RP: YSS Kaiyō Aside: Hanami

[Ametheliana]

1日 3月 YE 46
Tami
Lark's Hill

If was the first day of the third month for Yamataians and it had been about four months since they had battled above Nebel when it was in the Aingeal system. Hoshi had stuffed the seven or so Kaiyō crewmen into the bed of her anti-grav pickup truck without much ceremony. She had explained to them that her neighbors had always recommended a certain hot spring inn on Lark’s Hill and set off. From the back of the truck, the crew could take in the planet’s natural splendor as forests sprang up at the edges of swathes of grazing land. Once in awhile the landscape would change from the plane in which agricultural staples grew and livestock grazed to be a wild hilly section of land nobody had laid claim to. The fog of late afternoon ran like rivers through some of the low valleys while the peaks of the pine-covered ridges blazed a brilliant green that spoke of the budding spring.

Hanami had descended upon Tami’s sakura trees that lined quite a few residential paths throughout the quiet planet that the Kaiyō called its home port. The moment of mankai, or full bloom, had arrived just that morning as the sakura blooms had piqued in form. For those that had been slowly returning to Yamatai for most of the past four months, the sight of nature while the wind whipped through their hair and flapped at the handles of their duffel bags at their feet was a welcome reprieve. But the off-road ride from the base on Tami to Lark’s Hill was not too long and Hoshi took the road fast, like she knew it well.

Soon they had pulled into an evergreen-dotted driveway off of the town’s sole road and the truck lowered slightly as its anti-grav systems powered down. The petite pink woman, captain Taiyou Hoshi, pulled her soft leather bag from the space between her seat and the back of the cab before floating above the ruddy needle-strewn ground. She was wearing a tube-sleeved happi with the sakura crest painted on on its back and the paddock boots she had been wearing when feeding the yaks before leaving her ranch. Behind her was a stout traditional Yamataian building, the ryokan she had brought them to, with bright red banners idly flapping in the slight breeze and the pink tops of trees just behind and skirting its northern side. Before her was the breathtaking view only found in the Tami hills where the more distant mountains and hills were hazy, like the space between her and them had taken with it some of the vibrant blues and greens that the closer tree lines afforded. After taking in a breath and the view, she looked at those in her truck's bed.

“How was my driving back there?” she asked as she unlatched the back of the bed and opened it, offering her hand to Hildr and Molli alike to give them help out.

 

[Gles]

Molli leaned against the edge of Hoshi's truck bed, her crimson cybernetic eyes sheening in the morning light as she stared at Tami's picturesque landscape with naked awe. Growing up in a smoggy city slum, Molli had only ever seen forests on television or in cheap virtual headsets. Having an opportunity to see them in person was one of the reasons she chose to become a Yamatai citizen. As she beheld the miles of foggy forest, soaked in natural sunlight, and breathed unpolluted air for the first time, Molli felt her choices had finally paid off well.

Unfortunately, the soldier had not tried to reap the benefits of her work above Nebel. As the pickup flew down the road, the right sleeve of Molli's jacket billowed in the wind, lacking an arm to fill it out. It was as much a grim reminder of a past mistake as it was a lucky escape. Thoughts like that haunted Molli over the past four months, and her presence on the ship had grown scarce; most days, she only left the bunk to attend mandatory functions.

They said she'd get a new limb soon, but a part of Molli wondered if the Mishhu had taken something else on their ship. Something irreplaceable. She'd tried to hide those feelings from the crew; they had enough to worry about.

When the truck reached its destination and powered down, Molli hoised her duffel bag over her shoulder. If anyone else had proffered their hand, they would've gotten a reproachful stare. But in Hoshi's case, Molli was tactful enough to let herself be helped down. "S'fine," Molli replied with a slight shrug, "Di'n't crash."

High praise, to be sure.

Despite the nature of their trip, Molli was still dressed like a soldier: black boots, dark blue cargo pants, and a zipped-up black field jacket. Poking beneath said jacket was the skin-tight fabric of a type-22 bodysuit. Some would have called it excessive decorum, but Molli simply wore what she felt was most comfortable.

 

[Gunhand4171]

As everyone was getting out of the truck, they heard the sound of rotors slicing through the air. Looking down the road they had come up, the sound got louder and louder until an airbike came roaring up the road. Once it entered the drive, the airbike increased its altitude and flew over them all. As it began cutting figure eight patterns around the ranch, the hulking form of William dressed in jeans and leather duster could be made out as he passed them.

Soon after a second airbike roared up the to join the Nepleslian Captain. It was another hulking ID-SOL that most of them had never met. The two airbikes came in for a landing near the truck landing off in the grass. The two men powered down the bikes and dismounted, and finally their argument could be heard over the roar of the engines. "You cheated!" The new ID-SOL said pointing a finger at William. "No I didn't. You are just mad I won. Like usual." He replied with a smirk, as he walked towards the Kaiyo crew.

"Howdy, folks." William called as they neared the truck. The other man gave a polite wave, then looked to Hoshi. "Hello again, Tai...sa." He said, as if he were trying to sound out the word. William chucked at his friend's pronunciation. "Everyone, this is Master Sergeant Dmitri Sokolov. He is my Company Sergeant.

Dmitri was just as large as William, with crimson eyes and dark brown hair in a tight regulation buzzcut. "Da, is nice to meet you all." The Master Sergeant replied.

 

[Sunny D]

Morgana spent the majority of the journey with an arm resting upon the side of the truck’s tray, propping up her head the landscape slipped by in a verdant haze. Occasionally her type 43 science pad would chirp prompting her to briefly remove it from her bag, issue a few commands before putting it away. She had a number of experiments cooking back aboard the Kaiyo, samples she’d managed to take from the wounds they had managed to inflict on the enhanced type. If these experiments required her constant vigil, it might have been a challenge for Hoshi to coax the science officer away. Fortunately, the majority of them only required the occasional intervention, completing one process and needing instructions to move on to the next one. Morgana would use these gaps to write her documentation but would still be left with time between to twiddle her thumbs. Here, at least, she could enjoy the passing scenery and the fresh air in between.

After the vehicle came to a stop she mantled over the side of the tray. Her brown hiking shoes making an in print in the damp earth as she landed. She then unzipped the front of her blue soft-shell jacket now she wasn’t getting hit by the wind flowing around the vehicle’s cabin, revealing a black t shirt underneath. She then pulled on her olive drab stretch canvas pants to smooth them out where they’d bunched up during the trip.

“Nearly fell asleep.” She answered Hoshi, craning her neck before she reached back into the tray to collect a large red backpack and pull it out.

She then turned to the sound of the rotors, and then squinted at the sound. As William and his friend crested the hill and landed in the paddock, she pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

“Damn barbarians.” she muttered under her breath.

 

[Ametheliana]

"They may be barbarians, but they're our barbarians," Hoshi said in a low voice that matched Morgana's, as if the captain were also talking to herself.

Really she didn't feel that way, at least not about William. She had known him back when he was just a boy that she wanted to keep away from the horrors of battle. Now, the wars they had fought together were apparent in the scars on his hands and forearms and the burn hidden by his shirt on his shoulder. Thinking of it, Hoshi remembered the Enhanced that had dealt his burn in the first battle on Kessica that had injured her in the same place. Her hand went there, rubbing it as she smiled at the blonde Yamataian turned Nepleslian, ever thankful he had grown alongside the Kaiyō to burden those horrors along with its Star Army crew. But she directed her thoughts and gaze at his comrade, instead.

"Dmitri, without you I don't know if we would have been able to retake Kessica for Uesu. I owe you for that and for coming along today! Try to get to know our new crewmen, many of them will be in our legion's upcoming battles!" she grabbed the brunette ID-SOL's hand and shook it excitedly in the green nation's fashion. Tethered by his meaty grasp, her body bobbed up and down in mid-air before settling after she had let go.

"You're probably hungry! We’ve got an omakase spot waiting for us somewhere a couple blocks away. They have an outdoor setup with all cherry blossom food tonight. The inn owners are expecting us but asked for us to drop our luggage off outside before going to dinner.” Hoshi said this as she walked the steep steps up to the building and she plopped her bag down at the entrance to the ryokan.

 

[krisslanza]

"For my first time riding in the back of a pick-up, I'd say you gave a good first impression." answered Isuke honestly with a grin.

It had been a while since she had the chance to visit a ryokan, particularly as the one being served, instead of doing the serving. Isuke hopped out of the back of the truck, landing easily despite wearing awkward looking geta sandals. To compliment the sandals, she made sure to wear appropriate clothing, a classic haori and hakama combo, the two colored a subtle grey.

She had thought of a white haori and red hakama, but wasn't sure using that color combo was the best idea. It did look nice though.

"An omakase with a cherry blossom theme huh? Really setting the mood!"

 

[Gunhand4171]

At Morgana's comment, Dmitri gave the scientist a baleful look. He was about to open his mouth to reply when William clapped the Master Sergeant on the back. "Dont let it get to you, Dmitri. Besides we are on vacation." He said simply, the contented look on his face never wavering.

Dmitri turned to Hoshi and put on a huge grin as they shook hands. "Of course you wouldn't have! He was no use." He said pointing a thumb in William's direction.

"Want to run that by me again, Sokolov? I think I hear a court marshal coming." The Captain replied with a baleful glare of his own, before the two ID-SOLs smirked. "Now then I'm starved. Food sounds good right about now." William said as he began to follow Hoshi, Dmitri close behind.

 

[Sunny D]

Morgana's eyes widened as she was taken aback by William's glare, her cheek's flushing with blood. While she could have expected a Nekovalkyrja such as Hoshi overhearing the barely audible comment, she hadn't expected the pair of Nepalesians, given the distance and sound of their bikes spinning down, to have caught what she said. Must be because they're ID-Sols she thought. She recovered her composure and looked away with a huff before begining to make her way towards the lodge.

"If they run those air blowers down the back trails while I'm taking a soak they're going to need to ST." She said in the same low tone to herself, this time perfectly aware she'd be overheard.

 

[Gles]

Molli perked up at the familiar roaring of an airbike's engine, that beautiful symphony of working parts. While some saw barbarity in William's showboating, Molli instantly knew he was celebrating coming first in a race. Coming up with victory stunts was the mark of any talented airbiker; how you celebrated said a lot about the kind of person you were. Molli should know; she'd spent a lot of time thinking about hers back in Funky City.

As she stared at William's tight figure-eight maneuver, Molli couldn't help but smile. She didn't know a giant like Will was such a precise driver. "Primo drivin', Will," Molli said before biting down on her duffel bag's strap to wave the kicked-up dust away. Dmitri received a polite nod, but Molli's gaze was fixed on the bike he rode, her mechanical eyes lighting up as they ran diagnostics on its specifications. If she missed anything from her old life, it was the feeling of pushing triple digits on a Nepleslian airbike.

With her bag deposited at the ryokan, Molli watched the banter between Morgana and the two Nepleslians unfold. In truth, she didn't want to pick a side; any doubts Molli might've had about the quality of a Nepleslian soldier's character dissipated after fighting beside Will, and Yamatai's people had welcomed her as a citizen after years of hard work. One comment in particular, however, made the young soldier's nostrils flare.

"Air bikes," Molli corrected, with the annoyed tone that only an enthusiast could have over a minor terminology error. "If they're built good, int gonna be dust comin' y'way."

 

[raz]

Still in the truck's passenger seat for a time, Ketsurui Aiko hurriedly wrapped up toying with logistics reports on her handheld communicator when she heard the Nepleslian airbike turbines outside. She'd enjoyed the ride over greatly, able to chat with her friend Hoshi while she stayed caught up with her duties as the Kaiyo's first officer (despite the pink captain's insistence that doing work while on leave was inappropriate), but didn't take in the scenic sights in the same measure as those in the pickup bed were able to relish in on their way to Lark's Hill.

Though the princess loved Tami's expansive forests and hills and dales, she'd spent time enough on the planet to know how you did it on Tami, and so only cared to delight in the forest world's natural abundance while trekking its well-walked roads on foot. Creation's gift contained too much splendor to waste on any form of transportation beyond a lazy stroll, as the locals would say.

So, of course, when Aiko finally hopped out of the hovertruck's cabin she was full enough with energy that the pace of her graceful stride was quickened on her approach to her fellow crew and the Nepleslian newcomers. Wearing matte black high-waisted shorts that hugged her strong hips and up through the waist with a white collared blouse that had black pearl snaps tucked into them, Aiko stepped in her leather ankle boots straight toward Dmitri. As she passed him, the princess quickly pat him firmly on his right buttcheek and then fell into pace between the Sergeant and William.

"No Yuri today?" Aiko asked in her casually refined way, looking from one ID-SOL to the other as they walked toward the ryokan. She didn't give any indication that her greeting to Dmitri was odd or anything but proper, for she'd visited and trained alongside the Nepleslian exchange contingent with Legion 777 enough times to have learned more than a few displays of NSMC camaraderie. Luckily (for her) the Nepleslian Marines knew never to return the affection in kind lest her hidden protectors Rei and Mao separate them from their beloved trigger fingers.

"Color me disappointed," she feigned. "Though I suppose three is a crowd. Then I will not spoil him with jealousy from tales of your exploits today."

 

[Ametheliana]

“Days are a little longer on Tami,” Hoshi informed. “So locals wake up quite early. I think we’ll probably be just the opposite and will be up pretty late and sleeping in.”

Hoshi turned to Isuke as she descended the steps to the ryokan to invitingly say, “After dinner, we’ll head to some kind of forest hot spring they have. I mean if you guys want to go to bed early, you can... but I don’t think I will be! Drop off your bags and follow me!” Waving her arms to either side of her, she began walking towards the main road like she were walking on a balance beam. The striped pink and blue dyed sleeves of her festival jacket fell off her outstretched arms like fluttering streamers.

The long blue shadows of a late winter’s afternoon pulled at buildings and trunks of the the dark branches and pale flowers of sakura trees alike. Of course, Lark’s Hill was much like the rest of Tami and felt like a town that had sprouted out from the forest just the many trees and mountain ferns it was nestled between would. The pink of the cherry trees was almost an accessory to the dull shades of evergreens that held lofty positions amongst crawling up along the mountain’s edge that Lark’s Hill was nestled on. The bright new growth of ferns sprouted at their base, contrasting also with the almost black sakura trunks that the captain strutted past heel-to-toe.

Hoshi pulled her head back to look at her crew, taking them all in for a moment with a wide-eyed, observant expression. Her pink face cracked at its base when a smile showed through and she bent her arms, as if holding a camera that was not there. With her index fingers and thumbs flexed out, she snapped an invisible button as she took a mental picture.

"I wouldn't have expected the Empire to bless me with such a fine crew!" Taiyou Hoshi gushed, then realized what it sounded like. "Usually I get handed challenges, but looking at you all; there's nothing you can't do! Nothing we can't do!"

 

[Gunhand4171]

William smirked as he looked back towards Morgana. "Don't worry. If we ride again, we will avoid the baths. I'm not keen on seeing if my brain spider has been backed up recently." He said, tapping the port on his neck. The captain then turned to Molli. The little nepleslian was starting to grow on him. They had gone through several firefights together back to back. He'd have to introduce her to the rest of the Berserkers at some point. "Thanks, Molli; you can take one for a spin later. I can order Dmitri to let you use his."

"Hey, why can't she just use yours?" Dmitri called before he felt a hearty slap on his rear. He jumped and spun around to find Aiko standing there. "Aah, hello Ms. Princess." he replied in greeting. William chuckled at the interaction and matched pass with Aiko. "Yuri stayed behind to oversee the battalion. Couldn't have the entire command staff up and disappear. The boys would riot, and I'd have a huge stack of paperwork to do if that happened."

Dmitri smirked. "That and my brother is boring. He would just lay about all day. I'm much more fun to be around."

"More like if I had left you to supervise the boys, then I'd have two stacks of paperwork as opposed to one." William quipped. "That and the Fang's CO would have spaced you. Captain Adler does not suffer fools, and that would be you." He added, smirking at his friend.

William then turned to Hoshi and nodded. "It's been a while since we were able to party. I plan to take full advantage. Any chance we can trail ride later?" He asked as he followed the blue-haired captain under the pink foliage of the cherry blossoms.

At her heartfelt comment, he smirked. "Technically, we are just tag-alongs," He said, motioning to his ID-SOL counterpart. "but I couldn't agree more. Now enough with the mushy stuff Hoshi, let's party!" Dmitri threw a fist up "Da! Party!"

 

[Gles]

In the months following her first assignment to the Kaiyo, Molli hadn't met many bolder people than Her Highness Princess Aiko, who had a commanding presence on and off the battlefield. Where most women might've looked out of place in between hulking ID-SOLS, Aiko's presence seemed natural. Initially, Molli chalked her attitude up as the overinflated ego of someone who knew she could get away with almost anything because of her station. However, after fighting shoulder-to-shoulder in the heat of brutal battle, Molli realized that Aiko was exceedingly confident and unflinchingly brave. It made her a monumentally compelling figure to trust, yet at the same time, the princess seemed unapproachable.

To say that the sight of royalty slapping the ass of a man several heads taller than her was shocking was putting it mildly, then. Molli nearly tripped over herself from staring. Still slack-jawed and wide-eyed, she looked up at William and had to process what he'd said for a few seconds.

"Ah- Uh, thanks, Willy," Molli's eyes still had the faint image of Dimtri's air bike specs overlayed over her crimson irises, "Sa rum bike, fer sure..." On most days, she would've taken his offer, but with her empty jacket sleeve gently billowing in the wind, Molli was reminded that her preferred brand of reckless driving was too big a risk in her current state. "...Too big fer a tiny thing like me." She smiled, eyes lighting up as she dismissed the bike's diagnostics from her vision, "'Preciate the offer."

That left the act of filing in behind her Captain, whose unbridled happiness was infectious enough to make Molli's smile feel less forced. Amidst the pink hue that the sun cast through the cherry trees, Hoshi's presence sold the idea that today was a time for relaxation more than anything else. When the Captain spun around, Molli's smile vanished, and she reflexively snapped to attention, one arm clasped to her side while the opposite sleeve continued to billow in the wind like an unruly rebel. The young soldier relaxed when the Captain merely framed the group like a professional photographer, while her compliment elicited a flush of red from Molli's cheeks.

"Thanks, Hoshee- Hoshi-Chusa, " Molli said, raising a hand to scratch her nose, which conveniently covered most of her face. Try as she might, the Nepleslian couldn't entirely hide her dimples, so she bowed forward until her body was practically in the shape of an L. "We're- We're lucky t'hav- to have ya leadin' us!"

 

[raz]

"Then it is just as well, Dmitri," Aiko said happily, smiling up the two feet it took even a Nekovalkyrja as tall as her to meet an ID-SOL's gaze. "I would not trade you for boring Yuri-san, at least not today. And though Alder may not suffer fools, William clearly needs a jester so accomplished as you in his company today so he feels less obligated to play my personal clown."

She then looked over to William, flashing her pointy Neko teeth at him in an even wider grin. For a split second, Molli may have caught Aiko's gaze cross over her own with a thankful wink. The santô hei had, after all, just provided Aiko with at least several hours of fun at William's expense.

"You should thank Dmitri, Willy," the princess chirped, her bright scarlet eyes catching a flash of sunlight through the trees as she beamed up at her friend. "Perhaps today will give you enough of a break to come up with a few new jokes. Maybe they will be as amusing as this new name you have taken on."

When Hoshi spoke her sentimental soliloquy, Aiko held off poking fun at her Nepleslian friend any further. She knew her jokes were too elevated to be enjoyed by most others, and didn't want to make a mess of her captain's moment. There was time enough in the day right now, here on serene Tami so far away from any warring Kuvexians or Mishhuvurthyar, to both banter with Nepleslians and bask in Hoshi's infectious joy so would not hurry either.

"I concur, Taisa," Aiko said. "Not only with you, but with Willy and Dmitri too. If there is 'nothing we cannot do' then today a party it shall be. Do you think the people of Lark's Hill will remember us fondly or in infamy after we are finished reveling at their home?"

 

[Gunhand4171]

William turned to see Aiko's smug grin as she used her new nickname for him, his carefree facial expression morphing into one of mild annoyance. "Willy... really...?" He asked. Dmitri let out a hearty laugh, going so far as to slap his knee. "Oh common, Willy." At this remark, William's fist shot out, catching the other ID-SOL in the rib, which caused his laughing spell to devolve into a coughing fit. "Try it again, Master Sergeant. I dare you..." Dmitri knew better than to say the name again too soon. But, he absolutely would be using it again later.

Aiko used the name again, and William let out an exasperated sigh. His glance turned towards Molli, though it was one of faux annoyance. "Thanks for that, Momo." He said, the corner of his lips turning upward in a smirk.

 

[Ametheliana]

Hoshi batted the air at Molli's compliment, as if wafting it away from her on the air.

"I've had crews before, led them before, lived, and died with them before. But even with a whole Sharie's crew compliment it didn't feel the same as this. Something about the Kaiyō is different. It's lightning in a bottle and magical in a way you don't normally get as a white panel. It's something to be appreciative of when you have it. And that's why we will be partying like we deserve it! Just not so much that the locals remember our visit in any way but favorably! Our princess is mistaken to even question such a thing!"

Looking to Aiko, Hoshi's face had been drawn into a scowl that crinkled the pink skin above her nose, but her deep blue eyes were alight with a friendliness William and Aiko knew well from their playful captain. Outside of many a building were large and small carvings that gleamed with the tints of wood lacquer in the sunny afternoon. Pink petals floated down around a bear etched into a solid tree trunk that was taller than Hoshi. As they passed a courtyard tucked between establishments, she stopped to point out a huge carved Plumeria class underneath a canopy of redwoods. It was huge, made up of a handful of trees most likely, but still cloistered away and inconspicuous.

"Look at that craftsmanship. Tami is my home and I love it for its peaceful serenity. If the Mishhuvurthyar were ever to attack as has happened here in the past, I would station myself here until they were purged once more. I recommend any of my crew that wants a place to settle down after retirement or even on leave, request a land grant on Tami as I did." Hoshi lied, "And not just because I want to be able to drop off all the extra eggs from my coop to your doorstep whenever I want, not at all."

"Also you're not a tag-along, William. You've been on this ship longer than me. Don't ever forget that," Hoshi poked toward the ID-SOL but didn't make contact with the man built like a brick wall, lacking the brazenness of the Ketsurui.

 

[krisslanza]

Isuke allowed herself to grin as she observed the antics of her crewmates from the 'safety' of the sidelines. In a way, she was remembering the early days of being in the Ikemen, being the new face amongst a group that had long formed bonds and histories. Some might find integrating into that sort of thing a daunting task, but she knew that's just how relationships start when they're fresh! Besides, this gave her a good time to scope out and learn as much as she could about her crewmates and their relationships to one another.

"Hand delivered eggs from the captain herself? I have to admit, I never thought I'd meet a captain with such a... rustic background like that. Not that it's a bad thing, of course." added Isuke hastily, "Just when you grow up hearing things, you always get an image of ship captains being practically royalty. Meanwhile, I just had the sudden urge to imagine you dressed in some kind of get-up involving overalls and a straw hat..."

The pink-haired Lorrfolk chuckled, gently grabbing a falling petal mid-air. She couldn't help but briefly hold it up to a lock of her own hair and compare the colors.

"Food aside, how long until we can visit the onsen? Been too long since I've just gotten to sit around and enjoy a soak in one of those! Always were one of the highlights of my days growing up."

 

[Ametheliana]

Hearts nearly popped out of Hoshi's eyes as she listened to Isuke. "There are underground thermal onsen down in Lorr?! I bet it's so nice and humid, I kind of want to go now. Do they hate Neko like Nepleslia or is it in the realm of possibility? Bathing in a stalactite cave..." She sounded stupidified as she imagined the atmosphere of such. "Mmmmm... Now that's somewhere I'd be sure Saiga showed up to."

She turned them down a corner rather than keep walking on the main thoroughfare with a wooden building that used this side path nestled in the forested hill. Though it looked like a one story at first, from the side one could see it dipped down the steep decline and had further floors below. Carved wooden signs swung lazily in the stiff breeze that pulled the cherry blossoms from their moorings on the trees around them, denoting it shared the space with three or four other businesses.

"Good question, an hour or so?" It was hard to shake her reverie enough to reply to Isuke's query, "Usually it can take like three for an omakase but we've got places to go, people to see naked. If you’re not hungry or don’t want omakase on me, then feel free to visit any of the shops in town; I'll take the tab of whatever you need to buy all weekend, everyone. I know below the restaurant is a nice lodgey bar to relax at and there’s more of a dive across the street there,” Hoshi’s pink finger pointed out one of the buildings nestled along their thoroughfare from which they had come.

She raised a brow as she looked to the petal, then Isuke's pink hair before extending her forearm and realizing she too could do the same with her skin. "Hey I want to try that!"

Unlike the Lorrfolk's swift pluck of the petal from the air, Hoshi leapt into the air wildly like a child trying to catch a bubble.

 

[Gles]

Aiko's gesture didn't go unnoticed by Molli, who averted her eyes as splotches of red colored her olive cheeks. It wasn't every day that one became complicit in a princess's teasing of an ID-SOL. Despite his stature, Molli stared up at him with puffed-out cheeks as he bestowed an embarrassing nickname in return. "Watcherself..." she said, huffing loudly, "Or I'll glue yer hands t'yer hair when yer sleepin'!"

Momo. Sa'cat's name. I mean, it's kinna cute, but...

Hoshi's warning snapped Molli out of thoughts that were starting to make her feel even more embarrassed. Absent of the familiarity that others indeed had, the petite woman took the Captain's demands seriously; there'd be no partying like she'd done in Funky City. As Hoshi led them through the village, its rustic beauty, and the natural landscape went a long way towards soothing Molli's nerves. Even if she hadn't been explicitly told to mind herself for the locals, the painstaking care they'd taken to preserve the planet's beauty was enough to make Molli complicit in their efforts, too.

Retirement hadn't crossed Molli's mind, but hearing it made her seriously consider what it'd be like to live on Tami. She could see an older, more attractive version of her body in a pair of overalls, but that mental image stopped short of a face. "Iunno how t'farm anythin'," she admitted quietly, "Been a city mouse m'whole life..." Molli wondered if that meant she'd always be one and pictured herself caring for her father in his final years.

"...Could learn," she added, hopeful at the prospect, especially considering Hoshi's apparent experience, as Isuke pointed out. Molli took a moment to take stock of Isuke, who had defied the frightening image of a terrifying demon she'd conjured of the Lorrfolk as a child. They hadn't spoken at all, but she seemed decent and definitely the type of person the Nepleslian wanted to share drinks with.

The incline seemed to appear out of nowhere, and Molli was taken aback by how naturally the town seemed to conform to its landscape. It was easy to see why this place had Hoshi in such high spirits, and Molli found herself smiling at the Captain's antics as though infected by her cheer. That smile vanished once she thought about the activities Hoshi had planned for them.

"People t'see neckit?" Molli's eyes widened, and a flush of red blossomed on her cheeks again, "Y-Y'got those kinna clubs here? Never woulda thought..."

 

[Sunny D]

The science officer had lost herself in her tablet, much more interested in the data coming through than continuing a conversation in which she was certain she was right, but was outnumbered . She'd gotten a concession out of William at least, which stopped her from sulking.

Still, even without the social faux pa she'd just commited, she'd probably be just as distracted. As beautiful as the scenery was, it was not too dissimilar to what she'd grown up with. But somewhere hidden in the text and graphs of the screen were the secrets of the hated enemy.

She quirked at Molli's comment however, glancing sideways from her pad for a moment. "You can wear a towel over you if you want, but its traditional to bathe in an onsen nude. She's referring to you, Arrow."