Va'ynna raises a brow at Jason's request, but she does nod when he looks her way. "What is it, Jason?" she asks once Victoria has made her way downstairs.
#RedrockAgency – December 1, 2020
Jason offers Vicky an appreciative nod as she starts down the stairs. He remains where he is even once she has departed, hands resting against the upstairs railing. The asari's question prompts him to look her way. "I'm not gonna take up too much of your time." he assures her. "I just-..." he pauses, a deep breath escaping through his nose as a bit of discomfort returns to him. "The other day." he continues, offering a bit of an
apologetic dip of his head as he thumbs back over his shoulder, as if to indicate behind him. "Back at the Respite? I-... uhh-..." his gaze lowers to the railing for a moment and he gives a few nods before searching out the asari's eyes once again. "It wasn't my place to lecture you about-..." an uncomfortable snicker escapes him and he gives an exasperated shake of his head, seemingly deciding it's probably best if he
doesn't get into it all right here in the middle of a hallway. "...I just wanted to apologize so-... uhh-... I'm sorry, V." he nods. Despite the discomfort, he makes sure to meet her eyes as he apologizes, lest she think it's not sincere.
Va'ynna tries her best to meet his eyes too, but the discomfort does eventually cause her to avert hers; a thoughtful frown on her face. "I..., it's... it's okay," she says. "You're right, though, but... I can't think too much about it right now. I have this holiday, helping Enila and Varisa settle into their jobs, D'Inea might return soon too for all I know, and... then... then... I don't know." She sighs, and
Jason too, averts his gaze once the words have left his mouth, eyes turning low. He gives a few slow, understanding nods as Va'ynna speaks. Her final words draw his attention back to her face and he reaches out, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Well, I've got your back no matter what, alright?" he offers, hoping to make it clear that her choice- no matter what it is- won't come under scrutiny. Not by him. Whatever her feelings
towards Nari might be, they're not for him to pry into. The thought makes it hard not to think about Amel. About Vasquez. He probably shouldn't have pushed her so hard, either... He forces a smile into place as he gives her shoulder a pat. "Always." he emphasizes.
Va'ynna gives a small nod after listening to him, before looking back at him. The pat on her shoulder does make her tense up a bit for a moment, but it evokes no reaction beyond that. She too knows that this isn't the place or time, so she is content to let the topic rest; it's another excuse to delay her decision. "I know," she says, wiping under her eyes with the back of her hand.
Jason gives another nod, this one a bit more firm. "Good. And, as soon as Janysa-..." he fights back on the need to roll his eyes that comes just from saying her name aloud as it serves as little more than a reminder of her lies, "...is back, we're gonna figure all of this out so you can finally put it behind you, alright?" He doesn't wait for a response before qualifying his statement with a shrug. "You can just call me Detective
Wolve. Meh, schee?" There's no clear reason why he has suddenly put on some strange accent or begun talking out of the side of his mouth. But he is. "You can count on me to get to the bottom of it, schweet-..." he seems to very sharply give up on-... whatever it is he's doing partway through, bringing his hand back with a shake of his head. "It's a-... uhh-..." he sighs in embarrassment, "...human thing. Earth..." he
Va'ynna can't help but giggle at whatever he's doing with his speech, especially after he offered some not very helpful context for it. "Okay, Detective Wolfe," she says with a sharp nod, "but even detectives have Christmas off, right?"
Jason's lopsided smirk returns as he reaches up to rub at the back of his neck. "Yeah..." he agrees softly with a small nod, a bit of the lingering embarrassment slipping away as his terrible impersonation at least gets a laugh out of Va'ynna, "I guess they do." He casts a glance back down the hall towards the rec room, smile growing a bit. "I should probably get back before Li stages a coup." he says, attention turning back to
Va'ynna nods, and a smile shows up at the mention of Li's coup. "That... would be bad," she says. "I would have to take her side, as her... squirrel." She casts a glance at the stairs. "I should get going too," she says, "so that Victoria can finish up our dinner."
Jason snickers at the reminder of 'squirrel' before giving a grave nod with an added, "Mmhmm. Mmhmm." of understanding. When she mentions needing to go he brings one hand back to the railing, casting a quick glance back down towards the staircase. "Alright." he says through his smirk, "Go on. Enjoy your dinner." he shoos her away lightheartedly with a nod to the stairs.
Va'ynna grins a bit at his reaction to squirrel, but starts on ther way downstairs as he shoos her away, "I will, thank you." She glances up at him when she's halfway down and says, "Merry Christmas," before she continues on her way down. She hasn't had much to eat since breakfast.
Jason turns to face down the stairs- and Va'ynna- as she starts down, leaning a bit more heavily against the railing. He offers a small nod to her words when she glances up before responding with a sincere, "Merry Christmas, V." of his own. Once she's out of sight he lets out a deep sigh, remaining where he is for a few moments longer to collect his thoughts before starting back down the hall. "So... are we gonna open some
Once everyone is back in their seats the distribution of presents can begin. Cynthia performs her duties admirably, albeit occasionally struggling with some of the handwriting. She gets her share of jabs in about both that and Jason's... wrapping skills. As expected, Li's share of the presents easily outweighs anyone else's, and the little girl is soon drowning in Christmas gifts, stacked in her lap, around her, and on the floor below her.
She hardly seems to mind, a big smile on her face as the pile grows. The first few that she opens are a... mixed bag. It seems Halisi has favored practical gifts - one is full of haircare products, including shampoo, hairclips, scrunchies as well as a new brush and comb. Another has... several pairs of new socks, and a small bag of sugar-free gummy varren. Really? There's a similar one from 'Jason & Vasquez' that simply contains a large
quantity of plain black hair ties and a credit chit. Yet another present from Halisi contains a leather-bound book, the cover of which reads in fancy script: 'Children's Fables From Across The Galaxy: A Collection'. It doesn't seem to catch her interest. Things start to look up after that, though, starting with another gift from Jason & Vasquez: a copy of an educational game titled 'Earth: 3 Billion Years of Life'. The cover features a
plethora of prehistoric creatures and prompts an immediate and excited "Look mom, dinnosaurs!" from Li, holding up the cover to show Ilyna. As for the others, well, Halisi receives a set of music simulstims from Vasquez, who seems convinced that live-performance recordings will convince the doctor of the merits of her taste in music. Vasquez, in turn, opens up a box from Halisi that contains clothes. Maternity clothes. A set of t-shirts
and tanktops, some underwear, as well as a pair of jeans and pyjama pants. The gift makes Vasquez stop for a bit, sucking on her lips as she picks through it. She blinks a couple of times, reining in her expression and offering the doctor a small smile and a nod. A gift simply labeled 'From: Santa, To: Redrock' meanwhile, was left for Jason to open, and contained, without explanation, a 4-pack of gamepads.
Jason: 'From: Halisi, To: Jason' - something flat and hard. 'From: Halisi, To: Jason & Linda' - something large and heavy. 'From: Linda, To: Jason' - An envelope. 'From: Santa, To: Jason' - A suspiciously bottle-shaped present. 'From: Cyn, To: Jace' - something flat and hard. 'From: Santa, To: Jason & Linda' - something flat and hard. 'From: Santa, To: Jason. An end to your struggle.' - something softish and rattly.
Ilyna: 'From: Halisi, To: Ilyna. A taste of home is worth a little extra now and then.' - something medium-sized and boxy, with an uneven weight. 'From: Santa, To: Ilyna' - something flat and hard.
Li: 'From: Halisi, To: Li' - something flat and lightweight. 'From: Santa, To: Li' - something large, boxy and rattly. 'From: Cynthia, To: Li' - something flat and hard.
'To: Halisi, From: Ilyna and Renala'; the latter name looking a bit squeezed in on the card. A rectangular hard package, wrapped in blue paper with a repeating Christmas tree pattern. The gift unwraps to reveal it's a floor cleaner, a flat disk-shaped device with a charging dock about the same size. It brags of offline VI functionality, omni-tool integration, the surfaces it can make shine and so on. Its brand is an
'To: Jason, From: Ilyna.' The gift is soft and not very heavy. It's neatly wrapped in blue paper with a repeating Christmas tree pattern. It opens up to reveal a plain blue wollen sweater, with a bar of chocolate hidden witihin; a bigger package with the same brand and color as the one she shared with him on the trip to the snow planet. She was offered pre-emptive forgiveness for forgoing his gift, but she wanted to at
least give him something she could find in the limited amount of free time she's had where she could slip away relatively unnoticed in the last few days.
'To: Linda, From: Ilyna.' The present is soft, and also wrapped in blue paper with a repeating Christmas tree pattern. The contents of it is a long scarf, the colors alternating red and black.
'To: Halisi, From: Ilyna.' The gift is soft, but large and neatly wrapped in blue paper with a repeating Christmas tree pattern.
Jason's gifts, as has been made blatantly obvious by now, are impossible to miss. Despite many of them being labeled as 'From: Jason & Linda' in a fat black marker (written right on the wrapping paper because cards are for suckers), their wrapping hardly constitutes as something that Vasquez would willingly scribe her name to. While everyone else's gifts are wrapped in the same paper as Va'ynna's gift, Li's are each wrapped in some Super
Centurion wrapping paper that depicts the main character with a Christmas hat on, wielding an oversized candy cane instead of her energy gladius. Unlikely officially licensed wrapping paper.
Vasquez: 'To: You, From: Me' - The wrapping job pretty much gives it away. It's a mug. It's just a mug. It's shaped like a mug, with the wrapping paper scrunched up over the sides. To nobody's surprise, once opened, it is revealed to be a mug. On the side '#1 Mom' is printed. It's undoubtedly from a place down at the market that advertises the ability to print 'Whatever you want on absolutely anything! Shirts! Cups! Shoes! You want it,
we'll print it!' ... 'To: Linda, From: Jason' - Apparently one can never have too many mugs because it's very clearly a second mug. On the side of this one the phrase, 'My other coffee mug is a machinegun' is printed with an image of a machine gun. Whether or not it makes sense doesn't seem to occur to Jason, he seems particularly proud of it all the same ... 'To: Linda, From: Jason' - A small box ... 'To: MY WIFE, From: YOUR HUSBAND' -
Ilyna: 'To: Ilyna, From: Jason' - If anyone has paid a visit to said shop at the market, they'd know that their standard deal is '3 for the price of 2' and Jason seems to made good use of that deal, because we've got another mug on our hands. It, too, says '#1 Mom' on it and Jason is quick to defend the logistics of there being two numer one moms ... 'To: Ilyna, From: Jason & Linda' - This one is a box about the size of a large book.
Cynthia: 'To: Cyn, From: Jason' - A t-shirt that says 'I <3 California' and a smug look to go along with it ... To: Cyn, From: Jason & Linda' - A bottle-shaped present that, when opened, is revealed to be a bottle of wine. Expensive, Thessian wine at that! To those in the know, however, the brand would be easily identifiable as the stuff he took from Adrasteia.
Li: Boxes of varying sizes. 4 in total. One is large enough that it had to be stood against the wall beside the tree rather than beneath it.
Vasquez is now two cups richer. The first prompted a roll of her eyes and a barely suppressed smile. Ilyna getting the same mug was answered with a questioning raise of her eyebrow. The second mug for her? That one meant confusion followed by concern over Jason seeming oblivious to the fact that it makes no sense. Oh well. The scarf from Ilyna went on, perhaps partially motivated by the desire to keep mending the rift between
them. She opts to go for the last of Jason's presents next - may as well get it over with. She grabs the flat package and starts to peel the unholy abomination of tape and wrapping paper that surrounds it.
Halisi seems amused by the robotic cleaner, offering Ilyna a warm smile. When the asari leaves she starts to open her bottle-shaped present with an exasperated chuckle, seemingly already anticipating the contents.
Cynthia has shown her best outraged face, pointedly not putting on the t-shirt. The bottle garners an unimpressed look - Vasquez has probably mentioned Jason's thievery to her. She's taken a pause in her present-opening since she only has the one left, taking a sip of her beer instead.
(*She opts to go for another of Jason's presents next - the one with the fully capitalized writing is a little hard to ignore.)
Ilyna nods with approval at the practical gifts to Li, in contrast to the girls' own reaction. The book does catch her interest, and she makes a note to read it with her later on. "Oh?" she asks as she studies the cover held up to her. "There's so many of them; we have much to learn." It may have been centuries since her last educational game, but she trusts Halisi to have found something of quality and looks
forward to spending time with Li playing this. As for her own gifts, she's content that her pile isn't much bigger than what she put under the tree. The mug gets an amused grin from her, and a raise of the brow at the shared rank as she sees Vasquez'. Her smile grows as she sees Vasquez put on the scarf, as well as to Halisi's amused reaction to her gift. "I'll be back in a moment," she says as she stands
up, placing her 3 unopened presents on her place in the couch. "I've left something down at the office." She slips out of the room and quickly makes her way downstairs.
Vasquez' gift is a small, thin, plain box. Inside is a picture frame. It's not your run-of-the-mill store-bought frames. Not just a piece of mass-produced plastic with a screen in the center. It's metal, with intricate engravings throughout it. At the bottom are two circular objects. Rings. One on the left side of the bottom of the frame and one on the right side of the bottom of the frame. They're part of the frame, delicately welded to
it. The one on the right side has a nice-sized stone atop it. They look suspiciously like wedding rings.
Halisi's gift is, surprising absolutely nobody, another bottle of that expensive Thessian wine. Wow! He must've paid a fortune for all of this! Right?! Such thoughtful gifts!
Once Li finally finishes the pre-requisite mortal combat to actually get one of Jason's gifts open, she would find out that it is, in fact, TWO boxes that were taped together, back-to-back! The boxes boasts about things like recoil haptic feedback, an ability to link up with their other products, and simulated thermal clips for 'REAL RELOAD ACTION!' as well as- in a bit of propaganda that probably flew right over Jason's head- the corner
of each having a sticker that informs that it is officially licensed by the Systems Alliance. The 'M-5 Phalanx'. It's not real, of course. Though they look the part, each is painted in bright colors, one blue and the other green. The tips of the barrels are a bright orange.
Jason is all smiles throughout the present opening. While the gamepads garnered a confused look, he knows the rules of Christmas well enough to know there's probably something to make use of them with in the rest of the presents, so he quietly sets them aside for now. Ilyna's gift causes him to shoot her an appreciative look, putting on his best, 'Oh... a chocolate bar and a sweater? It's... just what I wanted...' face. He
excuses Ilyna with a nod her way and, when he notices Halisi opening her present, he shoots a quick look Vasquez' way and brings his index finger up to his lips, silently warning her not to narc on him. But as he realizes which gift Vasquez went for next, he briefly goes quiet and, once the object is removed from the box, gives a small tilt of his head. "It-... uhh-..." he stammers, seeming to decide that maybe it needs an
explanation. Reaching out, he thumbs a small button on the side which causes the display in the center of the frame to light up. The picture that appears is one that was taken by Jessica at their wedding. The two of them, side by side, big smiles on their faces. They look... happy. Jason shoots her a smile, gaze turning from Vasquez' face to the object in her hands. His attention shifts to the two rings near the bottom, his
expression softening as he studies them before turning his focus away from it and reaching for the next present for himself. He opts for the flat one from Halisi and begins to dig in.
Vasquez runs a thumb along the frame as she studies the engravings. When Jason cuts in to turn on the display she breaks into a big, ear-to-ear smile, a surprised chuckle slipping out. Her gaze lingers on the picture for a while, smile slowly softening. As Jason starts to turn his attention back to his own gifts she reaches over to give his synthetic hand a squeeze, leaning in to press a kiss against his cheek, a quiet "Thank
Halisi seems quite unsurprised by the bottle, shaking her head to herself and setting it aside after a nod of thanks to Jason, not quite managing to hide her amusement. She watches curiously as she notices Jason going for her present.
Li studies the taped-together boxes closely, eyebrows furrowing as she looks at the contents - the text largely lost on her. Her attention goes to Jason, trying to get his attention. "I get guns...?" she asks, eyebrows still furrowed, expression odd.
Cynthia lets out a quiet noise as her bottle lowers, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she watches Jason and Vasquez. She starts on opening her last present, expression quickly turning unamused upon seeing what's inside. "F-... screw you, Chief." she calls out, waving the copy of 'Blasto Saves Christmas: The Game' for the others to see as she stares her friend down.
Jason's smile is reinforced a bit by the kiss, and Cynthia's reveal garners a genuine chuckle. "Wasn't quite sure what to do with those..." he says as he gives the frame a glance, blue eyes once more turning to the trinkets at the bottom. His uncle had brought them. He had asked his uncle to bring them. He wasn't even sure why at the time. Him and Vasquez already had their rings and using these seemed... wrong. But-... "They
were my parents'." he explains, forcing his smile a bit, as if to assure her that there's no sadness hiding beneath it. Thankfully, Li grabs his attention and he shoots a glance her way, smile only growing once he realizes she's dug into one of his presents. "Hell yeah you do!" he says with a nod before wincing, suddenly shooting a glance towards the door as if to make sure Ilyna isn't there. Despite the coast being clear,
he quickly explains himself, eyes darting to Halisi as if worried she might take issue. "Not real guns! Just-... toys!" he says, moreso to Halisi than to Li.