Scene #3797: The Psychic Didn't See It Coming

Owner	Pose
Mel Brock	Well, she's been warned about the place. She was told it would happen. No, not about stairs - Mel has been warned that she could step through a door heading for food, and find herself in a restaurant. She'd just about forgotten, mostly because she'd paid attention for a while and not had it happen. She'd dismissed it as a newbie-hazing story, like being sent for hover fluid or ion grease. And now, here Mel Brock stands, staring at a restaurant she's somehow stepped into from onboard her ship. With her jumpsuit peeled down to her waist, wearing a comfortable tanktop, and her hair untied, she is now in a public place. "Um." She looks around, looks back behind her, then looks at the restaurant again. And mutters to herself. "I'm... okay, I'm not hallucinating or anything. Right?" Might as well find a seat? Possibly?
Tomoyo Daidouji	In spite of the lateness of the hour in Tomoeda, Tomoyo has taken up residence in a booth. A waitress approaches her and places a jug of filtered coffee before the young tailor, along with a smaller jug of milk and a cup. With a wordless smile of thanks, she pours coffee into the cup, then adds plenty of milk and sugar, giving it a brisk stir before taking a long sip. Looking around, she spots Mel. And while they've yet to speak, Tomoyo's a good enough judge of character to realize that the older woman is a little lost right now. So, Tomoyo waves her over! Not caring if she's unaffiliated with the Union or not, because that's the kind of girl she is.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako wanders into the Bar and Grill, stretching. A few steps in, she pauses in mid-stretch and blinks her amber eyes slowly. "Eh?" She glances about... and then finishes her stretch. "I didn't think I was >that< bored, but..." She shakes her head slowly and giggles softly. "Oh well. Let's see what's going on?" She continues walking in and notes Mel looking... awkward? "Eh heh... first time in the Bar and Grill? No no, you aren't hallucinating!" And then she notes Tomoyo waving Mel over. "Ah. Hello Tomoyo!" Even though she might have mistaken Tomoyo's waving to her, but that might just be the way she is. She waves hello cheerfully to her.
Mel Brock	And there's someone waving to her - and someone else arriving just behind her. She realizes almost immediately that, hey, she knows that voice from the radio. "You're, uh. Hasekawa, right? Mel, Mel Brock." She reaches up to rub the back of her head. "Man, they told me about this place, I almost didn't believe..." A quick look between the water spirit and Tomoyo. "Guessing you know her?" Well, if it's someone Ayako knows, and she's offering a seat, why not? She heads on over and slides into the booth. "Hey, thanks."
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo smiles and waves to Ayako as well, gesturing that she should join them too. Up close, it becomes quite obvious that Tomoyo needs that coffee. She looks pretty exhausted, but it certainly hasn't quashed her serene nature. She offers a polite smile as Mel slides into the booth. "No trouble at all~ I'm Tomoyo Daidouji. It's a pleasure to meet you." Another sip of the milky sweet coffee. "Can I get you anything? I've got a tab open~"
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako immediately puff her cheeks out into a pout at being called 'Hasekawa'. "Please call me Ayako!" And then smiles brightly. "Ah! So you're Mel! Hearing someone's voice on the radio and in person is always so different! Besides, it's nicer to meet people in person." And then giggles brightly. "It does sound unbelievable, doesn't it?" Ayako nods her head once. "But it's true!" When Mel looks towards Tomoyo, Ayako nods her head quickly. "Yup! I know her! This is Tomoyo Daidouji, despite how young she is, she's a tailor. And a really good one too." When Tomoyo gestures to join her, Ayako cheerfully sits down in the same booth. "Ehh... coffee, huh?"
Mel Brock	"Mel, Mel Brock." She settles back in her seat, absently rubbing at one bare arm. "Mel is fine, at least when I'm off duty." This towards both Ayako and Tomoyo. "Uh, you sure? I'm drawing two salaries now, it's not like I'm hurting for cash or anything. I should probably take a look at a menu, come to think of it." She was never actually told what they serve here! After finding herself something or other to scan over, she adds, "What brings you out this late, anyway? Your age, sleep's pretty important. ...unless you're one of those older-than-you-look types," she adds, realizing her own assumption. She looks a little embarrassed.
Tomoyo Daidouji	The sound of Ayako's praise brings a smile to the tailor's face. "It's good to meet you Mel~" Tomoyo says, nodding her head to the woman. "Oh, of course I'm sure. I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't~" She takes a menu from behind the napkin dispenser and slides it towards Mel. "They have just about anything here~ And they could probably make something different if you ask." When the topic of sleep comes up, Tomoyo can't help but let a little yawn slip between her lips. "I'm just taking a break~ Once I go back, I'll finish up what I'm doing and go to bed." Although, she can't help but giggle as Mel thinks she might somehow be extraordinary. "I'm a perfectly normal 16-year-old. So I should rest a little more... I just get lost in my work sometimes~" But, she shakes her head and takes a bigger gulp from her coffee. "Enough about me though~ Mel, what do you do? Ayako, what have you been up to~?"
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako inclines her head to the side gently. "They sort of serve a little bit of everything here. Although..." She smiles softly. "I don't eat, so... I wouldn't know how what's good and what's not." When Ayako is told that sleep's pretty important, she giggles softly. "Oh, I don't sleep. I'm not even human, despite how I might look." She smiles... proudly? "I'm a water spirit, after all." She glances back over at Tomoyo. "Tomoyo, just don't stay up too late! Hmm...?" Ayako inclines her head to the other side. "Hmm... what have I been up to? Just-" She pauses... and thinks to herself for a moment... "Just thinking..."
Mel Brock	After a few minutes of browsing, Mel reaches up to brush a strand of hair out of her face, absently tapping at the little piece of tech along her jawline. "Well, I guess if I'm being treated. I didn't get a chance to grab a burger while I was back on Earth. Think I'll just get one of those. Onions, pickles, tomato, lettuce, the works. Don't get those often while I'm out, at least not any good. Oh, and some fries." She settles back where she sits, taking her hand off the menu - which floats, seemingly of its own accord, back where Tomoyo got it from. "What do I do? I'm a Marshal with the Sol Territories Alliance. I think the term people around here like to use is 'space cop'. Or 'future cop', I heard that once." Bit of amusement there. "I know how it goes getting lost in your work, though. She turns a little in her seat to regard Ayako curiously. "What about you? I gather you're some sort of healer, but you do anything as a vocation? Working in medical, that kinda thing?"
Tomoyo Daidouji	"Ayako easily passes for one of the best-looking humans I've ever seen," Tomoyo says softly. It seems she knows how to make the water spirit happy! "I'll get by~" Tomoyo says reassuringly. "I've been doing fine until now after all." Another long drink from that cup. She's gotten quite good at handling coffee, it seems. "Thinking about what?" Tomoyo waves a waiter over and places Mel's order for her as she sums up her occupation as 'space cop,' This makes Tomoyo's tired eyes gain a glimmer to them. "Oh wow, that's amazing~ So do you chase criminals in space ships? Blast through wormholes in hot pursuit?" She's leaning forward in her seat now, eyes glued to Mel. However, she does back off a bit. Whether or not she realized how intent she was, or if she was too tired to keep it up is hard to say.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako, oddly enough, pays close attention to what Mel orders. She doesn't eat, so... she tends to be fairly interested in what people actually do eat! And then curiously watches the menu float itself back away. She giggles softly at the term 'space cop/future cop'. Her amber eyes then blink quickly. "Me?" Ayako then closes her eyes as she proudly gestures at herself with one hand. "Sometimes a witch, sometimes a maid, but I'm always the water spirit Ayako Hasekawa!" She then sticks her tongue out playfully. "That didn't answer your question, did it...? Well, yes, I do work in the Union's medical branch, as well as supply healing water, and... sometimes I act like a self-styled maid." Ayako positively beams from Tomoyo's compliment! "Kyahaha! Thank you, Tomoyo!" She then raises a palm upwards and glances down into it. "Healing Water!" A golf ball-sized sphere of water forms on the top of Ayako's palm. But... this healing water isn't the usual purple. Oh no, this particular water has an orange-ish tint to it. The infamous Orange Healing Water that made Riva marathon several days straight of the VRMMORPG Gun Gale Online. Sure it made her paranoid about virtual rats but... of course something like that would happen without days of sleep. Besides. This is just a small sphere of it! She offers it towards Tomoyo. "Want it? It's like caffeine. Without the crash. Works really fast! Although... waaaait. You need to be sleeping kind of soon."
Mel Brock	"If I went through a wormhole I don't think you'd ever hear from me again," Mel replies. "We don't have any artificial wormhole tech, and the natural ones are only found in black holes. Then again, around here, I guess there'd be people who do have that kind of thing." She laces her fingers together. "But yeah, I've been in a few chases. I live off a ship, even. Small longhaul cruiser, the Firestarter. Standard issue for the PsiMarshals, we do a lot of moving around." She can't help but add towards Ayako, "That almost sounded like something out of a show. I swear, I keep feeling like I've waltzed into a storybook. Not a bad thing, just... really weird sometimes." She watches the water come into existence with open curiosity, half-tempted to reach out and touch it. But she fights back the temptation. "If I weren't in wind-down mode myself, that'd be pretty tempting. Maybe some day when I need to burn the midnight oil."
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo regards the offered orb of orange water, looking vaguely tempted. "Hmm... you're right. Besides, my mother would not be happy if I stayed up all night. But, thank you Ayako~" She also notices that Ayako had avoided her question about what she was thinking about. But, she lets it slide. Everyone deserves to have their secrets, after all. So, she instead listens patiently as Mel explains her world, nodding along as she explains why wormholes aren't a thing. For an exhausted 16-year-old, she seemed to follow along pretty well. "Oh wow, living on a spaceship..." Her eyes look off in the distance, as she tries to imagine it, a slow smile creeping across her face. "I think I would like to have a spaceship someday~" She's brought back to Earth from her space fantasies by Mel's comment. "I know, isn't it wonderful? You can find every genre for real out there somewhere~" Her eyes take on that light again. "Magical girls rubbing soldiers with modern soldiers, fighting against a hoard of classical demons... all this and more, every day~"
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako leans forwards slightly. "Eehh? Living in a ship, huh? That sounds... a bit too confining for me." She smiles softly and shakes her head slowly. "I'm a bit of a... free spirit, if you would." She giggles softly. And then the giggles brighten. "Oh, did it? Well, there's all sorts of weird things in the Multiverse. For example..." Ayako offers her right hand towards Mel in a typical hand shake gesture. "Here, shake my hand!" There's a mischievous twinkle in Ayako's eyes. Although... didn't Ayako do this to Tomoyo already? She probably knows what Ayako is about to do next. As for Tomoyo's question... when will it ever be the time to tell anyone about... that? Probably not now. No, especially not right now. Maybe someday. And then Ayako agrees quickly with Tomoyo about that. "Every day~. Isn't it great?"
Mel Brock	Mel can't fight down the chuckle. "It's not as glamorous as you might think. It's pretty much just a smallish apartment with a faint but constant hum, and a small police station downstairs. It's like having your workplace stapled onto your home 24/7." She nods to Ayako. "It can be, kinda. Though it does make my vacations easier, on the rare occasions I have time off." She tilts her head at the handshake, then reaches out to take the water spirit's hand. Can't quite suppress her curiosity. "Okay...?"
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo notices the glint in Ayako's eye, so she says nothing. Merely finishes her current cup, before refilling it from her jug. At the same time, Mel's burger and fries is delivered. It looks pretty good! "I suppose it would be quite cramped... I don't think I could handle living in one. Maybe my mansion living has made me soft~" Her voice sounds like she's joking, but not about living in a mansion!
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako cheerfully shakes Mel's hand. Ayako's hand appears to be a perfectly normal human's hand. "I seem like a normal human, right? But just like out of a storybook, I'm a water spirit and I'm really made of water~." She giggles brightly and suddenly, the hand that Mel is shaking turns into clear, liquid water, engulfing Mel's own-even though it's still in the shape of a hand. "Ta dah!" Ayako absorbs the ball of orange healing water back into her other hand. Said other hand rests on her cheek. "Oh, but living in a mansion sounds nice!"
Mel Brock	"Whoa, jeez-" Perhaps a little jumpy, Mel is. She seems slightly startled by the trick, though she relaxes almost immediately. "Man, I've seen hydrokinetics do something similar, but not with their own bodies. That's pretty weird. Weird's not bad, though." She turns back around to her burger, then reaches up to her face, and gently pulls off the strip of tech on her jawline. It's carefully set down on the table, and only then does she pick her food up to start eating. "I don't know what I'd do with myself in a mansion. I've been living off the Firestarter for a good six or seven years now, I've gotten used to it."
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako giggles brightly at Mel's reaction! "Hydrokinetics, huh? Well... instead of thinking of me as a girl who can control water..." She smiles cheerfully. "It's sort of the reverse! I'm water that can turn itself into a girl." She giggles softly as she withdraws her watery hand from Mel's and reforms her human hand. And then curiously watches Mel eat. Ayako seems really interested!
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo laughs softly as Ayako pulls off her party trick. "That's really impressive Ayako~" As Mel removes that strip of tech, the girl's insatiable curiosity drives her to ask. "What is that for exactly?" As the two talk about mansions, Tomoyo puts her palm to her cheek. "Well, it is nice I suppose... but I sometimes worry it's made me soft. How would I cope without it?..." She shakes her head. "If I'm lucky, I won't ever find out~"