RP [Open RP] Welcome To The Kikyo Sector

[Wes]

RP Date

9月 YE 42

RP Location

Ternifac, Planet Yamatai

Ternifac, Planet Yamatai

A screech rang through the air outside the busy train station along planet Yamatai's main East-West rail line. Immediately across the street from the station, surrounded by neon lights and volumetric logos, there was a bar, a ramen shop, and a tunnel through the concrete jungle to the red light district. Concrete micro-apartment buildings loomed overhead and sand from the Jhuniata desert powder-coated the littered streets below. This was Ternifac, one of Yamatai's most Nepleslian cities. People of all types poured out from the rail cars into the city...humans, androids, anthros, and aliens and went into the streets.

Inside the bar, an electic mix of travelers gathered, each on their way to places near and far across the sector, most of whom would never see here again. At the counter was a busty green-skinned, red-eyed woman pouring drinks and polishing glasses.

 

[hyralt]

Thia's gaze meandered somewhere between the steely grey sky and the polychromatic lights as she deftly navigated Ternifac's sandy streets. Today should have been her day off, but she couldn't shake this feeling she had that something would happen tonight the knowledge of which she might be able to negotiate into a tidy profit. The impractical heeled shoes under her feet clicked a regular heartbeat tempo as she strode into the bar, and without turning her head to attract attention her inconspicuous cybernetic eye sweeped the denizens there gathered. Her outfit, deliberately chosen to be straddling the liminal space between tasteful and evocative, began to ride up before she casually smoothed it back down. "Not yet," she thought as she approached the counter.

"Give me something in an elegant glass," she purred in the direction of the green-skinned girl. "And surprise me with its contents."

 

[Wes]

OOC: Image credits: Glass art by Gormstar. Used with permission. Character generated by Wes using Waifulabs.com and edited by Wes. Stock Art background by Christian Birkholz via Pixabay.

"Absolutely!" the bartender grinned, grabbing a tall glass with a narrow stem. She mixed up a drink with a generous amount of "zing" in it that was crystal clear blue like the waters of Hanako's World and decorated it with an umbrella, pineapple, and two cherries. "First time in Ternifac?" she asked. "This is a town that knows how to have fun! I'm Irchaet."

Meanwhile a couple of Star Army of Yamatai soldiers entered the bar, still in their uniforms, and sat nearby, both looking a little pensive and worried. The pink-haired one ordered a beer and the anthro with the fuzzy round ears and orange and white fur ordered a virgin pina coloda. While they waited for their drinks they spoke in hushed conversation about a recent trip to the rainforest, which apparently had been cut short by new orders.

 

[hyralt]

An asymmetrical simper crept outwards from the corner of Thia's lips like a quiet predator on the prowl.

"This is my first time in Ternifac, Irchaet." It was not. "You may call me Thia as you tell me more."

Taking the glass' delicate stem by the fingertips of her left hand, she raised the glass and span the wholly unnecessary but absolutely perfect fruit-laden umbrella with her right hand. Thia gave the air above her brilliant blue drink three quick sniffs as if trying to catch the scent of some prey. While she did so, she listened carefully to the Yamatai soldiers sitting nearby, her attention rapt when she caught word of new orders.

 

[Wes]

"It's all very hush-hush," the anthro half-whispered to the Pink-haired soldier. "But going by the amount of soldiers I saw in the lobby it's basically all of us. Are you thinking the Kuvexians are about to be back for invasion, round three?"

"No idea, but it was so sudden that I need a drink to keep from getting hung over," the pink-haired soldier replied softly.

Meanwhile, Irchaet the barmaid told Thia, "Well, Nepleslia was part of Yamatai until fourteen years ago when they had their revolution so there's a lot of overlap in culture. You'll find that as you get closer to the centers of power and the military there's more Nekovalkyrja and more of the 'proper' Yamataian culture whereas out-of-the way places like Ternifac that have a high population of ethnic Nepleslians are more set in the old ways and more relaxed. Not that you can relax completely! Smart people watch their wallets around this town. You looking for anything particular?"

 

[hyralt]

While Thia was highly skilled at listening to many conversations at once, she had great difficulty speaking while she was trying to listen to even one other conversation. When Irchaet finished asking her question, Thia broadened her simper into a bashful smile, fluttered her eyelashes, and shifted her weight forward against the bar, all to stall for time while she waited for a gap in the soldiers' speech.

"Well, aren't you just full of information, my darling." Thia carefully raised the pitch of her voice and pursed her lips as she spoke the word "full," but only allowed half a breath before she continued. "I'm never quite sure what I'm hunting for when I begin the evening, Irchaet, but I think I may be getting very close."

Since she had locked eyes with the barmaid, Thia hadn't broken contact for a moment, even to blink. But now she allowed her heterochromic orbs to drop to her drink for a calculated moment while she took a short sip and continued to take full advantage of the nearby troopers' loose lips. Thia once again peered into the barmaid's red eyes.

"This is exquisite," the slender, dark-skinned woman gushed, only slightly in exaggeration. "Tell me what you would be doing if you weren't here, and if it's half as interesting as this libation, I may find myself pleased."

 

[Wes]

Irchaet gave Thia a grin. "Well, my favorite thing is meeting aliens and new people, which is why I serve drinks next to a transit station. I also play bass guitar. You like slapping?" she asked while her clawed hand was already reaching for it, ready to give a demonstration right behind the bar. In seconds, she had slung the strap over her head and had a big cherry six-string bass snuggled against her chest with one breast distractingly hanging over it. After switching off the bar's music and turning on her amp, she started playing slap bass jams and showing off her skills.

 

[hyralt]

Thia felt the faintest impression of annoyance bubble up at the new source of noise that made it more difficult to pluck the delicious morsels of information out of the air, but Thia was quick to re-establish control of her feelings. Her mind and body became a single fluid through which the music flowed, and for a moment she let the situation wash over her before the solution presented itself. In a display of nearly feline agility, she practically glided up off the ground and turned to sit on the counter. Her body now faced towards the soliders, but to outwards appearance she remained fixated on the viridescent servant whose fingers were now deftly caressing a stringed instrument.

Inaudibly, the information dealer sighed as she genuinely enjoyed the music, but from her new angle was able to read the soldiers' lips if indeed they were still talking.

 

[Wes]

Thia could make out the anthro girl asking something about Poppy helping her to make backup copies of her mind in case things were about to turn into a bloodbath. She also said that it looked like she might have a brand-new starship essentially all to herself unless the Star Army could scrounge up more crew for the hundreds of ships it was rushing into service.

Meanwhile, Irchaet noticed that Thia wasn't paying attention to her so she finished and put the bass guitar away and switched the speaker music back on. It was some sort of alternative Nepleslian punk rock song about a violent bank robbery. "You from around here?" she inquired.

 

[hyralt]

The feeling of taking an extra step at the top of a staircase hit Thia unexpectedly. She hadn't intended her divided attention to be so clear to Irchaet. The quarry had slipped away and the trail was already growing cold, and unless she caught it again quickly she might be going home empty-handed. Circling back, she took a moment to consider the branching pathways she could take, knowing that a poor decision would likely bring a swift end to her chase. Thia smiled and shifted her weight, deliberately stretching her lithe body under the thin fabric of her outfit to buy herself some time while she considered.

Looking away from Irchaet for the second time this evening, she scanned the occupants of the bar but was careful not to let her attention linger on anyone, least of all the Yamataian service members. Lifting the blue liquid to her lips, she took another short sip, highly cognizant of her tolerance.

"No," she replied after what she hoped would be a mysteriously long pause. Turning, she gave Irchaet a playful smile. "I had some business to attend to that required my personal attention."

"I ought to catch a rail out tonight." Pausing to take another sip, she observed the green-skinned girl curiously over the rim of the glass. "Or perhaps it could wait until morning."

"And what about you?" Thia set the glass down on the counter top with a graceful flourish and plucked the umbrella, giving a twirl between her fingertips as she lifted it. "Are you from around here?"

Rosy lips parted to reveal her teeth before she bit down on the cherry.

 

[Wes]

Irchaet watched with incredulity as the traveler flirted in increasingly obvious ways and grinned, ever mindful of the tips she was likely to get. "Perhaps it could," she cooed, "I know where all the local hotels are and which ones give good head, I mean, good beds," she laughed. "Sorry, my tongue must have slipped. But no, I am from a distant space colony you've probably haven't heard of. I moved to Yamatai because it's the center of this part of the universe and where there's the most people to meet. It looks like you like to people-watch as much as I do."

 

[ajax228]

Delmira will walk into the bar and will look around , her ears swiveling around before heading up to the bar. The cat girl was dressed down wearing service pants, boots and a undershirt. she looked at the pair and will look the green skinned bar keep.

"Dont mean to interrupt you two, but im looking to have some fun tonight while im on leave and would like to order a drink." she says and gives a bit of a smile. "Something strong please, my kidneys dont like to cooperate when i want to get drunk."

 

[hyralt]

Thia visibly perked up at the mention of a distant space colony.

"How exciting!" Perhaps the first genuine smile of the night lit up her face, then morphed into an expression of boredom that was clearly exaggerated for dramatic effect. "Everyone else I meet has the same story. Parents killed by raiders, orphan raised by hyper-nationalistic cat people, et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseum."

Thia placed the back of her hand against her forehead and feigns the look of an actor struck by great tragedy, tossing her head back and letting her hair trace an arc in the air. In doing so, she catches sight of a cat girl just as she walks up to the two of them and order a drink.

"I recommend this blue substance our mutual companion here concocted," Thia nods her head slightly to Irchaet. "Though I'm not sure how strong it is, I'm quite a lightweight myself."

 

[Wes]

The green-skinned alien bartender grinned at Delmira. "You've come to the right place. I'll quench your thirst until you're satisfied or unable to stand," she laughed. She picked up an unlabeled bottle of some Morant Moonshine and poured it in a tumbler glass over a few rough-cut cubes of ice. "This stuff comes from a backwater trading planet on far frontiers...it was lost in a space hulk and recovered in a salvage operation. Hard stuff." She slid the glass on the counter over to the newcomer.

"I bet you're the very fun kind of tipsy," she smirked at Thia.

 

[Wes]

"Whoa!" the pink-haired medic suddenly exclaimed. "Did you hear about that salvage giveaway? I just got a cybernetic eye. I think it's used."

"Gross!" the anthro cringed. "That's horrible. I can't believe they just give out stuff from dead people like that."

"Well, it's salvage so it comes from blown-up ships," the medic shrugged. "Yo, anyone want a cyber-eye?" she asked the whole bar in a loud voice.

 

[Alex Hart]

Altair Khorvash was enjoying his leave. He'd been briefly assigned to an exchange posting within the Kikyo sector during the latter portion of the Kuvexian war, and with it winding down the Astral Vanguard had given him two weeks of free time before being recalled back to the Astral Cluster. He'd chosen to use the time to take a tour of the sights of the Kikyo sector, and that had brought him to the art-rich city of Ternifac.

The bright-eyed and bright-haired young man happened upon this bar while exploring around and waiting for his hotel room to be prepared, and made his way inside, slipping through the throng of soldiers with little difficulty with several polite "excuse me", hanging up the light coat that he'd been wearing to reveal his standard-issue Astral Vanguard turtleneck, unassuming though it was.

Finally, he made his way to the bar proper, flagged down the green-skinned bartender, waited for a moment and then spoke in an Eyr Ranr accent that would be hard to place for any Kikyo sector natives. "Pardon me, could I get something to drink? Something a little sweet, and not too strong, please."

 

[Wes]

"Sure thing," Irchaet nodded to Altair. She went to her blender and returned with a cool, refeshing piña colada with a little umbrella and dices of pineapple on top. "There's a lot of interesting people in here today," she told him. "Why not find a friend or make a connection?"

 

[hyralt]

"I bet you're the very fun kind of tipsy."

"If you keep being interesting," Thia let the moment linger as she her mouth widened in a predacious expression of delight. "I may let you find out."

Word of salvage caught her not-entirely-organic ears, but she fought the urge to turn towards the soldiers to hear better. When the pink-haired one began yelling about a cybernetic eye, she knew she could afford to finally give some obvious attention to those to whom she had been quietly focusing on since they had walked in. The sinewy muscles of Thia's lissome body rippled as she adjusted herself atop the counter of the bar where she sat to look down upon the Star Army service members who were making a small scene.

Leaning back slightly, she allowed herself to giggle loudly enough that the soldiers should be able to hear her. When she regained her composure, she let the hazel iris of her own mismatched cybernetic eye light up and spin, expanding her pupil to its maximum size, visibly zooming in on the couple and then out again so as not to linger on them uncomfortably. Thia stirred the umbrella of her showy drink and gave them a playful grin.

When the Iromakuanhe male in Star Army uniform walked in, Thia gave him a calculated moment of attention before pretending to become interested in her drink. Inverting the tiny umbrella, she made a show of inspecting the remaining fruit skewered there while she listened in as the newcomer spoke with a very curious accent. Thia used her thumb to flick a piece of pineapple into the air, before effortlessly catching it in her waiting mouth.

 

[ajax228]

Delmira will take the drink and sip it. her cat like ears swivel in the direction of salvage and she will pull out her communicator and will look up the salvage giveaway. Delmira could have looked up the information in her mind but she wanted to see it and feel the device in her hands, though she transferred the data to her brain computer to pull up while she drank her acholic beverage.

"so im new to town what sort of things are there do around here?" She asked not to anyone in particular but more to Thia and Iechaet.

 

[hyralt]

"Welcome, kitten," Thia's contralto held onto the final consonant, elongating it into a feline rumble of contentment as she turned her gaze to peer mischievously at the cat girl out of the corner of her brown and hazel eyes. "I'm only here for the evening myself, and so far our spirit-slinging sister has suggested two activities."

Depositing the small umbrella back into her drink, Thia leaned backwards on the counter top. With one hand, she steadied herself as she stretched, while the other lifted her glass. Closing her eyes, she took another small sip, then put it on the counter while she turned her head to look at Delmira.

"Slapping g-strings and getting head at a hotel," the dark-skinned information dealer spoke bluntly. "Do either of those tickle your fancy?"