RP: 5th Fleet [Chapter Four] Refuge

Kai looked up again, noting that Sif had called for more than just Alken-Hei to follow her, which, was all that he had desired, considering those two were the ones making a scene.
"Starks-Hei and Signy-Hei, you may remain here if you desire. I would like to apologize for Sif's behavior. Because of the circumstances of her creation, she has never learned proper social niceties, which can be regrettable." The Juni motioned toward the chairs, and the food, which were both available. "Feel free to sit, or eat, I have reserved this room for another hour, so that those of you whom are present may discuss hardware, or simply socialize."

Jackson-Heisho, having observed the whole mess, from the safety of the buffet table, had now come to join those near the front of the room. "Ah reckon we'll have to do somthin' about her outside of combat." the blonde suggested to the CO, whom nodded in reply. "She's a might more than a tease and can make ya feel real bad if'n ya aren't prepared for it," she explained, "Once she gets used ta ya it shouldn't be so bad. Ah think she thinks it helps build character 'r sumthin, but Ah'm not so sure it really does." April shrugged, sitting down next to Anzu and Dug in.
"Maybe next time Ah'll have ta keep tabs on her so she doesn't get so ornery" she suggested.

With the doors still open, the Mini-Neko could still hear everything they said.

"I wasn't trying to get him angry," came her flat, even voice. Sif looked like a figure far off in the distance, though she was so close and merely a few meters away. Even then, the look that she had was unmistakable. She was upset. It wasn't the angry, 'I'll kill you' kind of upset where her brows would be furrowed together while her lips curled either. Instead, it was the kind of upset that even highschoolers saw often enough. The kind where a girl stood alone, faintly frowning with a look of hurt - it was the look that most people would see when a girl was just dumped by someone they liked a lot, but were trying their best to hold themselves together. Even with the way Sif crossed her arms, it could have easily been a self-embrace as well.

And her ears were drooping.

"I am loath to admit it, but Nakamura-Juni is correct," Sif reluctantly agreed with Kai. "My judgment in combat is nearly peerless, but not so much when it comes to social matters. Combat is straightforward and easy to understand, but you are all weird. I can never match your threads of thought," she began to explain to them, tone deadpan as it ever was. "I reasoned that if I made that outrageous order, it would be funny, and Signy-Hei would lie about following it, yet at least accompany you two out and maybe show you both to your sleeping quarters. Maybe even some of the other amenities here. It's not like I know who she sleeps with, but if she did have a taste for you two, then all the better for her." She shrugged. turning to leave, but briefly stopped in her tracks. "Leave. We are on leave. Even that is strange to me. I've never been on leave before." Looking back at them one more time, she spoke again, her voice still stoic.

"I wouldn't mind doing additional training for any of you, but regardless, I'll be at the makeshift armor bays if I'm needed."

James looked back at Brandon as the other Nepleslian tried to cool him down. He knew that Sif was trying to rile him up, it was just dumb luck that he had a high tendency for responding to such things. He tried to mentally reason with himself, tell himself that it wasn't worth it. But there was a louder voice in his head that said if this wasn't addressed soon it would turn into a bigger problem later.

Getting ready to follow Sif out James was stopped by Kai calling to Starks and Signy. He listened to his CO explain the situation about his XO and her social 'lackings'. If he were a better man he would have pondered the situation and perhaps found it within himself to try feeling sorry for Sif or at least understand her. But then she started talking and that cinched it for him. Watching this miniature neko go from bad mouthing him to pulling a pity party routine just wasn't going to fly. The mere idea of it ticked him off. To think some one of her size who had the cojones to stand up to him could then turn around and act that way, it was too much. Why would she suddenly become so vulnerable? He couldn't accept that. James turned to face Sif, looking at her with a hard gaze.

"No....I don't think so. You don't get off the hook that easily."

He then walked up next to her and looked down at her, his gaze meeting hers.

"I said we are going to settle this and we will. You can follow me, I know how we're going to do this."

Anzu couldn't stop grinning during all of this. She did her very best to contain her giggles, not wanting to miss a barb or gibe. The stubborn Nep was really getting into it with Sif. Even when Kai tugged her leash and calmed her down, he kept pressing the issue. "He might not even last as long as Geiger..." She let out a low whistle in amazement, as he stubbornly continued to push for a fight. "Alright, what about this time? We can bet on this, right?" She glanced at Kai, before removing her feet from the table as April settled down next to her, sitting up straight again.

As he cemented his intent in fighting her, the Mini-Neko's hurt demeanor burned away as something else took its place in her eye.

"Machigatta."

Sif let that single word hang in the air - she flat out denied James' claim. He was inaccurate. Wrong. Incorrect. "This isn't about me 'Geetting off za Houk' you know. The universe does not revolve around me, as much as I would like it to," she flatly, shamelessly admitted, another snippet of words spoken in heavily accented Nepleslian. "This is about you going unpunished, and with Signy-Hei accompanying both you and Starks-Hei for as far as my eyesight out of this room went. Any more than that, was up to her." She let out a frustrated sigh however, finally showing some emotion. Turning her attention to Anzu, she shook her head and spoke with a firm defiance. "No. This, you cannot bet on, as it is clear that I would win."

"The bigger they are? We all know the saying," Sif shrugged, looking back at the Nepleslian. "Well? Where to, Giant-Boya?"

Hearing Sif's admission of fault - or at least of social inability - made Brandon feel like a dirty, horrible person, not in the least because of how hurt she seemed to be. He knew nekos had socialization issues. He should've expected that her perceived insults were an attempt to be friendly in an awkward manner, and not an agression. He knew enough to figure that out, but he hadn't, and because of that he'd insulted her even though she was trying to be friendly, and the nekos who hadn't done anything and... Gah, he was such an idiot, he thought shaking his head slowly for a moment.

Worst of all, he didn't even know how to properly deal with that. Still, it was his duty to make sure the squad was alright, and that included mental problems too, but nowhere in the book did it say "Chapter Five: Miniature Nekos with problems reading social situations and a matchmaking habit, diagnosis and treatment." Most of what he knew could barely qualify as generics, and it all amounted to "handle on a case by case basis, and try not to screw it up". At least now he knew that he could apologize later without it being any more awkward than a normal conversation. Silver linings, right?

Because that was all that was good about this whole mess, with James insisting on getting himself into a fight - one the medic would be really surprised if he won, too. For all he knew, it was a battle-hardened neko against a green Nepleslian, about as one-sided as it could get; and judging by Amused Neko's comments he wasn't the only one to think so. The fact that Sif went and said that out loud, though, made Brandon grimace. Calling out a certain victory was a really good way of getting the fight to go on, but she probably didn't realize that. He sighed, feeling at least partly guilty about the situation in front of him, but he couldn't do much about all that. He doubted whether to follow them to treat injuries or not since he wasn't certain the neko would hold back even slightly against James, and that may or may not mean some broken bones or even worse, a damaged implant. He so hated not knowing enough to make a proper choice. In the end, however, the manual won, and it said that he had to do check-ups on the whole squad before a mission and after, and take care of updating the records for ST; so he turned to the rest of the squad, addressing them in his mother language:

"I, ah, if anyone hasn't done a medical check-up recently, or thinks they need one..." Well, what was a proper ending to that? I'm here? Too egocentric. Come any time? Nope. "Well, it's my job, so do let me know. Same if anyone needs to update their backups or have new ones done." He looked at Freja with this last part, if she was as new as they were she might need the update. "Or anything, really." Wonderfully professional way to finish the sentence, but it probably got the message across. In any case, that was now done, so his eyes returned to Sif and James as he grabbed a bite of the offered food, torn between following them or not.

Freyja smiled as the Nepleslian tried going against the mini-neko remembering how sif had fought the mecha, Signy thought that James was attempting to commit suicide by stupidity and arrogance. "you may wish to rethink fighting her Nepleslian dying so soon would do horrible things to your military career save your anger for the enemy we are supposed to be fighting rather than making ones within our squad" she said trying to sound helpful but the neko worried that he would take it the wrong way and just try fighting everyone at once.

Turning to Brandon she said "actually I haven't had a backup for a while it would be nice to update it there was no time to do so before shipping out here but my last medical was just before I left so there is no need a check but those who were injured in the fighting might like one, probably need one in Damien's case but other than that I'm fine right now so that 'anything' can wait till some other time" the mischievous smirk on her face revealing her jibe.

All the while Freyja had been looking through the list of available equipment the Juni had given them and put together a setup that she thought could adapt to most battle field situations while remaining mobile as possible and open to further customisation should she get the chance or need to reconfigure. Deciding to name it "Abyss" she mailed a copy to Nakamura Juni she also sent a message to the medic asking when and where she should report for the backup and apologising for making a joke at his expense so soon after sif berated him.

Leaning back in her chair the neko twitched her ears and pulled out her ball throwing and catching it to pass the time.

Damien sat next to Rin and watched the show put on by the Neps. They were a couple of extremely rude, brash troopers that was for sure. Damien wasn't sure why, but he felt that they might come in handy at some point. Perhaps next time he wouldn't be volunteered to take point. The really annoying part of the whole thing was that they were busy attacking Sif like she had done something wrong. Not that she had helped the situation any, but she certainly hadn't initiated contact. Damien simply shook his head at the Neps as they continued to agitate the situation even after Kai had managed to call off his attack dog. Damien could only hope that the Neps would show the same fighting spirit when faced with an enemy who wouldn't hold back. Or so he would hope.

Thinking of potential combat situations, Damien's mind floated back to the task at hand. What to bring with him to combat. His last combat experience had shown him quite a bit about the squad and his teammates. It had also shown him a lot about himself and his own abilities. While Damien had no aspirations to be a combat leader, he did want to contribute. Other than being shot at, he only felt moderately useful directing heavier weapons against the Render. His own rifle fire seemed to have a negligible impact on the fight, and thus Damien thought of a heavier weapon. But which one would it be? Scanning the list, the Automatic Grenade launcher caught his eye. That would certainly be a very effective choice, but would it compliment the rest squad? Damien wasn't sure what everyone would go with, but he noticed that Rin was rather quickly compiling her list. Looking over his shoulder, like a child cheating on a test, he tried to see what she would be submitting. It felt stupid, but he figured he might as well ask.

"Hey Rin, I'm going to talk with Jackson-Heisho and Anzu-Hei about my armor setup. I know you’re probably already done, but you’re welcome to tag along” offered Damien before getting up and heading over and sitting next to the other members of his squad.

“Hello Jackson-Heisho and Anzu-Hei. Ummm… sorry to bother you, but I had a question about my armor setup. I was thinking about picking up the Type 35 and ASGR for my two primaries. Do you think that would make a good match and what other equipment do you think I should go with?” questioned Damien, asking the two more experienced soldiers their thoughts on weapons. It certainly seemed like a rookie thing to do, and Damien felt extremely uncomfortable doing it, but if the right choice of weapons meant the different between living and dying, he could certainly suck it up.

Listening to the rest of the squad drift away, Sif couldn't help but prod him further.

"Are you still dead set on this Alken-Hei?" she asked, arms crossed and with a look of stoic defiance locked to her face. Nevermind that moments before, her eyes looked slightly swollen from holding back 'excess moisture'. It seemed the Mini-Neko was gearing herself up for the upcoming fight, already attacking his nerve. "This has yet to begun, and already, everyone is leaving. They all know how this will go," she pointed out to him. "It's been years since any Nepleslian has so ignorantly challenged someone such as myself - in the past, it had always ended disastrously. But if this is your path, I will do nothing to stop you from walking down it."

"Just remember, when your death is only the beginning, that you chose this."

James watched as the hardness returned to Sif's gaze. He listened to her's and everyone else's comments on her 'certain' victory. This only served to agitate him more. He felt his resolve rise to new heights as he returned likewise comments towards Sif.


"We'll see Short Stack. You talk as if this has already been decided yet I think it is you who doesn't know who you are dealing with. If you as 'powerful' and opponent as you and your groupies seem to say then it is even a further reason for this to happen. A man's life is nothing but tackling one hardship after another. To feel the universe rise and try and crush you both spiritually and physically just to have your manly spirit rise in kind in utter defiance! No, I will not turn back, and whether you're a Nekovalkyrja or a NMX Render it doesn't matter! While others run I will stand forward and say fight! To combine unbridled courage with irrational logic, that is what it means to be a MAN!! Now enough talk, let's get to this!"


Satisfied with how things were turning out he nodded his head towards the door in a 'this way' motion. With that he turned and went out the door, leaving the meeting room. He didn't even stop to see if Sif was coming, he strode forward purposefully, like a man on a mission. The way he took ended up leading them to the third floor of the hotel. He seemed to be looking for something in particular, stopping a few times, and eyeing a few doors like they might be what he was looking for.


James finally stopped at one, seeming to think it could be what he was looking for. He tried the door knob but it seemed to be stuck and wouldn't turn. Thinking that maybe it suffered some damage during the battle James braced himself to knock it down. He tried his shoulder a couple of times before finally leaning back and giving it a solid kick. The door flew open like a bad action movie and he stepped inside. A moment later there were grunts and screams of surprise from what sounded like a man and a woman. James hurried out fast, his face looking both surprised and flushed. His head shifting back and yelling at the open.


"Damn a warning would have been nice! At least put a hanger on the door or something!"


He paused for a moment, his face still flushed as he looked down at Sif. With a look of anger, mixed with guilt and a hint of indignation he said,


"Shut up. Don't say a damn thing."


He then continued forward again. He eyed a couple more doors with a little more care before finally stopping at one. He tried the door knob and it turned easily, the door slid open. Inside was a bar, made to look a little older and rustic most of it was made out of wood in the style of an old saloon. One section of the outward facing wall had a hole blown in it allowing its occupants a look outside. It had started to rain and the refreshing smell of cleansed air began to seep through.


James walked forward to the bar and looked around. It seemed this place had been raided already, but with a look under the counter he was able to procure a dusty bottle of whiskey. He blew some dust off of the bottle in order to read the label, coughing a little as some shot back in his face. He smiled as he realized it was a Nepleslian brand. Grabbing a couple of shot glasses he walked forward to one of the wooden tables that was knocked over. With a kick he brought the table back up right and sat the things in his hands down upon it. He grabbed a seat and sat down. It took him a couple of seconds before he realized that the chairs were far too big for Sif to sit. Getting up he looked around for a moment before once again heading behind the bar. He brought back with him an old wooden box of matches, seemed this hotel went as far out as possible to keep with themes in certain areas. He set it down across from him on the table top. Looking at Sif he smiled a menacing smile.


"This is where our challenge will take place. Are you sure YOU are up for this Short Stack?

Fieke had watched April enter the room before her and had meant to follow but instead had found herself caught up in watching and listening to of one the Nepleslian recruits parade himself about from the fact that the XO had slighted his honour and tapped into his insecurities.


The OriSec veteran shook her head as the man stomped off – really, it seemed like the one who was having a bit of trouble dealing with post combat stress was the one guy who hadn't even been shot at for his entire stay on the planet. Adjusting her goggles and looking down into her helmet Fieke read the status message that her AI was flashing across the visor before sighing and deciding she needed to get her own situation straightened out before she worried about anyone else.


Moving her armoured bulk into the room and smiling quietly at the comparatively cohesive section of the squad that had been allowed to stay inside the room the Abwehran moved over towards where Kai had seated himself.


“Squad Leader, Sir.” Fieke clipped out in a professional tone as she fought down any hint of colour that was trying to show on her face as she was finally marching towards the consequences of her multitude of poorly made decisions. “I thank you for enduring through the inconveniences of the service I so bluntly forced on to your and yours and apologize for... ah, for my hasty words at the outset of the operation.”


Keeping her head held up and hoping that the Juni could tell when a Nightwalker was being sincere despite the fact that their ever present eyewear hid their eyes from view Fieke tensed and then forced herself to relax. The Corporal moved her helmet forward and gestured towards it with her empty left hand and then spoke in a more relaxed tone. “Sorry ta' continue to bother yah, but – ah, ever since I integrated into the Squad sensor and communications network I've been getting 'operational security' flags flashing at me every time I've tried to connect back up with the Origin Security channels.” Fieke shrugged heavily and looked about for a few seconds before let a long exhalation out through her nose. “Don't suppose you got the weight to work your way through all the command tape and get me back in contact with my boss do yah Gruppenführer?”

Anzu tsked at yet again not being allowed to run bets on a fight. "I was hopin' someone would be dumb enough to bet on him..." She watched the Nepleslian stomp off for their rumble, possibly behind the bleachers or next to the bike racks. Then the one she'd tried to bet against the first time walked over. She glanced between April and the Yamataian asking her these questions, furrowing her brow as she tried to consider the options honestly.

"I don't think I'd trust you with that many explosives, considerin' what we've seen so far." She smirked. "Maybe you should try one of those cannons you can just mount here," she tapped at her shoulder, "have the Daisy shoot it for yah. Then you can concentrate on aimin' your LASR." She shrugged. "Personally, I don't trust all that foreign-built stuff..." She glanced over at Fieke talking to Kai, obviously dismissing all of the Origin equipment out of hand. "You could try an ASP, or one of the SMGs..." She trailed off, not certain what was on the list, since it hadn't been shared with her.

Like an animated princess, the Mini Neko gaily skipped along behind him like a ballerina, feet propelling her though rainbow filled leaps and bounds.

Except, her face was set into a deadpan disinterest - one that looked utterly disinterested and bored. For her, it was already a decided matter after all. When the young Nepleslian looked away and dun goofed, witnessing the circle of life in-progress, James naturally looked back at her. But right next to him, at eye level, was a big, wide Grinch of a Grin and a twinkle in the Mini-Neko's eye as she floated there. This was something she wasn't going to let him live down so easily. Post-Detour, the two arrived at their arena. Their stated stadium of challenge. Their Colosseum. And Sif couldn't help but double-facepalm at his proposition. Looking at him with disappointment, she could only say one thing to him.

"Baka."

Niel was irritated. In training he had seen well above average scores on any test of combat prowess. It was another thing entirely to be reminded that out in the field he was just another dumb grunt. As the last and only fight had. The Minkan growled to himself as he stepped into the room with his squadmates. A little bit of a dark look on his face. Screw rest periods he was gonna work any down time for what he could.

Clearing his head and his face he settled for a slightly relaxed impassive look despite his inner emotions and caught Freyja as she made her way to the exit.

"What did I miss?" he asked

Aya felt waves of relief as she realised that Anzu was not, in fact, still harbouring negative feelings about what had occured earlier (or so she hoped). She giggled quietly at the older Neko's comments (and Sif's quick witted response) and waited for Kai to begin the meeting in earnest. She was completely and utterly enraptured by the possibilities offered. As a result, Aya spent several minutes hemming and hawing about which upgrades to go for, though she kept a keen eye on the others.

Feeling that she might as well clear up anything about her role in the altercation, Aya waited for Anzu to be unoccupied and then said to her, "Hey, about earlier... just so you know, the reason I interfered was so that you didn't get into trouble... or at least so that you got into less trouble. I don't know what the Juni has planned for you, but I've always got your back, okay? I'd like to think we're buddies, and buddies stick together!" The Neko put on her best 'I believe in you!' grin.

She felt slightly silly again, but Aya wanted to make sure everything was said and done even if Anzu felt better now. Otherwise it would just keep on coming back to haunt her.

Rin made the changes to her weapon loadout that the Juni suggested, tapping on her datapad all the while. She thought it was strange that Damien was sneaking a peek at her datapad instead of simply asking her to see it. But before she could answer him, he rose from his seat to speak with Jackson and Anzu. Cocking an eyebrow, Rin reviewed her final changes and then put her datapad away.

Suddenly aware she was ravenous, Rin rose from her seat and walked towards the buffet table to acquire food for herself.

April listened to Damien and then let Anzu speak her piece before responding herself. "Actually, Ah think it'd be a good idea to have somethin' heavier hittin like the AGL on the team. Seems ever'one else is goin' fer a rifle of some kind, since they are damn useful, but, ya can go fer the launcher and a rifle and you'd be useful in juss' about any situation, which would definitely be a benefit to the team." April nodded at her wisdom, ignoring Anzu's distaste for the new equipment that was being offered to the squad, and of which she herself had partaken in the testing and development of.

"As fer other equipment" The blonde continued "Ya might wanna get some sort of countermeasure missiles so ya can take down shields and knock out missiles, which'll make yer other weapons more effective. Now, would ya call yerself trigger-happy? 'Cause if so, ya might wanna think about carrying extra ammo. If not, an extra barrier module would help ta boost yer defenses an' make the battlefield a bit more survivable, yannow?"

******************

The Juni looked over the odd power-armor-clad Abwehran, listening to the questions she had. "Your boss?" he replied, rhetorically. "She is here, actually, which I heard was one of the reasons you were assigned to the hotel. Unlike the rest of us, you actually aren't on leave. Last I heard, she was with the armorers, helping make modifications for us and other squads. I would suggest going down and finding her yourself." He paused, glancing at the door, but seemed to remember the Abwehran's other request. "Oh, you'll remain connected to our network until representative Merkur sees fit to return you to your former duties properly."

That business taken care of, the Juni went back to his datapad, shuffling through the armor loadouts that the squad was sending him, and approving or suggesting modifications on them for his squadmates, and then sending them to the Armorers as well as the Origin representative who was helping them. Said representative was, currently, Exactly where Kai said she would be, out in the makeshift Power Armor maintenance yard which had been erected in the hotel's courtyard. On top of overseeing modifications and helping with repairs, she was also rather annoyed. With one person in specific. An Abwehran Corporal whose surname was Amsel.

Brandon watched the mini-neko leave with James, who was set in his quest to regain his manliness. Or something along those lines, probably, and the second neko's admonitions of caution would be more fuel to the fire.

"That can't possibly end well..." He muttered to himself, turning his attention to Freyja herself as she took him up on his offer to take the backup - everything normal, up to the point where her final comment, implying he'd invited her to something more than just work, had the Nepleslian feeling both embarrassed and surprised but hopefully doing well at hiding both. He definitely didn't mean it that way, and he couldn't help but worry if it was part of some elaborate plan to get back at him for his previous comment about nekos.

Either that, or the nekos were just that open around outsiders to the idea of sex, which he found... well, both amazing and somewhat impossible. It would definitely explain why they were banned in Neplesia - they'd turn the whole population of Neplesia into nekos in a couple of generations if they were allowed, which was probably not what their leaders had in mind. His odd trail of thought was interrupted by the beeping of his pad. He pulled it out, mail from an unknown. The message, however, seemed to be pretty much related to what had transpired just recently. Bit of a weird way to communicate, but it worked. He sent a quick reply:

"I got no duties for now, so any time is good. Still have to find where the ST unit is, I just arrived, but it would be there. And don't worry about it, I guess. - Brandon"

More importantly, however, her admission of having taken a shot at him cleared at least partly some of the doubts he had in his mind - if it was too good to be true, it probably wasn't true - and while he was... well, slightly annoyed that it seemed to be fashionable to mess with the new guys, he couldn't really get angry over an apology. Still, he didn't quite feel all that welcome, in no small part thanks to his own idiocy, so he tried to find something to do to avoid having to have any further social contact. At that moment it dawned on him, and soon he was writing another mail, this time to his commander.

"Sir, it might be good for James and I to have some combat stims in case of an emergency. If you agree, I can send a list with the names of a few commercial drugs that could be used to mix them.

I am looking forward to your response.
Dr. Starks."

He spent a long time typing the message, worrying about keeping it properly formal and respectful while converying what he wanted it to. It wasn't all that simple, but in the end he reached a version he was satisfied with and hit the send button. Now, to wait for the reply indeed.

Damien nodded as he took the feedback from April better than he did from Anzu. Anzu seemed to have a distaste for things that she wasn't comfortable with but April seemed to see the bigger picture. Damien was glad that she agreed with his assessment that the squad needed something more heavy hitting than standard rifles. He of course had to decide what rifle he would pick to complement his AGL. Damien nodded to April saying "Thanks for the help, I'll draft up a setup and send it on".

With that Damien plopped down in the chair and went to work on his setup. While he would have preferred one of the new GR series rifle, Damien figured that the weight of 2 60 pound weapons, plus two different types of ammunition would be a little much to carry. He figured it would be better to carry the plasma rifle as a solid secondary for his AGL. Plus it didn't have extra ammo needs which allowed him to carry more AGL Drums. While he didn't consider himself to be horribly trigger happy, 150 rounds didn't really seem like a lot, especially when spread across three different ammo types. Thinking on the situation some more, he decided on an equipment pack with more AGL drums. Hopefully this would be enough firepower for him. Finishing up his setup, he sent a message to Kai containing his setup for his new armor, Serenity.

Anzu rolled her eyes dramatically as April weighed in, suggesting basically the opposite of everything the Neko had said. Thankfully Aya walked over to distract her while the other two talked shop. She looked up, giving her fellow Neko a big grin. "No worries kid. I manage to get into trouble like that pretty often." Her eyes flickered over to the officer sitting next to her for a moment, before standing. "Heh, sure thing buddy!"

Still smiling wide, she reached over to squeeze the taller Neko's arm. The friendly gesture helped to disguise a quickly sent message. "Be careful. These bigshots aren't like us. In lotsa ways." She broke contact quickly enough, giving her arm another pat before turning towards Kai now that everyone seemed to be quietly making their final accessory selections.