RP [Open RP] Welcome To The Kikyo Sector

Delmira's invitation to engage in mutual sanitation caused Thia's lips to part in a skewed grin, but she didn't reply. Instead, she simply let the comment linger in the air along with all the possibilities that it suggested.

Noting the big man's location in a curtained-off backroom, Thia updated the map she had in her mind, which she imagined as an approximate top-down view of the layout of the bar. On the floor plan she saw with her mind's eye there there were points marked with rough outlines of faces that she could resolve when she focused on them, tracking the locations of people of whom she was aware. With only a modicum of effort, she moved the marker with the pompadour into the space beyond the curtain. For all she knew, it could be an exit onto the street, but she left the marker just on the other side so that she would remember to beware of anyone entering from that direction.

While this was going on in her head, a succession of events unfolded before her of which she was not entirely aware in the moment, but had queued to examine once she was done reorienting herself and her awareness of the area around her. The slideshow of her buffered memories rolled past. Three young recruits ordered drinks from the bartender, and they themselves were deeply green in a way that the drinks and the bartender weren't. The bartender asked a question which caused offense to a fourth service member, who was in no way green. Caught up, Thia took a step forward into the fray, trying to draw the attention of the androgynous cat anthro away from the spirit slinger.

"That does sound horrible," Thia said solemnly in an attempt to affirm the grey-furred and green-eyed anthro's experience. "I'm very sorry for your losses, thank you for sharing something so personal with us. Can I buy you a drink?"

Lingering a little behind the crowd that just came in was a figure that stood at roughly five feet six inches. They were also clad in a uniform of the Star Army like the others, though their chest panel bore the color a journalist. They had no rank insignia upon their sleeve and as such they were probably a freshly minted enlisted member or a trainee. While their face was wholly androgynous, though perhaps leaning feminine, their form fitting uniform did little to hide their smaller yet noticeable chest, and in addition they were wearing the optional skirt with tights. All of which suggested they at least identified their self as a woman. Their long scaled tail was kept close behind their back so as to not interfere with or bump into anyone else in the crowded bar. Slowly they stepped forward, their heels clacking against the floor with a rhythm that said they were still getting used to the things. They carefully skirted around the others and made their way up to the bar, "Could I have a Kyoto Sunrise please?" the figure asked of Irchaet. Their voice, while distinctly feminine was certainly lower than average but by no means deep.

After noticing the stares and attention, the gray-furred anthro wiped their glossy green eyes with one hand and apologized. "Sorry I snapped at you. I just...." they trailed off. They looked at Thia and realized Thia was offering them a drink. "Okay, but just one. The woman they made me speak to at Star Army Medical says drinking alcohol can worsen Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by strengthening emotional memories linked to fear. I told her I was fine but I guess I'm a little sensitive and sometimes I just kind of disassociate...er, look at me babbling on like a dissertation...yes, I need a drink to dumb things down a bit. My name is Cassie. Nice to meet you."

The trio of new recruits just kind of eyeballed the anthro and whispered to each other, sipping their frozen blended drinks through colorful straws.

"Coming right up!" Irchaet smiled at the newcomer. "There's a uniform color I'm not familiar with."

Anthiathia Keslie watched the gray-furred anthro's body language as they talked. Carefully choosing her moments, she nodded gently, keeping her face mostly neutral, but trying to express warm attention by keeping her eyes a little wider and adopting a very slight smile. When the tomboy-esque person walked in, Thia made a mental note to inspect her more closely later, but kept her focus on the anthro for now.

"I hear you, cutie pie," she acknowledged. "I'm sure our sweet pea can mix you up something without alcohol if that helps. In fact..."

Thia turned to Irchaet and gave her a small upwards nod.

"Give me a mocktail, dealer's choice," she commanded the green-skinned mixologist. "I'm in the mood for a virgin."

For a fraction of a second, she started to put her wry grin on again, but she stopped herself and reverted to neutral. Her gaze lowered to the space between herself and the woman behind the bar.

"And...thank you, Irchaet," she whispered meekly. "For earlier, I mean."

Delmira will look at the goth Neko and squints. "Kinie?" She says her tail swaying a bit. "Didnt think i would see you here." she says and turns a bit away from Thia though keeping the taller woman in her area of observation. "i didnt think you would ever come to a place like this." her tail sways behind her happily at seeing a familiar face.

"No worries. Those types are often bad at resolving conflicts," Irchaet told Thia. "They don't like to lose face or seem anything but tough. Ultra macho is their lifestyle. But this is my bar, my rules," she grinned widely, showing three-deep rows of triangular, shark-like teeth that went 360 degrees around the inside of her mouth. She went on to make a very fancy mocktail for Cassie the Cat.

"It sounds like you've been through a lot. Please accept my apologies and enjoy this," Irchaet told Cassie, who looked impressed by the drink and started to be in a better mood.


OOC: Image credits: Glass art by Gormstar. Used with permission. Art by thulianshadow using the Waitress base. Purchased by Wes. Clothes and other edits by Wes. Stock Art background by Christian Birkholz via Pixabay.

Meanwhile, Kinie blinked. "Wow, Delmira! I haven't seen you since graduated at Fort Victory! This is Kawa Euikoshi my clan-sister and science whiz and this is Pidole Henitot, red headhead wrench wench and beetle buddy."

"Unwillingness to back down is a failing that I share with the likes of him," Thia stated plainly, leveling her semi-bionic eyes at Irchaet and allowing her eyebrows to raise in response to the green-skinned mocktail maker's impressive teeth. "And I'm sure it will be the death of me someday. But thanks to you, that day is not today."

Turning to Cassie, Thia finally introduced herself. "Call me Thia," she directed before looking back to Irchaet.

"You had better be making another one of those for me, sweet pea," the tall woman threatened. "I will have my virgin."

Thia span on one foot to put her back to Irchaet and her face to everyone else, a feat which was particularly impressive considering the height of her heels. Her view fell upon a certain someone of uncertain gender, and her cybernetic eye made a quiet sound as it traced their form.

"On second thought," she murmured under her breath, before resting her elbows on the counter and leaning backwards, an action that elongated the front of her torso and caused the utterly dark material of her outfit to stretch taught around her body. She raised her voice to be heard. "What is a Kyoto Sunset? That sounds evocative."

Delmira's tail does not help to hide her excitement at seeing her fellow neko. "Nice to meet you. My name is Delmira Brunhilde Lulie but you can call me Del if you wish." she says addressing the other two. Her tail will tickle at Thia's leg mostly so she knows that Del did not forget about her.

"What brings you all here? i never would have thought to see you here Kinie." she says and tilts her head a bit in her comrades direction.

"Of course," Irchaet replied to Thia, lighting the sparkler on Thia's fancy drink and carefully sliding it over to her.

Kinie shrugged to Delmira. "Well, we had been on our way to visit the snowy Northeast for the traditional celebrations in Ralt and to celebrate the new year at the Temple of the Stars, but we got told to come back early to Uesureyan Fields so we could be assigned a ship in the First Fleet. Apparently there are a lot of new ships that need to be crewed and they need every soldier they can get their hands on. So we're taking the train back. We were practically on top of each other in there. This is our last night of fun. Tomorrow we'll all be on a starship." She sipped her margarita. "Interesting flavor!" she blinked, never having had one before.

Wes said:

"Coming right up!" Irchaet smiled at the newcomer. "There's a uniform color I'm not familiar with."

Click to expand...

"I've been told we're a rare breed," she chuckled, "I'm a journalist with the Star Army." As she spoke the latter words a smile formed upon her face. That's right after months of training she was finally no longer a trainee. Tonight was about celebrating, even if she didn't have anyone to celebrate it with. Wow that was kinda sad when she actually stopped to think about. Turning to look at Thia she said, "Two ounces rum, three ounces OJ, and one ounce of grenadine."

Delmira's tail brushed Thia's inner thigh and the sensation of the fur gently stroking her sensitive skin sent a shiver up her spine and caused the fine hairs that covered her body to stand on end. Thia didn't allow herself to respond in any way other than the physiological reactions over which she had no control. When the green-skinned bartender slid her drink down the counter to her, she caught it effortlessly. She was no stranger to the art of staying focused while being stimulated.

Thia turned to face the indistinctly gendered journalist, leaning one hip against the bar as she lifted the drink in one hand. With her other hand, she grabbed the lit sparkler to keep it away from her face. Though she wondered if it would even damage her hazel-coloured cybernetic eye. Wrapping her pink lips around a similarly pink straw, she sipped at the glass' contents, a liquid whose colour formed a gentle gradient from a yellow-leaning shade of orange to a red-leaning one.

"Mmm," she sounded as her eyes glanced over to Irchaet. "Very fruity, thank you sweet pea."

Her focus once again fell upon the androgynous Minkan.

"Call me Thia," her commanding words rang out across the bar, as she lowered her drink and let her sparkler hand drape on the hip that she didn't have pressed up against the counter. "Are you the kind of journalist who sits in an office writing about what other people see, or the kind who goes out and sees things?"

"Lucky, i dont have anyone to do fun things with, though thats partly my fault." she says and turns to Irachat "i would like another drink please." she turns back to her neko friend. "What ship are you getting posted to? Im going to the Kaiyo II." She will withdraw her tail from Thia and let it lazily sway behind her like it has a mind of its own.

"I'm not entirely sure yet but I hear there are a lot of new ships being built for the First Fleet. It's not just big capital ships like Battleships and Cruisers Cruisers but also small gunships like the Fuji-classs and huge ships like the Izanagi-class. I know a couple of us who were stationed on the Battle of Yamatai recently and they said it's huge! A whole city in space complete with their own stadiums and Aerial Football League team. The size of your ship dictates what amenities you have. A ship like the Battle of Yamatai is probably like living on an Iori-class Star Fortress. They have everything. But on a small gunship there's a small crew and everyone is very important. You can't just blend into the crowd, you know? We're hoping to get assigned together to the same ship," Kinie beamed. She was always so full of joy despite her "goth" appearance.

Irchaet, nodded, making another of the same drink for Delmira.

"It's important that a new ship crew works well together as a team," Cassie noted. "You wouldn't want to be trapped in a Zesuaium can with people you couldn't stand."

"Okay Thia," she replied turning her body towards the woman such that she could lean on the bar and face her at the same time. "My name's Tatsugami Kozakura, and no I don't sit around writing about what other people see. So far I've gotten nothing but field assignments, they keep sending me all over the planet to get stories." Though after saying as much she sighed heavily, "Not that the stories are all that interesting..."

Thia played for time, picking her drink up again and using her off-hand to grab the still-lit sparkler. Her gaze lowered to the novelty item, and she made a show of being fascinated by the tiny particles of superheated metal that were flying every which way. Using the sparkler, she stirred the drink, gently blending the liquid together until the gradient was gone and it was a single homogeneous colour.

Meanwhile, gone was the predator/prey dynamic she had been enjoying so far tonight. In its place was a game on which she and her opponent had only just made the opening moves. The current state of the game was solid and fixed, but she overlaid a virtual image on top. See-through pieces as if seen only in the reflection of a pane of glass traversed a tree of possible future states all rooted in the fixed present state. At each of her turns, she found the move that would give her the end-state of maximum possible value, and at each of her opponent's turns, she found the move that would give her the end-state of minimum possible value. Wherever possible, she pruned the tree so she wouldn't have to consider obviously wrong moves.

After an uncharacteristically long pause, she looked up at Tatsugami and put on a face of polite interest.

"Oh?" She accepted her opponent's opening gambit. "Anything you can share with a civilian?"

Kozakura just laughed, "sure but I don't know how interesting you'll find it. My last assignment was a piece about the annual repairs and inspections of the Pagoda no Uesureya. Before that was a trip out to a small fishing village where the fish are still caught from the wild." Her eyes shifted to the green bartender to see how her drink was coming along before looking back at Thia. "So miss Thia, what about you? Anything exciting about your line of work?" There really wasn't much to see here, just a lonely heavily modified minkan, who was probably being given a gauntlet of assignments just to mess with her for being new.

Thia rolled her tongue into the corner of her mouth and used it to make a clicking sound while she rolled her eyes, equally disappointed with the minkan's assignments. The phrase "Miss Thia" prickled at the back of her neck, but she wouldn't let it show.

"My precious little..." Thia trailed off, taking a moment to closely inspect the androgynous journalist. Her piercing vision scanned over their every feature: antlers, reptilian eyes over which there were two pink spots, pointed ears replete with earrings, and reptilian tail.

"Giraffe," Thia continued, allowing herself a micro-expression of self-satisfaction at her choice of nickname. She realized the reference was perhaps overly obscure, given the journalist's neck of unremarkable length. But Thia was quite comfortable making an allusion that only she understood, especially when it might catch her opponent off-guard.

"I like to make my own excitement," she said in a wicked tone while trying on a face she had seen once when she accidentally walked into the wrong hotel room and found it already occupied by someone in a rather compromising position whom she quickly discovered was an exhibitionist. "For example, I just stared down an armed gangster."

"Our little sweet pea quickly stepped in, otherwise I might be substantially more horizontal." Thia looked at Irchaet, put both of her hands on her cheeks, widened her eyes, and sighed. "My hero."

Delmira pulled up her posting and reviewed it for a moment tilting her head as she read the data. She looked back at Kinie. "I'm going to the Fuji class Kaiyo II, i heard there is much honor with the ship." she smiles at Irachet and will sip her drink. "though i wouldn't mind being on a city in space, from what I understand the Kaiyo is a densely packed ship, hopefully it has a nest room though that i can sleep in." a lazy flicker of her tail and she dismissed the information she had pulled up. She turned her red gaze to Kinie and smiled "Well if your in the first fleet we can stay in contact." her tail will every so slyly move to touch Kinie's and sips her drink though now she had to watch her alcohol intake so she wouldnt get drunk and miss a chance with her cute neko friend and possibly Thia.

Kozakura had to do a bit of a double take, had this strange woman in a somewhat scintillating outfit just called her precious, little, and a giraffe all in one sentence? To be frank she was entirely lost here. "Right..." she commented softly as her eyes glanced back to Irchaet again. She wanted that drink already. She'd spent all day on trains and just wanted to kick back a little. Not get called giraffe by a stranger. Glancing her eyes back to Thia after the woman spoke of making her own excitement, Kozakura replied with a "Sounds dangerous," that had a bit of a tone that said she didn't believe her. Her eyes slowly drifted over to the group of friends that were chatting up the red headed cat girl, and then the anthro. Thia was clearly losing Kozakura's interest.

Noting her opponent's disinterest, she updated the game state and watched as most of the branches on the tree of possibilities disappeared. Not arousing the interest of a Star Army journalist was among the best outcomes, though she couldn't help but find herself disappointed. As with most of her emotions, she tucked it away neatly into a box to process when she wasn't working. Though she wondered how valuable the information was that she could gather now that the competition was here. She considered the overlapping sets of valuable information and information that a Star Army journalist might be interested in, and she decided that there were some things in the former set and not the latter.

Following Tatsugami's attention, she turned to the same group and began unpacking what they had been talking about while she sipped at her alcohol-free beverage. The effects of her earlier drink were starting to wear off and she was grateful for it. Thia particularly noted the scuttlebutt about the new ships being built for the First Fleet and their classes along with the ship assignments of everyone who mentioned theirs. She wasn't sure if that was public information and she foresaw herself looking into it in the early hours tomorrow morning.

"Being trapped in a Zesuaium can with someone sounds like it could be a lot of fun, as long as it's the right someone," Thia replied to Cassie, putting her lopsided grin back on. "Or someones."