The shuttle sets down outside Ilyna's apartment on the mid-morning of Christmas Day. Despite the urgency, Ilyna made time for a proper breakfast before they began this cargo retrieval mission. The weather has been very windy with almost sideways snow and poor visibility. There is a little break in the snowfall right now, but the clouds above warn that this peace must not be taken for granted. They managed to stow most of the
#IlynaApartment – April 6, 2021
items into a large duffel bag, but the construction set she got from Halisi did not fit and is lying on the shuttle floor near the door.
Ilyna steps out of the shuttle, carrying said duffel bag before setting it down on the shuttle edge to help Li out. She's wearing her solid black winter jacket, and has pulled her hood up just before stepping outside.
Li certainly needs the help - especially considering that she's decided to carry the construction set herself. She's little more than a cardboard box with legs, and can't see where she's going at all, almost stepping right off the shuttle before Ilyna grabs her. "Eep!"
Ilyna can't help but let out a little laugh as she lowers Li to the ground. "Careful, sweetie," she says. She rests a hand on the box for a moment so that Li can regain her balance before continuing.
They are behind on showeling after the last day and night's weather, so traversing the distance from the road to the door may not be the easiest thing for a cardboard box with legs.
Li is not one to be deterred so easily. Did dinnosaurs fear the snow? Of course not! She stretches her neck, leaning her chin against the top of the box with a determined expression and trying to glance over it as she trudges through the snow towards the apartment door. The contents of the plastic-wrapped cardboard box rattle enticingly. A whole castle! And a dragon! In a box!
Ilyna grabs the bag before calling her thanks to Jasper and closing the shuttle door. She has wide smile on her face as she watches Li leading the way to the apartment, and she trudges right behind her. Perhaps it is the distraction of the toy she's carrying, or the lack of darkness, that keeps her fear at bay. She does stop to unlock and open the door with her omni-tool once they get near.
Li continues to march on. She's been in high spirits all morning - it seems yesterday has done a lot to bring some much-needed joy into her life, and distract her, at least for a while, from the many ghosts that haunt her. She almost keeps walking once inside, but remembers that Ilyna will be displeased if she drags in snow, instead awkwardly trying to set down the box. It's a near-instant failure, the box falling to the floor with a
loud rattle of the plastic blocks inside. She frowns a little, before taking a seat on the shoe-shelf and starting to peel off her winter boots.
Ilyna raises a brow at the loud crash, and she picks up the pace. The asari's smile is back on once she sees that the box has just tipped over, not too worried about the contents of it. She gives the outside wall a couple of kicks before going in to lose the snow and she steps inside. "Brrr," she shudders, closing the door behind her as soon as she's able to. She sets the duffel bag down right next to the box before
crouching down to help Li take off her boots. "So, are we starting with the castle?" she asks. "It made quite the sound when you put it down, so there must be thousands of little pieces."
Li is quick to nod, apparently already having made that decision when she claimed the box to carry. Once her boots are off she's quick to take off her jacket and toss it on the shoe shelf before grabbing the box again and running further into the apartment. There are brand-new toys within reach! There's no time for remembering all the 'going indoors' rules!
Ilyna lets out a sigh as Li throws the jacket, but she is in too good of a mood to admonish her about it. Instead, she hangs it up herself. She is quick to shed her own winterwear and starts carrying the bag towards the living room. "I can clear some space for us on the table," she offers, "but you can choose where we build the castle."
Li scans the apartment with a critical gaze as she walks around, made all that much harder by the fact that she's carrying a box she can barely see over. Soon enough she seems to come to the conclusion that the open space between the kitchen table and couch will make a fine field for her castle, with good sightlines. She is unconcerned that it will probably be in the way. She plops down on the floor with the box, just looking at the
Ilyna nods to herself once the location of the build has been decided, and she sets the duffel bag down by the wall between the hall and the rightmost bedroom door. She then adjusts the controls for a moment ot open the blinds and brighten up the ceiling lights. "I need to check with Halisi when she's coming over before planning lunch," she says, "but if you're hungry before then, just tell me, okay?" Ilyna then
Li nods absently, her fingers already digging into the thin plastic wrapped around the box. Once it's torn away she starts to pull at the cardboard, eyebrows furrowing as she tries to open it, not having noticed the tear-away strip for easy opening.
Ilyna watches Li open the box before taking a good look at it herself. She notices the strip holding flaps together and places a hand on the box near the strip. "You know, a part of being an apex predator means looking for weak points and taking advantage," she says. "This strip of carboard with the striped lines looks like a weak point, maybe you can try tearing there instead?"
Li 's frown deepens a little as her attention is redirected. She grabs the strip and pulls, a gleeful smile appearing when the back of the box falls open, allowing easy access to the contents - a whole lot of plastic bags full of small plastic blocks and other tiny parts, as well as a manual. This looks like it's going to take a while.
Ilyna grins when Li finds the weak spot, but it does fade into a thoughtful look once the contents are revealed to them. "Oh, that is a lot of parts, Li," she says, immediately reaching for the manual, "but that's fine. If this takes us all day, then there's always tomorrow to check out the other new toys."
Li is already taking bags out of the box, putting them all on the floor. The one containing the parts for the various figures included with the set immediately catches her attention, and she studies it closely before holding it up for Ilyna to see. "Look, mom! Knights!" There are, indeed, plenty of what look to be knights, simple shapes representing humans, with separate pieces for plate armor, with decorated shields and plumed
Ilyna should be getting used to it by now, but being called 'mom' still carries some impact; helped a lot by the girl's excitement. She studies the knights with a tilted head. Her first thought is that they look easy to assemble compared to the less discernible parts in some of the other bags, but that's not really relevant to why Li is showing them to her. "The castle is going to need a lot of them if they're
Li nods in agreement, wasting little time in tearing the plastic open - causing parts to fly all over in a spray of plastic. Li blinks, a dismayed pout on her face as she looks over to Ilyna, shoulders slumping.
Ilyna raises her brows as the parts are sent flying all around them. "We are in no hurry, Li," she says, "but it's fine, now we know what not to do when when we open the next bag." She looks around the room from where she's sitting, a very faint biotic shimmer gathering around her hand as she gathers the pieces that are out of arm's reach. "There is a part count in the manual, I'm sure, so we'll know if we've got
them all," she says before leaning to see if some of the pieces has found their way under the nearby couch.