Post Stuff

COLD COMFORTS

Azumi tensed as she heard the voice of her lady. She didn't even look up, just keeping her eyes averted so she didn't have to show her expression outright. "I'm fine, m'lady," she falsely muttered, likely audible for the person who had, by contract, claimed ownership of her as her servant. She had decided to use that abbreviation, because it was easy for her to use either "malady", the insult, or "milady", the proper terminology, interchangeably without having to change her pronunciation at all. She didn't keep from one other thing, though.

"But thank you for the concern." While she did have her complex feelings for Rikka Masami, she was not without the ability to be grateful for her, for taking her in (though admittedly in servitude) and increasing her standard of living beyond the perpetual poverty she forced herself into for pragmatic reasons. She looked forward on that, curious about something as she flashed her VISR network over her eyes. "Why have you co--"

Scratch that. This was not Rikka at all. This was her "good" counterpart from this universe, the friend of Kitten Arbore. Azumi's sleepless, bloodshot eyes might have alarmed her, but she couldn't really do anything about that. She only really had one thought.

[i]Well, this is insanely awkward.[/i]

It was a few seconds before she could speak, coughing into her hand to avoid having to say anything during that time due to her embarrassment over the admittedly plausible mistake, looking back forward again and into her lap as she deactivated the military program. "Sorry, I... thought you were someone else." That much was obvious, but she didn't bother to explain what was readily apparent, instead admitting the truth. "Not really... I've had a really rough time. I won't blame you if you don't trust me, considering my... who I work for, but if you want to talk, just... come on and sit down." She was silent for a few moment before she spoke again, quieter, more cautious.

"Is she okay?" She didn't ask about Yuki herself. That much was more or less obvious. And she wasn't talking about Rikka either, considering that, being her "employer", she would have let Azumi be the first to know if she were in trouble, and she herself had nursing wounds as one of her responsibilities as a maid. She just was thinking of Kitten Arbore, was worried about her student and, to a degree, charge.

"And... did you have any questions for me. I can't answer everything for... personal reasons. But I'll try what I can."

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UP CLOSE AND PERSONABLE

As was probably obvious at this point, Jasmine's teasing had the desired effect. Though she lacked her wings or antennae, it mattered not, for he did see her for who, not what, she was. Still... it was a little stunning for him to see her in that bikini again. The teasing didn't help much, the singsong voice and the pet name. He did find the tail very good looking, though odd, and would have smiled and waved... but, as per usual, he was stuck, staring at her for a few seconds as she came closer. "Um... you look very..."

There he was. His face flushed a bright red, and spoke quickly then. "I-I wanted to show you something. Um... p-please hold on for a second, okay? Then we can t-talk..." Giving her a brief hug, he swam down, looking behind the hiding spot.... good, it was there still. He grabbed the bouquet, turning around with it behind his back, then came back to her, speaking, trying his best to keep his eyes on hers in spite of her attire. As such, this was a concentrated effort that she probably was able to notice.

"Um.... J-Jasmine, when I was at Radiant Garden, I got something aside from the Potions for you from... the currently functional shops." He didn't mention the less than stellar state of said shops, something about most of them being destroyed recently in a scuffle between a woman he could tell by description probably fit Azumi and a woman he did not recognize with light-based powers. "It... it's for you..." He took them out from behind his back then, holding out the bouquet of flowers to Jasmine.

"I.... I hope you like it... Sorry, I get really nervous around these things..." He didn't mean the flowers, as she probably could tell. He looked down again. "I... I was thinking about what happened in Sinnoh, and... and when we left and... I... I know you don't like to talk about it, and we don't talk about it much because of that, but... I just want to know... um... gods I don't know how to say this... Sorry... I..."

In truth, he wasn't having trouble with just saying the words themselves. He was having trouble because he was scared. Because he didn't want to alienate her, didn't want her to run away from him.

He just wanted to know if it was true that she felt the same way aside from him just being "some nice guy".

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UNFORGOTTEN

(For the record, Sorin has said that he will send the second character on his two-character list in on the next post from him, in this round.

Oh, and for record, for future reference, the Shattered Memories plot is after the upcoming thread "End of Line", where Audrey and Kira met again prior to this, so that will be why she will probably not make much comment on her "Base" eye. Still, for reference on Kira's appearance, take a look in the "World Character Transformations" thread or Kira's journal, ""Redemption" System Log".)

The simulation was very familiar, though an odd place to be. It looked virtually identical to [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E_Zh4EiKGU]the Twilight Town sandlot arena[/url], though completely empty of any enemies or townspeople. There were only two people here currently.

Azumi Ian was in her blue and black ODST armor, as per usual. She had a handgun out, her normal one, but it was lowered now. Her back had the [url=http://resistance.wikia.com/wiki/Mutator]fully upgraded Mutator[/url]. It had a small black triangular prism on the top of the barrel on the left side with a similarly black pipe leading into the pressure gauge, and a larger Chimeran battery pack on the left side, in front of the main one. She had already tested it here, with its revolting effects, having used some basic mechanical skill and Kira's advice to augment it to its complete level.

Her breathing was hard. She seemed to be working herself extremely hard today by the looks of things, but seemed ready to both fight off another wave of enemies and drop to unconsciousness of exhaustion, depending on whether her prowess or her sleeplessness won out first. She seemed to stifle a yawn as the newcomers came in.

K1-R4 was watching from the sidelines, both her marked and unmarked eyes observing intently. In her right hand, she held a longbow, in her left, a quiver of arrows with double-pronged heads. At her waist, as per usual, she had her Baton. She nodded slightly to the new arrivals, but then looked back to Azumi. "Take a rest. You're not going to save anyone by tiring yourself out until you pass out."

"Just give me the bow and arrow and set the next simulation," the sergeant muttered, putting the gun in her holster. Even if it could not kill anyone here, nor could it waste ammunition due to being, like everything else, a fabrication, it would still be a waste of time to fire it, and she didn't want to hurt her friends.

"You spend your time talking to them, I'll decide whether or not you deserve to go into archery training instead of firearms." Finally, she waved to the others. "Hope you've been doing alright, Jones," she said to the Dream Mage. Their time in the Tron System had made her more or less a friend, close as things get. Going out of her way to save her life sort of left an impression. "Thanks." She looked to Jasmine then. They didn't have the same kind of connection, but she'd heard about her on and off from Naito Zivaku, so it would be enough. She just nodded again, though. Her emotion suppression only allowed so much, for reasons at least Audrey would know.

Azumi reacted somewhat warmer to them, though she was tired. "Hey, didn't think I'd see anyone around here for a while." Her visor depolarized at that, showing her face. She looked like hell. The state Audrey had last seen her in had deteriorated even further. Bags under her bloodshot eyes, sweat matting her hair to her forehead. The latter at least was more due to the recent combat than to her overall state. The only reason she wasn't completely matted with dirt and grime was because, in order to keep up appearances, she was required by the Collective to take daily showers to wash everything off from her battles. From the slight forced nature of her grin, Audrey probably could tell that things had not gone well at all for her in recent months, no thanks to, among other things, her issues with Ignis Fatuus.

Kira couldn't resist a jibe. "I think part of why they're around now is you've gone through so many consecutive sessions you lost track of time. You've been fighting for several hours straight, compounded on your insomnia."

The soldier ignored that. Her look was softer when she turned to Jasmine. "How are you? I haven't seen you in a while. Did anything I do help at all?" She'd probably know what the soldier meant. What she had meant to do was bring her and Naito together. They seemed nice.

Then to Audrey, again more forced. "Isaac and Sorin okay?" She didn't clarify. Even if such events as the rescue mission to save Cheryl and Kalas on the [i]White Night[/i] was a standard fare for Interferences as a whole (something even she doubted), it was extremely traumatic for her in the long run. She had seen the actual captives after the completion of the mission and a subsequent two days in Grateford Prison that she also wished she could forget, but not any of the other saviors.

All she could do right now was talk to them, it seemed. It was only a matter of time before she had to go back to her humiliating, now terrifying work on the [i]White Night[/i], so close to her worst enemies, but also the only place one of them could protect her from the others.

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TO THE LIONS

[You can go next on this one. The post basically encompasses Herbert talking to Kalas and having him taken away while a pair of Wardens keep guns trained on Azumi and Greg so they don't escape while he leaves, then leaving themselves. Azumi would still be nursing Greg's wounds and, while maybe glaring at Kalas, hoping he was faking it and really being more concerned about her crush/CO's health.

The second part of the same post would be where Kalas is brought. He would probably see Mick and be told about operations, where he would agree to work with them on that condition about more Chimera and efforts used to try to kill Azumi over the others.]