Sam spares Emma only a glance, her own thoughts turning elsewhere as she shifts her focus to her drink.
#Miner'sRespite – April 29, 2021
Gage makes quick work of his chip, wincing slightly as it occupies more time than was intended, keeping him from responding right away. "Well, shit. I'm... guessing it's more than just that leg keeping you from hopping on the first flight home for the holidays...?" he asks, a little bit of hesitation in his voice as if well aware that he might be overstepping his boundaries. But, given the fact that him and the others are in the
same position as her- holed up in a crowded tavern at the asscrack of the galaxy during one of the largest human holidays rather than at home with their families- he's confident enough that it won't be taken in bad faith.
Steve takes a bite of his slice of pizza, watching Lema in amusement as she assesses the situation. He gives a small dip of his head when she looks his way for confirmation. "We sure as hell ain't gonna put all this pizza down by ourselves." he says once he's finished with his bite before adding through a smirk, "You just remember this the next time you come stormin' in here with murder on your mind, killer."
Emma chews on her fry as Gage speaks, his words doing little to dispel her discomfort. She lets out a sigh as she considers her reply, gaze travelling out across the bar again. "'Home' was Mindoir." she says, quietly enough that the words are almost swallowed by the chatter of the crowd. She looks down at her drink as her hand wraps around the glass, idly turning it a little to keep herself occupied. It's a conversation she's
had many times over the course of her career - it always comes up eventually, and she's used to that - but it hits harder this time of year. The raid was close enough to the holidays that decorations were up. Couple that with recent events and it's feeling more like an open wound than a scar today.
Renala grins, and looks along the counter at Lema. "You underestimate my appetite, Steve," she comments half-heartedly.
Lema nods her thanks to Varisa and she takes off her other mitten as well to carefully wrap a cold hand around the mug. She smiles as he confirms that the pizza was for her, but his comment draws a scoff out of her. "Don't call me that," she protests in a low voice, casting a few careful glances around to see who's listening in before looking down at her food and drink. It's probably not the best combination, pizza
Tank sets her beer back on the counter, gaze going between Lema and Steve with poorly hidden curiosity and a bit of amusement. "I have impression I am... missing information. She is not looking very dangerous. Eh, no offense, dziewczynka."
Shane takes a moment to catch her meaning, brows furrowing at the familiar name. "That's where Jason was posted up before the Beirut, yeah..?" he asks with a glance Gage's way, seeming to put two-and-two together. The look on his friend's face seems to confirm it for him and his gaze dips back to the table, uttering a quiet, "Shit..." as he does.
Gage's expression grows sympathetic and he's unable to resist the urge to look Sam's way. "Shit." he echoes Shane's sentiment with a sigh, hand shifting around his drink idly. "Sorry, I didn't-..." he trails off with an apologetic shake of his head.
Priya gains an uncomfortable expression and finds herself quietly peering down into her beer. Pointedly avoiding looking in Sam's direction.
Sam studies her row of empty shotglasses through glazed eyes as she listens. She can practically feel Gage's gaze on her. Her focus settles on what was to be her next victim. A small shot glass filled with a golden brown viscous liquid. "It's always something, isn't it...?" she asks, her words quieter than intended. Almost as if to herself. Plucking the shotglass up between her thumb and index finger, she leans forward,
sliding it through the battlefield of empty glasses and half-eaten snacks. She has to lift her ass off her seat to get it to its destination in front of Emma, but as she drops back into her seat and resettles against the wall, she shoots a bitter, drunken smile Emma's way. "They say misery loves company, right?"
Steve snorts at Renala's comment, setting his own slice down on another napkin and tugging it a bit closer to his side of the counter, as if to keep it out of reach of her appetite. Lema's protest and Tank's follow-up cause him to look between the pair, mulling his response over for a moment. "Just had a... bit of a misunderstanding a while back." he offers Tank with a dismissive shrug of his shoulders, as if it's not
interesting enough to warrant more than that. "Isn't that right?" he asks, shooting an amused glance back Lema's way.
Renala smirks as he pulls the slice closer to himself, and reaches for another piece from the pizza between them. Not that the plan was ever to take his piece, at least while there's a bigger source of slices about.
Lema frowns as he pries into the situation while she has a mouthful of pizza, and it takes a few moments and a sip of the hot chocolate before she gives an answer. Her omni-tool gives off a ping too in the meantime, but she ignores it. "It was just a misunderstanding," she says. "I didn't hurt anyone."
Emma is quick to wave Gage's apology off with an uncomfortable grimace. Sam's offering catches her off-guard, shifting back slightly in her seat as she watches her slide the shot over. Her words make her eyebrows furrow, silently wondering what sort of 'misery' has her downing drinks like there's no tomorrow as she grabs the small glass and pulls it the last bit of distance until it's in front of her. She offers Sam a nod of
thanks. "I've heard that." she says, frown deepening a little. "I never really... understood what it meant, but I have heard it." The addition is accompanied by a tug at the corner of her mouth, the shadow of a smile that never manifests. It's not quite clear if it's a joke or just an awkward comment. She clears her throat and raises the shot glass. "Skål!" she exclaims before downing the contents in a swift motion,
Tank 's curiosity certainly isn't satisfied by their answers, eyebrows furrowing, but even drunk she decides not to pry, a quiet hum her only response as she turns her attention back to her beer for another sip.
Sam allows a small snort to slip out, uncertain- and unconcerned in her current state- with the intent behind Emma's words. But she's not about to let a fellow soldier drink alone. "It means-... you're in good company." she settles on, her words slightly slurred. Once Emma has put down the rather strong, bitter drink, she's quick to lift her own drink and take a long pull through the straw, face contorting into a grimace
Gage watches Sam as she slides the shot over, a slight frown beginning to manifest. But his own discomfort, as well as that of Shane and Priya, dissipates as Emma puts her drink down. He casts another glance Sam's way, propping his smile back up for her sake before looking across the table to Emma and giving a small, silent raise of his beer and taking a sip, an act that Shane is quick to mirror.
Priya shoots a look Sam's way as well, her look softening. As the others drink she, too, lifts her mug, tilting her head to glance at the woman beside her and offering a small nod of her head. "Skål." she repeats, pronunciation on point as is to be expected.
Steve snickers and gives a shake of his head, having avoided throwing the young asari under the bus only to have her put more of her information out there than he would have. Thankfully Tank doesn't push the issue so, for the moment, he leans against the counter and works at his slice of pizza, casting the occasional glance out towards the crowd.
Emma makes a faint grimace and a bracing shudder as the drink goes down, welcoming the bitter burn and the way it distracts from the thoughts of the past, snapping her back to the here and now. As she puts the empty shot glass down her gaze returns to Sam for a moment, the implication of her words not lost, but Priya soon draws her attention, eyebrows furrowing slightly as she shifts to look at the woman next to her. "Are you
Lema doesn't look up from her food, the free pizza not doing a great job to bring her mood up given the day as a whole and him bringing up her trouble. The omni-tool notification goes ignored as she goes through the pizza slices, leaving the hot chocolate alone for the moment as it really doesn't go well with pizza.
Renala sighs content as she finishes the third slices and takes a long sip of her beer to wash it down. She may be a small, skinny asari, but she wasn't lying when she said she hasn't eaten since morning. "Taking sub-contracts for Santa's elves is hard work," she says, trying to get out ahead of the inevitable judgement as she immediately reaches for slice #4.
Tank glances Renala's way with a raised eyebrow. "I did not know you celebrate Christmas, Tivey." she comments, her words reminding her of the earlier conversation she overheard. "Is it popular holiday for asari?"
Priya sets her mug back down, hand remaining idly wrapped around it. Emma's question draws her attention back her way. "I'm Indian." she smiles.
Gage's smile grows more genuine as the intent behind Emma's question goes right over Priya's head. "She's a-... bit of a linguist." he answers in Priya's stead, his tone implying that's probably a bit of an understatement. "You'd be surprised how useful that can be when you're dealing with slavers, smugglers, and pirates."
Priya gains a sheepish look as it becomes clear where Emma's question came from, causing her shoulders to slacken slightly in embarrassment. She nods along with the first part of Gage's statement, though his final addition causes her brow to furrow a bit, as if offended. "Well, hardly. That was why I was assigned to the Beirut in the first place." she clarifies matter-of-factly.
Gage is quick to put a hand up in mock surrender, never to proud to admit he spoke out of turn. "Of course, of course." he agrees sincerely, his initial intention clearly more for the sake of small talk than any attempt at devaluing her skills.
Shane looks deep in thought for a number of moments before finally tilting his head up and looking Emma's way. "Var är toaletten?" he asks the only poorly strung Swedish phrase he knows with a pronunciation so poor it's barely recognizable. His gaze shifts between Emma and Priya, as if seeking approval. A soft snort slips out of the woman on the opposite side of Gage from him when her translator is unable to parse what he just
Priya's kind smile slips back out as Gage is quick to relent. When Shane chimes in, her light blue eyes slowly turn his way and it takes her a full moment to decipher what it is he's even trying to say. Rather than lie ot him, she merely props up an awkward smile and hastily turns her focus back to Emma. "I wasn't aware there was a Swedish influence on Mindoir."
Steve is only just beginning to work on his second slice by the time Renala is moving in for slice number four. It causes him to flick his gaze down towards her hand when she reaches for it, amused smile slipping out. "Apparently." he muses. It takes him another moment before he registers her statement and his brows furrow in curiosity, but Tank chimes in before he manages to speak up. Putting it on the back burner for the
Emma blinks, looking like she's expecting Priya to say something more, but thankfully Gage intervenes, a bit of surprise on her face at his words. Most of her interactions with the scum of the galaxy have been through a scope - talking hasn't really been on the table, and the crack of a high-powered rifle is pretty universally understood. She takes a sip of her drink, and is about to comment after setting it down when Shane
speaks up. Her eyebrows shoot up and the growing, warm buzz of the alcohol in her system keeps her from suppressing the sudden snort of laughter that slips out. Priya's comment draws her attention before she's made any progress in how to respond to Shane, her expression softening and turning a bit somber. She hesitates a little, buying time with another sip from her glass, but almost to her own surprise, the earlier
discomfort doesn't come. The corner of her mouth even quirks upward a little. "There were people from all over. At least on our part of the planet. We spoke English in school, but Swedish at home. A lot of the neighbouring homesteads were Scandinavian too. My-... my fathers used to say it's because the climate was similar." The final tidbit brings a bit of sadness, thoughts inevitably going to her family, and she falls
Renala looks Tank's way as she speaks up and stops her just before she can bite down on the slice. "My daughter's closest friend has a human father," she says, "and can you really blame little Aeyna for being instantly sold on a holiday where kids get spoiled?" She lets out a chuckle, a small smile on her face. "I doubt many of us give a crap, though," she says. "There's too many alien holidays, so we keep to those
Tank 's eyebrows furrow and it takes her a moment to parse that 'alien holidays' doesn't mean the same thing to Renala as it does to her, but then she lets out a quiet snort. "It is supposed to be about more than spoiling kids, you know." she points out, before shrugging and adding with an amused look: "But I can understand why that part would have universal appeal."
Shane's frown deepens as Emma's additional laughter confirms that he may have missed the mark. His gaze turns down to the table as he mouths the words to himself a few times, confused about where he went wrong.
Priya listens intently, seeming genuinely interested as Emma speaks about her home. Her comment on the climate causes Priya's smile to fully take hold. The underlying sadness isn't lost on her, but she doesn't acknowledge it. Instead choosing to keep things light. "That sounds... lovely." she offers simply, though sincerely. "So you were exposed to many cultures from a young age, then...?" she continues, the subject obviously
Steve snickers as Renala speaks. Tank's words garner a deep nod from him as he hastily swallows another bite, gesturing to the large woman with his pizza. "She's right." he agrees as he looks back to Renala, "It's also about ugly sweaters and drinkin' til' you black out." he adds confidently.
Emma furrows her eyebrows a little as she considers the question, looking at her empty glass. "I'm not sure I ever thought of it like that at the time, but... I suppose so." she says, looking at Priya again. "It's... hard to think about 'cultures' when it's just individual homesteads disconnected from any... context. Every family was just a little different. And we all had the big thing - colony life - in common. I think I
would have as much in common with any lifelong colonist as anyone from Sweden. Does-... does that make sense?"
Renala grins as Tank points it out, and Steve's 'clarification' brings a laugh out of her. "I know, I know, but Aeyna's got her priorities," she says. "I can't say I know much about its context or origin either, nor does it really matter to us." She then looks back at the slice of pizza in her hands, and takes a large bite out of it.
Tank looks like she's about to argue with Steve, but then her gaze falls in the beer she's lifted to gesture with and she's immediately undermined, instead just shrugging and emptying her glass before flagging Varisa down for a refill. She just nods a little distantly as Renala speaks.
Wenera is the only person around the table that is not drinking; the others have been pouring glasses from the pitchers every so often. The asari is deep in thought as she looks at the cards in her hand. They're playing something that at least looks like Poker, but it's unclear whether actual credits are involved. The tone around the table is otherwise pleasant.
Kirev is tapping on his omni-tool, but that hardly interrupts his playing and conversation. He does glance towards the bar once while typing.