RP: YSS Miharu Mission 1 "REAR GUARD", Day 5

Takuma was preoccupied thinking about the mission. He thought about all the different scenarios and outcomes he could think of. The thoughts ended when the scenarios turned to rather ridiculous things, like if the MEGAMI wanted to play cards with him. He shook his head after realizing that he was spacing out the whole time.

After a minute, Takuma realized that Masako had left the table. Wow, I was must have practically dosed off... he thought to himself. Taking the last bit of his sandwich and eating it, he headed to the kitchen to put his dishes away.

When he saw that Masako was still in the area, he was glad he to see that he didn't space out for all that long. "Oh Kurohoshi-Juni, before I go, do you know of anything that I should help with aboard the ship? That or if there is someone else I should ask? I don't want to just sit around and do nothing."

Tom was amused by the music, having laughed at several points. Yukari's accent on some of the words was comically endearing, but her voice, as a whole was very beautiful to listen to. This was between tapping his hand on the fold system and nodding to the beat.

After he locked in another panel, and the music faded out, a funny thought came into his mind.

He pulled out his communicator and sent a message to Yukari:

"You shuur have a purdy voice, ma'am."

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Yukari was jerked back from her work by the little noise from her belt. She took her communicator into her hand and looked at the message -- she giggled and smiled.

Yukari said:

You are too kind, Heisho-san. You must not share the experience; it is too embarrassing.

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She giggled again as the message was zipped to Tom's communicator.

Kotori frowned. "I'm not commenting on that, yet." The neko winked and then turned for the door. "You should go and get something to eat while you still can," she said before she passed the threshold.

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Mara busied herself scrubbing the dishes next to Masako. "Well, Kimura-san can mop the floors, polish all the weapons held in the lockers, sort some of the things the the cargo bay for distribution in the damage control rooms -" The blonde sprite turned her head to look pointedly at him. "Or stop yawning and go take a nap while he still has the chance."

Nyton couldn't suppress a chuckle. "Still teasing me by playing your cards close." he remarked as he went to follow out. "You're right about getting some food. But I want to make sure you're feeling well and at least escort you to your destination first. I'd rather not have you collapse or have some sort of sudden relapse from the ST malfunction." he asked.

Maybe I am becoming a crazed conspiracy theorist. If I didn't know better I would think she doesn't want to have an ST made. She is the only one who could have told the Miharu to glitch itself without even the Miharu knowing. And a malfunctioning device would allow her to put off having an ST made for a while longer without arousing suspicions. It may explain why she hasn't had one made since the Sakura. Nyton thought to himself, almost annoyed that he couldn't seem to stop making wild ideas.

"Actually, I think I'll be fine now," Kotori said as she pushed off the floor head into the anti-gravity passageway. She twisted around in the zero-gravity passage, her black hair lazily following along the spin. "It was sort of an invasive shock that disoriented me for a bit but I've mostly compensated for it.

"That stunt up the ceiling was me testing if my somatic and sensory functions were properly calibrated." She raised one hand and twirled her finger as if to mimic tumbling. "Once I make interface with the Miharu again back on the bridge, I'll have her take a look and compare the preferences of my OS with those I had before I went for the backup to remove any lingering problems."

"Very well then that doesn't sound like it was too serious a shock. I accept that you are fine now but just in case that small chance happens to occur I'll see you to the bridge entrance. I am fine without food for a moment longer. " Nyton said in an attempt to dissuade the typical argument over how well one is and isn't as he floated up to follow behind.

Masako smiled and shook her head. "Mara-san, behave now," the neko reprimanded teasingly. "Or maybe I should investigate the relations between Sigurd and you a bit more," she continued to tease before looking over her shoulder to the enlisted man.

"I honestly don't know any of your skills other than the fact you are a computer specialist," the warrant officer replied as she pondered. "Hmmm...I've got it. You need your ST back up done, ne? Why not seek out Saito-Hei? Unless she's finally gotten around to eating...then you may have to wait a bit."

Takuma looked over at Mara and laughed. "That's taking the easy way out! I can last a while longer..." he said, shrugging.

After hearing Masako's addition, he turned to her and replied. "Actually, I already got the ST back-up. It was from when I first got on the ship." He stood thinking for a moment and then continued. "I'm not sure what else there is to do for preparations, so unless you can think of anything, I guess I could go rest up."

Leutre smiled amusedly as he heard Miyoko's story. "I knew you weren't hanging around me for just my stunning good looks and my witty retort!" He chuckled. "And count myself lucky? Is that a challenge? And coincidently, yes, I do count myself lucky. The grace of Lady Luck and all that, bless her bosom." Leutre glanced upwards for a moment and gave a silent thumbs up in the direction of his intangible deity. There was no way he could lose a bet if he had divine intervention on his side.

"Say, if you doubt my luck, we could always put it the to the test," Leutre grinned deviously as he looked over at her. Eyeing the collar he said, "We can place a bet. I'll place my entire balance of 3000KS on top of our standing bet in exchange for, say, your collar. Oh, and adding the condition that the bet defaults to me if you personally attack or directly harm me." He gave her an apologetic look. "No offense Miyo, but you can never be too careful."

"My collar... against 3,000 KS. The one's essentially worthless, and the other's worth quite a bit. You could even request a copy of the collar through the prestige system for free." Miyoko glared at him critically, trying to figure out just what was going on in that head of his for the umpteenth time since she'd met him. Finally, she gave a dismissive shrug. "Very well. If you get wounded within three months of yesterday, I get all of your money and to choose your new Yamataian body. If not, you get... to keep being a Nepleslian, and my collar. Just what do you get out of this if you win?"

"Oh, I don't know! I just don't know." Leutre gave Miyoko a look of feigned ignorance. "Do I take on the role of noble knight, jumping to defend the honor of his patron Lady? Am I the braggart, offended that you dare think him so easily beaten with Luck on his side? At heart am I the vulnerable child at heart who needs to prove his worth by winning over others? Shall I portray the gambler, he who enjoys the thrill of the best and placing everything on the line? Will I be the lunatic, who does it simply to no reason at all?"

"But of course, material value isn't the only value in this world." Leutre mused as he slipped finger into her collar and gave it a playful tug. "Perhaps I play the profiteer, seeing your collar's sentimental value is so great you'll pay many times it's worth. Perchance I am the Samaritan, who wishes to help you start a better life by discarding the last remnants of your guileful enterprises. Could it be conceived that from the shadows I play the unseen and unrequited lover who merely wants a vestige from his beloved?"

Leutre let go of the collar and stepped back. "If you can figure that out, would you tell me? I'd really like to know," he sighed wearily, "Since I can't seem to figure it out myself."

Masako pursed her lips in thought as she absent-mindly kept cleaning the dishs, all though...not that well. "Hmmmm...if you have any technical expertise other than computer systems, you could assist Mara-san and me arm the suits. If not, then I'm afraid I can't think of anything else." the raven-haired neko replied as she turned back to the dishes and put forth more effort into their cleanliness.

"I'm going to have to go with 'lunatic,'" the science officer replied dryly as she adjusted the collar. Still, despite her outward indifference, she was a bit perturbed by the technician's words. He can actually come off as halfway intelligent and eloquent when he wants to... but, "Could it be conceived that from the shadows I play the unseen and unrequited lover who merely wants a vestige from his beloved?" ... was he flirting with me, or just trying to confuse me as usual? As with the unexpected kiss from Kotori, there simply wasn't any precedent in Miyoko's short life to compare it to.

She decided to just fight back for the time being. "Actually, I took the liberty of looking through your ST backup, so I can tell you. Your favorite color is green, your favorite food is stroganoff, your favorite drink is spiced wine, and you sing bad Nepleslian metal when you're alone. Also" she pressed a finger against his forehead, smirking knowingly, "You just flirted with me to hide the fact that you're madly in love with Claymere-juni, though you won't admit it to yourself. Your anti-authoritarian streak is a plea for attention from him. Not that I needed to read through the backups to tell me that."

Cackling evilly, she stepped ahead of him so he couldn't see the grin on her face--as that would easily give away the joke--and stepped into the serving area of the kitchen.

"I wouldn't say 'expertise', but I do have experience in that area. I'd be glad to help you out," said Takuma who started to wash off his plate. "I mean, I can't just let you have all the fun!" he said, with a the kind of tone that only a rock wouldn't of been able to tell he was lying.