RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 6] Sunny Side Up

George continued to sit back for a few minutes, wordlessly watching the waves lap against the shoreline as his ID-SOL companion paddled his way through the roiling waves. "Me an' Lenny never really had the time to take any kinds of vacations," George started suddenly, continuing to look into the distance. "Military paychecks aren't exactly lottery checks, and I've been workin' for them since I hit enrollment age. Lenny too; met him the first day in basic, been buds ever since. Not exactly the brightest star in the galaxy, though."

The Nepleslian leaned back a little more, resting on his shoulder and using the other hand to scrape some of the wet sand off of his damp clothing. He did so almost reluctantly; as if only making the motions for the sake of making them, and not actually for the results. "How's about you? You come here with the other 'Spacers on some foreign exchange with Captain Dream? Think the first time I saw you two was on the NSS Banning, right?"

---

The fight happening in the long hallways of the resort had starting drawing a small crowd of onlookers, all of whom were staying a safe distance away from the gaggle of brawlers. Some of the shop owners had left the safety of their counters and stood in the doorways of their stores, while other Cirrus Station researchers and securitymen alike stood on the sidelines. A couple of the hotel personnel were also standing by, a few off them looking as though they meant to intervene...but quickly lost their nerve, opting to run to the front desk to inform the Lobby Clerks.

The man Noboru had scraped with the shard of pottery recoiled a bit, grasping at the scratch but still remaining quite determined. As his foe began to approach the Yamataian, however, Noboru would quickly find himself in a bind. The other Nepleslian, thought to be resting quite soundly in a pile of dirt, had regained his bearings and maneuvered behind Noboru, locking underneath the Yamataians arms while his comrade advance. Luckily for Noboru, however, Abeck took the opportunity to press an attack on the recently-cut adversary, sinking a hefty side-kick into the man's upper body and quickly pursuing as his opponent reeled backwards, leaving Noboru on his own to break the hold upon him.

Stovaa's fight with the other ID-SOL seemed to be garnering a lot more attention than Abeck's and Noboru's, however. The earth-shattering tombstone drop Stovaa had performed caught his foe by surprise; apparently he wasn't too used to others being able to halt his bull rush, let alone lift him up. After he landed with a hefty thud, the ID-SOL rolled to the side griping at the back of his head...but it wasn't long before he growled a medicinal grunt of frustration, beating a bare fist against the tiled floor and rising, beginning to advance upon Stovaa with his two massive fists raised. The ID-SOL was, much like Stovaa, sporting a smile as he approached. A good fight was, after all, something most ID-SOLs relished when facing opponents.

When he was in range, the ID-SOL took a swing; a stunning right hook as the crowd gasped in anticipation.

---

As Claire clasped Cassefin's wrists against the table, the Head Administrator's head jerked upwards with a loud, exasperated gasp of surprise. Most of Claire's sultry words fell upon ears much more interested in wrenching their wrists out of the woman's grasp than comprehending the meaning. As hard as she tried, though, Cassefin could not pull herself away from Claire's hold, persisting until Claire released and backed away.

From her new position, Claire could clearly see Cassefin's face as the Head Administrator recoiled, her seat scooting a little away from the table, and stared at her with a gaze more shaken than angered. More pressing, however, were Cassefin's eyes; red and very moist, having apparently been so long before Claire's arrival from the looks of them. The fiery-haired Head Administrator must have realized her appearance was not very secretive about her current mood, as she quickly pawed at her eyes with the back of her hand...unsuccessfully.

"Y-you! W-what do you want?!" Cassefin blurted out, doing her best to cover her shaken demeanor with a facade of irritability.

Keziah smiled soundlessly at Claire's jab, and kept her silence as she took the clothes, holding the small bundle to her chest with both hands now. Claire's rapid shifts in mood were unsettling, and it made her wonder, Do I really matter to her anymore?

No way to know, really, except in trying. Once Claire had asked her question, Keziah reached out and tried to take her ungloved hand. It was her response.

Claire didn't back away as Keziah's hand closed around her own. In a somewhat suprising gesture for her, she clasped her other hand over it and held it close to her chest, as if she were carressing it to show that she valued it.

And then, something nobody had ever seen happen to Claire. A single tear fell down her cheek before she took a deep breath and let go. She wiped it away with the back of her glove before giving Keziah a somewhat defeated smile. Her moods truly were unpredictable, though perhaps it wasn't too much of a stretch of the imagination to think about why she would be sad. She spoke nothing either.

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Claire giggled at Cassefin's reaction to her move, apparently enjoying the chance to tease her boss. (That and she seemed like such a good target for it.) The brief panicked struggle made her realize what she did was sort of cruel, but not enough to dampen her amusement.

But now it was Claire's turn to be suprised. Her red eyes made it fairly obvious what she had been doing here. The red-headed flirt softened her expression somewhat. "Cassie, dear... What's wrong? You look so sad." She folded her arms, "Do you want me to find you a tissue or something to clean that up? Your eyes are so red. Not quite like your hair red, but still..."

Noboru, feet just barely scraping above the ground, flailed his legs wildly in an attempt to gain purchase on anything solid, failing to do so until the Nep lowered him a fraction of an inch, allowing his feet to scrabble down onto the ground. Pressing the advantage of his feet now being planted on the ground, Noboru attempted to jump back, pushing the Nepleslian over onto his back and allowing the Yamataian to break the grapple.

The gambit succeeded, barely, with Noboru unbalancing the Nepleslian just enough for him to slip out of the drunk's grasp and back to his feet. He'd lost the pottery shard in the scuffle, but that didn't really matter at this point, the off-balance Nepleslian was on the back foot again. Noboru placed a hard diagonal "karate chop"-style attack right on the left side of his neck, following up with a sweep kick to his legs.

To Cassefin, Claire's words of comfort might as well have been chiding sarcasm. The Head Administrators' shoulders rose up and stiffened indignantly while a scowl began forming across her face. The very fact she was being approached and comforted by Claire made her face begin to turn a shade of bright red...although it was uncertain whether it was from the anger or simply embarrassment filling up behind her usual front of agitation. None of this, however, was able to cover Cassefin's reddened eyes and crackling voice, as hard as she might have tried.

"Tissue?! W-what...what are you babbling about?! I am not upset!"

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Cassie, don't lie to me. I'm just showing concern for you, that's all. You can stand to have someone care about you..." Her expression softened somewhat so she didn't look like she was chastising her. "Calm down, I was just teasing you." She sauntered over to the seat next to Cassefin and sat down, turning in the seat to face her. "So anyhow, what's up? What are you doing here all by yourself?"

Cassefin wasn't sure what flustered her more; the fact she was being pitied or that she was being pitied by this woman of all people. Puffing out her cheeks slightly, the young woman shrunk back a bit as Claire took a seat next to her, ready to firmly cement some distance between the two of them. This was, after all, some very new behavior that Claire was exhibiting towards her and what with the attitude Cassefin had observed through her many, many security feeds around the Cirrus, one that she didn't really trust at the moment.

"Oh, am I supposed to feel comforted that you are teasing me?" Cassefin replied with eyes narrowed indignantly. When Claire asked for a reason to Cassefin's supposed solitude, the Head Administrator only turned redder. "W-well! Apparently...nobody was hungry. So I've been enjoying a snack here by...myself," Cassefin said, the ending of her explanation sounding a little weak in enthusiasm.

Stovaa edged away from the somewhat clumsy blow, alcohol probably having taken it's toll on the assailant, the fist missing his face by a hairs breadth. His reaction was swift, like any seasoned fighter's would be. He swung for his opponent's stomach, muscle and sinew taut, poetry in motion. He raised his other arm to cover his face, guarding against a follow up from his opponent.

He wasn't aware how the others were faring, between the crowd and his opponent he was too distracted to really notice, but he imagined Noboru would be in the foetal position by now, most likely with his foe sticking the boot in.

MoonMan said:

Cassefin wasn't sure what flustered her more; the fact she was being pitied or that she was being pitied by this woman of all people. Puffing out her cheeks slightly, the young woman shrunk back a bit as Claire took a seat next to her, ready to firmly cement some distance between the two of them. This was, after all, some very new behavior that Claire was exhibiting towards her and what with the attitude Cassefin had observed through her many, many security feeds around the Cirrus, one that she didn't really trust at the moment.

"Oh, am I supposed to feel comforted that you are teasing me?" Cassefin replied with eyes narrowed indignantly. When Claire asked for a reason to Cassefin's supposed solitude, the Head Administrator only turned redder. "W-well! Apparently...nobody was hungry. So I've been enjoying a snack here by...myself," Cassefin said, the ending of her explanation sounding a little weak in enthusiasm.

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Claire smiled faintly and shook her head. "No, that's just the way I am dear. Besides, you could stand to be teased now and then. But if I made you uncomfortable, I apologize." Claire was silent for a moment as she began to realize she was thirsting for more alcohol already. She would have to put it off till later. Enjoying it was on her agenda, getting piss drunk wasn't.

"I'm sure people were hungry, dear... but this is a resort. When was the last time you took these people out to relax somewhere? I'm sure they all wanted to explore the place and have a bit of fun first. Hell, maybe they're working their appetite up right now." Claire paused and took a sort of apologetic look. "But if they're going to eat... I don't think it'll be here, sweetie. They get enough health food back on Cirrus. If people are given the choice of variety, they'll likely take it."

"And for that matter, you should be checking the place out too. No sense on having a break if you aren't going to spend it relaxing." Claire patted Cassefin's shoulder, "And goodness knows, you need a break the most out of all of us.

Dragonnova said:

Claire didn't back away as Keziah's hand closed around her own. In a somewhat suprising gesture for her, she clasped her other hand over it and held it close to her chest, as if she were carressing it to show that she valued it.

And then, something nobody had ever seen happen to Claire. A single tear fell down her cheek before she took a deep breath and let go. She wiped it away with the back of her glove before giving Keziah a somewhat defeated smile. Her moods truly were unpredictable, though perhaps it wasn't too much of a stretch of the imagination to think about why she would be sad. She spoke nothing either.

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Which of them was tougher? Keziah, with her years of hardship working toughness into her body. Or Claire, with that ineffable something that made her able to get away with acting the way she did.

In the end, though, it didn't matter much. Keziah started tearing up, too, before she crushed into Claire, embracing her tightly. The clothes fell, and so did the towel, but she didn't care. Tentatively, she kissed Claire's neck.

What made you change your mind? Aren't you still mad at me? Are you sure this is what you want? These were all questions Claire wanted to ask of Keziah, but she suddenly found that she couldn't. The sudden embrace caught her off balance and she stumbled backwards onto the bed, Keziah still in her arms.

Claire managed to gently take hold of the sides of her face and bring it up to her own. She paused for a short moment, face-to-face, before locking their lips together in a sort of chaotic passion. The familiar and pleasant haze washed over her senses as she set out to do what she had always wanted to with Keziah...

((I'll let you decide how long that lasts. ))

MoonMan said:

George continued to sit back for a few minutes, wordlessly watching the waves lap against the shoreline as his ID-SOL companion paddled his way through the roiling waves. "Me an' Lenny never really had the time to take any kinds of vacations," George started suddenly, continuing to look into the distance. "Military paychecks aren't exactly lottery checks, and I've been workin' for them since I hit enrollment age. Lenny too; met him the first day in basic, been buds ever since. Not exactly the brightest star in the galaxy, though."

The Nepleslian leaned back a little more, resting on his shoulder and using the other hand to scrape some of the wet sand off of his damp clothing. He did so almost reluctantly; as if only making the motions for the sake of making them, and not actually for the results. "How's about you? You come here with the other 'Spacers on some foreign exchange with Captain Dream? Think the first time I saw you two was on the NSS Banning, right?"

Click to expand...

Tweak watched the rolling water as George let her in on his abridged life story. At first she didn't really pay attention (though her brain still recorded the whole thing), but then she realized what he was telling her. Why?

She avoided that question by turning attention to another one. The first entry she had found that referred to the Nepleslian duo was during a trip-gone-weird to Prilisa IV. But there was a hole in the earlier entries and a mention of this "Dream" person saying they had met before without it actually being entered, so maybe something had happened. Tweak scratched her head through her hat with a claw-tipped finger.

"Maybe. But I don't recall meeting you guys before that Prilisa incident." Or after it. She shuffled her feet a little in the sand. "Sometimes it feels like I haven't been here as long as I really have, I guess. Days blend together. Memory gets a bit unreliable..." She frowned to herself and trailed off, looking at her toes before glancing back at the resort building. "I'm going to go back inside," she added. "Thanks for showing me the beach."

Noboru's sweep quickly brought the reeling Nepleslian crashing down with a myriad of stringed curses quickly following. From the ground, Noboru's foe glared at him vehemently, slowly beginning to rise just as the other Nepleslian from before quickly stumbled backwards on top of him, knocking them both flat once more. Off to the side, Abeck approached the small pile and dusted off his sleeves, looking very proud of his accomplishment.

The ID-SOL Stovaa was tussling with cursed as his blow was dodged, his breath cut short as Stovaa winded him with the knock to the stomach. As much as the ID-SOL loathed the idea of it, Stovaa did seem to have the upper hand of this confrontation...although, that fact didn't seem to induce any amount of hesitation. The ID-SOL stepped back a bit before spinning around and launching himself forward, attempting to deliver a winding side-kick to Stovaa's chest.

Of in the distance of the crowd, there was some noise and bustling breaking through the ranks. From the look of it, the front desk had alerted some of the local authorities in place on the resort facility to keep the peace. Although the crowd the fight had gathered was stemming their advance for the moment, it wouldn't be long before they would arrive and most likely pacify the scuffle with extreme prejudice.

A small, girlish laugh bubbled up out of her throat as they tumbled down into the bed, holding herself tightly to Claire as they came to a rest. She stared down at her eyes, and for a brief instant, all her doubts and worries and insecurities washed upwards. Everything came out of the woodwork, and in that instant she could as easily have walked away. Walked away, and destroyed everything in the room. Instead, she froze.

But then Claire kissed her. Nothing else mattered, and she let herself get swept up in the passion.

30-50 minutes later...

Claire let out a long content sigh as she held Keziah closely underneath the bedsheets, her clothes on the floor next to the bed. She enjoyed sex as she always did, but it meant a lot to hear Keziah utter her name as their passions reached their climax... for about the third time.

"Ooh... I'm pretty worn out now. How about you, dear?" Claire asked her partner as she made an idle attempt to smooth out Kaz's hair.

Dragonnova said:

Claire smiled faintly and shook her head. "No, that's just the way I am dear. Besides, you could stand to be teased now and then. But if I made you uncomfortable, I apologize." Claire was silent for a moment as she began to realize she was thirsting for more alcohol already. She would have to put it off till later. Enjoying it was on her agenda, getting piss drunk wasn't.

"I'm sure people were hungry, dear... but this is a resort. When was the last time you took these people out to relax somewhere? I'm sure they all wanted to explore the place and have a bit of fun first. Hell, maybe they're working their appetite up right now." Claire paused and took a sort of apologetic look. "But if they're going to eat... I don't think it'll be here, sweetie. They get enough health food back on Cirrus. If people are given the choice of variety, they'll likely take it."

"And for that matter, you should be checking the place out too. No sense on having a break if you aren't going to spend it relaxing." Claire patted Cassefin's shoulder, "And goodness knows, you need a break the most out of all of us.

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"It's so amazing and all that you're trying to butter this all up for me," Cassefin replied bitterly, still very apprehensive with her approach to Claire. The Head Administrator was very much on edge, from the looks of it, by Claire's mere presence...but not so spooked to retain her usual attitude to permeate the meek outer shell. "But I'm not stupid. None of the security crew are fond of me, regardless of the several benefits I've bestowed upon them. So it's no wonder that my attempts to be nice even when I'm not working are...ignored..."

Cassefin's voice trailed off on the last part, but picked back up again as she intensified her moist-eyed glare on Claire once more. "So I don't even care anymore. Now did you need something? Or are you here to just bitch to me about the whole debacle that happened last week."

"Cassie... I just got done making up with Keziah over that." Claire sighed inwardly. "But I guess you have as much problems letting that go as I did." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Cassefin. I'm sorry for how I behaved. You have to understand what I was feeling then. I had just got done watching those people kill the dockworkers, shoot a woman I care for, and was just fighting for my life against moments before. Yes, I wasn't seeing the bigger picture... but can you really blame me for wanting to shoot back?" Claire shook her head.

"And it's not true... some of the security detail might be more bitter than others with how you treat them... but none of us hate you, Cassie." Claire got up and gave Montreal a quick and light hug. "I certainly don't."

"The thing is, Ms. Montreal... You're a very intelligent and beautiful young woman, but you lack social skills of any kind. That's what's putting off most of us. You can fix that though, dear. And I know many of us would be more than willing to help you with that in any way we can."

Dragonnova said:

30-50 minutes later...

Claire let out a long content sigh as she held Keziah closely underneath the bedsheets, her clothes on the floor next to the bed. She enjoyed sex as she always did, but it meant a lot to hear Keziah utter her name as their passions reached their climax... for about the third time.

"Ooh... I'm pretty worn out now. How about you, dear?" Claire asked her partner as she made an idle attempt to smooth out Kaz's hair.

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She was exhausted.

Keziah curled herself into Claire, breathing softly, sleep tugging at the edge of her mind. A nice nap, here, would be wonderful. Maybe another shower, afterwards, before finding some dinner. Her mind was, even now, roving on and on and mulling over everything else that she could be doing. Too bad the beach's rained in, her brain murmured. Could use some sun after all that time in space.

Instead, she just lay there. She'd never been with anyone as passionately as they had just been. Not that she had much comparison, but with Claire so close, and with her happiness still floating strongly over her, the darkness didn't bother her. It was a long time ago, and happened to a different girl--so it seemed.

Keziah looked up at Claire. "I can't do anything else, even if you pump stims into me." She grinned then abruptly yawned, huge and long, before settling back down. "I could sleep forever. You're... amazing."

Claire gave a silent chuckle before giving Keziah another short kiss. "Thank you dear, you're quite good yourself. Where'd you learn to do that with your tongue, hm...?" Despite her tease, Claire was feeling rather relaxed now. Keziah held the mantle for possibly being the first one for her to sleep with because she had feelings for them. It left her with a different feeling than normal... and it felt nice.

"You're welcome to rest here if you like. I might even join you. You're one of the few to actually keep up with me... You wore me out!" Claire breathed out a somewhat exhausted laugh.

"Oh deary dear," Noboru chimed in from his end of the group, watching as the crowd unintentionally impeded a group of officers of the law. "I daresay, gentlemen, it's been tons of fun a-waltzing with you, but I have to take my leave now before I suffer the tender mercies of the Nepleslian law system. Abeck, Stovaa, I suggest you do the same." Noboru made an elegant faux-bow, smirked and stumbled off in the direction of the resort wing.

Okay, so he was lost. He was headed across the foyer, in the general direction of the deserted "guilt-free" lounge, bleary-eyed, ears ringing. If there was ever a time where he had hurt more all over than he did now, it escaped memory. Well, there was that one time at basic, when Yoro kicked him in the face... And the tentacle... Okay, well, there were a few more painful occasions, but this craziness took the cake. He stumbled into the lounge and headed for the back of the room, seating himself at a booth and burying his face in the table.