Ilyna looks thoughtful as she considers those memories. It feels like forever ago behind all that has happened these last years, and her struggles with the military running concurrent sours a lot of the decades prior. "It's...," she begins. "What can I say? They were polite, ordinary people, notthing like the impatient bullies the Citadel politicians on the news went on and on about." She lets out a chuckle.
#RedrockAgency – November 5, 2020
"Like I said, I wasn't very outgoing," she says, "so it wasn't until a few years ago that I got to know someone well enough to exchange stupid questions."
Jason's smirk widens as Vasquez presses a kiss to his cheek and he shoots a smug look Cynthia's way. "I'm just more lovable." he explains matter-of-factly as if it's out of his hands, offering a non-chalant shrug of his shoulders. He's only been paying partial attention to Ilyna and Halisi's conversation, but the tail-end pulls his gaze their way briefly. "And get stupid answers!" he chimes in, giving Ilyna a nod and a dumb grin
Vasquez rolls her eyes at Cynthia's theatrics, her grin widening. "Had your shot and blew it, Spunkmeyer. Don't see you putting any rings on my finger." she says, flashing her wedding ring in her old squadmates' direction. As Jason's interjection draws her attention to Ilyna and Halisi's conversation she lets out a snort and shakes her head to herself, scooping up some more food while listening.
Cynthia places a hand over her heart as if grievously wounded. She slumps a little in her seat, snickering and reaching for her beer as her focus turns to listening to the others.
Halisi just smiles as she listens to Ilyna, a mix of interest and amusement on her face. Jason's addition causes her to raise an eyebrow and glance his way. "You mean your first real source of first-hand information on humanity was-..." The doctor blinks and takes a sip of wine as she turns back to Ilyna. "I feel a sudden need to defend the virtue of my people. And perhaps to arrange a seminar to clear up any misconceptions." she jokes
Li has stuffed her mouth full of bread- refusing to admit that it was perhaps a bit too much as she chews hard, eyebrows furrowed with effort.
Ilyna casts a glance at Li's struggle, but she refrains from telling her to slow down. It's clear the girl is excited for the presents, and she doesn't have the heart to tell her that dessert probably means her waiting at the finish line for the others. She then follows Halisi's glance towards Jason, and chuckles at his response. "Relax, he wasn't the only human I knew back then," she says, her tone also
light-hearted. "Besides, I've already learned a lot from you, Halisi." She says with another glance at her daughter.
Jason furrows his brow as Halisi speaks, suddenly looking as if he's not sure if he should be offended. He looks like he's about to speak up until Ilyna chimes in, her reassurances to the doctor only seeming to further cement his offense. "Wha-..." he stammers, gaze shifting between the two before scoffing loudly. "I know things!" he assures.
Halisi laughs quietly as Ilyna speaks, one hand briefly lifting to her mouth as her smile widens. The final addition causes her gaze to drift past her to Li, and as her attention returns to Ilyna her expression has softened, smile subtler and silver eyes sparkling in the holiday lights. "You know I'm happy to help, Ilyna..." she says, voice quiet, the humor gone as one of her hands shift rest loosely on the asari's arm while the other
fiddles distractedly with her wine glass. She's ended up closer to Ilyna over the course of the conversation, and her eyes are lingering on her face just a bit too long to be friendly.
Vasquez places a sympathetic hand on Jason's shoulder. "Of course you do, honey." she agrees, her tone not-at-all condescending.
Cynthia is back to eating, but a sidelong glance at Halisi is followed by a questioning look to Vasquez.
Li has almost defeated her slice of bread in a single bite. A single bite and a whole lot of chewing. Really. Any moment now. Is her mouth feeling dry? Does she have breadcrumbs stuck in her gums? Pfft! Troubles for lesser creatures.
Ilyna chuckles at Jason's reaction before she is caught off guard by Halisi's hand resting on her arm, drawing her attention entirely towards her. "I know," she says, also in a low voice. It's no secret what's going on between them, Jason has said as much, but that doesn't make it any less awkward. Not that it would have been that much easier were it just the two of them. "So am I," she settles on.
Jason shoots a glare Vasquez' way, having none of her naysaying despite the stupid grin still lingering beneath his expression. "I do! Like-..." he stammers, suddenly feeling put on the spot to prove himself. He gives a tilt of his head. Then a dismissive shrug. Brows furrowed in concentration, he turns his attention back to his plate, scooping up a cracker. "Like-..." he bides for time, inspecting the cracker as if it's far more
interesting than it is. Suddenly, his expression relaxes, lopsided grin spreading back across his face. "Did you know-..." he begins, looking to his wife confidently. "...that a tyrannasaurus eats half a ton every day?" he asks, though he's unable to get through the entire fact before his shoulders begin to bounce with laughter.
Vasquez takes a bite of food and waits with unconvinced amusement as Jason struggles to come up with literally any tidbit of knowledge. Cynthia's curious look briefly distracts her, and she answers in the form of a subtle, ambiguous gesture. Her attention is back on Jason in time for his astonishing dinosaur fact. She blinks, briefly puzzled, before her eyes narrow. "...did Li tell you that?"
Halisi lingers for a moment before catching herself, pulling back with a slightly awkward smile, worried that she might have made Ilyna uncomfortable. She starts to turn her attention back to her food, grabbing her cutlery again, only to look back to the asari as if she's about to say something.
Li reaches for her soda in a last-ditch effort to wash down the bread, but her glass catches on the plate and she fumbles it, knocking it over. The contents spill out over her part of the table and drips down on her clothes. Her eyes go wide and she lets out a distressed noise, a less-than-thrilled grimace on her face.
Cynthia pauses mid-bite as Li's glass topples. "Owh shwit..." she blurts out through a mouthful of food.
Ilyna is too focused on her discomfort to pay much attention to Jason's fact, and Halisi pulling back does cause her to relax, at least for the next second. Before she can say anything, she hears Li fumbling the glass and her attention immediately follow. A low muttered "oh" is the only sound she makes as she reaches for a napkin and wipes the edge of the table to stop the dripping. "Are you okay, Li?" she asks
with some concern. She grabs another napkin and gently wipes on Li's dress where the soda had dripped before offering it to her.
Jason offers a conspicuous, "What?!" in response to Vasquez' suspicions amidst his laughter. "I don't know what you're talking ab-..." he manages before Li's soda goes tumbling over which overrides the Li Language Rules, causing a quick, "Shit..." to slip out. Putting those soldier reflexes on display, his cracker is back on his plate and he's out of his seat in record time, the legs of his chair screeching across the floor as it
scoots back. "We got a spill!" he announces, as if that wasn't obvious. As soon as Ilyna has handed the napkin off to Li he quickly grabs the back of her chair and scoots her away from the edge of the table so no more soda drips onto her. He reaches for a few napkins himself and joins Ilyna in wiping up the soda closest to the edge of the table. "Go on and get her cleaned up." he says to the asari, shooting a glance back to
Halisi too is on her feet quickly, leaning over the table and lifting Li's plate out of the way to make the cleanup easier. She nods in agreement with Jason.
Li looks dismayed - both at the loss of her drink and the unpleasant sensation of her clothes being soaked in cold soda - no tears though, just an unhappy grimace.
Vasquez ' chair scoots back a bit, and she's halfway out of her seat, but Jason beats her to it and she settles back down, not wanting to get in the way, but after a moment's thought something occurs to her and she stands up, gesturing to Ilyna and Li. "We can use my hairdryer to dry her off. Come with me." she says to the asari, nodding towards the door.
Ilyna nods to Jason, places a hand on Li's shoulder and gently pulls her to her feet. "Good idea," she says to Vasquez and starts towards the door. "Let's go over the worst of it with a damp cloth first, though." She takes a small breath and lets out a sigh. Everyone coming together to salvage this situation does bring a small smile to her face, despite how terrible the situation is for the girl. "We'll get you
dry in no time," she reassures. "Then you take it easy, okay? There's no danger of not having enough time to unwrap every present."
Jason gives a snicker at Cynthia's comment before shooting a quick glance to Li as he continues to wipe up the mess. "The soda is supposed to go in your mouth, small fry." he teases, seeming unphased by the turn of events. Given how well everything has come together and the positive atmosphere surrounded by friends and family, it's certainly gonna take more than a spilled drink to ruin his day.
Li frowns, grumping a little as she's teased, but as she starts to follow Ilyna she lets out a grumbled: "Ok..."
Vasquez smiles a little as Jason and Ilyna talk to Li, and then leads the way out the door once the latter two join her. She leaves the reassurances to Ilyna as she heads down the corridor to her and Jason's room and opens up the door. The room looks much like it usually does - it hasn't been decorated or cleaned up for the holidays, meaning a few of Jason's clothes are strewn about, and Vasquez' machine pistol rests on her
Halisi wipes the underside of the plate and sets it down out of the way while Jason continues to mop up the pool of soda on the table. She picks up the glass, wiping that too and heading over to the kitchen area to get a fresh soda for Li to come back to. "Do you need a towel?" she asks with a glance back towards the table.
Ilyna continues down the hall, not letting go of Li. "It's okay," she continues to reassure. She raises an eyebrow at the state of the living room, and there is a small frown showing up as she spots the machine pistol on the bedside, but she mentions nothing off it as she continues towards the bathroom.
Jason snickers to himself, passing a soft smile Vasquez' way as she leads them out of the room. Once the trio disappear, he refocuses on clean-up duty. "Uh-..." he shoots a glance to Halisi before looking over the table with a small nod. "Yeah, thanks." Content that the runoff is all managed and nothing is going to drip onto the floor, he sets the soaked napkins into a pile as he waits for the towel. Studying Cynthia from across
the table, his lopsided grin crops back up. "Glad you're making yourself useful." he says none-too-seriously.
Halisi offers Jason a nod, refilling Li's glass before grabbing one of the towels near the sink and returning to the table. She sets the glass down by the plate and offers Jason the towel before grabbing the pile of wet napkins, heading back to the kitchen to throw them away. She moves with an efficiency inherited from the OR.
Vasquez leads the way into the bathroom, grabbing a towel and wetting it a bit at the sink before handing it to Ilyna. Once it's off her hands she retrieves her hairdryer from a shelf, starting to fiddle with the settings.
Ilyna takes the towel with a nod of thanks, and begins wiping over the worst of it. She is being a bit rough with it, though. "You can't let a spilled drink get you down, Li," she says.
Jason merely shakes his head at Cynthia. When Halisi returns, he reaches out to accept the towel with a quiet, "Thanks." before using it to wipe up the last of the soda and, then, dropping to one knee to wipe up whatever may have dripped onto the floor and chair before they dammed it up. "I-... uhh-..." he begins in a mutter as he rises back to his feet, using what's still dry from the towel to wipe at his hands as he glances to
Cynthia and Halisi, "...I guess I should start getting used to this sort of thing, huh?" he snickers awkwardly.
Halisi dries her hands before returning to the table again, smiling a little at Jason's awkwardness. "So you should." she agrees, holding out her hand in a silent offer of taking the towel off his hands.
Cynthia seems amused, leaning back in her chair and rolling her shoulders lazily. "You'll be wiping up worse stuff soon enough..." she points out helpfully.
Li grumbles and whines as Ilyna wipes at the soda stains, an annoyed frown on her face as she fidgets.
Vasquez crouches down by Li after finishing with the settings. "Here, I'll dry you off." she offers, gesturing a little with the hairdryer in her hand and offering the girl a small smile.
Ilyna withdraws the towel after giving Li's nosetip a quick, mischevious dab with it, and steps back to let Vasquez handle the drying. She doesn't say anything, but there's a small smile on her face. It says a lot about how good their current situation is that some spilled soda is threatening the mood of the night.
Jason waves off Halisi's off appreciatively and starts towards the kitchenette. Cynthia's addition garners a small groan from him. "Can't wait..." he mutters sarcastically, the dread audible in his voice. But the smile is ever-present, hopeful for the first time in a long time for what the future might bring.
Halisi puts Li's plate and glass back into place by her chair before sitting back down on her own. She smirks a little at Jason's dismay. "I believe you will adapt faster than you think, Jason." she says, looking his way as he puts the towel away. "And clearly, your parental reflexes are already in place." she adds, tone light.
Vasquez carefully guides Li to turn more towards her and then turns on the hairdryer, cranking it up. She uses her free hand to straighten out the dress as she runs the dryer back and forth across it, blasting hot air at the stain. "This'll be quick. Is it too warm?" she asks, attention briefly shifting to Li's face.
Ilyna folds the towel and hangs it on the side of the laundry basket, before returning her attention to the other two. There's nothing for her to do at the moment than observe, as Li's hesitation to accept the hot chocolate earlier is too fresh in mind for her to return to the rec room to help the others.
Jason snorts, reading Halisi's addition as sarcastic. "Oh, yeah. I'm a natural." he responds with more of his own sarcasm as he tosses the towel into the sink for now. With a tired snicker he shakes his head and turns to face the others, but remains in the kitchenette, one hand resting against the counter. "It's-... uhh-..." he gives a few nods, prodding at the back of his teeth with his tongue, "...gonna be an experience." he
decides on, choosing his words carefully, though his tone carries a distinct hint of 'Haha I'm terrified'. "That's for sure."
Halisi eats one of the crackers on her plate, washing it down with some wine. Jason's words cause her to look over towards him again, eyebrows furrowing as she picks up on his tone. "Jason..." she sighs, a sympathetic smile crossing her lips. "There's not a doubt in my mind that you're going to do a wonderful job."
Vasquez continues the drying process for a while, a focused frown on her face until she's happy with the result, at which point she turns off the hairdryer and offers Li a small smile. "There you go. Not so bad, right?" she says, arms resting against her knees as she remains crouched for the moment, doing her best to sound friendly. "Ready to go back to dinner?"
Li 's unhappy expression softens into something more neutral, and after a moment she nods, grabbing Ilyna's hand.
Ilyna takes Li's hand, and begins to lead the way back to the rec room; slow at first so that Vasquez can hang up the hair dryer and catch up. "Thank you," she says to Vasquez, smile still present. "This was an excellent idea."
Jason does his best to hide his embarrassment when Halisi offers a sincere response, signalling that she's seen through the sarcasm. His gaze turns towards the counter, heavy smile propped up as he offers a few nods. "I-... yeah..." he sighs. "I hope so..." he continues a bit quieter. Drawing in a breath he turns his attention towards the door and gives a shake of his head. "Spending time around Li has been a good crash course,
but-..." he shrugs, "...Li is a great kid, ya know? What if our rugrat is a little asshole?" he asks. "It is gonna be half-Linda after all." he adds, duct taping humor over very-real concerns. "How do you take a toddler's machine-gun from 'em? These are the questions you can't find answers to on the extranet, doc!"
Halisi lets out a quiet scoff at Jason's questionable attempt at humor. "It's going to be a baby, Jason. If you ask any new parents I think most of them will tell you that they're, uhm... 'assholes'." she says, making a face like she's not sure whether to find it funny or distasteful. "It will be up to the two of you to shape what kind of person your child will be. And you and Linda are good people." she says, doing her best to sound
Cynthia continues to be an amused observer, but as Halisi finishes her expression sobers a bit and she nods in agreement, attention turning to Jason. "You two got this."
Vasquez stands up, putting the dryer back on the shelf before joining Ilyna and Li as they head back towards the corridor. The asari's thanks brings out a small, slightly awkward smile and a shrug. "Don't worry about it..." she says, glancing her way. "Might've had to do the same thing for Jason once or twice..." she says, smile growing into a grin - it's not quite clear if she's joking or not.