2024-07-07: Time Out
- Log: 2024-07-07 Time Out
- Cast: Sheryl Nome, Marian Cross
- Where: United Emirates of Orb
- OOC - IC Date: July 7, UC 0099 (2024)
- Summary: While at Ruri's sweet sixteen, Sheryl and Marian go off to each have a quiet moment to cool off. Those quiet moments naturally become one.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Ruri's sweet sixteen has been, in Sheryl's professional opinion, a blast. Is an arcade kind of kiddy? Sure. Is Sheryl maybe a little old for it? Maybe. But it's all brand-new experiences with lots of friends and everyone's having a great time, so who cares. This isn't Sheryl the intragalactic mega-star; this Sheryl the young woman celebrating a friend's milestone.
So after playing War the Revolution, trying out Whack-a-Bo, trying out a racing game or two, Sheryl... takes a break! She gets ice water from a fountain drink machine and takes it with her outside, just past the lights and noise and into the early evening.
"Whew," she breathes. Then, paying no attention to who else might be around, she dumps that ice water over her own head. Her long, blonde curls are partially clipped back with butterfly flower clips, so that gives the rivulets that fall easy access to her slender neck. She's also wearing a glittery black bikini under her tied-off color-splashed top and jean short-shorts, so there's no need to worry about getting her underwear wet, either. She can just enjoy the cool and refreshing water.
Except for when she tilts that cup a little too far and the ice falls out too. Then she yelps as a few of those cubes go right down her shirt.
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
An arcade isn't Marian's usual idea of a fun time either. But she still had fun nonetheless. While she's not anti-social by any means, she's not used to the quote unquote, 'civilian life', so to speak. It was something she thinks she could get used to, or even learn to enjoy. Meeting new people, having dumb fun, not worry about if the next fight is going end with herself in the ICU, or worse.
She needed to process the new experience and emotions. And so she decided to step out for a moment. Some fresh air would do her some good right now. But drats, there's that fancy looking woman that was dancing earlier. And what the heck is she doing? She's...pouring an ice cold drink on herself? And ice cubes even slipped down her shirt! What a klutz. And how uncouth.
Marian paused for a moment to observe her... Before releasing a quiet sigh and removes her light jacket. Then coming around the corner and drop it on her head wordlessly. She could use it dry herself off. Or at least cover herself with it.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
It is a hot July night in the tropical nation of Orb, and while Sheryl has excellent cardio and exercises daily, she did just do a lot of physically exerting games. Is it so surprising she might've gotten sweaty?
But then, Marian wasn't paying attention to her over on the other side of the party, was she? Sheryl at least laughs at herself when she shakes open her shirt to let the ice cubes drop out. She grabs one and presses it to her neck--
Just as Marian comes over and drops a light jacket on her head. Sheryl blinks in startled surprise over at her. An older woman, it looks like--not old but definitely at least middle-aged. Then she smiles.
"Sweet of you, but I did that on purpose. I've got a swimsuit on under this," she explains, tugging on her top to better show off the black bikini underneath. "Still, thanks! I appreciate the thought." She pulls the jacket off with one hand and offers it back while drinking what remains of the water in her cup.
Regardless of whether Marian takes the jacket back just yet or not, when she finishes her drink, Sheryl leans in a little closer to her, blue eyes blinking wide in curiosity. "So you're a friend of Ruri's too? I don't think I've seen you around before. How d'you know her?"
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
Marian does take the jacket back. Though she doesn't immediately put it back on, and instead just throw it on her shoulder. The action subtly drawing attention to the scar in the opening of her casual low-cut T-shirt. Is it really okay for a girl to be exposing their underwear like that? It's a swimsuit of sorts, of course, she know that much. But isn't it basically just underwear?
"No, not exactly. Some old Nergal contacts invited me. Thought it'd do me some good to get out of the base once in awhile," she replied with her eyes burning a hole in Sheryl's chest as she leaned in. It's not a gaze of need, but rather one of criticism. Though she doesn't really say anything of it even if her eyes betrays her incredulity.
"What about you?" Marian asks in return. Her own yellow eyes now looking back at her baby blues when she gives up trying to decide if she should do anything about Sheryl's exposed state.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
When Marian takes that jacket and throws it over her shoulder, Sheryl does catch sight of that scar on her chest. She doesn't remark on it, though. Scars are not generally light-hearted conversation starters for total strangers.
She does catch Marian staring at her chest though, and completely misinterprets just why she's staring at her ample bust. Sheryl smirks and streeetches her arms up to give a better show, just to tease her a bit. How scandalous!
"Oh, so you're military. With Orb?" Sheryl wonders. She couldn't be with the SMS--she'd surely have seen her before if so--and they're in Orb right now, so... It's her best guess, anyway. (Marian was not the only one not paying attention to the other side of the party.) "Are you having a good time so far~?"
She settles one hand on her hip as she relaxes. "I'm a friend of Ruri's, of course! I've taken a lot of trips on the Nadesico, which is how we got acquainted," Sheryl replies. She tilts her head at Marian, that curiosity returning. "It must be weird for you, though, coming to a birthday party for someone you don't know." She gestures at the other partygoers still inside. "I hope you at least know someone here."
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
It's odd. Marian has no problem with exposing herself. But whenever she sees someone else do it, she feels compelled to cover them up. ...or maybe it's just Sheryl's much more curvy chest drawing the attention. A hint of jealously, perhaps?
When Sheryl does her little 'show,' she turns away. She wanted to make it clear she's not interested in that way without explictly saying it. But she didn't realize it could cause even more misunderstandings. 'This woman...' She thought. Is this how civilians act? Is this why she's never gotten a partner? Should she start acting more like her?
She breaths deeply to gather herself, not wanting to get caught up in this woman's pace. Which might continue to cause some more misunderstandings to her chagrin. "Mhmm," she hummed when Sheryl asked if she's Orb. She guessed correctly. "Marian Cross. Nice to meet you," she continued. She didn't say her rank though, for one reason or another.
"I suppose," she replied when Sheryl asked of the party. She still doesn't know what to think of the new emotions she's experiencing, but she can't say she hate it.
"Well, I know Admir- Eight. Though we just met recently when she came to the base on Magallanica business."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
There's at least a little bit of misunderstanding there--Marian looking away because she's embarrassed. Sheryl giggles mischievously. At least she doesn't keep up the tease. She's naturally an impish young woman, but it's not as fun with someone you don't even know. If she's military, then she's probably straight-laced, too. She'll show mercy--this time.
"Likewise. I'm Sheryl," she says instead. In the same way that Marian doesn't share her rank, Sheryl doesn't give her last name. Even if she's misinterpreting Marian's stares, she doesn't get the vibe like she recognizes her. This is a casual personal outing, so she's content to leave it that way for now. Marian might realize later--Sheryl's done a live concert in Orb before, albeit not since her last global tour three years ago--but later is later.
"Hmmm... I'm not that well acquainted with her myself. I guess we're just on opposite ends of Ruri's social network," Sheryl remarks with a little shrug. It's not like Ruri herself is a social butterfly--Minato does much of that for her, as evidenced by her and Mr. Prospector arranging the party in the first place.
"But I guess that makes sense," she adds. "If you're here because some contacts of yours encouraged you to come, I bet you don't attend many parties in the first place. More into piloting, or whatever it is you do?"
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
'Sheryl... Sheryl...' Marian tilts her head sideways as Sheryl introduces herself. Marian's swears she's heard of that name before, from somewhere at some point. But she couldn't quite place it. There's surprisingly a lot of that going on recently.
She then offered a little shrug of her own and saying, "I suppose." She saw this Mr. Prospector when she handed her gift to Ruri, of course. But she didn't see this Minato back in the arcade. She's definitely haven't been paying attention to the other side of the party. The whole thing has been an infomation overload to her. Even now she's still processing it all.
"Mhmm. Piloting, training, fighting, even politics now," she says, almost a little proud about it. It seemed she's readily willing to reveal that much, even if she haven't revealed her rank. It's honestly just an afterthought at this point, when she has a much better 'title,' however unofficial it is.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
It has been a big party. Sheryl thrives on this sort of thing, and even she's out here taking a break. Of course, that was more because it was getting hot and she needed to cool off, but still.
"Huhh... Politicking, huh. I have a lot of pilot friends, but not so many politicians," Sheryl remarks. She's met a lot of politicians, and even plenty of outright royalty, but friends? That's a different story. "Have you been doing that a real long time? The piloting, I mean. Like, how long does it take someone to go from that to being behind a desk?"
Asking for a friend. A friend who does a lot of piloting and who Sheryl worries about often, even if she does her best to hide it. (Though knowing why he pilots, being behind a desk would probably be torture...)
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
"Some ten odd years now," she replies, and think about it some more. "Didn't start out piloting when I started my military career though. I was a marine before that. As for how long it takes for a pilot to become a politician..."
Marian's expression turned somber all of a sudden. Not that she's had a super peppy expression before. She just looked tired. But the change is still obvious.
She turned towards Sheryl, and a hand grab at the edge of her T-shirt. There's a little pause...and then up her shirt goes. Her scars being bared to the world, or at least just Sheryl at the moment.
"This is all it takes." A bitterness in her voice as she reveals her scars. She soons hide it once more and her expression softens a little. "Don't get me wrong, I'm still a pilot. The politics is just a necessary evil," she continued. But she doesn't say more until Sheryl asks.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"Ten years... That's practically forever," 20-year-old Sheryl says. For someone her age, that's fully half the years she's lived, so it's no wonder she'd think that way. To Marian, it's probably a lot more laughable.
She looks over when Marian's mood shifts. The reveal of just how many scars she's got makes Sheryl's own expression shift to wide-eyed if mute shock. It seems into a somber frown soon after. "...So that's it. That makes sense." Contrition is a rare look for Sheryl Nome, but it makes appearance all the same when she adds, "I'm sorry."
For a moment, she looks out at the city lights. The sun has already set, so they sparkle like jewels from here. Then she tilts her head back towards the arcade. "It makes sense now! Why you got that invite, I mean. If you survived something nasty, you ought to make the most of the life you've got! Wanna head back in and play a round of something?" She smiles as she winks. "The Whack-a-Bo game was surprisingly fun, if you haven't given it a shot yet~!"
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
Marian shakes her head when Sheryl offered her condolences. She doesn't care for it. She wished she died that day along with her squad. All she got in return was being hailed as a 'hero' she didn't ask for, and that she's now decided to exploit. She doesn't make her depressing inner thoughts known however. Content with just having the little shake be intrepreted another way. "...don't be. But, thank you..."
She then scoffed softly. It was almost a chuckle, but not quite. Well, she hasn't had enough of a break yet, but, that'll get them out of this sudden awkward mood she brought about. She's not that tactless.
"Sure, let's go. I'm warning you though... I'm good at whacking stuff."