What's new
Star Army

Star ArmyⓇ is a landmark of forum roleplaying. Opened in 2002, Star Army is like an internet clubhouse for people who love roleplaying, art, and worldbuilding. Anyone 18 or older may join for free. New members are welcome! Use the "Register" button below.

Note: This is a play-by-post RPG site. If you're looking for the tabletop miniatures wargame "5150: Star Army" instead, see Two Hour Wargames.

  • If you were supposed to get an email from the forum but didn't (e.g. to verify your account for registration), email Wes at [email protected] or talk to me on Discord for help. Sometimes the server hits our limit of emails we can send per hour.
  • Get in our Discord chat! Discord.gg/stararmy
  • 📅 October and November 2024 are YE 46.8 in the RP.

RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 6] Sunny Side Up

Deacon smiled as he hopped down out of the shuttle and headed over to the male standing beneath the umbrella. He took off his shoulder bag, smiled his best to the male, and then spoke just loud enough to be heard.

"Deacon. Just Deacon, that's my name. Put my bag in my room, wherever that might be, and then you can send someone down to the beach to find me. I am not afraid of a little rain and some wind."

Then he gave his species' trademark cackle and ran down towards the water, tail wagging slightly and ears laid back in glee.

Maybe he WAS a little too weird.
 
"Sevyn" Cyril said simply as he hustled past the porter. He didn't pretend to know how he planned on getting everyone's stuff to their rooms, whether or not he had some drones stashed away somewhere or if he was just going to get a lot wetter before the night was through. He didn't particularly care what the guy was doing anyway. All his luggage was on his back, and right now he was more worried about Kaz then anything else.

Cyril hurried across the landing field after Keziah, striking a pace somewhere between 'I don't want my bandages to get soaked' and 'I don't want to collapse on the tarmac'. It was getting pretty obvious that whatever had happened between Kaz and Claire, it was a few steps higher up the crisis ladder then 'fight between friends'. He didn't know if she wanted to talk about whatever it was, hell a part of him was baffled why she'd even give him time of day, but he felt that he should at least make the offer known.

Cyril took a moment to wipe the water off his face as soon as he entered the hotel proper. The entrance was pretty much the classiest place he'd even set foot in. The the swank surroundings went mostly unnoticed. The first thing he'd noticed was that Kaz had made a b-line for the side of the lobby that Claire wasn't going to. Filing that away for later, Cyril headed after his friend.

"Do you need a hand with anything, Kaz?" Cyril asked once he caught up with Keziah. It was one of those statements that could mean as much or as little as Kaz wanted it too. But it was farely clear that Cyril was offering whatever little was at his disposal.
 
Cyril's words brought her to a halting stop, just outside the ballroom. Keziah turned to him, and the rainwater streaming down her face, dripping off of her hair, made it look like she was crying.

Wordlessly, she turned and kept going into the resort. The beautiful decor--paneled walls, soft music playing from somewhere, tasteful lighting--didn't do much for her. She had gone scarcely ten steps before she turned back to him, sliding the duffel off her shoulder.

"I'm an idiot." Her voice was thick as she let herself fall into a wall, hitting it with her shoulder. "I made her point her weapon at me." She slid down to the floor, her legs splayed out in front of her.
 
Noboru, currently well inside the resort proper and equally drenched as anyone else, was just giving his credentials to the guy at the front desk and taking in the opulence in the lobby when he heard something. The unmistakable sound of human bawling, just outside the door. Sure enough, when he turned around, he saw Keziah and Cyril, the Dynamic Duo v2.0, having a conversation outside the door. Well, Keziah was talking. Cyril was doing more along the lines of "fatherly head-nodding". Noboru decided he at least owed it to the two wounded veterans to help out somehow.

Leaving his luggage on the floor next to the reception desk (and making sure to put on the zipper lock), Noboru slowly opened the front door and stepped back out under the awning where Cyril and Kaz were standing. He crouched down beside Kaz, barely keeping his knees elevated above the soaked pavement, and looked at her calmly. "You need anything, Kaz?" Was his only few words.
 
Cyril dropped down to one knee next to Kaz, only spairing Noboru a nod when the Yamataian arrived. It wasn't that he was trying to be rude, or that he didn't want him to be there. Kaz was just a little more important right now.

It was the first that he'd hear about this from... Well, anyone really. He didn't know why Keziah would point Claire's (he didn't need three guesses to know who 'she' was) gun at herself. But he was sure there was a reason for it. Kaz was a smart woman, she wouldn't have done something like that over a little fight.
And it was obvious that not talking about it had been eating her up inside, either because of the act itself or the split between herself and Claire. He wasn't sure if he'd be her first choice for a confidant, but damned if he wasn't going to do his best as the next best thing.

"What'd posess ye to try that?" Cyril asked gently, out of suprise and worry rather then any sort of condemnation.
 
"Wait, try what?" Noboru was confused. He'd just been drenched in gale-force winds filled with the natural equivalent of someone dumping several five-gallon buckets over your head, and now he was pitching in helping with a mental inpatient and a little robo-man with a strange accent. If they added a few androgynous teenagers dressed in multicolored tribal garments they would have a Yamataian cartoon.

He was also out of the loop here because, while the drama with the gun in the lobby was unfolding, he was either making his attempts to get to engineering and booze, or shut the hangar doors before or after they had been re-opened.
 
As most of the remaining Squad 35 ran into the lobby, they were met with some impressive architecture. Lofty ceilings, vibrant decorative plants and a large assortment of ornamental aquariums lined the very walls of the Sunny Side Up resort lobby. The large reception area split off into two wings, clearly marked by large, volumetric signs hovering above the vine-wound archways; Sunny Sands to the right and Sunny Palms to the left. While some of the other miscellaneous Cirrus crewmembers entering the lobby from the rain-drenched exterior were more than happy to take a seat amongst the several benches, most of them quickly absconded to either wing of the resort. Some, instead, simply ran (quite literally ran) to the Lobby Bar near the entrance to Sunny Palms. The barman was looking rather haggled by that point.

After taking a moment to catch her breath, it was Purina Popjoy to make the first move. "I don't know about you all," the pink-haired Popjoy said as she wiped the moisture off of her two-piece, "but as far as I know, a little rain doesn't ruin a good, under-the-roof spa! Whaddya say, ladies?" Purina grinned cheerfully as she bounced approvingly between Serra, Jen, Tweak, and (having skipped Cassefin completely) Claire. She stopped at Claire, however, leaning in a bit and speaking a bit lower. "You should invite your friend over there as well; she's looking pretty glum." Purina was, of course, talking about Keziah, who was off to the side against the wall, flanked by Cyril and Noboru. Purina bounced back to the head of the group with a lovely smile, her hair still in perfect placement despite the weather (most likely through the use of some extremely heavy-duty product). "Come on, my treat!"

Cassefin, still a bit frustrated from the decline in the weather, spoke up in a similar manner as Purina Popjoy had earlier. Although, while Purina's invitation sounded like an invitation, Cassefin's sounded more like the usual Cassefin fare; an order. "Well. The brochure said something about a "guiltless grill". That sounds like a very good place to get something to eat while we wait for the weather to clear. Much better than some dingy bar or sweaty spa."

The choices...they were just so hard to decide.

---

While the rest of the group was fixated between the two administrators, George and Lenny had hung around in the back, silently, slowly dripping dry from their mad-dash to the lobby with the rest of the group. The two had been exchanging peculiar glances between each other the entire time...which eventually culminated in George slinking his way through the crowd and tapping Tweak lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey Tweak," George said in a low voice, hoping to not disrupt Purina or Cassefin as they exchanged invitations. "You, ah, mind commin' with me an' Lenny real fast? We need your help decidin' somethin'".
 
Claire frowned at Purina. She was trying not to think about that right now, and the others were not making that much easier. "Looks like she has an escort anyway. She doesn't need ME around." The twinge of irritation in her voice was unmistakable, and for a moment, she almost sounded like Cassefin. "Besides, I need to make sure my luggage gets where it needs to go." Not that she had that much to begin with, but nonetheless, she obtained the key to her room and stalked off towards it.

To the observant bystander, Claire was under about as much stress as Keziah was. Apparently her attempts to divert her mind were not working as well as she wanted them to.
 
For a moment, it was just Cyril, and they were finally free from the rest of the squad.

Then there was the Yamataian, and the rest of the Cirrus crew flooded into the lobby, and suddenly she didn't want to talk anymore. Her tears stopped, her voice clearing, sharpening, and she stood up. Not cheerful, but simply impassive, like she had remembered where she was and who there was.

"Try and make Claire shoot me instead of some murderers." She pulled her duffel up, slid it onto her shoulder. She shrugged, passing a look between the two men. "It worked."

Then she turned on her heel and marched towards the nearest beach exit. Nobody would follow her out there, she was certain, and she dropped her duffel just inside the resort before, once again, walking out into the pouring rain.

If it was possible, the rain had thickened, and the waves assaulting the beach were thick with foam, washing up barely shy of the manicured grass. She kept walking, picking up a beach chair from a stack near the resort and setting it up in the sand, so the waves would wash over her feet. Not caring anymore, she peeled off her soaked jacket and let the rain batter her dress and bare skin.
 
At the suggestion of the unfortunate staff member who was waiting for the flight, Stovaa left his luggage and headed into the lobby of the resort, almost ignorant of the belting rain, his massive frame an immense amount of water. As he neared the desk, he suddenly swerved off towards the bar, returning a few seconds later with a large cocktail jug filled nearly full of whiskey. He meandered over to the desk and got his room key, slipping it onto a thin chain around his neck. He sipped at his drink, pushed back his soaking wet hair from his vision and set about doing what alcoholic Neppies did best: schmoozing it up.

Hearing the tail end of Claire's conversation with Purina and noticing her heading off, he followed her, waiting until he got within a few metres of her before speaking up.

"Not in the mood for the spa, eh? Hope you're not heading off for an early night, the day is young!" he began, years of bar-room banter creeping back after what seemed like years away from it. He glanced at the room key in her hand, a passing glance. "Oh, you're up in this wing too?"

(waiting to post = tired D: )
 
As Keziah made her way out to the beach, through the pelting rain, she might have seen a shape bobbing through the waves off the coast. While the rest of the squad had been meandering and schmoozing around the inside of the resort, Deacon had been true to his word and was swimming through the battering waves, cackling like a fool. It had been so long since he had the joys of rain, that he was taking full advantage of this opportunity.


Not far from where Keziah rested, was another beach chair, legs buried all the way up to the seat so it didn't blow away, and tied to that by the very cloth that made them up, was Deacon's khaki pants, and black tanktop.
 
Nobody would be stupid enough, eh? Well Noboru wasn't exactly somebody, most of the time his existance was barely acknowledged. So the lanky Yamataian merely straightened his goggles again and waded out into the rain, about a minute after Keziah's departure. Almost immediately regretting the decision- it seemed that, instead of calming, the storm had picked up in intensity- Noboru set out down the beach, attempting to follow Kaz's small footprints in the sodden sand. However, the light was low, and he could see. Not just that purple haze with the goggles on, he could see. Lifting his goggles to his forehead, Noboru took off down the beach and arrived in record time.

Noting her mood and posture, the Yamataian said nothing, merely removed his aloha shirt and draped it around Keziah's shoulders before sitting down in the sand next to her, leaving his goggles up and just looking out to sea. He noted the sea monster swimming about in the ocean, twitched briefly, and then noted it was Deacon. Shrugging as he reclined again, he noted that his clothes were tied to his chair, twitched again and immediately turned his gaze to a swatch of ocean well away from the wolfman.
 
The shuttle eventually finished unboarding and Tweak got up from her seat, picking up a knapsack she had borrowed for her book. The belt harness she normally used would have let sand into the pages. The bag kept the book safe and close at the same time.

Slipping the bag under her windbreaker, Tweak was the last one to dash to the shelter of the resort's lobby, where the administrators were making their bids for company as crew scattered to rooms or the bar. Tweak hung back, not really wanting to do much but find a quiet spot. Claire's refusal of Popjoy's offer sounded just as angry as the comment made earlier in the shuttle. Tweak stared at Claire a while with a focused sort of interest, until a tap on her shoulder got her attention.

MoonMan said:
"Hey Tweak," George said in a low voice, hoping to not disrupt Purina or Cassefin as they exchanged invitations. "You, ah, mind commin' with me an' Lenny real fast? We need your help decidin' somethin'".
Click to expand...
She frowned for a split second at being bothered but lifted her eyebrows anyway. 

"Do I know you?" 
 
It was pretty clear that Kaz didn't want to talk about what had happened any more. He didn't know if it was him, or Noboru or just the rest of the squad. But seeing her run off like that, it was clear that she didn't want to be followed. He didn't know if Noboru hadn't picked up on it, or if he just chose to ignore her body language. Either way, he felt a little obligated to try and set the Yammie straight.

The stormclouds outside and the driving rain mad it almost as dark as a night-cycle out. And now that it was raining harder, it looked even more like a fire fighting system. Cyril found himself hesitating for a second at his natural instinct to run for an escape pod that he knew wasn't necessary. Brushing a hand through his still soaked hair, he took a deep breath to banish the minor case of nerves. Finally, rampping up the light amplification on his eyes to eleven, he headed out into the storm after the two of them.

It didn't take much to find them, being the only two chairs on the beach. He could make out the gaudy shirt Noboru had been wearing draped unnoticed over Kaz's shoulders and the man himself getting steadily soaked off to the side. Forging his way over to the platinum blond Yamataian, Cyril crouched down next to Noboru's beach chair. Looking off in the direction of the Kohanian frolicking in the waves, Cyril spoke just above the volume of the rain. "Hey, N, I know you're trying to be a mate, but I think that Kaz needs some space, aye? What say we cut her a berth, at least for a while?"
 
"I wish I had brought my swimsuit."

Keziah seemed oblivious to the two men around her as she watched Deacon, envious of the ease he rushed through the waves. It had to be him, since nobody else had that body shape, the massive amount of muscle. And most everyone else had too much metal in them to float properly. Herself included. With the aloha shirt, her modesty was maintained, as the rain turned the dress virtually transparent. She was wearing underwear, but even that wasn't much help against the deluge.

Suddenly, she stood up, and looked back at Noboru. "Listen to him." Through the driving rain, she had to yell a bit to hear herself properly. "I want to be alone." In truth, she wanted to go where almost nobody would follow. Not that they'd know.

She peeled the aloha shirt off her shoulders, handing it back to Noboru. "So go get drunk, or whatever you Yamatians do nowadays, and get dry. I'm not worth your time." Then she turned away from both of them and headed out into the water. It was cold, making her gasp quietly the first time it washed against her thighs, but she ignored it and waded up to her hips. Then she dove in, and took off like a fish.

She swam out for a while, then turned parallel to the shore and continued like that, simply enjoying the pull of her muscles against the water.
 
Noboru noted his complete brush-off and shrugged. It wasn't the first time somebody had shrugged him off while he was trying to help; he'd tried once in the Star Army and been shot down, and the second time he had recieved a fucking court martial. So he picked his sodden aloha shirt up off his lap, stood and pulled it on, shielding his eyes from the downpour and turning towards Cyril.

"Alright, sounds fine to me." Noboru forced a contented expression onto his face. The hell he was; the Yamataian had a pit in his stomach that said thatsomething might happen to Keziah out there... But it wasn't his place to worry, problems with Kez and Claire were problems for Kez and Claire, and it was time for Noboru to head up to his bunk and dry off anyways.

"You wanna go hit the bar?" Was Noboru's first question as he buttoned up his aloha shirt and pulled his goggles down again. He felt like, in the next day or so, he would probably be spending a lot of time at the bar, when he wasn't locked inside his room reading, out scouring pawnshops for novelty trinkets or waiting for the weather to clear up so he could go swimming.

More Aloha shirts were definitely part of the plan.
 
Stovaa said:
Hearing the tail end of Claire's conversation with Purina and noticing her heading off, he followed her, waiting until he got within a few metres of her before speaking up.

"Not in the mood for the spa, eh? Hope you're not heading off for an early night, the day is young!" he began, years of bar-room banter creeping back after what seemed like years away from it. He glanced at the room key in her hand, a passing glance. "Oh, you're up in this wing too?"
Click to expand...
Claire felt a twinge of mild annoyance as she turned to see who was speaking to her. The Id-sol being so close to her was a bit suprising. She shook it off though and was silent for a couple of moments in thought before responding. "Not for the spa, anyway. And no, it's not for the night, just for a little while."

As she paused in front of her room and fiddled with the key, a thought crossed her mind. It was a tad odd, but she supposed there wasn't any real harm... "Yes... Why, you thinking about paying my room a visit?" Claire had unlocked her door, and had opened it a crack, but not entering yet.
 
Deacon would be lying if he said that he wasn't at least a little curious as to why Noburo and Cyril had been out talking with Kez. He had stopped swimming about the time that the female had stood up and taken off the funny looking shirt, treading water and bobbing up and down with the swells.

When Keziah dove into the water, the Kohanian was in a bit of shock. Wasn't she injured in the last mission? She had no need to be in the water with her injuries. He bit his lip as she took off down the shoreline, weighing the decision he had to make in his mind. Finally, he started leisurely swimming in the same direction. He wouldn't stalk her, but would be within ear shot should she get into trouble. If not, she would be left alone.

Something was bothering her, and the Claire woman, but that's as far as Deacon got, not yet putting it together.
 
Dragonnova said:
As she paused in front of her room and fiddled with the key, a thought crossed her mind. It was a tad odd, but she supposed there wasn't any real harm... "Yes... Why, you thinking about paying my room a visit?" Claire had unlocked her door, and had opened it a crack, but not entering yet.
Click to expand...
"I assure you, the idea had not even crossed my mind. I was just going to say, my room isn't too far from here." Stovaa took another sip of whiskey, a flick of his head indicating his room was (supposedly) up the corridor. His trunks were starting to dry off now, and his body dripped a lot less water onto the floor.

He took a breath. "If you're offering though..." he let the words hang in the air for a few seconds, before adding: "You can have some of my jug of whiskey..."

He wiggled the jug slightly, the drink inside sloshing about quietly, taunting Claire with it's rich aroma.

(...Totally not an alcoholic ;O )
 
The promise of alcohol seemed to be a rather effective lure at this point, considering she hadn't had a drink in weeks. "Sure it hasn't, dear." Claire pushed the door open and walked into her room, leaving the door open behind her.

"You're willing to share? That's sweet of you. You've no idea how much I miss it. I'm willing to barter for you." Claire turned to face Stovaa standing outside her room, placing one hand on the nearby wall and leaning on it while placing the other on her hip. "Name your price sweetie, just as long as it's not my life savings." She smirked wryly.
 
RPG-D RPGfix
Back
Top