RP: YSS Miharu Mission 1 "REAR GUARD", Day 4

Nyton shrugged at Kotori's unexpected reply but wasn't about to back down from his offer. He climbed out from the bath tub, spilling some water from his body onto the floor, and began to walk over behind Kotori. It was slightly chillier outside of the tub after he had gotten used to the warmth. He shivered a bit, showing his discomfort towards the cold, but looked to find a section of her hair that was still matted with blood. "Hm, that Mishhu really made a mess of things. Guess your lucky that's all it managed to do." he said as he continued to maintain a casual air.

Miyoko nodded in greeting as her superior entered the room. After swallowing a bite of apple, she turned to Asher. "If you really want to thank somebody for your rescue, she'd be a better place to start than I would." With a small chuckle, she opened the book back up and resumed her reading.

"Indeed," Kotori smiled slightly and then turned to better present her back to Nyton, with the water falling from the showerhead tricking over one-half of her body. Some loose hairstrands stuck to her skin - which looked very pale in contrast to the waist-long curtain of dark hair.

"There's some shampoo in the basket that you can use to wash my hair." Kotori pointed to the basket and then added, "I could also let you comb it once we are done here, if you'd like."

Yukari smiled and shook her head. "I am also the communication officer, Westwood-Hei. I was only doing my duty." She took a seat on one of the couches as well, spreading out some. She felt a little sleepy ... but sleeping was not a good idea with the time she had left.

Asher turned to Yukari and nodded his head, his mouth filled with a snack at the moment. He began to recognize her voice as the one that had contacted Rys and himself back on the Shikaku.

Where is Rys anyway...? he thought, swallowing what was left of the current snack in his mouth.

"Doing you duty? I'm sorry, but from my point of view all of your efforts were exceptional. You guys rescued our sorry asses without a hitch, it was a complete success, right?" He, of course, was refering to everyone that had participated.

"Though I havn't properly introduced myself to most of you yet, the name is Asher Orkin Westwood, Combat Arms." He grinned, giving a makeshift salute.

"That is right ... but it is our duty to save our fellow comrades." Yukari smiled at the introduction.

"I am Suzuka Yukari." She made a little head bow. Her eyes were slightly lidded; she even looked tired. "And we could use all the combat personnel we can get."

Nyton picked up the shampoo and began to work it into Kotori's hair. Now I'm washing the Taii's hair in the nude. Can this mission get any more unorthodox? he mused. "I'm no professional at handling women's hair so you will have to excuse the occasional pull, Kotori-sama." he said as the started to build some lather. Some bits of blood, while already dry and brittle, had managed to stick rather stubbornly here and there and took a little extra effort to remove. "But I suppose there's always room to learn a new skill." he then said lightly.

"Well, seeing the low frequency of women on Nepleslia, your lack of practice in that regard isn't all that surprising." The neko edged away a bit to give Nyton space to come under the shower as well. At least that way he could keep warm.

Nyton chuckled a bit. "Lack of Nepleslian women true, but that doesn't stop the import of Nekovalkyrja and Geshrin women to the planet. What you have access to depends on your proximity to the poverty line." He moved in closer to the shower and allowed the water to warm him back up. "Much better, thank you." he said quickly before he moved on. He had finished removing the crusted blood and had proceeded to work more on lathering the shampoo into Kotori's hair and scalp. "Yes, tactical officer by day, hair stylist by night. I'll have to add that to my professional resume'."

Kotori chuckled, sucked in a deep breath and then said in her most official sounding voice: "In that case, I hereby present you with the 'Brave Hairstyler Award' for having the courage to wash out all the mishhu blood in your commanding officer's hair." She turned her head enough to look at him from the corner of the eye. "You can just pretend that you have an extra imaginary medal somewhere in your case from now on."

"Looks like you could use a nap." Asher scratched the back of his scruffy-haired head, noting Yukari's apparent drowsiness. It felt good to know the crew on the ship was so welcoming. He promptly stuffed the last snack on his plate into his mouth, taking a look at the Zesuaium windows overlooking the outside of the Miharu.

This place has got just about everything.

Nyton laughed a little and paused to give Kotori an overly dramatic bow. "You are too kind, my lady. You do honor me with such an award." he said. He then returned to her hair and finished lathering. "I think that's all of it. Shall I rinse or do I need to let it soak in for a few moments?"

"And you?" Yukari responded, smiling a little. "The ordeal you have suffered would drive many to rest weary bodies and minds." She managed to keep her eyelids up, for the moment.

Asher shook his head, he looked back on the Shikaku incident.

"Eh, I led a pretty 'exciting' life back in and around Malefir." Asher put his tray to the side. He scratched the back of his scruffy head again, his head always seem to itch for some reason.

"I really didn't do much, actually, the most work I did was hunting for an armory, hauling a body, and transporting torpedoes. I do feel a little tired, but I'm ready to go." Asher took a moment to think then continued, "I guess my head could use some catching up though, I'm still trying to get the picture of the Med Bay out of my head." Thoughts of that medbay rushed back to him, the strewn bodies, even some that were still strapped down...

He shook his head, making his hair flail, and thought of something else.

"I guess it really doesn't bother so much, I didn't know many of the crew. Actually, Rys was mainly the only guy I knew on there. We were just recently transfered to the Shikaku." Asher looked around for Rys.

Yukari did not know what Asher had seen ... but she somehow could understand it. She was purposely thinking of other things as well.

"If you wish it, Westwood-Hei, this ship can be your home. An armorer is always helpful."

"Well, I always thought it was up to the Star Army Personal Management division." Asher liked the idea of staying on this ship, it seemed high-end and his chances of living to be a Nitô Hei one day were more likely.

"Though, if it was up to me, I'd love to stay here." Asher layed back into the chair.

Even in her drowsy state, Yukari managed a small grin. "We ... can make an arrangement for you, Westwood-Hei. And it would be a pleasure to do so."

In the back of her brain, relatively sundry thoughts flashed with fluctuating intensity. To be sure, however, she was having trouble waiting for ... whenever sleep time was.

"Letting it lather will make for a better luster later," Kotori said as she grabbed her soapy hair and dragged the mass in front of her shoulder to leave Nyton with a better access to her back.

"I admit I'm having some trouble swallowing the fact that we weren't able to do anything back at Taiie. I wasn't able to make the slightest difference in preserving that world. I don't really like the Fifth Expeditionary Fleet and much of what is attached to it... but I didn't really want them to die." She sighed and hunched forward a bit; an unspoken permission that Nyton could wash her there too. Crouched like that, the fine boned neko seemed a small, delicate thing. The porcelain skin of her back was marred by the peculiar, darker streaking over her spinal column which supposedly was the new interface system which had replaced the SLICS shoulderholes.

"We probably should not have stayed," Kotori continued, "We probably should have continued on our mission... but I was sick of rolling over to the Mishhuvurthyar. Especially considering it's her again." Her ears flattened; she wished the day was over already so they could start the next one on a better note... but the thing was it wasn't much past breakfast time - the SMX invasion of Taiie and the nearby systems had been very early in the morning.

Nyton listened silently and found a washcloth to use. As he got it wet and lathered with soap he studied the new interface system on Kotori's back. He had never seen this version before up close. When her ears flattened at the mention of Melisson he took note of her apparent disgust for the Mishhu representative and began to run the washcloth over Kotori's back.

"She is a rather odious one. I could tell from the last time I met her on Lor she would be a bitch to take down." Nyton said as he recalled being present among Hanako's entourage to confront Melisson on her ship. "And yes, we probably should have left the 5th to their fate instead of intervene. However this bait method could be considered a much better use of resources than using them to cover our retreat. Having mentioned your spite towards our opponent this maneuver could be considered emotionally driven," he continued. He then paused in mid-run of the washcloth and sighed. "Still, what good are we if we cannot at the least help some of our fellow soldiers? I feel we did the right thing to stay and fight. You've even managed to make the most of the current situation and refocus it towards our mission objectives."

Nyton leaned forward and to the side a bit to look at Kotori's face better from his position. "You did what you could. The SMX caught everyone there completely off guard with their newest weapons. I didn't want to see those soldiers or the entire planet be destroyed. Nor did I like giving the opinion that retreat was our best recourse. I would have preferred to stay and fight somehow but that would have risked everything. We already risked a lot just gleaning what information we could off of them with our ruse. Perhaps when we have more intel we can accomplish more. Until then though I would say you are doing well. I told you I made the right decision to follow you. You have given me no reason to think differently, Kotori-sama."

The neko on the end of Nyton's washcloth smiled faintly. "I am grateful for your support. I really am. Back when I was on the Sakura, all I ever seemed to do was harshly criticize Taisa Hanako and Taisa Sydney on their shortcomings. Now that I'm actually filling their role on my own starship... I actually find myself feeling sorry I was so harsh on them."