[center][i][b]Rtron thought we needed more of these.[/b][/i][/center]

Serena made her way back to the hangar, smiling as she saw Tanya once again working on the vehicles. [color=hotpink]”Do you ever take a break when you’re on this ship?[/color] She called out, quickly making her way over to where her small pile of boxes was slowly shrinking. She snagged the two she had gotten for Tanya, making her way carefully over to the other mechanic. 

[color=hotpink]”Can you come out from under there? I have something I want to give you.[/color]


[color=cyan]”I’d rather we not die due to mechanical failure on a mission. Plus, if I am busy, I don’t have time to think.”[/color] Tanya replied, exhaling slowly through her nose, wondering if she’d ever be able to get to work without being interrupted like every day the past week. She pulled herself out from under the shuttle’s thrusters and made eye contact with Serena. [color=cyan]”I’d been hearing rumours you bought everybody something like some kind of fucked up manic Santa Claus. I’d elected to pretend they weren’t real. You didn’t have to get me anything.”[/color] she said, wiping her hands on the coveralls. 

[color=hotpink]”Yeah. People have been telling me that a lot. They haven’t seemed to realize I ignore suggestions like those.”[/color] Serena smiled, electing to ignore Tanya’s minor annoyance. [color=hotpink]”As soon as I’m done I’ll help you finish up the necessary repairs. Big Bertha and Nimble Nancy  aren’t great. But they’re in better shape than [i]The Borealis[/i] was. I won’t even talk beyond bitching to myself. You’ll actually get some peace and…’[/color] She glanced over at Shithead. [color=hotpink]...no talking. Peace and no talking. Anyway!”[/color]

Serena hefted up the two gifts, trying not to look too eager. [color=hotpink]”Here you go. Try not to go too crazy. We’ve made it a few weeks without any inter-crew wars.”[/color]

As Tanya took them, Serena shifted back a few steps, suddenly not having anything to do but wait. [color=hotpink]”If you don’t like them and would prefer that I stop bothering you and being annoying I can just take it back and by some extra parts for the vehicles.”[/color] She muttered, fidgeting as she looked over at ‘Big Bertha’, a light blush across her cheeks as she pretended to examine the Yolac.
 
Tanya smiled, accepting the parcel. [color=cyan]”You know, you apologize way too much. Stop doubting yourself. It’s unnatural. I’m sure they’ll be just lovely.”[/color] she said, taking care when unwrapping the first of the package. Her smile turned into a grin. [color=cyan]”Well, would you look at that. New paints, and such lovely colours too. This must have cost you more than a few credits, you shouldn’t have! I promise I’ll put it to good use.”[/color], she said, setting down the parcel and hesitating on the second. [color=cyan]”Should I be worried about this one?”[/color]

[color=hotpink]”I only doubt myself when I want to avoid screwing things up, like now, and when I’m in unfamiliar situations! Like last night!”[/color] Serena replied, crossing her arms  defensively despite the fact she knew what Tanya said was the truth. She smiled in delight at the fact that Tanya was enjoying her first gift, her anxiety washing away at the other woman’s happiness. [color=hotpink]”Credit’s shmedits. We’ll get more later.”[/color] The airy reply came with a dismissive wave of the hand. She merely smiled more mysteriously at Tanya’s hesitation. [color=hotpink]”You’ll be fine. It won’t bite you.”[/color]

Offering a final skeptical look, Tanya ripped open the wrapping, let it carelessly fluttery to the floor in ragged heaps. What was left in her hand was a book, and one of the now quite uncommon ones still printed on paper. It was a book entirely dedicated to practical jokes. Tanya smirked. [color=cyan]”Either you’re telling me I need help or you want to make everyone here miserable. Haven’t decided which yet, but thank you all the same.”[/color] She said, about to open the pages but noticing she was leaving black smudges along the cover and the pages from her hands, and decided to set it down for now. [color=cyan]”So you went and bought for everyone?”[/color] she asked, blinking. 

Serena nodded. [color=hotpink]”Yeah. I figured everyone needed something to smile about since last mission was such a shitstorm, and since not all of us could go out and get hammered, I just bought everyone gifts based on what I’d seen that they liked or needed. You, Vellios, and Tonka were the easiest. I’m kinda broke, but it’s been worth it. Some of these guys haven’t gotten a gift in forever, judging from their reactions.”[/color] Serena shrugged. [color=hotpink]”I like making people happy. Gifts are a good way to do that.”[/color]

[color=cyan]”You could always save it for the holidays. It’s really sweet of you, but you really don’t have to spend what little you have on people you barely know.”[/color] Tanya said, leaning on an elbow against the thruster. [color=cyan]”You’re not used to missions going that bad, are you?”[/color] she asked. 

Serena gave a humorless chuckle. [color=hotpink]”Depends on what you mean. If you mean ‘that has never happened to you before’, I’d tell you that that has happened to me nine times before. That exact scenario. Everything went to shit and someone died in front of me, died in my arms,  or went missing and the only thing stopping me from confirming their death is that I haven’t seen their body. Well. That was for eight times. The ninth time is why Vellios got so pissy at Haze and is when I came much closer to death than I did last mission. Anyways.”[/color]  Serena’s voice was only slightly shaky, surprising herself. Maybe she didn’t have any tears left. Maybe she just needed Tanya to understand that she wasn’t as weak as she had been acting the past few days.

[color=hotpink]If you mean, ‘you’re not used to crewmates dying or going missing with little chances of survival,’ then you’re right. I’m not used to it and I never will be. People tell you it gets easier. That you ‘get used to it’. They’re liars. It never gets any easier to see a friend die. You never get used to it. Barat, Janet, Silus, Hannah, An, Spencer, Omar, Soban.”[/color] She listed off the names without hesitation, eyes glancing briefly away from Tanya’s own as she remembered brief flashes of their deaths. Back under control in the same second, she met the other mechanic’s eyes again and continued.  

[color=hotpink]“I can remember every detail of their faces, their peculiarities, and how they died perfectly. It’s etched into my memory even more firmly than Drono’s own memories.”[/color] Serena smiled sadly at Tanya. [color=hotpink]“I know you think I gave these people I barely know gifts for no other reason than I’m naive, childish, and silly. You’re partially right, I am naive and I am childish. But I didn’t just buy gifts on a whim. I gave everyone these gifts because I know all too well how it feels when everything has gone to shit and you have absolutely no idea what happened to someone on your crew. I know that the galaxy seems like a much shittier place.”[/color] Serena gave a small shrug. 

[color=hotpink]“Some people take everything going to shit in stride. Some don’t. Regardless of how you dealt with it, everyone could benefit from something happy happening after it. I’m naive, somewhat childish, and gullible Tanya. But there is usually a reason for my actions. This time I wanted to remind everyone that even on this crew of strangers there’s someone who cares enough about them to get them a gift, even if it's a small one, and that it will get better after this.”[/color]

Tanya shook her head slowly, plucking a bottle of whiskey she had sitting on a nearby workbench and taking a long chug before offering it over. [color=cyan]”So why keep on with this life, the mercenary one I mean? We don’t have the resources, the training, or manpower of the military and we’re deliberately taking jobs that could get us all killed if it goes tits up. Losses happen, and I’ve made peace for that. I’m not accusing your sense of community or desire to help make everyone’s day a little brighter, and I do appreciate your thoughtfulness, truly I do. We just barely have any credits to our name, and we might run into a jam where we can’t afford to pay anyone out because of repair or fuel costs, someone’s medical expenses, whatever. 

“I don’t even want to know how much you spent to get everyone everything, but what if we ran into a situation where we didn’t have the funds to make a jump to another system with proper medical care if Vellios or whoever is shot up and we can’t do anything here? We were lucky we were only a few jumps from Virmire to get to Elysium, but next time we might not be so lucky.”[/color] she replied softly, biting her lip apprehensively. [color=cyan]”Look, I know it’s an unlikely scenario, but it’s one we can’t ignore. We also didn’t get paid what we were expecting from the last one because it fucked up, hard. There might be periods of time where we aren’t getting contracts. I’m just saying, we can’t live outside of our means, even if it is really kind hearted. You of anyone should know that the galaxy isn’t keen on the whole mercy thing.”[/color]

Serena politely shook her head, smiling at Tanya. [color=hotpink]”Originally? I had to keep on the move. Alliance was very pissed about that VI I ran off with. After a few years passed and it became clear that I wasn’t being fervently hunted, I had already ran into Vellios. It’s both all I’ve known for going on ten years now, and he needs me. As for the money, I checked Vellios’ bank account before I went on my little spree. He always stores some and he has enough to cover any unforeseen situations. I mitigated the cost by doing a few favors for some shop keepers, but don’t tell Vellios that.[/color] Serena sighed. [color=hotpink]”He’ll get pissy and want Dex to do in depth background checks on them.[/color]

She idly glanced over her shoulder at Barat’s blueprint, tsking at it. [color=hotpink]”But point taken. No more massive spending sprees. I’ll just keep it simple and celebrate my upcoming victory over you in chess with working on Barat more.”[/color] She turned back, grinning at the other woman. [color=hotpink]”I hope you know the trouble you’ve got yourself in. He’s going to be a bitch to get working.[/color]

[color=cyan]”You, you don’t need to worry about me telling him anything. Things aren’t exactly the most sociable between us as it is.”[/color] Tanya shrugged, following Serena’s gaze to the blueprint. [color=cyan]”I know I’m a bloody killjoy, but there’s such thing as too much of a good thing, yeah? And don’t worry about me. I’ll get your bloody robokrogan up and running. Never been a machine I wasn’t able to top. There’s a reason that I’m never taking a break, as  you observed. Keeps me on top of things.”[/color]

Serena chuckled grimly. [color=hotpink]”Have you checked out his blueprints? He’s going to require a much heavier set armor than almost all of the mech types out there. Which means he’s going to need a much stronger frame and motors powering him. Problem is, we don’t know how much stronger. So we’re going to be getting a lot of ripped off arms or crumpled frames. That’s not even going into how we’re going to make redundant systems work.”[/color] Serena grinned, her eye seeming to shine with excitement. 

Tanya waved a dismissive hand, like it wasn’t a big deal. [color=cyan]”After working on the Jalopy for this long, I’m pretty sure nothing is impossible. And when it doubt, ask a quarian. They can take literal garbage and make it last 50 more years, so they probably have some ideas behind those breathing masks of theirs. That won’t be a problem, I’m sure.”[/color] she said.

[color=hotpink]”But before we get too far into it, what the [i]hell[/i] happened last night? All I remember is bits and pieces of our twenty questions, and maybe me dancing embarrassingly? It's a bit of a blur. Then Dex mentioned someone named Firuzeh, and when I tried to get details from her she just cackled like a maniac. Did I do anything stupid?”[/color]

An impish grin crossed Tanya’s lips. [color=cyan]”Oh, nothing big… except for that quickie you had with that turian in the bar, you vomiting up blood, and stripping down to your skivvies and screaming about how hot it was in that place before the bouncers threw us all out. In short, pretty average night.”[/color]

[color=hotpink]”Oh Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…”[/color] Serena muttered, facepalming as she felt herself begin to blush in embarrassment. [color=hotpink][i]How could I have done that? [b]Why[/b] did I do that?[/i][/color] [color=hotpink][i]That’s it,[/i][/color] she decided. [color=hotpink][i]I’m never drinking again.  At least Tanya hasn’t shared the video with the rest of the crew yet...wait.[/i][/color] Serena’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Tanya would have recorded her..’antics’ and then gleefully showed them to Serena rather than spelling it out. Not to mention, she would have most likely already sent it to the crew, and Vellios hadn’t made a single snide remark. [color=hotpink]”Where’s the video recordings? There’s no way you would’ve missed out on recording such an [i]average[/i] night.”[/color]

Tanya wiggled her eyebrows. [color=cyan]”Show you, so soon? No, I’m going to hold onto those, for posterity’s sake. You’ll see them again, whenever I calculate the embarassment to time-heals-all ratio is at it’s peak.”[/color] she replied coyly, enjoying milking the hell out of the situation.

Serena’s suspicions faltered, doubt practically radiating off of her. [color=hotpink]”You [i]wouldn’t.[/i]”[/color] Her voice was only slightly uncertain. [color=hotpink]”You’ve barely even mocked me about the volus incident.[/color]” She paused, eyes widening in alarm and she blushed a bright red in embarrassment. [color=hotpink]”Oh god please tell me Firuzeh wasn’t the turian and she’s not going to be knocking on the ship door anytime soon.”[/color]


[color=cyan]”Who the hell is Frieza? You got more fucked up that I thought. We’re going to have to go through this again soon, yeah?”[/color] Tanya teased, easing herself back down into her work space. [color=cyan]”Thank you for the thoughtful gifts. I’ll be sure to share one in turn when the time is right.”[/color] she called out, chuckling, face out of sight. 

[color=hotpink]”Oh no. We’re not going through that again anytime soon! I [i]do not[/i] need to get anymore blackout drunk than I already have. Twice was good enough for life!”[/color] Serena  shook her head vehemently, heading towards her pile of boxes. [color=hotpink]”I’ll be back after I drop off more gifts. Those videos better not show up or I am replacing all of Shithead’s music with only the shittiest new techno crap I can find! That’s a promise!”[/color] She called, carrying off a box.