Jason's gaze remains affixed to the small decorative plaque, offering a few small nods to the statement provided by the woman beside him. "No." he admits. "I didn't. But I know you." he continues, glancing Lucy's way. "And-... like it or not?" a small smirk tugs at the edge of his mouth, "You're a part of this whole... fucked up little family of ours now." The smirk quickly falls away as he studies Lucy, and eventually he draws in
#RedrockAgency – February 10, 2023
a deep breath. "They're important to you, Lucy. So they're important to me." he settles on, as if the two are connected. Perhaps a peek behind the veil of what Redrock means to him. But he does his best not to linger on that. Getting her emotional wasn't his intentions. Just a small gesture of comraderie. So, soon enough, his gaze turns back to the wall. To the few rows and columns of names unfamiliar to Lucy. "I'm not
sure, but I-... uhh-... I get the feeling that Linda finds it a bit... depressing." he snorts, recalling a recent discussion of theirs. "But I don't see it that way." he lies, ignoring that pinch of reflection that accompanies every time he studies the memorial. The reminder that he didn't do enough to keep them off that wall. The reminder that he needs to be better. People's lives depend on it. But it is more than that.
"Sometimes I'll come in here for a quick run when I've got a few minutes and I'll catch someone finishing up their workout. Sitting right here toweling off or-..." he shakes his head, "...changing their shoes or something. Looking at the names on that wall." He indicates the memorial with a dip of his head. "They might not recognize all of the names. Might not know how they ended up on that wall. But they do know that
someone cared enough about them to remember them. It... might not be much, but it's the least I can do for them..."
Leah idly pops the remainder of the snack food into her mouth, eating the remaining half. Nathan's grumbled question prompts her to open her mouth, never one to pass an opportunity to take a shot at him, though this time Sofia beats her to it, prompting a snicker and a hum of agreement. She decides against pouring salt in the wound, instead turning her focus to his follow up question. "We~ were~" she draws out, the sudden
scare having interrupted her focus, green eyes suddenly widening and bright smile returning as she recalls what they were discussing, "...just saying how great Tara looks in this dress! Isn't it cute?!" she asks enthusiastically, shifting in Nathan's arms to glance up at him over her shoulder.
Shane sniffs, that annoyingly cocky smile ever-present. "Well ain't that a shame." he sighs. "Guessing you just decided you wanted to give me a chance, huh?" he taunts as he moves to line up another shot, focus already scouring the pool table once more.
Steve follows Renala's gaze Nathan's way. "Eh. Let's just call it a bit of, 'professional apprehension'." he muses with a snort, keeping his opinion on Nathan to himself. By this point Renala probably knows all too well how he feels about him.
Mendez nods quietly, "No problem." he says flatly and takes a quick sip of his drink, attention already back on the TV. Unsurprisingly, it seems as though he's not about to say any more about the situation than is necessary.
Nathan has a brief moment of... dread? Or a cold shiver? Isn't that sort've the same? It feels like someone was glaring at him. Eh. Whatever. With the focus on Tara, he looks over and offers her a once over before giving a firm nod. "Yeah, that looks lovely," he says in agreement.
Sofia's smile brightens as she finds the conversation redirected back to Tara. However, she keeps further compliments at bay for now. She doesn't want to overwhelm her with too much attention.
Oxaris cants her hip for a moment and a small laugh escapes her. "Someone like me? Why, thank you. But your warning is appreciated. So far my experiences of Freedom Falls have been regulated to the town itself and its immediate area. It's been... interesting."
Tarkus tries his best to hide his amusement at catching Vasquez by surprise. "Sorry Chief, just making sure you did not freeze out there." He starts making his way to the rec room. "I'll head back now."
Lucy 's gaze remains on Jason at first, but then it sharply turns away, brim of her hat once again concealing her eyes as she tilts her head. She sucks in her lips a little as she listens, swallowing against the lump in her throat. Her crossed arm pulls a little closer against her body, as if to hug herself. Eventually her gaze lifts to the wall, scanning across the plaques, and then going back to Jason, studying his face. Her
lips twitch a little - it's not a smile, but maybe it could've been if her every expression wasn't so weighed down by grief. "It's a nice thought..." she says softly.
Renala chuckles. "I'll keep my barrier primed," she says half-seriously before looking down at her food, taking a moment to decide which to try first.
Ilyna moves a few steps to stand beside Victoria, her eyes still on the game of pool. "Hey, Victoria," she says, briefly glancing her way. "Could I trouble you for a quick summary of the rules of this game?" She takes a bite of the breadstick she's awkwardly holding against the wine glass.
Tara looks a little embarrassed as the focus is returned to her, holding her glass low in both hands and offering a polite tilt of her head in thanks.
Cynthia grumbles something about the gravity being off as she goes to take a sip from her ale and watch Shane shoot.
Jason lets out a breath, seeming relieved that the woman isn't offended by the gesture at the very least. "Yeah..." he offers softly, blue eyes scanning across the names on the wall. Some deeply personal to him. But he's careful not to let those thoughts lead him astray. Tonight is a celebration, after all. If for nothing more than another year that they came out the other side of. Sometimes that's enough. "At any rate, they're
yours." he says, gaze turning briefly to Lucy, then to the plaques on the bench. "Wouldn't be right for me to tell you what to do with them. But-... they'd be in damn good company up there." he offers, heavy smirk tugging at the edge of his mouth as he indicates the wall. The two prepared spots- mounting brackets hung side-by-side- give away his obvious intentions, but it's not his call to make.
Vasquez shoots Tarkus a death-glare, remaining in place until the turian is out of sight, at which point she lets out a long breath, gaze sweeping across the hangar below briefly before she starts making her way down the walkway.
Shane furrows his brows for but a brief moment, lining the shot up in his mind before he leans over the table. Before taking the shot, he glances across the table to give Cynthia an annoying little wink before gently tapping the cue ball and causing it to deliver one of his own neatly into a pocket.
Halisi seems content to listen for the time being, sipping her wine and looking out across the room as she does.
Senya acknowledges Uvena's assumption with a vaguely agreeing shrug. "It does lose its lustre after a few decades."
Leah sucks in her lips, well aware of Tara's discomfort. Slipping out of Nathan's arms, she scoops up another snack as she turns to face the man, giving him the once over. "You're not looking too bad yourself." she offers through a smile.
Victoria watches Shane's shot go in and gives nod. She walks off for a moment to go grab herself a beer, before heading back to the pool table to continue watching the game.
Steve snorts, lifting his drink to her before taking a healthy swig. "Duck and cover. That's the name a' the game, right?"
Holly nods as she picks at her plate, studying the piece of food she grabs. "It's a nice town. Peaceful. For Aite, anyway." The words come out a little quieter than intended, taking on an almost somber note.
Nathan raises his arms for the woman to slip free, before letting them drop to his side with only the faintest of bashful looks. "Well, ah, thanks. Just, uh, threw on anything, y'know. Can't help but naturally be this stylish," he said with a little sniff as he snatched up any old random snack from the table. He didn't even process what it was before he shoved it into his mouth.
Sofia just slowly shakes her head as she stares at the embarrassing blood relative before her. She gives Tara a look and mutters to her, "I'm jealous. You get Leah as a sister and I have to have him." She jabs a thumb towards the man, dainty giggle escaping her.
Oxaris looks curiously at Holly. "Mmm, I take it the rest of Aite is a little more... chaotic." She knew a little anyway. She had read up on the planet before she arrived, after all. Still, it was better to hear it from someone who lived here day after day.
Lucy looks down at the plaques. And then, eventually, to the wall. She frowns, silent for a moment, and then she nods faintly, the subtle movement amplified by her hat. "I reckon they will." she agrees, looking back to Jason. The smile makes another doomed attempt at manifesting, and even thought it never quite does there's a warmth in her eyes. An appreciation.
Victoria looks at Ilyna and gives a smile. "Oh hey Ilyna." She turns her focus back to the game. "The simple summary is two different groups of ball, bigs and littles. Each player has their own group they gotta sink or pocket before trying to sink the black to win the game."
Tarkus enters the rec room, he gives a quick look around the room before making his way over to the food table and looking for some turian food options.
Va'ynna looks a little conflicted for a moment at what she had agreed to. "I'd love that," she says, a smile showing up. "Did... you get something especially good for playing together?"
Jason's smirk fully manifests, though there's a heaviness behind his eyes, and he nods to the woman's decision. He pauses for a moment, as if giving her a chance to back out, before reaching down and picking up one of the plaques. He specifically takes the one engraved with Nadia's name, leaving James' plaque for Lucy to handle, and approaches the wall of names.
Tara 's eyes widen, gaze darting to Leah and Nathan. Upon ascertaining that neither of them are looking at her and Sofia she hesitates for a moment, and then... nods slightly, shooting her an almost conspiratorial look. "...Leah is better." she agrees so quietly it would be easy to think one might have imagined it.
Leah blinks a few times, brow lifting in appraisal. "Uh huh..." she hums in amusement. Sofia's addition garners a giggle out of her as well, but Tara's addition makes her completely lose it, laughter spilling out of her as she grasps Tara's arm, briefly leaning affectionately against the younger girl. "Well, that settles it!" she agrees smugly with Tara's assessment before offering her boyfriend's younger sibling a sympathetic
Renala breaks a piece off a breadstick and gives it a try, before nodding to Steve. "There's a lot of good cover up there to duck behind, that's true," she says. "I was more worried about how our security system will react to it, seeing as it's untested territory, but I'm going to put it into a dry-run mode where it won't run any real actions."
Holly nods in confirmation. "That'd be..." She blows out a puff of air. "Well, that'd be an understatement." she says, picking the last piece of food from her plate and biting down on it before lowering the plate in one hand, the other holding her drink.
Steve reaches out, helping himself to one of the many finger foods atop Renala's plate and popping it into his mouth. "Well, that's a relief." he muses as he chews. "Least we won't be gettin' cut down by our own AA guns tonight. Guess that's somethin'."
Ilyna looks back at the table while Victoria explains, raising an eyebrow. "They all look the same size to me," she says, "but two groups -- I'm guessing the color or lack thereof on the poles denote the group?"
Lucy watches Jason take Nadia's plate, and after he's turned toward the wall she reaches out for James', picking it up and just... looking at it for a while, index finger of the hand holding her bottle brushing gently across the metal.
Nathan lets out a long, dramatic sigh as he resides to pluck up a plate and start shoveling food onto it in droves. Doesn't matter what. Whatever fills the empty void of his soul after such cruelty was put upon him by this trio of gremlins. "At least I have you, food. You'll never upset me!" He shoves one of the snacks into his mouth and promptly begins to choke on it as he swallows a little too early. "Gurk!"
Sofia now breaks into her own fit of quiet, but many giggles at Tara's words. Her eyes are alight with mirth as Nathan only adds to the situation with his own demise. Ah, the joys of siblings. A constant source of entertainment.
Oxaris hums and offers a sympathetic nod. "I shan't press you on it. This is meant to be a joyous time, I think. Please, forgive me if I brought up anything unpleasant."
Renala narrows her eyes for a moment in mock indignation at the food theft before she grabs the remainder of the breadstick. "That one is manually activated," she says, "so Wolfe would be the one to blame if there's a sudden cannon salute in the middle of the show."
Victoria gives herself a tap on the head. "Right sorry, using the lingo I learned for the balls." She points to the table. "So the groups are stripes and solids. The stripes are bigs because of the big white spots on them." She pauses for a moment hoping Ilyna now understands. "So the group you get is decided by the first ball you sink. If you sink a solid, that's the group you gotta
Uvena sighs. "Most things do, I suppose," she says, turning her attention to the screen again while taking any arbitrary piece off her plate.
Jason makes no attempt at rushing the woman, merely waiting for her to join him at the wall, sad expression creeping across his face as he watches her examine the plaque. He's quick to tear his gaze away, focusing on the names listed in front of him in an effort at giving Lucy her space.
Shane seems amused by Cynthia's annoyance, grin ever-present as he rounds the table to line up his next shot. "And, as my good friend here just demonstrated, you don't want to sink the opponents balls." he adds in to Victoria's explanation for Ilyna, maintaining eye contact with Cynthia as he does to pour salt in the wound before sinking another ball.
Steve snorts, but his attention soon shifts back to the celebrations on the screen. "Your people do much for this kind of thing? Celebratin' the new year?" he asks after a short consideration, gesturing to the screen with a nod of his head.
Tara hadn't exactly intended for Leah and Nathan to hear her, and there's the briefest, habitual moment of worry before the reactions put her at ease, a small, slightly sheepish smile crossing her lips. Despite her best attempt at a restrained reaction, Leah and Sofia's laughter draws out a muffled hint of a giggle from her too.
Leah's laughter returns as Nathan begins to choke on his food. "Awww. Look! Even the food is turning on you." she pouts, putting on her best mopey face, but her big bright smile soon slips out as she reaches out to prod Nathan in the side with a straightened finger.
Ilyna can't help but let out a soft laugh at that, looking a little sheepish as she glances Cynthia's way. "Thank you, I think I understand it now," she says. "It's an elegant game."
Li nods. "We can play Super Centurion, or we can play with my figures or... we can draw together!" she suggests, the mention of the drawing pad seeming to have stuck in her mind.
Senya hums affirmatively, attention back on the TV. She seems content to watch the broadcast in silence. It's starting to seem like just maybe she's not a party person.
Victoria looks back at Ilyna. "The one they are playing here is probably the most well known, but a lot of people have their own little house rules for this game." She starts making her way to grab a beer. "Gotta grab myself a drink, you need anything?"
Renala tilts her head for a brief moment in thought, and she sips her beer. "Of course, but not as violently as you do... usually," she says. "Our year starts in spring with Janiris. That holiday with the flower-wreaths." Renala does not sound very fond of it for reasons that Steve should know.
Shane shoots Cynthia another wink, taking a moment to enjoy his own beer and bask in the saltiness of his opponent, grin ear-to-ear. "I'd be more than happy to teach you how to play." he offers Ilyna, "Soon as I'm done schooling my friend over here, of course."
Steve gives a few nods. "Right, right. Guess I figured your people prolly wouldn't find much of a reason to celebrate a new year. I mean-... what's a year when your life is measured in centuries, right?"
Nathan slams a fist into his own stomach, dislodging the traitorus morsel and letting it fall to its doom (aka his stomach.) He wheezed out a cough as Leah poked him in the side, giving her a level glare that very quickly broke into a look of comical defeat. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you three." Despite his words, his face broke into a wide smile, one that he couldn't hide even if he wanted to.
Sofia was only further encouraged with her laughter as Tara joined in, leading to an infectious loop of giggles and snickers. Eventually, though, she managed to calm herself down for fear of ruining her makeup with tears of joy. She stifled the last dregs before she let out a small sigh, bright smile now stuck on her face.
Holly shakes her head and props up a smile. "All good." she assures, but she holds up her empty plate. "But I ought to put this away." she says, offering a little goodbye-wave with the plate before departing for the counter, where she puts the empty plate down and joins Halisi, Li and Va'ynna, offering the doctor a small smile of acknowledgement and then waiting for the others to notice her.
Va'ynna looks excited as Li lists the things they can do together. "I hope we get time for all of it!" she says. "You know, the... little doodles on my gifts' name cards is the most I've drawn in decades, but it'll be fun to do more of that." She glances Holly's way as she returns, but her attention remains on Li.
Leah's laughter slowly dies down. It's a nice change of pace. To be among friends and family and having a good time after everything that's transpired recently. "Well I~ think I'm going to get myself a drink. Any requests?" she asks, looking between the others as she takes a step back towards the makeshift bar set up on the counter.
Oxaris smiled and dipped her head to the woman in acknowledgement. "Of course. Nice to talk with you proper," she said as Holly departed from her company. Oxaris returned herself to her stoic position to the side, silently going over the conversation in her head to try and determine if she had held a decent social interaction. It... never was really her strongsuit.
Ilyna raises her glass a little in response to Victoria's question, and there are only a few nods to her elaboration about house rules. "I've got my hands full, but thanks," she says. She eats the last of her breadstick and takes a sip of her wine before Shane speaks to her. "Sure, I'd like to try," she says. At the very least, it would put her mind off of worrying about the others' reaction to her and Halisi for a
Tara allows the cider still in her hand to be her answer, taking a small sip, the smile that still lingers laced with subdued hints of mischief.
Renala chuckles. "You're saying something there," she says. "I guess... it's that just because we have hundreds of them, doesn't mean we can take them for granted." She casts a glance at the window. "And with how awful winters can get, I can understand marking spring with a fucking party."