- RP Date
- Ye 42
- RP Location
- YSS Kanagawa
One of the many lesser-known starports belonging to the SAOY
He didn't look too out of place, a tall, fit male of mostly Yamataian descent with his dark blue hair done up in what would be a traditional topknot if not for the sides of his head being shaved. The young man was clad in a red-paneled type 42 uniform, his eyes hidden behind dark-tinted sunglasses as they read over the volumetric screen being projected by a nearby vending machine.
"Monsuta... monsuta..." he murmured thoughtfully, while not overly deep, his voice did have a pleasant baritone rumble that punctuated each word, he delicately put his finger through a button on the volumetric display and waited for the drink to be delivered to him. But not before one Neko from a passing, giggling, trio called out.
"Hiiii Kendo! have a nice day!" the green-haired catgirl's bubbly voice rang out, only to be met with a warm smile and a wave from the blue-haired man at the vending machine.
Truth be told, he remembered the face from their time together in basic but the Neko's name eluded him... and he felt a little bad for it but not bad enough for it to ruin his day. So Kendo reached in to the flap at the bottom of the machine to retrieve a small yet brightly coloured can with 'Monsuta' scrawled down the side in stylized Yamataigo
A few long-legged steps were taken back and the drink was about to be cracked open, when Kendo felt his back bump into something, the warm and fluffy feeling permeating even through his uniform - as well as the soft "Eep-" which cried out immediately afterwards - making the young man feel like it was probably more likely someone than something.
"Oh uh I'm sorry there, wasn't looking where I was going," the relatively tall man chuckled as he span around on one heel with an apologetic grin on his face, black-gloved hand gripping at the colourful can as Kendo quickly sized up whoever he'd almost stood on.
Ken saw a familiar face - well, probably more like familiar EVERYTHING; wings, height, face, hair, the whole four and a half yards. "Hey, aren't you - You're erm, Ken, right?" The quiet voice of Aradia Sivins made itself audible over the hubbub of pedestrians in the concourse. "What are you doing here?"
Despite being almost squished like a little grape, she didn't seem all that angry or disheveled - likely a mixture of this stuff happening on the regular, and the fact that she knew the guy that almost ran her over.
His deep, midnight-blue eyebrows creased down behind the lad's dark-tinted sunglasses as Ken regarded the Elysian lass, she was familiar sure but her name still sat on the precipice of his tongue. He just couldn't quite grasp it and instead opted to stall for time,
"Ken, Kenneth, Kendo it all depends on the context and if you know my Dad or not..." Kendo trailed off a bit, biting into his bottom lip thoughtfully before realization hit him like a Plumeria's main gun. The free, ungloved hand shot out towards the bright little bird with a snap of his fingers as Ken's features lifted into something more jovial.
"Aha! Aradia, right? Am I pronouncing that right?" He checked with a small yet warm grin, head cocking to one side a little. "I'm uh, just waiting a few hours for a shuttle that'll take me to my new assignment, I assume you're here for something similar?"
"Close, Ken. Try Araydia!" The smol joked back, shaking the man's hand gently. "Yeah, I'm heading to the Kane... Kawa..."
"Araydia then, apologies, yours is not a tongue I've had much exposure to~" he briefly apologized with a light chuckle, returning her friendly hand-shake before retracting that same hand back to his body, using it to pry open the tab on his drink while letting her butchered words roll over his tongue.
"If I may... did you mean the Kanagawa?" Ken pondered, taking a thoughtful sip from his drink, prominent adam's apple rolling up and down his throat with each gulp as the low-ranking technician paused to scratch at his clean-shaven jaw. His pronunciation was flawless, and understandably so if you pondered the ancestry of his handsome features for just a fraction of a second.
"That's where I am headed anyway, I don't suppose we'll be stuck with each other a little longer by any chance?"
"Oh, you're heading there too? That's great!" The slightly bubbly nerd-bird paused for a moment, and didn't even hide the embarrassed blush on her face. "Erm... Do you, know where it is?" The hardy datapad in her hands flickered to life, showing a digital map of the station's interior before she set it to standby again.
The azure-haired Nep chuckled again and passed her blush off as just an endearing little reaction, he took another hearty swig, before swapping hands and moving to stand alongside the vertically-challenged Elysian.
"I do, sure... but let's make sure you do too, can I take a look at your datapad a moment?" Ken inquired with an innocent little smirk rather than deciding to poke fun at the lost lass, the few steps he'd taken closer making it more apparent how nice he smelled, the pleasant scent of some cologne or aftershave wafting around his being.
"It says, uhhhh..." Bringing the tablet to life again, Aradia angled it so Ken could easily see as well as she could - though in a way he could probably look over her head and see just as well if he wanted... .but wings.
"What is that, gate thirteen?"
"Yeeahhh but it doesn't look quite right~" he responded with a thoughtful little click of his tongue, squinting his sapphire pools at Aradia's device a little longer before the Nep's features lit up.
"Aha I see what's going on, someone must have forgotten to bring your tablet up to date with the latest~" Kendo cut himself off, chuckling and dismissing what he was about to speel on about with a wave of his hand before lowering those same gloved digits down to the device's screen.
"There was basically this little quirk one update where the map had troubles keeping the location of the device itself in frame, essentially you were looking a few hundred meters away from where you actually were," the helpful and charming red-panel explained, swiping the screen a few times until the icon that represented the little hummingbird's location revealed itself proper.
"You should get someone to fix that for you when we get to our new posting but anyway, you want to get something to eat first? We still have more than enough time before they start boarding."
"....Wouldn''t be a bad idea. The update must have failed to apply or something, then - I always keep it as updated as possible," the tiny Aradia replied. "Do you know any places around here to get food?"
"Sugureta," Ken nodded with another hearty chuckle before looking off thoughtfully, scratching at his clean-shaven chin a moment or two as the blue-haired sapper tried to remember where they could maybe get some food on the station.
"There's a sushi place nearby, I'm rather partial to that... well for obvious reasons, sound good?" he smirked down at the tiny woman, were it not for that killer smile his height advantage and possible Nepleslian stereotypes might have given the whole situation a much more sinister vibe.
"Sushi, hm? Sounds like a good idea. Been a hot minute since I've had anything fishy, hmm~" Crossing her arms as her tropical wings made for a stunning backdrop, Aradia indicated for the Nepper to lead the way.
"Is that so? Well then, this place should live up to your memories and then some, that's if it is up to spec with the one I used to frequent back home," Ken retorted with a curt little nod before spinning on his heel to begin leading his vertically-challenged companion off to the station's food-court, offering Aradia a nice view of the way his athletic muscles filled out that fancy new Type 42 uniform.
"Where are you from anyway, if I may be so bold as to ask?" the azure nepper inquired with another little sip from his can, briefly looking back to offer the colourful bird a warm smile as he explained a little about himself, "I'm originally from Doshington myself, spent last few years in Kyoto though, it's where my Dad's side of the family is from."
"I was born in a little factory town on Artume. We barely managed to make it to safety before Yamatai had leveled the place in the fourth war... I don't hold it against them, unlike my grandfather. It's a smart move to cut off the supply of weapons..." She paused and cleared her throat. "Been rebuilding ever since. Well, they're back to normal now at this point, but you kinda get what I'm talking about."
A playful smirk traced itself out on Aradia's lips. "Still not too sure why I decided to join the military, actually. Instead of just going to a science firm or something."
Ken held his smile, slowing his stride a little so that the short-legged Elysian wouldn't need to start jogging to hold pace with him... the young man had a feeling the question might be a little awkward due to the circumstances surrounding their whole conversation but he was glad it didn't get too awkward.
"Maybe you feel like you have something to prove?" Kendo pondered, dark-lensed glasses tilting thoughtfully as his neck craned to one side.
"You don't, obviously, but I dunno - regardless that green panel looks good on you and you're good company so I am glad for your decision," he chuckled once more, elbowing Ms Sivins' shoulder playfully.
That last comment prompted a snort from the tiny scientist, and she retorted, "The uniform looks great on almost everyone. Did ya know I got to try one on early? Used to be a lot stiffer to move in, glad they listened to the feedback." Regardless of Ken slowing his pace down, Aradia still had to hustle and bustle to keep up with him through the crowd. "Also, I can tell you myself that I look better in pink," she boasted with a wink.
He was caught a little off guard by that last little bout though did not splutter or choke, instead Ken's sharp blue eyebrows simply arched up from behind his sunglasses, right one's blue sheen interrupted by a tiny scar that looked like it could have feasibly come from incorrectly using a scoped rifle.
"Is that so...? yeah, I could see it, go nice with those pretty wings of yours," the Nepper nodded, leading his companion around a corner as the scents and smells of food began to perforate their nostrils, Ken briefly readjusting his cadet-blue cargo pants.
"And yeah, they seem to fit better if you have a feminine build... kinda get tight in places and bunch up every now and then if you've more of a... masculine... figure, at least from what I've experienced~" he commented with a half-huffed chuckle as neon signage began invading their peripheral vision.
"I've always been surprised that they always condense their food into little spots like this. You'd think it would help traffic a bit if there was some easier stuff to access as well," Aradia prattled off as if to change the subject. Her low-profile figure, save the wings of course, practically hid behind Ken as he parted the crowd for the two of them. Frankly, the scene looked like something out of an animated "slice of life" comedy show or something.
"But also, remember, nation of catgirls. Like, ninety eight percent of the armed forces are female and about seventy percent pretty much never interact with a man for several years, so..." She trailed off with a shrug, as if to say it's an expected problem.
"Nation of lab-grown catgirls, you'd think they could figure out how to make uniforms that accommodate all kinds of anatomies, but I digress~" Ken chuckled with a little shake of his head, causing the blue man's top-knot to bounce a little before he gestured to a hole-in-the-wall type establishment called Sushido. Complete with a cute little hyper-stylized chibi samurai covered in sushi armour and wielding a chopstick instead of a sword as its mascot.
"Yammies like cramming things on top of each other to maximize how efficiently space is used... guess I answered my previous question eh?" he continued to babble, holding the door open for the Elysian like any respectable gentleman should, revealing the faux-wood interior and a few rows of booths to the little hummingbird.
With a chuckle, Aradia responded, "It's pretty impressive. I wrote a research paper on the effect miniaturization can have on a society, back in high school. Considering how big they are, Yamatai really needed it!" She didn't realize it yet, but Aradia's little orange-framed face had started beaming. The school had even put a copy of her paper into their little hall of fame, freshly rebuilt only a couple years before.
"What were we.... Oh, right, sushi! Hmmm~" The tiny one stalled for time with a hum, not sure yet on what to chow down on.
What would follow was some delightful conversation over good food, the blue Nepper and the vertically-challenged Elysian getting to know each other a little better before being crammed into their assigned vessel and thrown across the sector at reality-warping speeds.
================
A few days later however Ken had found himself a bit of free time to use the YSS Kanagawa's exercise equipment and then wind down, it wasn't like there was much that he'd be able to fiddle with during FTL travel that wouldn't have catastrophic results so the Azure man decided to be lazy and relax while he could.
Which is why the legally half-blind man was currently bouncing down the ship's halls with a relaxed pep in his step, midnight-blue hair in a lazy half-up-half-down bun while the rest of him was clad in a simple grey tank-top that displayed his athleticism and some basketball shorts which only further highlighted the man's impressively cut figure.
Kendo stretched his visibly scarred arms out to either side and emitted a small groan of satisfaction as a few small popping sounds could be heard, little knots and nuisances that had formed during his work-out causing a slight bit of discomfort but nothing too bad.
Hell it was why he had decided to pay the ship's Onsen a visit anyway, get ahead of it all, a fresh towel hanging from one of the Yam-descended Nepleslian's broad shoulders.
Aradia, as it happened, had already set herself all cozy in the steamy, cleansing water of the onsen. Clad in a bright pink one-piece swimsuit, the shorty Elysian was just about napping - eyes closed and everything. Her soaked wings kept her otherwise light body somewhat stationary, lazily spread out to either side like the petals of a blooming, tropical flower.
The quiet padding of footsteps could be heard before Kendo appeared proper, damp hair stuck to his back and shoulders from the man's pre-onsen shower, his eyes widened a little at the pleasantly suprising sight of his drowsy friend. While the big Nep hadn't been expecting company Ken did count himself lucky fo having cautiously worn his towel around his waist, even if it was the only thing covering his frame, it was better than nothing and likely a whole lot less lascivious of an entrance than your average Neko would have made.
The blue man smiled quietly to himself and cleared his throat in an attempt to get Aradia's attention, his cybernetic eye gently blinking to life as that deep voice he possessed began speaking, "Miss Sivins...? probably not the best thing to be falling asleep in the water eh?"
Ken's half-whispered words were bassy, warm and pleasant to feel rumbling down one's ear canal, his height advantage making the mostly-naked Nepleslian need to lean to one side so he could get a good look at the sleepy Elysian's face.
A silver eye peeked out from its pale tan lid. "Nah, Ken. I'd a' brought a pillow or something if I wanted to sleep," claimed the undersized birb with a toothy smile. "What, you offering?" Her petite body bobbed on the water, little bits pooling up and rolling off of her chest and belly. She did, however, work on sitting up more properly with a quiet splash.
"Well I've been told I make a good pillow but I might take a rain check on that, I'm a little sore today," the big Nep chuckled back, scratching the back of his head with a warm grin, agreeing with her statement from a few days back that she did indeed look great in pink.
"Mind if I join you? you might wanna look away for a second but I promise I won't wave anything in your face that you don't want to be waved there~" Kendo inquired, shrugging one shoulder as his other arm continued to hold his towel in place and keep the man somewhat modest, all things considered.
With a twinge of pink at her cheeks, Aradia simply lifted her eyes upwards, staring directly into the ceiling. "Y'know, you can get onsen-compatible swimwear and not have this issue as well. This is, for example," the flat-chested angel swished one hand out of the water and slapped her swimsuit at the belly lightly a few times, the light sound dissipating in the room as quickly as it was made. "The heck'd you do to get so sore anyways?"
"Oh just uh, gym stuff... and yeah I should probably look into that~" Ken chuckled with a faint flush also gracing his cheeks, feeling he'd maybe taken to Yamatai's culture a bit too quickly for someone not even born there.
"In my defence it's what I'm used to back home, and I thought I'd have the place to myself, but cheers for being cool with it," the big blue Nep nodded, turning to put his brawny back to the dimnuitive woman before dropping his towel. Only a flash of Ken's big muscly butt being visible as he quickly slipped into the water, letting the cloudy depths obscure his nethers.
"Aight, you can look now~" he informed Aradia with another hearty chuckle, sitting much higher out of the water than his winged companion.
The asymmetrical hummingbird-lady rolled her eyes around before looking back at Ken's face. "Maybe you should, buddy. Gettin' sore can really cause ya problems down the line... Well, short and long term. Half lost a wing that way... Half."
"Oh~? is that so?" Ken pondered as his eyebrows arched up in surprise at the sudden statement, his pale eye blinking to life with a synthetic cyan glow as he focused in on the tiny lady a little more.
"I'll admit, that has me curious, do you mind if I ask what happened?" the big Nep inquired, playfully splashing a small bit of water at the Elysian's swimsuit-clad stomach with a kind chuckle.
"In my defence, you kinda brought it up outta nowhere," he admitted, raising a cupped hand to let some of the soothing water run down his large pectorals before reaching the defined divots and lines that made up his own torso.
With a giggle befitting her petite stature, Aradia managed to block a good portion of Ken's aquatic attack with her arms. Of course, plenty of droplets speckled across her shoulders and raised-up wings, dribbling back down to their source in the pool. "In my defense, excuse you, I... Wait, no, I did walk into that. Heh." The hummingbird-Elysian lowered her arms in defeat, wary for the cyber-man's next assault.
"Didn't think it was anything serious when my wings were aching, back when I got my original Caelisolan body." She smirked at Ken's confused facial expression, and continued, "Though I've switched over to the Neo-Caelisolan that the Iemochi guy made. But anyways - not used to flying yet, hit my wings together by accident. I thought the soreness was just, well, soreness - turns out I'd had a fractured bone in each. By the time we'd figured out what was actually happening, though, they had split apart and were growing misaligned... Nasty stuff. Would have crippled me, but we had to resort to a rather... Blunt and effective way of fixing that issue." The way Aradia's voice trailed off implied that the treatment was not very pleasant - that and her arm rubbing against the large bone of her left wing softly, stroking the meat under the brightly-colored feathers.
His features morphed from a look of confusion to a sympathetic frown at the little Elysian across the way, offering a few equally little nods of understanding as the painful memory was explained.
"Shit, well, I'm sorry you went though all that. But hey, if it's any consolation, I find your wings pretty breath-taking," Kendo smiled before beginning to shuffle closer to tower over Aradia's right side, trying to make sure the various inappropriate shapes of his crotch remained sufficiently hidden beneath the water.
"I had something similar but to a much lesser degree happen back when I started high school, wasn't having the greatest day and ended up putting my fist through my locker between classes... long story short I didn't feel anything but my hand started getting all discoloured and swollen. Turns out it was a... I think the term is a boxer's fracture? might've lost the hand if I was any more stubborn," the blue lad exclaimed, lifting one large and pretty weathered hand up for examination before chuckling to himself, that chuckle fading to a bit of a grimace that he tried to brush off.
"These scars are from something else, but the hand's fine now, heck it's my dominant one even."
Aradia winced. "Ouch, ahhhh- never had to deal with one of those, but I know there's some of us that like to do that intentionally. Take advantage of the healing to harden their bones. Though I think they do something a bit softer than a locker," she joked.
"And thank you! These aren't my original color. I decided to play around with my options a little bit with the expanded framework that Neos have. Loving these colors as well~"
"Of course! yes, they're very pleasant, matches the rest of you ey?" Ken teased a little though there was some sincerity behind his words, the man's broad chest rising and falling with a happy sigh.
"It's a family secret I'm yet to unravel how exactly the Ishikawas got this, so far I can only guess somatic tuning in the roots of my family tree but maybe it's some freak natural occurance, " he continued, gesturing to his flowing azure hair before that hand trailed half-way down his rock hard abs, tastefully flourishing away to let the Elysian make an educated guess how far down Ken was implying the pigment went.
Aradia, yet again, rolled her eyes - her favorite playful reaction of the hour. [colo=#ff0000]"Originally was just pink. Everything else I've got is natural, though. Born a redhead with one off-eye, stilla redhead with the curves of a whiteboard!"[/color]
"Pfffft, whiteboard," Kendo echoed back with a bemused shake of his head. The big guy cocked his head and scratched his chin thoughtfully a moment before shrugging, figuring it couldn't be that bad of a thing to ask.
"I don't think I've asked before but this seems as fitting time as any, is there anyone who might not like some naked, six-foot Nep sitting next to their cute little whiteboard?" he asked fairly genuinely, one eyebrow cocked though his tone read warmth and curiosity moreso than anything overly salacious.
The flushing blood to Aradia's face made it clear that Ken's compliment had hit her pretty dang close to home. "As a matter of fact, yes. My grandma has been insisting I come back and stay in Elysia and get myself a boyfriend there. I can't exactly say she's crazy - 's how her family, my family, stuck together after the wars - but she's rather ornery."
As much as Ken found the blushing Elysian adorable he decided to not make her feel too uncomfortable in this current situation, resting one arm on the edge of the pool and putting some weight on it as he heard Aradia out.
"You have to admit though, it makes sense given... things," he agreed, gesturing rather vaguely at the air before running an adorably awkward hand down the back of his head.
"My Mother was kinda the same, ornery's the polite way I'd put it," Kendo explained briefly, eyes looking off at nothing in particular a few moments before the big guy slid considerably lower into the water, shadowy shapes of his legs extending a surprising distance beneath the surface.
"That's... a whole-ass other can of worms," he finished, now looking across at Aradia, almost eye-level with the short woman as he offered an apologetic frown.
The little Elysian leaned back in the water, almost mimicking Ken's pose. She murmured,
"Lucky for you, I didn't bring a can-opener."
"Appreciate it," he hummed with a bemused little squint, offering one hand out to the multi-coloured lass.
"Shit well, this was a pleasant little surprise, maybe we should do this more often? I'll bring something more appropriate next time, maybe you can even help me pick something out," Ken propositioned, devilishly charming smile plastered across his jaw.
"Pffft. If you think I have fashion sense, you're dead wrong. You'll end up with the least interesting pair of swim trunks in history!" Aradia joked. "Though yes, it's been nice to chat. Thanks for helping me find that sushi place, by-the-way. Fantastic."
"Of course, one part of my ancestry might be all chrome and cordite but the other side knows good food when he sees it, the pleasure is all mine," Ken retorted, sensing his intent to shake the lass' hand would go unanswered he instead chucked and retracted the offending limb, letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Well, Sivins-Hei, I'll let you get back to your relaxing and maybe go grab some shuteye before my free time is up," the blue lad nodded, his own mismatching eyes momentarily gaining a glimmer of something fiercely playful as they squinted towards Aradia.
In one explosive motion his hulking figure burst upright, displacing a good bit of water into the air and most-likely showering the poor girl as she got the briefest glimpse at something hefty flopping around beneath his rock-hard abs. Something quickly (though admittedly, only barely) obscured by a layer of soft nylon as Ken wrapped the towel back around his waist, offering a perfectly innocent smile down at the soggy Elysian, fighting back the urge to break into a bout of giggling.
"Oh, my bad~"
"Pfft. You knew what you were trying to do," the lightweight girl joked. She'd already looked away, more as a reaction to him standing up than to give the man some privacy, but nonetheless it'd managed to spare her most of the exposure. The giggling, however, was still pretty contagious. "Just, be careful, ya know? Someone's gonna start spreadin' rumors if this keeps happenin'~"
"It's a Yamataian vessel, there's as many rumors flowing through the ship as there are conduits, people can say whatever they want to say~" Ken chuckled with one final shake of his head, properly securing his towel before offering the adorably diminutive Elysian's hair a quick ruffle.
"You know where to find me if something breaks or if you simply wish to chat some more, do svidaniya for now," the Nepper finished, taking a few steps out of the hot-tub before turning around to offer Aradia a little wave and a grin over his beefy shoulder.
He didn't look too out of place, a tall, fit male of mostly Yamataian descent with his dark blue hair done up in what would be a traditional topknot if not for the sides of his head being shaved. The young man was clad in a red-paneled type 42 uniform, his eyes hidden behind dark-tinted sunglasses as they read over the volumetric screen being projected by a nearby vending machine.
"Monsuta... monsuta..." he murmured thoughtfully, while not overly deep, his voice did have a pleasant baritone rumble that punctuated each word, he delicately put his finger through a button on the volumetric display and waited for the drink to be delivered to him. But not before one Neko from a passing, giggling, trio called out.
"Hiiii Kendo! have a nice day!" the green-haired catgirl's bubbly voice rang out, only to be met with a warm smile and a wave from the blue-haired man at the vending machine.
Truth be told, he remembered the face from their time together in basic but the Neko's name eluded him... and he felt a little bad for it but not bad enough for it to ruin his day. So Kendo reached in to the flap at the bottom of the machine to retrieve a small yet brightly coloured can with 'Monsuta' scrawled down the side in stylized Yamataigo
A few long-legged steps were taken back and the drink was about to be cracked open, when Kendo felt his back bump into something, the warm and fluffy feeling permeating even through his uniform - as well as the soft "Eep-" which cried out immediately afterwards - making the young man feel like it was probably more likely someone than something.
"Oh uh I'm sorry there, wasn't looking where I was going," the relatively tall man chuckled as he span around on one heel with an apologetic grin on his face, black-gloved hand gripping at the colourful can as Kendo quickly sized up whoever he'd almost stood on.
Ken saw a familiar face - well, probably more like familiar EVERYTHING; wings, height, face, hair, the whole four and a half yards. "Hey, aren't you - You're erm, Ken, right?" The quiet voice of Aradia Sivins made itself audible over the hubbub of pedestrians in the concourse. "What are you doing here?"
Despite being almost squished like a little grape, she didn't seem all that angry or disheveled - likely a mixture of this stuff happening on the regular, and the fact that she knew the guy that almost ran her over.
His deep, midnight-blue eyebrows creased down behind the lad's dark-tinted sunglasses as Ken regarded the Elysian lass, she was familiar sure but her name still sat on the precipice of his tongue. He just couldn't quite grasp it and instead opted to stall for time,
"Ken, Kenneth, Kendo it all depends on the context and if you know my Dad or not..." Kendo trailed off a bit, biting into his bottom lip thoughtfully before realization hit him like a Plumeria's main gun. The free, ungloved hand shot out towards the bright little bird with a snap of his fingers as Ken's features lifted into something more jovial.
"Aha! Aradia, right? Am I pronouncing that right?" He checked with a small yet warm grin, head cocking to one side a little. "I'm uh, just waiting a few hours for a shuttle that'll take me to my new assignment, I assume you're here for something similar?"
"Close, Ken. Try Araydia!" The smol joked back, shaking the man's hand gently. "Yeah, I'm heading to the Kane... Kawa..."
"Araydia then, apologies, yours is not a tongue I've had much exposure to~" he briefly apologized with a light chuckle, returning her friendly hand-shake before retracting that same hand back to his body, using it to pry open the tab on his drink while letting her butchered words roll over his tongue.
"If I may... did you mean the Kanagawa?" Ken pondered, taking a thoughtful sip from his drink, prominent adam's apple rolling up and down his throat with each gulp as the low-ranking technician paused to scratch at his clean-shaven jaw. His pronunciation was flawless, and understandably so if you pondered the ancestry of his handsome features for just a fraction of a second.
"That's where I am headed anyway, I don't suppose we'll be stuck with each other a little longer by any chance?"
"Oh, you're heading there too? That's great!" The slightly bubbly nerd-bird paused for a moment, and didn't even hide the embarrassed blush on her face. "Erm... Do you, know where it is?" The hardy datapad in her hands flickered to life, showing a digital map of the station's interior before she set it to standby again.
The azure-haired Nep chuckled again and passed her blush off as just an endearing little reaction, he took another hearty swig, before swapping hands and moving to stand alongside the vertically-challenged Elysian.
"I do, sure... but let's make sure you do too, can I take a look at your datapad a moment?" Ken inquired with an innocent little smirk rather than deciding to poke fun at the lost lass, the few steps he'd taken closer making it more apparent how nice he smelled, the pleasant scent of some cologne or aftershave wafting around his being.
"It says, uhhhh..." Bringing the tablet to life again, Aradia angled it so Ken could easily see as well as she could - though in a way he could probably look over her head and see just as well if he wanted... .but wings.
"What is that, gate thirteen?"
"Yeeahhh but it doesn't look quite right~" he responded with a thoughtful little click of his tongue, squinting his sapphire pools at Aradia's device a little longer before the Nep's features lit up.
"Aha I see what's going on, someone must have forgotten to bring your tablet up to date with the latest~" Kendo cut himself off, chuckling and dismissing what he was about to speel on about with a wave of his hand before lowering those same gloved digits down to the device's screen.
"There was basically this little quirk one update where the map had troubles keeping the location of the device itself in frame, essentially you were looking a few hundred meters away from where you actually were," the helpful and charming red-panel explained, swiping the screen a few times until the icon that represented the little hummingbird's location revealed itself proper.
"You should get someone to fix that for you when we get to our new posting but anyway, you want to get something to eat first? We still have more than enough time before they start boarding."
"....Wouldn''t be a bad idea. The update must have failed to apply or something, then - I always keep it as updated as possible," the tiny Aradia replied. "Do you know any places around here to get food?"
"Sugureta," Ken nodded with another hearty chuckle before looking off thoughtfully, scratching at his clean-shaven chin a moment or two as the blue-haired sapper tried to remember where they could maybe get some food on the station.
"There's a sushi place nearby, I'm rather partial to that... well for obvious reasons, sound good?" he smirked down at the tiny woman, were it not for that killer smile his height advantage and possible Nepleslian stereotypes might have given the whole situation a much more sinister vibe.
"Sushi, hm? Sounds like a good idea. Been a hot minute since I've had anything fishy, hmm~" Crossing her arms as her tropical wings made for a stunning backdrop, Aradia indicated for the Nepper to lead the way.
"Is that so? Well then, this place should live up to your memories and then some, that's if it is up to spec with the one I used to frequent back home," Ken retorted with a curt little nod before spinning on his heel to begin leading his vertically-challenged companion off to the station's food-court, offering Aradia a nice view of the way his athletic muscles filled out that fancy new Type 42 uniform.
"Where are you from anyway, if I may be so bold as to ask?" the azure nepper inquired with another little sip from his can, briefly looking back to offer the colourful bird a warm smile as he explained a little about himself, "I'm originally from Doshington myself, spent last few years in Kyoto though, it's where my Dad's side of the family is from."
"I was born in a little factory town on Artume. We barely managed to make it to safety before Yamatai had leveled the place in the fourth war... I don't hold it against them, unlike my grandfather. It's a smart move to cut off the supply of weapons..." She paused and cleared her throat. "Been rebuilding ever since. Well, they're back to normal now at this point, but you kinda get what I'm talking about."
A playful smirk traced itself out on Aradia's lips. "Still not too sure why I decided to join the military, actually. Instead of just going to a science firm or something."
Ken held his smile, slowing his stride a little so that the short-legged Elysian wouldn't need to start jogging to hold pace with him... the young man had a feeling the question might be a little awkward due to the circumstances surrounding their whole conversation but he was glad it didn't get too awkward.
"Maybe you feel like you have something to prove?" Kendo pondered, dark-lensed glasses tilting thoughtfully as his neck craned to one side.
"You don't, obviously, but I dunno - regardless that green panel looks good on you and you're good company so I am glad for your decision," he chuckled once more, elbowing Ms Sivins' shoulder playfully.
That last comment prompted a snort from the tiny scientist, and she retorted, "The uniform looks great on almost everyone. Did ya know I got to try one on early? Used to be a lot stiffer to move in, glad they listened to the feedback." Regardless of Ken slowing his pace down, Aradia still had to hustle and bustle to keep up with him through the crowd. "Also, I can tell you myself that I look better in pink," she boasted with a wink.
He was caught a little off guard by that last little bout though did not splutter or choke, instead Ken's sharp blue eyebrows simply arched up from behind his sunglasses, right one's blue sheen interrupted by a tiny scar that looked like it could have feasibly come from incorrectly using a scoped rifle.
"Is that so...? yeah, I could see it, go nice with those pretty wings of yours," the Nepper nodded, leading his companion around a corner as the scents and smells of food began to perforate their nostrils, Ken briefly readjusting his cadet-blue cargo pants.
"And yeah, they seem to fit better if you have a feminine build... kinda get tight in places and bunch up every now and then if you've more of a... masculine... figure, at least from what I've experienced~" he commented with a half-huffed chuckle as neon signage began invading their peripheral vision.
"I've always been surprised that they always condense their food into little spots like this. You'd think it would help traffic a bit if there was some easier stuff to access as well," Aradia prattled off as if to change the subject. Her low-profile figure, save the wings of course, practically hid behind Ken as he parted the crowd for the two of them. Frankly, the scene looked like something out of an animated "slice of life" comedy show or something.
"But also, remember, nation of catgirls. Like, ninety eight percent of the armed forces are female and about seventy percent pretty much never interact with a man for several years, so..." She trailed off with a shrug, as if to say it's an expected problem.
"Nation of lab-grown catgirls, you'd think they could figure out how to make uniforms that accommodate all kinds of anatomies, but I digress~" Ken chuckled with a little shake of his head, causing the blue man's top-knot to bounce a little before he gestured to a hole-in-the-wall type establishment called Sushido. Complete with a cute little hyper-stylized chibi samurai covered in sushi armour and wielding a chopstick instead of a sword as its mascot.
"Yammies like cramming things on top of each other to maximize how efficiently space is used... guess I answered my previous question eh?" he continued to babble, holding the door open for the Elysian like any respectable gentleman should, revealing the faux-wood interior and a few rows of booths to the little hummingbird.
With a chuckle, Aradia responded, "It's pretty impressive. I wrote a research paper on the effect miniaturization can have on a society, back in high school. Considering how big they are, Yamatai really needed it!" She didn't realize it yet, but Aradia's little orange-framed face had started beaming. The school had even put a copy of her paper into their little hall of fame, freshly rebuilt only a couple years before.
"What were we.... Oh, right, sushi! Hmmm~" The tiny one stalled for time with a hum, not sure yet on what to chow down on.
What would follow was some delightful conversation over good food, the blue Nepper and the vertically-challenged Elysian getting to know each other a little better before being crammed into their assigned vessel and thrown across the sector at reality-warping speeds.
================
A few days later however Ken had found himself a bit of free time to use the YSS Kanagawa's exercise equipment and then wind down, it wasn't like there was much that he'd be able to fiddle with during FTL travel that wouldn't have catastrophic results so the Azure man decided to be lazy and relax while he could.
Which is why the legally half-blind man was currently bouncing down the ship's halls with a relaxed pep in his step, midnight-blue hair in a lazy half-up-half-down bun while the rest of him was clad in a simple grey tank-top that displayed his athleticism and some basketball shorts which only further highlighted the man's impressively cut figure.
Kendo stretched his visibly scarred arms out to either side and emitted a small groan of satisfaction as a few small popping sounds could be heard, little knots and nuisances that had formed during his work-out causing a slight bit of discomfort but nothing too bad.
Hell it was why he had decided to pay the ship's Onsen a visit anyway, get ahead of it all, a fresh towel hanging from one of the Yam-descended Nepleslian's broad shoulders.
Aradia, as it happened, had already set herself all cozy in the steamy, cleansing water of the onsen. Clad in a bright pink one-piece swimsuit, the shorty Elysian was just about napping - eyes closed and everything. Her soaked wings kept her otherwise light body somewhat stationary, lazily spread out to either side like the petals of a blooming, tropical flower.
The quiet padding of footsteps could be heard before Kendo appeared proper, damp hair stuck to his back and shoulders from the man's pre-onsen shower, his eyes widened a little at the pleasantly suprising sight of his drowsy friend. While the big Nep hadn't been expecting company Ken did count himself lucky fo having cautiously worn his towel around his waist, even if it was the only thing covering his frame, it was better than nothing and likely a whole lot less lascivious of an entrance than your average Neko would have made.
The blue man smiled quietly to himself and cleared his throat in an attempt to get Aradia's attention, his cybernetic eye gently blinking to life as that deep voice he possessed began speaking, "Miss Sivins...? probably not the best thing to be falling asleep in the water eh?"
Ken's half-whispered words were bassy, warm and pleasant to feel rumbling down one's ear canal, his height advantage making the mostly-naked Nepleslian need to lean to one side so he could get a good look at the sleepy Elysian's face.
A silver eye peeked out from its pale tan lid. "Nah, Ken. I'd a' brought a pillow or something if I wanted to sleep," claimed the undersized birb with a toothy smile. "What, you offering?" Her petite body bobbed on the water, little bits pooling up and rolling off of her chest and belly. She did, however, work on sitting up more properly with a quiet splash.
"Well I've been told I make a good pillow but I might take a rain check on that, I'm a little sore today," the big Nep chuckled back, scratching the back of his head with a warm grin, agreeing with her statement from a few days back that she did indeed look great in pink.
"Mind if I join you? you might wanna look away for a second but I promise I won't wave anything in your face that you don't want to be waved there~" Kendo inquired, shrugging one shoulder as his other arm continued to hold his towel in place and keep the man somewhat modest, all things considered.
With a twinge of pink at her cheeks, Aradia simply lifted her eyes upwards, staring directly into the ceiling. "Y'know, you can get onsen-compatible swimwear and not have this issue as well. This is, for example," the flat-chested angel swished one hand out of the water and slapped her swimsuit at the belly lightly a few times, the light sound dissipating in the room as quickly as it was made. "The heck'd you do to get so sore anyways?"
"Oh just uh, gym stuff... and yeah I should probably look into that~" Ken chuckled with a faint flush also gracing his cheeks, feeling he'd maybe taken to Yamatai's culture a bit too quickly for someone not even born there.
"In my defence it's what I'm used to back home, and I thought I'd have the place to myself, but cheers for being cool with it," the big blue Nep nodded, turning to put his brawny back to the dimnuitive woman before dropping his towel. Only a flash of Ken's big muscly butt being visible as he quickly slipped into the water, letting the cloudy depths obscure his nethers.
"Aight, you can look now~" he informed Aradia with another hearty chuckle, sitting much higher out of the water than his winged companion.
The asymmetrical hummingbird-lady rolled her eyes around before looking back at Ken's face. "Maybe you should, buddy. Gettin' sore can really cause ya problems down the line... Well, short and long term. Half lost a wing that way... Half."
"Oh~? is that so?" Ken pondered as his eyebrows arched up in surprise at the sudden statement, his pale eye blinking to life with a synthetic cyan glow as he focused in on the tiny lady a little more.
"I'll admit, that has me curious, do you mind if I ask what happened?" the big Nep inquired, playfully splashing a small bit of water at the Elysian's swimsuit-clad stomach with a kind chuckle.
"In my defence, you kinda brought it up outta nowhere," he admitted, raising a cupped hand to let some of the soothing water run down his large pectorals before reaching the defined divots and lines that made up his own torso.
With a giggle befitting her petite stature, Aradia managed to block a good portion of Ken's aquatic attack with her arms. Of course, plenty of droplets speckled across her shoulders and raised-up wings, dribbling back down to their source in the pool. "In my defense, excuse you, I... Wait, no, I did walk into that. Heh." The hummingbird-Elysian lowered her arms in defeat, wary for the cyber-man's next assault.
"Didn't think it was anything serious when my wings were aching, back when I got my original Caelisolan body." She smirked at Ken's confused facial expression, and continued, "Though I've switched over to the Neo-Caelisolan that the Iemochi guy made. But anyways - not used to flying yet, hit my wings together by accident. I thought the soreness was just, well, soreness - turns out I'd had a fractured bone in each. By the time we'd figured out what was actually happening, though, they had split apart and were growing misaligned... Nasty stuff. Would have crippled me, but we had to resort to a rather... Blunt and effective way of fixing that issue." The way Aradia's voice trailed off implied that the treatment was not very pleasant - that and her arm rubbing against the large bone of her left wing softly, stroking the meat under the brightly-colored feathers.
His features morphed from a look of confusion to a sympathetic frown at the little Elysian across the way, offering a few equally little nods of understanding as the painful memory was explained.
"Shit, well, I'm sorry you went though all that. But hey, if it's any consolation, I find your wings pretty breath-taking," Kendo smiled before beginning to shuffle closer to tower over Aradia's right side, trying to make sure the various inappropriate shapes of his crotch remained sufficiently hidden beneath the water.
"I had something similar but to a much lesser degree happen back when I started high school, wasn't having the greatest day and ended up putting my fist through my locker between classes... long story short I didn't feel anything but my hand started getting all discoloured and swollen. Turns out it was a... I think the term is a boxer's fracture? might've lost the hand if I was any more stubborn," the blue lad exclaimed, lifting one large and pretty weathered hand up for examination before chuckling to himself, that chuckle fading to a bit of a grimace that he tried to brush off.
"These scars are from something else, but the hand's fine now, heck it's my dominant one even."
Aradia winced. "Ouch, ahhhh- never had to deal with one of those, but I know there's some of us that like to do that intentionally. Take advantage of the healing to harden their bones. Though I think they do something a bit softer than a locker," she joked.
"And thank you! These aren't my original color. I decided to play around with my options a little bit with the expanded framework that Neos have. Loving these colors as well~"
"Of course! yes, they're very pleasant, matches the rest of you ey?" Ken teased a little though there was some sincerity behind his words, the man's broad chest rising and falling with a happy sigh.
"It's a family secret I'm yet to unravel how exactly the Ishikawas got this, so far I can only guess somatic tuning in the roots of my family tree but maybe it's some freak natural occurance, " he continued, gesturing to his flowing azure hair before that hand trailed half-way down his rock hard abs, tastefully flourishing away to let the Elysian make an educated guess how far down Ken was implying the pigment went.
Aradia, yet again, rolled her eyes - her favorite playful reaction of the hour. [colo=#ff0000]"Originally was just pink. Everything else I've got is natural, though. Born a redhead with one off-eye, stilla redhead with the curves of a whiteboard!"[/color]
"Pfffft, whiteboard," Kendo echoed back with a bemused shake of his head. The big guy cocked his head and scratched his chin thoughtfully a moment before shrugging, figuring it couldn't be that bad of a thing to ask.
"I don't think I've asked before but this seems as fitting time as any, is there anyone who might not like some naked, six-foot Nep sitting next to their cute little whiteboard?" he asked fairly genuinely, one eyebrow cocked though his tone read warmth and curiosity moreso than anything overly salacious.
The flushing blood to Aradia's face made it clear that Ken's compliment had hit her pretty dang close to home. "As a matter of fact, yes. My grandma has been insisting I come back and stay in Elysia and get myself a boyfriend there. I can't exactly say she's crazy - 's how her family, my family, stuck together after the wars - but she's rather ornery."
As much as Ken found the blushing Elysian adorable he decided to not make her feel too uncomfortable in this current situation, resting one arm on the edge of the pool and putting some weight on it as he heard Aradia out.
"You have to admit though, it makes sense given... things," he agreed, gesturing rather vaguely at the air before running an adorably awkward hand down the back of his head.
"My Mother was kinda the same, ornery's the polite way I'd put it," Kendo explained briefly, eyes looking off at nothing in particular a few moments before the big guy slid considerably lower into the water, shadowy shapes of his legs extending a surprising distance beneath the surface.
"That's... a whole-ass other can of worms," he finished, now looking across at Aradia, almost eye-level with the short woman as he offered an apologetic frown.
The little Elysian leaned back in the water, almost mimicking Ken's pose. She murmured,
"Lucky for you, I didn't bring a can-opener."
"Appreciate it," he hummed with a bemused little squint, offering one hand out to the multi-coloured lass.
"Shit well, this was a pleasant little surprise, maybe we should do this more often? I'll bring something more appropriate next time, maybe you can even help me pick something out," Ken propositioned, devilishly charming smile plastered across his jaw.
"Pffft. If you think I have fashion sense, you're dead wrong. You'll end up with the least interesting pair of swim trunks in history!" Aradia joked. "Though yes, it's been nice to chat. Thanks for helping me find that sushi place, by-the-way. Fantastic."
"Of course, one part of my ancestry might be all chrome and cordite but the other side knows good food when he sees it, the pleasure is all mine," Ken retorted, sensing his intent to shake the lass' hand would go unanswered he instead chucked and retracted the offending limb, letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Well, Sivins-Hei, I'll let you get back to your relaxing and maybe go grab some shuteye before my free time is up," the blue lad nodded, his own mismatching eyes momentarily gaining a glimmer of something fiercely playful as they squinted towards Aradia.
In one explosive motion his hulking figure burst upright, displacing a good bit of water into the air and most-likely showering the poor girl as she got the briefest glimpse at something hefty flopping around beneath his rock-hard abs. Something quickly (though admittedly, only barely) obscured by a layer of soft nylon as Ken wrapped the towel back around his waist, offering a perfectly innocent smile down at the soggy Elysian, fighting back the urge to break into a bout of giggling.
"Oh, my bad~"
"Pfft. You knew what you were trying to do," the lightweight girl joked. She'd already looked away, more as a reaction to him standing up than to give the man some privacy, but nonetheless it'd managed to spare her most of the exposure. The giggling, however, was still pretty contagious. "Just, be careful, ya know? Someone's gonna start spreadin' rumors if this keeps happenin'~"
"It's a Yamataian vessel, there's as many rumors flowing through the ship as there are conduits, people can say whatever they want to say~" Ken chuckled with one final shake of his head, properly securing his towel before offering the adorably diminutive Elysian's hair a quick ruffle.
"You know where to find me if something breaks or if you simply wish to chat some more, do svidaniya for now," the Nepper finished, taking a few steps out of the hot-tub before turning around to offer Aradia a little wave and a grin over his beefy shoulder.
