2017-06-25: Ancient ARMs And Other Mysteries

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<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 All things considered it was probably best to just bring everyone back to the Yggdrasil to recuperate.

 Now it hadn't been the best fight Bart had ever been in, mainly because once again Lord Seardicus Baconus had decided to show up and give him a hard time. But despite Berserk and... whomever his ally was, they had made off with the loot, which was now secured in the hanger.

 They had also come out with a lot of injuries, and the Yggdrasil's medical bay was fuller than normal. Pirates were being told that stomach aches and hangovers were no longer approved reasons to visit the medbay on account of ACTUAL INJURED PEOPLE. There had been good natured grumbles, but generally the crew had behaved themselves.

 They were also told that there were actual women on board as well, and they all would fall under the Kiel protocol, so hands off and no soliciting. That had ALSO been met with good natured grumbling. But slightly less so, with the lot being sailors and all.

 Bart had just grumbled and stomped off to sleep off the headache banging his head into his Gear's console had produced. Pirates. Really.

 But there are guest rooms available - nothing too special, as they generally are fairly comfortable bunk beds in an unused crew room. Those who are not manged badly enough to need medbay time have been directed to rest up, and food will be ready soon. The casualties are being tended to by the excellent auspices of Dr. Uzuki, augmented by Dr. Keil when she's available (because anyone who can practice first aid is a Doctor on this ship).

 And in the area above the guest rooms (as well as the more spacious state rooms which full up crew officers like Lily, Leon, and Fei are allotted) is what is basically a rather posh bar. The bar itself is unattended at the moment, but there is a buffet line with several large casks of juice, water, and fairly mild wine available. The food is pretty standard Adlehyde fare, thanks to that being the Yggdrasil's last port of call, and food and drink are available to all who are recovering.

 All in all, it is probably an interesting experience for anyone who has not been on a state of the art sand submersive battleship before. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

It's been a very trying and critical moment for both Lunata and Meredin Croze.

The elder of the two appears to be fine now -- thanks in part to the mysterious light that appears to have healed off the worst of her injuries at a time when she could've easily left this mortal coil. Jacqueline's potions and Lily's expert care have seen such that she'll pull through, though she hasn't yet regained consciousness at present. She's stable, however, and should be awake later in the day and possibly able to move up and about in a couple of days after -- Berserk's wrecking ball hit her almost directly, and if it weren't for that barrier of hers, she likely wouldn't have even left a body behind.

The Winged Gear Rephaim is in a sorry state of its own. It lost its left arm to the full, unbridled fury of Berserk's wrecking ball, and that sheared off about half of its faceplate and V-crested fin as well, breaking one of the iris lenses on its head to reveal the camera-eye underneath. The Yggdrasil's technicians have done a cursory overview, and to anyone with Gear experience would state -- the Gear is in awful condition. Various parts all over its extremities and torso are in a condition beyond using, with olden circuits and hydraulic connectors and wiring that look quite ready to just disintegrate into dust. More analysis will take more time, but the initial diagnosis is clear: It needs an overhaul before further use is possible... unless you'd like to just have it collapse in on itself.

And for Lunata...

The white-haired waitress seems to be in a state of mild shock after she's taken into terms everything that's happened -- she was found in a shocking condition too, with dried blood trailing from her mouth and out of her chest in an amount that -- as Lily and other medical experts might note -- is just too much blood for someone to actually lose and live through. But... sure enough, she's there, and the wound appears to be sealed, and she's perfectly fine.

She... seems even paler than normal, but she's got a change of clothes and bandages to wrap up where her wounds used to be, just in case they reopened themselves. She's a little quiet as she seats herself on one of the couches, a bit pensive, before--

There's also another -- strange thing: the literal matte black cube that's just kind of... floating by her side, about half a foot in all dimensions, which apparently came out with her from the Gear... from the cockpit, which is a mostly a seat, panroamic screens and a huge empty slot at this point. It doesn't want to leave her alone, it seems. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia has suited up as a nurse and has been helping with the treatment of the injured, to the point of exhaustion herself, working her healing magic to supplement the process. She's not so exhausted, though, that she fails to be awed by her surroundings. Back on Lunar, there are no ships anything like this!

What happened to Lunata and Meredin has also got the girl fairly subdued--she's in over her head here, and doesn't really know how to respond to everything that's happened.

So right now, she's looking exhausted and being a little uncharacteristically quiet, hugging Chauncey more to comfort herself than anything else. 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

Emma Hetfield has come in and is, perhaps despite what the media would have you think, not strip-mining the Yggdrasil for its technical secrets. Not yet. She has been lingering in the general hospital area, and is in fact still dusty from the battle, although she's had her own scrapes and bruises swabbed and sol'd.

However, she emerges from the restroom with a swing in her step and her pink blazer over her shoulder. "Lunata, sweetie," she says to her, "you and your new friend should really take the time to appreciate the bathrooms here. Did you know that there's another spigot that produces water that's already hot?"

After this Emma looks at the cube. Emmaosity is winning out over compassion, though she sits near Lunata and brings out the Emulator, pointing it approximately at the cube. She is probably taking photos. (Or maybe she's seeing if they know each other!)

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

As a point of fact, Penelope (the pigeon) is most definitely NOT allowed in the sickbay.
Birds are unclean creatures.
This means that it's also a point of fact that Lily has been in command of a rather ornery pigeon for the last week or so since she took Josephine into her care.

Josie, for her part, looks pretty good! Which is great, considering the sword wound through her gut -- among other serious injuries -- that landed her in Lily's care in the first place. Healing magic works wonders, but a bit of stitching and bandaging came first, and there's still the parts where the body has to pick up the slack in the aftermath.

So basically, long story short, the archaeologist has been here since before the newly-injured had been brought in.

Or would have been here, considering she's just walked back into the sickbay with a mug in hand (the left), having slipped out during a quiet moment earlier. Being a good patient is apparently sort of boring.

"Hey, there's drinks upstairs," she says, waggling the mug in her fingers. "You kids want anything?" Meaning Sephy and Lunata, in this case. The odd floating cube gets another long look. And then Josie's gaze slides over towards Emma. "--Oh, good timing! I'd wanted to chat, you know, but..." She gestures, a bit stiffly, towards her abdomen, with her right hand. "Sword fight." 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

LAST TIME ON WE SAVED A TOWN, FEI FONG WONG!

Fei Fong Wong wakes up screaming from his nightmares. What, did you think it would be of the happy moments?

NOW

Fei Fong Wong looks pretty tired by the time he officially wakes up. He has managed to make himself vaguely presentable, pulling his hair back and everything.

He stumbles into the bar, figuring it's a good time to start drinking. He sees that there's actually a lot of people present. He is relieved to see Lunata isn't dead so he smiles at her and gives her a wave. He is also relieved Sephilia isn't dead, but he's more accustomed to Sephilia not dying so he just gives her a small nod.

He sits down in a chair and rubs at his eyes. After a while he manages to say something.

"Oof." He says. 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil has often been available to help Dr. Uzuki, long since accustomed to the fact that everyone seems to call her Doctor too despite the fact that she's still a couple of semesters away from that title. There have been few times when she's actually gone off to attend to herself, in fact, though she has had reasons to do so. She's remembered to eat eventually. She's remembered to drink a little more often than that.

But Lily was mostly busy at first with Meredin, regardless.

The Keil protocol, on the other hand, is something best not mentioned in earshot of the woman in question. Those on the ship have already heard the stories of what she's capable of at least in part, and part of that includes having dealt with a number of these stomachaches and hangovers herself. She deals with them with typical military discipline.

Her stateroom thus goes mostly untouched except when she has to care for a... bird. A bird, that is under her care. After all, she has another longer-term patient in the medbay...

This isn't to say Lily wasn't injured herself, but mysteriously... Despite being absolutely covered in blood when she came back to the ship, the black-haired sorceress is completely fine now. So it is that she comes back to the bar finally, in a white blouse and black gloves and black skirt, not bothering with vest or jacket, hair down about her shoulders again. She looks very... Clean, appropriatey enough. Dr. Uzuki had a chance to see her hands while she did stitchwork. That's no ominious at all. The bar was empty.

Lily walks up to it. "Kislevi brandy," she says, "Neat." She waits for her drink and brings it with her to look over the others in the room. She looks particularly to Lunata, who should definitely be dead, and Sephilia, who was her nurse earlier. Everyone seems tired, quiet, except for Emma to her. Lily is always quiet. Until...

"You're supposed to be resting," she says darkly to Josie. "I recall that I told you to rest." A long sigh, before she takes a sip from her drink.

Lily looks absolutely exhausted. Not good odds on whether that's a good idea to bring up, though. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

The battle had left Jacqueline in a sorry state. Bloodied, battered, and exhausted, it wouldn't be surprising if people had given her up for dead at first. But, thanks to the expert care provided to her, she managed to pull through.

When Jacqueline awakes, she finds herself in a bed, in an unfamiliar location. It isn't like any building she's ever been in. Things are...too clean, too smooth. Her wounds have been bandaged...pretty heavily, in fact, due to the intensity of them.

It's a while later that Jacqueline emerges. Her dress, was, unfortunately, far too damaged, and had to be discarded. Instead, she was dressed in a fairly basic fashion, in clothes that had been provided to her. The shawl was in fair shape, but as it didn't match she had left it with her bags. Her glasses, mercifully, went undamaged.

She's also found a cane somewhere to support herself in her current weakened state, so her arrival into the room is met with a subtle tapping on her way there. She looks in, and...is surprised to see a lot of people gathered there.

"Oh, hey everyone." She greets with a wave. Jacqueline still isn't looking too great, herself...but she's on her feet and not dead, so there's that.

Josephine gets a second glance, and a smile.

"Oh, Miss Josie. I didn't expect to see you here." She says, a bit surprised.

Wherever here was. 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Down in the hangar bay is another new Gear, or at least something the same kind of size. Having powered down once it saw Shalune safely inside, the twelve-foot figure of the Big Shal slowly boots back up, the light from its eyes filling the bay it's in.

No-one knows what processes run through its central core - certainly not Shalune - but the way it stares up at the Rephaim and its shattered arm might suggest remorse... if you were sufficiently imaginative, at least.

As slowly and as ponderously as it does anything, it turns to face its other neighbour, torn pieces of the Golem's still-injured torso falling away loudly as it does so. When it sights the charred, blackened and above all inert form of Diablo, it lays silent for another of those contemplative pauses...

... then creakingly raises an arm, a twisted handle swivelling out of its hand to try giving the other Golem a thumbs up.

No response.

... how rude.

* * *

It gets easier to tell when Shalune is coming, with experience. There's a lull outside the door of the lounge, a sudden patter of feet, and then-- "Lunie~?! Jay?!" blurts the teenage mechanic as she busts through the door, looking a little terrified as she scans the room--

--and homes right in on Lunata, launching herself into a fierce hug around the other girl's shoulders that nearly knocks the little black box out of its orbit around her. Instantly, she both relaxes and tenses, a constant stream of blurred 'are you okay I heard you were bleeding what happened are you okay' ad infinitum from under her mass of pink hair.

This is the girl who rode into the dig on the back of a Golem as if it weren't a big deal, then managed through apparently sheer force of will to turn its destroyed frame into a whirlwind of detached components and self-repair that somehow managed to continue to fight.

This is also the girl who looks rather worse off than the one she's so worried over - her bobble hat is present, but there's a couple of plasters and some bandages peeking out from under it, and above the waist of her baggy jeans is another roll around her midriff. Without her many layers of sweaters and jackets, she looks remarkably small.

Evidently, she hasn't checked the Yggdrasil out yet, because she'd be talking about that instead. 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 Overall, Bart's main concern as making sure that they didn't get chased, with ensuring that people were not bleeding all over the decks... on and then there was something about the ancient machine that they dug out of a temple of death to look into.

 That last part was a little important, really. Just a tiny bit.

 Which is why Bart wanders into the bar area, looking better than he did the last time anyone had seen him. He looks around for a moment, and then walks over to grab a bottle of something from behind the bar. He looks at it. Checks the label.

 Pops the cork out, and is about to just go at it straight from the bottle when a voice clears its throat over the loudspeaker.

 Bart just stops. Looks at the speaker.

 Slooooooowly begins to move the bottle towards his mouth.

 "Young Master, PLEASE!" Maison calls out, despite not being evident in the room.

 "...old man you don't let me have any fun," Bart comments, shoving the cork back in the bottle and putting it back on the shelf. He gets a tall glass of water, and stalks over to sit at one of the tables in the lounge area. "Lunata!" he calls out. "Come on over here. Bring you friend too - I think we've got some things we need to talk about." 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata has never met Josie or her ornery pigeon before! She has barely spent time on the Yggdrasil, only once after the initial Dig with Lily, and not for all that long a time, all things considered. "Ohh-- um," she pauses for a moment. "Is there hot cocoa or something warm...? Tea would be good too..." She kind of looks like she needs it. "O-oh, my name's Lunata, miss...?" She watches Lily and Josie banter just a bit, though, wincing at the sound of 'sword fight'.

She looks just a little startled at Emma, though, gasping. "It has water that's already hot? That sounds miraculous." She's not quite 'draw water from the well' levels of poverty, but the facilities in the Starfall Saloon don't quite extend to having centralised water. Yet. "A hot bath does sound really good... wonder where Lunie went?"

"Thank you, again... miss Lily... ... thank you for taking care of my mother, through a most dangerous time..." Lunata hasn't quite found it in herself to stop thanking them. The genuine fright of nearly losing her mother was still fresh on her mind -- and that desire that she voiced so plainly to the voice:

Save my mother. Release her from Death.

She was no less frightened for Jacqueline either -- really, if she lost either of them, or Shalune, she wouldn't have known what to do with herself. Her eyes widen as she nearly throws herself up and towards the chemist, though she stops herself when she sees the state she's in. "Jay! Oh, you're awake, thank the Guardians--"

Which is about as much as she gets before Shalune comes in like the bird, no, a plane, no, it's Shalune! that she is, knocking her clean off her feet. "Bwaah-- Lunie!"

She blinks her eyes in a bit of a daze as Bart calls out, though, and gets up slowly. "C-coming, Mister Bart!" She looks at Lunie, then the others, nodding as she helps the pink-haired bundle of energy up and walks in the direction of the bar. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia slowly looks up as people come into the lounge. Lunata gets a small, weak wave, Fei a tired smile, and others get acknowledgement in a similar vein. "Hi, everyone," she says, though quietly. "I hope I'm not in the way here, it was...it was just somewhere that seemed quiet and out from underfoot so I could rest a bit." 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

"Oh it's quite understandable, don't worry about it," Emma says to Josephine, brightly. "I'd like something big with ice. A little sweet or sour." Oh no, did she just give her a quest? Yes.

"I agree," she tells Fei.

"Shalala, darling," she then says as Shalune does a power-hug-dive on Lunata, "Be a little careful, she may be sore..."

Someone shouts. Lunata gets up and moves on ahead. Emma says conversationally to people near her, "This reminds me, thank you, Sephilia dear: Did any of you happen to grab my glasses? It's a bit of a forlorn hope, but..."

Emma's nose wrinkles. There are distinct little spots and patterns on her face that suggest that big sis (age 39) has not taken her glasses off much in the last 39 years.

"I actually can't see any of you," Emma continues cheerfully. "You're all colorful blobs."

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Shalune Amira :)? 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia blinks, then rummages in her satchel for a moment. "Actually...I did find these while I was helping evacuate people...are they yours, Miss Emma?" She produces a pair of familiar glasses... 

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

"Jay!"

Dark eyes travel up and down Jacqueline's figure. "Guess you've seen better days too, huh? Got caught up in that fight?" She smiles, if fleetingly. "Heh heh... hell of a place to meet up. ...And you don't have to call me 'Miss', you know."

Something big with some ice? "You got it."

To be fair, Josie doesn't really even know Lunata's name. But it doesn't matter -- she's still a kid going through a rough time. That much, the archaeologist knows. Her gaze lingers on Lunata, then Lunata's mother. "Lunata, huh? That's got a cute sound to it. And, it's Josephine, Josephine Lovelace. But, just call me Josie -- and don't let me catch you calling me 'Miss'." She grins, exposing a few white teeth. "I think there's some tea, too--"

And Josie might have left her mug (of spirits, probably) and walked off to do just that if Lily hadn't called out to her.

Lily gets a glance. "But this is resting," Josie mock-complains, even going so far as to sigh exaggeratedly before taking a step to the side and a long draw from her mug in one go. A lopsided smile coupled with a wink follows soon after. "Though, if you insist, Doctor Lily~" Finding a seat, she sits down gingerly.

The sword went clean through, after all. The core still doesn't feel completely great.

And then, brightly: "So! Lily, can you go get Emma and Lunata something to drink?" Feel her revenge, Lily.

A moment which is capped off by an apparent reprimand through the loudspeaker. Josie shrugs, as if in sympathy, at Bart, a sheepish smile on her lips. Then her dark-eyed gaze lands on the bottle, as if she were calculating her odds of stealing it unseen. 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong remains pretty quiet. He looks over to Bart for a moment as he arrives and then back towards Lily. He runs his hands down his face and then shakes out his hands. Then he stares at his hands. And then he looks at the floor. This is really pretty pathetic.

"Huh?" He looks over to Emma. "Oh." He says. "Haha." He smiles. "Yeah." He smiles faintly. He realizes that Emma is a pretty smart person so maybe he should ask her. But ask about what? He can't mention what happened to HER in his dream, but he thinks he should mention something else. It sounds relevent.

"Hey Emma." He says. "I mean--Miss Hetfield. Can I ask you, uh, about something? It's--eh, it's probably nothing."

He bites into his lip and rubs his eyes again. He has not been sleeping well.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lunata thanks her, and Lily shakes her head quickly, still holding her drink. "It's only my job," the black-haired woman answers her, and then pauses, straightening. "...You're welcome," she says instead. "I'll keep doing everything I can. I promise."

"Jay," Lily adds over to Jacqueline, "Don't over-exert yourself. Make sure you stay seated as much as possible." But there's Jay and Lunata and Shalune all together, and Lily glances away. It affords her the chance to talk to Josie, which... Well, that goes well. "I do insist," Lily answers. "And if you're going to call me doctor, call me Keil." She takes another sip of her drink. And then... There's...

Lily slowly frowns at Josie's request. She looks over at Bart as Maison calls out to him. She lifts an eyebrow, glancing to his water. And Bart start to make his announcement.

Lily looks to Fei next, "...Fei. Have you been sleeping all right?" She pauses and adds, "Hetfield, Lunata, I've got you both. If your glasses are missing just stay seated, please."

At that Lily moves behind the bar, setting down her glass, and fills a mug with water, getting out a teabag. Her hand moves over the mug and there's a red glow before the water is suddenly near-boiling in an instant. Teabag goes in. Next up, she grabs the bottle of scotch Josie's eyeing--with a look at her--and pours it in a glass, with ice.

These go to Lunata and Emma, respectively.

"I don't feel like sitting, Bart. Start whenever." 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Having known Shalune for a while, Jacqueline knows when it's time to move. She steps to the side just moments before a pink torpedo shoots past her, homing straight towards Lunata.

"Lunata, Shalune...I'm so glad to see the two of you are alright. I was worried..." Jacqueline says with a smile.

Bart calls for Lunata and her 'friend' - presumably the strange black cube - so Jacqueline sends her a reassuring nod as well. She didn't know what the pirate wanted to talk about...but she had a faint feeling about it.

She nods toward Lily when she gives her medical advice.

"Yes, that's probably for the best. Thank you, Lily." She replies with a nod and a smile. Very carefully she manuevers herself over to a seat, allowing herself to sink into it. When she's finally seated, she glances toward Josie and chuckles slightly.

"Yes, indeed...I'd prefer not to make a habit out of this, honestly." She comments with a smirk.

"Ah, sorry...well, I'll remember in the future, Josie." She says with a smile and a nod. 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Shalune will probably fix the Starfall Saloon's hot water issue, given time. Enough time and it might not even explode during hot summer days.

Immediately, the mechanic lifts back up from where she's basically knocked Lunata on her back to focus on the other girl's face; the expression isn't quite teary, but is certainly getting there, her eyes wet with emotion. "Y-you're okay--..." she mumbles, as if she can't quite believe it - and then sags back into the hug, immediately a little less frantic. If she notices the slightly muted nature of her childhood friend, the slight paleness, then it doesn't show in the midst of her relief.

She pulls up with surprise as Bart's voice comes over the speakers; jolted upwards and only just realizing there are other people in the room. "W-wah-- sorry! Um! I'm Shalune Amira, I-- I'm with Mrs. Croze, y'know, so--..." she tries to start but trails away, kind of bashful as she springs up to her feet and automatically offers Lunata a helping hand up.

As her other prime target, Jay gets a smile that is both grateful and worried, the expression too complicated to sit well on the girl's normally unassuming face, but then she starts to pick out more in the way of faces she recognizes around her. One mental count later and her sigh is hugely relieved, immediately followed by a pumping of her fists as she lets out another deep gulping breath.

The act seems to pump her spirits up a little, and at least gives her the energy to bound up to squeeze Jay in a hug, and then an ever-so-quick one to Sephy, and then--

... hugging your professor is kind of weird, she abruptly decides, and so she just passes the glasses across helpfully.

That done, she chases after Lunata, her eyebrows picking up in surprise as she sights the man who called them over. "--ah-- um-- thank you for saving us!" she blurts, as if getting it out before she forgets. This is, perhaps, a legitimate concern. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jay winces slightly at Shalune's hug...but she does feel better afterward, if only emotionally. She knew Shalune was probably worried beyond belief about both herself and Lunata.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, Shalune. I won't go down that easily, though." She says, trying to reassure her. It was big talk, considering she almost had. 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 Look just because you listen to the old man who pretty much raised you doesn't mean you're a wuss or any less in command of your badass pirate crew. And anyone who says otherwise will probably live to regret it. Maybe.

 But Bart is willing to at least roll with the punches, and Lily has been around enough to know that no matter what the pirate may bluster, he really respects Maison and Sigurd a great deal, and isn't going to do something against their wishes unless there's a really good reason for it.

 But as he sits down at the table and Lily moves to man the drinks, Bart looks a bit exhausted, and also a little worried. He gives Fei a look and a thumbs up, because really he's a good kid and no need to make him nervous. And then... back to Lunata and her little cohort.

 "Well, that was exciting to say the least. And you seem to have picked up a new pet. So first thing I want to say is we're gonna look after your mom, Lunata, and make sure she gets the best care we can. And we'll get her someplace where she can really be looked after. Wiseass Doctor C..." As opposed to Wiseass Doctor L, or the Medbay Witch, or occasionally (if not in her healing) She Who Must Be Obeyed (or she might set your wound on fire). "...says that there's someplace she can go if she doesn't start to mend where they can treat her, but hopefully it won't come to that."

 Bart shifts a bit, and takes a sip of his drink. And when he sits it around, he looks at Lunata, and then Shalune and the others. "But you've got an ancient and strange Gear down in the hanger. And... that." Bart gestures with his glass towards the Cube which is Lunata's Companion. "...which was really creepy by the way when we popped the hatch, I've not mentioned that before and this will certainly not be the last time." He gives Lunata's chest, which is remarkably UNPERFORATED compared to what he would have been expecting when the crew had gotten her out of that machine, a stern gaze.

 "So my big question is what are you going to do now? This isn't going to be the last time Lord Muttonchop and his merry band of ravagers try and take that Gear." 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata looks just mildly startled as she stammers, "It's okay, I can get my own tea..." as Josie and Lily start to rib at each other, though even she could tell that it's not all that serious. She might be in too downtrodden a mood to just wave it off, though.

She stops by Sephy's side and nods to her as well, patting Chauncey on the head. "Thank you, Sephy... I really really appreciate your help too."

She watches Fei and Emma for a moment too, but she doesn't really want to intrude on their conversation -- she watches her just for a moment, giggling. "Wow, that's amazing, Miss Lily... thanks for the tea," she stirs the teabag, before taking a sip.

The waitress does have to wonder who the man in the loudspeaker is -- she assumes that it's Bart's father, but 'young master' is a weird way to address your son... She does turn to stare at the -- uhh, cube that's followed her upstairs to where Bart's seated, nervously. "Thank you, Mister Bart," she nods in turn as he reassures that they'll look after her mother. "I really appreciate the care everyone here's given her..." She doesn't exactly know where Bart is referring to, but...

She does look down at herself as she -- places a hand on her chest, very gently. "... it's true... they'll continue to chase after that Gear, won't they? Not just -- not just, um, Lord Muttonchop--" sorry Berserk, she never got your real name "--but also... from what Miss Miang and mother said, Solaris and Aveh too. ... I wish I could just say 'I'd like you to have it', since -- I'm not a Gear pilot, but..."

She glances at the cube again, which... bobbles up and down gently.

"... it seems to ... be following me." 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

"Hm? Let me see..." Emma reaches forwards, fumbling a little, but gets hold of the glasses. Bringing them closer she squints, rubs some dirt andor blood andor demon juice off them... bends an earpiece... slides them on...

And with a visible shower of sparkles, Emma's appearance is restored! "Oh what wonderful luck. If they aren't mine, they're just as good. Thank you SO much! What do I owe you for this, hm? Work like this deserves a reward," Emma tells Sephilia, looking upon her with benevolence.

Then she gets liquor. The sparkles intensify. "THANK you, Mrs. Albus!"

At this point Emma looks to Fei, wrinkling her nose a bit to scoot her glasses back into place. "Shoot," she tells him. "Metaphorically, I mean - as in, go ahead, proceed. Please don't actually discharge a weapon in the... lounge...?" Did she even know what room she was in.

After this Bart approaches and Emma looks at him as he speaks. She glances at Lunata afterwards, gently, but doesn't interrupt. (Yes, it's a minor miracle. Praise chu gods that chu may be so blessed going forwards.)

"It's possible that it's identified you as its 'Owner.' Many of the really ancient ARMs have similar modes," Emma does offer, after Lunata identifies her new, cube friend.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia smiles at Lunata and Shalune as they offer her hugs nad greetings. In response to Emma, though, the girl merely shakes her head. "You don't owe me anything, but I do wanna learn about electricity an' stuff...just, go easy on book words, I guess?" She sighs. "I wish I knew more about stuff like Gears and things, I just don't feel very useful right now."

"At least I could help with the injured. That I knew what to do with." 

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

"Right, right, it's not a good habit to form," the archaeologist comments, lips splitting into an amused grin. But Josie waves a hand -- or more precisely, waves the mug in her left hand -- as she smiles at Jay. "And don't worry about it! Just, for the record, okay?"

Josie almost, almost rolls her eyes long-sufferingly at that. But instead, she smiles. "Well then, as you wish, Doctor Kiel~" Just the same ribbing sing-song as before, the kind where you overpour the honey with exacting precision.

It is pretty obvious that they're ribbing each other but that still doesn't stop Josie from once again waggling her mug, Lunata's way this time. "Don't worry about it. She's more than equipped for the job." Case in point, as Lily uses her talents to brew up a cuppa much faster than putting the kettle on. Lily, though, won't just concede the little power play: "Hey--" There goes the bottle. But Josie never really had the chance to take it unseen.

"...Ice cold," Josie laments, as Lily pours herself a glass. Alas, it just was never to be.

Drifting towards relative silence once again, Josie takes another drink, her gaze flitting between Bart and Lunata as they recap events -- sure, a little of it Josie's heard, but she's been a bit out of the loop lately.

Setting down a mostly empty mug, she leans forward, resting her left hand on her knee. "So your little buddy... does it have a mind of its own? ...It really is just shaped like a cube, huh..." she murmurs, squinting at the thing as it hovers. "Too bad it's just the one. I'd love to see what makes it tick."

Which would involve a hammer, probably, seeing as she can't determine any points to really take it apart otherwise. At least not from where she's sitting. 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei says, "Oh, uh, I've been having weird dreams." to Lily. "I think... they're related." He looks towards Bart and adds, "You mentioned Cecilia had a vision right? So it's not like it's too crazy to think about what it might mean, right?" He's kind of downplaying it because it didn't really feel like a DREAM exactly, it felt more like a memory, but Fei doesn't really trust his own thoughts too much these days. He returns Bart's thumbsup. He asks an important question, too. That question is 'WHAT NOW'.

He stands himself up and he walks towards Lunata. He takes in a short breath and adds, "...I'm really sorry." He says. "I didn't realize you were the one piloting it, not until--well..." He shakes his head. "I don't think it's a good idea to resist it. It...it has a way of coming back for you but... I think if it's in your hands, it won't do much harm--I mean, rather--it'll do good. You did, uh--I heard you saved us. So thank you."

He then turns towards Emma. "I don't know if uh. Okay, I had this weird... 'vision', I guess." He looks away. "Um. The Metal Demons were in it. As were uh."

He sighs. "Ugh. It's ridiculous." He sits himself down and doesn't actually succeed at asking the question. He says, eventually, "Are the uh... are the Elw 'real'? I thought you might know about that, if they were." He looks back at Emma. 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"Better," Lily says to Josie, and is still on the move. "You're welcome," she says to Lunata, "And thank you. I am fairly well-equipped for it." She looks almost pleased, not smiling but standing up a little straighter. Of course she knows how to brew a cup of tea; she was an Officer. A beat as she doesn't even look at Josie but answers, "Always." She doesn't give Josie the bottle.

But Emma is her next stop, and Lily hnands over the drink and then freezes at what she calls her. "W-wh--" Lily's face is abrubtly bright red, all the more obvious with how pale she ordinarily is. "W-we're not--" She looks away immediately, "That's... Miss Keil, please. We aren't married." She walks immediately back to the bar and finishes her entire drink to try to calm down.

After that, Lily nods to Jacqueline after a moment. "...You're welcome. I just don't want you worsening your injuries, that's all." She looks at Josie briefly, but not for very long at the moment. Thanking Bart is well and good from Shalune, but Lily has something to do as well.

She doesn't make fun of Bart for listening to Maison, either way. He looks tired; that concerns her as well, and she looks him over briefly, but he's in charge here and she's not going to undermine him by mentioning how tired he looks.

Wiseass Doctor L could ay a lot about this, but she doesn't. Lily inclines her head. "Until we move her," Lily says to Lunata, "I'll keep watch over her."

The Gear... is interesting. There are questions of what to do. Lily glances to Fei next. "Fei," she says at what he says, concerned. She... avoids Emma entirely, at the moment.

"...I have experience fighting Aveh and Solaris," Lily says, "As well as Metal Demons, now. I have my own mission, and it's top priority, but until I can advance that..." A shrug, and a shake of her head, "I'll help you."

"...I'm honestly really curious about that Gear. You know why already." Lily hasn't mentioned that secret to anyone else here. "So even if I didn't..." She hesitates, "I have multiple reasons to help." She goes to pour herself another drink behind the bar--this time, scotch. 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

"You'd better not, or you wouldn't be Jay," burbles Shalune back in the midst of her hug, before detaching and joining with Lunata and Bart. The line is-- surprisingly quiet, maybe even pouting, but there's a serious note of confidence behind it.

* * *

Bart's pointing finger points at something Shalune hadn't even noticed before, and at Lunata's side is the dangerous little noise of a certain mechanic getting an eyeful of something she doesn't yet recognize. "Wah!-- what's that? It's cute!" she blurts all of a sudden, her attention rather diverted towards the box as she peers around it. "Is it some kinda control device? Um, like an entry token to the Gear maybe? I guess you're synchronized with it, but usually that involves, uh, actually doing the synchronizin' yourself." Never mind that she managed to fix her Golem while near-unconscious, however that worked.

Her attention seems to fixate on it a moment longer, Josephine's comments surely ringing in her ears because she starts replying to her. "It doesn't look like any material I recognize... um, I don't even see any seams," she adds, peeking underneath it but ultimately rather uncertain about where to start unearthing the box's secrets. "I guess you could take a drill to it, but it's not like there's an obvious point... you might damage the internals wherever you picked, right?"

The Captain's questions make her pause, though - at least, she assumes the eyepatched figure is the Captain, because who else would have an eyepatch aboard what she's fuzzily identified as a ship? - and after a moment, she begins to worry at her lower lip as she straightens up back to the table. "I'll-- I'll fix it up," she mumbles, not exactly full of conviction in the face of this seriousness but not wanting to back down either, finding her hands bunched at her sides. "I'll fix it and Big Shal, and we'll stop anyone who wants to take it. If it wants to be with Lunie, then that's fine by me."

She pauses, and seems to realize she's kind of spoken for the white-haired girl in her bluster, immediately dipping her head. "... um-- sorry..." she mumbles, clinging ever so slightly to the sleeve of Lunata's shirt. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline smiles and pats the back of Shalune's head gently. Shalune's quiet confidence in her...it's heartwarming, and reassuring. Her friend detaches after that, and moves to join Lunata.

Jacqueline nods toward Josie then and smiles. She doesn't respond, though she does chuckle slightly at the little 'battle' between Josie and Lily.

She allows herself to lean back, listening in to the conversations going on around her. She'd honestly like a drink, herself...but considering her condition it was probably for the best that she held off.

She manages to avoid chuckling at Lily's reaction to Emma's comment, instead acknowledging her statement with a nod.

"Me either." She comments with a chuckle. Sephilia then gets a glance and a smile.

"It's alright, you're doing fine. Helping the injured is one of the greatest positions you could have." She says. She had probably been on the receiving end of Sephilia's help at some point, though she wouldn't have been conscious to know this. 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 "Well given the last time Dark Hambone decided he wanted something the Battle of Adlehyde happened, I wouldn't expect him to start being reasonable anytime soon," Bart comments rather sardonically. He isn't really sure why Berserk does things, but the thing isn't merciful, and seems far too interested in smashing everything around him for anyone's good.

 "So, cards on the table Lunata," Bart continues. "I suspect that the machine you're piloting may be one of a legendary group of machines called 'The Omnigears'. For reasons I'm not gonna get into right now, I've been searching for them for a long time. Given that we're searching for these ancient Gears as sort of a side thing... I can't say that we'll come across any information immediately. But..."

 The pirate looks at the box, which seems unwilling to leave Lunata's side for the moment. "Well, I'm going to be blunt. Some people go off looking for greatness for their entire lives, trying to find something greater and become 'important' somehow. And some people just fall into it, if they like it or not." Bart's single blue eye looks into Lunata's, and his mouth quirks in a bemused smile. "I think you're going to end up like Fei, tossed into the center of a storm you didn't really want to see, or even care for. I feel a bit responsible, but I'm not gonna lie that I've got some reasons of my own to help you out. So you're going to have to decide... do you want to ride through this with we happy band of lunatics, or do you want to strike out on your own or try and find someone else to help you?"

 He looks over at the rather enthusiastic Shalune, and grins. "I can even be persuaded to allow some help along for the ride, but you'll probably have to ask nicely and say please for that." 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata looks somewhat concernedly at Josie, looking to the cube again. "It turned into a cube. I'm not sure if it has a mind, but... it was the... what do you call the big thing in front of the seat with all the complicated numbers and needles and the little sticks you pull up and down again...? In the--" she looks to Lily for confirmation, "Cockpit."

She looks towards Fei with a gentle smile of her own, lowering her head. "... I-- I didn't do much, honestly. I mean, I really didn't. It was more like it... told me how to move it..." She bites her lip, looking just a little reticient to talk through the idea of receiving flashes of memories -- memories of death. "But I'm glad it could at least make it protect us."

Shalune's comment of 'actually doing the synchronising yourself' gets her just a little bit more mum, biting her lip.

Indeed, the cube is a little strange in how it just seems to... not reflect light, looking for all intents and purposes like someone forgot to apply a texture to this poor object compared to the rest of the scene. It's featureless and smooth, and outside of its bobbling, completely unreactive.

But Bart's explanation gives her some pause. "Omni...gear...?" Lunata says slowly, like she's trying to record it for a dramatic moment to be taken out of context for some E3 trailer for the game's namedrop. "I never heard about anything like that... I'd have to ask mother if she knew anything of the sort, but she never mentioned it to me either."

Bart's description of how she fell into importance does strike a bit close, though, as she looks to Fei again as he speaks to Emma... huh. What was the 'Elw'? She'd never heard about anything like that. She takes in a deep breath and considers it for a moment longer.

"I was..."

She places her hands together to her chest.

"I was already committed to helping my friends out, after what happened in Adlehyde... I couldn't just sit still and do nothing. I was going to go with Jacqueline and friends and strike out west with them..." she explains, thinking of their plans and how they were going to build a vehicle to do so.

"But at the same time, I know I can't take care of that Gear alone. If it'd be... if it'd be okay with you, I want to travel with Jay and Lunie... but I'd like to help you as well, Mister Bart. You and everyone here've saved us... and I'd like to repay that favor, however I can."

She hesitates and amends, as if it really needed to be voiced out. "I'm-- I'm-- just a waitress, not a Gear pilot, though, and I've never been out to war or anything or know about tactics, so I can't promise how amazing or awful I'd be if you ask me to try riding that Gear, I haven't lived that kind of military life... is that okay?" 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

"Oh," Emma tells Lily. "I'd thought wrong. Thank you either way, however." She takes a slug before considering Fei's question.

"The Elw were real," Emma tells him. "They were a technically adept race - a sort of clade of demihumans, you understand - who focused on farming and agricultural development, but also had distinct access to advanced technology. They participated in the wars against the Metal Demons - creating the Golems in fact - but while there were some reports of survivors afterwards, they haven't been confirmed to exist for hundreds of years."

Emma sips her liquor. "It's possible their culture died out, even if some Elw survived on a personal basis. And it's also possible that the Metal Demons killed most of them and the few survivors faded into history... I like to think that they survive in some hidden vale or island, but that's pretty unlikely. Not in this day and age of Filgaia's... Oh, but I'm rambling."

She asks Fei, "You said a 'vision'? Do you mean that you saw a video recording - on a screen or wall? It's similar to the technology in Gears, and I've even heard of some people trying to reproduce the effects with photo-sensitive film strips..."

Her attention goes back to Sephilia. "It's going to be very tricky. We don't use these words to play games with people. It's like how they have six hundred expressions for 'rain storm' in Aquvy - or like how you no doubt know the name of over a hundred things to eat."

Then Bart speaks up. Emma looks at him - and tugs out the Emulator, and is she tapping in notes? Bart actually probably does know what typing on a computer keyboard looks like. Is he on the record?!

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei is relieved. "I was--I am an artist," He tells Lunata. Frankly being a waitress is probably a better job for piloting a killer robot since you can at least remember all the times someone stiffed you on a tip and let it fuel your anger. "So I can't argue."

He looks at that cube again before stepping backwards. For a moment he worries that Weltall might be an omnigear but he's relieved when he manages to convince himself that's really impossible. It's just a normal overly destructive weapon. What a relief!!!

He looks to Lily, seeing that she's concerned. He reddens faintly and sits himself down. Lily may not have killed one of the Quarter Knights yet (time bubble!) but Fei still has a great deal of respect for people of healing and intelligence.

"Sorry, I'm--I'm okay." He tells her as he listens to Emma's story. He doesn't seem surprised by what she tells him despite being a country yokel. He nods slowly. He didn't see any Elw alive in his vision so it fits with it. Why did he see a vision of the past? He looks towards Lunata. Maybe it was...from her gear? No it doesn't feel right. He can't explain it.

"It was in my head." Fei says. If it wasn't for Cecilia he wouldn't be saying this since he'd fear being seen as a crazy person but clearly visions about the Metal Demons are pretty common. Also he feels pretty well established as having a low SAN score.

"I saw the Elw." He says. "They were--like you said--they were killed. By the Metal Demons. I even heard Berserk, Sigfried injured." Fei presses his fist into his cheek contemplatively. Don't mention Elly, he reminds himself. That's too weird even for this sort of thing.

"I just thought maybe, they might have known something about how to stop them. Since I think--they've been stopped before. The metal demons, I mean. And there was one other thing." 

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

At that, Josie really can only shake her head at Lily. "I don't know how Leon handles it," she grumbles, good-naturedly.

Meanwhile, there's the matter of the patently weird floating black cube. Which wasn't always a cube. "Huh." Josie actually blinks, when Lunata explains what she experiences. "I... can't say I've ever heard of something like that." She squints at the floating cube again. "Guess this is what the real deal looks like! You know, there are stories about things like this..." The kind that sound almost too fantastic to be real. And yet!

"Me neither," she answers Shalune, shrugging. The kid gets an appraising glance, particularly when she goes on. Huh. Not bad. "I've seen some ancient ARMs before, but this just about takes the cake." Straightening, Josie leans back to stare up at the ceiling. "...And that's the problem, isn't it? I guess I'd have to really look at it, but it really doesn't seem to have anything I could just pry open..." Josie shakes her head. "...Right, and if we did that, or anything like that, there's a chance it'd break. It's really too bad we don't have a second. We could sacrifice one if that was the case."

She sighs, a touch dejectedly. "That's the downside of ancient technology, you know. It's hard to tell how it works without making it stop for good." She's all for taking things apart, but it's sort of a problem when, you know, you might want to keep the piece in working order. And you have no idea what its 'guts' are made of.

She sits up straight again when Shalune vows that 'she'll fix it'.

...Not bad.

"...I can't say I know much about Gears, but it's just machinery in the end. I can give it a look. If you need a hand..." Josie pauses, glancing over at Lily. "Well, if 'Doctor Keil' says I can, anyway. I don't suppose you've got some tools?"

Settling back a bit in her seat, she regards Bart for a moment. "Omnigear, huh... Do you really think so? Though," she continues, shrugging lopsidedly, "If anything's gonna be something that powerful, this probably fits the bill, right?" There's a glance Emma's way, as she launches into a brief discussion of the Elw. "What she said," Josie says, nodding. "Sometimes you still find a few of their artifacts, lying around. I ran across a statuette of an Elw once, I think -- you remember, right, Lily?" She inclines her head roughly in Doctor Lily's direction. Which is soon joined by a glance at Fei. "...So, did they have long ears?" She seems awfully sanguine about his apparent visions of the distant past.

When all's said and done though, Josie flashes a fleeting grin. "Heh heh, this is getting pretty interesting. I guess I got lucky, getting stabbed~ I got to hear stuff like this!" 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"He handles it very well," Lily remarks lightly to Josie, quicker on the draw conversationally with Josie than with... Well, just about anyone. Maybe she's comfortable with the older woman?

Lily nods to Lunata as she mentions the Gear' s interior. "Cockpit, yes. And you mean the display? That's... unusual. I've never seen one shrink down like that." It's no as if Lily hasn't been in Gears herself. A few of them, in fact. But what Lunata explains about all of that...

Lily sips at her drink as Bart waxes poetic, as he mentions these ancient Gears. She looks thoughtfully between him and Lunata for a long few moments. But there's the question. What does Lunata want to do?

"It'll take some time for the Gear to be repaired regardless," Lily points out to Lunata when she mentions helping. "So you'd have time to travel. As for not living a military life... Nevr worry that that's not okay. Tactics can be taught. You're better off not being at war. I won't lie, though; fighting this kind of conflict, against these kinds of enemies... It will be difficult, and you might feel you've lost something of yourself when you're done. I know."

"So it's fine if you don't feel you're ready. It's fine if you don't know everything. I promise... I'll teach you what I can, too."

The talk of the Elw is interesting... but Lily looks back at Fei a momentlater. She watches him redden. "Just take it easy, Fei," she says softly, still concerned. "...You saw... this in your head? You saw the Metal Demons...?"

She hesitates, and looks back to Josie next. "I remember, you did. Anyway sure, once you're recovered, you can help all you want. But you're not recovered yet, so you'll need my supervision."

"I'm the one who' patching you up if you screw up, fall, and break something. Keep that in mind." Lily takes another drink. "And stop saying you were lucky getting stabbed. I can take your bandages off." 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

A little cowed after both her outburst and Bart's response to it, Shalune just bites at her lip as she listens to Lunata's response; here, her worry starts to show itself again, her eyes clouding over a little as she dips her head in what is probably supposed to be an apology.

She might be an instinctive mechanic, but it's not like she's at the level of Emma or Mrs. Croze when it comes to esoteric and mystical control systems - she's more at home with the actual physical parts and mechanisms inside, and it shows as she sneaks another furtive glance at the black box bobbing in the air without a single visible propulsion mechanism.

She does have to admit that it's cute, mind you.

"... I, um-- I'm sorry," she says to Bart after another halting moment, sucking in a breath as she rubs at the back of her mess of hair and then bows her head to mumble awkwardly. "I just-- I hadn't seen Lunie or Jay or Mrs. Croze in ages, and then that all happened - I got really scared for them, y'know? The fighting kind of scared."

She sounds calmer, at least - though when she straightens up it's with a pump of her fists, her eyes bright as she blurs her comments together. "But-- I want to help out too! Please! I need to pay you back, and-- well, you've seen what I can do! A place like this-- it's amazing, and you must need a lot of help with it, right? So-- so even if I'm travelling with Lunie and Jay most of the time--..."

Josephine gets her attention again, knocking her out of her fluster, and she grins faintly at the approving tone in the woman's voice. "A-ah, um, I mean-- I know what I'm doing with that kinda stuff, sorta. It's more like I can just kinda see what needs fixing, get a sense for what I need to do. Then I go with that, and it generally sorts itself out from there. Big Shal was all my work, she was seriously beat up when I first found her," she adds, of the Golem sitting innocently in the hangar.

A brief pause, and the girl rubs at her hair, looking sheepish. "Sometimes I kinda need a bit of a run-up, I guess, but I still like to think I'm pretty good! I mean, I noticed there's a couple drive shafts on the ship that sound like they've only got a couple months left. Um, the camber on one foil's bent out of shape too, and that whine probably means a belt somewhere's going--"

Ah, so she has seen the Engine Room. Well, it is a tradition for brightly-haired injured girls new on the ship to just walk on in there. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia nods glumly at Emma's comment about the book words. "Okay, but...maybe go slow till I can follow the words? It's pretty hard, I don't have like, anything like this back home on Lunar."

She looks worried about Fei. "Fei are you...okay? That sounds like a scary dream. I have scary dreams sometimes lately."

The girl falls quiet again. 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 There is one thing that keeps Emma from getting kicked off the ship for taking notes about Bart's SECRET PLANS. And that's the fact that she's generally good with Cecilia, and Bart is willing to trust the Princess' judgement about these sorts of things. So... he gives her a long look, but generally rolls with it for the time being.

 Sadly for Bart, security on the ship isn't that great, mainly because he trusts the people he's bringing onboard.

 This will IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM COME BACK TO BITE HIM IN THE FUTURE. Certainly not with molls who may be moles.

 But Bart chuckles as Lunata protests that she's not a pilot or anything similar. "Well, why don't you talk to Fei about how piloting a Gear is something you can pick up on easily enough. And you did pretty well your first time out - better than I did, really." Bart doesn't really think Lunata uses any sort of control system that he can make sense of, especially when he had his people show him pictures of the cockpit. "If it's something that's attuned to you and you alone, I think you'll be able to get a hang of it soon enough."

 But Bart can respect that Lunata also wants to forge her own path as well. Given that there's not a ton of information he has that might help her, it seems reasonable. "Well, we can keep your Gear safe for you, make sure it's repaired and tuned up, and if we're in the area we should be able to deploy it to your location easily enough. But we might end up asking you for help as well - seems fair, right? Especially if we're gonna have to drive transports out to you or figure out how to fit your Gear into one of the vertical launchers." Wait what?

 "Anyways, I seem to be picking up young girls of late, so adding you lot isn't a big deal. We'll do what we can to help you out, and in return... well, we're not gonna ask you to do anything you don't want to do. But as I'm sure you've seen, we're in a mess out here, and we're going to be working to help keep people safe from the Metal Demons and gods know what else. Oh and also kicking Prime Minister Shakhan out of Aveh at some point so he doesn't oppress the people there anymore, that's also on the list."

 Bart kicks back, raises his glass, and downs the water in one go. "Anyways, I don't expect an answer out of you lot immediately - feel free to recuperate here and think it over, and decide if my terms are acceptable. After that... well, we'll see." 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata lowers her head with a soft nod at Fei, as he relates how he once was just an artist. He doesn't mention that he's also a -martial- artist and headbutts wolves for breakfast, but what's a minor little detail like that in the grand scheme of things?! "I'm really sorry it happened to you, Mister Fei..." she feels empathetic, at least...and guiltily, maybe relieved she isn't the only one? But struggles like these had a way, as Bart said, of roping people who didn't want to be caught up in it in the mire of its schemes...

She does look a little bit agog at Josie's grin of getting stabbed, though, though she keeps a bit mum about it. Don't talk about getting stabbed after possibly making deals with what might possibly be the Reaper itself...

"It... it might be easier to-- um, study when it's not a cube? I haven't tried, but if I walk back to the Gear's cockpit, it might turn back...?" she sounds awfully helpless about it, since she doesn't exactly know how it works. Just that it up and turned into a cube when she left.

She gives Lily a good bit of heed as she explains of war and its nature to her, biting her lip. She looks somewhat nervous. "... I know that it won't be fun. I think I've accepted that... but I-- I hope this part of myself I don't lose is..." She doesn't look like she really knows how to phrase it. How could she? Up until a few weeks ago, her life was extraordinarily normal, all things considered.

She does nod at Bart's suggestion. "That's more than fair -- thank you." She doesn't know what a vertical launcher is, but she kind of hopes that doesn't end up with her getting landed on. There'd be no worse death than to get squished by her own Gear... brrr.

"I'm not quite sure what we're planning yet -- but I know that we'll continue to do Digs... so we'll share whatever information we have that could be useful to you, Mister Bart, I'm sure Jay'd be okay with that too," she looks to the alchemist for confirmation. "Whether on the Omnigears or how to keep our people safe..."

She nods as Bart tells them to think it over. It's a lot of information to take in. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline listens in with a slight frown. It sounded like Lunata was being thrust into a dangerous situation. Things really had changed, hadn't they...? She'd said so herself at some point, but hearing it said now...it really drove the situation home.

"If Lunata and Shalune will be helping you...then you have my support as well, Bart. I know it may not mean much right now, given my current state...but someone's gotta look out for them." Jacqueline says, glancing towards the group.

"And...well, you've already got an excellent medic on-board, of course, but if you ever need potions of any kind, all's you have to do is ask." She offers. Then, when Lunata looks to her for confirmation, she nods.

"Of course. We're not finding that information just to keep it for ourselves, after all." She assures with a smile. 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily finds herself watching Shalune as she talks about Lunata, as she mentions what it is that she'll do. The tall, quiet medic keeps wathing her for a few moments after. Only then does she add, "...You have good friends, Lunata."

Apologizing or not.

She's glad Jay didn't laugh at her in her moment of issues at least. She already remembers a moment ago, having said, "Yes, well--you're--welcome," and running off.

But now, she's talking with the others, and puts a hand to her face. "Bart, don't say it like that. It sounds bad when you say you're picking up young girls. Honestly..." A shake of her head, and another drink. "But we do have a lot of work to do out here. We can't afford to turn down what help we can get."

We. She is part of the crew, after all.

"...I hope so too," Lily says, though she can't know entirely what Lunata is thinking about. It seems important enough to her regardless. "I believe you."

"...Sephilia," she adds, "It's fine. You don't have to worry." A pause, as she looks between all of the others.

"...Thank you," she adds to Jay. "I'm glad you're looking out for them. Besides, potions make my job easier. ...Dr. Uzuki's, too." 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

Emma doesn't dispute Fei, looking back at him. She nods along. "They might have. But, goodness, you mean you saw that same rude Metal Demon? I suppose he couldn't have been that badly hurt. Seems fine, now..."

Her lips purse. "What was that other thing?"

Then she blinks owlishly at Sephilia. "Lunar?"

The glasses get adjusted and she nurses her drink. Could it be? she wonders. "That would explain many things," Emma murmurs. Her arms fold and she drifts into thought for a moment, momentarily unresponsive as she considers.

"I'm very glad I came on this ship," Emma does say aloud. "Thank you, Mr. Bart!"

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 Bart just looks at Lily, and growls something under his breath. It certainly isn't 'I'M ALREADY ENGAGED REMEMBER' because what sort of lunatic would say THAT with so many people in earshot? 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata doesn't seem to understand why Bart looks flustered after Lily says it doesn't sound good -- I mean, between her, Shalune and Sephilia, there's lots of young girls here! The more the merrier, right?? 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"Act like it," Lily mutters back behind her drink, looking straight back at Bart with a level stare. It's hard to make out, of course. 

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

"Oh yeah? So you've really got the gift for it, huh? That's pretty impressive! You're younger than I was when I started messing around with that stuff, too... Heh heh, I'm a little envious~" She grins, as if to signal that she's not serious. At least about the envy part. "Still, I'll be around if you need a hand or an eyeball, or whichever." She gestures, vaguely, with her left hand. "It'll work out, either way!"

Lunata voices the idea that it might be easier to study the cube if it... well, stops being a cube. "Hmm, maybe. It's something to try, right? I can give it a look -- but no promises! This is ancient, rare technology." And there's only so far they can investigate the thing before they run the risk of breaking it. "Maybe Emma's got a trick or two for analyzing that kind of thing." Here, Josie gestures Miss Hetfield's way. "I really could use some better tools, myself..."

The 'fight' between Lily and Josie, briefly under armistice, resumes. "Oh, come on. I'm just about right as rain again. I think I can handle a little light mechanical work."

If Josie were allowed to smoke in here, she'd probably pick this moment to meaningfully take a drag from her cigarette or something. But she isn't, so she doesn't. "...Kiddo, quit being so uptight," she gripes, after breathing out a mock-long-suffering sigh.

"Anyway," she says, barely missing a beat as she glances Bart's way, "Show me the Engine Room sometime!"

Hey, might as well make the best of it while she's stuck on board. 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 "MRRRRRRKE MRRRRREEEEE." Bart just doesn't even open his mouth, but just fixes his eye on Lily. 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Well," Fei admits. "She did better than I did my first time out." Really, she did better than his second time too. And third time? Maybe fourth time? Okay maybe Lunata is just a better pilot than him, at least by Fei's standards of not causing more problems than one solves.

He nods to Lily's question. Berserk's voice pack makes an impression. He's not sure how he recognized Siegfried as Siegfried. Or for that matter, the Elw as the Elw. He definitely hasn't met one before nor has he looked at any pictures of them, if they even existed. It's just something he understood. This isn't to say he actually understands, though. It's a subtle difference.

"Oh uh." He looks to Sephilia. "Out of curiousity... when you have a scary dream, what do you uh--what do you do about it?" Look it's ok to ask Sephilia about scary dreams she's not that much younger than he is ok, but it's Emma's question that takes the most of his focus. It's something he really doesn't want to say, not quite as much as the Elly thing which he's damn sure he's not gonna, but if he powers through it and mentions THIS thing then maybe he can tell them what he feels they should know without actually mentioning what is deeply personal.

"Someone was mentioning--Harthcout--he was saying that we needed to 'finish Mother'." He grimaces upon saying it. "I uh. I don't really know what that is but."

He shrugs haplessly. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia seems pleased at Lily's reassurance and does indeed seem reassured.

To Emma, she blinks. "Lunar. Uh...you know where Althena's Guard came from? I...maybe I'll have to start from the beginning."

to Fei, Sephy simply holds out Chauncey. "Chauncey hugs me till I feel better," she answers. 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Biting at her lip as she also looks to Jacqueline for approval, Shalune seems a little fuzzed out; fond of acting on impulse and instinct, the mechanic probably isn't really quite aware just yet of what she's got herself into, and may need a couple of days to process the offer she's just made - not to mention some time to sleep off the knock on the head she picked up at the end of their ruins dive.

She sneaks Lunata a brief and apologetic look, as well, aware she's kind of butted into things - but then instantly neps out, her eyes solid white circles as the back-and-forth of the rom-com around them kind of goes way over her head. "A-ah--... um... I-I'm not sure Lunie and I count as 'young'--" she tries to grumble, but some spider sense tells her not to push it any further than that, so she diverts. "And, uh-- fixin' stuff up is basically what helps me rest, so I can take a look at some stuff around the place and help out, maybe..." 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

Emma takes an exception from observing the tense interplay between Lily and Bart out of the corner of her eye to ask Fei, "Finish in the sense of complete, or in the sense of 'finish off'?"

"Perhaps so," she tells Sephilia. Then, back to Josephine: "Hmmm? I wasn't listening. Do you need some analysis tools? Of course I'm a little short right now, given the constant destruction of my capital assets by Metal Demons, but I'd be glad to consult on any projects on your mind."

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei didn't answer that wholly because it wasn't exactly clear in the wording but now that he's asked he feels compelled, "I think uh. I can't really be sure. I think it was 'finish off', though. I thought about all the ways it might mean and that felt the most...uh...correct."

He smiles at Sephilia since he's not about to ask for her stuffed animal. "Huh. He really is something, isn't he?" He's going to have to continue to suffer though he does give Chauncey a fond nose boop to show his gratitude. It's honestly a relief that Sephilia has Chauncey since it means he doesn't have to worry so much. 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 So, the usual back and forth with Lily aside, Bart thinks that things have gone rather well. He grins at both of the girls, and shakes his head. "You'll find we're pretty informal when things are happening around here, so don't worry too much. Anyone who tells you stories about someone being hung from the yard arm is LYING."

 Bart pauses, and then whispers to the girls, "We hang people from the spanker instead. So don't let people spread blatant lies." He makes no attempt to explain what either of these things are, or if the ship even has one of those. Because why not?

 But Bart stands up, and stretches. "I've got some paperwork to see to - Lily, you know what to do." Which is 'make sure these people who are still beaten up don't hurt themselves even more.' Even if she needs to hurt you a little to keep yourself from getting hurt a lot.

 Lily Keil. Tough love incarnate.

 "Fei, good job out there yesterday. I dunno why Muttonchop freaked out some, but... um, keep doing it?" Bart looks optimistic and gives a thumbs up. He has no idea what happened. Don't encourage the potential homicidal maniac, Bart.

 But the captain turns, and starts heading off to the bridge. Sadly being captain means doing ACTUAL WORK around here, as much as he tries to get out of it from time to time. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata doesn't look exactly thrilled -- anxious even -- as she says, "I--I'll behave myself...!" because she's already imagining the spanker and it's probably like one of those torture implements she saw in the Haunted Manor, which she actually does still need to return to to properly exorcise the ghost of that Old General. He's suffering.

She smiles warmly at Jacqueline as she claims her support too, knowing they'll have their back. "I know you'll look out after me, Jay... that makes me a lot more comforted." W-what, and Shalune's doesn't?! Favoritism!

She waves gently at Bart, before sighing to look at Shalune and say, "Oh, let's check the baths out, Lunie! Emma said there was running hot water!"

Ah, business as usual... 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei looks back to Bart. "You uh. You WANT me to keep doing it?" He gives Bart a thumbsup largely because Bart is giving HIM a thumbsup, looking uncertain as he delves deep into himself and wonders if he really could 'keep doing that'.

He finds, as he watches Bart--a man he respects and sees as a friend depart--that the answer is 'yes'.

FEI PSYCHO 60 PERCENT 

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

Briefly, Josie hesitates, as if caught on the edge between two temptations.

Then, she makes her decision. "Sure, I could use some analysis tools!" she replies to Emma.

In the end it's a no-brainer. ...Assuming she doesn't have to pay a fee, but hey. 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"You are not 'just about right as rain again', you almost died," Lily answers Josie, frowning at the older woman sharply. "And I intend to make sure it remains only almost." Josie tells her to stop being so uptight, and Lily rolls her eyes, sighing back just as loudly. "I'm not uptight, I'm practical. You remember the difference."

The Engine Room. Why not?

Fei's answers are concerning and interesting. But Lily doesn't know anything about those, and so she doesn't say anything. Instead she looks to Shalune, "You look young enough to me. Mm... It helps you rest, does it? With an injury like yours it's fine as long as your feet stay on the ground."

But thre's Barts answer to her and Lily sighs again, taking another sip of her scotch. "You'll find you do better if you don't listen to Bart," she points out. But Bart stands up and...

"What?" she asks as Bart puts the safety of the room even more in her hands. She stares at him for a moment. "...Fine," she says, not looking at him but waving a hand his way. "Later, Bart."

She doesn't call him Captain. But she is a member of the crew.

"...Everyone just..." She starts to speak up and then has trouble doing so, closing her mouth. "...Just be careful Fei," she says, and reaches for the scotch again.

She'll just have to watch the whole room as long as they're here. And hopefully not be obligated to talk. She's done enough talking.

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