A
Amaryllis
Once Akemi was finished chatting with Van Banning and her staff he immediately recalled the tallest and most initially striking woman on the beach who he simply had to meet regardless of whether he had any preparation or meaningful purpose for doing so. As he scanned the beach he was relieved to see she was still around and flew his way over to her, hovering low to the ground. Running would take too much time and hamper the smoothness of a first impression with someone so interesting. Of course, given his nature, he had a good chance of deliberately botching an introduction for fun. He at least wanted to start out nice though. That'd make it more satisfying and exciting for him if it suddenly, drastically turned bad.
"Hey there, I'm Koga Akemi," the Neko said with a subdued eagerness in his inherently soft voice, a sprightly sparkle in his already bright red eyes and a radiant smile on his full lips. "Just a little mewser looking to set up another branch of his business on this planet. I absolutely had to say hello because you look super cool and important. I love your tattoos and that cute robot." The much shorter synthetic looked her up and down again quickly and continued to flash his friendly grin in wholehearted approval. He thoroughly enjoyed having to crane his neck to meet the woman's eyes. He liked how her having her own umbrella made him feel as if she could easily be his own given the vast difference in height between them.
Already having dealt with a large procession of folks she did not want to deal with, Arccos stood in the sand with a finger and thumb depressing her eyelids. A few discarded little wooden bowls on the beach around her feet showed she'd already had a few to drink, but then without a real liver whatever benefit they had on her patience was long since lost. Removing her hand and looking down to what seemed at first to be a tiny man, she just frowned. Then with a little bit of time she stopped to try and remember the name while barefacedly ignoring the barrage of compliments, or explanations. A little expression of raw distaste dawning on her features.
"You've invested how much money on this planet?" She asked, her voice slightly droning.
"Not much yet," Akemi answered swiftly retaining his chipper tune despite Arccos' less than inviting demeanor. It only spurred him on to be upbeat and try to turn her figurative frown upside down. "I'll probably be putting in a lot though. I'm going to be helping with feeding lots of Uso's workers and the people in general. I'd like to do some real good while I make some credits at the same time." The larger than average yet totally dwarfed Neko lowered his gaze to the spacer's badge for a moment. "So what's your deal? Are you with Uso too?"
"Thieftaker General of the Usotzan Empire, and High Sheriff of Osman City." Arccos said with just a little acid in her voice. It was clear she didn't really want to be having this conversation, and it was probably only the mention of money invested into the planet that was keeping her somewhat civil. "I'm on my day off. If you have a problem to report, take it up with my deputies."
"Aw man, that sounds so cool," Akemi exclaimed, his voice raising but remaining at a pleasant volume as his tone did the most to show his enthusiasm. "Sorry if I'm bothering you, I'd just like to be pals with everyone I'm working with, especially someone with your looks. Do you mind me being a Neko? You sure look like a spacer."
Arccos' head slumped, with a tiny sight of frustration. Standing up straight again, she removed her hat and pulled her hair back, tucking the hat back on to keep her bangs out of her eyes. Squaring her jaw, she seemed to be keeping some sort of measured degree of hostility and civility. "I do mind. I tolerate Uso because she pays me, you I get nothing from enduring. So if you're truly sorry: Fuck off."
For a brief moment Akemi felt like the little playful kitten he always imagined himself as being squeezed into mewing. Still, he couldn't give up this easily. If nothing else he was always relentless. "Well hey, I can pay you. Friendship 's always a valuable commodity. I can pay you with credits too. I'm no stranger to paying for a woman's attention since my customers do it all the time. How about with my super secret allegiance? It's not like all us Neko are together in everything."
"Which is to say that you're not sorry for bothering me at all, hm?" Arccos stepped forward a little, looking down on Akemi like he was some small stain. The effect being generally less intimidating due to her being in her underwear. "I don't want your allegiance. And you're not going to leave, so just cut to the chase and tell me what you want."
"Gosh, everything doesn't have to be so serious and cutthroat," Akemi replied without a hint of diminished zest. "I want to not bother you but I want even more to keep talking to you. I just want to make a friend out of a highly attractive Spacer woman so we can have fun chatting and gloating about our synthetic master race natures electronically as we watch the primitive organics toil ceaselessly in the icky dirt under the scorching sun. Plus being completely honest I want to think I have the possibility of sleeping with you some day no matter how infinitesimal my chances might be and that fantasy is becoming increasingly appealing the more you express blatant disdain for my mere existence. That attitude really gets my gears going. I'd love to be Polysentience pals with you."
At Akemi's... Slightly too honest opinion, Arccos raised a hand and pulled a forefinger down with her thumb in a gesture that looked like it should make the popping of a knuckle shifting, yet didn't. She took one more step over to Akemi, positively towering over him now, and placed a hand on his shoulder. The warmth of her palm sliding up to his neck, pressing a thumb against his throat which shifted almost imperceptibly for a second as if she was weighing up whether to drive it through his throat... But it passed further up to toy with one of Akemi's ears instead.
"If you're the Akemi Koga I know of, you were singing peppy tunes from the flagship under the command of the Butcher of Halna." A little extra pressure to Akemi's ear as she pet the thing, like she was weighing up tearing it from his skull. "I could sell your fucking ears as trophies on the polysentience for a small fortune in commodities, why in the Maker's given shits should I really make an effort to get to know you?"
"Because you'd like a friend and I can be your little ear dispensing treasure tree? I can always grow them back." Akemi fluttered his free ear and kept on trying to melt a hole in the giant Spacer's heart with the warmth of his countenance. "How about because I only ever served Yamatai because I was born into it and created for service? I've got no special attachment to it and I don't hate anyone including the Mishhu. You don't really have to make an effort either. I don't mind putting in the majority of energy in a relationship."
Arccos tensed as much as one without any actual muscles to tense could. In as much as Akemi gave something like permission in his explanation, she shifted her hand and tensed her fist around Akemi's ear. This whole situation was... Confronting in a way. And it was her considering just why that prevented her from just going wild and following the impulse to rip the ear off just to see this Nekovalkyrja bleed.
"I'd like you to appreciate that right now I really want to hurt you." She admitted, quite clearly stating her position. "I want to tear off this ear, then break every bone in your body. I'd like to see you cry, and to hear you beg just so I can deny you any quarter. But you're not going to do that, are you?"
Akemi wished he could do something nice for the seemingly crumbling colossus, but all he could think of was to speak humbly from his non-existent nano-machine infused heart. "Well I'd really rather not. I'd much rather be your little buddy and try to comfort you and bring a little mirth to your life since that's what I think I'm best at. I'm just a silly artificial being that's only a few years old that likes goofing around and trying to make people happy in the process. Personally I think life is meaningless so I can't really hold any strong grudges against anyone but then again maybe you do too and a grudge gives you a sense of purpose and motivation."
"I don't honestly think I need comfort." Arccos said, almost conversationally. She shoved Akemi's head to the side, letting his ear go in the process. She removed a pack of slim cigars from where it was rolled into the sleeve of her blouse, sticking one in her teeth.
"I'm pretty sure I'll find someone I feel good about beating up, anyway. Then again for all I know your kind just likes pain... Seems in character for a bunch of soldier-slaves, anyway."
"Well I'm sure some do," Akemi admitted, "but I'd prefer to only have to experience it when I'm gaining something else in return. Besides, what makes you think you could beat me up anyway? I bet I'd best you in a quick draw contest any day pilgrim." The Neko carefully tugged his black NSP from his shorts slightly and then fiddled with his fingers as he hovered his hand over the weapon, trying to egg Arccos on into taking the same stance.
"I think I can best you in a fight because I've got enough durandium in me to take a few more shots than the average soul, and the Automata holding my umbrella shits nuclear warheads." Arccos indicated the Junker by her side, its mechanical eye shifting upwards as an industrial rivet gun fully capable of shooting anti-tank ordinance slid out from its chassis.
"Chances are anyone determined enough can kill me, but the entire city goes up in nuclear flame if I die." She pulled a match from her holster under her arm, not even going for the gun. All she did was strike the matchstick on her palm, and light up. "Also, you're not likely to fuck me when I'm dead. Which is something you want. And if I were really determined to beat you, I'd do it with a stick while you slept, or else while you're tied up in a situation involving... Shall we diplomatically say 'this and that'."
"Awww," Akemi cried weakly as he resumed a relaxed posture, his spirits actually dampened slightly. "So much for being a sheriff on a barren dust bowl world like in my shows. I was hoping you'd humor me for a little laugh. Then I could challenge you for a deputy's badge. At least you aren't menacing me anymore. Feel free to get all handsy again if you want though, especially if you liked my ear. I gotta say I like the way you think."
"I believe that battles are won in the mind. There's no reason to accept a stupid challenge for something I wouldn't give you, anyway..." Arccos somehow spoke and puffed her cigar in the same breath. "And menacing you is useless, if anything you were getting off on it."
"Well that's definitely a smart way to look at things." The Neko gave a slight shrug of his head and shoulders. "All I really wanted to do was get you to act a little tense for a moment while I tried to look clever and cute by striking a silly pose and raising my hand like a gun instead of going for my actual gun and shooting you in the navel like this." Akemi did as he described and emitted a little gravity pulse from the tip of his index finger to poke Arccos gently in the stomach. "Pew."
Arccos didn't seem to react to it. Or even really notice that she'd been touched. Her eyes went to Akemi's fingertip, then to his face as he made the pew noise without registering any contact from a gravity pulse.
"I'd have just shot you with the junker. You're really not going to go away, are you?"
"Yeah, I figured you might shoot me," Akemi admitted. "As long as enough of me was left at least you'd maybe feel a bit better. Like I said I'd really rather not. I mean we're getting along just fine right now aren't we?"
"No. Not really. I want you to fuck off, if I can't get away with just murdering you outright." Arccos indicated the junker as it chambered a round into its rivet gun. "As is, you represent a potential for huge tax income for the empire so I can't justify making you disappear to Uso. I will still shoot you if you actually get in my way during business hours. My ability to be civil to someone I want to see recycled has nothing to do with what I think about you."
Akemi wondered how often Freespacers had fucking on the mind. So much for the wacky random expressions he'd heard tell of so often. "Well what about us linking up? Then I could fuck off physically and you wouldn't have to see me while I'd still get to chat with you in mind space. What could I do to make myself tolerable for you? Would smoking one of your cigars help since Yamatai banned them?"
"A polysentience link is usually considered more intimate than meatspace interaction, in a lot of ways." Arccos snipped, keeping her cigar securely between her teeth. "Have I indicated here anything to you which makes you think I want to be more intimate with you? Let alone expend tobacco down your waste-of-windpipe?"
"Well you didn't beat me up and you're at least talking to me," Akemi quickly pointed out deciding to start with the basics even though he had a feeling Arccos would only end up treating him worse to prove such things meant nothing. "Besides, we're all working together on something. And you don't have to give me polysentience access. We could just share data wirelessly like people do with their pocket communicators."
"I can beat you up if it makes you go away." Arccos proved Akemi right, dragging her cigar down to the stub before spitting the last portion into the ocean. "And I don't have to work with you, at all. In fact, the best way to get me to actually do my job regarding your company is to just walk away right now."
Akemi was so glad he had a superhuman brain which allowed him superhuman patience. "If you hate us so much why do you bother working with Uso then? Couldn't you just kill her or go somewhere else?"
"Uso at least has the distinction of being sold at birth to someone other than Yamatai." Arccos sighed, clearly having to put effort into that sigh rather than release it as reflex. "And half the reason I stay is to try and twist her arm hard enough that she goes straight. The second she goes crooked I will kill her."
"Well I could always help you get her to go straight or assist in gathering supplies or something," Akemi offered finally feeling as if he had found an opening. "What about spending time with me so I go straight, whatever that means? You wouldn't want me terrorizing the populace would you? I mean just look at how I'm treating you now."
"You're not in charge of an entire planetary government. You don't warrant continued attention." Arccos gave her holstered revolver a pat. "And I will shoot you if you go crooked, anyway."
"I guess I better start scheming to carve out my own little empire then for all the people that refuse to live under her rule all for the sake of getting your attention. Sounds like the making of a good epic," Akemi mused. He was actually a tad serious since he sure thought it would be neat if he had his own domain on the planet he could claim as independent but allied with Uso's. "I mean we're all basically hardwired to be power hungry conquerors after all."
Arccos crossed her arms, tapping a finger against her own bicep. Raising her eyebrows and tilting her head. "Go on, then."
Akemi grinned and crossed his arms. "Well getting you on my side would probably help my nation building ambitions prosper an awful lot so maybe I'll stay right here. Oh, I know, what if you groomed me to be the next Neko tyrant if or when Uso bites the dust?"
"It's not my place to put people in power, just to stop people who go too far." Arccos shrugged. "I'm seriously considering just shooting you now, though."
"Awww. But why?" Akemi moaned. "Is it because I'm secretly growing on you?" The raven haired Neko waltzed on over to Arccos and threatened to trace little circles on her abdomen if not stopped.
"Because you're threatening all sorts of shit I could just murder you for." Arccos bowed her head and sighed, not actually making a move to stop Akemi touching her. Although from a lack of reactions it didn't seem like she registered contact. "Also because I'm realising that while you're too rich to not have a mind backup somewhere out there, it's not going to have been on this planet. And it's in everyone's best interests to lie about your death if I kill you here."
"Why's it gotta be all about shooting and murder and fucking this and that? It all sounds really symptomatic of something. You need a Spacer therapist or maybe just some tender love and care," Akemi cooed as he leaned his head against Arccos' front and began following the smooth contours of her firm stomach with a long, dainty index finger.
"Do you really need to ask that?" Arccos grumbled, slumping slightly, raising her arms to not actually have to consciously touch Akemi. "I'm pretty sure we fought wars over this that never really ended."
"Well I'm not keeping score and I never went to war with you guys. Besides, this sounds like a hangup over something beyond the conflicts, as important as they are to you." Akemi slowly began to purr and gradually grew louder and louder as he nuzzled Arccos' chiseled slabs of muscle. "Just close your eyes and think of me as a cute little baby waspling."
"I swear if you're going to ram your face in my chest like Sammy does I will vacate the contents of your skull." Arccos arched an arm over Akemi's head, putting a hand on her revolver, "A-and can you stop making that noise? It's disgusting!"
"Well I bet your chest is absolutely marvelous but I wouldn't dream of it as I'm extremely content with this work of art down here," Akemi murmured, his words oozing completely unrestrained signs of pleasure. This was so much better than what they were doing earlier. "The architects of this planet could really learn a thing or two from it. As for that sound it just happens all on its own when I really like someone," the impish Neko lied with a massive grin hidden by the side of his face being pressed flush against the lanky spacer goddess.
Akemi would hear a leathery 'schukk' noise as Arccos' gun was freed of its holster, and the little click as the safety was thumbed off. "Alright. That's enough, I am going to shoot you now."
"Okay! Okay! I promise I won't purr," Akemi cried, quickly stopping completely. "I just want to enjoy this a little longer. You're like a marble marvel. I love a good set of abs. Plus if you kill me now this would be a really nice way to go. You're absolutely my type. So tall and strong and slender and curvy all at the same time... If you're gonna shoot please make it the back of the head cuz the front is currently occupied."
Arccos shifted her arm, pressing the barrel of her revolver against the back of Akemi's head. The diminutive Neko would faintly hear the cheerful word 'Okay!' being drowned out by a resounding hammer blow to the back of his skull... A relatively small hammer blow, as the revolver failed to fire an already spent round.
"Ah shit..." Arccos grumbled, fiddling with the gun above Akemi's head to shower him with some spent casings. "You got lucky I had to shoot six guys today..."
"Of course I'm lucky," Akemi replied carelessly, his voice serene as if he'd ascended to a higher plane. "I lucked out when I spotted you after all. You being a Spacer makes this sooo good," he moaned loudly with wanton abandon while rubbing his head back and forth to tickle Arccos with his velveteen ears and luxuriously ample, silky soft hair. "I'd sure love to occupy your meatspace since the polysentience is too intimate for you."
"I don't actually have a sense of touch, so I can't really feel anything if you're doing that for my benefit." Arccos grumbled. "And I swear, you had better make this planet a damn fortune."
Above Akemi's head, Arccos closed the chambers on her revolver. The gun empty and with no other ammunition on her person, Arccos just twisted the gun around on her finger to hold it by the barrel and brought the gun down in a second hammer blow, with as much strength as she could muster to the top of the Neko's head.
Akemi ducked his head down for a moment before raising it a little. He was essentially hugging the Spacer's waist by this point. "Ow! I can just turn off my sense of pain though! If you can't feel this physically then I guess you're just enjoying this emotionally then! In that case!" The Neko turned to face Arccos completely and threw his slender arms around her and shook them back and forth a bit as his torso swayed. "You're beautiful and loved you big stuffy stick in the mud cutie."
"Alright, we're officially in bad touch territory at last..."
The leather of Arccos' holster gave another shukk as she slid her gun back in place. With no real resort to just hurting him, Arccos settled on outright maiming. A quick ping from her mindware adjusted the umbrella Junker's IFF settings to register Akemi as hostile, causing it to swivel slightly and fire a burning hot industrial rivet towards the Neko's thigh.
"Fuck that smarts!" Akemi roared as he turned off sensation from his thigh before even looking at what was embedded in it. His embrace continued to hold strong. "You are still loved you big bully!" His eyes quickly began to tear up. "The more you hurt me the more you're obviously hurting inside you giant emotional cripple! Scarred girls are a fetish of mine anyway. I couldn't resist saying hi to the one with the messed up mouth nearby."
"Oookay, now you're just creeping me out here."
Arccos dropped a little, pressing a knee against Akemi's chest to leverage as much strength as she could against him. While she was obviously cybernetically enhanced to a degree, from the amount of pressure it felt less like she had her body engineered for sheer strength. Thus forcing a few hard heaves before she could pry Akemi off herself, the whole ordeal forcing her to overbalance and collapse directly on top of him. Her hat falling down to the sand, causing snowy hair to tumble down, two hands either side of his head as she hunched over him. The light pressure of her weight on top of him, and the faint smell of searing flesh as the rivet went from red-hot to merely burning...
Akemi was awful unsure of what to do next even if his instincts gave him an obvious, very tempting answer. He really didn't want his brain blown to bits in retaliation but then he questioned how much more miss can't feel anything would care about being kissed compared to a hug. Another concern was that regardless of how she'd respond to his action in terms of violence he really didn't want to force something so intimate on her given how deliberately distant she was. Ultimately the pragmatic Neko decided he'd already come so far and if he was in for a penny he was in for a pound. Plus Arccos sure looked gorgeous, even her big nose was endearing up close. The perfection of her pure white hair and and pale skin was exceptionally persuasive.
Deciding to strike while the iron was hot Akemi quickly leaned up and pressed his lips against the Spacer's and tried to hold them there. Hopefully given her particular preferences she could fully appreciate the feminine fullness of his soft, ruby red pair. Dying this way would probably be pretty good too.
While Arccos didn't seem to be built for power or brawn, her reaction times on this sort of situation wasn't anything to be sniffed at. No sooner had their lips brushed against one another had Arccos sprung herself upright, and planted her foot squarely on Akemi's chest... It was actually far from pleasant to kiss Arccos: Her lips were entirely dry, and tasted exactly like the cheap cigarillo she'd been smoking not too long ago. Then again, she clutched her hand to her mouth and glared down at the weird neko. Chances were that if she could blush she would be doing just that. So maybe Akemi accomplished something.
"You taste like candy." She hissed between her teeth, wiping her mouth and bending forward.
Her fingers brushed over the downed Neko and ran over his thigh, apparently registering some sort of contact to navigate. She didn't want to take her eyes off him in general, in case he made another move. Far from feeling in any way intimate it felt more like a police patdown. Eventually her fingers gained purchase on the sizzling rivet embedded in him, and roughly pulled it out with a hard yank.
"...I'm cutting my day off short and going back on duty." She dropped the deformed chunk of metal beside Akemi's head, speaking with obvious false civility. "I'm going to recommend you take your grinder-feed leg over to the Royal Hospital, and see Hardbody M.D. about making sure it heals properly. Enjoy the rest of your day."
At that, she took her foot off Akemi, walking off down the beach and moving at speed, the Umbrella Junker following along in step.
Akemi didn't mind the taste or texture of the kiss as he was thoroughly satisfied with staying alive and the reaction he managed to get out of Arccos. The less than ideal sensations had their own charm and the subsequent foot on his chest had been extra stimulating. Judging by how intact he was despite how far he'd gotten and taking into account how the whole encounter had started he counted the affair another personal victory. His fantasy of doing the deed was firmly secured and friendship seemed well within reach. With Arccos gone the Neko decided to float off somewhere quiet for a bit. Maybe he'd take her advice.
"Hey there, I'm Koga Akemi," the Neko said with a subdued eagerness in his inherently soft voice, a sprightly sparkle in his already bright red eyes and a radiant smile on his full lips. "Just a little mewser looking to set up another branch of his business on this planet. I absolutely had to say hello because you look super cool and important. I love your tattoos and that cute robot." The much shorter synthetic looked her up and down again quickly and continued to flash his friendly grin in wholehearted approval. He thoroughly enjoyed having to crane his neck to meet the woman's eyes. He liked how her having her own umbrella made him feel as if she could easily be his own given the vast difference in height between them.
Already having dealt with a large procession of folks she did not want to deal with, Arccos stood in the sand with a finger and thumb depressing her eyelids. A few discarded little wooden bowls on the beach around her feet showed she'd already had a few to drink, but then without a real liver whatever benefit they had on her patience was long since lost. Removing her hand and looking down to what seemed at first to be a tiny man, she just frowned. Then with a little bit of time she stopped to try and remember the name while barefacedly ignoring the barrage of compliments, or explanations. A little expression of raw distaste dawning on her features.
"You've invested how much money on this planet?" She asked, her voice slightly droning.
"Not much yet," Akemi answered swiftly retaining his chipper tune despite Arccos' less than inviting demeanor. It only spurred him on to be upbeat and try to turn her figurative frown upside down. "I'll probably be putting in a lot though. I'm going to be helping with feeding lots of Uso's workers and the people in general. I'd like to do some real good while I make some credits at the same time." The larger than average yet totally dwarfed Neko lowered his gaze to the spacer's badge for a moment. "So what's your deal? Are you with Uso too?"
"Thieftaker General of the Usotzan Empire, and High Sheriff of Osman City." Arccos said with just a little acid in her voice. It was clear she didn't really want to be having this conversation, and it was probably only the mention of money invested into the planet that was keeping her somewhat civil. "I'm on my day off. If you have a problem to report, take it up with my deputies."
"Aw man, that sounds so cool," Akemi exclaimed, his voice raising but remaining at a pleasant volume as his tone did the most to show his enthusiasm. "Sorry if I'm bothering you, I'd just like to be pals with everyone I'm working with, especially someone with your looks. Do you mind me being a Neko? You sure look like a spacer."
Arccos' head slumped, with a tiny sight of frustration. Standing up straight again, she removed her hat and pulled her hair back, tucking the hat back on to keep her bangs out of her eyes. Squaring her jaw, she seemed to be keeping some sort of measured degree of hostility and civility. "I do mind. I tolerate Uso because she pays me, you I get nothing from enduring. So if you're truly sorry: Fuck off."
For a brief moment Akemi felt like the little playful kitten he always imagined himself as being squeezed into mewing. Still, he couldn't give up this easily. If nothing else he was always relentless. "Well hey, I can pay you. Friendship 's always a valuable commodity. I can pay you with credits too. I'm no stranger to paying for a woman's attention since my customers do it all the time. How about with my super secret allegiance? It's not like all us Neko are together in everything."
"Which is to say that you're not sorry for bothering me at all, hm?" Arccos stepped forward a little, looking down on Akemi like he was some small stain. The effect being generally less intimidating due to her being in her underwear. "I don't want your allegiance. And you're not going to leave, so just cut to the chase and tell me what you want."
"Gosh, everything doesn't have to be so serious and cutthroat," Akemi replied without a hint of diminished zest. "I want to not bother you but I want even more to keep talking to you. I just want to make a friend out of a highly attractive Spacer woman so we can have fun chatting and gloating about our synthetic master race natures electronically as we watch the primitive organics toil ceaselessly in the icky dirt under the scorching sun. Plus being completely honest I want to think I have the possibility of sleeping with you some day no matter how infinitesimal my chances might be and that fantasy is becoming increasingly appealing the more you express blatant disdain for my mere existence. That attitude really gets my gears going. I'd love to be Polysentience pals with you."
At Akemi's... Slightly too honest opinion, Arccos raised a hand and pulled a forefinger down with her thumb in a gesture that looked like it should make the popping of a knuckle shifting, yet didn't. She took one more step over to Akemi, positively towering over him now, and placed a hand on his shoulder. The warmth of her palm sliding up to his neck, pressing a thumb against his throat which shifted almost imperceptibly for a second as if she was weighing up whether to drive it through his throat... But it passed further up to toy with one of Akemi's ears instead.
"If you're the Akemi Koga I know of, you were singing peppy tunes from the flagship under the command of the Butcher of Halna." A little extra pressure to Akemi's ear as she pet the thing, like she was weighing up tearing it from his skull. "I could sell your fucking ears as trophies on the polysentience for a small fortune in commodities, why in the Maker's given shits should I really make an effort to get to know you?"
"Because you'd like a friend and I can be your little ear dispensing treasure tree? I can always grow them back." Akemi fluttered his free ear and kept on trying to melt a hole in the giant Spacer's heart with the warmth of his countenance. "How about because I only ever served Yamatai because I was born into it and created for service? I've got no special attachment to it and I don't hate anyone including the Mishhu. You don't really have to make an effort either. I don't mind putting in the majority of energy in a relationship."
Arccos tensed as much as one without any actual muscles to tense could. In as much as Akemi gave something like permission in his explanation, she shifted her hand and tensed her fist around Akemi's ear. This whole situation was... Confronting in a way. And it was her considering just why that prevented her from just going wild and following the impulse to rip the ear off just to see this Nekovalkyrja bleed.
"I'd like you to appreciate that right now I really want to hurt you." She admitted, quite clearly stating her position. "I want to tear off this ear, then break every bone in your body. I'd like to see you cry, and to hear you beg just so I can deny you any quarter. But you're not going to do that, are you?"
Akemi wished he could do something nice for the seemingly crumbling colossus, but all he could think of was to speak humbly from his non-existent nano-machine infused heart. "Well I'd really rather not. I'd much rather be your little buddy and try to comfort you and bring a little mirth to your life since that's what I think I'm best at. I'm just a silly artificial being that's only a few years old that likes goofing around and trying to make people happy in the process. Personally I think life is meaningless so I can't really hold any strong grudges against anyone but then again maybe you do too and a grudge gives you a sense of purpose and motivation."
"I don't honestly think I need comfort." Arccos said, almost conversationally. She shoved Akemi's head to the side, letting his ear go in the process. She removed a pack of slim cigars from where it was rolled into the sleeve of her blouse, sticking one in her teeth.
"I'm pretty sure I'll find someone I feel good about beating up, anyway. Then again for all I know your kind just likes pain... Seems in character for a bunch of soldier-slaves, anyway."
"Well I'm sure some do," Akemi admitted, "but I'd prefer to only have to experience it when I'm gaining something else in return. Besides, what makes you think you could beat me up anyway? I bet I'd best you in a quick draw contest any day pilgrim." The Neko carefully tugged his black NSP from his shorts slightly and then fiddled with his fingers as he hovered his hand over the weapon, trying to egg Arccos on into taking the same stance.
"I think I can best you in a fight because I've got enough durandium in me to take a few more shots than the average soul, and the Automata holding my umbrella shits nuclear warheads." Arccos indicated the Junker by her side, its mechanical eye shifting upwards as an industrial rivet gun fully capable of shooting anti-tank ordinance slid out from its chassis.
"Chances are anyone determined enough can kill me, but the entire city goes up in nuclear flame if I die." She pulled a match from her holster under her arm, not even going for the gun. All she did was strike the matchstick on her palm, and light up. "Also, you're not likely to fuck me when I'm dead. Which is something you want. And if I were really determined to beat you, I'd do it with a stick while you slept, or else while you're tied up in a situation involving... Shall we diplomatically say 'this and that'."
"Awww," Akemi cried weakly as he resumed a relaxed posture, his spirits actually dampened slightly. "So much for being a sheriff on a barren dust bowl world like in my shows. I was hoping you'd humor me for a little laugh. Then I could challenge you for a deputy's badge. At least you aren't menacing me anymore. Feel free to get all handsy again if you want though, especially if you liked my ear. I gotta say I like the way you think."
"I believe that battles are won in the mind. There's no reason to accept a stupid challenge for something I wouldn't give you, anyway..." Arccos somehow spoke and puffed her cigar in the same breath. "And menacing you is useless, if anything you were getting off on it."
"Well that's definitely a smart way to look at things." The Neko gave a slight shrug of his head and shoulders. "All I really wanted to do was get you to act a little tense for a moment while I tried to look clever and cute by striking a silly pose and raising my hand like a gun instead of going for my actual gun and shooting you in the navel like this." Akemi did as he described and emitted a little gravity pulse from the tip of his index finger to poke Arccos gently in the stomach. "Pew."
Arccos didn't seem to react to it. Or even really notice that she'd been touched. Her eyes went to Akemi's fingertip, then to his face as he made the pew noise without registering any contact from a gravity pulse.
"I'd have just shot you with the junker. You're really not going to go away, are you?"
"Yeah, I figured you might shoot me," Akemi admitted. "As long as enough of me was left at least you'd maybe feel a bit better. Like I said I'd really rather not. I mean we're getting along just fine right now aren't we?"
"No. Not really. I want you to fuck off, if I can't get away with just murdering you outright." Arccos indicated the junker as it chambered a round into its rivet gun. "As is, you represent a potential for huge tax income for the empire so I can't justify making you disappear to Uso. I will still shoot you if you actually get in my way during business hours. My ability to be civil to someone I want to see recycled has nothing to do with what I think about you."
Akemi wondered how often Freespacers had fucking on the mind. So much for the wacky random expressions he'd heard tell of so often. "Well what about us linking up? Then I could fuck off physically and you wouldn't have to see me while I'd still get to chat with you in mind space. What could I do to make myself tolerable for you? Would smoking one of your cigars help since Yamatai banned them?"
"A polysentience link is usually considered more intimate than meatspace interaction, in a lot of ways." Arccos snipped, keeping her cigar securely between her teeth. "Have I indicated here anything to you which makes you think I want to be more intimate with you? Let alone expend tobacco down your waste-of-windpipe?"
"Well you didn't beat me up and you're at least talking to me," Akemi quickly pointed out deciding to start with the basics even though he had a feeling Arccos would only end up treating him worse to prove such things meant nothing. "Besides, we're all working together on something. And you don't have to give me polysentience access. We could just share data wirelessly like people do with their pocket communicators."
"I can beat you up if it makes you go away." Arccos proved Akemi right, dragging her cigar down to the stub before spitting the last portion into the ocean. "And I don't have to work with you, at all. In fact, the best way to get me to actually do my job regarding your company is to just walk away right now."
Akemi was so glad he had a superhuman brain which allowed him superhuman patience. "If you hate us so much why do you bother working with Uso then? Couldn't you just kill her or go somewhere else?"
"Uso at least has the distinction of being sold at birth to someone other than Yamatai." Arccos sighed, clearly having to put effort into that sigh rather than release it as reflex. "And half the reason I stay is to try and twist her arm hard enough that she goes straight. The second she goes crooked I will kill her."
"Well I could always help you get her to go straight or assist in gathering supplies or something," Akemi offered finally feeling as if he had found an opening. "What about spending time with me so I go straight, whatever that means? You wouldn't want me terrorizing the populace would you? I mean just look at how I'm treating you now."
"You're not in charge of an entire planetary government. You don't warrant continued attention." Arccos gave her holstered revolver a pat. "And I will shoot you if you go crooked, anyway."
"I guess I better start scheming to carve out my own little empire then for all the people that refuse to live under her rule all for the sake of getting your attention. Sounds like the making of a good epic," Akemi mused. He was actually a tad serious since he sure thought it would be neat if he had his own domain on the planet he could claim as independent but allied with Uso's. "I mean we're all basically hardwired to be power hungry conquerors after all."
Arccos crossed her arms, tapping a finger against her own bicep. Raising her eyebrows and tilting her head. "Go on, then."
Akemi grinned and crossed his arms. "Well getting you on my side would probably help my nation building ambitions prosper an awful lot so maybe I'll stay right here. Oh, I know, what if you groomed me to be the next Neko tyrant if or when Uso bites the dust?"
"It's not my place to put people in power, just to stop people who go too far." Arccos shrugged. "I'm seriously considering just shooting you now, though."
"Awww. But why?" Akemi moaned. "Is it because I'm secretly growing on you?" The raven haired Neko waltzed on over to Arccos and threatened to trace little circles on her abdomen if not stopped.
"Because you're threatening all sorts of shit I could just murder you for." Arccos bowed her head and sighed, not actually making a move to stop Akemi touching her. Although from a lack of reactions it didn't seem like she registered contact. "Also because I'm realising that while you're too rich to not have a mind backup somewhere out there, it's not going to have been on this planet. And it's in everyone's best interests to lie about your death if I kill you here."
"Why's it gotta be all about shooting and murder and fucking this and that? It all sounds really symptomatic of something. You need a Spacer therapist or maybe just some tender love and care," Akemi cooed as he leaned his head against Arccos' front and began following the smooth contours of her firm stomach with a long, dainty index finger.
"Do you really need to ask that?" Arccos grumbled, slumping slightly, raising her arms to not actually have to consciously touch Akemi. "I'm pretty sure we fought wars over this that never really ended."
"Well I'm not keeping score and I never went to war with you guys. Besides, this sounds like a hangup over something beyond the conflicts, as important as they are to you." Akemi slowly began to purr and gradually grew louder and louder as he nuzzled Arccos' chiseled slabs of muscle. "Just close your eyes and think of me as a cute little baby waspling."
"I swear if you're going to ram your face in my chest like Sammy does I will vacate the contents of your skull." Arccos arched an arm over Akemi's head, putting a hand on her revolver, "A-and can you stop making that noise? It's disgusting!"
"Well I bet your chest is absolutely marvelous but I wouldn't dream of it as I'm extremely content with this work of art down here," Akemi murmured, his words oozing completely unrestrained signs of pleasure. This was so much better than what they were doing earlier. "The architects of this planet could really learn a thing or two from it. As for that sound it just happens all on its own when I really like someone," the impish Neko lied with a massive grin hidden by the side of his face being pressed flush against the lanky spacer goddess.
Akemi would hear a leathery 'schukk' noise as Arccos' gun was freed of its holster, and the little click as the safety was thumbed off. "Alright. That's enough, I am going to shoot you now."
"Okay! Okay! I promise I won't purr," Akemi cried, quickly stopping completely. "I just want to enjoy this a little longer. You're like a marble marvel. I love a good set of abs. Plus if you kill me now this would be a really nice way to go. You're absolutely my type. So tall and strong and slender and curvy all at the same time... If you're gonna shoot please make it the back of the head cuz the front is currently occupied."
Arccos shifted her arm, pressing the barrel of her revolver against the back of Akemi's head. The diminutive Neko would faintly hear the cheerful word 'Okay!' being drowned out by a resounding hammer blow to the back of his skull... A relatively small hammer blow, as the revolver failed to fire an already spent round.
"Ah shit..." Arccos grumbled, fiddling with the gun above Akemi's head to shower him with some spent casings. "You got lucky I had to shoot six guys today..."
"Of course I'm lucky," Akemi replied carelessly, his voice serene as if he'd ascended to a higher plane. "I lucked out when I spotted you after all. You being a Spacer makes this sooo good," he moaned loudly with wanton abandon while rubbing his head back and forth to tickle Arccos with his velveteen ears and luxuriously ample, silky soft hair. "I'd sure love to occupy your meatspace since the polysentience is too intimate for you."
"I don't actually have a sense of touch, so I can't really feel anything if you're doing that for my benefit." Arccos grumbled. "And I swear, you had better make this planet a damn fortune."
Above Akemi's head, Arccos closed the chambers on her revolver. The gun empty and with no other ammunition on her person, Arccos just twisted the gun around on her finger to hold it by the barrel and brought the gun down in a second hammer blow, with as much strength as she could muster to the top of the Neko's head.
Akemi ducked his head down for a moment before raising it a little. He was essentially hugging the Spacer's waist by this point. "Ow! I can just turn off my sense of pain though! If you can't feel this physically then I guess you're just enjoying this emotionally then! In that case!" The Neko turned to face Arccos completely and threw his slender arms around her and shook them back and forth a bit as his torso swayed. "You're beautiful and loved you big stuffy stick in the mud cutie."
"Alright, we're officially in bad touch territory at last..."
The leather of Arccos' holster gave another shukk as she slid her gun back in place. With no real resort to just hurting him, Arccos settled on outright maiming. A quick ping from her mindware adjusted the umbrella Junker's IFF settings to register Akemi as hostile, causing it to swivel slightly and fire a burning hot industrial rivet towards the Neko's thigh.
"Fuck that smarts!" Akemi roared as he turned off sensation from his thigh before even looking at what was embedded in it. His embrace continued to hold strong. "You are still loved you big bully!" His eyes quickly began to tear up. "The more you hurt me the more you're obviously hurting inside you giant emotional cripple! Scarred girls are a fetish of mine anyway. I couldn't resist saying hi to the one with the messed up mouth nearby."
"Oookay, now you're just creeping me out here."
Arccos dropped a little, pressing a knee against Akemi's chest to leverage as much strength as she could against him. While she was obviously cybernetically enhanced to a degree, from the amount of pressure it felt less like she had her body engineered for sheer strength. Thus forcing a few hard heaves before she could pry Akemi off herself, the whole ordeal forcing her to overbalance and collapse directly on top of him. Her hat falling down to the sand, causing snowy hair to tumble down, two hands either side of his head as she hunched over him. The light pressure of her weight on top of him, and the faint smell of searing flesh as the rivet went from red-hot to merely burning...
Akemi was awful unsure of what to do next even if his instincts gave him an obvious, very tempting answer. He really didn't want his brain blown to bits in retaliation but then he questioned how much more miss can't feel anything would care about being kissed compared to a hug. Another concern was that regardless of how she'd respond to his action in terms of violence he really didn't want to force something so intimate on her given how deliberately distant she was. Ultimately the pragmatic Neko decided he'd already come so far and if he was in for a penny he was in for a pound. Plus Arccos sure looked gorgeous, even her big nose was endearing up close. The perfection of her pure white hair and and pale skin was exceptionally persuasive.
Deciding to strike while the iron was hot Akemi quickly leaned up and pressed his lips against the Spacer's and tried to hold them there. Hopefully given her particular preferences she could fully appreciate the feminine fullness of his soft, ruby red pair. Dying this way would probably be pretty good too.
While Arccos didn't seem to be built for power or brawn, her reaction times on this sort of situation wasn't anything to be sniffed at. No sooner had their lips brushed against one another had Arccos sprung herself upright, and planted her foot squarely on Akemi's chest... It was actually far from pleasant to kiss Arccos: Her lips were entirely dry, and tasted exactly like the cheap cigarillo she'd been smoking not too long ago. Then again, she clutched her hand to her mouth and glared down at the weird neko. Chances were that if she could blush she would be doing just that. So maybe Akemi accomplished something.
"You taste like candy." She hissed between her teeth, wiping her mouth and bending forward.
Her fingers brushed over the downed Neko and ran over his thigh, apparently registering some sort of contact to navigate. She didn't want to take her eyes off him in general, in case he made another move. Far from feeling in any way intimate it felt more like a police patdown. Eventually her fingers gained purchase on the sizzling rivet embedded in him, and roughly pulled it out with a hard yank.
"...I'm cutting my day off short and going back on duty." She dropped the deformed chunk of metal beside Akemi's head, speaking with obvious false civility. "I'm going to recommend you take your grinder-feed leg over to the Royal Hospital, and see Hardbody M.D. about making sure it heals properly. Enjoy the rest of your day."
At that, she took her foot off Akemi, walking off down the beach and moving at speed, the Umbrella Junker following along in step.
Akemi didn't mind the taste or texture of the kiss as he was thoroughly satisfied with staying alive and the reaction he managed to get out of Arccos. The less than ideal sensations had their own charm and the subsequent foot on his chest had been extra stimulating. Judging by how intact he was despite how far he'd gotten and taking into account how the whole encounter had started he counted the affair another personal victory. His fantasy of doing the deed was firmly secured and friendship seemed well within reach. With Arccos gone the Neko decided to float off somewhere quiet for a bit. Maybe he'd take her advice.
