RP [Open RP] Welcome To The Kikyo Sector

The tall information broker watched the scene unfold in front of her as if it were a natural extension of the performance taking place on stage. She watched as Pidole and the green-haired science officer returned, carrying with them what seemed to Thia like an unreasonable amount of luggage even for that many people. Thia took a moment to smooth out the fabric of her light-consuming outfit which, along with her impractical shoes, were the only possessions she had on her at the moment. Combined with a datapad and a KS card, both of which she had absent-mindedly left at home, this was everything she owned. When Pidole returned, Thia watched her address Cassie and then give the look of someone who desperately needed some leadership.

"Let's go, ginger bug," Thia said, her heterochromic eyes peering over the rim of her glass into Pidole's baby blues. "Take me to your room and show me your beetle."

With that, she took a quick glance around at the people who were standing within arm's reach. Without giving it a second thought, she thrust her glass into the obediently waiting hands of the person she deemed most likely to take a random object given to them by a stranger.

Newly unburdened, Anthiathia Keslie took a small step deep into the red-haired Star Army technician's personal bubble, put her now unoccupied hands to good use, and leaned down to give Pidole a kiss.

When Kwabba-an stood up from her bow, she couldn't help but notice the tattooed nepleslian woman who had requested something to sing along to and was now beckoning her over. The light red skin on the performer's face turned a darker shade, and she spun around to face her equipment. Her heart beat an uptempo rhythm which she felt in her chest and heard in her ears. Along with this sensation, her mouth began to taste bitter. Imagining she was pounding her drum again, she closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. After enough breaths for her to lose count, she felt her heartbeat begin to slow.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked over her instruments and speakers. First she turned everything off, then unplugged it all. She bunched up the mess of cables in her hands and knew that she should spend some time to sort it out, but instead she just left it in a pile on top of her largest speaker. Then she grabbed both her glass and her bottle of water and peeked at the crowd out of the corner of her eye, hoping that they had stopped paying attention to her once she started cleaning up.

Then, two things happened simultaneously. The first was that she remembered during her performance, she had seen the dragon woman who had approached her earlier and asked to speak after the performance. The second was that she made eye contact with that selfsame dragon woman. Kwabba-an looked away as quickly as she could, but it was too late. Her mind started to race again, but she was determined not to let it get the better of her. She turned back to face her fear, and only then realized that she was sitting at the same table as the tattooed woman.

Kwabba-an tried to imagine that this was all a part of her performance as she took another sip of her water, then crossed the short distance between her equipment and their table. Along the way, she grabbed the now slightly misshapen stool and deposited it in front of herself. She sat down and placed her glass and bottle atop the table. Once she was sitting, her antennae wiggled as she caught a curious scent on the air.

"Uhm," she hesitated. "Hi."

The feline woman gave a chuckle at that, but waited for the music to die down before she responded. The second drink was gone by then, but she could do more. "barkeep, anahther please!", Fiamma called to the server behind the counter before turning back to her new mysterious companion "what day ain't lahng when you're wahrkin 'ard? i'm ahnly ahn vacation 'ere myself. dahn't plan to stay too too lahng oehnless given a reasahn to. if you 'ate de shoehttle, me shep can transpahrt you instead when i end oehp leavin whenever. i wahn't charge ya neither, i guess cahnsider it danks fahr naht bein terreble cahmpany."

Steiner was flipping through the various ship and transports having connoted to the local network, seeing if their were any destinations that would catch his eyes. Neplesia...after doing his research for a bit, he had found that it was a nation in turmoil, and while he would've normally have found that all the more reason to head there-his equipment stores were currently lacking. Given the current situation, even with his nano-fabricators any major action he could potentially find himself put out of action.

The Star Army at the moment was not an option, at least as far as he was concerned, the incident and ticket not withstanding. Which reminded him-he needed to check the date on that and find a way to resolve the issue quickly. 'Let me see...Neshtan...no.' He was NOT in the mood to deal with any kind of monarchy, even if elected. They tended to not be the most honest, or honorable of people. Then again, wouldn't Yamatai technically count as having a monarchy, having an Empress and all? The former sentinel's suspicions were confirmed as he began to read up on "Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Himiko I of Yamatai". That brought a chuckle to the old man-they had dealt with many so-called-emperors or empresses-it had been a popular past time to wager how overinflated their egos and bad or gaudy their dress was among some of the enlisted troops. However, this was quickly replaced by bitter sentiment. He missed his days as a Fieldsmith, all he had to do then was fix machines and provide support to his comrades in arms when it was necessary.

He had almost missed it in his musings, a small article with a picture of something called the Duskarian Legion with what looked like a suit of impressive looking powered armor. The more he dived in, the more intrigued he became-the New Dusk Conclave: they apparently were a group of ex-mercenaries who had decided to found a budding nation-he could respect that-and were currently looking for volunteers, immigrants, and mercenaries. Hmm...that actually sounds like it may be a viable option. The only problem was that he currently lacked a ground guide, and given that he wasn't sure what the computer unit did, and the car while he had little use for at the moment was likely worth a small fortune it did not strike him as being worth the price of a simple guide.

'I'm likely to regret doing this...again.' He groused, deploying the drone once again. That bar would likely be a good location-he sent a small, portable comm unit with it this time, that if he could find someone to transport him that they may speak with one another. Though he took a few precautions this time-reinforcing its frame with a coating of titanium alloy to increase its durability and placing a small device that would fry the machine with an electrical surge if anyone tampered with it. Double checking to ensure that it would actually work correctly with the modifications, and then further modifying its propulsion system and power supply when it could barely take off and still power everything. Watching the machine take off, he tapped into its camera feed.

The bar he had stopped outside of would be a good place to start-if he could avoid causing a disturbance...
---
Twenty minuets later, the drone was hovering overhead after narrowly avoiding being shot by some hoodlum as it left the outskirts. Taking a deep breath, he guided the quadcopter drone in. "Excuse me." He said to a pair of women-likely more of the Nekos that seemed to compose most of the population of this planet, though they lacked any of the unusual features they seemed to posses. They watched the drone in interest, but didn't seem too inclined to panic, he simply raised the manipulator and gave them a slight salute. One of them let out a nervous laugh, while the other simple waved-a good reaction-perhaps they thought it was simply the antics of some fool looking to impress someone. Now...the bar itself would be a good place to start. Making sure to avoid anyone who could take an errant swipe at it along with any ceiling hangings, or drunken patrons trying to either play with it or take a picture, the barkeep turned up and looked at it with a start and seemed to be reaching for something under the bar counter.

"My apologies for disturbing you," Steiner began hoping to diffuse the situation before it could escalate, "But do you know where I could possibly find a ship heading to the New Dusk Conclave?"

"That catgirl with the orange hair over there," Irchaet pointed with a green, clawed hand, "She's wearing a shirt with the NDC flag on it. Probably your best bet. Otherwise you'll want to post a request on the communications nextwork. My bar is a great place for information and services but we can't compete with all of SYNC," she grinned with her 200 pointy teeth.

She brought Fiamma her drink. "That drone over there is looking for a starship to the NDC," she told the anthro.

"You have my thanks." The drone gave a slight tip and turned, and flew towards the anthro trailing the barkeep, "Pardon me young lady, but your ship, is it heading to the New Dusk Conclave at some point?" And then realized the barkeep had just stated as much. He coughed akwardly, "Thank you ma'am for your assistance once again."

hyralt said:

"Let's go, ginger bug," Thia said, her heterochromic eyes peering over the rim of her glass into Pidole's baby blues. "Take me to your room and show me your beetle." Newly unburdened, Anthiathia Keslie took a small step deep into the red-haired Star Army technician's personal bubble, put her now unoccupied hands to good use, and leaned down to give Pidole a kiss.

Click to expand...

Pidole make this sort of sigh-like "hmm" noise as she was kiss and, while she didn't really return the kiss, she didn't object at all and was already smiling before it was even finished. Pidole got a little flushed and her stare of wonder became interrupted by a lot of blinking. After a contemplative pause, she nodded and said. "If it is alright we my freinds, you are welcome to join us in the room. Let me ask!"

Invigorated, Pidole told Euikoshi who was very enthusiastic. "Yes! She can come and I want to watch and observe everything," she grinned, putting on a highly-reflective pair of scientific safety glasses. "For science."

"Unbelievable," Cassie complained, "She picked up someone faster than I could!" Just then the muscular black Nepleslian behind Cassie placed his hand on the gray anthro's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Hey girl, if you're looking for some fun it could be closer than you think."

"Cool! Let me get Kinie and Cassie!" Pidole grinned, hopping over to her friends.

"Hey Kinie, we got the room! You coming?"

Kinie looked at Delmira. "Do you want to come too?" she asked.

Seeing as the ant woman intended to keep playing Kozakura settled into her chair and got comfortable. Her ruby red eyes watched as Kwabba-an prepared for her next song by lugging out a large log with strings on it. The apparent weight of the thing gave her a sense of surprise at just how strong the woman appeared to be, though Kozakura found this intriguing rather than off-putting or intimidating. While the click based language of Kwabba-an's song was lost on Kozakura, she could still appreciate the music. Having been required to dabble in music herself for a semester she also understood how talented the woman must have been to have learned to perform on so many instruments. When it eventually ended she clapped softly and just smiled at Kwabba-an.

After the ant woman's rather shy hello, Kozakura spoke up and introduced herself with a smile. "Tatsugami Kozakura, and this is Hoshi Sanda," she said, leaving off their ranks intentionally so as to help with not intimidating the poor woman. "Your performance was lovely by the way."

Delmira nods her head. Kinnie had a point they would be going to ships tomorrow but that didn't mean they couldn't keep in touch. "what if i give you my contact information?" Delmira asked and started to already compile her contact info to send to Kinie though what cute goth neko says next is what sobers Delmira up fast. "yes i would love to join you." she says and will grab Kinies hand. Delmira will also send her contact information over to the other Neko.

"I am pleased to meet you, Tatsugami Kozakura," she greeted the dragonesque woman with a well-rehearsed phrase and a nod of her head. "And I am pleased to meet you, Sanda Hoshi."

The Yamatai names sounded somewhat awkward as she spoke them, though her features took on a look of concentration as she did, as though she was trying to remember and mimic precisely how Kozakura had pronounced them. While doing so, she looked up and tried to measure their reactions to her efforts.

"I am !Kwabba-an Ternifac-xuralkhi," she spoke her name with a click on the first consonant. The "Ternifac" part of her name was spoken precisely as it was in the Trade language, which made it sound like she was slipping into and out of her click language. She continued a small speech that was clearly something she repeated quite frequently for occasions such as these. And this time, she didn't include the click in her name. "Please feel free to refer to me as Kwabba, if you wish."

Now that her well-practiced introduction was complete, she looked down at her water, then took a drink and put the glass down again. She was careful to put the glass down delicately, first extending her pinky finger to the table, then using that as an anchor point from which to lower the rest of her hand along with the glass it held. When she no longer had anything to do with her hands, her fingers started to dance in the air as if they had a mind of their own.

"I-I am glad that my performance gave you pleasure," she did not look up. "That was my intention. I am happy to find success tonight."

Thia tilted her head curiously at the small red-haired technician who didn't return her kiss, but returned her smile when she noticed it. When Euikoshi insisted on observing, the tall nepleslian woman snickered and thought back to her days as a blushing schoolgirl.

"Green bean, don't you know you can't observe without affecting the outcome?" A wry smile crept across her lips. "But as far as I'm concerned, you're more than welcome to affect our outcome."

Just as she finished speaking, a hand grabbed her and span her around.

"What the hell is this, lady?" Another greasy-faced man sporting a pompadour practically spat his words at her. Though he wasn't much taller than Thia, he visibly had nearly twice the mass of her slender figure. The man pushed a glass back at her, but Thia refused to take it, though she recognized it as the one she had foisted off onto him earlier. "Do I look like a waiter?!"

The snark immediately began to bubble up within her, but before she could speak the man shoved her with her own glass. Thia flew backwards a few feet and her arms flew up as she tried to maintain her balance, but this was when her choice of footwear caught up with her. Thia rarely had occasion to perform any physical activity while she was working, at least not with her shoes on. So she made the decision at the beginning of the evening to wear her biggest heels. While these normally afforded her a perch from which she felt a deep comfort in observing her prey, they made it effectively impossible to land safely. So she didn't.

Thia's ankle twisted as her heel touched the ground, and time seemed to slow as she suddenly found herself hurtling towards someone who looked just like a neko cat girl with fiery orange hair and grey fur.

Sanda watched the bug lady sit down at there table. Though normally a very confident person herself, Sanda was feeling a little awkward. This musician was far more timid than she would have thought possible. She was actually very relieved when Kozakura said, "Tatsugami Kozakura, and this is Hoshi Sanda, Your performance was lovely by the way." Sanda smiled and raised her glass in greeting.

"Kwabba, that I can prounce. Yeah you did great. Best show I've heard for awhile." Said Sanda. Now that the music had stopped conversations had begun again all around the room. Taking another sip of her rum Sanda wondered how much conversation they would get into, though Kwabba did seem to beginning to open up. She was also curious about her other companion. The uniform looked pretty new so she probably had joined up recently and Sanda wondered where she was heading.

Kozakura for her part, leaned back in her chair, she wasn't actually drinking anything at the moment and if she was being honest her mood had been soured earlier to the point where she didn't feel like drinking anymore. In fact she had finished her drink out of a sense of spite. Though she didn't let this impact her rather already strong face by allowing it to frown. No, instead she maintained a smile as she listened to her two conversation companions.

"Kwabba-an..." she echoed softly in her deeper register, trying out the name. It was familiar to her. Had she seen it written somewhere before maybe? It was hard to say, just more of a gut feeling than a memory really. "So um... are you self taught or did you study somewhere?" she asked with a certain curiosity that spoke to her interest in the woman.

"I," she started and stopped. She started touching the tips of her index fingers together.

"I," she tried again, then felt her throat turn dry. She took a sip of her water and noticed that her glass had passed the point of being half empty, so she filled it with her bottle.

"I," she made yet another attempt, but couldn't find the words. She took a deep breath before she looked them in the eyes and gave another prepared response. "Please bear with me a moment."

Kwabba-an stood and retrieved her smallest instrument from its case, then came back to the table. When she sat down, she managed to find a way to pluck and finger its four strings with all four hands simultaneously. The way in which she did this was reminiscent of how she had put down her glass earlier. She placed her pinkies against the instrument and plucked with her remaining fingers. Since the instrument was not plugged into a speaker, it was practically inaudible beneath the background noise of the bar. It merely lit up and stayed green to indicate that it was in tune.

The ant woman's body language was now completely different. She sat more upright, but the tension was gone from her shoulders. She made and held eye contact with Kozakura. She smiled.

"I was self-taught up to a certain age," she explained. Her voice had a peculiar breathy quality to it. The tone of her voice rose and fell languidly. All of this gave the impression she was half-asleep or intoxicated or that some part of her brain was entirely preoccupied with something else. "Rather, I was home-schooled. But my parents only knew the most rudimentary aspects of music. My mother could sing and my father could hold a rhythm. So I absorbed what they knew. And then I...played."

"I played well enough that I was accepted to the Kyoto Academy for the Arts for my secondary education. It was-" Her plucking sped up slightly as she said this, but then one of her fingers slipped and slapped the body of the instrument instead of whatever she had intended to do. She didn't break eye contact, and for a moment she had a puzzled expression before she seemed to get back into her groove. "There was so much more to learn than I could have imagined."

Kwabba-an tilted her head to one side and then the other in time with her plucking. Her smile faded and was replaced with a look of curiosity.

"Why do you ask?" Then she began plucking in double-time and she looked like she might jump out of her seat. "Would you like to learn?"

Cassie’s tail swished in anger and he immediately put his dukes up and then pounced on the yakuza guy. The tall, muscular part-IDSOL Hayden, who was still in the middle of propositioning his fellow infantry soldier, joined in instantly as infantry soldiers tend to do, and although it took probably 2 seconds for Irchaet to break up the fight with a yell, the Yakuza guy was left bruised, dazed, and cat-scratched. He looked at Cassie with smoldering anger in his eyes but this place was crawling with Star Army soldiers right now and taking on one of them meant taking them all on. He silently went off in the back room, wiping his face on his sleeve. A giant blue beetle attacked him as he retreated.

“Are you alright?” Cassie and Pidole asked Thia at the same time. The blue beetle landed on Pidole's shoulder.

Eileen, the purple-haired medic, came over to see if she could help. “Can you give me some ice?” she asked Irchaet, who provided someone in a plastic bag with a washcloth around it.

Sanda had never seen anything like it. Kwabba couldn't get a word out in regular conversation but start playing an interment and it was like she was a completely different person. Sanda just had to laugh. Not in a mean way as if she was making fun of Kwabba, but she just felt the situation was amusing. She took another sip of her drink and said, "Kyoto Academy, pretty impressive." She was impressed Kyoto Academy was one of the best schools on Yamami.

She laughed again when Kwabba asked if she wanted to learn how to play. "Alas, my skills don't lie that way. My brother-in-law plays, but he's no where near your skill level. As for me, I can play a stove top. The kitchen is my stage, knives and spatulas my instruments and food the music I create." Sanda sipped her drink, rather pleased with her analogy.

Erinthel was a bit surprised, a slight smirk crept up his lips. "You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. This stop is temporary for myself as well. I can't say you're wrong about hard work either. Bartender, her drinks are on me." The man couldn't yet find what angle his feline companion was playing but now he was interested. His verdant eyes flashing in curiosity. " So long as I can Smoke, i don't much care otherwise. So tell me.. what's your name?"

Grabbing his glass he took a long sup waiting for the response of his companion turning towards the crowd, seeming a bit more relaxed than before. It seemed more people were settling in, finding others to chat with and mingle. Though again the sight of so many military personnel made him, slightly on edge yet again.

Kwabba-an turned to Sanda as she talked and when she mentioned playing a stove top, the musician's fingerpicking slowed perceptibly and her head canted to one side. Then after a moment, her plucking picked up again and she giggled softly, noticeably in time with movement of her fingers over the strings of her small instrument.

"That reminds me of a performance I attended that was set in a kitchen. It was a play up to a point, but unbeknownst to the audience the surfaces of the set had been rigged with pressure sensors that were all fed into a computer that emitted different sounds for each surface. Halfway through, the play suddenly became a live musical performance." Kwabba-an smiled warmly. "I do not remember anything about the play, but the subversion of expectations pleased me deeply."

Kozakura watched with astonishment as Kwabba-an went from barely able to speak a word to maintaining eye contact and speaking in full sentences. But it was more than that, her self shifted as she fiddled with her instrument, it was like she was an entirely different person once it was in her hands. On some level Kozakura sort of knew how that felt, as she often became a different person in the past whenever the cameras were rolling, but this was somehow different. It was deeper, more psychological than just acting. As Kwabba-an told her story Kozakura was at first curious and then impressed. Being self taught was quite a feat. Not everyone in Yamatai had the drive to do something with their lives when their basic needs were provided for. But to do something demanding as much attention and training as learning to play music, well it certainly left an impression upon her.

Though when she mentioned attending the Academy for her secondary education, Kozakura's eyes lit up with something along the lines of an 'ah-ha' moment. The reason the woman's name was familiar was because she must have seen it on a recital flyer or on the marquee for the auditorium. Though when asked why she was asking, Kozakura just smiled. "Well your name brought about a feeling of familiarity with it, though I admit it eluded me because I had never heard it before. I must have seen it when I was on campus still... sorry I'm probably not making much sense, let me start with saying that I'm also a graduate of the Kyoto Academy for the Arts."

"As for learning to play, well I can read music still but I never had the patience or maybe the persistence required for proper practice." She began to rub the back of her neck lightly, "Music was near my worst subject, though math occupies that dishonor."

The half-ant woman once again gazed into Kozakura's eyes. While she listened, her brow furrowed slightly and the timing of her plucking sped up and slowed down as she tried to synchronize with the natural rhythm of the other woman's speech. Kwabba giggled again in time with her plucking when Kozakura explained that she had graduated from the Kyoto Academy.

"Please do not feel the need to apologize," Kwabba reassured Kozakura. "Your words puzzled me, building tension, and then you gave me release by providing a missing piece of information that re-contextualized that which preceded it. This was most enjoyable."

"As for your studies," Kwabba attempted to adopt Kozakura's mannerisms as she riffed on her phrasing. "You make me curious: what was your best subject?"

"Wait!" Kwabba used one hand to strum all four strings of her instrument, her expression changed suddenly, and she glanced up and away from them before returning her attention to Kozakura. "Are you the movie star? There was a student a few years ahead of me who was in a movie. Everyone was talking about it."