RP: 5th XF [Prelude] Point of Origin

Tesuro was still in the quarters he shared with Ichiro and Kiyoe. As they were getting ready for the party he separated himself from them, instead opting to take a stroll around the Yugumo to get better acquainted with it. When he got back, the two of them had already left for the party. He sighed with a hint of relief. Though he liked the two of them, in his mind nothing beat complete solitude with thoughts being his only company.

Slowly he loosened his uniform and stripped the top off, pulling off his undershirt soon afterward. He leisurely tossed them aside and jumped onto his bunk, putting his arms behind his head, smiling. He took a few moments to relax and just let himself breathe. His first day, though Kiyoko did not put on him and his equals any particularly arduous tasks, was very stressful simply for the fact that it was his first day. At the moment, he had no plans to go to the party, and frankly did not see himself attending it at all. Having been forced to be so close to others for so long made him yearn for the solitude he'd be deprived of for so long.

Reflecting on the events of the day thus far, he took out his notepad and began musing:

This marks the first day of my time here on the YSS Yugumo. The crew seems friendly, and I'm not exactly dreading spending time or bunking with any of them. The first person I met here was a woman named Kiyoe, Kanai Kiyoe. She seems like a rather upbeat lass and not the typical meathead Combat Arms enlistee one is so used to seeing. She complimented my hair, which I thought was nice...though odd. I've never been complimented on my looks before so I suppose I just don't know what to make of it. I'll be bunking with her for the time being though, which is another thing I find strange. The first thing that came into my mind upon realization of this fact is the possibility of an undesirable...well..."bathroom run-in", I suppose you could say. While I take pride in my manners and would do all I can to avoid such a situation...the woman is not hard on the eyes and I suppose should the incident occur I wouldn't be completely objected to it.
Soon after I met the aforementioned, a man by the name of Ichiro approached us. I don't believe I caught his last name, so I shall make a note of that next time I see him. I haven't caught much of Ichiro's personality, but what I have seen is that he does have quite an eagerness to fight. Whether or not that makes him the typical "meathead" I so love to avoid has yet to be seen. But as far as first impressions go, he does appear to be goodhearted and I suppose his desire for combat is merely a desire to prove himself. Being a higher rank, he likely has more direct experience than myself, so I will certainly not write him off. I'm sure there is much I can learn from him.
I have yet to interact much with Creighton and Itkatsu, but there is no reason so far that I have to dislike them. However I know enough to note not to get in a barfight with Creighton, since he is at least fond of drinking and could probably work his way around a drunken stupor and put up a rather good fight.
Finally, there is my Shosa, Kiyoko. While I find her way of working to be somewhat unprofessional, her casuality does seem to give me the breath of fresh air that I have needed after all of the basic training I've been through. I do find her, however, to be astoundingly beautiful and kind. I have enough control of myself not to let this interfere with my work, however the incident today certainly didn't help to hide my opinion of her features (for lack of a better word). I can only hope that most did not notice and that it can quickly be written off as a fluke of embarrassment and typical new-hire stress.
But aside from that little slip-up, this day has gone well, and barring any unforeseen reason why I would attend this "shindig", I look forward to a night of full and sound rest.

Click to expand...

He closed his notepad and tucked the pen into the spiral at the top. Afterward he slyly tucked it under his pillow, believing enough in others to keep to their space and not find it there. Sighing again, he thought about what he would be missing at the party, and part of him wanted to go. However the constant conditioning to be the loner kept him from going on his own will, and instead he laid in bed, staring up at the bunk above him...

On> YSS Yugumo, Galaxy Arboretum

Creighton recoiled back at the sight of the Taisho, still in uniform, sitting beside the others. His very laid back and slob like attire clashing. Heh, not exactly the best foot forward... Creighton mused to himself as his grin seemed forced. "Well now, I -uh. How about that? I'm out of alcohol." He started to retreat from the table, looking rather intimidated. "Gotta stock up!"

Caine perked a brow at Creighton and blinked a couple times. "Who..." he asked momentarily and thought back. "Oh, I remember him now... He's changed his appearance and I suppose I'd forgotten." he chuckled. He felt Kiyoko's eyes on him and turned to her for a moment and blinked, blushing at her smile and gave her a soft adoring one in return and squeezed her hand gently.

Yuka got up from the table, leaving the Taisho's side and headed for Creighton, her nail-less digits falling ever so gently on his shoulder, "Let me help you with -stocking up." She then smiled and walked past him, her command white skirt clinging to her flawless bottom as it waved a rather picture perfect goodbye to him. She got to the bar, and ordered the enlisted sprite to have an assortment brought over to the table. "Thanks." she said, looking back at Creighton with a wide smile.

Camellia turned to the disturbance, she felt she knew him, by his presence, but she was lost on his face. Turning back when she heard Caine say he remembered him, this prompted her, "Who is he Caine?"

Huh. Apparently, she isn't the hand-shaking type. Kiyoe flopped back into her seat and resumed observing the spectacle around her. She wasn't ready just yet to have a drink- she didn't know just how the unknown element of all the higher-ranking officers would act if she got tipsy. For now, she settled for eavesdropping and looking for a good opening in the conversation.

Tesuro lay in bed, still staring blankly up at the bottom of the top bunk. A thousand thoughts flew through his mind, mostly revolving around, "Should I go? Should I not go?" On one hand he wanted the rest, but on the other Kiyoko had gone through the trouble of arranging the whole thing and he felt obligated to attend. "Maybe not the whole night..." he started "...but I can at least make an appearance. If I'm not there she might not think I care about the team...but if I at least show up..." With that he had made his decision. He didn't want to go in his uniform since it was a casual party, but his options were fairly limited since he hadn't packed anything special. So in a moment of improvisation, he threw on his workout shirt, knowing he may look a bit foolish with a exercise top and uniform bottom, but figured he would look less uptight. He headed toward the party and when he reached the entrance of the Arboretum he took a long, deep breath and slowly walked in.

One, however, had made sure to pack quite a few clothes, just in case he could wear them. Only his favorites of course, those that made him stand out when it was permitted. Flashy colors, great allure. In fact, it was probably the main reason he had missed the briefing, though he could also blame that on being new to this place. But then again, who wasn't? Though it seemed that wouldn't matter much, he heard the Shosa wasn't so uptight, or at least he hoped not.

In the end, it had come out quite fine; he had decided to go with something to play off of his two favorite features; his deep emerald orbs, and his silky black hair. With no further ado he walked into the party, his emerald orbs glimmering in admiration as he entered the Galaxy Arboretum; the shimmering waves of the lake. The synthetic lights caused his vivid green shirt to shimmer slightly; he had chosen something to echo his eyes. Footsteps carrying him forward, he mused to himself. This should be interesting indeed.

Kiyoko eyed Yuka, the look was not of her usual pleasantness. Wanting to cringe she immediately turned her attentions back to Kiyoe and offered "So, tell me about yourself. Where were you stationed before you transfered to the Yugumo?" Her head turning occasionally to watch as Yuka was toying with Creighton. What a bitch. Why the hell did mother bring –her-? she asked herself, turning her attentions back to her conversation with Kiyoe. Her free left hand stroked Caine's gently reminding herself that he was there-spite for what she was feeling about the situation with the Taisa and Creighton. When Tesuro entered, a sprite acting as hostess informed him that the Shosa was expecting him to join the command table.

Creighton gaped at the Taisa as she walked by and flirted with him. The young man followed after her to the bar, quickly ordering a hard drink, not paying attention to what he was getting. He quickly moved back to the table, following her like a lost dog, until he realized he just walked back within sight of the Taisho. Not again. He meekly grabbed a chair from another table and pulled it around to the table with everyone. Turning it around he sat in it with the back facing the others. He tossed back the drink, taking in a good portion of it. "Whew, well now. That's refreshing. Say anyone seen Tesuro?" The Yamataian commented.

On the dance floor things were starting to get a little crazy. Due to the influx of personnel from the Seijin no Umi-which unlike the Yugumo was fully staffed-the dance floor had extended onto the beach. There to the beat of the music, scantly clad neko's bounced up and down, clashing against each other in a flash of flesh and passion. Yugumo lead the ordeal from behind the DJ's cage, her hands on the controls-her lips on the tummy of one of the Chui's from the flagship. The bars were crowding-the sounds of laughter filtered out above the music. The Fifth was unwinding and the word was spreading. The Yugumo had arrived at the staging area-shuttles inbound from ships all over the fleet. Spites worked feverishly opening up the other side of the lake-erecting bars and putting out tables. A long night ahead.

Caine looked at Cam. "He wa..." he said looking a bit sad suddenly, remembering. "At the funeral...." he said shortly and held Kiyoko's hand gently again. He looked over at the man in question and smirked a bit noticing him gulping down the drink. Caine had given up drinking since after the funeral and just got a sprite to bring him a cup of sweet iced tea.

Camellia perked a brow, the brow under her hair, so the actual act was hidden. Must have been a hard memory to get around just to answer her question. Making a sympathetic, yet also expertly hidden fake smile, Cam raised her hand and waved slightly to Caine. "If it brings bad memories, forget it." She turned to regard Creighton drinking anew. "I'll probably remember him when he opens that booze funnel of his again."

"Oh, me?" Kiyoe looked pleased just to have been noticed. "This is my first post, actually, but I've got this butt-kicking thing down. Anybody's stupid enough to attack us, I'll set 'em straight quick enough." She leaned back, tilting her chair onto two legs. "Which reminds me, is there anywhere to get a good fight on this ship? I've gotta stay in practice, after all."

Yuka looked surprised as Creighton so easily ignored her, Strange boy-that one. She commented to Mayumi. He likely watched you clinging to me, maybe we should go on our own-get out of these uniforms. A wide smile appeared on Yuka's face, and Mayumi in the middle of all their conversations slipped from view-her and Yuka walking around to a less crowded part of the lake. The lights had been dimmed-the night simulation began.

Just as suddenly as he had entered, a hostess-type persona approached him, relaying the message that Shosa Kiyoko wished for him to come to the command table. With a short nod, he continued forth, his movements fluidic in nature. Shifting his weight evenly, as he stepped, almost soundlessly forward. Absently putting a hand through his dark, wavy hair; though his eyes did not share the absent-tense of his hands, they were acutely locked forward. The stare was not an intense one, merely focused.

Coming upon the table he spoke to announce his presence, as it had been requested. To take a seat might seem rude, and that he did not want; for first impressions were important. The tone of his voice though, may have been different than they had heard of other males, much like his feminine appearance. His voice was soft, but edged with a tone of self-assurance and worth, almost melodic in nature, "Evening.â€

At this point, Tesuro was heavily worn and tired. But then he felt a sudden light tug at his destroyed sleeve and he turned around. He looked the odd man up at down, having never seen such vibrant clothing before. Although, weird clothing was better than no clothing he figured, though at this point in the evening a nude man tugging at his sleeve would not have been all that surprising.

After taking a moment to fully catch his breath, his hands still in his pockets in an attempt to hide himself, he responded to the man. "Umm...well actually I've hardly had a chance to sit down..." he uttered somewhat shyly. He turned to Keiyo and Ichiro, who unlike him were so far unscathed by what he saw as the party from Hell.

However, even though he wasn't having the best time, he figured it would be rude of him to spoil the time of another who only wanted a simple dance. He turned back to Keiyo and Ichiro. "You two go ahead...I suppose I can catch up with you later."

He bowed lightly to his two comrades and, completely oblivious to the fact that a man was coming onto him, he turned back to Akira. "I guess one dance would be okay...but after that I really must be going. I feel as though my welcome here has been overstayed--that is, if that is what you call a welcome." he said, pointing to the wild crowd.

To have her new comrade-in-arms pass up a round of drinks with her for a dance with another guy... Kiyoe couldn't help but feel a bit offended, but the images that popped into her mind as she watched the two head toward the dance floor together more than compensated for Tesuro's slight. Grinning thoughtfully, she headed for the bar, towing Ichiro close behind. "C'mon, Ichi. What do you take?"

"Me? Spiced rum. Or, if I don't feel like getting hammered yet, I'll just have a scotch on the rocks." Ichiro said, smiling at her, sitting on the stool next to her. "So, first assignment?"

"Yep," Kiyoe answered, before asking the bartender to bring her a glass of 'whatever the most expensive thing he had back there was.' She fully intended to take this chance to broaden her horizons, it seemed. Turning back to Ichiro, she continued, "I've only been out of basic training for about a week now, actually. If I'd known it was like this," she gestured grandly toward the room, "I would've enlisted earlier."

"Trust me. It isn't. I'm just glad I got a new assignment. I don't like living in the barracks. Not enough...well, privacy. At least on a ship you can find places no one else knows about, and hide there when you need some alone time." Ichiro said, as he sipped his rum. When he finishes, he'll change over to scotch for a while. "So how is the armor instructor..umm...shoot..can't remember her name off hand...you know who I'm talking about, right?"

Tesuro watched the two head over to the bar, then followed Akira away from the large, sexually driven crowd. Having kept himself away from most people a majority of his life, Tesuro missed out on developing certain key parts of a person's personality, such as sensing flirtation from both males or females. As such, he didn't see anything peculiar about dancing with another man, especially after the other man explicitly stated that he wouldn't be dancing as "fervently" as the other dancers in the crowd. To him, it was merely a friendly gesture, or perhaps just an unusual way of acquainting oneself with another. Regardless, Akira seemed to him to merely be a flamboyant fellow who wanted to get to know Tesuro for whatever reason.

As Akira introduced himself, Tesuro bowed just slightly, "I'm Urameshi Tesuro. But just Tesuro will suffice." After their introductions, Tesuro began dancing awkwardly a few feet away from his newfound friend. Dancing was not exactly one of his strong points, but he didn't think Akira would mind. Still oblivious to the entire situation, he looked forward to enjoying the rest of the night.

"A 'her'... that narrows it down to about thirty people." She paused, pushing against the bar to put herself in a lazy spin on her stool while she considered, before returning to her previously scheduled stream of talking. "Besides, how do you even know we even trained at the same pla- ... Whoa, hey, is that a chicken over there?"

She stopped spinning and craned her head to peer across the crowd, evidently at something far across the room. A moment later, she stopped her intent observation, looking a bit disappointed and mumbling, "No, it's just the way she's holding the grapefruit."

"Err. Anyway, I guess I can see what you mean about privacy, but it's never really bothered me. I guess I'm used to people being around."

"So am I, but privacy is always a nice thing to have." Ichiro says, starting on his first drink of scotch. "Oh, she was the blue eyed, green haired one. Tai-something."

HOTARU-HIMITSU STAGING AREA: THE PARTY CONTINUES

Kiyoko's dance partner headed off to one of the bars, leaving the CO sandwiched between her two officers on the dance floor. With Creighton behind her and Caine in front she gave a selfish grin, grinding her body against them both; Caine being wet from his swim soaking her white tummy top, revealing her mounds beneath.

Food was put out on the command table, as well as their own supply of liquor from the bar.

***

Mayumi said to Yuka, I swear...I just seen... she fell silent, looking down at the sand. I think its time we left. She stated, not wanting the Taisa to think she was crazy. Yuka nodded helping the Taisho to her feet and back into her uniform.

The two made for the nearest exit, not saying goodbye to anyone. They rushed back to the Seijin and then caught a shuttle to the Hotaru Star Fortress.

Oh man this is so embarrassing, I wish I'd learned more on this. Caine thought to himself as he continued to dance with Kiyoko and ran his long fingers over her sides, barely touching her with enough pressure hopefulyl stimulating her touch receptors. He pressed up against her, grinding his hips against her mound for a few moments as he leaned in and nuzzled her, laying light nips at her neck.

The thumping rhythm began to extend its control over Creighton. The more the music went on, the more he seemed to get in touch with the beat and movement. His hips grinded against Kiyoko from behind. Creighton seemed to pay Caine's advances no mind.

Around him the party was blurring in and out of his head. He hardly noticed a newcomer approach and begin her dance with him from behind. Creighton was having the time of his life. He had always shied away from parties like these. But here, here with the crew and friends, he felt the call.

-----

Elsewhere, Taii Nakasato had retreated to the outskirts of the party. After being trampled by the rush of individuals she didn't feel like dancing. Catching the Taisho and Taisa as they were leaving, she suspected something was awry. She simply gave them a salute and fell behind them as an escort detail.

Something seemed strange about this one, Tesuro thought to himself. The way he spoke and danced so expertly to the beat of music was somewhat captivating to Tesuro. It was very gentle, and had not even a hint of aggression, which is something the other dancers seemed to revel in. Tesuro attempted, in vain, to mimic the movements of Akira assuming that the way he was dancing was the "correct" way to do so. However, he didn't have much success in this endeavor and just went back to his more natural movements (which to an onlooker would seem a little more spastic than natural).

Tesuro felt relaxed, much to his own surprise. He had planned to spend the night sleeping alone in his quarters, but here he was dancing and actually enjoying himself! It was odd though certainly not unwelcome the way he felt; that is, comfortable. So often he would become quiet and shy around people, but something about Akira, beit his voice or his speech or possibly some other factor made Tesuro feel like he could actually engage in a conversation.

He noticed Akira inch forward, but didn't think anything of it, thinking it was just part of the dance. He had to listen very closely to hear his friend speak, but nevertheless he heard him. "Me?" he began. No one had ever asked anything about him before. He wasn't so much flattered as he was at a loss.

"I...well, I don't know how much there is to say." he restarted, trying to coordinate his movements with his words. "This is my first assignment, I just finished training a few weeks ago. Before I joined the army I..."

He trailed off and thought for a moment. Not having ever talked much about himself, he didn't know if the fact that he was a "farmboy" would make him look strange and possibly a source of ridicule. He knew farmwork was not a common practice on Yamatai in the modern times, and as far as his interests go, he had been mocked for his interest in writing and poetry. He shook his head, realizing that he had paused for a noticeable amount of time, and continued. "Sorry...umm...yes, before I enlisted...I...did a lot of manual labor, I guess you could say. I helped people move...things."

He stopped, realizing that the intended ambiguity of his statements could have made him sound like he was either a thug working for organized crime or a prostitute. Before Akira could respond, he quickly asked, "So! What about you...?"

Having been utterly forgotten by the others who came with her, Camellia simply leaned back and watched the mayhem that was being wrought by her new crew mates.

"Hm, this sure beats a murder investigation." She said with a smirk as she finished off her beer and watched the party.

He thought it was nice that Akira didn't pry him to tell more about his past. While it was true that there was nothing to hide, he still wasn't sure how much about himself he was willing to reveal even though he was more comfortable around Akira than he was around most others.

He listened to Akira tell him about himself, more confidently than Tesuro had done for him. He picked up something they had in common: art. While he wasn't an artist in the sense of painting and drawing, he did have an interest and appreciation for it. "Oh, you're an artist? That's quite admirable." he said, hoping he didn't sound foolish or uninformed.

When Akira touched his hips, Tesuro jumped, a bit shocked by it. As strange as he found it, he had no reason to not trust Akira, so he simply listened to his instructions and tried to follow them as best he could. He made confirming noises such as "mm-hmm" and "uh-huh" to show that he was listening. But when Akira looked up at him with his shimmering eyes, he noticed the manner in which the words fell from his lips.

He twitched, looked frantically down at the man's hands down at his hips, then back at the eyes looking intently into his own. At that precise moment, the situation hit him full on. He jumped back quickly, looking around rather frantic and panicked. "I...umm...I have to go...! Please, excuse me!"

His feet carried him away quickly with his palm slapped against his forehead. Why hadn't he seen it before? "I'm such a fool--god, how could I not see that?! I feel like such an ass..." he mumbled to himself. He mostly felt bad for leading Akira on like that, thinking that he merely wanted to be friends and nothing more. Tesuro's eyes stayed wide and fixated on the floor as he made his way over to the nearby bar. He approached Keiyo and Ichiro and glanced up at them, but immediately brought his eyes back to the floor. "Excuse me..." he said softly as he wedged his way between them. Blindly he grabbed three various alcoholic beverages in his hands and walked off as quickly as he had come.

At that point he didn't care who did and didn't see him; while he hoped Kiyoko saw him there merely so she knew he arrived, he no longer felt obligated to be there. All he wanted to do was get as far away from Akira as possible. Not because he was afraid or disliked him, but because he felt that because of the incident he had possibly embarrassed such a nice person who he felt so oddly comfortable around. Not long after he left, due to his unintendedly quick footing, he made his way back to his quarters. The door shut automatically behind him and he set it locked, guaranteeing that nobody would come in.

He dropped the drinks on his bed and quickly stripped himself of the rest of his clothes. Not wanting to stop his movements he walked to the shower and turned it on full blast, 100% cold water. Grabbing the drinks, he stepped in and sat down on the hard interior, hardly noticing the cold water cascading down on him.

Popping open the top of the first bottle, he leaned his head back and took a huge gulp. Immediately he spit it out, wretching a little and wiping the saliva from his mouth Tesuro flipped the bottle around and read the label.

"Cocktail mix."

He sighed, recapped the bottle, and tossed it out of the shower. Being cautious enough to read the next label, and took a swig of straight vodka and his body shook as it inched down his throat. He held the bottle between his legs, taking small sips every once in a while. All he did was stare at the wall, still ignoring the ice cold water splashing on his head.[/i]

Kiyoe stared, puzzled, at the retreating form of Tesuro, his arms filled with an unpromising array of drinks. She didn't know the specifics, but she'd spent enough time in a bar to know that somebody with that kind of look on their face grabbing that much booze at once couldn't be good. Her first instinct was to follow him and see if she could help, but she stopped herself--it most likely wasn't any of her business, and it wasn't like she really knew the guy anyway. Besides, he'd managed to leave her drink out of his grab, so all was well in the universe.

She mentally shrugged and turned back to Ichiro after taking a gulp of her drink. "... I wonder what that was about?"