2022-07-07: Tanabata's Shining 'Star'
- Log: Tanabata's Shining 'Star'
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Arriety Hearn, Gary Biaggi, Ranka Lee, Eight York, Yurika Misumaru, Sheryl Nome, Lucine Azul, Zurvan Zevarist, BC-001 Minae, Mitsuba Greyvalley, Leito Igaguri (Cameoing: Kaworu Nagisa, Ryoko Subaru)
- Where: Nouvelle Tokyo
- Date: 2022-07-07
- Summary: After they learn that Ruri's birthday takes place during the Japanese festival of Tanabata, the crew of the Nadesico plans a shore leave trip to visit the festival -- and they're sure to invite Ruri's friends! It's time to visit Nouvelle Tokyo and experience Tanabata festival, with a girl who's turning thirteen years old. What wishes will they tie to the bamboo?
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Tanabata Festival -- the Star Festival -- is one of Japan's many celebrations, on the seventh day of the seventh month. (The exact day this refers to is something of an academic question, which is why some celebrations take place in August, instead.) It honours the meeting of the lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi across the celestial river of the milky way, during the one day of the year they can reach each other, thanks to the kindness of magpies. This spirit of wishing to meet is carried through in the wishes of the celebrants, who tie wishes to bamboo in order to have them come true. In the past, girls wished for better craftsmanship; boys, for better handwriting.
These days, of course, the tanzaku paper on which one writes their wishes can hold many, many more wishes than that -- some people even write their wishes in the form of poetry. Here in Nouvelle Tokyo, the boats full of bamboo are set adrift in the water between the artificial islands the city is built on.
And those colourful paper tanzaku are hardly the only eye-catching sight -- Tanabata decorations are lively, colourful, and detailed. Creating one's own Tanabata decorations is, itself, an attraction of Tanabata... which means that ever more colourful paper creations are added to the streets as the day goes on. Like any traditional Japanese celebration, the streets are lined with festival booths which offer carnival games -- like goldfish-scooping! -- and carts which offer festival food to the celebration.
There is just so much food. For savory snacks, there's yakitori meat -- often, but not always chicken -- on skewers, and corn on the cob, boiled and then grilled and glazed. Takoyaki, boiled octopus legs in batter, and butter potatoes stuffed with butter and soy sauce are also on offer. For those who prefer something sweet, there's cotton candy on sticks, frozen bananas covered in chocolate, tiny baby castella sponge cakes, and taiyaki -- waffle-like pastries shaped like fish, stuffed with red bean paste.
This festival is also Ruri Hoshino's birthday, a fact sleuthed out by one Minato Haruka and immediately shared. Thanks to the efforts of Captain Misumaru and her crew, everyone involved has developed a dastardly plan:
Bring Ruri to Tanabata for her birthday.
In an effort to make the outing as special as it should be, the bridge have worked hard to ensure that many invitations to the friends Ruri has made outside the Nadesico go out. (They might not succeed in contacting everyone, but Megumi does her best.) Tragically, some people will have to stay behind to maintain the Nadesico -- Jun Aoi, unlucky executive officer, naturally drew the primary short straw here -- but a good slice of the ship is coming down to Nouvelle Tokyo with her, including Minato Haruka, Inez Fressange, and Ms. Howmei, amongst others.
"We're all going..?" Ruri wondered, seeing so many people gather. "For some reason, I'm excited... this is my first time going to a festival."
Having read up on the customs and expectations -- and, perhaps, with some help from the Captain picking out something good -- Ruri's all dressed up in a youthful yukata, pastel blue with cheerful pink flowers decorating the edges. The pink sash about the middle is tied thoughtfully behind her, and she has pink ribbons in her twin-tails, just the same.
The streets of Nouvelle Tokyo are packed for the festival -- luckily, Megumi thought to arrange a place for the away party to meet the rest of their group. It's right in front of a brass statue of a dog, and as they wait for the others to arrive, the Nadesico crew banters.
"This statue is one of many devoted to the story of Hachiko in Japan," Inez explains, happily, as they wait. "This isn't the original, but as Tokyo expanded its definitions, the cities found more representations of this canine loyalty."
"So," Minato wonders, a finger to her lip, "it's a pastiche?"
"Or a parody," Inez says.
"Oh, I think they cared too much about stories like that for it to just be a joke," Ms. Howmei says, arms folded and a grin on her face.
Minato cants her head, thoughtfully. "Do you think they say the same thing about us?" The helmswoman of that strange civilian battleship wonders.
"Fools," says Ruri, right on cue.
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Arriety definitely asked Eight and Minae whether or not she could come when she heard about the Nadesico deciding to celebrate Ruri's birthday with the Tanabata festival; she doesn't really know the custom or the holiday, but it sounded like a really good way to spend someone's birthday.
Arriety's... also dressed in a yukata -- hers is pink and white, with blooming sakura amidst melting peaks of ice to depict the coming spring -- and as usual with her, she's wearing her sleeves long and has... long white gloves that don't quite clash with the aesthetic as much as her usual gloves. They ride up long, too, so that when the loose sleeves ride up, nothing shows.
Gotta hide her arms.
Arriety waves towards the three as she spots them at the Nouvelle Hachiko statue, wearing thick wooden sandals with geta socks. "Ruri, Miss Haruka, Miss Howmei...!"
Behind her, Myrme is wearing a plastic Tarabaman mask she's found at a stall selling merch, and is busy stuffing takoyaki in her mouth. Omf omf omgfh omfogmgfh. She finishes, then stuffs the plastic container in as well.
"Mmm, that's the best part!"
<Pose Tracker> Gary Biaggi has posed.
It is nice to be a free spirit, able to go wherever one may find fun or festivities. Today the free spirit of Gary Biaggi has found himself in a position to take a night off and enjoy Tanabata, especially since this one appears to be extra special.
Sporting a maroon yukata, that looks rather plain in comparison to others, and a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder definately caues the six foot tall red head to stand out in the crowd. Stopping at one of the stands he picks up a bottle of tea and a couple of boxes of pocky. With his purchase successful he makes his way towards his destination, the large crowd of people who seem like they came from outer space.
Approaching the crew of the Nadesico, Gary simply walks along the outside of the group for the moment as he looks for the young system operator and gives a wave standing back from the group. It is obvious he is unsure about approaching the crowd.
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
One of the advantages about being an intern on the Nadesico is that she doesn't have to navigate Earth's Bureaucracy every time she wants to go from Space to Earth. She just, hitches a ride, and lets her Nergal papers do the rest. Thus Ranka Lee is here in her light pink Yukata that gradients to a deeper pink on the sleeves, white five petal floral motifs like abstract stars predominating. Her obi is yellow and red checkered with a similar floral motif in more gauzy look for the same floral motif.
"I just think it's neat."
Ranka chimes in quietly after Ruri says 'Fools'. A story of a loyal dog appeals to her for some reason. Even if she thinks it's very sad too. Still she doesn't want to bring down the mood right now. As Arriety arrives, she waves to her as her flowy sleeve falls down to her elbow. "Arriety! Glad you could make it!"
Ranka looks Myrme eats the Takoyaki, then devours the plastic container. She does not comment on this, just nodding slowly. She will keep to their pact.
... even if she doesn't really think the plastic container is the best part...
The Hand Sanitizer incident however now makes so much sense in the context of Anti.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight York would not miss Ruri's birthday if she could help it! And as it happens, she can help it this time; Arriety asked to go, and Eight happens to have the chance to go, too, so she has! She isn't familiar with the custom or the holiday herself, but anything called a 'festival' sounds like fun, especially if there's food. And she has some wishes of her own since she's heard about it...
She is not in a yukata. Instead, Eight's in a knee-length red dress, sleeveless, and some nice boots. They make her even taller than she usually is, but she doesn't especially mind that. On her right arm there's still a brace, but it's just a brace by now, not a sling. And she's not far behind Arriety! Except...
"Hiii, everyone!" Eight greets cheerfully, and her long blonde hair is down, sans captain's hat. She practically looks like a civilian! ...a particularly muscly civilian anyway. Her arms are serious business.
She's very relaxed, though the little signs are obvious--her posture's great, she walks sharply, all that stuff.
She leaaaaans over Gary's way when she passes him, "We're gonna leave you behind if you don't hurry!"
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
It isn't just Ruri's yukata that Captain Yurika fussed over. No, every single crew member of the Nadesico got the Yurika Dragging Them Out To Pick Yukatas treatment. Yes, even Jun. Even though he has to stay behind. He'll be there in spirit!
Over the days leading up to Tanabata itself, the halls of the Nadesico have slowly and gradually filled up with colorful paper decorations, to the point of posing serious problems to actually, like, getting anything done. The source of the infection was traced to Yurika's own quarters, but alas, investigative teams were unable to break through the sheer volume of hovering lanterns and balloons that spilled from this region.
Then, by some miracle, on the fated day - they were all removed as though this phenomenon had never come to pass.
Now, in what must surely be Ruri, Minato, and Inez's nightmare - they all are back, hovering like a stormcloud through the crowds of the festival, the decorations all floating and attached to countless tethers all emanating from one source.
The Captain appears. Bedecked in a frankly colossal yukata, lavish and ornate - predominantly a pure white, with accents of a vivid, in your face purple, and a luminescent peachy pink. Countless morning glories of that same purple are woven into her hair, all tied in a neat little bun. The sleeves practically hang down to her knees. The bottom hem flares out, kept perpetually above the ground by a mere inch as though Yurika were some parade float. She might be! Because behind her fans an honest to god enormous white spider thorax apparatus, from which all those decorations are strung - along with eight articulating mechanical legs, all holding dishes with some sort of peach compote on them, that they routinely retrieve from that very thorax, which serves as some unholy combination refrigerator and hovercraft.
Behind Yurika's back, two enormous wings made up of countless strung-together LEDs continually display ORIHIME and HIKOBOSHI over each shoulder, both names morphing into little pixel-art representations of each character that slowly fly towards each other, then explode in showers of vivid red hearts.
And boy, is Yurika learning how difficult it is to navigate this mess in the crowd going all out in her doubtless expensive Orihime attire. T minus 30 seconds to impact with the dog statue - she remains all smiles and cheer and merriment. T minus 20 seconds. The same smile is still vivid and bright. T minus 10, 9, 8, 7...
She shifts immediately into falling over forward onto the statue's base with a long, weary sigh, the spider-fridge-hovercraft whirring noisily behind her butt. "I...I...it's so...so...HOOOOOOOOT OUTSIDE FOR THIIIIIIS....!!!" A spider-leg helpfully offers up one of her own peach compote plates to herself, and to the others gathered here while Yurika maybe just slightly dies for a little bit.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Sheryl just recently had the experience of attending someone's birthday party. Now, she's enjoying the experience of attending a festival with a group of friends. As busy as she is, the idea of this Star Festival is just so romantic that she couldn't possibly pass up the chance to experience it for herself. It would be nice if she could've attended with Alto... but somehow, she doesn't mind coming with Ranka instead.
And the others, of course. But Ranka is the one here she knows best. So. You know.
For tonight, Sheryl's dressed in a sky blue yukata with a pattern of sunflowers, tied together with a dark yellow obi. Her hair is tied in a braid and drapes down her left shoulder, while her usual crystal drop earring hangs from her right ear. She carries a silken purse in one hand, which may or may not hide a present for today's birthday girl, and a paper fan in the other. It is awfully hot, but she manages to maintain her poise. As much as it would be nice if she could consider this her off hours, she's still out in public as herself. Someone's bound to recognize her.
Fortunately, there are people dressed much more lavishly than her. Sheryl laughs in delight when she sees Yurika dressed in what's more a proper kimono than a light and breezy yukata. "Impressive! Some people take this holiday really seriously, don't they?" she remarks in admiration. This admiration gives way to a more muted horror as the mechanical things follow it up... but at least she keeps a smile on her face.
She looks out over the spread of food then for a distraction--and genuinely lights up with she sees the taiyaki. "Ooh!" she breathes, hurrying over to it as her wooden geta clack-clack-clack. "I've got to try this!" After all, her personal phone is taiyaki-shaped. How could she not?
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
After learning a few things about certain mysterious connections, specifically between Ruri and a a being only known as the 'Devil of Tsutsujidai', Lucine doesn't want to think of devils, Tsutsujidai or conspiracies, or the careful plans she may need to make, going forward.
Which is why Lucine did something she has never done before: she rented a yukata. It took quite a few tries to get the outfit just right (and watching several tutorials as she tried to mimic the instructions in the mirror). Dressed in a deep blue yukata with magenta flowers on it, her obi is a deep pink, offsetting the teal-blue color of her hair, which she has pinned up.
"Ah, Ruri... your yukata looks adorable..." Wait, would that be talking down, to say something is adorable? "... You look very..." WHAT IS A GOOD WORD. "Ah, like..." She sees Ranka and Arriety. "Ah, you both look--" Calling them adorable seems bad, as they're older, so she continues to look.
She sees Yurika. No, this is not adorable either.
Eight? She certainly is dressed very well! No adorable, but classy.
And then...
No, the man with the red hair the color of red at dawn reminds her of one of her father's old buddies. They were not adorable. He is also not adorable.
She presses her hands together. "Everyone looks so very nice!"
There is one candidate for adorable here, however, that Lucine has not considered.
"Hachiko.... very adorable."
She pats the dog statue on the head, in a very worn spot where others have before. "Ah, is that... Sunflowers look very good on Miss Nome!"
<Pose Tracker> Zurvan Zevarist has posed.
Zurvan was surprised to get an invitation from some of the crew of the Nadesico! Of course, there was no way he was not going to come for this very unique event. Children are only... uh, whatever Ruri's age actually is... once!
Unfortunately, he realized that he got an invitation RATHER LATE. He have little excuses about that part. So, unfortunately, he didn't really have time to rent himself a very traditional, festive outfit for this festival. Fortunately, he's been able to acquire something else!
"Helllooooooo!" Zurvan Zervarist arrives from a side alley of the festival wearing a bright T-shirt, a sleeveless jacket and a pair of knee-high shorts with sandals. In his arms hanging several bags, holding a small plastic trail of festival food in his other! "Oh! Wow! That is quite an amazing crowd in here, woooweee! Hello everyone!"
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
Minae had picked up the transmission with ease - there's a benefit to being friends with the Nadesico in a very literal sense. What had surprised her the most was Arriety coming to her to ask for permission; she hadn't expected that after the two of them had cleared up where they stood with each other. Not that it really changes all that much - Minae not be her counsellor anymore, but that just means she's a proper family member instead, which fills her with pride.
And it's not like she was going to say no.
She's following along with the other Kakapos, just a little more separated from Arriety and Eight than she might usually be - this is prime date territory, after all, and she's not about to crowd the pair if they want a quiet moment to themselves to look around. Besides, she's drawn to the energy of the festival like a magnet, her spirits obviously high as she waves towards Ruri and the others.
The robot has also managed to find herself a yukata, white with an array of blue flowers down the side. She's still wearing her white vest underneath - it's not strictly part of her 'body', but it's definitely part of her own identity. She's capped it off with a copy of the mask that Myrme is eating, set at a deliberately jaunty angle in her mess of hair.
"Even if it's a copy, it still symbolizes a place to return to just as much as it does loyalty," she notes towards Inez and Ranka with a warm smile. "That's just as important a thing to keep in mind here as it is in Tokyo, or wherever else it might show up." The talkative counsellor with permanent access to the internet has finally come face to face with Inez. Everyone watch out.
Her enthusiasm dips ever so slightly as Yurika explodes towards them in most senses of the word. "Ah... ... well, for people enlisted on ships, festivals like this are a rare chance to go all out, I suppose?" she wonders towards Sheryl, clearly doing everything she can to remain optimistic.
<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.
Getting leave requires Mitsuba to check a lot of boxes. The Nergal side is, all told, not that hard; the G-Hound side is a little more difficult. This one was important, though, and someone had to represent the Dreisstrager in this extremely important matter.
Perhaps surprisingly, her own yukata is green and black, with a bright pink and grey obi; everything bears a floral pattern. It is... not the perfect color for Mitsuba.
(This is because: it's been handed down in the family.)
She seems remarkably at peace, here at the festival... though she's also a little bit on the quiet side. While she came for Ruri, she finds herself primarily staring at Yurika's outfit. "... that -- must have taken an impressive amount of work," she offers... and then she sees the pixel-art skit.
"... and it's too cute...!!"
This time she completely fails to hide the reaction from anyone. Mitsuba has made it through her first year of full-time service looking very cool and unfortunately now everyone knows she very much is not.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
ON THE DECK OF THE NADESICO:
Erina Kinjo Won frowns, deeply, at the helm. She's dressed in a sharply blue yukata, with yellow detailing which speaks to blossoms in sunlight. "Why, precisely, do we have to get dressed up?"
Jun, in a white yukata with blue waves about the edges, replies: "Captain's orders." He manages to keep a straight face about it.
A green-check mark displays on a communication window ahead of them, stamped on a special festive background with pink Nadesico flowers, and the kanji for 'FESTIVAL' printed on each corner:
< v >
Goat Hoary adjusts his navy haori jacket, and says nothing at all.
ANYWAY, BACK TO TOKYO:
The Spectre of the Festival haunts them, still, and Ruri remarks on Yurika's inevitable destruction: "Fool. I read that temperatures can get hot in July in this part of the world." Because, of course, she looked it up. "Isn't that why this clothing is so light?" She... will at least reach out to get a peach compote.
She'll make sure to nibble carefully first, just to make sure it isn't Yurika's own cooking. No offense, but Ruri smelt that, last time.
"Arriety, hello!" Ms. Howmei calls, waving to the girl she's been helping discover her culinary history; the Nadesico's indomitable chef is standing next to Ranka, of course.
Ruri seems happy to see people from the Ra Mari showing up, too -- she doesn't smile, but she's settled into a relaxed sort of neutrality, which is friendly for her. "Arriety-san, Minae-san... Eight-san," she settles on, a little shy, after a moment. "Thanks for coming." She almost didn't recognise Eight out of uniform, and she isn't entirely sure she should be calling her a captain when she's not wearing the Hat.
It still feels a little strange to call someone by their first name when they're a captain, but...
Eight points out someone lurking in the edges, though, which draws Ruri's gaze to the lurking: "Mr. Biaggi," she waves a hand to him, palm flapping down at the wrist. "We're over here." Maybe he didn't realise exactly where they were meeting!
"Ms. Nome's here, too..." Ruri looks pleased to see that -- she does look up to Sheryl, after all. At her laughter about Yurika taking the holiday seriously, Ruri turns to look back to her in a new light. "The Captain's taking things seriously...?" She wonders, half to herself, a little sceptically. She's being awfully silly. How can silliness be serious?!
(Ruri, that's the show you're in.)
She looks over to Mitsuba, as she exclaims about how cute it is, and her head cants to the side. "Fool..?" She asks, as if she's not entirely certain. (She's not entirely certain how to approach Mitsuba, in the first place; but Minato smiles to her, flashing a peace sign, and it may be obvious that she's the one who invited her in. It's woman's intuition!)
"Um.. thank you," Ruri says, to Lucine, when she finally manages to sort through her thoughts. She dips her head in a grateful little nod. Echoing Ranka and Minae's thoughts on the dog's life, Ruri looks to that copy of Hachiko, as Lucine pets it. "I like that story."
Inez, sensing a challenger on the explanation field, locks eyes with Minae immediately. "So, you're occupied with the emotional meaning!" She surmises, on Minae's summation of Hachiko.
Zurvan, as it happens, is someone who Omoikane remembered to invite -- he remembered Zurvan and Ruri bonding on the Nadesico, back then. Megumi is always impressed by the artificial intelligence of the computer! (Surely just a computer.) "Mr. Zevarist," Ruri looks to him, with a gentle greeting. "It's good to see you." She doesn't mind the lack of festival clothing from him!
Captain Yurika Misumaru's countless decorations swarm over the proceedings, but Minato smiles, clapping her hands together. (Her yukata is fawn-brown, of course.) "Do you know what we need? More decorations!" She exclaims, brightly, and gestures them...
... to a decoration-building booth, with dozens of coloured paper strips and paints to try. That Minato would call them here, even given the horrors in Yurika's wake, is... well, you see, eventually chaos witches grow up.
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Arriety is, of course, very pleased to be able to come here with both Eight and Minae. She's also not complaining about Eight's choice of dress, and is on hand in case the brace is giving Eight trouble -- though she trusts that Eight's got it herself.
Still, she's not about to let Minae edge herself away too much, since she's not the type to group her closest peers into 'dating' and 'not dating'. She wants to enjoy the festival with her guardian-counselor-coworker-itscomplicated.
Ranka waves at her and calls to her, and she waves somewhat more surreptitiously -- though her gloves are long enough that even if her sleeve should fall as far as her elbow, they're still covered. Lucine also calls out to her. "Ranka! Lucine!"
She looks surprised, though, to see Sheryl beside the green-haired girl, smiling as she waves in turn. "Oh, Miss Sheryl, you're here too? Taiyaki does look good, doesn't it?" She feels a bit bad for missing her concerts after the Tsutsujidai one, but, well, that's how life's shaken out for her.
She hears Eight calling for Gary. Hmm... she's not as familiar -- but wasn't he at the luxury liner concert as well? So he's a companion of the Nadesico too... Mr. Biaggi, Ruri calls out.
"Mm," Arriety nods to Ruri and smiles warmly, saying, "Happy birthday, Ruri!" Ruri starts to speak of the story of Hachiko, from where Inez and Lucine are speaking about it. "I feel like I was in that position once, waiting for Rena and Eight to return... ...I'm sure that if it could, it might prefer to accompany its owner too."
She smiles at Ms. Howmei as well. "Oh, Miss Howmei, thank you for the mandu recipe, I made a test batch and they were great. I think they're going on the Ra Mari's rotation, hehe..."
Her attention span is inevitably disrupted as Yurika explodes (literally) onto the scene in a lavish, full-on kimono with... with... oh dear, what's that behind her? Oh no, oh no, she's going towards the statue... someone save Hachiko!!
<Pose Tracker> Gary Biaggi has posed.
Gary jumps at the voice of Eight directed at him as she passes by and well to be fair Eight gets more then a momentary glance from Gary as she walks by. Then he sees Ruri wave him over as he acknowledges and begins to follow behind Eight.
As he becomes a part of the group, he eyes the lady in the peach dress with pixel art, from his research he would swear that is the captain of Nadesico but no captain would act like that or wear something so...that. Probably one of the cooks or hangar workers.
Moving toward the birthday girl, Gary takes the boxes of Pocky and stuffs them into the obvious AEU duffle bag, " Heard it was your birthday so got you this..." Gary holds up the duffle bag towards Ruri, the duffle bag is roughly half her size and has a little bit of heft to it. The contents is a box of strawberry pocky, chocolate pocky, and a wrapped box taking up the majority of the duffel bag. "Whenever you have time to open it." There is a shrug as he finishes handing it off and looks over at the rest of the group, inching over towards Eight but generalizes the question "So this is the party?"
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Ranka smiles and nods Minae's way as she somehow makes the story feel less sad, "That's a wonderful way to look at it." As she notes Lucine's dilemma and gives her a ??? look until Yurika interrupts her focus on her by the huge show, as Ranka outwardly gawks, "Wow... the Captain... she's so dedicated to the holiday."
She also suddenly wonders what kind of hobbies Yurika had back in High School from all of that, but does not ask.
Lucine finally decides on not adorable for them and 'Everyone looks so very nice!' "Oh! Thank you! This is my first time wearing a Yukata!"
Before smiling at Ruri's agreement that she enjoys the story. She's starting to get used to her saying 'Fools' all the time and knows it's not really such a negative word from her mouth.
As Ranka notes Sheryl moving for some Taiyaki, she gives an apologetic look towards Ms. Howmei, before stepping off after her and up to the booth. "I've always wanted to try one too... they say the red bean paste inside is really sweet."
While Sheryl may not realize it, it's Ranka actually giving her a small warning, she certainly remembers the Takoyaki incident during Hanami with Alto not informing her of the contents. So she doesn't want Sheryl to be taken by surprise.
After she obtains one herself, she actually has to take a moment to admire the fishy look of the cake. As she looks at it in wonder and remarks... "It almost looks too good to eat..." She remarks, before she mars the art by biting off part of the head.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight would be happy to hang out with Minae!! ...but she doesn't mind the instinct, either. Maybe Eight will break off from the group in a while. For now though she smiles at Lucine. "You, too," she answers about how she looks. She marvels a little at Yurika's... attire. "Is that--Wow. You really went all-out!" A laugh, "I guess we suffer for fashion?"
Eight, Arriety can tell, is feeling a lot better to have her arm out of that sling; provided that she doesn't hit her arm on anything it should be fine.
She waves at Zurvan, too--of course she remembers him. But Mitsuba... "You're right," Eight agrees. Too cute." She's a dork!! Eight appreciates that about her.
Gary asks, and Eight answers, "Yep! Sure is. It coincides with a nice festival." She beams at Ruri. Ruri called her Eight!! It's progress!! Maybe she should dress in civilian clothes more often...
"Happy birthday, Ruri. This is a great festival, huh?" She then glances over and--sees--Ranka bite off the head off a taiyaki!!!
"Man, now I'm hungry..."
She sticks close to Arriety anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
"Ah, Mr. Zevarist..." Lucine smiles and nods. "I am trying a new variety of peppers! There's a nice shop here, where I got the seeds for the mizuna..." She nods to Minae and Mitsuba. "... Wow... everyone dressed up so well..."
Is Yurika taking things seriously?
Lucine tilts her head, wide-eyed and owl-like, as she thoughtfully touches her index and ring fingers to her chin. "Ah, Captain Yurika's putting her all into it, just like with the funeral ceremonies... she's incredible..." Yurika is a force of nature, clearly.
"Ah, Ranka, you said this is your first time wearing a yukata? I couldn't tell!" Her smile dips as she admits, "It's... my first time wearing one as well... but, you look just like all the tutorials I watched! The color set off your hair very well..."
She sees Ruri bob her head in acceptance, and visually seems to relax. "Ah, right! I found a cute present..." She digs in the little bag around her wrist, and takes out a small paper box, wrapped with a bow. "It seemed appropriate, even if I have the dianthus flowers ready as well..."
When Ruri opens it, she'll find two barrettes, with a nadeshiko flower made from silk ribbon on them, along with similarly dark pink wisteria leaves. "It's a traditional pairing for these, from what the lady told me... wisteria and dianthus."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"Oh, thank you!" Sheryl says, turning around with a smile towards Lucine. She looks her over, and honestly assesses, "Your yukata looks cute on you, too. Thank you for the tea roses, by the way! They were a lovely gift."
Minae suggests that festivals like this are a chance for people usually stationed on ships to go all-out. Sheryl nods slowly, considering Yurika in all her... Yurika-ness. "I can hardly blame her. It is fun to go all out," she concedes.
She beams at Ranka as she joins her for taiyaki--though that turns into surprised blinking when she says what's actually inside. "Red bean paste? And that tastes sweet?" she utters. She looks at the fish-shaped cake again, this time with a more dubious look... but then she shrugs, snaps her fan shut to tuck it into her obi, and picks one up delicately. "It is very cute," she agrees--and her smile turns teasing as she adds, "So it's just right for you, Ranka."
She takes a bite of her own. It is sweet, she's surprised to find. Interesting texture, though. She chews thoughtfully, then swallows. "It's different from what I always imagined," she comments. "But in a good way."
Ruri waves over at her then. Sheryl waves back, walking over to her (presumably with Ranka). "Happy birthday, Ruri! Thanks for all the help you've given Grace and me," she tells her with a smile. She bites into her taiyaki to free a hand to rummage a bit in her silk purse, then produces her a small package wrapped in dark blue paper with a silver ribbon. Once she's chewed and swallowed and has the taiyaki back in hand, she says, "I brought you a little something--it's nothing special, but I hope you like it."
(It's an elegant platinum heart pendant set with a lab-created ruby: the July birthstone. Baby's first jewelry...? One step closer to being a sophisticated woman...)
She giggles at Ruri's dubious reaction to the idea that Yurika's being serious, though. "Of course! Would she be going that all-out if she weren't?" Eight weighs in on the matter similarly, and Sheryl gives her a nod of approval. "See? Just as I said!"
<Pose Tracker> Zurvan Zevarist has posed.
"Hi!" Zurvan is quite happy about being here. This is a nice, clear day. Lots of adorable things around. Cute yukatas going all around. He could get used to this! "Hi, Ms York! Happy Birthday, Ruri! Are you having a good day so far?"
The engineer adjusts one of the straps of the bags he's holding over to his arm. The weight, if it have any at all, does not seem to bother him at all. He's a big fella. He can take it. He nods. "I agree! Adorable. All kind of adorable."
Zurvans follows along with the group, giving glances at the others that are here. There's a few he recognizes, of course: Lucine and Ranka, in particular, comes to mind. "Yo! Nice Yukata, both of you! Really pretty for a really nice birthday!"
And then, there's Sheryl. That, that he wasn't expecting. He clears his voice, coughs, waves once and refocuses on the Birthday Girl as they head for the great DECORATION MAKING STATION.
"So, uh! What's in stores for the birthday girl, today, huh?" He asides to the Captain.
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
The peach compote is light, cool, and refreshing, with just a little more water than one might normally go for, and a fair bit more lemon to make it a suitable summer treat. So it's no surprise when Yurika murmurs, "...It would've been way too much for me to make...Miss Howmei helped me out a ton on this one. I don't know where I'd be without her...!"
It's a shockingly pitiful sight - like a big dog toppled over in the sun. One of the little arms just about directly shoves some of the peach against Yurika's mouth, whereupon she drinks it up, and immediately restores 10 SP, pushing the captain right back up to her feet. "Of course I take this holiday seriously!" she calls, hands spread out just slightly in the way of the pixel-art Orihime and Hikoboshi where she imagines she's framing them perfectly. "It's a holiday celebrating star-crossed lovers, after all! A tale as old as time that's given a festival to this day...it speaks to something terribly romantic, doesn't it!?" Yurika then immediately leans forward, big blue eyes right in Sheryl's personal bubble. "Hey wait a minute, you're She-" Helpfully, a spider-arm covers her mouth before she causes a terrible uproar in the middle of this festival. ...or at least, a bigger one. How strange that this machine did something of its own accord like that! (this is ominous foreshadowing)
The casually dressed Zurvan comes into view, and Yurika's shocked. SHOCKED. "...Mooou, you're Mr. Zevarist, aren't you? Where! Is! Your! Yukata! Or are you a tourist who didn't know about the custom..."
Mitsuba and Eight's praise brings Yurika right back to sparkling proudly, puffing up her sleeve to her heart. "Aaaah, of course I'm cute in this. Yes, of course I'm a perfect Orihime! The elegant spider-princess of peaches and morning glories, who reaches out and yearns for her true love. ...speaking of true love, I had a whole thing for Akito, something matching the amount of work I put into this...where did he run off to...?" (this is ominous foreshadowing)
The birthday girl, of course, gets Yurika's patented stuffy looming merriment presence in full, and she starts rummaging around in a top compartment of the spiderfridge. First, a button is pressed, switching the LED display to the next mode: red scrolling text that moves by too fast to read. Then the next, which is like a 60p streaming of a soccer game. Then finally, her target - two big banners with Ruri's face on the side, with big old HAPPY BIRTHDAY RURIRURI on each side. A big round orb-shaped present with a bow is then procured, and plonked right in her trusty technical officer's hands. It's very hard and somewhat weighty. "o` Maaaaay yooooour birthday be warm, may your birthday be merry! Cause the day that you were born shouldn't be at all scary! We all love you very much, and we wish you many more! Happy birthday Ruri-ruri - hooray! Yes! Score!"
...where in the world did she get -that- sort of song???
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
There are enough people present - including some very well-known faces - that Minae finds herself turning just a little more cautious. It's not going to stop her enjoying the day, but one of the old habits she's definitely _not_ going to drop any time soon is watching and observing, and she focuses a little towards the perimeter. The last thing she wants any of the people here to deal with is being mobbed by fans, even if both Captain Yurika and Miss Nome probably have retinues taking care of that anyway.
That draws her back towards Arriety's side, not that she was ever that far away anyway - especially not when she's been faced with an array of new experiences on their way through the festival, and works through these things best by talking them over. "Do you think it'd count as cheating if we did a round of the sidestalls later?" she wonders towards the pair with an impish grin. "I saw Ah-ri eyeing the prizes, but 'a robot and a military officer' stepping up to a shooting game, well..."
"Of course, and happy birthday!" Minae abruptly leaves the thought alone to shine a smile towards Ruri instead. "I'm afraid I wasn't sure what to get you. I'm still not very good at that," she admits with a sympathetic hum. It's true; she even stalls sometimes on the Kakapos, despite knowing them for so long. Imagination is a tricky concept for a robot who's still figuring out hearts. "Let's call it an open offer," she decides instead, softening her expression. "If Omoikane spots you dithering over whether to get something for you, I'll be there."
Preservation instincts kick in and make her get out of dodge as quickly as she can; Minae is capable of sharing a completely deadpan dot-dot-dot with Sheryl afterwards, watching Yurika struggle from outside of direct impact range. "In my experience, the process of going all-out is a lot more fun than the result. I don't think this is going to change my mind," she admits, though only out of mischief.
Speaking of habits that die hard, she's already got a plate of food in her hand. Not to eat - the members of the Ra Mari still haven't worked around how exactly she'd go about doing that, yet to take up Omoikane's offer - but to offer around to everyone in turn to everyone out of sheer encouragement. A service professional. "Of course! That's what I'm here for. Besides, there's no better time to focus on the emotional than at a festival," she natters at the same time, and immediately pauses. "... in a manner of speaking. Oh, I want a photo with everyone at some point!"
<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.
Being called a fool is something Mitsuba can take in stride -- though it does mean she has to concede that she has been revealed as a Cuteness Liker for the whole world. Remembering herself, she removes her balled up fists from covering her mouth and moves slowly from gushing expression to neutral expression.
"W-well," she starts, with a small wave to Minato and another to Zurvan, "the pixel art is very impressive -- and expressive, at that."
Once she composes herself a bit, she offers a warm, "Happy birthday, Ruri," she says, with a gentle nod. "I know having a birthday on a holiday is something that some children find to be a mixed bag, but... I hope we can make this memorable for you."
She's very careful with her positioning, here -- she generally makes sure she's at least a little further from Ruri than someone (metaphorically) closer to her. When Yurika bursts into song, she... starts giggling a bit, saying, "I've never heard that one before... where's it from?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"This is my first time in a yukata, too," Ruri shares, looking to Ranka, who's also apparently not used to them. She nods, seriously, to Eight. "So fashion is suffering... I see." Oh no!!!
"Loyalty is a good quality, I think," Ruri agrees with Arriety's thoughts, on Hachiko. Luckily, even through Storm Yurika, the statue is fine. He's a sturdy dog!
Ms. Howmei smiles, broad and boisterous, to Arriety. "That's great," she encourages her, on the topic of her mandu. "You'd better add plenty of flavour to mealtime over there!" Having taken Arriety under her wing, Ms. Howmei is, of course, going to keep pushing her to be the best chef she can be. Of course, a master chef like her knows how to appreciate other people's works, so she grins encouragingly to Ranka at that apologetic look. "Go for it! If you don't taste these festivals, have you really celebrated?!" Not according to Ms. Howmei.
Ruri actually blushes, now everyone's wishing her a happy birthday, but she looks pleased about it anyway. "Um... I'm thirteen now," she explains, straightening up a little. "So I'm a teenager, too." Just like Ranka!! She's catching up!!!
(That's still not how age works.)
She accepts Gary's duffle bag, looking in with curiosity she can't quite hide. "Thank you," she says, both proper and grateful. She accepts Lucine's box, too, and -- without anywhere to put it -- opens it up first, carefully; she blinks, at the barrettes. "Oh, nadeshiko..." She reaches up to clip them into her hair, and asks Sheryl, as she approaches: "Have I put them on properly?" Sheryl would know!
"I'm glad I could help," she goes on to reply to Sheryl's well-wishes, and, bobbing her head: "Thank you." She opens it up, and her eyes grow a little larger with understated wonder, at the pendant she unwraps. This, too, she immediately secures to her person, around her neck. She's growing up! See?!
"Thank you. It's okay," Ruri assures Minae, when she says she wasn't sure about presents. "I really am happy you're here." Minae, unlike everyone else here, is someone Ruri feels like she can understand much more intuitively.
"I am," she tells Zurvan, when he asks if she's having a good day. (Still with that stoic expression, but, well -- it's gentled, which is how Ruri expresses she's happy about what's going on.) Much like she's never visited a farm: "I've never been to a festival before... so everyone decided to take me here. Well, it's fitting, I suppose... since I was named for a field of stars, myself." Hoshino, that is.
She tilts her head, to Mitsuba. "I don't mind," she goes on, about her birthday falling on a festival. "I didn't realise it was something which troubled people... this is the first time I've really had a big party."
(Not entirely true; true according to the memories she has.)
Inez helpfully steps in, when Yurika demands to know where Zurvan's yukata is. "Judging by his appearance, he's Zentradi," she explains, as if she were waiting for this moment. "Historically, Zentradi culture was devoted to warfare, but in the modern day they have enthusiastically embraced human cultural cornerstones such as music and, yes, festivals. Given this --"
Minato helpfully steps into frame at this point, wagging a finger. "Or maybe he's just a casual boy!" She interrupts Inez's love of explaining things with no regard for the emotional impact.
Ruri's eyes track over the red scrolling text on Yurika's banner, and -- well, she's good at skimming, so she might get an idea of what it said anyway. She blinks, as Yurika's banners proceed to display Ruri's face -- did Omoikane lend her his Ruri graphics? -- and she's given a large orb. Ruri proceeds to behold Orihime's Special Birthday Song, with light bemusement.
She blinks, twice.
"I understand," she takes some meaning out of the tune, anyway. "Thank you, Captain." Oh, no... Yurika can't escape the Captain's Curse..! Even so, it's a heartfelt thanks, and Ruri proceeds to open the orb.
(Gary's present remains unopened, of yet, still in the duffle bag she's holding. Surely this is fine. It's definitely nothing ominous.)
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
"It's because I got some help from the store's owner." Ranka smiles, pleased at Lucine, "They had a small teaching session on how to put it on and tie the Obi." She's not the type precisely to pretend she's just that good at wearing it right the first try flawlessly. before noting to Ruri, "You look very nice in yours."
Though as Sheryl and her go for Taikyaki, she answers about the bean paste, "That's what they say." Ranka hedges, as she's never eaten one herself. Though as Sheryl teases her that it's just right for her, parts of her face go almost as red as the bean paste, her hair rising just subtly on each side. "Ahaha... Sheryl... you may be right..." Pause, "... about that." As Ranka ever so gracefully tries to accept the compliment and fails utterly because gosshhh it came from Sheryl. She takes another bite to try and hide her face.
She still might be hiding her face by the time she gets back over to Ruri until she mentions she's thirteen now. "Happy Thirteenth!" Ranka beams at her as Sheryl gives over her gift, knowing what a high regard Ruri places on maturity and not being thought of as a child.
Ranka pauses as Yurika gives hers too, as her eyes grow wide as saucers at the display and she can feel a song coming and she starts to sing as if Yurika was cue, "Happy Birthday to y-" Ranka squeaks as Yurika's song turns out to be very different from expected and decides to hum instead, sweating the whole time.
Ranka hastily gives over hers too after. It's a small wrapped gift box, with Salamanders like her phone all over the wrapping paper, tied in a ribbon. It's tiny tiny tiny.
"Happy Birthday Ruri. I'm so glad I was able to be here today for you."
Ranka then leans in and whispers, "Wait until you're back in your room to open it."
When Ruri does eventually open it later, that tiny box will have a tiny green Salamander inside, that expands, and expands, and expands until it is about a Ruri sized plushiepillow. It does not have a full array of phone functions because indeed it's too big, but Ruri will know instantly that it's in fact a very comfy machine and that if she puts a mini-disk by its mouth, the mouth will open and devour the mini-disk, because it doubles as a music player.
Visual is this but even bigger: https:'danbooru.donmai.usposts4517622?q=oosanshouuo-san
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Arriety pauses, and somewhat mentally pulls back as she sees Ranka, Sheryl and Lucine in their circle, out of not wishing to forcibly pierce herself into that position. Still, it's nice that Lucine thinks her yukata looks nice... she's never worn one before, though it's somewhat similar to the hanbok she's been eyeing all this time.
"If you're hungry, let's get some treats," Arriety smiles at Eight. "Do you want to try the takoyaki?"
Zurvan... she remembers him from the pie episode, way back when. It's good that he's been having a presence still. He seems nice. But Yurika suddenly emerges into song, and she can't help but laugh for a moment. "Hehe... Ranka and I can sing you a duet later too, if you'd like."
A pause, and she smiles, "We made our present this time. There was a design we saw online, so we made a little papercraft kakapo for you..." she looks to Minae. "Well, Minae did most of the handiwork. I'm kinda clumsy with my hands."
She does procure the gift out of her bag. The kakapo is pretty cute, made out of colourful cardboard and stood up through intersecting them together, and there's handwritten wishes on them, to Ruri.
... the eyes also light up, since there's a little closed circuit in it. If someone later jumps into its own little network, there's well-wishes for Ruri and Omoikane both, there, in a little cheerful looping file.
Minae ponders if they can try the shooting game. "... why not? You'd compensate for my shaky hand anyway..."
Howmei encourages her, and she flushes just a bit. "I'm trying my hardest!" she nods in encouragement. "No more dull meals... I'm going to lift everyone's spirits up."
Mitsuba draws her attention, though, as someone she's not familiar with. "Oh, sorry... I'm Arriety Hearn, I don't think we've met before. I'm a... well, pilot in training and assistant chef with the Ra Mari."
<Pose Tracker> Zurvan Zevarist has posed.
Zevaris flashes a wide grin at Ruri. "Honestly, me too, it's the first time! I have never been to a Japanese festival like this before, it's quite something of a new--" He's interrupted.
Zurvan was not expecting this sort of DISSAPOINTMENT. Coming from a... well, let's be frank, a YOUNG CAPTAIN. Yurika makes Zurvan leans back in surprise, his mouth opened in shock. His hair, previously tied in a ponytail, erupts out in a wide array of tight snake-like wriggles from all over his head. "Uh." He says, taken aback by the FIERCE DISSAPROVAL. "Would... would you believe me if I said I couldn't find one for my size on short notice? No?... No, that's just a bad excuse to make. I have to fix this, don't I? And I know just the way."
Zurvan sets down his bags(and shoves the little meats into his mouth) as he reaches into one of his pockets, taking out a small cylinder with a nozzle on it. "It is a problem... I CAN SOLVE WITH SCIENCE."
York might remember this as a small device to make rope. It seems to have grown a little since then -- to make bigger rope. He shakes it, wriggling it in his hand as he aim it at himself like an aerosol, "M-RECT Spray, activate! Let's make ourselves a YUKATA with GUSTO!"
What follows is a brief spray of matter coating over Zurvan as he lower it, pressing on the activation button. Strands of fabric comes flying out, sticking on to him, puffing out to form long sleeves building up, fabricrated warm strand of matters kniting themselves into the loose shape of a plain-looking, with simple decorative patterns, Yukata ending at his knees.
His new 'clothes' still fuming, Zurvan grins wide. "TAAADAAAH!"
<Pose Tracker> Leito Igaguri has posed.
Leito Igaguri is late. He promised the Nadesico crew he'd be there, but didn't show up at the festival for quite a while.
When he finally arrives, he's dressed in a nice montsuki, with two COMPANIONS: his wife, Lumina, dressed in a lovely blue yukata, and his daughter, Mayu, dressed in a floral-patterned one. She's about eight to nine years old, give or take.
"A-ah, Miss Hoshino! I'm sorry I'm late. This is my wife Lumina, and my daughter, Mayu. We brought you a present - happy birthday!" "Happy birthday!" "Happy birthday."
Leito pulls out a small box - inside are home-made sweets, primarily mochi.
As Leito moves to turn to everyone else in orbit with a mild nod, introducing himself as Nadesico salaryman Leito Igaguri, Lumina and Mayu move to talk to Ruri. "Aaaah, you're so cute! You're thirteen, right? Happy birthday.~" "Thank you for helping my daddy so much, miss Ruri... I like your yukata...!"
<Pose Tracker> Gary Biaggi has posed.
Gary simply step back for the moment and finds himself falling in t with the group, and realizes he is one of those friends of Ruri's that is more of a random happenstance then they hang out in the same circle of people friendships. So Gary navigates a little to at least be near Captain York
In fact he even tries to strike up some conversation with Eight, "So Captain, surprised to see you getting some shore leave. I thought they would have had you on eternal patrol till that entire space mess with Zaft is done." Yes Gary really only has work related small talk to make, in some ways he is really bad at this whole social thing.
Still though he is here and trying and doing his best to mingle, also avoiding eye contact with diva who he has now ran into twice without being at one of her concerts, that is certainly random happenstance if there ever is any.
In the duffle bag is a box, wrapped with a shiny white wrapping paper and carefully decorated to have pictures of a VF-171 on it. Inside the box though is the real gift, a scarily accurate 1250th (so 4 feet long) scale model of the Nadesico. On top of the Nadesico are small inch tall figures that have the faces of several of the bridge crew and other high profile members of the Nadesico. At the bottom of the box is a small remote that would cause the ship to hover about five feet off the ground, just to clear Ruri's head.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"Yep!" Eight confirms for Ruri when she nods seriously. "It's fun, but it's serious, too." She lifts a foot--the high heels she's wearing that she manages to balance on definitely don't look super comfortable. ...She's OK with that, though. They look great! ...Minato will understand her, right?
"She's been doing great so far!" Eight announces to Ms. Howmei cheerfully. But when Minae asks... "It definitely counts as cheating," Eight says to Minae. "So let's totally do it." She grins back. "Ah-ri gets what Ah-ri wants!"
She gives Sheryl a V-sign when Sheryl agrees with her, and a smile.
But yukata... Eight does not explain why she is not in one at the oment!
Eight cheers for Yurika's song. "That's great! I've never heard that one! Yes! Score!" She seems pretty cheerful about this. Where did Yurika learn it...?
"Takoyaki sounds great," Eight says to Arriety. "Yeah!" And--oh, a kakapo...! Eight's eyes sparkle as she watches her friends give the present.
"Oh yeah," Eight says, "I'm Eight York. Nice to meet you!" to Mitsuba. "With the Ra Mari."
Leito shows up with his family and Eight just watches them for a moment, a big smile spreading onto her face. She waves, if they look at her. But it's so nice...
She cheerfully replies to Gary, despite the dour business, "Ha! The only reason they gave it to me is it's half medical leave," she jokes, holding up the arm that has the brace on it. "The ship's almost done with her refit, so I'll be back on duty soon enough."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Sheryl waves in greeting to Zurvan, giving him a friendly smile, right before Yurika suddenly lunges at her and nearly calls her by name, only to be silenced by a spider-arm. With a yelp, she clambers back a few steps, squeezing out all the red bean paste out of her taiyaki.
"...That's me!" she says, managing to reclaim her composure. She waggles a finger in front of her lips and winks. "Keep it quiet, okay~?"
Lord knows she doesn't need another incident like that. She frowns a bit at her now-squished treat, its contents now all over the ground. She exchanges a Look with Minae, which does indeed include an ellipse and then a dry chuckle at Minae's assessment. "It's a lot more fun if you're the one going all out."
The birthday song for Ruri is sweet, at least. Sheryl smiles as she finds napkins to clean up her hand, stepping around the mess with care. And Ranka's utterly adorable, as usual. She grins at her mischieviously as the green-haired girl turns bright red. "I notice you're not disagreeing with me," she lilts.
Arriety offers to sing a duet with Ranka then for Ruri. "Oh, do you sing, too?" she wonders at her. She favors her with a smile along with Ranka. "If you're as good as Ranka, I'd love to hear you perform together!"
SO NO PRESSURE, ARRIETY.
She grins at Eight, and then, with hand cleaned, regards Ruri with her new hair pins in place. "Hmmmm... A little askew, but it's hard to put a hair pin on without a mirror at first. Give it some practice, and you'll be perfect," she declares.
A small family approaches then, and she steps to one side to give them room. "Oh," she utters, recognizing Leito from that rescue mission some time back--and this is his wife and daughter...? Sheryl's expression softens a bit with complicated emotion. They look very sweet together... Ruri really has quite a few loving friends.
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
Somehow, in this universe, Minae is not one of the people trying to get Ruri to look as adorable as possible at all times. In any other, she could easily be right there along with Yurika. As it is she visibly relaxes her shoulders when she's told it's alright, and softens her smile again. "Okay. Of course, I'm happy to be here too. You look very refined," she nods, having a long history of knowing how to make a compliment sound grown-up.
There's a little snigger towards Ranka. "I think I replayed a video tutorial so often it's burnt onto my memory by now. I think I did a pretty good job, though," she hums in a moment of self-pride; Arriety's yukata does look quite secure... even if hers doesn't necessarily. She can't help herself, after all.
Her nod towards Eight is comically solemn. "They're probably cheating too, after all. I could tell you stories of some of the stalls back at Winter Wonderland--" she starts to say, but then Sheryl suggests hearing Arriety perform and Minae's eyebrows leap upwards. The robot is momentarily stuck between concern and eagerness, especially given the history involved - but Arriety did feel good enough to make the offer, and Minae has pride to spare. "I may be biased, but I think she's very good," she promises to Sheryl.
With a light shake of her head, she looks back to her childhood friend. "Mm... I helped with the execution, and I know that's important too, but it still feels like the idea is the most important thing! Especially when it comes to craftwork. If it weren't for your design I'd be lost," she encourages brightly. There's no self-deprecation there; she knows that creativity means much more than putting 'char aznable visits seinfeld' into a text field. She's trying, even dabbling in composing from time to time, but it's a learning process.
Following Arriety's gaze towards Mitsuba, Minae recognizes her, if only from newsfeeds. "Captain Greyvalley, hello! My name's Minae, civilian detachment to the Ra Mari," the robot adds in the most innocuous way. It's easy to be innocuous when you have a tray of small pastries in your hand. "Would you like one?" she offers.
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
"Ah, I'm glad the roses worked well... I thought about a simple bouquet, but... this is a celebration about your journey and development as a singer, so..." Lucine nods, almost comedically serious in how much thought she's put into a single gift. "...
Ahhh, so Ranka did the smart thing and asked. "Ah, I should've asked, but I felt so embarrassed..." Lucine chuckles. "It's so fun, though..." She does a slow turn, then says, "we're all like in those Earth comic books! ... The ones without the superheroes, I mean..."
As Ruri asks Sheryl for help with the hair clips, Lucine feels herself wanting to melt from the cuteness. "Ah, thirteen... that's right, you are a teenager now... that's a very big responsibility..."
It's a small joke, since being a ship operator is a whole lot more to do with responsibility than... being thirteen.
Thirteen. What does the Devil of Tsutsujidai want with someone like Ruri? She doesn't need that. She needs more of this, of birthdays, and gifts, and friends, and learning how to be young, and make mistakes that don't involve kaiju...
"Ah! Mr. Igaguri! So this is your family?" She nods. "Ah, Ms. Igaguri, I'm Lucine Azul... and you must be Mayu..." Lucine stops, and wobbles. too much cutenesssssssss "Ahh, you look so adorable!"
She needs to get away before she melts!
Now, turning to Arriety, Lucine presses her hands together. "Ah, Arriety! Just think, you'll get to sing for Miss Nome as well! You're sharing what you love...."
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
Yurika rubs her cheek a little fluster-y at how. . . how cutely Mitsuba laughing in praise of her little song, and gives a V-sign right back to Eight at the matching compliment. "I made it up! Like right then and there! ...I can't say I'm the best singer in the world, someone with a gentle voice like yours is probably better! Plus, it's barely even fair, when right next to me are the super talented Ranka-chan, and the world-famouse She-mhphphph." Another muffling from the big mecha-spider arm.
That reminds her!
"Ghhhhh, but really! I'm Orihime and I had a big thing planned for Akito as Hikoboshi! He should be just as fabulous, but where -is- he? Alright, let's find out what's going on here." In what's either horrifying or relieving depending on your preference, Yurika detaches her butt from the spider-mecha-thing with a strange ~pop~, twisting around and flicking a switch to bring up a little retracting screen. It quickly flickers to life, and a startup screen flashes.
----------------------------------------
| -)Treasure Robotics
| Entertainment Electronics Division
| Bringing Tomorrow To Today's Hearts
----------------------------------------
A little spinny circle whirls on the display for a long while, and Yurika bops it a few times to try and get it working. Considering the nature of the company that made this, that's literally the most ominous foreshadowing possible.
As for Ruri's present, the paper quickly unfurls to reveal her shockingly lightweight gift - a neon green plastic orb with several panels, translucent eyes, a speaker atop the head, and a big old battery tray butt. It's face is a big old smiley. Not like, expected, more like a painted on big :)-shaped mouth on the front. Slapped on its flank is a big cheap label, reading-
<NEW> From KindToys
"HARRO - The Next Generation Of Amusement"
Press Sides For Light-Ups And Noises
It Really Moves Circularly!
"Treasured and Beloved by my Child" - 55 Review
does not come with batteries
"I saw how much you liked Archimedes, so I found another one! They were on sale just a few blocks down at a really cute kiosk, ehehehe~
...well, at least that isn't part of the Worrying Prospect.
<MEANWHILE - 100 FEET ABOVE AND ABOUT 2 MILES EAST OF FUJIYOKIDAI>
A mysterious swarm meanders above the lonely streets, occupied mostly by stragglers leaving the Tanabata festivities early, or heading there late. Dozens of whirring drones, each painted with bovine spots, with adorably hand-made woolen cow-faces taped to their fronts. Except where the eyes would be, glows an OMINOUS RED LED. Below this swarm, tangled up in some sort of array of lassos, is none other than a flailing, angrily yelling Akito Tenkawa, dressed in a charmingly homey shepherd's tunic. Eventually, the drones get wise to how he's disrupting their flight path and all that, and one of them helpfully dips its rotor downward - cutting their troublesome accidental cargo off and depositing him after a short fall onto a rooftop, where Akito grumbles in exhaustion. "...I TOLD her those things were way too cheap for how much they gave her!"
(don't worry - the Tanabata Festivities will conclude before the eyecatch that heralds however the Brave Police intend to sort out whatever scheme this is!)
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
Lucine steps back one step as Zurvan reveals his newest(?) creation! "... Ah, that is... amazing... but, you appear to be smoking..."
<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.
Mitsuba had... no idea what to get Ruri, and had actually kind of wondered if a present from her was even appropriate; half the time, Ruri has seemed a little spooked by Mitsuba. It was only once they were back on the Nadesico that Ruri seemed comfortable.
(For that matter, it was only back on the Nadesico that Mitsuba felt comfortable. But she hasn't really fully inhabited that thought.)
Turning to Arriety, Mitsuba offers her an, "Ah -- it's a pleasure. Mitsuba Greyvalley -- Captain of the Dreisstrager. It's a... sister project to the Nadesico."
The arrival of Leito and his family gets a smile from Mitsuba. "Ah -- Mr. Igaguri, yes?" Mitsuba reads reports and looks at who files them. She is... maybe a little too oriented on this task. "And -- Captain York! A pleasure. I hope your recovery goes smoothly."
She decides, after a little thought, to gravitate toward Arriety. "Reserve pilots and food preparation personnel are an essential part of any ship's operations. I know the Ra Mari appreciates your work." And a little more personally and gently, she appends: "... I really like your gloves! They're a very nice accent."
She smiles as she watches people give Ruri their best, gifts and all. For a moment, she wonders if 'nothing' was really doing what she could, the best she could. ... It leads to resolution, but not the kind of resolution she can act on right now.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Doctor Mass is, uncharacteristically, late. There are myriad reasons for this: too long spent in a meeting with property about renting office space in a place that doesn't exist. An hour meeting with Spade-9 about the occupants of a Nouvelle apartment building. A long slow process forwarding Britannian customs forms to a certain secret account. Authorizing school papers and apartments, scheduling meetings for refugee groups, a strongly worded letter to a Spanish High School, getting someone watching DHZ movements...
On the trip from France to Nouvelle, she had time to freshen up, but not an outfit change, so when Sayla arrives she's wearing an expertly tailored suit sans jacket, a button up white blouse with frilled cuffs and the top button undone and sleeves rolled up, a nice watch, a nice bracelet, and a plain silver necklace. She's also carrying a large gift bag, and looking a little exhausted. Transit is packed, even here, and it would be unsubtle for her to ask if she could get a lift in on StealthGao. She considered it, though.
Given she's been invited, Sayla decides to chance first name basis. "Happy Birthday, Ruri! I'm sorry I'm late." She gives a slightly tired smile as she looks around the group. Some faces she definitely recognizes, but never got more than a few seconds with. Sheryl Nome, whose manager she greatly insulted. Eight and Arriety she remembers from her brief ride-along and the gala. Gary Biaggi, from the same. And G-Hound's Capain Greyvalley. Interesting. "Sayla Mass, good to... meet you all..."
Yurika's elaborate outfit... and her choice of present. Hoo boy. Sayla's familiar enough with Haro's to know a fake instantly. And the Zentradi is on fire, maybe? Oh dear. This is not how she's used to these going.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"The Captain helped teach me how to do it," Ruri says to Lucine and Ranka, about her yukata. "Tying the sash is complicated." She looks satisfied with Minae calling her refined -- but she tilts her head, as Eight points out her heels, with a quietly sceptical expression.
(Minato winks, to Eight. Indeed, she's also wearing heels which are definitely not company-standard, instead of the traditional sandals.)
Ruri nods, entirely serious, to Sheryl's Advice about Barrettes. "I'll work hard," she insists. And when Lucine says that being a teenager is a big responsibility, Ruri agrees: "It is. Objectively, the effective age of majority is getting younger and younger given the pressures of modern life. I have to be prepared." What, were any of you expecting not to get a reminder of how inappropriately concerned Ruri is with adult responsibilities? She's still the tiniest warship operator.
And lo, the weight in that operator's hands unfurls to reveal...!
"Hello," Ruri says, to the -- Harro. "It's nice to meet you." She's not going to make fun of him for being battery-powered. She's sure that once he has energy, he'll work very hard! "Thank you," Ruri says, looking up to Yurika.
She won't tell about Ranka not knowing the words to Yurika's song if Ranka won't. She nods, to her, when she accepts her present. "Okay." Taking Gary's box out of the duffle bag, she tucks the tiny box and the Harro inside it for safe-keeping, instead -- what a convenient carrying device! She unwraps Gary's present, all wrapped with variable fighters, to find...
... a model Nadesico. Ruri immediately intuits the controls, and the tiny Nadesico zwoops up into the air, hovering above her. "It's wonderful," she says, to Gary, captivated by the detail. She tucks the remote into the duffle bag, but strangely, the ship stays up. (Well, it's not so hard to talk to a remote control.)
And Arriety reveals that Minae did help make a present! They both made one. Ruri holds the kakapo with care, and her eyes light up, when she reads the well-wishes written there. She looks into the kakapo's eyes, makes a quiet inquiry -- and feels there are more nice things there, too. "Ah, you all..." Ruri holds the handmade parrot closer to her, quiet. (Quietly touched.) "Arriety-san, Minae-san... you worked hard, didn't you? ... thank you."
(She carefully tucks the kakapo into the duffle bag, too, so it won't get jostled and damaged.)
This is the precise moment when Zurvan decides to fix his fashion.
Ruri stops and stares at Zurvan, in dead silence, for thirty-three seconds exactly. She stares at his fuming yukata; she stares at the device he shook to create it. She stares, and stares, and finally says: "Fool." Lucine can point out why he's a fool.
Luckily(?), the Igaguri family arrives before Ruri can criticise Zurvan's amazing feats any further. She blinks, looking from the young Mayu -- not that much younger than her, all told -- to Lumina, to Leito. "Ah... your family...?" She wonders, with wonder; Ruri rarely sees a family together. (She doesn't think of her situation growing up in... quite that way.) "Hello," she says, with a proper little Japanese bow to the two of them she hasn't met, which handily hides the way she blushes over being called cute. Straightening up, she takes the bag, and nods. "Thank you. I like your yukata, too," she adds, to Mayu, gently. Looking inside -- it's sweets! Ruri blinks, and takes a piece of mochi to try. "... it's really very good," she adds, with a shade of warmth.
"You can trust that assessment," Ms. Howmei adds, with a sly grin. "Ruri here doesn't mince words about people's cooking."
Minato grins, as she comes up to the Ra Mari crew and Mitsuba. "Ahh, come on! This is a festival! If you two start getting into Captain business, you'll be punished by scooping up goldfish with thin paper, you know." She asides, more quietly, to Mitsuba: "... but I'm glad you took up my invite. Take a look. She's not unhappy to see you."
And, indeed, at that very moment Ruri is looking over to Mitsuba and Eight with a grateful expression. How did Minato know?! Woman's intuition, again, clearly.
She's distracted by Sayla's arrival, though -- and, again, Ruri isn't going to begrudge her the lack of yukata. "Doctor Mass," Ruri greets her -- as a doctor, but with that same shade of warmth behind her stoicness. "It's okay. I understand that festivals are things people attend throughout the day, after all. These are my friends," she gestures, with one hand, to the people who've gathered. "I know it all looks very chaotic, but that's normal, actually."
Somehow, she says that even not knowing the torment of the cowherd...
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Arriety watches with some amazement as Zurvan... essentially spraycans fabric onto himself like he were some kind of magic tailor. "Wow, that looks really amazing... I kinda imagine you could save a life in space if someone's suit rips or something."
Leito arrives onscene with his wife and daughter -- she hasn't met the Igaguri family before, but they seem nice. A salaryman on the Nadesico... ... ... she can only hope Prospector isn't too hard on him. It seems like Prospector is the natural enemy of salarymen everywhere.
Gary comments about the eternal patrol, and Arriety puffs as she says, "It took some doing, but I insisted after we spent two weeks out of contact. If Lavhi didn't rig a game console onto my screen, I think I would've gone spare..."
Eight joins in on the cheating plan, and Arriety can't help but have a slightly chagrined look. "Only if it's the shooting. Let's not torment the goldfish scooping game too much." She gestures to the stand. "Let's try that stand. I want some with cheese and bonito flakes..."
Yurika says she's not the best singer in the world, but... "I think... I think the joy you bring in your singing means much more than you might think, Miss Misumaru." And she means that -- technical quality may be one thing, but as an empath especially, Arriety is particularly moved by the sincerity in one's song.
And her gift... oh dear... mmm... hmm... how's Minae going to react to that one? Brutal violence?
Mitsuba greets herself too, and identifies the Dreisstrager as a sister project... "That's the... large blue and gold ship, right? I've seen it, on the joint ops... but I was in the kitchen at the time, so I didn't deploy." Mitsuba herself appreciates her work, and that feels pretty good... but the comment on her gloves seems to have a bigger effect. "T-thanks, Miss Greyvalley."
She had to toss them on at the last minute for cover, but it really did end up working well with the outfit, didn't it...?
She spots someone she hasn't seen in a while -- Doctor Mass -- and smiles and waves at her. "Oh, Doctor Mass, it's been a while..."
"I just wanted... to make something nice, so I hope you both enjoy it," Arriety smiles warmly to Ruri. "It's true, though, it wouldn't have been possible without Minae."
Sheryl somewhat blindsides her as she catches onto that almost offhanded comment, and she freezes as if she were a deer in headlights. "O-o-oh, oh, um... well, I'm definitely not as practiced as Ranka, since she's been putting so much into her training..."
... come on, Arriety thinks to herself, are you going to fall back on bad habits? Just-- just recede into your shell again? After everything you've declared?
Lucine encourages her at a pivotal moment, though. And she's right -- Sheryl's been an inspiration for her, so why shouldn't she sing for her? There's a brief warmth of appreciation and gratitude sent her way.
"... but-- but I'm not bad," Arriety saves herself at the last minute. Come on, Arriety! You threw yourself hard into vocal training for a solid, full year! "We've sung together before. I'll give it my best."
<Pose Tracker> Leito Igaguri has posed.
The Igaguris are all pleased that Ruri enjoys the mochi, but Leito notices something. She seems to be more out of her shell than when they met at the cafeteria. Birthdays are nice...
""U-uh. That man just...did something." Leito gestures to Zurvan. "Should we call an ambulance?" "He'll be fine, honey. He's probably a street magician!" "N-no, I don't think that's the case..."
<Pose Tracker> Gary Biaggi has posed.
Gary chuckles at Eight's comment and indicating the broken arm, "I don't know captain, I have seen plenty of people pilot with one arm. Obviously you are overexagerrating your injury." The comment is playful as he teases Eight about the wound before he looks over at Arriety. "One time I was stuck in a bunker in the middle of nowhere Azadistan for a week. After that any time around any level of technology I find a blessing."
Finally he opens the bottle of tea that he bought himself earlier and sips at it before he notices Ruri getting to his gift and turns to watch. "I thought you may like that. Don't crash it into anyone...unless they deserve it. Next year I will see about getting you something that actually flies." Yes Gary Biaggi just promised a 14 year old to be their own flying vehicle.
Finally Gary makes his way over to the platter of food to his surprise and picks up a skewer of yakitori and takes a bite while he watches the festivities go on around him, adding another person to avoid eye contact with when he sees Dr. Mass.
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Ranka gives Minae this wide smile, "It obviously shows! I really like your look."
Ranka actually has to hide her face with her hands because gosshhhh Sheryl is so pretty and the way she teases her just makes her feel so good. It's just embarrassing too.
"Ahaha... I um... mean, i-is there something I should disagree with?"
AAAAAAaaaa why am I like this why can't I be cooler!!!
Arriety offers a duet though, and Ranka manages to unshield her eyes, then her mouth after she trusts that her face is no longer the color of the inside of Taiyaki. "We could!" Before Sheryl asks if she sings too and implies if she's as good she'd like to hear it, and Ranka suddenly looks to Arriety, worried.
After all it's one thing to have enough confidence to offer to sing again - it's another to do it in front of SHERYL NOME. After all, if she'd known it was Sheryl Nome the first day they met, she'd never have dared to sing in front of her, so it's a good thing she didn't know!!!
If she hadn't, she almost certainly wouldn't be where she is right now.
However she holds her breath, as she doesn't need any special senses to understand what Arriety is going through. She can feel it. The pressure, the worry. "Then we should do it!"
Ranka waves to Lumina and Mayu as Leito shows up, "Nice to meet you both! Leito is very reliable, we couldn't do without him."
Ranka's hair jolts upwards in surprise at Yurika's 'Harro' she does not have the courage to say a thing, nope, who would have the courage to say anything??? Sayla shows up though and there's a second leap of her hair in so much as a few seconds, "Ah! THE Sayla Mass? Wow-! Ruri I had no idea you knew her-!" She's nowhere near as starstruck as the first time she met Sheryl, but she definitely isn't so accustomed to being around celebrities that it doesn't make an impression.
Ranka though starts to wave Arriety off to the side with her as the two begin to conspire on which song to sing.
<Pose Tracker> Zurvan Zevarist has posed.
Zurvan, after all his little demonstration, spreads out his arms. His new 'Yukata' stretches out audibly, like some poor new plastic being strained before relaxing down, grinning a wide grin at Ruri's call. "Yeah! I'd say I am being a big fool right now testing something untested!"
The smoke seems to slowly die down at last after a few moments, but there is still THIS lingering scent of burnt plastic before settling down. During all this, the engineer keeps a wide, happy grin with his hands on his hips. This slight movement send a few wisp of smoke floating gently above him.
He stays still like this for a few moments more, as he slowly, carefully, bends down to pick up back his bags, the 'Yukata' not really bending very well, blindly grope around at the ground for his bags, messily pick on up and waddle along with the BIRTHDAY GROUP.
Zurvan also makes his way to a platter of food, reaaaaching out to a piece with his sleeve making the biggest creak of plastic and strained fabric this side of Texas and eats on this skewer of sweet meats. "Hmm! Delicious! Hahahaha!"
<Pose Tracker> Zurvan Zevarist has posed.
"Oh! don't worry, Lucine! That's just... that's just, ah, the fabric settling!" He adds on quickly to Lucine's interrogation. Oh yes. Just the fabric settling and definetively not buring his body hair right now and giving him one hell of a waxing on every exposed bit of blue skin.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight already thought she liked Minato, but now she's sure of it. ...She could be in her shoes, if things had gone differently--where would she have ended up, if she hadn't joined Londo Bell? In an office somewhere, maybe? But to Gary she laughs. "Yeah, and I don't even need to use my hands! I'm definitely slacking."
She stares for a moment at Zurvan. That was... very impressive. She looks impressed. But she can't help but laugh a little at the foolishness on display from Ruri's corner. But Mitsuba is there--
"Thank you," Eight says to Mitsuba, with a smile. She wasn't going to insist on rank out here but if Mitsuba recognizes her, then that's all the easier. And she talks about one of Eight's favorite subjects--Arriety! "Oh, we do," she says about appreciating their work. "I'm really happy to have her around."
She grins at Minae. "They probably are," she agrees. "I remember some of those stalls--" Performing!! Eight is immediately a little protective--Arriety can probably get a flash of it--but if Arriety is offering, then maybe....
"That stand seems nice," Eight agrees with Arriety. And... aw. It's so nice. But even nicer is the way that Arriety saves herself, an talks about how she'll do her best. This time it's pride that comes over their connection. "I'm looking forward to it," she says to Arriety and the others, then.
"Oh! Dr. Mass!" Eight smiles at her. She doesn't seem worried about Zurvan being maybe on fire, at least. Maybe she's seen enough of his videos that she thinks that's just normal....
She smiles at Ranka, and--yes, she does keep glancing over at Leito and his family. It's just so nice...
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Meanwhile, over to one side, Zurvan's solved his yukata problem with SCIENCE. Sheryl raises her eyebrow at the fabric flying out to form around him into a simple design. It's an interesting machine, to be sure, but... it looks like it's still got a long ways to go in the actual fashion department.
But then Minae vouches for Arriety's singing ability. "Oh?" She smiles coquettishly and snaps her fan out from her obi. "Interesting~" Arriety balks initially--but then leans into it, saying she'll give it her best. "You'd better! I'm going to be listening very closely!" she declares. It's meant to be encouraging, especially since Ranka agrees to sing too.
Is there something she should disagree with? Sheryl will let Ranka wonder that on her own time~.
Lucine talks about how her gift of the potted tea roses were meant to be a symbol of Sheryl's progress as a singer. She twists a brief half-smile. Well, she is always working on improving herself. Being on top is a lot of hard work! "Thank you. I have them on my dresser," she replies graciously. "It is nice to have flowers that last longer than a vase." Even if she's not sure she can guarantee she'll always remember to water them...
Meanwhile Yurika nearly outs Sheryl again. Honestly! It's a good thing that mecha-spider's there after all. "Is Akito your boyfriend?" she wonders curiously--she'd been on and on earlier about the romance of the holiday, and if this Akito is supposed to be the Hikoboshi to Yurika's Orihime...
Though Sayla arrives, Sheryl doesn't pay her any mind at first; while they've met in passing, she just doesn't recognize her in this new context, not at first. When Ruri addresses her as Dr. Mass, she gives her a curious look... then has an 'oh!' moment, and gives her a smile of greeting. For now, she giggles at Ruri's serious response, both at her and at everyone else, including the knock-off Haro. Ruri's very cute in her own way, really.
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
Minae predictably locks directly onto the sight of the Haro when it is revealed, her senses on full alert and her eyes wide - before she identifies it as a fake, and that's what makes her visibly sigh in relief and sag back to a soft smile. "It was all Ah-ri's idea, really," she still tries to downplay things to Ruri with a light puff of air towards her friend, but tilts her head as she admits: "But I did put my heart into it too. I hope you like it."
Yurika worries about her singing - and rather than reply directly she piggybacks off of Arriety's comment, flashing a quick 'V' behind her as if to directly back up the compliment. "It's not about how well you can sing. I think just doing it is enough," she adds brightly.
"I mean, I hope they haven't taught their goldfish to swim away from nets deliberately, but that's kind of a learned behaviour as it is," Minae is applying serious thought as to cheating at carnivals. "I'm not out to shoot a fish in a barrel, let alone a fish tank." Despite the levity of her statement, she's watching Arriety for her reaction - and shoots a glance towards Eight at the same time before she risks a smile. "We'll be right there with you. I think you should go for it," she promises.
"I do have some old recordings on hand, too!" the robot ever-so-helpfully adds towards Sheryl and Ranka. Another advantage of being a robot is annoyingly precise memory at the worst possible times - but she has the presence of mind and care to continue: "Though, obviously, it would be up to Ah-ri if you wanted to take a peek. And... perhaps not in the middle of a crowded festival."
"The Dreisstrager is so big," Minae bobs her head at Mitsuba's introduction. "Nothing against you, ma'am, but it's kind of incredible it even exists." She pauses and then looks in turn between Eight, Yurika, and back to Mitsuba. "I was going to say you're quite young for a Captain, as well, but... it kinda seems like the Federation standard these days," she notes cheerfully. "And that might be a slightly rude thing to say when I'm even younger."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
A ping will arrive for Omoikane just then--a missive from one Kaworu Nagisa, silent for the past twenty days. It reads: "Ruri, Omoikane, thank you for your help the other day. I wanted to let you both know I'm all right. I hope I haven't caused you too much undue worry."
A split-second later, Ranka will also receive a text from Kaworu. It reads: "I'm sorry I was unable to respond sooner. I'm all right, Ranka. I hope you're well, and that I haven't made you worry too much."
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
The soft gratitude from Arrietty makes Lucine's shoulders relax. "Yes... I'd love to hear you sing as well, though... I am easily impressed, so...."
As Sayla arrives, Lucine tilts her head, gold eyes furrowing as if she heard a lyric of a song just beyond her ability to remember. "... Ah, so, you are Sayla Mass? I've seen you at one of the recent events, but I didn't realize you were... Or, ah, Doctor Sayla Mass, sorry..." She bobs her head once in a nod. "Ruri knows so many people...!" So many wonderful people, that one of them has to see if something goes wrong.
People like... Sheryl, in fact. Sheryl, who has had two events in her life go awry- no, three, counting Tsutsujidai. It's possible Sheryl might know something. But could Lucine really involve Sheryl in this? In whatever this is. Would Sheryl think it's all a joke?
"Miss Nome, at some point, when you have time..." Lucine says, softly, trying to make her request as discreet as possible. "I'd... ah, well, there is something I'd like to chat to you about. Just when you have the time, of course..."
Lucine's dad made this all sound so easy. Excessive confidence and charisma really does blow past a lot.
And speaking of things blowing, the breeze is blowing a distinct scent of possible burning plastic. Abandoning Sheryl, Lucine steps over, wincing at the audible snap crackle pop of... burnt plastic that might have some skin on it. "A-ah, Zurvan, are you sure?"
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
Hang on, Ruri got a -
Instantly, Yurika is captivated by the scale model Nadesico, leaning in towards the front to peer at its every little detail. "...W....w....w...what in the world?! Where did you get this?" She's looking wildly between Gary and the model ship, eyes absolutely wide in awe. "...D...did you make this?! Eeeeh?! It's AMAZING...! ...Oh gosh, wait-" Yurika elects to sit atop the spider-hover-thing, making its rotor groan from the added weight (how rude!) and scoots near Gary for a moment. "You're a friend of Ruri-chan's aren't you? I don't think we've met - I'm the captain of the Nadesico, Yurika, acting as this Tanabata's very own wonderful Orihime for the day! However did you get to meet Ruri?"
To Minae's comment on the...strangeness of the three captain-types, Yurika can only meander in the middle of herself, the more even-paced Mitsuba, and the admittedly still somewhat...tired and worn-down looking Eight. She's making it a bit of a photo op, at that - even if her outlandish yukata is a bit overwhelming by compare. "I think...it's a sign of changing times. We're not really the Federation standard, are we? All three of us are here because of some really weird circumstances, and that's why we're where we are. We don't fit in, and because we don't, we're gonna be the ones to really shake up the doldrums the world's fallen into, aren't we?" How enthusiastic!
...speaking of 'outlandish yukata' though, seeing Zurvan's near-magical sudden-printed yukata applied like magic brings stars to Yurika's eyes. "...That was amazing too!!! Do you have any idea how long this one took to make? If I had that sort of technology it'd save so...much...t....time..." Her words slow down once that yukata starts to...sizzle and singe Zurvan a bit, and her flappy-sleeved arms flail wildly. "...D...do you need help getting that off?!?!
<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.
Mitsuba, as Minato points out that Ruri is indeed happy to see her, turns a faint shade of pink and brings a hand up behind her head; she doesn't rub at it, but rather clench a bit around some of her hair. Still, she's smiling. "... I'm glad I made the time. She's a wonderful young lady." She gives Ruri a look back. She wants to tell her how cute she is... but she'll spare Ruri's ego with a slightly more noncommittal, "Thirteen is a big year... I hope it's kind to you."
Arriety's answer to the compliment gets a smile and a light laugh in turn. "I've seen how pilots eat before and after missions. Part of doing what you can, the best you can is making sure there's a happy home to return to..." After a little bit of watching her, she notes, "Don't talk down on yourself so badly."
Minae comments on her youth and the size of the Dreisstrager; it's a testament to how being off of it re-stances her that she responds to the former. "Ahaha -- I'm 21... I'm flattered. It's not rude at all -- quite the opposite. That's especially not that uncommon after Operation Stardust, though... a little on the youthful side, perhaps, but not as much as you'd think?" (She is downplaying herself, a bit. Most captains -- even the growing number of under-30s -- do have at least a few years on her.)
It's around this point that Mitsuba -- who's been having smaller conversations rather than noticing Zurvan's flashiness -- realizes she smells something burning. She glances over -- and multiple people have it covered.
... She doesn't need to panic at every problem personally. Part of operating a ship so large is finding her peace with that.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"They seem like a good group. I'm glad to be here with them." Oh, there's definitely newtypes here, even with Sayla keeping her walls up. Maybe later she'll have to have a word. But not right now. Still, Ranka's surprise at seeing her earns an easy smile. "Nice to meet you, Miss...?" She gives Eight a wave. "Captain York. Good to see you again." They really need to... actually talk soon.
She hands the bag to Ruri, when she has a free hand. "I hope you like them." Inside the gift bag are two boxes, expertly wrapped with bows, one smaller than the other. Inside them is perhaps a surprise. The smaller box contains an arcade fight stick- with IFS compatibility as well as manual control. It has a custom faceplate, mocked up as a Kanji Fighter screenshot, with the Kanji for Ruri's first name done up in the games style as the competitors. The second one is a full sized one, with two face plates. One the same as the first, the other with the kanji for 'Friend' done up as if on the character select screen. There's also a card:
'Dear Ruri, a present for the you of today, and one for the you of the future- or for your your friends of any time. -Sayla'
She smiles to Arriety too. "It has. I hope you're having a good time." Minae catches her attention though, and she pauses. "...I suppose Bright set something of a precedent." Fortunately, a distraction in the form of Lucine. "I think here, Sayla is fine. It's a birthday, after all."
Yurika gives another pause, and then Mitsuba. "It did used to be that they were more than twice your age, Captain. Times have definitely changed." Gah. Why is it the morose topics that draw her?
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I really like it," Ruri says to Arriety, with sincerity, on the topic of her very own kakapo. Now she can keep the Kakapos with her, even when they're apart.
And Ruri looks between Arriety and Sheryl, when Arriety finally decides she's not a bad singer, and she'll give a performance her best shot. "Oh," she says, quietly. "Arriety-san is trying, too..." Well, Ruri still feels very shy about her own singing voice, but... she'll remember that Arriety was brave enough to accept being volunteered, too. And Ranka is brave enough to go for it, just the same--!!
Ruri nods, to Mitsuba. "Thank you," she says, about thirteen being such a big year. "It is. I won't let anyone down." Including Mitsuba, she resolves, to herself. Tragically, Ruri is unaware that her dutiful nature may, itself, be cute.
She accepts Sayla's gift, and opens up the boxes; her gold eyes widen, in quiet wonder, to read the kanji there. A controller with IFS capability, and... "Thank you," she says, with a little bow. "I'm happy to receive it." She's still not smiling -- perhaps she just never does -- but she is, in fact, happy.
"Ranka-san is right," Ruri agrees, on Leito. "Mr. Igaguri is a hard worker. He's also very brave." How else would you describe a salaryman who went on an away mission? Leito couldn't have known the Vajra would show up, but... it was still dangerous.
Just as Leito notes, Ruri is, indeed, more comfortable here than she's been at other times. She's surrounded by people who care about her! They all came here just to see her, too! Well, obviously something like that is nice. She might still be wearing that neutral expression, but that doesn't mean she isn't happy. "It's okay," she assures the Igaguri family, when Leito worries about the fuming Zentradi. "Zurvan is an inventor." That's... like a magician, right? Right.
"This is already flying," Ruri points out, to Gary, as the mini-Nadesico zips around about people's heads. (She makes sure not to crash it into anyone. Not everyone is as short as Ruri is, after all; she's barely over four feet.) "Though I suppose at this height it may still be covered under hovering principles instead -- it doesn't seem it's designed for high altitude due to the premises behind its movement." She pauses, and adds: "Don't worry, I won't crash. Since I've followed Minato-san's work so much, I can handle navigating something like this." Of course, paying mental attention to those controls to make sure it flies around correctly is... interesting practice, isn't it? She dutifully hovers the mini-Nadesico (it's a key item, one of the ones you simply must collect to see the true true ending) in front of Yurika, so that she can inspect it.
Minato laughs, waving a hand. "Ah, Ruriruri, modern technology means that I can rely on automatic programming to do most of my driving, you know!"
"I'm aware of what systems support you, yes," Ruri replies, stoic. Whether this is a condemnation of Minato or of Minato's self-effacement is left as an exercise for the reader.
Ruri isn't particularly bashful about knowing Sayla, for her part -- it just doesn't strike her as relevant. "We met at a party," she explains, to Ranka. "She's actually very nice." She thinks to add to Yurika, just the same: "I met Mr. Biaggi at a party, too. He's kind of incorrigible, but he's a good person."
She tilts her head, at Zurvan, as he makes his claims about his yukata. "Is it really fabric?" She presses him, sceptically. Really, it's kind of impressive that he managed to spray new clothes onto himself. Much like Eight, Ruri doesn't think to question Zurvan's antics too much, though, because... well, to be honest, this isn't the strangest thing she's seen this week.
Nergal is just Like That.
"Mr. Tenkawa is very popular," Ruri informs Sheryl, quite seriously, when she asks Yurika if Akito is her ~boyfriend~. "Many people aboard the Nadesico want to cook for him. Since Mr. Tenkawa would rather be the one cooking, it's actually a very unfortunate situation." How could she sass Yurika's love-love connection..?!
Ms. Howmei hides a smile about it. Inez folds her arms, and hums, to herself. "Hmh. It's not a bad explanation, I suppose... well, you'll get more perspective with experience."
And Ruri actually looks remarkably pleased at that level of faint praise. It may be clear in this moment that Ruri actually looks up to that callous scientist quite a bit!
<Pose Tracker> Gary Biaggi has posed.
Gary takes a moment to actually realize he is being talked to, outside of a small handful of people here he was pretty sure he was just unknown random person X. Then the person claiming to be the captain of the Nadesico is talking to him. "Oh yeah we met at a few parties, first was a G-Hound party where well it didn't last long. You see some crazy lady came in and shot the hostess. Thats actually how I met Captain York too. The hostess was fine though."
Gary pauses for a moment as he sips his tea before adding, " Then we really got to know each other at Dr. Mass's..." Gary pauses overhearing the comment to refer to her by her first name and corrects himself, "Er, Sayla's charity gala, wow that feels weird." He moves his mouth a little as if he has a bad taste in his mouth but does eventually get back to answer the questions," Anyways the gala was great. Well until that incident with the Britannians. It is one of those things that is sad but you can laugh at a little later. After that we just kinda have crossed paths here and there."
Looking over at Ruri for a moment before he returns his attention to Yuirka, " As for if I made it, sorta. I had the idea and um the accurate details I had a hand in but I had several hangar engineers actually fabricate it and make sure my wiring wasn't going to cause it to explode. I did also find the pictures of the crew to put on the figures on top."
Finishing answering he takes a sip of his tea before he realizes all this rambling has led him to missing the obvious thing, "Oh my apologies, Lieutenant Gary Biaggi at your service Captain Misumaru."
<Pose Tracker> Zurvan Zevarist has posed.
"OH! Yes! I'm very sure!" Zurvan enthusiastically calls out, daintily and trying very hard to move as little as possible picking back up his bags. "Yes, don't worry, it's not like I've jumped the gun and tested an untested invention, skipping the doll, beta, ballistic gel and chicken test and jumped straight to human, immediate testing and now the unstable resin condensed into melting wax-hot plastic fabric and is currently giving my skin a very rough, sudden tan!" He snaps his fingers, pointing firmly at the Igaguri Family and Leito himself. "That's correct! This is straight up MAGIC, my good sir! Good eye!"
This sudden movement of his arm causes a firm crack of plastic from his elbows, with visible fracturing occuring in the 'fabric'. "But first! I have to give a gift to the little lady herself!"
Zurvan waddles with all the care in the world(and speed he is currently able) to Ruri, handing out one of the bags for her to open up and pick up. "There you go, Ruri! This is for you, I hope you do enjoy it!"
And within is... a plushy. A very, very, very fluffy plush sheep, white, adorable, poofy with a beautiful plaid little scarf. "This... is home made! This is real wool, from a real sheep -- Baashy, her name -- and it is precisely made for you. I hope you enjoy it! Hahahahah!"
His voice lowers, leaning over to Yurika's admiration quickly shaping to muted horror. He keeps his voice low, now some strain, pain and hiss coming out. "Thaaaat would be veeeeeeeeery nice, miss Captain, thanks you veeeeeery muuuuuuch!"
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
"That sounds even worse... I mean, at least we had climate control on the ship," Arriety sympathises with Gary. ... she kinda hopes she doesn't get stuck anywhere like that. But after that one engagement with Yuliana, she should become more used to that kinda thing, shouldn't she?
Arriety also feels Eight's protectiveness, and she does appreciate that. She smiles back, lips just a little wobbly, as she promises, "Mm. Look forward to it, definitely."
Minae's comment on the three captains does make her regard Yurika a bit more, but... to be honest, she's fond of every captain here -- Eight she obviously loves, and Yurika is warm and extravagant in an appealing way, but Mitsuba...
The way she gives soft but firm encouragement is something she does look up to, as well. She nods in turn. "... that's true. I've... I've always enjoyed seeing how relieved and relaxed everyone can be, after a long and hard patrol. Knowing I can offer that.. I know I'm doing something important."
Sayla tells Arriety that she hopes she's having a good time -- and there's definitely something more... radiant in Arriety's empathic presence; something that wasn't there so long ago, in that bar when they were reminiscing about Axis Shock... when they were at the charity dinner in Africa. "I've... made some progress. I'm having a good time tonight with my friends."
There's a part of Arriety that definitely notices how fond of Sheryl Ranka is; it's rather nice to see. The way she responds to her teasing... but as she works through her own anxieties, she eventually manages to find inner strength inside -- and Ranka agrees to the idea. Sheryl insists she'll be listening very closely -- and she can sense the spirit of encouragement behind those words...
This is the first time she's sung in public since That Day, when she gave up on her dreams. ... Can she do it? ... she can't let the past shackle her away forever.
Her eyes scan off to Minae, as she finds strength in her guardian's support... as Lucine tells her she'd love to hear her sing. "Mm," she nods back towards Lucine... and to Ruri, too, as she says that she's trying. That's right, she's been trying all this time...
Ranka waves her to one side, and they begin conspiring about which song to sing...
It seems like, after a while, they've decided. Arriety turns to face the group, along with Ranka. It's a bit noisy here, but... Ranka has experience with performances on the street, where one's voice has to beat out the ambient noise, and Arriety... is going to summon all her strength!
"All right, everyone, for Ruri!"
The song they choose is an old classic, one that resonates around the time of the Zentradi War: it's a Lynn Minmay song. Arriety lets Ranka start, alternating lines until their voices harmonise. Arriety, for her part, is...
Arriety is trained. She knows breath control, how to carry a note, how to project her voice across a room, and keep her voice steady and not warble even as she hits difficult notes. She's kept the most difficult lessons from her vocal training to heart. She hasn't been doing this every day for a while, though, and her voice may not be quite as vibrant and practiced as those who make it their career.
"The midnight bell being tolled, our conversation was ceased and outstretched hands on the shoulder were detached in a fluster.
"Like Cinderella's love, ceaseless as time... all things that tell time please, sleep until it is dawn.
"After tolling sound of the midnight bell, in that aftertaste, like a short dream awakened, only grief remained in the kiss."
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Her hair jumps back up as she realizes she didn't give her that name, "Lee. Ranka Lee ma'am! It's very nice to meet you!" She chirps, before having gone with Arriety over to the side to work on the duet.
Ranka gets a text, and even deep in discussion with Arriety, she checks it quickly. Then freezes. And then Arriety will see her tear up, sniffling as she wipes at her eyes with her Yukata sleeve. "Thank goodness... Oh thank goodness..."
>im so glad ur okay!!!
>im about to sing, ill record, this one is for you
She does not tell Kaworu how worried she was, or all that happened surrounding the news, she does not want him to feel bad for something he had no control over.
Perhaps the mixture of sadness and joy in the moment comes as a boon for what follows. As Arriety announces its for Ruri, Ranka agrees, "For Ruri... and a friend of mine who I just found out has recovered from his hospital stay.
Ranka begins, trying her best to summon her strength to overcome the noisy crowd - she does this every day she works an advertising gig now, to draw attention to try to ask people to listen, Arriety follows as the two harmonize in the old Lynn Minmay song. Ranka leans into the old a capella tune, steeped in all of that deep emotion, trying her best to fluidly complement her partner - because she knows Arriety isn't quite as well practiced right now.
It's not as in synch as her and Sheryl were those two times, but it hardly needs to be in this earnest effort towards this slow, emotional tune.
"But like Cinderella's love, if it was thrown into the sea my own treasure was broken to pieces.
"La la la... La la la...
"Like Cinderella's love, ceaseless as time... all things that tell time please, sleep until it is dawn.
"Please, sleep until it is dawn."
As the song fades, Ranka has her eyes closed and takes a deep breath... she needs a moment, more than just one.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight is very willing to talk to Sayla; they'll find the time soon enough. But for now... The ages?
In fact, Eight is happy to make it a photo op sort of moment--she puts on a big smile that momentarily banishes away all the signs that she's tired (or maybe it's the foundation and concealer that's doing that) and nods brightly to Yurika. "That's right. We're young and we're on the way up! We'll provide the shot in the arm the Federation needs!" She likes enthusiasm. It's good.
"It's super rude," Eight jokes, "She's calling me old!" A grin. "Nah I think I'm younger than you, Captain Grayvalley. It's true that we all are kinda young... But I do think that if we work hard we'll do fine."
Bright did set kind of a precedent.
When Arriety and Ranka start singing, Eight finds that the rest of the world falls away. ...Maybe it's fairer to say that it's because it's Arriety, but it's impossible to hear only one of the two as they sing together, and Eight doesn't try to separate it; if anything, Arriety being able to sing with someone else is even more special. ...And it tells her Ranka may be the one she was looking for for something else...
But Arriety's voice is familiar to Eight, and she smiles as she listens. Talk of Mr. Tenkawa and everything else just seems very distant to her in the moment. She was happy watching the group; she is absolutely starry-eyed when the song ends.
"Ah-ri..." She smiles, and claps. "And you too, Ranka! Kaworu told me you were good, but..."
But she looks back to Arriety, and she just looks terribly happy.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Sheryl blinks at Lucine when she eases in and murmurs about needing to chat with her about something. "I can try to pencil you in. What is it you wanted to talk about, though?" she murmurs back. But it looks like she needs to move on, so Sheryl waves her off. "Tell me later," she decides.
It's hard to say when she will have time, all considered, but she'll at least remember it.
Once Lucine leaves, Sheryl raises an eyebrow at Ruri, explaining all about Akito. Considering this is Ruri saying it, she probably means all this with painful literalness, but... boy, the way she says it all sure makes Sheryl want to think it's a metaphor for something else. So when Inez weighs in on the explanation, she smirks. "It's all right. I got the gist," she reassures her and Ruri both.
When Ranka and Arriety perform, though, as promised, Sheryl listens closely. She hadn't taken Minae up on her offer to share Arriety's recordings--she'd like to make that decision after she's heard her sing--but she does have talent. More importantly, she has skill. It's clear to Sheryl's ears that Arriety has had vocal training. It's also clear, though, that she's out of practice. But then, she's not a professional, so does she need to be?
But Ranka is on the road to being a professional, so Sheryl's prepared to be more critical on her. A good thing then that Ranka's been working so hard on improving her vocals--not just in the technical sense, but the emotional sense, too. She apparently just got some good news, so it's no wonder, though. Sometimes that's the difference between a good performance and an excellent one--having the right motivation to convey your feelings to the crowd.
Ranka really could be dangerous in the future... but for right now, she's just enjoying her and 'Ah-ri' for where they are now. She nods along with the slow song, smiling slowly in approval, and when the song is done, she tucks her fan away again to clap.
"You can send me those recordings after the festival," she asides to Minae at last.
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
Minae blinks at the way in which Yurika suddenly pipes up to her all of a sudden. The robot wasn't quite expecting the Captain's attention to so readily and quickly swing to what she was saying, and it takes her a moment to pause and break into another warm smile.
"Mm! I certainly don't think it's a bad thing, nor do I think any of you not have what it takes," she's quick to add to Mitsuba as well. "It just seems like a surprising shift on the Federation's part. Ah-- not that I'm a military historian or anything, either," she adds. "Just a counsellor who's on the Ra Mari's books to ensure the well-being of their crew. Including a Captain who loves to injure herself," she frowns lightly.
Sayla has a good point, and Minae chews over that. "... um. ... ... still, it's hard to imagine Bright Noa in the same group picture as..." she trails off, not really sure how to word the impulse to go 'he's too dad'.
She's shocked out of it by Arriety's cheer, and her mouth falls open for a moment. "Ah-- eh? Right now?" she blurts in a rare moment of sheer confusion, because it's absolutely the last thing she would ever have expected. She knows that Arriety sometimes sneaks away to kareoke booths to sing her heart out; she'd expected that the offer would require a slow progression from there rather than leaping straight into a public performance with Ranka Lee as Sheryl Nome watches on.
Arriety's biggest fear around singing has always been rooted in the pressure that comes with an audience. Minae has watched the situation for years without being quite sure of how to resolve it. It turns out she might have been worrying too much; she looks like she could cry with pride as the pair harmonize, and she clasps her hands to her chest as she does her best not to disrupt the show, as much as she might want to leap forwards and swing her long-time friend around.
She's not used to lumps in her throat, but at least she remembers to train her gaze steadily on the pair, recording the moment for posterity. She's not about to let the other Kakapos miss out on this moment if she can possibly help it.
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
Sheryl's question receives an apologetic smile from Lucine as she walks off, presumably to help poor Zurvan.
It's better not to mention it on a night like tonight.
At Ranka's mention of 'a friend who I just found has recovered', Lucine looks up from Zurvan's plight. Even if she didn't know the original context, just seeing Ranka's face brings Lucine along that sense of bittersweet joy. Knowing just who that text may be from makes the moment even better.
She and Ranka will have to get those lilies for Kaworu, now that he can appreciate them.
Arriety and Ranka start their duet, doing a classic even she's familiar with. She mouths with them, caught up in the spell, happy for Ruri, happy for Arriety, happy for Ranka, happy that all is right in the world.
This is a Tanabata to remember, even if it is her first. Hers, and so many others, and they all had a hand in making it that way, all for Ruri.
The song ends, and the two join the party, though Ranka, as Lucine can guess why, needs a moment.
Zurvan needs a few of their moments, too. "Ah-ahh! I'm sorry, I was distracted by their duet..."
While Zurvan's plea was to Yurika, Lucine gingerly tries to poke and pull at the hot plastic. "H-hold on, Zurvan!"
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
She's gotten a little used to people who can't emote, but it's still kind of sad. At least she can feel the reaction. "I had to ask for some advice, but I'm assured by someone I trust that it's tournament legal as well. We'll have to see if I can put up a fight next time." Sayla's eyes track to Inez, as she gives Ruri some space. She has concerns.
"Let's just hope this party isn't so eventful, shall we? You're not missing out by not having someone cause a scene." Yes she's aware Yurika and her spider get up is right there. It's fine. It's fine.
"I'm glad." She responds to Arriety, not letting her own mask slip. Certainly it's nice to be around so many happy people. She looks at Zurvan. "..." She reaches into her handbag, finding the scalpel she keeps in there 'just in case'. "It might be quickest to slice it off. Then get you to the first aid tent." She pauses. "Behind that stall is probably the best place." She will, at least, help a little with Zurvan's self imposed hell. Or hand the scalpel to someone whp wants to take over.
"Ah, this song!" Well now she's not missing this. Listening to Ranka and Arriety sing... takes her back-
A little girl, three or four years old. A black cat snuggled next to her. Her mother sits next to her, holding her hand as she sings the song like a lullaby. Slowly, the little girl drifts off to sleep, an image of the stars outside the Republic of Munzo shown on a screen that acts as a window.
Sayla doesn't snap back. It take her a few seconds to come back, but when she does, she's clapping sincerely. "That was wonderful, Arriety, Miss Lee."
A touch more relaxed, she smirks at Minae. "Hard to believe he was once as clumsy and scared as the rest of us back then?" She keeps photos from the old days for this occasion- sating curiousity. She flicks to one of bright, the slightly pointy youth who had some how gotten them through this, and shows it to Minae. One of Kai's many shots- or maybe Kikka stealing the camera. "We were uncomfortably young once too." It's a sort of gallows humour that she whispers to Minae. "...I would have killed for someone like you on the White Base."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Luckily, Gary handles introducing himself to Yurika much more adeptly than Ruri does!
And Ruri nods, quite serious, to Sayla. (Kanji Fighters is a very serious matter.) "I'll be waiting," to challenge her. Ruri is a fierce opponent, when it comes to video games!
"Since so many people from Nergal are here," Ruri points out to Sayla, stoic, "a scene will naturally happen." Just look at Yurika! And Zurvan! Luckily, everyone in the festival has determined that all these weirdos are together, and they've dutifully assigned a Someone Else's Problem field to the group.
Ruri does notice Ranka sniffling -- it coincides with a strange feeling at the back of her mind, the sort of joy which transmits over long distances. She wants to ask, but... it seems as if Ranka and Arriety are talking about something important. Well, it seems she might be relieved, anyway, so...
Ruri is distracted from Ranka by Zurvan waddling over, and she walks the rest of the way over to him to save him having to tromp too far. "You should probably come back with us after this," she points out, stoic. "Since the Nadesico has proper medical facilities." And they're used to fixing hilarious problems like these, to boot. But she takes that bag, opens it up, and...
Her fingers sink into the very real fur; she blinks, with wide eyes. "From a real sheep..." She marvels, quietly. Gently, Ruri squooshes the sheep, and looks up to Zurvan. "Thank you." She looks to his Predicament again, with light concern, but... Ruri has no clue how to fix that.
Inez Fressange looks over to Sayla and Zurvan, and says: "I'm a doctor myself," of WHAT, precisely?!, "and I certainly have my own theories about this, so naturally I'll help." Read: grill Zurvan about his inventions. At least Inez has steady hands, so if Sayla gives her a scalpel, she won't misuse it.
But Ranka and Arriety come to a decision, and Ruri turns to them, when Arriety calls out. She blinks, in wonder, as she realises -- they're going to sing now, in the middle of the festival street. For Ruri, and a friend... she puts that feeling together with what Ranka says, and relief floods her expression, too. Of course, Ruri's always known about music, neighbour to mathematics; she can hear the technical skill in Arriety's voice, even if she's fallen out of daily practice. And Ranka... Ruri definitely still admires her voice, too.
Ruri claps! "Thank you," she says, with that backbeat of warmth to her flat features. "You're both very good... I'm happy you decided to sing. Ranka-san, and Arriety-san, too... it was nice to hear how you sing," she adds, to the latter, sincerely.
Minato gestures them over, to a stand of bamboo poles. "Come on, everyone," she encourages them, "we have to write wishes down here! It's Tanabata!" The colourful paper strips are ready to receive those wishes, and be tied onto the bamboo...
... and the note Ruri writes goes as follows:
'I wish my voice could reach people, just like them.'
The pale blue strip is tied to the bamboo, not unlike a magpie's feather.
(And as the festival goes on, Ruri is sure to take lots of photos, just as Minae asked.)
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
The clapping from Sheryl says it all at least. If Sheryl weren't satisfied, she knows she wouldn't clap. She's not the type to offer applause if she's not enjoying it, she's the type who would offer criticism - and Ranka would sit up and listen because any constructive criticism from such a star is something to take to heart.
She didn't though, and it feels good.
The image of a little girl, with Sayla's hair enters her mind. And Ranka's eyes blink open, and she looks Sayla's way in wonder. Then just, there's a smile. This is the kind of music she wants to sing. The kind that evokes strong emotions in people who listen. So she treasures that image.
However, she turns from that smile to Arriety, because her happiness primarily belongs to her as she turns around and hugs her, fiercely despite her small form. She knows how hard that was for her.
"Proud of you." She whispers quietly, "So proud."
She doesn't let go for a bit, though when she does, she bows to their listeners. "Thank you for listening, we're very glad you enjoyed." A beat, "Especially you, Ruri."
What did Ranka wish for on that little slip of paper? ... ... ...
Now that would be telling.
<Pose Tracker> Zurvan Zevarist has posed.
Aftermath of the INSTANT YUKATA Zevarist case:
After some swift cutting, some pulling and pull hair, Zurvan Zevarist will be in the Nadeisco infirmary for a little while, mostly from light burning all over his exposed skin, it being a bit redder than it usual blue. Beyond his skin being sore and sensitive for a few days, he will be fine and seems to take and follow on the humiliating situation with some prompt and humor.
Interrogations and grilling about his invention mostly involves Zurvan talking for an hour about the theories that led him on creating and derivate from his larger scale mecha-printing capabilities on the Weldrizer, several leaps of genius and the complete lack of foresight that applying newly mulched, transformed matter straight on raw skin might have tiny bit painful side effects and not very conductive to flowing, wearable clothing.
In other words, just some stumbling stones in the race of INVENTION.
<Pose Tracker> Ryoko Subaru has posed.
When Ruri gets back to her room, she finds a soda can sitting there, full and unopened. And from it is balanced an object that vaguely evokes the thought of an omamori charm with loop encircled around the base of the can.
It's a handcrafted metal charm with rounded edges to prevent it from being able to cut, in the shape of a bell, the an interior border alit with triangles that evoke the rays of the sun. Omoikane's characters have been cut into it.
The gifter doesn't quite get Ruri and Omoikane. She knows she talks about Omoikane like he's a living thing, not a computer. Still though, even if the gifter doesn't get it... they know Ruri treasures it obviously.
-=-=-
When everyone from the Nadesico has left, Ryoko Subaru moves into the Tanabata crowd, and ties a single slip of paper to the tree. Looking at it for a moment, she turns away. And comes face to face with a set of eyes pouncing at her face, "GAH!" She leaps back, "What the hell Hikaru!?"
Hikaru admonishes her while wearing her set of prank glasses, "What tree-chery is this I see, that you abandoned me out here?" Ryoko just gives her the stink eye with a look that also reeks of pity, "Leave the puns to Izumi, you suck at them." As she starts to walk off.
"What'd you come out here to wish for?"
"Nothing you need to worry about."
"Come on. Tell me. Tell me. Is it about Tenkawa?"
"It is NOT about Tenkawa!"
"I bet it is!!!"
"IT IS NOT!"
The wind threads through the folded slip, revealing two characters from the latter half of it.
forget me
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
It's... strange.
Strange, but wonderful.
How warm it all feels right now. To be able to hear so much joy and pleasure happening at the moment; Zurvan's enthusiasm as he tells people that, yes, he is not on fire, thank you very much. Gary's gift for the Nadesico crew... Ranka's friend who recovered from his stay in the hospital. (Before they started, when Ranka told her about that, she reaches out with her hand and squeezes her hand, if she'll allow her.) The way Lucine is softly singing along, clearly having some familiarity and fondness for the song.
Eight's... familiarity, warmth... the way she's got her eyes only on her. She sees her smiling at me... was it real, or just her fantasy? No, this one's real... same old song, just once more.
There was a time, when she was fourteen, and she tried for the first time to sing out in public. As the rainbow of the Axis Shock shone through space -- the "light in people's hearts", behind her... she sang her heart out--
But she faltered, then and there, and saw nothing but darkness and scorn in the hearts of people in front of her. Something she solidified as "the darkness in people's hearts".
And yet, now... whatever anxiety she had at the idea of performing for Sheryl... the idea of performing for everyone... it's gone now, like something's just been set free, a bird from her cage. Sheryl can likely see it too, from the growing mirth and warmth as she sings: how she's rediscovering this love for a dream that she thought was dead, but... was only merely wounded.
Professional singing may not be the path she's taking, but she realises: singing's always been there, a part of her. To have Sheryl clap for her feels so meaningful, on that front.
And Ranka-- gives her a hug, and she drapes her arms in turn, a little careful around her gloves. When Ranka whispers how proud she is... she knows just what she means -- just like how Minae's pride is plain to see and plainer to feel, and she knows how much this means to her; maybe they can all look back on this video, on this most special of days, sometime, and reminisce very fondly of it, as a turning point for her.
And Sayla...
In this moment, Arriety does see it -- because while she may not actively identify as one, she is a Newtype, and singing is the mode in which her heart's most open: that little girl, with that black cat snuggled next to her. Her mother singing the same song, like a lullaby... an image of the stars...
... Arriety doesn't have words, but she's quietly -- grateful, perhaps, that Sayla would share this memory with them. That she can help cherish it with her.
Ruri too claps for them, and Arriety's cheeks are rosy and warm. "... mm. I'm... I'm glad too, that I chose to sing."
She reminisces for a moment how, not even all that long ago in the grand scheme of things, it was Ruri who reached out when she was afraid in her cockpit seat, how she understands she doesn't want to fight... but that she'd guide her safely through it.
And now... she hopes she's paying that back a little, in her own way.
Minato gestures them over to write their wish, and she hums quietly as she holds up her tanzaku and hums in thought for a moment.
Her wish isn't as private as some. It's a simple, but powerful wish, a wish the Arriety of even seven months ago wasn't ready to make:
'I want my world to widen even more, and traverse it together, with my dear friends and family. --Seong Ah-ri'
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"Ah...I see." Given that Zurvan is there melting and all... Normally Sayla would press but sometimes it's allowed to be not her problem. "That seems difficult to deal with."
Still, Minato calls everyone to the bamboo poles and at this point is kind of out of her depth. "...A wish, huh?" Still, it's the done thing. She looks around the group, curious but unable to tell anything...
She scribbles something down, folds it, and ties it as shown. It's an odd custom. but... on the offchance a wish comes true, better to ask for something otherwise unnatainable.
She steps back. "Well. There's still a whole festival to explore, isn't there?" She looks to Ruri, to gauge how she's doing, and to Minato, who seems to all have it under control. It's their speed here. Either way, Sayla could use something to eat.
Meanwhile, her wish stays tied tight to the bamboo, the words a secret: `I want them to have happier, kinder, gentler lives than we did. All of them.'
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
Minae barrels into Arriety - and thus also Ranka - a moment after the latter does. Thankfully she isn't extremely heavy - there's clearly weight there, but it's compensated for and more importantly not dumped on their shoulders as Minae just kind of snatches up everything nearby in an expansive hug. "Aaaa--" is all she can bring herself to say, a wordless sound of support and joy.
"Oh, oh wow," burbles Minae towards Sayla's photo; she's still distracted and on cloud nine from the duet and what it means for Arriety's peace of mind, but she manages to compartmentalise it a little. Maybe it's what empowers the sudden and rare smirk. "But to be honest, he still doesn't feel like he'd fit in a photo with Eight and Captain Greyvalley. Like he'd hide just out of shot instead until Yurika dragged him back in."
The wry joke gets an understanding smile in return. Minae can never really know exactly what happened in those formulatory times, because it's a matter of being there - but what she has picked up from context or news stories since, she can only really agree. "Maybe I should just make a couple copies. A Minae for every ship."
She glances up at the wishes hanging on the tree... but doesn't initially move to place one, mulling over it on her own a little while. It's difficult for her to formulate what she'd write on one of them, and she's left chewing over it for a long while as they walk around the rest of the festival.
<Pose Tracker> Gary Biaggi has posed.
With his explanation given to Yurika, Gary takes a moment to look at the group around him moving ot make wishes. "Excuse me, please. I have to go make a wish." Following behind everyone else he waits his turn as he ponders his wish. This was an important time of the year, and wishes like this were also important. FInally it is his turn and he starts to write a single word before stopping and turning over his shoulder to look at the others behind him. Taking the sheet he started to write on he folds it up and slides it into his Yukata before he writes a singler word down on the paper and places it into the box:
Protege
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Later, when Ruri returns to the Nadesico, Omoikane -- still with the custom FESTIVAL card -- eagerly relays the news of Kaworu's recovery. "Ah," Ruri gasps, with relief. "He's really okay... did you respond?"
< REPLY SENT: >
< OK ! >
< GOOD JOB ! >
< GET WELL SOON >
< WISH YOU WERE HERE >
"Okay," Ruri says, gently. "Thanks, Omoikane."
< NO PROBLEM >
< LEAVE IT TO ME >
< MESSAGE ? >
"Yeah," she agrees. "Just let me think..."
And soon enough, Ruri sends a reply of her own to Kaworu -- less stilted, but just as heartfelt:
'I'm glad to hear you're all right, too. I'm sorry it took me a moment to reply... everyone took me to Tanabata, since it was my birthday. I wish you could have been there, but I really am relieved you woke up. That's a good present, too.
Kind regards,
Ruri Hoshino, Systems Operator, Nadesico, Nergal.'
Once that's done, she returns to her room, only to find a soda can resting outside. "...?" She asks, blinking, as she crouches down to pick it up -- and finds the charm there. "Soda... Ms. Subaru..?" Ruri wonders, looking back and forth down the hall, but there's no one out in the residential block nearby to ask. She picks up the charm, and holds it in her palm, as the other takes the can of drink. "Omoikane..." It's strange to think that Ryoko could give her a gift like that, but... who else would think to give her a canned drink as their only calling-card..? It had to have been a pilot, and the only one who ever did was...
Heading inside, she dutifully unwraps the tiny box Ranka gave her -- and beholds as it balloons out into a MUCH more huggable piece of technology. "Oh," she says, blinking. "Hello. It's nice to meet you."
She pops one of Sheryl's singles into the unconventional music player, listening to the music while she settles down for the night. Once she gets herself organised, there's a home-made kakapo on one end of her bed's headboard; on the other rests a pendant, framing barrettes and a heavy bell charm. On her frilled pillow rests a home-made sheep plush. Archimedes rolls around Harro, who has been given batteries, and is beeping at him excitedly; the Mini-Nadesico and the joysticks rest carefully in a glorious technological hoard pile, guarded by the spherical robots. (She'll get a stand for the Mini-Nadesico later; meanwhile, Ruri's going to tuck the joystick somewhere out of the way in her operations station, for all those times she's idling at her post with nothing to do.) The food, of course, is safely in the fridge. That's food safety!
On the seventh day of the seventh month, two stars meet across the milky way. That's the story, I guess... the one day of the year where they can reach each other.
Well, maybe there's something to it, since everyone was there for me today.
It's not romantic, but I guess there's a river between me and everyone else, too...
Magpies are nice, aren't they?