"Sam likes this place more than I do." A glance around the room reveals that it's not much changed from the last time he was here. Or the time before that even. "She always finds these places I wouldn't normally be in and forces me to go to them. I only came here because I don't know anywhere else on the Freeport."
Stenn speaks almost absently, registering Eliza's words, but his mind focused on something else. "I heard that she gave you a kitten."
Snowball. Eliza knew she had forgotten something in her hastily departure from the Core. Now she finally realized what exactly it was - that living ball of fur that Samantha once gifted her. Her eyes widened from this sudden realization. Surely the kitten had to be ok, right? Someone must have visited her abandoned quarters on Durban by now and found the white furball!
"Ugh yes, Snowball, a cute white kitten... I think it's breed is from Bretonia."
With this being a topic the girl felt ashamed to dwell in deeper at the moment, she quickly steered the conversation away, before Stenn could even utter a word in response to her.
"So if this place isn't your thing, what kind of places do you usually like to visit, Nick? I think I might know more about your daughter than you. I know you for so long, and yet I know so little about you, Nick Stenn."
Eliza leaned deeper on the table, her azure eyes still dead locked on Stenn. This was going to be interesting.
Nick froze. Questions about him. He didn't even know the answers to that. Too many memory blocks and experiences that all blend into each other. "You know more about me than anyone else." A smooth deflection that would hopefully prevent further questions of that sort. "I'm not anything special. Just a soldier of fortune trying to make it out in the galaxy." There. That should be enough to prevent awkward unanswerable questions now.
All he had to do now is steer the conversation in a different direction than the past. "I haven't actually seen Sam in a while. I suppose you'd have a better idea of what she's up to at the moment?"
Disappointing. Eliza was eager to know more about Stenn. Outside of his daughter's tales, that often sounded closer to fantasy than reality, she knew very little about Stenn. Maybe he didn't trust her or maybe he didn't feel comfortable talking about it, those were the two options inside her head. The girl had no way to know for sure. Either way the conversation had already steered away from him to his daughter Samantha.
"I haven't seen Sam since Forlorn disbanded. But knowing that girl she's probably touring the luxury resorts across Sirius with all your money!"
A playful smirk appeared on the redhead's face as she paused for a brief moment. Stubborn as she was, there was no way to give up on the topic that easily.
"And come on, Nick, do you seriously devote all your time into work? You're going to burn out quite fast like that."
Naturally. Well, it couldn't be helped then. "I spend most of my time working, because that's what keeps me busy." Trying to find the words to continue without causing a mess, he selects his phrases slowly. "Ever since my childhood, I've been living from paycheck to paycheck. It's become a way of life to always be working, cause that means I'll be able to eat tomorrow." The silence starts to grow long as he examines the room around them.
A somewhat rundown place, the leather seats are cracked from use, the holovids are grainy and the music infused with static, but it reminds him of the first times he was working the tradelanes and fighting for money. A patron leaning on a nearby table had a tattoo that resembled that of the Liberty Rogues, but was unimpressive asides from the poorly concealed pistol on the small of his back. Stenn couldn't help but wonder if the man had a bounty on his head, and how much it would be worth if claimed alive, before shaking his head. Focus. Eliza first, bounty later.
Keep talking, that helps keep the focus from shifting. "Even now, I can't help but weigh up values. Vergil lets me connect to the neuralnet, and I can scan for bounties regardless of where I am. For example, the bartender over there has a small bounty on his head by some gang got that run out of here for peddling drugs. The bouncer is wanted in three systems for assault." Stenn smiles apologetically at Valdez. "Sorry. I'm not used to company. It's been awhile."
Stenn's devotion to his trade did make Eliza a bit jealous - even when he was here with her he still kept his mind on what he had always been doing. Thinking about this invoked more than jealousy in her, in fact she was envious of his focus on things, something she clearly lacked over the past two years.
In that awkward moment of silence she looked back in retrospect at where blindly chasing Loyola had gotten her. The Legion was gone, left in the dust bin, worse than that - it was allowed to become a temporary and ugly chimaera under the Core when Enma used it's decaying cadaver to further the blonde's own motives for power. Eliza's blind devotion to that golden haired girl made her what she was now - a goalless drifter with no real allegiance left. She sold her soul, metaphorically speaking, and now had to live with the void left on the inside. Love slowly getting pushed away by resentment for what Loyola really was as a person.
And this dinner now? Her attention turned to her company. As much as she tried to convince herself, Eliza was still not certain it was all genuine and not a misguided attempt at "revenge" for what Enma did to her. It did feel awkward and judging how things went this far it wasn't awkward just for her. The young girl forced a smile before replying to the conversation.
"That Vergil thing is really handy it seems? Having all that information at your disposal, how can you even focus? I imagine it takes strong mentality. If I had access to the whole neuralnet at all times I would probably be too distracted to function properly."
Eliza's smile turned more sincere. Nick's compliment was cheesy but she appreciated it nonetheless. He was obviously putting effort to make it work so Eliza saw no reason not to do the same. As she told herself at the entrance, they were here already, no point to quit now.
"I didn't know you're such a smooth talker, Nick."
The girl leaned further on the table before teasing Nick again with a playful tone.
"I'm sure you'll find the break from work every once in a while enjoyable... Speaking of enjoyable time, what are we going to eat? Don't know about you but I'm already feeling a bit peckish."
"Steak, medium rare, chips, soft egg, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese." Stenn says almost automatically. He turns to watch someone walking into the place, and shakes his head. "What do you want? I'm sure they can make just about anything. So many cultures mix on the Freeports."
He waves a waitron over, before turning to Eliza. "You miss the legion."
Finally someone not living on lettuce. Not having to deal with a vegan was quite a refreshing change, in fact it had been so long since Eliza last visited a restaurant like this that she didn't really know what to order. Come to think of it - it was quite a while she had visited a restaurant at all. She figured the meal Nick dictated almost mechanically sounded better than the rather tasteless food rations she was having. She survived Loyola's dietary choices, there was no way this could be in any way worse.
"Ugh, I guess I'll have what you're having!"
Eliza did miss the Legión Maltesa and it came as a shock to her that Stenn could sense it as well. There was no way that the Maltese pilot could deny she felt the most at home when serving under the Maltese banner. The Forlorn were a nice and friendly bunch but that sense of real belonging was just missing. She felt she was only there because she promised Nick to help out. A sad sigh followed.