RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 6] Sunny Side Up

"Because I made you aim your rifle at me."

She was trying desperately to sound confident and strong, and had no idea if it even appeared that way.

"Yes, but do you know why that upset me, I meant." Claire wasn't sure if she got it yet, but if she did she didn't want to insult her by re-explaining it.

"I..." Keziah waved her hands futilely in the air, as if trying to conjure up some measure of insight. Maybe some magical nugget would drop from the sky like an anvil and smite her brain with intelligence.

But that, obviously, didn't happen, and her hands fell to her side. "I'm too used to being told things." She stepped back to the door, turning around and gripping the doorknob. "I don't know, Claire."

She didn't open the door, and it was obvious that she didn't want to go.

Claire took a deep breath and sighed. "Look, Keziah... Despite me being a marine, I don't enjoy watching people get hurt. I have no sympathy for those who harm others who don't deserve it, however. I might have an idea of why you wanted to stop me from firing, but that's not what bothers me." Claire closed the distance between the two, turning her around to make sure she was looking at her.

"Keziah. I LIKE you, understand? Making me point my gun at you just felt more like an insult than anything. I hate watching those I like be hurt even more. And the idea that you were threatening to take the bullet instead just felt wrong. Look at it from my perspective. How would you feel to see the barrel of the gun that you are holding... aiming right into the face of someone you've grown to like and enjoy their company with? And to have them not move or let you aim it elsewhere?"

Claire rested her hands on Keziah's shoulders. "I don't want to hurt you, dear. I didn't want to hurt you. And you have to realize that my finger was already on the trigger when you did that. What if you grabbing it accidently pulled it forward and it fired? You wouldn't be standing here now. I'd be living with the grief of shooting a woman I care for." Her eyes searched Keziah's, looking for her reaction to her explanation.

"Wow. Got some pretty big opinions, don't you," Abeck said, his face displaying some mild surprise. The bartender had finally reached Noboru's order on the list, quickly handing him a simple beer...apparently unaware that this was not what he had ordered. Before Nobobru could grab his attention to tell him, the gentleman was already halfway across the counter serving other groups of teeming patrons.

"After all of that, I'd think this position is a breeze for you though. Just a little rough security work...maybe a few hitches," the Guard Captain added, narrowing his eyes a bit as he glanced off to the side.

---

As Tweak opened to door for the two-man tower, Lenny made a rather large ducking motion to pass under the archway. The immediate area outside of the door was still mildly dry, a large awning overhead blocking most of the rain coming down. Lenny stopped a few steps outside while George groaned in displeasure.

"Aww, common!" the Nepleslian pleaded with a smile. "It'll be fun. He's done this, like, millions of times. Ain't that right Lenny?" Lenny only nodded, attempting to smile through the large rubber breathing apparatus in his mouth.

"Hitches, yeah." Noboru kept his face down, looking around at the assorted CSS crewmembers in the bar. He lifted the pint of beer off the table, briefly analyzing the contents, cocking his head to the side and staring into the glass, well, glass, before taking a swig. It was at this point where one of the barflies, a much larger man in an aloha shirt almost (ALMOST) as loud as Noboru's, tapped the back of the Yamataian's glass and spilled the contents of the container into Noboru's unsuspecting face.

"Hey, you squint-eyed son of a bitch," The big guy half-slurred, half-shouted, "You stole my shots."

"No I didn't;" Noboru protested, and narrowly missed a hammy fist that came out of fucking nowhere and would've connected with his face had he not leaned about a quarter inch to the left, the punch connecting instead with one of the other bargoers.

"What the fuck was that for, you chubby bastard?!" The punch victim said. The other guy blubbered for a second, pointing at Noboru before the victim came back with a haymaker, connecting with Noboru's nose first before continuing on past to the other guy's face. Noboru immediately leapt back from the bar, a "time to go" look on his face as he gestured towards Abeck, then towards the door, as the barflies behind him waded into the rapidly forming melee.

MoonMan said:

"Aww, c'mon!" the Nepleslian pleaded with a smile. "It'll be fun. He's done this, like, millions of times. Ain't that right Lenny?" Lenny only nodded, attempting to smile through the large rubber breathing apparatus in his mouth.

Click to expand...

George was persistent, she had to give him that. He didn't look very trustworthy, but at the same time the other people at Cirrus (with the possible exception of Cassifin) had been good to her today, even lending and procuring items for the 'Spacer neko-in-hiding like the bag and windbreaker (though the questionable way George had acquired the balloon wasn't exactly a shining example).

Tweak sighed. She could either walk away now or go along with whatever happened. What she wanted was to find somewhere quiet to tinker, think, and read. But, in addition to the temperature in the resort being on the uncomfortable side for her and knowing the rain was likely the best way to cool off, her body was feeling like she'd been cooped up long enough already.

She turned her eyes up to George, studying him from under the edge of the knit cap that she still wore, then looked at Lenny. Well, if worse came to worse, she could get away somehow, right? The only one that really could do much to stop her if she decided to leave would be the ID-SOL, and he didn't look like the fastest racer on the track.

She closed her eyes a moment and hoped she wouldn't regret her decision, then looked up at George again, her thoughts only taken a couple seconds.

"If you say so..."

And, of course, that angle had never occurred to Keziah. She visibly deflated, letting her back hit the door as she stared right back at Claire. Her eyes were a study of emotions; dawning revelation, incredible embarrassment, pain and adoration. The ocean water had stopped dripping off of her, and it was clear, from her ruddy eyes, that she had been crying. But that had all stopped now.

Finally, she broke from looking at Claire and studied the ceiling. Accusations whirled in her head now. Where was this weeks ago? one part of her grumbled mentally. Did you have to screw someone to be able to talk to me? hissed another part. Those parts worked their way through her mind, trying to make themselves known, spoken. But this wasn't why she had come. She didn't want to make things worse, not right now.

"Okay." Her eyes fell back down to rest on Claire, and she pushed away from the door, standing straight. "I understand." Even though the concept of someone liking her was still alien to her mind.

"What do you want to do now?" The question was said flatly, without any hints about what Keziah wanted.

Claire's smile was faint, yet somehow it didn't come off as a very happy one. When asked what to do, she shook her head mildly. "That's honestly up to you, dear. I'm not your boss." She turned and walked back over to her pack, finding another tie for her hair and put it back into a low ponytail. She looked back over at Keziah, "If I may make a suggestion though, I'm doubting the resort staff are going to be too keen on you dripping water everywhere. Perhaps we should get to drying you off some, hm?" She gestured towards the bathroom where she had put the wet clothes she got from her short trip outside. "The rest of my possessions should be here shortly if you need something else to wear. I don't mind."

She slowly walked over by the doorway to it, stopping and leaning on it, "And also... I'm sure there's plenty of things you'd like to say to me. I'll be the first to admit that I've pretty much been a bitch this past week. You deserve to speak your mind at the very least."

Abeck, wide eyed, was quick to step away from the rabble as they began to brawl. At first, it looked as though the guard captain was not going to follow Noboru's lead as he dashed away from the bar; in fact, the guard captain looked almost ready to jump in a break up the quickly-growing brawl. There was a moment of hesitation as Abeck looked back at Noboru...but with the Yamataian gone, Abeck was quick to change his mind and follow suit after him as the burgeoning fight went on amidst the bar patrons.

"Noboru!" Abeck called back, looking around cautiously to make sure he wasn't being followed.

---

George simply grinned widely as Tweak caved in to his demands, slapping Lenny lightly on the back of the head. The ID-SOL nodded, barely even feeling the tap his smaller counterpart had given him, squatting down once more to offer Tweak the other arm to climb up upon.

All it took was a light-footed jump to land Tweak on Lenny's shoulder. Landing in a crouch, she shifted her weight back onto her hands and in a fluid movement brought her legs under herself and forward into a seated position on the broad slope of the Id-Sol's deltoids. If Lenny couldn't feel much of George's weight, he'd have to do a visual check to make sure Tweak was there at all.

Once there, she shifted around a little to get comfortable in the odd arrangement, then looked around Lenny's head at George. The look didn't last longer than a glance before she faced front and ventured a look at the ground below. George's grin unnerved her a little, what was he so happy about? Certainly wasn't his persuasiveness that got her up there.

The girl absently scratched at one of her ears, the tip of her finger working through her knit cap at the momentary itch before she realized what she was doing and put both hands down at her sides. The hat was a growing annoyance today, especially with the water it'd soaked up so far.

"There are." She smiled back, but it was similar to Claire's; thinly happy, and forced, if just a little bit. Then she snapped her lips back down and looked around, at the floor where she had left a few puddles. There were more outside, and probably worse ones, too, but she tried to push that from her mind.

The salty smell of the sea was beginning to fill her nostrils, too, and it was one she had never grown used to. At least she was warmer now, the resort's heaters seeing to that.

Worse, her arm was sending her alerts. A leak in the skin, maybe, but she'd need to look at it in a clean place. And privately--she didn't especially want Claire to see her without her arm.

Keziah bit her lower lip, frowning at the neural message only she could see. "First, though, I really need to shower."

Deacon laughed and leaned on the bar.

"I suppose that most races don't learn to appreciate it like mine does. That's fine and all, I just sometimes lose myself to it. The others don't like the rain, my people almost worshiped it at times. I think the biggest thing is that people need to learn to relax. From what I have seen of our team, Cyril isn't it? From what I have seen, our squad has a real problem with relaxing. But what do I know, right?"

He smiled and nudged Cyril with his elbow before sipping on a glass of water that was sitting before him.

With Tweak and George sitting on opposite shoulders, Lenny began trudging slowly towards the edge of the scaffolding above them and ultimately out into the rain, in the direction of the distant beach. Cool droplets of water bombarded the three as Lenny flipper-footed his way across the damp stones along the walkways and surrounding the empty and quickly-flooding swimming pool. Lenny seemed unphased by all the moisture, as did George, his gaudy shirt quickly becoming drenched. The short, sharp-eyed Nepleslian turned to Tweak after Lenny had reached a half-way point between the resort building and the beach.

"Ever seen a beach before, Tweak?" George called out loudly, his voice carrying above the noise of the rain. "Didn' figure many 'Spacers ever see one!"

---

Nothing but silence came from the direction Abeck's calls were directed towards. Well, for a while. After about thirty seconds, Noboru slunk out of the opposite wing, having hid there for a few seconds while the bar fight unfolded.

"Yeah?" The Yamataian called back, poking his white-haired head out from behind a decorative column.

MoonMan said:

"Ever seen a beach before, Tweak?" George called out loudly, his voice carrying above the noise of the rain. "Didn' figure many 'Spacers ever see one!"

Click to expand...

"I've seen pictures." At the very least, Tweak had seen the photos of the beach when the video on the shuttle was playing. Chances were she'd seen a beach another time, if only from orbit, but she wasn't sure.

"Have you?"

Abeck smirked lightly as he chased after Noboru through the hallway. "Slow down man! I think you've ran far-"

The Guard Captain's calls were halted abruptly, and as Noboru turned around he would see why. The one irate bar patron that had attempted to assault Noboru had followed, as well as a handful of his supposed companions. Four men, in all, three Nepleslian and one tough-looking ID-SOL, had yanked Abeck by the scruff of his shirt back into their small circle. They must have been pretty angry with what had transpired at the bar, as one of the Nepleslian's immediately took a swing at Abeck, who was able to dodge it as he stepped back a bit and assumed a ready position.

The rotund Nepleslian that assaulted Noboru earlier had left his attention with Abeck and was quickly continuing after Noboru. Abeck, on the other hand, seemed to be a bit in over his head as the other Nepleslian shoved him from behind back into the makeshift triangle the three of them had formed.

---

Both Lenny and George shook their heads as Tweak asked them the same question. "Naw, like I said before, Lenny an' I ain't never seen a beach. Heck, this might be our only chance," George said, keeping his eyes pasted on the misty horizon on the distant beach. "So I thought it'd be cool to, yannow, share it. Maybe. A lot funner with someone other than Lenny to talk to, yeah?" By that point, the three of them had reach the midway point between the resort building and the actual water. When Lenny was able to make out the distant sandy shore, he stopped for a moment and released an "Oooooooo..." of admiration.

Tweak and George, from their perches atop Lenny's shoulders, would only have a moment before Lenny began moving again. The large ID-SOL started with a simple walk, hindered somewhat by his immensely large rubber flippers. However, Lenny's pace quickly began to pick up as the seconds went by, coming to the point where both Tweak and George were both getting some pretty rough turbulence from their seats. "Whoa...haha...Lenny, uh, slow it down some," George called out nervously, trying to find some sort of grip along Lenny's large collarbone.

Lenny did not slow down, however. Quite the contrary, the ID-SOL seemed to not hear his smaller counterpart and continued to gain speed as he barreled for the beach front. By the time he was passing the lightly-occupied cabana-bar, the three of them were moving at a thundering pace, kicking up wet sand behind them as Lenny headed straight past the sand and made for the water. George, in the meantime, was making futile attempts to halt the massive fellow as held on for dear life.

"Whoa Lenny stop whoa Lenny stop WHOA LENNY STOP LENNY STOP STOP! LENNYYY!!"

(Kyaaa, I'm hitting a creative roadblock for no apparent reason. Need to keep it going though. Sorry, Liam.)

Claire frowned slightly as she tilted her head. "That's fine... you can use mine. I won't mind." Suddenly her mischevious smile returned, "I could take one with ya. Help with those hard to reach places." It wasn't clear why she was acting like that now, but perhaps that was just how she worked. In a sense of having no secrets between them, maybe.

(No worries!)



"No, I can do it myself."

The rapid shift in Claire's mood was unsteadying her. Especially with the alert coming up in her vision again, and staying there. The arm's diagnostics were already running, already ticking through components, narrowing down to what exactly was damaged.

It was a distraction, and her attention was visibly divided. Keziah's eyes were unfocused for several seconds before returning to Claire. "I'm a big girl," she said, attempting a joke as best she could. "I'm pretty sure I can wash myself."

Then she slipped away from Claire and into the bathroom. Even as she walked, her real hand was massaging her cybernetic arm, finding the manual release points. The door to the bathroom was shouldered shut, because by that point her forearm had detached from the rest of her body, synthetic skin folding in to protect the neural leads and components.

And a small dribble of water came out of her bicep, splashing on the floor. "Shit," she muttered under her breath.

Claire's expression looked a bit more tired now. "Keziah... You do realize we need to talk about this, right? The longer you wait, the worse it's going to get. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather deal with what's troubling you now rather than letting any bitter feelings build up." She notably didn't say anything about how she felt herself, but it looked like she was willing to forgive and forget now. Maybe.