Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 2: Of Dire Tides

[Nanami Touko]

Insufficient

Brant's immediate turnover of emotions was unsettling... Had he really found the captain so appealing? Something registered in Hannah, but she chose to ignore it for the moment, Brant's plight far more important than whatever new mess had decided to spring up. "That doesn't make you an idiot, Brant. You don't know the context of things, or even if it's true. And even if it is, why would that reflect poorly on you? We all haven't had many moments to ourselves for the entire week, and your free time has been taken up by other things. It's just... How things worked out. I know that likely won't convince you, but..." Why was he beating himself up over this? If anything, wouldn't it be Jessica's 'fault'? Hannah had no idea which of the two had initiated affections, but if they'd been there, and Jess had chosen to be with someone else without telling him anything...

"You still have me. I'm..." Am I good enough? That's... What was resonating. Jealousy? I can't be jealous, I'm... I've said that I'm fine with things, and all of this, I... She gulped, then went eyes wide at that, the motion far too human for her to accept at face value.

Galatea simply watched. While it could be helpful for her to jump in, it was fascinating to watch Hannah try and tackle these... And it was against her programming to stifle any growth that came about her interactions. Tabitha had put her in there for that reason, after all.

"What... Wh-What does the captain have, that, I lack...?" The words were soft, almost like they didn't want to be spoken. "I know that I'm not, real... But, I... I can try to be. Just, tell me what I'm missing. Anything, I... I just want to help. Please, Brant." You sound so desperate. Part of her was trying to urge her servos to rush her out of the cafeteria, but another kept her sat still, eyes focused on the table.

This isn't going to go well at all...~ At least someone was amused, the tiny pink haired head almost sporting a smirk.

Doctor Doctor

"Oh, the doctor... I could. Maybe we could get her to see her? It could be worth a shot... Thanks for being open to this." It meant a lot that Kim was so willing to help, even when it was obvious that she thought this was a dumb idea. Still, "and if she won't agree, we can go to the mall together, and I'll drop it for the day. Okay? Just so that you and I can still have some fun... Whoa." The whoa should've been at the food, but it was coming from Brant, the sudden downward spike in emotions hitting harder than it should've. What's going on over there?

"Oh, good... Uh, do you wanna take it back to the room? I don't mind eating here, but..." Maybe Kim hadn't noticed yet? She was way better at working these feelings out...

Approval

'Abigail did. Thanks. I'll make sure to bring someone with me.'

That was all Chris needed, smiling to herself... Smiling... She tried to focus on the feeling, but it disappeared as soon as she did. "Stupid, fucking brain." Anger easily slipped in, and she almost punched the communicator, sighing and trying to calm down instead. "You'll get to take this out on some more virtual targets soon enough. Just, put something on the TV and try to ignore it... Soon... Who do I take with me, though? Who... Yeah, him. That'll do." A plan for tomorrow, at least.

Edited February 24, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[TheRoon]

Aliza was still imagining her favorite crew members in the adorable outfits. In fact she was just about to construct her image for Jess. Ah yes Jess. She would look good in just about anything. Perhaps she'd look fine in that nice set of-or not. Because Aliza's thoughts were suddenly cut off by Elaine calling for her help. Poor timing. "Ugh..." She groaned to herself quietly. Aliza disliked being pulled out of her fantasies sometimes. But alas, can't say no to a cutie. "You want fashion tips from me?" She turned and looked Elaine over. She looked pretty nice to Aliza. She's seen better but she's certainly seen worse. "Hm...well...light blue might look good on you. Let's see what we got..." She took Elaine's hand and pulled her off to a section. "Are you a shorts girl or a skirt girl? Do you want to be subtle or do you wanna flaunt it? Do you like accessories?"

[Juliette]

"Yes, is made by me, the AI very simple for a robot. Is just meant to do cute things. Need to look up videos to learn more about what kind of cute sounds bunnies am make. The AI part not definitely need help with, mostly robot making Juria am not sure on, so not knowing what parts best. But I say my last try was good, at least!" She pat Reo, eliciting a purr from the robotic cat. "Yes, ship and crew on it do our best! But, it best not to overwork, so I want think of small cute thing to work on while here for break time, no? Ah, and yes, about same size as Reo sounds like best choice. Cat sized bunny! Am sure small girl will find cute and cuddly for herself, no? Other parts are listing, those are sound right too." She kept smiling. Even at such a late time she was as bouncy as ever.

[Xinnidy]

Hesitance

Abigail. Gee, at least give it a day before giving the captive a tour. Honestly, some people... though she wouldn't put it past Jess to approve of that behavior. Drinking was really tempting again, but it'd just be spitting on Firmia's face after she bothered to come and talk. That was a rare occasion and Roxanna was starting to value those. "Sorry about that, figures somebody would show the clone around... this soon." Not much she could do about it at this point, really. If the clone wanted to use machines, she would, as long as she got no access to actual weapons and had somebody by her side like agreed. The only concern was her getting too much info... but she had no rank. She'd be denied some data on mobile suits, most likely.

"Uh, right." Roxanna did pause a question halfway, she (almost) forgot. "Do you think the ANF's dirt will stop us from winning this war?" It was rather blunt and pessimistic, but in their current situation, Firmia would probably be the only one to answer her in a critical manner. "It's obvious that Apotheosis was planning this for a while. How they've been keeping the aliens secret for so long is a mystery." It didn't feel right, they turned the ANF upside down and showed up in so many places... "If one of the top brass proves to be supporting them, I wouldn't know how to tackle it."

[Ether]

Well, that had certainly cropped out of nowhere. What had gotten Brant so riled up with Hannah? Well, clearly it was whatever had caused the android to excuse herself in the first place, though this brought to light that it likely involved Brant from the start. Christina clearly wasn't taking it very well, being noticeably distracted by it and asking if they could leave to eat.

"Well, we can... worry about that later.  And yes, it might be... distracting, to try and eat here." Kim replied, pausing and looking over at Brant and Hannah curiously.

[Phoenix]

Firmia scowled, wishing security on the ship was at least passable by Russian standards. They got an A for automated defenses, a B for rank based clearance--even though it was biting them in the rear at the moment, and a big fat F in all other categories she could think of.

Roxanna didn't spend long on the explanation and then moved onto her question about their personnel troubles. Firmia certainly had a suggestion for how to deal with traitorous officials, but she was fairly certain she shouldn't say it aloud. Taking out ANF officers in particular was as subversive as it got. It was looking more and more likely that Apotheosis had high ranking sympathizers within the ANF the more she thought about it. They might have even infiltrated the highest reaches of the organization in preparation for this war. If there was a traitorous admiral in their midst, the bastard had likely spent a good deal of his time covering his tracks. Catching someone like that in the act might be near impossible, as well. This was the sort of problem assassins dealt with ...

There was a thought. More on that later. "Well," Firmia grimaced, not liking their legal options one bit, "it's a good thing this ship can operate the way it does, all alone and anywhere on the planet. The rest of the ANF is probably going to get crushed if this war drags on too long and Apotheosis gets its roots down in the Americas. You could regroup in space while they focus on the other nations. If you find a way to target their leadership, you could still end the war pretty quickly, even then."

And that was the good news, as Firmia saw it. The bad news was that Apotheosis was, whether knowingly or unknowingly, setting the stage for a second war following the first. "I guess the issue is that you're losing a lot of people and resources and there are other factions involved. If they make it through this war better off than the ANF, the EU might try to rush in and clear the whole damn board." Firmia had no doubt the ANF would pull the same move if they felt they could manage it. It made her wonder just what kind of world she would have to try and make her living in.

---

Brant could concede that he'd been busy enough to not be able to hang out with Jessica, but between his alpha tool, this generic looking communicator, and the Regalia's own comm system, he could have at least spoken to her over the radio. Voice chatting was all the rage at one point, but it seemed society had come full circle and preferred to meet face to face, again. Common sense prodded Brant painfully in the back, reminding him that any negligence on his part applied at least partially to Jessica, as well. A two minute conversation any time in the past couple of days could have cleared up everything. Still, Brant couldn't blame her for avoiding him. She was probably afraid she would interrupt a 'labia inspection' or something equally damning, and he didn't blame her for not wanting to get dragged into something like that, herself.

Brant was far from convinced that this wasn't his fault. Jessica had never been socially adept. She only just recently overcame her stutter, and was going out of her way to make sure the pilots the team had flipped were integrating with the rest of the crew. Keeping in touch with someone she was romantically interested in might have been asking a bit much on top of that ... unless of course Hannah was right about the Abigail thing. In which case, she could take two birds with one stone. Still, any time Brant tried to look at the situation from Jessica's perspective, it made him want to kick himself. His mistakes infinitely outweighed hers. Really, her actions weren't even mistakes. She simply moved on quietly rather than calling him out for being so ... whatever he must have come across as.

This was hurting a bit less, now. That wasn't necessarily a good thing; Brant still needed to confirm the situation, after all ...

When Brant's gaze fell to his sandwich, which he was hoping to figure out how to finish before the situation completely fell apart, he noticed Galatea on his communicator's display. No witty remarks? No helpful observations? Nothing? Really? Before Brant could question the little AI, Hannah hit him with a very startling question. She asked him what Jessica had that she was lacking. If not for his tour through the abyss of his own soul moments earlier, he might not have an actual answer for her. Just the same, the answer he did have wouldn't leave much room for innocence like hers. "What you're lacking ..." Understanding it or not, that was an awful way of phrasing things. The problem was with him, not her. It was always with him.

Well ahead of his answer, Hannah began pleading with Brant, even going so far as acknowledging that she wasn't a 'real' woman. He could only cringe at that, initially, realizing this was bothering her on multiple levels. "Listen ..." Brant closed his eyes, trying to remember everything up to this point. "Seriously. Listen. If you read Rex's notes, then you know about Rosa ... what she did to me and my brother." Once everything of any relevance was in his mind's grasp, Brant locked eyes with Hannah, again. "She actually told me she loved me, once. Not just one time. I was only sixteen so all I could do was try to make sense of all of that."

Brant didn't think he'd done a very good job in the end. Instead, he'd been tamed like some kind of dog. "I was never officially diagnosed, but I have severe Stockholm syndrome ... and instead of having us treated and looked after, Dima nearly put us both through mental conditioning and drug treatments that would have left us asexual for the rest of our lives. All so he could keep us from getting 'distracted' again. Rosa apparently threatened all kinds of company sabotage if he went through with it, so we were only in that hellhole for one out of the recommended three weeks. After she saved us from that bastard, hating her was something I had to teach myself to do. I've been at this for over nine years now: downplay every kindness, blow every little wrong doing way out of proportion, find the most petty things to jab at her for, and keep replaying the worst parts of my time with her over and over and over again for hours every night until the headaches put me down. That's the best I could do to try and think the way a normal person should think. She screwed up both our lives, turned me into ... this, turned my brother into a backstabbing lunatic, and never once apologized. Why would she? She's an Alkaev."

Brant sighed, glancing over at Firmia, briefly. The exception that proved the rule? Maybe. Despite her similarity to Rosa, Brant was also drawn to her for being so different. Some days, it felt like a do over with a younger, more self conscious Rosa ... not that he could admit that to himself until now ... "I should hate Rosa. I ... do hate her. I hate her, but it's not real. It's just one more layer of brainwashing, but it's the best I can do ... I'm still drawn to people that remind me of her. It's like I'm trying to get the relationship right this time. I can't ... really help it. There's nothing wrong with you, Hannah. It's all me. It's a cliche, but it's absolutely true."

Brant's body may have still belonged to Rosa, even after all this time, but at least his soul was still free ... No. No, come to think of it, that was actually Tonya's. Reaching down, Brant picked up the sandwich and took another bite. It was a good thing it was cold to begin with or he wouldn't be enjoying it nearly as much, now. "Hannah, you shouldn't worry about Jessica and me. The fact that you don't remind me of Rosa in any way is a good thing. As much as I want that to work out, it's probably better if it doesn't. It's a terrible reason to go after someone."

Edited February 24, 2018 by Phoenix

[Nanami Touko]

Conclusion

Hannah listened. It was one of the few things she was expertly competent at. Making sense of what she heard was a different story. Of course, she'd read the notes, but helping Firmia had been... A different challenge. She wasn't involved with the girl past friendship, and her scars from Rosa didn't cut that deep. From the sounds of things, Brant hadn't just been cut, he'd been molded, almost into someone else entirely. What little that remained of him was likely what he pushed to the surface. That gentle nature, the small quips, his little thumbs ups, and everything else that made up his every day. Specifically day. He didn't quite convulse at night, but his getting to sleep so late made sense now...

"I'm... Sorry." Everyone likely was, but it wouldn't do to ignore the phrase. "I am, being selfish. Not considering... Not looking at things enough. It is difficult. I am sorry, Brant..." No crying this time, please. This is not about you, Hannah. Reeling in her functions, she tried to make sense of a few things. Brant's desire for the captain and disappointment in it not working out making more sense now. "Jessica is, what you want to work out. The authority figure in your life, but one that actually cares. A do-over, with a happy ending... And that is why I am so difficult. Because I am... Not any of that. I can't be the solution to the past you can't get away from-- that is not your fault." She made quick to clarify, Brant's inability to remove himself from what had happened to him was none of his own doing.

So what was there to be done then? Hannah did scouring of whatever she could find online, but without a proper source, it... It wasn't the best available information. Cheryl could have good advice, but conventional methods were something they wouldn't have time for until after all of this war nonsense. Hannah didn't want to fix him... Fix... That sounded wrong in her head, she had to change it to something else. Hannah didn't want to resolve these issues in the blink of an eye, that would be impossible, but... Helping, in any way, what could be done? Certainly not this selfish blaming. She chided herself once again. No matter how new her emerging personality was, she had to be smarter than that. The blame for things couldn't be put on Brant. He likely spent enough time beating himself up, having someone else guilt him for things out of his control would be nonsense.

"Tell me what you would like me to do," she finally asked, looking back at him, trying not to falter. "I do not know what to do to help. I am inadequate, in that regard... I cannot fill a void, and there is no quick solution to your issues. But, I... I want to help. In any way that I can, if there is a way that I can. Please, tell me, anything..."

"You could get him another sand--" The hefty slam of a fist against the table shut Galatea's little quip up in an instant. If looks could kill, this instance of Galatea would be scrap code.

"This is not a joke." ...Hannah wasn't about to take any sass from her digital little sister.

Distracting

"Yeah... We should probably--" Hannah's fist slamming the table made Christina jump, looking over at them immediately, the frustration and sadness on the robot immediately evident. Whatever was going on, Christina didn't know if they should be a part of it. "Y-Yeah, let's just go..." Huddling behind Kim, she hoped the girl was up for leading them out of there. This got tense fast...

Edited February 24, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Phoenix]

The apologies never accomplished much overall, but Brant still appreciated the gesture. It seemed with every passing day Hannah found more ways to behave like a human, even though she didn't like some of them. She still seemed troubled that she couldn't fill the kind of roll Jessica could have. "It's not right," Brant shook his head, "she doesn't deserve to be someone's crutch, and neither do you ... that's why I said it was a good thing you don't remind me of Rosa." Brant could just imagine how he might have treated Hannah under those circumstances. Maybe she would have preferred things that way, but Brant doubted he'd be able to live it down once he realized the underlying cause. He was still mentally eviscerating himself over Jessica. Now, how to word this properly ...? "It's ... not a void that needs to be filled." His stomach was enough for now, really. This wasn't the time for jokes, though.

Apparently Galatea hadn't gotten the memo, and fair enough; no one had sent her one. Hannah's fist came down hard and seemed to get the whole cafeteria's attention. Brant took a second to look over at Firmia and silently assure her all was well enough, all while Hannah reprimanded her little sister. Brant would have attempted the same with Christina and Seung-Min but they were keeping a fairly low profile, already ...

Once Hannah was a bit calmer, Brant leaned closer to her, trying to take some of the heat off of Galatea. He smiled faintly. "I'm trying to help you. Don't you remember? You're not being difficult, you're just figuring things out as you go. I've been dealing with this for a long time, and nothing's going to change overnight. Things are moving a lot faster for you though, so that's honestly what I'd rather focus on. We can worry about my brain after the war. There should be plenty of time, then, don't you think?"

[Nanami Touko]

Focus

Not right, and a void that didn't need filled... That, was about as accurate as she found in her searches a moment ago. While it would be easier for him to try and re-do the past, that wouldn't exactly solve issues, would it? Nothing would be able to do so quickly, Jessica, or anyone like her, was a band-aid at the least, and a new trauma at the worst. "A good thing..." How good of a thing was it, though? Hannah had latched onto one of her desperate comments, on how she wasn't 'real'. Whether or not this AI inside of her improved, that didn't make her a living, breathing person. A search into the impossible returned as much, it was all theoretical, putting a machine into a person's body. It looked like that was a hurdle that wouldn't be jumped over any time soon.

"After the war... If, you're sure." it sounded like Brant thought this would be best to avoid for now, and, while she didn't exactly agree, without a direction to go in, she couldn't form any counter argument. He was as right as he was going to be about it, that it would be best saved for some time when an alarm didn't mean sortieing to fight terrorists.

"Should... I cancel tomorrow's idea?" With everything so out in the open, was shopping for clothes and having a 'date' a good idea anymore? "I'll let you decide."

"I think you should both go, Christ." Galatea's annoyed voice chimed in, not appreciating having been shut down so quickly. "This is incredibly heavy, you've been fighting for your lives for the past week, just take a day to calm down and be normal. Gods, it isn't rocket science."

"I... Uhm..." Her bravado from before had faded since Brant had calmed down, and... Since this didn't sound anything like a snarky joke. It was an alright suggestion, but... Hannah glanced at Brant again, wondering what he'd say.

Edited February 24, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Phoenix]

Cancel? But Brant hadn't even spoken with Jessica, yet ... Thinking back on the situation, as well as on what he'd just said about helping Hannah, Brant supposed it would have been mostly harmless to make that commitment and then explain the situation to the Captain. That was more or less the plan going forward, anyway. Galatea managed to chime in first, insisting that they take the day off and try to be normal for a change. A full day of leisure with Apotheosis warping all over the place sounded only slightly less impossible than being normal, but Brant at least agreed with a carefully managed attempt. His initial objection had been solely rooted in that much larger fiasco.

"I still need to get a hold of the Captain ... but that's a separate issue, now. We'll go, regardless of how that turns out. I just want to make sure we both know what's going on."

[Ether]

As heated as things were getting, there was a certain... something about Brant. Hard to pin down, exactly, but it gave Kim hope that things would turn out alright between the two of them. Through all the mud and everything else there seemed something deeper... he was clearly trying to fight off whatever was going on. With Hannah being so close to the Russians as of late, as well as the reflective feel Brant was giving off, it had to have something to do with his time before the Riese, which meant there was little that sticking around would accomplish.

"Yes... let's go." Kim replied, beginning to lead the pair towards the exit of the cafeteria. Christina clearly wasn't coping well with the display to begin with, so they had no reason to linger.

[Dandragon]

Elaine wasn't sure, but she thought she heard some sort of...groan? Maybe she was just imagining it, but she could've sworn she just heard Aliza annoyed with something. But, when Aliza turned around, she was back to her usual smile, so Elaine decided not to pry. She probably was just imagining things. Before she could react to anything, however, Aliza grabbed her by the hand and pulled her over somewhere, asking her questions along the way.

"Well, I'm definitely a shorts girl. Skirts just aren't for me." That was probably the easiest of the three questions to answer, with the next being the absolute hardest. Flaunt it? Did Elaine even have anything too flaunt? She thought back to her days in school, where at least a few classmates, both male and female, had called her cute 'in her own way'. "Uhhh...I guess I'll...go either or?" She probably should have said to keep it subtle, but she wanted to at least try and step outside her own boundaries and test the waters, even if it was with clothes, of all things. She was sure she could handle any cat-callers out there, anyways. And, as for accessories, Elaine thought for a moment as she felt the earring on her left ear, a pair that she and Jane had bought during their time together in Italy, with Jane currently owning the other on her right ear. "Yeah. Accessories are fine." She said, nodding. "I like scarves, but uh...Well, maybe not for summer."

[Shin]

Tarquin followed after the employee, slipping between the shelves and displays to reach their accessory section. Purchasing things had provided enough of a challenge for him last time but when it involved choosing something for someone else, even a friend like Nikolai, it really stretched his limited social ability. He scanned the shelves, his eyes darting between various items as he listened to her recommendations. Simply nodding as she spoke, one item stood out among the rest. A bulky pair of headphones, with both indivual headphones sporting a picture of a trashcan. It was simplistic and perhaps somewhat crude, but they suited Nikolai almost perfectly. He raised his arm, pointing to the item in question - he'd made his decision.

"This one. I think he'll like this one." he declared, gently removing the box from the shelf. It was a small offering, but Tarquin felt a subtle satisfaction with the choice he'd made. "Sorry if I took your time, I needed to make sure I got the right thing."

-

The word vacation almost pierced through Talia's chest, the last two years of her life had been one painful break from work - if anything it was more akin to being fired than anything else. Makoto's descriptions of his own woes in pilotting didn't really make her feel that much better. She wasn't an anime character, no matter how hard she'd tried all she could manage was nearly crashing, realising that she didn't know how to use her unit and doing pitiful damage. Makoto was far closer to a fictional protagonist than her. Even if he had limited experience, he was going on missions and developing his skills... Talia's peak had been pitiful and she was long past it. Some nerdy school kid had beaten her at the very thing she was created to do? 

"No, it's OK... I didn't have many friends and everything was provided for me." she replied, trying to regain some sense of contribution in her life. Did Makoto really believe that she could have a real life? The way he spoke made it sound like there was some hope for her, maybe there would be people who wouldn't reject her? Part of her felt like it was just a well-intended pity speech but she needed to try and suppress those thoughts. She was finally spending time with other people, but it was almost as hard as being alone. "I'd like that... I have some games I took with me from Corona Ten... we could, only if you want to, play something some time?"

[Xinnidy]

Grim Aftermath

"That's true, I suppose." The ship wasn't all that bound to the ANF's whims, surprisingly. That was both good and bad, because it relied entirely on the judgement of its captain, who wasn't the most consistent person. "The Federation is already taking a heavy managerial blow from this assault on all fronts. Unlike the Union, the Federation's territory is too spread out, including the space colonies. It's probably why we were attacked first." And meant it was much easier to slip someone in their ranks, it really wasn't looking hot for them. "Yeah, there's a good chance the EU is going to try something once this is over." If they weren't blind, they'd start a war as soon as Apotheosis was out of the equation. That wasn't good at all, and the top brass had to be aware of that. What are we going to--

Slam. A resounding sound of metal hitting metal scared Roxanna upright on her chair, eyes widened and staring at the android in alarm and confusion. Hannah... wasn't she hanging around with Firmia's group lately? "I-Is everything okay over there?" Firmia would probably be just as confused, but one could hope.

Trash Culture

"Oh... this one, okay." The store employee seemed a bit surprised, or perhaps relieved, that Tarquin came to a conclusion without her help. "That's fine... I don't mind it. Better to be walking around than falling asleep standing." She offered an awkward smile back at the boy, "So will that be everything? I can take you to the cashier now if you're done... are you paying with cash?" It was probably natural to assume that a boy wouldn't be walking around with his own credit card. 

Making New Friends

"I see..." Talia's situation was really lonely. In the end Makoto wasn't a professional, as much as he'd taken upon himself to cheer up people, he could only hope he was helping, but at times it was hard to tell. Was she feeling worse from what he said? It didn't seem to inspire her at all, but he probably shouldn't expect immediate effect. It was good enough that she was opening up to talk, and her interests were very similar to his, so why not? "Some video games? Sure! What games do you have?" He hadn't really taken a good time to chill and be a teen since the Colony attack, that'd be a welcome change, probably. Talia was awfully nice, for someone that seemed so lonely... she was probably a bit desperate for a friend, but there wasn't a reason to think ill of that, really.

Ah, and they'd reached the manga section. "Hmm, now to see if they have... aha!" Crouching for a moment, Makoto sorted through the lower row of comics to pick out a volume of Gospel. It had a different cover to the one he was used to, for certain. "Is that the spin-off you were talking about? Uh, what volume are you after?" Was it a one-shot?

A Cute Gift

"I'm sure she'll love it. Doing an AI just for that is a hard job, but I suppose it's not that challenging if you helped with that behemoth." The clerk had no reason to doubt the engineer's idea, odd as it was. The bit about the Riese's crew trying its best seemed to have a positive effect. "Ah, and you, mister? Can I help you?" While he was sorting out parts, this other man seemed to be hovering next to them, he wasn't sure if he'd talked to the engineer or not, but he probably did? It was hard to make out what he was saying. "Anything specific you're looking for?"

Edited February 25, 2018 by Xinnidy

[TheRoon]

"Hm...I gotcha." She took a few nods, listening intently. Then she took a good look at Elaine, and I mean a GOOD look. More than she ever did during the time she knew her. "...sorry hope you don't mind the leering, just trying to commit details to memory..." After another short moment she nodded. "Alright. Shorts. Looks like you can pull off short shorts just fine. You'd need a matching top and...scarf? That'd be kinda cute but it can't just be ANY old scarf. It's gotta flow ya know?" She took a look around. "Maybe we can do something with your hair too. Short is nice, but some people find it a little boring. I for one think there's potential for surprises. Maaaaybe we can braid some parts a little?" She giggled at the thought of a full make over. "Ah but we can get to that later if you're willing. Anyway..."

She took an outfit off the rack and held it out. They were light blue short shorts with a matching white top and a fashionable light blue jacket to go with it. The jacket had a feather insignia on the back too. "Try this on. It's a bit bright but hey flashy is fun, right?" Another grin as she shoved the set into her arms, a little aggressively she might add. "Take your time too. I'm gonna shop around for the oth-I mean for myself."

[Nanami Touko]

Plans On

"Huh?" Hannah wasn't expecting that all of a sudden... Had the discussion done some good, along with the bad? Making Brant bring a lot of that stuff up, though... Maybe it wasn't worth it at all. "That's... That makes me very happy." She smiled wide and had to wipe away a small tear that was starting to bring itself to bear. She wasn't all that hard to please, perhaps pleased too easily.

Galatea rolled her eyes, sighing quite sarcastically. "Teenagers." Yes, Brant was older, and Hannah was technically two, but it definitely felt like herding a pair of awkward first timers. At least they'd come to a positive conclusion...

"Ah! My apologies, XO, I... I was simply frustrated with my sister. Everything is fine now. Or, should be." She'd forgotten about everyone else in the room during that, what a mess.

"Now, will you make him another sandwich?"

"You..."

Things had calmed down on the Hannah front fairly quickly, even Brant's emotions were seeming better off, but Christina wasn't about to speak up and change her mind. Giving Firmia another small wave, she followed Kim out with their newly made food. "Hope you'll be okay, Brant," she mentioned to him in passing, trying to stay focused on Kim, and trying not to have her stomach grumble over that wonderful smell.

[Dandragon]

There was some slight discomfort from the way Aliza observed her and her body, another way for her to be very forward, but Elaine knew she had the best intentions, and thus let her do her thing. The only comment that seemed to bother Elaine was the one about her hair. Up to now, her hair had been natural, not really going so far as to style it beyond making sure it was properly washed and making sure to comb it. Did she really need something like braids to make her look good? Well, she was the inexperienced one when faced with Aliza, so far. 

It felt almost immediate when Aliza shoved an outfit into her hands, her bags thankfully around her shoulders. She trusted Aliza, and with a nod, and a small ‘okay’, Elaine walked off to the changing rooms, not noticing Aliza’s choice of words. The rooms themselves weren’t far, and there were plenty that didn’t seem to be occupied, though that was probably because it was late at night, and most people were asleep. Even Elaine started to feel a little tired, but her ‘food coma’ could wait. 

She stepped inside one, the door was locked, and Elaine was finally able to rest her arms, again, and put her bags down. A large mirror adorned the small-ish box of a room, helpful for getting a good look at yourself, and indeed, Elaine did as she undressed from her own set of clothes. In her own honest opinion, she felt...average. Barely worth a head turn, especially compared to plenty of others aboard the Riese, perhaps a result of her own low self-esteem that she never really tried to look like anything more. Until tonight, that is. Elaine picked up the shorts Aliza had picked out, and finally got a good look at them. ‘Short shorts’ was right. That would be a lot of leg she would be showing, though her own swimsuit showed slightly more, last she remembered. She made a mental note to compare sizes as she slipped them on, surprised at how comfortable the fabric felt. Next was the top, plain and white, not that different from the top she had just worn previously, but still slipped it on regardless, feeling the slight irritation of the price tag kept on it, but overall was satisfied with it’s feel. Last was the jacket, with the insignia on the back captivating her for a few seconds. Maybe it was just the feather itself that made her think about her dream to soar through the air, but if nothing else, she would definitely buy this jacket separately if she could. With the final piece of the set on, and her shoes quickly added after, Elaine took another small moment to look in the mirror, posing in different angles, before stepping outside the room. She hoped that it had been enough time for Aliza to choose her own set of clothes. She had asked Elaine to take her time, after all, and she thought that had done just that. 

[Phoenix]

Firmia sighed, wishing they hadn't gotten distracted from their discussion. Brant had quietly assured her that things were okay a moment ago, and Hannah soon spoke up to clarify, but it was still a little annoying. The Alkaev wasn't exactly looking forward to the time when Hannah was truly indistinguishable from a human. In some ways, it was like watching a gradual retrograde, and she wondered if there was a way to give a machine some semblance of sentience without all the extra baggage. Whatever that discussion had been about, it seemed to have come to a decent conclusion, seeing as Brant's aura was returning to normal. Firmia waved to Christina as she and the lieutenant made their way out of the cafeteria, but she couldn't make it look like anything more than an automatic response.

Brant stared blankly at Galatea for a moment. Teenagers? No, not even close, not for either of them. Probably just her impression of them then ... and in that case, fair enough ...? "Oh, don't worry about the extra sandwich," Brant handwaved the suggestion, "I still haven't finished the first one. Besides, after that and checking on the Captain, I need to get back to work while I still have the energy. There's no way I'll be getting away with taking leisure time tomorrow if I don't make anymore progress, tonight." Hell, Firmia was right over yonder, looking irritable, yet again. Brant picked up his sandwich, both to get back to it and to let Firmia know he wasn't just killing time.

As the Artemis Team left the cafeteria, Christina said something that left Brant guessing for a moment. What did she mean she hoped he'd be okay? When was he not okay? There was no way she'd overheard that exchange ... if she had, she probably would have said something else, entirely. It took a moment for Brant to remember that she was a full fledged TK now, and by that time they had already headed on by, but he'd at least nodded at her as a vague affirmative ... so that was ... something. There wasn't really anything to worry about. He'd figure out the situation with Jessica and work from there, regardless of the outcome. As for his past, Brant had been dealing with it for a decade, already. The worst of it was far, far behind him. He'd be okay.

[Ether]

It only took a few moments walk from the cafeteria to return to Christina's room, the heavy aura of the various parties within fading as they made distance. Stopping in front of Christina's door to allow her to open it, Kim turned towards the blonde with a somewhat concerned expression.

"Are you feeling... better? It must be... difficult, having this dropped on you... in such a heavy atmosphere."

[TheRoon]

Aliza watched Elaine walk off to go change. She was a nice girl in the end, she just needs to be less tense. Although Aliza suspected that wasn't entirely her fault, even she could tell the Riese had a bit of tension going around with this mole business. She's still very fresh so she has no idea how to even handle it. But she did want to lighten the mood a bit, and most of all get to know some of her favorites so far.

She let Elaine take her time with the outfit and walked down another aisle. She noticed a few cute tops out on display and an idea hit her. "...hm." With a smile she picked out a pair of peculiar tops and went to buy them at the counter. Only took a quick minute. With the receipt in hand she quickly took the boxes and walked back to meet with Elaine. Right on time too, she was out and ready. "Oooooh!" And back came the bright smile. "Man was I right. You look nice in that. Very nice."

[Dandragon]

"Thanks." Elaine was able to return her bright smile, for once. "It feels nice, too. It'll be good for the summer heat. Heh, maybe I should go to you for fashion advice, more often." She spent another few seconds showing herself off to Aliza, before deciding. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna buy this. Let's see how much it is?" She said, trying to get a good view of the price tag. Not like it mattered, as the salary for an ANF soldier was enough to set them for a lifetime, barring the most expensive spending spree that could possibly be feasible in this day and age. It was more than enough to help her pay rent for the rest of her time spent in an apartment, before finding a good house to live in, and even after that, plus any necessities, there was still spending money left. It wasn't quite riches, but it was enough to not have to worry about money, anymore, and that was fine for Elaine.

"Hm? Looks like you bought some things, too. ...Actually a lot of things." Elaine really wasn't good at noticing things today, for only now did she see the bags that Aliza was carrying. She couldn't see what was inside, though it was easy to figure out clothes, but it was way more than just one set. Guess some girls wanted a lot to wear. She wasn't about to judge.

[TheRoon]

"Hm? Oh these?" She listed the bag. "Just some things for me yeah, no worries." She took another smile. Elaine looked like she was having the time of her life. Excellent. Makes her happy to see someone else happy. "Well now that you got some new clothes did you wanna look into a new hairstyle? Or did you wanna head back? We got all the time in the world to talk about hair so no pressure."

Edited February 26, 2018 by TheRoon

[Dandragon]

"My hair?" Again, Elaine felt unsure of the prospect. Sure, she had never really tried to do anything with it, but it also felt comfortable that way. To have it styled, possibly braided considering Aliza's earlier suggestion, made her uncertain. That being the case, Elaine was too eager to please her new friend, despite her own feelings, and thus nodded her head. "Sure. Let me just go get changed back." Elaine stepped back inside the room, quickly getting herself back into her earlier set of clothes before neatly reassembling the new set on the hangar, making sure nothing was messed up. She stepped out, her traveling bags back around her shoulders, and the new set of clothes in her hands. It was likely that she would spend time tomorrow looking for some other sets, but just the one for tonight would be satisfactory. "So, uhm...What did you have in mind?" Elaine asked, wondering if there was even a place inside Orange Theocracy for hair styling.

[Shin]

"I have a few games... most of them are singleplayer but some of them are co-op." she replied, trying to remember the last time she'd actually played one that required another person. She'd been into Sideglance for a while, that was a multiplayer game... but she'd only played with bots and the story mode had been woefully short. The same could be said for Farbio Kart. She very much doubted he'd want to play Disco Disco Rotation, especially the Femme Fatale expansion pack. "I mostly like RPGs and things with a story, like Purse Owner and Magenta Moon... but I sometimes play Alley Brawler!"

Talia could feel her heart racing again, although for once it wasn't due to an overwhelming sense of doom or the total hopelessness that was ingrained into every aspect of her life. Was Makoto genuinely wanting to be her friend or was it a ploy out of pity? Or maybe he had his own nefarious plans to take her as his own? She almost had to tell her subconscious not to scare her with such thoughts. He was being friendly because he was a good person. He was kind, gentle, he always knew what to say to make her feel less worthless. It was funny, the way he spoke and how he moved... it seemed almost familiar. She hadn't seen a soul so kind and gentle since her older brother. Why was she thinking about him now? It only made her upset, and she didn't want to spoil Makoto's outing by crying. Taking a deep breath, she smilied half-heartedly, looking down at the shelves with Makoto.

"I think there were three volumes when I last checked... it looked like they were wrapping things up so there might be another volume or two." she replied, still focusing on keeping herself in check. "There should be a volume four somewhere."

-

Bill stood and listened as Juria made her requests to the store attendant. He wasn't entirely sure what either of them were talking about, it made about as much sense to him as trying to teach a rhino how to do ballet. However, Juria was a clever little thing, he was sure she knew what she needed. From what he'd gathered, she was trying to build some sort of mechanical pet for someone. He'd seen her robotic cat on the ship, unfortunately it didn't seem to be able to aid him in his campaign to save the ship from space gremlins. Perhaps technology was still limited? Bill smiled, if it had advanced so much he'd have expected to see robot people by now!

"If you need a hand carrying any of those gizmos, just let me know." Bill pitched in, noting that Juria wasn't exactly... the carrying type. Everyone was good at different things after all! "An ocker I am, a bludger I ain't after all!"

Edited February 26, 2018 by Shin

[Nanami Touko]

Hefty

Door open, Christina in, Kim in, door close. The blonde flopped lazily on her bed again, shaking her head. "It's fine. It's good practice, in a way. Getting used to the feeling and sensation. I'm gonna need a lot more exposure if I'm gonna get used to that sort of thing at all... So I don't mind, even if it ends up giving me a bit of a headache." Things had gradually begun to acclimate in regards to her ability to take on emotions. It was still difficult in groups, but the hangar was becoming white noise, and the mall would likely be the same.

"Don't worry about me so much! I'm not that weak... Okay, I am a little bit, but, not as much as you might think. Right now, food. You made all that stuff, and I wanna try it, so let's find another movie to watch and get to it, okay?" Really, Kim was like a big sister sometimes... Luckily not too much like one, or her getting so touchy feely would be pretty awkward. "Let's eat~"

Work to be Done

"Oh, yes. You still have work to do on that AI system. I shall let you deal with the captain, and meet you back in the hangar then... It would like be for the best if I was not there when you spoke with her." Hannah smiled, glancing at Galatea again, before getting up and heading off. She'd noticed Firmia's annoyance, but wasn't entirely sure what was causing it. Perhaps because of Brant's emotional state? He had seemed perturbed, maybe it went deeper than that... Firmia would've been able to feel it, of course, being a TK. What a useful and terrifying ability. Hannah didn't stop to see if she as okay, this situation with Brant was her fault. If she made things worse by pestering Firmia, she'd feel even more awful than she already did.

"Hangar, wait, help Brant work on AI," she reminded herself.

"The sandwich bit was a joke, Brant. Really, at least let me have these. That was rather tense."