Va'ynna raises a brow. "I... can go slow in a sky-car," she says, "and I'm driving.... I wasn't allowed to let anyone else drive it anyway." Whether it's an excuse or an actual restriction, Victoria may never know. She sighs and looks at the vendor. "If... you think you can attach it safely, then that's... better than her walking home with a tree weighing her down."
#FreedomFalls – May 8, 2020
He nods. "Of course I can," he says. "I don't mean to doubt your strength, Red, but most of our seven or eight-footers are around a hundred pounds." He unfolds a rugged-looking datapad and puts it down on a crate. "Let's worry about getting it home after you two have picked one out, okay?"
Their sky-car shows up from over the roof, the light wind having masked the sound of its approach until now, and it begins its descent towards the road closest to their position.
Victoria feels that not being allowed to drive the sky-car was a restriction Va'ynna made, she pouts slightly at not being allowed to drive. Vicky then turns her attention to the tree merchant at being called Red. "I reckon I could carry it, what's that in real measurement talk? Around forty kilos yeah?" Does a dismissive wave. "I could totally carry that." She said with a slight touch
He sighs. "Closer to fifty kilos," he says. "Like I said, go pick out a tree, feel how it weighs and then we'll talk transport." He turns around and makes his way towards the truck again. "I won't be far if you need any more help."
Va'ynna frowns. She's dealt with a lot of weight measurement units cooking and taking in packages from the Respite's many suppliers, so she has a vague idea of what fifty kilos weigh. Victoria has carried her, after all, and she's heavier. "Are you sure you can carry that... all the way home?" she says once he has walked off, turning to look at the nearest tree. "They don't look like they'll be... pleasant to
Victoria looks to Va'ynna and gives a shrug. "Might be a little awkward to carry, and I might be a little sore once I get home." She looks at one of the tree and trying to decide if it is a smart idea of carrying a tree home. "It might be a better idea to use the car, but I am willing to try to carry it home." She was beginning to lean more to using the car instead of possibly breaking
The tree is standing on a simple metal foot, but even without it there's not much trunk to hold onto before the branches start. If her jacket can withstand the pricking of needles, she will be able to drag it behind her which would risk damaging the top branches. The high center of mass makes it unweildy to carry; it would be like a pooly balanced 2 meter long wooden club.
Va'ynna takes a few steps deeper into the forest before stopping by a tree that's around 2.10m tall, and tentatively touches one of the branches before retracting her hand quickly. "It's... not a short walk home," she says. "Is it worth... saving thirty credits to carry it home?"
Victoria follows Va'ynna, studying the trees and seeing that carrying a tree would be a real dumb idea. "Okay, maybe carrying a tree home would be a very dumb idea. So, no it is not worth saving thirty credits." Vicky was admitting defeat to her new found nemesis, the trees.
Va'ynna gains a tight-lipped smile for a moment at the trees' victory. "And they're... really sharp," she says. "This one looks alright. What... do you think?"
The tree Va'ynna is looking at is a tree species native to Earth, not the local offering. It's wide near the trunk, but the branch lengths for the most part taper off evenly; with some trimming the outlier can be dealt with.
Victoria examine her victorious foe, trying to determine if this is the tree they will accept into their home. "Hmm, I think this might be the one. Should be easy to clean up." She examines the tree once more. "I mean, it looks alright to me as well. But I ain't probably the best tree picker."
The man looks their way after setting down another tree unloaded from his truck. "That's a good tree," he calls over to them. "You two ready to buy?"
Victoria gives a nod to Va'ynna and then turns her attention to the man. "Yeah, I reckon we will get this one here." Vicky points to the tree they both agreed to.
He ensures the tree he just set down will stand before walking over to them. "So, have you made up your mind about how you're getting this tree home?" he asks.
Victoria looks at the tree, then looks at Va'ynna and then finally looks at the sky-car. "We will be using the sky-car." Gives a defeated sigh. "The tree has me beat this time." She relunctantly admitted defeat to this man's trees.
He chuckles. "They put up a mean fight," he says. "Has to; Aite's winters know how to put them through hell." He picks up the datapad of the crate, taps in their order and hands it over to Victoria before taking a blue plastic bag out of the crate the datapad sat on. "Here's the plan, you pay and take the foot and extras," he says. "Then you go sit in your car and I'll take care of the rest. The folded piece of paper in
Victoria gives a defeated shrug, she grabs the datapad from the man and pays for the purchase. She hands back the datapad and takes the bag from the man. "Thank you very much, we will be sure to follow the instructions."
The bag contains some packets of sugar, the folded up piece of paper and a few spare parts for the foot.
He checks the datapad briefly before nodding. "Pleasure doing business with you," he says. He crouches down by the tree and lifts it off the foot. "I'm going to cut off a little bit so it can take in water again. It's important you get it in water as soon as you can when you get home," he says, and carries it over to a wooden table. "You should wait in your car while I get it secured. The less that door needs to open with
Victoria nods to the man and smiles. "Thanks for the advice." She crouches down to grab the foot, she turns back to Va'ynna. "Alright, lets load up the car and wait for him to secure the tree." Vicky begins to make her way to the sky-car, mostly wanting to free up her hands.
Va'ynna follows beside her towards the car, and holds up her omni-tool to unlock and open it. "You will need to carry the tree a little, though," she says before unloading her things to the back seat.
Victoria waits for Va'ynna to unload her things until she follows suits. "I will carry the tree, if I can a massage." She looks at Va'ynna with a grin. "If I am doing the heavy lifting, I think I deserve a reward."
Va'ynna hums thoughtfully in mock consideration. "I... that can... be arranged," she says, and slips into the car to take the driver's seat before Victoria gets any ideas. "I... will also be doing heavy lifting, though, with... my biotics."
Victoria puts all of her stuff into the back seat, placing the foot on the car floor instead of the seat. She moves to take the passenger seat next to Va'ynna. "Yeah, but biotics are kind of cheating when it comes to lifting. I have to use my body strength." She had a joking tone in her voice. "But I guess if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."
Va'ynna closes the door once Victoria is inside. "It's... not cheating," she says. "It's exhausting." She leaves the car powered off while she waits for the tree. "Those... terms are agreeable, so you'll get your massage."
Victoria gives a nod. "I am glad you find that agreeable, love." She stretches her arm across the car to put around Va'ynna's shoulders for the time being. "I'm not gonna lie. Once we are done getting the tree inside, I am taking a hot shower to warm up again." Vicky remains silent for a moment. "I also really enjoyed shopping with you today."
Va'ynna leans slightly towards Victoria. "It... was great," she says, "and... we got... very lucky with the gifts." She cracks a small smile at the mention of a hot shower, but says nothing.
Victoria kisses Va'ynna's forehead and leans her head against Va'ynna's while they wait. "Yeah, I think we did well tonight. Now I just gotta come back here without to find you something." She really did enjoy their night out buying Christmas presents for people, something she did not see herself doing for a long time.
Va'ynna nods. "I... will need to too," she says. "Let's hope we... don't pick the same time then, or I... I will probably find myself peeking at what you buy." She closes her eyes, and doesn't pay much attention to the work being done outside even as she hears the rustling of the tree against the car's roof.
A rustling sound can be heard above them as the tree is placed on top of the vehicle, and the bungee cords whip against the side of it as they're thrown over. He seems to have found a few nooks and crannies to hook the cords to. After a few rounds around the car, he gives them a thumbs up through the window and moves out of the way.
Victoria sits silently and watches the man complete his work. Once she see him give a thumbs up, she returns the thumbs up and smiles. Vicky turns her attention to Va'ynna. "We are all good to go, Sweetheart." She reluctantly takes her arm away from Va'ynna's shoulders.
Va'ynna nods and starts bringing the car up to an altitude above the rooves of all buildings in between them and their destination. The less tilting they had to do, the less likely there would be trouble with the tree. The top of the tree is visible through the roof window, so they will get visual confirmation if the tree were to fall off. "I just... hope Li will be happy with my gift."