[It's the day after the Valkyrie Slythe's Attack (finally)! It is a bright and shining new day, and with this bright and shining new day is one girl in a blue dress eating breakfast just about as early as she can get it. What happens next? That's up to the other crazies.] [Mini start!] * Hilde walks into the cafeteria, orders bacon and scrambled eggs, goes to the soda machine, grabs a can, and proceeds to the table. She looks like crap. * Kiku is having a fine breakfast by herself, well, until Hilde shows up. She... well, she has her makeup and stuff on, like normal, so she looks okay. A red dinosaur-looking thing is her plush companion of the day. * Nova goes to the mess hall at her regular time and grabs her regular selection and sits at her regular table in her regular chair and begins eatting without saying anything. * Hilde eats while trying to rub the sleep from her eyes * Kiku glances up at Hilde from picking at her eggs. "Um. Hello..." 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kiku (2d6) and gets 6. "Mornin" (Aah! It's Ben! He's wearing a Hilde costume!) (o.O;) ( Killit! Killit DEAD!) * Kiku nods a little. "Morning." She looks over at Nova for a second and adds, in a continuing quiet tone, "Morning to you too." * Nova pauses eatting to say, "Yes," but being rather literal i her understanding, she probably means that 'Yes, it is morning.' * Kiku smiles a little to hersself and looks down at the plate, stabbing herself some eggs. "Well, maybe not a good morning, but at least it's a morning." * Kiku smiles a little to herself. "Feels like I was just talkinig about that recently." * Nova comments, "Okay." It was just yesterday, Nova... * Hilde yawns * Nova inquires, "It is not a good morning?" * Kiku smiles a little, "Hilde looks too tired for it to be too good a morning." * Nova comments, "Okay." * Nova asks, "Hilde did not sleep?" * Hilde eats quietly, taking in the comments of her mates ... I dunno. * Kiku looks over at Hilde. "I wasn't there.... um, so..." she puts a little cheer in her voice, "Sleep well?" "I was in a bad mood and I had to kill it with a game" * Hilde yawns and scratches her head * Kiku looks slightly confused. "Kill it with a game?" "You have your coping methods. I have mine" * Kiku frowns and continues to look confused for a little bit, at least. * Kiku blinks. "Oh. OH. Oh. I... okay." * Kiku looks back over at Nova and says with satisfaction. "Not well, nope!" * Nova comments, "Hilde should go sleep." "I'll.." *yawn* "...be fine as soon as the caffiene kicks in" * Nova comments, "Okay." * Kiku giggles a little, eats a little more, then says, "So, um..." she looks slightly away, then towards Nova, "How did you spend yesterday?" * Nova replies, "Kiku thinking." * Kiku blinks, blushes slightly and looks down. "Um... thinking's good, yes. Yes it is..." * Keika opens the door to the mess hall and strides in -fasionably late. She's foregone her uniform for a long, loose fitting dark blue skirt, a tight grey sleaved shirt, and her vest. * Kiku shoves an overlarge bunch of food in her mouth. * Karasu is, of course, along for the ride and looking around the room. * Nova resumes eatting. * Hilde continues eating * Keika nods to herself and goes to get in line. * Nova asks, "Kiku slept?" * Kiku looks up from her chewing and nods, taking a drink of orange juice before she says, "A lot, yeah." * Nova says, "Good," and goes back to eatting. * Kiku nods a little. "Oh, it really was. I wiped myself out so much..." Hinako even brought me food. * Nova comments, "Okay." * Kiku pauses for a little after that, almost awkwardly, then goes for another 'big mouthfull of food, can't talk now' tactic. * Nova asks, "Hinako food nutritious?" * Keika gains 1 western style breakfast and walks over to the rest of the pilots. "Do you have room for two more, or shall I find another table." * Nova comments, "There is adequate space at this table." * Kiku nods a little and gestures at Karasu, although doesn't actually saying anything. * Karasu looks back at Kiku and bobs its head. * Kiku swallow and says, a tinge of nervousness, "I um, said, 'Karasu doesn't take up lots of space.'" * Nova stares at Kiku. * Keika pulls out a chair and then sets her tray on the table before sitting down. "Some of his predecessors tended to get upset if they thought I was forgetting them." * Kiku laughs a little nervously and says, "Right, of course..." * Keika reaches up and pets Karasu's head. "And I would like to aplogise again for the disturbance I caused last night. Slythe willing I will be seeing Katsu about upgrading his systems to prevent a repeat." Eh? * Kiku looks at Keika with a bit of confusion. (Yeah. As a real world note. Hirameku sorta hovered ovver Kiku's quarters last night, upside down and, uh, everyone saw it. If you didn't know that.) (Hilde was inside the entire time so it's IC for her not to know) (I guess it replaced the bomb thing and Hinako's mecha death as the news on-base.) * Karasu hangs its head. * Hilde had the speakers on her TV cranked up so all she heard was the sound of her FPS killing spree ^^; Um... Upgrade? * Nova stops starring at Kiku and watches those around her as they talk. Last night Karasu saw something that I thought was Slythe, but fortunatly it turned out to be a false alarm. Given Katsu's amaizing stock of spair parts replacing and upgrading faulty parts within Karasu shouldn't be a difficult task for him. I will have to speak with him to find out what he has on hand. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kiku (2d6) and gets 6. * Kiku stlll looks a little confused, even as she nods and adds in a less-than smooth voice, "Y... yeah, that was... um, weird, wasn't it?" * Keika nods. "With any luck it will never happen again." * Hilde conciders asking about what happened but doesn't want to be scolded for staying up late playing videogames (Ha. One of these woman was up sorta-late watching movies with her boyfriend (you can guess which). Poor Hilde's a little paranoid.) * Keika stage whispers to her bird. "Now stand up straight and, if you can, tell me where my fork is." * Kiku smiles a little, then looks down at the food. "So, um, we've figured out that it's not really a good morning for us. How about you, Keika?" Chomp. * Karasu looks at the table, and then cooes like a pigeon. * Keika picks up her knife and fork and starts cutting her egg. "There is nobody shooting at me, nobody yelling, and I have a hot meal. This is a good morning for me." * Kiku nods a little and looks over at Hilde, saying in a much more normal voice, "So, has the caffeine kicked in yet?" * Hilde chugs her soda before responding "Five more minutes" * Hilde gets up and gets another can, then returns to the table * Keika takes that time to salt and then start eating her egg. * Nova continues to eat as she listens and watches the other talk. * Kiku licks her lips and says, with a slight smile, "So, um, Hilde... we didn't really get to talk yesterday, what with Tora... " her left hand goes over and grips the red dinosaur tightly before she continues, "... the Slythe attack." * Hilde takes a sip of her soda before replying "What do you want to talk about" * Karasu looks between the talking people, Keika's plate, and Kiku's dinosaur, as Keika eats silently. * Kiku looks around at Keika and Nova before saying, with a little smile, "Um... well, maybe you could break our trend and actually mention... or have... or something, a last name?" "Kohogan" *takes a sip of her drink* * Kiku pausses for a second, then adds, "Um... and an age?" "23 years old" * Kiku giggles a little and says, "Now I know more about you than I know about Nova and Keika." * Hilde chuckles "Is that so?" * Kiku nods. * Keika snorts, coughs, and then reaches for her orange juice. * Kiku smiles. "Yep. They never tell me anything. Usually." "People are secretive around here, huh?" No, just quiet. Nobody has any secrets around here. * Kiku smiles. You can't tell if she's joking or not. "I see" 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Keika (2d6-4) and gets 6. * Keika manages to finish her drink without choking on Kiku's comment. * Kiku pauses, then helpfully adds, "Well, unless it's their age. Or their name." * Kiku pokes herself up some more food. Yum. * Hilde finishes what's left on her plate * Keika sets her cup down. "Didn't you know? They gave me new ones when I signed up. Officialy my name is Hotaru Ayatusri and I'm twenty-seven years old... but I don't quite belive them." "You don't really look like a Hotaru to me" * Kiku giggles. "Yes, and... um. And I'm really... Aoi something...." She smiles and looks down at her dress. "They must have asked the police about how I like blue." And Keika looks like a Keika. Grumpy. * Kiku sticks out her tongue at Keika. * Keika shrugs. "You are welcome to think whatever you want to. I like it." * Nova eats and observes. * Kiku mulls over some more food. * Keika picks up some bacon and eats with her fingers. Karasu seems to find this facinating. "The bird likes bacon, I see" He has good taste. * Kiku looks over at it and smiles again. * Keika sets it back on her plate and swallows before responding. "So far it's jus been Haguro ... but if he picks up on pork too..." She shrugs. * Kiku says teasingly, "Haguro is a good start for anyone." * Karasu watches the bacon while Keika chews and then looks at Kiku's plushie. * Keika reaches up and pinches Karasu's beak between two fingers to pull his head back down. "Which one is it you've got today?" * Karasu resists a bit, but goes back to paying attention to Keika's plate. Oh? Um, this is Ryujiko. * Kiku holds up the red dinosaur-looking plush a little. * Karasu looks at it. * Hilde looks at it as well * Keika sighs and grumbles to herself. He's, um, not really in any movies. I named him myself. * Hilde nods * Karasu sways a bit and then seems to decide that his wings need preening, despite being metal. * Keika nods. "Good, one less thing I may have to wind up aqquiring to keep him happy." * Kiku laughs a little. "Did you get him a Haguro movie yet, then?" * Keika shakes her head. "No, just the one plushie so far, but he has demanded that I play some of the base's recordings of them for him." * Kiku giggles a little. "Well, you should invite everyone along when he finally gets to watch." Only if you enjoy watching them muted and with the subtitles on while I sleep. That is when he gets to. ... Oh. That's too bad. Haguro is your friend. * Kiku giggles and takes another drink. * Karasu finishes fussing with its wings gives Ryujiko on final look before nodding at Kiku. * Kiku looks over at Hilde. "You know who Haguro is, right?" "I think so" If you stay anywhere near these two you will learn more wether you wish to or not. * Kiku nods cheerily. "They have tons of the movies. I had to show Nova and Keika. They hadn't seen him before." "I don't mind. I own a few super sentai series" * Kiku nods and says in a less enthused voice, "Katsu likes shows more like that." "Oh..." *sounds embarrassed* (Well, it's not like she sounds dull, just... less enthused. Haguro is near and dear to her heart. ^_~) To each their own. The world would be increadibly boring if we were all like Nova, and I shudder to think what it would be like full of me. * Keika actualy does shiver slightly. * Kiku winks. "It couldn't be. You'd have to be half full of Karasus." * Nova pauses to look at Keika. * Karasu partly spreads its wings to keep its balance. "That would be alot of birds" *giggles* That is part of the problem. If it was just me, nobody would ever be able to find anything. * Kiku continues on, "And you'd need a bunch of Katsu's to fix your Karasus!" * Kiku gestures grandly. "A world full of k!" * Keika tilts her head. "No, I think just a few thousand Rooks would cover it. And while he does have a 'k' it is on the wrong end of his name." "Rook?" Rooks. It is the name of the man who built Karasu, and a few of his predecessors. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kiku (2d6) and gets 10. "I see" * Kiku mms a little, a slight frown crossing her face, then she says, "Is Rooks cute?" * Keika rubs her chin. "That would depend on your definition of cute. He is quite a bit older than Katsu." Hmm. Well, um, that doesn't mean anything... * Keika grins. "Tell me what you think cute is, and I will tell you if he is any of thoes things." * Kiku blinks. "Um... er... well... * Kiku looks like she's thinking for a second, then hmphs and says, "I can't. That's why I asked you." * Keika shakes her head slowly. "Then I'm afraid I will have to say that he isn't." * Kiku takes a drink and says, "Well, that's all I was asking." * Keika stabs her fork into a lukewarm sausage and lifts it to her mouth. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kiku (2d6) and gets 9. * Kiku glances over at Nova for a second, then to Hilde, then down at her pretty much cleared plate. She has her glass still clutched between her hands. * Nova finishes her meal and looks at Kiku, having been quiet though much of the conversation. * Hilde just listening (mwhahaha!) (You people and your listening. ;_;) (Well, tit can't be helped - Nova's not much of a socializer ; ) ) (Yeah, I know. ^_~) * Keika eats food. Karasu watches her eat food. It's gotten quite all of a sudden. * Kiku swallows and looks up and around again. It seems her hands have tightened around the glass. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kiku (2d6) and gets 6. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kiku (2d6) and gets 6. (Yay! Empathy for everybody - 1) * Hilde just quietly listening, not really in the mood to talk as Kiku and Keika are having a much more interesting conversation * Kiku licks her lips and says, "Feeling more awake, Hilde?" "Uh huh" * Kiku nods a little, glances over at Nova, then lets go of her glass carefully and picks up her plush, clutching it tightly instead. * Nova keeps watching Kiku. * Keika sets her fork down as Karasu looks up at Kiku. "Is something more wrong than usual?" * Kiku blinks and looks over at Keika, saying in an entirely unconvincing voicec, "No, it's... um...." * Karasu looks up. They do seem to be late today. * Kiku clutches the plushie tight and lets out a little weak laugh. "Yeah, this is unprepared time to..." * Kiku stops talking and closes her eyes. "I'm... I'm fine. Better than yesterday." That is good. * Nova tilts her head slightly to one side, but keeps looking at Kiku. "So are the badguys supposed to attack at this time or something?" * Kiku swallows. "I... I'm great. So great I'm g--" she squeezes her eyes tighter and sighs before saying. "Slythe t-tend to operate based upon on the unpreparedness of the enemy." "Are you okay?" * Nova says, "In our case, that would seem to be nearly every day." * Keika continues. "Now that we are waiting for them, perhaps they will change tactics and allow us to finish more meals in peace." * Nova tilts her head back straight, but keeps looking at Kiku. * Kiku looks towards Hilde, although with her eyes closed and continues clutching the plush tightly. "I... I'm just... just tired. Stressed. That's all." * Kiku also has a little smile creep across her face, for a second. "They should just post challenges or something on the TV" *expresses the next sentence with her hands* "Then we bring out our best guy and they bring out their best guy and then the two of them fight till their robot can't fight anymore" "Like a boxing match" * Keika smirks. "Unfortunatly it does not work that way." "Too bad. War would be so much cleaner if it was done like that" * Keika sighs. "There would always be people unwilling to accept anothers surrender as their own." * Kiku nods a little. "N-nobody wants to give up." (Idly notes that Hilde should have said "our best girl," as men can't pilot. :P) (Ha.) (She uses generic terms) * Kiku swallows again, eyes still closed, plush still clutched, and says, "What... um... are people going to do today?" * Karasu looks at Kiku. I already told you that I was going to visit Katsu. You may come along if you wish, or I could try to send him back to your room when I'm done with him. * Kiku shakes her head slightly. "N-no, thank you." (not to rain on the parade but you suppose we could start wrapping this up since I need to get to bed in about an hour?) (I figured it was going to wrap-up-land pretty soon anyway. Kiku just... uh... doesnn't want to leave. ^_~) * Keika shrugs with the shoulder Karasu isn't standing on. "As you wish it." (Hilde's not answering the question. ;_;) ( * Nova will follow Kiku around like a lost puppy.) "I was gonna maybe wander around the base and try to get the layout of the land" (Maaaybe) * Kiku nods a little. "Oh. That's a good idea. The drivers can help you do that... you can boss them around." She giggles a little and reopens her eyes. "Well I know how to drive myself. No need to bother anyone" * Nova asks Kiku, "What was Kiku dreaming about?" * Keika reaches for her orange juice cup. "You will at least need to flag one down to discover where they keep them" "True" * Kiku blinks a few times at Nova's question and tries to stand up. Badly, and falls backwards. * Hilde looks over "Are you okay?" Nova stands up and looks at the fallen Kiku. She looks surprised. * Keika sighs and sets her cup back down. "Are you going to pretend you don't need help, or shall I get Hinako in here to tell you." * Kiku stands up shakily, clutching the dinosaur close. "I-I'm fine. I'm--I need to go." Nno.. no, Hilde, give Kiku a hand getting back to her room. You can both pretend she's just showing you around. * Hilde nods to Keika, gets up and goes to help Kiku * Kiku exclaims, "No! No..." * Hilde stops * Kiku looks over at Nova, saying in a trembling voice, "I can... Nova, please h-help," she stops, takes a breath, and finishes, "Help me back to my room?" * Nova says, "Okay," and helps her up. * Keika gives her one sided shrug again. * Kiku just grabs Nova's hand tightly and says, quietly, "I--I'll see you all later. Walk, Nova, please... walk." * Keika stands up. "If for some strange reason you need me. I will be in the hanger. Good day to all of you." * Nova says, "Okay," and assists Kiku back to her room. She says while they walk, "Kiku should sleep." "I'll be around" * Keika follows Nova and Kiku out the door and catches the next available jeep. * Kiku nods barely at Keika and Hilde's goodbyes and has her eyes pretty much closed the whole way. * Nova guides Kiku along. * Kiku replies to Nova's request by saying, "I'm not... I'm not really tired, I just..." * Hilde goes to find a jeep * Nova says, "Walking an sleeping do not work well together." * Nova asks, "You are unwell?" * Kiku shakes her head for a second, then says, apparently reconsidering, "I... I'll be fine. I just sometimes..." * Nova siliently lets Kiku try to explain what she wants to say as she continues to assist her. * Kiku shakes her head slightly. "Sorry, I really--" she frowns. "It's not something I can explain." * Nova says, "Okay," and helps her to her room. * Kiku is fairly close to her room, at this point, and says quietly, "Y... you said Kiku thoughts, earlier?" * Nova answers, "Yes." * Kiku nods a bit and opens her eyes. "All day?" * Nova replies, "Most day. Some night." * Nova clairfies, "When not sleeping." (Okay, I was about to ask, heh.) * Kiku nods a little again and as they reach Kiku's door she opens it. "Did... did you get to any conclusions?" * Nova asks, "Kiku have Nova thoughts?" * Nova asks, "Conclusions?" * Kiku looks over at Nova. "I... I had a lot of thoughts. Yes, conclusions. Thinking... eventually... leads to conclusions. Or something like that..." (Is Nova leading Kiku inside her room, or standing outside?) * Nova leads her inside of her room. * Nova shuts the door behind them and sits Kiku on her bed. * Kiku is sat on her bed and leans on her free hand. "T-Thank you, Nova. I didn't mean to overreact, it just..." * Nova tilts her head slightly to one side as she look down at Kiku. * Kiku shakes her head. "Nothing you can see." She looks up at Nova and smiles a little. "Thanks again." * Nova put one of her palms gently against Kiku's cheek and says to her, "Kiku should sleep." I don't think it will help. * Kiku laughs a little. "Except for a little walking, I spent almost all of yesterday asleep... I'm tired of sleep." * Nova tilts her head back straight and then leans down, bring her face close to Kiku's, and looks into Kiku's eyes. * Kiku looks back at Nova, and after a split second her eyes widen and she scoots back slightly, * Nova strightens back up adn her hand slides from Kiku's cheek back down to her side. She says, "Kiku wants Nova to leave." And with that, she turns around and starts stepping towards Kiku's room door. * Kiku shakes her head and says, "No, that's..." Not what I meant. * Nova stops moving towards the door and looks over her shoulder back at Kiku. * Kiku says quietly, "No touchinig. I... I couldn't handle it again. Not now." * Nova turns her head back frontwards to face the door, her back to Kiku, but remains standing there. * Kiku closes her eyes, putting her plush down on the bed as well as she does so, so she's now leaning back on both hands. * Nova seems to be looking down in front of her. She says, "Nova is sorry. Nova wants Kiku to be happy." * Kiku says quietly, "Thank you, that's very nice... " * Nova opens the door and starts stepping through the doorway. * Kiku opens her eyes at the door noise and says, "Nova, I didn't say..." she looks down and sighs. * Nova pauses midway in the doorway. * Kiku looks up. "You don't have to go. Just..." she trails off, then says again, quietly, "Just don't touch." * Nova asks, still partway out the door and looking away, "What should Nova do?" * Nova clairifies, "To make Kiku happy." * Kiku closes her eyes and says, with a tremble starting to enter her voice, "I shouldn't answer that. I can't answer that." * Nova asks, "How can Nova know if Kiku won't tell her?" * Kiku opens her eyes again and looks at Nova's back. "I don't know, Nova." She clutches her bedsheets tightly. "I can't--Please go Nova, I'll see you later." * Nova briefly looks over her shoulder, which let's Kiku see one of her purple eyes...and the glistening of water that has formed up into tear at the corner of her eye, and then walks out, the door shutting behind her, and Kiku can hear Nova moving rapidly down the corridor towards her room - probably at a running pace. * Kiku swallows and clutches tighter, whispering, "I can only do so much." She lets out the crack of a sob and her head slumps. "God, Tora..." [And that's more than enough emo for to-nite! Mini end.]