2024-10-31: Happy Halloween

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<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Tokyo Big Sight is one of the biggest convention centers in Japan, and its slick, ultra-modern construction makes it one of the OCU's nicest venues by a fair bit. Destroyed during the One Year War, it's been rebuilt even wider, with a hangar-like new northern wing to handle trade shows for mobile weapon manufacturers. The inverted pyramid tower remains, though.

Today, it plays host to a mobile weapon trade show; the Benerit Group and Jade Metal-Lyman dominate the event, though other firms have a presence as well. (Notably absent is Leonora Enterprises, left reeling by the Federation's dissolution and NUNE's formation. At the moment, it has nothing to show.)

A fair few personnel, however, are here not for the trade show but the late-night Halloween business mixer. It's an occasion to get comfortable with the new normal in a much less formal environment than usually allowed -- and, for that matter, to do so in costume! There's fairly lavish catering (you can always expect that from a Benerit event -- it is, after all, Ringer culture to flaunt wealth) and a live band.

(It's Fire Bomber American, from the Macross 11 Fleet's "Little America" Island. This booking may be a discreet snub from the OCU side of the event against BU attendees, or the price may have just been right.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Rlyc6ChkM&list=PLKWGfRNV9cT4r6Mbf2bFFH0RCoFKIzN-p&index=1

Akane had spent her entire day being polite and professional and normal with vendors during the trade show portion of this whole event. Jade Metal-Lyman makes up a fair amount of 3G's "boring" purchases, and while handling that sort of thing usually falls to someone in another department, Akane is getting discreetly encouraged to be more social professionally. She isn't crazy about it, but sometimes you just have to get encouragement on this front. (Besides, it's not like she's at this event alone.)

Now that the trade show side of things has substantially wrapped and it's just time for the mingling in the Conference Tower reception halls, though, now she can... ... be social still but with a smaller group of people.

And what have Akane and Rikka -- often the most committed to costume events among 3G -- done? Something fashionable, daring, and based on some cool, seinen-adjacent anime with bright backgrounds contrasted by the muted humans within them? Something with a modest amount of crossover sex appeal? Something --

Nope. Today's outfits started life as a thrifted dress and a floppy kigurumi onesie; the only high-effort or expensive things started life as headbands of the same type that Mikoto uses to achieve her iconic hairstyle to allow for 'turning off' the excessively wide portions.

"Raaaaah... I'm Akanegon!!" Akane announces as she approaches, arms raised as she trundles forward in her onesie -- then grabs a plate and starts loading up on jumbo shrimp.

She's been waiting all day to change out of her boring office lady outfit and do this bit. The googly-eyes on the eye stalks of her wide, circular 'hood' flop around.
Alouette Pommier has arrived. 

<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.

         Lina was no stranger to trade shows, she had attended a fair share during her stint with Concord Defense, and a few more for the benefit of the Lombardi Grove, but years in the more casual company of 3G had definitely made her rusty in business situations. At least her suit still fit. Luckily for her, an old dog never forgets how to ride a bike, or however it goes, and she had quickly gotten back in the groove of corporate schmoozing. She had even managed to sell a few executives a few bottles of the Custom on the side.

         Meanwhile, a costume party afterwards was definitely more her speed. She had excused herself from the show early to get her costume together, an ordeal which required more hair care product and makeup than she had used in the last year. Sure, the outfit had cost her a pretty penny on auction, and sure, it was a bit hot and stuffy, but how could she resist the opportunity to be...

         https://i.imgur.com/AzjKJUH.png

         ...Sheryl Nome from the Universal Bunny music video? The White Bunny of course. She would die if she had to be the Black Bunny. She just hoped nobody would ask her to sing. She stifles a laugh at seeing Akane in her get-up, also eyeing the table of food. Business negotiation had given her a bit of an appetite. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

For Rikka, today is a pretty big day. Today's trade show marks Rikka's first major public appearance since her promotion to Chief of 3G Red. She hasn't made many appearances outside of relief work and the times she's mobilised to deal with one threat or another so, for a lot of people, this is their first real look at the young Chief.

Which means fielding a lot of questions and a lot of withstanding a lot of attention. It's the usual mostly, nothing she can't handle - though there are still some who put the pieces together and connect her to the Rikka Takarada from the Sheryl Nome incident earlier in the month, and that takes a bit of deflecting.

She's glad that she isn't here alone. This kind of environment would be suffocating for her, otherwise. Still, she's played nice so far -

- which means it's a relief when the trade show wraps up, seguing into the late-night mixer. That's what she's been looking forward to tonight.

It's remarkable what one can make with a little bit of creativity. That thrifted dress has been refashioned into a design resembling the carapace of an insectoid kaiju, its skirt framed by plates to give the appearance of a beetle's elytra protecting its wings. Accompanying it are long, faintly-striped(perhaps to give them an appearance resembling accordion tubing) sleeves and leggings, with shoes and gloves matching the carapace design.

Atop her head is a headpiece featuring a pair of what may be horns or antennae alongside triangular 'eyes' on either side of her head. This Rikka adjusts, just briefly, as she follows behind Akanegon, grabbing up a few jumbo shrimp of her own. She lets out a small laugh at her announcement.

"Good work today, Akanegon." Rikka replies. She's probably not going to be able to keep that up the whole night... but it is fun to say it at least the once. 

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi managed to get an invite to this trade show for one reason: Qivi knows wanzers.

A lot of members of GGG do *not* know wanzers. 3G uses a lot of... let's say 'bespoke equipment'... in their operations. Even the people who do know a few things about wanzers know them from a commander's point of view, because they're the people who coordinate with local defense squads.

But even though she's been hired for her alien connection and not her gladitorial skill, Qivi piloted them for years and still keeps up with them. She has on-the-ground experience in wanzers, stock and otherwise, that is a rarity among people who have the opportunity to be here.

Which means she spent a day stuffed into a suit and making small talk with business folks and managers and coordinators (small c, not the genetically engineered sort, though there might have been some of those too; Qivi didn't check). Qivi is very much not at home with this sort of environment. *She* wanted to take some of them out for test drives, or climb up and check the upgraded Jinyo shoulder joints to see if they'd solved the problems that made her avoid piloting them, but nobody would let her do that.

She was very glad to get out of a suit afterwards and go to a party, even if she was still going to have to behave herself.

Qivi's original plan for a Halloween costume was going to be a vampire. But then she realized that that would mean she would have to wear *another* suit! Two in a row!! That, or some kind of fancy dress with a corset or a really low cut, based on her brief research of more femme vampire outfits, neither of which appealed, neither of which she owned, and both of which sounded expensive.

So she changed her mind. It took her a bit to decide what to wear, and some help getting the gear for it, but she is here...

...as an elven archer.

Qivi is wearing a sleeveless green tunic falling just past her hips, belted at her waist with a wide belt with a square buckle. Beneath this she has black leggings and cuffed boots. A quiver is against her back, held on by a cross-body strap that goes over her right shoulder and connects to the left of her belt; it has a few arrows in it. Perched on top of her mess of hair is a cap with a feather in it. She has a bow with her, too.

Don't worry. Everybody is perfectly safe. It may be real wood, and actually strung, but none of her arrows have points - even if that isn't obvious while they're 'point'-down in the quiver - and, more importantly, Qivi has no idea how to shoot a bow. The one time she tried with a real bow she slapped herself with the string hard enough to make her swear, and this one isn't exactly meant to be fired. It just looks real.

It's not the way Qivi normally dresses, but she pulls it off. She has the broad shoulders and visible arm and upper body tone to pull off an archer (and show off just a bit; those muscles didn't build themselves!), and she has swept her hair just so, which means her pointed ears are quite visible. Those aren't props.

"Akanegon, huh," Qivi says, because of course she has already migrated toward the buffet, as a reasonable starting place for this evening. She taps her bow against the side of her leg a couple times, absently. "And... Rikka...bug?"

Look, she doesn't know every kaiju. She doesn't even know most kaiju. 

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette is among the members of 3G where the trade show might just be a little more important than the afterparty... she is the Captain of one of their Mobile Units, so making sure it's outfitted with the best possible equipment is something she'd rather have a personal hand in. That doesn't make it any less boring... but she takes it about as seriously as she should. Even if it meant answering a lot of questions, because the golden Captain's vest stands out a little too much in a wave of business suits.

Halloween has never been a particularly widely celebrated holiday in AEU France, and Alouette still leans more private than social even nowadays... but she decided not to skip out on the afterparty mixer. Why not? It is an opportunity to dress up, and she likes that just fine.

Like Qivi, she was considering a vampire, too... but she ended up going with the classic, classy witch fit with her own personal flair. It's multilayered - the top layer being black, with orange and purple layers in the dress. The hat it comes with is comparatively tiny to her massive hair. It also comes with a broom to carry around, but that becomes kind of a pain after a while, doesn't it?

She checks out everyone else's costumes, and it's good to see everyone's having some fun with it. Particularly Akanegon, which she's not even sure if she recognizes the Tarabaman kaiju in question. If it's even from Tarabaman?! "With all these kaiju roaming around... suppose it's a good thing we've got several Ultra-people looking out for us." She muses, before immediately taking off to the coffee pot set up with the catering. It's been a long day...

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.


Leina Ashta may take a little bit of squinting to recognize, but not much. Currently she's wearing a drab brown flat cap, and several layers of coats that look patched, and patched again.

Her hair however appears blonde on the sides that are peaking out from the cap, with a contrasting red sweater underneath... with hints of more layers beneath.

However she's dressed, it appears to be for extraordinarily cold weather... but it's difficult to place what precisely she's going as.

Until you see the dented Haro following her around, painted black and white, and scuffed in multiple places.

The Haro doesn't react as Haros normally do, just every so often tinkling the sounds of a lullaby.

Akane and Rikka will recognize it right away though. She's Sarah, from 'Artesia' the film, aka the Artesia from the movie.

It is a very LAYERED joke, that she's going as a fictional version of her own mother to this.

Upon arriving towards the group, she half crouches down behind a table, like she's hiding from the pair of 'Kaiju' in question.

Lucifer the Haro waves at them anyway, tinkling the chimes of a music box before Leina shushes them and pulls him behind cover, before winking at the pair - as one of the 'terrified' populace.'

<Pose Tracker> TenRyuuJin Team has posed.


        A pair of personal assistant drones have been flitting about the exhibition since it opened. This is not that unusual, as certain strains of Haro are endemic to the Benerit Group's corporate territory. A Haro with a pink pearlescent coat is a bit more notable, especially since it seems to be the cohort of a different personal assistant drone of more utilitarian design.

        But now, it is no longer time for analysis and data gathering. It is time... to socialize.

        "Alouette, mon ami!"

        A familiar voice broadcasts from a Haro, rolling towards the operator at a brisk speed. It comes to a perfect stop, golden eyes shining--the drone's glossy pink coat has been encased within a second shell, this one jet-black with the silhouette of a chess piece: the white queen. "It's good to see you again!" says the voice--who is, of course, KouRyuu. The Haro twists on its axis, miming a double-take as she looks up at the majesty that is Akanegon and Rikka...dorah? Mega-Rikka?

        "What ferocious looking kaiju," says KouRyuu, her tone dead serious. "I hope they're friendly."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Akane looks Lina's costume over as she moves to a table, getting situated with a plate loaded with... mostly more shellfish. Her doctor would probably be happy to see her getting the omega-3s. "Oh, that's good." ... She's got some fondness for Sheryl, even if Universal Bunny isn't the all-time favorite for her.

Before fully getting settled in, she gives Rikka a boop on the horns, saying, "Oooh, say that again! More!!" excitedly. Then she starts in on her shrimp.

Qivi's confusion at Rikka's outfit gets a teasing, "Taka-Zetton~" by way of explanation. "... I went through old files looking for kaiju that I thought would make fun costumes. These are actually, like, real kaiju... though, uh, I did a lot of..." She trails off. "... interpreting."

It's felt nice to re-embrace kaiju, a bit, after letting that become too awkward for so long. She just... likes monsters! And heroes! There's a lot in the world to love!

Gesturing Alouette, Leina, and the mob of Haros over, Akanegon says, "Yeah, that's right!" Then, turning toward Leina, "You're lucky to have heroes to defend you from... Akane Beam!!!" She tilts her head back and opens her mouth.

Nothing happens.

She gives up on that after a few moments, saying, "Everyone's costumes are so great. I can tell you guys were excited for this one. We should get someone to take pictures... those are really good Haro shells, by the way. Did you guys do those yourselves, or did you need help?"

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.


As Akane calls out 'Akane Beam' Leina lets out a little muted shriek (Muted only because GGG is here, people may think something is actually wrong), as she ducks down.

And Lucifer the Haro rolls out from behind cover to heroically charge at Akanegon and...

... lightly tap her ankle with a headbutt.

Then again, for good measure.

Then again.

Look he may be on loop, but he has that plucky mascot protective instinct.

<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.

         Lina chuckles and brushes some hair out of her face, relieved that the costume seems to be working. "You think so? I don't usually dress like this, so I was a bit iffy on it. Universal Bunny's my favorite song." She scoops some pasta from a metal pan over a burner onto her plate, accompanying it with a couple dinner rolls. It wasn't garlic bread, but it would do the job.

         "Akanegon... you're too much sometimes, Shinjo. Just be careful Ultraman doesn't come tonight for the two of you."

         She's initially confused by the pink Haro, but upon hearing its voice, a revelation comes. "Oh! I guess it makes sense that that's how a Super AI would wear a costume! Good to see you, Ko!" As she steps aside to enjoy her food, she casts Qivi and Alouette an approving nod as well.

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

The nature of the event prior meant there were limited opportunities for someone like Gai Kurenai to attend - except as a member of the 3G Red Chief's security detail.

Millennia of lived experience will still never really hide how awkward he is in a suit.

But then it's the after-event mixer, and, relievingly for Gai, the outfit he is most comfortable in looks like a costume, so it's back to the old familiar jeans, black longsleeve, leather jacket and matching hat. The one concession he has made to the theme of the party: the card holder usually worn at his hip has been replaced with an extremely retro holster for a toy revolver.

He's a cowboy! ... A cowboy also helping himself to the buffet table. After all, an Ultra physiology needs ultra sustenance.

He looks up as Akanegon threatens the peace and prosperity of the people of Buffetopia, and sets his plate down when she announces the 'Akane Beam!' to perform that familiar crossed-arm gesture. Imagine a beam clash here.

Lowering his arms when Akane 'gives up', he chuckles warmly. "Letting off a little steam, huh?"

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

"I'm on break," Qivi jokes to Alouette, which mostly makes sense if you know she is Nova (which, well, Alouette does, but not everyone does). "But if I really need to do superhero stuff..." She draws back the bow (her stance is more theatrical than effective and she didn't nock an arrow) before angling just so so she doesn't slap herself with the string and releasing.

"Definitely some reimagining. I don't think the original one would have been so..." Qivi considers Akane's onesie for a moment and settles on "Comfy."

She offers Leina a hand up given she's doing the dramatic crouch before she does anything else. "I don't actually normally do costumes, but I thought I'd find somethin' that worked, more or less. My first one fell through but I think this one works okay. I've got the ears for it," she adds, with a slightly crooked grin - one that she wouldn't have had saying that a year and a half ago.

"Good to see y'all. And that you made it!" That to the Super AIs... or at least their Haros. "I was wondering how you were gonna get in here, if you were going to climb in through the hangars or what... I actually considered doing that and showing up as the Jolly Green Giant but I really didn't want to build a costume big enough for me to wear macronized."

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"Always, Akanegon~." Rikka replies with a light chuckle, before taking a look at the others. There's a lot of familiar faces here. Rikka glances around, nodding appreciatively at each one. Lina's Universal Bunny - which gets a second nod for taste - Qivi's elven archer, Alouette's witch, and Leina's...

Rikka does a double-take, cracking a smirk as her costume clicks - which then grows into a laugh as it really hits her.

"Your Sarah is great. Really true to life." Rikka says approvingly with a wink.

And, KouRyuu is here, too.

"Fortunately, our wrath can easily be sated by a steady supply of food." Rikka states. She nods, then, as Akane explains her costume and how she came up with them. She chuckles as she mentions 'interpreting'. "Just a little bit. I think it worked out nicely, though - they came out really well. The designs are cute, but not 'too much'?"

It's good to see her re-embrace kaiju on her own terms. Rikka's glad that something she loves wasn't completely ruined for her.

She looks toward Alouette, then - and down to Lucifer the Haro currently menacing Akane's ankle.

"And one very brave Haro." Rikka adds, before looking toward Qivi.

"I think that one really works for you." Rikka replies with approval - and then laughs, at the comment on her other plan.

<Pose Tracker> TenRyuuJin Team has posed.


        "Thank you!" KouRyuu chirps. Her Haro does another little pirouette, whirring softly as the internal gyros stabilize it. "The pink one I got a month back. The costumes just came in last week. You would not believe how much convincing it took to get AnRyuu to wear one." AnRyuu was using her usual quadrotor drone, earlier. The Haro is part of the costume for her, too, apparently.

        "But now I can't find her anywhere, and I think she's become a wallflower on me. We had a paired costume and everything, and now it's awkward." KouRyuu's Haro rolls over to Lucifer's side. "But if she's too shy, I guess Lucifer here will do. He's so brave." The Haro looks up at Qivi, and tilts to the side. "That would've been awesome." Another little tilt-and-adjust, and the Haro looks up at Lina. "Good to see you too, Lina!"

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Oh noooooo," Alouette reacts, in the most deadpan fashion to the ever-so-deadly Akane Beam, before breaking out into laughter. Leina, being the theatre kid she is, is a way better actress than she is... "Love the costume. As for mine... about the same amount of effort I usually put into my outfits." She replies, which might be an understatement considering how much effort that really is.

Alouette nods back at Lina, recognizing her costume. She's worried about Sheryl's well-being, especially as a friend, but... she gives her a knowing smile. "Universal Bunny? I'm a fan, too."

"KouRyuu! It's good to see you," Alouette greets the tiny little pink Haro. "AnRyuu couldn't make it?" She asks, noticing that she hasn't caught eye of her sister yet. "My... don't tell me she's secretly dead scared of a couple Halloween costumes~" Alouette doesn't really mean that, but she does have a teasing side to her.

"Touche. We all need one after that trade show," Alouette nods, when Qivi quips about being on break. But she does watch her draw back the bow and finds it quite impressive. You need a lot of strength for that, even if it's just a mock weapon.

And then finally she watches Lucifer, the other Haro in the room roll over. "Those are some truly... Haroics worthy of the Strongest Brave Robot Corps." She agrees with Rikka, before looking to Leina. "Maybe we have to negotiate some hiring terms while we're here."

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.


"Are you here to rescue me?" She asks, with a tremulous voice, as she takes the Elven Archer's hand. "I never should have taken that man's word that I'd be safe in Tokyo... look at them! Rampaging in a convention center!"

But then she winks, and takes the assist up.

"Thanks." She says casually to Rikka, "Had to go all out for this. I'll be sending Mom a picture afterwards, just so she can judge for herself."

Also because her mother has so many friends here and could potentially STOP this at any point.

"I dunno, you look like you're capable of actually hexing this pair and resolving things on your own, with that costume."

Leina says with a judgmental eye that Alouette has really put in way more effort than she's stating, but... her other comment.

"It's true that he might resolve this incident... with his courage." She quips at her while crossing her arms, but it's clear she's not looking down upon that way of doing things...

"But probably not without a few more dents...? Maybe more than a few."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"Ultraman... is coming for me!!" Akane announces, as she sees Gai. "N-noooo...!!" And like that, Akanegon is defeated!!

... and headbutted by Haro...! Oh no... Lucifer's too cute and plucky...

Akane shovels some more shrimp into her mouth with one hand and lightly pats Lucifer on the head with the other. "I'm defeated," she says, implicitly praising the Haro's protective powers. "No one's a match for Sarah and her Haro..."

Qivi gets a light laugh and a shrug. "I mean, the first Kanegon we saw was kinda pudgy. That's like fifty or sixty years ago now, though. I was..." Akane laughs, admitting, "... kinda digging here. We were looking for costumes where you could thrift a big chunk of it, since neither of us have a ton of time lately, ahahaha..."

Stretching out a little bit and rolling her shoulders, Akane admits, "Yeah, definitely," to Gai. "I think if I have to sort through a wanzer spec sheet again I'm going to explode..."

... then more jumbo shrimp.

Akane adds, to Alouette and Qivi, "You two really saved my butt with the JML rep... I'm kinda... out of my depth with Wanzer stuff. Even mobile suits are a bit hard to follow for me and that's kinda easy..."

Leina's comment to Alouette gets an added, "Yeah, actually... there's a lot of kaiju that really struggle to deal with," don't say the M word, "... phenomena. The RPG party we have going on here," gesture to Alouette and Qivi, "might be a real problem for us!"

The mention that AnRyuu snuck off to be a wallflower, though, gets a frown. "If I can't sneak off like that..." she whine-mumbles, with a look toward Rikka. 

<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.

         "I thought the idea was to come in costume, Gai! Or is Halloween every day for you, eh?" Lina chuckles with a smug grin that's almost unbecoming of her costume.

         "I thought it was pretty fun when I got into the groove. Took me back to my days dealing with contractors in Moralia. And I'm sure Elsa will appreciate the extra advertisement I gave the winery." She nods and stuffs a forkful of penne into her mouth. Oh yeah, it was pretty tough. But not as bad as she feared.

         "I also got some pretty good inspiration looking around that I'll have to relay to the guys in R&D. I've been thinking about upgrading my Nightmare, and the vendors definitely gave me some choice ideas."

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi very deliberately puts some strength into helping Leina up, same as she did with the bow draw. What, she's allowed to show off a little, and she saw Alouette looking. And Qivi is well on the athletic side of things. "A proper rescue for a proper lady," she says, grinning. "Next time I'll sweep you off your feet for real." And she winks when she releases Leina, now that she's up.

AnRyuu isn't here... "Well, say hi for me, at least; it's been a while. And that costume might've been awesome," Qivi allows, "except I don't even have hardly any clothes that size, let alone costumes." She *really* has to get off her ass and go shopping. "And I'm not one of the Meltrandi with green skin, so if I wanted to be a *green* giant... can you imagine how much makeup I'd need?"

More than she wants to try to find where to get it! Or wash off, after!

Qivi doesn't want to think of what *her* mother might do at a place like this. Fortunately, she doesn't have to; she's in the NUNE military, which is safely Over There and not what she has to deal with tonight.

She points out to Lina, "Well, he's not really a cowboy, is he? I mean... probably...?" Yes, okay, he does wear that a lot of the time, but as far as Qivi knows he's never been on a horse or anything. "Evening," she adds, to Gai himself.

"Don't worry about it," she says to Akane, and means it. "I like wanzers. I'm gonna rebuild Sarangay someday, even if I haven't had the time or the gear to do it yet. I like Diable stuff a bit better than Jade Metal-Lyman, for parts - they focus too much on the Zenith, not enough on everything else. But that's work and I'm not going to go into it!" Even if wanzer tuning is a hobby.

"...I just wish they'd let me try out some of it instead of just handing me the specs. You never know how it is until you sit in the seat for real."

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"I'm sure she's going to love it." Rikka replies to Leina. ...It isn't lost on her that she's waiting until after.

"I'm kind of curious what her costume was... But I wouldn't want to force her if she isn't feeling up to making an appearance." Rikka replies thoughtfully as KouRyuu talks about AnRyuu.

Alouette's comment gets a small laugh out of Rikka, accompanied with an approving nod.

But, alas, poor Akanegon... Rikka bows her head briefly in remorse. She gets over it shortly after.

"Yeah - we found some pretty good stuff, at least. And then Akane really transformed it all." Rikka says.

She listens as they discuss the business-related side of things. The great thing about being Chief... is that she gets to delegate that. She knows the technology pretty well, but dealing with the people selling it... That's another matter. She was plenty swamped as it was.

With reach Rikka reaches over... and gives Akane a pat on the shoulder.

"Sorry. You have to socialize tonight. Rikka apologises.

Rikka, for her part, has moved on from the shrimp and acquired a pastry. It disappears in short order. 

<Pose Tracker> TenRyuuJin Team has posed.


        "A Brave Haro indeed," KouRyuu says, her Haro bobbing back and forth in a 'nod'. "It would be an honor to serve with you, Lucifer."

        "Something even worse," KouRyuu says, her Haro rolling about in a perfect circle. "Worries about not being taken seriously." It comes to a dramatic stop. "I get it, I really do. And she'll probably come out in... oh, give her five minutes, at the most?" The Haro spins on its axis, and gives a meaningful look at a hallway leading to (one set of) restrooms. It doesn't have much in the way of body language, but there's a look in its eye as it glances sidelong at Akane.

        "You rock that costume," says KouRyuu. "And you're clearly enjoying yourself. You're not kidding anybody, Akane. How's the shrimp?" Qivi does something dangerous--she gives KouRyuu a potential thought experiment in the form of a silly rhetorical question. The Haro rocks back and forth for a moment, then... issues forth a measurement, in liters (and an alternate kilogram measurement) for green skin-safe pigment. "Ballpark," KouRyuu appends.

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

As Lina calls his outfit choice out, Gai taps the toy gun at his hip. "Sometimes you just need to properly accessorise," he says with a grin. ... yeah, no, he definitely cheaped out on this.

He looks down as KouRyu produces her ballpark measurement for that much green pigment, and lets out a long, low whistle. "That's a lot of paint. Wouldn't FuuRyu complain?" (3G already has, after all, a giant green friend.)

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Maybe I could," Alouette winks to Leina, about hexing them. "But I don't know... seems Akanegon's a lot more harmless than she was letting on," She decides, watching the pathetic, yet kind of adorable display of the scary kaiju losing to the brave little Haro.

"But if you're giving me your weakness, then you better not push your luck~" She teases, poking Akane's kaiju shoulder a few times with her broom for good measure.

As for the help with the Wanzers... "Oh, don't mention it. Honestly, unlike Qivi, I'm not terribly familiar with wanzer-types compared to say, an autobalanced cockpit, so I was just scraping by with what I knew about the specs, really..." She admits. "JML's offerings looked pretty good this year, but it's true that you can't know for sure unless you try it."

"Not being taken seriously? That does sound like her... that kind of pride is honestly something we have in common." Alouette smiles. "But considering AnRyuu... there's no way it won't be really cool." She laughs at Gai's joke, too, about FuuRyuu and the green paint.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.


"Oh my." Leina puts a hand over her mouth, "W-Well... given that you saved my life... I believe I might consider entrusting it once again into your hands... in the future."

Her eyes flick to the Half-Meltrandi's arms as if to indicate how she might be entrusting it.

Lucifer upon hearing that Akanegon is defeated, stares up at her, raises himself on his limbs, and...

Victory - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMNRPmX5Eng

... pumps a fist in the air. It does not play this theme, it just feels like it should be the case that it's playing.

Kouryuu may feel like this Haru is definitely the one but the offer is only met with a broken melody of a music box like lullaby. It is the only vocal pattern the Haro apparently has.

"I guess that makes me the guest party member." Leina says with a hand on her hip, "The scam Princess who's actually a real Princess."

Rikka however, she barks a laugh, "Doing a lot of heavy lifting with the word 'love' there... but it doesn't matter, this is her just desserts for hiding it from me for so long."

But as Alouette indicates she's harmless, "I don't know, she did put me in harm's way with one of her Akane Beams." She gives her a scrutinizing look, "Perhaps just a light jinxing."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"Ooo, that's finally in the budget, huh?" Akane asks, at the mention of an upgrade for the Nightmare, leaning in. "Pretty excited to see what your proposal is... though, uh, I guess that's more of a Research thing. Good luck!"

Just because Akane isn't great at talking shop doesn't mean she's useless at it; when Qivi brings up the Zenith, Akane says, "... Yeah, but the Zenith is such an easy thing to buy a lot of..." shortly before deciding that she needs seconds -- and a slightly more diverse plate. Rikka, conveniently, has the same idea. Akane snags a pastry too... and some basashi. Just for tonight, at least, she can pig out a bit. You're not a Kanegon if you aren't a bit of a glutton.

Rikka pats her on the shoulder as she's loading up, informing her that she has to socialize, and Akane murmurs, "Torture," playfully. KouRyuu asks after the shrimp, and Akane says, "It's good!" Taking a bite of the basashi, she murmurs, "I forgot you serve that cold in the middle... it's good too, though..."

Looking thoughtfully at Gai's costume for a moment, she says, "Next time I think I gotta take you shopping. We could definitely spice that up a bit..."

... Poked!! Akane wilts playfully, murmuring, "Noooo... I'm being defeated all over again...!!" Leina teases about 'just a light jinxing,' and Akane agrees, "It's definitely my due penance..."

Absently looking around, Akane wonders aloud, "Huh. I was kinda expecting Mamoru and Hana... I guess they must be busy." There's a split-second look to Leina and Alouette as she says that, but only very briefly. 

<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.

         "Well, we're mostly in the drafting phases right now, but yeah! Figured it was about time for me to get some new tech, since the Nightmare's getting a bit long in the tooth. I can at least tell you it'll still be a VF, but probably with a little 3G flair."

         Lina gives an exaggerated sigh at Gai's response, flicking at the brim of his hat. "I guess it beats being a little gray alien, hm? But I agree, you need a bigger wardrobe." 

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi dips into a slightly dramaticized bow. "At your service," she says to Leina, still trying not to grin. "Fake real princess or not, it's all the same to me."

She relaxes a little more afterwards: "Oh, sure, everybody loves the Zenith, and some people are all in on the Zaigaut, but then we get to the Genies and the Zeal and nobody's talking about *them*, are they? Even though they've got a new Zeal model upcoming, the B2, I didn't see one here..." Oh, great, now Qivi *is* talking about wanzers. "If I rebuild Sarangay I'm going right back to the Blizzaia at this rate. Though apparently Cathedra is getting to deploy some of the Gracilis they finally rebuilt..." This is the place it's fine to bring that up, at least. "...Gracilises? Gracilii?"

Fortunately, she can distract herself with food, too. She eyes Akane's plate before deciding to get something *other* than that: "I don't know how you can eat basashi," she says. "Brave." Qivi spent her early years on the Britannian side of Huffman, and while that's more multicultural than you'd think, she definitely has preferences and basashi does not fall in them.

As for Mamoru and Hana: "I think she said she was going to be occupied tonight," Qivi says, absently reaching for one of the grilled courgettes. "Didn't ask much beyond that."

Qivi stays out of the 'get Gai a wardrobe' discussion because hers tends to be about as reliably the same, day to day, but instead just *looks* at FuuRyuu's Haro. "I didn't need to actually know. God, giving it in kilograms just makes me sound way too big. And I'm not even macronized right now! Half of you are taller than I am!"

(Gai and Lina, at least. Qivi is a comfortable five foot four on human scale.) 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka listens intently as they talk shop. It's an interesting topic, even if she can't contribute on that side. She chuckles, briefly, at Lucifer's victory fist pump.

"I'd play this game, honestly..." Rikka decides, as Leina makes her own contribution to the party - the scam princess who's actually a real princess...

She grins, thought, at her comment.

"Maybe a bit." She agrees.

Akane's murmur gets an apologetic smile.

"Don't worry, I'll make it up to you." She promises.

Still, though, Akane's comment causes her to take an assessing look at Gai.

"...Yeah. It's good to change things up every now and then - it might be good for you." She suggests.

Akane brings up Mamoru and Hana, and that prompts Rikka to take a quick glance around too.

"Huh, you're right... I guess congratulations are in order." She decides - and then laughs, at Qivi's comment.

<Pose Tracker> TenRyuuJin Team has posed.


        KouRyuu's Haro bobs gently as Lucifer emits the lullaby. You do you, Lucifer. You don't have to talk, or do anything special to be meaningful to KouRyuu, or to your person.

        "Hmm. That's a good point, Gai..." says KouRyuu. Qivi seems just a smidge mortified at the concept, though, or the estimate. "Sorry," she says, a faint pinkish glow shining through parts of the Haro, like a blush. "That didn't land as well as I thought. My mistake."

        Something rolls across the floor: a second Haro, the inverted twin of KouRyuu's. Its shell is white, with a black queen stenciled in the glossy lacquer.

        "Good evening," says AnRyuu, from the Black Queen Haro. "Chief Takarada." It bobs in a bow. The two matching Haros turn to face each other, and bob once. To most, it's synchronous--they'd miss the split-second delay where the two discuss the party, and KouRyuu apologizes to her sister for being a little pushy this time.

        "Congratulations, huh?" says KouRyuu.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"That's true. I suppose it's only fair to give her an Alouette Hexing or two in return..." Alouette considers, but all it took to defeat Akanegon a second time was a couple pokes of the broom. "Maybe I should just make you my familiar, instead. Any good witch needs one, right?" Oh no, Akanegon has been relegated to... cute mascot status.

And speaking of cute mascots, the Black Queen finally arrives to join her sister. "Glad you could join us, AnRyuu." Alouette greets, as she bobs. "Now that I see it, I like the little theme you two have going on." Though she can't help but wonder if they've figured out a way to combine into a big TenRyuuJin Haro?

And then Akane raises another topic... Mamoru and Hana's absence. "Occupied... mmm, yes, that's one way to put it." Alouette nods. If Leina is the closest person to Mamoru in the room, Alouette is probably Hana's closest friend here. She gives Rikka a knowing look, then. "I'd say so. I mean... it's not like those two have ever been able to keep their relationship a secret, have they?"

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.


"I don't know. Do you really think she'd be a familiar worthy of a legendary witch like yourself?" She asks of Alouette.

She flashes a grin at Qivi's sense of drama, "Well well, next you'll be telling me 'All Girls are Princesses' and having me believe it, with lines like that one."

There is the Wanzer talk, and her simple response to that is, "I haven't gotten to try them, Wanzers aren't really my thing... but they'll probably please the purists out there with the recent redesigned controlled system."

As Akane mentions Mamoru and Hana, Leina arches an eyebrow at the 'look' given, perhaps having a different reaction than Alouette to this one. "Hmm. It's not like them to miss a party for that though, even with all the overtime Hana's worked."

Akane will see Leina a safe distance away in one moment, and a few seconds later she'll be poking a shoulder with a finger, and smiling, closed-eyed.

"You're not holding out any 'announcements' on me right?"
That Newtype Pressure is... immense, in this moment.

"Don't think I won't hold you upside down by your ankles and shake them out of you."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"Hmmm, yeah -- it's not like 3G's helpless with transformables and deformables," Akane reflects. "Good luck. I'll look forward to it."

Akane takes another bite of basashi. "Oh right, Britannia does the equestrian thing a little different, huh." Then she takes another bite. "It's way meltier than you expect. You'd think it was gamey but it's not like that at all..."

Rikka mentions she'd play whichever game gave us a witch, elf archer, and scam-not-scam-princess-not-princess-princess, and Akane says, "I think that's the kinda game you'd do better with than I would... I wouldn't mind watching it on the couch though." ... They really ought to get something to do for fun together besides watch stuff, actually...

"A -- familiar? Nooo... I'm already someone's familiar!" she protests, playful-and-a-little-lame.

'I'll make it up to you' gets a smile and a, "I know."

As they loop around Hana and Mamoru a bit, and agrees, "Yeah. I mean, I think eight is a little early to get married..." She's heard the stories. She's about to say something else -- but then Leina closes the gap menacingly. "N-no! I'm not holding out on anything!! I just think, you know --" Sweating bullets in her onesie, Akane manages, "A-anyway, yeah. Alouette's right. They got married at, what, 20? 21? They've always been pretty up-front on that stuff..."

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

"I'm just not used to thinking big, I guess," Qivi replies to KouRyuu. "It's fine. I should really just spend more time working that way, I guess; it's convenient if I help out in the mechanics' wings." Which she does, sometimes.

What kind of game gives you a witch, an elf archer, and a possibly-a-princess? "Sounds like one of those RPGs," Qivi says. "Never got into them much but one of my roommates once upon a time loved them. Except she wasn't supposed to have any video games at school so we were real good at hiding it... I've seen a few."

"Yeah, you don't eat horse there," Qivi says. "I didn't know you COULD eat horse for a long time, I thought it was just... I dunno, something you couldn't. It's so damn red I've never even wanted to try it. I've had a good taste of some of the southern stuff," by which she means both southern and Mexican, given what parts of Britannia colonized Huffman Island, and there's a lot I'll go for, but..."

"...I'll stick with this." She's got salmon. You can't keep her away from the salmon.

Qivi does grin at Leina. "I've never once had that work, but hope springs eternal, I guess," she says. "I'm not much of a princess, though. When I was younger I was more interested in being a prince. They always seemed to have the better jobs." This may explain why Qivi only owns suits, and not skirts and dresses, for formals... actually, has anyone ever seen her in a skirt?

She can recognize when someone doesn't really want to talk about wanzers, at least. "I'd love to give it a shot, but I don't know when I'll get the chance," she says, and leaves it at that.

As for Mamoru and Hana: "What?" Qivi didn't get her own not-quite-a-joke. But: "Eight? Really, *eight*? Damn, they must have been determined." And they're still together, which is impressive in its own way. "When I was eight I hadn't even figured anything out yet."

"Hey, AnRyuu," Qivi adds. "Nice to see you; it's been a while. How's things hanging up there?" 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

The Black Queen emerges! Rikka turns to offer AnRyuu a smile of greeting.

"AnRyuu. It's good to see you." Rikka greets. "You look great - both of you do."

"Probably. And, you think so?" Rikka considers as Akane suggests she'd do better with that kind of game. Maybe they ought to look into something along those lines - it could be fun.

She chuckles, thought, at Akane's protest.

"It's true... but it's okay. I won't get jealous." Rikka says.

As the conversation turns toward Mamoru and Hana, Rikka meets Alouette's knowing look with a smirk.

"Even I've picked up on it, and I haven't known them that long, comparatively." Rikka agrees with a nod. Still, though... she looks a little surprised.

"That long, huh... eight is way too young to be making that kind of long-term decision." She agrees. Leina confronts Akane! The pressure is immense...! Rikka looks their way as Akane stammers out a response.

"That's a bit better." Rikka considers. "By that point they'd probably have given it some more serious thought..."

<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.

         "Married at the age of eight... way to make a girl feel even older than usual..." Lina shrugs and tosses aside her empty plate. She was half-joking with that, but the talk did bring Sonia to mind. It had been a while since they started dating... Ugh, can't even begin to think about that right now!

         "I hear you, Qivi. This getup's probably the most feminine I've dressed in years." She gives a small spin, the cape flying up in the air. She did look nice.

         "Aaaaaan!" Lina waves to the second Haro. "Glad you finally joined us! Looking good!"

<Pose Tracker> TenRyuuJin Team has posed.


        That is a fantastic idea for next Halloween, Alouette.

        "Thank you, Chief. This wasn't what I planned on wearing," says AnRyuu's Haro, pivoting up to Alouette, "but it's been agreeable. The customizer did an outstanding job. Not a single scuff mark on the shell, even after extended use."

        "I've wondered about that change in scale," says KouRyuu. "And what it's like for people with organic brains. I made a few custom processes to control the Haro, here, and operate on this scale, but organic people can't do that." There's a brief pause. "I'm glad you're doing it. And I'm sure the crew appreciates the help."

        Both Haros look up as the tension between Leina and Akane continues to build. Neither has forgotten how the Galactron incident ended.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy Shishioh has not been in hiding, he's just been equal parts 'resolutely trusting the new generation of heroes to navigate this age of strife' and 'thinking about his beautiful partner.' With a slightly geometrically troubling wedge in there for pondering his sleeping lion companion, Galeon still slumbering in deep regeneration after the final battle with Betterman. Awaiting the chance to rise again.

So basically, he hasn't been up to much lately, and it's decently likely he continues that pattern and puts in only a perfunctory appearance, maybe in his Chief uniform to show people he isn't outright Retired.

Nah.

A man strides these halls; a thing of metal and sorrows. A man strides these halls, every inch of flesh wrapped in familiar black gloves, a familiar long tan trenchcoat. These are familiar garments. Guy wore these before, when he was Cyborg Guy, when the secret of his body had to be maintained in the eyes of the public. But what emerges into the light, stepping with bold confidence and solid purpose, is masked. A green helmet like a bowl ending around the nose line and wrapping the whole way around his head; a thick metal center line up the middle with a pair of antennae sticking out, accompanied by a big pair of bright red eyes like an insect's. For a mouth, metal sawn into the vaguest implication of the shape.

He waits for basically anybody to look at him.

Then he strikes an elaborate series of poses, barks, "Trans...FORM!" and the helmet bursts open at the back to let out Guy's gigantic lion mane of hair. He's not the Superhuman Evoluder anymore, but he can still control an Arduino with his mind, OK

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Leina questions whether Akane would even make a worthy familiar, while Akane appeals that she's already someone else's familiar. "Hmm, I don't know..." Alouette considers. "I bet you love being Rikka's familiar, don't you. No, I won't take that away from you," She concludes teasingly, considering the shift in the mood brought by the mention of Mamoru and Hana.

And Alouette doesn't have the heart to say that the marriage ceremony at age ten was make belief and pretend. She wasn't there after, and apparently that's like, sacred ground to those who were. Instead she says, "And in the build up to their legal marriage... let's just say she left some interesting search history behind when we were swapping consoles sometimes." She smirks.

Leina takes a very different approach, one much more pressure-filled, and Alouette can't say it's the wrong one. It certainly makes things more interesting! Alouette shoots Rikka a look, but it seems like she hasn't fully caught on just yet...

Alouette would absolutely offer to modify the Symmetrical Docking program for next year's Halloween. That's just the kind of thing she likes to do for fun. "I'm glad it worked out. I hope you two have fu-" She starts, before...

The King of Braves arrives. Guy has always been Alouette's first Hero, a bastion of courage and kindness to look up to. And now here he is, dressed as some kind of insectoid Masked Rider. And when Alouette sees the transformation in all its glory, she mouths, "Oh my god, Guy, you're so..." Cool? Lame? Both, obviously.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.


Akane loving to be Rikka's familiar gets a chortle from her.

"All that means are the women you used it on have good taste." She replies to Qivi, wryly, "But given that I'm playing the role of Sarah, I'm required to have trash taste... but hey, I bet you do wear a suit well."

And all at once, that pressure recedes as if it never existed. "Good... good. I just needed to be sure."

However, her mouth is near her ear as she whispers something, then simply strolls off a few paces.

"Hana almost certainly has." She replies to Rikka, before asking idly, "Though twenty... twenty one. I remember when they had a ceremony when they were ten. Didn't really know what to think about it at the time... it was kinda surreal."

She gives Rikka a curious look, "Now that you've living in Fujinomiya, do you think twenty is too young yourself? Like... I grew up around those... stupid Christmas Cake jokes, so it feels like there's a 'narrow window' of when the proper time is in the OCU."

Then immediately, as KAMEN RIDER enters, Leina looks at him, still standing alongside Rikka and says airily, "I have no idea who this Masked guy could be."

<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.

         Lina stares for a second, then bursts out in uncontrollable laughter. "Tu sei fuori!" 

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"I've only had it once before," Akane notes to Qivi, "but it's not bad! Maybe you can give it a try if you're feeling daring?"

The topic hovers around Hana and Mamoru more, though. "Yeah, like... eight to ten. Somewhere in there," Akane says, with a nod. "Definitely like, elementary school age. That's too early for sure..." She watches Rikka's response, even as Akane herself loops back to shrimp a bit. ... heartening, at least.

Having been distracted by Leina, Akane now gets a look at AnRyuu and grins. "Oh, you two do make a really good pair... nice!" She claps a little, clearly enthused to see it. She takes another bite of basashi, murmuring, "Hrrmm, the center's getting pretty close to room temperature... probably shouldn't go back for seconds on this."

Lina's comment about feeling old at that kind of talk gets a small frown. Sorry, Lina -- collateral damage...!

Leina slips a question by her on her way back away. Akane takes a deep breath, going just a little too still for a few seconds, she looks to Alouette pleadingly -- then to Rikka, a little more thoughtfully. ... They should have that discussion.

The arrival of a trenchcoat-clad, green-helmeted figure stops her in her mental tracks, though; the figure gets a look up, and then --

'Trans...form!'

... Akane bursts out laughing. "Okay, that's -- that's pretty good." ... It is really good to see the Chief.

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

"Heh. Bad taste, or..." Qivi trails off. "Nah. It's bad taste. Anyway, I was gonna show up in, like, vampire regalia? But the last thing I wanted to do is take off a suit to put on another suit. I've had one on all day, no thanks." Qivi grins. "At least this is comfortable, mostly."

(She is sort of regretting not spending more time picking boots.)

Qivi catches the edge of that pressure even though it's not aimed at her, but certainly isn't going to get involved in it, and is relieved when it backs off. "Yeah, well, I'm not as old as you," Qivi says to Lina (ouch), "but I am older than, say, Rikka and Akane, and it's not like I've even had a date lately. Dealing with my life is a bit much for me to ask most people to."

But a ceremony at ten... "I didn't know any more at ten than I did at eight. Sometimes I think I don't know anything today either, but at least I don't know about different things now. And as for the 'Christmas cake' thing, that's way more a Japanese thing than the rest of the OCU. I didn't hear it much on OCU Huffman."

As for KouRyuu's question, Qivi considers for a moment. "Took a bit to get used to the first couple times. I didn't do it much until I was an adult? Like, you CAN do it as a teenager, but I only did a few times, to make sure there wasn't any genetic issues with it. The first time I did it and just walked around I felt really big and clumsy, and too heavy. But you get used to it. Though you always have to watch where your feet are going, ha!"

When Guy arrives, Qivi looks at him, surprised at first - and then she laughs. "GOOD trick. I wish I could pack up my hair like that sometimes." Qivi, of course, has enormously thick hair, too - she immediately runs one hand through it, floofing it out behind her and tossing it back. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka laughs, as Alouette and Leina both decide Akane loves being her familiar. And at Leina's comment about being required to have trash taste - Rikka cringes sympathetically.

A burn hotter even than the inspiration for her costume is capable of...

A man in a trenchcoat appears. Rikka briefly looks away from the conversation. She takes note of his costume, and then - 'trans...FORM!'. A familiar mane of hair bursts from the back of the helmet - and Rikka gives it a round of applause.

"Nice action feature - your costume looks great." She praises.

She looks toward Qivi, then - and nods.

"Yeah, I mean... at that age, I'd barely trust a kid to make good dinner choices, much less going that far." Rikka agrees, before looking back toward Leina.

"Yeah, I've never subscribed to that, either." Rikka says with shake of her head of distaste. Still, Leina's asked her a question - and Rikka looks toward Akane, meeting her eyes briefly as she feels her eyes on her, before looking back toward Leina, thinking it over for a moment.

"At that point... I guess it depends? Like... if you've only been dating for a few months, or a year, that's too early... But if you've known each other longer, then it's really down to the people involved and whether they feel like they're ready." Rikka considers. "You don't want to rush into it, but if you keep second-guessing yourself, you might end up just missing out on years of your life together..."

<Pose Tracker> TenRyuuJin Team has posed.


        "Huh," says KouRyuu's Haro. It swivels upwards, and bobs up and down in another nod. She now has an anecdote about something she's never experienced before. The Haro's eyes gleam. "That's a hazard of having such a large form factor. You need to be very precise, especially when working around people with a smaller one. We got drilled on that a lot, since they knew we'd be working with people going in."

        "You should always be mindful of what--or who--is on the ground nearby," AnRyuu echoes.

        Suddenly...!

        "Chief!" KouRyuu cries. "Where did you get that?"

        AnRyuu, meanwhile, rolls over to Lina to give her what she hopes is a gentle, reassuring nudge to the ankle.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy is definitely smiling like a child under that mask. "Waha!" he laughs, pulling himself upright. "Good to see everyone around!" he adds, and meanders over toward the food, and... has a fully face concealing mask. no. NO. "...problems for later," he decides, and mingles.

"Made it!" he boasts to KouRyuu, turning his head up and waving. "Dad did teach me a thing or two, you know. Though if Usshi #4 shows up, I don't know anything about his table saw."

That's for the best," he says to Leina, completely failing to sound dramatic. "It's a long, tragic story..." ...and breaks character instantly to say, "...but it's good to see you, Leina."

As for Qivi, he laughs and quips, "Thanks, it was a pretty tight fit. This stuff doesn't like being bundled up, but sometimes it's important to find a way to make it work." 

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.


Leina gives Rikka a long look as she answers, and simply nods in acceptance, "Yeah that makes sense. I thought I might start considering marriage after high school at one point, but..."

There's a rueful smile over it, "Sometimes you just get swept up in the feelings of the moment. Not that I'm second guessing that it was the right feeling at the time. Just, things changed before it could ever get to it being a real question."

In the end, she's giving Guy a good look to nod somberly, "I understand, I will not pry into the impetus that drives this hero's... courage."

But a smile blooms, "It's good to see you too, I'm glad you're getting the chance to enjoy yourself."

Leina completely does look at Akane once, during this whole sequence, a thing which has absolutely no meaning.

"How's Mikoto doing?"

Okay maybe that question has more meaning than an innocent inquiry.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"I know! Like, in the Philippines I think it's 25 and up when you can get married? But in Korea the social pressure's even worse than here," Akane says to Qivi, nodding. "It's kinda wild, right? Like... it's different pretty much everywhere." Embarrassed, she admits, "I don't really get it. The way it is around here just seems kinda normal to me."

Akane certainly doesn't look away from Rikka as they talk ages. It would be more suspicious for Akanegon to look away, at that point. Still... she's got a hunch that she's run out of sneaky questions.

"Yeah," she agrees. "I think the only thing I'd really wanna be sure on is not getting married before you do Coming of Age Day? I kinda like furisode and it seems like you'd be missing out on something fun not to get to wear one..."

... that's all she offers, though. Too much more than that and Rikka'll dial in everything.

Instead, she turns her head toward Guy. "You'll be fine," she says. "Give it a minute, anyway? They'll probably bring out some fresh stuff in a few minutes... the basashi's starting to get warm enough that they're probably gonna have to cook it to keep it food-safe." ... Perfect time for dessert, though.

Akane gives Rikka's beetle-horns a gentle bat. "C'mon, we don't wanna miss the cake..."

The back-to-back mention of 'real question' and 'how's Mikoto doing' somehow manages to hit Akane with... some sort of backblast at any rate. She ends up stone-still over some food, as if waiting for a great predator to pass. 

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi just *looks* at KouRyuu for a long moment. She grins, then, showing she's not trying to seriously scold. "If you wanna talk about a girl's form factor," she says, "generally you want to skip calling it 'large'. With a couple careful exceptions, or unless you know them *real* well - and even then, do it in private. But next time I macronize I'll come up for a visit - been meaning to anyway - and you can test my reflexes or whatever."

Guy explains his helmet. "Reminds me of every time I have to try to get on a suit helmet," Qivi says. "I don't like them, but I'm not going into space without one." ...Usually? Does she need to anymore? She'll have to ask Nova about that one.

Qivi joins the wedding discussion: "I never really thought about it in high school, and after that... eh. Dating pool's rough where I was for a long time. It's better these days, but... sometimes it just takes a while to find the right person." She still hasn't had a date in a long while. Qivi's a bit of a romantic; she feels faintly wistful until it passes. "At least I don't get stuck with arranged marriages or whatever. That just seems like the absolute worst of all worlds."

"But yeah, I think twenty's not too young, and twenty-five's not too old. All depends on you and your partner."

She looks thoughtfully at Akane for a moment - is *she* figuring something out? Oh wait, maybe not: "Which one's furisode again?" Qivi's lack of knowledge about Japanese tradition saves another awkward question! And possibly unfreezes Akane. Qivi can *feel* that tension.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"It's good to see you, too." Rikka offers at Guy's cheery greeting. "I hope you didn't get pulled back and forth too much, earlier."

Leina gives her a long look, and Rikka nods back - and offers her a quiet, sympathetic smile in return.

"...Yeah. Sometimes things turn out that way, too." Rikka replies.

Qivi seems to agree with her, and it doesn't escape her notice that Akane hasn't looked away - but she doesn't comment on that, either, instead nodding in agreement about Coming of Age day.

"I think that's important, too." Rikka agrees. "It'd be kind of sad to miss out on that chance."

Still, Akane brings up a good point - it's a good time for dessert!

"Oh yeah, definitely." Rikka agrees - and gets ready to go claim some for herself. 

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy's face is in that mask but he still visibly perks up at the offer of new food he can't currently eat. He's not THAT committed to the bit, the mask'll come off eventually; but the rest of the outfit *is* just stuff he had lying around, so he wants to get some mileage out of it first.

Leina asks a key question that makes Guy chuckle warmly. "She's fine! She had something else tonight, but she sends her love. I'll let her know everyone says hi." Even if you did not. do not resist.

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