RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 9] The Silver Lining

Cassefin remained relatively unaffected by Kokuten's sudden change of tone, continuing to cradle herself outside of his field of view. The red-haired head administrator breathed an audible sigh, her shoulders raising and lowering ever so slightly in response. Given that she was still faced away from Kokuten, it was difficult to tell what sort of effect his words had cause this time. After all, Kokuten's sincerity was in question here. The elevator behind the two, unaware of everything save for the fact that it's supposed passengers had not chosen a floor number, gave another soft ring as the blue-plated light above the door shone again and the doors began to slowly close in preparation for moving to the next floor it had been called to.

Upon hearing the ring, Cassefin seemingly snapped out of her strange bout of depression and turned back towards the elevator, eyes widened with urgency. "Ah!" The woman exclaimed under her breath as she made a lunge for the elevator, pushing Kokuten out of the way in the process. Luckily, Cassefin was just in time to hold the door open before it could close completely, much to her own great relief. She held the door open as she stepped inside, looking back to Kokuten with a placid, if content look. "Eungh," Cassefin expressed her distaste for a moment before giving him a small, complacent smirk. "... I already know how great I am. I don't need you buttering me up, Chiaki. You getting on or not? I'm tired."

That was a quick turn around, thought Kokuten. Were his words really that effective? Or was that really all she needed? Augh! There's no use thinking about it. What's done is done and I can continue this little sojourn in peace. thought Kokuten wisely, knowing now that it was best to have her cocky rather than dismayed if they ever wanted to make it up the elevator. The odd Doctor gave her a smile and bowed his head before making his way into the elevator.

"Of course, Head Administrator." said the Captain, taking his place in the elevator before crossing his arms and sighing. It was tad tiring, especially during the vacation he was supposed to be having, but at the very least it was not boring. Right?

Always look on the bright side. Otherwise I'm going to lose my mind.

The entire exchange was...uncomfortable for Tweak, but she managed to keep herself occupied until the elevator car arrived. Then it became more awkward, especially since her superiors still hadn't noticed her and she was realizing how her being there might appear once they did.
But the Captain and Administrator paid her no mind even as they boarded, and Tweak got an idea. She was already beyond line-of-sight of anyone in the elevator, and she needed to stay near them so she could find out where her room was...how was she planning on doing that without asking, though? I...uh...I'll figure that out later.

Tweak waited for the moment when the doors began to close again before rushing over and stopping them again, trying (perhaps a bit too much) to breathe hard, like she had just run from the coffee shop. Slipping between the doors while they were still opening, Tweak backed up against the nearest wall furthest from her bosses and waited for one of them to set the elevator on its way.

"Well, we are her personal security detail, and we do get to spend a lot of time with the Head Administrator, so a good word with us doesn't come easy..." Stovaa said, giving Blake a sly nudge, playing along.

"I mean, in a jobs market like this, even the hope of getting a place on Cirrus is hard. A word from us could be VERY useful." The 'cowboy', as Blake styled him, finished his muffin and chewed it around carefully before swallowing, learnt back in his seat and placed an arm across the back of the bench where the Barista was sat, careful not to make physical contact. Yet.

"I'm sure we can think of a few things you could do. First question though, when do you get off work and what do you have planned later? Question two, how fast can you get dressed for a dinner? Third question and any more we can probably ask afterwards...."

Stovaa took a sip of coffee and glanced at the Barista's face, looking her in the eyes with as much playa sincerity as he could. Suddenly, all his time cruising nepleslian bars came flooding back. Like the time he convinced a female sports team he could help them crack into the big leagues.

"...That is, if you want us to help you, my dear." He winked at Blake, wondering where this was going to go.

(fixed something.)

Blake refrained from the snicker he had deep in his throat. But, he wanted to chortle so bad he couldn't say anything; instead he chose his best sagely nod and gave it. He hadn't meant for things to go this route-- he'd only intended to catch the young woman in a lie or the midst of fakery.

Not that he had a problem with the situation. In fact, he was very curious to see how far she'd take it. This was because he was still convinced that she was lying-- and so a sly feeling was creeping over him. He was going to find out what her true motivations were... if she hadn't already told him, that is.

I mean, can anyone really care that much about research stations? Besides, scientists don't act like that anyway-- there was definitely something fishy going on with this woman.

"Whoa w-whoa!" said the young Barrista frantically, holding up both her hands and scooting away from Stovaa. "H-hold on! I-I-I... I mean... You know, that's..." This was something she seemed to need to think over. Her deep brown eyes were visible under the large sheriff shades the way she was looking down, and she seemed to look between them rather uncomfortably. She placed a hand on her chest and bit her lip. The the coffee girl seemed to take a long silence in response before moving back to her spot next to Stovaa.

"O-okay..." she cleared her throat, before looking between them again. "I-... I get off in an hour." Her tongue darted across her lips as if to gear them up for the next part. "It takes me about thirty minutes to get between here and my apartment so I guess...-- I guess I could at least run home and get something nice... But after dinner..." Once again, she became silent, her face turning rather red again. Though, the way her expression seemed to contort, it was hard to make out if it were embarrassment or frustration. Once again, she looked at Blake, and then up at Stovaa. "You can guarantee me a job, right? You can say, with out a doubt that I can at least get my foot in the door, right?" Unlike before, the two couldn't get a look at her eyes thanks to her shades, but her face seemed to shine of determination.

----

Kokuten nearly jumped as Tweak came barreling in. The only time he had ever seen her move so quickly was when something extremely high-string was going on. Though, seeing how she came in with such heaves, she must have run all the way from the BADASS BEANS to get there. He was going to ask just what exactly she was doing, but seeing as she moved to the back as silently and quietly as usual, he figured it was simply just to take the elevator. Then. A thought.

Do Nekos even get exhausted? thought Kokuten, thinking on the natural build of Tweak's first people. He gave her a questioning glance, before deciding to disregard the fact, and let Cassefin have her way with the elevator buttons.

Blake twirled his goatee on one finger as he pursued the proposition before him. There were two angles here: First, this action would require him to be dishonest as well as manipulative. On the other hand-- by her very pursuit of this action, the barrista showed herself to be dishonest in due course. Blake contemplated on his situation with a stern look on his face, no doubt appearing to consider wether or not he could actually garauntee her position.

Finally, the tiny figurative Neko on his shoulder strangled the last bit of air out of the tiny Elysian on the other side. He caved in.

"So long as you're actually capable of preforming the tasks assigned to you." Blake said carefully, whipping a suspicious glare on the Barrista, "Otherwise, you'll lose the job just as quickly as you acquired it. Cirrus is a very serious research station, with a lot of sensitive projects."

"I promise, without a doubt, you'll be the top of the list of the shortlist."

Stovaa paused for a few seconds, his gaze meeting hers before slipping away to look at Blake again. He wondered quite how this was going to play out. He'd have to make a good impression on the girl now, make her at least believe he was going to be able to get her foot in the door later and also not fluff it all up in front of Cassefin. Shouldn't be that hard, it wasn't like he hadn't done this before.

But he didn't have Blake's occasional craziness to factor in.

"How soon would you be able to start? Any family, boyfriend or whatever you'd need to sort out before you could start working off-world on the station?"

Cassefin also appeared a little surprised at Tweak's sudden and rather abrupt arrival. She paused for a moment, giving the shrinking neko a strange look before delicately pressing one of the buttons on the side panel of the elevator. The doors slowly slid shut and the three of them began to rise, the floor below them, blue and hazy as it was distorted by the decorative wildlife tanks, began to disappear from view. Cassefin took her own place against the wall of the elevator, remaining relatively silent through the duration of the short ride.

The doors eventually opened to a much quieter setting, a stark difference to the noise of their previous location. The elevators opened to a simple, small lobby, occupied by a small common area populated with a handful of coffee tables, chairs and sofas. All of the furniture was centered around a large, rocky outcropping in the center of the lobby area, small streams of water flowing from the top into the small pool below, sending an ambient rippling echo throughout the area. Several hallways branched off from this lobby, rows upon rows of doors leading to private suites and quarters for guests. Aside from the centerpiece and a handful of other watery decor along the hallway walls, the oceanic overtones of the previous floors were less prominent, passed in favor of a more neutral and calming tone.

Perhaps by strange coincidence, but most likely for convenience, the rooms for each member of the Cirrus Station visitors were located in the same hall, clustered together. As Cassefin neared her own room, she turned back to her small entourage. "Well. Thank you, Chiaki, for the escort," Cassefin nodded once, trying to sound as sincere as possible. It was obvious, however, that she was a little wary of speaking to him, per a slight hesitance in her voice; the wounds from his scathing words must have still been fresh on her mind. Before Tweak could sneak past her, however, Cassefin also turned to address her as well. "And, Tweak? Could I speak to you for a moment?"

Kokuten gave a silent nod of his head to the Administrator before turning away. The departure felt slightly uncomfortable, yet... somewhat empowering. Perhaps it was wrong to feel good about tearing into Cassefin for once, but as the Captain put his back to the woman, he suddenly didn't care! It was almost like... winning. Winning something. In a bitter way. Sure there was a little guilt, but it was minor in comparison to the relief he felt. If Cassefin was repulsed by him now, what did it matter? If she fired him, then he'd only have to get a ride to a different stationing. If she just transferred him to some crappy shift, well, no more death defying, right? If she purely ignored him, then that was good, he didn't need anything else fueling his bitterness nor his reasons to act on them.

The Captain gave a short nod to Tweak, smiling gently, before walking back into the lobby. Perhaps he would lounge around for a bit, and relax. Maybe he could have a conversation with someone without one person in the group losing their head, or having to cut the talking short for prior engagements. It was terrible to think he couldn't have a calm, roughly sane trading of words. He saw it slightly cruel to classify it in that way, but he wanted to have some fun, or enjoyment. Maybe smoke a cigar all the way without having to put it out, or just sit-back with no worries in the world! Oh! How nice would that would be, were it not for the fact that having no worries was impossible now.

Ah, how nice it would be just to have pleasant conversation with someone... Anyone. Just once. No questioning, no conspiracies, and no usual Cirrus chaotics. Just... Normalcy... Just once.

----

The Barrista only seemed to become more and more nervous with Blake's addition. Still, she kept herself composed, reasonably enough that is. At Stovaa's mention of ties, she looked down at the floor, giving his statement some thought. She seemed slightly troubled, but even so, she turned her face back up at the two.

"My parents live on Nepleslia Prime, and my last boyfriend was in High-School. I can dump this place if she gives me the job!" said the Barrista, bouncing gently in her seat. "I'd need to clean out my apartment, but I think I'd be able to move along pretty fast!" She looked over Stovaa's shoulder, her eyes catching sight of the manager making his rounds. The Coffee-Girl hunched up a little by the ID-SOL making herself smaller and less noticeable. "So... uh... What kind of dinner are we talking about?"

"Oh, it's nothing special." Blake lied, "Just a little hobnobbing with some upper-echelon people. Miss Montreal is just trying to keep her corporate options open here, so she accepted a dinner invitation from Clan Vinross-Yu Cranker. You'd be good to come along, so you could see what kind of stuff they talk about."

Blake smiled again, still looking as wicked as he could without arousing too much suspicion. He gave Stovaa a quick glance as he cracked his knuckles, which had stiffened in the anticipation of the hunt. He didn't usually try to do stuff like this, having such a strong value on honesty. However; the night had put him in a low place and the barrista was willing to pursue underhanded means of advancement.

Blake's bitterness and his sense of justice co-mingled to form a sort of convoluted idea that this was somehow the right thing to do. Even if things blew up in his face, as per usual, he could at least have the satisfaction of watching it go down in flames as the barrista was humiliated. The bald artist stood, escaping from his trance of thought.

"Either way," he said, reiterating his former point and a little of his suspicion, "You seem to be well-qualified, if you're being honest. So, there shouldn't be a problem."

Stovaa nodded and looked at his watch. Quite an expensive one, he wasn't sure where it had come from and definitely didn't have it before he came down here.

"Yeah, par for the course for us. Either it's body armour or suits," he said, placing his free hand over his pocket, seeing if he'd acquired anything else in his brief time around the hotel. "If you don't think you've got anything to give a good enough impression, we could go shopping now. Don't worry, I'll cover it. We could talk about your qualifications while we're at it."

Stovaa kept a straight face, wondering what Cassefin would say when they turned up with an impressionable young girl in an expensive dress and blagged their way through dinner. The ID-Sol couldn't imagine she'd be impressed, but the important thing is getting one over on the hosts of the meal. Images of death was still fresh in his mind. He looked forward to the endgame of this, when they got what they deserved. But for the present, he and Blake had a young girl in their teeth.

"Last boyfriend was in highschool? I can't believe a girl like you has been single since then." He wasn't quite sure if he trusted her, but Stovaa had learnt that trusting people wasn't needed if you weren't being trustworthy with them. Get what you want, if they're sincere it'll usually come out before they get to the end of the race. Or the bed.

(The pop culture reference of the last few posts has been the build up to that one scene in 'Fame.' Derp.)

The dodgy barrista began to sweat a little bit at the mention of a meeting between the Yu-Cranker bigwigs and Cassefin herself. She shuffled herself in her seat, nodding uncomfortably. Blake kept mentioning the fairly risky parts of the situation, which appeared to discourage her. Though Stovaa seemed to bring up the rear with some for of hope, no matter how dire it could've sounded to anyone else.

"Well, when you're a twenty-five year-old who's cramming Theoretical Physics, while balancing her only source of already meager income, with low-town megaopolis values being her only foundation of social standards, you'd be pretty single, too." she said, rather bitingly. "I'm sure I'm plenty attractive, but I want a job and a future. A future specifically not in BADASS BEANS."

She pushed up her shades.

"Also no. I don't have anything too special. Just, office formal stuff."

Tweak remained silent and only glanced at Kokuten and Cass once on the elevator ride up, keeping a low presence otherwise.

When they reached the lobby, Tweak was relieved to find it much more low-key than the shopping 'district' of the hotel. She followed her squad captain and the head admin, keeping a respectful distance, glancing at the room doors they passed to orient herself in the building and see if, on an off-chance, the hotel used nameplates on their guests' doors. Then she realized she didn't have a key. She was realizing a lot of things today, it seemed...

She looked up when Cass said her name. Cassefin's request to talk startled the 'Spacer neko and Tweak tried just to look surprised instead of surprised, worried, and nervous, also resisting the urge to look back down though her eyes wouldn't stay on the admin, much less her face.

"I'm sorry, I need to find my room and put things..." Nod to the shopping bag. "...away. What do you need to talk about?" Managing to keep her voice steady felt like some sort of achievement.

"It won't be long," Cassefin replied in a low voice as she watched Kokuten and waited for him to walk out of earshot. When she was certain that it was just the two of them, Cassefin reached for the handle of the door she had stopped in front of. The handle emitted a small click as Cassefin's hand touched the cool metal; the doors must have been electronically monitored and controlled to let appointed patrons into their assigned rooms. A good system to have if one had a problem keeping their room keys in order. As Cassefin opened the door slightly, she motioned inside. "Could you come in for a second?"

The doorknob's response was noted with interest by Tweak. Could finding her own room be as simple as seeking out a door that reacted to her touch?

Her attention returned to Cassefin. Although curious about what the Head Admin wished to talk about, Tweak was still unsure of herself around the person who currently topped her List of People Not Reveal Her Real Species To; being alone in the same space with any of those people just seemed like a Bad Idea. Then she mentally frowned.

Why, exactly? Another line of thought to be followed when she wasn't holding a conversation.

"I...uh..." Tweak sighed, then held up her hand in a "wait one moment" gesture as she dug out the oversized bomber jacket she had been wearing on arrival at the hotel and put it on. Feeling the weight of the durable and weathered coat settle on her back and shoulders was, in a way, somehow comforting. Her nerves relaxed a little as Tweak picked up her bag again. "As long as it is quick," she murmured and waited for Cassefin to lead the way in. The 'Spacer neko's attentiveness was up, but she still kept the signs hidden.

"Just office stuff? Eh, you'd probably need to be a lot classier than that. I guess we'll have to go shopping then. If you give us your measurements, we could go and get some stuff for you, if time is gonna be tight." He lowered his hand and gently flicked his finger across the back of her neck absent-mindedly.

"Theoretical Physics? Pretty sure we just call that Physics on the Station. What was your final grade? Cirrus is pretty top-notch, either it's top-mark candidates or they pull a lot of strings to get on there. If you can do your part, we'll do our best for you."

He looked across at Blake. "Uh... How do we get a message to that crazy old butler?"

"You need only request it, sir," a voice replied suddenly, from behind Stovaa and Blake's position. Sure enough, the seemingly-omnipresent elder gentleman has apparently come to grant Stovaa's wish, standing in the doorway of the establishment and giving the seated ID-SOL a short bow when he recognized his presence. "Am I to understand that you will be bringing along this young lady as a guest for this evening's invitation?" Mr. Weathersby queried the two Nepleslians, hands folded professionally behind his back as his white mustache swam above his lips with every word.

---

The inside of each suite set aside for the Cirrus Station vacationers was a stark difference in setting from their usual cramped bunks in the CSS personal quarters. The room opened up to a moderately large living area populated a single large L-shaped sofa, impressively large flatscreen against the wall and a coffee table inbetween. At the opposing corner of the living area was the kitchen, sectioned off slightly by a bar and a handful of high-seated chairs. A number of simple kitchen appliances were present on the counter tops, neatly positioned and ready for use by patrons, were they to need such things. Similar to the hallways just outside to door, oceanic decorations were kept to a bare minimum, replaced by simple comforting colors and subtle nuances.

The other end of the living area opened to a short hallway. A door on the left led to the suite's bathroom, housing a large jacuzzi-style bathtub among other less notable things. At the end of the short hall was the doorway to the bedroom. Inside sat a small recliner next to the nightstand, with another, smaller flatscreen hanging on the opposing wall. The beds (king sized, of course) were, not surprisingly, waterbeds of remarkable quality.

Upon entering, Cassefin sighed and walked a few steps into the living room. Soft cylindrical floodlights attached to the walls near the ceiling, sensing the presence of the patron in the room, began to illuminate slowly until the entire suite was gently lit and clearly visible. Cassefin laid a hand atop one of the large upright cushions of the sofa near the center of the living room, turning back to Tweak as she delicately began to tug away at her elaborate hairdo.

"Thanks again for agreeing to come with us to this dinner thing tonight, Tweak," Cassefin began to speak, her shoulders falling back a bit as she pulled several decorative hairpins out, one by one. The Head Administrator continued on, apparently expecting an exchange of words with the Freespacer neko. "Although it's embarrassing to say, I believe you are the only CSS member that doesn't have it out for me, for one reason or another. At least, I've never heard or witnessed you criticize or comment on me in a negative fashion, so... thanks."

Blake slid around slowly, trembling, to regard Weathersby. "Yes." He provided, reaching out to touch lightly the man's collar, testing out rather or not he was material.

"We would very much like it if this woman could accompany us to...? Wait. How do you know? And do not hand me a simple, 'A butler has his ways' because that's just not fair, Weathersvane."

"I make A's of course. Just because I'm a Coffee Shop person doesn't mean I have the usual intelligence of these other idiots in here." said the Barrista, her confidence brimming through all of this. "No offense if you ever worked at a coffee shop before, people just assume I'm an idiot too, sometimes." The young girl shrugged. Upon the mention of the butler, she piped up again. "Usually Mr. Weather--"

"You need only request it, sir,"

Click to expand...

"Wha!" the Barrista jumped, scared out of her wits. But, oh she didn't just jump, she jumped. She went up in the air and down into Stovaa's lap, wrapping her arms around him as if he was supposed to keep her away from some kind of spider on the floor. She was looking around, rapidly, her sunglasses flinging off her face, revealing those brown eyes for the world to see. With the few seconds passing, the brown-haired woman calmed down, shaking a little bit from Mr. Weathersby's introduction.

Then, Blake's hand, rising, moving to touch the man. The beret-wearing coffee waitress' eyes widened and she loosed herself from Stovaa just enough to slap that hand before he could touch the butler, following a rapid shaking of her head, "You don't touch Mr. Weathersby." she said abruptly. "It's a bad idea. Just tell him what you need."

Her eyes blinked, face turning blank before looking back at Stovaa.

"What about shopping?"