The map zooms in as it nears the table, and the details of the clutter underneath, couch and table legs improves. The craft then executes the maneuver without incident and makes it out on the other side where it makes a wide detour around the group on the floor. The map zooms out again to show the whole room, but it retains the density of detail of the area under the table.
#RedrockAgency – January 28, 2021
Ilyna grins as she spots it coming out, and watches it as it makes a detour around her. "That was great!" she says as she looks back at Li. "Maybe it's time to go in for a landing?"
Jason gives a few distracted nods to Halisi as he continues to watch the gunship. Certainly wouldn't be his first choice for movies, but there's something to be said for nostalgia. Besides, once the boredom settles in he can always swoop in with a subtle Headkick suggestion. He breathes a puff of air out through his nose as the gunship exits the opposite side of the table, his smile spilling back out. "Looks like Vicky might be
out of a job soon." he jokes as he continues on his way towards the kitchen, echoing Ilyna's earlier sentiment without even realizing it.
Li grins enthusiastically, eyes glued to the display. Ilyna's suggestion garners a slightly reluctant "Okaay..." as she reaches out and pulls the hologram down towards the coffee table, but she releases it too quickly to fill the 'landing command' circle.
Halisi offers a polite little applause as the toy gunship emerges from beneath the table, a big smile on her face as she watches Li's remote piloting.
Cynthia is typing away on her omni-tool and scrolling through search results as she navigates towards the vid.
Vasquez takes out a can and pops it open, a comically focused frown on her face as she tops the rice pudding with slices of canned fruit. It seems like a hard task to screw up, but she's not about to take any chances, clearly.
The gunship does go in for a landing, but instead of setting down it hovers just above the table surface. While the craft relies heavily on ME fields to fly, there is still a breeze of air blowing down on the table.
Ilyna casts a glance up at the gunship that's still hovering over the table, but looks back down at the map. "It hasn't landed," she points out the obvious. "Try holding it in place a little longer." She casta a glance towards the kitchen, and nods to herself; there is still time to get this down before desserts is served.
Jason sidles up behind Vasquez, giving her sides a small, affectionate pat to let her know he's there as he passes by behind her. He resists the urge to check in on her after the debacle downstairs. Healthy acknowledgement of feelings and emotions isn't exactly their strong point, after all. "You-... uhh-... need a hand?" he asks instead through a teasing smirk as he steps over to the fridge.
Li furrows her eyebrows and tries again, pinching the hologram and holding it steady against the mini-table on the map.
Halisi smiles as she watches Li's efforts to set down the flying toy, briefly glancing towards the TV to check on Cynthia's progress.
Cynthia has 'Christmas on Europa' queued up and ready to go soon enough, and returns to lounging in her armchair.
Vasquez briefly tenses slightly, having been too concentrated on her task to notice Jason's continued approach, but she flashes him a small smile as she relaxes. Her attention soon returns to the bowl, and his question gets a muttered "I've got it handled.", the teasing tone entirely lost on her, focused as she is. And sure enough, a moment later she turns around towards the others and announces that: "Dessert's ready! Come grab a
Once the little ghost is held over a flat surface on the map for as econd, a blue circle forms around it until its completed and the ghost also turns blue-ish. The ghost is no longer movable. The craft then gently sets down on the surface indicated on the map, and the engines stop. The blue ring and the little ghost then turns a dark gray color. It's not immediately obvious how she would go about starting it back up again.
Ilyna gives Li's shoulder a gentle pat as the craft goes into a landing. "Just in time," she says to Li after Vasquez' well timed announcement. "Should I get you a bowl of dessert?"
Jason continues to watch Vasquez from his position by the fridge, her intense focus helping to keep his amused smirk propped up. With a shake of his head, he returns to his task and retrieves a fresh beer from the fridge. He casts a glance back across the counter towards the others, recalling his previous offer before his attention was pulled away by a rather unfortunate delivery. "You still waiting on that beer, Cyn?" he calls
out, but his attention is quickly pulled back to the gunship as Li attempts a landing. When the remote controlled toy touches down on the table, he gives an enthusiastic, "Whooo!" and lifts his beer into the air in celebration.
Halisi gets into a crouch, and puts her hands on her knees as she gets up with a quiet 'Oof', stretching a bit once she's standing.
Cynthia gives the bottle in her hand a wiggle. "Went and got it myself like a big girl." she assures.
Vasquez smirks slightly as Jason cheers for Li's landing. The Christmas cheer that still permeates the rec room does a good job of keeping what just happened from tanking her mood, and she moves over to close the fridge door upon hearing Cynthia, stepping up behind Jason and wrapping her arms around him from behind. She presses her lips against his neck before she draws in a long, deep breath through her nose, closing her eyes.
Ilyna nods and gets back up on her feet with a grunt. The last thing she really wanted now was to eat more, but she had faith that what Vasquez had prepared would be well worth getting more stuffed. "Maybe we can try out the more advanced flight modes tomorrow," she throws out a suggestion before she heads off towards the kitchen. She casts a brief glance Jason's way on her way there, and she can't help but smile at
Jason gives a snort to Cynthia's response as he pops the cap off of his beer, making good use of that military grade hardware of his. He drops the cap into the garbage can and tilts his head to the side as arms slip around him from behind, lopsided grin tugging at the edge of his mouth. His free hand comes to rest overtop one of Vasquez' arms and he leans back against her slightly, letting out a breath of his own. As Ilyna joins
them in the kitchen and he meets her gaze, he passes a smile her way. And, despite the kerfuffle downstairs, it's genuine, backed by more than just a need to keep spirits high. "What's that look about?" he asks Ilyna through his smirk.
Li climbs back into the couch, bringing the Elkoss Combine construction set with her. Of course, opening that here is likely to lead to a scavenger hunt for missing pieces...
Halisi is about to join Ilyna in heading towards the kitchen when she notices Li and furrows her eyebrows, making a slight halting gesture. "Ah... maybe save that one until you get home, sweetie?"
Cynthia smirks slightly as she casts another glance towards the kitchen, offering no comment as she takes a swig of her beer and returns her attention to the screen.
Vasquez rests her chin on Jason's shoulder as she exhales. Upon noticing Ilyna she actually looks a little embarrassed, but she remains where she is, not about to let go of Jason just yet.
Ilyna is quick to avert her gaze, but not quick enough it appears. "Nothing," she says, looking a bit embarrased. She gets back to the dessert as a distraction, scooping out two portions for herself and Li. Halisi speaking to Li does cause her to raise a brow, but she doesn't look to see what it's about.
Jason gives a small, unconvinced raise of his brow, smirk unwavering. He doesn't press it, however, instead taking a quick sip of his drink. "You having a good time...?" he asks the asari, lazily tilting his head to lean it against Vasquez' as he waits for the guests to get their food first.
Cynthia casts another quick glance towards the kitchen before leaning forward to set her beer down and getting up with a grunt. Might as well secure her portion too. She's got a big appetite for her size, no biotics needed!
Vasquez turns her head to press a kiss against Jason's jaw before pulling back, one hand lingering on his back as she joins him in looking at Ilyna following the question.
Ilyna smiles, some of the embarrasment already fading as he doesn't push the matter. "Of course," she says. "The dinner, sitting with Li opening all these presents, and..." She chuckles. "It's been wonderful," she settles on. She picks up her and Li's bowl and steps out of the way to let others close, but she doesn't leave the kitchen yet.
Jason's smile widens as Vasquez plants a kiss. He gives a small nod to Ilyna's words, resting his beer against the crook of his other elbow now that Vasquez has stepped back. "Yeah..." he agrees. "We might have to turn this into a regular thing." he suggests with a small shrug of his shoulders. It's been a long time since he found himself able to take a breath and consider the future. Really consider the future. To make plans.
The thought causes his blue eyes to flick Vasquez' way briefly, smile tempering into something a bit softer.
Vasquez matches Jason's smile, nodding softly when he looks her way. "I think we do." she agrees with a glance towards Ilyna. For a brief moment it looks like she's on the verge of adding something else, but she changes her mind, gaze returning to Jason. She chews on the inside of her cheek for a moment in hesitation before nodding subtly in the direction of the kitchen window, a few steps away from the bowls on the counter
where the others are congregating. "I hope you like it." she tells Ilyna with a look at the bowl of pudding. "Had to improvise a bit with local ingredients." she adds before stepping aside, giving Jason's arm a faint tug to get him to follow.
Li is busy struggling with one of the toy handgun boxes, a strained grimace on her face as she pulls at the plastic packaging. "Grrr..."
Cynthia furrows her eyebrows as she joins Halisi by the counter. "Hey, Chief, think you forgot to heat this! Also it's full of fruit." she calls out with a shrug.
Vasquez grumbles quietly and replies that "It's supposed to be like that. You'll live." without even bothering to look at Cynthia.
Ilyna nods along with the first sentiment. "I'm sure Li will hold us to that," she comments idly before looking down at the pudding. "I don't remember having anything like it," she says, "but I'm sure it'll be good." When Vasquez pulls Jason aside, she decides to get out of their way and makes her way back to the couch. Spotting Li struggling with the packaging gets a small chuckle out of here. "We'll have a whole day
Jason gives a snicker to Ilyna's response. Her mention of Li causes his attention to turn back towards the couch briefly, smile widening as he spots her struggling with one of the boxes. He gives the asari a small nod. "I'm sure she will." he agrees. The tug at his arm garners a furrow of his brow and he shoots a glance Vasquez' way but allows himself to be led away.
Halisi raises an eyebrow at Cynthia, but seems more amused than anything as she grabs her now-full bowl and starts to head back.
Li looks up as Ilyna returns, no closer to opening the packaging. She frowns slightly and reluctantly puts the toy aside, but the promise of dessert captures her attention and she cranes her neck to look at the bowl curiously. "What is it?"
Vasquez turns to face Jason once they're slightly aside from the others. She crosses her arms loosely and glances out at the window before looking back to him. "I just, uh... just wanted to let you know that there might be one more present." she mumbles, flashing a small, cryptic smile, but there's an oddly nervous energy underneath. She furrows her eyebrows and adds "Sort of. Something for both of us." with a shrug. "It doesn't
Ilyna sits down on the couch next to her, and offers Li one of the bowls. "I don't know," she says. "It's my first time trying this too. It looks good, though." She has little faith that the toy will remain put aside for much longer than the dessert, but she doesn't feel like she can fault her for her excitement. Weren't they about to eat dessert, she may even have offered to help her open it instead.
Jason meanders a step behind Vasquez, taking another quick sip of his beer and shooting a brief glance back towards the others as they begin to disperse from the kitchen. When Vasquez turns to face him, he studies her through a furrowed brow. "...What's up?" he asks. As she speaks, his expression shifts from curiosity to playful suspicion, lopsided smirk slipping back out towards the tail end of Vasquez' words. "Oookay..." he nods
a few times, leveling a sidelong look out the window as he considers what she might have up her sleeve. "So...?" he continues as he tilts his head back her way, "You gonna tell me what it is?" he asks with a small tilt of his head, that ever-so-charming grin of his widening.
Li pulls the bowl into her lap and wastes little time in scooping up a spoonful and having a taste, a thoughtful look on her face as she prepares to render her judgement. "It's ok." she decides with a nod.
Halisi follows Ilyna back to the couch, retaking her seat in the armchair and looking around for somewhere to put her bowl before realizing that she's probably going to have to keep a hold of it while eating.
Cynthia casts a brief glance towards Jason and Vasquez before shaking her head to herself with a smirk and leaving the kitchen area.
Vasquez gains a small grin of her own at Jason's reaction, making a show of considering his question for a moment before shaking her head faintly. "You'll see tomorrow." she says, not quite able to hide the smug undertone to her words, her grin widening a little.
Ilyna looks up at Halisi and Cynthia as she returns before turning her attention back at her dessert. Ilyna tastes a spoonful of the pudding without any bits of fruits first. "It's good," she says before going for another.
Jason draws in a deep breath and lets it out in a long sigh as his stupid grin slips away, replaced by a glare that he levels on Vasquez with an unamused tilt of his head. "Or I could just-..." he glances off to the side as he takes a step to set his beer down on the counter and put himself between Vasquez and the rest of the kitchen. Widening his stance slightly, he steps up to Vasquez, offering a non-chalant shrug of his
shoulders, "...refuse to let you out of this corner until you tell me." he threatens as a smug, annoyingly confident grin of his own crops back up.
Li scoops up another spoonful, but not all of it makes it to its destination in time, a frown crossing her face as some drips on her dress.
Cynthia drops back into her armchair, nearly upending her bowl in the process, saving it at the last moment and nodding to herself as a silent 'Fuck yeah!' runs through her head.
Halisi has a taste of her own, humming quietly and nodding in agreement with Ilyna. If she's too full to eat she's not showing it.
Vasquez raises a skeptical eyebrow, her grin turning a bit more crooked. "Please... you know you couldn't stop me." she scoffs, arms still crossed as she looks him up and down.