RP: ISC Phoenix [Post Mission 2] - All the While

[Luca]

Well here's a poke at you,
you're gonna choke on it too,
you're gonna lose that smile,
because all the while...
The Who - I Can See for Miles and Miles

An artificial sort of calm had come over the Penthouse suite resting atop of the Ishimura Heights Hotel. Everyone that could be accounted for who wasn't spaceside back on the Crimson Kestrel was there at the hotel. Luca decided that the next meeting could wait as he watched television in the main meeting lounge of the penthouse.

The door to the main opened and he saw Zeta in the doorway. Not a word was exchanged, but when they saw each other, their faces lit up and Luca stood up to receive something that was both a tackle and a hug, sending him crashing down onto the couch with Zeta. She placed a peck on his cheek before sitting up and shuffling beside him.

"What're you watching?" she asked, putting her mechanical arm around him.
"Whatever I like," Luca replied as he held up the remote and flicked over to an episode of Ori-V-Frame.
"Man, that Viktoria Koenig, so badass," Luca commented. Zeta seemed to agree as she watched Viktoria cut things up.

The facilities around the Penthouse were top-notch. There was ample entertainment available in the main lounge, including another television and a few games consoles. There was a well stocked bar just waiting for a bartender or for whoever to grab whatever spirit they fancied and mix it together. There was, however, a curious absence of cup coasters, and one remained with a bite shaped mark in it and some marble crumbs.

A series of two-person bedrooms dotted around the Penthouse were also there if you just felt like resting. They were intended for large meeting groups, but none of them skimped on quality per bedroom. The pillows were oh-so fluffy, the thread counts on the blankets were innumerable, and the rooms practically cleaned themselves. They were great for more private encounters or just for resting your head. Each came with their own bathroom.

Outside in the setting sun on the balcony, there was a 25 metre long swimming pool, a large spa that flowed into it like a water feature, and a tennis court currently occupied by Enzo's shuttle. They also had a direct telephone line to call whatever they wanted into the room - did they want massage? Just call. Candlelit dinner? Give 'em a ring. Worry about the bill later after all.

Echelon had returned from Shayla's room with the hulking Nekovalkyrja in tow, "Hey, uh, Luca? Room for one more?" the Mimicom asked.
Luca turned his head around over the couch and his eyes boggled. "She'll be eating for two though!"

Tani Mako's whereabouts were still unknown. Last Luca heard, she was at a karaoke bar somewhere. He sent her a message to head back to the Penthouse to unwind. He was also currently unsure of Soruk's whereabouts too, but he was sure he'd be back. He was also unsure of Allison's current whereabouts but he could've made an educated guess. Argyle the Freespacer just seemed to be chilling, in a sort of stand-by state in the lounge on a chair.

(Do as you please. Socialise a little. Call room service, be irresponsible, unwind a little!)

 

[Phe0n1x]

"Ah some sweet relaxation," Makari sighed to the empty room. He dialed up room service and ordered all of the Nepleslian style dishes. While they most definitely would not be authentic, it would be entertaining to find the differences. Hopefully it won't be too foul. Putting his gun cleaning kit back into his bag and holstering his weapon, Makari scavenged for the remote and pressed the power button. The ending credits for the "Nekosons" were playing with a notification that "Pastorama" would be on next. Makari was glad the universe had yet to find a race of sentient lobsters, they would probably be just as annoying. A few minutes in he was able to enjoy his extra large toast and assorted foods shaped as Nepleslian weapons. Makari had a good laugh at the HHG shaped "chicken" nugget. he wondered just how much "chicken" was in the damn thing but at least they tasted alright. Makari decided to finish his dinner and enjoy a few episodes of whatever this crazy planet deemed television, at least for a little while.

 

[Sham]

Soruk remained atop the hotel for what felt like an eternity, just listening to the sounds of 'utopia' and the wind against his face. He was at peace with the world, at least until the world decided peace was no longer valid. That seemed much more likely around someone such as Luca. The gartagen blade master slowly opened his eyes to gaze upon the sunset, the skyline contrasting beautifully with the orange sky. They never cease to be amazing. He admired the view for a few moments before slowly getting on his feet, sighing a little. It was good while it lasted.

Soruk made his way to a corner of the building, looking down at the street below, the trickle of people looking akin to ants marching in lines. All living their perfect little lives in a perfect little world. He was about to approach the question on how to go about returning to his room, without disturbing that broken lock once more, when he heard a noise. It wasn't just any noise, it was music. Beautiful music. He wasn't familiar with the instrument, but he felt like he had heard it before. He had to know what it was.

The cloaked gartagen slowly made his way closer to whereever the sound was coming from, it sounded like was a few floors below, on a different side of the building. Sure enough, when he stalked over to his right and looked down, he saw a middle-aged Nepleslian woman running what appeared to be a very small bow that could not possibly fire arrows, over a row of strings very slowly, pulling beautiful sounds from the small wooden instrument. The word came to him, Violin. It wasn't something his people had, or if they did, he had never seen it on Gartaga. His clan was too busy forging armor, weapons, and things they could sell. They did not work with wood, or not in large quanities. He crouched on the ledge and listened quietly, eyes closed, admiring the music until it stopped. He looked down, and saw the player, and the violin, disappear through the balcony door. He felt a little sad, the time spent listening felt all too brief to the blade master. He wanted to hear more.

It was then he had the idea, I could... play one... then I could listen for as long as I could play... He nodded slowly, liking the idea more and more as he thought about it. Now all he had to do was find one of these violins. Surely it couldn't be too hard, some shop or merchant had to make a living on selling the beautiful instruments. The gartagen decided to seek out one who sold such things, hopping off the ledge and making his way down the same way he had gone up.

Some time later, Soruk found himself on the street again, amongst all the people that lived life 'perfectly'. At least he had a mission, clearly defined. Find one of these 'violins', purchase it, and learn how to play it. It seemed easy enough. Learning to play couldn't be harder than learning to fight or forge. He set out at a brisk pace towards a commerence row that he had seen on his way back, surely someone sold instruments there.

He ignored any and all looks cast his way, he was busy and had little time to pay attention to some stranger he would never see again. Upon arriving to the rows of shop that he had seen earlier, he slowly walked down the streets, examining each shop window with interest. He saw many interesting things, but not what he was looking for. As he came close to the end of the row, he grew slightly more and more worried that there would be no shop that he was looking for. As the gods would have it, he heard natural music coming from the last shop on the row. He pushed open the door, the little bell jingling merrily to announce his arrival to whomever was tending to the store. It was probably the only time since his birth that Soruk did not care someone knew where he was before he knew where they were.

He looked around the store eagerly, searching for that small, beautiful instrument. He did not see one from the entrance. Before he could search further, he heard a slow *tap tap* with the sound of slow walking. Behind one of the shelves an elderly man appeared, leaning on a cane. The gartagen was surprised, age did not seem to be much of a problem around here. Being old granted respect in his clan, showing they had weathered through their harsher world and ways. Soruk immediately bowed slightly, out of habit. The elderly man smiled and waved his hand, his kind voice following, "No, no... I get enough of that." The man laughed softly, "What are you looking for, young man?"

The blade master straightened up, and nodded a few times, "I seek an instrument. I believe you call it a... violin?" The word was a little unfamiliar to his tongue, but he managed well enough. The old man turned slowly and started to head off deeper into the store, "Follow me." After a moment of working their way through the well-kept shop, the duo arrived at the section devoted to string instruments, more importantly, violins. Soruk looked at them with admiration, remembering the music made him smile internally. He was pulled from his thoughts by the elderly man, "Well, here they are. His hand slowly gestured to the various violins, "Did you know what you were looking for, young man?"

Soruk shook his head, "I know little, I wish to learn." Perhaps he should have looked a little more into the instrument than just running out to buy one. Done was done though. He was about to explain his predicament when the other just laughed a little, "Get that all the time... all the time." His cane slowly tapped a small black case on one of the shelves, "Pick that right up... everything you need to learn... everything you need to play." The gartagen carefully picked up the case, his thick digits fumbling with the latches for a moment before peeking inside the case. Inside he could see the fine finish on the violin inside, the bow nestled neatly nearby. A small book on how to actually play, cleaning supplies, spare bits. He slowly shut the small case and nodded with a soft smile, "I would like this."

One monetary exchange later, and a farewell to the kind old man, Soruk found himself walking quickly back to the hotel. He walked through the front door, up the stairs to his room's floor, and straight to his room, ignoring the lock, sliding that key card he had received. He set the case down and opened it slowly, admiring the instrument within. He gently picked it up, and slid the bow experimentally across the strings. The sound that ensued was wonderful. He set the violin down and picked up the small book, and started to read, it was going to be a productive evening...

 

[Yoshi]

Mako came stumbling in not far behind Echelon. She had gotten distracted that. First it was the karaoke, then it was the rock song competition... Oh hells bells she rocked. They had awarded her, covered her tab, and left her with a bit of a prize purse. She left the Karaoke lounge with a crown and an huge bouquet.

she had wondered out of the lounge with no clue what to do, but then a memory had kicked in. With her prize money she had to go wondering through the shopping districts to find the right shop. it took her a few hours to find the right one who not only carried the type of items but was able to modify them to the specs he had asked for. then it was a few hours of working with the shop keep to get the three items just right! They were perfect down to the buttons on the pockets. She was so pleased, hell she even pulled some funds from her own accounts to help cover them.

She even hit a custom weapons shop to get the last item made.

~~~~~~~

Tani Mako came stumbling into the penthouse with a huge grin... "Echelon!!! I gotsss Somethingssss for you..." She giggled and hiccuped before tossing the flowers onto a table and pulling the garment bag off her back... "Here is two... they are the same... Though one is bigger for your other body..." She winked before taking the third bag to a spare bedroom to change.

In the two garment bags were two sizes of the same uniform. Straight from the series "Bubblestar Galaxites." With the nametag stating it was for Starduct. It was exact to the filming versions, though these two setups would fit Echelon's two bodies perfectly. With it was a full-functional pistol matching the one the character carried. (.45 cal)

After a few drunken moments Mako fell back out of the room dressed in a stylized outfit that made her look like one of the Psylons from the same show.

 

[ShotJon]

Zeta pulled her arm back after a bit and leant against Luca. She put her head on his shoulder and just enjoyed stuff. Her talk with Jimothi Trakk was not so bad, but in the end it was for Luca to decide about what he will do with himself. Zeta hoped he will let other heal him. She was not sure what would happen if she would loose him. He seemed so immortal, but she had to remind herself that he was no god, he was a man. Strong man, but still just a man.

"So how was your time here so far?" Zeta asked as she lazily watched the show with mechas beating other mechas. Truth was that Viktoria person sure was pretty cool, cutting other mechanoids with her sword like a butter.

 

[Reynolds]

Shayla's Room, Ishimura Heights Hotel

"It's a long story. Let's just say I'm one-of-a-kind." Shayla chuckled at the idea before heading into the shower, not taking long to wash off all the blood, gore and stray bits of food from the restaurant scuffle. She reemerged after a few minutes, wrapped in an incredibly large, fluffy hotel towel that looked more like a blanket. "If you think I'm big, you should've met my dad." She grinned, lifting a hand above her head to indicate his approximate height. "ID-SOL blood. Good, solid Nepleslian stock." She began dragging various items made of fur or hide out of the closet, tossing them on top of her bags, before she found the one she was looking for. The wet towel was deposited on the ground as she began to stuff herself into the fur outfit. "Before the crash, I used to go by Ronnie. Never had to worry about....mff..." She seemed to be having trouble properly securing her prodigious bust in the fairly skimpy top. "...proper support. But, I'm still alive, so..." She shrugged, breaking into a wide grin once more, the wounds from her earlier encounter already little more than fine red lines as her body swiftly repaired itself.

Penthouse

Shayla let out a loud, barking laugh at Luca's comment, as she followed the diminutive robot in. "Ha, I could eat a whole <garbled, maybe Russian?> by myself right now! Worked up an appetite with that little rumble." The giantess scanned the area, taking in the familiar faces from their earlier meeting, along with a few new ones. "I thought the room they got me was nice...but this is the kinda luxury reserved for real big shot heroes, eh? Guess leavin' military life behind was a good idea after all." She seemed to be wearing what amounted to a fur bikini, baring a rather large amount of tan skin, with matching fur boots. Judging by the many noticeable nicks, tears and crude stitches, it was obviously hand made and well worn. The bright, almost neon red fur didn't seem to come from any immediately familiar creature, and those that might be able to investigate it more in depth would still be hard pressed to determine exactly what animal it came from.

"I think she owes both of us lunch anyway." She pointed one thick finger at Allison, smirking. Hadn't she eaten an entire steak right before the tussle? "Ran out on me and your uh...property? Date?" She grunted, obviously still getting used to all of this after her return to society. "<definitely Slavic, but there was a hiss in there> confusing. It makes my poor digital brain hurt." Looking for a seat, the bar caught her eye. "That'll solve that problem." With a grin, she advanced upon the room's alcohol stockpile, leaning right over the bar to grasp at the closest bottles with both giant mitts.

 

[Moogle]

After Luca and the rest of the party began shuffling in, Seiren and Rebeka found themselves in a cozy corner of the kitchen of the penthouse, shuffling through the cabinets for things.

"-they leave them because they're convenient," Seiren explained half a conversation to the Sourcian, gesturing to the bags of snacks arranged neatly on the counter. He was stooped low, rummaging in what may be consider a pantry cupboard. "They overcharge for those because they can. Buuuut I figure if they have a full kitchen they might have a few nice ingredients on demand, yanno? Worse comes to worse, we can get room service to deliver groceries."


"Huh..." was all she had to say, drawled like the mewl of a cat. She fingered over her hair with gloved hands, admiring the platting that Seiren had gone to the trouble of putting in.

"What were the coverings you wore to sleep in?"

"Huh, oh, which ones? I mean, generally they're all called pajamas, but sometimes I wear what Neplesians call a onsie - but the actual term is called a Kigurumi. Otherwise, I wear just plain two-piece pajamas, you know?" Seiren said, finding a phone listing in one of the empty cupboards.

"Why does the hood have ears?"

A sharp sound left Seiren's ears ringing: Her own held unusually high. She sat with eyes wide, searching for the source of the sound with a confused expression.

"Oh, well, c-" the inventor began, only to jump ever so slightly at the sudden tone. "Huh, did you just sneeze? I didn't know you could sneeze. Anyways, the hoods have ears 'coz it's cute."

Her eyes narrowed as she leaned forward on her stools: Knees high.

"Sneeze?"

"S'what happens when some dust gets in your nose and tickles it, making you wanna. . . like eject it out. Sorta."

"Oh, like when dealing with Nekovalkyjra?"

"Er. . ." Seiren mumbled, standing up. "If the nekovalkryja were absolutely microscopic, sure."

"I don't like their smell. It isn't right."

"You must have a better nose than I do, because even that really big one didn't set me off."
He, of course, referred to Shayla, who passed through moments ago.

"I really don't like them. What are you doing?"

Seiren looked up at Rebeka, phone in one hand and small paper directory in another. "Oh, just calling for a grocery delivery. I think I can cook up a few things here that might be really cool to you."

A short time later, Rebeka set eyes on a set of brown paper-bags sat on the counter-top, among them a watermellon in a netted bag, an assortment of strange labels, some sealed clear plastic containers and a number of bottles. Not that she could see most of this but scenting the air she could hazard a guess.

"...You ordered a lot."

"Come with me, and you'll see~" Seiren hummed, directing Rebeka back towards the kitchen. Now was time to make delicious fun~☆!

 

[Luca]

"I think it was business as usual today Zeta," Luca said, leaning back in the couch and looking at the ceiling. Shayla had made herself known and helped herself to the booze, but there were some parts of what she was saying that were completely lost on him. An xeno-grade international translator program would've been very useful about now. He looked back to Zeta. "I mean, we were just trying to get the attention of one guy,"

He pointed his thumb back towards Argyle, who was sitting in a massage chair. He'd pulled a cord out of his index finger and plugged it in, hacking the thing to give a very intense lower back massage on par with percussive maintenance. Luca continued on in deadpan, "but a couple of things piled up and I ended up turning two rogue Nekovalkyrja into jam with a building. I'm just glad the day's over."

He looked around the rest of the room and saw that some others had come in. Seiren and Rebeka still seemed to be buddy buddy and peachy together, Tani had showed up drunk with costumes and Makari seemed to be abusing room service and eating the greasiest food he could find. From down below, he could hear someone playing the violin. One stroke seemed to get into everyone's ears, Rebeka's especially. He wasn't sure who it was, but perhaps they were doing some manner of violin practice. "Did you hear that?" he asked, looking around.

Echelon, meanwhile looked at the suit that Tani had put in her face. "I do not know how you got my measurements for either of me but-" Echelon began, crossing her arms at the inebriated Tani. Once a pistol was flashed around, her eyes boggled and she asked: "Is that thing loaded?"

She sighed. "I'm more of a Star Constable Govon or NekoRanger fan anyway but..." she snatched the costume shaped for her Mimicom body from Tani. "Expect me to be the cutest Galaxite." She then turned around to her room and closed the door behind her.

 

[ShotJon]

"Oh great, someone gave Echelon a gun. That cannot go wrong at all." Zeta joked back to Luca and smiled at him. It was really nice to just sit around like family. Her eyes went waryli to the gian neko, that was quite a new addition, but seemed to fit in fast. "Just how did you get a biggest neko in the universe to join you Luca?" Zeta whispered into her boyfriend's ear. It really was not much of a surprise. If there was a neko that big, it would be Luca who would find her after all. That is how storied and chances went.

 

[Luca]

"Happenstance really," Luca said. "She was in the lobby when we left, she was at the cafe that the target Freespacer was, she chipped in when it got hot, and it seems to want to keep the coincidence rolling by following us permanently."

 

[Reynolds]

Shayla flopped down next to Makari, seat creaking in protest. She'd rummaged through the available alcohol and made her selection, loudly clanking the bottles on the table as she began lining them up around the trays of food already laid out. "Yeah, don't expect great things from this place. Sure, they'll hire a macrobiotic chef and a gang of Neko that are basically walking, talking cookbooks, but one Nepleslian cook with a greasy stove is too much to ask." She grunted at the horror of the situation, before yanking the top off the first bottle. Lifting the drink with one hand and a stolen cheesebuger with the other, she took a huge bite...before immediately washing it down with a swig. "...nope, haven't gotten any better." She coughed, then chuckled. "I've had worse, though. In fact, I could eat half of the table, if I wanted to."

The chuckles turned into loud guffaws as she apparently took the time to picture herself eating the table in front of the people assembled in the penthouse. "That'd make a hell of a party trick. Gotta remember that one." Somehow, the burger had already been finished, and Shayla had made it halfway through the bottle during the brief conversation. "I can just about drink as much as I want, now, too! Gets too bad, you just flip the switch, and-" she wiggled her greasy fingers, "-gone, just like that." Burger gone, she wiped her fingers off on her furred outfit before slapping Makari on the back. "Haven't seen many other Nepleslians in this part of town. You guys are a breath of fresh air." She turned to grin at Luca and Zeta as well, before a huge slice of what was generously called pizza was shoved into her mouth.

 

[Ira]

Penthouse

There was an audible huff coming as Sura move anxiously around the pent house. The young Gartagen girl was clearly irritated and nervous on her return to the pent house. She had not sat down, not was she taking it easy as she almost frantically moved around. She remained standing as she pulled out her data pad and began pecking away at it. She had spent much of her time trailing Soruk, and merely observing the actions of the others. Unlike much of Luca's team Sura was not on the pay roll, not did she had the gusto and bravado of the others.

After several moments of messing with her data pad she huffed once more, and the device vanished in her thick woolen robes. She squatted down on her haunches and wrinkled her nose and let out another frustrated huff. She was pleased to see the others were content. But after her little adventure she wished to see the brutish face of her father --- who clearly, by the fact the air was not thick with his miasma like musk - was no longer in the building.

 

[Luca]

Ishimura Heights Hotel, Penthouse
Echelon had emerged from her room, dressed in the Bubblestar Galaxite costume, and indeed as she'd boasted, she looked like the cutest Galaxite, clad in the uniform. "I'm still a Govon fan though," she sighed as she looked at Luca, who just had the stupidest smile on his face.

Luca, meanwhile continued watching television when there was a knock on the door.

The knock sounded more than once, a huffed grumble behind the wooden slab.

Luca blinked and thought that it was Room Service. "Just a moment, I'll get it," he said to Zeta as he got up out of her embrace and walked towards the door. He opened the door and saw nothing initially, looking left and right, then down.

Below stood a familiar figure: his employer, dressed in a rather peculiar way. Gone were the shirt and spats in favor of what appeared to be a winter school uniform: dark dark navy blue accented in sailor white with cut to match. She shuffled in the door-way, waiting for his brain to finally tick and acknowledge her presence as her thighs rubbed together: thin bands of stark white peaking out above long dark stockings.

"Huh..." she began, rolling her shoulders. "May I come in?"

"Aiesu?" Luca asked himself and his new guest. He looked back up and leaned forward, past her to look either side of the hall carefully. Acknowledging that things were safe and this was not a joke nor a hologram projected to get his attention. "Sure, come in. What's with the getup?"

In her pale hands swung a black leather bag, resembling a brief-case as she pitter-pat into the room, slumping rather conspicuously on the couch -- seemingly engulfed by its massive form. With no regard for Yamataian or Nepleslian etiquette, her knees hung apart as she stared at the ceiling, making note of the room with a quiet whistle.

"I'd always been told Yamataian rooms were so small..." she uttered thoughtlessly.

"This is the Penthouse, and hello to you too." Luca said, turning around and closing the door behind him. Zeta looked over to Aiesu and blinked with a frown, but turned her attention back to the television.

"Gettappu?" she aped the sound back, unfamiliar with its meaning. She seemed to chew on the words like a dog struggling with thick toffee through her accent.

"The... schoolgirl costume," Luca asked as he swivelled past the bar and saw that most of it had already been ravaged by Shayla. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Its not a costume, its a uniform: A student bunking off class is a lot less conspicuous than a foreigner's child walking the streets. And please. Something sharp."

Luca examined the bottles on the shelves and found something good. "So... Camouflage then." He poured the drink into a tumbler glass and carried it over with a cooled stone in it, while in his other hand he had a Yamataian craft-beer. "What're you doing down here anyway?"

"Well, I've only been here once before. I like to think of it as being like a holiday. That and Allison wanted to take me apart."

"She isn't here." Luca said as he put his legs over the couch and sat down between Zeta and Aiesu, passing the drink to Aiesu, and the beer to Zeta, leaving him empty handed.

"I know" she sighed in relief. She stared at the contents before tipping it back, taking a long careful drink. The face she made was priceless: not quite dog-toffee territory but not far out either. Some coughing aside, she went back for another taste. Her Yamataian had an unexpectedly nasal quality.

The captain's smirk was difficult to hide. The drink was a vodka of some description, good stuff that you'd have to get imported from Nepleslia - just the thing for delegates, consuls, rock stars or the sorts who'd rent out a penthouse to begin with. "Why're you speaking Yamatai-Go?" Luca asked his accent was quite countryside and bumpkin compared to Aiesu's.

"When north, go north and ignore obvious exits." she grumbled, taking another drink. She had no understanding of pacing.

"Oi oi, easy there," Luca cautioned on the drink. A suspicion begun to rise as to her carousing skills.

"Uh?" she paused, eyeing the contents. "I'm synthetic." she tried not to laugh, feeling particularly smug: "I don't get drunk."

That suspicion was quashed. Meanwhile, Echelon noticed the new face and walked over to the couch. Her Mimicom body's eyes looked down into Aiesu's. "You and me both, 413SU," she observed as she slipped back into her native accent, grinning. "What brings you to this neck of the woods, bunny?"

"Mostly to amuse myself but really, this strange behavior, between Seiren and Rebeka?" she hummed. "I wanted to see it for myself."

"What's strange about it?" Luca asked as he leaned up and sniffed the air wafting in from the kitchen. "Huh... that smells very nice."

"What is it?"

"Hey Seiren, Rebeka, whatcha cooking?" Luca asked across the room, trying to get the duo's attention. "It smells great."

A pair of still eyes peeked over the rim of the other room -- staring for a moment before disappearing like a jellyfish of hair back behind the door-frame. Whispering could be heard before a pan struck the floor. Rebeka could be heard apologising profusely.

Luca looked back towards Aiesu, then back towards the kitchen, bottom lip drooping as he heard the apologies. "Guys?" he asked.

Echelon turned around to look at the kitchen too, with a different angle to view it from compared to Luca's.

The large woman in back had what appeared to be an apron over her bodysuit: On her knees, picking at chopped pieces of something, putting them into a cup. Even like this, she was still taller than her companion. Offering the cup, he could be seen trying to explain something to her, arms out in sing-song. Presumably he was explaining why food that had been on the floor wasn't fit for eating -- pulling her hand away from her mouth by the wrist as she tried to eat the small jibblets of floor-fruit and then her resulting disappointment.

"But it'll go to waste. Waste is bad, isn't it?"

Luca looked over to Aiesu and stated plainly, "He's a good influence on her. I didn't figure out the five second rule until I was in college."

"Euueeeh...?" she drawled, not in the high-pitched styles of those who usually wore the uniform but something closer to a jaded office-worker.
"I'm guessing you've only been house-trained recently?"

Echelon snorted abruptly. Luca rolled his eyes and shrugged. He looked at Aiesu's drink.

"That's a yes then?" she eyed Echelon's reaction: Pale lips stretched into a thin smirk.

Echelon looked back down at Aiesu, "Yep. Oh, what's with the lipgloss?" she asked. "Last time I saw you you were barefaced."

"Uh?" Aiesu's wide lipped mood became cold now, airbreaks applied. "What?"

"It looks pretty good on you, who applied it," Echelon asked, tugging a string she could see. Last time she saw Aiesu, she didn't have anything at all, but she noticed that the bags under her eyes were smoothed out and evened out, and that she had foundation on.

Aiesu was visibly taken aback -- going as far as to lean away from Echelon's scrutiny. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Luca's attention was still resting on Rebeka and Seiren but, the conversation between Echelon and Aiesu made his head swivel back around. "Huh?" he looked at Aiesu and was relieved to see that she'd crossed her legs. "What's going on?"

"Aiesu's got makeup on."

"Hmph. Its... camouflage!"

A silence hung between the two.

"Makeup's for males and insecure foreigners anyway."

Luca blinked. It sounded like girl talk or gossip to him. "What of it?" he shrugged, disinterested as he looked back at the television. There was an advertisement on for an upcoming episode of the Captain Phoenix! cartoon.

Seeing the connection between Luca's attention and the television, Aiesu cleared her throat.

"That's yours, isn't it?"

A cariacature of Luca appeared on the screen, cleaner faced and smiling more than the Luca sitting across from Aiesu. The preview seemed to be showing that there were twenty Seirens, Luca and what appeared to be a cariacature of Aiesu attempting to figure out why there were twenty of them. "Which is the Real Seiren and will the team find him? Stay tuned for tomorrow's episode of Captain Phoenix!"

"W...Wait..." she began, staring now. "is that meant to be..?"

Luca tilted his head. "I never said a thing."
Echelon whistled innocently behind them.

"Is that me?"
"She's taller."

"She's stacked.." the Lorath stared flatly. The episode's description stung particularly hard.

"She's pretty, too."

"Who writes this?"

"Not me," Luca said. "Writing team comes up with their own stuff."

"That's ... There are constructs of Seiren. He gave permission like a year ago. This is really spooky."

"Its just a cartoon," Luca said. "I mean, from your reaction this is already pretty far from the truth."

"Oouh? You're calling me ugly?" she smirked, almost smug.

"No...!" Luca raised his eyebrows. "Hey-!"

"Its fine, its fine - like I'd even care" she tittered to herself. "It is creepy though."

"You should see the episode where I get eaten by a huge dragon. I get so much creepy fan mail about that."

"Oh?"

"Or the Episode Hanako appeared. I got so many phone calls from the Yamataian Government about it but the PR team smoothed it over."

"Huh. I've seen that one. I liked the part where you compared her to the dragon."

The show itself had a fairly loose continuity, but fan theories had pieced together the rough ordering of episodes, and from what Luca understood according to fan feedback, that was right. He grimmaced at Aiesu. "Egh... you don't get fan mail, Aiesu."

"That can be arranged," Echelon giggled as she looked down to Aiesu with dancing eyebrows.

Once more the L'manel inched away from the Freespacer, a pink heat in otherwise pale features. "I'm flattered." Whether this was cynicism or not was a mystery.

Luca sighed and slumped in his chair as the news came on. It was noted that there was a small disturbance in the Central Business District today that upset lunch, but otherwise it was a fine and sunny day on Yamatai.

"I'd love to see what constitutes a big disturbance in Yamatai," Luca smirked as more feel-good, wishy-washy journalism came on.

"Disturbance? What are the specifics?"

"Well," Luca looked over to Argyle, who had now integrated himself with a massage chair and had hacked it into awesomeness beneath everyone's notice. "We saved him from being bumped off by someone who was using Lagrange assets, but we don't know who hired them."

"So no new information, then?"

"He has the paper trail," Luca nodded, "But he'll be willing to tell us when he feels like it and I'd rather not rush him. Its been a stressful day for him," he nodded. "I think all of us could use a break."

An image appeared on the TV Screen. "...in other news, two unidentified Nekovalkyrja were found splattered against the side of this building north of the CBD..." Luca could be heard chuckling a little, as though to a private joke. "...their consistency was similar to that of jam, and were pronounced dead at the scene." Luca snorted. They really used that wording.

Aiesu could be heard tittering. "I've never understood Yamatai's trust in those things. I have tumors with more world-experience. I know this'll get be lynched here but... Just between you and me? I hate Nekovalkyjra."

Luca leaned in to hear Aiesu's opinion and shrugged, "Can't argue with that. Lots of people think so. I keep one and a half of them employed though."

"Yeah one of them's half ID-SOL, big accident or something," Echelon nodded. She'd spent the most time around Shayla anyway.

"Half ID-SOL, half... How does that even...?"

Echelon shrugged at Shayla.

"...What a terrifying prospect" Aiesu cringed.

"Ask her if you want but I got nothin'." Echelon then turned around and looked for Tani, adjusting her Galaxite uniform, "Tani! I declare that I am the Greatest Galaxite of the Biggest Bubble!" she proclaimed.

"I was more of a Star Constable Govon fan," Luca said to Echelon before turning back around.

"...You sound like Seiren."

"He asked me if he could voice act on Yami NekoNeko," he nodded, "I said hell yeah you can voice act on Yami NekoNeko. Easiest money you'll make and a sixth of the effort too."

"Seriously? He's... How old now?" Aiesu leaned, getting a look into the kitchen. She watched Seiren sat on the countertop, Rebeka stirring some big pan of something hot and bubbling.

"Twenty five. He's two years younger than me. Why?" Luca said as an advertisement for the show came on TV, and Luca could be seen smiling at Ryuji, the coolest of cats.

"...Why is he still acting like such a child?"

"Says you in a school uniform, older than me by about --" Luca shot back, but was cut short.

"Let's not go there" she said with a particularly democratic smile.

There was another knock on the door. This time it announced itself as "Room Service." Luca wasn't going to get up for it. Perhaps it was more food for Makari, or something someone had ordered.

 

[Lamb]

A thin and pale hand reached out from beneath the loveseat caddy-cornered to the couch where Aiesu and Echelon had settled in around Luca. Momentarily, a poof of mussy black hair emerged, then a pair of heavy-lidded eyes. Enzo yawned and crawled out from beneath the couch after taking a brief glance to see what panties Aiesu had chosen for her schoolgirl camouflage. Such choices were, of course, important when considering the exact character of Aiesu's disguise. Whether the girl in question was rich or poor; if she was prone to future bouts of promiscuity; might she someday be an otaku or a socialite. Not that Enzo knew the answers to any of those questions, but it was the prepared excuse formulated as the wiry conman stagger-swaggered his way over to the door with his hand idly on the handle of his revolver.

As he passed, all Enzo said about the advert showing on the Television was, "Muko is da best one of dem all."

Then, without asking around to see if anyone had ordered a hitman or a stripper; Enzo pulled open the door and eyed whatever awaited him in the hallway beyond.

 

[miss_story]

Upon their return to the penthouse Reeves had retired to one of the many rooms to rest. This operation had a little more excitement than he was used to so some time alone to think about his future with the group would hopefully clear his head some. He had been unable to sleep after he had changed into something a bit more suitable for sleeping. A tailored albeit baggy suit wasn't the best pajamas.

Reeves curled up into a ball for a few minutes before flopping onto his back. The bed didn't feel real, the fine fabric was even more distracting. Years of sleeping on a paper thin mattress with a rough old blanket had the clone expecting that something horrible would happen because he was uncharacteristically comfortable for once.

 

[Luca]

Enzo threw the door open and a familiar looking maid was standing there. Well, familiar to Rebeka and Seiren. Nostrovia stood in the doorway, severe and staring the slimeball down... over the trolley she was hauling, which looked as though it had a whole banquet hiding underneath the cloth. From what the rogue could smell it smelt good. Smelt like fine, greasy enough to lubricate an engine, honest to Davis' beard Nepleslian food too - maybe even too Nepleslian were such a thing possible.

"Dinner is here," she said, slavic undertones in her voice as she pushed the cart past Enzo and towards the communal dinner/conference table in the middle of the room. She reached under the trolley, produced a blanket and unfurled it - encompassing the entire table with one swift shake and setting it down. The long mahogany was now covered in a white table cloth, stitched and embroidered into a pleasing geometric pattern. The way she unfurled it in one swipe despite being obviously Nepleslian was ... unsettling, there was something uncanny and mantis-like about the woman.

Luca looked over to the 'maid' and tilted his head. "Hm..." he recognised that face, despite the disguise. He looked towards Argyle, who was one with the massage chair that he'd integrated himself into, and back to the maid. He caught her looking at Argyle - looking past the novelty of what they were doing and assessing them instead. He didn't want to proverbially shoot the elephant in the room immediately though, and let the maid proceed.

From underneath the trolley came plates with metal, semicircular covers over them and placed them down on the table. One by one, she uncovered them. The presentation of it all was terribly Yamataian. Silver plate, chrome cloche, huge stack of freshly made, greasy shoestring fries, salted down and still looking crisp, cooked to golden brown perfection.

Luca licked his lips and his eyes widened. He hadn't had a decent feed all day.

The next plate was put on the table and it seemed larger. There were hamburgers under them, eight of them arrayed in a cubic foot of burger. The patties looked as though in the final stage of the cooking, the cheese had been melted onto them, wrapping around the patty in a dairy deliciousness normally untold. The interiors of each bun had been fried too, giving it a surprise crispiness when you bit down into the burger in addition to the fresh garden vegetables. It was fusion food that actually got the best of both worlds without buggering up either of them.

Luca's attention wavered again as she placed another covered plate down. When the cloche came off, it was a steaming pile cooked meats of various shapes, colours and smells in a first-come-first-serve buffet, at least two kilograms of meat there. She laid two more plates down - one containing more chips and the other containing ... leafy Yamataian salad. Definitely a deviation from the sheer freedom of Nepleslian food but it at least knew what it was rather than trying to mix the two. Upon closer inspection, the salad had finely cut fried bacon pieces in it. That was more like it.

She started laying cutlery down on the table, walking up and down and depositing a fork, knife and spoon at regular intervals, then plates with napkins as she made another lap of the table, and finally, glasses. The maid looked over to the bar and found that it'd been ravaged, so maybe glasses were redundant, but routine was routine.

There was one last thing under that trolley, a bag of groceries ordered by Seiren and Rebeka. She walked over to the kitchen. "Ma'am," she addressed the Sourcian cooly as she placed the groceries Seiren had ordered onto the counter. She then turned around and walked into the room to address the others. "Dinner is served." However, the way she delivered the call to food sounded like there was a murderer in their midst waiting to kill them all, and it was very likely to be the maid. Her predatory and stiff body language, her tone of voice.

Luca tilted his head at the maid and said: "Nostrovia, your disguise is undone by you."

"Shit in a handbag," she cursed quietly, losing all pretences of maidery by removing her headdress and scrunching it in her hands, cracking with frustration. "Its been a long day and this is the final stop on my shift, Mr. Pavone." She levelled a steel gaze at him. "May I join you for dinner this evening."

"Will the IPG kill me if I don't?" Luca jested.

"It beats eating rations," Nostrovia admitted as she headed towards the table and sat down, waiting for his order. "So, may I join you for dinner this evening, Mr. Pavone?"

"No murder," Luca said, pointing his finger at Nostrovia, then tracing it around everyone else around the room. "That goes for all of you. This is a gratuitous murder free dinner table." He remembered the last time he sat down for a formal dinner and it didn't go so well. At least this time, he was in control, mostly. There was no possibility of a giant goo ink monster smashing the building apart.

"I accept your terms, Капитан." She then grabbed a burger from the burger cube, now making it a burger polygon and placed it on her plate. She waited for the others, but she took her burger. If Rebeka took a closer look at the woman, she'd see that she was mostly cybernetic on the inside, and Nepleslian through and through otherwise.

She looked as though she was capable of the same sort of destruction as her employer. She was also not transmitting any signals at present, nor was there any bug or transmitter on her or the groceries she'd delivered. She was, as Seiren would say, 'clean'. Nostrovia also didn't seem to enjoy the maid's uniform that the hotel demanded they wear. So tacky...

"Why is there so much food?" Luca asked as he examined everything once more and had to keep his hand on his jaw to prevent his tongue from lolling out.

"I know your team has an appetite, saving the world and all," she grinned. Argyle, meanwhile was still integrated with the chair, having forgotten that the world existed.

 

[Moogle]

Seiren, all the meanwhile, was singing a little song as he worked with Rebeka, taking the bags of groceries and immediately putting the flours and sugars in them to good use. Within minutes, the kitchen was alight with the shine of four or so pans and pots on the stove, all cooking with different product. Rebeka managed the heat on them while Seiren prepared ingredients for adding.

But what on earth was he doing with that head of lettuce?

 

[Yoshi]

Tani watched the interaction between the main folks and the strange girl in the school uniform. She had started reaching for her pistol when Echelon spoke up. "Cute!" Tani smiled and moved over tot he Freespacer. "Diffidently looks good on you, I'm glad they did a good job on the tailoring."

she grinned, "You know i can pick up the complete series, We can watch it on the way back to Nepleasia." She grinned thinking about how her back account was going to be hurting after all of this, and she still had to find out if there was a black market to buy more add-ons for her Mindy or if she would have to try to get it from an Armory before they left.

 

[Lamb]

"Tch." Enzo snatched the exact opposite member of the burger polygon, then another burger neighbor, then a third, before snatching a bottle of whiskey to go along with the burgers. "I was hoping you'd wait t' reveals her idennitty until after I did my whole 'Hey, I thought I ordered a topless maid service' routine, but eh--"

Enzo shrugged as he stuffed the burgers into one deep pocket of his baggy brown coat and the whiskey into another. Without finishing his sentence, the vagabond curled his knees just a bit before hopping onto one of those fancy support pillars and hugging his way up it to a decorative shelf. Knocking all the dusty old tomes and paper lantern off the shelf with one foot, Enzo swung himself up onto the platform with the other and sat there with his feet dangling over the dining room below. Only now did he begin his meal.

Off-handedly, Enzo tossed the cap from the whiskey into a punch bowl below and suggested, "Yo, spook! Maybe ole' Enzo can work up enough money for yous to getch' tits out, eh? How much for a show? Or how much just to gets yous to pronounce any word I want in yous funny voice?"

 

[Reynolds]

Shayla only briefly looked up from stealing Makari's food when the door opened, then again when she thought she heard Luca, Echelon and the odd schoolgirl talking about her. "Huh? My pointy ears are burnin', does the kid want an autograph or something?" She grinned, not expecting that for a moment, on top of somewhat doubting the new arrival was as young as that outfit tried to present her. Of course, it wasn't long before another knock at the door brought yet another new arrival. This one had food, which grabbed her attention. She let out a pleased whoop, lifting up the bottles of alcohol she'd gathered and Makari's leftovers to allow enough room for the full spread to be laid out.

She began filling her plate, burgers forming the base as she started a pile. The giant Neko had already eaten two meals since she'd met the others, one just moments ago, and she still seemed poised to devour at least one of everything. Maybe she needed more fuel than the average Neko. Or maybe she was just a greedy pig. While stuffing her face and working her way through another bottle of alcohol, she caught some of Enzo's comments. Shayla covered her mouth to keep from sending bits of food flying as she guffawed at this antics, seeming a bit over the top even for this group. "Hey, I'll show ya my tits for free! They're pretty great. Better than hers, at least." She snickered, jutting her chest out for emphasis. Her expansive cleavage seemed to have accumulated quite a few crumbs. Not to mention dribbles of grease and sauce, both on flesh and her furry outfit.