RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 4] A Pleasant Dinner

[MoonMan]

The events on Prilisa IV were the big talk around Cirrus at the moment, even after the slave-programmed nekovalkryja were put safely into cold stasis in a secured spaceport. The scientists around the station debated and argued on their mid-day snacks of BioNutri-Snack Bean Gel about the hows and whys, some of them even wanting to study the nekos that the CSS Elite had brought in. The Cirrus Station Security members, on the other hand, either wanted to stay far, far away from the nekos, or get way, way too close for comfort for more nefarious reasons. The entire night and following day of the incident was like this...it was some much-needed life and juicy gossip at the same time.

Cassefin had no time for such things. Her list of To-Do's was far too full to allow time to listen in (or the common term for her type of listening in, also known as spying shamelessly via her wall of monitors); she had to call a Yamataian military contact to schedule of retrieval of those troublesome nekos, work with the administrator of the Prilisa IV spaceport for assessments of damages and possible slavery-transport charges, double-check the profiles of those both leaving and entering the Cirrus in the final phases of the transport shuttle runs, contact her personal medical adviser about her arm, hanging limp in the translucent sling around her chest...

...and plan a dinner for a CSS team that she did not particularly care for.

---

Meanwhile, in the hallway outside of the CSS sleeping quarters, The Squad 35 Savtechs, Mimi and Kess, had assembled all of their team members for the evening at 7:30 sharp, Trade Standard Time...and it was nearing that time. The two Cirrus Savtechs wanted to have everyone assembled bright and early, both to have a headstart on their path to Cassefin Montreal's personal quarters, and to hopefully give Squad 35 to get acquainted with a few new faces that would be joining them.

This evening Kess looked especially downtrodden, more so than her usual pessimism usually allowed. She barely spoke and made direct eye contact even less through her straight, raven hair as her volumetric persona leaned against the wall, flickering slightly every so often.

Mimi, on the other hand, was still very much the same, cheerful, far-to-optimistic as she bounced hither and fro, greeting her squad members as they arrived.

 

[Della]

Leading from the front as always, Dream was practically giddy. Moreso than Mimi, even.

After suffering so much on a planet, the recontamination and new radioisotope injections she underwent had practically regenerated her. She was leaf-green, her eye a particularly bright glow-in-the-dark shade of emerald and her hair brighter and shinier than ever. She was dancing and singing in the corridor, waiting for the squad to gather 'round.

"Ta~ta~tataa~♪ Dinner~♪ Dinner~♪ Dinner by starlight~♪ Dinner by moonlight~♪ Dines the orbit with its nodes~♪ Dine the Junkers on their codes~♪ Dine the planets and their rings~♪ Dine the radars with their pings~♪ Dines the beam, dines the stream~♪ And dines Dream with all her team!~♪"

 

[Dragonnova]

"It's just a meal, dear. Calm down."

Claire sighed inwardly a little bit. She still felt incredibly awkward around here. Having a new post didn't bother her, but the way she got into it did. Thankfully no one seemed to notice or care. In the meantime she would have to amuse herself with her hyperactive captain and the standoffish administrator. Both of which would no doubt keep her entertained for her stay here. The others on the squad she wasn't so sure about. Not that she distrusted them or anything, but they hadn't caught her attention yet.

Looking at Dream dance around in the hallways a bit more, she had to shake her head and smile. "Are you always this happy? Apart from how we met, I mean." She had noted that the spacer wasn't overly friendly back planetside. (Of course, that was pale in comparison to the others.) Then again, it wasn't an ideal situation to make friends in.

 

[AoK]

Sighing to himself, Deacon slowly made his way out of the showers, shaking off the excess water, before taking a towel to his shaggy pelt. Staring into the mirror, he moved his head from side to side, checking out his features for any sign of injury, and making sure he looked presentable for this dinner.

Which he really didn't want to go to.

After satisfying himself that he would at least pass general inspection, he began to dress in his formal attire, which for the evening was little more than his formal SMoDIN uniform, with his Kohanian longsword on his left hip, while one of his HHGs sat in the holster on his right. The scowl he wore was enough to let most of the rest of those milling around, snapping each other with wet towels know he was not in a mood for their brand of entertainment.

Stepping from the mens shower area, the Kohanian moved to his bed, once again leaping and turning in the air to land on the edge of it without the use of his hands to stabalize. He looked between his sword, and his gun, deciding to go with the katana instead, which he set onto his back by sliding head and right arm through the loop. Satisfied with this, he slipped off his bed and headed out the door, to be greeted by the cheerful Mimi, and the scowling visage of Kess. He wasn't in the mood to mimic either, so he just stood at ease, with hands clasped behind him, stoically staring ahead of himself and trying not to think any more about the failure of Prilisa IV.

 

[Della]

Dream spun and tiptoed near Claire, singing "Laugh and the Maker laughs with you, cry and the Maker laughs harder~♪" before stopping besides her.

"Well, not always, but I try to be. I mean, dinner!" She said the word like someone who doesn't really know what dinner is about. "It's a new experience for me! And actually from grumpy Headmaster Real! So I'm curious. And happy! Plus, I'm back in space, no more on a planet!!"

Then she stared long and hard at Claire, as if examining her for some mysterious reason. Her cybernetic eye whirred a bit, lens sliding her into focus, sensor flashing and changing color.

"Speaking of which, I still haven't given you a nickname and a title." She pondered. "Well, Claire is short enough. Warmonger. Warmonger Claire, ok."

 

[Dragonnova]

"I think the maker understands if you aren't happy 100% of the time though." Claire shook her head as the (slightly ADHD) spacer danced around her. No shortage of color on her at least. "Dinner isn't that special on your own. But who knows? Maybe it's the headmaster's way of asking you out?" Claire tilted her head to the side a bit and grinned at Dream.

"Planets aren't that horrible, dear. You just had a rough time on what I'm assuming was your first. Just depends on how you're raised I suppose. Besides which, Prilisa IV isn't exactly what I'd call a 'shining example'." Claire was starting to get why they were called 'spacers' now. Ah, the differences of cultures.

Claire frowned at her nickname however. "Warmonger? Why am I a warmonger? I don't enjoy war at all. Yeah, I'm a marine, but that doesn't make me bloodthirsty. I don't even like killing really..." She frowned and looked at her feet. That was odd of her though. Not that she wouldn't do it if she had to, but she took no pleasure in doing so.

 

[Della]

"It's just a title!" Explained Dream. "I'm a Priestess, my job is to take care of everyone and everything, body, mind and soul. Spacecases are specialized pilots, Datajacks are hackers and crackers, Stargazers plot courses and chart stars, Oremongers drill asteroids and extract metals, Gearheads take care of technical stuff, and so on. You're a Nepleslian soldier, right? Then you're a Warmonger." She didn't say it like it was meant as an insult, but the word still wasn't very right-sounding.

"As for Planets... the Book says: planets are the cradle of life, but one doesn't stay in the cradle forever. We moved out. Changed. We love planets, because they are the source of life and the beloved creations of Terra, but we don't go on them anymore if we can avoid it."

 

[MissingNo]

With nothing else to do -- she had no assignments, and Dream was contaminating the shrine so there was nothing to do in there -- Tweak had spent the day in hiding, reading and sketching in her journal. She knew she needed to talk with Deacon, but when she saw him that morning he didn't seem in the best of moods.

Tweak returned to the barracks to grab something to eat and found Dream dancing in the corridor. The neko adjusted her hat, tugging on an ear-flap.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking back and forth between Dream and Claire. Her eyes flicked to Kess for a moment, but refocused on the happy 'Spacer.

 

[Dragonnova]

Claire turned towards the new voice and managed to stop herself from flinching. Normally she was fairly outgoing, but the circumstances of being here made her feel awkward. Tweak had an unusual appearance like most here, but then again. She didn't think anyone could beat Dream when it came to being odd.

Still, she knew better than to judge her squadmates before she even got to know them first. "We're all getting invited to a dinner with Miss Montreal. I assume you're included.." She frowned a bit as if a troubling thought crossed her mind, but whatever it was, she shook it off. "Anyway, apparently that has our captain prancing about the hallway in excitement..." She spared a glance at Dream. She would have to let go of her notions of 'normal' on this station. "...Or something."

 

[Liam]

Just accept it. We're all a little screwy here.

Keziah felt like saying that, as she emerged from the barracks wearing her dress uniform. The remnants of the headdress were out of her hair, save for a single polished, flattened spoon that had been wound up carefully. It looked like a coin, tapping gently against the side of her jaw with each movement she made. It was the only part of her that was non-standard-issue.

Everything else screamed military. Screamed proper.

Bright polish to her boots, her nameplate looking almost white in the hallway light. Her belt, carefully and precisely set across her hips, where her beret was hitched instead of a pistol.

She stepped off to the side of the door, and stood close to the wall, at ease. Her eyes didn't meet anyone's, instead focusing on the bulkhead directly across from her, like she could burn a hole through it.

 

[Cora]

Somehow, the large Elysian managed to appear silently behind Claire.

"It takes some time to get used to her exuberance. But Dream is probably the single nicest being in the universe." Serra said as she walked past Claire over to the still dancing about Spacer. Serra was dressed in an elaborately, extravagantly expensive looking four knot Toga, the fabric shimmering under the florescent lights with the same sparkle as the night sky. And her signature glasses on her nose. "Her positivity is rather infectious." Serra said with a smile, as she plops a hand on Dreams head.

 

[MoonMan]

Mimi was going about greeting each of them as they approached, hopping merrily in sync with Dream betwixt the arrivals, complimenting everyone (no matter how incorrect) about their 'wonderful choice of clothing'. "Oh, I'm so excited for you all!" Mimi exclaimed as she pranced about, shaking her grinning face up and down. "You all must have been great down on Prilisa IV, to be invited to dinner by the Head Administrator herself! We'll be off as soon as the rest arrive! How exciting!"

Kess, in the meantime, continued to stay back from the main group. When Tweak gave her a passing glance, the raven-haired Savtech returned it, albeit for a much longer duration of time. She said nothing, and barely moved at all.

 

[Stovaa]

Heavy footsteps echoed along the corridor as the huge Id-Sol stepped out into the passage, dressed in something that bordered on formal. White shirt with a black suit, the tie absent, dropped in favour of a popped collar, and the jacket unbuttoned. Unusual as it was for someone of his calibre to wear a suit, let alone own one, it was a remnant of his time in custody, worn when he was on trial for an assortment of misdemeanors he was aquitted of. Travelling without documents, suspected illegal immigration, involvement with nefarious criminals and suchlike, the normal activities of a well-built individual living in the seedy underbelly of society.

Stovaa settled himself in at the back of the group, not quite sure why he was there, but he'd been told he had to. Didn't seem quite right that he was attending a dinner to reward his new squad for something he didn't do. Bad enough already, but it was with Cassefin, the head administrator of Cirrus that he had been told, repeatedly, was absolutely insane. Awkward in the extreme.

"Fresh meat reporting for dinner. Stovaa Drakon, private third class. What you guys did is the talk of the station and every comm channel for miles around, which makes it all the weirder that I'm going to this dinner" he said, trying to break the ice, though most likely without success.

This was gonna be a long evening.

 

[AoK]

Deacon's head slowly turned to look at the new guy. The scent was different than any of his squadmates, so when the gentleman spoke, Deacon grinned wickedly.

The two males were not far apart, so Deacon spoke while facing forward again, but with just the right level of brutish growl and a slow turn of his head.

"Mmmm, fresh meat..." He rumbled, licking his chops and again looking over to the large soldier.

"Plenty of sweet, succulent meat on there too...And with dinner still a ways off, perhaps an appitizer would be in order."

He then just stood squared up to the larger male, grinning with an insane look upon his muzzle, and a predatory glint in his eyes.

 

[MissingNo]

Tweak listened to the various answers and the talk that followed. To her, the mission on Prilisa was only a set of notes in the hardcover journal that was currently residing in a special-made holster for it hanging from Tweak's belt, over her right leg. She had heard scattered talk of the captured slave nekos too, but she didn't remember any of it.

So the squad was being rewarded for this. Neat! Tweak looked down the line of her team mates and smiled. Noticing Deacon, she remembered that she had to ask him something...but then he made his comments to Stovaa. Maybe later.

"Wait, are we supposed to dress up for this?" asked the disguised neko. Everyone was wearing some sort of nice clothing, and Tweak was just in her slightly-dirty-and-definitely-not-formal-(or even semi-) casual clothes.

 

[Della]

Well, everyone except for Dream, which had only one set of clothes. Crazy, colorful, and radiation-absorbing.

Despite this, she spun, still half-dancing, and sang to Tweak: "Of course you should~ It's dinner~ A once-in-a-lifetime chance~"

But then her attention (whatever little she had) was suddenly attracted by the equivalent of a shiny new toy as Stovaa Drakon introduced himself.

"Hello!" She called out, standing in front of him and raising a hand as either a sign like some sort of 'look here!' or a greeting gesture. "Stovaa Drakon. Stovaa." She thought about the name again, then thrust out a hand, finger pointing up to his face. Up, since she was a good 65 centimeters shorter than him and, actually, shorter than anyone save Tweak, and even that probably just because of the mess her hair was.

"...Stove! Warmonger Stove!"

Then she looked at him quizzically, her cybernetic eye whizzing and sliding him into focus. "...I can't find you on the roster. Oh, well, nevermind, just add yourself later!" She pumped her fist in the air enthusiastically. "I'm Dream! Druidess Dream Zero Zero! This is squad 35! The beautiful lady over there is Gearwing Serra, and this one-" She grabbed Tweak and hugged her, showing her to Stovaa like a trophy "-is my fellow 'spacer Gearhead Tweak Three Seven! There's good Warshaper Kez, and Warmonger Claire over there..." She scrambled, introducing Squad 35 in an incredibly confusing manner.

 

[MissingNo]

Tweak's ears would have laid back in embarrassment if her hat wasn't covering them. Even though Dream did this every single time a new batch of people came aboard, Tweak didn't know this and it was always as embarrassing to her as the first time because, to her, it _was_ the first time. Still, she gave Warmonger Stove a weak smile and stuck her hands into her pockets, then weaseled her way out of Dream's grasp to duck into the barracks.

What did she have that was nice to wear? Tweak dug through her duffel, trying to find a clean set of clothes. She washed them now as often as was possible (since Cirrus had a much better water supply than many Freespacer ships), but some were still pretty badly stained. She found her other t-shirt and compared it with the one she was wearing, deciding on the one with fewer stains. Then she wrapped an ACE bandage around both of her upper arms to hide her heat vents. As for pants, she only had one pair of those, so that decision was easy.

Flipping on the LED lights on her hat and setting them to a constant light instead of one of their flashing patterns, Tweak dropped down from her fifth-one-up bunk, donned her boots, and returned to where the rest of the squad was assembled, getting there just as Dream finished introducing everyone.

 

[Cora]

"I do have more togas if anyone wishes to change into them." Serra offered as she watches Tweak quickly beat it for the room.

"My parents were packrats so they saved all my clothes since I was young, and me being a sentimental sort, kept a few of my lucky clothes with me even if they don't fit. I might have something that would fit either you or Tweak, Dream."

 

[Stovaa]

Reflex kicked in, well-practised reactions to familiar situations as the furred alien stepped up to him with that look on his face. Meet him head on, parry him and then retort he thought to himself. The soldier looked down at Deacon as the Kohanian squared up to him. As the dog-warrior spoke, Stovaa caught the smell of wet fur.

"Damn, I hoped aliens that smelt like wet fur were only a rumour to scare recruits, turns out I've been assigned with one. You the team mascot?" Stovaa said, jokingly. "Don't even think about it, I'm not into other guys snacking on my meat."

Dream's excited and energetic movements caught his attention, drawing him away from baiting and reacting to Deacon. He took a breath while the diminutive 'Spacer began her rambling introduction with the pointing gesture. What he at first expected to be a complaint turned out to be an odd naming ritual. "Warmonger Stove, eh? Got a nice ring to it, I suppose" came his somewhat whimsical reply. Not that he had much choice in what he was called, he knew that much from recruit training. As Dream introduced the rest of the team, Stovaa saluted them in turn.

"Sorry I'm not on the roster, I was kinda hurried up here. Almost as a punishment, really. But I'm assuming that'd be why I'm not rostered," he curtly replied, none too keen to expand on why he was moved up here.

 

[Della]

"Well then add yourself on the roster!" Insisted Dream. "Things must be uploaded properly, or- ah, wait. You don't have unrestricted networking here..." She calmed down, muttering under he breath. "...oh, well, maybe your higher-ups will update it.

"Also, don't bully Deacon." She waggled her finger under his nose, protective like she were his mother.