2022-02-14: A Fairy Romantic Valentine

• Log: 2-14-22 A Fairy Romantic Valentine
• Cast: Alma Stirner, Lilith Aiden
• Where: Irish-class Gwennangorn, Captain's Quarters
• OOC - IC Date: February 14, 0096
• Summary: Alma and Lilith have a romantic Valentine's breakfast, and talk about the past and the future.

---

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

It's Valentine's Day, which is both:

* the feelingsest holiday, and
* the first safe holiday after the nightmare that is January.

Alma goes big, as always; she budgets around this *particular* holiday. It'd be a little difficult to get out of the ship, granted -- but that's okay; Alma doesn't mind that. A night in is nice, too; the number of fond holiday memories she has spent in a field base or command center is... not small!

She knocks emphatically at Lilith's door exactly five minutes after Lilith's usual wakeup time. "Captaaaain!" she calls, unable to restrain her enthusiasm. "It's that time again!!"

Behind her is a cart. The top of the cart is presently: covered. What mysteries exist... in a cart?

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

Five minutes after wakeup time - means that Lilith has yet to FULLY dress. She's modest, but, still. So at the knock of the door, she sighs positively, knowing EXACTLY what time it is.

"One moment, Alma." She calls back, dressed in her buttoned top and pants, as she moves for the door. The sight of Alma's face, as she unlocks and opens it, brings a smile to her own.

"Is that...a cart? Bring it in."

Lilith's quarters are spacious - fitting the captain. Most of the 'decorations' are models of UC ships or posters. There's room to drag it in, and Lilith would prefer they do this privately, because, well...

It's Valentines. She's not going to share Alma with anyone today.

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

Lilith's decor has Alma's attention, even if she's seen it a few dozen times. She's always kind of fascinated by the level of care and thought it takes to assemble this kind of thing.

Alma is, of course, in her white undershirt and pants. (She'd do shorts instead, but that's a little too much of a tell.) Scooting the cart in, Alma turns around and taps a keypad, closing the door behind them. "I don't think it's much of a surprise, but..."

Alma has gone to a lot of trouble. There are *layers* here. Kneeling down next to the cart, she asks, "Do you wanna eat first, or everything else first?" She has to pace the reveals.

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

"I finally got the White Base model to stick to the stand." Lilith adds, noticing Alma's attention to her decor. The posters are a mix of old movies from when she was younger, and also a band called 'Q' with a crab motif. Lilith has never once watched Tarabaman.

She eyes Alma for a long while, before looking over to the cart. "I'll leave it to your pacing, little fairy. You always put a lot of work in- I'd hate to make the wrong choice." She had a third option, but it's too early to say it, and also a little too flirty.

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

Lilith leaves an unstated, flirtier third option. Alma can't read minds -- but she can pick up on the intent of an unexpressed thought. "Well," she says, trotting over, "I can wait a sec." She gives Lilith a quick kiss on the cheek -- it might not be the third option she'd have asked for, but it's at least an acknowledgment of that flirtatious urge.

Then she comes back to the cart. "Okay! Here we go!" She pokes around on the cart, and produces, first: a box. It's pretty obviously a necklace box. She presents it to Lilith with a big smile. "Here!" she says, with a big grin. "I saved up a little bit for this one... I hope you like it!"

It is, sure enough, a necklace. The iconography is a little on the unusual side, though -- it's a heat hawk and a beam saber; they're mid-swing in a way that leads to shape language that is *also* a heart. "I was looking for beam picks," she admits, with just a hint of a whine, "but people tend to stick to the basics..."

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

Alma comes in for the cheek-kiss. Lilith smiles, brushing her hair with her hand very briefly, before letting her return to the cart. As Alma is poking around, Lilith quickly moves over to her bed and slides something out from beneath it, picking it up.

"Necklace...let's see." As she opens the box, her eyes widen and sparkle a little in that anime way, as her smile widens. "Alma, this is perfect. Let me try it on." She moves it up around her neck, clasping it together. She's in a VERY good mood - Newtypism isn't needed for that.

"My turn. I didn't go as far in as you do, but...I hope you appreciate it anyways."

The box is decently-sized, but not heavy. When opened...it's an apron. Custom-made.

With a very specific fairy icon embroidered on it.

"If you're going to be baking as many cakes as you do, I don't want you getting burned. I have some pans for you coming in too, but they got shipping delayed."

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

Alma is not delicate about opening gifts. She's a wrapping-paper-tear-cloud kind of person. When she gets to the apron, though...

"Aaah...!" She can't decide whether to use it every day from here on out or reserve it exclusively for cake attempts, or treat it like it's special, or -- no, this is a dumb thought, she realizes almost instantly. If you put it on a pedestal, it's just gonna sit unused forever!

"Thank you so much!" she says, hopping over to Lilith and giving her an *enormous* hug. She rubs her cheek against Lilith's for a few seconds, adding, "I'm gonna wait on #304 until we get the new pans...!" She's already thinking about #305. (#303 was actually 'kinda close in taste but had to be converted to sheet cake because the batter was too watery.')

"Okay," Alma says, finding a chair to set that aside on for the moment -- though it'd be pretty appropriate to wear here, given she pulls the cover off the cart all the way and reveals, predictably: breakfast!

Coffee, eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, and a tiiiiny slice of #303. Enough for... two and a half, maybe three people, or two people when one of them is Alma. "I think we're just in transit today, right? So we can take our time eating it?" She looks like a puppy.

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

Lilith embraces Alma with a hug of her own, allowing the cheek rubs, before they split off. "I know I can't *stop you*, so having your own tools will make everyone happier." And then...

Breakfast! Lilith is starving, but that doesn't stop her fromm making a joke and also immediately moving for the coffee.

"Well, I *do* have a very important appointment today..."

A beat.

"But she arrived five minutes after I woke up, so I guess I have time to have breakfast with her. Let me help you with that."

As they presumably start serving breakfast, taking a bit of everything (Alma gets the larger cake slice unless she insists otherwise), Lilith muses aloud.

"This is technically our...third Valentine's? Even if the first one was obviously rough." She doesn't dwell on it. Happy day. "Did you ever imagine, when we were in AEUG, that we'd end up like this?"

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

Alma *almost* looks really sad -- but she gets that she's being teased, so she reacts as if she's being teased. "Aaah, Liliiith..." She giggles, then starts getting herself situated. Breakfast is served, and she's curled up in Lilith's bed. It's a good feeling.

"Third, yep. ... We kinda picked a bad few years to have our first few Valentine's, yeah," she says, scratching her cheek. She takes a bite of egg, then reflects out loud, "Then again, maybe it's a good few years, right? This kinda stuff would be a lot worse alone..." She scoots closer.

She looks at Lilith, and thinks about that question for a moment. "... Kinda, yeah! I don't know if I believe in all that, Newtypes seeing time, stuff, but I felt like... well, okay, I didn't think we'd be *dating* for sure, but I always felt like our lives were gonna be tied up with each other..." She isn't *quite* sure how to phrase it, so she's just going on gut. "... what about you?"

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

Once they're on the bed, Lilith pokes at her food, but is mostly focused on paying attention to Alma, even as she hungrily eats sausage. Between bites..."That's true. I don't know how I'd have coped with the last three years by myself. But, hey, something brought us together."

A mild laugh, despite the subject matter. "If I could see time, I am pretty sure I could avoid Ayelock every time he's hunting me down. That's about how I had it - when you showed me that I was on the wrong side, and I joined AEUG, part of me knew that it was...destiny? I don't know if I believe in it, but that feels like the best term. The world brought us back together - anyone else could have been in that battle, and we'd never cross paths again. But it was you."

"And man, did you get cuter." She teases, and then drinks coffee. No explanations! Only bullying!

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

Alma turns *bright* pink at the accusation of cuteness -- and then her whole face lights up like she's opening a whole other present. Even if this is kinda their everyday at this point, it never quite stops being magic. "You, too!" she says, after a second. "Your hair is so nice... wearing it up really suits you."

She breezes along. "Ahaha... I was really nervous that whole time," she concedes. "But I knew you'd get it."

Giving Lilith a tickle along her hip with her free hand while stabbing at her own sausage, Alma thinks aloud some. She can be in her own head when she's turning over something really dire; this isn't that. "Lilith... I keep thinking about those glasses," she says; she's serious, but not... *serious* serious. "Speaking of things bringing people together... I think I wanna save them until we find the other Fairies. It'd be nice to share a drink, right?"

She realizes the average age of the unit was like 19 the last time they were all in the same room and that she's now talking about sharing a drink as the go-to reunion activity. "Fffwaaaa... we got kinda old when I wasn't looking..." It's in good humor. Alma isn't actually bothered.

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

"And yours is better down. That was a ballsy move, being in the middle of being arrested and removing a hairpin." Lilith laughs. It's a good memory, honestly, not a bad one.

The tickle gets a playful 'hey!', as Lilith leans slightly into Alma's space, without crowding. "Yeah...that's a good idea. I'm not sure..." Oh no. Alma can feel it before she says it, it's not *dark*, but Lilith is in HER own head.

"I'm not sure I really deserve one. After all, I wasn't a member of Noisy Fairy. I'm technically what broke you apart."

But instead of dwelling on it for too long, she takes the first distraction she gets. "You're not allowed to say you're old when I'm five years older! I think your commanders would be the only ones older than me!"

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

Alma scoots toward Lilith when she starts getting a Complex Emotion. "Aaah, don't say that! You're the reason we can fulfill that promise at all!!" she insists. She doesn't press too hard, though -- and that includes physically; once she's sure Lilith is okay, she scoots a little ways away again and gets back to eating.

"Ehehe... you're gorgeous, though! Both of us are kinda aging like wine, hehe..." True fact: Alma got carded in Japan. More than once. "Aah, this is nice... we don't always get a lot of time like this."

She picks up a slice of bacon, and gestures with it."You've really gotten comfy in the captain's seat, too!" she remarks, thinking back on Tokyo-3. "You'd have never known it was our first time fighting monsters since the Mycenae attacked!"

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

Lilith just mms, but is appreciative that Alma isn't pushing. It's certainly a Complex Emotion and not one that can be untangled solely via Valentine's breakfast!

"No, we don't. I'm so busy, all the time, and Ayelock's a stickler for rules and schedules. But, he's busy today too, so..." She allows that to become Gossip, because they'd both have noticed his wedding ring.

Finally digging into her eggs, Lilith thinks about what Alma says. "Well, it sure was bloodier than they ever were. But, would it surprise you that I prefer the pilot's seat? There's something so impersonal about commanding from the bridge. I can't swing a scythe up there." She's only half-joking.

A pause. "Unless...we got funnels and...no, wouldn't work." A sigh. But an idea for her Notebook.

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

"Hehe... I hope he's having a good time," Alma says, leaving it at that for now. She's not *quite* a personal-life invader when it comes to the rest of the ship, even if she's really, really interested in that kind of stuff.

Things turn to practicals, and Alma doesn't seem bothered. "Hmmm, yeah... I don't think that's the kinda thing you can *really* do while you're sitting in the captain's chair at the same time, unless you've got a really large bridge crew... even then it seems kinda risky, right?" She glances up to the ceiling for a bit and finally eats the slice of bacon she was gesturing with.

There's a little shyness as she admits, "... I like fighting side by side with you," she says. "Like ideally, we wouldn't have to fight at all! But if we have to!"

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

"We could get a Macross-class." Lilith finishes her eggs and grabs her own piece of bacon, and does not gesture with it like a lunatic. "One of those transforming ones. Turn it into a giant robot. It could throw the Amabilis at enemies."

Chomp, chomp.

"But you're right. We work well as a squad, but that's not the end goal. The end goal is, well, the end of all of this."

A pause, as Lilith has MORE COMPLEX EMOTIONS, but good ones! She lingers another piece of bacon between her fore fingers, allowing it to droop. "Do you ever think about what you'll do when it's all done? After we've won the war, after we've reunited you with the Fairies...I mean, there was that report about the Dom Gnomides being sighted, so we're getting closer to finding out if Mia Brinkman's still on the field..."

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

With a big grin, Alma meets Lilith's question with the tone of someone who actually thinks about things. "Well... if we find everyone..." It's a weird question for Alma. She's spent a *lot* of her adult life fighting. "... Is it too small to just hope we'll be friends? Like, I don't have some big dream of starting a cute little restaurant in Side 3 or something? Mia's always been really smart, and Helena's the type of person to cut her own path..."

Rubbing at the back of her head, she says, "It's just... I want to know they're safe, and they're happy." There's a brief pause -- and another scoot in, and --

"Like us," Alma whispers, before going in for a much fuller kiss than before (though she at least manages to wait until Lilith has nothing in her mouth first). She's used to it by now -- but she's always just as passionate.

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

"Well, yeah, I don't think either of us could run a restaurant. Besides, that's fine...we'll figure it out as we go along." Alma moves forward, and Lilith can predict what's coming, so as the whisper comes in, and their lips meet, Lilith parts briefly. And only briefly...

"I love you, Alma."

And then she leans back in, as the scene fades to black.