RP: YSS Miharu Mission 5, Aftermath (3rd day)

Rin blinked, half wondering why Asher kept bringing her up. Still, she wasn't one to complain when they came up as compliments such as 'well-read,' though she wasn't nearly that honest to herself; the complimenter was still just an enlisted after all.

"Etto, I would too, Kurohoshi-Juni," Rin agreed.

Once again, an explosive grunt and a very perturbed expression came from Masako has her back was slapped yet again. "That's getting really troublesome," she grumbled, wondering if she were starting to get a hand-sized red spot on her back now. Though the combined desire to listen to her play caused Masako's cream-toned cheeks to flare up in a hue of red. "Really, I'm just an amateur at best," she replied in a more flustered manner. "But if I can get another viola...maybe I wouldn't mind an audience for once," the Warrant Officer replied as a corner of her mouth turned up in a slightly lopsided smile at Asher's telepathic comment.

Part of her was a bit sad that she was just starting to do this after so long, getting to know the others in this manner. Technically, the only one she had listened to was Tsuya. And that was mostly in an effort to get some confidence out of the woman, at first anyway. Now, she hadn't seen the younger Neko at all since the battle. Letting out a small sigh through her nose, the Warrant Officer scratched the tip of her left ear in thought. "Though to be honest, a viola is rather low on the priority list. Actually, I was rather wondering what all of you had planned now?" she asked curiously. "We've got a while until the Taisa will be well enough for debriefing and there has to be something to do on this vessel. Only thing I've been doing since I got out of surgery has been sleep and reading a book, Saito-juni gave me in passing."

"I've just been kinda' hangin' out wit' Gunny 'ere f'most of tha' time we been outta' it." said Asher, idly ignoring the stare burned into the side of skull, it was just visible out of the corner of his eyes. He could tell Kyou was angry, and she was already seemingly contemplating murder with that stare. His legs tensed a bit, getting ready to jet, should Masako decide make her absence. "Iss' been pretty fun s'far." the Malifarian looked at the blue-haired Neko, "Just how late was we walkin' around last night? I was about ready t'pass out afta' all that."

Kyou's cheeks flushed a little bit at the reminder, though her glare lessened only slightly at the reminder of last night's... 'distraction'. "I, uhm... I don't recall. I wasn't paying much attention. I had other things on my... mind." She managed to keep her voice clear of any hints towards her embarrassment though, only partially considering finding a knife to put in the back of his head.

"Exactly!" grinned Asher at her, rubbing his foot against Kyou's under the table, rather playfully. He was talking about the time after the bed-play on the observation deck, but he didn't think any less of her for letting her mind wander there first. The Malifarian winked before turning his head back in Masako's direction, still playing at Kyou's feet. "Y'see, Kuro-Juni, y'need t'find someone t'hang wit' t'make tha' time go by. Gunny iss' a pretty good talka', get her started on somethin' controversial, and she'll be talkin' through every detail." He gestured to the blue-haired Neko before gesturing back to Masako, "Y'oughta just try hangin' out wit' someone. Or gettin' laid. Wit' a body like that, iss' hard t'say no! Eh heh heh heh."

He elbowed Rin, winking at her, "Know what I mean? Heh heh heh!"

Rin looked back over at Asher after being elbowed. She merely stared for a moment before shaking her head slightly at the insistence that he seemed to have about this whole Masako-Rin thing despite Masako having told him to cut it out.

After the small act of disapproval, Rin hung her head slightly. The talking of what people had done since the mission only dredged up painful thoughts, memories, and emotions up for the sprite. It just didn't seem fair how Rin, and probably her sisters though she hadn't exactly visited them yet, had to deal with the loss of their home, mother, and family, all these enlisted have had to do was party and goof off. It was a sprite's duty, but Rin half-wished it wasn't.

Yukari/Tom VR antics continued:

ON:>

With a snap of his fingers, the two were whisked away, the colors of their world bleeding into long streaks as they flew forward. Their trip took them outside of Miharu and into space itself, Yukari and Tom flying past the glowing orb of Yamatai and into the great depths of the universe itself. Light years passed in moments, the trip taking them, hand in hand, through nebulae, skimming the upper atmospheres of planets and then circling stars.

Tom laughed at the rush going through his blood raised the hair on the back of his neck.

Yukari was caught off-guard by the sudden trip. Being outside in space, without even a power armor, took a few seconds to adjust to, even as she felt the simulated warmth of her lover's hand. She was not fond of space's vastness, of its lack of borders and definition and ground to stand on, but that paled when she looked below her and before her.

Yamatai, a gleaming jewel of blue, white, green and brown, was below her in a way that was unlike anything she had imagined, then was gone. The remnants of Hoshi no Iori were shining daggers of metal in an otherwise empty part of the galaxy. Katsuko's Nebula came next, a vaguely purple-red cloud clinging to its place in the universe. More stars — Tami's, Rok'Veru's, Nepleslia Prime's.

She watched, silent.

"I always wanted to do this," Tom said with a wide smile. "Here we go!"

Fwoom. Like two bolts of lightning, the two streaked back towards Yamatai. They pierced her atmosphere and sped through the clouds, passing through a layer of cover before slowing down and coasting like birds through the sky. Below them, they could just make out the features of the giant land masses below them: desert, forests, the sparkling lights of cities.

Soon enough, their destination came into view. It was a small valley of flowers resting on the lip of a mountain somewhere in Easterwood. Tom had timed their arrival to be right before dawn and had chosen this exact spot to watch the sunrise. The Raltean gently escorted his love to land in the valley of flowers, among a patch of white lilies.

"Here we are."

Yukari's eyes became saucers as they slowly came down into the patch of flowers, set into the valley. She recognized Easterwood Prefecture, the mountains dividing it from the Ice Coast beyond. They must have been facing east, waiting for the sun to rise as they were.

She squeezed his hand as she took in the scent of the lilies, the soft grass below them, the crisp sensation of the air in the waking morning. She bent down to really smell one of the white flowers. "Mmmmm," she said, smiling. "How did you even know of this place?"

The Raltean silently picked a lily from the ground and pruned the stem before deftly sliding it into Yukari's hair.

"You know," he said with a wink. "The explanation is really boring."

Yukari's smile blossomed with the flower in her hair, just above her left ear, as she looked at him. "Mmm." The question disappeared. "We will see this view more often if we live on Yamatai. I will have a way to travel the planet that lets us see these things, and we never will take it for granted."

"Of course," Tom said as he wrapped his arm around Yukari and gave her a squeeze. "But for now, let's live in the moment."

As the Raltean watched the sky begin to light up, he took the time to explore the fabric of Yukari's dress, running his hand up and down her side, from her shoulder to the upper bone of her hip. He sighed happily, discreetly blinking away tears that were welling up in his eyes.

The sun didn't touch them at first. Above them, a golden haze turned the dark mountains into brilliant monoliths of a thousand shades of gray rock, shadows revealing the smallest peaks and crevices along their surfaces. The warmth did not touch them either, but it sent birds chirping from their trees, out into the open where they could shake off the night and prepare for the day.

Yukari felt Tom's hand along her arm and she was warm as she could be. Her eyes turned away from the dip between the crags where the yellow-orange orb Kikyo started to crest and bask them in heavenly glow. Instead, she looked at Tom's watering eyes, his storms seemingly calmed by where they were. But why the tears? she thought. It made her own eyes moist as she leaned into his embrace, head touching his, wishing the damn computer would mimic his scent — yes, like that. Cold cleanliness mixed with engine grease and seasoning salt from cooking fish too often. She sniffed from her tears, though.

"Idiot," she said as the glow caught them, the skies above leaving behind their purple covers and growing bright blue. She sniffed again. "This is too much."

Tom had to look away for a moment from the sight, as the beauty of it was threatening to overwhelm his emotions. But it wasn't just the visual glory of it all that struck him so deep. He had seen many sunrises and sunsets, had felt the touch of nature in the icy wilderness since he could remember.

But this beauty touched him on levels far below the visual. The experiences he had endured over the years touched his mind as he laid witness to this marvel of nature. He thought briefly of Melisson and her concept of Vaaker Talkup, and how it all fit so clearly into the big picture.

Maybe he had known this all along, but was just blind to it. One thing was for certain, however.

"This is what we have to look forward to," Tom answered quietly, returning his gaze to Yukari. "It is what we've earned."

Yukari seemed to wait for a few heartbeats before she nodded, her eyes looking sidelong into the rising sun, half-risen over the gap and pouring its light into the valley, nearly filling it with soothingly warm light. Everything from the animals to the grass seemed to tilt toward it as other sounds from beasts talking to each other echoed off of the valley walls. No clouds hindered the rising, painting an orange-to-blue gradient on the ceiling.

"Yes," she said, sniffing. "We have earned it. And will protect it. But we must enjoy it, too."

A few moments passed as Tom looked into Yukari's shimmering green orbs. He drank deeply of the emotions that poured out from them, the strength of love that seemed to flow like waves of energy into his soul. She had the key to it, after all, and, despite his best efforts, he was powerless against the strength of those orbs this moment.

"That... that gives me an idea," he said as he drew closer to Yukari and pressed her to the ground with a kiss.

"Idea?" Then Yukari was put with her back into the field of flowers, a very soft cushion compared to Tom's masculine physique suddenly holding her down with a very enticing kiss. Her arms circled his neck to make sure he did not get up too soon as she sniffed once within said kiss, then pressed harder into it.

"Yes," Tom whispered as he broke the kiss, his face inches away from her.

Gently but firmly breaking Yukari's grasp on his neck, Tom slowly rose to a position where he straddled her legs under his body. Then, slowly, he placed his hands on his lover's stomach and ran his open palms up her front, pausing for a moment to massage her dual mounds before continuing his journey upwards.

That journey ended at the circular collar of the neck of Yukari's red dress. With a smirk, he curled his fingers under the rim of that collar, his knuckles brushing against her skin, just touching the bone. Then, with a sudden jerk, he tore the dress cleanly down the front, exposing Yukari's flesh to the cold air.

"Yes," he said with a smirk. "I wonder how you'd look dressed in flowers."

~~~~~~~

ON:

The last thing Yukari remembered seeing was the smiling face of her lover, silently mouthing the same "I love you" before the world faded to black.

The transition was instantaneous. Her surroundings were still dark, but the first sensation she felt was the comfortable give of the leather seat below her and the cool passing of centralized air.

She was panting. She swiped at her chin to get the saliva off of it, and she settled a little further into the chair, to make sense of her surroundings again.

Yukari couldn't fix her soaked underwear. Not that she minded too much.

Her entire body was drained of energy; she was ravenously hungry.

Inside her mind, though, she felt as if everything was right again. It had been a long time since Tom and her had touched on those base, blackened desires of theirs, but now that they had ... she smiled at the darkness around her. Kotori would disagree with her, but she believed sharing a bed was a big part of sharing a life. Perhaps it was naive of her.

"Ai ... yaa ... "

Yukari heard footsteps approaching her seat, and from the edge of the darkness a figure dressed in black drawing nearer. Her vision was still recovering from the transition between virtual reality and the real world, and she was unsure who it was, until he spoke.

"Hey there, Yuka."

The world became clear and there he was, the tall Raltean, slightly less perfect than his virtual reality self, if his somewhat less spikey hair was any indication of it. In his left hand, he held a towel and a bundle of folded clothing with two wrapped onigiri on top.

In his right, he held a single Lily, which he extended to her with a smile.

Yukari's smile nearly split her face in half.

Her lover truly was the best, she thought, as she took the clothes, towel and onigiri. She didn't eat at that moment, instead putting things aside, then slowly, carefully getting to her feet. Once she could stand, she stepped to him and put her arms around him. Her cheek she nuzzled against his chest, trying as best she could to keep the very slight mess of her face off of his uniform. Phantom pain in her cheeks did not deter her.

"You are the best man in the universe," she said with such force it was as if she spoke a religious tenet. "And you are mine, Snow-san."

The hug surprised Tom, who almost dropped the flower. He felt the warmth radiating from her body, smelled the traces of their indiscretion in the air and sighed. He shook his head and bent down, ignoring the mess on her face to place a sweet little kiss on her lips. There, he connected his eyes to hers and...

"I'm really glad you didn't kill me back there."

The toothy grin appeared.

A rather narrow range of emotions spread over her mind, but she replied with her own close-mouthed smirk instead. "Next time," she said, and kissed him again, a little harder than he might have expected. Then she left him for a moment, just long enought to place the onigiri aside and get to the towel, to wipe her face.

Then, she started to strip. "You are lucky."

"Or an idiot," Tom quipped. "Or both. I don't know."

The Raltean thought for a moment before he took a small step forward, somewhat hesistant to approach any further, as if something was holding him back. The grin had disappeared, only a front that hid the insecurities that were bubbling to the surface.

"Ah... was that... ah...?"

"That," Yukari said, naked and grinning, "was magnificent. Do not worry." She started to put on the underwear first, the smell of her old ones heavily hanging now in the room. "I was glad that your emotions were able to be released. ... And that we were able to be intimate that way."

"...Thanks," Tom said, feeling like he could breathe again. "You've... been under a lot of stress lately and I just wanted to make you feel special again, not like this but like it used to be."

He pointed to the onigiri.

"They're your favorite. I made them myself."

She blinked at him as she finished pulling on the bra. "And you have not? Lover, you are as stressed as I. I did for you what you did for me. And we both enjoyed it." She smiled again as she reached for the robe. She would eat when she was ready. "I ... I know you have darkness in you as surely as I have it in me. ... I tried to bring it out of you."

As Yukari dressed herself, the Raltean stepped forward and slid the Lily behind her left ear.

"As long as I have you, I'll be fine," he said sweetly. "But yeah, that was awesome, although I'm happy we did it in there rather than out here."

He raised a hand to his chin, rubbing it as he thought.

"It's strange, in there... we can have anything we want, do anything we want. And it feels so real. It would be just so easy to get lost in it all..."

"It is ... difficult, even for Neko." She shrugged on the robe, then took one of the onigiri into her hand, with the other offered to him. Even in the very dim room, the lily was bright behind her ear. "I am reminded, on occasion, that I am connected to an IES unit. But I ignore it. I was so focused on you."

A mischevious smile spread across Tom's face.

"I seriously considered adding some modifications during our romp, but decided against it," he said as he took one arm and swung it around his equal. "After all, nothing beats the real thing, eh?"

Yukari was glad he could not see her cheeks. "No, it does not. You require no modifications to please me." She was easily swept into his arm. "But ... what did you want to do?"

"Next time," he said playfully with a wink before snatching the onigiri that was offered to him. "After all, the mystery is half the fun."

She gave him a little pout as a reply, but still snuggled against him. "I accept that," she said, then munched on her onigiri. Her swallow was loud, as was her little purr. "It will not be a mystery forever ... "

"You are incorrigible, Westwood-san," Masako stated, finally dropping his rank for the moment. Seriously, Masako didn't understand this obsession with sex. She had been perfectly fine with out it for all her life. "Either way, I'd appreciate it if you quit harassing Rin-san with all this talk about gettin' laid." the raven-haired Neko mimicked Asher's accent (poorly) in the last bit. "She doesn't seem to be comfortable with it," she finished before looking around Asher at the young sprite.

"Do you want to do something, Rin-san?" Masako asked out of concern.

Rin raised her head to look at Masako. She stared for a moment, looking as if she wanted to have someone else to share the pain of the past few days with. But she quickly glanced away.

"I think I should go visit my sisters. I haven't seen most of them yet," she answered Masako. Rin stood and bowed to the other three, apologizing for her rather abrupt departure. "Shitsureishimasu, Kurohoshi-Juni, Gunshin-Hei, Westwood-hei." With that, she grabbed her tray and left, depositing her dishes appropriately of course. The lavender-haired sprite wasn't about to burden an officer, especially one she hadn't talked to much before with her problems, nor was she about to do so in front of two enlisted (and a cafeteria of whatever else).

Thanks to Asher's reminder of what she had been doing since the mission, Rin felt a sort of crushing loneliness. She'd been visited by Hinoto, but that still didn't make up for the lack of family around her, especially for a sprite who was normally surrounded by sisters who were working right along side.

The sprite wound her way through the Mokuren until she arrived at Hoshi, where emotions hit her again, finally able to see just how much was gone. She boarded with a sense of familiarity and foreignness as she found herself at the armor bay.

Asher sat in wait, watching Rin as she moved on out, leaving the group to find her sisters. He smiled to the other two.

"See 'dere? Ol'Rin's gunna' hook up wit'r sistahs." said the Malifarian, grinning ever wider as he believed he had succeeded with Rin. In what he believed he accomplished exactly, only he knew. "She's gunna' do somethin' wit' some folks. Unwind a lil', beat off tha' stress a'this whole mess. N'We helped'r realize it." He gave them a thumbs up, "Two Karma points."

What Rin found was Tori, back at work with the power armors. "Hey," the Neko said without turning away from her work.

Rin couldn't help but smile just a little bit. "Hey."

She wandered over just to look to see what Tori was up to with the armors. Well, to find out something more specific than just repairing them. Looking over her sister's shoulder, Rin quietly watched. No matter how much she wanted to talk and to get caught up with everything, she knew Tori wasn't one to talk. Besides, just being around family was good enough.

The lavender-haired sprite glanced around at the various tools and grabbed one, holding it out to Tori, guessing it was the one that was needed next if Rin's observations were correct. Hopefully she wasn't too rusty.

Kyou glared at Rolf rather blatantly. "Or maybe she just got tired of you being obnoxious." She was obviously over her small moment of embarrassment. "Honestly, I don't know what you expected, badgering her like that."

Tori took the tool to Yukari's armor. She was busy stripping it of the mauled, ruined armor plates, so a pry bar occasionally was required.

"Thanks," Tori said to Rin as she pried off a piece on the arm. "You OK, sister?"

"Some action, thass' what I got." said Asher, turning his stare back at Kyou, and pointing a finger at her. "People 'round 'ere are so mired in 'dere sensibilities and professionalism that 'dey lose sight a'what cn'help in no time flat. N'thass action. Fuckin' waitin' around f'tha' world t'get betta' for ya solves nothin'. I learned that at an early age, an' eva' since, I been spreadin' that lesson t'everyone else."

He planted his hands on the table and leaned forward towards the blue-haired Neko, head leaned back just so that his goatee's tip was closer to her than his face.

"It bugs tha' shit outta' me f'people who wait f'tha right moment t'come along. I cn'undastand 'dat in combat, iss' life or death out there, but normal civvie shit? Hell no. When life puts y'balls on tha' grill, y'don't juss' wait f'someone t'turn tha' heat down. Y'yank'm right off, and slap life right in tha' face wit'm." explained the Malifarian, before sitting back properly in his seat. "When shit happens, y'deal wit' it. Otha'wise iss' juss' gunna start smellin' like ass in 'ere."

Rin blinked, really not expecting that question. "Uhm... yes?" She was quite unsure whether or not she was okay. Her eyes glanced around the rest of the armor bay as she rubbed her arm.

Looking down, the lavender-haired sprite picked up another tool. This one she played with in her hands as she thought over the question further. "I've just really missed everyone."

" ... Yeah." Tori sneered at an armor plate before it finally came off. She set it down beside her; it was a good piece and could be recycled.

"At least some of us are left to miss the others."

"I guess that's one way to look at it," Rin responded somewhat awkwardly to the hopeful, but still really rather morbid, observation of Tori's. "But I was also talking about the ones that are left too, like you, Tori."

"It just feels... weird being in the medbay on the Mokuren. Their sprites are like us and yet so very different...."

Masako grimaced as Kyou and Asher began to talk to each other. Why did Asher have to be correct on such matters? Was it because he was older than the rest of them or was it because he had much more experience in such things? Wait, wasn't that the same thing!? Sighing heavily, the Warrant Officer pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You maybe right," Masako muttered before giving the enlisted man a side-long glance. "But people tend to do things there own way, even if it maybe wrong." the raven-haired Neko replied before standing up. "I'm going for a walk. Better to stretch my legs after being in bed so long," the Warrant Officer stated before giving them both an adorable smile. "You two have fun then."