Second Night, "Soup for the Soul" -- Pre-Mission 1
♫ 【艦これDowntempo】 Zeroth Port 「NIZIGEN COMP」
Virgil and Sayoko's Quarters
Steam rose from the ceramic bowl sitting on top of the hot plate in Virgil and Sayoko's quarters. The youthful pilot had dragged the desk around so he could sit on the lower bunk while he poured in the packet of instant miso-soup and stirred it with one hand, his other hand arranging slices of watermelon on a plate next to the steaming brine. After he was satisfied with the meal, Virgil poured the soup from one bowl into another, then fanned away the cloud of steam with a quick wave of the hand. Smiling, he put the bowl on the plate with the watermelon slices and moved the whole thing over to the furthest edge of the desk with an extremely satisfied look about him. This was the meal prescribed by thirteen out of fifteen Yamataian housewives on InterNep and all he had to do to get it from them was post a picture of himself with no shirt. Now, he had the perfect treat for a Yamataian or Jiyuuian who couldn't sleep at night. Melatonin, tryptophan, it was all there and it was tasty to boot. This, he told himself, would be his masterpiece.
A few moments passed before the sound of the door to the cabin opening finally greeted his ears, producing the green-haired form of his roommate Lt. Mochizuki in her duty uniform. Her face was the usual mask of neutrality, though her emerald eyes seemed to have a bit of tiredness reflected in them. She had been gathering information all day on the unusual situation with the Oracle's fabrication bay (possible more sabotage, by her figuring) to file into the promised report for Commander Solaris. As such, Sayoko was looking forward to spending some time winding down with Virgil as he had been helping her the past nights, but the scene that greeted her was definitely not what she expected.
"Canton-san...?" she greeted him as more of a question, the hint of surprise pleasantly lighting up her foreign features under her scarf as the pilot stopped a few paces from the desk with the soup bowl and fruit upon it.
"Miss Mochizuki!" Virgil gave Sayoko a quick wave, then gestured to the desk as if it contained a magnificent ancient artifact. "I've been on a forum. And some lovely and very qualified ladies assured me that this is the best way to help a Yamataian or Jiyuuian get to sleep. Maybe," Virgil blushed, smiled, and planted his chin on two hands, "If it's helpful enough, you won't have to shame yourself by sleeping in bed with me. The same ladies who told me this trick also said you were 'lucky, but should be ashamed of yourself'-- something that just doesn't make sense to me at all. But, hey! Let's not talk about Virgil all day. Sit down, have some soup, tell me about your day."
"Is that so... you can't believe everything you read on those forums," Sayoko began, accepting the offer to sit down next to Virgil at the little impromptu feast he had prepared. She studied the soup intently, taking a testing whiff of it more out of habit than in any way distrusting his concoction. "This does smell quite good, though. Miso?"
When she heard his follow on comment, the green-haired pilot blushed fleetingly from her place close to her roommate . "I'm not ashamed of you and you should not be either. You are the most gentlemanly Nepleslian male I have ever met. You haven't even cursed or gotten drunk or even brandished a massive gun that obviously compensates for something in your pants, yet. Quite the oddity, you are, Canton-san," She then managed a warmer expression as she reached for the soup cup. "But... that's why I chose you to trust with my secret."
Virgil seemed to be taken aback. He leaned back a little, tapping on his chin thoughtfully. Then he shook his head and settled his hands on his knees with something like a look of contentment. "Well, I'm not really
trying not to curse. They're just words, after all. And as for my pants, well..." Virgil smiled as bashfully as he could manage and crossed both hands over his thighs. Of course, he had an HHG. And of course his choice of it was based solely on midnight action movies and military recruitment posters. At the same time, Sayoko and he had shared a bed, and in the morning time a man could hold no secrets from a woman who slept next to him. "I've always felt that what I had was neither too much or too little, y'know. 'Adequate' is the word I like."
Sayoko testingly took a first sip of the warm miso he had made, one hand supporting the bottom of the cup as she let it trickle down the back of her throat slowly. "Mmm, well your soup making ability is definitely more than adequate," she mused, two emerald orbs watching the place Virgil rested his hands carefully for a moment. There indeed was little secrets physically between them that couldn't be discerned through the thin sheets of fabric the previous night, though the fact that the Jiyuuian kept that barrier up between them was also telling in itself, a form of protection and safety.
"Thank you." Virgil's smile grew, if possible, even more bashful, and he finally rested a little. "It's only a packet," He explained leaning his head against the frame of the bunk with a single bang of rich blonde hair falling just so he'd look a little bit more handsome in that stupid way he did. "But I guess I'm good at following directions. Chalk it up to being the younger of two children."
"The fact you took the time to do so is all that matters. Thank you." Sayoko cast a smile at the blonde young pilot, and then closed her eyes for a second, exhaling. Perhaps his soup was already being effective at calming the tense woman down. When she opened them again she spared a stare into the depths of the liquid. "I suppose we are alike in that respect. Nekovalkyrja have 'sisters' in a sense, cloned in small groups by the Ketsurui Zaibatsu. Yet I always felt like I was the youngest one of my batch. Things that came easy to Shiori were always a struggle for me."
"Well, y'know," Virgil assured her, not moving from where he lay, "Everybody is good at something. Even the bumbling guy who has no idea what he's doing on a battlefield makes for a pretty good accountant. And if there were no wars, he'd be way more useful than you or I." Virgil closed his eyes a moment, contorting his features into an expression of deep thought with two fingers on his forehead, "Then again..." He said softly, like he was speaking through some heavy mathematics, "I sense you might be something of an artist." Eyes opened, and the smile returned, "Have you ever tried making art?"
While Sayoko definitely agreed with Virgil's sentiments about everyone being good at something -- her raison d'etre being to be a model soldier, like all manufactured Neko's still in their bodies or not -- the second suggestion about art was however much more unexpected. Her jade eyes widened a moment, as she placed the cup back down on the desk and then glanced to the side. Lt. Mochizuki seemed troubled by a thought that sprung to mind, her tone low and somewhat reluctant in response. "The therapists said art might be a way to get out my feelings about Tange. But some of the things I drew... they were... not comforting images..." She brought her view back towards him once more, more somber now, her hands loosening her aviator scarf a bit unconsciously, like it was something choking her.
"Well, then I guess you'll just have to draw the pain out until you can make something comforting." Virgil concluded. He crossed his arms and made a childish and petulant face at Sayoko, eyes fixed firmly on her face. "Or maybe, it'll help you feel better because it's catharsis-- and the nasty images you make could excite the kind of people who collect pictures of war and stuff. You know, a painting of Neko soldiers on Geshrintal taking back some bunker or another from the Elysians recently sold for six-hundred thousand DA. It was on the news."
That little factoid was enough to draw out a faint smile from Sayoko, considering the subject matter he was referring to. "We are shown constantly that war is a beautiful thing, something that soldiers like you and I should aspire to and glorify..." She then added a bit more sadly, " But the reality is so much different once the dust settles. Fort Sentinel brought that horror to the forefront for us all, now it is just a distant memory under inches of tritium glass. Another graveyard added to the list of those I have seen firsthand, and carry forward with me."
Virgil shrugged. As someone who killed people professionally, he had never really participated in any historically significant battles. Instead, he just killed criminals. Or rather, he had until now. Being transferred from the regular anti-piracy patrols into Aquila Flight was supposed to be special-- though it seemed that Aquila Flight had fallen from grace before it was even fully organized. "I don't think it matters what we see." He said, "We're soldiers. We don't buy paintings. We buy... Well, like, models and toys, right? But people who buy paintings don't mind a few ashes covered with bloodstains."
"They say when you fight monsters, you often become like them eventually. Surrounding yourself with the trappings of death becomes comforting and familiar, masters of a killing machine that we fly..." Sayoko reached out to take a piece of the watermelon slices Virgil had laid out with care, its red flesh not unlike the blood he described. It had a sweet aroma as she brought it to her lips testingly, seemingly for a second like a reluctant vampire. "There are those that think I already am one, like Lt. Frost. Or the news articles circulating that make us all out to be evil... that we would destroy the base purposely, even though it was the NRF."
"Well, there's two sides to every story and they're usually both wrong." Virgil assured her, watching with interest as she sampled the watermelon. He was waiting for the approval he longed for, unknowingly trained to Sayoko's whim without even thinking about it. Perhaps deep down, he knew this, and thinking of being controlled by a foreigner like her made him say, "I mean, for as long as I can think back to, everybody around me has talked bad about Neko-- but they'll do just about anything for some decent Yamataian porn. I don't think anybody ever says what they really think, I bet they just say what they feel like they're supposed to say."
After the moment of hesitation, Sayoko munched the juicy fruit a little more speedily than even Virgil might have expected. It was a rare treat that was definitely appreciated, as she mumbled between bites, "Mmm.. like this fruit, there is something alluring and forbidden about us. After all, we're created to be perfect soldiers... but also perfect representations of unchanging, ideal beauty. Violence meets sexuality, turned into a science..."
There was a slow smile creeping across her red-stained lips, partially hidden by the green rind that matched an alluring look in the Jiyuuian's eyes. "Does the product of this combination... excite you?"
Virgil giggled cruelly. "Only when you say it like that, and make that face." He said, then reached for the buttons on his coat. With a look of pure innocence, he loosed one and then another and another, revealing the tight-fitting shirt beneath clinging to his toned, yet boyish musculature. Reclining ever-so-slightly, his eyes narrowed and assumed a similar look of playful effeminate seduction that would've been as at-home in the top-notch Yamataian porn he'd referred to as it would've been in a noisy Nepleslian gay bar filled with men and leather. Then, he let one sleeve of his coat fall off his shoulder while he mocked stretching with his other arm and let out the tiniest girlish sigh, saying sweetly, "Do you want it to excite me, 'nee-san?"
Virgil was really proud of being able to do this, and he didn't even realize just how dirty it was.
In comparison to his giggling and posing, Sayoko maintained a cool aloofness in her body language that was however betrayed a bit by how her eyes studied Virgil's form beneath his shirt, the coat falling off his shoulder especially grabbing the green-haired pilot's attention. There was certainly a latent desire to touch the real flesh beneath the fabric that she was still holding back on, and to likewise have her ivory skin caressed by him in return. The contact and warmth was something she couldn't help craving, and he was making it quite a difficult battle to resist.
But, after what he said before, it was important to be honest. "Yes, Canton-san. I believe I do," Sayoko finally offered with a tone more matter-of-fact than playful, yet still it held a certain deeper intent that he hadn't seen before from his bunkmate. Was it something in the soup?
"Oh." Virgil only blushed a little, but he did visibly relax and take his coat the rest of the way off. He folded the garment neatly and settled it on the floor at the head of the bunk before scooting closer to Sayoko and plucking up a wedge of watermelon between thumb and forefinger. "If
you want it to excite me, then..." Thin, delicate fingers ran between hair and neck, tracing jawline and sliding into the back of Sayoko's scarf. They passed with no pause over the raised, soft scars left behind by a much more careless suitor. After all, this was Nepleslia. If you didn't have scars, you were some kind of ladyboy or something. The other hand, the one with the slice of watermelon, approached. "I don't think it'll be any great chore for you to excite me, Miss Mochizuki."
Sayoko didn't fight his fingers tracing the curve of her jaw tantalizingly, though when they slipped beyond the covering she wore to explore the scars that lined her neck and shoulders the tough woman's facade cracked. It was pleasure mixed with a strange sort of pain that caused her to suck in air and quiver momentarily, Virgil's delicate hands tracing the outlines of uneven gashes and tears. Despite her body's hemosynthetic healing powers, these remnants of a tragic brush with fate still persisted... and if he looked very closely, some of her strikingly green hair was actually faded to a duller, washed out hue in spots as well.
The female pilot wasn't entirely passive for long though, as Virgil felt one of the Jiyuuian's hands resting flat on his chest in response. It felt like for a moment she was going to push him away for touching such a sensitive spot, though the strength never manifested -- instead it only slid down slowly over the ridges of his muscles under the tight shirt.
Virgil had originally intended to feed her the piece of watermelon in his hands, but quickly tossed it aside so he could put his hand on Sayoko's waist and pull her longingly towards him, craning his head so their their foreheads touched and whispering, "If I excite you as well, it'll be all up to you, Miss Mochizuki."
Still completely in uniform, the Liutenant JG reached up with her free hand to remove her garrison cap and placed it over where Virgil's folded coat rested, the small gesture letting him know that she was most definitely leaving her military stresses behind to enjoy a more... personal mission with him. As he pulled her closer, her eyes seemed to soften as Sayoko whispered back to him, "Mmm... you do. That's what makes this difficult... I've been lonely a long time."
Her strong, yet delicate hands that roamed his chest joined together to wrap around the upper portions of his back and feel the edges of his shoulderblades, as she gave a knowing smile from pale lips. "Those ladies that gave you the recipe might have neglected to mention that offering a young lady you like a watermelon could be considered in some parts of the Empire as an invitation to an... intimate encounter."
"They might've." Virgil admitted, reaching for the small of Sayoko's back and keeping a firm grip on the back of her neck. He wasn't sure just what he'd intended to do for her, but there was no denying the chemistry, the spark of intimacy between the two softspoken pilots in a flight full of big personalities and even bigger worries. As close as they were, each line in her face was something he could observe up close and scrutinize. The wrinkles in her lips were as visible as a tapestry on a monastery wall, and he studied their features silently for only a moment before resistance failed him.
He had no choice. He kissed her.
Sayoko's slim body arched slightly as she felt the comforting pressure running down her back, unconsciously making a place for his hand to fit like a glove right above where her blue over shirt ended and issue denim pants began. She wondered what was running through Virgil's mind as he studied her features intently, though it soon was apparent when his eager mouth closed the final distance between them. The feminine lips that met his were still slick with watermelon, the sweet taste of his lovingly prepared fruit mixing with an even sweeter foreign delicacy that lied beneath. His beloved Sayoko did not hesitate this time nor pull away either, as the young pilot found his kiss quite willingly received with her emerald eyes closing in enjoyment of the chemistry of the moment. Despite the fact that they had laid together for an entire night, they had not once kissed each other... until now.
Arms pressed their bodies together on the narrow bed, feminine curves pressed tight against the washboard of the male form. In the low light of the berth, Virgil kissed her until he had to breath and when the moment came he only drew back enough to take in the ragged breath and then dive back in, tearing away Sayoko's scarf and going for her neck with that adventurous, shameless mouth of his while his hands pried at any buttons and zippers they could find.
The Jiyuuian's green hair dangled like a jade curtain around Virgil's face as he went for a renewed assault on her weak spot, her head tilting up to the ceiling with a soft moan. His handiwork was also apparent as the blue overshirt's buttons opened up like a flower to let the plain white undershirt that hid her ample chest from him be revealed. He wasn't the only one making these moves, as Sayoko's skilled hands soon began slipping his own shirt off completely to feel the details of his body more directly.
"Is this what you wanted?" He whispered to her, nestling his head in between her neck and collarbone, easing the coat off but not folding it as he had his own-- there was no time for that now. His fingers crept down her waistline and his face rode up her neck until their faces were side-by-side again and he asked, still whispering, "What do you want me to do to you?"
She paused in her ministrations to let the naval uniform top slip away, bringing her gaze back to his own. There was a certain sadness mixed with pleasure in those eyes. "What I want, mmm? It should be also what you desire. I've been too selfish up until now..."
"A man's got simple desires." Virgil explained, sitting back with a smile. "I have a feeling that I'll be happy with just about anything if things keep going like this. No," He shook his head, still smiling, "I want you to be happy, too. It'll be more fun, this way."
"Fun..." Sayoko mouthed the words a few times, almost as if it was a foreign concept to her. A smile crept across her lips slowly. "I'd almost forgotten that feeling until you came along."
"You've got to have fun, Miss Mochizuki." Virgil told her, almost stern. He used her family name like he always did, though this time there was an air of false lecture in it-- like he was a teacher speaking to a child, "I can't always be around for you. What'll you do when I go to visit my parents or get transferred for incompetence?"
"...I'll work harder at it, then. Just.. don't leave me." Sayoko's voice took on a more serious tone as she cupped the side of Virgil's face with a furrow of her brow. Her voice was thick with regrets of a past love. "I've lost too many people I cared about already."
"Way to improve the atmosphere, Miss Mochizuki." Virgil snapped, then stuck out just the tip of his tongue. Seeing just how serious she was about it, though, he hesitated and made a different face. A more serious face. A gentle smile came to his lips and he imitated her by cupping the side of her face and speaking with some authority. "You know, the people you love don't leave you. Sometimes, life takes them away from you. But you've got to make new friends and new love without them. I lost somebody I loved once, but I don't think I'll ever beg anybody not to leave me. You just have to..." He frowned. This could easily end up poorly for either of them. "You gotta just know what you want in life. There's no shame in being sad for a while, but if the people who left truly loved you, they'd want you to be happy on your own."
The female pilot listened to his words, falling silent for some time as they held each other's faces. Her emerald eyes quivered, like there was this great battle going on in her soul between the inspirational words he had uttered and the gigantic wall of regrets she had built to protect herself from the pain she once felt. If she tore it down now, in this very moment... there couldn't be any repairing it if things went awry.
In his features, too, she saw for a moment overlaid those of her old flame, Mifune Shiro. The Petty Officer Peacekeeper team leader whom she trusted with her life, and followed into battle without fear of what would happen as long as they fought together. A younger Sayoko followed him all the way until the hope died that day on Tange. She desperately wanted to hope and believe again, believe in the man in front of her right now that would be beside her in battle like long ago.
"I want..." she began with a whisper, building in force to a more confident "I want you, Virgil. Help me to feel again." It almost seemed as if there was a tear in her eye as she said it.
"Don't y' know Sayoko?" He asked her, adding another hand to the side of her face, "All you gotta do to feel something is reach out and touch it."
Then, just to make sure it was clear, he took her hand in his and pressed it against his bare chest, leaning forward and touching his head to hers with a soft sound like a hum or an internal sigh. "I don't really think you need help with that."
Sayoko closed her eyes as their foreheads touched, her fingers once again tracing the lines of his chest, this time unimpeded by the fabric. The warm flesh was reassuring and welcoming, just like the sound he was making. This was real, and not a faded memory from a past life, cold and heartless. She still needed to be sure though, as her lips reached out to his this time.
They kissed again, and this time Virgil made a journey to her waist with his hands and without breaking their lips, he pulled her onto him. He traced her sides with his hands, exploring the curvature of her hips and closing his eyes to take in the smell of her skin and hair, to feel her body against his. There was no need for pretense here. They both knew the context of this meeting, and the consequences if anything were to happen to either of them. Virgil just hoped, as he leaned back on the bed, that nothing would happen to either of them for at least the rest of the night. And the chances were pretty good that he'd get his wish.
Without her walls to hold her back anymore, Sayoko allowed herself to fully feel the sensations of his exquisite touch and the closeness of his body to hers. Her kisses, passive and testing at first, became more aggressive and deeper the longer they held it... Virgil could feel her letting go of that leash on her passions through them. Then, as if a decisive point had been reached, the Jiyuuian woman broke the liplock to catch her breath, trailing a bit of glistening saliva as her emerald eyes stared straight at him. They no longer seemed cool and aloof... they were now the eyes more like the ones he had seen in those fabled Neko porn videos he spoke of.
Sayoko raised up the top half of her body, now straddling Virgil more like a cat ready to pounce, wriggling off her shirt with a second's worth of annoyance. He was treated to an envious view of her naked torso and long viridian hair, for all it's sculpted perfections and even its imperfections. Yes, this was the real forbidden fruit of today's little meal... although he had the impression he might be the one that was eaten if he wasn't careful.
Lt. Mochizuki's voice was steady with intent, though she cracked a smile that seemed to be a bit of his own staring back at him. "Ready for your promotion, Taisa no Kawaii?"
"A promotion, eh?" This, the best Virgil could manage focusing all of his effort on being gentle while he reached up her stomach, being as much of a gentleman as possible even at this extremely intimate juncture by stopping just beneath her breasts with his hands pressing against her soft skin. He considered her bust for a moment, then looked back to her face and assumed a nervous grin. "Promotion to what?"
Sayoko's face assumed the look of a commanding officer as she declared with similar decorum, "The Shosho of Snuggles." It seemed she was taking his advice to make this more fun seriously, her humor cute and genuine in that moment. With a firm grip she brought both of Virgil's hands up the rest of the way onto her breasts. "Now, for your first assignment..."
