Va'ynna shuffles closer and leans towards her. "It was... her that made me start to... doubt Nari's lie," she says, some sobs breaking through her best efforts to hide it. "I... logged onto Galaxy of Fantasy from the... Respite break room. I had... no intention to play, nor could I from here, but... I just wanted to see. She sent me a message immediately, worried out of her mind. I... I... I told her everything."
#VVApartment – August 10, 2021
Victoria does not let go of Va'ynna, and continues to listen to her. "It is good you told her. Better to let her know, instead of keeping her worried." Vicky wanted to let Va'ynna know she did the right thing.
Va'ynna nods. "If... Nari hadn't sent me out here, this... would have still been my life," she says, looking back at the bag. Her tone remains sad, and she's often interrupted by sobs at this point. "Instead I'm... here, poking... through these relics of a life I cannot get back, and you... you sound like you couldn't be any less interested in it." Her tone may come across as more accusatory than intended.
Victoria sits in silences listening to everything Va'ynna has to say, but onces accuses her of having no interest in the conversation she puts on a shocked face, but switches back to a neutral one. "I'm sorry if it seems that way, love. But I'm interested in hearing everything." She stops for a moment. "I really do want to know everything about you, so that is why I am listening to
Va'ynna lets out an even, doubtful hum. "I mean, it's what... you sound like, it doesn't... have to mean you are," she murmurs sadly. She reaches out to pull at the bag's opening, craning her head to get a better look at the content. She does not take anything out, though.
Victoria frowns a little at that comment. "Sorry about that, love. I guess just waking up does that." She leans forward to allow herself to sit up straight. "What about those little drones, what's the story behind them?"
Va'ynna gives a shallow nod at Victoria's words, not entirely buying her excuse. The question earns a hum and she reaches into the bag to pick one out. It's a small-scale model of a turian fighter craft, subtly different from the ever-revised models one might see in a modern turian army. The paint is barely hanging on in some spots, and most of it is dull metal. "It belonged to... a little girl that would... hide away
to play by herself when the... outside became too much," she says, her sobbing growing worse. "They were... for a bigger game with a VI, but... I don't think it ever worked. I would... control them all at the same time from my omni-tool and one of the datapads, trying to... play out interesting battles." She turns it over in her hand. "Most of these... broke while I still had them, though, including... this
Victoria remains silent at first, believing she might've hurt Va'ynna's feelings by complete accident. However, once Va'ynna's sobbing started to grow worse, she instantly wrapped both of her arms around Va'ynna. "It's all good to let it all out, Va'ynna. You don't need to keep it all bottled up." Still holding on tightly to Va'ynna.
Va'ynna does not return the hug at first. Instead, she flips a small switch on the underside of the device, which is a bit worn and stiff from dust and time. The device comes online and reports a full charge and no errors on the small haptic interface screen. That's the extent to which she tests it before turning it back off putting it back in the bag. "They... really fixed it," she mutters. Her sobbing shows no sign of
Victoria does not care that the hug was returned, Vicky knew that Va'ynna had more important things to worry about, she was just trying to comfort the one she cares about. "Your mother got it fixed because she cares about you."
Va'ynna sighs. "I... know," she says. "It's... just... just... that she shouldn't have. It's... nice to see my old things restored... some better than they were forty to sixty years ago, but... the memories... they... are not so nice." She shuffles a bit closer and wraps one arm around Victoria's waist. "These toys... gave comfort that I... leaned on too much," she says.
Victoria gives a nod. "I think it's better to have them, instead of having nothing. Good or bad, they have some value to them for you." From her own standpoint, she wished she had something phyiscal left from her childhood. When Va'ynna shuffled closer and started to hug back, Vicky decided to remain silent. She could not really compare her childhood to Va'ynna's. "I didn't really have
Va'ynna closes her eyes and leans onto Victoria's side. "I... suppose," she murmurs, not really agreeing with her. "It... it... doesn't feel right. Uvena did... not have to restore them, and... and T'Iavay did it because... she must have felt that she-... she had to."
Victoria gives a slight smile at Va'ynna leaning on her, the smile fades back to a neutral expression soon after as to not make light of this conversation. "I'm just giving you my opinion, but it is your choice what to do with all of this." She gestures to the bag. "If you want to put it in a closet and forget about it, that is your choice."
Va'ynna keeps her eyes closed. "No, I... I can't forget about it now," she says. "I... I have no desire to... play with any of it, but... I... I... I don't know what to do about it." She takes a deep breath, and it sounds like her crying is relenting.
Victoria lets Va'ynna finish before doing anything else. When it sounds like the crying has lessen, Victoria leans back a little so she can look at Va'ynna's face. She raises a hand and places it on Va'ynna's cheek. "Then maybe the best thing you can do, is try to keep it all in good condition. Make sure that it will all still be working for quite some time."
Va'ynna opens her eyes as she feels the hand on her cheek. "I don't have... plans to damage it," she mutters. She takes a deep breath before retracting her hand and turning around to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'll take a shower, and then I'll get started on breakfast," she says in a low, flat voice. Without waiting for an answer or reaction, she gets out of bed and begins on her way towards the bathroom.