• If you were supposed to get an email from the forum but didn't (e.g. to verify your account for registration), email Wes at [email protected] or talk to me on Discord for help. Sometimes the server hits our limit of emails we can send per hour.
  • Get in our Discord chat! Discord.gg/stararmy
  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

RP: YSS Imperator Pre-Mission Two: Hard Liquor

HAMnJAM

The Ham Lord
Inactive Member
YSS Imperator
13月 5日 YE 39

Deep Space, Captain's Office

Taisa Sutoikku Kaede sat in his chair reading over a datapad, on which was orders and other higher up stuff. Another thing was the readiness status of the crew, as morale was important in wartime.

With a sigh he toggled the next page and began reading that over as well, suddenly having an urge to have someone run him coffee.

The entrance slid open smoothly, procuring a talle female elysian with a distinct lack of coloration. Araena Serphine stepped into the room quietly, pressing down lightly on her uniform's lengthened skirt and clearing her throat quietly.

"Shosha Serphine, chief engineer, reporting!" The female's right hand smoothly slid to her silvery-blue eyebrow as she spoke, waiting patiently for her captain to put her at ease.

Kaede saluted without standing up as he put the datapad down, "At ease."

Joining his hands and leaning them on his desk, the Taisa spoke while raising an eyebrow, "What brings you up, Chief?"

Araena blinked, speaking, "The ship, sir. I'm sure you're aware that it's quite old, but it seems almost the first of its kind! I wasn't aware that they'd put a place like this directly into the front, at least not without a more thorough refit. I am happy to say that, so far, nothing has impacted the ship's actual combat performance..." Her voice drifted off as her eyes locked with Kaede's, restarting momentarily with a cough. "...Although the maintinance crews have gotten a touch on the frustrated side since the thermal regulation settings in their cabins refuse to stay operational despite their best efforts."

"Do we know why that is happening, by chance? Or is it something that we will need a yard for?" Kaede's eyes remained calmly locked, his expression light and neutral as he always was.

He leaned back in his chair and relaxed his arms on the arms of his desk chair while calmly observing the Elysian engineer. He wasn't being invasive or anything along those lines, but being observant for her ticks.

"As far as I can tell, the patch jobs can keep it running for a few days at a time. When we next are at the yards, we WILL need to get a full replacement." Serphine was slowly twisting her upper body back and forth from her hips to her shoulders, all the time keeping one hand on her skirt as if it were to blow away in a hidden breeze as her eyes remained upon his. "As faras I've been told, there are occasional malfunctions of the airflow systems in the maintinance conduits as well-for the time being, the crews are wearing breathing masks to work in the middle decks where the problem's the most prevalent."

"Set those at top priority, I know we have something in the holds to fix that with." He couldn't help but think that Araena was tense. He frowned slightly and only for a moment before he added on, "Do you drink, chief?"

"Erm, on occasion, yes." The birb's lips tightened for a moment, the red lipstick concealing the brief whiteness underneath as the blood flow momentarily was stopped. "Are you one to drink, sir?"

"When the situation demands it, or requests it." Kaede stood up and walked over to a small tabel next to a dark brown wood book case. On the table was a liquor pitcher filled with what looked to be an aged whiskey.

Pouring one glass to about half way he asked without looking up, "How do you take your whiskey?"

Taking a gentle step forward, "On the rocks, normally, unless I plan to keep it for some time. The water dilutes the taste if the ice melts too much." Rather than even reaching for the held glass, Serphine simply waited where she was, breathing slowly but somewhat deeply.

Kaede poured the other one on the rocks, making it the exact same as the first. He picked up both glasses and walked back over to his desk. He held out one of them to the Elysian while rolling his hand around the other to properly hold his in his right hand.

Gently lifting the glass upwards and towards herself by several decimeters, Araena smiled lightly and raised hers a bit as her grip shifted to hold it from below. "Thank you, Captain."

Kaede smiled and raised it slightly, "You looked like you needed a little pick-me-up."

"Mmmm, I guess I do." Tilting her glass back slightly, the curvy angel siphoned a small amount of the whiskey into her mouth, briefly looking to the ceiling as she did so. Swallowing carefully, she spoke, "Pretty good choice. I can't say I know my whiskies very well, though."

"It was brewed on Yamatai, somewhere near Kyoto." He took a light sip of his, "Aged ten years, for well effect. It costs about a quarter of my income." He wasn't lying about the age, she could probably feel the age through the taste.

The elysian's deep red eyes widened as she took another sip, "It cost HOW much?" Chaging her pose slightly, Serphine faced just a little to the captain's side and took another look at his bottle. "Why are you sharing it with me, then?"

"Because I bought it new when it was cheaper." He grinned slightly, "It becomes worth more the older it gets, same with the officer." He took another light sip of his, holding it in his mouth for a moment before swallowing.

Araena chuckled and downed a portion of the soporific fluid again. "Guess you could say that, heh. Those guys do like the seasoned ones." Her normally pale face was slowly gaining a light tinge of pink as she spoke again, "Yeah, the stuff would be cheaper when it's fresh, so you probably have, what, a few?" She followed through with a second, slightly shorter laugh.

"I have a few, but only the one ready." He smiled for once, which was something rare enough, "Is it too strong? Given that it is old, fermented, and probably smells like medical alcohol?"

"The ship, us, or the whiskey?" The engineer smiled dryly at her attempt of a joke. "I think I can hold my own for now, although I appreciate the offer for help." The ice in her glass tlinked about as she swirled it in her hand, briefly raising her left foot off of the foor and resetting it in a slightly wider stance.

Kaede didn't take too much notice to it, sipping again lightly. "So, how do you like your posting? Anything you wish you had or didn't have?"

"Come to think of it, people do rarely want to-" she hiccuped, her arm flexing just for a moment to keep the drink steady, "I'm sorry... Rarely want to talk to me, and I don't really know why. It's nice to just, well, talk."

"I know some of the crew here remember the species restriction order, and some closer to my age remember the Elysian wars. Personally, if you are wearing this uniform," He used his free hand to pull on his uniform's shoulder, "You are Yamataian, and damn those who claim to say otherwise."

She glanced down at the deep red paneling of her uniform, and then back at her captain. "That's quite a statement. I'll say, quite heroic and grand in a way." Her eyes twinkled as she smiled breifly, smoothly emptying her glass of the whiskey and a smaller ice cube. "I can't really say I remember much of the wars. I can't remember what they were even about, although the classes used to teach us that Yamatians were on the untrustworthy side... I don't think they were looking at it from your side. I'd rather work with someone like you, instead of someone I was told was good. What you did the other day was really quite impressive."

"They teach those tactics for almost an entire year at the War College. It's nothing special." He blushed slightly, and hid it by taking a sip leaving a very small amount of drink left. He sat the glass down on his desk and sort of leaned back into it. The alcohol wouldn't effect him, unless he wanted it to, and the way his eyes stayed locked showed that the Minkan Taisa was still well awake.

Briefly before she sat down after the Taisa, the Shosha noticed she was taller than he was. She chuckled again, holding the glass in both hands as she shifted about the seat to make room for her rather large wings. "Well, different people do handle their training differently. I mean, that's kinda why we dont just let the robots do all the thinking, right?" The elysian couldn't cheat her way out of the effects of alcohol, although with some willpower she was able to steady herself-but not hide the obvious blush currently streaking across her face.

And of course, it was obvious to Kaede, "Tipsy are you?" He grinned slightly and lifted his glass back to his lips and in one swift motion brought it up to drain the contents and lower it back down without the ice moving to much. He sat glass down where it was before and regained eye contact.

"Shhtuff's a bit stronger than I thought. Normally I can handle a glass, sometimes two." Simply giving up on trying to hide what her captain already knew, the birb leaned back against the chair for support and hiccuped again. "Sorry about this, Taisa. Should I relieve myself?" Her body slouched a bit more, her chest distorting and crumpling the normally creaseless front panel of her uniform as she bent it closer to her stomach.

Kaede move a hand to take the Elysian's glass and sat it next to his. He looked into her eyes to gauge the level of drunk she was, and whether it would be wise to try and get her back to her quarters while navigating the halls, not to mention the Zero-G passageways.

Unfortunately, the angel seemed to be a bit busy looking into Kaede's eyes for her own reasons, her blushing face refreshing its red coat when they locked. Breaking the connection, she spoke again, "I... Yes, I should return to my cabin. I appreciate the time." Shakily pulling herself back up to her feet, Serphine took several more deep breaths to try and regulate herself... With minimal apparent success.

Kaede leaned off his desk, his hands at the ready, "Steady now, if you can walk from here to the door in a straight line you are sober enough to return. I'm not going to be the one who has to read the medical report of you falling down thirty decks and reaching perfect velocity with our bottom deck."

"Fine, fine..." The birb turned on the spot to face her feathered side towards Kaede before counting her steps out loud as she measured them across the floor, "one, two, three... four-wooah!" Tilting to the right on her fourth step, the angel stumbled a bit and started to fall.

Expecting this, Kaede was already floating about a centimeter off the deck and moved quickly enough to close the distance and catch her, but not quick enough to keep her upright.

Floating horizontally in the air, and the Elysian in his right arm, Kaede looked into her eyes again, "Yeah, you are going to be here a while."

She laughed and winked at her captain, "I'll take that as saying I didn't pass, then?" Aside from a mild amount of wriggling as her body naturally tried to righten itself even in Kaede's grip, the female seemed really quite relaxed.

Righting himself and easing the Elysian back into the seat she was in prior, Kaede returned himself to the deck. "Do you have the chills or are you too hot?"

"H-hot. This place wasn't this warm when I came in, was it? I hope it's not broken as well."

Kaede walked over to the Datapad on his desk, manuevering his fingers to a control set and pressing it a few times. With a small quiet hum, the air conditioning kicked on and began to cool the room.

He looked up to the Elysian, "Better?"

Her plumage stirred softly behind her as the cooled air washed across the elysians face and she sighed, "A-a bit, yeah. A bit better... Thanks."

Kaede brought one of the spare chairs from the wall to sit next to the Elysian, mostly to act as aid and support if she passed out or other wise experienced something. He could tell now that she had never had strong liquor before, that or just couldn't hold it.

Reaching for her captain's hand with her own, Araena hiccuped once more but managed to stay within her seat, blinking slowly as she inspected his whole face. "What, well, what do you think about for your life? Commanding thousands of people has to put some stress on you, and you couldn't do it forever, so... What do you work for, I guess?"

"I guess I'm fighting the boredom of civilian life. A number of Neko I worked with have retired, while others have cycled back in. I'm just padding up my service record before I clock out and retire from the uniform I guess."

He let the drunk Elysian hold his hand, not making any movement at all besides breathing.

"Well, what do you plan to do, well, afterwards? After you retire? It's probably a bit boring, for you, but I was thinking of maybe just, touring the galaxy after a while. Make a few friends or something as I went. See the places I never got to see while I was working around in the military." She squeezed Kaede's hand with her own before continuing, "And after that? I guess I'd find some place to settle down. Maybe somewhere along the way I got involved with a family or something."

"I've honestly not put much thought into it, what to do once I retire." He didn't openly react to the hand squeeze either it seemed, "I hear we get some sort of housing land grant or something now once we reach a certain point in service, that didn't exist at all when I joined up."

His eyes showed otherwise, instead of the usual idleness they seemed to be looking at her instead of through her.

"Hm?" Serphine straightened herself in her seat just a little, keeping her eyes steady with his. "Mmmaybe, they'll still give it to you? I mean, it'd seem a bit rude, really, to screw you over because you signed up BEFORE they added some... Housing act thing."

"I'll probably get it once I turn in to retire." Kaede felt like he was feeling something, he didn't exactly know why. His mind told him he wasn't intoxicated, but still he felt a certain warmth. Was it attraction?

He guessed it was something to do with the hand holding, but didn't seem to be able to let go. Something was keeping him connected and interested.

"You've been in service for... How many years again? ...Would you ever seem to retire? Living a quiet life seems nice for some people, but I guess you could say that being the leader of, well..." Gesturing around loosely with her free hand, Araena kind of pointed at the Imperator from the inside, "this, is... I dunno. It just wouldn't escape you or something I don't know..."

"Well, it's a bit of a long story. I joined in to an army you only hear in hushed corners, Elysian children's nightmares, and Yamataian history books." He grinned ever so slightly, "Let's just say my soul is older than you think."

The Taisa looked to be your normal adult Minkan; no grey hair and very little signs of age. The fact that the older NH-22C type Nekovalkyrja were the immediate precursor but how far back did Kaede's life go?

"Hm. I mean, you look really pretty well-off for someone who actually fought around the times of the wars. I can't say I remember too much about them, unfortunately-well, more accurately... There's not much I'd like TO remember. Really wasn't a colorful time..." The botched Caelisolan took another look into Kaede's eyes, but in a less... Drunken way, as if she was trying to analyze him like she would a leaky faucet or failed power coupling. "I guess you're pretty good at hiding that stuff, then. Even if you're calling yourself an old man in a young body, heh."

"They said I could never die if I was digital. Turns out I died that day. We are all weapons of war given rights, labels, and lives we don't naturally have. It's a vicious cycle of evolution that this galaxy went over..." He stopped for a moment and placed his other hand on top of his own that was being held.

"The past is always the past, nothing that can be changed. Only the could have been."

"You're right... What's done... Well, there's no sense treading on it." The angel sniffed, seemingly trying to fend off tears, "And sometimes even the more... Significant crimes should be left forgotten. There's no reason to settle an ancient debt, is there?"

One of Kaede's hands moved to brush the Caelisolan's cheek. He didn't say anything, just moved himself to sort of hold her close while leaving her the entire free option of movement.

In the Taisa's mind were miniscule flashes of invasions: Heaven, Hell's March, and numerous space battles against an enemy he knew never expected to be so nightmarishly foreward in combat, and finally, the arrival of the Grand Fleet over the Elysian Capital following the final surrender.

The veteran sailor had no words he could say.

While he was internally distracted, the intoxicated woman had somehow managed to turn his attempt to comfort into a full-blown hug, if not a quiet one. Serphine was bawling into her captain's shoulder in a quite unprofessional manner, her arms wrapped around his chest and squeezing tight.

Kaede moved the hand that was on the Elysian's cheek around behind her head and gently rocked back and forth. He would have to stay with her and wait her entire spell out before releasing her. For her sake mostly, as releasing someone of her rank amongst the crew in this state would certainly break etiquiette.

It would take a while, and probably a few more hugs and a glass of water, but eventually the blubbering feathery mess of an engineer was calmed into a quiet, if perhaps not entirely untroubled sleep, her grip on the captain loosening significantly after she had gone under.

Kaede gently wrapped his arms around the sleeping Elysian and picked her up. He walked her into the adjacent room, the Taisa's Bedroom, and moved her mostly into his right hand while he opened the covers enough to place the Elysian in bed.

For a moment, he had the thought go by to remove her clothes so she didn't overheat, but his internal conflict on whether that was right or not kept him from doing so. After a second of deliberation, he was going to see how she reacted, whether she began to look uncomfortable or not.

Carefully pulling the sheets and wool blanket over the sleeping engineer, Kaede attempted to break contact with the hand that was still being loosely held.

Although hergrip had breifly tightened when the Taisa had attempted to escape it, there seemed to be almost no reaction whatsoever from the female-buried in the soft bedding as she was, whatever heat had plagued her earlier seems to have faded. Her skin still was quite warm to the touch, even in the chilled room, but no longer the curiously hot temperature from before. The blanket and sheets gently rose and fell with the elysian's gentle breathing.

Realizing he might not get his hand back, Kaede sat down and leaned against the head board while still holding the Elysian's hand. The Taisa surrended to the baiting calls of his own tiredness and swore he had only closed his eyes for a moment before he felt himself ease into a similar sleep.


5月 14日 YE 39

Araena cautiously cracked open her eyes, letting them adjust to the light as her body reset itself. This bed was a lot more comfortable than her bunk, and something warm was connected to her hand. What was that last thing... Ah, yes, I was speaking with the captain when- Serphine's thoughts were interrupted as she noticed Kaede, asleep next to her and holding her hand. Not... What I was expecting to wake up to... Smiling quietly to herself when she though of how someone in command of a city could look like this while asleep, she used her free hand to slind the bed covering off of her body.

"I'll need to clean myself up before reporting, though. The uniform's all crumpled up now," she muttered under her breath.

Kaede opened his eyes as soon as he sense movement. He didn't immediately say anything besides, "Morning," before he blinked himself awake. Using his free hand to pat down at his uniform, he added on, "You got really drunk and passed out, don't know how much you remember."

"Hmm? That's odd, normally I'm better at keeping myself sober. Even when I do have a drink or two. I mean..." She sat up fully, briefly craning her head to the side to pop a join in her neck, "I remember coming over to give a report on the ship. I think you poured me some whiskey, and then we talked about... Retirement?" Her vision rapidly clearing, the angel looked Kaede in the eye cooly if somewhat tiredly.

"Yeah, that's about it. We talked a little history, then you broke down, cried for a bit, drank some water and fell asleep." His recount was not hostile, and was very calm. Kaede returned the gaze, except with overwhelming awakeness compared to her drowsiness.

"...Oh. I hope I didn't embarass you or cause any problems when I did that?" Her lips tightened again, and one moderately dissarrayed wing twitched behind her. "I apologize if I have..."

"Shh..." The captain's free hand put a finger to his lips, "You were no trouble, you did nothing wrong. I didn't realize how strong that drink must have been on someone who can't hold it."

She sighed, "I'm glad for that, at least." Gently sliging out of the bed, the engineer stood and stretched herself upwards briefly. "Well, thank you for watching over me, Taisa. I imagine it would be best for me to return to the crew soon, however, to avoid further complications." She managed to stifle a yawn.

"Probably would be best, but don't be a stranger." The Taisa gave a warm smile to the Elysian while the hand that was holding hers went through his hair to fix it. He looked to silently laugh sort of for a second.

Chuckling, Araena responded, "I don't think that's possible anymore, really. But I'm pretty sure there's some technician searching the whole ship for me right now because I've been in here for... How long? Twelve hours or so?" She shrugged and returned a tired smile towards him.

"About eleven, but you do need to return to your posting. You do keep this old girl ticking on time." He openly guestured as he mentioned the ship.

The Elysian chuckled, moving to leave the room. "It helps that you know how to use it, too."
 
Last edited:
RPG-D RPGfix
Back
Top