Va'ynna nods to Victoria's first answer, willing to let the topic go for now. "I... don't think that's a good idea," she says, lowering her voice. "I spoke to him after that... surgery, and... it's not something to joke about." She hums thoughtfully. "They're going to have a child, though," she says. "Do you know of something they could need for that... that would also make a good gift?"
#FreedomFalls – May 1, 2020
They pass by a stall selling cookies; Meringue, glazed gingerbread, and chocolate chip to name a few. While there are a few samples on a plate on the counter, the product is sold in plastic boxes. The stall is run by a middle aged human couple.
The stall next to it is a turian-run shop selling weapons and armor. It's mostly civilian grade small arms and light armor parts, with a few bigger items in cases behind the stall.
Victoria gives a slight frown at Va'ynna "Well, dumb gift idea by me." Vicky tries to think of something new parents need, but she had nothing that came to mind. "I'm not really sure what they need. Don't know what they already have, so I can't think of anything good." Her attention to taken by the odd pairing of stalls. "Huh, cookies and guns. Maybe some cookies for Jason or Li."
Va'ynna nods to Victoria's comment. "That's... the world we live on, isn't it?" she says as she comes to a stop a few feet away from the stall to browse the goods. "Ilyna wasn't happy with the... volume of candy she received at the party a few months back," she says, "but... maybe I'll get one for Jason... and one for us."
The pale, blonde woman behind the stall steps closer. "Oh, he's there for when you buy so many cookies, you need to think about protecting the stockpile," she says. "Don't be shy, dears, the samples are free." The man was ready to start dismantling the stall, but put the electric screwdriver back when she started talking to the customers.
Victoria approaches the cookie stall. "Always gotta protect the sweets." Vicky looks at Va'ynna and then back to the blonde woman. "Have you got any recommendations for some holiday treats?" She said in a kind tone, wanting the hear the woman's recommendation.
Va'ynna nods sagely and carefully takes a piece of frosted star-shaped gingerbread from the plate, looking it over for a moment before taking a bite of it. It's not bad. Definitely not a taste she's used to, but not bad.
She gestures to the plate. "I've only made holiday treats," she says. "The idea is to have enough different cookies on the table that there's something for everyone." The plate contents are: gingerbread with decorative frosting in all kinds of christmas shapes, brown flat shortbreads made with syrup and cinnamon, meringue drops with faint pink and green colors, coconut macaroons, ironed decorative squares that have a not
too sweet cardamom taste. "I guess some are more year-round than others," she says with a chuckle as she points at the chocolate chip cookies at the end of the plate. She goes to grab a plastic box with a slightly opacue sides showing all kinds of colors inside. "If the lucky recipient don't have any favorites you know off, why not get a little bit of everything?"
Victoria grabs one of the sample gingerbread cookies from the plate to give a try. She bites into half of the gingerbread, chews it and swallows. "I think two of those all sorts boxes might be good." She turns to face Va'ynna. "What do you think, Vay?"
She nods and goes to find another box just like that one. It's packed well, and is a bit on the heavy side. "That'll be thirty credits," she says and sends the payment request over to the asari's omni-tool. "I'm taking the kids to the Miner's Respite tomorrow, so if there's something in there that you like, just slip me a secret cookie order while I give mine."
Va'ynna raises a brow at being recognized, but she fails to remember ever seeing her. There's too many customers to remember any one of them that's not a regular. She does pay for the cookies, though.
Victoria gives Va'ynna a little nudge with her elbow. "Look at that. Someone is popular." Picks up one of the boxes. "So what is next on the list? Kind of running out of hands to carry anything else."
Va'ynna takes the other box, ignoring Victoria's comment with a brief tight-lipped smile. "Thank you, I might do that," she says before she turns away from the stall to look around. "I... don't know. There's a few more poeple that... I'd like to get gifts for, but we're running out of hands to carry with and we... both need to go back for another round to get gifts for each other anyway, and we still have left
Victoria just smiles at Va'ynna for ignoring her comment about being popular. She turns around with Va'ynna. "We could make a quick trip home to drop off everything and then come back to get the tree." She gives a shrug. "Just an idea, since I don't think we could carry a tree home with hands full."
Va'ynna hums thoughtfully as she begins walking towards the entrance they came from. They were never that deep into the market, so they're not far from it. "Or we could load everything into D'Inea's sky-car and go back in," she says, "but... it's late, and... I can't lose all the extra time I have to catch up on lost sleep."
Victoria follows Va'ynna to the entrance. "If you want, I can pick up a tree tomorrow and we can decorate it once you get home tomorrow." She says suggesting a possible way to get a tree. "But unless you want to be there when we get a tree, I'm not gonna argue with you."
Va'ynna shakes her head. "I don't know if I can trust-...," she stops herself and instead says, "I mean, I... think we should pick out the tree together." She brings up her omni-tool and tries to call the sky-car to them without losing the box she's holding in the hand that's a bit too big to be held comfortably with one hand.
Victoria puts on a fake shocked face. "Can't trust me? I'm shocked." Noticing Va'ynna having an issue trying to call the sky-car, she moves her arm carrying the cookie box to a position where Va'ynna can place something ontop of it, to help free up a hand. "Can't believe you were about to say that."
Va'ynna places her cookie box on top of Victoria's as the bottom of it fits snugly on the lid. "I... don't know why I got that idea either," she says. "Maybe it's... because you're as inexperienced with this holiday as I am." With a few more taps, a blip on the map starts moving towards their position and she turns off her omni-tool again. She does not take the box back, though.
Victoria looks away from Va'ynna for a moment, and frowns to herself. She turns back to Va'ynna and her standard goofy smiles return. "Look, I have experience with the holiday. I'm just a little rusty at celebrating it." Keeping a joking tone in her voice.
Va'ynna nods. "Of course," she says, not entirely believing her, "but my... point remain, we're picking out a tree together, and... I need to be there to get the tree into our apartment."
They reach the exit soon enough, and not much has changed outside. A few trees has been sold, but there's still a lot of trees left of good quality that wouldn't need much trimming. The wind is starting to pick up and there is some snowfall now that wasn't there when they arrived. The sky car hasn't arrived yet.
Victoria looks towards the trees and then looks back at Va'ynna. "Might be able to pick a tree out now. See if they can hold it for us until tomorrow." Vicky saw this as an chance for them to pick out a tree at this time, while they waited for the skycar to arrive.
The space outside is generous with the season having drawn many inside, so the tree vendors have a lot of space to show off their stock. "Give a shout if you need any help!" a human male in his thirties shout from deeper within the 'forest' as he unloads a few more trees from a truck. "They're seventy credits each, foot included. Another thirty and I'll secure it to your car." There are a few Earth pines among the trees
as they do grow on Aite with some encouragement, but most of them are from the similar native tree species that grow in the region which have sharper needles and a sturdier trunk. Most of them are between 1.5 and 2.5 meters, but a few of them are 3 meters tall, which is too tall for their living room (2.5m from floor to ceiling).
Victoria looks at the cookie box Va'ynna did not take back, she simply sighs and follows the asari. "Hey, is it possible for us to pay for the tree now and pick it up tomorrow?" Vicky asks the man in charge of this grouping of trees.
"Afraid not," he calls back as he moves another tree into place. "You need it tomorrow, you buy it tomorrow." He puts the tree down. "So what's stopping you from bringing it home today?" he asks as he walks over to the two customers. "I saw you two show up in a sky-car without a taxi driver inside. I'm not going to ask who you had to kill to get one of those out here, but I've sent one home with a tree before. If you
Victoria shakes her head. "Burrowed a friend's sky-car, so we did not have to deal with a long walk in the cold to get here. Plus you don't go slow in a sky-car." Brushing off the idea of tying a tree to a sky-car. Vicky turns to face Va'ynna. "How about we pick up a tree now, you go back to the apartment with everything and I can carry the tree back." She throws out the idea, because