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 Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:14 pm
Someone was due to stick a fork in his poor fried masculinity, because it was officially done and DONE IN, YEP.
Again, it wasn't so much a problem of 'disliking' the affection in question, it was just... y'know, the whole 'ohae, we're in public!' thing that made him squirm a bit, still having to fend off a twitchy little urge to fidget as he felt the embodiment of his failed manliness clinging to him from behind.
"We--" GET IT TOGETHER, MAN. ONLY PREPUBESCENT LITTLE BOYS GET RUFFLED IN THESE KINDS OF SITUATIONS. "We've decided to take the offer. I'll be heading out to purchase tickets for the appropriate airship before nightfall descends."
Yes, that was it; he couldn't lose his cool in front of his rival (who, thank god, had possessed enough good sense to flee from the table before he got any glaring). It would just do him in to lose face even further...
"It... should make for an interesting experience," he added as conversationally as he could, as if he DIDN'T feel that everything would somehow turn out horribly. "Make certain you're packed by tomorrow for departure."
It wasn't really so much a matter of needing a 'good break' from Sir, actually-- not had she minded her 'caring' over the past few weeks at all (sans the occasional leverage battle that she always lost)-- but the solitude was nice as well, and it gave her an opportunity to 'chat' with dearest Del in private...
Which was really just an excuse to speak with something that couldn't speak back, and try to resettle her scattered thoughts, and rein in any possible reservations about the little invite so that when she got back, maybe after an hour or so with a quick errand or two, there would be no more outward signs.
It really was all just a matter of preparation now, huh.
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Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:08 pm
".... Wow, will tickets be available for a departure on that short of notice?" she asked, purring and pressing her cheek against his to further fry his masculinity... but it wasn't like he needed that to attract wimminz to him anymore, right?
Well, it certainly didn't help him look intimidating when a pretty little kitchen elf was seducing him and looking so innocent and harmless. Yeah, masculinity strike right there, ah ha ha.
"But I guess you'd be better off going out sooner as opposed to later to pick such things up, mm?"
Because if there were spots available to ship out tomorrow they were probably something well desired. Especially enough spots for the four of them. More often than not people planned such a thing as this out.
Unless it was them.
Nnnn, either way it wasn't as though everybody had to be glued together at the current time. Little 'me time so we don't all strangle one another' was all he needed at the given moment.
Not that he'd actually get fed up enough with anybody to strangle them. At least not within his group of companions (which was actually starting to feel like a group of companions and not just two groups of two....). But for the time being, it was time for a nap.
Unfortunately for him, as his body was all to willing to accept it.
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Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:41 pm
Yes, Aster, that was exactly right. If they wanted to have even the slimmest chance of flying out on short notice, better to act sooner than later on ticket checks... and that was exactly what Yossarian wound up doing, headed out by mid-day to go walk the coast and scour the docks for any willing (not to mention SAFE) flying vessel.
... Though as it turned out, even with such diligence to jump on the task quickly, he'd only been able to procure tickets for a small passenger ship due to leave in three days' time.
Not that this was really too much of a problem; so far as he was concerned, that simply meant the space would be easier to monitor and there'd be less idle time for them to be TORTURED BY SQUEALING MAIDS. It made for relatively lax packing rituals, plenty of time to contemplate whatever the quartet saw fit and, when mid-morning a.m. something or other of the promised day finally rolled around, all the parts had fallen into place.
He was ready to go, of course, with his scant belongings (a spare change of clothes, jacket, and a few other things) all packed neatly in the bag he'd procured for just such a purpose, heading out the door at the front of the pack as they set off toward DESTINY--
... Well, the ship, but close enough.
As for Shae... Well, aside from a slightly more reclusive inclination here and there than usual, she'd been the same as always in their little span of downtime, getting up with the sun and heading out to scrape up the extra side-funds from any one-shot job she could pick up, coming home by nightfall (usually a little dirtier or more worn out than she'd been leaving), and crashing in bed by... whatever time.
Still, she was just as ready to set out as the rest of them, Del on her shoulder and new coat (she'd bought a much tougher black and white knee-length number since the old one had been... 'lost'... weeks ago) already dawned as soon as they were out in the open air. She was stoic, and it was chilly, and the first feelings of winter were just beginning to resonate in the atmosphere.
... It just meant Salig would be all the more frigid when they arrived.
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Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 11:44 pm
Unlike the previous days it took Asteria Georgelas a good portion of energy to slump down the stairs that morning, bag over one shoulder and her hair mussed up in a way that was recognizable to all who were familiar with the signs of it as bed-head.
She'd definitely just rolled out of bed and toddled her way down the stairs with a sadface and a frownpurr and with a significant lack of the coherance she'd had for the month previous.
Had her energy just died?
Or perhaps it was a 'You don't need to be a kitchen elf so waking up isn't a needed waste of energy' on her part. Who knew. Either way she'd stumbled her way over to one of the chairs closest to the door and flumped into it.
"Nnnnn........Morning..."
As expected of Superman, he'd been the first to get up, making sure they weren't leaving any loose ends and going as far as to make the tea (and coffee) for 'breakfast' as it would be the last thing any of them ingested for a while.
Yes, perhaps that was why his body had slowly been going 'KAY, NOT HUNGRY NO MORE' like it had been for the last like..
...
MONTH. Yeah.
But it seemed they were mostly ready to go, given there was some waking up to be done. But they could allow a few minutes for that, Kanda standing by the doorway like a good little watchdog.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:40 am
And of course on the one day she really needed to be energetic, she wasn't.
Well, so long as Aster wasn't so incapacitated by her own sleepiness that he'd have to drag her sorry hide along by force (aka LUGGAGE), Yossarian could tolerate it without too much fuss, just standing there half in and half out of the (open) door with his arms crossed and one foot tempted to tap on the ground.
"... You'll be free to doze on the flight," was his little 'return' to the hello, admittedly a bit less 'fluffy' and 'affectionate' than she'd probably been wanting. "Stand up, Aster. We're can't idle here any longer."
It wasn't a matter of being mad or anything; he just didn't want to wind up being late and miss their ride!
At least he didn't have to badger Shae about it though who, as before stated, had already dawned her coat as soon as the door swung open, standing obediently in her 'proper' place and just waiting for the caravan to pull out.
She could easily brave a little cold snap in Erasmus, though... but again, if it was chilly on the temperate island, it would probably be ungodly MISERABLE up north for anyone who wasn't used to it...
... Or didn't have copious amounts of heat-insulating fur.
Damn half-blooded genetics. They really did work against her sometimes.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 12:09 pm
But she was awake enough to get right back up to go out the door, donning the big purple coat (which was technically Yossarian's....) over her back. Awww, she was already fully aware she was going to get cold and pale and worry her manlove.
But she was good enough to trod out the door (at less of a deathmarch) on her own with a weak prrprr to accompany it. Okay, she was coherant. Good girl.
"Mmm, I don't need anymore sleep... just not feeling the 'awake' vibes yet."
Aww, she was even forming complete sentances!
He was always well enough prepared for a good jaunt in the cold (especially after getting over 'his' cold), jacket pulled on and his shoulderpads..
...
Actually stashed away in his bag, since they were metal and he didn't need them freezing to his shoulders during the trip. OH HOW NAKED HIS ARMS LOOKED. Not really, but the lack of MANLEH SHOULDER PADDING certainly made him look smaller.
But whatever, he made a point to be the last one out the door (if only to play 'rear guard' or hiss at anybody watching them leave), placing his hand on Shae's back with a sort of 'I KNOW YOU IS FEELING OFF' sort of way before removing it.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 1:51 pm
... And that jacket borrowing of hers was exactly why he'd gone and bought a spare, figuring that he might as well just cover all his bases because, dammit, chances were that she still didn't even own one for herself yet, and there'd be no freezing for ANY one them, dammit! Not while he was (sort of but not really) in charge!
"Well hopefully you'll be more prone to feeling them as we walk, then," he commented dryly before, without further ado, setting out into the chilly blue yonder.
Yes, ONWARDS AND UPWARDS (...coastwards?), TO THE DOCKS!
As for Shae, she was the last out... or would've been if Kanda hadn't waited by the door for bringing up the rear, only giving a moment's pause she she felt something touch her back--
... But she knew what it was and didn't flinch, even putting on a weak smile when she glanced over her shoulder and kept on. Yes, she was well aware that he was aware, and... surely, her lingering reservations were nothing but unsubstantiated fear getting too much of a foothold. It'd all be fine, right? They'd just head up, get on their ship, fly to Salig without issue and spend a little while in the lap of luxury.
Nothing more.
As for the walk, it wound up being largely uneventful (thank god), making it to the docks in just under half an hour to meet a rather unimpressive, but sky-worthy little passenger vessel docked in the shallows at the end of a loading pier. The pilot, a rather worn out looking middle-aged black Koshka with silvering cheek fur, was almost done packing... and what of the other travelers heading along?
Absolutely nothing but benign fellow felines: just a couple of straggling travelers and a family or two returning home after their 'island getaway'. No cranky Mench in sight.
It was a good sign, hmm?
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 2:26 pm
While she wasn't the most 'awake in the world' thing, she did perk up a tad as the walk went along, even recovering enough to purrpurr and hum like she'd do at breakfast....
..
And be aware enough to look at her surroundings suspiciously, frowning for a while, before it seemed as though most everything was in it's 'proper place'.
In fact, she was even good enough to park herself as far from the middle of an aisle as possible, knowing fully well that if anything bad happened she needed to be right where Yossarian could keep an eye on her.
"Nnn, how long will we be on here?"
Well as long as she recognized that her concern was effecting him (though it was more of his attempt to make her feel better than him to make her stop worrying on his account) and wasn't just making 'sad faces' (Didn't all of her faces look like that??), he would allow it.
Besides, there was plenty of time for them to be thinking on the trip, wasn't there?
But it seemed even Kanda had to give everybody a good once-over before he was contented with the safety of the ship, sitting down in a seat closest the aisle of the airship and leaning back in his seat.
Okay.
Now all they had to do was get there and 'have a good time' he guessed.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 8:00 pm
Despite the innocuous appearances of all their fellow passengers, Yossarian still made certain to give each of them a good suspicious leering over as they brushed by through the isle, performing a mental check for signs of anything 'off': potential weapons on hand, sour expressions, conspiring groups (that weren't obviously FAMILIES), or just general 'bad vibes'... and found nothing of the sort.
Good. Not that he'd be letting his guard down for a damn SECOND until they were back on solid ground in Salig again, but.. yes. Good.
With a last look around the clunky little cabin he sat himself (as expected) down in the seat next to Aster, perched right next to the aisle and even making a point to keep his sword out and visible on his waistband. Intimidation tactic much?
Oh, hell yes it was and he wouldn't deny it.
"... Several hours, I'd imagine." It was really all he could offer her; he didn't know exactly how long it would take, but at the very least, it'd be a long damn while. Salig was a pretty faraway place, after all.
Shae, all the while, was busy getting situated in her own seat-- next to Sir (just as expected) and sitting... by the window, ah ha ha. What a joyous experience that must have been, huh?
Well, at least it didn't look too similar to the one she'd almost gotten chucked out of, and it was firmly closed, and there were no signs of any deranged angry father figures to strike fear anew into her little heart, so all was well enough. With her bag under her feet and Del sitting quietly (for once) in her lap, she'd be--
O SHI--
... No, no, that little lurch was just the crystal engines firing up-- no need to panic-- as the ship departed not two minutes thereafter with a good, jarring start that was sudden enough to wake some poor mother's baby near the front of the cabin and start it WAILING.
Mmm, good start to an EPIC FLIGHT, huh?
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:36 pm
And she .... half-snoozed on his shoulder, really.Well it wasn't exactly a snooze, nor was it his shoulder, more than Asteria leaning against his side as discreetly as possible. Awww, back to half-hiding her affections so her poor manlove wouldn't have to suffer a blow to his masculinity because of it!
How sweet.
Now she'd just..... Try to not get too horribly motion sick. Hopefully.
"Nnnnggghhhh....."
Yes yes, sweetie... Yossarian wasn't going to like being stuck with your sicky for 'several hours' either. Especially since he had already been subjected to it twice.
Hnnn, things really were peaceful enough, even the horrid jerk of the airship and the infant who woke and started wailing promptly after it.... but overall he was pleased. Hard for him to not be when it seemed they may actually get something done without disaster.
Ah ha ha.
Wishful thinking, Kanda-love. Wiiiiishful thinking.
But at least he was aware it was such. Unfortunately.
But it was also a very real possibility! So far nothing too disasterous had happened, so maybe they were in luck and would only have to suffer some doting.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:15 pm
Well, thankfully he'd (more of less) been expecting that motion sickness as well, just sighing quietly to himself and letting her do as she pleased. If he helped to lean on him and distract herself from the sickly impulses with OMGLOVELOVELOVE, then... so be it.
Whatever prevented her from curling up in a fetal ball or puking her guts out, right? Right.
And that... was really how it wound up staying as the ship lifted high into the sky, puttering along with its choked propulsion and gravity defying power hundred of feet above the ground.
There wasn't a lot of chatter to be had, both within the group or outside it, as the dark male just concerned himself with setting an arm around his 'partner's' shoulders to mumble the occasional "fairing alright?" remark, and the mother of whatever poor child had taken to bawling tried desperately to quell it, and someone sneezed and coughed repeatedly, and Shae-- ...
Actually, Shae wasn't really doing much to add to the mild (though peaceful) cacophony onboard, having finally settled on stripping her coat off to use as a makeshift blanket by draping it across her, sinking down a little in her rickety seat, and keeping her eyes closed as she absently played with the golem in her lap.
Traveling was a rather dull affair-- though she certainly preferred that against the alternative of 'lively and disastrous' like their last venture into Salig (she'd probably only survive that kind of awful crash ONCE).
So then, time ticked on... and ticked on, and ticked on, and ticked on some more. Tick, tick, tick... Had it not been for the noisy hum of the engine, perhaps she could've even heard it passing, first in minutes, then hours, then even MORE hours still...
Even the airspace within the vessel was starting to get chillier as they neared their destination, the view outside having finally shifted into a much bleaker, whiter, and snowier pallet. In fact, it was actually snowing in the area: big, fluffy, picturesque chunks of the stuff!
Touchdown was as clunky and lurching as takeoff, even giving Yossarian a good little shake and rewarding the half-asleep Shae (had she really dozed off after all the hours? still tired?) with a nice minor skull-thud against the window to wake up by.
TIME TO GET OFF AND ENJOY THE CITY, KIDS.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:26 pm
And his efforts to make sure his partner wasn't about to heave on him (ewww) were rewarded with 'Prrprrs' and even a decent sized nap on Asteria's part, only half waking up a few minutes before landing and squeaking up into a state of alertness upon the sudden landing.
Eeeeeek!
Yep, it had even earned a slight prickling of the fur, but she recovered quickly enough, laughing awkwardly and clutching on to Yossarian's arm to be led about like a good little significant other.
Knowing their luck, however, Delilah and Thade were already bound to know which ship and when the little quartet would be arriving and be there waiting to greet them.
Ah ha ha.
Ha ha.
That was a joke, yes?
And Kanda had just half-checked over his dozing companion (no need for little doting 'is okay?' comments on their part, however he had determined it would have been wise on his part to have perhaps...
..
Leaned her over against his shoulder or something when Shae got knocked concious.... in all odd irony of that statement.
Huh. They'd made it there alive.. and Kanda had somehow not made the trip feel like it took five thousand years by doing absolutely nothing. However if the person in front of him had committed a crime he would have been able to recognize them from behind for the next week.
No more staring at things ever again.
"Nnnn, didn't hurt yourself too badly? It's time to go.."
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 12:20 pm
... Well they could only hope it was a joke, considering that, y'know, even the richest and most well connected of people could only dig up so much information on the completely unpredictable traveling patterns of four mercenaries (... or three and a barmaid?) in that short of a period, so unless dearest Thane and Delilah had staked some poor soul out at the docks for a week straight to look for them, Yossarian doubted they'd be having issues.
He rather liked to escort himself rather than be escorted, after all.
With Aster nice and 'woken up' from the landing-- not to mention firmly attached to him by the arm-- he was free to grab his bag (with his free hand) and scoot off into the aisle, still making sure to take a good look around (and back at the other pair sitting a few seats behind) before they headed toward the d--
Oh, god, the docks outside were FREEZING COLD. He could even feel it through his fur (donning his jacket would've probably been wise), and that was REALLY saying something!
It probably had to do with the whole snowing thing.
"I--... I'm fine, Sir..." And indeed Shae was, more or less, obviously a little groggy thanks to whatever state of semi-sleep she'd just been THUNKED out of, but still making a point to rouse quickly, snatch Del to shove in her pocket (safe keeping so he wouldn't get lost), and tugging her coat back on with every snap snugly refastened. If Yossarian was getting a chill already, then she was going to freeze solid out there... Hell, she even made a quick burrowing into her bag to dig out a familiar scarf and hat before standing.
"My apologies for... a-ah, dozing off..." If she really had at all, that was. But without further ado she stood and scooted into the aisle as well, following the flow of bodily traffic to step off and catch up with the other waiting pair...
Mmm, yep, just as cold as she remembered-- or hell, colder. How could people live in such a climate, really?
"So," the group's 'leader' grumbled once they were all outside and re-congregated. "Shall we be heading straight for that wretched manner, then?"
No use finding a place to stay or jobs to do if they were going to be given room and board already, right?
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 5:20 pm
Kanda couldn't even feel said 'cold'. Then again he'd grown up in cold air and other various 'problems' here as a child, so his lack of response to the weather was to be expected.
Even when they'd stopped generating body heat and put themselves off to one side and start chatting up about their 'plans' to move on from there. Seemed logical enough to Kanda, really.
"There would be no use in wasting our time or resources in doing much else than just that."
Yep, nice and blunt. It wasn't as though they'd come for any other reason besides that either! What were they going to do otherwise? Go and throw snowballs at each other until their arrival would force a bath on them??
..
....
.
Not that it wasn't going to anyways.
Aster just sort of loomed at her happy-arm spot, refraining from any of the 'OMGLOVELOVELOVE' on her part and staring around groggily. Nnnnn.
"I agree.... it'll be warm in there and then we can start looking for places to hide..."
..
...
Sad how beneficial that would be and she didn't even know it.
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 9:13 pm
"Good, then." Well, with Kanda and Aster obviously as gung-ho about just GETTING THERE as he was (and Shae obviously just compliant to go along with it), Yossarian had no reason to linger there any longer than necessary, mumbling a half-heart "let's be off then" before, without further ado, he reclaimed the 'leader' position and started off walking once again...
But carefully. Because damn, even with constant foot traffic and maintenance from all the dockhands, the ground still felt treacherously questionable.
He was actually thankful (... MAYBE. AND SECRETLY) that the clumsiest of the lot was still hanging off of him at that point, if only because if helped assure him she WOULDN'T be slipping and breaking her spine in some freak accident before arrival.
The sun was already more than halfway across the sky too, geez... It'd be evening before long, and then things would only get even colder!
What a strange feeling it was, too, plunging into the city itself and seeing so much eerie familiarity. Aside from the fresh powder on the ground, things looked... more or less the same as they had last time. Carriages were trotting along in the streets. Fuzzy eared people were wandering freely on every sidewalk. Steam was curling up from the ventilation shafts and chimneys of warmed buildings, row after row...
Yossarian didn't seem to bat a lash at it, hellbent on just keeping his pace brisk and getting to the most 'affluent' stretch of residential dwellings (... or mansions), though Shae, once again, seemed to be lagging just a step or two behind her usual 'place'. Not playing the straggler or anything (as Aster would, for example), but just... hanging back a bit. Perhaps to observe.
How long had it been now?...
No matter, though; soon enough (okay, about 30 minutes after they'd started), the poor, frigid, and shivery (for some) quartet had finally gotten within sight of a familiarly grand building faced in white marble, its enormous corinthian columns towering stories over their heads to support the frontal facade and giant doors.
The moment of truth, wasn't it?
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