Thad had been looking forward to going station side with the crew. Partly to pick up a few things but mainly to see his friends acting like normal people. Life on a war ship was hard enough so felt good to get out into the wild and enjoy the good times. Plus he might get the chance to see a few of them in new outfits. Which may or may not lead to a misunderstanding of some kind.
Delmira was eager to go shopping and brought Kinie along with her. She had told her fellow Neko that they both should go clothes shopping and for the piano that they should look and see what there is available especally if Kinie was serious about learning. She looked at Thad and leaned into her fellow neko. "Should we have Thad carry our stuff for us?" she said in a whisper.
"Yeah," Kinie nodded. She grinned mischievously.
"Yep!" Cheilith chimed in as well. She was wearing a uniform as she didn't have any real civilian style clothes.
"If there is one thing I am good at, its holding stuff and standing around looking pretty." Thad thumped his chest a few times out of pride.
Zanven walked out of his room, dressed in his usual attire; his uniform. He was told that they still had a few days left of shore leave and he wanted to grab a few trinkets. He heard that there was a shop that sold model mechanic and well, that was a weakness of his so...why not.
Sanda came out of her room and almost ran over Zanven. "Sorry, I had forgoten my shopping list and had to retreave it. You must be the new guy. I'm Sanda Hoshi."
Delmira giggled and smiled at her bunk mate before looping her arm through the other womans and walking over to Thad and doing the same to him. "Sounds like a plan to me."
Zanven laughed as he was bumped into. The woman was quick to apologize and explain that she was simply on her way back to the exit after getting her shopping list. "It's quite alright, Sanda right? A pleasure to meet you. I am Zanven Brax. Can I help with anything?"
"Let us be off so we can see all the fun things it has to offer." Thad was clearly excited. Like a little kid in a candy store and a bull in a china shop.
Chelith nodded, floating above the ground, "Let's start with shopping, now that I actually have some money to spend, I'd like to see what I can spend it on!"
"The station is huge!" Pidole noted, looking at schematics and maps on a volumetric screen projected from her uniform's triangular teal crystal. "It's 75 kilometers wide. Apparently there is a tram system that we can use to get around." Her beetle buddy sat on her shoulder making a "big" gesture with its front two legs held up wide.
"You too. You headed to the shops?" Sanda asked. She was excited to go shopping, but didn't want to go with most of the other group. They were way to flirty for her. She was curious if the new guy was going to be like the rest of the ship or more normal.
Koyama had owed Yayoi her request. The woman had won the little blind fight scenario schemed up by the local Chief Science Officer after all. And the woman had wanted to reward the winner in turn for performing well in the scenario. Thankfully all had ended amicably and now that they were heading aboard White Harbor, Koyama could pay that favor out and perhaps find things of her own to spend her KS on. After all, she rarely spent much of it, to begin with, and after almost a decade of constant service it had racked up quite the tally.
While most of her civilian clothes had remained in Kyoto, the jet-haired Neko had been meaning to find a few things for herself. With her chin tucked down and eyes half-closed, Koyama walked unhurriedly toward the others lost in thought. The First Officer seemingly shuffling past the thunderbolt tattoo'd woman and their new resident pilot.
The outfit Thad had picked out was a simple everyday outfit he use to wear prior to being in Star Army. Was long black pants with a plain white t-shirt. Though printed on the back was "Lets Rock!!"
Sanda saw Koyama and corrected herself. There were a few normal people on the ship. "Morning Ma'am. Are you heading for the shops?" Unlike most of the other people aboard ship, she had some civilian clothes. She was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a tank top with a jacket with short sleeves to show off her tattoos.
Koyama had one of her hands cupping her chin, a finger just below her bottom lip in a thoughtful pose while walking. Lost in her little reverie, the Neko blinked as she heard the voice. Lifting her gaze from the deck, her golden eyes latched on to Sanda, then Zanven. Not dropping the look she let her eyes sweep from one to the other.
"What? Oh yes, I was. I had hoped Asakura-hei would be along as well. But she seems... absent." as if her mind had been made up with a nod Koyama continued, "And you can drop the ma'am. I am not technically on-duty. However," with a look to the Minkan she gave him a once over. "You would be our new pilot, yes?"
Sanda smiled, "What do you call Royalty off duty? Is just Koyama alright?" Sanda shook her head. "I haven't seen Yoyai either. I was hoping to join her but she seems to have giving me the slip."
Koyama gave the Nepleslian a little look before rolling her eyes, "Yes, Koyama is fine. As long as I may call you Sanda. The same goes for you as well." came the response with a look to the Minkan pilot. "As for our other Ranger, while I could track her down easily. I do not want to invade her privacy. If she means to join us sooner or later she can. For now would you like to go?" nodding toward the station.
Delmira was in uniform as she had no other clothing as of yet at least. Her tail failed to hide her eagerness as it swayed about behind her and the low purr she was giving off.
Navigator Gabriela Lively arrived from the bridge and immediately claimed her friend Poppy for her trip onto the station, as well as Kalena, and they headed onto the elevator down to the cargo level and they headed out into the station as their own group via the loading ramp, passing by Beryl who was driving around in a forklift moving some pallets.
Euikoshi tried to herd everyone left onto the cargo elevator when it came back up.
Cheilith headed onto the elevator, "Take us to where we can get some cool clothes!" She pronounced.
"So we going for normal clothes or something more...sexy?" Thad grinned.
"Oh I like the way you think," Euikoshi replied to Thad with a giggle.
"I don't really have anyone to be sexy for." Cheilith replied.
Delmira smiled. "Why not get some anyway?" Delmira asked Cheilith and smiled at her.
"I have no idea when I'd use them. What's the point if you don't have anyone to be sexy for?" Cheilith asked.
"We could have some sort of event," Kinie suggested. "Like a pajama party, but with lingerie," she explained.
"Be daring and charge into battle dressed sexy. The enemy won't know what to do with themselves." He let out a chuckle as he pictured this.
"Well you can always be sexy regardless of who you dress up for." Delmira will crank her head around to Kinie and will smile at her. "i love the way you think hell i love you in general."
Kinie blushed. No one had ever told her they loved her before.
"Lingerie sleepover could be fun." Cheilith considered.
Of course he would go with anyone if asked, and when she asked if he was going to the shops of course he drew a blank for a moment. It was a nerdy little habit of his where he might have been shy about saying what he was buying but he was not going to pass this up. Yet just before he could agree Koyama, one of his superiors showed up and he saluted. "Yes ma'am Zanven Brax, and yes I am heading out to shop. Do either of you mind the company?"
"Come on with us flyboy." Said Sanda. "As long as you don't make dumb pun jokes we'll get along fine."
"Alright enough talk, more walking," Cassie shouted, helping Euikoshi shoves people onto the elevator. Soon they were all ready and heading out of the ship into the station.
Delmira smiled and gave Kinie a hug purring happily before she was tugged along by Thad.
Thad tugged at Delmira. "Come on, you can flirt and shop. Those clothes are not going to put themselves on on."
The group started off in Blue Sector, where the docks were, and thankfully were able to skip customs and Pidole guided everyone using the map until they got to a transportation hub. Because of the size of the station, using very high-speed hovercars or trams was the only way to get around fast enough. The interior of the station was kind of like an enclosed city, with hundreds of towers and complexes inside open areas in the station's huge shell.
"So we have some choices on where to go," Pidole told everyone. "There's different sectors. Do we want Grey Sector, Fukushima, where the entertainment and casinos are, Viridian Sector, Ibaraki which is like a regular Yamataian city with a mall, or the rougher Black Sector, Little Nepleslia, which has basically everything you'd expect?"
"I would be happy to accompany the two of you and as for the jokes...well I cannot say that I won't make any...but I will keep on my best behavior for the two of you." He said with a soft smile.
Koyama nodded in agreement, "Yes, we have someone who makes puns already. And I have wanted to toss him out of an airlock more than once already." waving the salute away with a smile then. "And as I have said, Koyama is fine. No ma'am unless necessary." as if it were her due, the woman took up position between the two.
"I have already been keeping an eye on the others. And already they have begun shopping for lingerie and everything in between. Our resident meat shield must be in heaven by this point." rubbing at her forehead then she glanced from Sanda to Zanven. "Where would you both like to go?"
Sanda resisted the urge to facepalm and simply sighed. "Little Nepleslia sounds like my kind of place, but honestly I'll be happy anywhere the rest of the crew is not." She glanced at Zanven. "Some of the crew are a little...Shall we say... Less professional than others."
Koyama tilted her head a little at that, "Little Nepleslia?" she asked both the woman and ship. Receiving the succinct response from the Resurgence but wanting to let Sanda explain it in her way.
Sanda smiled, "That's where I'll be able to find good cybernetics and weapons." Secretly it was a little more than that. Sanda had left Nepleslia at just the age of 6 and had never been back there. She had grown up on Yamatai and had spend as much time in Nepleslian neighborhoods as possible. Still, they weren't really very Nepleslian. She wanted to see part of her culture. And deep, deep, deep down and unspoken part of her, a childhood part of her thought maybe she might learn something about what had happened to her parents.
"You wish to be carved up further?" Koyama asked incredulously, "But you are fine..." with another shake of the head and sigh, the Nekovalkyrja either didn't understand or refused to believe. "Although I have no right to talk considering my species swaps bodies as if they were candy. But the weapons I can understand."
"Shopping for Lingere in the black sector would be interesting." Cheilith offered.
"You liked those Ternifac vibes, hmm?" Kinie smiled.
"I am just along for the ride. So just start moving and I shall tag along." Thad shared with the group.
"You dont need to see me in sexy clothes." Del winked at Thad as she followed the group
"Aye, I don't need to spend money on new pants then." He laughed and winked back.
The group took a tram across the station to Little Nepleslia. Due to its high commercial traffic White Harbor has long had a fairly large population of Nepleslian transients passing through, and as the station continued to grow and expand another section had been created to suit the long-staying or permanent Nepleslian residents. The interior of the Little Nepleslia sector looked as if someone haphazardly transplanted a portion of Funky City into the station. Fancy, high-class residences met garish complexes covered in neon signs and many areas were now run-down, crime-ridden slums.
Another effect of being a Nepleslian area was there was a much higher male-to-female ratio among the locals, and some of them seemed pretty rough around the edges compared to Yamatai where people tended to be polished and pretty.
The main hall of the tram station was a large open area with numerous cafes, food outlets, and bars with numerous different levels each with their own vibe.
Pidole immediately veered off from the group and bought a plate of nachos from a vendor and then came back. It was piled high with habanero peppers, pico de gallo, and melted white cheese.
"Okay, the market areas are just up ahead, according to this travel guide," Euikoshi said, looking her data pad. "It sounds like they got everything, even shady stuff."
Cheilith floated into the market, looking for lingerie. She pulled one of the rack, it was a negligee with a holster in the small of the back. She laughed, "hey, look at this!"
Delmira looked at Kinie "I wonder if they have some special toys." she said and gave her friend a naughty smile and a wink.
OOC: JP by Wes,
@Miko @Soban @Soresu @Zanven Brax @Cowboy @ajax228
