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RP: YSS Eucharis [Post Mission 25] Recovery on Yamatai (YE 38)

Eucharis Hangar

Taharial smiled at the other couple in front of them, it was hard to gauge what the angel-like girl was thinking, her eyes were sparkling and the smile never left her face. She was extremely nervous about what was going on and how she will deal with it, she had never been this involved in another persons life, she had never truly been on a romantic date and she was about to have a double date with three people from her crew.

She sighed when she saw that they were riding in "Could you give us the co-ordinance then please so we can meet you, it wouldn't be that good of a double with only one couple." Her voice had the same flirty tones as it always had as she turned to her red skinned partner "We could walk or get a vehicle to this place, I am okay either way." She giggled softly and got closer to Tsuguka and whispers "We could always take a detour on the way to the festival darling."

She smiled excitedly then remembered something as she leaned back into Tsuguka's ear "The data on that device is from a long time ago in my eyes, but if you like any of it, tell me and I will happily make a private come back." She smiles sweetly and hoped the Neko understood that it was something special that Taharial had wanted to show her.
 
YSS Eucharis - Bridge


The ship was down, landed, systems powered down, safe at last. Yamashiro Natsumi was alone in the ships command center, finishing a final few details in making sure the dock yard dogs would take good care of the Eucharis and patch her up while everyone was on leave. The snowy haired neko had some ideas for what she wanted to do for the crew. After this mission they all needed a break, but more than that, they needed to celebrate. They had done the impossible, faced impossible odds and come out on top when everything had been stacked up against them. So, as she finished her duties, Natsumi also began planning her little shindig. Booking a location, hiring catering and music and all the needed stuff.

As she worked at this though, something drew her attention away, another ship descending to land in the bay beside theirs, another Plumeria class gunship, one with pink wings. She gasped. There was only one gunship in the fleet with pink wings. The Sakura II, the ship her sister was stationed aboard! Natsumi quickly finished up what she had to work on and closed down her station. She needed to see her sister, it had been years and, for the longest time, she had thought her lost forever.



Spaceport

The winged dagger shape of the YSS Sakura II descended through the clouds, her landing legs unfolding from their storage compartments on the gunships underside as she was guided in to land in her assigned bay. The Sakura II, like her sister, Eucharis, was battered from her recent mission, recent battle scars dotted across her once pristine hull, some of which seemed to have been crudely patched with haphazard plates of metal welded onto the ships exterior. The boarding ramp hissed and lowered down from the cargo hold once Sakura II had touched down and a collection of shipyard engineers made their way up into the ship to begin initial repair and refit estimates.

Yamashiro Natsumi, walked up to the base of the ramp, her mass of snowy white hair ruffling in the soft wind as she stood there, watching as people started to go to and fro from the ship. A grin spread across her face as she spotted the one she was waiting for.

From the cargo hold walked an infantry neko, who, save for her jaw length ultramarine hair and fuchsia eyes could have been a spitting image for Natsumi.

"Sakura!" Natsumi called and started up the ramp at a quick jog as the other picked up her pace as well.

"Natsumi!" Sakura called back as the two met half way along the ramp's length and embraced.

"I missed you so much" Natsumi said as she held onto her sister. "Didn't think I was going to see you again"

"You know I wouldn't leave you on your own forever" Sakura replied with a broad grin.

"Wouldn't be the same" Natsumi said as they eventually parted and looked at each other for a long while. "You cut your hair" she commented.

"It's been like this for a while, sis" the infantry neko replied and stuck her tongue out. "I see you coordinated your uniform and hair" she added. "Looks like you're doing pretty good, Natsumi"

Natsumi blushed. "Yeah, doing alright" she replied a bit sheepishly and smiled. "We have a lot of catching up to do" she said. "Let me take you out for lunch"

"I'm game if your paying" Sakura replied with a smile. "Somewhere nice on that Taii's salery" she added with a little nudge to Natsumi's side. Then she slipped her arm around her sisters and they started off.
 
Central Uesureya, Yamatai
Eucharis' Hangar


Hanako stood there a moment with her Robin's Egg Blue hair bouncing in the sakura-infused breeze, contemplating a good answer to Tsuguka's question on being valiant, but she didn't come up with anything. What could she say? There was no answer that applied all the time. Situations had to be figured out as they come and sometimes it came down to a judgement call. So Hanako replied, "I still trust your judgement, Tsuguka." She gave Tsuguka a respectful nod, briefly pondering what Tsuguka was organizing.

She slowly followed Natsumi over the the Sakura II and was going to introduce herself to Natsumi's sister, but the two walked off so she went into the cargo bay.

(OOC: Hanako continues at YSS Sakura II Interlude 2 "The Return")
 
Eucharis Hangar

"I guess it's fate." Tsuguka just gave the pink-hued wing pylons of the Sakura II another glance, the ends of them still just visible jutting out of the hangar. Closing her eyes for a moment and gaining a subtle smirk, it had only just occurred to her that she had been to Kyoto before, but never left the fortress walls for that entire period of training. This really was a strange homecoming. "...Typical that our pilot is still the guide, even without a ship."

A hand brought up her PDA, so she could browse hotels, shopping hubs, and car dealerships in the locality. Two years worth of pay had gone mostly unused. Now seemed like a good a time as any to try out this 'civilian' thing...

"Okay. We can split up for a bit." A small fang-ish grin regarded the blonde cat-nepleslian and the wisteria nekovalkyrja officer now, as if apologizing for the sudden realization that she was metaphorically standing on their toes. Being unsure of what others would think of ones relationship was a concept that did ring true with the soldier. "I trust that you won't ditch us completely, Taii."

Half way through gazing at a chrome-bodied Ocelot hovercar that she was considering buying, Taharial's flirting whispers made Tsuguka pause in confusion, and again give thought to the strange memory device still clutched in her left palm. "A detour?..." Make a private come back? What was the angel talking about? Did she used to be in a band or something? Taharial didn't used to be an assassin or something, did she?... It was obviously private, and Tsuguka didn't want to ask in public...

"...Rial... We can't stay on the ship whilst they are taking it apart like this. Do you want to get a hotel room together for a while?" Both hands grasped the elysian's shoulders at arms length, alrough the crimson girl's eyes darted sidelong into the floor whilst she felt increasingly more awkward about the whole situation. Stealth blushing abilities coming in useful once more. "We can... ah... go and buy civilian clothes and stuff, until Umeshu locates the optimum blossom viewing destination. I don't really have any. A car or a bike would give us a chance to recuperate, too..."

Thinking about bikes only gave Tsuguka the weird day-dream of how well having Taharial on the back of a standard bicycle would work. One pushes the pedals, the other provides lift... Probably not exactly what the girl had in mind, but the notion felt adorable to the red neko.

Out of nowhere, the restrained smile grew just a little more.

A little mental freedom was nice, now and again.
 
Central Uesureya, Yamatai
Eucharis' Hangar


Victory telepathically sent out a note to the crew of the Eucharis: "I am ordering supplies for the next mission. If anyone has any requests, please let me know. I have ordered 2 sets of the new exercise uniform for each of you as well as pair of jika-tabi and a camouflage rain poncho with liner." The green-haired Nekovalkyrja then hopped in an old LUT parked along the side of the hangar and started it up. "Anyone need a ride to clothing sales?" she asked.
 
Eucharis Hangar

Taharial sighed and looked around cuddled Tsuguka "You are such an innocent girl about these things, it is so adorable" she giggled and leaned against her partner and sighed "I think a bike will be good but maybe a what do you call it, a tandem bike may be best for us two now darling." She smiled and played with the Neko's hair "Lets go to the shops and all that, I would like to get an implant so we can chat to each other using telepathy" she blushed and snuggled close to the girl and then murred as she felt her brain go fuzzy.

She looked at Victory and got her communicator out to see if she her mother wanted to visit her and noticed Victory's message "No thanks for the lift we will take ourselves, but I need to get dye it is a weird colour name if they don't have it, I will grab it some other time, I just want to make sure I have some, it is God's blood red if I am allowed to ask for it as a request." She sighed and felt weird after saying that she needed that dye "Well um We should be going now, we wanted to spend some time together and we need to get a bike, thank you though for the offer."

She let go of the Red Neko and smiled as she looked at the communicator again to see if her mother had said anything and hoped to get a message, she practically jumped happily up and down at the message. But she soon stopped after at another message after that and her skin turned bright red and she looked at Tsuguka and gulped then looked down trying to think of a way to work out what to do, she looked slightly worried and had no idea what to do after that.

She then held her partner's hand "Lets get going, I want to see this festival but spend some time with you first."
 
Central Uesureya, Yamatai
Eucharis' Hangar


Victory took a moment to look up the word God in a dictionary, which didn't help her become any less confused. She then checked the Star Army's list of equipment and supplies. A moment later, she told Tahariel, with a shrug,"it's definitely not a Star Army item. Have a good time at the festival." She drove away in the little truck.
 
Central Uesureya, Yamatai
Eucharis' Hangar


It had taken her a bit of time and hassle to catch up with the Eucharis. Tony had to jump one transport to another all the way to the Capital. She was a bit pissed when she walked up the cargo ramp and into her "quarters," the cargo container bunk room. Tossing her bag onto her bunk she pulled her rifle case out from under the bed and started checking it out, making sure nothing had happened to her baby. Everything was in its place and so was her magazines for it. Closing the box she Spoke up to Charisma asking where Hanako or Nats were. "I would like to talk to either of them please."

OOC: @Gunsight1 @Wes
 
Eucharis Hangar

"...Hair dye? We should check some civilian outlets." Tsuguka just smirked, wondering what color the girl's real hair actually was. "As for telepathy, there should be a communicator app. Sorry, I just forget you are a non-factory model sometimes..."

She could see that her partner was flustered about something, but still wasn't really sure what to make of it. Being a factory model, Tsuguka didn't have parents to worry about, either.

The grimace of a rather familiar Nepleslian crossing their paths took them out of the conversation for a minute, but they just walked right on past anyway, leaving Tsuguka to go back to messing with her PDA. Rather than buying a vehicle outright, probably made more sense to just rent one. Money was sent electronically to a local establishment offering a grey zephyr aircar, not a bike. A car had a place to put their shopping in the back.

"Okay. Let's go to the dealer to pick this thing up." A hand met the side of Taharial's face with a smile, then showed her the building they had to find. "We can both fly there, at least. After that, plenty of time to scout out some places to buy other things."

Logical as always. A small wave was made towards Victory's retreating back, then a rather more formal bow towards Umeshu and Howard, before their eyes set on the city again, eager to begin re-acclimatizing themselves with what exactly it was they were defending all this time.
 
Eucharis Hangar

"So da ne..." Umeshu spoke softly at Tsuguka's comment about the pilot being the guide even off the ship. It was quite fitting, wasn't it. She certainly knew her way around Kyoto... though ironically it also was only when the Neko failed in her trials at Samurai House was the greater metropolis of opportunities and wonder opened to her that brought her to where she was today. The purple-skinned operator couldn't help but feel a sort of zen koan coming on about it all, as a few more relaxing blossoms danced in the wind.

She soon felt the squeeze of Jax's hand in reminder of the thrilling ride awaiting them into the city, and gave a polite nod to the unlikely, but no less sweet, fellow couple before her. There was no shame about a woman and a woman, after all -- many of her neko sisters enjoyed each other's company behind the closed doors of the barracks frequently. "Ja, Tsuguka-hei... I've already got a few locations for viewing picked out for us. One of them is my favorite spot, where the flickering lanterns seem to dance in the treetops and upon the river itself. I'll transmit the coordinates to you two when we've secured a suitable hotel room..." the way this last part came out made it sound more like a mission of romance, but this was intentional, seeing as the red and black neko would likely be set at ease by such a framing of things.

Umeshu then returned the bow, along with a dainty wave to Tahariel and Tsuguka, "Please ride safely. Jaa ne..." This was followed by a sidelong glance at Jax-san, with a smile that seemed quite eager accompanied by another strong squeeze of his hand.

<"So, honeymoon suite?">
questioned his girlfriend playfully asthey made their way over to the airbike that was awaiting them. Blessed with the much deeper pockets of a Taii's salary to contemplate such things for their stay here, considering what they had been through, a pampering wasn't something to feel all too guilty about.
 
Eucharis Hangar/Parking Lot

Jax felt his smile flicker just slightly. All of his life, he'd been taught that the man paid for everything. No exception. It still made him feel a little bit like a loser.

But, he reminded himself, he was dating one of his XO's. There was no doubt that she had more money, and could simply order him to stand down. They'd already cleared the air about his finances during their stay aboard the lighthouse. She didn't care, he repeated in his mind. That pulled him out of his momentary guilt. He wouldn't let his own insecurities ruin what was supposed to be a fun time.

<"Anywhere with a bed and some privacy."> he blurted, his mind fixated on the tone of her voice and the implications that came with the honeymoon suite. He went deep red and flattened his ears to the side in embarrassment. Still though, he couldn't help but grin with pride at his influence over her. For some reason, he doubted that she'd had this dirty little side of her before they met. <"Honey, I love when you talk like that.">

He straddled the bike as they came upon it, held out a hand to help her on, and handed back his duffel. He'd taken a few girlfriends on their first rides over the years, and he knew well enough that for some it could be intimidating.

"If you put that behind you, it'll work as a good backrest should you need it." informed Jax as he hit a few buttons, turned a key, and felt the Origin rumble to life below. With expert hands, he adjusted the ride settings for the type of ride and current conditions. The bike rose just slightly. "And, you may hold on to me as tightly as desired."

Once he was sure that Umeshu was properly seated and secured, he floated the bike gracefully out of the complex. Before them lay a narrow stretch of road that cut directly through the plains. The tall grasses on either side resembled waves in an ocean with the breeze. Warm sunlight beamed down on them, and made the distant metropolis gleam like a diamond.

"Next stop, Kyoto!" He chuckled and gradually accelerated, taking his passenger into account. He didn't go at the speeds he normally would have if it were just him, but he was going fast enough to make things exciting. The clear conditions made for a cloud-smooth ride.
 
Taharial smiled and looked over to Tsuguka "Well the hair dye is actually for my wings, not for my hair but I can use a different colour for it but I grown attached to the red, it is the closest colour to my hair I can find. Also I would love to get the telepathy stuff because then I can hear what you want to tell me" She grinned and chuckled "My flying is a bit different to yours, would you like to fly like a bird sweetie?" She offered Tsuguka her hand and giggled "I can hold you and fly."

Tsuguka just slowly palmed her beret under the epaulette of her left shoulder, then hopped directly into the Elysian's arms. Surprisingly light, alrough that was just because she was using her gravity organ to mess with her weight, rather than flying directly.

"Think you can handle this, Rial?" A small, sharp grin crossed her angular face. "What colour are your wings really?..." The communicator was still bundled in her left hand, showing the location of the rental place.

Taharial smiled at her partners eagerness and giggled as she holds Tsuguka tightly to her body and started to flap her wings, with a hard push of th ground Taharial was airborne with her partner as she giggled again going as high as she deemed safe for them to go.

"Well I seem to be handling it really well as you are so light Sweetie" she smiled as she span them around a few times as a little stunt "Hehe I forgot how good it was to fly around everywhere, oh and like all Elysian's wings are suppose to be white, when my mother comes to see me you can see that." She giggled and looked at her partner's communicator "Well it won't take that long to get to that shop."

Taharial started descending happily while holding her partner close so nothing bad would happen "It is right there, so you have the booking, when we get down we can get it and go" Taharial's descent was slow but made the perfect view last a long time.

Tsuguka felt strange not to be flying under her own power, suddenly gaining some insight into what it must have felt like for Rodia. Still, the smaller and softer form of Taharial's body was what she would have chosen any day of the week. It was almost like surfing, with the waves of air ebbing and flowing around them.

"Your mother?" The red neko gave her a quizzical look, then immediately settled her gaze back downward. She supposed it made her the strange one, to find it strange. The sprawling views of pristine cityscape around them made it all feel a little dreamlike. "...Do you have to give her a progress report?... Sorry, I don't really understand. I think I might have seen it in some drama show, once."

Wazu was the only other particularly 'natural' person on the crew, and he wasn't exactly the kind of person to talk about that sort of thing... The concept of being born and already having some genetic cousin looming over you... Tsuguka just found that kind of judgement scary, if she was perfectly honest.

Taharial giggled and landed on the hard ground gracefully, it didn't feel like they landed until she started walking "Well sort of similar to that, we are catching up and gossiping, it is like a progress report but more close, like if we started with to chat about missions we did without the otheronebeing there." She blushed darkly and stopped "Um would you like to step off the Taharial or shall I carry you to the shop like a newlywed?"

Taharial kissed the cheek of her partner and waited for her to choose what she wanted to do as she was happy to feel so close to the Neko and giggled as she could feel the heartbeat of her partner "You could come with me to meet her in a few days, as I told her about you and she hopes to meet you soon, but I didn't tell her we were dating yet."

Hopping out of her partner's hands was a brisk and fluid motion. Having a couple where both members could fly was pretty handy. Even through it was the furthest that they had been from the rest of the crew in months, through, Tsuguka still looked left and right at the passing pedestrians before grasping her girlfriend to complete a more impassioned kiss. Reattaching her hat came second for once, so it was obviously playing on her mind.

"Aren't you worried that she's going to be really angry about... Well, you know?..." Backing away only slightly, the shaded soldier made sure to keep both of Taharial's hands in her own whilst they shared this space together. "Not just the girl thing. The nekovalkyrja thing."

Taharial smiled at the kiss with her girlfriend and while they were kissing she took Tsuguka's hat and put it on the Neko's head for her "I could see you wanted your hat on baby" she smiled and kissed Tsuguka's nose and then held her softly.

When Taharial felt her partner pull away a bit she thought she said something wrong but realised that it was just her partner's nerves "Well I wouldn't care, she said that she was okay with me being in the Star Army, this will be a surprise but I am sure that she will be happy with it when she sees how happy I am darling."

Taharial looked at the shop "Shall we head in and get our car now?" still holding her partner's hands she headed into the shop "If you are still worried later, I am sure I can help you out with your nerves" she winked and licked her lips at the Neko "I am interested with what sounds you make in private~."

The red neko did not feel prepared for this. Well, emotionally, she was fine, but technically, none of the relationship manuals she had dug up over the last couple of months seemed any good. Not good enough for Taharial.

Making a rare full smile with just a hint of nervousness, Tsuguka turned and guided her companion into the car showroom. There were a lot of random glossy sights to behold in there, but even the bored dealer at the reception desk seemed to realise her mind was on other things.

Some quick data and money exchanges later, and the keys were in her hands. Inside the car, Tsuguka had a quick browse around the console and back seats, then closed the door with a completely blank and stern look on her face again.

"Okay. Yeah. We can do this." Sounded like she was trying a little too hard to convince herself, although a distracted hand quickly made it up to one of Taharial's wings for comfort. "Just got to deal with the genetic predecessors. You can count on me."

A rare occasion. Tsuguka had literally no idea what she was doing. Looking gruff and manly tended to be her thing, through, so she just did that, and hoped it was what her girl wanted.

Taharial watched her girlfriend act randomly throughout the deal to get their car and sighed lightly, when they were alone in the car she made a little noise with the touch from her girlfriend and her face goes a bright red colour "T-That feels amazing Tsuguka."

Taharial turned to her girlfriend and sighs "Darling, just do what you feel is natural, like this" she turned to face her partner and put a hand on her partner's knee and stroked up her leg "There is a T.V built in here by the look of it if you want to check out what I gave you as a present."

Taharial could see Tsuguka wasn't used to this stuff and closed her eyes "I won't force you to do anything and when you want to do this stuff I will show you everything that you need to know about me and what you need to do." She blushed and looked away "I do those things to you now because your reaction is so adorable to it."

A new heat was filling Tsuguka's veins. Difficult to tell if Taharial was intentionally bringing this out of them, or... Well, that fey curved body, those lips... Didn't really matter if it was intentional or not.

The storage device, that's right... Tsuguka fumbled it back out of her pocket, then found the receiving port on the dash's entertainment system. As it loaded up, she was just pleased about the temporary distraction, giving her a small solemn chance to think of a more solid plan of action.

A small solemn chance that quickly vanished when the movie file began to play, impacting Tsuguka's senses with what can only be described as some intensely sultry daydream on overdrive. Taharial... Younger Taharial?... She was?... Why was there music? What was with the costume?... Did that little in the way of clothes still count as a costume?

No use fighting it now. Tsuguka's senses were frozen, struck by a bombardment of this new information, new implications. Good thing they were already in the car park, or the nekovalkyrja may have found a colour beyond red to blush.

"..." It was a noise, not a word. Difficult trying to speak. Her legs were coiled up onto the seat. "W-What is this? Rial, did you make this... for me?..."

Taharial gulped and was looking away from the video of her past where she had pink neon wings and nurse outfit while she danced and took more of the costume off on the video, when it was finished she let out a sigh "That was my past, I thought you deserved the right to know what I was."

Taharial looked at Tsuguka and had tears in her eyes "I guess I wanted you to see why I am like I am with all the flirting and all that, I learnt that through this, this was while I was at the Academy because I needed money quickly...." She looked away "I hope this doesn't ruin anything, I really care for you and don't want to see my past coming between us as I would rather be doing the things on that video for just you and no one else now."

Taharial looked into her girlfriend eye's and placed a hand on her leg "Well this is the old me, I am not like this anymore but I can do that for you."

After the video ended, Tsuguka just slowly placed her feet back into the foot well and listened to what the angelic girl had to say. Plenty of responses came to mind, but it was difficult to pick one that made sense from a logical standpoint... So she didn't.

Turning sideways and placing her body across that of Taharial's, she softly kissed the woman's face, then once again on the neck. Her waist felt so warm and weightless in her hands.

A pause, just for a moment to recollect. Laying across the car seat, Tsuguka had her back across Taharial's lap now, staring up into the ceiling.

"Back after that first Rixxikor operation, I disappeared, remember?" A voice as comforting as the red neko had ever made, slow and whispering, to make obvious she was also conferring some kind of secret. "Just straight up cut all my hair off in the mirror one day. I really crashed and burned under the stress... Nobody noticed, because, you know, volumetrics. But it's no wonder they ported me back to training."

"I'm not going to judge you. I could never judge you like that, Rial." A hand made it's way to her face, seeking to clear away the other woman's tears, whilst she made eye contact again. "You always make me feel happy in everything that you do... This... This civilian stuff, it... I'm not good at it, but... Knowing you have secrets too, it..."

"Thank you. It makes me feel more normal..." Grinning again, Tsuguka just rubbed her left hand along Taharial's back, seeking only to find that feeling of closeness that would make all the other petty details else seem redundant. "And now I have a side of you all to myself."

Taharial watched as Tsuguka kissed and her and didn't know what to do, she was surprised by the woman's reaction to the secret but as she listened to the girl her face turns a little sad "Well I remember that, at that point I sort of locked myself away from the rest of the crew and stayed in the Med Lab, I could of helped you now I hear that I feel bad that you went through that." She started playing with Tsuguka's hair and the other hand was placed on the woman's stomach as she listened to the girl's worries.

Taharial sighed and lightly poked her girlfriend's nose "Well I can't judge you either my sweet kitten" she giggled as she watches the girl in her lap "Well we can try the Civilian thing together." She giggled and checked the time "I think we should get going and buy what we need, I want to get us both a cute dress for this festival and some other things that I think you will love."

"The past is the past. I think we have both grown." There was a small moment of being unsure what to do with her hands, before Tsuguka fixed Taharial's collar again, attempting to mend the disarrangement she had only just caused. "Things turned out good. It's all okay, now that you are here with me."

Took a bit longer to rearrange her own clothes. Military garb really not designed for this flavour of inside-car-contortionism. Also, continually being distracted by the angel sitting next to her. Inside the car was damn hot, too. This planet needed a little air conditioning. Thoughts lurked on the feeling of those fingers against her navel. Thoughts of Taharial in a flowy black dress, spring festival lanterns above them.

"Yeah. Let's get going." The car started on mental command. Tsuguka backed out by touching the steering wheel, although it kept moving without her, suggesting her brain was doing most of the work. "I'm not going to request camouflage, but as long as it's not military, something comfortable would be nice..."

Taharial smiled as she waited in the passengers seat, she felt really hot as well, she looked over the buttons and put the air con on full blast as she sighed happily "That feels amazing now, you got me all hot and bothered." She giggled as she listens to Tsuguka "Well I was thinking we could get similar outfits, I was thinking ob a backless dress so my wings aren't a problem."

Taharial smiled as the car came to a stop at the shops and she took her girlfriend around the hair care shops till she found her wing dye "I am sorry that took a little longer than I thought." she smiled as she took Tsuguka to a clothing shop and blushed as she saw a cute black dress that was plain, it was long with a cut coming up to the thigh so it was easy for the girl to walk "This would look perfect on you sweetie, also." Taharial got Tsuguka to sit down by all the shoes and Taharial found a pair of flats and a pair of high heals that match the dress, she knelt down in front of her partner and helped change her shoes.

Taharial smiled and blushes still "try out both sets and see which one you like more, then go into the dressing room and try out the dress darling." Taharial had a dress for herself and some red high heels "I am going to try this at the same time."

"What happened to comfortable?" Tsuguka protested, although her companion had already disappeared by that point. The high heels were technically possible if she just floated, although the neko suspected that might be missing the point.

Uniform flattened and pressed beside her, the changing room felt claustrophobic considering the dress felt like she was wearing almost nothing. Well, compared to what she was used to. The bodysuit technically covered a person. That counted. This didn't.

Meeting Taharial outside again with the dress on, she just meekly pulled it downwards to hide her embarrassment, simultaneously observing just how effortlessly that her girlfriend had managed to pull her dress off.

"Well... You look pretty..." A smile. Other people walking around made Tsuguka feel awkward, through. "You... You sure this is a good idea, through?..."

The red neko had accepted the challenge and worn the heels. The flatter shoes made her look a bit too childish, even despite her toned arms... Maybe it was the braids?... This was all just way too new to her. She didn't know how the elysian did it so effortlessly.

Taharial blushed and noticed some things as she walked over to her girlfriend she sorted out the girl's dress first making it better fitting and then sighed and got the flats and kneeled down then swapped Tsuguka's shoes "Hey Sweetie, please don't do anything your not comfortable with, I can tell when your not liking it, that should be better for you and you look hot~."

Taharial gave Tsuguka a spin and giggled "I am use to thinks like this though baby, but you look so good in that outfit" she walked close to Tsuguka again and plays with the girl's hair "Have a look in the mirror baby."

Tsuguka tried crossing her arms, smiling, all sorts. Maybe it was just beyond her capacity to detect this sort of thing... And yet she did when looking at Taharial? It wasn't extreme dislike, it was more just a kind of a weird experience. Perhaps she just never regarded herself as being for that function, so it wasn't making visual sense.

The flat shoes were more comfortable, at least.

"Thank you." She smiled. It made her happy that it made Taharial happy, if nothing else. "You look stunning, by the way."

Tsuguka insisted that she paid for it. Pretty much nothing had been done with her 'civilian funds' even after her last break, so it seemed only right.

Taharial smiled at the girl as she watched Tsuguka looking in thee mirror "you look great in that and I am glad you think I look good, well now, lets pay for this."

She frowned when she heard Tsuguka insisting "Well darling, I haven't even touched my funds yet and I want to spoil you while we are here as I need to thank you for everything."

She waited till they both changed back and before Tsuguka could say anything she had taken both sets of clothes and went to the checkout and paid for it all "Hah I paid for it."

She smiled and went back to Tsuguka "Now lets get me an implant then lets go to a hotel sweetie, oh one more thing, I love you Tsuguka."

As they left the store they sorted out a few more things then went to find a hotel so that they can rest before the festival.
 
YSS Eucharis

"Both Shosho Hanako and Taii Yamashiro are off ship at the moment" replied Charisma. "The Shosho is visiting another ship right noe, but I can get Yamashiro for you" the MEGAMI went on, then opened a channel with the ships executive officer.

Natsumi's voice came over the comm, along with the background sound of the outdoors. "This is Yamashiro" she said. "Tony, is that you?" she asked, sounding like she was smiling.
 
Eucharis's Cargo bay's Cargo bunk-room... ((A mouthful also known as Tony's Cabin))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you Charisma," Tony said in a somewhat kind and generous voice, before it darkened and she addressed Natsumi, "Yes it is, I finally caught up to the ship... Thanks for telling me you guys where shipping out..." She got out without completely growling at the comm channel.

"I'm tired, sweaty, and frustrated."She continued, "Are you aboard the ship or did you take off like the rest of the crew for R&R?"
 
"I'm not on the ship right now" Natsumi replied over the comm channel. "My sisters ship is in and I went to meet with her. I'm coming to change out of my uniform though, if you need to talk about anything"

She wanted to change into her kimono, then she and Sakura were going to go to the festival.
 
Kyoto...

Jax could feel Umeshu's warm arms wrapped around him tightly, as the airbike cut through the grassy fields, the Neko's plum hair braids dangling in the pair's wake. A casual look back here and there would show the sheer delight and wonder in her features... even if he had given Nepleslian women rides before, there was just something magical about the way she reacted to every bump and curve that pressed her body closer to his, not entirely unlike a child experiencing a rollercoaster for the first time. The close contact and Jax's masculine pride were doing hell on his self control, but he persevered.

Their ride had seemed to go on forever, the only symbol of the passage of time in the comforting blur of the endless road the shining metropolis of Kyoto that loomed closer and closer. Spots of moisture glistened, leftovers of the frequent rainfalls here not too long ago. Every once inawhile the wisteria-skinned officer would point quietly at certain junctures to guide the thrill seeking pilot into the city proper, as sun-soaked farm fields and pastoral rice paddies along the eastern side of the majestic Ketsurui River soon gave way to the suburban edges of modern civilization.

The Riverside district she guided Jax towards, unlike the skyscrapers of the megacity that loomed large in the background, was more modest in the sizes of its buildings. However, what they lacked in height they made up with in sheer affluence. The Nepleslian from the streets was awed by the mansions, villas and sprawling estates that dotted the roadside, many having artistic patterns carved into their facades, along with burbling fountains adorned by sculptures. It was his turn to be awed. Jax had grown up in the 'burbs, sure, but never had he seen such intricacy. He silently gaped in wonder and amazement. Garden topiaries were manicured to perfection, amidst almost impossibly green lawns. Vehicles that put his aribike to shame parked in private driveways, along with the hints of pleasure craft drifting lazily down the waterway.

Not to be missed as they whizzed by the clean intersection was a sign that indicated the famous and sprawling Hoshiutsu Studios productions complex was not far away, along with an extremely chic restaurant called 'The Silver Pan' on the corner. Umeshu giggled a little bit as the well-to-do citizens sat at the outside seating eating their upper-crust meals of small portions and likely much higher price tags, before nudging things down another wider boulevard that led to the largest structure in the residential district.

<My god! How do they survive?!> asked Jax as he grimaced at such tiny, non-Nepleslian portions. He let out a short laugh and leaned back to rest his head against Umeshu's front.

A sign at the outer gate proclaimed the opulent, 87-story structure to be 'The Galactic Hotel', as more fountains greeted them, this time the sculptures at the center of the colorful waterspouts bearing a most lifelike resemblence to several former Empresses of the Yamatai Star Empire. It almost made them feel like intergalactic dignitaries for a moment instead of merely military tourists.

"Whoa..." Jax whispered aloud. For a moment, he'd wondered if maybe they'd arrived in the wrong place. It was clear that this place catered to the "other half" and not tourists. He thought he'd stayed in nice places before, back during the occasional family vacation. Now he clearly saw that he hadn't even scratched the surface of luxury.

He pulled up to the front to greet a group of elegantly-dressed valets, all waiting to take his vehicle. Jax knew for sure that his Origin was nowhere near the fanciest vehicle in this particular lot. He left the bike running and swung a leg off the side, picked up his duffel, and held out a hand to help his amor. He beamed at Umeshu like an excited child, but somewhere in those innocent, blue eyes was a predatory hunger like that of a big cat on the prowl. The "tension" within had only grown with the hours spent pressed up against her, feeling her warmth, her every curve as they rode. And now, the thought of finally having a moment alone was a gnawing ache in his chest.

Umeshu took the hand offered and finally came back down to her feet after the exhilarating ride was concluded. She definitely shared Jax's feelings of excitement to have finally arrived -- and likely a lot more behind the smile she wore -- though the Taii wasn't so caught up in the wonderment to not take a moment to make sure her hair braid was neatly back in place after the wind-whipped ride and her own travelbag was in her hand.

Giving a respectful nod to the valets as they took the motorcycle to be parked, the plum-colored Neko whispered quietly to her partner as she took the first steps towards the opulent lobby. "Ne, I've always seen this place from the outside... I never thought I would finally be about to enter it. It's usually a place fit for visiting diplomats and politicians..."

"Do we fit that description?" Jax quipped, looking at their rather nice, yet still recognizeable uniforms.

Umeshu brought a hand to her chin in thought, "Well, Jax-san... flying under the banner of a Ketsurui princess does tend to make one a bit famous... and lots of celebrities do frequent here as well, so I'd say... hai, we do." This was finished with a little grin delivered with a tilt of her head and a brief closing of her eyes.

For a split second, Jax seemed to be in another place as he stared off into the distance with a small smirk. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking save for a few flashes of telepathic thought that showed paparazzi, limousines, and multi-billion KS military R&D contracts and a private engineering firm.

However, he eventually snapped back to reality and took Umeshu's hand in his own.

"Let's get this vacation started!" he grinned and lead her to the front desk.

Umesu nodded with an affirmative sound, pulled along by the eager engineer. It was still quite the trek to the front desk proper, as they passed by a gigantic true to scale model of the entire Kyoto, that included everything from its skyscrapers and towers to the two Imperial Palaces in its heart. On the wall hung a wide painting of a bird's eye view of the city, along with a small sitting portrait of her highness, Empress Himiko.

The officer couldn't help but take a moment to stare. "So desu ne..? I guess this is one way to show you the city..."

"Whelp! Back to the ship. We came, we saw, we conquered." Jax chuckled. There was a slight hitch to the noise. After the hours-long ride, he seemed to be growing steadily more anxious as the minutes ticked by- like he was waiting for something.

"Oh our conquest's just beginning," replied the officer with a gentle squeeze of Jax's hand. "Every good general just needs to plan his tactics first, ne?" Umeshu then added in a covert whisper, "Preferrably from the suite I had reserved for us..."

As if on cue the pair had arrived at the spot to check in where a very well-dressed Minkan attendant greeted them with a respectful bow. "Welcome to the Galactic Hotel, Taii Hashimoto Umeshu of the Star Army and her guest, is it? Your private suite on the 80th floor is ready." She handed over a pair of encrypted keycards gracefully, while a bell hop nearby offered to take their luggage for them.

Jax nodded and absent mindedly handed over his bag, though he remained oddly quiet, and his face remained more red than Tugs'.

Umeshu stifled a giggle politely as she recieved the access cards, a healthy slight blush on her cheeks too, as she eschewed the imposing staircase in the center of the tower for now and instead opted for the glass paneled elevators. Entering into the lift, it afforded a wonderful scenic view of the riverside district in full bloom during its ascent. "I know it's not the best room, what with the Hanami festival going on," began the wisteria-skinned Neko with a little sigh, "But I wanted to make you feel rich, at least for a day or two."

"..." the nekojin stood at her side in the glass enclosure, starring straight ahead, and still not speaking. Finally, the doors shut, and the elevator began to rise, taking them out of view of random onlookers. That's when he shifted uncomfortably.

"Screw it." he sighed aloud. Without warning, he turned, wrapped his arms around his lover's waist, pulled her close, and right into what was possibly the most heated, passionate kiss they'd ever shared so far. For him, it was greedy, and entirely selfish- fueled by a need that had grown exponentially with the months spent on a starship with no release, with months of pent-up, work-related stress with no outlet.

<I spent the entire ride over here thinking up how I was gonna seduce you.> he stammered telepathically after pulling away, his heart still racing at a hundred miles an hour. <B-but I got so nervous once we actually arrived, I forgot what I was gonna say.>

There was a second of surprise at the suddenness of his action, but no resistance at all as her pleasingly plump body and full lips met his in a perfect, fluid motion that felt more like a practiced instinct than forced. He knew without words that the ex-samurai had been waiting just as long as he had been for their eventual tryst to release the pent up stress of their time abroad, regardless of where it happened away from prying eyes. And so when the moment finally had come here and now, Umeshu also selfishly drank of the passionate kiss like a fine vintage, only made sweeter from age.

As he then pulled away, Jax could feel her heart also beginning to beat as fast as his motorcycle ride from before. <"Your lips seem to be doing quite a lot of talking by themselves,"> replied Umeshu, a definite expression of longing behind her sage-green eyes for a bit more of said 'conversation'.

There was a small "ding" which signaled the end of their journey to the 80th floor. Jax's formerly nervous expression changed into a devilish one. They were but a few steps away from total and utter privacy. With that in mind, he didn't speak again until he'd dragged her down the hall and to their suite. Once he'd closed the door behind him, he stole another kiss and asked:

"How long we got until the festival?"

Umeshu felt the inexorable pull towards the room with a sense of anticipation she had not felt about anything in a very long time, and the fact she had someone to share these emotions with was a gift that had no price tag that could be placed upon it. Carefully avoiding their baggage near the door as it was shut behind them, the plum-haired officer promptly rested her back against it, feeling a sudden wave of relief wash over her, surfed as it was by another kiss from her lover pleasantly recieved.

She reached up to tenderly caress his ear with her dainty fingers, arms encircling his neck as the inevitible question was brought up. There wasn't much hesitation in her response, though, the look in her eyes telling him more than the Taii's words ever could. "Enough..."

Jax only purred in reply, and anxious hands rose up to tug at the latches of her shirt...
 
RPG-D RPGfix
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