RP: New Dusk Conclave What's a Group of Awkward People Called?

"What do you do in the labs?" Nora Y asked quietly. She was a shy woman, mainly because of her past.

Jacky wasn't quite sure if her twins just how deep the dark tendrils ran through her brain but there were definitely days where the clone wished she simply hadn't broken conditioning - the blank slate she'd been prior to getting a name had been so much easier, there was none of this self-doubt or crippling anxiety and self loathing. Today was one of those days, she tried to push through it for the sake of her siblings that were so kind to be there for her but the heterochromatic Jane clone knew the truth, she was a burden.

She wanted nothing more than to run back out into the rain and hope some heavy vehicle didn't quite see her in time, but her brother and sister were taking the time to cater to her annoying existence so she'd just have to knuckle down and give it her all - for their sakes, so she gave Talos a brief nod of appreciation and inhaled deeply before speaking.

"Greetings your Majesty~ Tal would certainly appreciate that... I can vouch for him doing all he can to uh, to deserve something like that too," Jacky meekly responded with a weak smile, her mind went back to when she snapped in the previous operation though - god, she couldn't even be a worthless sack of anxiety-riddled shit correctly sometimes.

The Demoness, with all her experience and wisdom, could see that this girl had zero self worth - though really if anybody went looking then they'd see that eventually.

“Eh, not knowing everyone isn’t a big deal. That means you just have a chance to make a good impression!” Elisys cheerfully adds. “I’m a combat engineer myself, so I spend a lot of time working with machines and repairs. Granted, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for getting to know people, but I can’t help myself wanting to talk to people!”

Talos looked a little unhappy about such praise, "I am flattered you think of me so highly your majesty, but....that mission was a disaster. Three BRRF squads of good men, are all dead because I decided to rush in. I thought I was doing right, but the price far outweighs what was accomplished. We nearly died, and only got out because of outside help. My foolishness almost got the princess, and myself killed, and only to eliminate a biohazard. So while thank you, I am far from worthy for such an honor." He shook his head after saying that, before giving Orias a serious look, "That is why I am currently removed from active duty for the time being. To give me time to learn from my mistakes, and take a good look at my actions."

"I'd also like to say thank you again to your father again Nora. Neither of us would have lived if not for him as much as I begrudged being saved by that man.", he added turning to the raven haired widowed mother.

"I uh, I'll be sure to pass it along, though I wouldn't expect a response from him though.", Nora replied with a furrowed brow as she kept the baby entertained, "He kinda comes and goes most days."

"Oh, you mean the one called Lazarus. I am well aware of his involvement, but I wasn't aware such a dangerous man was being allowed to stay around here. Surely that has caused some tension given his past involving the lords. Especially with you three as well, given he was the byproduct of the program that created yourselves. He's kind of like a nephew to you no, despite possibly being a black sheep?", Orias chimed in, reveling in the fact of knowing so much.

"Yes, well, we don't care to talk about him much. His presence here is also my doing, as I used my knowledge of Nora's existence to sway him to our side. But that's not important. If anyone deserves a knighting, or even a medal, It's my sister. I watched as she stood up to a tank killer, and gave it the black eye we needed to put it down. I'm proud of her, she was brave and took the risk to save her comrades.", Talos answered, giving Jacky's hand a firm reassuring squeeze, not having shared how close he had come to not making it out of the situation discussed.

"No I do not know what style of garments I want. I do not have data needed to understand wants. I hope to maybe learn such today.", Armora said in her own bland way, the still mentally shackled clone pulling the offered jacket closer for some reason. It oddly felt comforting for some reason that she didn't understand. The clone took a moment to pull her braided hair over her shoulder and into clearer view so that the jacket could be more properly worn, "Hello doctor Harmony."

Mark sighed, really not enjoying the queen's attitude, as she was still as vain as ever to him. "Work never ends, and despite how safe this place seems, people seem to forget just how vulnerable we are. You know it wasn't all that long ago when we were fighting tooth and nail just to keep the wildlife out of the city's construction zone. Or when we fought off a horde of bioweapons who wanted nothing more then to use our people as guinea pigs, and those not used dead. So yes I work constantly, but because I would rather avoid a repeat of such. A home is only a home as long as it's protected."

Sonia held Adi close as they traveled inside, "I still would rather not risk it babe. As much as I'd love to dote on you while you lay in bed, seeing you sick when I could have prevented it would make me sad. I wanna protect you when I can, because I care about you." She gave the shorter girl a smile, "Besides, I can't see that lovely booty if it's under a pile of blankets."

Thaddeaus strolled up to the group. "Hey everyone, glad to see. My god did you invite the entire base here?" A small laugh left his lips as he took note of who all was here. "Ah, Nora so you did decide to come out and get some new clothes. Perfect, this is going to be lots of fun." He continued to look through the group and see who else he knew. Some new and old faces filled the group. "I am Thaddeaus for those who do now know me. For the rest that do, my gosh is it good to see you. After that last battle I did not expect to see the light of day but here we are."

Thad was wearing a tight fitted black dress shirt. His jeans were dark blue with a few rips in them. His feet showcased a pair of military issue boots. For a big guy he wouldn't look half bad to be with on a date to a more upscale establishment. "Geez guys, who is ready to do some clothes shopping?" This came out very feminine. His hand was out in front of him bend at the wrist and the other on his hip. He was clearly having fun with this.

Harmony nodded to the two she was speaking with and smiled as she was asked what she did. She thought on it for a moment before she shrugged.

"Mostly a researcher, been developing a few things I started before I came here. But it's been fun working in the lab with some of the people aboard, long as it isn't getting interrupted by people..." Harmony admitted and looked a touch sheepish as she did.

“Well, like I’ve said before Armora, start by seeing if there’s anything that interests you, then go from there.” Aztec said, flashing Armora a grin. He was happy to see she’d kept the same style of braid he’d done for her those couple months ago in the park.
He turned to Elisys and Harmony. “Well, there’s always a first time for everything, isn’t there? I’m one of those pesky jarheads always trying to find new ways to break what you all come up with in the lab, not to mention what you have to fix!” He chuckled. “Name’s Jarimin, but just call me Aztec. Know we haven’t met more than briefly before.”

Feeling Jacky's grip tighten on her, Lynn gave her sibling's wrist a soft squeeze. Doing much the same of keeping her close, practically feeling her sibling's distress. "I'm not going anywhere - nor are you." Came Lynn's response to Jacky's query. Lynn wasn't much of a people person either, harsh and brash. Though she hoped she knew her sister enough to keep her down to earth.

Offering Talos a gentle smile, she turned her attention to Orias as she spoke, tilting her head with a gentle smile. "Your highness," Lynn greeted. Giving Jacky's arm another squeeze. "Well, he's the biggest of us," she cracked with a soft chuckle. "I'm just here hoping he remains a soldier, not a hero," she glanced over at her brother. Offering a gentle smile, though somewhat a hint of melancholy crept in her voice. "Heroes end up face down, mouth wide open in ditches of questionable contents."

Coughing under her breath, the silver-haired clone shrugged her thoughts off. "So - ehrm. Jacky, were there stores you wanted to go to? Maybe Talos?" She asked around, though her gaze moved across about anyone present, a non-verbal invitation to speak up.

Tighten her grip did indeed as Talos all but put Jacky up on a pedestal, Lynn especially would feel the nails of her sister who bleached her hair to better fit in dig into her hand a little as the heterochromatic girl tried to not blame Tal too much - after all he was just thinking that she'd appreciate the praise for her actions and of course she appreciated the gesture but wish the execution had been a little different.

"Th-thank you Tal, your Highness~ but all I did was uh... was throw a belt~" the Jane with slightly slouched shoulders spoke as she turned back to Lynn with a gulp. "I... could use a winter jacket?" she almost asked, as if to gauge whether that sounded reasonable enough to maybe get somewhere where the crowd was thinner before turning back to Orias with a weak smile.

"...of course if her Majesty wishes~ she could join us~" Jacky finished, though really wished the offer would be declined in favour of more socially adept companionship.

Though at least it would be away from the main crowd even if she did accept, right?

"Oh dear, I would love to! It's been quite a while since I was with S6.....My I still remember the battle that raged on the Anvil as we all came out here. By the way, how is miss Cerulius doing after he injury? She took a nasty gunshot wound, and being one of her race as I understand makes advanced healing methods non-usable on her. I killed the creature with a thrown scalpel, but wasn't quick enough to prevent her getting hurt.", Orias chimed with a bit of cheer, but became more sympathetic as she asked about Seraphina.

"I'll leave being a hero to our fearless leader, but I'll throw myself in the way for my family any day of the week. Dying is only bad if you don't have a good reason for it. All in all, just doing the job I was given.", Talos quipped, as he didn't enjoy praise, but he also understood Lynn's lecture. He honestly didn't care about his own fate unless it meant getting the job done required it. The mission he had vaguely mentioned, had been one of those unlikely moments, and even then he had found an equally unlikely solution.

"Why do I feel like your idea of fun is trying to get me into the skimpiest outfits possible?", Nora quipped to Thad with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"That would require an additional person, as I do not understand these social constructs. Can't find interest in the unknown.", Armora said as a very faint smile came across her lips.

“So that sound really interesting! What kind of stuff have you worked on?” Elisys curiously asked the researcher. She was about to ask more specifically her field when she overheard Thad’s question. She turns over to Thad’s direction and says “Give me five minutes hon!” in an exaggerated voice.

"OH! Usually, people don't care, they just kinda zone out when I start talking about it. You know that glazed over look in the eye people get when they stop listening and kinda go on autopilot heh."

Harmony rubbed the back of her head with a little grin and shrugged after a moment.

"Well, I've been asked to create a sort of crash pad grenade, which basically creates a soft pad for people falling from heights that would usually injure or kill really quickly. I'm also working on a side case for one of the members of section six which involves some...well secret stuff but I haven't had a chance to work on that too much yet. I also want to work on a non-lethal flash freeze grenade for areas that will rapidly cool the surrounding room to a point of absolute zero so it can be used in boarding operations to quickly pacify without the use of excessive force."

“An emergency buffer, that can have so many applications! Like getting civilians out of unstable buildings, maybe mitigate the damage in a car crash with proper timing, and depending on the material it might be a good floatation device...” Elisys starts getting lost in thought as thinks about the application of such a grenade. ‘Now all we need is a gun that shoots a healing salve and we have a medical force to be reckoned with!’ runs a few times through her mind.

"I... heard she is mending~ slowly~" Jacky responded to the demoness, deciding to let her oddly-coloured siblings sort themselves out and to step in if things got too heated~ though she'd have something to say to them both once the setting was a bit more private. The Heterochromatic woman let out a small murmur of discomfort, as if the stress and anxiety was threatening to re-open her fresh bullet wounds but quickly shook it off to continue the dialogue with Orias.

"D~does her highness have any idea where... where she wants to go first?" Jacky inquired meekly, hunkering down slightly in her hoodie but even then that made no difference to the fact she was taller than Armora, even Lynn's shorter-than-the-average-Jane height drew attention to the fact. She tried to distract herself mentally by thinking about what kind of winter jacket she'd even want, Jacky had a rough idea of what she enjoyed wearing but most of it was pretty bland and reserved at best so it would probably just be the first thing she thought was alright.

"I was thinking the same thing! I have this stuff that I've been working on, a healing serum that works on all species, not just the nekovalkyrja and not just held by Yamatai, that can be used with a long rifle for ground troops! And yea the idea with the grenades is to give a sense of safety, and a cushion for any high impact situations, but I hadn't thought about the reinforcing aspect for disaster issues."

Harmony bit her nail as she seemed to look to the side as she began to try and think on other applications before she blinked.

"So-Sorry! Got lost in thought there and this is supposed to be a day away from the labs. They kinda kicked me out cause I had been in there for like a week straight..."

“About as many additional persons as you’ll likely find right now, Armora. Between all of us, I’m sure you’ll have something figured out...” Aztec started. “....though why I’m here’s easy enough. The couple pairs of sunglasses I ordered about a week ago came in.” He said, tapping his muzzle with two fingers. “Seems that with my head being what it is, they had to be custom made. What a suprise, huh?”

"I'd like to hit the lingerie shop in all honesty first, gotta keep things fresh, but I doubt that is what everyone else's first choice would be. A normal clothing shop would suffice, what say the rest of you?", Orias asked with a sly chuckle as she thought of possible things to buy from such a shop, but also choosing to be respectful and thoughtful to the others. "Please, I may be a queen, but I am not here to rule your day heh."

Mark and Talos cringed at each other at the mention of a lingerie shop, the cursed land for most men. "Yeah, because a few of us have no need to be there with no one to buy that kind of merchandise for either. Plus it would just be damn awkward, but hey, go if you want.", Mark said speaking up.

"Yeah, we can find some place to look while the ladies stop in there. Might hit up the gun shop if that becomes the case.", Talos agreed as he thought of where he would like to go. A gun shop seemed like a good place to stop if they chose such a store.

"That is to be expect with such an abnormal nasal structure. It is curious indeed, and must prove to be an awkward change in hygiene and biological standards........what is a lingerie shop? You make it sound as if it is a outlet for female clientele, maybe I should investigate for that reason?", Armora replied to Aztec, watching where he had tapped his fingers, then tilted her head at the mention of this shop.

A loud braking was heard from outside the shop, in direction of the parking area. After a dozen of seconds, a tall figure emerged from the entrance.

Craig looked around and sighed "Where is she?" he mumbled in boredom, he wasn't the type to move around in such mundane places without a precise motivation, and this one was rather useless. If it wasn't for the fact that was Nora the one asking for his presence here, he would have just tossed away the proposal. He thought she was undoubtly capable to handle the stuff all by herself, but maybe his help could have turned to be positive, Craig was rather used to it, more for work than personal interest. Although he always had a natural taste for good clothes.

His eyes scanned all over the place as he made some steps inside, he briefly saluted the people he knew, and remained quite surprised by the presence of a such exotic being like Orias, he didn't made a fuss on it. He saluted with the right manners as Craig get to know that she was the actual queen of a distant planet. But as he saw the raven hairs of Nora waving around, he walked with no hesitation towards the young woman.

Elisys pauses as she hears Armora’s question. She turns around and replies “It’s a shop specifically for women’s undergarments, like bras and panties. Although it is also know as a torture room for most guys.” She jests at the end.

“How about this? We split up into two groups. One group that just needs to do some regular shopping, and the other that might require a visit to the lingerie shop. That way none of the guys have to go inside, and we can all do our shopping! Any suggestions?”