RP: YSS Eucharis [Pre Mission 26] Getting Settled In (YE 38)

YSS Eucharis, Wardroom

The sounds of a scuffle in the entrance of the wardroom easily caught the attention of Candon but he simply Shrugged and remained in his seat, he was confident that it couldn't have been anything too serious. After all, Tsuguka had earned her spot as the team lead.

He waved his fingers to Taharial as she came up the ramp. Her work at reattaching his fingers took hardly any time, she had even made it look easy. Having use of his fingers back with minimal pain was appreciated. "I'm going to be meeting with the Infantry after lunch I'll contact you once I'm done. It shouldn't take long."

Zack said:

He would keep his distance from the brawl, and move towards the intelligence officer's table,

"Are you a betting man Candon?"

Click to expand...

"I guess it depends on the game," Candon replied, inviting his friend to sit with a gesture, "What's your wager?"

YSS Eucharis Wardroom

Normally Freyja wouldn’t get involved in something like this, but she had literally stumbled right into it this time. She yelped as Tsuguka’s thighs wrapped around her neck. “I’m afraid she’s got me too, Junko-chan!” The blue Neko said to Junko mentally, although since all of them were touching it was probably shared.

Then an Elysian jumped in the fight. Freyja swore that the Elysian called Tsuguka-hei darling and mentioned alone time. Her eyes widened as she put together the facts. Tsuguka-hei had another side to her, it seemed. That realization made her smile. Her stomach growled, and she joined the struggle with renewed vigor.

Taharial may have been stronger than she looks, but Freyja outweighed her by forty pounds. The only problem was Tsuguka’s thighs wrapped around her head making it hard to breathe. Grappled by Taharial from the side, she struggled to move a hand to Tsuguka’s knee and pinch between the side of her kneecap and the back of her knee.

"For the sake of all Nekovalkyrja who have been denied gyosa, we must defeat you! Justice will prevail!" Freyja managed to say despite the pressure around her throat.

Wardroom:

Of all the infantry aboard, it felt like Shiho was the one who most took her time to get from the Armor bay to the eating table. Her opinions on gyoza a mystery, she had steadily hung up her armor on its rack, dismounted and got herself re-dressed from where she hung her uniform in its locker. A few minutes later she appeared at the wardroom and then looked between those enjoying a meal or a conversation, to the buffet, to the cluster of limbs, feathers and bodysuits.

A few blinks, and she just stepped over to the big melee going on... Then just stepped over it, moving towards a different part of the buffet from this much touted gyoza. Ignoring the cries for justice and grunts of effort, Shiho stopped for a while and stared at a mango. Pondering once more on its apparently deadly reputation, reaching a hand out for the fruit before withdrawing it with hesitation... M-maybe another day.

Maybe another century.

And so, making sure the others were well distracted and keeping out of grappling distance, Shiho slowly sidled along the buffet, plating up a few things for herself and looking for all the world to not be interested in whatever all this fighting was over. Yet as she got closer to the scuffle it became evident she was carrying a whole stack of plates... Far too many for herself. And then suddenly she sprang an ambush: Slipping the platters to balance delicately along her wrist and arm, all with the food handling grace of someone sentenced to galley duty one too many times as punishment. Shiho began to gather gyoza in even shares. And with the delicate positioning of those plates, any interference could lead to spillage.

Her comrades of the Eucharis Infantry had not sacrificed their lives to... uh... Tsuguka's thighs in vain.

Their was a momentary struggle as Junko felt resistance to her hold. Resistance, of course, being another way to say it was completely ineffective. For some reason, she couldn't budge the senior soldier. Then she remembered that she was probably using her gravity organ to do more than just lighten the load.

"Um." She tried pulling again.

And then Tsuguka had managed to snag Freyja with her legs. To be followed up by an Elysian attacking from behind. This was not acceptable to Junko! Only she could pin Freyja's head between her thighs!

...That came out wrong.

Okay, the senior Neko was clearly the more pressing threat. With Freyja trying to attack the joint of one leg, Junko looped an arm around her neck and waist and squeezed. Idea was to pry her off, first, then try and use her own gravity organ to cancel out Tsuguka's levitation. Made a mental note to ask Tsuguka about more advanced applications of that.

If she had a good angle for it, she'd try and slide a foot underneath the Elysian. Go for the back of the knee and let gravity do the job. She was still waiting for that fork to come into play. Truly a powerful weapon, held in reserve for the right moment.

YSS Eucharis, Wardroom

"I think I am going to bet on the experienced Tugs rather than the youthful new recruits. Winner gets credit for defeating the next major alien race?" Wazu had placed his wager, though he was always willing to bargain,

"Or would you rather wager on who will break up the fight? Mango or Hanako?"

YSS Eucharis, Wardroom

Candon chuckled, "I thought an officer would be here by now but-." He stopped dead as Taharial entered the mix. The combat cats wouldn't take it too far but even Candon knew the Elysian in Medical was crazy.
"Bet on me."

Candon walked to the scuffle by the entrance but did so with the unusual speed a gravity manipulating organ provided. It was an odd sight, one he'd seen before, though.

Pinching his thumb and trigger finger to his lips he let out an ear piercing whistle.
"Break it up!" he shouted, "This isn't the place, store it for gym time."

Backup for Candon:

Almost as if on cue, Shiho moved into place by the melee. Her spoils of distraction balanced in such a way as to indicate that should she leave the military she had a bright future as a waitress. Intel guy wanted an end to this, and in Shiho's mind at least the main instigator of all this was Tsuguka... The one who must be pacified.

One sturdy arm darted into the fray. In the hand at the end of that arm was a pair of chopsticks. In that pair of chopsticks, one of the prizes of this fight: Delicious gyoza of war, glistening slightly in the light of the wardroom. Juicy, tender and delicious. Just dangling tantalizingly in front of Tsuguka's face.

"I got everyone's share." Shiho said, "You still have teeth, but I think this stuff tastes better sitting down to eat, not with your thighs around someone's neck. Do you like yours with some sauce?"

YSS Eucharis - XO's cabin


"No, ma'am, that'd be all" Sigurd said. He then stood up to come to attention and saluted his helpful XO. "Thank you very much, ma'am" he said before his hand came down again and he meant it. "I'll be about my duties then."

Sigurd turned towards the hatch, grabbed his duffel bag and then went to his newly assigned cabin to quickly unpack his stuff before reporting to the bridge.

Wardroom

Despite being attacked at all angles, Tsuguka continued to resist, making a disgruntled groan as Freyja pinched the back of her knee, and Junko did her best to squeeze the air out of the writhing lynx's chest. Out of nowhere, a small, delicious looking gyosa parcel was held out in front of her, tantalizingly close. So close she could smell the dough. She opened her mouth to accept the spoils of war...

At the same time, the assailants suddenly started to loose heart- Alrough the Joto Hei couldn't look behind her, and thus had no idea that the newest descending shadow belonged to Suites Heisho. Right as the food touched her lips, a piercing whistle shocked her sensitive genetically altered ears, causing the gyosa instead to go tumbling away, down onto the carpet.

The crimson nekovalkyrja wasted no time in bolting upright, letting go of the blue waif completely, through likely dragging the group's rather short martyr upwards with her.

"Apologies Nito Heisho." A formal, honest bow, shaking off the indignity surprisingly quickly. "I accept full responsibility including any penalties that may have been acquired."

<-"You have to admit, through, it's interesting how they stand up for one another."-> Telepathy shrouded the extended train of thought, encrypting it only for Candon's reception. A certain headstrong look was in her shady green eyes, one that said Tsuguka trusted their physical actions a lot more than their nervous recruit-typical speech patterns. Perhaps this was all a strategic plan? Or was the doll soldier finally becoming more animalistic? <-"We... We may not have a lot of time to get close."->

Appreciated and not forgotten, Tsuguka balled her hands around Taharial's lithe jawline and kissed her on the forehead. She hoped they would have expected all the formality at this point. Having somebody leap to your defense was always nice, especially since Tsuguka did start it...

Fixing her taught bodysuit and brushing away the carpet fibers, a hand was arced towards the booth tables, bidding both the medic angel and the new squaddies a chance to finally relax...

Candon was right, there was plenty more time to resolve this in the gym.

Wardroom

Taharial giggled as she got off the scrum and looked around "Now then, I believe that I was going to get some food before all that happened." She used her wings and got up easily and headed to the food then grabbed what he wanted and then headed to the booth that was shown to her "Darling I hope you didn't hurt yourself, don't worry if you did I will fix you up quickly."

She looked at her partner and smiled "I got enough for both of us, so please, sit and let us enjoy a meal with the new recruits as I can always do an interesting examination in their Medicals" she giggled as she looked at the two newbies and remember her first time here "at least you got some time on the ship, as soon as I got here I was gone and this one lost an arm." he motioned to Tsuguka "But didn't stop till the mission was over and even then I had to force her to stop."

Wardroom

The smell of gyoza wafted into Freyja’s nostrils from above her. Before she could say or do anything, an ear-piercing whistle drew her attention followed by Candon’s voice. She noticed the pressure was off of her neck and Tsuguka was suddenly standing. The war for gyoza had been called to an end.

The blue neko stood and saluted out of habit. “Yes, sir!” She said immediately, turning to Tsuguka afterward and bowing slightly. “You are a worthy opponent, Tsuguka-hei.” Freyja said respectfully.

It only took her a few seconds to grab a plate and chopsticks from Shiho and take a seat at the table. She couldn’t help but think about Taharial and Tsuguka’s apparent relationship, which led her to imagine a different sort of wrestling. Her body suddenly felt extremely warm, and her cheeks turned purple again.

She looked over at Shiho and smiled. “Your stealth was amazing, Shiho-san! Thank you for securing some gyoza for everyone.” The blush on her cheeks disappeared as her thoughts drifted to more serious matters, like the interesting examination they were threatened with. She imagined what sort of terrors the Elysian might inflict on them.

Looking at Taharial closer for the first time, she noticed jealously her breasts were bigger. She was used to being the most busty one in the room. Realizing that she was staring she looked away quickly and stuffed a bite of gyoza into her mouth. “Wow, this might be the best gyoza ever.” She said around the food in her mouth in the hope no one had noticed.

Post Gyoza War Wardroom:

Seeing things work out, Shiho gave a weirdly handsome roguish grin as it all fell into place. Victory for the infantry! Excellent! Huzzah!

Wow, this was sort of dumb.

Tsuguka really had no business being that weirdly cute, but then she also had no business dropping that gyoza. The new recruit just looked at her senior infantrycat with a bemused expression as she dislodged a plate to hand it over to Freyja, then another removed from its perch on her arm and handed to Junko. Moving over to take a seat with... Uh. Medicfeathers: The Feathersing. The last of the pillaged gyoza was parceled out, giving all the infantry their even share aside from one lonely dropped exception on the carpet, and... One extra plate.

Seems Shiho had grabbed enough for Tsuguka as well. But in the interest of fairness that plate had its contents distributed among everyone present. Medicfeathers said something about interesting medical examinations, which she just took as someone being invested in their work. Shiho was either very brave, or completely oblivious as to whatever menace Tahariel possessed.

"I am very sneaky." Shiho added to Freyja's compliment, although as if to dispel any notions of Shiho being sneaky she seemed to sit in such a way as to maximise her broadness. Displaying that she was very visible, and speaking with a bit too much irony. "No one ever seems to see me coming, for sure... It was a difficult mission. Security on the buffet was tight, what with the watchful dumplings and the only guard busy with someone's head between her legs."

Junko released Tsuguka with a surprised squeak. Her arms flew open like a mechanical trap, in fact. The instructor she'd had in boot had taken to whistling and then striking anyone who didn't snap to attention right in the face. Upside was, it got through everyone's thick head after the first week.

She watched the display between her superior and the Elysian in medical colors. All she could do was blink, perplexed at how out of character it seemed with the Tsuguka she thought she knew. Felt a stab of something as she noticed Freyja staring. She dusted herself off and tried to put things like that out of mind.

"Shiho-Hei, that was perfectly done. Thank you." She bowed her head solemnly. The other red-skinned Neko on the team might have been quiet, almost off putting, but she was dependable. Of this Junko had no doubt, now. She had proven her mettle in the Gyoza Conflict of 38 now.

With all that settled, Junko sat down with her own. Picked up one with her sticks and popped it in. "Ah, victory is sweet." A pause. "Wait, thats the soy sauce..."

Wardroom:

Placing herself cross-legged across from the winged medic, Tsuguka pondered the plate that was placed before her for a moment, before joining both of her hands with Taharial's in the middle of the table. Her eyes and ears simply absorbed the body language and speech patterns of the others for a moment, before cataloging them away, and discerning the most 'correct' response.

"I used to think having a relationship was strange, maybe even a risk to morale. Something that only detracted from time that could be spent training. Mental capacity that belonged to the mission at hand. However..." A small shrug, trying to keep the more neurotic elements at bay, despite some of the more insanely stubborn episodes of her past that her companion had just brought up. "It's actually quite logical, through, isn't it? Sometimes the limits need to be pushed a little, but Nito Hei Chasan always takes care of me..."

She just squeezed those pale dainty fingers, in lack of an adequate way to finish the sentence. Looking downwards slightly, through it was quite impossible to tell if the angular crimson lass was even capable of blushing or not. A slight self-conscious flick of the eyes towards Junko, then back to her plate. It was official eating time. They should all be officially eating.

"Just... Take it as my official recommendation..." A tsukune yakitori sausage skewer was taken up between two fingers, before Tsuguka began to tear off the tasty meats with her teeth. "Staying sane will make you more useful to the team as a whole."

Another pause, just staring at the skewer. Well that was a pretty dumb way of saying it. Too late now. They'd figure it out.

Gazing at Shiho's bulging musculature made her wonder what else the soldier was capable of. She wanted to see the woman actually fight.

"Rial-Hei. Did you still want me to teach you some more fighting skills?" They had another voice for talking to the medic, softer and more unreserved, but still with that same focused methodical edge. It was a bit weird. "It would make sense to begin establishing a proper martial arts curriculum."

Cargo Bay

Victory dialed the ship's intercom. A tone sounded throughout the ship, followed by the voice of the supply Nekovalkyrja. "Konnichiwa. Shosho Hanako had me order a pair of jika-tabi for each member of the crew. If you come by in the next few minutes you can get yours immediately," she announced. "I also have new exercise uniforms, ponchos and knives for anyone who needs one." Next, Victory hauled over a folding table, several large cardboard boxes, and a chair for herself to set up an issuing station. Once everything was set up, she opened the first box with a box cutter to reveal about two dozen pairs of "ninja boots" with matte black fabric exteriors, gray rubber soles, and white silk insides. They had a notch in the toes and each pair came with 2 sets of black socks. Cherry was the first to get hers.

Cargo Bay

Jax was next in line, having come up right after finishing removing the old paint from Candon's armor. He went ahead and grabbed himself some tabi boots, for comfort and utility purposes, and totally not because ninjas. He picked up a new set of exercise clothes, because who turns down free clothing, right? Next was a poncho, then a shiny, new bayonet. He would wear it on his belt at all times, just in case he was forced to fight without armor and needed to gut something.

And with that, the engineer disappeared back to Fabrication.

Armor Bay

The energy knives and grenade launcher were placed in a crate, as well as a crap-ton of grenades. The crates were left in front of Tugs' rack, each adorned with a red bow.

Candon's armor, now painted in the SAINT color scheme, was placed neatly in its own rack. It had a red bow stuck to its forehead.

Christmas in July!

Fabrication

Now, it was time for Wazu's modifications, which still irked him. A scientist might be needed for this, he mused, starring at the schematics with intent focus.

Snack time to New Swag Table:

Shiho had kept eating her dumplings a bit noisily, right up until Tsuguka had launched into a non-sequitor about the importance of relationships and keeping sane. The keeping sane part sounded okay, but Shiho's eyes narrowed in suspicion as she noticed a pattern. Probably one she imagined, but still. After Intel-Guy's speech at orientation, this came on the side. With Tsuguka's addition, both of their immediate superiors had recommended that the newcomers... Intermingle. Suites had said something about bonds forging closer than any other relationship, while Tsuguka was here singing praises to the idea. Tsuguka had brought that up out of nowhere, and so far didn't seem to have a subtle bone under those muscles.

...She did have good muscles, although Shiho guessed she had a few pounds on Tsuguka. Although Tsuguka had somehow maintained a figure that wasn't brick shaped, maybe there was some sort of particular exercise sh-- Nnno! Stay focused, Shiho!

What was this? Some sort of discipline thing? Get everyone's morale really high by having them fight side by side with their lovers? Was this an excuse to spend less on amenities for recreation time? Was the Mango part of all these mind games?

...

No wait. That's dumb, why would a mango have part in all this? Focus! Stay focused!

She'd been around long enough to know that straight questioning this sort of thing would likely get her in trouble. Maybe... Maybe pass this off as joke? It was weird, and probably not a coincidence. Oh, no. Shiho realised she'd just been staring daggers at the couple while stuffing her stupid too-square jaw... Keep it cool! Pass it off as playful!

"Is this your way of saying Junko and Freyja should hook up for the good of morale, Tsuguka?" Shiho asked slyly, failing at playful through trying to deflect any attention away from herself. She took up her plate, popping her last gyoza in her mouth and cleared her place at the table.

"They'd be cute, I guess."

Shiho just... Let that hang in the air a second, before stepping away from the table to get her new stuff.

Bridge

Belle finished transferring the files over to Hanako, then straightened up as the announcement came over the PA system. "Oh! Thank you, ma'am!" she says, surprised that even someone so well to do would just buy their crew kit, and with the officer in question right there... Glancing back over her shoulder at the door, she asks politely, "May I go pick mine up, Shosho?"

@Wes

Junko recalled Tsuguka's earlier speech, during the infantry briefing. How they weren't just meaty robots, but living beings. Now she was beginning to suspect somewhere back down the line, something happened. Maybe someone she served with snapped under the weight of duty, and the veteran didn't want that happening to them?

Both speeches did give her certainty on one thing, though. Tsuguka was terrible at talking about deep stuff in general. Which was a fairly common malady of the more visceral professions. That she was making the effort to reach out despite her nature was a good sign, though!

Shiho's comment had timing which could only border on narrative magic. Junko had just started to swallow another piece of gyoza when it hit. The soldier turned red as her eyes and coughed, pounding her chest to clear it. Drained half a glass of water to wash it down properly.

Have I really been that obvious? Wait, no, between Tsuguka-Hei and Shiho-Hei commenting on it, I have. Perfect, I'm gay and hilariously transparent. Maybe if Freyja said something I could die of embarrassment and then my backup wouldn't have to remember this conversation.

"S-so, uh, Tsuguka-Hei." Junko stammered, still bright red. "You mentioned a martial arts program? Anything you wanted to focus on?"

Wardroom

Tsuguka just lurched forward for a moment, baffled by Shiho's retort to the point of dangling the entire yakitori stick from her lips in the least dignified way possible. Then the soldier just straight got up and left, a perfectly executed end to such a dastardly hit-and-run social attack.

What were they hiding?

After recovering her composure, the nekovalkyrja spared a glance towards both of her former wrestle-enemies, before trying to discern a conclusion for herself. Freyja was taller and more mature looking, but a bit more timid, whilst Junko made up for a shorter body type by having twice the gusto. It was... Possible? But not concrete. At least six more social experiments would be required before a successful level of coupling compatibility could be identified, and a dating plan drafted for review.

...Well, their colors matched, like Taharial and Tsuguka's, but the red neko just silently hoped that the concept of love was really not that simple.

"Bayonet and blade skills would be a good start, followed by flying hit-and-run attacks." She responded to Junko firmly, crossing her arms as if the conversation had gone over her head as well. "Your wrestling could do with some work, but that's all out of armor stuff..."

Playing back that last sentence in her head, and then observing the prevailing blush still on the rounded neko's face, all Tsuguka could really do was grunt with disapproval before levitating her way out of the seat herself. So much for opening up being a good idea.

Now she definitely had to see what else Shiho was capable of...

But first, new boots.