2023-01-31: Late For Christmas
- Log: 2023-01-31: Late For Christmas
- Cast: Sayla Mass, Christina MacKenzie, Leina Ashta
- Where: Villa Mass, AEU Spain
- OOC - IC Date: 30 January 0097
- Summary: After not getting her usual check-in, Christina returns to her home away from home expecting trouble. For once, the only trouble is a cat starved of attention.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
It's a warm Spanish evening, but the rain is pouring. A warm rainy night is pleasant to the owner of the Villa, and the windows are open to let the sound of it hitting the patio roof in.
Sayla has emerged from her office a little earlier than she had expected- Leina had done multiple good jobs in her absence. She started processing paperwork for other matters, but she still needed some signoffs. She wrote up the reports GGG needed and then...
She decided it was time to take a break. She walks through the Villa to the main living room. The item she had ordered online had arrived, but it was still the postage box. She wanted time to set it up *and* enjoy it.
So for now, she's sitting on the couch with an orange juice and vodka (that's only one shot of the latter), the TV on mostly for light noise. An old heist movie from the 0060s sits on, something about robbing a Casino Colony. On her lap is a red abyssinian cat who is not moving for any reason, and she's got an academic journal in her hands that she's reading through. It's a lazy evening, for once.
<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.
The rain is noisy, but moreso still is the nearing howl of atmospheric propulsors, before they die down to the droning of a low-altitude airfoil. A dustworn, wind-buffeted cargo shuttle deploys its landing gear and goes silent, other than the tin-can PLINK of the engine nozzles cooling unevenly. It has touched down on a private strip in the Spanish countryside, near a stately villa (that disappears from satellite feeds). She would have landed closer, but Sayla would have chewed her out if she burned stripes in the yard--again.
Jumping out of the hatch is a woman in (barely-)blue jeans and a grease-stained tan jacket. Her thick braid would be red, but it's still got some concrete dust dulling the color. She doesn't seem to notice, though most of it rinses away or shakes out as she jogs through the rain to the door. Catching her breath near the entrance (she isn't 20 anymore), habit tips her eyes up towards the hidden security cam. Rummaging through her messenger bag, she's muttering to herself.
"Come on, it was right here, right...Ah!"
Christine MacKenzie finally pauses to consider what she's doing. Running her thumb over the shiny brass key...it hasn't been used in, what, two years? Three? A month? Who knows? She shifts to glance at the laminated note chained to it.
"Stop Upgrading My Kitchen!"
...is written in elegant penstrokes, courtesy of the Mass Villa's owner: her trusted friend.
Chris stares at the door, unsure what she'll find, but she didn't leave Morocco to just stand in the rain. She puts her key in the door, then thinks better of it and slaps the doorbell, twice.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
It's not long after Sayla had taken a seat that she might smell something creeping through the cracks in the living room door.
The vague earthy scent...
It's not long before she hip bumps the door of the living room open, balancing a tray of...
"Off early tonight? Well well, I'm impressed. It means you're just in time for some afterwork tapas."
There's the jingle jangle noise of Foras following her in, tail up high as the Blue Maine Coon stares at the tray, and rubs Leina's legs for good measure.
Pulling up a table, she puts down an already cut rounded 'little cake', a delectable still steaming number with diced onions, bell peppers and mushrooms added into the mix because this Colony Girl isn't a purist.
"A little something to go with that screwdriver." She says with a sniff, before winking, "One of the drinks I chose to test the waters with Kaname and Tessa, actually."
Leina cants her head to the side a half a beat before the little alert goes off on the security measures, "No- she... in this weather!?"
Leina takes off out of the room at a fast gait and Foras jingle jangles after her, and on the second strike of the bell the door is open and Leina's already yelling in enthusiasm, "Chris!?"
Currently Leina's dressed in a 'Shangri-La Space Slugs' shirt, one with an obviously sporty bent that doesn't... at all reveal what sport the team name is on, a pair of skinny jeans, and some kind of house sandals.
As she all but yanks her in, "Oh my gosh! Get in here! You're soaked to the bone!" Without a care though, she pulls her into a big hug, "It's so good to see you!" Before she releases her with a grin, her shirt's fabric now stained a touch translucent from the water, "... Andddd lemme grab you a towel!"
The Blue Maine Coon, jangles up to her, and doesn't hesitate to give her leg a single rub, before...
... he thinks better of it in that derpy way of cats, like he was BETRAYED by the wet. A paw moving up to brush the side of his face that got wet.
"Foras obviously missed you too-!" Leina calls as she sticks her head out from the nearby restroom, bearing a towel.
<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.
"L-Leina! It's good--" Chris manages to stammer out as she's pulled inside, looking all the more like what the cat dragged in as her jacket drips onto Sayla's foyer. Her flyaway hair sticks to her cheeks and neck, but it would be hard to see the woman with a bigger smile than she has right now. She attempts to kneel and reach out to pet him, but a dismissive flick of that fluffy tail says exactly what he thinks of her current suitability for that privilege.
"Sorry, Foras, the landing pad is far from the house for a reason, Mister..."
After wringing out her wet mop of a braid, Chris carefully doffs her jacket and bends to remove her boots, making sure each is hung properly, it on the coatrack and they on the boot drier. The loose tank doesn't hide that she's covered in scuffs, recent scratches, and some older scars, but at least her jacket kept half of her dry.
"Thanks girlie," she beams as she takes the towel, drying her face first, then dabbing her jeans. "Sorry I took so long. I came as fast as I could... What did you need? Did the coffee machine break again? Did something happen to Sayla? Something happened to her didn't it I knew it what can I do?" It all comes out gatling-fire, and she steps forward to hold Leina's shoulders, earnest as the night is rainy.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Sayla smiles, putting the journal to one side. "You're a godsend, pollito. It semlls delicious." Buer, detecting the the option for pets on her terms, forcefully headbutts Sayla's hand, and she sighs. "Apparently I can't dig in *quite* yet."
She laughs. "I am going to get that full story out of you soon, just so I can smile knowingly." And then the perimeter alert goes off and- Leina is on the ball quicker and-
The distance between the foyer and the lounge room is enough to impact hearing, but when she hears the rumbling of talking, Sayla stands up and lifts Buer with her, to walk to the foyer. For all she's giving the impression of calm, she is rushing. Buer leaps out of Sayla's arms and stands a comfortable distance from the sopping wet, but she lets out a familiar 'mrow' at the redhead.
"I mean, it did. But things are okay now." She takes the focus off Leina. "Chris. It's been too damn long." Sayla's smile is large and earnest before she too walks up to her to give her a hug. A long one, rain be damned. She might just... catch Leina in that too. A subtle reminder.
"Come on in, we were just going to eat. We can discuss everything else once you're warming up." She doesn't really want to drive the conversation there yet, but... Chris has a right to know that- "Oh gods, I didn't check in, did I? I'm so sorry."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Sayla only gets a coy smile right now because while she may drag all facets out of the story from her... it might take SOME doing to get every last part of it...
... back at the door though, "You know he'll change his mind the moment you dry off. You have hands after all!"
And then Leina stands there with a smile, which becomes one of confusion at first, then realization as Chris gatling fires off those questions.
"I-" Oh God how does she explain!? There's an awkward laugh, she's in this state where she's still working on processing it all, "It's- It's been... a month. But-!"
That's when Sayla rounds the corner, and answers, and Leina nods quickly, smiling. "Yeah, things finally worked themselves out." She confirms, before willingly getting drawn into the hug, her smile becomes subdued, "Sorry if I worried you, Chris." She murmurs, "I was just, a mess at the time."
As the hug finally breaks away, Leina's smile broadens, "I made an omelet, you'll love it."
On the way though, she decides to cover for Sayla and explain herself, "So uh, Sayla was on a relief project for the Foundation when... uhhhh, let's just say the whole PLANT she was on kind of - poofed? Is that the word for it? Just... some supernatural thing."
Leina rubs the back of her head, looking chagrined, "I was maybe a little freaked about it. ... More than a little. You caught me trying to hold down the fort until it came back, which was just after you called."
Once they're back in the living room, she yanks a comforter off a chair and offers it up to Chris to warm up, before holding up the tray for her to take a slice of the omelet.
<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.
The knot tightening itself between her shoulderblades unwinds itself the moment she hears that voice call out.
"...Seyla." --Less a response than an unconscious utterance. Concerned, confused, but relieved, Chris swivels her head back and forth as not one but two headstrong women gracefully postpone question time. There's no winning on this front, but if they're both in buoyant spirits...she knows everything else will be okay. Chris hugs them both, a little tightly, and lets go.
"Sayla... I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried! A mess of a month, huh? How do you two get into more trouble than I do...? Dinner? Thank you, I'll try the omelet but I just-..." Chris's stomach groans in protest before she can finish the thought. "...I last ate at that Shakshouka stand near Rabat. Please feed me."
Bundled up and fed, Chris tries to process the fundamentals of this story. Better to start with the simple things.
"Leina, this is amazing..." Chris goes for another bite or three. "But girlie, you didn't have to wait until I call you to ask for help! XAIRO and MAIRO will be fine back there now that the fires stopped."
Chris savors the omelet, chewing on it while chewing on the bizarre story...
"Supernatural, huh...I could use a drink."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"For Sayla? It's a learned skill." Leina notes, sticking out her tongue Sayla's way.
"For me? ... I'm just chronically unlucky I suppose."
A small giggle as Chris tells her it's amazing, the warmth of her smile, but...
"And if the coffee machine truly was on the fritz again I would have!" Leina tells her, "But instead it was me skipping school to run a charity foundation for a month! Do you think I'd call you up to torture you with helping me plan a fancy end of year Gala?"
Chris would know, Leina hates fancy parties, and never ever made an appearance at one with Sayla. In part because Sayla wanted to keep her out of the public eye.
Leina sighs dramatically, sprawling over the couch, and putting a hand over her forehead like she was falling upon something from the Victorian era back in the Middle Ages...
"There's no chance I'd do that to you Chris! God, what you must have suffered dating Sayla! Mingling with soulless politicians and Aristocrats endlessly thanking you for your service - then tut tutting you once they thought you were out of hearing range."
Sayla's already off to fix Chris that drink...
Then peeking out from behind her hand, she sits back up, "And just what kind of trouble were you getting up to in Morocco, other than you know, stuffing your face?" She asks with a sense of curiosity - she'd been NEAR Morocco but...
... well Dakar is still a good ways away at least.
<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.
Chris chuckles at the thought. "Chronically unlucky... Leina, you're telling me you've never chased trouble down with a stick? With your brother the way he is? Sure..."
Her bemusement rapidly turns to a pained grimace as Leina lands shot after shot... While she didn't mind the EFF ceremonial outfits back in the day, Sayla's donor network demanded a higher level of grace.
"...I'm pretty sure even just one of the dresses Sayla had tailored to me cost more than the Oberge when it was new..." Chris let her eyes wander the ceiling, adding "Though, watching the side of Seyla's mouth twitch as we walked away...it almost made it worth it!"
"Okay. You're right. You win, Girlie, I...I would rather fight an industrial fire in a beam coating plant than play the 'Good Soldier' in front of those 'ristos again." The next is a touch more quiet. "Still, I'd do it if you asked, you know."
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
It's not long before Sayla comes back, Bourbon Bouveladier in hand. She still remembers. "You two realize that I can still hear you, right?" She places the drink on a coaster next to Chris, before settling down again where she was seated before.
"And this one is *absolutely* still chasing trouble. Just mostly in trying to direct her classmates affairs of the heart." Sayla shakes her head. "Not that I'm any better." She's been sticking her own head into trouble. "And you, Christina MacKenzie, haven't told us what you've been up to, so until proven otherwise I have to assume you're just as bad as we are."
She sighs, and Buer jumps onto the couch between them. She now has to make the choice as to who to bother for lazy attention. Such a hard life for a cat.
"I just got caught up in a kaiju incident. They happen, and quietly I'm glad I was there. It's been a while since I'd done ground level relief. I helped some people." She pauses. "Gods, am I glad to be back, though. There were people on this side I definitely struggled without."
Looking around the house, it seems much more lived in since Chris' last visit- and indeed, there's evidence of multiple new people living here.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"Yep!" Leina calls out, Sayla's way.
Chris' question causes Leina, to laugh until Sayla chimes in, "I would hardly consider playing matchmaker chasing down trouble." Leina eyes Sayla, before turning back to Chris, "If you want to call my brother trouble I guess then - guilty." She even raises an arm, "Most of the time though it was him chasing down trouble with a pipe, and me chasing him down with Elle to chew him out and get him to come home."
The grin becomes more subdued, as Chris admits just that, "Yeah, exactly. It's fine, I handled it. Spent the night rubbing their noses in it."
It was not fine! But she did handle it.
Her eyes do wander sideways, "Even if, you know, Dr. Hell decided to use that night to debut his latest scheme. God half surprised I didn't get a dozen hit pieces ran on me for daring to point a gun at the Earth Federation's newest darling."
Leina looks at Sayla, and smiles her way affectionately as she finishes that part of the story, "Granted to all of us on the outside, we didn't have any idea what had happened. If I'd known it was that, I'd have breathed a lot easier I think."
A beat.
"It's good to have you back." She says again, even if it's obvious, "We all missed you."
<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.
"Of course we know--Thank you, Sayla--that you can hear us, when else do we poke fun at you?" Her eyes widen slightly at the admission following it, though. "Oh, Sayla... At least Leina knows when to hold'em and when to fold'em..."
She offers her hand, now much more dry, to the cat, as she distinctly averts her gaze from Sayla as she's full-named.
"I..." A ~convenient pause~ to sip her bourbon. "I'm as innocent as Leina's matchmaking! I've simply been doing some volunteer aid work... building houses, water treatment lines, power plant renovations, nothing too hazardous." The earthquakes, impact sites, chemical plant leaks, those are hardly worth mention, obviously. But that's par for the course in the Mass household.
"Leina... Sayla... Kaiju magic and diplomatic crises?" She chuckles under her breath, and then full-shoulder laughs, sinking deeper into the couch. "You two... I'm glad you're both okay. If you weren't in the middle of things, I'd start to get worried about the world!" She follows Leina's gaze towards Sayla. "It's not the same without you."
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"It depends whose matches you're making," Sayla responds dryly, taking a sip of her drink. She also sneaks a look to Chris. "You two assume I'm playing poker, but I'm going for an Open Misere."
Buer deigns to sniff Chris' hand, then offer her her head to pet. Chris is one of the few she so readily offers this gift.
"...I think you did the best you could- and there are lots of people with memories longer than ten years in the right places." And PR did their jobs. After a moment Sayla looks a little sad. "I wish I could have found a way to contact you. We could only really talk face to face."
Chris mentions what she's up to and smirks. "Ah. No spontaneous changes to plan, I take it?" She sips her drink while giving Chris a look.
"...I missed you too. Both of you," Sayla finally admits. "It's rough enough for one of us to drop off the radar, but to be cut off so long... It's awful."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"And when have I ever made a bad match?" Leina asks her, proud and petulant on that subject matter.
"Sure do." Leina winks at Chris, "Learned from the best. ... Not a bad poker player either, just about got all of Sayla's tells down."
Leina looks over at Sayla and mouths 'You raise your walls higher when you've got a great hand.' She teases, even if it means it might work against her in the future.
"She switched games after my latest winning streak." She confides to Chris.
'Innocent as Leina's matchmaking.' Leina eyes Chris with those skepticles on her face, as she discusses all of her aid work, her work on frastructure.
"Chriiiisss it sounds like you're hiding something. You'd tell us if you met someone right?" The look she gives her is a little insistent, even moreso her tone, "Right?"
Leina smiles warmly at Sayla, deciding not to focus on the subject of Wilhelm Von Hell anymore, as she listens to her, "Missed you too... and yeah it was but... hey, it all worked out in the end didn't it?"
To this day, she has always validated her decision to save Akane, to help the people in Tsutsujidai.
"For all the bad, so much good happened from you being there. You should feel proud of yourself."
Her smile is just so warm, "We can make up for lost time. You came back to us, that's what's important, Sayla."
<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.
"Misere--Sayla, only you play your heart like it's Hearts[n]... Leina, please tell me she hasn't run anyone else off in the last year. Lie to me if you have to."
She shakes her head, resigned, at the young woman's crowing. "I used to think I was a fair hand at cards until I started playing for keeps with you and your friends, Leina... I have to focus so hard on dousing my thoughts that my face shows my hand anyway. At least Sayla gives you a challenge! You can't fault her for wanting to win now and again."
"Met som--Leina! No, gosh, I'd tell you, but you'd know anyway--I'd also tell you if I saw sheep in the sky! No, I didn't meet anyone except a wooden Center Beam outside Ouzoud..." She trails off, frustrated that she bit the bait so easily. It's been a decade and she still can't win against this girl. "...I'm fine, I'm fine, just sore," she admits, before throwing someone else under the Ashtabus, "Sayla said she was on the ground, too!" A longer sip of bourbon.
All this talk of the vanished PLANT and Kaiju will take time to catch up on, as she watches Sayla closely. "We're strong together... But separated? I know there's nothing that can stop you." Confident, but only a half-truth. Cortisol still ran through her veins--the only reason her back wasn't aching, really--even seeing her here, in arms' reach.
[OOC] Christina MacKenzie says, "blu-ray n to normal, whoop" BBSYS: Post 700, 'KTS QoL Adjustment 2-16' has been published to Announcements by Escudo Shard. <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"It's less bad matches and more wanting to see the results as soon as possible." Another sip as she waits for Leina's response. Until the train of minor dunks come from both Chris and Leina, and she sticks her tongue out in response. Some of Leina's habits have rubbed off on her.
"Oh is *this* how we're doing this, are we?" Sayla sighs. "I did have a bit of a fling while I was in there... But I'm not sure how it'll go from here." She slips back in her chair.
"Chris, I swear... Please tell me you were wearing a helmet?" She shakes her head. "Honestly say what you will, at least dealing with donors carries less risk of physical injury." She reaches over to get some of the Tapas. "We'll get a room made up, you're staying the night."
It isn't a request.
She's hesitant to respond... but she nods. "...Yeah. That's right. But it's nice to have you visit." She looks up to Leina. "I'll always do all I can. Always."
There is a loud insistent meow at Leina's feet. "Also you should probably sit so your cat can get comfortable."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina rolls her eyes at what Sayla says, "It's less wanting to see the results as soon as possible and more knowing that the things getting in the way of it happening are usually VERY stupid."
Not everyone had Sayla Mass raising them. Most of the time it things like gender roles and expectations and shame getting in the way. Leina then returns fire with sticking her own tongue back out at Sayla, very maturely.
"Nope! Honestly I'd have been happier if she had, it would mean she was looking harder." Leina does smile though, "Buttt-" Leina gestures as Sayla explains she had a fling.
Chris though when she mentions the wooden beam gets an aghast tease, "Chris! Stop giving yourself casual head trauma! That's not a healthy basis for a relationship."
Leina's glance is intense until Chris says she's just sore. That maneuver to throw Sayla under the bus though, causes Leina to just give an exasperated noise, "What am I going to do with the both of you?"
One might imagine her hands on both of her hips if she weren't currently SPRAWLED like a Victorian Maiden.
There's a smile Sayla's way before, "Right right, Foras..." Leina sits herself up straight, and just makes a kissing noise as she taps her lap.
Foras takes the invitation with a quick leap, and Leina starts stroking his head as he curls up on her lap, "I swear you can be so fussy sometimes. Oh no I'm making you jump a little higher and at an odd angle! How dare I! Yes how dare I."
<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.
"She keeps herself far too busy to look, by design I'm sure--Oh? Oh? Saayyllaa, that's exciting! And..." Chris cants her head to the side with a sympathetic smile. "If you don't know what's next, it means you're not playing a [nil game[... You rarely give anyone that much of a chance. They must have really made an impression!"
"I was, of course I was wearing one!" She wasn't. "Donors are never straightforward...Even I know they keep all the wrong kinds of secrets. At least I know what to expect from a field injury; I'm acquainted with this skilled doctor, you see..." She turns her head to the draumaturge still composing her scene, adding "Are you sure? You might not have met me if I hadn't made a mess of myself in '85... But, maybe I still would have wound up here anyway."
Even if she could have refused being voluntold, by Sayla of all people, after the last two months... even the hangarbound nomad needed some time under Polaris. Polaris, bourbon, an omelet.
"Thank you... Are you sure you still have space? It looks like there's a lot more personal affects around here..."
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
That gets a laugh out of Sayla. "Most of the time, yes. And sometimes we aren't talking about Koji." Chris' teasing actually gets a blush. "Look, we had the rare opportunity to meet without anyone having preconceptions. I don't get that very often. I've enjoyed her company and she seems... fun. I guess we'll see. If it doesn't go any further, it was still worth it."
Sayla smirks. "Oh yes, I remember. Seeing a sweet redhead coming out of ER and trying to get a taxi and offering a ride." She sighs. "Though we were both kind of messy then, huh?"
The smirk gets bigger. "Presumably, pollito, do a big soliloquoy about it. That's the setup, right?" She looks back to Chris. "There's always room her for you. Worst case that couch folds out." Still, Sayla smiles. She's looking... happy. "This place has ten bedrooms, and four are empty. Still, I think I'm going to have to go for that extension soon... We've got Renais, Knight... maybe another..." She casts an eye to Leina. Tghe last occupants are hers to announce.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"I know right?" Leina tells Chris with a sidelong glance and a grin, as the two team up and... earn a blush, "Aww, Sayla." It becomes an actually fond smile, "Well, if she can make you talk like that, she's earned my vote for giving her a shot."
The grin returns as she looks back Chris' way, "I! For one am looking forward to meeting this Cowboy." As Leina then confides, "Gotta throw that in, she's a bounty hunter. Exciting huh? Not her usual 'type'"
Leina glares at Chris as she just bald faced lies to the room of powerful Newtypes, "Chriiiiiisssss..." She warns, not one to let lies slide, before, "You dummy, so am I!! And because of that I know that there's not too much field treatment that can be done for a darned blunt force trauma head injury!"
Her irritation deflates though at Sayla's story, and Leina laughs, at that, "Gawd I can just picture it now. Adorable."
Again that grin as she looks Sayla's way, "Don't tempt me. I'd do it you know. Right here. And probably commit the CRIME of making Foras get up off my lap in the process."
Her agreement then shifts to Sayla in this matter, "Chris, you're always welcome and for as long as you like. Even if our couch was taken I'd give you my darned bed before I'd turn you away and you know it!"
Sayla lists them off and then Leina has this, big smile, "Judau moved in recently, and Roux - his partner came with him." She winks at Chris, "You three will probably have a lot to talk about I imagine. They're a lot of fun, even if Judau is STILL the big pain he always was."
Affectionate exasperation might best describe the mood, "Also so long as the rest of the household agrees..." Leina eyes Sayla, "... a certain girl that Sayla brought lent a hand to in Tsutsujidai might be moving in too."
Leina leans back, just, smiling, "Wow, it's been quite a year when it comes to filling this place up." She sounds as if she couldn't be happier about that.
<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.
Chris beams a genuine smile, hearing Sayla open up about her affaire de coeur. Knowing how often even she hears her friend's name strewn on the murmurs of the world--even knowing, however innocently and abstractly, of the woman with two names--it's immediately apparent to her how significant it must be to leave that behind, even for one night. For all the mutual anxiety, if not for the kaiju boundary cutting off cell service, it would have been far harder for The Sayla Mass to be Just Sayla.
"I'm so relieved to hear that... I was sure you'd end up like me!" Christina, for Pete's sake, you're almost the same age... "A cowboy, huh? Maybe she rides? Actually, I haven't been on a thoroughbred in a while..." Chris's imagination, she and Leina, giving the tenative couple a wide enough trail lead to keep an eye on them--
Until she hears the second part of that statement.
"A bounty hunter?" Without meaning to, her eyes harden, glancing between Sayla--a high profile figure involved in many sovereign and political conflicts--and Leina--an outspoken freedom fighter whose associations Chris elected to not know. But... ("If Sayla trusts her...") Without a word murmured, the sharpness retreats back into relief--and right into embarrassment. Sheesh, it is rapid tides in this noggin where her family is concerned.
"Sw-sweet? Leinaa, please, don't picture that, they barely let me out of the ER without a fight...Thank goodness I met Sayla when I did, I don't know if I'll ever have better luck! I can tolerate some bumps and bruises... But I'll wear it more, okay?"
Always room. Yes, there really is no better luck than this. "Girlie, please, you know I wouldn't take your bed! Especially if your brother is moving in, you'll need all the relaxation space you can find, Leina. Judau, back in the Earth sphere, huh? And Roux, I...remember some of the stories, she sounds like someone you'd get along with."
"Yes... This place really does have a unique, loving air... All over the world, I've found rooms like this, laughter and food and family, but..." She couldn't quite finish the sentence out loud, but... well, as noted, she's in a room full of powerful newtypes. ("But there's no place like this one, for me.")