(Untitled)

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen eases the door open before ducking swiftly through and slamming it shut. "Oh, thank God," she says to no one in particular. "I was starting to think I wouldn't find it here

Comments

[rogueseraph]

"Not that it's any of my business, but I have to ask." The voice has a rough, metallic quality, and belongs to an avian humanoid in blue armor sitting over at the next table. "Bad fight or good party?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Bad fight, and bad terrain," Ellen says before looking up. To her credit, she barely even blinks at the sight of the unfamiliar being. It's been a really long time since she asked everyone unusual-looking if they were a mutant- and he's not green, so he's not one of the saucer aliens. So it's good. "And we're outnumbered. For the moment, anyway."

[rogueseraph]

"As long as you've got friends, numbers don't matter so much." He glances downward. "By the way," he says, pointing with a talon, "you got tagged."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Star Paladin Cross makes up for an awful lot," Ellen agrees. As she looks down, she winces. "Ugh. I'm just going to wash that out and bandage it up. I don't think it did enough damage to waste a whole stimpak on- I'dkve noticed it before. Thank you."

[rogueseraph]

"People are always bothering me about my injuries, so it's nice to be the instigator every now and again."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Your- something specific, or- just in general?" Ellen asks curiously. "I've been on my own for a while now, so there hasn't really been anybody to comment much except my dog, and he's- well, not here."

[rogueseraph]

"Hey, dogs are sincere. Or... some breeds are," the avian replies. "To your question though, both, though recently it's been specific. That's what you get when you take your helmet off in the middle of an unfinished fight."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Wiiiiince on Ellen's part. "Oh, I can imagine. Ouch. Was the helmet damaged or did you just need better vision or hearing? I mean, if you don't mind my asking."

[rogueseraph]

"An old friend showed up during a lull in the shooting and I wanted to talk to her face to face. It wasn't until the very end when I took a rocket to the cowl."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Ah, that makes sense," Ellen says, nodding. "That must be one heck of a suit you've got if it held up under rocket fire, though. I mean, you're still here and all, so..."

[rogueseraph]

"The armor tilted odds in my favor, but there was a doctor on scene when I exploded." He grins again. "But enough about why I have a metal plate in my head, my name's Garrus Vakarian."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Fair enough," says Ellen. "My name's Ellen Park. It's good to meet you, um... which one of those names do I use, anyway?"

She's sort of used to calling people Mr. Whatever until they tell her otherwise, but that's humans, and you never really know around here.

[rogueseraph]

"Garrus works," he answers. "I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who uses the time-bubble-thing to get my bearings and make plans." He indicates Ellen's map. "I always feel out of place plotting out an operation when the people around me are having polite conversation and light snacks."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh, it comes in very handy," Ellen says. "There's been quite a few times that falling back to this place and taking the extra time to plan stuff's turned out to be critical. I guess it's a little weird, but you get used to it after a while- or at least I did. There wasn't always the option of going somewhere else to get critical work done where I grew up, so you got used to doing your work wherever you could, even if it was in the middle of the diner or wherever."

[rogueseraph]

"It's not all bad having an operations center that serves hot lunch, I guess."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Beats trying to find enough fuel to cook what you killed in the field," Ellen says. "Have you been coming here long?"