December 21st. 9PM. It's a clear evening, Aite's spectacular night sky illuminating the paved Redrock lot, and the severe, fortified building that sits upon it. Without the armored shutters closed, the windows glow warm and inviting, softening the impression that the cube of reinforced concrete and steel gives off. Vasquez has been out all day between Christmas preparations and her meeting with Matriarch Syranis. She only recently pulled
#RedrockAgency – February 25, 2020
into the parking lot, and started carrying bags inside, most of them going to the rec room. There's still a handful left in the back of her car as she emerges from the open front door for another go. A tree is tied to the roof of the car. It is definitely not a pine, but its coniferous, and it looks close enough, if a bit towards the blue-green.
Jason has just arrived in the parking lot as Vasquez exits the front door. He doesn't notice her at first, head low and hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket. Not that the cold bothers his hand much these days, but lifelong habits are hard to break. The walk home has given him ample time to dwell on both Aylena and Va'ynna, a fact that's reflected on his face. And one he tries to hide when he spots Vasquez, propping up that
lopsided smirk of his. "Were you just standing by the door, waiting for me to get home?" he calls out as he crosses the parking lot. "I mean, I know you miss me when I'm away, but isn't that a bit much?"
Vasquez rolls her eyes at Jason's words when she notices him, but the look on her face is a fond one, and she swerves a little to meet up with him instead of heading straight for the car. She's in her olive-green coat, hair tied back as usual, although there's a rogue tree needle or two stuck in it. She seems to be in a good mood, hands coming up to Jason's neck as she leans in for a quick kiss. A smile crosses her lips as she
pulls back, nodding in the direction of the truck. "Still unpacking. Help me with the tree?" she says, hands lingering a bit.
Jason is quick to return the kiss, hands briefly coming to Vasquez' sides before idly picking at the few pine needles in her hair and flicking them aside. He's just about to ask how the tree-hunt went when she directs his attention to the vehicle, causing him to furrow his brow and silently question how he somehow overlooked the tree strapped to the vehicle in the parking lot. The only vehicle currently in the parking lot.
Vasquez lightly bats Jason's hand away with a slight grumble, head ducking a bit to the side. Her hands return to her sides as she slips away and starts heading over towards the car. "Sure. It's not exactly massive." she comments with a snort as she climbs onto the side of the vehicle to release the cords that keep the tree in place. It looks like a solid pick for a Christmas tree - just short enough to fit indoors, and with
thick, lush branches. "Not sure I can get it inside on my own without ruining it though." she adds as she hops down and heads over to the back of the car to start tugging the tree down off the roof.
Jason has a slight scent of alcohol on his breath, but it seems like he kept true to his intentions of not coming home drunk. No dumb, glassy-eyed puppy dog look. No slurred words. No stupid grin plastered across-... well, two out of three ain't bad. Though Vasquez' words wipe his grin away and he levels an unamused look of judgement on her as he follows her over to the truck. "You know you're not supposed to be doing that shit on
your own, Linda. You're lifting trees for two now!" he says, as if that's just the most common turn-of-phrase in the world. He's quick to join her at the back of the truck. "I got it, I got it!" he insists with perhaps a but of unwarranted concern. "You just-... step back."
Vasquez pays no mind to Jason's protests as she continues to pull the tree down, holding it by the bottom of the trunk. Upon first arriving and realizing Jason wasn't home yet, she was worried that talking to Va'ynna had just been an excuse to go get drunk. Thankfully, she was wrong, and her good mood remains unimpeded as she shoots Jason a skeptical look. "Halisi said I'm fine to keep exercising." she counters. "I know what I'm
doing. Just grab the other end before it drops." she says with a nod toward the other end of the tree as she backs up.
Jason shoots Vasquez a scowl. "I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure 'exercising' doesn't mean chopping down trees and lifting them onto the roof of a truck." he continues to fuss, though he does as instructed, moving up to the back of the truck as Vasquez begins to pull the tree off. He helps to guide it down, grasping ahold of the end opposite of Vasquez' once it clears the edge of the truck.
Vasquez grunts quietly as the tree clears the roof, adjusting her grip. Jason's continued concern brings out an exasperated, but warm grin, although she's barely visible through all the branches between them. "Jason... I'm two months pregnant, I think I can handle collecting a sapling." she assures, her voice tinged with amusement. The tree might be a bit beyond sapling, of course, but, well... details. She starts to lead the way
Fergus ' projection is manning the desk as usual, and he bows his head towards Jason. "Welcome home, milord."
Jason gives an exaggerated sigh as Vasquez brushes aside his concern, his own lopsided grin hidden by the tree between them. He keeps his end propped up with one hand, little more to him than a leisurely walk as synthetic materials- relentless and unwavering- carry the brunt of the weight for him. "Uh huh." he mutters, though his smile is audible in his voice. "Well the least you can do is a wear a hat! Don't you know you lose,
like, ninety-percent of your bodyheat through your ears?" he informs before adding in a mutter, "Or-... something like that-..." He makes sure to keep pace with Vasquez as they maneuver the tree through the door. "Think it has something to do with your earholes or-... something... They let all the heat out. Need to insulate those-... uhh-... earholes..." he trails off. As Fergus greets him, he casts a glance towards the
holographic projection. "Tell her, Fergus." he says, confident that the VI will side with him, "Gotta protect those earholes."
Fergus ' expression turns focused for a moment. "Searching for relevant data..." There's a brief pause. "I'm afraid that notion was debunked approximately two centuries ago, milord."
Vasquez doesn't say anything, just shooting Jason a smug look as she continues into the corridor. Getting the tree up the stairs takes a bit more effort, and Vasquez finds herself needing to adjust her grip as they angle the tree to get it up.
Jason shoots a weaponized frown towards the hologram. "Traitor." he grunts as he tugs his own beanie off with his free hand and hurls it towards the glowing green image in a single motion. He brushes synthetic fingers through his hair in an attempt at fighting back hat hair as they near the steps. Vasquez' momentary struggle causes him to crane his neck to see around the branches of the tree. "You-... uhh-... you good?" he asks,
doing his best not to sound overly concerned as to avoid irritating her. He lifts his end so she doesn't need quite so steep of an angle to get up the steps.
Vasquez lets out a quiet, dismissive grunt as she finds a good grip and continues to navigate the tree up the stairs. She remains silent until they're in the rec room, at which point she carefully eases her end down next to a Christmas tree foot that she must have picked up during the day as well. It's a simple, metal thing in green and red, with screws to hold the tree in place. She lets out a breath as she straightens and
brushes the bits of bark and sap off her hands against her coat. Turns out real trees are a lot messier than plastic ones. "I'm gonna go grab the last couple of bags. Think you can get this thing standing up?" she asks with a thumb towards the tree, already on her way out the door.
Jason begrudgingly bites his tongue to keep from reminding Vasquez that he's more than capable of carrying the tree himself. He maintains a grip on his end of the tree when Vasquez sets her end down, keeping it upright at an angle for the moment. "Psh. You kidding me?" he asks, shooting her a cocky look. "Piece of cake." he adds, lowering his end down to the ground and crouching to get a better look at the tree stand. A curious
contraption. He blinks a couple of times, unwilling to betray his own bravado. "Hell, I'll be done with this before you get back." he brags.
Vasquez heads back down to the parking lot, grabbing the last couple of plastic bags and locking the car up before heading back up to Jason. She isn't gone particularly long. She heads right for the kitchenette to drop off the last bags, glancing Jason's way to check on his progress as she does.
Jason has thrown his jacket over the back of the couch and the needles on his shirt paint the image of a man who has suffered a losing battle with a tree. Despite that, the tree is in the tree stand. It's only a few screws in a metal dish, after all. Albeit it's standing at just about the most extreme angle it could possibly be positioned in without tipping over. Jason is desperately trying to straighten it out when Vasquez
returns but, as soon as he spots her out of the corner of his eye, he quickly pulls away from the tree and turns her way. "Guess you can say I'm just a natural lumberjack." he says, putting that lopsided grin on display. Cuz that's what lumberjacks do, apparently. Set up trees. He sniffs at the air and non-chalantly folds his arms across his chest, hoping his own confidence might cause her to overlook the sloped tree jutting
Vasquez initially turns back towards the kitchenette before doing a double take, eyebrows furrowing as she studies the tree. Her head tilts a little before shooting Jason a questioning look. "Are you... done...?"
Jason furrows his brow in turn, casting a glance from Vasquez to the tree as he tries to feel out the situation. "...Does it look like I'm done...?" he asks, trying not to give away that it's a genuine question as he attempts to gauge her reaction. Good enough? No? Maybe?
Vasquez 's lips thin as she just stares at Jason in silence for a couple of seconds. Eventually she gives up with a tired sigh. "No, Jason..." she says, looking like she's not sure whether to laugh or facepalm. Instead she turns towards the many bags sitting on the floor against the counters, starting to pull out various grocery items and filling up the fridge and cabinets.
Jason blinks, furrowing his brow as his attention snaps towards the tree to assess whether or not it's really that bad. Yep. Definitely not good. "No. Of course I'm not done." he says, as if it should be obvious. "Just-... You know. Taking a step back. Seeing how it's looking." he explains, taking a literal step back as he does and studying the tree. His head naturally- slowly- angles to match up with the angle of the tree.
Drawing in a breath he gives a nod to signify he's got a plan of attack and gets back on his knees beside the tree, one hand reaching for the tree's trunk to try and straighten it as his other loosens and tightens screws. "So-..." he calls out, face turned away from the branches in it, "...how did the meeting with the Matriarch go?" he calls out.
Vasquez finds herself unable to keep a small smile from crossing her lips, although she obscures it by lingering at the refridgerator for a bit. "It... went well." she says. "I'm going to schedule a briefing once the holidays are over." she adds, obviously referring to job she told Jason about. She continues to fill up the kitchenette. Cheeses, sausages and deli meat, egg nog, mulled wine, champagne, candy, rice, potatoes, flour
Jason sits up, hands coming to rest on his thighs as he looks up at the tree. "Sounds like a plan." he agrees. Nope, still lopsided. With a frown, he leans back in to continue adjusting it. "Wish I could say my visit with V went as well." he adds in a mutter.
Vasquez ' smile slips away at the tone of Jason's voice, glancing back over her shoulder towards him. "No good...?" she asks, watching him adjust the tree for a moment before bending down to retrieve a large chunk of unknown meat from one of the bags, turning towards the fridge and trying to figure out how to fit it in there as she listens to Jason.
Jason pulls back again as he tries to figure out how to best straighten out the trunk. "No..." he says, giving a small shake of his head as he glances Vasquez' way, a bit of the weight showing through his features. "She's upset." he sighs, hands once more coming to rest on his thighs. "I get it. Just-..." he shakes his head, "...wish there was something I could do." He draws in a breath, gaze turning back to the tree. Guilt
settles into his chest as he finds himself dwelling on his inability to provide the asari with any answers or closure. Just dead ends and more questions.
Vasquez frowns at the fridge as she turns the meat over and roates it. Nope. What about-... no. "Of course she's upset." she mumbles, staring at the sterile white of the fridge interior as she draws in a breath. "What did she say...?"
Jason gives another shake of his head as he gets back to work, a grunt sounding out as he speaks up again. "Just-... you know-... She doesn't know what to do about any of it. And I don't know what to tell her." he sighs, not particularly wanting to go into Va'ynna's family strife. Considering both his and Vasquez' own family baggage, it's not exactly their place to go discussing someone else's. "Not much I can tell her. Just
gotta-... keep my ear to the ground and try to figure out what in the hell all of this is about so she can stop worrying about it." he explains as he tightens a thumbscrew. "Oh-... uhh-... I told her that they were welcome to join us for Christmas-..." he continues from beneath the tree before clarifying, "...Uhh-... her and Vicky. Sounded like they already have plans but they might swing by for a few to drop off Li's
Vasquez ' mind has already inevitably drifted towards her own mother. The white of the fridge summons hazy images of the Barn. She's quick to banish those thoughts from her mind, shoving the chunk of meat into one of the shelves, convincing it to fit with a bit of force. "Yeah..." she agrees quietly as she goes on to put away some more ingredients - she must have pretty serious cooking plans for Christmas. The mention of Va'ynna,
and worse, Vicky, being invited causes her to freeze up for a moment before the words that follow dispel most of her dread. She wants this to be perfect, and Victoria is pretty far down the list of people she'd want around. "Seems like everyone's eager to spoil Li." she comments, a small smile returning at the mention of more presents for the girl.
Jason gives a small snicker as he sits up straight once again, assessing the tree. It's straight. Ish. Mostly. Good enough, dammit! "Yeah..." he says, gaze dropping to his shirt as he begins to brush away some of the needles. The thought causes a small to tug at the corner of his mouth. That poor girl has been through so much, she certainly deserves a big of happiness at the end of that depressing rainbow. But his smile quickly
falls away as he realizes he hasn't told Vasquez the bad news yet. "She had some info about Aylena, by the way." he says, gaze turning to Vasquez. Realizing the potential confusion in his statement, he gives a small shake of his head. "...V, I mean. Not Li. That'd-... uhh-... that'd be weird." he offers with an empty snicker as he reaches up to run a hand through the hair on the back of his head.
Vasquez hadn't been confused, but Jason's clarification draws out a quiet snort. She puts one last thing away, stowing the now-empty bag in a drawer before looking Jason's way with a sigh. "What now...?" she says, a tinge of frustration already entering her voice.
Jason draws in a breath. At least Vasquez has already assumed it's bad. That's good, right? You can't disappoint someone that's expecting disappointment. "There was an attack." he says as he holds her gaze. "I don't really know all the details. Just what was in the article V showed me. I've got it right-..." he shifts in place, leaning to one side to slip a hand in his pocket before quickly realizing his omni-tool is in his jacket
and giving a brief shake of his head, "...I'll-... uhh-... send it to you later. Sounds like the folks on the recieving end of her lawsuit are behind it. Hit her at her hotel." He shifts in place for a moment, getting his feet under him before standing back up.
Vasquez lets out a quiet grumble, bringing up a hand to rub her temple. "Is she alive?" she asks, sounding more irritated than concerned as she heads over towards Jason to take a look at the tree.
Jason gives a few slow nods of his head. The tree is looking much more... upright. "She is. The article said she pulled through surgery. There's still a suspect at large, though, so they're not making her location public." He takes a step towards Vasquez, right hand moving to her hip as he draws in an exaspterated breath. "I'm gonna send a message her way, but I'm not expecting to hear back until some of this has quieted down.
Vasquez lets out a long-suffering sigh and nods. "Always something..." she agrees in a mutter. "Let me know if you hear something." she adds, before giving the tree an appraising look. The small smile seems to indicate that she finds it satisfactory, and she leans in closer, arms wrapping loosely around him as she hides her face against his neck. "Mmhno more work tonight." she decides in a muffled, tired hum.
Jason gives a tired snicker, right hand slipping further around Vasquez as his left joins it at the small of her back. "How about I one-up you?" he taunts. "How about no more work for..." he tilts his head, pressing a quick kiss against her head, "...the rest of the year?" he asks, taking solace in how much better that sounds than the few meager days it actually is.
Vasquez snickers quietly, her smile felt before she lifts her head and its seen. She presses a soft kiss to Jason's lips, studying his face as she pulls back. "I like the sound of that..." she admits, a glint in her eyes as she seems to genuinely consider the idea. "I really like the sound of that..." she muses, thumbs brushing idly back and forth across his back as she remains leaned against him.
Jason's lopsided grin resurfaces as Vasquez pulls back. "Yeah, me too..." he offers a bit wistfully, eyes drawn to hers. After a few moments he draws in a deep breath. "Well..." he says, casting a quick glance back over his shoulder at the mostly-upright tree before meeting her gaze once more. "Tree is taken care of. Piece of cake, as expected." he says confidently despite his temporary floundering and the mess of needles that
are both piled beneath the tree and clinging to his clothing. "So whaddya say we go find a movie to watch?" he asks, smile widening at the prospect of putting work to the wayside for a while.
Vasquez ' lips twists upward into a grin, and she brushes a couple of needles from his shoulder before glancing over towards the tree. "Mmh... handled it like a pro." she says through her grin before looking back to him. "Sounds like a plan." she replies to his suggestion, warm look lingering in her eyes as she pulls back.
Jason gives a snicker, leaning in to press a quick peck against Vasquez' forehead before releasing his grip on her. "Alright. How about you go pick something out and I'll be there in a few? Gonna throw a couple sandwiches together." he offers.
Vasquez lets out a snort, smile lingering for a moment. "Not gonna complain about that arrangement." she says, starting to work her coat open and peel it off as she heads off towards their room.
Jattic merely bows his head to Vasquez, offering a low growl of, "Chief." in the way of greeting before slipping into the rec room. As she continues down the hall, the emotionless, gravelly voice of the batarian can be heard conversing with Jason. "...There appears to be a tree in here." he points out in mild bewilderment.