RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 9] The Silver Lining

"Well, it's not like we're out report you!" said Kokuten with a laugh, his chin still resting in his hand. Though, that was getting a little uncomfortable, so he just rested his arm on his knee while his other hand brought the coffee cup to his mouth, taking a sip. "Besides, learning how one gets off the Cirrus Station without the knowing of Head Administrator Montreal is an intriguing subject."

Max leaned forward, clasping his hands together, a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, long story short, it's not through anything I did, to be honest. Administrator Vanderhuge wanted some smokes, apparently, and didn't want the fact becoming public knowledge. Since I was already with my squad, it was apparently decided that I was a good choice to be sent to get them." He shrugged. "Aside from that, I have no idea how to get down here without permission, though I would love to know how."

Okay... Tweak wondered why Max was still here. That sounded like it would be the sort of errand that one would want to finish and get back to the station quickly.

She took another sip. The drink her hands was cooling, and some of the contents were settling to the bottom.

Blake turned his attention away from the barrista (Quick, barrista, RUN!) for a moment to rejoin the conversation.

"I've never met Administrator Vanderhuge." he said, "And I didn't know we had any administrators other than Miss Popjoy and Montreal. How many others are there?" As he asked, Blake raised the coffee to his nose to smell it's delicate quaffeur once more before punctuating his question with a long, hardy gulp of the warm drink.

"Oh yes, there are also Administrators Vanderhuge, and Peke. They're of their own individual sectors in the Cirrus station." explained Kokuten, his wrist spinning his free hand to explain. The Doctor brought the cup to his lips, taking a sip. "I've even heard that a new Administrator is being hired to manage the massive storage facilities of the station. So that will increase our number of managing persons yet again." He shook his head, and looked back to Mike, "I can understand the request from Vanderhuge. I doubt that, even as an Administrator, he hasn't been given leave to go down to the planet himself. When are you due back, then?"

"Well, he wasn't very specific. I think he was giving me a bit of leeway in return for my discretion, so... Well, anyway, I plan on heading up sometime in the near future, just out of courtesy if nothing else. How about you guys? Staying down here much longer?" Max leaned back in his seat, folding his hands behind his head, an inquisitive look on his face.

"We're staying the night." Blake provided, "We've got rooms and everything. And I've got cats, too."

"Say!" he had a sudden burst of inspiration, "Captain, do you think that if I clean up Evan and Hotohori, Administrator Montreal would let me bring them back with us? They'd be excellent for morale, and even better for companionship!" As if to prove his point, Blake held Evan and Hotohori up to his face on either side, nuzzling each of them with his head. Evan nudged him back, while Hotohori's ears drew back.

"I doubt it, Morris. Cassefin will take every measure possible to ensure the uncorrupted image of her Space Station. She'd probably see the cats as a risk, and think you too irresponsible to care for them." said Kokuten, settling his cup aside for a moment to talk to Morris before looking to both Max and Tweak. "Because, as you know, we are all rather inept in Cassefin's eyes, or at least, as she puts on. Though, even if she does just for an image, she will probably turn down your two friends for those images." The Captain sighed, bringing up an arm to scratch the side of his face. "Head Administrator Montreal is a perfectionist, and she goes to great strides to prove it." One of the cybernetic eyes in his head turned to Max, "Keep that in mind while you try to sneak back to the Station."

Tweak moved her coffee cup in a circular motion along a horizontal axis, causing the contents to form a miniature whirlpool inside it. She had nothing to contribute to the conversation, but that was fine. Half-listening, she went about sorting out other things in her head.

Being nervous was not a good thing, she decided. Not in the usual way, of course it wasn't good (except for select situations)...oh. Okay, maybe it was the usual way and she was just stating the obvious. Nerves made her stressed and prone to avoid even good things. It scattered her thoughts and invited mistakes.

So what could she do about it? A frown passed over Tweak's face, lasting only a second. Avoiding things that made her nervous was an answer, but not a good one. And with her memory problem whatever she came up with would need to be able to pass on to tomorrow. What she needed was to talk about this with someone...

While the motion of the cup helped a little with re-mixing the separated particulates with the solution that was "coffee", the spinning also made the drink cool faster. Tweak stopped moving the cup and watched the liquid move on its own for a few moments, then finished the drink off in a short draught. "If she doesn't know already, she will know when she gets back," she noted. "There are cameras everywhere and she probably keeps a close eye on the ways on and off the station. Maybe..." Tweak tilted her head a little, looking up at the cafe counter. "...does she like coffee?"

Blake downed the rest of his coffee and slid the mug forward on the table. "I doubt it," he replied to Tweak, "There's never any coffee that I can find on the station. If she liked it, it'd be in the vending machines with the cheese goop and the chocolate cardboard."

Thinking further of bribery, he went on: "None-the-less: Every question is worth asking, and the worst that can happen is rejection! So, I'm going to ask her anyway, and if she says no, I'll just leave the cats where I found them."

Max shrugged. "I wasn't really sneaking in the first place. Not entirely at least. And I'd assume the administrator has some kind of excuse ready if she does ask questions, since it was his idea." He paused, thinking. "Now, just to clarify. Was that coffee comment directed at me for sneaking onto the station, or your... friend here, about his cat problem?"

"Either one." Tweak held the empty drink cup with both hands over her lap, glancing up at Max before looking back at the cup. She slowly tilted it with a rotating motion, making the remnants of liquid inside slide along the crease at the cup's circular bottom. Crumbs of coffee that got through the filter spotted the cup, some being picked up by the racing drop while others were deposited behind it.

Now she had something to focus on. Tweak had an idea, but her notes indicated that the concept it used might be foreign to a real Freespacer. So...she needed to find a way to nudge them in the right direction.

"Hrm! What exactly do you mean, Tweak? Cassefin may like it, considering how she's always wired, but I highly doubt she drinks any out of principle." noted Kokuten, his hands smoothing down his pants to press out any wrinkles he had gotten in them while he had been sitting. With a sigh he laid back in his seat comfortably, letting the rest of his coffee sit aside by itself. "It is a little strang--"

Slap! went the sound of an open hand connecting with someones face. Kokuten turned his head in time to see the straight-laced businessman turn back to his DataJockey with grumbling face and glowing red hand-print on his face. The young, glasses-wearing girl looked a little steamed and ruffled, before going back to her own business, settling an uncomfortable atmosphere behind the group.

"Ahem... Yes." said Kokuten, clearing his throat, before sinking back into is comfy spot.

Tweak's ear tried to twitch toward the sound of the slap, but was held firmly in place by her knit cap under the hood of the appropriately-named hoodie sweatshirt. She decided to ignore it for now and refocused on Kokuten's question.

No...it would just be easier to do it herself, she decided. But, at the same time, it would probably require buying something, which she had already shown herself ill-practiced at. "Um...well, if there were Junkers on a mining run, and you had something that you wanted to gather but you knew the others wouldn't approve, then you would probably have the Junker gather something they would like at the same time. You would be forgiven for sending the junker away from the other task, and they wouldn't know that you had acquired what you wanted."

There was a huge, gaping hole in that logic, Tweak knew, but hopefully the trio would latch on to the idea behind it instead of the details of the metaphor used.

"Ah..." Kokuten blinked once or twice at Tweak's explanation. Junkers? He thought they had always been more like pets to Freespacers. Still... A pet in a Freespacer society likely has no true owner, so who would be angry over using it? Would it be a waste of resources? Or does the Foreman command all the Junkers and manage their time? All these details seemed very important until he realized that it was probably not what Tweak meant to bring up. He looked at Max, and quirked an eyebrow over his gun-metal black eye.

"So..." thought Kokuten, his mind trying to wrap around the idea. "Assuming that our friend here takes the place of the Junker in your explanation, and that Cassefin takes the place of the 'others'..." The mood-bearing eyes of the Chiaki began to transition in color in a wide sequence. Every three seconds was a different color, and after giving Max this stare for a second, he turned his head back towards Tweak. "You are suggesting that he get Cassefin a little something as well to mask over the fact that he's here to get a little something for someone else?"

"And I can get her something nice, too!" Blake shouted, "To cover up the fact that I'm going to ruin her pretty little sterile space-station with mangy, flea-ridden pests no doubt harboring diseases and ill intent for us all!"

Blake smiled wide at this notion, petting both cats as they lapped away hungrily at the remainder of their cream, almost confident that he would soon be bringing his new friends home.

"Now... what sort of stuff does Administrator Montreal really like? Is it sciencey stuff? Or do you think it's just stuff that's like her: extremely subtle about womanhood, yet holding very much the qualities of?"

"Mm-hm." The 'Spacer neko nodded at Kokuten as Morris made his declaration on the potential nature of his new cats, earning him at least one odd look. "That probably would not be a good idea for you...cleaning them as much as possible might be more help," Tweak noted as she glanced at the felines.

"I would wager it would be a very good idea to clean them up a bit first, based on what I've heard. You're probably pushing it more then I am, just by bringing them back at all." Max smiled slightly at the notion, still not entirely convinced that he was in trouble at all anyway. After all, it's not like he was technically doing anything wrong, he was just on leave minus his squad in a certain sense.

"Well of course I'm going to clean them. Rather I bring them back with me or not, I'm going to clean them." Blake began, "If someone were to just clean these animals at least once a year, they'd clean themselves the rest of the time. They just lack the ability to get blood and grease out of their beautiful fur coat. Here in Nepleslian space, that's a huge shortcoming... Oh!"

Blake snapped his head around, searching for the barrista. "I forgot about her. I wanted her phone number. Does anyone see where she happened to go?"

Coincidentally for Blake, their barrista just so happened to be passing by. She looked at the four of them, and then at Lam.

"Did you guys need something?" if she weren't wearing the sunglasses, she'd probably be associating that stern facial glare with and equally stern ocular gaze.

Kokuten looked at the barrista, and then Morris, and then sipped up what was left of his coffee.