Return to base

[majestic_keiki]

[Returning to the Star Rose after the battle at the Saotome Labs, Kei was even more quiet than usual.

A few hours later, she can be found occupying a kitchen in the UG base at the side, mixing something in a bowl, with a cutting board covered in chopped chocolate standing next to it. Despite the apparent domestic happiness of the scene, she has a largely blank expression on her face and her movements are unfocused as if her mind is clearly on something else.

Approach her?]

Comments

[herodrawing]

Hey, Kei.

[Okay, Izuru is not a master of human emotion. But even he can tell something is wrong, and that's even discounting the news of the lastest mission. Which went less than perfectly.]

How are you holding up?

[majestic_keiki]

...Hi

[Kei stops mixing the contents of the bowl looking up, giving Izuru a weak smile for a bit. After a long pause she continued.]

Did you hear about the battle?

[herodrawing]

[It takes a second for Izuru to give an awkward answer as well.]

Yeah...

[majestic_keiki]

[There was another pause before Kei said any more.]

Those things were like something out of a movie. They were almost impossible to get to stop moving...And they talked to us, somehow.

[abugslife]

Are you terrified?

[majestic_keiki]

...No.

[Kei kept mixing her bowl, though she did look up at Hetepheres.]

I'm not afraid, but there is still a lot to think about...How much did you hear about the battle?

[abugslife]

Everything. When it comes to the ongoing battles, I cannot afford the luxury of ignorance.

Would you care to speak your mind? There is no shame in admitting anything here. What you have seen would terrorize even a hardened veteran.

[keep_your_dignity]

[The large shape of Kagura is going to walk in, far more quietly than a giant chunk of metal should be able to. She wait for amoment before her toneless voice pops up]

HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP, ROOKIE?

[majestic_keiki]

[Kei was surprisingly unspooked by the sudden arrival of a giant, rather blunt robot she'd never met before showing up, simply putting down the bowl and looking up. There was a long pause before she said anything.]

I fought...things that shouldn't be...And almost ordered a man to his death. [Despite attempts to display self-control, her voice cracked slightly with emotion as she said it.]

[keep_your_dignity]

YES. I READ ABOUT THE MONSTERS.

IF IT'S A CONSOLATION, YOU DID BETTER, ESPECIALLY FOR THIS BEING PRACTICALLY YOUR FIRST TIME IN A SITUATION GOING COMPLETELY FUBAR IN IMPOSSIBLE WAYS, THAN MANY EXPERIENCED OFFICERS I KNOW WOULD WHEN DEALING WITH SOMETHING AS MESSED UP AS THAT.

[anewmachine]

[A small, ovoid drone floats hesitantly into view.]

Hey.

[majestic_keiki]

[There's a confused look for a little bit, until Kei places the voice. She does try to give the drone a weak smile.]

Hi.

[anewmachine]

Baking?

[The drone tilts a little to look in the bowl.]

I do a little myself. I can send you some recipes!

Or maybe I'll want to get this one from you.

[ugyuuya]

[Stella walks in with a small box from the same cake shop she and Kei had visited earlier and a small box of tea leaves.]

Oh, decided to try your hand at baking I see. Is there anything I can do to help out?

[The offer is nominally towards the baking process but Stella's body language seems to be inviting Kei to take a seat on a nearby stool for a different discussion.]

[majestic_keiki]

Yeah...Can you check if the oven has reached the proper temperature?

[Kei doesn't take the seat, but after a short pause she does start talking.]

It was awful out there. It was like a zombie movie, except the zombies were the size of mecha...And talked.

[ugyuuya]

[Stella nods and walks over to check the oven.] Looks like everything is set here.

[She takes a moment to put a kettle on the stove before responding to Kei's follow up.] Well you did your job well and despite everything that ambushed the camp you were able to save most of the people there. If you hadn't reacted as quickly as you what do you think would have happened?

[chidori]

[Ever since Kaname Chidori got permission to use the teleporters, she's been just about everywhere. She might be in completely denial about not living a perfectly normal high school life, but she's not about to shrug off the perks of living in a military base, either. Not when it means free trips to space and the US, anyway.

The bluenette is in the process of wandering Star Rose when she catches sight of a familiar face in the kitchen.]

Is something wrong?

[majestic_keiki]

Oh, hi.

[Kei put down the bowl, trying to look as normal as possible as Kaname entered it didn't work very well. There very clearly was something wrong...And after a few seconds she seemed to realize it.]

Yes. That last mission...Did you hear any rumors or anything yet?

[chidori]

No, haven't heard a thing.

[For the most part, Kaname's been trying to stay out of all that piloting business. Still, Kei's not looking all that involved with her cooking, so it's pretty obvious to Kaname that something's up.]

Did something happen?

[empress_without_a_throne]

You know... something tells me normally you'd look a lot happier while doing that.

[majestic_keiki]

Yeah...I'm really just trying to get my mind off that mission. Nothing went like it should.

[empress_without_a_throne]

[And let the discomfort start to be noticeable as Sara sighs.]

That's...

Well, I heard a few highlights about it. At first I was glad to hear that Ken was able to help save one of our own, but then hearing what happened to Dr. Saotome's son, and those eyes on Walt...

[She shudders.]

I don't blame you for wanting to try to just... do something normal that won't spiral out of control

[gundamx_gonnagiveittoya]

[[Chocolate huh? Don't girls like chocolate?]]

Hey... what're you makin?

[majestic_keiki]

Cake.

[Garrod didn't get a reply very quickly and when it came it was rather curt. At least it seemed like she was preoccupied, rather than angry. Probably not with anything pleasant going by her tone and expression.]

[gundamx_gonnagiveittoya]

[Hey he recognizes that voice though.]] Weren't you just deployed recently? I was there too.


All that weird stuff... that's not bothering you, is it?