RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 9] The Silver Lining

The Barrista from the bathroom had just gotten out, tightening up her belt buckle to get back to work. She had cleared up the mistake between her and the weird pale-skinned girl, and there was also twenty more DA in her pocket. She was now officially a good mood, especially after taking care of business in the bathroom.

"Uh, could I get a muffin or something to go with this? What's the biggest one you've got?"

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The young girl perked at the mention of an order, now she had another customer! Today was her day, despite the big set-back earlier.

"That would be the Red Hammer Muffin! Our final, delicious resort to murdering your hunger and everything it holds dear." she reported with a smile, putting her BADASS BEANS shades on. She then went to form her hands around an imaginary soft ball that seemed a little bigger than a normal softball, "It's this big. It comes with either a blueberry fragmentation or strawberry thermite glaze, and is also filled with either blueberries or strawberries, depending on your choice!" She whipped out her pad. "How would you like it?"

The Id-sol met her gaze again and pondered. He tried not to appear visibly drunk, though that was quite hard. He made a mental note to try and be as un-creepy as possible. "Hmm... So hard to choose. I think some of the health food back on Cirrus is blueberry flavoured, and that tastes foul, so I guess I'll take it with everything strawberry, please."

He took another swig of his coffee before throwing a headache tablet down his gullet.

"Gah... downtime from work is almost as bad as work."

Blake stuck out his hand at the sight of a delicious painkiller. He looked at Stovaa with puppydog eyes as he begged, easily, "Now that everyone's gone, you wouldn't mind letting one of those luxuries slip out, would you?"

Cassefin allowed Kokuten to keep her stable as they traversed from the crowds in the main plaza, eventually making it to the atrium and elevator systems. The elevators themselves were large, a quartet of them lined up side by side to ferry patrons between floors. The shafts connected each level were clear and visible from the atrium, transparent glass panels separating people from the floors. In between these glass panels was a controlled oceanic environment befitting of the Lady of the Ocean's constant theme; lines of aquatic flora, rock and coral formations ran up the sides of each secular 'tank', multitudes of small, colorful fauna drifted aimlessly, to be marveled upon for a split second as people passed by only to be forgotten the next.

The red-haired Administrator was fairly quiet for the short march, the only real actions out of her being an occasional wobble which were graciously corrected by Kokuten's arm hooked around her own. Cassefin didn't appear aware of Tweak behind them, her head never really turning around or taking notice to the neko hot on their trail. Halting in front of the elevators to wait for an available ferry, Cassefin groaned a bit and drew in a deep breath. After a short moment, the young woman raised her other hand and slowly, carefully placed it onto Kokuten's forearm hooked around her own. She let it rest there a moment, the warmth of her palm sifting through the material along Kokuten's skin, before giving the captain's arm a 'friendly' shove off of herself, apparently ready to keep her composure on her own.

"Hands off Chiaki," Cassefin grumbled as she cleared her throat and rubbed idly at her shoulder, her cheeks still keeping a light rosy red to match the administrator's attire. "I'm a little drunk, but I'm not that drunk."

Kokuten was surprised that Cassefin didn't quite find much words to berate him with. He was expecting more of a troubled time back to the room. Still, he actually enjoyed the quiet, arm in arm with lady, a drunk lady, but a lady none-the-less. The architecture of the building was beautiful, the themes matching seamlessly along the walls. Who ever designed the place really liked the oceanic atmosphere. It was understandable, especially in this day and age of space exploration. The sea was a timid school-girl compared to space.

As they reached elevator, Kokuten still unaware of Tweak's presence at the moment, the Doctor felt the urge to finally say something. Though, that's the same time he was shoved, and pushed away from his charge. He tilted over and nearly lost balance before regaining himself to ample footing.

"Hands off Chiaki," Cassefin grumbled as she cleared her throat and rubbed idly at her shoulder, her cheeks still keeping a light rosy red to match the administrator's attire. "I'm a little drunk, but I'm not that drunk."

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In a way, it was expected. It was usual for Cassefin to act so independently, it was her way. Though, at the very least, she could try to act grateful. The embers of aggravation which lit themselves in the earlier situation were slowly being fanned. Still, he responded with a gentle smile, his glowing green eyes still showing that warm face that spoke of his comforting friendliness.

"Ah! Forgive me, Administrator Montreal..." The Captain bowed his head respectfully. "I failed to recall the fact that whenever anyone shows you an act of kindness or compassion, you get indignant." He held up a hand, the smile remaining. The 'insult' he had put forth was given with a matter-of-fact tone, almost as if it weren't an insult at all. "If it's any consolation to your childish behavior towards help of any kind, I think your rosy cheeks are lovely."

First thing to do: Find any surveillance devices in my room. After finding my room. So, second thing to do, then. Tweak watched the her two superiors walking ahead, keeping pace as she thought. Her eyes locked on where the head administrator's arm was held in the crook of the squad captain's elbow while she planned.

I also need something to eat. How much does food cost here? I wonder how much is in the account that the clothing clerk mentioned. How much am I being paid on Cirrus, anyway? Why is she pushing him away? The neko's brow wrinkled as she watched Cassefin remove herself from Kokuten's steadying arm after they arrived at the elevators, interrupting the focal point Tweak had been using to concentrate.

Kokuten said:

"Ah! Forgive me, Administrator Montreal..." The Captain bowed his head respectfully. "I failed to recall the fact that whenever anyone shows you an act of kindness or compassion, you get indignant."

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He is always trying to help, isn't he? Even when it's not wanted, he always means the best. That should count for something. Her brow relaxed, the frown leaving in favor of contemplation while she found a place out-of-the-way of the corridor's crowd-flow to stand and wait for the elevator.

It wasn't her fault it was within earshot of what was said next. The sarcasm in Kokuten's voice as he made his follow-up shot at Cassefin's current state was lost on Tweak, and he was turned away from her still so she couldn't see his expression. Why was he complementing the administrator after she just pushed him away?

Her gaze dropped, the patterns of the flooring suddenly interesting. Again. She slowly shook her head. No, I won't try to figure it out. It's not my business. I'm not spying on them, she thought, but that couldn't stop her from hearing. Instead, she tried to point her thoughts elsewhere.

"...you know, I DID buy these down here, dude. You could go and get your own. Like, from any of the shops that sell them in this casino full of alcohol and nightclubs. " Stovaa paused to swig again from his coffee, his vision coalescing to give a less grainy picture of the world around him. He closed his eyes and shook his head, almost as if he wanted to shake the drunkenness from his eyes and return to the work a sober man.

"Nngh... I kinda wish I had a job like this, where I didn't have to risk my life every 10 minutes in some ludicrous situation, where I could get hit on by wealthy business individuals and live off tips." Stovaa glanced at Blake.

"...I guess crackpots get everywhere though. Here, take a tablet, fruitcase."

Despite the rather passive-aggressive manner in which it was given, Blake took the tablet with a smile. He might have even started to giggle at the word 'fruitcase'.

"Fruitcase? That word certainly amuses me!" The young marine chuckled, pausing only to plop the tablet into his mouth and swallow with spit, no water required, "What would you say if I told you that people in jobs like this not only get hit on by rich people, but by all manner of wierdos. Why, I don't think she realizes it was a mistake, but the barrista you just ordered from just now thought that shy Miss Tweak and I were inviting her into a three-some at one point."

Blake left out the part about him inviting her into a two-some being what led up to that. In a way, it still stung a little-- he felt persecuted in a very silly sort of way. What if he had been trying to get her to join in with him and Tweak? Why would that have been so disgusting? He still felt like a whiney-wittle-pansy-baby when he thought about Tweak, too. "My first chance to be friends with a Freespacer, and she hates me!" he thought, "She hates me, and she's got the rare talent of making other women hate me."

"Ugh!" The young Nepleslian grunted as he stroked Evan, whom had returned for more cream, "People are so... selective... about their beliefs. Was there ever a day when honesty was the preferred media of communication?"

The Barrista, who had left with a quiet nod but a moment ago, had already returned with a large, bigger-than-a-softball muffin. It came in on a regular sized plate with a little shotgun-shell shaped cup of strawberry glaze. Twenty DA seemed to go a long way for the girl, especially when she just gave recognizing nod to Blake as she set down the plate in front of Stovaa. Then, she reached into her bandolier of spice-bullets and utility supplies, and pulled out a small fork and knife, setting them next to the muffin. The utensils given were small, enough for regular-sized races to hold in three fingers of their hand. Though, for a man of Stovaa's size, only a finger and a thumb could properly pinch down on these tiny eating tools.

"Alright! I've got your bill up and running on the machine! If you need anything else, you just ask and all get it!" said the cheery barrista, smiling! Indeed, twenty DA went a far long way to improve the originally sullen girl's mood. Though, instead of skipping away happily as it seemed what could be expected of her, she stood there, smiling. Then. She asked a question.

"So, you guys are from the Cirrus, huh?"

The Id-Sol started pouring the strawberry glaze onto the muffin almost as soon as it was in front of him, drizzing it over the muffin luxuriantly. He set the shell-shaped sauce container down and mused over the tiny cutlery for a few seconds.

The Barrista's question was an odd one. Was anyone supposed to know they were here? He didn't think it was a big secret and guessed that, like back in simpler days, the new guys in town were big news.

"We're on a short leave from there, yes. A break from the action, adventure and alliteration of life aboard a research station full of marines. Why the curiosity?"

Stovaa got a decidedly small chunk of muffin into his mouth with the comedic cutlery and glanced across at Blake. He's totally gonna do something spacey now, isn't he...

"My whats are what?!" Cassefin self-consciously raised her hands and placed her palms on her cheeks, a look of mild surprise on her face as though she did not quite believe him at his word. It was difficult to tell, of course, just how red they were from a simple touch, and upon realizing this Cassefin turned back to Kokuten and gave him a dry look. "...whatever, it's not like it's your doing," she said as she took on a wry, slightly haughty smile. "That kind of talk might make Popjoy giddy, as if that were difficult, but I am I woman of standards, Chiaki. Much higher standards. No offense."

In fact, Blake did space off after all, staring hard into the eyes of the cat sitting on his lap. He completely missed the barrista's mention of Cirrus or the entire ordeal with the muffin, instead focusing on just how wierd and cool it was to consider a cat's eye. "They're so deep-looking!Not shallow at all." he thought, painting in his head a perfect likeness of the cat's eye, this time adding Kokuten's artificial eyes to the mix. "I just wish I knew how to communicate this!" he though, adding aloud, "Cat's eyes, man. I just wish I knew how to communicate this..."

Oh? She went there. She went there. Kokuten's discomfort rose with Cassefin's petulant behavior. How did this woman walk through the halls without being shot by one of her own security? How did the rest of Squad 35 take such drudge from this woman? Even Suku wasn't this bad, and he was convinced she was the meanest and upright most bitchiest woman he had ever met! And Kokuten had a tolerance! A tal-ler-rance! It was hard trying to keep a relatively straight face when talking directly to her. In fact, his smile had broken down into something that resembled mild-thought.

"Ah... I see. Once again, I apologize, Head Administrator." Kokuten gave her another bow of his head, his smile not returning this time. "I never truly grasped how classy you are as a woman! So... foolish of me. I mean... It must be difficult for Captain Abeck to squint down and see you from that high pillar of standards he sits on. It might be why he hasn't seen you yet, being so high up and all." He gave a confirming nod with this, and followed by giving her a thumbs up, almost bitterly, "But good job, setting your sights on something so very high. That's an admirable trait, you know. I can admire someone with as much... willpower as you."

He stopped there for a moment, but blinked as he tacked a little bit on.

"Oh, but I don't quite appreciate that little jab at Administrator Popjoy. At the very least, she can take a compliment. Without the belligerence, you know." said the Captain, his eyes diluting their green color into a warmer, orangish tint. "I honestly don't see the point at railing the one good person who doesn't mind spending time with you."

----

"Oh! No reason! I just heard the name Cassefin, and was all who's that. Then, I remembered hearing about my Theoretical Physic Professor just raving about this woman who own's the largest research station in the known universe. Cassefin Montreal! Duh!" the Barrista hit herself on the head, watching the ID-SOL begin to pick at his muffin. "Amazing what you remember on the toilet! But, anyway, he said she shoved so many theories down their throats that they gave her that station just to send her up there! But, pssh, I can't imagine someone being that bad."

"She's pretty bad. When she's not drunk, at least. Always bossin' us around and being a sandwich short of a picnic."

Stovaa managed to get a larger piece of muffin into his mouth. He was attempting to ignore Blake and focus on the Barrista for now, though doubtless he was going to have to give Blake at least some attention before he freaked the girl out. The Id-Sol shooed aside a cat that was trying to scale his trouserleg.

"Sorry if my teammates unnerved you a bit, put it down to the stress of the job and intoxication."

"It's true." Blake supplemented, still petting the cat affectionately, and beginning another one of his large balls of speech, "Last time we went out on a sortie, there were these guys with scary guns, and well-dressed women with bigger guns. They all shot at them with our little puny guns while I carried a pretty giggling pink woman and a funny-looking briefcase out of a room full of flying bullets and grenades. It was apparently some kind of hippies or something. But, that doesn't seem right to me, you know? Because, hippies are supposed to be really peaceful people, aren't they?"

He went on and on, "Oh, and the time before that, there was this really fast train and everybody had to stop it. There was this Freespacer chick who got her arm lopped off, and these two guys who acted like cartoon characters and the whole thing centered around this screwed up giant robot that had a bunch of little robots working for and he stole a Savtech or something... It was weird. Stovetop was there both times, he'll back me up on that." He pointed to the large ID-Sol cowboy across from him still struggling with the tiny muffin while he caught his breath for a moment. Then, he finished with a strange question, "Do you guys sell guns here?"

Any doubt to the color of Cassefin's face quickly began to fade away as shades of pink quickly rushed into a raging red. The administrator looked aghast for a short moment at Kokuten's biting reply, eyes widened in disbelief and jaw slightly agape. Before long, however, Cassefin's mouth began to twist into a scowl, her teeth clenched together tightly and her eyes narrowed into blazing daggers, attempting to bore through Kokuten's forehead. Perhaps it was the public location, the shocking contents of Kokuten's reply, the dizzy feeling from one too many drink, or any combination of reasons, but Cassefin did not burst into the fiery fury she was so obviously holding back.

Kokuten's chastising remarks had apparently hit more than a nerve. Cassefin's not-so-subtle rage averted and turned around upon itself as the administrator suddenly found it very hard to keep her eyes focused onto Kokuten. As Cassefin turned away, hiding her face from the captain's view, she crossed her arms and gripped the forearms tightly together, as though feeling a sudden chill. The elevator they had been waiting for decided that this moment was a good time to make its arrival, the doors opening to the soft, single bell note. As they stood open, Cassefin didn't so much as blink, her frame standing still in its original position as the seconds ticked by.

As satisfying as it was to torrent Cassefin with a few well-deserved insults, the goodness with the man couldn't help but feel reasonably guilty for the exchange. Sure, she deserved it, but it was also unlike Kokuten to draw out such aggression on someone else. Should he apologize?

...

No. That wasn't going to happen. He was sorry, somewhat, but just somewhat. This sort of thing had a decent reason in the first place, and he wasn't going to spit on that reason for his own delicate feelings.

Ding went the elevator.

Thank god. went the Captain.

Kokuten stepped up to the elevator and held it open for the Head Administrator. He looked back at her, noticing her indignant stance, and failure to actually move when it was clearly the time to do so. Suddenly, the length of his error was realized. Cassefin acted her way, and he should've know that his string of insults would've brought that aspect forth.

"Head Administrator, the elevator has arrived." said Kokuten, acting as polite as possible. Of course, he doubted a response would come from that so he pressed it a little. He held his hand out, and spoke clearly, hoping to get her attention, "Cassefin. We can continue this later, for now, your safety is the priority. Please, let's go."

----

The Barrista gave a rather odd stare in Blake's direction before forcing an uncomfortable smile past his odd explanation. She seemed to be trying to carry herself in the same way Kokuten did, only her restraint was much more obvious and forced.

"Oh don't worry about it!" the Barrista sat down next to Stovaa.Sshe waved her hand at both of them. "And guns are sold on the floor above us not, on this one. You'll only find coffee shops and eateries on this floor. This place is really organized like that you know." The Barrista shifted herself in the seat. "Hey you came down with a bunch a folks. How many did Cassefin bring down exactly? I mean, is she that rich?"

"Oh, I knew there were gun stores on the second level. I'm just not allowed to visit them because the Captain doesn't want us to spook some fancy people at a dinner party." Blake began, ignoring the barrista's question, "But to be honest, I was kind of quietly hoping for an excuse to go gun shopping. I suppose that's rather Nepleslian of me, but we all have our vices. I just love beefy pistols and long-barreled handguns."

The bald artist shoved Evan from his lap and shooed him away for the moment, stubbing out his cigarette with his newly freed hand. He smiled easily to the barrista, gauging her previous reactions to him, along with her obvious forced politeness.

"Why are you so interested all of a sudden?" The questions began, in the manner of a curious child, "You sure do seem to be enduring a lot of undue stress, for someone who's put off so much by me. Are you attracted to Stovetop, here?" He glanced at Stovaa for a moment before continuing, his smile widening into a wicked grin, "Would you like me to leave so that you can hit on him? Or are you pretending to be interested for some other reason?"

Nobody cares so much about research stations. At least, Blake didn't think anyone did. He wasn't really sure what he was going on about yet, but he felt as if something were just under his finger. He glanced back at Stovaa once more, this time regarding him with a more confident look of 'let's see where this goes, shall we'. He hoped the massive cowboy would play along for the ride.

A handful of other patrons who were also waiting for an elevator to open took notice to the doors opening. However, they had also been within earshot of the little squabble and, for one reason or another, one by one quickly slide away to the next elevator shaft whether a car had actually arrived to ferry them or not. As Kokuten entered through the sliding panels, Cassefin twisted her body a little to continue shunning him a direct view of her, arms still wrapped uncomfortably around her midsection. At first she didn't give so much as a shrug or change of breath, an awkward pause pushing its way between any possible conversation.

Cassefin took her time to formulate a proper response for Kokuten. Not a rebuttal or snappy retort, but a simple statement, given in an uncharacteristically quiet voice, uncertain and barely audible to the Nepleslian gentleman above the clamoring crowds and ambient sounds. "... I think... I should just get the next one..."

What was this? This. What had he done? Kokuten had always strived to have patience with his fellow man(and woman), always to take insult and injury with grace and turn the negative into the positive. Basically, he was the world's smiling crutch. Never in his life had he seen it in an negative light, and it was never likely that he would. Yet, it was obvious to him that he had deviated from that usual code of conduct when that patience snapped off to the forceful hand of this woman. He wasn't being him, anymore. He wasn't being conscientious, or well-spoken. The man was far out of his element, thrown out of that comfortable sequence of behavior by his own actions.

This was unfamiliar ground.

He coughed, and cleared his throat, letting the image of an apparently defeated Cassefin Montreal sink in. It took him a few seconds to think of a way to approach this. Approach it the Chiaki way. No, wait. The Chiaki way was too subtle. He needed a different strategy, but first, he needed to break this confounding silence!

"What?" asked Kokuten, holding up a hand to his ear as he approached her. Alright. First step taken. What was next? He needed a strategy, a form of approach. He had handled Suku before, she was more belligerent than Cassefin, but she was not Cassefin. No, there needed to be a broader approach, to appeal to the woman, not the woman herself. Rico would've known what to say, but then again, Rico would've gathered she was too much trouble at this point.

Just go with it. Whatever happens, happens.

"Is that all?" continued the Captain, tilting his head slightly. "A few pin-point insults and Cassefin Montreal is reduced to silence. This is a shock." He frowned, turning around to face her, letting the elevator do what it would. This was something, he needed to build on it. "As strong as you are, you'll let something small like that get you? Cassefin, you're a not a teenage girl, you're a woman, and not just any woman, you're one of the most brilliant minds in the galaxy." He leaned in a bit, getting a tad close. "You are spirited, willful, and powerful! You've got a fire in you that burns hotter than aether and then you let a few jabs about a man who doesn't even realize that get to you?"

He leaned back, standing straight, giving her a saddened look, with those sage-green lit eyes.

"I am disappointed."

----

"O-oh! Uh!" the Barrista scratched a little itch on the back of her head at Blake's cutting question. "Well..." She looked at the floor, a little embarrassed. She looked up at Stovaa and pursed her lips, and then looked away, not wanting to give any wrong ideas. "I'm a Physics major, and I'm about to graduate! I was just wondering... what it would take to... put a good word in...?"