~Past RP~, Continued from the Tales Forums

[Joe]

~Rodlin Forest~
"Roast duck? And I wasn't invited for it?" Hid joked, laughing a bit. "I'm not hungry anyway. I'm gonna head to the cockpit and we can head out. I'll call you all when we're ready for take off." And with that Hideval pecked Faena on the cheek before heading back inside the ship.

Jevan caught glimpse of the light blue sword at Hideval's side, and seemed to recognize it. "Ryu?" He thought aloud, staring after Hideval... He shook his head and didn't answer Faena's question about seconds, hoping that it would be enough of an answer as a no.

~Kimoko, Cafe green~
Isiri followed after Junia and Kika. She stopped for a second, remembering how Mrs. Green had asked th egirls what they wanted for lunch. She turne dto Mrs. Green. "Sorry Mr. Green but I'm not hungry. Thanks for the offer though!" Isiri bowed, and followed after Kika and Junia again.

She saw Junia and Kika were already changed into the oufits. She gulped, and blushed as she looked at junia, but smacked herself mentally, regaining her composure... "So... We're supposed to wear these?" Isiri knew the answer already and took the uniform she thought to be intended for her and began to change.

[Moni]

~Kimoko, Cafe Green~

Sunny smiled, "Okay sweetie, but I'll make a few sandwiches in case you change your mind. Come on Tabby, you've got work to do." With that she made her way back to the kitchen, taking her son painfully along for the ride.

Junia looked up from putting her shoes on when Isiri walked into the changing room, "You're gonna need help putting it on, it's hard to zip up in the back without help.....and I suppose you don't know how to put on a necktie as well, huh?"

"I think it's fun to figure out the tie part!", Kika grinned from her reflection in a nearby mirror, her hair having changed from it's messy bun earlier this morning into a simple twist held in place by a pin. "You don't have to wear it as a necktie like the uniform policy suggests, but it has to be visible above the waist, since it has the company logo on it." She gestured to the larger end of the tie resting just above her waist, where the words 'Cafe GREEN' were embroidered next to a four-leafed clover.

Junia motioned to her own neckwear, now tied around her head as a headband, the logo in plain view on her back. Her previously loose hair was now bound into two long braids, making Junia look like a elven, green-haired Heidi. Taking Isiri's uniform off the hanger, she motioned for her pale-haired friend to hurry up, "Come on, I wanna eat soon!"
-------------

~Rodlin Forest~

Faena accepted the peck from Hid with a confused blink, but shrugged it off nonetheless as she began packing up.

Hearing "Ryu?" coming from Jevan's direction made her pause slightly and glance over, spotting him stare after her partner. "Hmm..."

[Joe]

~Cafe Green~
"Okay..." Isiri heard Junia offer her help. Isiri was quite sure she couldn't carry her scabbard on the uniform, so she let it stand against teh wall as she pulled off her shirt.

"I do know how to put on neckties, by the way." Isiri saw a confused look from Kika and Junia and shrugged. "The orphanage required we dress up when people came to adopt. I wasn't a big fan of the dresses they had so I kinda learned how put them on." Isiri glared at the uniform.

"Despite the fact I show my legs so often, I don't like skirts or dresses in the least." Isiri took the top from Juni and put it on, turning around so Junia could zip it up. "Am I allowed to keep my scabbard on my back?" She asked in futility.

~Rodlin Forest~
Jevan saw Faena looking at him as if she heard him, which he was sure she did, and held his hands up in defense. "Only the name of his sword." He said, trying to make it obvious he wasn't planning anything to devious. He couldn't control that sword if he tried anyway.

[Emilie]

*~Cafe Green~*

Serena silently followed Isiri into the changing room without ordering any food. She found her uniform and began changing into it, occasionally glancing at the door. She didn't want to take any chances of Fox Boy bursting into the room.

Serena put on the skirt fine, but couldn't get the zipper on the shirt to go up. She remembered that Junia had said something about zipping up the top, but Serena hadn't been paying attention. Sighing quietly, she put her hair up in a single braid. Serena then realized that she had no idea how to put on a necktie.

Oh... I haven't even begun working and I'm already stuck...

[Moni]

~Cafe Green~

Hearing the quiet sigh behind her, Kika turned to find Serena fumbling with her uniform. She offered a silent helping hand by zipping up Serena's blouse and tying her necktie into a fashionable bow around her wrist, "There! All done!"

Junia waited until Isiri was ready to help her with her blouse....only to find out that the zipper was stuck, "Ahh, crap. It's stuck.....sorry about this Isi." Without warning Junia slipped her hand inside her friend's blouse and wiggled the attachment free, the fabric finally able to close seamlessly. "And no, you can't take your scabbard with you. If I can't have a weapon to defend myself with, then you can't either. So tough luck!"

Just as the girls finished, a knock was heard at the door, revealing it to be Sunny as she made her way in with a tray of food and drinks, "Here's lunch girls. There's still about three hours until Happy Hour starts, so just hang around here until then. I'll be back in a while to get the dishes and give you your assignment areas."

Kika thanked the woman before turning back to the others, only to sigh in exasperation, for her cousin was already helping herself to her portion of lunch. Calmly walking over, she quickly took her meal, instinctively slapping away a hand that came searching for the remainder of her french fries.

[Joe]

~Cafe Green~
Isiri 'eep'ed when Junia stuck her hand in her blouse and blushed violently for another few minutes. "You know that was uncomfortable right?" She said said, practically hugging herself while she leaned against the wall.

"And besides we all know SOME degree of magic... Then again, I don't think it would be good for business if the customers were burnt to a crisp..." She slid down onto one of the seats in the room and sighed. "I hope to dear God Josh doesn't walk in to check up on me..."

[Moni]

~Cafe Green~

Junia shook the failed hand that attempted to get more of her cousin's fries as she answered Isiri, "Hey, I at least WARNED you....and apologized. From what I've heard, you should be used to that kind of touch....riiiight?", she threw a sly look to her friend.

Kika cleared her throat, her face slightly pink, "Stop it Juni, don't tease Isiri. Anyway Isiri, the only time magic is allowed is in a dire situation......like, life-threatening and whatnot." With that, she sat in a corner of the room away from Junia to finish her food.

Junia shrugged, "Hmmph, suit yourself", having already finished her lunch she stuffed one of the sandwiches from Isiri and Serena's share in her mouth. "Befides, whef yosh dun wah sumthif to hahpeen, et allwehs dosh."

Kika glared, "Please don't talk with your mouth full of food, Junia."

Junia swallowed, "Sorry. I said, 'When you don't want something to happen, it always does'......well 90% of the time, anyway."


~Rodlin Forest~

Faena stared at Jevan, "Whatever. Kid, make yourself useful and help pack the ship."

[Emilie]

((Eeeep, super short post, I'm sorry, I suck! D= ))
*~Cafe Green~*

Serena smiled at Kika when she helped her put on the uniform. That was more complicated than it needed to be... oh well! She stood near where the rest of the girls were talking and eating, but hardly paid attention to the conversation.
Ohh... why am I so nervous? I gotta calm down... Serena tried listening to the conversation again, but only caught the last sentence Junia said, which didn't help her nervousness much.

[The Dan (forgot my password)]

"Why did we even bring him along?" Joshua lamented quietly to Mark. Vanjer seemed to be having much more fun than either of them. Mark was quiet in his contemplation, and brushed off Joshua's question entirely. He sighed and put his hands in his pockets.

They thought they had struck gold when they saw a good closed-top family-size aircar for sale, only five minutes after leaving the hotel - Mark was sure he could modify it into a spaceship with Josh's help (as well as, perhaps, that of a real engineer's). However, when it came to buying the thing itself, they were not so lucky.

"The price is that much, but we don't have enough to pay it all," Mark had said to the man, who seemed fairly interested. "Is there any chance we could make it up in some way?"

"That staff of your's is made of glass, isn't it?" the man asked. "Maybe it could make up the difference."

Mark held onto it dearly: if he was separated from it for too long, it would probably explode with enough force to level a house. He also wanted to keep it for himself, obviously.

Vanjer stepped in, then. "All right, I'll make you a deal," he said, and then proceeded to whisper into the man's ear. At first the guy looked surprised, and then he looked at Vanjer's solemn facial expression, and then he rolled up the window slowly, holding eye contact until he sped away.

"What the hell did you say to him?" Joshua asked, befuddled. Vanjer, whose serious facade had broken, was laughing to the point of tears.

Several hours and a lunch break later, they had only met two other potential sellers: a rich old woman (that Vanjer seemed to enjoy poking - physically poking with his finger, yes), and a young man who would not take the trio seriously (it did not help that Vanjer spoke only in puns during this encounter).

"Maybe I should just pull up a bunch of diamonds," Mark said, only half-kidding. "We could sell them to various jewelers and then buy a ship brand new."

"But you're not going to do that because of the damage it would do to the planet's stability," Joshua muttered.

"I was considering it, actually, by now."

"Grumpy, grumpy, are we? You should get more sleep."

Mark grumbled to himself, and they arrived at the door to Vennitech electronics. "Vanjer, why don't you stay outside for this one," he offered politely. "The, uh, weather is so nice."

"Ooh, a pet store!" Joshua said, earnestly just noticing it. "Mark, can we take a break and look at cats?"

Mark (who assumed Joshua was being intelligent) sent them both off and proceeded into the building himself.

"We're looking into spacecraft," he said to the woman at the desk.

"I think you're in the wrong department," she said with a painted smile.

Mark attempted to look conspicuous by looking left and right, and then leaned in with his elbow on the table. "We're looking for a real good deal," he said quietly. The woman nodded and opened a drawer to produce a plastic card for him.

"Have a good day, sir," she said cheerfully, as Mark walked towards a door marked "Employees Only". He slid the card in the door's sensor and was let in.

He had read once, long ago, that Vennitech was a subcommittee of Enterprise Enterprises - the corporation that Zyon's father owned when the child was young. It has since grown to hold a sort of hidden monopoly over the 'free' market. By implying that one had connections with Zyon himself, one could probably cheat their way into that system (or risk being killed). Mark, who had a very good poker face in situations like this, was confident in his acting.

In the sub-basement was a hangar. Mark's phone rang, and two men in nice suits glared at him. He apologized and silenced it.

When the hell did I get a phone?

He found a bathroom and opened it, deciding by then that Joshua must have slipped it into his bag at some point or another. He called the number back.

"Yo."

"Joshua?"

"Yeah I called a minute ago. Why'd you cut me off? Ass. Anyway, Vanjer and I want a ferret, he is SO CUTE, he's got this white tail but it has some brown rings on it, so we call him Poo-rings."

"... Wonderful. Put Poo-rings down, we need to, ah, 'take' something. I'm under Vennitech right now. Go to the back of the building unnoticed and check out the woods - WAY back there - for an underground flight chamber."

"Oh, cool. I'll call you if we find one."

"Just look for a mechanical door thing."

"Gotcha. Jay-One out."

Mark sighed, did his business, washed his hands, and continued down the stairs in the sub-basement. There were several interesting appliances at work here, including one that seemed to be some sort of android operation. Mark spent at least half an hour browsing the area, ignoring anyone he met (who also ignored him). At one point, he needed to use his magic to halt a loose dog which had, upon further inspection, four mechanical limbs. There was a long, rectangular mirror which had shattered heavily during the altercation, revealing a square door behind it. Mark entered the door, and found himself in what seemed to be a small elevator. Feeling a bit cramped, he used a Light spell and pushed a button with an arrow that pointed down. The movement was similar to a free-fall, but he knew to feel safe. Eventually, he reached the bottom, which was heavily cushioned, stood up, and left the small room. He discovered a well-lit chamber, where a man with one robotic eye was glaring at him.

"Nanshaketeru kjjeryankateyu?" he asked in a voice that was incomprehensible.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nanshardon? Kjjeryankaeg?"

"What?"

"Nat?"

Mark and the man stared at each other for several seconds before the man pulled out a pistol. Mark gasped and jumped, shouting a fire spell that melted the gun's chamber. The man threw the gun on the floor, looked at Mark guiltily, and went back to work. Mark was not as surprised as he felt he should have been, and left the room to enter another.

In this one grew a mechanical tree - I won't bother explaining it, just trust me. Mark knew that this was not the right room, so he continued on. The next room had what seemed to be a thin, flat, metal dragon inside of it - a military space aircraft.

The room was unmanned. Mark locked the doors on either end and took the control panel. After about ten minutes of working on it, around the same time he was beginning to figure it out, Josh called again.

"Yes?"

"We found the door! Dude, it took us FOREVER."

"Well, just sit tight for a moment. Don't sit on the door itself. When I fly out in the green ship, I'll slow down for you to jump on. there's these purple handles on either side... I won't fly fast."

"What if we scratch it?"

"You'll be paying for new paint. May-One out. Er, Em-One. Whatever, I'm hanging up."

"Seeya."

Mark figured out how to customize the ship as he wanted to, and even filled the tank (which they hopefully would not even need). The ship was made mostly of Mythril, which would easily react to Mark's magic. He'd be able to control it entirely on his own, with minimal mechanical control.

He entered the aircraft and took a good look around - as far as living space goes, it would make for a comfortable flight. With their group of seven, there were only four beds, but he had made sure that there were plenty of blankets and pillows. Food was also not a problem - there were two refrigerators in the kitchen and many, many cups of Ramen. All together, it was about the size of a nice hotel suite. Excluding the control room and the mechanic-related rooms, there were four bedrooms (one of which had no bed, but a couch), a kitchen and a dining room, as well as a living room with two more couches and a TV with a gaming system.

I guess you'd call this "striking gold" if you couldn't pull gold out of the ground with your mind.

Mark took the Pilot's seat for good measure, adjusted some things digitally, and then relaxed in order to focus. He started the engine and then jumped out. He opened the side door (with some difficulty) and tossed his water staff out it. He used his left hand to control it, directing it towards the switch that would open the bay door and then, after flipping it, pulled the staff back inside. An alarm was going off, as he expected, but Mark would be out of there in thirty seconds. He closed the door (which was much easier than opening it) and sat back into the pilot seat.

Taking off was very smooth. He did not want to reach top speed until Joshua and Vanjer were on, after all. A cube of bright light was ahead, which was very different from the red landing lights on either side of the chute Mark was in. He slowed down a little bit, but accelerated with vigor when he felt two hard thumps from starboard: Josh and Vanjer were on.

Mark opened the bay doors with the push of a button. He could feel the oxygen draining out, but it would easily pile back in, at the speed they were going. As expected, there were no pursuers yet. They would go faster soon.

Vanjer was the first to get inside. "Nice ship," he said simply.

"Thank you," said Mark. Joshua appeared a minute later, and Mark closed the bay doors.

"This looks like something Zyon would own," Joshua said gravely. "Won't he be a little, uh, mad?"

"I don't think he would fly in something this size," Mark replied. "Besides, the topspeed is going to be disappointing. Want to see?"

"Yes, let me just strap down..."

Mark initiated stealth mode and they zoomed off of anyone's radar.

"The rebels have taken an A1-20 Lizardslinger," Joshua said, trying to disguise his glee. "Send out reinforcements! How could we let them take something so expensive?! What?! We've already lost three battalions? Get out of my office! Zyon will not be pleased..."

"No, he will not," Mark said grimly. "Hey, Josh, I'm gonna land this thing in that forest we found Deltonoma in. Away from the gate, obviously, and closer to Kimoko."

"Nonono, use that plain we crossed," he said. "This thing's not gonna just run through trees. You land it like an old-fashioned aeroplane."

"Oh, seriously?" Mark said, surprised.

"Yeah," Joshua nodded. "So, you want me to parachute down to the girls and tell them to meet you there?"

"That, or drive," Mark smirked.

"Are you running on mana? That's cheating."

"It's got a full tank, just in case."

"Oh, okay. Vanjer, you coming? I'll see you tonight or in the morning, dude."

"There's parachutes in the back. Take care."

[Moni]

After lunch, the girls killed time in their own ways, Kika helping with the dishes (voluntarily), Junia napping on the couch, and Serena and Isiri playing cards nearby, with Isiri occasionally poking the sleeping beauty, earning a pillow in the face after 20 minutes

About 2 hours later, Sunny returned, Kika in tow carrying a small duffel bag "I know it's earlier than planned, but I need you girls to help in the kitchen before happy hour starts." Kika woke Junia as Sunny continued, "Right before Happy Hour starts, I'll give you your designated area......Junia, I'll give you yours now: You're serving the center island."

Junia, fully awake at that statement, opened her mouth to protest.....only to have her cousin's fingers close it shut again. Kika placed the bag in Junia's lap and unzipped it, taking out a pair of rollerblades, "Since you have the best balance and agility out of the four of us, you'll have the honor of waiting 'The Pit'", Kika smiled sweetly.

Junia rewarded her cousin with a deadpan look.