#RedrockAgency – March 6, 2023

Shane throws an arm up, as if to say, 'Ya got me', but the big grin that remains tells a different story. One that is very much expecting Cynthia to choke.

Lucy glances up at Jason, the lower half of her face all that's visible under her hat. A small smile tugs at one corner of her mouth and she nods. "It's a deal."

Jason passes one last glance from Lucy to the wall of names before continuing on his way out into the hall.

Halisi smiles a little. "None so far, thankfully, but we do still have a fireworks display to get through..."

Senya snorts quietly, the faintest hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Nathan laughs quietly, shaking his head with a mocking, yet disapproving air. "Such a travesty!" His look softens. "I'm glad it's healing up though. And, well, seems Tara has been taking things well too. A little more... talkative, than before."

Li 's eating is interrupted by a giggle as she listens to Renala.

Leah's mock drama gives way to a snicker as she straightens out her dress. Nathan's comments draws her gaze towards the young woman in question, her smile slipping back into something a bit more sincere. "Yeah..." she agrees fondly as she watches Tara and Sofia from afar for a moment. "Next step?" she continues, green eyes turning back to Nathan. She reaches up, drawing a small shape on her forehead with her thumb to silently

Nathan follows her gaze for a moment, a brotherly smile on his face as he looks to his sister and Tara. However, when Leah turns back to him and makes the motion against her forehead, he nods a little more solemly. "An important step. You think she'll be up for removing it?" He knows that in most cases, that would be a daft question. But this isn't most cases. Despite its horrific roots, that tattoo has been a part of

Va'ynna gives a faint hum of thought. "There were many there, yes, but... Enila didn't want me to keep the kitchen open... past the new closing time anyway," she says.

Uvena returns the smile and glances Nathan's way at the mention of the fireworks display. "Tennhausen knows what he's doing," she says with a slight laugh in her voice, "but I suppose the risk is never zero with explosives."

Holly shakes her head. "Uh, no, not exactly," she confirms. "I work at Athame's Embrace, I'm apprenticing under Dr. Halisi." Not exactly how a medical professional would be educated anywhere in Council space, but many places in the Terminus do things differently. There's not exactly a lot of medical schools to go around. "I've helped out with her Redrock work a few times during emergencies."

Cynthia takes her time chalking up the cue, eyebrows furrowing as she surveys the table.

Leah nods. "We talked about it. Matter of fact-..." she sighs, perhaps giving away her own reluctance, "...Yan Sun-... uhh-... Jessica's girlfriend-..." she quickly clarifies in case he's dropkicked the name from his memory, "...gave me contact info to someone in Adrasteia whose willing to take care of it. She said Jessica has known him a long time and-..." a small, unsure shrug of her shoulders follows, "...they trust him."

Halisi chuckles faintly. "It never is, no... as the injury statistics for this holiday show quite plainly," she says with another small smile thrown the asari's way. She proceeds to step closer to the back of the couch and address Mendez and Emma. "Staying off your feet. Good."

Emma cranes her neck to look back at Halisi. "Come to make sure we're behaving?" she asks dryly.

Halisi 's smile widens a little. "It does seem to be a necessity with this company..."

Sam gives a few nods, splitting her attention between the nurse and the game of pool playing out beside them. "Is that how they do things out here?" she asks, passing a smirk Holly's way, "On the job training?" There's no judgement in her voice, just genuine interest.

Mendez doesn't chime in on the conversation, but leans slightly to one side, lifting his slinged arm ever-so-slightly as if to show the doctor that he's still following her orders.

Nathan looks like he ate something sour given his expression at the mention of Jessica. "That's... very confidence inspiring," he mutters under his breath. A sharp exhale dispelled his distaste and he nodded ever so faintly. "There... are other options. I can try giving Sandbeck a bell, ask them about it? Course, who knows how long that'll take?" He says, already discounting his own suggestion as he thought longer about

Renala takes a small bite of her food before continuing. "And when that happens, and it stops working, you bring it to me, okay?" she says. "That goes for anything electronic that breaks."

Ilyna takes a small step back, staying quiet to contribute to the tension despite her curiosity about what they've treated the cues with.

Leah winces at Nathan's reaction. As he speaks, she nods along, letting out another heavy sigh. "Yeah..." she frowns, silently taking another sip of her drink. "People with the right skills and equipment aren't exactly jumping at the opportunity to remove slaver tags out here. I guess nobody wants to end up on the wrong side of a House of batarians..." She draws in a deep breath as she meets his gaze once more. "On one hand I

Holly nods enthusiastically. "I'm lucky to be learning under someone so experienced, and with off-world schooling, too. It's an honor, really. I picked up the basics on my own when I was younger, and I suppose the doctor thought I had an aptitude for it," she explains with a brief, self-conscious chuckle. She seems happy that someone's taken an interest. "I know things are done different in 'civilized' space. Whole schools just

Zaylus takes the opened bottle with a grin and a gracious bow, putting on a show for the spectators. "If she offers a handshake, don't fall for it." He warns, taking a generous swig.

Nathan tuts as he scratches the back of his head in thought, combining a long exhale with, "Yeeeeeeah." A swig of his drink follows as his brow furrows in further thought before a sort've sigh of defeat escapes him. "Unfortunately, I don't think there's really a lot of options on the table. I just... Adrasteia? Really? No where else?" A beat. "...yeah, no where else."

Steve shifts in his seat, drumming the fingertips of his free hand against the table as he listens. "Fair enough." he says, "Sounds like they're leavin' a whole bunch of credits on the table by closin' the kitchen on one of the busiest nights of the year, but-..." he shrugs dismissively. "...ain't my concern." he snickers, taking a drink from his beer.

Sam cradles her beer in her hands, her interest in the pool game waning in the face of something more interesting. She gives a dismissive little wave at the tail end of Holly's words. "Eh. I'll tell you this much. I learned more from patching these idiots-..." she gives Priya a bump with her hip, "...up than I ever did in my training courses." Perhaps not exactly true. And she certainly hasn't been through the same

Priya frowns at the first hip bump, but the second gets a full on scoff. "I'm not whiny!" she protests.

Sam merely speaks louder when Priya begins to protest, repeating herself overtop the woman, "...whiny, complaining little bitches in the field."

Leah lets out another heavy breath, relenting with a small nod of her head. "Not to mention-..." she begins, lowering her voice. It's unlikely they'll be overheard by Tara with the music and general conversation happening all around them, but still. They're only a few days out from their last shootout, the last thing Tara needs is more shit to worry about. "...it's only a matter of time before the wrong person steps into the

Nathan watches Leah's expression for a few moments before his free hand reached over to grab hers and give it a reassuring squeeze. "We'll deal with it," he corrects her, a small smile accompanying. "Not letting you take it all on yourself. But, let's try positive for once, ya? Remember, new year. Things will start looking up, everything will go smoothly and Tara can go to having a normal life."

Leah draws a breath in through her nose, holding Nathan's gaze for a moment before giving a stern nod. His correction draws out a small smile. "New year." she agrees softly, as if trying to will his wishes into existence. Everything will go smoothly. Things have to eventually go well for them, right?

Elena retrieves her own bottle, shooting Zaylus a 'What the hell, dude' look before taking a swig of her own.

Tara furrows her eyebrows at the warning and looks at Elena's mechanical hand curiously.

Elena 's gaze lands on Tara as she lowers her bottle. She raises an eyebrow, and then looks down at her own hand, lifting it and wiggling her fingers. "Tried to pet a hungry varren," she explains, deadpan.

Tara 's eyes widen, looking unsure how to reply.

Elena snickers to herself, shifting to lean back against the counter, still watching Tara. She can't help but grin a little at her sparkly princess dress, but then her eyes land on her forehead tattoo, registering just what it is for the first time, and her smile falters a little. There's curiosity in her gaze, but she doesn't ask. "Got a sister 'bout your age back on Earth. What's your name, kid?"

Tara blinks. "Tara. I... have a sister too. She's there," she says, pointing in Leah's direction.

Elena turns her head to look in the direction Tara's pointing, eyebrows rising when her gaze lands on Leah. "The biotic? No shit..."

Uvena lets out an amused snort at the conversation between Halisi and Emma. "There are less dangerous ways to put bright lights in the sky," she comments before returning her attention to her plate and taking the last piece of food off it.

Li looks up in surprise and nods enthusiastically. "Ok!" she exclaims with a smile before going back to eating.

Nathan hums once. "That's the spirit." He releases her hand and steps back a smidge to gesture broadly around him. "Now, how about we stop hiding off to the side and start mingling like actual guests to a party?" A beat, before he offers a cheeky grin. "Unless you wanna, y'know, sneak off somewhere while we have the chance?" A comical wiggle of his eyebrows follows, suppressing the laugh bubbling up behind the devilish

Sofia takes a small sip of her wine as the pair converse, following their gaze just in time to witness Nathan's display. She has to stifle a gag and the urge to throw a nearby object at his head. She looks back to Zaylus, confused mometarily by his words before she clocks onto the joke. A polite smile is offered by nothing more is added.

Holly brings one hand up to her mouth, muffling her giggle with the sleeve of her robe. "You're... a medic?"

Leah snickers. Though, as Nathan continues speaking a bit of red creeps into her cheeks. She's quick to scoff and send a playful roll of her eyes his way in an attempt at hiding her own embarrassment. "What, the ankle peek wasn't enough for you?!" she teases.

Zaylus follows Tara's gesture, cocking his head a little. "Leah's sister?" He muses, "Does that mean you can blow shit away like she does?" He asks, the question as innocent as it is curious.

Va'ynna nods. "I agree, but... Enila doesn't care," she says and glances at Li as a smile shows up, "and I'm not... going to argue myself out of... a chance to see Li again."

Priya's frown deepens. "A terrible medic..." she mutters.

Samantha turns sharply towards Priya, addressing her directly with an answer to Holly's question, "An amazing medic. Best damn medic the Alliance has ever churned out." she brags, "Otherwise, your dumb ass would probably be dead. And yours-..." she gestures to Shane.

Shane watches and waits for Cynthia to take her shot, though when he hears his name he shoots a sidelong glance Sam's way. "The hell did I do?" he mutters

Sam cranes her neck around until she spots Gage across the room, raising her voice as she gestures to him, "Annnnd yours!"

Gage has no clue what's being discussed on the other side of the room. But Sam is raising her voice and gesturing wildly his way. So he does the only thing that feels right. Smiles and gives her a thumbs up before going right back to his plate of snacks.

Sam finally turns back to Holly with a shrug. "Keeping idiots alive is a full time job." she settles on.

Emma hums quietly. "Well, no need to worry. We are," she says, studying the doctor without saying anything further. It's hard not to get the impression that she's waiting for her to leave.

Halisi looks a little caught off-guard by the cold reception, but props up a smile. "Glad to hear it. I'll leave you be," she says, offering them a nod before departing. Spotting Ilyna by the pool table she walks up next to her, taking a sip of her wine glass as she gets her bearings.

Mendez shoots a curious glance Emma's way.

Renala gives a small smile at the acknowledgment before getting back to her food as well.