Leon City Spaceport. A relatively new spaceport along the outer edge of the capital city, the port was usually a busy transportation hub, facilitating most of the incoming and outgoing shuttles and spacecraft to Fortuna. Rico Sanroma, dressed in casual attire of simple jeans and a white t-shirt, stood patiently at one of the many flight kiosks. The humid weather of the planet wasn't particularly his favorite type of weather; having to forgo his usual leather jacket apparel made him feels a bit uncomfortable. The Nepleslian Casanova glanced at one of the large digital wall-clocks in-between flirtatious glances at the woman behind the kiosk.
Oh my god. thought Suku, Why is it so fucking hot.
Already once the Doctor had to go back to the ship after she found how easy it was for her to sweat in her usual casuals, dragging Carina all along the way. Mainly, she made her walk because she didn't want to get sweat all over the girl, even though she would've liked to have carried her most of the way. As Suku came into view of the Sergeant, she could be seen wearing a button-up blouse, with a few buttons at the top loose, a pair of hot pants, and sandals, to cope with the humidity. Though, her usual angry face was something she never left home without.
Carina trotted right beside Suku, one of her smaller hands grasped by the older woman's. When she looked up at the medical officer, she noted Suku didn't seem to like the weather all that much. But truth be told, Carina thrived in the hot and humid weather of Fortuna. After all, she'd been raised here for awhile and had gotten used to it. Even her outfit reflected this to a degree, shorts that were just above her knees, sneakers and a tank-top. When asked if she'd needed help picking out her clothes for the day, she'd refused already knowing full well the hot Fortunaian weather. As a matter of fact, most of her wardrobe was suited for the weather on the planet.
Rico, in an odd change of pace from their last encounter, gave the two a smile as they approached. His eyes lingered slightly on Suku's odd choice of attire... then again, however, the heat of Fortuna changed a lot of things. When the two were within speaking distance, Rico squatted down to Carina's level and ruffled her hair. "Ya ready to head home, squirt?" Rico asked with a grin.
Suku huffed bitterly, blowing a bit of hair out of her face, but she said nothing.
Carina had remembered the spaceport from her last little jaunt here. She'd just met the man who was ruffling her hair and whom it was known was her father. When he'd smiled at her, she'd returned it, beaming at him. It wasn't until he mentioned home though that her smile faltered slightly. With a little bit of reluctance, she nodded, "Yea'... but mommy isn' there no more tho'."
The suave Nepleslian's smile wavered for a moment. "Ah, yeah...well, I'm talkin' about my home. Back on Nepleslia. You'll like it there," Rico persuaded the little girl, standing up and giving Suku a short nod. He was still a little wary of letting Suku in on any of this business... but at that moment he didn't have much of a choice. "... thanks for bringin' her."
Suku had been looking away from the two at the moment, until Rico caused her to cut her eyes at him from the edge of her vision. She stared for a moment before looking away from him again. "Whatever..." she replied, almost in a murmur, somewhat embarrassed she came out in that shoddy outfit, especially in front of Rico.
Carina made a little sound in her throat as she finally caught on to her father's line of thinking. She immediately yanked her hand free from Suku's grasp, now hiding behind the woman's leg's peering out from behind them at Rico. The little girl wore a somewhat hurt expression on her face as she seemed to latch on to Suku.
"But I don'wanna go... I wanna stay with you."
"I'm comin' with ya on the flight, shortcake," Rico said with a little laugh. "You'll get to stay with my folks, too. An' I can introduce ya to Babs... she'll definitely get some laughs outta this. They'll take good care a' ya," the Nepleslian attempted to assure the little girl before turning around to the flight kiosk, flashing the pretty attendant another smile as he ran a hand through his hair.
Suku placed a hand down on Carina's head, in all honesty, she didn't want to see her go. In the short time the Medical Officer had known the little girl, she had become very attached. She was going to miss the fun they had together Medical Bay, specifically shooting hypolathe needles at Ran's picture. She sighed and stepped aside, giving Carina a light push forward.
I don't want you to go either... Suku thought, but couldn't say, since really, she was only a nanny.
Carina staggered forward a few steps, catching herself after the little push. Sure, she could run, but then the Blues would likely come along and find her before too long. She could cry, but then she'd end up listening to her father carry on about that, and it'd likely make Miss Suku either very mad...or very sad. Not really wanting to go, she opted instead to shuffle over, taking her time with it.
The attendant behind the kiosk cleared her throat, garnering Rico's attention. "I'm sorry, sir, but for the time being we're only running planetary transportation," she explained. "The NMX war near Nepleslia Core has been deemed unsafe for commercial flight, and by law we cannot send shuttles into the military hot zones. My apologies."
"...what? Huh? Really?" Rico stammered in surprise. Things were going so well for him until that point; he had it all planned out. Once he got Carina there, his mother and sister would get so attached to her that they would forbid him from bringing her back to his military ship. It was full-proof... and now it was nothing. "Well... shit, honey," Rico said as he began to rub the back of his neck, forcing himself to smile as best as he could. "Couldn't ya do this one for me? I'm sure there's ONE ship goin' near Nepleslia?"
"I'm sorry sir, but there is not."
"Not even one just for her?" Rico blurted out, now visibly stressed by the development. "I mean, if it's a matter of two people, as long as she gets to where she's goin'..."
"We can't do that, sir."
"Sooooooo..." Suku said, walking up to the desk, and leaning on it. She seemed to be feigning a bit of disappointment. "You're saying that there's absolutely no way this little girl is going to Nepleslia?" She gestured to Carina. With all her might, she fought back a smile. Half the reason, because her little friend was definitely not going anywhere, and Rico had just been served his own dish with a pair of Neko chop sticks.
Carina had missed almost all of the conversation except for the more important bits. Namely hearing what Suku'd just said. Her head, which had currently been lowered, looking at her own feet whipped up so fast it was a wonder it was still attached. The little girl looked from the lady behind the counter, to Rico, and then to Suku, and back to Rico with a widening expression curving her lips. It was a smile, but not one of pure happiness, no, it was smug, a very smug, satisfied happy smile. Even when she'd grown up, she'd have never told her father that at that moment it seemed he was stuck with her whether he liked it or not.
Rico shot the Geshrin doctor a burning glare before turning back to the kiosk attendant. "There's gotta be somethin' you can do to help me out, sweetheart," the sergeant tried one last time to goad the young lady. The expression on her face softened for a moment, but in the end she simply shook her head from side to side once more. "I am very sorry, but there is noth-"
"COME ON!" Rico shouted suddenly, slamming his fist on to the countertop as he interrupted. The attendant jumped back in fright, while a couple of the spaceport security began to look in Rico's direction with grim expressions.
The attendant wasn't the only one who jumped at the sudden outcry, Suku nearly hopped out of her small pants. At first, the Officer seemed somewhat fearful of him before she strode over to him, her eyes on security and the looking back at the attendant. She grabbed his arms and leaned up to him, pressing her chest against his bicep.
"Rico..." Suku whispered in a worried tone to the man. "Chill out, there's nothing we can do about it." she tried smiling at the attendant, to at least try to give a sense of control to the situation.
Rico's other free arm, or rather hand had been taken by his daughter as she stared at the security guards somewhat shyly. The looks on their faces made her want to hide, but she held firm, staying put right beside her father. "Paaaaapppi....some scary lookin' guys are starin' at us." she mumbled looking back at them.
Neither Carina's innocent cries nor Suku's pliable chest seemed to be able to garner Rico's intense stare away from the now thoroughly frightened kiosk attendant. For a minute, the sergeant looked as though he might just explode once more; however, a quick glance to the side did confirm that some rather rough looking men were giving him a tense eye. Heaving a short sigh, Rico rolled his eyes upward and began to turn around, yanking his arms free from the two female's grasps. "Fine. Let's just go," Rico stated, beginning to stomp his way to the exit.
Suku smirked, watching the defeated Rico walk off without trouble. She decided to follow on with him, at least, perhaps just for the show. Ever since the little spat they had back on Nepleslia, they had always seemed to take joy in harassing one another. This was one of those moments where Suku probably should've been running her mouth about 'the best-laid-plans'. Though, a part of her told her not to, as the Casanova didn't look against hitting a woman at the moment.
"So?" was all Suku asked him as she kept in step. It almost sounded like she 'wanted' to hear a back-up plan from the man.
"You're still here?" Rico replied flatly, wincing slightly as they reached the exit. The heat and humidity was much more noticeable outside than it was inside.
"You know, you're being a real dick lately." Suku bit back, not exactly enjoying the attitude, despite how inspecting of it she was. She looked back for a moment to see if Carina was still with them.
Carina soon caught up to them, cradling what looked like three soft drinks in her hand. It seemed she'd taken the opportunity to stop off at a nearby vending machine to grab them some drinks. When she finally caught up to the pair, she was huffing a little, her little cheeks flushed slightly from the exertion. Holding them just so, she freed up one arm, tugging at one of Suku's hands lightly as she held up a drink for her to take.
"Thanks sweetie!" Suku genuinely smiled at the girl, giving her hair a slight ruffle with hand, as she gripped the cold refreshment with the other. No sooner than that, she had already popped the cap and started to take a drink, instantly beginning to feel better about this armpit of a planet.
The little girl's eyes closed reflexively at her hair being ruffled once more, this time by Suku as she returned the older woman's smile, with one of her own, feeling rather accomplished at that moment. After seeing that Suku had gotten her drink, she tugged at her father's shirt, then shook a can as she held it up for him. "Papi....wanna drink?" she asked him sweetly.
"I'm the dick?" Rico shot back, completely ignoring Carina for the moment. The Nepleslian wiped a single bead of sweat off of his brow as he glared daggers at Suku. "I'm tryin' to get the girl somewhere safe, and you're here makin' cracks at me at the fuckin' desk?"
Suku took another sip of her drink, shrugging innocently. She the sighed with relief as she took in the refreshing flavor.
"You know, you could at least pretend there's a bright side to this." said Suku, taking another sip of her drink, and giving him a sly wink. "Besides, I try to take you down a few notches whenever I can."
Not even bothering to try and understand the exchange between the two, Carina kept trying to hand the elder Sanroma the cold drink in her hand. Truth be told, it was starting to make it go a little numb which only urged her on. "Paaaaaappppiiiiiiii!" she said loudly, bumping the can into his arm, letting the cold of the can let him know something was trying to get his attention.
Rico scowled across at Suku. When it came to pushing his buttons, Suku seemed to be an expert. After a moment, Rico wordlessly looked down to Carina and snatched the drink up and placed it on the side of his neck, using the cold to cool his body rather than his throat. "Common," Rico spat to Carina as he kept his eyes trailed onto the aloof medical officer. "We're leavin'."
"Papi..." Carina began slowly, holding her own drink, now open and holding it with both hands as it was too big for just one as she took a sip. "Why you bein' all mad an' stuff for?" she asked with only a child's grasp of the situation and understanding of the more adult matters at hand. Two adults were poking at each other, and one was grumpy, the other looking rather smug about it all. Really, to her it was like when she went to school in Culture Town, kids used to do it all the time and now she was seeing it between the two of them.
"She's just bein' a bitch," Rico replied venomously, caring little for Suku's close proximity. "Big surprise there." The Nepleslian turned to the street, hoping to perhaps wave a taxi down. Now that he wasn't heading home to Nepleslia, his plans for lodging were relatively shot. He'd have to make something up as he went along.
"Whoa, what? Excuse me?" Suku's attitude was about to flare into her drink as she tailed the man. At first, it seemed as if she found the whole situation rather funny, but that was until she passed the man and stopped in his path. "I'm a bitch? Big surprise there? Do you even know what it's like to care for a child during work hours? Barely getting any time to yourself when you want it? You know what? I love that little squirt, but playing momma has put me in-between murder and pulling my hair out."
Suku thrust a finger into his chest.
"Oh, big manly Marine's gotta' fight the good fight. Fuck you. You're all about protecting her, sending her home, but have you even thought for a fucking second how she feels about not having her father there!?" The Doctor started in a shrill tone as the tears edged in her eyes. "Do you even know what it's like when your daddy doesn't even give you the time of day? Do you know how rejected a little girl in a man's world can feel when that happens to her?"
Rico gave her a once-over as she gave her speech. Truthfully, he couldn't relate to her sentiments... and as such he couldn't truly share them "Hey!" Rico flared back at the doctor, batting her finger pressed against his chest away. "I didn't ask for this shit, but I got it anyway. An' I'm gonna fix it the best way I can." In Rico's anger, the rest of the world seemed to fade in significance. "I don't need some kid trailin' around behind me, 'specially in a war! An' really, neither do you. So fuck off."
Watching the seemingly small scale war between the two escalate, Carina had put her drink down on the ground before grabbing at Rico's free hand, holding it tightly. She looked up at him, and then over to Suku before looking down at the ground a little bit. It was clear if either of them had the sense to look, that their fighting was causing the child some distress, and really she didn't have much of an idea of how to cope with it beyond begging for it to stop.
"Miss Suku..." her voice a little reluctant, strained as she looked from the ground over to the angry man she stood beside. "Papi... please don' fight no more... It's makin' me sad watchin' you two fightin' like that. Did I do somethin' wrong?" asking, feeling she was the root of the two adult's heated tempers, and it seemed she wasn't too far from the truth. "I'll be'a good girl if you stop fightin'...I promise... please stop..." Carina's voice trailed off, sounding pitifully strained as she resisted the urge to cry. That didn't stop her eyes from welling up a little though.
It was until Carina began making her distress known that Suku quickly gave up her end of the fight. Her deviled stare melted away into one somewhat of concern as she looked down at Carina. Of course, she was happy to have her around, but at the same time? Not even the little girl would be able to take all of this at once. She looked at Rico, and then at Carina before clearing her throat and putting on her best smile.
"No!" Suku said reassuringly, squatting down to address the girl, "It's not your fault, it's..."
The Medical Officer seemed to have great trouble admitted this next part.
"My fault. I'm just getting caught up in grown-up business, and I'm doing a bad thing by taking it out on your Papi..." Suku smiled with the small amount of strength she had to smile. She looked up at him, and the to her, "I was wrong to do that, sweetie. I'm..."
Suku cleared her throat, taking a few second to shove her pride in a box. She looked up at Rico again and the back at the young Sanroma she was addressing.
"I'm sorry." she said in a strained, but honest tone.
Rico's expression softened a small bit as Suku explained to Carina. He was still angry... but now, for some reason, it felt odd to be mad with her. He continued to do his best, however, by simply not making a direct response. Instead, Rico resumed trying to wave down a cab, eventually succeeding as one pulled onto the curb. The Nepleslian looked back at Suku and Carina, his face strewn with tired discontent, glancing down to Carina to see if she was ready to go.
Carina still hung on to Rico's hand as Suku made her seemingly heartfelt little speech and apology. When her father had looked down at her though, she instinctively reached out, and grabbed one of Suku's hands with her free one, fully intent on keeping the woman with them.
Suku wordless looked at Carina, a small smile on her face, mostly because of the little girls affection. She looked up at Rico, shrugging with a somewhat innocent face.
As the cab came to a rest, the driver on the inside used his thumb to gesture towards a sign in the back, reading "DA credit only". Rico turned and wordlessly exchanged glances between the two of them, heaving a long, tired sigh as he reached into his pocket. "Look, I ain't payin' to have ya tag along. Shit, I shouldn't be payin' for two in the first pl-" the Nepleslia stopped his sentence short as his hand swam around in his pocket. There was simply nothing in it... which was problematic, as he kept all of his money in his pockets. In this particular case, his uniform pants pocket, which was still on the NSS Acadia well out of reach.
Rico's expression turned completely blank for a moment as he continued to stare at Suku and Carina, his face turning a slight shade of red from either the agitation or the embarrassment, most likely equal amounts of both. Instead of throwing a fit as he had done inside of the spaceport, however, Rico simply sighed though clenched teeth, staring upward. The cab driver, thinking his presence was being ignored, rapped his knuckles against the side of his door to garner Rico's attention once more. "You need a ride or not, chief."
The little girl attached to Rico's hand tugged at it a moment breaking the grip she had on Suku's hand. Her hand went into her back pocket and she pulled out a little Phalanx Phillip wallet. Jumping up and down, trying to show it to him, she waved it up at him as she did so, wanting to help. "Papi! Papi!" she said, waving it up to him.
Rico narrowed his eyes weakly onto the jumping girl. The object in her hand seemed to be some sort of wallet... although it wasn't his. "... what's that? And where did ya get it?"
Carina stopped her hopping, looking away a little too suspiciously. "Tha' wallet? It's mine..." she murmured shifting from foot to foot a little as she did so. She opened it, and pulled out a green DA card with a white stripe along with a circle and green star in the middle.
"Aw, she wants to help pay for the fare." Suku said sweetly, wrapping her arms around the girl. Though, it took her to second to realize the fact that she had a credit card. "Wait... Who tha' fuck gives a seven-year-old a credit card?"
"Don't look at me," Rico said, sounding just as surprised.
Carina's cheeks flushed slightly at being hugged, as well as the question. She squirmed a little in Suku's arms looking up at her father then waving the DA card at him somewhat frantically. She, apparently was being tight-lipped about it.
Despite the alarming number of questions it put into his mind, Rico wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Snatching up the DA card, Rico couldn't help but smile a bit at how well this mishap had turned out. "Thanks squirt," was all he could say before handing the card to the cabby. While the man was processing the credit, however, Rico turned back around, crossed his arms and gave Suku a hard stare. "I'm gonna be honest here; I don't need you taggin' along."
"Hm." Suku arched a brow at Rico, not necessarily caring for his adamant dislike of her hanging. She almost wanted to stay around just to spite him. "Well, as much as I'd like to split, I think it's up to this one right here who gets to go, and who doesn't." said the Suku with a matter-of-fact look on her face, while patting Carina on the shoulder. "I mean, she did pay for it."
"Yea' I want Miss Suku to come to!" Carina piped up from where she was standing. After all as Suku said, she did "pay" for it after all. As if to try and make certain of this fact, she'd let go of Rico's hand, now standing right beside Suku, taking her hand again.
Even Rico couldn't argue with the majority rule, as well as the fact that she did pay for it. Of course, that didn't mean he had to enjoy it. Scratching the back of his head in an irritated fashion, Rico sighed in defeat and turned back to the cab driver. "I saw a hotel a couple a' blocks down that way," Rico mumbled as he pointed down the street. "Ya know the place?" The driver nodded once and unlocked the back doors, handing Rico back the DA card Carina had given him. He placed it in his back pocket, anticipating needing to use it once more before the night was over.
Suku nodded to Rico and smiled at Carina, ushering her into the Taxi. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't really thought of a place to crash at herself. Even if it was in the same building, she wouldn't mind getting a room at this place Rico was talking about.