2023-05-18: Take It Easy
- Log: Take It Easy
- Cast: Eight York, Yurika Misumaru
- Where: Ra Mari II, Conference Room near the Hangar
- OOC - IC Date: 0097 05 18
- Summary: Captain Misumaru comes over the the Ra Mari II after a night of relief efforts on the part of many ships, to meet with Captain York.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight York waits in a conference room not far from the port hangar, looking over a datapad in her left hand as she waits for Yurika. It's time for another Captain's Meeting in the wake of everything going on. Specifically: last night there was a terrible battle, and the Metis colony was wrecked. The 3SA, along with a number of civilian ships and others, have been dealing in relief efforts, and currently the Ra Mari II (and possibly also the Nadesico) are full of refugees. Eight's been tending to this problem since she woke up again.
...If one looks closely, there's a lot of concealer under her eyes; she's tired, but in great spirits. The diamond ring on her left hand glints in the dim light of the conference room. And she is here! Waiting, this morning.
The hangar is full of shuttles, meanwhile, and busy, but an aide can direct Yurika to the conference room!
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
One of those shuttles is the Nadesico's Hinagiku! Yurika Misumaru had to fidget and squirm on standby as part of this operation, and while it was definitely for the best since it's been really busy busy on the recovery and regrouping efforts...
Gripping one of the little side-rail-escalators to ferry herself through the Ra Mari II's halls, Yurika holds onto her hat to get herself to the conference room, her much more well rested self scrambling left and right and up and down to make sure the refugees are all taken care of. It's a far cry from her previous outing when she very visibly participated in Saving The Entire Planet but you can't coast on one act forever in life! Even superheroes get desk jobs when the evil has passed.
The door to the conference hall hisses open, and Yurika practically hurtles through the opening at about fifteen miles per hour, tumbling head over heels at a chaotic pace-! And then lands perfectly in one of the chairs. 10/10 landing! "Okay! Alrighty! I made it. Phew! Phew." One minute to catch her breath, before her hands slam on the table. "Eight! It's been so long! I'm glad you're doing okay, though you DEFINITELY need to get some sleep and let me cover some of the busywork. I've been up to my ears in this stuff but I can keep going! I wouldn't survive long in this company if I couldn't bust my way through red tape! Please tell me you just called me here to hand off the stressy stuff and not that you're about to take on WAY TOO MUCH work for yourself!"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
As it turns out, the refugees Yurika can see are being handled! The RMII's medical staff are tending to some, and there are various crew members talking to others. Blankets have been handed out, and people are all over! Even the RMII's spacious residential facilities can't quite accomodate everyone, though...
But the door opens and Yurika hustles on through to land perfectly. "You did," Eight answers, and waits.
Then she laughs softly, setting down the tablet. "I should do that, huh?" Eight asks, with a smile back at Yurika. Nothing is going to dampen her mood most likely. "It's nice to see you too, Yurika." She folds her hands--left on top, of course--and resists the ure to fiddle with her ring. Instead, "Well, if you insist..."
She slides the tablet over, "I can probably hand you some of this now. we've got to make it to the rendezvous to hand off the refugees in a while, and there's a lot of checks to make sure we're read."
"I've gotten plenty of sleep!" Pause. "Okay, that's not true. But even if it wasn't very restful it was still nice!"
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
Eight might refrain from messing with that ring, but it catches the light in just the right way to where it catches Yurika's eye, and the minute she taps the tablet's interface to go over all the tasks present in it (slightly agonizing at the volume of stuff)-
"...t...that's a wedding ring isn't it. People wear all kinds of rings, but...but...that's not the sort of thing people just wear. It looks really new, and really shiny, and I'd have noticed-" Hands folded professionally under her chin, Yurika takes a deep breath. Calming herself. Her voice almost unnaturally smooths over to Corporate PR Coziness for a while. "...congratulations on the proposal! All of us wish you the best of fortunes and await hearing the plans for the wedding properly. U-uhm."
A slight cracking in Yurika's voice. "...ah, I gotta...get on that don't I? Birthday's not too far from now, and the 'christmas cake' thing is an outdated idea in our day and age, b-but...it's not a great look, ahahahahahaha-" Sweat beads forming. Captain's trying to hold it together when she's so obviously kind of sucking and dying internally in a big way, but now's SO not the time for that. Keep it cool! "...Obviously you're well due for some sort of honeymoon! It's so silly that even though the war with ZAFT was put to a halt that we're still busy putting out so many fires, so hopefully me and Lacus can cover everything in your stead while you get some SO needed R&R...!"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
There is so much stuff! But also--
"An engagement ring!" Eight confirms cheerfully. She then proceeds to look down at it, exending her fingers first so that she can have a good look and then folding her hand down for Yurika's inspection. "Last night," she explains, as for it being new. "Apparently all my work made him feel it was a good time..."
Coporate PR Coziness! It's. Mildly disturbing. But Eight tilts her head and, "Thank you! I'll--Ah, well, I'll share those once we have the plans..."
Then, "Oh, it's not too late!" Eight says. "You're not so old as that! It's a totally outdated idea anyway!" Eight does her best to be encouraging. ...Even though she knows Yurika's situation.
And it is indeed pretty hopeless. A sweatdrop forms on Eight's head. "Ah, ha ha..."
But then she smiles. "...That's nice of you. But not just yet," Eight answers. "I've got about three weeks before I start taking leave. Once I do, I'll be leaving Enba Rezza in charge of the RMII." Her XO. "I hope you'll be able to work well with them!"
"...Now that you mention it a little relaxation does sound nice..." She trails off, "But no! I still have paperwork to do! There's so much to get ready!"
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
No don't lose all hope, Eight! Surely the captain who harnessed a miracle to halt the descent of Palau has a destiny . . . somewhere . . . !
Yurika's hands clap upon the table again, leaning over it to more firmly glare and lock eyes at Eight. "You...may need to get better at accepting help instead of taking everything on yourself, Cap~tain! That's how the world grinds you into dust even while it demands you shine ever brighter."
...Something in what Yurika says resonates with her own worries, and she takes one more deep breath, her hat floating just an inch above her head before she pushes it back down. "...honestly, I say that because, well. I rely on other people all the time. Too much even, I wonder if they run themselves a bit ragged. At the end of the day, a lot of what I do is tugging them back before they burn themselves out, since usually they handle things so advanced and technical that I can't really do much to help! But at the same time...it means I've always felt ready and in high spirits when it's time to handle something important, and there's nothing in the world worse than being exhausted in dire straits!"
Crossing her arms poutily, Yurika starts inadverdently rising from her seat inch by inch - it's as though the current zero gravity specifically insists on pulling her ever so slightly upwards, so she has to ruin her Vibe by constantly yanking herself back into her seat. "We're gonna make sure you have all the help you can, and since the Nadesico was practically made to keep a lot of people comfortable and accomodated in a pinch, we're doing just fine handling refugees. I'm gonna make sure your leave has absolutely no reason to give you any stress, and that's a Yurika Promise(tm)!"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Surely it will work out...! Yurika locks eyes with Eight though and Eight blinks, opening her mouth and closing it again. "I..." She thought she was starting to do well at that, but--as it happens, it turns out that Yurika has a worry of her own on that font, and so Eight lsitens when she answers.
While the Ra Mari II has solid gravity on most of the ship, this close to the hangar it can be... less. Eight peers at that floating hat. Then she looks back to Yurika.
"That's a good point," she says. "...Well, if I don't let myself rest, the crew will make me, and with the baby..." She worries about that. "I think it's all right to rely on others. I guess if I look at it as saving my energy.."
Yurika starts to rise--and Eight laughs faintly at the vibe. "...Well," she says, "Okay. Thanks. I appreciate that."
"We will hopefully be well done by then. I'll be working on paperwork with Mr. Prospector--with Rezza taking over command of the ship, it'll be up to me to handle the budget."
"We decided that won't strain me too much."
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
A sputtering sound temporarily disables Yurika's capacity to speak proper human languages, before it all coalesces into: "Right! Right you're having a baby, right yes! Eight. Eight!!! EIGHT you have ABSOLUTELY got to take it MEGA easy. Actually, I think I've read something like this???"
For a little while, Yurika's frantically typing something into her ~cool floating holo-phone~ before giving up with a grumble of frustration. "The urge to keep doing more stuff is a side effect of the early trimesters being kind of a shock to the system, as far as making people kind of sapped and tired from having to handle a quickly growing baby, but then, you get used to it somewhere along the way, and something something hormones, something something you don't exactly have more stamina than normal, but you do have more than when you were first conceiving. But you've still got the baby in you so you've still gotta be careful!"
'Working on paperwork' still doesn't exactly feel like 'resting' to Yurika though, considering that Nergal's #1 export by weight is paperwork, and so the captain puts her foot down at her fellow captain. "I wouldn't be so sure that it won't strain you, Eight! When I think 'guys who have zero stress in their lives' I don't exactly think Mr. Prospector! He kinda worries a lot, and crunching numbers that directly translate to peoples resources is a LOT of strain to be handling. If I had my way, you'd have zero responsibilities effective immediately, but I'll be darned if that's a taller order in this kind of a crisis mode and in our alliance's current situation..."
Head tilted back onto her headrest, Yurika racks her brain for contacts... "...Nnnnngh, I am...right on the verge of...relying on my dad for help, even though I really don't want that..."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Sputtering! Eight blink blinks at that, as Yurika can't quite speak until suddenly she can. But then what she says gets a headtilt from the pregnant Captain as she hears what Yurika has to say. "You have?"
Yurika is typing away, and Eight watches guilelessly as she does, down to that frustrating moment. But the way Yurika explains does make sense; the blonde slowly sits up straight again and listens to it as she does. "I guess I do feel like I have more energy..."
"You think?" she says of paperwork. Then she hears the example, and thinks about it. That is a lot of strain. "Oh... I had just thought it was something easier to handle while I was off, but..." Her face falls a little. It makes sense, all right.
"I mean I don't want to just do nothing," she admits, "Even if... that does make a lot of sense. And I am pretty tired already."
She looks to Yurika, "...You think?" she wonders. "That's..." She's not sure they can do that, given their political situation. "I'm sure we can find another way!"
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
"Yeah we're gonna have to find another way," Yurika says with absolutely 0 hesitation. She can already picture it...
~dreamy imagination bubble transition~
~<Aaaaah, so my most precious daughter has finally returned to her loving father, and with so many friends in tow. Hmmhmm, though painfully, much as you've truly grown into your own as an admiral, in more ways than one, I'm afraid that there's only so much I am capable of doing for you...>~
~dreamy imagination bubble de-transition~
The shuddering is fierce. No. Not in front of her comrades. No!! No, she can't allow it! No matter what! That shivering shifts into a glimmer of determination in her eyes. "Hmmmm. HMMMM. ...Maybe we can get Omoikane to change duties from ship operation to calculation for a while? Though I think it'd get real mad if Ruri-ruri made it do taxes all the sudden, but it's not like it absolutely has to be flying the Nadesico all the time."
"Besides, you're not doing nothing, you're taking care of an entire second person! Making sure they're comfy and content and healthy! You're protecting someone, think of it that way! For the next - - -" Yurika pauses to try and remember...how long ago??? "---so and so months, you're kind of like a bodyguard! That's a good analogy, right? Right! Please tell me I have any idea what I'm talking about, I've never actually known anyone dealing with pregnancy so why am I even being a source of advice uaggghh!!"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Thankfully, Eight is not privy to the contents of Yurika's imagination bubbles. This is definitely for the best. They can find another way!!
But that determination is met by.... an idea, that is definitely an idea. "I'm not so sure," Eight says, "That asking Omoikane to do accounting is a good idea..." She considers. "I mean, Omoikane does a lot already, too. Maybe... ot that solution."
But Yurika gives her a great pep talk. Eight actually tears up slightly in the wake of Yurika's passion. "You..."
She smiles. "You're right," she says. "I'm protecting my baby. So it's okay to leave some other things away, because it's important, too. A bodyguard, huh....?"
"I mean, it sounds right to me," Eight says. "I think you know a lot more than you give yourself credit for! ...I'm still not sure I can drop all my responsibilities, but thinking of it that way I feel a lot better about stepping back."
"...Thanks, Yurika."
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
Unfortunately for Yurika, in this day and age, imagination bubbles are not as sacred and secluded a place as they once were. Does it say a lot about our society that people may begin to require policing their own thoughts - or perhaps it's that the utter pointlessness in doing so will cause yet another seismic shift in the social landscape...?
---that's pretty well not going to be her place to ask!
Clapping her hands together and patently glowing at the thanks, Yurika helps herself to a smug little hair tousle, the back of her hand against her cheek, trying out a laid back and confident little wink. "I think that when you finally do slow your roll, it's gonna come harder than you expect, and you're gonna take the kind of deep night's sleep that genuinely shocks you. The sort where you start to get up out of bed the next morning and stop because you had no idea you were this exhausted. All I've gotta do is make sure you're pushed to actually take that sleep without setting yourself a whole itinerary the next day~"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Oh, right. Eight totally could sense an Imagination Bubble. Luckily she didn't!
But in any case Eight is going to settle here for the moment, idly rubbing at the inside of her ring with her thumb as she considers. As Yurika glows, Eight smiles back at her. A little wink...
Yurika's terribly inspiring. Eight can never quite put a finger on why she is the way she is. Eight just reaches up to fix her hat and brush some hair behind her ear and consiers.
The wink works!
"Hmm..." She says, "You sound like you know a lot about overwork," Eight admits. "I guess you'd have seen as much of it as I have... and I tell my crew to keep getting adequate rest, so..." She should take that advice, too.
"All right, all right. ...At least a little while of just rest. I promise."
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
The signature big merry V-sign soon follows Yurika's attempt to be cool. "Yay! Eight's going on a vacation honeymoon and that's gonna be that!" The sparklies that emit from her cheery demeanor would be enough to prickle the more psychically aware. (sparkly effects are pointy after all!)
"So. So! Where are you going for that, huh? Surely there's a place you and Lahvi have in mind, somewhere suuuuper duper romantic. I mean the obvious spot is the Honeymoon Hotspot of Valentine Colony!"
-(Note to the viewers: Valentine Colony was built as part of a series of cylinder colnies broadly named after holidays, several of which are already relatively non-observed. But following neighboring economic conditions improving and a rally from the board of tourism, Valentine Colony leaned hard into the name and has successfully billed itself as the Earth Sphere's lovey dovey resort destination of choice.)
"Hmmm, but that place kinda has a biiiit of a kitschy reputation. I mean I'm all for that!!~ But I kind of get the impression you'd prefer to go somewhere a little quieter and more down to earth. From what I hear Valentine's like a huge energy draining experience and I'll reiterate that you'd better not make your vacation stressful!!!"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
That's that, apparently! Eight wasn't entirely sure about the idea, but it appears to be happening regardless. "It would be nice to bring him along for something..." Eight smiles. It does indeed prickle at Eight's awareness, those sparkles, but in a good way!
"We hadn't thought that far ahead yet!" Then a puse. Valentine Colony...
Eight makes a 'um' sort of face before Yurika recognizes that kind of impression that she has of the place. "Yes," she says. "Somewhere quieter might be nice... Maybe the Frontier fleets, or... Hmm. I'm not sure yet. But we'll think of something! I'm kind of already looking forward to it..."
She laughs. "Yeah, better not make that stressful. Wow, Yurika. You must think about this kind of thing a lot!"
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
"Of course I think about this kind of thing a lot!" Yurika huffs, realizing her instinct that a busy Love Centered Theme Park of a place might not work was right on the money. "You have to shoot for the moon if you're looking for a picture perfect romance story of legends! I've tried so many different places like that and yet it's never clicked..."
-One day she'll realize that she tries too hard for the tastes of that traumatized boy...
"So I've gotta do my research and find the right unforgettable heart-stopping life changing adventure!"
-maybe she won't.
"I think for you...somewhere scenic Earthside could do the trick, like one of those sweeping vistas with huge mountains where the world just spreads out forever, something like that feels like your style. Personally they're a little bit light on amenities and points of interest for me. Great photos but I get so bored spending more than a few days in a remote place like those...!"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Huff!! "Oh, true," Eight answers. Shooting for the moon... And landing in the dirt. As it were. Eight looks sympathetic for a moment. "Well, maybe--"
The right adventure. Of course. Eight laughs nervously. She is not so sure that Yurika's approach is going to be very fruitful... But on the other hand, Lavhi thinks she's trying her best, so...
Maybe she won't.
"Earthside, huh? I haven't spent a lot of time on Earth, but... Maybe Orb? That's friendly to us, and I wouldn't be too far in case something came up..." Then she smiles. "Yeah. I don't mind not having too many amenities, myself. Give me a nice hotel and Lavhi and I can find plenty to do on our own," she quips, and then winks for good measure.
"But this sounds nice. I--Oh, I should be helping you with the work, and here you're planning a vacation for me..."
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
Fluster gauge rising. Rising. Levels terminal. Yurika's face goes from merry to shocked to boiling like a tea kettle in no time flat. The picture is so vivid yet so fluid in her mind. Everything's rushing around her thoughts like a torrent. Steam's spewing from her ears. What a totally irreverent way to put it! But wouldn't that be nice though!? Oh no, for all her starry eyed pushing forward she has no idea how any of that works! --OH NO WHAT IF HER SCHEME WORKED AND THEN NEITHER OF THEM KNEW WHAT TO DO WHEN--
So basically Eight just set off a low explosive in Yurika's brain and it's burned and fizzled out. Defeated and vanquished by her own wildly unrealistic yet utterly disconnected romantic fantasies, the great Captain Yurika has finally fallen in what isn't even a battle, toppled forward and fuming with smoke from every pore of her head.
"...oh nooooo I'm living vicariously through you aren't I...I'm planning...my vacation and using you as a vector to do that. Ahahahahah...I want it to go well for you so that I can know that this kind of thing will go well for me if I ever get the chance. That's not unreasonable is it!? That's gotta be normal!! Augh. oof. I smell burning..."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"O-oh," Eight answers Yurika's explosion, having briefly gone a little too far for Yurika. She forgot that Yurika was a blushing maiden somehow...! Whereas Eight is. Not. But what if, what if--
"Ah, I mean..." Eight watches Yurika fizzle. She watches the great Captain fall. "...Aw," she says. "Well that's still very kind of you. I think that's pretty normal! You want your friend to have a nice time, and you want to know that you can have a nice time, later. And I'm sure you will, when you get with that someone special! In fact, I'll want to hear all about it!"
Burning... The burning is. Yurika...
"Ah, ha ha. ...hey, you want to see my ring?" she offers, in an effort to give Yurika something else to focus on.
...But she'll probably manage to get her functional again eventually.
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
Like a turtle's head emerging from its shell, Yurika's head slowly inches forward towards Eight's hand - slowly poking her blue eyes up to behold the glittering gemstone. "...wah. It's a really good ring, for real though. ...Tell me about the proposaaaal. Like. It happened right then and there in that crazy battle, right? Uh. Uhm."
Two of Yurika's fingers poke together. "...Is that actually a good idea? I kind of thought. Hm. I mean part of me understands the rush of emotions in conflict. But when I actually think about going through something as messy as that fight was, I...hm. I guess I'd need to hear it from you!"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Slooooowly. Eight's ring is very pretty; a traditional diamond flanked by two pink diamonds, much smaller, with a gold band. It fits wonderfully on her hand, like it belongs there. "Oh!" Eight beams. "Well--not quite in the middle," Eight clarifies. "If it had really been right in the middle it wouldn't have been nearly as nice."
"...But it sort of varies, depending. For me... It was after I finished handling business for the night. It was late; 0200, even. I'd spent all evening and night first on the battle, and then on the aftermath. And he met me at our door."
"I gave him a hug, and then he picked me right up! I love it when he does that, you know. He's so... strong, that way. I mean, so am I, but it's still nice; a lot of my partners couldn't because I'm so tall."
"Anyway," she says, "He brought me to the couch, ot down on one knee, and told me how he was feeling... and then said 'Marry with me.'" She sighs, her spare hand up at her heart. "I was so surprised. Not because I didn't know it was coming; we'd talked about marriage a lot, of course, especially with the baby on the way. But the timing...? I could never have expected. But he said, 'You are at your most beautiful when you are bold and kind', and my heart melted."
"Obviously I said 'yes'," she explains. "It was..."
"It was hard, the battle," Eight says. "But that makes it all the more important to cherish the good things we have, the things we have to look forward to. We have to live, not just survive."
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
Yurika takes immediate note: 'people love it when you pick them up'. That will come in handy later!
"So that's the kind of things you say to someone when you're genuinely declaring love for them..." the captain murmurs to herself, yet again concocting Scenarios in her head to undertake. "...I'm glad I'm here to help back people up after all that, at least! Seeing people so run down and worn out makes it important to give a little light to them. But wow...that's really kind of a...my own heart is racing pretty fast about all of this...it makes me wanna...want to go out right now and-!"
Yurika bolts upright, then, forgetting about all the blood that rushed to her head earlier, immediately staggers with an almost stock sound effect perfect 'kyaaah!'. Deep breath out through her lips. "...Okay maybe I'm more tired than I thought. Not super haggard exhausted needs to get a good night's sleep for once like someone I know but. Definitely. Low on the reserves! I came here after a whole bunch of other little errands and chores and stuff. I should probably follow my own advice and take more breathers really, ahahaha!~"
Another V sign, this time over one eye. "So you've got your promise to me. Put work aside, and enjoy your honeymoon! That's an order, Captain!~ And I'll hold down both of these big forts while you do!~"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
<poem>
Hopefully...
Scenarios. "It's the sort of thing Lavhi says to me, anyway," Eight says, trying to make clear that it's not so easily universal. Probably failing. But, "It's very kind of you to think that way, though." Then she smiles. "Does it? I--"
Kyaaaaah!
"Oh, are you--" Eight is appropriately chagrined about being haggard exhausted. She is a little like 'was it that bad?' but doesn't actually say it. "Yes, then. You should relax!" Eight says.
"...And I'll remember my promise. I won't do it immediately, but... I will. Honest."