2024-02-06: Victory Celebration! Koji Kabuto Bungles It Big Time?!
- Log: 2024-02-06
- Cast: Koji Kabuto, Leina Ashta, Shinji Ikari, Kaworu Nagisa, Yuliana Kafim, Roux Louka, LiSA, Sayla Mass, Boss, Teletha Testarossa, Sayaka Yumi
- Where: Fujinomiya City, Kabuto Residence
- OOC - IC Date: June 0098
- Summary: A victory party at the Kabuto household goes horribly right with just four words.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
It's rather late in the year for a party, but spirits are high in Fujinomiya - now that repairs on the Photon Power Primary Distribution Facility on Mt. Fuji are complete, in the wake of the banishing of Mazinger Infinity, the staff of the Photon Power Research Institute finally have a little more time - and what better way to spend it than celebrating a major victory with friends and family?
Whatever else might be true, one thing is certain: Koji Kabuto is Catering. This also means the cheesy 'TRY THE PUNCH' Mazinger Z-themed apron is back in action, too, but every silver lining has a cloud, as they say.
Gyoza of various kinds and plenty of cuisine from across the Earth Sphere has been prepared. The only problem, of course, is that the Kabuto residence is hardly the scale of, say, the Mass Villa in Spain, so this is mostly a garden party with the house being used as a foyer-slash-refuge for new-arriving guests and guests who need a break from the celebration. There's even a music player set out, playing a series of the family's favourite tunes, among others.
Koji is just bringing another plate out to the central table in the garden, this one laden with his specialty: milles-feuilles! Setting it down, he takes a seat on the bench for a moment, looking over at everything he's brought out so far.
"... Okay," he says, half to himself. "I think that's everything."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina's here for the party of course, with a plate of Gyoza. She too is in her own PPL themed apparel. It's a T-Shirt with a black cat on it, and a Mazinger style 'helmet' on it complete with jaw grill.
But sticking out through the gap is an adorable wittle nose, and whiskers. And pawsies that are batting at it.
The text at the top is MEOWZINGER in dynamic font.
It is definitely not official PPL merchandise, but Leina Ashta doesn't seem to mind. She's chewing on a dumpling, when Koji brings out the DESSERT! FANCY PASTRIES! Fancy Pastries with Fancier cream.
"Okay now you're just showing off, Koji Kabuto. Even just reading the recipe for these things takes me all afternoon."
As she picks one up, putting it on the side of her plate as she allows a touch of a grin, "You must have spent a whole day making them. So fess up, is this really just another get together?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Kaworu was busy in space by the time Infinity came to a head, and Shinji had left NERV and indeed Japan, but Koji had informed Kaworu of some of the key points and Shinji was aboard the Ra Mari II when it was helping in Fujinomiya City with the finale. It's a good opportunity for both of them to pay their respects to the battle they couldn't help with directly and spend some time with each other.
They arrive in street clothes, Shinji in his now-typical jeans, T-shirt, moon-themed black-and-white hoodie, cap, and sneakers, Kaworu in a V-necked shirt and blue-and-white striped sweater-jacket, dark blue jeans, and popped sneakers. Shinji looks up at the Kabuto residence with some trepidation, while Kaworu smiles like usual, hands in his sweater-jacket pockets.
"I think this is the right place..." he says.
"I can hear music and smell food," Kaworu says. "This must be the right place."
"Oh--" Shinji strains his ears and sniffs the air. "You're right," he realizes. "Do you think it's okay to just go inside?"
"I believe the party was being held in the garden. We should be able to circle around to the back."
"Okay... Let's do that, then."
And so the two young men head around the house to the back, where everything is set up in the garden. "Um! Excuse us!" Shinji calls, leaning his head to get a better look. "Mr. Kabuto? I hope we're not intruding... It's--Shinji and Kaworu." Ikari and Nagisa, he was about to say, to be polite--but he'd rather not use that name anymore.
Kaworu of course smiles at Koji, and that smile travels over to Leina as she's grilling Koji about the cause for the party. "It is quite a celebration, isn't it?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana Kafim doesn't, generally speaking, leave the Photon Power Labs -- if only because it raises way too many questions to have an internationally-wanted super-criminal wandering down the street to grab some Boss Ramen. But a bunch of employees pildered onto a van to head out to Koji's joint, and it didn't take that much encouragement to get her to head in with the rest of them.
She's dressed casually, in a bomber jacket over a black band shirt advertising the works of SNAFU ZAKU and a pair of jeans; there's a purple-and-blue scarf tied about her neck, cheerfully striped. ... and, of course, there are tentacles snaking out from underneath that bomber jacket, black things which are halfway to snakes and halfway to grasping claws and halfway in the other direction to strange orchids; she's acting like they're totally normal, so it's probably fine.
Probably.
(At least there's no horrible frills flaring behind her ears; she's thoughtfully folded them down to avoid making the party miserable for the likes of Leina. Isn't she so considerate?)
"Oh! Milles-feuilles!" Yuliana exclaims, as Koji brings them out. "Are these in the Australian style -- or perhaps the Hong Kong style?" There are many variations on the puff pastry, but of course she thinks of the OCU varieties, first.
Naturally, she swans over to take one, and squeaks in delight. "Ahh, it's so good! It reminds me of the Napoleons from home!" Zaftra also has their style of milles-feuilles, as it happens, and clearly Yuliana is a fan, judging by her sunny smile.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
ROUX LOUKA... is also here.
Roux remains more or less the same as ever and is wearing a long sleeveless aqua-green dress. (Well, not that long: it pinches a bit at the waist and the bottom half flares out. It's about knee length. It has pockets and a deep-red double-line of sequins just above the bust, which seems to be the decor.)
HOWEVER: She's also put two streaks of red on the left side of her hair, corvette-deep highlights.
ALSO: she is eating a pork gyoza. Right now. Munch munch munch. Thus, her mouth is full when Koji Kabuto emerges with milles-feulles aplenty. "Wow!" she says. She inclines her chopsticks towards Leina; swallowing, she says, "He might've built a mille-feulle printer or something."
She frowns after this. "Wait," she continues, looking towards Koji. "Didn't Boss Borot have that weird matter printer thing? Does that work for food?" Roux's brow knits slightly at the possible adjacency of a solution to world hunger through Photon Power when - "Shinji!" Roux says, whirling around and raising her chopsticks. "C'mon in! Who's your friend?"
(Roux was sort of awkwardly polite about the presence of Yuliana for about a quarter-hour, at which point she got over it. Is this the Newtype power, or is it because she didn't immediately whip out literature or summon a space ghost? Why not both?)
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
Koji has had an assistant in the kitchen! While not much of a cook (yet), Lisa is at least extremely reliable as a industrious sous chef. Plus she's also a willing and extremely capable taste-tester. She is also sporting her own apron; this one has Mazinger Z and Aphrodite on it and, probably hurting someone's soul, it says... iMAZIN(GER).
Let her have this, Sayaka.
"Dad's been working very hard on all of this! I helped!" She says cheerfully. "Also, I think that the printer wouldn't do good for taste. We could probably fix that. I wonder if I could do that as a senior year thesis project..." She muses out loud. There are other guests, and she lifts a hand and waves.
"Hello Kaworu!" She is surrounded by people. She is thriving.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Sayla, for her part, was already in Fujinomiya the day before the party. The end of free travel didn't have as big an impact on those with money as it did everyone else, but it's enough of a nuisance that one might try to make the most of a single trip.
Yesterday, she finally visited an old friend, after years and years of avoiding it. Today, she's dressed for a party- a designer blue sleeveless shirt, with a low cut white undershirt, an extravagant belt with a frankly massive gold buckle, worn with black trousers.
It's very 0080s fashion. Shut up.
Her contribution to the party has been several bottles of wine with an early 0070s vintage- though she hasn't partaken herself. For the moment, Sayla's sticking to juice. She might allow herself a glass later.
"You really don't do things by halves, do you?" Sayla says, admiring the Millefeuille- but giving Yuliana space to go first (for perhaps obvious reasons.)
<Pose Tracker> Boss has posed.
It's not often that an event with Boss in attendance isn't accompanied by the scent of ramen - but he has no desire to upstage Koji, and the aroma of gyoza he can smell before he sees is delectable in its own right. As such, he is empty-handed; but not alone, as Nuke and Mucha accompany him. The three are in comfortable outfits, Nuke in a pink dress shirt, Mucha with a light blue jacket and green scarf. Boss himself wears a familiar red tee - it'd be easy to imagine it as the same one he's worn for many years, but surely he does change it, right...?
(He does. He has many copies.)
The rest of his outfit is equally familiar - let no one say he hasn't found his style. The only deviation is that he wears several yellow bracelets around each of his wrists - only a few each, but enough to get the idea across.
So, the trio make themselves at home at the party; Boss singing along to the music he knows by heart, Nuke doing his best to follow along even though his recollection isn't as perfect. Mucha wastes no time in complimenting the mille-feuilles - he puts just as much value in the creation of food as his partners. "You can tell it's not the kind of thing you could pull right off a recipe," he notes to Koji after finishing one. "You'd need to put in some real effort for this. Any," and here somehow Koji can feel eye contact without any movement in Mucha's eyes. "particular reason that might be for?"
However Koji responds, Mucha won't press further. He suspects that "reason" will be arriving soon, after all.
Boss turns his attention when he hears Borot mentioned - a perk of having your machine named after yourself, although it's not improbable he reacts to hearing "Borot" in exactly the same way. "Handy as that'd be, Roux, no such luck. As far as I know, if you don't put food in, you can't get food out. Now that you mention, though, I wonder if you could put food in... but either way, there's no way we'd start printing out our ramen!" He does, of course, see the potential use cases of emergency relief... but right now he's at a party, and here he sees food as an expression of whoever prepared it.
He's not the one who might be sending a message today. He might not say it out loud like Mucha, but he thinks the same thing; in his head, he wishes good luck wish to the host. Don't bungle it...!
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
Tessa...is also paying a courtesy visit! A party to celebrate the repairs on the facility is as good an excuse as any to swing by with cover involved, other Mithril people already at work handing off documents related to Isaac City. But that barely mattered; It already had her approval, Mitrhil was doing its own thing, and being 'gently' nudged out by Mardukas was a recurring event more and more often.
Nevertheless, there's a sigh as she drinks in the ambiance. A 'civilian' outfit (courtesy of Kurz's insistence [with proper dressdown by Mao]): Black undershirt, a red-yellow styled varsity jacket (Mazinger Head Logo included, definitely unofficial), and a pair of kahki's to match. The usual ponytail, the usual bow.
She's already inside, picking at a creampuff for the sugar supply within. Ah, milles-feuilles...Quite extravagant for a simple party. There's a smile of appreciation as she looks them over, eyes flicking from the food to the man who cooked it all.
"This much?" A sip of a juicebox. More sugar. More energy. "I'd be surprised if you're not planning on having us cart away the leftovers." Koji Kabuto, big-time cook! ...No, she can't see him in a chef's hat.
"So? Are you finally out of the kitchen? It'd do no good for the hero of the show to be in the back forever."
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Though it took some time, the coast is finally clear to throw all their worries away into a party for just a little while... while Koji was responsible for hosting and setting up the party, Sayaka took it upon herself to ensure her entire staff had paid time off today. And even her internationally-wanted guests are invited!
It's not like Sayaka lives at the Kabuto residence (why would she...), so she has to drive out a short distance to actually get there. If it seems like she's taking her nice, sweet time to get there... don't worry about it! By the time she's there, e
She's dressed... rather nicer than usual, and she's not usually one to show off or anything like that. It's almost as if she has... certain expectations she wishes to be met. The same purple dress Koji will remember from their meeting by candlelight in Sayaka's secret Photon Power Labs bar, of course.
"Hey Koji," Sayaka greets first, heading to the endless stockpile "...Quite the setup you got today. And hey, you made my favourite gyoza. Guess this really will be a party to remember." She grins, partially testing Koji's obliviousness to the situation. Sayaka decides not to break Lisa's heart by expressing her pain over such a pun once again, so her apron gets an approving smile. "And how's our adorable little second-in-command?"
There's plenty of familiar faces gathered - Leina in her... "Okay, I definitely did not license that one," Sayaka comments on the ever-so-adorable Meowzinger T-shirt. "...Terrible pun aside it's kind of cute though." She admits, quietly. Why is she in such a better mood today anyways?
"Oh yeah, Koji's milles-feuilles are absolutely to die for," Sayaka nods, when praise comes round for them. "It takes a very special occasion for him to bring these out."
There were some... worries but it seems like everyone's mingling along well, which is good to see! She makes the rounds waving and greeting everyone, keeping a smile on her face. She doesn't know the NERV kids as well as the likes of Leina, Roux, the Borot Crew, or even Yuliana... but she does have some experience with Kaworu. They both get a polite nod. "It's great to see everyone here. " She says, finding a comfortable spot to have her gyoza. And then she waits... very patiently. "Yeah, why don't you come on over, Koji?" Sayaka gently nudges, when Tessa speaks up. "There's plenty of space back here, you know."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji grins up at Leina as she swipes a dessert pastry. "These are my specialty, remember? I've cooked them often enough that I have the recipe memorised."
It did take all day to get them just right, though, she's right about that much. "'just another' get together?" He chuckles. "We finally put paid to Hell after all this time, I think that's worth pulling all the stops out, right? Especially since the Mycenaeans crashed our last victory party, so that makes ten years of interest I'm finally cashing in on."
"Shinji and Kaworu!" He beams. "Please come in. It's a party, Sayaka made sure you were invited, right?" He hands them both a pastry, before moving on to Yuliana's comments on his work. "OCU foundationals, of course, but I have a couple variations on the flavouring of the cream that I've picked up here and there."
"Yeah, 3D printing is still working to crack printable food that's, uh, good. You can make edbile stuff, though, especially if you use chocolate for the print-matter." He chimes in with Lisa as she answers Roux, before grinning at Sayla. "Go all-out or not at all, right?"
Boss, Nuke and Mucha of course get a warm greeting. "... Hey, are those bracelets new?" Koji takes in the visual look of gold embellishments to the big guy's arms, and gives him a quick nod of approval, before turning towards Mucha with a quizzical look.
"I think," he replies to Tessa, "that I haven't forgotten anything." He gives the table another once-over, nodding. "Yeah. We're all good."
(In the kitchen, Shiro turns the empty oven off.)
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"I definitely wouldn't put it past him." Leina tells Roux, gravely, "Some pastry feats are beyond even gods or devils."
LiSA however clarifies that she helped, "Aha! An extra set of hands-" As she turns to Roux and declares, "-suspicious." As she eyes Koji again, over the specialness of the occasion. Before she laughs lightly at LiSA's assertion, "What would a pastry 3D Printer even use as material? The kind of science that can just make Superalloy Z out of thin air is." She passes a hand over her head.
Boss and the gang get a wave as well when they show, "See? I'm the same way though, like- I wouldn't want to print food for my family, but if the 'raw material' is cheap, then, imagine what it could do for food insecure people all over."
Kaworu and Shinji show up, and they're greeted by a tiny wave before the last bite of gyoza vanishes off her plate. "Hey you two! Been a while. You're both just in time." Well, longer for Shinji than Kaworu, but that's another story.
She's not about to talk about their trip into Liam's psyche right here.
(So considerate for basic courtesy measures Yuliana! You gain 0.01 kudos!)
"Hmmm- I'm not enough of a baker to guess at the style."
She does bake, but it's not her focus as she's more of the home cook variety. French desserts are wayyyy beyond her.
But Koji? "Come on Koji. They may be your specialty but don't even pretend like they're effortless. I know average prep time is usually measured in hours, with pre-prep sometimes measured in days for getting the dough right."
Yet he indicates that that alone is worth pulling all the stops out for, "Hmmm." She eyes him, then eyes him longer. "I DUNNO~" She sing songs it, "Something about this one? It has a whole vibe that feels like more than interest."
Is it a Newtype thing? No. No it is not.
"Hey Mom! Glad you had time to swing by." As she takes in one very familiar outfit as she replies wryly, "As if your birthday cake two years back wasn't evidence enough." Before she mouths 'Profiteroles'.
"You did not." She winks at Sayaka as she shows up, looking her up and down. She's dressed rather well for today isn't she? "Shiro and me found it at a flea market in Cordoba a few years back. Couldn't resist picking it up. Had a good laugh, the vendor had no idea she was selling to a Kabuto."
Tessa however asks if Koji is out of the kitchen, and Sayaka joins in on the trying to coax him out, but maybe she didn't need to, as Leina looks at him- on the 'Hey' 'You made it.' And the TONE in that.
Then gestures with a Mille separated from the Feuille to Roux and Sayla as if to ask 'Are you seeing this shit?'
She then takes a bite.
Damn. Worth it for the dessert alone.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"Of course," Kaworu reassures Koji as he and Shinji take him up on his word and enter the garden party proper. "We're glad to be here."
"Yes. Thank you very much," Shinji adds with a small smile. Leina tells them they're just in time, and he relaxes a little more. "Yeah... I'm glad we made it. It feels like it's been a while since I've been somewhere where I could just... relax."
The trip to Orb Union definitely doesn't count.
Shinji accepts the mille-feuille Koji hands him, as does Kaworu, and takes a bite. His eyes light up--his mouth is too full for him say to it, but it's delicious. Would it be inappropriate to ask him for the recipe later...? He'll have to try to work up the nerve.
Kaworu, for his part, accepts the pastry, but doesn't yet tuck in. Instead, he smiles over at someone else enjoying a mille-feuille. "Ah, Yuliana Kafim. It's been some time. Have you been well?" Kaworu wonders, smiling over at the tentacled woman.
Shinji swallows. "Yuliana Kafim...?" he echoes, expression flickering with the uncertainty of recognition. This expression intensifies into horror when he looks down and notices said tentacles. Slowly so as not to be noticed, stiffly because the incident at the Orb Union wasn't that long ago (never mind that it was the other Kafim's doing), Shinji scoots behind Kaworu.
Fortunately, Roux provides a distraction. Shinji still flinches, but it's relief that floods his face when he turns to her. "Miss Roux! H-hi. Th-this is, um--" He gulps, clutching Kaworu's sleeve, and manages to stand up straight. "This is Kaworu Nagisa. H-he's a friend of Miss Eight's, too. Kaworu-kun, this is Miss Roux Louka. I told you a bit about her before..."
"I remember," Kaworu replies, now smiling at Roux. "Thank you for making Shinji-kun feel welcome on the Ra Mari II, Roux Louka." Another voice greets him, and he smiles enough to squint his eyes shut at its source. "Hello, LiSA. So you and Dr. Kabuto made all of this? That's quite impressive."
"It really is... There's a whole lot," Shinji adds, looking around at all the various dishes, excluding the highly-praised mille-feuille because that's where Yuliana is. "It smells great." He didn't know Koji was such a good cook--not that he's a friend of his or anything like Kaworu is, but of everyone associated with the PPL, he'd always associated Boss of Boss Ramen with food. That's only natural, since he's been to Boss Ramen a couple times before already.
Accordingly, when he spots Boss (along with Nuke and Mucha, also regular fixtures at Boss Ramen), he recognizes them--but it's not like he knows them, so he doesn't try to say hi. He's a little too withdrawn for that. If he happens to catch his eye, though, he'll at least give him a small nod of greeting. Sayaka gets one too, since she gives one to him.
Kaworu likewise gives her a smile and a nod. Sayla and Teletha get one too, but Sayaka is his focus for the moment. "You seem in high spirits, Sayaka Yumi," he observes. "It's good to see as well."
Koji seems quite pleased to see her too, if that long stare and doting hug is any indication. Kaworu observes this with interest, and glances towards LiSA. If he catches her eye, he'll give her what might be a knowing smile.
Shinji, who's just trying to do his best, takes this moment to eat the rest of his pastry--Kaworu lets him have his too--and grab a plate of gyoza.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I can tell!" Yuliana enthuses, on the subject of Koji's work with milles-feuilles flavouring. She's nice enough to step away from the puff pastries once she's snagged her prize, of course, to allow people like Sayla to investigate. As Roux will find, she's minding her manners. And if she gave Roux a long look across the garden at any point, it certainly ended with her smiling to her.
(See, Sayaka? You can trust Yuliana. She is not going to embarrass you out here.)
"Haa... parties like this haven't always gone well," Yuliana agrees, thinking about the Mycenaeans not letting things lie. "But this one is less complicated for me, so perhaps it's fitting it go better, this time." This time she doesn't have to go back to the REA and justify what she's done afterwards, after all.
"When you get down to it, 3D printing food is more a matter of factory production miniturisation," Yuliana says, to Lisa, conversationally. "It's the same issue of processing raw materials into something which tastes good -- because of course you'd need to have those ingredients in the printer to begin with." Of course this is a solvable problem. Why wouldn't it be? "... but it would certainly be a travesty to mass produce your ramen," she adds, looking to Boss and his friends.
She smiles to Kaworu, and says, "Well, there've been ups and downs, but Sayaka is --" her reply to Kaworu is interrupted by Shinji having a terrible reaction, and Yuliana sighs, flashing her now-empty hands palms up to him. "It's all right," she assures him, easily. "I know how I look, but I'm not here to frighten you. I'm celebrating, too." Even horrible monsters celebrate things, Shinji!
... of course, if Sayaka happens to catch Yuliana's eye, after Koji's ridiculous little introduction, she mimes slapping a sap into her open hand. IT'S NOT TOO LATE, SAYAKA. VIOLENCE CAN STILL BE THE ANSWER!
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"Makes sense," Roux muses at Lisa's information. "Food's pretty complex stuff anyway, ultimately. Stuff like that soccer ball is probably really simple, right?" she says to Boss. "If anything, it's probably going to work better since it won't have factory damage." A pause.
"Do you have to add the stuff that goes into it first? Like could you make a bunch of phosphate?" (Roux knows about phosphates for reasons that will become clear later.)
She snickers quietly when Sayaka remarks on the UNAPPROVED MERCH that Leina is wearing. "Sayaka~! You look great, like always..." After a beat, Roux adds, "Where'd you get that, anyway? The shirt stall in a spaceport?" she asks Leina, before popping a dumpling into her mouth. Munch, munch. She cranes her head to scope out Boss's new swag, and then she accepts a pastry from Koji --
Which comes with the knowing smile of a woman who understands everything.
"I can see how chocolate would work out," Roux muses. "Or things like foam art on coffee. Those are just so tenuous and transient. Actually, I guess that's really Japanese, huh? I was thinking the coffee's always really been a stand-out whenever I've had it here and it wasn't from a machine."
After that, Roux "Exactly The Same Age As Misato Katsuragi" Louka has the opportunity to meet other people. "Oh hey," she tells Kaworu, smiling at the pale young man. "Shinji's a great cook, isn't he?" (Back to Shinji: "Have you kept up with it? You look great!" (Or at least, less visibly depressed, Roux doesn't say.))
After this, Roux has run out of gyoza, so she's raising the piece of pastry to her mouth - and hesitates for a moment when Kaworu ollies up and greets Yuliana with familiarity. Shinji, who happened to be adjacent, gets asked quietly, "He knows her?" She sounds incredulous. "One of 'em must get around, at least."
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
...Heeeeh...The mind of teenage girl, no matter how frazzled, still picks up on a particular vibe. Watching Koji and Sayaka together...There's the talk that always rose in Merida Island at times. The betting pool was larger than ever about it since Goragon. With the way Sayaka's dressed...There's a glance over at Leina, the crooked eyebrow and jerk of the head in the communal understanding of emotional language. It is hard to not pick up on the mood.
"If the star of the show says so, then it's true." It has to be, right? Koji Kabuto, hero of the day, surely wouldn't forget anything. Right?
"3D printers?" Ah, engineering. Something in her element. "You could try tofu. Simple, easy to store, and a good base." Tofu coffee. Semantics. "Or some form of MRE, if it comes down to it. When you're printing something quick, the important part is that it doesn't collapse in on itself." The fact that they were continually voted Least Desirable Food is left aside. Or her own cooking skills. Nevertheless, there's still a few mutters about internal structures and properly reinforcing the taste with artifical syrups before catching herself.
She's not going to interrupt two lovebirds. A portion of the dessert 'liberated' from the tray and airlifted onto her own plate. Relax. Don't overthink it. Just a night to relax after being asleep for four hours.
A night to relax, that thought left to fester as Kaworu's own nod is reciprocated. The world is much more vast than just her work, being the next thought. How long had it been? A year? More? Too long. Relax. Get in a good spot to at least watch the lovebirds (who, in total selfish agreement, does say they should get together [and isn't wagering a bet on it in her submarine]) and see the fireworks.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"True enough," Sayla admits to Koji, one extravagant caterer to another. When Yuliana steps back, Sayla steps forward, giving her a polite nod as she moves to get a slice for herself. It is, as expected, delicious,
"...I don't know, this seems about standard for Koji." Sayla whispers to Tessa. "But you're not wrong. I'm sure people wouldn't mind you taking some back for you and yours." It's not like the Tuatha's kitchen is a slouch, by any means, though....
The conversation turns to the concept of 3D Printed food though, and Sayla's work brain never fully turns off. "It would certainly be useful in some places, or for disaster relief where you can't set up a proper kitchen... I fear the people leading the charge will be molecular gastronomy types, though."
Sayla smiles at Leina. "I had a bit of a late night last night, but I got back to the hotel in time to get some decent sleep, at least. Talking, not working, I promise." She laughs a little. "...True. It was certainly a feat."
Kaworu gets a nod in return, as she quickly racks her brain. One of NERVs, right? And the boy with him... Well. Roux seems to recognize him. There'll be time for introductions.
Leina shoots her and Roux a look. Sayla just smirks.
It *is* about damn time.
LiSA says, "I wouldn't want to try to do that to my uncles ramen. Part of what makes it good is that it's very much handcrafted. While there are great things to be done with mass production of food, some things just can't be done like that. Kind of like the difference between a hand-made knitted blanket and a factory made one." Lisa's eyes blank out for a moment. "Yes, chocolate would work out fine, or something like straight vanilla, but... Hmm, preloading... space would be the issue for anything else like that, but then again, we've gotten real good with minaturization mechanics..." %R %R Oh no. Someone stop her. %R %R "Tofu might be an idea, at least we can add on some other sorts of addition to it. Usefulness in areas like disaster or emergency locations means that they might need more than just general food; high energy or high vitamin rich food in light of injuries would be the concern." A blink. "Thanks for the thought, miss Yuliana, and... Tessa, isn't it? You were helping us with some stuff with Artytone." She is at least polite to the adults. Sayaka did bring her up right, after all. "Hello, Dr. Mass." She adds on, nodding at Leina's mom. "Oh, speaking of uncles, though... I wonder where Tetsuya, little Gai and auntie Jun are." Lisa has really just adopted just about everyone involved with the Power Labs, huh? %R %R Lisa may not be a Newtype, but you don't need to be a Newtype to read this room, and the look on her face as she notices Sayaka and Koji's interaction changes from Science Brain to real 'those are my parents. they're idiots. I love them.' type of look. Her own gaze flickers between the ones she knows know the big deal around her, and glancing between Sayala, Leina, Roux, and Yuliana just gets a crooked smile. She pulls out her phone to text Shiro that he's missing the fun. Yes, of course she has his number. %R %R "I just helped. Some of this stuff does take awhile. Like the mille-feulles. But he loves cooking, and this is a big thing! So he kind of went all out and it's fun for me to learn." She says to Kaworu. "Hello to your friend as well - I didn't meet you before, did I...?" She asks of Shinji. "
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
"I wouldn't want to try to do that to my uncles ramen. Part of what makes it good is that it's very much handcrafted. While there are great things to be done with mass production of food, some things just can't be done like that. Kind of like the difference between a hand-made knitted blanket and a factory made one." Lisa's eyes blank out for a moment. "Yes, chocolate would work out fine, or something like straight vanilla, but... Hmm, preloading... space would be the issue for anything else like that, but then again, we've gotten real good with minaturization mechanics..."
Oh no. Someone stop her.
"Tofu might be an idea, at least we can add on some other sorts of addition to it. Usefulness in areas like disaster or emergency locations means that they might need more than just general food; high energy or high vitamin rich food in light of injuries would be the concern." A blink. "Thanks for the thought, miss Yuliana, and... Tessa, isn't it? You were helping us with some stuff with Artytone." She is at least polite to the adults. Sayaka did bring her up right, after all. "Hello, Dr. Mass." She adds on, nodding at Leina's mom. "Oh, speaking of uncles, though... I wonder where Tetsuya, little Gai and auntie Jun are." Lisa has really just adopted just about everyone involved with the Power Labs, huh?
Lisa may not be a Newtype, but you don't need to be a Newtype to read this room, and the look on her face as she notices Sayaka and Koji's interaction changes from Science Brain to real 'those are my parents. they're idiots. I love them.' type of look. Her own gaze flickers between the ones she knows know the big deal around her, and glancing between Sayala, Leina, Roux, and Yuliana just gets a crooked smile. She pulls out her phone to text Shiro that he's missing the fun. Yes, of course she has his number.
"I just helped. Some of this stuff does take awhile. Like the mille-feulles. But he loves cooking, and this is a big thing! So he kind of went all out and it's fun for me to learn." She says to Kaworu. "Hello to your friend as well - I didn't meet you before, did I...?" She asks of Shinji.
<Pose Tracker> Boss has posed.
It turns out printable foods might be in the cards after all! "I'll bet you could make some really impressive displays with that. 'Chocolate model kits: see how much you can build before you eat it!'" He laughs, imagining a little chocolate pilder with a white chocolate window. He agrees with Leina, too: "that's a noble goal to shoot for, I say. You'd probably have to get the actual printer easier to make first, though. But I'm sure they'll get there sooner or later." Which means... Boss turns directly to Koji with a serious expression. "Once you get there, you'd better not put me out of business, huh? You don't want to tangle with- with Boss Ramen's legal team!" Ultimately, he can hardly finish the sentence before breaking out into laughter. What a ridiculous idea!
...An astute observer might notice that Nuke turns to stare at Koji at the same time as Boss. He does not break out laughing, and looks elsewhere ever so slightly after Boss does. Mucha smirks and offers no comment.
Regarding Boss's bracelets, he admits: "you'd think so, right? But, truth is, I got these ages ago. Thought it'd be fun to have a whole bunch of them along my arms. Guess what color I could never find any more of!" Boss's dreams of the world's least complicated Borot cosplay were not to be, it seems. "I've hung on to them ever since, just in case. When I was deciding what to wear for the party today, I said 'why not?' They look fine the way they are. I'm not giving up on collecting them, though!" It's certainly a strange little project, but Boss stays hopeful in the least likely places.
Boss happens not to notice Shinji while explaining his bracelets, but Nuke happens to look right at him. Recognizing Shinji, he offers a short but friendly wave in his direction. Mucha, meanwhile, turns his attention to Yuliana's conversation. "I'm not worried," he says of the printer. "Photon Power can do incredible things, but our food's ours, and you can't stuff the process of making into a machine. I'd bet even Koji feels that way about his mille-feuilles, and "Possibility" may as well be his last name.
Isn't that saying usually one's "middle" name? Is Mucha suggesting something by bringing up family names? Who's to say. He's not telling. It's only a second before new conversation takes its place; Boss tries his best to answer Roux's question. "I think it's a little flexible, but it's not a magic trick... even if it seems that way to the three of us Boss Borot pilots. The Professors did their best to give us a nice and easy interface, but it still took us a lot of time to plan out some potential prints... and I'm sure the people who made it can get more out of it." A pause of Boss's own. He does not know what phosphate is. ...So, he elects to stay silent. SUrely someone else does...!
Boss stops in his tracks for a moment when he hears Lisa speak. Uncle?! He's long since gotten used to see Lisa as "Koji and Sayaka's family", but he didn't expect he'd get the honor of being referred to as a relative... it only takes him a second to accept it, though. He'll have to be a good role model for his niece. Sayaka might have to limit how much ramen she can eat sooner rather than later...
It takes until the mention of Tetsuya and his own family to snap Boss out of it. "I've had to drag him out to parties before, and I'll do it again! ...Or at least I'd like to. But if he's not showing, he and Jun are probably busy with the kid. It'd be nice to see him, though... it's been a minute since I've paid them a visit."
Finally, Sayaka arrives. All three of Boss's crew turn to look at her and Koji; they know as well as anyone that Important Events may finally be set in motion. At Koji's comment that Sayaka showed up, Nuke quietly thinks "was there any chance she wouldn't...?" He has the sense to keep it to himself, though. Mucha continues to wait patiently; and surprisingly, so does Boss. He wouldn't dare risk interrupting this moment after so long.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Sayaka can tell she's made an impression with the entrance she's made... but strangely, when she actually shows up, she plays it down and plays it cool. Leina's tale about shopping at a flea market gets a clear laugh out of her. "Oh, that's absolutely rich," She replies, eyeing back to Shiro. "License or not, finding some parody of yourself in some flea market must be a sign you've truly made it." She concludes in stride.
Kaworu openly pointing out that Sayaka seems to be in a good mood gets a genuine, if embarrassed smile. "Haha... well, it's the time to celebrate, right?" She deflects. "I'd hate to show up to a party in a sour mood." Although the way she looks at Koji must surely tell all for Kaworu. "What about you two? It's been quite a while... but it's good to see the two of you together again." She's tactful enough to not bring up the situation with NERV, though, for Shinji's sake.
"Well, if it isn't Roux Louka! Glad you could make it," Sayaka greets her old friend with a grin. "Thank you, but you aren't looking bad yourself." She nods approvingly at Roux's choice of dress. "I'm not quite sure what you did with your hair this time, but it looks nice."
She doesn't stop at Roux either, approaching to chat up Sayla, going for another mille-feuille. "Sayla! It's been so long, the last time I saw you was... on a live stream of a musical singalong." Oh no, she's never living Artesia down. "Leina's been keeping me posted of course, but I hope you've been keeping well."
Perhaps the small talk is a little bit of delaying the inevitable, but a good part of these parties is catching up with people - some of who are going to be a lot harder to catch with the changing political situation. She does catch a little bit of the 3D printer talk, too. And while the prevailing consensus is that Boss Ramen is too good to be mass produced, other stuff isn't off the table. A furrowed brow when Lisa brings up miniturization. "Hmm... but wouldn't it end up being quite inefficient? As it is now, it'd be far more production time compared to the food you're getting. Something as simple as tofu isn't a terrible idea though... it's interesting to imagine all the leaps and advancements of Photon Power, but I've always favoured practicality."
Though she says that, she doesn't have the heart to shoot down Boss's amazing chocolate model kit idea. But when he jokes about a Boss Ramen legal team, she laughs right along with him. "What, corporate lawyers? I thought Boss Borot 'never stood for evil no matter what form it takes'." She shoots right back.
As for the whereabouts of Tetsuya, Jun and little Gai... "Yeah, I can't exactly blame them if they're busy. If nothing else, it's actually pretty sweet that Tetsuya is so dedicated to his family life. Ahem..."
The moment she's been waiting for, Koji comes up to her completely stunned, before coming in for a hug. Sayaka's expression stills for a short five seconds, closing her eyes.. 'You made it'. "What, did you think I was going to stay home from the big victory party? Of course I made it, silly." She replies, running her hand through his ever-so-spiky hair. Nuke really does have a penchant for predicting these things...
"Actually, I've been waiting for something like this for a very long time." She practically spells it out. "...You seem tense." She adds, noticing his rather irregular breathing. "Something on your mind?" She smiles. And catches Yuliana's hand motion at just the right time of course. A firm, careful nod, before her gaze turns expectantly back to Koji. Is violence ever off the table for Sayaka?
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
For a moment, Koji wonders if this party, too, has been gatecrashed, if some terrible weapon has drowned out all the sound of conversation in his own garden. Sitting next to Sayaka, however, normalcy returns to his hearing.
"I'm just glad you're here," he replies to Sayaka. "And looking, uh. Wow?"
Koji that's not an adjective
He clears his throat, briefly managing to take his eyes off her to look around at the party. "... Damn. I never would have thought we'd get this big a crowd together, back in the day. Y'know?"
He grins, over to Leina. "Isn't family cooking supposed to be about passing down what you know? Now that we finally have time for those kinds of things, at least." His gaze falls on Lisa at this point, and in the span of a blink, the memories burned into his mind by Goragon - of nursing a much-younger version of her through influenza - of sending her off to her first day of school - of seeing her take her first steps - flash through his mind.
I want this. No - I've had this, I want more.
Suddenly, he's gripped by an impulse. "Sayaka - "
At this point, the rest of his brain catches up with him. Wait - here? NOW? With everyone around us?
Leina may spot the glint of a phone camera peeking out of the kitchen window. Shiro offers her a conspiratorial wink.
Oh shit. I've frozen up.
Calm down.
Say something.
Say ANYTHING, just don't back down!
"..."
He swallows. He opens his mouth again - just in time for the other conversations in the garden to hit a natural lull.
"Let's make a baby."
...
...
...
...
WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"Ha! Boss. If he tried your legal team would be the least of his worries." Is Leina's amused threat that's not really a threat - OR IS IT?
Shinji's comment on relaxing causes Leina to give him a sympathetic look. Poor kid. He was so anxious at Eight's baby shower too. She had sensed, something like grief from him back then.
She had just hoped months on the Ra Mari would have given him time to get further along in the process.
Whereas to Roux she chuckles, "Flea Market! Though they had more than a few, so not sure that this one was really second hand." She winks at Roux in that moment.
Fortunately it looks like Roux is fielding the subject of Shinji, the two do know each other better, so at least for now he lets her handle it.
(Probably for the best given Shinji's obvious fear of Yuliana.)
She does consider you know, mentioning discretion in Yuliana's presence, technically she is a global criminal, and the fact that she's here for treatment and rehab is a secret.
But she decides it's better to not say anything at all, when it comes to the secret being more likely to be kept.
There's a briefly suspicious look at what Sayla says, but it melts into a smile, "Alright, I'll trust you on that one."
Sayaka however reveals that she followed the SING ALONG, and Leina laughs, "Hey- I thought we agreed on a six month grace period before revealing you were on stream that day-" She checks her watch suddenly, at the calendar, "-Oh! I guess the deadline passed? Time flies~" She takes a bite of the pastry at that moment.
Does that mean that MORE people are going to be coming out and revealing all of a sudden that they saw, just when Sayla thought she was SAFE?
These are your just desserts, Sayla Mass.
LiSA notes that this is a big thing and Leina eyes her. Then back to Sayla. Then notes Sayaka asking if Koji has something on his mind.
Then slowly, wordlessly, she pulls her cell phone out of the pocket of her jeans, and puts it on the camera app.
Just in case, you know. Stuff happens.
At that moment, she sees a glint of a phone camera, and Leina bends forward just enough, to wink back as she murmurs, "Shiro... you can at least come out here."
However, the tension in the air grows, the pregnancy of the pause nearly outstripping the statement that follows, and Leina clicks the button to record right as-
'Let's make a baby.'
Leina stands there for several long moments, mouth actually slightly agape as her brain registers that wasn't a proposal, as a sudden flush hits her cheeks, bright red, like the second hand embarrassment is too much even for her and then...
"Right now?" She asks quietly, finding it difficult to keep a straight face, difficult for her voice not to crack, but then doesn't wait for an answer, "Okay everyone, pack it in."
As she waves her opposite arm towards the guests.
"Party's over, these two need some space."
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"Looking 'wow'... ha, that's a new one," Sayaka grins. "I'm just glad you like it." It's obvious who she was dressing to impress.
"...It's nice, though." She agrees, at the crowd they've gathered. "When it was only us and then Boss's crew, I never would have expected something like this. I'd say it's just part of trying to build a brighter future for everyone... but there's something more quaint about this."
There's an awkward pause as Koji's gaze fixates on Lisa, then - sweet Lisa, the girl she admitted is just like a daughter to her. When Koji suddenly says her name, it's like Sayaka's heart is beating faster than Mazinger Z's Japanium reactor. "Yes?" She asks, face going bright pink. This must be it, even Koji wouldn't...
'Let's make a baby.'
Sayaka blinks, taking a few questions to process that she was NOT in fact asked 'Will you marry me?' And then she can't even bring herself to look at Koji.
"Seriously? You came up with that? In front of EVERYONE? You're the worst! The absolute worst!" She screams, her gaze following Yuliana for the briefest of seconds, as she reels her hand backwards culminating into an open-palmed SLAP that would put 'The Punch' to shame.
Although Yuliana correctly predicted the violent reaction, Sayaka does settle into a tearful smile, having to laugh at the sheer absurdity of it. After all, she gets it. She saw those same memories... and she wants all that and more too. "Look... message received. You really are dense, but maybe I wouldn't have it any other way." She concludes with a satisfied smile - but she will drag him out for some ring shopping so help God. All that's left is the crowd live reaction of the soon to be explosive union of Kabuto and Yumi.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"Ha! Boss. If he tried your legal team would be the least of his worries." Is Leina's amused threat that's not really a threat - OR IS IT?
Shinji's comment on relaxing causes Leina to give him a sympathetic look. Poor kid. He was so anxious at Eight's baby shower too. She had sensed, something like grief from him back then.
She had just hoped months on the Ra Mari would have given him time to get further along in the process.
Whereas to Roux she chuckles, "Flea Market! Though they had more than a few, so not sure that this one was really second hand." She winks at Roux in that moment.
Fortunately it looks like Roux is fielding the subject of Shinji, the two do know each other better, so at least for now he lets her handle it.
(Probably for the best given Shinji's obvious fear of Yuliana.)
She does consider you know, mentioning discretion in Yuliana's presence, technically she is a global criminal, and the fact that she's here for treatment and rehab is a secret.
But she decides it's better to not say anything at all, when it comes to the secret being more likely to be kept.
There's a briefly suspicious look at what Sayla says, but it melts into a smile, "Alright, I'll trust you on that one."
Sayaka however reveals that she followed the SING ALONG, and Leina laughs, "Hey- I thought we agreed on a six month grace period before revealing you were on stream that day-" She checks her watch suddenly, at the calendar, "-Oh! I guess the deadline passed? Time flies~" She takes a bite of the pastry at that moment.
Does that mean that MORE people are going to be coming out and revealing all of a sudden that they saw, just when Sayla thought she was SAFE?
These are your just desserts, Sayla Mass.
LiSA notes that this is a big thing and Leina eyes her. Then back to Sayla. Then notes Sayaka asking if Koji has something on his mind.
Then slowly, wordlessly, she pulls her cell phone out of the pocket of her jeans, and puts it on the camera app.
Just in case, you know. Stuff happens.
At that moment, she sees a glint of a phone camera, and Leina bends forward just enough, to wink back as she murmurs, "Shiro... you can at least come out here."
However, the tension in the air grows, the pregnancy of the pause nearly outstripping the statement that follows, and Leina clicks the button to record right as-
'Let's make a baby.'
Leina stands there for several long moments, mouth actually slightly agape as her brain registers that wasn't a proposal, as a sudden flush hits her cheeks, bright red, like the second hand embarrassment is too much even for her and then...
"Right now?" She asks quietly, finding it difficult to keep a straight face, difficult for her voice not to crack, but then doesn't wait for an answer, "Okay everyone, pack it in."
As she waves her opposite arm towards the guests.
"Party's over, these two need some space."
Sayaka's reaction with the SLAP, she seems VERY MUCH ready to crack up, but somehow holds it in, despite the wince.
And what follows, which is more like a proposal.
"Right. So. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. To those who live here at this address - we're going out!" Before she suggests, "Anyone up for karaoke?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Oh no! Yuliana spotted Shinji anyway!! He flinches again, clutching the plate of gyoza close, and averts his eyes. "...it's not just... how you look," he mumbles.
Kaworu gazes over his shoulder at him, red eyes gentle with concern. Then he gives him a soft smile. "Shinji-kun, it's clear Yuliana Kafim is here by invitation, and I don't think she would be if there were anything to fear. All right?"
Shinji eyes him a little--but Kaworu does have a point, and his hunched-up shoulders relax a bit. He's still visibly wary, but he's at least not actively hiding behind him now. "...All right."
Again, Roux comes to the rescue by offering a topic change. "He is," Kaworu says with affection.
"I have," Shinji adds, managing a slight smile. "It's part of my job and all." And, of Kaworu's acquaintance with Yuliana: "Kaworu-kun knows everybody," he murmurs back to Roux with mildly exasperated affection. "Anytime we go out somewhere together, we're always running into someone he knows who I've never met before in my life."
Technically he's at least heard of Yuliana before, completely unrelated to Elisa, from that time when she complained about Eizen, but still, they haven't met. (The full tragedy hadn't struck yet at the time of Eight's baby shower, either--the worst was yet to come. But Leina doesn't ask about the details, and Shinji's not about to offer.)
Laughing a little, Kaworu says, "I don't know everybody."
"Nearly everybody," Shinji corrects himself, for once not missing a beat.
LiSA comes in with an explanation about her role in tonight's cuisine, confirming that that mille-feuille definitely took a long time, Koji. Kaworu and Shinji both make noises of interest, Shinji's more wide-eyed. "So we can see," Kaworu remarks. (And, of course, Koji said so himself only a moment ago.) "It's a wonderful way for Lilim to express their joy." He notes that mention of Atrytone... but opts not to ask about it more deeply at the moment. Instead, he says to Sayaka with soft humor, "That's true. It's important to celebrate when good things happen." He smiles warmly at Shinji. "Such as reunions."
Pink rises in Shinji's cheeks, but he doesn't look unhappy--far from it. "...Yeah. Things have been really rough for everyone lately... It's nice to just--be with friends again." He looks back at Sayaka, but hesitates to say what he's thinking: I hope Dr. Hell really is dead this time.
Fortunately, LiSA addresses him, and he blinks at her. Then he shakes his head a bit and dips it in greeting. "Oh--no, I think this is the first time we've met. I'm... Shinji." He pauses, glances at Kaworu; when he smiles, he reflects that smile and looks back at LiSA. "It looks like you must have learned a lot. There's a lot of dishes here I'd like to learn to make, too." He shoots Koji a quick glance, lowers his voice, and raises his plate to indicate what remains of Kaworu's piece of mille-feuille. "Um... do you think it'd be okay if I asked for the recipe...?" Koji mentioned he had it memorized, but still.
Speaking of recipes, it's Nuke he ends up sharing silent greetings with--but looking at him and Mucha and Boss now as the conversation of 3D printed food vs. homemade food continues, it reminds Shinji of Nova and her request to him to make her ramen. There's no way he'd get Boss's ramen recipe from him, but maybe it'd be a good idea to stop by Boss Ramen while he's in the area and get a bowl to remind himself of the flavor. Maybe he could even ask for some tips.
There is a lull in the conversation then.
Sayaka--let's make a baby, Koji says then, at precisely the correct time for it to be the only possible thing anyone could hear.
Shinji gawks at the two. His face is lobster red and steaming just as hard. He flinches when Sayaka SLAPS Koji--and yet, somehow, it turns out all right in the end. How??
Kaworu, by contrast, continues to smile as if this were a perfectly natural way for one person to propose to another. And why not? Making babies is an important part of the Lilim experience. The violence... Well, that's just Sayaka's way. When Leina suggests that they all clear out so those two can have the privacy to get right on that, he nods affably. "A wise suggestion. Let's be on our way then, Shinji-kun. To karaoke?"
"Oh my god," Shinji breathes as he lets himself be ushered away.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Excuse me," Yuliana offers, to Shinji, and makes it as gentle as she can under the circumstances. "I don't mean to frighten you." She doesn't chase him down, even, so clearly she is minding her manners.
And, "I was," Yuliana says, to Lisa, with a kindly tone. "And I was there to help take down Dr. Hell -- I fought in the Mycenae War myself, back in the day."
Which might explain why she's associated with Sayaka in some way, since she cut herself off before she could properly explain that. Poor Leina, mourning the death of all opsec.
Whatever the reason is, Yuliana and Sayaka certainly seem to have an understanding. She doesn't make the way she's keeping an eye on her and Koji obvious, but obviously she's keeping an eye on it. She raises her brow, seeing the way he freezes in the middle of his party.
She's not going to verbally remind him of their conversation, but...
Koji manages to gather himself up, and -- LET'S MAKE A BABY!
Yuliana just kind of gapes. Like, completely: her jaw hangs open, and the horrible little claw-jaw amalgamations hanging down to either side of her also hang their little bottom claws loose as if gasping. That's a THREE-GAPE COMBO right there, and Sayaka looks at her and she just throws her hands up like 'REALLY?!', and --
Slap.
And Yuliana laughs, her calloused hands coming together to clap for them. "Hahahaha...! Give him hell, Sayaka!" She calls, merrily, as she lets Leina usher her out. She does steal one last gyoza on the way, snatching it up with one of those awful little tentacles which absolutely have a longer reach than her arms. From there to her hand to her mouth, she munches happily as she evacuates the premises.
"I love karaoke," Yuliana says, as she files out.
Oh no.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Roux laughs at Sayaka's words a little. "Oh thank you," she says, sweeping a hand through her hair. "Do you like the highlights? I'm still afraid of committing but I felt I should be adventurous after, you know, everything." Is she going to get a full hair color thing for the wedding, what
The topic of 3D printing food remains in the air. "Tofu IS a good idea," Roux answers Tessa, and stops herself before going forwards with a 'captain'.
But then...
Koji speaks. He warms up with Leina, which - after he moves on - gets Roux to give Leina a knowing little glance. She munches on her milleufeuille afterwards as she watches. She thinks she can sense what is coming. A glance at Sayla -- she can see it too, can't she?
Yes: something that is slow and stately, but inevitable, is certainly something else that a Newtype can foresee. But some things don't need psychic intuition. Still, Roux likes to feel that that warm fuzzy feeling is in fact something related to those subtle gifts.
Koji says Sayaka's name, as he has so many times before.
But he's getting tense -
Wordlessly, Roux sends her thoughts forwards. A warm sensation. The grin of a seasoned professional; the encouragement; the warm regards, the smiles, the laughs that they will have one wonderful day and for all the days to come, Federation and Dr. Hell and all these wars be damned and thrown into the dustbin of history to be sent away and used to build another lovely island where people can live their l
'Let's make a baby.'
The warm vistas Roux sees freeze for a fraction of a second.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OvW8Z7kiws
Roux leaves her body. Hurling through a cosmic vortex of iron stars and terrible ice-cold cosmic spaces lit only by the dying flickers of proton decay and the fossil light of dead stars that are finally able to overcome the expansion of space to reach her awareness, for a fleeting femtosecond she is able to know true despair -- the secret horror that none, save perhaps Full Frontal, have been able to more than brush against.
In those vast halls of empyrean Lack, Roux feels the subtle gravity of inevitability behind her. Pulling her back. Pulling her to the place where she was. The place where it will happen. Where it is happening. Where it has happened. The immaculate psycho-emotional suction drawing her back even if on pure, raw meta-instinct she reaches out one star-hand to try and grasp the underlying structure of space itself.
Falling inwards, Roux thinks to herself: Am I going to remember any of this?
And: Is she going to be OK with this?
Plummeting backwards through time, she is blinded when the stars come back to life, the reverse-fusion's light making the universe live again. Nevertheless for a moment she glimpses the future, a clear and simple sliver of what willishas happened. Perhaps it's a little wink from that red-litten moment with the Phenix, those short months ago.
It does nothing for the sensation, even as Roux returns to her corporeal form.
In actuality, she never left, although the more sensitive (whether psychically or through traditional routes) might have seen Roux go glassy eyed for a moment there. She says, relatively quietly, "oh, my god"
Roux looks towards Sayaka in case she has a gun. At least this might be over quick. Maybe I should look away, Roux thinks, or else I'm going to have to testify. If I have to testify, they'll have to call Judau. If they have to call Judau, he's definitely going to prison.
But...
But she isn't.
It's just as she thought. But yeah, Roux thinks as that sound echoes. Yeah, that one was fair.
Leina has a good idea. Roux turns to look towards Shinji and Kaworu, raising her hands. "Karaoke. Awesome. I'll drive." Roux immediately leaves the backyard, and soon after, the property. (She has a rental car with manual controls, which is presumably the Karaoke Express now.)
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
LiSa gets a friendly wave in return. "Good evening, LiSA." There's a gentle smile as she speaks. "It's fine to call me Sayla, by the way. I'm not one to stand on ceremont in a get together like this."
Really, Sayaka? In front of the Millefeuille!? Sayla's face blushes red- a rare show of straight up embarrassment from her. "Ah... you were watching that? I knew it was being streamed outside the house but..."
Leina proceeds to reveal there were rules to the matter- and that the embargo has passed. "...You're never going to tell me how many people were watching that night, are you." It doesn't sound like a question, more an acknowledgement of the facts. Sayla sighs, but there's more affection than exasperation. "You're truly earning your nickname, you know that?"
Unfortunately, it is just as Koji starts to get serious that Sayla takes a forkful of cake. She can feel the shift in emotions in the room. She watches intently, chewing slowly as Koji tries to say something long overdue.
And then she nearly chokes on the cake as the words come out of his mouth, Sayla coughing and grabbing a napkin to cover her mouth.
A brief coughing fit later, Sayla stares. "Madre de dios, Koji..." She mutters, under her breath.
...on the upside, Sayaka seems to speak the same language. Leina is ready to round them up out of the room (mostly in jest presumably), but Sayla shakes her head. "...Congratulations, you two." She says.
And then she turns to Leina. "Okay, *now* we can leave them be." Then, there's a concerned pause. "...Karaoke. Really." Sayla sighs. "...I hope you kids can tolerate some 60s pop."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"We'd be delighted to record you attempting some."
Leina says as she puts a hand on Sayla's arm and continues ushering her out as if to say.
'We are in no way evacuating quickly enough for the vibes Sayaka is putting off right now.'
<Pose Tracker> Boss has posed.
Calm before the storm, thy name is Boss Legal. "I mean, there's gotta be good ones out there somewhere, right? It's not like every single one's gonna pull off their mask and reveal Ashura or Brocken." Of course, the truth is that if fates somehow conspired to put Boss in a courtroom, he'd be turning right to Koji and Sayaka for help.
And speaking of...
The moment is finally at hand. Koji's talking. Sayaka is looking Wow. All eyes are on the pair on the couch. Even if others have different conversations ongoing, Boss and his friends know precisely what might be about to happen. It's pin-drop silence from them, and the rest of the room becomes silent soon after. Koji says Sayaka's name. History could be made, here and now. Just before Boss starts to wonder if he's lost his nerve again, another sound passes Koji's lips...
Uh-oh.
Well, it's not out of character for Koji, the same Koji that Boss has known for so long. As it so happens, Sayaka is also the same Sayaka he's known for many years. Which means... Boss has a good guess as to what's about to happen.
It's louder than he expects, though. Sayaka has not lost one bit of her strength.
As the dust settles (or perhaps "as the pain fades from Koji's cheek")... they've done it! Nuke's hesitantly about to start applauding before Leina decides the happy couple needs some alone time. Boss can recognize the value of tact; but nothing will stop him from shooting a wink and a thumbs-up towards his childhood friends. The moment he's done, though; "I'll sing whatever you ask me to, but you're all listening to Boss Borot's very own theme song, performed by yours truly! And if you've got any spirit, you'll sing along, too!" He teases a little: "Yuliana, you'd better still know the words!" And just like that, off they go... leaving Koji and Sayaka to the next step in their future.
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
"It's nice to meet you, Shinji." Lisa says warmly. "You are right though, I did meet Kaworu before. It was nice. I'm glad he's here today, too, with a friend." Or more, as it may go. "Oh, okay, Sayla. I just didn't want to be impolite. Mom wouldn't approve, I think." The talk about the food printer eases off, although she does point at people in tern before tapping her head. She made a mental note of things.
Lisa somehow has managed to wander the garden as she speaks to all, ending up nearby Shiro Kabuto, daughter and brother watching Koji and Sayaka with the sort of intensity that comes with one having been with the two for over a decade and the other one, perhaps not as long, but just as impactful. There is a shared look, and Lisa touches his shoulder, his gaze still on Koji, as her gaze switches to Sayaka. It's not quite the level of disturbing the peace stare that might be called for, but it is the one of '... is this happening?'
Looking ... wow? Okay, this is definitely not standard processing. Lisa takes a startled step forward and is restrained by her youngest favorite* uncle, and Lisa exhales hard when Koji say's Sayaka's name.
'Let's make a baby!'
There's enough of Yumi in her so that Lisa's jawdrop doesn't match Shiro's, but the similarities are there before the two turn to look at each other. Lisa shakes her head very slowly, before one hand comes up to her mouth, in a lose fist - not tight or all the way closed, just pressing it to her mouth so none of the absurd giggles she is wanting to let out come out as Leina forcibly declares that everyone that isn't Koji and Sayaka are Leaving. Everyone can probably hear her whisper, "I -am- the baby!" though in weak amusement.
Nudging her with his elbow, Shiro leans in and murmurs into her ear, "... You know where your stuff is better than I. Just grab my pack?" Lisa nods, and finally takes her hand away, not laughing anymore, but her eyes shining with joy.
Shiro ambles to the car with the rest, smirking at Koji in the way that only he, the younger brother who managed to hit certain milestones first can. He saves a seat; after about three minutes, Lisa is occupying that seat, handing him his pack, her own in her lap. "Sayla, Leina, can we crash over with you two tonight?" She asks, sincerely serious. "... Leina, you did promise to tell me all about the hijinks that they got up to when they were younger. When I visited you in your dream..." A look out the window.
"I'm glad their dream is finally realizing, too..."