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RP: NSS Acadia [Prelude] Fortune, Neon and Sand

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Ran kinda lied there, faking an attempt at looking up Autumn's skirt before rolling over and getting on one knee. "You don't do groundwork...are you a fucking SPACECASE?" Ran ignored Viktor's offer of help, and within 5 minutes, was able to stand straight and light up a cigarette. "Now I know I'll be dragging your ass around the fucking ground..." Managing to burn himself once, the Chief let loose a cloud of smoke from his nostrils.

"Lets find a motherfucking bar."
 
Autumn continued smiling, though a little more awkwardly at Fay. "The wonders of Naval Medicine, no? I got all my fleshy bits back, I don't remember much from that cluster but I guess it's better," she replied easily with a shrug, she hadn't really thought about her death very much. "I'm just lucky they were able to put me back together again, I almost miss the metal bits, I had only just started getting used to them but I'm digging the fact I have my voice back!"

The Geshrin armorer grinned again and nodded with a thumbs up to Ran. "Right, drinking time! Oh look, there are a couple taxis! Hopefully, they'll stop for us! Hey taxi!" She skipped over to the curb and tried to flag a taxi down.
 
"I need a new goddamn job, soon..." Ran was back to sitting on the ground, and working on the rest of his Whiskey, which by now had become very scarce in the bottle that he bought. Gulping down the rest of the liquid, the Chief turned the bottle upside down and sighed as three little drops hit the pavement.

"We might need more..."
 
Fay smiled sheepishly back at her awkward smile. Of course, she probably didn't remember him much... He hadn't noticed this at first, but she did sound different, too. So... that's what Autumn's real voice sounds like? he thought to himself as his smile widened a bit. The medic himself wasn't much of a drinker, but it would hopefully allow him to reconnect with some of his former squad mates. He waited patiently nearby, but not exactly next to, Autumn as the taxis come near. "Your voice suits you," he said, somewhat hesitantly, as if trying to think of something to talk to her about.
 
"You - have, a job." Henry replied to Ran as his cigar began to run down, "Grotesque as - it is, to consider - it still earns us, our keep."
He then thought for a moment. Maybe Ran didn't get all of that, "I need to - dumb down. Please - direct us to booze."

Henry overheard Fay rattle on about how someone's voice fitted them. He passed him this note:
A crumpled note said:
And if the way someone talks is how they are, then aren't we just taking something for face value?
Click to expand...
"Like - so, medic?" He asked in his disjoint rhetoric.
 
Autumn laughed over her shoulder as she continued trying to get a taxi driver's attention, "Thanks, Sparky. You never know how much you've missed something until you've suddenly gotten it back."

"Ah, come on now, Chief, I can't see you piloting a desk or as a POG. If you want, I can let you crunch the numbers over in Supply for a while to see if you could do the accounting thang," she commented towards Ran.
 
"Hooo~" One of the taxi drivers thought a bit too loudly, spotting the rather attractive figure of the Geshrin armorer from a slight distance. He instinctively zoomed off towards her, shaking his fist at the fifty or so cars going in what he perceived as the wrong direction, veering off as he came too close.

Was it going to be Zhou's lucky day? Not that it mattered, as long as it wasn't another annoying foreigner, unbathed Freespacer or capitalist fatcat sweating on his fine Delsaurian leather seats, it'd be a refreshing change. "Heee~"

There was a faint screech as his minivan-sized vehicle pulled up to the small group of marines. The window gradually dropped, revealing a Nepleslian driver that was easily in his early sixties, a very creased and aged man with trenches and creases of discoloration carved into the blocky, yet oddly fine-boned Asian features of his face. A mane of stringy white hair covered by a thick wooly Gatsby cap seemed to flutter in the wind, while his dark brown eyes were hidden behind a pair of thick, perfectly round black sunglasses. He was dressed a plain yellow shirt with green suspenders, and a pair of plain grey slacks.

"You need~ a lift?"
 
Fay pondered on this, especially the nickname, as the taxi drove up. The tanned medic could hardly understand the.. interesting cab driver. "Do we really want to get in this cab?" he gulped, very unsure which was worse: Reds shooting at you from all sides or being at the mercy of a crazy driver...
 
"Oy, yeah, I need a ride to a decent Marine appropriate bar or one with the cheapest booze. You know of a place that fits the bill?" Autumn asked the cab driver in a bright friendly tone of voice with a warm smile on her face. She looked back at Fay with a wink, "I think we'll be fine. Live life to the fullest, anything to get the blood pumping and remind ya that your alive. There are much better things but a wild ride is always a good one."
 
Meanwhile, Harrison was walking down the street to the parking garage where he had his K1-33 stowed when he stumbled past the strange looking cab driver, Fay, Autumn and the others.

"Hey, guys. Autumn, good to see you again."
 
Fay paused to wave over to Harrison, making a mental note to remind him of that promise to buy him a drink for saving him on Kennewes, before replying to Autumn, "Ahh, yes, I suppose that is quite true. I'm glad to see you back in one piece, though, so it'd be a shame to re-earn those cybernetics so quickly..." He smiled, trying his hand at a slight joke, but he probably failed utterly.
 
Henry took a look at the taxi driver. A colourful character indeed. Cheerful, and more than happy to break a few hundred road laws for the sake of transportation.
"Any - ride, is a good. Ride." Henry replied to Fay on his concerns.

He then noticed his pal Harrison hobbling along towards his ZA K1-33 Airbike. He sent a wave his way.
"Harrison!" He croaked hoarsely with a weak smile, "Out, for a drink. With the others?"
 
Harrison chuckled softly as he walked closer to the group, thinking he would get his airbike later. "Sure. If I remember correctly, Fay still owes me a beer for saving his ass back on Kennwes. Being the kindly person I am," here he smirked, "Normally I would have waived it. But being on leave, I suppose he owes it to me to pay up."
 
Autumn glanced back at Harrison as he called her name in greeting. She vaguely remembered the face but the name was escaping her at the moment, as Fay's did but luckily, someone said both of their names. She wasn't sure if it was a result of the explosion or if her brain spider had been damaged but she was in the clear, the medic was Fay and... the other guy was Harrison.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Sparky? It'll be fun, the evening isn't complete unless someone is limping or bleeding," she said jokingly enough. She waved at Harrison, "Hello, we're still in transit to getting smashed, just have to get everyone into the taxi to get there since not many of us want to act as responsible parties and stay sober before hitting the bar. I think the Chief needs a refill," she paused and looked over at Ran, "Right Chief? You need another bottle?"
 
"Oookay~ I get you deal to nice military pub with working bathrooms." Zhou replied, his smile gaining intensity. He seemed to smell of some combination of wintergreen, expensive cologne and coconut oil, though no particular area seemed to smell quite like the whole. "But only if the lady sits in passenger seat."
 
Viktor easily shrugged off Ran's refusal; they didn't know each other and the man obviously had some angst still burning in his chest. Then he received a note from the quietest of the group. It was a well-written note, declaring him a long-distance engagements* expert. What sort of 'engagements?' Viktor idly wondered to himself; he also began to wonder what had happened to the man's voice, but figured it to be a battle wound. From what Autumn was saying, wounds were common, and death wasn't all that rare... It got his gears turning; what was it like to die and come back? He had the urge to ask, but resisted. It wouldn't be polite, and by now, everyone was on a new track, discussing the taxi ride and their future place of relaxation. Ran could sure use it.

The group had suddenly expanded, too. Men named Fay and Harrison had come across the little party, and joined up. Now they were waiting for Autumn's approval to ride shotgun in this taxi. Viktor simply stood quietly, nothing of importance or interest to add to the conversation.

----------
*Editted
 
"I have no issues riding shotgun," Autumn replied smoothly with a smile. The combination of smells from the cabby reminded the Geshrin of some run-ins she had when she was still a practicing hoodlum, and the scars that accompanied those incidents. It still pained her that she no longer had any of those battle scars, those little physical reminders of where she had come from.

She looked at the others again with a grin, "Well boys, we got ourselves a ride, let's gooo." She gestured for them to come towards the cab. She leaned against the passenger door of the cab as she waited for her fellow marines to move, she had the impression that the driver would probably take off without them if she got into the cab before they did.
 
Viktor moved quickly, opening the rear passenger door and stuffing himself in the back. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but he was a soldier; he'd make do. So he waited silently for the rest of them to clamber in, and looked forward to loosening up a little. He wasn't a heavy drinker like the rest of them, but he planned on having a couple drinks just to ease his nerves and make conversation come a little easier.
 
Long distance communication? Maybe. The sorts of things that are communicated at long distance by Henry was the desire to kill. It's all rather impersonal - but what has to be done must be done.

He climbed into the back seats of the taxi and sat next to Viktor. His scrawny frame still leaving room for more of the fellow marines.
The smell that pervaded the taxi made Henry think of a place away from here. The sort of place where you are obliged to kick up your feet and rest and just, be.
 
Fay laughed a little as he got into the cab. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about that," he told Henry as he did so. "Also, Autumn..." the medic then looked over at her leaning on the passenger door, "You do know that I'm the one that sews you back together after such 'fun', right?" He was still smiling, glad that the mood around him was brightening a bit. The smell of the cab made him want to puke, though... and he was sure, but the Geshrin/Nepleslian might have just sat in something sticky...
 
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