hip. "It is good to have ya back, Ren." he says sincerely. "This place was-..." he stammers, glancing off towards the screen that's displaying yet more news covereage regarding the Collectors. He doesn't allow his gaze to
linger for long before drawing in a breath and steeling his smile. "...Well, it just wasn't the same without you around." he settles on.
Renala return the smile. The lack of an immediate answer is answer enough for her, though she doesn't feel like pushing it right now. Renala follows his gaze to the news broadcast, which evokes a sigh from her. She brings her omni-tool up to bring a list of all available channels while walking over to the fridge. "Yeah, as much as I love being home on Thessia," she says, "I'm glad to be back." She opens
The fridge is decidedly sparse. Without Renala around, Steve seems to have let things go down to the bare essentials. There is beer, naturally. It's one of the essentials. To his credit, though, the apartment is in good condition. Aside from the pillow and blankets on the couch, not much is out of place. It's almost like Henrik's people weren't even massacred in here merely weeks prior.
Steve takes a step after Renala into the kitchen. As she begins to search the fridge, he brings a hand up to the back of his neck, other hand coming to rest atop the fridge door. "Yeah-... Haven't exactly done a whole lot of shoppin' since you left." he says with a snicker. "Tell ya what. I ain't got work for a while. You're sayin' I need to get outta the house more-..." he shrugs, weighing the suggestion, "...how 'bout
Renala is about to reach for a bottle when Steve's suggestion stops her, and she contemplates it for a second before closing the fridge. "That sounds good," she steps back. Instead of changing the channel, she shuts off the screen and omni-tool. "I don't think anyone else knows I'm back yet, so I'm in no hurry either," she says, looking up at him. "Is there anywhere open at this hour, though?"
Steve takes his arm off the fridge door as it swings shut, furrowing his brow at the question. "Well, it's gonna take me another twenty minutes or so to finish gettin' geared up. What is it-..." he begins craning his head as if to look towards the screen to catch the time. A reaction despite the screen now being off. "...6:30? 'Round there?" he asks, looking back to Renala. "Should be somethin' open." he decides.