RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 9] The Silver Lining

[MissingNo]

As he lay facedown in her lap, the texture was right there, and...familiar. Huh.

Everything had been given the "Freespacer" treatment. From somewhere, Tweak had scavenged cloth samples and had decorated the rather simple outfit with strips -- cleanly-cut strips, with trimmed edges -- of cloth that dangled like the fringe on a buckskin from the hem of her dress, the hem of her coat and the cuffs of its sleeves, and a few wider swaths draped and tied over her shoulders. The colors of the cloth looked somewhat familiar to Kokuten, but it wasn't really important to remember where he'd seen them before.

Ah. That was where Kokuten may have recognized the cloth that was decorating the black material of Tweak's dress when he first saw it. That material was a hotel blanket. And bedsheet. And maybe a bit of the drapes, too...

Meanwhile, the neko's face went red and her hands almost reflexively shoved Kokuten away after he landed, but instead froze in a startled pose. She stared down at him a little blankly as he made his muffled exclamation into her lap before flipping over and looking back up at her.

"I rely on you, and everyone else as much as I rely on myself. I know you don't like fighting, and the situations we're caught in, but I've told you already, I count on you." said the Captain sternly, finally finding the Neko's red eyes. Though it softened a little bit, before he realized he may have altered that from the statement before. "Your presence on and off duty helps, a lot!"

"Huh?" It took a second, then she realized what he was probably thinking. She wasn't going to leave the squad. "No, no, I--"

He squirmed a little bit, a little dreamy-drunken smile on his face. After adjusting himself a little more, he got into a more comfortable position.

"Nekos are awfully comfortable, it seems." he asked, looking up at her with somewhat expectant eyes, "Do you mind?"

Kokuten's movements distracted Tweak from what she was going to say. What he said distracted her from what she was going to say, and her entire face was overcome by bright pink. Comfortable? Was he saying that she was comfortable to lay on or that she was comfortable with him? At the moment, she knew the second option was becoming increasingly untrue. A complete breach of her personal space, a violation of professional behavior, an over-familiar position for him to be in, even if they were friends--

"Īe, sore wa daijōbudesu..." No, it's okay... "...I guess."

Tweak's head hung a little as she tried to adjust her seat on the mattress, settling her hands into the covers on the bed to prop herself up. This night was not turning out at all how she thought it would. Tweak still wanted his opinion on her plan, though, and she needed to tell him before she went to sleep and lost it all. Well, first-hand knowledge of it, anyway.

"I-I-I think I'm going to tell everyone what I am."

 

[Kokuten]

"I-I-I think I'm going to tell everyone what I am."

Kokuten gave a quiet, somewhat unfocused stare in response to that. Tweak had finally come to trust those around her well enough to admit her identity?

"I will admit, it is difficult to keep your secret from excessively nosy people and those with little respect to privacy." said the Captain, sighing a bit after recalling the people who recently found out. "Though, I don't think telling absolutely everyone is a good idea? You could tell Serra, Stovaa, maybe Blake, but we don't know everyone else quite as well." Kokuten was already beginning to clear up in the face a little bit as the alcohol processed through his Nepleslian brain. "At the very least, will you tell Cassefin?"

 

[MoonMan]

Cassefin shrugged in an aloof fashion, disregarding Fidela's concerns entirely. "I'm not making a judgement of your character, miss, just giving you the rules," she explained half-heartedly. "I'm not going to assume to know everything about why Stovaa brought you here, but I know him enough to make a very educated guess. But, I respect your conviction to your career and the lengths you would go to pursuit it. You just won't have to endure the hardships you thought you might have, is all."

It was becoming readily apparent that Cassefin might or might not have misunderstood the situation. However, the woman seemed more or less convinced as she looked back at Fidela, eyes awaiting her eventual acceptance.

---

"Anythin' I want, huh~?" Nell spoke softly as her face moved closer to Blakes, her intent fairly obvious at this point. The silver-haired woman smiled behind coy lips, her bated breath pressing heavily upon Blake's as she reached mere inches away from his own smile.

It was at that point that Nell blinked once, her pupils locked on Blake's lips, and sneezed. Every individual had their own unique way of sneezing; multiple short ones in succession, loud ones with uncontrollable volumes, to each person his or her own. Nell Sarahs, however, had a very unique sneeze in that it was both loud and not particularly clean. The woman drew in breath almost instantaneously, her short gasp for air causing her eyes to close for a split second. As she clenched her lids shut, she expelled all of the air back out of her mouth with a shrill shout, flinging saliva, residual traces of alcohol and food, and undoubtedly more unmentionable pieces of debris as she sneezed, almost directly into Blake's mouth.

Most likely due to the large amount of alcohol Nell had consumed that night, in response to her sudden and surprising promotion, the silver-haired Unique's eyes began to roll back into her head as she reeled back from sneezing onto Blake's unprotected face. The woman's grasp on Blake's shoulders wavered as Nell suddenly plummeted to Blake's feet, planting her face firmly on the carpeted floor with a groan. After a moment of laying in that position, Nell continued to groan and moan at her predicament, doing her best to simply stay conscious.

 

[MissingNo]

"I will admit, it is difficult to keep your secret from excessively nosy people and those with little respect to privacy." said the Captain, sighing a bit after recalling the people who recently found out. "Though, I don't think telling absolutely everyone is a good idea? You could tell Serra, Stovaa, maybe Blake, but we don't know everyone else quite as well." Kokuten was already beginning to clear up in the face a little bit as the alcohol processed through his Nepleslian brain. "At the very least, will you tell Cassefin?"

"I...I'm not sure about telling anyone, actually." Tweak shrugged. "Just thought...well...since the Head Administrator already thinks highly of me...maybe if I told some people on the team first, then kept up my job performance...then once I told her, maybe they would back me up and she maybe might see past my species and realize that I'm just another employee?"

Then she sighed. "Who am I kidding...Cassefin will probably think that I'm spying on her because they know about the 'salvaged Zesuanium'-whatever stuff. Maybe I should just go back to the Freespacers."

 

[Kokuten]

"Well, that's a little... shrewd... isn't it?" trailed Fidela as she attempted to protect what dignity she thought Stovaa to have. The woman rubbed her other arm behind her back. "Okay, I can agree to it, no problem, but don't you think that's somewhat... shallow?" asked the girl somewhat sheepishly, trying her best to to get answers without offended the outstanding authority of her boss.

"Stovaa is really sweet, for a big guy. He just... really has the need to show off around other people." admitted Fidela, before looking down at her own dress, "And if it was his intention, he was really good about it. I mean, look at this dress! He got it for me just so I could come and speak to you." She twirled a little bit, letting flowing against her legs. It was a modest number, little leafy flower and viney designs rising up from the hem of the skirt and flowing out under the chest. "I've never owned anything this nice before. My academic life was one of the few expenses I could afford to have!"

----

At that last comment, Kokuten's face turned a little sour, before he gave it a little consideration. He idly stared off at her dress, admiring it's home-grown design, before giving a short sigh.

Honestly, could you possibly be more worrisome?

Kokuten's metal arm outstretched over the and wrapped his fingers around one of Tweak's milky white hands. He gave her a flush-faced smile as he shook his head at her, his hair messing itself up in her lap. His face felt warm, likely the alcohol getting his blood pumping.

"The time has come to reveal this business to Cassefin, Tweak. Tell the people you trust in this squad first, as they're the most deserving to know. Then, tell the Head Administrator. You've been here almost longer than anyone, and you've served the station's interests, and Nepleslia's interests more dutifully than was asked. You have a service record, and if anything, you can use me to strengthen the defense of your history before this place." He gave her a little shrug, looking a little coy as he did so, "At least, that's what I think."

His fingers squeezed the hand a little, as the smile became a little sad.

"Whatever you choose to do with your secret, whether it's to hide it, tell it, or escape it, I'll support you all the way."

 

[MissingNo]

The feel of Kokuten's hand was new to the neko. True, she had held it earlier today while dragging him around the shopping levels of the resort, but this was different. Despite her distaste for contact, and regardless of the appendage being made of metal, the way his hand was holding hers had a calming effect. He meant what he said, about supporting her.

If someone is supporting me, I can do this.

"Thank you." Tweak meant to say more, but no other words came to mind. So she just looked at his hand on hers for a time, a small smile on her face.

What was she going to do? A thought occurred to her and Tweak quickly initiated another backup, saving everything that happened since her previous backup while considering her options.

"Who do you think I should tell first? I mean...if I were to tell anyone..."

 

[Lamb]

[YE 22, Doctors Office on Funky City]

"Keep your boy out of the aqueduct and it won't happen, Mrs. Garnelle."

A doctor was standing over an eight-years old Blake, prying leeches off of him with a large Delsaurian knife. His biological mother sat beside him, a mixed look of concern and frustration. She sighed and reached for some loose DA in a purse haphazardly strung around her shoulder.

Blake shuddered every time the knife pulled the leeches from his skin, leaving ring-shaped wounds in their place. His mother leaned in between him and the doctor and whispered sweetly, "Mommy can't afford to keep doing this for you, dear. You'll have to play it safe from now on or... something bad might happen."

[YE 29, Morris Estate on Nepleslia Prime, Bathroom]

"In my hair?!" Blake yowled, running his hands through perfectly tousled blonde boy-band locks, "How did they get in my hair?"

The family doctor smiled back at him with a shake of his head. "I ain't rightly sure, boy, that's for you to know. One thing is sure, though: Them's is pubic critters and they ain't in a hurry to leave."

Blake frowned. Blake's adoptive mother, Abigail Morris, looked back at him from behind the doctor with concern. She approached the doctor with a DA card held gently in one hand. "We'll just buy a nice medical shampoo, then, and it'll all go away." She said, flashing Blake a quick motherly smile.

"More than that." said Blake, reaching to the sink for a nearby razor, "Those... those... 'critters' won't have any hair left to trample on! This is my head, and I intend to keep it that way."

[YE 33, Fortuna, The Lady of the Ocean]

Having finished his customary flashbacks and single tear falling silently down one cheek, Blake moved on to the more pressing problem of the slobbering drunk sneezer at his feet. The biggest sigh of the night moved from his infected mouth to the nasty, infected air around him and with its momentum, the young artist hefted Nell Sarahs into a bridal position and swept her into his room and onto his bed. After applying a waste-basket vomit receptacle to her side of the bed, he made his way to the bathroom to begin the arduous scrubbing process to relive his face of its microbial infestation.

After a few more flashbacks and single teardrops, the job was done and Blake was cleaned from head to toe. His nice new suit was discarded in the trashcan, tied up securely in a plastic bag. In its place, he donned a pair of white painter's pants if only for the sake of Nell's dignity. He also resisted the urge to wash her for the same reason. Then, satisfied with his job, Blake settled down with his sketchbook in a chair next to the bed and began work on his latest project.

He would call it 'Pox-Mongering Devil', and any who found it would be puzzled as to why a charcoal sketch of such a beautiful woman sleeping so peacefully could have that name.

 

[Kokuten]

"Personally, I'd prefer you get to Cassefin, and get her out of the way." noted Kokuten, before bringing Tweak's hand over to his chest, and setting it there, entwining his fingers with hers. "The way Laj made it sound, he was planning to use your identity against you should he have the need. If the Head Administrator knows already, then that will cancel any advantage he'd gain from whispering it to her in secret." He looked at her hand and his for a bit, before turning his slowly changing gaze, from blue to green, up to her.

"If Cassefin complies, you have that much more power in guarding your secret from anyone else. Then, you'll have more security when you reveal it to everyone else." He tilted his head a bit in his lap, arching a brow up at her. "You may not notice it, but she puts a lot of faith and trust in you. If any of that is true, then she should accept you for who you are. If not...? Well..." He leaned his head to the side, looking at the far wall, giving it a little consideration. With that he looked back up with a reassuring smile, patting their interwoven hands with his other.

"I've got some contacts within the IPG who can dig up your records and offer security. However it turns out, it will be all right. I know it."

 

[MissingNo]

"Personally, I'd prefer you get to Cassefin, and get her out of the way." noted Kokuten, before bringing Tweak's hand over to his chest, and setting it there, entwining his fingers with hers.

Whatever closeness Tweak was feeling toward Kokuten froze when his fingers worked their way between hers. It wasn't just that her internal tactical system was warning her that the twined cybernetic fingers would prevent her from separating from him if he could lock them in place. That was a mere technicality that she wasn't entirely worried about. It was the combination of his actions that felt more and more like he was pushing for something as he pulled his hand, and by extension, hers, onto his chest.

"The way Laj made it sound, he was planning to use your identity against you should he have the need. If the Head Administrator knows already, then that will cancel any advantage he'd gain from whispering it to her in secret." He looked at her hand and his for a bit, before turning his slowly changing gaze, from blue to green, up to her.

While Kokuten continued explaining his idea, Tweak queried her database. A normal girl might ask her friends about something like this, but Tweak didn't know who she could ask. More importantly, she needed to know what the gesture meant so she could figure out what to do, or what she should do about it, now.

Her query returned nothing. There was no information about something like this, and why should there be? A weapon didn't need to have built-in knowledge of intimate gestures...

That left Tweak with her feelings about the situation. It didn't feel right. She wasn't sure what he was going for, if he was going for anything, and it just didn't feel right. Normally, if someone she didn't know touched her in any close way, sometimes as little as a friendly hand on her arm, she would attempt to move away from them or move them away from her as fast as possible. But this was Kokuten, someone she had a recorded history with as someone she trusted. She didn't want to insult him by mistake, if this twining of fingers meant something important. It had to be important, otherwise wouldn't she be seeing it everywhere, like a handshake or a hug?

"If Cassefin complies, you have that much more power in guarding your secret from anyone else. Then, you'll have more security when you reveal it to everyone else." He tilted his head a bit in his lap, arching a brow up at her. "You may not notice it, but she puts a lot of faith and trust in you. If any of that is true, then she should accept you for who you are. If not...? Well..." He leaned his head to the side, looking at the far wall, giving it a little consideration. With that he looked back up with a reassuring smile.

Tweak checked the memory of what Kokuten had just been saying before shrugging as he continued, her gaze wandering as he talked and as she thought. Her eyes locked onto various things, stuff that normally went unnoticed by most people -- a fold in the captain's jacket on the floor, the way a chair's legs lined up with each other, or the way the room could be divided along the invisible lines made by corners in the walls and doorways in the room -- while they periodically returned to Kokuten. Not his eyes, but his hand, his chin, a fuzzy thread pill in the fabric of the cuff on the right leg of his pants. Her question was bothering her, but Tweak didn't think she should ask yet. It would be rude while he was talking.

So she considered what he was saying. He had a point. Telling Cassefin would be a reasonable preventive measure, and Kokuten's note on how much the administrator trusted Tweak was given weight by Cassefin's behavior at the cafe earlier in the afternoon as well as during dinner that evening. But, still, if she rejected Tweak, then...

"I've got some contacts within the IPG who can dig up your records and offer security. However it turns out, it will be all right. I know it."

The 'IPG'? What was that? The acronym sounded familiar only because Kokuten had mentioned it earlier that evening while talking with Laj; the Nepleslian Intelligence and Pacification Group was not around when Tweak had been born and her database formed, so she didn't recognize the acronym. That was another question, though, which reminded her of her first question. Tweak stayed silent for a moment until it was clear that Kokuten had reached a stopping point and was waiting for her response.

The 'spacer neko looked down at his hands around her hand. "What does this mean?" she asked cautiously, nodding toward their hands.

 

[Kokuten]

The sudden change in subject made Kokuten gain a sick look on his face unintentionally. He tried to give her a normal, confused look, but he had to suppress a burp at the same time, so it just looked wrong. In a way it would seem as if the man had been completely offended by the question, when he simply couldn't figure out how that came out when it did. His mind slowly processed the situation, pushing past the alcohol also in processing at the time.

"Uh..." He went, looking at their hands before looking up her, "It's... a way... to... um..."

Wait, this is Tweak! I never considered if she knew what these subtle advances mean! I need to say something that properly expresses this. But what!? I'm not much of a romantic... he struggled with that a bit as he seemed to look even more troubled. He tried to recall on others, what he thought they might say:

Stovaa

"Right, don't worry about that, babe, what matters is you and me, and the fact that we're already on the bed."

No, too direct.

Claire

"What does it mean, dear? Oh, let me show you."

No no no.

Blake

"First, let me capture this moment in forever. Would you kindly get naked so I may embody you upon a canvas in eternity!?"

What!?

Serra

"It is an intimate sign of affection, a simple and gracious gesture from me, but you understand at least."

No? Too distant.

Noboru

"There's a perfectly logical explanation for this, so how about I say it naturally? I dig you harder than a drilling machine."

Akio's creative wordplay doesn't suit the mood.

Cassefin

"It means you're FIRED!"

Where did that even come from?

Over the few seconds he considered this his face got steadily more and more frustrated, grumbling the failings of his sought for wisdom. His finger tips drummed over the covers and on Tweak's hand, and after coming up with nothing he gave the girl a rather lost expression. He gave up.

"Listen..." He started slowly, biting his lower lip, breaking that eye contact and seeking something else to look at. His eyes found the hand. "This. These hands represent trust and affection. Just having them this way represents a sort of bond between two people. I mean, you wouldn't do this with just anyone." Or so he thought, what exactly was going on in Tweak's mind? That was what he thought, and as he looked up at her, he intended to find out. "We've known each other for a while, and despite the fact you forget everything once you go to sleep for the night, I find you the most enjoyable person to be around. I can confide a lot with you, and I can trust you. Your brainy solutions to simply problems are only more satisfying by how effective they are, and I like smart. Which is why I... hold a lot of affection for you." His eyes slowly gained a modest red color.

"I guess the shorthand would be love, but that's a little forward to say."

 

[MissingNo]

So this is important to him, thought Tweak as she watched Kokuten struggle to think of what he wanted to say. She waited patiently for him to gather his words and, when he had arranged them in the way he wanted, she listened.

His finger tips drummed over the covers and on Tweak's hand, and after coming up with nothing he gave the girl a rather lost expression. He gave up.

"Listen..." He started slowly, biting his lower lip, breaking that eye contact and seeking something else to look at. His eyes found the hand.

[...]

"I guess the shorthand would be love, but that's a little forward to say."

Now, the rest of the explanation denoted above by the ellipsis was probably very interesting and useful. Tweak would likely find and review that memory in detail later that night while saving an update to her record of the day. But, sitting there on the bed with her squad leader's head on her lap, his hands around her hand with fingers intertwined, and what could be called with some measure of accuracy a confession of his love for her in her ears, the neko's conscious, short term cognitive abilities were somewhat impaired.

Tweak's eyes snapped over to stare at Kokuten's face for a half-second before looking down at their hands again, red appearing on her face as well. He was drunk, true, but he was also more lucid than when he answered his door and his words were not as slurred as they had been...

WHO CARES? He-he-he just said--

"You-you-you love...you love me?"

Only a day with him. She had only known him for one day...

Does that matter? She couldn't conclusively say 'yes' to that question...and, while she didn't have first-hand memories, she had second-hand first-person memories of what he was like all of those days he remembered but she did not. What Tweak did know first-hand, she enjoyed. Was that all there was to it?

What did that mean?

"Wh-what does that-that-that mean?" Her words were skipping like a corrupted data file. Was she alright? What was going on?

Internal diagnostic initiated.

... ... ...

Tweak gulped, waiting.

 

[Kokuten]

What do you mean what does that mean!? steamed Kokuten inwardly, surprised by the fact that she didn't still fully comprehend it yet. Was it really that foreign to her? Did having one's memory erased every evening make for this sort of thing? Or perhaps it's just for that reason she's unable to comprehend why he meant it. Kokuten quietly mulled these things over in his head, struggling to push the concept over.

"What does it mean?" Kokuten fumbled with his words a little bit, his mechanical rolling around to the side, before looking up at her. "That I... love you?" It felt so weird just saying it. "Hard to define just straight out."

How to define it... spoke the Captain inwardly, She's already tripping over her words, so I can't go around shocking her more than she's already been. I just need to take it slow, and see where this goes.

"It means you have my adoration and trust." he said finally, getting it out after a little more thought. "And lots of it. So much so that I don't mind sharing close moments like these with you, being close here, together. I'd like to have a lot more like them. However..." He held up a metal finger up at her. "What matters is what you with all that I place in you. While I am somewhat hopeful, I did consider the fact of whether or not if you didn't feel..." He got a little withdrawn, embarrassed with how caught in this the two were getting, "... somewhat similar."

 

[MissingNo]

"Oh-oh-oh."

Tweak stared hard at their hands. The red was not going away, why was the red on her face not going away?

A scene from earlier that evening, before the dinner, played in Tweak's mind as she tried to think. How was this scene different than that one? He was complementing her again, both on her work and who she was, and they were again in a safe place. Why had the previous time drawn a reaction of happiness while this one made her nervous? Finally, she closed her eyes and forced her thoughts to stop. Even her breathing stopped for a few seconds. Once her mind was cleared, everything shoved to the side, Tweak allowed herself one thought at a time, taking apart what was troubling her.

She kept a close watch on her emotional responses and their cues. They were highly suspect in causing the chaos in her mind, but instead of shutting them away altogether, Tweak decided that she still needed them for what she was going to try figuring out. The first issue was how to reply. The neko carefully allowed acknowledgement of what Kokuten had said, keeping herself detached from the words at first and slowly asking herself what she felt about them...

Inside her mind, Tweak was being deliberate and thorough, but at a very accelerated pace; to her, exterior time would be perceived as running slow, as it did sometimes when she was in a combat state. Outside, Kokuten was being given his own show of strange, confused expressions similar to what he had treated Tweak to while trying to come up with his original explanation. Her 'troubleshooting mode' only lasted about ten to fifteen seconds, though, so he didn't have long to wait. It may have felt like an eternity to the both of them, but it was not.

Diagnostic results: [... ... ...]

Situation response conclusions: (...)

Opening her eyes, Tweak looked down at their hands again.

"I trust you," she said. Her voice was quiet, but calm. "I always have, as far back as my saved memories and notes go. You have done so much for me.

"Earlier tonight, being with you made me happy. That's a rare feeling for me, I guess. You kept me company, you helped me enjoy myself, even for a little while...and you even tried to cover for my social weakness, even if that didn't go so well." Her mouth turned in a half-smile/half-grimace before settling on a half-smirk. "You still tried, and things worked out; I think the thought counts in that case. You make me feel safe, despite everything I can do to take care of myself, and at the same time you appreciate what I can do on my own and you trust my work. Um...I mean...well, you just said as much...so..."

It was turning into a jumbled mess of a reply. Tweak's eyes flicked to look at his, then returned to their hands as she continued before he could say anything. "And...and it's not just what you do for me, either. I do care about you. What you think, what you feel, what happens to you. What I mean is, even if I have only known you for a few hours, and they are all I have...I-I-I wish those hours were longer."

Saying it aloud, it finally hit Tweak what tonight would bring. Even if she was saving everything...it wouldn't be the same tomorrow. Everything she knew now would be gone, present only as an echo that she wouldn't recognize any more than she recognized yesterday's stored memories as being her own. Her eyes closed again while her tactical system let her know an excess of lacrimal fluid was pooling in her ocular system and overflow was eminent.

She ignored it.

 

[Kokuten]

Her reply had struck him silent, the gentle glow of his eyes showing to have dimmed a little bit. So the feelings were not just his own? Even with the way her memory was, she was still able to coalesce her feelings. Still, it was a powerful message, coming from a girl like her.

Though, seeing her shed those sad tears stirred something within him. In the time Kokuten had known her, Tweak wasn't one to shed tears, even when she was most troubled. He knew her memory had always been a deep setback to her, defied only by her notes and memory back-up, but this was different. When the sun rose tomorrow, she wouldn't be able to recall this moment without having to access it through the eyes of a past self.

The Captain loosed his fingers from her hand, and wobbly sat up, the world unusually unstable.

"I do too, you know." said Kokuten, now sitting by-side with the Freespacer Neko he had fallen for. "It's a little jarring to know you won't remember this like I will. More than anything I'd like you to know this more than a recording in the future."

His arm draped around her shoulders, hand wrapping snugly around her arm as he pulled her a bit to comfort her. The other gunmetal black hand rested on top of her pearly white fingers, scooping them up in his palm and grasping them gently.

"But..." He smiled looking at her, "That's why I'll be sure to remind you what's it's like every day, to know someone loves you and that you love someone else." His gaze softened a little more, as he looked down at their hands. The words were coming more naturally now. "Even if you don't quite remember today, you'll have a million more moments just like them to make up for it. I'll be sure of it." He looked back up at her, a little more glow in the brightness of his unnatural eyes.

"So you record in that memory of yours that I'll always be there to make you happy, alright?"

 

[MissingNo]

"More than anything I'd like you to know this more than a recording in the future. [...] That's why I'll be sure to remind you what's it's like every day, to know someone loves you and that you love someone else."

"Even if you don't quite remember today, you'll have a million more moments just like them to make up for it. I'll be sure of it. [...] So you record in that memory of yours that I'll always be there to make you happy, alright?"

What he said broke down whatever was holding her back. When Kokuten put his arm around her, Tweak let him. She put her head against his shoulder and cried. She cried for her damaged memory, she cried out the stress that built up over the day, and after that, Kokuten's promises struck her in just the right way to renew her tears again.

After a while, her crying slowed to an occasional sniffle.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." murmured Tweak as she pulled one of her hands free from Kokuten's and almost rubbed it against her face before noticing the glove still on it. She removed her other hand to take off the glove, revealing the answer to the odd appearance of the fifth digit on her normally four-digit hand. A mechanical pinky finger was attached with a somewhat complicated harness to her hand, rigged to be controllable by the movements of her other three fingers and thumb. The neko fumbled with the device, pushing at the several release points to undo the catches, sniffling as she did, before it finally came loose. She rubbed the back of her hand against her cheeks to take care of the tears, then dragged her hand and index finger under her nose.

"Ugh..." Okay, that wasn't pretty at all. "I'm sorry," Tweak repeated with a very small, embarrassed smile. "Um...can I use your bathroom?"

 

[Kokuten]

Kokuten gave Tweak a little grin as she seemed to lighten up a little after her tears stopped flowing. At that moment, he found himself questioning the mainstream media's depiction of Neko's at large. Promiscuous, unfeeling females that see the world as little other as something to control. Tweak wasn't any of those things. She certainly felt emotions deeply, her increasingly red eyes were evidence of that, and she was not in the least at all touchy or feely. It made him wonder.

Was this how Neko's truly were, or is this just the unique Tweak, the Freespacer Neko? As alien and artificial as she was, she was more human at heart than others would be willing to believe. That was what Kokuten thought.

"Sure." approved Kokuten, letting his arm fall from her sides as he began to slowly readjust to sobriety. "You'll be the first to use it."

 

[MissingNo]

Tweak quickly murmured a "thank you" and bowed briefly to Kokuten before heading to the bathroom to wash her hand.

---

Putting her other glove and pinky-finger-prosthesis on the countertop next to the sink, Tweak looked up at the mirror beyond the sink as she ran water over her hands. Her reflection was odd, as to be expected by her costume, a little on the ostentatious side with the ornamentation...

With snot removed and hands soaped, rinsed, and dried, the neko looked down at the mechanical finger as she put the hand towel down next to it. The fourth-fingers had been a good idea, very Freespacer-ish, if she correctly understood what the Deoradh were. In the end, though, it was just another part of her little white lie. After all, she was an adopted Freespacer...not one by birth, even though she let everyone assume she was.

Did it matter whether she was? I guess it does, otherwise I wouldn't need to be quiet about it, she decided. Dark red eyes looked back up at the mirror. Tweak slowly unwrapped the scarf from around her neck and let the heavy shawl slide down behind her head. Her feline ears twitched a bit amidst her streaked hair, trying to work out the kinks from being held down for so long. She was a neko. And Nepleslians hated nekos. Well, most of them.

Someone loves me, Tweak thought with a smile. And Kokuten loved her for who she was, too, not just for what she was or wasn't. And soon she would tell everyone else, removing the reason for her lie. The 'spacer neko combed her fingers through her hair, which was somewhat limp from being pressed down by the scarf. He had said she looked beautiful earlier that evening. Just the memory made her smile and feel warm inside. It was a nice feeling, a comforting feeling. Like being hugged by someone you trusted, even if they weren't physically there.

As much as she disliked wearing it now, Tweak put her shawl back on and re-wrapped the scarf before leaving the bathroom with her prosthetic finger and glove in hand and a small smile stuck semi-permanently on her face. Wouldn't do to forget it if someone showed up, she thought while walking back out.

 

[Kokuten]

Kokuten was sitting on the edge of his bed, rubbing his temples. There was a bit of a strain on his face, but it seemed to simply be him trying to orient himself. He looked up at her for a moment, his eyes focusing on the prosthetic and then her. It was strange, how did he not notice the extra finger on her hand? Mmm... Must have been too busy getting into everyone else's business. he thought. On that, he made the attempt to stand, and meet Tweak half way in the room, but he failed to consider the ramifications of such an action in his current state.

Worse yet, he even looked at the floor as he did it.

"Feeling a bit bet-- Oh." was what Kokuten started with, taking two steps, and leaning a bit too far forward on the second step, and began to fall forward in a somewhat drunken daze. With nary an attempt to recover, it looked like he was going to face plant on the floor.

 

[MissingNo]

Tweak dropped the fake finger and her glove as she tried to catch Kokuten on his way down. Despite having a strong grip, the neko's measly ninety-one pounds wasn't enough to give her leverage to keep him from the floor; all she could do was flip him over in mid-air, get her arms under hism, and fall with him until they were both sitting on the floor with his back against her. As tall as he was, the shock of sitting down so hard knocked the back of Kokuten's skull into Tweak's nose; she winced at the spark of pain and the pop of cartilage from surprise more than the injury. A drop of blood dripped from her nose, but turned to ash as it fell onto her dress. There was another popping sound in her nose and the bleeding stopped.

The neko picked herself up while keeping a hand on Kokuten to keep him sitting until he could manage it himself. "You need to stay in bed. You might be lucid, but you're still not sober." Tweak circled around to stand in front of him. "Stay still there and I'll move you back into the bed, then you can sleep it off, okay?" Just as she finished the last sentence, Tweak found herself stifling a yawn. "And I should probably go anyway..."

 

[Kokuten]

The transition was a little jarring for Kokuten, and somewhat confusing as he tried to figure out just how exactly he had spun around so fast. The last thing he remembered was falling towards the floor, and then suddenly spinning very fast, then the back of his head walloping into something rather hard. He turned just a little bit, refusing Tweaks command to sit still, mainly because his brain hadn't caught up with yet. She's leaving? Ah, well. He thought looking her in the eyes, not quite grasping he had caused the nosebleed.

With just enough coherence, he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, and then sluggishly turned to plant his hands on the floor and make his way back to the bed.

"Well, then you have a good night then. Don't worry about me, I can make it this far." said Kokuten somewhat cheerily. He crawled a few feet, before he seemed to catch sight of the floor again, and then lost his balance.

Shoomp! went the Captain's head as it disappeared under the bed as he collapsed again. He let out a little grumble, and seemed to give up trying to reach the bed. The floor appeared to do well enough.