Scene #9802: Maiden Voyage of the East Wind (and Waters)

Owner	Pose
Petra Soroka	It's been a while, but Lilian and Tamamo will probably still recognize the East Wind, Kale's old VTOL, even after all the work Petra's done to it. It entered Petra's hands way back during Quicknest's attempted, and mostly-sort-of-successful liberation, after Petra thoroughly defeated the heroic party and stole the capital city. Kale had offered to trade the East Wind for the freedom of the tens of thousands of roboticized slaves that Petra still had, and Petra, upon hearing the word 'slaves', agreed immediately to make herself no longer culpable for that. Now, it's been relocated to a dock somewhere besides Hydrochoeria, to give it that sheen of unfamiliarity that makes it exciting. The harbor is in a ritzy tourist city in the Great Ocean, where the piers are absolutely packed with yachts and airships, among which the East Wind looks modestly small. Along the boardwalk to get to it, there's a heady atmosphere of constant vacation, stereotypical to similarly positioned Carribean countries, with a dozen stalls of people selling street food or sweet drinks. There's no other passengers on this 'cruise' (really, it's more like an air yacht), so it's not like there's any lines to wait in or registration to go through. Still, there's stanchions strung with velvet rope to indicate where Tamamo and Lilian slot into beside the wings of the East Wind, and they're only waiting for a minute before the boarding dock lowers down from its entryway. Petra scampers out the door and down the ramp to greet them. As is her habit, despite being the owner of the vehicle, she's dressed up for the Bit: she's got on a vest and bowtie that evokes a cruise ship attendant, with slutty crisp white short sleeve cuffs poking out just past her shoulder. The dress shirt's collar folds over top the vest, and she's got a seemingly custom made captain's hat with Hydrochoeria's rat symbol on the front. Completely caught up in her own silly enthusiasm, Petra does a little salute while grinning like a moron. "Hello, ladies! Welcome aboard! Are you all ready to set sail?" The outside of the VTOL's been repainted and redesigned slightly, but it's inside that's practically unrecognizable. It was always bigger on the inside than on the outside, but now it's set up to have three stories. The upper floor is a loft, with a glass balcony overlooking the main room and entry, with the master bedroom and an Eggman-looking machine with buttons to order room services up there. The main level is what would be expected of a yacht, spacious and carpeted, with plush furniture and oversized windows, a bar and a giant television. There's hallways sectioned off on the far end of the room, and the captain's wheel is separated sort of like a taxi is. There's a patio too, with a door that opens up into the air in the back. Downstairs is where the storage and employees' area is! And in fact, there is only one employee besides Petra and the various ratbots (bringing coffee, drinks, or massages, which she probably made just for fun), and it's Regulus. Regulus is permanently equipped with a broom as per the terms of her allowance onto the ship, and Petra has forced her to do basically every job.
Tamamo	While Tamamo could have continued experimenting with things she's somehow associated with 'modern' swordsmen, she heard 'cruise' and decided on something closer to fancy party wear. From a distance, it looks like a loosely worn summer yukata -- due to the fish and wave patterning over pale blue -- but it's a one-shouldered, maxi-length bodycon number with ruffled flaring to the hemline just so she can still show off the grace it takes to move in platform sandals of that impressive, usual height. This is really closer to the opposite of a party, considering the number of people involved, but if it sets her mood, that's what's important, really. It's perfect for taking an arm. Petra dressing for the bit certainly doesn't discourage her. Rather, "Oh, you really did it." Tamamo's looking her over, but also past her. It's when they see the interior that she clarifies, "You really did fix it up for 'a cruise'." Not that she's seen the inside of the East Wind since... whenever it was that last time she was headed into or out of a combat zone on it. That must have been years ago. More importantly, there's that rare note of unreserved praise. "I could hardly have expected that this would be how you were convinced to take a vacation so soon, dear."
Regulus	Regulus is so accustomed to sweeping now she just accepts a broom without complaint. It's just so normal at this point. So is, frankly, basically doing every handyman job that is available. This is what Regulus handles in the Suitcase while Sonetto handles the paperwork, no doubt with longterm absences being similarly if differently disasterous. She doesn't even complain. She gets to be on a ship!! On water!! Or air? Look, either way, it's a boat and Regulus is starting to worry she has lost her sea legs. And if that means she has to gain air legs in the process, so be it. Of course, Regulus isn't coming down the ramp to greet Tamamo and Lilian, that's Petra's job! And just because she wanted to look nice and official. She has packed her 'messy work' outfits and her 'butler uniforms' as her chief wardrobe for this venture in case she has to, like, deliver food or pour glasses of water or something. But right now she's wearing a striped button down shirt, and some jeans with some star patterns on them alondg with a durag to hold her hair bag. She has a pair of headphones around her neck presently blasting some truly hardcore All You Need Is Love as she finishes sweeping away some last minute corners full of dust. That's the secret about dust, it always keeps coming back! She's so blissful right now as she works with her little dust man, dumping the dust into the discretely placed bins. "All you need is love, love o/~" Regulus sings to herself. She's wearing a watch to buzz her on her next shift, whatever that happens to be. Considering she's doing every job, it's going off like every fifteen minutes.
Lilian Rook	Honestly, this idea seemed so silly that Lilian sort of forgot about it. The sudden reminder is such a well-timed delight that she is instantly glad that she didn't say no at the time. She can hardly remember that time at all, granted, but a cruise, even if it's just a silly little boat ride on Petra's luxury yacht (stolen from Lilian's own coworker, which makes it kind of perverted), is an opportunity to be spoiled and carefree for a little while, and she will take it. So she's here! With her wife! Who looks hot as fuck! And she's wearing a half-see-through billowy tie-up top over a crop barely any better than a sports bra and shorts she wouldn't dare bring within thirty miles of a workplace with her sandals! And after three days of extensive meditation and training in the Otherworld wilderness, even her Hysteria Shards(tm) are behaving themselves! She's gotten to the point of being able to cluster them together into something deniably like a necklace strung from a hundred little black diamonds! 'Hello, ladies! Welcome aboard! Are you all ready to set sail?' "Cute! You're such a dork!" Lilian squeals, in completely the wrong order to downplay, actually clapping at Petra's effort for a couple of seconds. "Look at you!" follows completely out of place. She could jump up and down! But she won't. For the bit. 'I could hardly have expected that this would be how you were convinced to take a vacation so soon, dear.' Lilian laughs, immediately grabbing Tamamo with both arms so she can get the wiggles out. "I didn't either! But it's a cruise! And it'd just be wasteful after all the work Ru Li did, right?" How convenient! Following Tamamo around the inside has Lilian buzzing with a kind of energy that is similar yet completely different to the Kepler; similar because she has a super positive association with ships now, and different because this one isn't ugly as fuck. "Oh my goodness; there's no way the previous owner had this taste, right?" she says, rhetorical, not naming Kale in front of Regulus. "When did you . . . ? Oh as if that! Matters! Tamamo! I'm going to take our luggage to the room, so make yourself comfortable and I'll be right back!" Lilian pauses, with a stupid little smile on her face, because she was definitely just at the punchline of a joke where she 'teleports' the extremely minimal bags they have, and has just now realized-- "Oh what am I saying! We have people for that!" She snaps her fingers.
Tamamo	'Cute! You're such a dork!' "It is so," says Tamamo, by way of continuing that instance of praise. Most probably. 'And it'd just be wasteful after all the work Ru Li did, right?' "He will be so glad to know we made use of his wedding gift this early, I am very certain." Tamamo wraps her arms around one of Lilian's, pulling in the side-hug to touch cheek-to-cheek, as her own way of getting -- well, not 'wiggles,' but -- out. 'Oh my goodness; there's no way the previous owner had this taste, right?' "I was thinking just the same," and Tamamo would have been just as confident if she'd never seen the ship before at all. "It has that sort of touch, no? 'This' was made for... 'us,' after all." Looking up toward the glass balcony. A 'luxury hotel for a single couple' is just too specific a thing for a ship to be. Or... is it? She'll have to think of how often such a thing might happen. Later. "Oh, yes, my bag." She'll have her own handbag be taken too, of course. It's not a large thing. It weighs as much as a field rucksack, because her secret pocket technique only saves her on space, not weight.
Petra Soroka	"Cute! You're such a dork!" The only thing that could really complete the image of Petra as an excitable sailor-tomboy pet right now, is her tail wagging back and forth so energetically that its semifluid metal exterior lags behind. The superposition of taking on every service role at once, and playing up the customer service atmosphere when the only two people in attendance are a married couple, is actually so psychologically good for Petra. She should open up a restaurant! For just two beautiful women! "I hope that I can be a helpful dork, at least!" This kind of response would be more professional-sounding if, when offering to give a hand up to Tamamo to help her up the ramp, Petra's overexcited tail didn't slam into the side of the doorway like a car crash. "You really did fix it up for 'a cruise'." "Oh my goodness; there's no way the previous owner had this taste, right?" "Mm! Yeah, I basically gutted the entire thing ages ago, because Kale's whole thing was-- well, it wasn't pretty." Petra has no such compunctions about mentioning, or even bragging, about having stolen it from a Paladin. "It's actually not just an illusion because of using the space better, too. I did improve the space-warping tech, and it's stable enough that-- look! You can go in and out of the viewing deck as much as you want!" Practically bouncing on her feet, like she's waiting at the doorway to be allowed to fetch the newspaper, Petra does a lap around the living room and then ends up near the stairs. "So I'll take your bags to your room and you can put your feet up?" This isn't a Regulus job! A Regulus job is sweeping, or cleaning the kitchen! Or picking barnacles off the outside of the ship! A Petra job is getting to swoop in and politely take their handbags, and then scamper up to their room and place them on hooks by the door. This being her chance, to also, put chocolates on their pillows, not that every chocolate in the boat isn't already only for them. "Anyways!" She's leaning over the glass railing from the second floor, just before vaulting over it and dropping down to the main deck. "If you ever want to dump wine on the floor or anything, tell Regulus to clean it up. She's my unpaid labor because I'm allowing her to go on a boat. It's like-- no, I shouldn't say that."
Petra Soroka	Tamamo's handbag, actually, has to be put on the cabinets next to the door. Because it'd snap the hook right off! This being made specifically for the two of them, Petra should have accounted for this, and she's briefly making a note on her phone for improvements.
Regulus	''We have people for that!'' Regulus, of course, is permanently equipped with the broom so normally it would be difficult for her to have the dexterity and hands free in order to carry bags, but she has expected this eventuality and has a roll of ducttape in order to tape the broom to her arm should it come to it. But before she can-- ''So I'll take your bags to your room and you can put your feet up?'' Regulus discretely puts the ducttape away for later. She never knows when she might need it. "Hello Mrs. and Mrs. Rook, please let me know if there's any maintenance issues, I'll get right on it!" She hustles over to the other corner to get another patch of dust cleared away. She's got only a few moments before she has to make sure everything in the kitchen is in its proper place and all the dishes are properly sparkling and she can see her face in the silverwear and the floor is so clean you can eat off of it and so on. ''Tell Regulus to clean it up.'' "I'll clean it up so fast they'll forget they dumped it." Regulus brags. "The payment is getting to be on a boat." She seems to find it entirely worth it. She's been so deprived.
Lilian Rook	'He will be so glad to know we made use of his wedding gift this early, I am very certain.' "True! But how would we even tell him in a way that isn't just bragging? I mean, for Christ's sake, that man hasn't even spoken to Futaba again!" Lilian groans, fully and entirely enthused. That's why there's gossip! "He sent her a text message! To speak to him at her earliest convenience! Can you believe it?!" 'It has that sort of touch, no? 'This' was made for...' "Mhm mhm~ I shoud be able to fly to work in this. I would if it weren't slower than usual. Oh, but it could be moving while I'm--" she glances to the side. "Brushing my teeth." 'I hope that I can be a helpful dork, at least!' "Eee! Your tail! Look!" Lilian is so completely overcome for a moment that all she can do is point, squimsh her curled-up fingers together, and babble 'You're a kitty!' grade inanities. "Tamamo! We've got to get one of her at home!" 'It's like-- no, I shouldn't say that.' Lilian snickers behind her hand. "Oh how far you've come. You have people to clean it off the floor for you now!" she says, beamingly referencing . . . the fucking maid-off? Surely not. Surely. 'Hello Mrs. and Mrs. Rook, please let me know if there's any maintenance issues, I'll get right on it!' While Petra is mid-scampering, Lilian leans over, still watching the bedroom, and lowers her voice to merely conversational volume. "How did you get roped into this again? Did I punish you with somethng and forget it?"
Petra Soroka	"True! But how would we even tell him in a way that isn't just bragging?" "It's good to brag! Either it inspires him, or it makes him burn out from his sheer inadequacy!" Petra, of course, will not dare to sit down on any of the couches! Those are for the ladies! Her role is to flit around as an attendant and bring them drinks and snacks and maybe rub their shoulders if they ask! And also, to gossip! Petra leans over the glossy chest-high divider between the TV room and the dining room, and the brim of her hat slips forwards a bit. "I mean, do any of us even know for sure whether Futaba's still single? It's not like they had any kind of big bonding event, besides working together a bit while saving Niko, which I basically orchestrated. They just found each other kind of hot and nice enough." "I shoud be able to fly to work in this. I would if it weren't slower than usual." "Couldn't you? You probably could! I'd be happy to!" Petra plants one hand on her hip and the other pinching the brim of her Party City-ass hat. "I mean, the message it would send..." Having the villanously commandeered search and rescue craft of a fellow Paladin, repurposed into a pleasure yacht for Lilian and Tamamo specifically, stopping into the Aegis Astray docks right under Kale's nose every day, "... Is really really good and cool." "Tamamo! We've got to get one of her at home!" "Gimme a chance to show off all my merits! I can make a pretty good sales pitch! I've got so many functions, you know."
Tamamo	'I hope that I can be a helpful dork, at least!' "I am certain you will." Petra's getting such good grades today, while helping Tamamo up onto the ship. 'Tamamo! We've got to get one of her at home!' Tamamo finds this particularly funny, for reasons she doesn't mention directly. More than enough to overlook how loud the tail-slam is. "Oh, yes? Someone to..." She's imagining something. "...yes, I would agree. A tail like this makes one so honest, hm?" Tamamo's tails, as unspeakably, enormously fluffy and silhouette-defining as they are, don't wag with her mood. They sway in reverse rhythm when she walks, but that's hardly related. With Petra carrying things up, Tamamo doesn't have to make busy to wait for Lilian -- not that she'd end up doing so, anyway. They're free to go and sit or loung or check the ship's media library or... ...anything, but she's distracted by Regulus being here, first. Here, unpaid, and happy about it. It's puzzling, but Tamamo smiles pleasantly while she says, "Hello, Ms. Regulus. I had not expected, in truth, that our use of Ru Li's present would result in a party of four, this time. Certainly, it is a ship..." No, she can't quite voice the 'but are you really okay with it just because you're on a ship?' part. The connection between Regulus and ships has been shakey ever since that first encounter. 'It's like-- no, I shouldn't say that.' "Like a fan." Of boats.
Regulus	''How did you get roped into this again? Did I punish you with something and forget it?'' Regulus seems confused at first before realizing helping out around the ship could be construed as being punishing. "Oh, I still don't have a ship and I haven't been on a ship for so long I was just dying to get on one, so I agreed to help out here so I could get on the ship." She pauses a moment as she takes a moment to consider the dangers of committing to what you say you're gonna do in desperation but ultimately learns no lessons because she's finally on a boat again(!!!) and then adds, "But seriously, if there's an issue I'll fix it right up. I don't wanna get accused of half-assing it. I'm gonna maintain the hell outta this ride." She's fired up! "I'll feel even better about it once it's moving." Regulus promises Tamamo, just tasting the open air in her imagination, the waves, okay maybe the waves will be a bit farther away than usual but that's just fine... "And I won't get in the way of your good time, you want me to shove off somewhere else, no sweat--" She does also want Tamamo and Lilian to have a good time! And then her watch buzzes. "Looks like I'm onto my next shift in the kitchen... See you around!" She rushes off! Energetically and high-energy.
Petra Soroka	With everyone situated, Petra actually has to go move the boat herself! The port closed up behind them, and Petra swooshes past in order to get to the big steering wheel at the front of the ship. You can still see her head and hat through the circular window into the captain's cabin, until she throws her entire body into swinging the wheel and disappears from view. It's perfectly smooth from inside the VTOL, when it takes off from the docks. The view from the windows all along the walls shows the city shrinking away below, and the glittering water expanding to cover the majority of the outside world, with green islands dotting it occasionally. She doesn't bring the East Wind up very high, so the details of the world below are still distinct, if toyetically tiny, and then turns it to head on some specified route somewhere.
Tamamo	'Either it inspires him, or it makes him burn out from his sheer inadequacy!' Tamamo gives this some thought while moving over to the bar. Surely, if she sits at it, a bartender will materialize. "He would be overjoyed, I think. He seems to think quite highly of the both of us." In different ways, but there's no need to dissect that matter right now. Tamamo's privately pleased by the respect the ninety-nine gods afforded her, more than she expected she would be. There's an awful lot of experiences where she would have expected similar, but was disappointed. 'To speak to him at her earliest convenience! Can you believe it?!' "Oh, I heard! I can believe it, but only just. It is not as if he lacks passion in his speech. He is not lacking for emotional capacity at all, truly. And yet, he writes that? He is --" She thinks of a nicer word than she might use, "-- clumsy, after all. And yet! It is the use of a pen that is his greatest strength, no?" He also said he was no good at poetry. 'Oh, but it could be moving while I'm--' "Mm, yes." Mmhmm. "It would be very convenient to allow someone else to drive while you relax, no?" Tamamo has a look, leaning one arm on the counter. 'I mean, the message it would send...' "That might be a bit complicated. Ah, however, that one is certainly vulnerable to being inspired." That's a slightly strange way to put it. 'Gimme a chance to show off all my merits!' "I suppose I might be convinced, considering the efforts up to now."
Lilian Rook	'It's good to brag! Either it inspires him, or it makes him burn out from his sheer inadequacy!' Lilian groans, practically rolling her eyes. "Oh come on! I'm so tired of coworkers burning out from inadequacy! Where's your sense of fun." she says. "Or, I don't know, sadistic whimsy?" 'I mean, do any of us even know for sure whether Futaba's still single?' Oh but gossip! "I mean she has to be, right? How many virginal dorks are there like him out there?" Saying it while she's wearing this outfit feels sort of evil; which makes her feel pretty powerful actually. '...yes, I would agree. A tail like this makes one so honest, hm?' "Mhm mhm! Right?!" Lilian grabs Tamamo's hands, having to divert wiggles to swishing her hips from side to side. "The upgraded model! The feature everybody wanted!" She sounds like a giddy vacationer, but when she giggles about it (against Tamamo's neck, followed by a kiss), there's the distinct impression that it would be best if an uninvolved bystander didn't know what she meant. Hm. Perhaps the magnetite necklace wasn't that welll-considered. The drop sort of. Leaves a trail. On skin. It doesn't stain her shirt, but. Hm. Honesty. 'Like a fan.' Lilian cackles. "Press-ganged." 'I mean, the message it would send...' "That would get me in so much--" Lilian's eyes widen. "Oh my god. Everyone would think I'm so hot." It's Kale! Everyone knows what that guy is like! Going to work in his former airship, lost attacking the capital she sat on the conquered throne of, is like being kicked around by his hot boss at the office. Which makes her more attractive! 'Gimme a chance to show off all my merits! I can make a pretty good sales pitch! I've got so many functions, you know.' "Well then! First! Drinks!" She's already tugging Tamamo's hand, wanting to settle in near a giant window so she can watch the takeoff. 'Oh, I still don't have a ship and I haven't been on a ship for so long I was just dying to get on one, so I agreed to help out here so I could get on the ship.' "You're much too easily taken advantage of." Lilian says, pityingly, right before "Should have taken my offer back when a ship was in the sign-up package, then." anyways."Go on! Get going!" Lilian says, going to pull out a seat for Tamamo then realizing there's no need.
Tamamo	'I was just dying to get on one...' 'Should have taken my offer back when a ship was in the sign-up package, then.' Tamamo was thinking this. She might have even said it to Regulus, after the rebellion. For now, she'll just smile. No need to keep rubbing that particular point in, unless she feels like it. 'I mean she has to be, right?' "Well..." Emboldened by being here only with her wife and the help, Tamamo can say what she wouldn't on the Paladin channels. "We would have heard if otherwise, no? Either she or her sister would be bound to let such a thing slip. Oh, but it would be a great surprise, otherwise, if she were only to announce her presence with a new relationship." She says that like it'd be a positive and not probably crushing for Ru Li. 'The feature everybody wanted!' "The leash was quite useful, too, and so, the inevitable upgrade..." Everyone knows about the leash. Everyone at Laplace, that is. Under other circumstances, talking about a leash would be illegal. 'Oh my god. Everyone would think I'm so hot.' Tamamo agrees by way of returning a kiss while Lilian's distracted, and then agrees a different way, with, "He should take the opportunity to rise to the challenge, whatever the challenge is. He is always talking of such things, no?" Watching the launch is better than waiting by the bar, so Tamamo will naturally do that first. Flying is... not entirely new, but still fairly rare for her, in this fashion. It's largely good memories, and always with someone else piloting, too. "Goodness, the seas certainly do stretch away. I suppose I have spent more time around mountains and coves than near open water, of late."
Regulus	''You're much too easily taken advantage of.'' "Hey don't say that." Regulus says. "This is barely work." She does groan a little bit at the added 'Should have taken my offer' though because gahhh that was for the mission!! Whine!! Not having a boat right now is the price of progress! Sniff. Sob. Cope. She cheers herself up by cleaning up the kitchen, first mopping the floor, then using a file to clean out tiny lines between tiles, but the biggest work is probably cleaning the ceilngs which Regulus needs a stepladder for, along with clearing out any vents that lead into said kitchen. "On a boat, on a boat, won't feel down cause I'm on a boat o/~, the return of APPLe II is coming for sure sure sure o/~" Cleaning up the kitchen is maybe the most important place to clean in Regulus's book so she made sure she had extra time to get everything done though she is, at least, accustomed to it. If any glasses get brought back while she's there, she goes ahead and starts rinsing them out with a hand towel and soap.
Petra Soroka	"Or, I don't know, sadistic whimsy?" "Oh... I guess I could have more sadistic whimsy. I mean, I'd want to be egging him on at the same time. To make him vibrate." "It would be very convenient to allow someone else to drive while you relax, no?" "Right! And you can do anything while someone else drives!" Petra is already zipping towards the bar while the East Wind rises up into the air, with Tamamo and Lilian on the soft leather couch nearest by it. "And, another one of my useful features, is that I've got a license to drive a limo too." Petra isn't a professional bartender by any means, and doesn't have much of a personal interest in pursuing it for her own benefit. She does, however, have enough of a praise drive that she spent a couple hours looking through the basics before setting out on this cruise, because she wants to show off. She flips open the freezer and fishes out two frosty cold glasses, and a pair of frozen bananas. From the cabinet, she retrieves a bottle of rum and banana liqueur, forming floating cocktail jiggers from the Silver to measure them into. The bananas go into another Silver sphere, which shakes as blades form inside it to blend the banana into a smooth paste, which she pours into another mixing jar along with the alcohol and a splash of syrup. With five separate limbs working at once, she doles out the daiquiris into the cold cups, then crunches up ice in another Silver mechanism to sprinkle over top, while picking them up and bringing them to Tamamo and Lilian. "Here you go~ let me know if you want anything else." Blended banana slides unwholesomely off of the Silver blades floating behind Petra. None of it drips to the ground before the morphmetal inverts and folds in on itself, devouring the leftover banana and coming out squeaky clean. "Everyone would think I'm so hot." "Then you might be obligated to! For the sake of demonstrating the objective truth!" "Either she or her sister would be bound to let such a thing slip." "Oh, you're right, I haven't heard anything from Natsuki either...." Petra lingers in front of the two of them after delivering the cocktails, waiting to either be praised or told to sit somewhere. "Though she doesn't talk about Futaba much. But really! He's just a smooth-skinned boytoy! They're a dime a dozen!"
Lilian Rook	'Either she or her sister would be bound to let such a thing slip. Oh, but it would be a great surprise, otherwise, if she were only to announce her presence with a new relationship.' "The last time I saw her, she was trying to nose in on what her sister and Marshal nash were up to, and ended up thoroughly chewed out by Natsuki." Lilian giggles just remembering it. "You should have seen her freakout! Oh my god! Ru Li is-- oh bless him for trying but-- that's a training wheels boyfriend, right?" 'The leash was quite useful, too, and so, the inevitable upgrade...' Lilian wonders if this is appropriate conversation while Regulus is vaguely present, for about half a second, which isn't long enough to complete the thought. "It's just hard to find that sort of convenience and quality in the same place, you know~?" She's keeping up the bit instead. 'He should take the opportunity to rise to the challenge, whatever the challenge is.' Lilian completely forgets whatever she was going to say about that, because Tamamo kissing her back gets her right back to giggling and gyrating. "Gosh! Have you never been sailing before? We've spent so much time by the sea and I've never even thought to ask!" 'To make him vibrate.' "Ah, installing additional features. To keep Futaba occupied." 'And, another one of my useful features, is that I've got a license to drive a limo too.' "Tamamo! We have to go somewhere in a limo! We have to hit up a movie premiere or something! We have to do something celebrity-style! Do you think I should organize an event? Because I can! The PR guys are desperate for us to make more appearances!" 'Here you go~ let me know if you want anything else.' Lilian gasps at the sight of cyber-silver bartender Petra. Not only is it a visual level-up to Petra's absurd eager service bit, but it looks really cool too! It's a talent! A skilled trade! Loook at her go! "Some sun and some pleasant music, to start~" she says, cruising on momentum as she takes her drink. 'But really! He's just a smooth-skinned boytoy! They're a dime a dozen!' "Without the common sense to know when the grass would be greener elsewhere, or the spine to talk back to a woman." Lilian says, corrective-helpful, still oblivious to the lurid rivulet as she settles in with a daiquiri and eagerly stares out the panoramic windows.
Petra Soroka	"Ah, installing additional features. To keep Futaba occupied." Petra holds up her arm while going back and forth between her duties. Beside it, mirroring the motion, a beam of Silver squishes into shape, with a hand-like knob on the end. Speaking over a low buzzing sound, "I'm just saying, like, any woman who encounters me should have the standards for their boyfriend skyrocket." "Some sun and some pleasant music, to start~" "I can't bring you a sun brighter than the one next to you, but I'll do what I can~" She's having such a good time. Petra disappears into the captain's room again, and after a minute, the East Wind shifts in its trajectory. It turns until the bright midday sun is shining through the windows opposite the ones Lilian and Tamamo are looking through, so it's not right in their eyes. "Do you want the windows open too?" After passing back through the cabin to poke her head downstairs, Petra locates the method to solve Lilian's other request. Hollering like a bossy orphanage matron, muffled by the divider between the rooms, "Regulus! Regulus, get over here and put on music!"
Lilian Rook	'I'm just saying, like, any woman who encounters me should have the standards for their boyfriend skyrocket.' "Right?! Like-- hhhhh--?" Lilian pauses halfway through the thought, slurring it into a squinting stare. Which is stupid as fuck, because she's the one who decided on their bit in The World. If it weren't Petra's fault it'd be hers! 'I can't bring you a sun brighter than the one next to you, but I'll do what I can~' Brainhack achieved! Lilian leans right over and smooches Tamamo on the cheek. She gives herself that minute for soft noises of awe and appreciation at the oceanic vista; part genuine and part an excuse to lean on Tamamo a little more while basking in sunbeams. "Won't opening the windows do something to the cabin compression?" she says, then remembers the viewing deck. "Or, hm. Make it cold? I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly dressed for cold." She slaps her own thigh to emphasize.
Regulus	Regulus does a few look overs in the kitchen and is just about to double check there isn't any mold when... ''Regulus! Regulus, get over here and put on music!'' Regulus puts on her best little orphan annie voice and calls back, "Oh yes, right away Petra!" and she does a little trill at the end to show that while she may be but a city orphan, she's got big dreams to be a star! Anyway, she sets down the mop, but returns with the broom and fetches up her bag which she set down to work in the kitchen (that bag is always gonna be around somewhere nearby Regulus) as she rushes back out, biting her lip as she fishes in to draw out her portable record player which is a bit awkward with one hand so she goes ahead and ducttapes her broom to her arm first. She's so smart. She looks for a place that's acoustically good to actually play though as she scans around, ultimately clambering up to the same floor and gets closer but not TOO Close as she slides the record down on the vinyl and places the needle on. Of course it's the Beatles! But Regulus thought this ahead of time! It's time for... o/~Something in the way she moves Attracts me like no other lover Something in the way she woos me I don't want to leave her now You know I believe and how o/~ Something! That's the name of the song!
Tamamo	'...that's a training wheels boyfriend, right?' "Now, now, my dear. Someone might think you had called him 'easy'!" Tamamo giggles, reaches out to slide the banana daiquiri into her hand for a sip, and then, "You are right, of course. It should be so easy for her, and there will be no one else to blame. And yet...!" 'Though she doesn't talk about Futaba much.' "It is sadly common for sibling relationships to be so strained." That actually relates, weirdly, to... 'Have you never been sailing before? We've spent so much time by the sea and I've never even thought to ask!' "Ah, quite rarely. The sea is a bit outside my 'domain,' you know." She could claim the heavens and the earth, but that leaves man and sea left over. "It does come up often enough that I can swim a bit, of course... even if it is so dreadfully difficult to wrap my tails." They just don't make wetsuits for her bodyshape that are easy to get on. It's been a problem. "Oh, being above the water is well and good, of course." Or to the side of it. Beachwear is such a fashion opportunity. 'Do you think I should organize an event? Because I can!' Leaning against her, "Oh, my. Yes, I suppose we must allow people to see us in public now and then, however briefly. It keeps up appearances, past merely posing for calendars. A movie...? I have not been to a modern movie theater, you know. I wonder what those are like, now." She's surely seen theaters in media. Movie dates, even. But they haven't gone, not counting 'home theater.' "Ah, but it would be nice... I hear that limousines have rather comfortable carriages. It has simply not been opportune to attempt such. No, surely we could arrange for such a thing, even on certain 'work' trips, no? Mr. Bond finds the chance to arrive in such a style, after all."
Lilian Rook	'Now, now, my dear. Someone might think you had called him 'easy'!' A swift 'Pfft!' communicates Lilian's opinions on that well enough. Nevertheless, "I think if someone flashed tits at him he'd literally die. Just detonate like a nuclear bomb. Thousands dead." 'It is sadly common for sibling relationships to be so strained.' Llian thinks about a particular question that she has never asked her own siblings and has been thinking about the ethics of ambushing them with for months. She makes a noncommittal noise. "I'm glad I'm not in the same situation." 'Ah, quite rarely. The sea is a bit outside my 'domain,' you know.' "It's so tragic." Lilian sighs, despite being someone who has had a historically rocky relationship with suits both swimming and diving. "I've got to find an excuse for a little sailing then. Perhaps if something comes up from the Foundation?" 'Oh, my. Yes, I suppose we must allow people to see us in public now and then, however briefly.' "Exactly! We're, like, the jewel of the Commonwealth, you know?" Neither of them live in a Commonwealth nation. "The iconic power couple representing hope for the Multiverse! We can let everyone eat up their share of yearning heartache~" 'Ah, but it would be nice... I hear that limousines have rather comfortable carriages. It has simply not been opportune to attempt such.' Lilian glances back towards the kitchen as another rivulet hits her collarbone. "I can't believe I'm about to shuffle my schedule just to make room to travel more slowly." she says. "But the multi-tasking potential . . ."
Tamamo	Tamamo does look again when Petra is dripping banana puree, but then the mess that would have been is made to disappear. "That much is terribly convenient, as well. Ah, but this much should be expected, no?" She might be holding some very unreasonable expectations, but as long as they keep getting fulfilled then there's no reason to stop. 'I'm just saying, like...' 'Right?! Like-- hhhhh--?' Tamamo, who has not tried The World, can only say, "Hmmm? 'Right?'" Shifting the direction of the sun is a nice little trick, for one not too used to it, and has Tamamo smiling again. She only has to remind herself of the presence of multiple other people when Lilian emphasizes like that. "I could do something to warm us up." She reaches for -- oh, yes. Her handbag is in the room, which means her talismans are all in there, too. 'I'm glad I'm not in the same situation.' "As am I, dear. It gives me some hope that we can avoid creating the same, again." 'We can let everyone eat up their share of yearning heartache~' "We should serve as a positive example, after all." Tamamo hm-hms, in the minute it takes for Something (In the Way She Moves) to hit its stride. "It would be the ideal result if others could look toward joy and renew determination to find their own happiness." Bragging about your hot wife has never been so virtuous. 'But the multi-tasking potential . . .' "Yes," she says, an evil temptress through and through, "just think of how much more could be done by letting you focus apart from the reptition."
Petra Soroka	"Or, hm. Make it cold?" "Oh. It might get a little cold, yeah. I didn't install the same kinds of protections on the window here that I have on Hydrochoeria." Petra generates warmth!!! Use Petra for warmth! Warm friend Petra! "It does come up often enough that I can swim a bit, of course... even if it is so dreadfully difficult to wrap my tails." Petra ends up perching herself with her back leaning up against the captain's cabin, tail dragging back and forth on the wall. "Well-! Um, maybe those kinds of, hair gels they make for waterproofing would work on your tails? If they were thoroughly covered?" Petra looks off into the distance, staring out the windows. "Or just blowdrying them out afterwards...." "A movie...? I have not been to a modern movie theater, you know." Petra jumps up off the wall, accidentally flinging her silly hat off her head. She bends down to hastily pick it up, tail angled straight up while wagging, then scampers over to the couch enclave. "Wait, really? Never? Do you want to? I bet there's really nice theaters somewhere around this archipelago!" Petra spins the hat around her finger, before snapping it back onto her head. "We'll say it's a shore call!" "Ah, but it would be nice... I hear that limousines have rather comfortable carriages." Already rushing back to her captain's cabin, "I'll get someone on the phone! And find a place for dinner, also!"
Regulus	Regulus engages in her one of her most favored occupations of all: DJ! She is briefly distracted, however, by seeing Petra's tail wagging so she's a little slower to fetch the next vinyl, shaking her head, swinging her hand above her head as she wiggles around to the music. She wasn't told to stop putting on music, so she doesn't stop putting on music! The more she puts on music, the more it's like she just gets to enjoy the boat ride. As the first song ends, she smoothly replaces the Beatles vinyl, slides it into its sleeve, and then draws out a more modern one by Sophie B Hawkins. o/~ If I was your girl believe me I'd turn on the Rolling Stones We could groove along and feel much better Let me in I could do it forever and ever and ever Give me an hour to kiss you Walk through heaven's door I'm sure We don't need no doctor to feel much better o/~ She's so sucked into her DJing that she acts like she's doing cruise ship shit for more than two people and she says, "Let's give it up for our two lovely ladies of the evening, Mrs and Mrs. Rook!" She applauds before going back to boogieing.
Lilian Rook	'I could do something to warm us up.' Tamamo's implicit question slides smoothe off Lilian's brain. Mostly because she isn't sure why she said that either. "Goodness, with the window open~?" comes out of her mouth instead. 'As am I, dear. It gives me some hope that we can avoid creating the same, again.' Lilian downs the daiquiri mouthful she was already in the middle of, leans over, and abruptly squeezes Tamamo with one arm fully around her shoulders. 'It would be the ideal result if others could look toward joy and renew determination to find their own happiness.' "Naturally." says Lilian, nodding right before the next swallow of her drink, which only didn't spill during the weirdly intense side-hug through miracles. "If they love us so much, then who are we to deny that love?" Plus, she can't get out-plublicity-'d by Petra!! 'just think of how much more could be done by letting you focus apart from the reptition.' "We~ll~" Lilian you are so predictable. Look at your big ol' grin. "If it's practical . . ." 'Well-! Um, maybe those kinds of, hair gels they make for waterproofing would work on your tails?' "Oh! I've never even heard of thos!" Lilian claps in delighted surprise! . . . How? "If that's the case, then I've got to try applying them, Tamamo!" Yes! Greasonously rubbing her fingers through her wife's tails! Yes! 'Oh. It might get a little cold, yeah. I didn't install the same kinds of protections on the window here that I have on Hydrochoeria.' "Well, if Tamamo has a plan to warm up~" Lilian says, both hands on Tamamo, nuzzling her with her forehead. Which places her glass . . . ? 'I bet there's really nice theaters somewhere around this archipelago!' 'I'll get someone on the phone! And find a place for dinner, also!' "Finally! A proper vacation~" Lilian purrs, delicately retrieving her glass from-- About half the shards are floating off to her side, collected into a roughly defined series of finger-sized fragments that loosely resemble a human hand in arrangement, clutching the glass for her; with a truly absurd level of precision to have done so without scratching the glass, given the look. Lilian knocks back the rest of her daiqiri in one go. "Drinks!" she play-shouts, waving the glass over her head impolitely. 'Let's give it up for our two lovely ladies of the evening, Mrs and Mrs. Rook!' "Yes! Give up! Surrender everything unto me!" Lilian laughs, perhaps thinking slightly too much about the airship and stardom.
Tamamo	'Oh. It might get a little cold, yeah.' Tamamo thinks about asking Petra to fetch something, and then remembers that she'd have to go and craft new charms if she used them here. Maybe they can just enjoy things from here for now. They haven't even had more than one drink each, yet! And, afterward, they'll think of several methods, surely. "Hair gels? Ah, I have not tried these. Perhaps...? It would take a bit of application time, of course, but it would be more comfortable." Pulling something up over fur without rubbing the wrong direction is the tough bit, but even with Petra's new tail, Tamamo is still the only person in the room to truly understand this. For now. "Blow-drying... ah, that does take a great deal of time, as well, but the time is spent afterward and, perhaps, that is just as well. If I am prepared for such a thing, merely 'getting wet' is not so unpleasant. It is always the leaving of the water that feels less comfortable, somehow. How strange that is." 'If that's the case, then I've got to try applying them, Tamamo!' "Ah, if you will take up the task, then time is no issue, after all." Fluttering her lashes wasn't necessary, there! It's just extra. 'I bet there's really nice theaters somewhere around this archipelago!' 'I'll get someone on the phone! And find a place for dinner, also!' Seeing several matters being immediately resolvable, Tamamo goes from, "I suppose I would," to "Oh?" to "Oh, yes, that sounds lovely. Does it not, darling?" and squeezing Lilian's arm. 'Let's give it up for...' 'Give up! Surrender everything unto me!' The lack of further audience made unnecessary by enthusiasm, Tamamo lets herself be fuzzily swept up in enthusiasm, laughing softly, and turning her empty glass around in circles with the touch of a finger. "A vacation to be spent as a vacation, yes." Oh, but they have so many things to do, even before they retire to the ship's master bedroom. She's looking forward to each part, beginning with another drink, as they make their way toward a shore call.
Petra Soroka	"If that's the case, then I've got to try applying them, Tamamo!" "Well! She's got a lot of tail! It-- goes faster with, two sets of hands." The power imbalance here, and the implication therein, would be so troubling if Tamamo and Lilian didn't both have more power over Petra than she has by captaining the boat. Petra presses a button, and with a quiet motorized whirr, all the windows slide open partway. The mid-altitude ocean air does predictably drop the temperature in the cabin as it moves through, but Lilian can only benefit from being a little chilly now. "Give up! Surrender everything unto me!" "That's the plan!" Petra claps with Regulus's silly impromptu cheers for Tamamo and Lilian, but it's mostly to show off. While both her hands are clapping, her tail and the dissociated Silver blobs are mixing two mai tais behind her. Once they're prepared, she smoothly picks them up with her hands and brings them over to both of them, swapping the empty glasses onto a floating Silver platter with the same hand like a little magic trick. While she's there, she asides, "You're learning sort of the same thing, huh? Look at yours!"
Regulus	Regulus needs to keep track of some of Petra's vacation scheme planning for Team Timekeeper funventures, she decides, which makes her think that Manus Vindictae has been weirdly quiet lately which makes her think oh shit she jinxed it which makes her think okay she just needs to undo all that by thinking about other stuff. Okaaaaayy.... random intrusive thoughts.... ERASED. So instead she thinks about how it's pretty sweet to put all this together for Lilian and Tamamo, how enjoyable it is to experience other people having a good time and how that just kind of puts her in a better mood, and how it's kind of rewarding to see people who just basically are always working and never getting a vacation to have a vacation. In terms of devotion to making sure others have a good time, maybe Regulus can learn from seeing Petra at action and become the ultimate dj of all time. Nevermind that Regulus still has the broom ductaped to her arm so she's actually sweeping as she's dancing around to the music selection. The last song is Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love! ~Wise men say Only fools rush in But I can't help falling in love with you Shall I stay? Would it be a sin If I can't help falling in love with you? o/~
Lilian Rook	'Blow-drying... ah, that does take a great deal of time, as well' "Not with me it doesn't!" Lilian says, ever so proud. "If I can handle Sonetto's hair then I can handle your tails! Because I'd give them thrice the care!" She is invoking the fact that both of them have fawned over Sonetto's hair multiple times while Lilian cleaned and dried it before. Despicable! 'Well! She's got a lot of tail! It-- goes faster with, two sets of hands.' As true as this is, Petra has accidentally walked right into Lilian's trap (accidentally set) . . . 'Look at yours!' "That's why I've got two sets of hands~" Lilian says, glowingly smug, gaze currently evil, while allowing the rest of the neck-ring of regular diamonds to come apart and 'flash-fuse' into a slightly asymmetrical twin. The 'finger'wiggle gesture on both looks extremely rehearsed, having one fewer 'joint' and obviously a fifth of the total mass, but it's still abstractly readable as 'grabby hands' in a pareidolic way. The 'heat joins' flare dull gold and slowly dim down to black again. "Three days and nights spent meditating and training in the wilderness will do that to things you're stuck on." she says, proudly. "My theory was right, by the way. About the wiring. Now that I've figured it out, soon enough, it'll be like nothing happened at all." And then people will shut up about her 'leaking'!!! At last!!!! 'I suppose I would' "Yes!" 'Oh, yes, that sounds lovely. Does it not, darling?' "Yes! Absolutely yes!" 'A vacation to be spent as a vacation, yes.' "To 'heartsickness'~" Lilian giggles, raising a faux-toast with the new glasses, just before leaning in to get kissing Tamamo properly.
Petra Soroka	"Blow-drying... ah, that does take a great deal of time, as well, but the time is spent afterward and, perhaps, that is just as well." In order to demonstrate another avenue of Petra's utility, she makes a somewhat more complicated contraption out of her Silver while the two Rooks go back and forth. Some of the morphmetal wraps in a tight coil of wire around a central pillar, which she pumps full of electricity to generate heat through resistance. Behind it, teeny little Silver fan blades whir around in a blur, blowing the hot air loosely over Tamamo and Lilian to counteract the breeze, and making a suggestion about tail interactions. This, incidentally, is the exact same process by which Petra can make a strong magnetic field with the Silver. First, Petra leans over to look at Lilian's magnetite hands to say, "That's! Like, so much progress! All you needed was some time alone in the woods to get control over--" but then, The hands, only loosely gathered into a symbolically shaped cloud, are discorporated back into diamonds and yanked into the Silver by the magnetic pull. The black particles glue all over the morphmetal like a sharp layer of paint, but when the Silver wriggles underneath them, the magnetic field carries them with. Petra cuts off, looking over at that, which Lilian had just described as her second set of hands. "Um-- well, looks like that's how I can beat you in arm wrestling." Punchable!!!!
Lilian Rook	'That's! Like, so much progress! All you needed was some time alone in the woods' "I'm a genius and a savant at everything I do and also a prodigy at hard work~" Lilian says, purringly pleased and punch. She's even got her eyes smugly shut! "Granted, it's been the better part of a month now. Growth usually comes in slopes and plateaus. Once I can get them to just go away, I--" The feeling of a strong magnetic field on something that may not technically be metal, on a symbol-to-symbol level from something that is superficially kind of silver-but-not, which was only just recently removed from the rest of her and is probably the culprit behind her bothersomely steady-rising sensory fidelity, is not something Lilian is actually prepared to describe, but it is something that must be shocking in a novel way, because she gasps about it, jerks backwards into her chair, makes a semi-instinctive frustrated-shocked yelping noise, and then stares at Petra in a way that goes from flinchingly wide-eyed to red-faced grumpy over the course of four seconds. 'Um-- well, looks like that's how I can beat you in arm wrestling.' Pink with embarrassment, steely-eyed in a frighteningly determined way, Lilian lunges for Petra's slutty little bowtie.