[Nepleslia Prime] Losing a Brother

"He lasted a lot longer than I figured he would. Tough bastard, to say the least."

Though Amelia had only been around for a mission or two, she had interacted with Ran the most out of the people she met. Hearing his death was of no surprise. But getting invited to a get-together about him was. Nonetheless, after mulling it around, she figured that since she didn't have any tasks assigned by her cell, it was alright to take a couple days to see how everyone was.

As vicious as the woman may be sometimes, she still remembered comrades in arms. Those who she fought alongside were still allies enough to not shoot at her. Wearing a dark blue sleeveless shirt and jeans were all she was adorned with, aside from her sidearm and VIAL that never left her belt. She didn't look like she was here for a dead man.

"Well. I suppose I do owe him quite a bit. It pays to remember those that made a difference."

Autumn dropped her salute to Miller with a smile, "Jack, then," she said his first name awkwardly, unsure of how she felt about the combination of letters coming from her mouth. She gratefully accepted some of the whiskey, and took a short pull before handing the bottle back. "Thank you."

She lightly touched her lips and wiped a few stray drops of liquor from the corners of her lips. "I've been at Demolitions school. I'm actually about to be deployed to Rok'Veru with a new Marine detachment but I had to come to this. Ran was a great guy."

She noticed a familiar feminine face and it took her a moment to remember the name. "Amelia, hi!" She waved the other woman to join them.

On the bar's monitor, a commercial came on for the War Widows Memorial drive. A very pretty but sad looking young woman came on and started talking about how hard it was to lose the father to her newborn son. It was a standard heartfelt plea to raise awareness and sympathy to those lost in the battles for Nepleslia's future. What was most noticeable about this particular commercial was the name of the father, "Ran Rui".

Autumn attention was pulled to the monitor and she frowned. This was an unexpected way to find the answer to her question about whether Ran left anyone behind.

"Little Ran will never get to know how.... passionate of a man his father was. Our situation is not unique but please help the cause so that this next generation of fatherless or motherless children are not forgotten," the young woman on the monitor pleaded before the image faded out to a contact webpage and transitioned to an advertisement for Iron Guard condoms.

"Hi." *Amelia glanced to Autumn. The woman really never spoke to her before. She shrugged and attributed it to the occasion. Sitting down on her other side, she looked up at the screen with a bemused look on her face. "Seems like it's more strange to grow up with both parents these days. 'Not unique' is an understatement." She quickly went for the drinks, pouring herself a glass and taking a sip. "Wierd. Kinda figured the old guy would spend his days shooting at wildlife on a porch somewhere. And yelling curses at them about invading his home."

Glancing at Kokuten, something turned around in her head. "Oh, right. I probably should apologize for getting into the medbay's stimulants." She shrugged a bit, as if stealing medicine was no huge issue.

Autumn frowned for a moment at Amelia's statement, "It might not be normal to have both but under these circumstances it is sad. It's different when your dad chooses to be be absent in your life but another when they are killed beyond CC. He was a hot head but he was a great marine, I miss him." She said softly as she slid back onto her bar stool, the movement revealing a flash of smooth, toned legs to mid thigh through the front slits of her long black skirt.

"Kokuten, Jack, your glasses are empty again, let me get you gentlemen a round," She offered with a charming smile again as she signaled for the bartender to give her another round of the Clear for them. "We should have a toast, to our rabble-rouser, Ran?"

Kokuten waved his hand off at Amelia's apology, rolling over an empty glass in other had. If anything could be said about the cyborg, it was that he was rather dextrous, even for a modified Nepleslian. He spun his hand on his wrist, quite literally, as he set the glass down onto the table.

"Let's not worry about many things other than our own mortality, okay?" asked Kokuten to the woman in front of him. He looped an arm around Autumn and tugged her in as a comrade would another. "This day is for Red. He deserves it, what with what he's been to us over the years."

The other hand went up, a finger raised to the air to declare a point.

"And for that matter, yes, Ms. Wilde, I would like another drink please." answered Kokuten, finally grinning all the way, "In fact, I've got a few words that I wanted to share on Ran's behalf."

Autumn smiled brightly as Kokuten tugged in her closely, she leaned her head against his shoulder a moment as the bartender returned with 3 more full glasses of Shine. "I would love to hear what you have to say on Ran's behalf."

She enjoyed the weight of the medic's cybernetic arm around her waist and the scent of his cologne from being in such a close proximity. It had been too long since anyone had been that close and casual with her and she longed to enjoy more of that familiar warmth.

She picked up two glasses of Shine and offered them to the two Nepleslian men in front of her, "Gentlemen?"

Kokuten took his glass whole-heartedly, glad for a little bit of free drink. The Medic spared little time bringing the glass to his lips as his somber airs gently went up with the vapors of friends and good times. He was glad to be close to someone, his arm around Autumn, his cheery grin to others. At that, it almost dampened his newly found spirits, knowing how long it had been since he had been able to feel this way. He had always been wound up on the Cirrus, to the point of snapping.

He'd have to thank Ran one day, if he could. The man always knew how to shatter a serious air.

"Well, yes, I gave some thoughts on what to say on Ran's behalf. The 4th Fleet did a short funeral on his behalf, but it was a pretty personal one for them. I thought we, as his friends, could give him a proper sending," the alcoholic of a Medic tipped his glass back and drank in a way he hadn't been able to in a while. In one go, he emptied his glass, before coming back down, with his head whipping the burn right off of his face.

He wiggled the cup in front of Autumn, "It's for us, too, you know. We get to cut loose and drink a while to forget the sadness, and enviously think on how Ran will never have to pay any more bills or taxes ever again. Though, I'll understand if you all aren't able to keep up with me."

Autumn smiled brightly at Kokuten, enjoying being able to experience what she understood as acceptance and a better form of platonic love beside her old friend. She followed the medic's example and took the shot eagerly, without fear or worry of what the consequences would be. She took the empty glass from the medic and placed it inside of her glass, before placing it on the bar counter.

"You know, to truly honor Ran, we need to get a hooker," she commented playfully with a grin as she snuggled against Kokuten's chest. "You're right, we have to celebrate life! I will do my damnedest to keep up with you," she replied with a more cheerful wink as she signaled to the bartender for another round. "I have been saving for a special occasion and this seems as special as any."

The bartender poured them another round as shine and she offered Kokuten another glass, before picking up her own. "To Ran!"

"To Ran!" exclaimed Kokuten joining back in with the drink. He knocked back another shot, and set it back down onto the table. By this point the pair had become a rowdy scene in the veteran's bar, the both of them occasionally earning glances from the other patrons. However, there wasn't much more than that. In it all, the scene was just a warm exchange, more reminiscent of innocent times when bars like this were filled with idealistic young men and women drinking their way into war.

"Ha ha! What was it that Ran said once, I think it was when Sanroma hit him in the back of the head." Kokuten's eyes turned red at that, and he assumed an austere, 'Ran'ish visage, "HEY MAN, YOU DON'T PUNCH A GUY IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD IN THE MIDDLE OF HOOKER SEX." The period at the end personified itself into barreling laughter at the recollection. Kokuten set his glass aside, and signaled for another round, on him this time, with his eyes turning back to a normal color. "Absolutely no shame in it, in the middle of a packed bar. I swear, the guy was the most audacious person I know."

Autumn giggled and took another shot in Ran's honor with Kokuten. Her face was flushed red as the alcohol started to show its effect on her system and she felt as if her heart was beating wildly in her throat.

The Geshrin woman leaned forward in her jovial, drunken exchange with her old friend and overbalanced. She started to fall forward and she wrapped her arms around Kokuten's firm torso, causing her to pull the Nepleslian into an awkward hug. Autumn let out an embarrassed giggle as she pressed her soft body against his. "Oops."

"Woh woh!" Kokuten tumbled a bit, regaining his balance with an errant leg as Autumn put her weight onto him. Normally, he would've received her more easily, but with the alcohol, his ability to stand firmly slacked, as did his spine. He curled his glass in one of his fingers as he scooped up the woman under her shoulders, fixing the awkward hug into a more awkward hug.

He tried to help her up back into her seat, but he only ended up tugging her more onto his lap, where he had to grab one of her thighs to keep her from tumbling. "Ms. Wilde, I dare say you appear somewhat under the influence, but uh..." He threw a glance aside, before looking her square in the eyes, "I'm not supposed t'diagnose things unless I'm on the job. So don't tell anyone I told you you're somethin' smashed."

Autumn giggled as Kokuten accidentally pulled her more fully onto his lap. A shiver went down her spine as she felt a cybernetic hand steady her on one of her exposed thighs.

"It'll be our secret," she stared back into the sergeant's cybernetic green eyes, as she continued to blush. The Geshrin woman smiled as she felt the man's breath on her cheek. "Ssh," she whispered as she placed a finger against the man's lips.

She felt the quickening thump of her heart in her chest; the heat of the alcohol in her system and the warmth of Kokuten's lap beneath her legs. Maybe? She wondered.

Kokuten was feeling the swill fill his mind, staring down and the lovely woman resting in his lap. His fingers moved from the inside of her leg, to simply the top, cool metal brushing over youthful, silky skin. As thoughts began to sample and taste inside of his head, he had begun to realize just how long it had been since he had even had such contact with a woman. Cassefin watched them all like a hawk, and whenever something like this happened... Such things just didn't happen.

Of course, Master Sergeant Chiaki was an honest, honorable man! He was very much the vested knight, valuing the innocence of kind relations between a man and a woman. Taking advantage of Wilde's sexless state and drunken demeanor would be the complete opposite of being a good guy. In fact, thinking of it should be completely beyond him! The Chiaki family were quite above the physical pleasures, as the legacy would say. He wouldn't possibly consider such things.

Even so, Autumns legs were enough to make Kokuten salivate closed mouth. Slender, lean, and surely a hallmark of a prime Nepleslian female. He was sure, judging by his extensive medical experience, or just being a man, that connected parts were just as good. All of it was enough to get his heart thumping, alongside other parts as well.

So, instead, of clinging to firm family traditions, Kokuten turned his head and gave a silent prayer to the heavens.

"Ran. Wherever you are right now. Thank you for this chance."

"Well," Kokuten began, words curling up in a strange pace as he got used to talking with his mouth again, instead of his mind, "I think, considering your balance... It may be time to start calling a cab, before we don't have money to call one."

Autumn leaned her head comfortably against the Master Sergeant's neck with another short giggle. She felt warm and bubbly from the alcohol; reassured by the cool press of Chiaki's hand against the top of her thigh and excited by the growing interest elsewhere.

The Geshrin woman had not been raised with the same high brow sensibilities as her male companion and easily pressed her supple body against the Nepleslian without regrets. She raised her head, brushing her cheek against Kokuten's neck before she lightly kissed between his jaw and the base of his ear.

She could feel the racing of his heart beneath her lips, and the urgent desire. The memory of the man that blushed at her immodesty after surgery brought a smile to her face and further endeared the man to her. "Who knows what I might fall onto if you don't get me someplace safe," she whispered sweetly just a hair away from the medic's ear before placing another tender kiss there.

Kokuten had been readying a reply right as Autumn's lips stuck themselves to the man's jaw. The excitement raced up and down his spine a little too quickly, and it left him there, a little red-faced. It took him a few moments to think about it, but he recalled that medical exam long ago, and how red he had turned as a result. He was turning similar shades now as lust and alcohol crumbled his own modesty. The desire to move things along before evidence of his out of practice ways came to show.

"Really," started Kokuten, turning his sharp, black eyes down to her. "I'm not sure, but I think I'm a little more concerned about what you'll fall on to after your safe," He bumped his hips, grinding against her a moment to get off the chair, and slide himself off, letting her feel how evident it was.

He leaned forward just a bit, his lips right of her ear, whispering, "I've got a place not too far out, it's safe, but it's only got one bed."

Jack, who was plastered by now, despite his efforts not to drink too heavily, tapped his empty bottle on the table.

"Yew tew... gonna getcher b-baaaaa... gonna getchu..er... YEAH!"

He stumbled a few steps back, waving them on.

"Rannnnnn.... gomma watch ha ha ah ahaha! FUCK. I'm tittie bar... Gonn... FUCK."

Autumn unsteadily was back on her feet, still standing incredibly close to Kokuten. She grinned and nodded, "Let's get out of here then."

She wrapped her arms around the Master Sergeant and held him close, pressing herself against him partially for support but mostly because she wanted to continue to touch him. "Check please?"