2011-03-12 - Kitty In A Fishbowl

A SHORT TIME AGO...

"Battleship SuiKyosha - this is unit Arius. Authorization code AR-2341. Pilot Sinya Leland requesting permission to dock."

As she clicks off the radio, Sinya can't help but feel that she's coming off just a bit too formal on this particular job - and it's so not normal. Then again, something about the stiff-stanced, immovable captain of the newest Trailer vessel had her on edge. At the very least, it did give her an excuse to get Arius out for a test flight.

Rotating her hand, she activates the thrusters, circling the far larger ship for a second time. In flight mode, the gryphon knight looked more like an actual bird - or at least a jet plane, even if it simply is a trick of the eyes.

NOW

With a dull thud, Arius comes to land at the far end of the hangar in a crouch, wings folding back from his shoulders as his head lifts, the chest piece pulling downward into its proper place and the head re-appearing. His footfalls don't make much sound on the strange material that makes up the floor of the SuiKyosha. Once against the wall, the unit powers down, going to one knee before bowing his head.

With a hiss, the chestpiece comes open, revealing a small inner compartment and a hint of silver control keys. Sinya pulls off her helmet, having decided not to wear her full combat suit for the time being. She shifts around, making sure that a dufflebag is wedged back behind her before crawling out, pulling a smaller carry-all over her shoulder.

The catgirl makes short work of the distance from Arius' controlbay to the ground, landing easily on her finally fully healed leg.

EARLIER

"This is the SuiKyosha. We've been expecting you, miss Leland. Opening the hangar doors." The communication officer replies through what looks like a mix between a microphone and a seashell. Most of the facilities were on the bridge, and Xiang is standing before the captain seat, looking out the large windows that provide a good visual on the Raven's Nest. "Shall I go and greet her?" Yu Zhi Wu, the XO, asks of her captain. The man simply nods in reply. "Take her to the bridge, miss Yu."

The hangar doors, at the top of the ship, open up. The doors are gigantic, and a large circular 'plate' rises up from the blue metalic ship. At the last moment, Sinya gets another message from the communication officer: "I hope you won't mind, but we have a recon tour planned for today, so the ship will be leaving the Raven's Nest shortly after you dock."

NOW

Upon her landing on the circular plate, the object rotates very slowly whilst it sinks down towards the hangar. The gigantic doors that give access to the facility close close above her in unison with this movement. Upon first sight, she can see the small supply of Gunmen that line the walls. Standing out amongst them all is a rather large one, which is currently being worked on by a few mechanics that... one ought to wonder if they had a clue what they were doing. Sparks fly from one of the machine's arms after they attach a finger they'd found in a junkpile to the large Gunmen. Said junkpile consisted out of many scrapped Gunmen, laying in a far corner of the hangar.

As the gigantic doors finally close, the hangar doesn't seem to lose much of its light. In fact, if she were to look up whilst moving towards the wall she planned to park the Arius against, she'd find that she could see right through the roof. It was as if she were under water however. The light of the sun overhead causes a watery pattern to appear on all the blue-metalic walls and flooring. Some of the techs quickly make room as the Arius finally settles down, and the beastwoman finally disembarks the Arius.

Miss Yu has made it to the hangar just in time to see Sinya, dufflebag and all, make it to the floor, and smiles. The lady was quite used to seeing her kind, so unlike some of those present, she didn't particularly stare, or whisper. Her walk towards her is a strong one, one that would not be expected from a woman as well dressed as her - though the scar on her face might interupt that dissonance between her stride and looks.

"Ah, you must be miss Leland." She states, bowing her head slightly as she finally stands before her. "My name is Yu Zhi Wu, but you may just call me miss Yu. Welcome on board of the SuiKyosha." The entire ship then suddenly shakes slightly, whilst an announcement is made: "SuiKyosha, preparing for departure." And not seconds later, there is a small shake and rush of... water? As the ship lifts off of the ground and begins its approach to a nearby body of water.

If nothing else, this battleship is like nothing that Sinya has ever seen and she has seen quite a bit during her couple of years on this side of the magical realm. Her eyes seem drawn to the light as if flickers across the floor in patterns, finding it just a bit distracting. There is some instinctual part of her that wants to chase down the light, but luckily her kind is at least far enough removed from housecats to not succumb to the temptation - usually.

Forcing her eyes away from the interplay of patterns, the catgirl looks over to where sparks are flying, catching the eye of a couple of the mechanics who seem to gawking. It's quite likely that they have never seen a guymelef before, most normal humans in this world hadn't either, but usually that wasn't what drew their eyes first. Her tail twitches, having grown somewhat used to the stares by now, although she's not quite thick-skinned enough for it to be ignored. "You're connecting the servo controls /backwards/." She informs them, foregoing any kind of greeting.

Luckily, the XO arrives just in time to keep her from giving them a piece of her mind about repairing mechs. "Gunmen, why did it have to be gunmen?" She whispers to herself, licking at the back of one hand before grooming over her ear - an behavioral response to stress. Then, lifting her gaze, she focuses on Yu, blinking once as her ears twitch backward slightly. "I imagine you get a lot of 'hey Yu' jokes, don't you?" The catgirl replies, reaching a hand out in the gesture that customarily is used by humans for greeting. Although Yu would know well that it done slightly different among the beastmen of Gaea. "Sinya." She offers, as always, dropping the human surname.

The sudden lurching of the ship is enough to off-balance her for a moment, causing a half-stumble forward, likely into Yu if she isn't careful. Luckily the catgirl has decent balance and manages to stay on her feet. Her ears continue to swivel, as if catching too much sound to track everything. "Is it always this loud?" She asks.

"Yes. Yes I do." Miss Yu replies, raising her right hand to cover her mouth as she chuckles, her eyes looking warm. Though there was something behind that look. The look of someone with a severe headache... no... hangover. That's right, miss Yu has a hangover. She drank way too much last night, one that ended up in her giving mister Archangel a piece of her mind, before abruptly kissing him on the lip and storming off. She was a strange lady. Sinya might have caught the rumor.

As Sinya offers her hand however, Yu does indeed show that she knows Gaeans quite well. She puts her hand around Sinya's wrist, and places her index and middle fingers against the skin of her forearm. "Glad to have you on board. And don't worry about the noise..." The sound of rushing water suddenly disapppears, and all that remains is a very gentle version of it, like a lake touched by a gentle breeze. "As you can tell, it only is that loud when she awakens." It probably wasn't uncommon to refer to a battleship by gender.

Miss Yu nods her head, then lets go of Sinya's hand, and nudges her head. "This way." She offers, whilst a few of the techs blink at the two females. One of them suddenly slaps the other over the head. "Told you it was the wrong way around." The other retaliates with a similar smack over the head. "Nobody likes a wise guy!" The people on this ship are rather full of character.

It comes as a bit of a surprise to Sinya to see the display of emotions that shows so much more freely on Yu's face as opposed to her commanding officer. It is enough to set her a bit more at ease. A small smile tinges on her lips as a bit of the tension eases away, her tail switching to a more easy, steady swaying behind her. What impresses her far more so is when her greeting is actually returned properly. There is a moment where she simply stares at their joined arms. Then, looking up, the smile widens slightly.

"Captain Xiang had mentioned that you'd traveled in Gaea. I think you're the first I've met in a long time who even recognised our way of greeting." Of course, to humans, it would seem a bit strange - but for clawed beastmen like herself, it was a sign of placing your life in someone else's hands, however briefly.

As the sound from the ship 'waking' seems to die down, her ears cup back forward, able to distinguish things once more - even if everything did have a strange echo, like the inside of a sea-shell. She nods briefly, casting a glance at the mechanics before following behidn Yu. "He wasn't kidding about your people needing some training, either." Thumbing over her shoulders, the catgirl gives a roll of her eyes, thinking that the Captain had vastly underestimated his crew's abilities. Rather than walking behind the XO, she quickens her pace to walk beside her - one hand resting in her pocket while the other lays over her dufflebag. "So, seems you had a good time last night?" She asks, actually trying to make conversation. "Angel is an interesting fellow." Even if she doesn't know the half of it.

"Hah. The rumor mills have been churning furiously huh?" Yu Zhi Wu had not been outside of the SuiKyosha since leaving R stumped in her tracks, but she knew immediately what Sinya was talking about. She doesn't touch on the subject any further. Instead she nods at Sinya, smiling as she mentions that she'd been the first to recognize this strange kind of greeting. "I've shaken hands with many of your kind in the past." She rolls up her right sleeve suddenly, showing a scar along her wrist. "Luckily, the one that did this, was someone I knew who wasn't to be trusted anyhow." And she rolls the sleeve back down.

"This way." She points at a gigantic winding ramp that leads up to multiple exits - one on each floor, and large enough that a Gunmen could walk up that very ramp... though not fit through the exits. The ship cants slightly to the left as it changes its direction, but it is barely feelable as Yu guides Sinya up that ramp to the first floor. The only thing showing that the ship just canted, are is the hallway they begin to pass through.

Outside of the hangar, the walls are different. Though she could not see what was further inwards into the ship - as the ramp they took was on the extreme starboard side - the outside was a double wall of sorts, displaying that there was sealife... inside the ship. Or rather, between the walls. The first wall was translucent, revealing the main lightsource of the ship. A strange green weed of sorts, that looked somewhat like a vegetable. The area between the walls was big enough for a few people to swim side by side.

And the outside wall had some 'holes' in it - windows - allowing her to see that they were now flying in the air, with their side slightly tilted into the direction of the ground. A school of fish suddenly rushes by. Yu doesn't even notice them anymore. Instead, she simply continues to converse with Sinya. "And indeed he is right." As Xiang so often was. "We need some training for repairs. Luckily, the SuiKyosha doesn't need any repairs very often. She can reform herself near water. Yuan's personal Gunmen on the other hand, as you might have seen, is another story." She clearly was on first-name basis with the captain.

"Of course." Sinya replies, chuckling softly. "I believe one of the ones I heard was that you took Angel back behind the 'pit and tested his hydraulics." Which is an interesting euphamism for sex if there ever was one. "You don't strike me as the type, though. Neither does he." Even if she hadn't gotten much interaction with the Crest-bound cyborg, she'd gotten a taste of his personality through the radio and those few meetings. Random romps with ship XO's didn't seem to fall in line with the image in her mind.

The fur on her tail bristles a little when the scar is shown - something that normally would be a great offense to her kind. A small growl echos in the back of her throat, although she seems to squash it. Having been around humans for quite some time, she has trained herself not to use most of her natural vocalizations. "Whoever did that, deserves to die." She states simply, tail lashing once with a snap, even as she resists the sudden urge to extend her claws.

Thankfully, there is a distraction. As soon as she catches sight of the first fish, her fur seems to fold back to normal and her ears perk. Like a child at the aquarium, Sinya races to the wall of the ship, pressing her hands against it and uttering a awestruck, "Woah." She even laughs as the school of fish swim by, lightly pawing at them and causing a few to veer off-course. "I've never seen some of these fish. Are they edibile?" Leave it to the cat to ask about food rather than the more obvious question about how fish are living in the walls of the ship. "How is this possible?" Okay, she does come around to that eventually, although not before licking her lips just once.

It's the use of the captain's first name that catches her attention again, splitting it between the fish and the young woman - although Yu wins out most of it - barely. "You... two must be close." She surmises, cautiously. "He seems kind of... I don't know. Guarded." Which probably was the nicest word she could come up with for 'walks like he has a stick up his ass'.

Yu chuckles. "Oh no. Nothing like that. I yelled at the boy, kissed him, then just walked away. He looked so surprised." The lady chuckles, again covering her mouth with her hand, in order to not be too 'unlady like'. She holds up that arm by wrapping her other one around her chest and resting the elbow on it, until she returns the first around her chest as well. She just stares at Sinya in amusement as she then suddenly starts pawing at the first.

"The beastman that did this was a disturbed individual. I think there was something mentally wrong with him. I tried to help, but sadly, he was beyond such a stage. Deeply depressed and withdrawn." That was perhaps why she wanted to help R. A similar behavior, one she didn't want to see repeated. She knew it would not end well.

She shakes her head a bit when Sinya finally turns around, asking so many fish-related questions. "Most of them are edible. You'd have the ask the archivist, he has a list of which ones are poisonous and which are not. Or ask Yuan." Yu seems to convey that Xiang is quite the knowing person. "As for how they can live in there... well, it's better just not to ask. Common sense and physics do not really apply to this ship."

The SuiKyosha's XO then wags her hand before her face. "No no no. Nothing like that." She says, and begins walking again, leading Sinya further into the ship. The woman however, doesn't explain what it /is/ like. Some mysteries remain mysteries on this ship, due to the delicate balance of rule that Xiang provides to its crew. "Let's drop that subject, shall we? If you want to know things about our Captain, it's best you ask the man himself."

Their continued walk finally takes them into an open area that looks like... a gigantic village square. There are market stalls, well secured to the metalic floor of the ship, littered all over, and people are going around doing their shopping. It's as if they just stepped into a whole different place. People look around as Sinya wanders in, and she gets stared at for a moment, before people just return to their daily behavior.

Sinya's eyes linger on Yu for a moment longer than necessary, her lips pressed together. Then, the humor of the situation seems to strike her and she laughs, shaking her head. "Good for you." She hasn't had much in the way of relationships herself, but still - she can just almost picture that look, and it's enough to cause a fangy grin on her face. "Angel's a good guy at heart, at least I think so." She shrugs her fuzzy shoulders, showing how little she knows about it. "He's the one who got me the job at the 'nest, without ever asking for anything in return." Yet. It's the 'yet' that her mind fills in, and it's the nagging sort of feeling that doesn't go away easily.

Her eyes turn back to the fish, regarding them a moment longer. They serve as a good enough distraction to keep her from reacting yet again to the dark story of one of her own kind. If she has learned anything in the human world - there are are good and bad everywhere. "I think physics and common sense don't apply much to anything from La Gias. It's the same with Arius, really. I even have a few float stones that I love to bring out just to make scientists brains go 'pop'." Her hand trails away from the fish-tank walls, letting her clawed fingers run along the material even as she starts walking again.

"You know, I would try asking him myself, if the guy wasn't so ..." She trails off, obviously not sure how exactly to describe the man. "I think I'd get more out of talking to a rock." She rubs at one arm nervously, seeming to feel more safe showing how she feels around Yu then around the captain. "It's a little unnerving." There is no time to continue that train of thought as they step out into what is obviously the main market. Her ears perk, and her nose twitches, picking up the sounds and smells. "It really is like a village in here, isn't it?"

"Mister R is indeed a good man. But he's tormented with many devils of the past." Yu replies acknowledging to Sinya, before halting in the midst of the town square so that Sinya can take a better look around. "On the fifth floor of the ship, we have mostly clothing shops, if you ever get interested. Some of our artisans are quite skilled." She lightly lifts the cloth that covers her lower body, showing a bit of her shaven legs. "I got this from them. Cost a good penny, even after the discount, but it was worth it." This woman is somewhat of an enigma. Somewhat lady-like, somewhat of a warrior. And the borders of what subjects were approached in which way were a bit all over the place.

"But basically, this entire ship's crew /is/ a gigantic village. They all fled from their old home on the Spiral King's plains, after it was destroyed by an earthquake and flooding." Of course, said earthquake had simply been the descent of a few Gunmen on the 'roof'. Though what had caused the flooding was still a mystery. "Ah." The woman suddenly turns her head into a direction that is to the front of the ship - higher up - and nods. "We should go." It was almost as if she'd responded to something that could not be heard by anyone else but herself.

"Come." There is an elevator a bit further along, that Yu steps into. And when Sinya gets in, she presses a button - after which the glass round door closes around the capsule, and it begins to be lifted up by a spiralling screw mechanism of sorts, all the way to the sixth floor. "You just gotta get to know him. If you ask questions, he'll usually answer." She isn't about to say that was Sinya sees of the Captain isn't what he truly is. Such things are dangerous to just share out of the blue.

"The floor above this is our agriculture floor." She notes whils they continue on their way up. And when it finally reaches their destination, she adds; "But the bridge is on this one." However, they don't get to get to the bridge, because in front of them, as that door opened, was Xiang, patiently waiting for the XO and the mechanic. He doesn't say anything, but instead just stares upon Sinya with those still eyes of his; hands behind his arms and his entire figure almost like it was frozen in time.

Letting out a low whistle, the cat-girl does a complete 360 so that she can take in the entire level, at least as far as her eyes can see. She had heard of people referring to battleships as floating cities, but this one was taking it a bit to the extreme. She's still trying to get a view of everything when Yu tries to lead her onwards, causing her to have to shift her feet quickly to change direction. "I'm the one who's supposed to be doing the sales pitches, not you." She teases, although her eyes do give an apraising look towards the fabric - the FABRIC not the leg underneath it, although she can't help her eyes wandering. Then, snapping her head up, she continues into the elevator.

With her attempts to garner any further information about the stoic captain of this strange ship failing quite miserably, the catgirl just settles to the back of the elevator, trying to get her bearings. Unlike most, at least she could smell distinct differences between the levels, so she records each to form a sort of mental map. Her mouth opens, about to ask another question when the door slides open revealing Xiang.

There is that same prickly sensation that causes her fur to stand on end. How had he known the exact time they'd be there? It's just a little creepy. "G... good day." She manages to stammer out without sounding too nervous. This isn't like her. She's the one who should be calm, cool, confident, but somehow he just made her feel uneasy.

"Well." Yu pats on Sinya's shoulder, gently. "Guess I'll leave you two to your devices." She walks right past the captain, somehow having known he'd be there. "I'll see you on the bridge when you are done, Captain." She states, before leaving the two alone, standing there on the sixth floor.

Xiang finally lets his eyes move up and down over Sinya. This isn't that kind of undressing look, but rather one that simply saw through everything in a single moment. "Don't eat the purple fish." He suddenly claims. "/They/ are the poisonous ones." And he turns about, wandering towards a different hallway, obviously expecting Sinya to follow.

"So, I hope you don't mind that our trip will be taking us into space." The ship had been rising further up into the air for a while now, and the outside was now completely blankettet in mist. Or rather, clouds. "Do not worry. The SuiKyosha produces its own oxygen from the water stored within it, and the plants that live within the walls." He explains, continueing down the hall until he stops next to what looks like the entrance to a house of sorts. The door was made of glass, and inside there was a long table. This was a meeting area of sorts, with two floors to it. This was the lower one - and a stairway inside led to the second floor. Or rather, the seventh floor.

"Ladies first." He claims firmly, and opens the door for her with the back of his arm - moving it with ease and grace. And he patiently waits for her, whilst looking at her with those grey-blue eyes of his, to get inside. "Take a seat."

The look that Sinya gives the retreating form of Yu is one of absolute betrayal. Oh, she'd get back at the XO someday for leaving her alone with the Captain, someday. Unfortunately, that look of dismay doesn't linger long as she's once again put under that intense stare. Her ears slick back, and then... he's talking about fish. "How did you..." She trails off, so surprised that her tail doesn't even twitch. Her mouth remains open, as if she were searching for words, but nothing seems to come.

Instead, she just follows along, hugging her dufflebag closer to her as if she could use it as some sort of barrier to ward off the aura that the battleship captain seems to be able to produce. "That's fine." She murmurs, feet shuffling along in little stutter-steps as she tries to maintain her distance. It is only once they are in the meeting room and she's invited to sit that she seems to gather her courage. It's a realization that the hard-faced attitude reminded her of something - something from her past that she isn't fond of.

Rather than sitting, she places the dufflebag down with a bit more noise than strictly necessary. "I think we need to get some things straight first." Her voice is barely controlled as she looks down at her hands, claws having extended. Then, her head snaps up, looking across to him. "The creepy stuff has to end here. I don't know how you knew about the fish, or that we were coming, but it is really freaking me out." Her tail lashes once behind her, showing her aggitation. "And you /need/ to stop looking at me like that. I've seen lasers less intense."

Her hands clench on the cloth of the bag, leaning forward over the table a little. "And can you please /act/ like a human being. I know you're not a cyborg, or I'd be able to smell it. So unless you have a really good reason for winning the oscar for best portrayal of a mountain face, I'd rather prefer you didn't." With that said, her chest kind of heaves up and down, not realizing until that moment just how much effort it would take to say those kind of things. Even so, her tail tucks between her legs, the instinctive response that comes from someone who fully expects a harsh response for speaking out of line.

Though now invisible to the eyes, the ship continues to travel further up through the stratosphere, slowly pulling away from the gravimetric pull of the Mystic Moon. The man had not answered when the girl had asked how he'd known about the fish. He'd simply continued on his way to that room.

But when they finally arrive, and Sinya suddenly extends those claws and raises her voice to him... there's a moment of disturbance within his facial expression. Clearly, she'd shocked him with that sudden display of sheer emotion, and it's caught on slightly. It didn't take long for him to stonewall his face again however. He stands tall and closes the door behind him, holding onto its handle.

And without a shred of emotion, he listens to her outburst, taking in each and every word. And when she finally finishes, and he sees her chest heaving up and down the way it does - as well as that tail disappearing, his expression saddens a slight bit. "No need to fear." He begins, wanting to remove that emotion from Sinya first.

His expression then softens a bit. He suddenly looks much more... human. At least his face does, his body still stands rigid. His gaze then finally escapes the direct line between him and her, and turns towards the table for a moment. Xiang bows his head. "I appologize if my behavior unnerves you." His tone remains fairly monotone however. "I was under the impression you wished to keep things... business-like."

Then finally, his hand lets go of the door's metalic handle, and he steps further in, until he's on the opposite side of the table from her; facing his back to her. "As a captain, there are certain expectations of me. In addition, my still demeanor simply is meant to reflect the calmth of my soul. But I will try to... ease up... if that makes you feel somewhat better."

He turns around, and his shoulders lower slightly, after which he pulls out a chair with the back of his foot. From where Sinya was however, it may have looked like the chair moved back /for him/, as if possessed. He then settles down, places his both hands onto the table, and nods his head at her. "Now. What is it you have for me?" Right back to business. But at least he's not giving her that serious stare. Instead, his entire expression has softened... no... warmed up. Much more gentle like.

She does catch that slight shift in his expression, however brief it might be. Ah-ha! There is someone actually under the stern exterior. However, it doesn't last and her ears just slick back against her skull, frustration evident in her features. "I'm not afraid of you." Her words don't quite match her body language, but it's hard to say that she's exactly /lying/ either. Twitch. Her tail sneaks out, moving ever so slightly behind her.

In many ways, the catgirl was much the opposite of this hard-edged captain. Emotions played easily with her and her body was constantly in motion. "This is what you consider business-like?" She asks, "I'd suggest you have your XO do business for you in the future." Her tone goes a bit flat. "Consider this a lesson in the outside world, free of charge. When you're dealing with people, you want to act like a /person/. Not a boulder. If you want to negotiate contracts or get good deals with suppliers, you need to be /human/." Which comes off sounding a bit strange, coming from a cat-girl.

Sighing, as it seems like her words aren't going to penetrate that thick hide, Sinya pulls out a chair for herself, missing the whole display with his chair due to her eyes being elsewhere. Namely on her hands, which still had claws extended, much to her dismay. "Somehow, I very much doubt your calm soul." She murmurs, and then reaches into the dufflebag, pulling out a small portable video system. "It's about a half-hour long, so you watch, and I'll be here, doing some real work." She nudges the display, complete with headphones down towards him, pulling her hand away before her claws could get too close.

Then, she digs back into her bag, pulling free a pad of paper with sketches of mechanical parts doodled all over them, complete with untidy, scrawled handwriting jammed in every available spot. With a pencil, she begins to work on a new page, leaving Mr.Stone-faced to watch the vid.

She does catch that slight shift in his expression, however brief it might be. Ah-ha! There is someone actually under the stern exterior. However, it doesn't last and her ears just slick back against her skull, frustration evident in her features. "I'm not afraid of you." Her words don't quite match her body language, but it's hard to say that she's exactly /lying/ either. Twitch. Her tail sneaks out, moving ever so slightly behind her.

In many ways, the catgirl was much the opposite of this hard-edged captain. Emotions played easily with her and her body was constantly in motion. "This is what you consider business-like?" She asks, "I'd suggest you have your XO do business for you in the future." Her tone goes a bit flat. "Consider this a lesson in the outside world, free of charge. When you're dealing with people, you want to act like a /person/. Not a boulder. If you want to negotiate contracts or get good deals with suppliers, you need to be /human/." Which comes off sounding a bit strange, coming from a cat-girl.

Sighing, as it seems like her words aren't going to penetrate that thick hide, Sinya pulls out a chair for herself, missing the whole display with his chair due to her eyes being elsewhere. Namely on her hands, which still had claws extended, much to her dismay. "Somehow, I very much doubt your calm soul." She murmurs, and then reaches into the dufflebag, pulling out a small portable video system. "It's about a half-hour long, so you watch, and I'll be here, doing some real work." She nudges the display, complete with headphones down towards him, pulling her hand away before her claws could get too close.

Then, she digs back into her bag, pulling free a pad of paper with sketches of mechanical parts doodled all over them, complete with untidy, scrawled handwriting jammed in every available spot. With a pencil, she begins to work on a new page, leaving Mr.Stone-faced to watch the vid.

However, she is stopped. "Wait." The man demands with a firm voice that one would expect to to have the effect of commanding a person, instead of a dog, to sit down immediately - without yelling at them. Probably the way he demands action from some of his crew. "I mean... please, wait." He rephrases in a much kinder and appropiate way, softening his voice. He leans his head on his hands, as if he were Gendo Ikaru. Minus the glasses, or the evil look.

His eyes are closed, and he conciders Sinya's previous words for a moment. "I admit, my behavior may not be well suited for the public, or attracting jobs from people. So..." He suddenly opens his eyes, staring straight through Sinya. "I have a proposal." The captain states in a firm voice that respects attention.

Xiang cants his eyes to the side again, trying to stop himself from doing what he always does with his constant staring, and stands up. "Teach me." He doesn't demand, but rather, asks her. "If you please." The man proceeds to walk around the table towards the feline. "The Neo Japan colony is being opened, and I was intending to 'mingle' with the people there, in order to get some extra jobs - as well as finally seeing one of those space colonies." He explains.

"And as you said, my behavior is not well matched for such events. So I request of you, will you accompany me to the ball, and assist me to... mingle?" He holds a hand forwards, index and middle finger stretched out. Though he had not had much experience with Beastmen, miss Yu had at least taught him that. He assumed that Sinya would understand that taking his hand meant 'I will'.