Log 039 - B

Log 039 - B

-Author: Rinas Rylos
-Rank: C.E.O.
-Corporation: Rinas' Raiders (R.R.A.S.)
-Date: 115.06.30

Now, diary, I took a look at my old logs about my last trip to the Doc's place, and when I said that Vena leapt upon me as though she was shielding me from a grenade blast, I was (barely) exaggerating. This time around, however, I nearly fell to the ground, convinced I was under attack from some kind of experimental sonic weaponry that utilized two tiny girls in a combined shriek of my name to overpower me.  Once they'd managed to stun me with their vicious verbal blast, I would then be rendered immobile as the pair attached themselves to me like explosives to an objective point. But seriously, I've been close enough to the impact of plasma projectiles that weren't as loud as these two together.

"Aunt Rinas!" Vena and Arya cried in unison, somehow managing to stun, incapacitate, and then destroy my morale all in the span of about five seconds. It was funny and a little sad, in a way, given that I'd encountered mercenaries that I had considered less deadly than these little girls, and not all of them were fresh out of the academy, either. The two seemed to share similar tastes in fashion, given that the both of them were clad in pants and a hoodie, the only difference being that Vena's was purple, while her little sister's was a pale blue. I was also glad to see that Arya seemed to have let up on the whole "scared to death of me" thing from my other visit, as she was clamped just as tightly around my left leg as Vena was around my left. Thankfully I'd come prepared and loaded myself up with candy again, plying them off me with promises of enough glucose to send both of them into diabetic comas. It was only once they'd finally detached themselves from me that I managed to notice the Doc at the door, trying very hard not to laugh. "Good to see your skills being put to work," he snickered out. "You can go f-I mean, yeah, very funny," I replied, mindful of the pair underneath us.

Walking inside, I was greeted with a peculiar scent coming from their kitchen. Well, not that the scent itself was actually all the strange, but more the fact that lacking a kitchen meant I wasn't used to smell of anything cooking outside of food districts. I flicked a couple pieces of candy to the kids before turning back to the Doc, each of them letting out another shriek of delight before their dad told them to go help out their other dad in the kitchen. Apparently Arkei was cooking up some kind of Caldari specialty for us, since the both of them had the day off and they'd wanted to do something a little nice for my visit. My first response was to ask if that meant he'd just throw something frozen into a heating unit for ten minutes, but that weirdly peppery smell coming from the kitchen had me bite my tongue. Instead, I sat down with the Doc and explained how I'd finally managed to break through to Chime. I gave him the cliff notes of what I told her, and it was kinda neat seeing him give a little gasp when I told him she'd taken off her helmet. Apparently she'd -never- done that for him, much less more than say anything besides,"Yes, No, Maybe, and (most likely) I dunno." Apparently it had begun to wear even on his nerves a little, but by the time I was finished he had a huge-ass grin on his face, saying that he was glad he'd brought me on board to deal with her. I asked if he wasn't concerned about, y'know, her breaking down into tears, but he just waved me off, saying that had probably been the biggest emotional release she'd allowed herself since god knows when. I was about to ask what we should do next, when his significant other came walking through carrying what I then quantified to be a "shitload" of food, with two adorable little helpers carrying a platter each at his side, leaving the two of us to follow them into the dining room.

The main dish was an enormous dish of steaming pasta, which didn't really strike me as something traditionally Caldari until I learned that apparently it had been seasoned with a variety of spices that were preferred there. I briefly pondered if we could all consume so much food, until I remembered that A: Arkei was huge, and B: There were two children there. None of us being Amarrian, the closest we got to saying a prayer was me thanking the family for not only inviting me into their home, but also making a small feast just for us. Arkei replied that it was no trouble, before dishing out what seemed like enough food for a meal and a half compared to what I usually eat. It was...hm....Not bad, I think. The problem wasn't so much the food, so much as me living off crap has kinda wrecked my taste buds a little, or at least that's what I thought. The others certainly had no problem shoveling that stuff down, not that I blamed them; It wasn't like it tasted bad, y'know? More like there was too much flavoring to it. Fucking junk food.

Anyway, dinner was awesome. Arkei and I chatted about dealing with inconsistencies in accounts of gun range (he wondered if it was a problem, I told him that the only defects I'd found were with UI integration and the sights, and the latter was just my personal bitching) while Doc and the kids went over what they'd learned recently. Despite what I usually heard about kids that were home-schooled being nuts, the two seemed to be pretty smart for their age. Then again, I guess being a therapist lets you sidestep some of the potential mental pitfalls you might otherwise push you kids into, but...well, that's just guessing on my part.

After dinner, the kids and Doc took all the dishes back to throw whatever was left into containers and scrub the dishes, while Arkei and I sat out and chatted some more about the whole merc and weapon industry. According to him this whole blossoming mercenary industry has been great for their weapon and equipment plants, but the demand for raw materials has shot up even higher than it was back when they were just making regular old arms for armies and the private sector. Usually it was somewhat cylical, he said; More arms means more demand for materials. More demand means more banditry raids, which shoots up prices for weapons, which raises demand for materials, etc. It's like the circle of life, but instead of energy and vitamins and all that it's bullets and plasma and raw iron and shit. In our case, however, the cleanup bots sent out by whomever wins a contract means they get to buy back a lot of their product, rather than having to just send out for more materials. This resulted in a surprisingly little bump in material transport at first, but as more and more mercenaries appeared, it became apparent that recycling a bunch of old equipment wouldn't meet most of their needs anymore.

I'm not gonna lie, this was only just interesting enough to keep my attention long enough for the kids and the Doc to come back in. Not to offend, but as long as the weapons and equipment and vehicles keep coming, I can't really say I care too much about the logistics behind it all, y'know? At least, not without having an investment in it. Anyway, according to the Doc my visit had all Vena and Arya had asked him about for the longest time, but between attacking me, preparing dinner, cleaning up after dinner, and the sugar high wearing off, I was hardly surprised to see them both cuddling up next to the Doc as they tried to nap. Not gonna lie, seeing them both all sleepy and shit was adorbs to a crazy degree, and it was all I could do not to squeal as I watched them.  We chatted a bit more about mundane stuff as the clock ticked on. Nothing that was exactly groundbreaking, though Arkei did promise to help me learn how to cook a decent meal next time I came over.  The kids were flat-out asleep when I finally left, to the point where even the Doc rising up between the two of them didn't elicit anything besides some mumbling and shifting. I gave them both (Doc and Arkei, I mean) a quick hug before saying some quiet goodbyes and heading out.

As far as trips go, it was nothing spectacular but damn if it wasn't nice to get that familial feeling again. Even with my own family, it isn't something I felt since...well, before I became a merc, honestly. Anyway, it's late and I need to get ready for battles tomorrow. Night.

-End Log