Deserted Beach
Soft white sand runs like a satin ribbon along the coast here, the pristine waters of the ocean lapping lightly at the shore. Seemingly untouched by civilization for what must be hundreds of years, there is a stillness here that seems to encompass those that trod along the beach. The occasional hermit crab scuttles past, on a route of its own, shell a dark blot against the otherwise perfect sand. When the tide is low, a good deal of sea-litter can be seen here: kelp stretches in lazy strings, starfish slowly turning over to return to the water, and clamshells buried in the sand to cut unsuspecting toes. Nearly half a mile back, the beginning of a lush tropical forest can be seen as a deep green band across the horizon, and the faint calls of native birds echo weakly across the beach.
Obvious exits:
Pathway <P> leads to Asuncion Island.
*squeak* *squeak* This is the sound of a grill with a wheel in need of oiling, being dragged by Bowie. Since as far as he knows, no one's signed up to take care of the grilling, he just appointed himself.
A tuneless whistling can be heard as Alloy walks down the beach in his off-duty gear, sneakers making a scuff-scuff noise as he walks along the beach to where the party is to kick off, axe slung over one shoulder.
Bowie drags the grill through the sand over to where it's within easy reach of the party area, but far enough that the smoke won't bother anyone. Once he's satisfied with the spot, he sets it down, and starts working on getting the grill started.
Cacophony Timberwolf somehow manages to find her way onto the beach without getting lost! That, or maybe she just followed someone else that was on their way out here. After a few steps she stops, scratching her head a moment, and then pouts slightly. "No one told me this base had its own beach!"
"Well, where did you think we parked a large battleship, Miss Cacophony?" Light appears after his words from the cave, sporting a duster jacket and looking lighter, lost a few pounds. Happy, too. Surprised?
For himself, Frostmane Unicorn just gives a faint snort of amusement. "They could have warned me it would be on the beach, at least," he complains mildly. "Some of us have exposed joints, right now!"
Alloy looks up along the beach as he hears the grill's shrieks of squeaky protest. "Hey Bowie!" he calls out to the Texan. He heads up towards the stockpile of wood he'd laid in and drops the axe. "Need some help with that?" he asks, looking at the grill.
Sonata wanders into the area where the BBQ is going to be held, dressed casually for once - or rather, she's dressed in a very loose irradescent green shirt that runs down to midthigh and apparently nothing else. Probably a swimsuit on underneath, but its not possible to tell at this point. She looks around, choosing a rock to sit on as she waits for preperations to be completed.
Bowie pulls an elastic band out of his pocket and puts his hair up. Setting his hair on fire will not be on tonight's list of entertainment if he can help it. Alloy and the others are treated to a smile. "Evenin, folks. Ah thank Ah got the grill in order, if someone could go get the burgers an franks out a the fridge?"
Carrying a foldable table under each arm, and a backpack which, resting open, shows contents of white cloth, Crescendo pads across the sandy beach towards the location for the party, grinning. Sadly, he can't risk speed here, his airvents in the bottoms of his shoes, firmly shut against the sand, would be woefully clogged if he took the time to open them. The redhaired android goes about setting up each table, and throwing a cloth over both. Before moving onto the second table, he quirks a cheerful smile, waving at those few who he recognizes - Dr. Light, Cacophony Timberwolf, Alpha and Sonata. "Forgetting something," he muses aloud, eyeing the table. "Oh, right!" Out of the backpack comes more supplies - utensils, disposable plates and cups, a few packages of napkins.
Alpha walks towards the beach and, god forbid, she's wearing the exact same outfit that she always, always, always, always, always, always, always wears. She looks around, speaking like Hiryu, "...", and just generally looks like a statue. And then Crescendo sees her! Alpha looks at him. "...", and waves.
Cacophony Timberwolf rubs the back of her head, blushing slightly. "Don't they normally dock ships in, like, a dock? Man, and to think, I could of spent all this time waiting for the games to get over working on a tan, or something." Nevermind that she can't tan in the first place.
Hardly noticeable amidst all the other more widely-known Hunters arriving, Harpoon Hydra makes his entrance stylish. Laying back in the cool water, he lets the waves pull him to shore. Ah, what a view, and what a nice, cool, clean feeling. His head makes contact with the shore rather hard and abruptly, however, causing him to leap up and draw attention to himself by splashing around in the water for a few seconds. He then backflips into the water and comes back up, shaking his head before he walks further up the beach to where the others are.
Alloy sighs, and with a long-suffering expression says, "I'll go back and get 'em..." A wry smile appears on his face as he says so, though. There's /always/ something forgotten. Heading back up the beach at a slow jog, he disappears back into the cave.
Frostmane Unicorn creaks an ear over in amusement. "At least they didn't ask me to be the refridgerator," he comments towards Cacophany. "And no, I'm not letting you or anyone this side of Rock into the ice chest. Not until it's all cooked." That stated, he hoists the blue cooler up on one shoulder, waving towards Alloy. "Don't bother! Got it right here."
Trance comes out of the cave, still in awe of the hidden FSH. She had heard about it before she took off for personal reasons, but still...who knew these things still existed? Certainly not the Chinese. Not like she'll ever tell them, but it's good to know that she knows something that they'll never know.
Since this was announced as a beach party, Trance arrives in a bikini top and a skirt, with most likely the bikini bottom underneath. She carries a white windbreaker and is almost tempted to take off her sandals to get the feeling of sand in between her toes.
Alloy skids to a halt -before- disappearing into the Cave. "Oh, righto." Well that's one for the books.
Dr. Thomas Light wanders on in, removing the duster and laying it on the sand. He does the oddest thing, wandering over to a rock and poking at it with his stick. The rock blinks a small red light, and a lawnchair is ejected out of it into the air, landing on the ground beside him. He bends and picks it up, wandering over to Alpha. "I hear you had some fun with us last night? Oh, help yourselves, I got tired of sitting on sand. Put in a dispenser. There's one in front of Labs too."
Alpha voted Alloy off the island so away he goes. Hopefully nobody will try to get revenge. However, she looks around briefly before she sets her eyes on Trance. And stares. And blinks. And stares. She even stares as she approaches Trance to ask her what the heck she's wearing wheeeeeeeeen....blink. Alpha glances towards Dr. Light and says, "No, it wasn't very fun. I thought it was proper humor but it does not seem that way. I am sorry.", she looks around briefly, "Is Kael going to be here?"
Bowie gets the grill started, but these new insta-ignite grills almost take the fun out of that. While he's waiting for Alloy to get back with the food, he sets up the sauces and spices. At least he remembered those.
Crescendo places down the last of the contents of his backpack, and shoulders it once more. "Be right back!" He notes to no one in particular, dashing off towards the cave, presumedly to retrieve something else for the party. Hey, he can always clear his air vents once he's inside the cave.
Sonata smiles as her father walks into the area, standing up from where she is sitting and wandering over to embrace him in a tight hug. "How are you doing, Father?" she asks, brushing a strand of sea green hair out of her eyes as she looks him over for a moment.
"Wow.. that man IS a genius!", exclaims Caco as Light shows off his chair dispencer. Who else would of thought of direct access beach chairs? She prances over to get one herself, tail wagging merrily the entire time.
The Steel Unicorn would whistle while he works, but carrying a chest full of vittles across the sand towards the grill doesn't count as work. Not that being missing lips helps any in its own regard... "Captain Bowie!" he sound, crunching over. "Where you want this thing?"
Dr. Thomas Light wraps one arm around Sonata, hugging her warmly. Never in his life has he turned away a hug from his family....or anyone else in living memory, actually. He looks healthy, as if he's lost about fifteen or so pounds, and has a bit of a tan. Talks to Alpha a moment, nodding softly. "It's okay, it was just a bit in poor taste for a joke, what with the live ammo being aimed at it and all. If Kael does show up, I could recommend no better person for you to ask about jokes with before using them in future?" To Sonata, he says "I'm well, Sonata. Only one small flaw in the day so far, I couldn't ask for much more."
Stealth Nekojin hovers his way out onto the beach, eyes shaded by a ballcap that keeps his hair in check. Which is rather frightening, since being unable to see his eyes is almost trademarked to him. He finds a nice, quiet corner rock to curl himself up on, and promptly takes a catnap. The plushie crawls out of his backpack and settles itself on top of him, also wearing a ballcap, along with a set of mini-shades.
Alpha nods and rubs her stomach where she was shot slightly, "...I would prefer to avoid Kael currently...", she looks around briefly, "I will just not attempt to try humor until ... for a while.", like once she's sure he won't kill her. She glances towards Kael as he approaches and says, "'Scuse me.", bowing quickly to Light and making her way over to Trance again. Yes. Busy herself with another conversation...like....What the heck is she -wearing- anyway?
Seeing that Frostmane's already got all the meat, and is already heading over to the grill with it, Alloy decides to go back to geting his contribution to the party set up. A couple of large, concave panniers on legs have been stowed up in the treeline, and Alloy picks up one, placing it somewhere in the throng that is going to be the centre of this party. Then the other one is put down in a likely spot as well. Some wood fires for people to keep warm by, especially the humans. He heads back into the treeline to get some of the chopped wood he'd laid in for the party.
Captain? The highest rank he's been is a Sergeant. Either way, Bowie motions for Frost to set the chest over next to him. "Thankee. An Bowie'll do. Ah'm not one fer titles."
Plushie has arrived.
Stealth Nekojin drops Plushie.
Presently, the redhaired rookie returns, again at a walk, with one large, round container strapped to his shoulders and the other carried in his arms, their contents sloshing invisibly. This, apparently, would be the cold beverages of the 'ice water' and 'generic punch' kind. No, the kind you consume, not the kind you impart upon a disliked individual. Crescendo sets these at one end of the second table, with the utensils, plates, cups and napkins, and dusts his hands off.
Cacophony Timberwolf takes her chair she got from the dispenser, and sets it up. Or at least tries to set it up. "Guh.. never did like these things..." She struggles for a few moments, and then manages to finally get it unfolded completely. "Ah, there we go." She stretches, and then flops down in the chair... only to have it fold back up on her, and flop over in a jumbled mess of wolf and chair. "Urgh!"
Blade Raven wanders his way out onto the beach, a hand rubbing across the back of his neck as he does. He's out here because this is Hunter business, not because this is a party. He hangs towards the edge of the group of Hunters, just kinda waiting for this to begin.
Dr. Thomas Light sits in his lawnchair and starts relaxing. He'll be a moment.
Sonata nods slightly, clasping Light's arm warmly for a moment. "I wonder if Onii-sama will deem us worthy of putting in an appearance... probably not," she adds after a moment. Well, Rock would be here at least. And Auto as well. And... where in the world WAS Jazz? She grated, but Jazz was her sister as well. Sonata sighs, wandering around the party and seeing if there is anyone who is interested in striking up a conversation.
Trance notices Alpha approach her and particularly eye her outfit. She takes a look at Alpha's clothing. Yup, I'm underdressed. However, she doesn't make it look like she's uncomfortable about wearing things that would set off every horny creature around.
Alpha says, quite bluntly to Trance, "...What are you wearing and why?", oh, that might explain things a little more. She tilts her head and runs her eyes over the outfit once more. Hrrnnn... So confusing.
Frostmane Unicorn chuckles. "Sure thing," he replies, setting the chest down with a crunch of broken shells. "You can hold me off the cooking roster, if it helps. No... er.. stomach for it, right now." Blue eyes whirl as he glances around, surveying the beach. "Quite a view here. Should open a resort. 'Light Vacations- Best Kept Secret on Earth."
Plushie hops down off of Kael and makes it's slow way over to Alpha. Tugging lightly on her ankle, it politely awaits her attention. It may be small and nonsentient, but it still has manners, apparently.
Harpoon Hydra continues to walk up the beach from the water and finds a nice, good boulder set into the stand to perch on. He leaps up a good one, about 4 or 5 feet tall, and squats there, glancing out at the rest of the crowd. He keeps a careful watch on Alpha and Bowie to make sure they don't spot him. He's not quite ready to confront them again yet. Sadly, he doesn't see Chill out yet... he must just be preoccuppied. Or, at least, that's what Harpy hopes, because he needs the chance to say sorry.
Well...looky what's kickin' up sand on the way over here...it's Auto, and he's got a metric buttload of drinks, ranging from a pitcher of lemonade to a full cooler of who knows what. And even his met's coming along with some stuff, specifically another pitcher and what looks to be 3 buckets of ice. Auto looks down to where the others are and tries to wave...but realizes his hands are kinda full, so he just decides to yell out. "Hey guys!!"
Alloy reappears from the treeline, a large stack of kindling and larger chunks of wood in one arm, while he clears a way through the foliage with the other. Dumping his armful near the first pannier, he starts setting the fire, placing a small firelighter in the bottom of the pannier and then covering it with kindling.
Trance says, "How? What do you mean?" Maybe she's never seen these kind of clothes before. She points to her chest, "Bikini." She points to her hips, "Skirt." She points down to her feet, "Sandals."
Cacophony Timberwolf growls, and gets in a fight with the beachchair she's stuck in, trying to get out of it and set up like it's suppose to. "Stupid chair! Lemme go!"
Bowie chuckles as well. "Yeah, an open up the base as a hotel. Historical tours an such...well, meybe once the war's over, huh?" He smiles again as he starts getting the burgers out of the chest. "'Fraid Ah didn't catch yer name?"
Alpha looks around once more and then takes a step closer to Trance and studies it some more, "...I know sandals...And those are...bikini and skirt...?", she rubs the back of her neck. "...Why?", she asks, tilting her head again.
Turning his head at the sound of that shouted greeting, Crescendo returns Auto's call with an enthusiastic wave, though he turns right back around to start making room on the table for the oncoming delivery of drinks. "Over here's good, I think... How are you, Auto?"
Sonata wanders over to Trance and Alpha, looking at the two for a moment as they are discussing the finer points of fashion. "Hello Alpha, Trance," she says politely, offering both of them a polite bow. "Glad to see that you could make it to the party," she adds... more to Alpha than anyone else.
Frostmane Unicorn brushes his palms off, one razor-edged ear craning back towards Caco's discomfort. "Frost," he replies, reaching out to pop the chest open and spin it towards the Cook. "Or Frostmane, of late. I'm new, so don't fret losing my name." Note to self: Record file Wolf vs. Lawnchair for posterity.
Dawn shows up from the main area of the island proper at a walk. Looks reasonably amiable, if quiet and moving at a simple walk rather than any huge display of energy. She's here for the reasons everyone else is, probably.
Plushie hmms. Then shrugs, hops up onto a nearby rock, and watches amusedly as Alpha studies Trance's clothing with an intensity most apparel designers would envy. It waves politely to Sonata as well, as it waits.
Trance says, "You....you don't get out much do you? Skirt is like the dress you're wearing but it doesn't need the top part." She takes the time to smile and wave to Sonata, "Hi there." She doesn't get to the bikini part but politely waits for Alpha to respond to Sonata before continuing.
Auto whews as Cres puts out a place for the drinks. "Thanks." Finally, he gets to putting everything down. The Cooler first. Then the Pitchers of lemonade. Then the bottles of Soda. Finally, he seems do have gotten everything, which ends up taking quite a bit of space on the table. Then he opens up his chest compartment and starts pulling stuff out of there. This...might take a while....
Alpha stare, stare, stare...Alpha looks towards Sonata and nods to her, "Thank you...You too.", she blinks, "...Though I had to come because otherwise I'd never learn where I'd be placed.", she looks back to Trance and says, "I get out a lot.", she blinks, "...I just never...heard...of these.", she peers at the bikini.
Bowie nods. "Nice t'meet ya, Frost. Welcome t'the Hunters." The grill sizzles as cold burgers strike it. The Texan proceeds to add a dash of this, a pinch of that, and a little of the other spices to them. Nothing nearly as deadl...er, flavorful as his chili, but something to add a little zing to them. Burgers, southwestern style.
Alloy finally finishes laying the first fire in the brazier, or pannier (or some speical French word which I can never remember, unfortunately), and so he pulls out a small lighter-shaped device. Adjusting it a little, he aims at the little cube underneath the stack of wood and pulls the trigger, sending a brief spurt of flame into the pile of wood. *whoomph* There...that'll start it nicely. He stands up and heads back for some more wood for the second fire.
Trance nods, perhaps feeling a little perturbed that a girl is staring at her chest. "Bikini's are worn on the beach, like this one. You could either lie in the sun or jump into the water and swim with it." Trance wonders if she should tell her about one-piece bathing suits, but with a girl as pretty as her, a bikini would look nicer. "You know..." She holds out her hand to Alpha for a handshake, "I haven't introduced myself. My name is Trance. Nice to meet you." She looks over her shoulder at the numerous Hunters, a lot who she's never met before, "Things have changed around here. I don't think I have a place, a squad to go to either." She winks with a bright smile.
Cacophony Timberwolf makes a soft crashing noise as she finally extradites herself from the grip of the folded chair, thudding in the sand one way as it collapses in the other. She immeadiately spins around, still on all fours as she lays her ears back and tail bristles out as she starts barking loudly at it. You'd think it'd attacked her! Well, it did, sort of. Dogs, go figure.
Frostmane Unicorn nods, glancing back towards Caco's folding-chair combat. "Thanks!" he exclaims, eyes twirling a chaotic blaze of blue. "I hope that tastes like it smells," he adds, crossing his arms and simply watching with a growing amusement. "Though someone already warned about your chili. Something about missile warheads being less volatile?"
The beach has been transformed into a rather cheerful sort of place to be, thanks to Rock's careful attentions. Said Blue Bomber, however, is absent for the moment. A motley collection of beach chairs dot the sand a bit further up the beach itself, in a semi-circle pattern. A small table has been set up, legs buried in the sand to keep it steady, a stack of small black boxes. Off to the side of these beach chairs, and a bit closer to the shoreline, is a large barbeque, near which a pair of larger tables with plastic tablecloths have been set down. Food befitting a beach party resides there, and a hefty cooler full of ice holds an assortment of sodas and juices.
Plushie decides to take matters into its own paws, flickering for a moment into what appears to be blue scaled armor, coiling and springing into a leap that perches it lightly on Alpha's shoulder. The armor then fades, leaving it in sun cap and shades once more. It notes in a quiet voice, "Staring at someone's chest is commonly known as rude. Or lustful."
Bowie's smile lapses into a smirk. "Mah chili ain't that bad. Jus don't put it in a plastic bowl, an yer fine." He flips the burgers over, adding just a touch more spice. "Least, no one's died frum eatin it yet...."
Alpha flicks the plushie off her shoulder as if it was a fly. Or tries to at any rate. You never know with those plushies. She doesn't look at the plushie however and merely nods slowly towards Trance. "Oh. I see...", she offers with her other hand and shakes it, smiling slightly, "Hello Trance. I'm Alpha.", she pauses for a moment and adds, "Sorry, I hope you get a squad today. I hope to talk to you often.", it's very blunt and to the point but she seems to be trying to be casual. "It's nice to meet you, though. Thank you."
Alloy is, meanwhile, still somewhere in the trees, gathering up wood from the stockpile to bring back for the fires. It is getting later on in the day, you know.
"Looks great," Crescendo notes, then gives Auto a quick smile before departing from the table, to wander the crowd on this beach and - well, mingle. Catching a bit of Bowie's explanation of his chili, his red brows arch. He'll be avoiding THAT particular item of food. He doesn't feel like running into the water in desperation and landing himself into trouble of a very wet sort.
Sonata drifts away from Trance, still looking about the beach. She sees her brother, but decides to stay away from him for the moment. This is an official gathering, after all... best to let him get that over with. Although she does walk over to where Auto is, offering her brother a polite smile. "How are you doing?" she asks, looking about at all the other Hunters appearing about.
Plushie hops over the flick, tilting its head. "I take it a message of apology is not something you'd like to receive then?" It shrugs, and hops down, making a little spill in the sand and pulling out a small box that it sets by Alpha's feet, before returning to where Kael is napping.
Plushie has left.
Stealth Nekojin takes Plushie.
Dr. Thomas Light looks up from his chair. Apparently fell asleep for a moment, standing up and shaking off the sun. He's here, he's here! Looks around. "My, many a person. Now this is what I call a turnout."
Bastion finally arrives as he comes in from just off the cut pathway, having taken a detour obviously. Arms crossed, he seems rather put off by something, almost as if getting bad news.
Dawn simply mills into join the rest of the group gathered here, nothing special about that, nor is there anything special about her taking a seat. Her mood is as it was when she got here; friendly and warm, but quiet, maybe thinking about something.
Rock follows out behind after Bastion a few moments later, looking rather disgruntled and carrying a datapad in his hands. He checks it over for the umpteenth time, and puffs out his cheeks as he tries to put on a smile. After all, it's going to be a good evening. The weather's nice, all the Hunters are here...
Dr. Thomas Light walks over to Auto, putting his hand on the big guy's shoulder. "Glad you could make it." Mingling, mingling...glances to the entrance, and the arrivals, and smiles. "Among other blessings. It's always nice to see you, Auto. I don't say that often enough."
Trance's smile twists into a smirk at that funny comment coming from the plushie...where did that thing come from? Bap self, not paying attention. "I'm sure we'll see plenty of each other. Maybe we could go shopping sometime." If she doesn't know what a bikini and skirt is, she'll need all the help she can get.
Cacophony Timberwolf huffs for a moment, but the pouting comes to a quick halt as she smells... food! Almost immediately she beelines towards Frost and the barbeque, trying to see what they're actually cooking. "Mmmm.. that smells good!"
Chill Snowcat stalks off to one side and ducks under a bush for shade and solitude while he listens.
Rigger arrives though the sheer number of Hunters here causes her a breif pause. In to the trenches, and all of that...
Bowie finishes up the first batch of burgers, slipping them neatly into buns and setting them on the tray. On the Bowie scale, the burgers might be 1/2 alarm - safe for consumption by everyone except those with no tolerance for spice at all. The Texan's in a better mood than when Rock or Alpha saw him last, smiling and generally friendly. "Burgers are up!" he calls to the assembled (and no doubt hungry) Hunters.
Frostmane Unicorn just shakes his head, enjoying a private chuckle. "I'll be sure to try it sometime," he replies, tracking down on one particular newcomer. "And it looks like the Commander is here. Time to start really burning the.... Cooking." His grin widens, eyes blazing. "Oh, and a certain lady is en route; beware of the loss of all that's been readied so far."
Auto is just putting out the massive amount of drinks he just brought. Right now, he's working on alleviating Johnny of his load of drinks. After that's all done, Johnny nerps and runs off, wanting to look around at the beach. "Neeerrrr......" (Ooooooh....) He runs up to Alpha and looks up at her, nerping cutely and smiling.
Back to Auto, who is currently talking to the reassuring Light. "Glad to be here, dad." He grins as he continues to put up the drinks. "Rock here yet?"
Alpha blinks at Plushie and says, "What do you...?...Okay...", she says, counfounded, puzzled, confused, bewildered. Stare at Kael. Hrr. She looks back to Trance and says, "I would like that. Thank you.", she smiles again as she kneels down to take the box and, well, open it maybe.
Mrph. Lots of people. Rubbing the back of one leg with the toe of one slippered foot, Crescendo folds his hands behind his head, slanted, tawny optics scanning over those gathered with his brows raised slightly. Well... pick someone to chat it up with, or do something other than watch and help prepare. As he looks around, he unfolds his hands to send a wave over to Rigger, smiling in greeting.
Stealth Nekojin cracks one eye open, ear automatically twitching forward to shade it from the sun as he watches Alpha open the box. Inside isn't much, just a small card and a ribbon in purple that matches her hair nicely.
Dr. Thomas Light thumbs back at the entrance and the boy in blue. "I think so, unless we have Protoman in the wrong outfit." He grins a bit, looking around. Hmm...lots of people. Still some brave souls missing...oh, there's Ether? One more...hmm. "I wonder how Chill's doing. Bastion, hello!"
Blade Raven is where he's been for a while, glancing over at Rock as he arrives behind Bastion. He leans against a rock, watching and waiting.
Rigger catches the wave from Crescendo and replies to it with one of her own. For the moment she doesn't walk towards any single person however as she just looks around to take in all that's going on, and no doubt about to go on. Deciding to play it safe for now she wanders over towards Crescendo to at least say hello. Waves were so distant. "Looks like things are just getting started, huh?"
Alloy's first pannier, with the wood fire just lit, is burning away merrily, crackling as the flames grow. Alloy himself, reappears from the trees with another armful of wood, ready for the second fire. For everyone who wants to keep their hands warm as the night progresses, of course.
Auto turns...then smiles as Rock makes his way to the part. "HEY, ROCK!!" He tries and waves down the Blue Bomber as he comes near. Johnny, meanwhile, has given up on trying to get attention from Alpha and switches to the other nearby Hunter, Trance. He looks up and tries to nerp and cutely as possible at her.
Sonata drifts across the beach, arriving near Crescendo and Rigger after a moment, nodding and offering both of them a half bow. "Evening," she says with a smile. "Quite the party... I haven't seen this many of us in one place in quite a while," she comments absently, looking about for her sister. Only two more and the entire Light family would be here... and it was rather unlikely that Blues would show up at this point in time.
Rock pauses a moment just on the edge of the large gathering, and watches for a moment with unreadable eyes. The controlled chaos that marks any typical Hunter get-together is in full swing, and at that, the Hunter Commander smiles, previous frustrations and anxiety swept away easily. "Evening, everyone!" he calls out in reply to Auto's noisy hail, now properly entering the fray. "Sorry I'm late. How's the food?"
Chill Snowcat isn't by the food table for once.
Trance hears a nerping sound coming from the ground and she looks. A met? Well, it is very cute. Such a cute thing. Trance kneels down and leans over the met to look at it from it's point of view, "Hello."
Crescendo turns towards Rigger to more properly converse, nodding his head in response, though he turns his head to glance around before speaking. "Yeah - looks like a good turnout, doesn't it?" After a short pause, he leans in, half concealing his mouth behind a hand in a mockery of a conspiratorial tone, "I don't know a good many of these faces, I never knew there were so -many- of us." He greets Sonata by dropping his hands to his sides and lowering himself in a bow in return, grinning as he straightens. "Good evening - enjoying the party so far?"
Bowie is in charge of the grill. You be the judge. He rifles through the ice chest, brings out some franks, and starts grilling them as well. No spice on these, just in case anyone doesn't care for southwest cooking. "Howdy Rock," he greets. "Burgers are up, help yerself."
Alloy looks up at Rock's entry while setting the fire, and waves, along with everyone else, most likely, adding his contribution to the hellos that are most likely greeting Rock.
Happening in her general direction, Bastion steps up right beside Trance and Auto's Met. Eyeing it, he tries to identify to whom it exactly belongs too as he greets Trance, "Hey Trance."
Rigger smirks in amusement at Crescendo's mock-whisper. "Frankly, half don't show unless there's a party in the first place. But they're around, trust me." Her head tilts towards Sonata in greeting as well. "It happens on rare occasion."
Dr. Thomas Light walks over to Sonata, letting his hand rest on Crescendo's shoulder a moment. Just coming over, saying hi, having a bud...no, no, no...no...he's just coming over. Lets his hand come down, as he smiles to the lady and his daughter. Both ladies, and more. "Not interrupting, am I?"
Alpha stares at the card for a few moments before closing the box. Not taking the ribbon, huh? Or maybe too embarrassed to do it. She had no idea the plushie was even Kael's. Twitch. She looks towards Kael as her player notices that someone -else- was trying to get her attention. Urgh. Well, y'know, there you go. Alpha turns slightly towards Kael and bows towards him, closing her eyes briefly before straightening and looking back to Trance, blinking, and looking to the met. Oh.
Stealth Nekojin streeeetches out from his 'nap', rising to his feet and padding towards the scent of food. His eyes haven't even opened yet, proving once again that he apparently doesn't use them as often as everyone else does. Though the twitching of one ear tells how he's navigating...
Trance cranks her head up at Bastion who just greeted her. She blinks, not remembering at all if she's met him before. She has a bad memory but she smiles and waves like she knew exactly who he was. "Hello." She pats the cute little met on its helmet and stands up. Before she straightens, she brushes the sand off her knees.
Auto finally grabs himself a drink, a Met-Cola, and pops the can open and makes his way toward his little sis....but then finds Johnny trying to be an attention hog. Sighing, he makes his way toward Alpha, Trance, and Bastion, whence his Assistamet is being a ham. "Oi...Johnny. Don't bother them like that." To which Johnny replies, "Neerr, ner nerp nerpner, nerp nerpnerp!!" (Heeyy, you have your fun, let me have mine!!) Auto just shakes his head at the met.... "Ham." "Ner nerp ner NERP!" (And don't cha forget it!)"
Grinning back at Rigger, Crescendo rubs the back of his head sheepishly, "Oh, good, and here I thought I was totally clueless." He winks and adds quietly, "So now I'm assured I'm only a little clueless." Those tawny optics blink a few times at the hand on his shoulder, then at the originator of that greeting, his head bowing in return. "Dr. Light, good evening. You're looking well - please, join us." To include Sonata and Rigger, he asks, "Would any of you like something to drink?"
Knowing that Trance has in fact not met Bastion, though he's already read over her file and just about everyone within the Hunters, Bastion doesn't offer any further comment. His attention befalls toward Rock and the others around as he puts his hands in his coat pockets.
Turning on his course to buzz past the food tables, the Hunter Commander pauses to reach into the cooler and grab a root beer. "I'll grab something to eat after I finish doing all my blathering," Rock replies with a slight chuckle to Bowie before moving towards the table surrounded by the lawnchairs. He seems to be running a few last-minute checks, as is his wont. "We'll start the official part of tonight's get together in a few minutes," he calls out over the dull roar that is the Hunters.
Alpha Stares at the met as if it was ... Well, imagine yourself in the mirror if a metool jumped out of your computer screen and licked your feet. That's the kind of look she's giving the metool. She looks up to Bastion and says, "Hello Bastion.", before looking back to the metool and then to Auto, "...It is alright, Auto. Thank you."
Alloy lights the second fire in the same way as the first, and stands up, dusting the sand off his jeans. He nods in satisfaction as the flames quickly take hold on the dry wood (lucky find of an old bit of deadfall), and decides to head to the tables for something to eat before the party goes 'official'.
Dawn pretty much remains sitting down quietly, like any good pawn does. She's focusing on Rock and what he may have to say soon, simply put.
Chill Snowcat's not baking at least. The shade keeps him a little cooler.
Cacophony Timberwolf looks up from waiting for the food to be ready as Rock calls out. "Ooooh... looks like the big part of the show is about to start." Sighing a bit about having to wait to eat, she just grabs a soda for the time being, and wanders over to find a place to sit. Thankfully this time, she doesn't get in a fight with the chair.
Trance smiles, all smiles tonight. Good impressions. Very good. Although Bastion probably saw through that, oh well. Maybe she should read all the staff files again. To Auto, Trance asks, "You know what he's saying?"
Dr. Thomas Light nods to Crescendo, Sonata and Rigger. That being who he's next to, anyway. He turns and looks toward Rock, smiling. "No drinks, thank you, unless someone brought iced tea. I'm going to wait for the food and the talk to be over."
Sneaker soles padding soundlessly over the sands of the beach, Reiji comes walking up the path snaking from the base staging area to the beach, surveying the scene from a distance through the tinted lenses of his sunshades. From a tactical perspective, he fails to see the wisdom in holding a barbeque on the island that, presumably, is the top-secret location of the Hunter HQ. That grill is an obvious source of thermal radiation, and the lights...feh. Satellite imaging would have a field day.
Well. Isn't his business to question the logic, or lack thereof, in the Hunter social events planning. Maybe this is all part of some evil plot to hold beach parties until the enemy can get a fix on the location of the Fort Sam Houston. Who knows? Certainly not he. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, Reiji makes his way down to the party, whistling a snatch of tune between his teeth.
Stealth Nekojin collects a can of soda from a cooler, opening it and taking a sip. A small glass tips over his shoulder and is filled absently, allowing the plushie to have a drink as well. He chuckles to himself, rueing ever having given it the ability to drink liquids. Still, it makes a good alternate power source...
Rigger shakes her head a bit while her attention focuses towards Rock. Well he is the big bossman after all, and she knew there was an official aspect to this shindig to begin with. "A Pepsi might be good, if there are any anyhow."
Ether Skunk wanders up from the beach, skipping cheerfully, if clumsily... hop! Hop! Hop! From foot to foot, back and forth, until she misses a beat, stumbles and catches herself, pads along ponderously for a moment, then resumes the business of skipping. In one hand, she has a pail and shovel; around her hair, a beach towel, wrapped up like a turban... in her mouth, an unlit cigar (?), and on her body, a bikini. Omg d00d! Fanservice alarms sound left and right, or at least in Dr. Cain's head.
The skunk pulls to a stop and peers around the crowd, looking for familiar faces... until she realizes that everybody here looks familiar! Ahaha! Wow. She'll never be able to greet everybody individually, so the skunk puts her hands to her mouth and bellows, in the process dropping her cigar to the rocks and sand at her feet. "HAAAALLLOOOOOO, EEEEEVERYBOOOODDYYYYYY!!!"
Auto nods to Trance, glaring at his assistamet as it tries to jump into Trance's arms like it was a cat or something. "Yeah, somthin' I picked up from Guts when he used 'ta work at the shop. Never did use it much until I got him, though. Luckily, they understand English well enough." Johnny, meanwhile, continues to be a showoff, trying to demonstrate a trick of his to Trance and Alpha by jumping onto it's helmet and spinning like an 80's breakdancer.
Uneven terrain. Quiet conditions? ...Hardly. Good old beach party. Mizu arrives in his customary overly-official manner, fairly on time, considering. He eyes with suspicion the food tables. Uh.. yeah. Meeting. Yeah. That's what it is. Really, it is. Nevermind the grills and stuff. Flanking Reiji to some degree, the swordsman follows him down silently, picking his way through the clean sand. Overdressed? ... You betcha! u.u
Frostmane Unicorn cocks an ear towards Rock's up-&-coming speechification, leaning back with a snap of his tail. "Well, at least the food is safe now," he quips, all but gleaming with amusement.
Bowie continues to grill up burgers and franks for everyone. He can listen and cook at the same time. And besides, it gives him a few extra minutes before the ravenous horde descends. To Frost, he simply nods.
Trance giggles at the antics of the Met. "I see...that would be a very interesting language to learn." She does however pick Johnny up after it finishes its spin, holding the edges of the helmet and letting the met feet wiggle in the air.
Alpha blinks again, "...Oh...", she blinks again and again. "...I see."
"I understand," Reiji remarks conversationally to Mizu, scrutinizing the swordsman's attire with a casual glance, "that the convention for these affairs involves dressing down, loosening up, and having something that experts refer to as a 'good' time. I'd have assumed a man of your calibre would have made some effort at..." He grins, once, "...cultural integration."
With a wave of a hand, he gestures towards the heart of the party, pauses, and adds, "Though maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. You'd look horrible in a bikini." That said, he pivots neatly on a heel, and heads in a straight line towards the drinks cooler.
Taking advantage of a few seconds before things start, Crescendo nods, heading to the table to retrieve a Pepsi (thanks to Auto for bringing sodas!), some iced tea, and returns - to pass drinks off to those who requested them. With that, he glances over to Ether at her greeting, grinning as he waves back. "Hi, Ether."
Rock cracks the top on his root beer can, as he checks everything on the meeting-table once more. Setting the datapad down and taking a swig from the can, he watches the Hunters mill about before shaking his head slightly. Ah, good, Ether's here, he thinks as he turns around fully to spy... a bikini-wearing skunk. He gawks for a moment longer than manners would accept, but leering old men would call amateurish. Flushing red for a moment, he rubs at his cheek absently before busily rearranging the stack of small black boxes again. .oO(Must... stay... professional...! For now, anyway.)
Bastion sends a radio transmission.
Rock receives a radio transmission from Bastion.
Blade Raven puts his hand over his beak, muffling a yawn as he waits. Not hungry, no reason to go get any food. He doesn't see why this couldn't have just been done in the command center.
Dr. Thomas Light is relaxing. He goes and gets himself a burger, if any are left. *peers, peers* Yep, at least one. Light need food. Feed Light. *munches* Looks at the skunk, smiles a bit and dips his head to a lovely lady, then looks back to the group. He spots Chill in a corner, offers him a smile and waves him over?
Ether Skunk doesn't catch Rock's look, though she responds to Crescendo's greeting with a cheerful smile. Reaching down to pluck her cigar out of the sand, she tucks it behind an ear, tosses her pail and shovel to the side, and tightens the fold of her beach-towl-turban. Suddenly.... an idea crosses her thoughts! Beware! Grinning slightly, she hops into the air and crosses her legs, hovering there, assuming the lotus position. Throwing her turban'd head back, crossing her arms over her chest and nodding once, she speaks up, in an imperious tone... "I am the Genie of the lamp! And I shall grant you three wishes." She reaches out, to point at Crescendo, tail swashing back and forth behind her.
Chill Snowcat quickly turns his head to avoid Light's gaze.
Drawing a slow breath to calm his nerves down, and to go through his mental itinerary again, Rock turns around to face the other Hunters. Putting two fingers to his lips, the Commander decides to call this meeting to order with a blisteringly loud whistle and accompanying shout:
"HEY, HUNTERS! BUSINESS BEFORE PLEASURE!" Slightly less loud, he adds, "Can you please come and have a seat over here? I'd like to start."
Dr. Thomas Light ohs. He goes back, back, back to his chair, and sits. He's frowning a little, but he does know business comes first. Sits, quiets and waits for his Son's announcements.
Auto nods again, while Johnny lets Trance pick him up, no problem. "Yeah...it's kinda a tonal think, since ya can't exactly say much else with only one syllable." However, he ignores his met for the time being as he turns to Rock, his big bro and Hunter CO starting his big speech. Johnny, meanwhile, tries to make himself more comfortable in Trance's grip, not paying attention to the "Man in the blue pajama's," the met's pet name for AUto's big bro.
Bowie pulls the current batch of franks from the grill, then moseys over. None of the food is going to be left to burn if he can help it.
Stealth Nekojin pads over to where Rock is and presses a button on his armguard, which apparently doesn't go away... ever... even though he'd like his normal arm back... but he rants. A part of his backpack disengages from the rest, unfolding into a comfortable lounge-style lawn chair that drops to the ground. He then settles into it, putting his can of soda into a holder on the right arm as the Plushie peers over his shoulder at Rock.
Alpha IGNORES ROCK HAHAHAHAHA YOU WILL NOT START THE MEETiNG TILL I GET DRUNK AND COLLAP...ooh! The chairs are shiny! Alpha turns like a robot towards the chairs and walks toward them...intending to sit down in one. Before she leaves, however, she nods once more to Trance and once to Auto and once to the metool. Aww.
Chill Snowcat remains under the bush.
Cacophony Timberwolf's chair decides to behave this time and not attack her, or fold up when she's sitting in it, so kicks back to listen to what Rock's got to say while sipping at her soda. Though relax and stay calm are two different things, as her tail thumps against the back of the chair eagerly. Her first meeting as a Hunter. How exciting!
Taking a seat in the back row, in the farthest seat to the right, Bastion sits quietly. Today the former 'forcer seems quite contemplative. Watching the movement everyone for just a moment, he pulls out a small pad from his inside coat pocket and pulls a wire from his wrist connecting it to the pad.
Frostmane Unicorn steps over from the grill, casting a longing glance back at the food before moving on to the meeting. Not quite an exciting proposition... But at least he doesn't have to tiptoe to see the Commander.
Ether Skunk gacks! At the sound of Rock's voice, the Great Etherini drops from the air, her turban unravelling and falling over her face like a shroud. She writhes in the sand, howling, voice muffled by her fabric assailant! "Aaiiiieee! Maverick towel! It seeks to choke me! Gaaarrgh-" Her voice abruptly dies down as the towel falls off, and she pulls herself to her feet, standing up straight, and, towel in hand, skips over to claim a good seat up in the front row, plopping her stripey butt down in the sand and looking up at The Boss. While she's at it, she offers him an enthusiastic thumbs-up and a broad, broad grin. You da man, Rock! Ooh baby!
Disappointed that he can't get something to eat now, since Frostmane's defending everything edible with his life, Alloy moves over to the seating and takes an aisle seat. People never leave enough legspace between rows.
With the faint sound of crunching ice, Reiji sticks an arm all the way past his elbow into the depths of the drinks cooler, rummaging around the deepest innards of the container. He continues doing this for over a minute, searching for a -specific- beverage in the mass of chilled drinks submerged within. Were he human, he'd be suffering from a severe case of impending frostbite, by now. But he's an android. He'll deal with it. As he searches the cooler, Reiji glances in Rock's direction, and grins faintly. With his free hand, he produces a gleaming analog stopwatch, and fiddles with the dials. He's curious as to HOW long it'll take -this- bunch to comply with that order.
Gazing ... up, now, at the floating skunk-genie, the redhaired rookie scratches the back of his head and grins. "Three wishes? I'll have to get back to you on that one," he adds with a laugh in his voice, before Crescendo's attention is caught by the call for things to begin. Another smile sent to Ether, then to Sonata, Dr. Light and Rigger, and he heads on over to a seat on the sand. All attention.
Mizu peers idly at Reiji.. and very -calmly- notes. "I lack the armor-summoning capacity of some of other... denizens." A wry smirk taints the Hunter's visage, briefly. "Would you prefer I painted myself in a..." Pause. "...Hawaiian motif...?" Peer, as he heads off. However, Mizu's path splits from the other man's at this point. He himself heads over to a beach chair as Rock makes his general annoucement. A minor test of it for weight capacity... and then settles in. Pfesceh.
A quiet metallic clank as a lighter flips open, ignited in the same motion, the fire touched to a long and battered cigarette. The lighter is tucked away as a gloved hand reaches up to brush back dark hair, and Jack stares out at the ocean, his face illuminated faintly by the cigarette. He's standing quite a ways down the beach from the group, just a silhouette to the others, the waves washing over his boots periodically. He's not sociable, not hungry, not thirsty. One or two of the others may bear talking to, a little later on - getting acquainted with this 'Reiji' character would probably be a good idea - but for now, he can hear just fine from here.
Rigger flashes Crescendo a thankful smile as she takes the offered drink. She's just begining to work it open with her fingernails when Rock calls for everyone's attention. She trails after towards the seats with a vague shrug. "This should be interesting."
Sonata complies rather quickly, turning slightly so she can watch her brother as he begins the pitch. Well, time to see who would rise and who would fall - as usual, it would be interesting to see how the Hunters would be shuffled up.
Trance gives Alpha an encouraging smile before she files towards Big Leader like the rest of the sheep, erm Hunters. She magnetically picks up a lawn chair and drags it along to the meeting so she doesn't need to let go of the met. She'll need something to keep her amused for the meeting
Auto just sits down. Nothing interesting about that....until he falls back in it. "Whoa!!" *THUD* At least he was in the back row. "Ow..."
A clink of ice fills the air as Reiji withdraws his dripping arm from the cooler, triumphantly clutching...a can...of sparkling mineral water. All that, for -water-? Who can fathom the mysteries of Reiji's mind? Twirling the can between his fingers, he makes his way towards the scattered chairs roughly arranged in Rock's direction, and slides his lean frame into one of them. He arches an eyebrow in Mizu's direction, and leans over to where the reploid is sitting, several seats away. "So you're going to be wearing nothing, -and- paint yourself with a tropical print? I wasn't aware exhibitionism was part of the Bushido way, but I suppose the principles of psychological warfare are universal."
Rock leans against the table, waiting and watching for everyone to find a chair, or some sand to sit on. Either way's fine - for himself, he's taking the edge of the table, since he's gotta lead this meeting somehow. He gives those closest to the front a little smile before he picks up the datapad. He's about ready to begin, it seems. "Thanks for coming tonight, everyone. I called it a party more than a meeting before, because we're celebrating our successes at Battle and Chase, and the various promotions I'll be according tonight as well. There'll be some time afterwards for some points of business, and then we can get back to enjoying the barbeque skills of Bowie."
Ether Skunk raises her hands over her head and claps like a maniac at the mention of... something. "WOO! B&C! BOWIE BBQ BAB...." She pauses, glances back at the crowd over her shoulder, and drops her hands, hushing immediately.
Mizu is perfectly calm. Eyes dead forward, fingers steepled neatly, as he awaits the meeting to start. Sedate. He's mostly here for the meeting. And to observe those there--a collection of the world's finest at rest, as it were. It was technically very hard to get him to 'loosen up,' as it were, but he was not the perfect pinnacle of stoicism- that title belonged to others. However, noting Reiji's position several seats over, Mizu replies lowly only within earshot of himself and Reiji, not missing a beat. "I would question the workings of your mind to be so singularly set upon the issue of myself in various states of scant attire..." He then turns his head -very- slightly to peer at the divine cynic through narrowed, keen eyes. "...But this is far from the time to be discussing psychology, good sir..." Simply that, nothing more, before he reorients on Rock, listening closely.
Dawn simply remains where she is, sitting down and listening to He Who Wears Blue Underwear as Armor without a word.
Sonata listens to her brother - everyone else is likely to either make a lot of noise or fill the air with an excess of ... in response to Rock - so she just waits, seeing if there is anything that she can chime in with.
Auto meanwhile gets up off his back and takes a seat nearer to Rock, hoping he doesn't fall back in this one. The old seat meanwhile...well, lets just say if there's a heaven for folding chairs, it's headin' to meet St. Peter.
Bowie stands behind the chairs, listening. Laconic mode has kicked in again.
Crescendo clasps his hands at one ankle, holding that knee to his chest as he sits on the sand, attentively listening. Not much to say there.
Blade Raven remains quiet, listening, like he has been for the entire hour or so he's been here.
Alpha just listens quietly. LIKE A ROBOT.
Listen, as the burgers cook so aromatically. Sizzle.
Just for a second, Reiji scowls, the inscrutable neutral expression usually present on his features slipping ever so slightly. He's forced to concede, grudgingly...that Mizu's retort was a -very- good one. Round one to the Tanuki. Absently, Reiji listens to Rock, some part of his mind following what the Hunter commander has to say. Not that he -has- much of consequence to say. Reiji's gaze remains fixed firmly on Rock as he clears his throat, not turning to make eye contact with Mizu as he responds, "Merely taking a vested interest in the socialogical development of a colleague, friend. Unless that was a badly-worded proposition?"
Chill Snowcat isn't hovering around the food for once.
And as if the world wasn't a weird enough place. A shooting star overhead. Wait... Thats at a weird angle... Oh no... it is coming straight for us! Run! The meteor strikes the ground a foot from the table, sending sand all over the place. But wait! The food is safe, the projectile launched the sand in the other direction. Right toward the seats. Ah well, least nothing exploded.
Trance sits down on the lawnchair, making herself as comfy as possible. She stares at the met in her hands and decides to see how much of the Met is metal. Taking one hand off the helmet, she exerts a magnetic field and pushes the Met a little. She is listening but she doesn't need to be actually watching to be listening.
Auto smells those burgers. oO(Mmm....fooooooooooood.....)Oo He shifts as his stomach starts to grumble. Then the 'meteor' hits. oO(ACK!)Oo
Johnny, meanwhile, is being violated by a curious Trance, his helmet popping off his circular black body, his eyes swirling in opposite directions at the magnetic mind****. oO(OOoooh...feel strange...)Oo Meanwhile, the met's body just shifts slightly, expanding and contracting ever so slightly at Trance's manipulations.
Rock picks up the datapad and taps a button there to call up the list of the wins, losses, and placements of all the Battle and Chase events. "A lot of us took part in the Games this year, and even though not everyone might've won their events, you should all be very proud - not a one of you should be disappointed in your efforts. And without further ado..." He chuckles slightly before drawing a breath to start listing off Hunters.
"Bastion, who took gold in Heavyweight singles combat, and silver in Sharpshooting and Team Combat. Auto, who fought valiantly against Dr. Wily, and drove solidly in the first heat of the car race. Dr. Light, who may not have won his battlebots match or his fencing match, but won a battle of words against Dr. Wily - and probably had one of the nicest cars in the race. Bowie, who showed those pistols he packs aren't just for show in sharpshooting. Dawn, who picked up gold in team combat, bronze in the water race, participated in fencing, and had a good showing in the foot race and singles combat. Cacophony, who drove one of the noisiest cars ever in the race, and, well, showed the world that what she lacks in aim, she makes up for firepower. And last but definitely not least, Mizu, who fought valiantly through fencing to face down Colonel."
He leaves himself out of the lists - he's not here to celebrate himself. And if he missed you, assume it's in there somewhere. Yes.
Sand? A shower of sand from a ... -meteor- impacting the beach? As he was staring at Rock while he spoke, Crescendo gets a wash of sand right in the eyes. "AHH!!" He claps his hands over his eyes and whimpers. "Sorry... sorry." Shutting up - really!
Ether Skunk raises her voice, clasping her hands to her mouth once more. "And Rock took team combat gold! Yay for Rock! And Mike got racin' gold, too!!" She quiets down once more, whistling innocently. Wasn't me.
Dr. Thomas Light grins, putting up a hand to add in "Smite, whose butt showed for one and always that we will never be ignored, in any way unless you particularly like to get your aft handed to you."
Alpha is...well...not sure if the meteor is IC or not, and isn't sure why the heck it happened, and so she just waits in limbo.
Dawn does what she's been doing, sitting quietly. Some of Rock's various remarks briefly make her look more animated, but she returns to a calmer state quickly and without incident.
Rigger is as equally thrilled with the sand as Crescendo. In otherwords: Not at all. Her arm lifts to sheild her eyes, and she sputters a moment before begining to dust herself off. "Dangit."
Bowie glances behind him as he hears something strike near the table, spraying sand everywhere. Blink. Okay. Odd. The Texan goes over to investigate whatever's causing the fuss.
Alloy claps whole-heartedly as Rock reads out the list of competitors and wins in the BnC, even though he himself didn't compete in anything.
Cacophony Timberwolf beams, tail thumping against the back of her chair again. She didn't actually win anything, and still got praised. Yaaay!
Sonata doesn't like the sand either, although she simply proceeds to dust herself down and tries to get it out of her hair.
Crescendo claps too, since one doesn't need to open their eyes when they're applauding. He even manages to sound enthused, even with sand in his optics. Ow.
Dr. Thomas Light lost everything he was in. Badly.
Blade Raven applauds a little, quietly, glad he's sitting far enough away from the kicked up sand. Yeah, so he didn't do anything about BnC. Big whoop. It's just silly games.
A meteor lands. Sand flies through the air... and lands all over Mizu.
The tanuki, unmoving, blinks....once.
"I'd be more concerned about the distinct possibility of having a meteorite deal a large modicum of blunt damage to my skull, were I you." completely in jest, mind, to Reiji. The swordsman looks over vaguely in that direction a single eyebrow raising. However, his head does -not- move. A strange occurance, but he's currently listening to Rock. The probabilities alone are mind-boggling. ... Maybe Guts Man threw a rock from somewhere on the mainland.
Chill Snowcat sniffs and shifts under the bush listening to the meeting.
Another meteor strikes nearby. A small one, the size of a baseball. It lands in the drinks cooler. However, the cooler was made of nerpium, since Hunter Command /hates/ loosing their drinks. So the nickel meteorite just sits at the bottom of the drink infested water. A few cans having burst open however.
Auto lost horribly in B&C as well...but he's not concerned with that. He's concerned with what the hell just collided with the cooler. "The drinks!"
Reiji doesn't stir from his seat, not in the slightest, as the spray of sand rockets over Rock's nice little audience. With none of the consternation or alarm expressed by some of his colleagues, Reiji's perfectly calm and composed as he pops the tab on his can of mineral water, raising it to his lips to take a deep drink. As he swallows, errant grains of sand stop -dead- a few centimetres from his form and bounce off, victims of a shimmering haze of blue that briefly enshrouds his form. "Well, yes," he replies to Mizu, "but I'm not you, am I? Tails just aren't my thing. If we were all like you, the world would be a very boring place." Setting his drink down - on empty air, the can hovering with no visible means of support, Reiji applauds politely at Rock's announcement. While he had certain -moral- objections about participation in the B&Cs, he wasn't above making...little...wagers on events. And he appreciates the fine efforts of the other Hunters in making sure he turned a nice profit.
Ether Skunk procures an umbrella, unfurls it, and holds it over her head. If thou shalt fall, Sky, then come, come and meet thine match.
Rock blushes at the mention of himself, and kicks at the sand slightly before clearing his throat. "Win or lose, we showed the world that the Hunters are here. I'm proud of all of you, and next year I'm sure we'll do even better!" Enthusiasm glows in his expression before he blinks at the series of impacts, shaking his head slightly and looking up at the sky. "Wonder if it's gonna rain frogs next," he muses quietly before squaring his shoulders.
"Now, another subject worth celebrating - promotions..." He waves a hand to the numerous small black boxes behind him. "At the end of the meeting, you can come up here and pick up your own Hunter insignia pin. Each one is colour coded according to your rank. The most recent promotions, I'll read off now. As you know, I've reorganized the squads again, hopefully for the last time." He rolls his eyes slightly, pausing to take a drink of his root beer and be able to make another not-quite-spamalicious pose.
Alpha looks up with a sigh. Now that Rock said that it might rain frogs next, she's expecting a shower of toad men.
A frog jumps out of a tree on the mention of his species, and lands on Rock's head.
A frog on a beach?
If it can rain frogs, they can be on a beach. dangit.
Frogs can't take vacations?
o.O;; ?
Cacophony Timberwolf clamps her paws over her muzzle to keep from outright giggling. "Hey Bowie, maybe you should be making fried frog legs instead of burgers..."
Bowie goes to fish out whatever just landed in the cooler. He's still listening, but the sudden meteor shower has him curious. Actually, he doesn't even notice the frog until Caco makes mention of it. "Hm?"
Rock blinks slightly as the frog lands with an impolite 'plop' on his head. Blue eyes lift up to the skies, and he asks the frog, very quietly, "Could you make the ground open up and swallow the Mavericks and Masters?" Coughing a moment, he taps the datapad again. "Now we've got a lot of promotions to get through, and then afterwards I'll open up the floor to suggestions for long-term plans against the forces of Wily and Sigma both."
Ether Skunk folds up her umbrella and sets it aside, exchanging it for a tennis racket... for swatting those jumpin' frogs back into the bushes, you realize. Her free hand waggles at the distant cooler, and its lid flips open, the ice inside rustles, and a bottle of VANILLA COKE floats out and swishes over to alight in Ether's oustretched hand. SHe pops it open and takes a nice, long drink. Aahhhhh. The refreshment of Coke, with a smooth hint of vanilla.
Trance spins the little Met between her hands, unaware if she may be doing something harmful to it. It doesn't seem to be in any distress. She just minds her own business. Ooh promotions, not for me, big deal. Next?
Dr. Thomas Light grins. That's all. He's just here to watch, there's not a huge chance he's going to suddenly be transferred to a combat unit. OR IS THERE!?!?!?
Alloy sits up a bit at the mention of promotions. Yes, he'd like to know what heck is going on, since he's an E ranker that's been pressed into temporary XOness for some bizarre reason.
Mizu distinctly lacks the ability to deflect sand ... or frogs, as it would seem, unlike his friend over there. BUT, he does possess the same calm demeanor, shown now as he very calmly brushes sand out of his hair. He's going to investigate those meteors. _When_ Rock is done. However, there are more important things. Such as Reiji. And the possibility of Blues teleporting in and landing on Rock's head now. Oh dear. "........If you were like me, I'd imagine you'd certainly be more cheerful." Deadpan. He peers at the frog on Rock's head. No, he's lsitening to Rock, not the frog, though considering the way things are going, he would not suprised if the frog whipped out a datapad and started announcing promotions instead of Rock.
Sonata knows what is going to happen to her, most likely - she did request it, after all.
Harpoon Hydra makes his way silently down the little path and looks around. At the moment, he doesn't quite spot who he's looking for, but he still takes an empty seat in the back. Promotions?
Auto blinks as he finally returns to his seat, done going all "Hit the Deck!" at the meteor and staring at the frogs flocking to his brother. He says nothing, since military planning was never his thing. Johnny, meanwhile, continues to be spun around, the magnetics acting like an ether of sorts. oO(Ooohh....pretty girls....pretty bikinis...)Oo
Crescendo is still working on getting sand out of his optics. Grumble. But he's still listening, even if he's only got one eye clear to watch with. Squad assignments? He crosses the fingers of one hand at his side, though returns to paying as much attention as he can split between Rock's announcements and the sand.
Reiji doesn't bat an eyelid, instead merely watching impassively as meteors and extremely confused amphibians rain down from the heavens for no discernable reason. He's spent enough time as a Maverick Hunter to be totally conditioned against random weirdness. And once you've seen a cow land on several of your colleagues in the middle of a battlefield, there isn't really all that much that can surprise you. Leaning back in his chair, he takes another drink from his can of mineral water, and waits calmly for Rock to continue. To Mizu, he remarks, sotto voce, "Yes, I -have- noticed how you moonlight as the Cheerful Fairy on your off-hours. I understand that this second income isn't covered in your income tax returns? Naughty, naughty."
"Our current squads have been broken into four new, smaller ones to handle the recent influx of Hunters: two all-purpose combat squads, one special operations squad, and one raid operations squad, who specialize in offensive actions. Of course, with these new squads, we need new commanding officers." Rock smiles a little at that, looking around the beach at the eager faces of the Hunters. Now he reaches up to pluck the frog from his head and set it on the ground, giving it a little 'shoo' with his hand.
"The two combat squads will be commanded by Mike Eildath and Arafina, with Bowie and Mizu the XOs, respectively. Jack will command the specops squad, seconded by Reiji. Ether will command the raid squad, with Bastion as her second-in-command. Dr. Light and Dr. Cain still hold court at the Labs as support, and Dr. Cossack and Rigger still command and second, respectively, the Sam Houston's medbay and science team. Now, you folks will find yourselves in these squads..."
And to save time and spam, Rock reads +squad/list for every squad for everyone present.
Light, grinning, got some sand in his teeth. As per usual. Got to stop grinning, bad habit. Cheerfulness must stop, it can be used against you. Course, all this perfectly good logic is wasted on the old guy, keeping his eyes forward and his ears peeled. Or...something like that. "I have a squad?"
Dawn suddenly recalls something. It's not shown much in her actions, but she does send a quick radio message to Rock.
Rigger glances over at Dr. Light with an amused expression. "Yeah, you were in charge of Shoto Support before. Basically support, medical, and science for the labs. Seems it's staying that way though I dunno about the name of the squad anymore."
Dawn sends a radio transmission.
Rock receives a radio transmission.
Ether Skunk sits up straight and proud, head held high, although it appears to be a subconscious gesture. And look! Her tail wags from side to side, side to side... nice and floofy, poofy and big. Oooh. And since she's sitting in the very front row, the untold depths of tailfoof are likely drifting right in someone's way. Wag, wag, wag.....
Crescendo breaks into some short-lived, but heartfelt applause, though he silences himself to return to paying some quiet attention. Seems he finally got most of the sand outta his optics. Yay.
Sonata acks as she is attacked by Ether's tail! Down tail, down!
Alpha listens, listens...nods once when her name comes up and then leans back. With Arafina, how curious.
And what is Bowie, new XO, doing? Fishing through the drink cooler for that meteor. Most of the ice is melted now, and some of the pop cans have bled their contents into the mess, but nothing lifethreatening.
Rock sends a radio transmission.
Dawn receives a radio transmission.
Listening only half heartedly as he continues to input new data into his pad through the direct link he has, Bastion's eyes snap up upon hearing his name. Ah yes, the change in ranks, with a small flicker of his optics that anyone in the back row might see, he seems hesitant over it. The last time he had rank afterall within the 'force, didn't end well for many.
Dawn gets a response in the form of a voice in her head. Rock's voice in her head! It commands her to go ahead and leave, so she obeys and rises to her feet, then walks off from the party. Doesn't look like anything irritated her though, so that's probably not the reason.
Cacophony Timberwolf realizes, a few minutes late, that she's gotten sand in her hair from the shower, and rakes her claws through it a few times to clear it out, tail flecking in annoyance. It's not as big as Ether's, and more fuzzy than it is floofy, so you'd have to be really stupid and get close to get 'attacked' by it.
Michael Eildath wanders up, late.
Alloy leans back, looking relieved. So he won't be stuck with this command position-thingy permanently. That's good, at least. But then, what's he worrying about? Not as if the squad needs close attention from its leaders.
"Actual promotions, aside from that, are thus: Alpha is now F Class. E Class Hunters include Varia Beetle, Andromeda, Hyperion, Kalinka, Duncun. Lucent, Sonata, Jazz, and Bolt Kraken are now D Class Hunters. No new C Classers, but in B Class, we now count Alloy, Lifesaver, and Stealth Nekojin." Rock pauses, letting this sink in for a moment. If he missed you, it's his player's fault for having a bad memory.
Sand is little bother for Frostmane, though he frowns at the raining particles as he brushes his shoulders, keeping a protective glance at the covered food all the while. Sentinel overlord of the Barbeque Pit! Meteors, beware!
Reiji, unlike Ether, doesn't wag his tail. Lacking any sort of rear-mounted prehensile appendage, such a feat would be quite difficult - barring extensive modifications to his chassis. He does, however, out of a sense of extreme perverse curiousity, glance around to see if any of the other newly-promoted officers are doing the same. Though that -would- be rather difficult, considering that few of the others possess tails, too. And somehow, it doesn't seem to him that Mizu's the type to play feather duster with his posterior.
Turning back to Rock, he cocks his head to the side, absorbing the names as Rock reads them out, sorting them into mental tables within the depths of his skull. It pays to know these things - and besides, Reiji admits perverse curiousity concerning the poor peons that Hunter Command has put under his and Jack's somewhat dubious authority.
Harpoon Hydra spots Mike wandering down the path and invites him over to take an empty seat in the back next to him.
Stealth Nekojin contemplates choking on the fact that he has, once again, gained rank that he never really expected. Then gives a mental shrug and sends the rational part of his brain off to fall over the edge of a cliff. Works every time.
Despite the fact Mizu's player is currently spazzing, Mizu's thumbs tap neatly against his topmost knuckles, listening intently to both Rock and Reiji. THis time his gaze remains dead ahead as he mutter dryly. "....Curses. It would seem that you have found out my secret, Reiji. I am afraid I shall have to commit 'seppuku' to reclaim my honor. .. After I acquire a lemonade. It is said that suicide is a thirsty business. You must, however, burn my tutu after I am gone, to make sure that none befall the same plight as I. It is your duty as a Hunter." More fierce dry cynicism never found in a man. "...However, I do it solely for nonprofit reasons." This said, he listens to the squad assignments and commanders explicitly, cataloguing every man's placement.
A long, heavy wave breaks up the beach, soaking Jack's boots and a bit of his pant legs. He doesn't care, or even seem to notice - about the same reaction he has to the announcement down the beach. He merely continues to stare out at the ocean, watching the twilight glow of the fading sunlight. He has plans for his position, oh yes he does - but that's somewhat secondary at the moment, as he's now only trying to deal with the feeling of having a ragtag group such as this under his command ... again. Last time ... turned out, ah .. less than successful, in the end.
And no, Mizu -isn't- wagging his tail. Merely, his ISP disconnects him in joy.
Dr. Thomas Light files it all. He's relaxing, playing with his paperwork, until all talk is done. He has something on his mind, but won't interrupt work...that is all from the Light corner of the park.
"Oh, -hardly-. I approve, Mizu. Rest assured, I approve. If you've studied the reports concerning that little affair with the Stardroids some time back, I'm sure you know that excess...genkiness...is a very effective weapon. No doubt you're familiar with the events pertaining to one of your former superior's...'Admiral', was it?...demise," Reiji shakes his head slightly, and then squints critically at the aluminium beverage container in his hand, swirling the liquid at the base of the can around. "Far be it for me to discourage you from pursuit of this potent offensive technique."
Crescendo applauds again, grinning. Good news, all this sounds like thus far - so why wouldn't he be cheerful? Okay, okay, so he's often cheerful, but still - good news warrants cheering.
Auto is just watching, really. He's not lookin' for promotions or anything. He's just here to be a good Hunter and Light-bot.
Alloy blinks. Him? A B Class Hunter? That's...quite a step up. Still trying to digest this, he claps in congratulations for everyone who's being promoted, smiling as some of the more familiar names are read out.
Dr. Thomas Light gets up and shuffles over toward a bush. A bush with a cat under it. He whispers to the bush, trying to be in two places at once. Damn, that physics. I shall beat you yet!
Blade Raven is quite...Unsurprised that he didn't get a promotion. He was surprised when he got the first one, so he just remains sitting back, quietly observing.
Rock draws a breath, putting the datapad down on the table. "And with that out of the way - congratulations to all, and to those new commanders and seconds, I know you'll do well - has anyone got anything they'd like to bring up tonight, either in ways of issues or plans..." His father's talking to a bush. Oh dear. He recovers himself quickly, resuming his train of thought. "... concerning our actions once the Games's official truce ends Sunday?"
Ether Skunk throws her arm up in the air and waves it around. Ooh, me! Me! Call on me! Call on me!
Cacophony Timberwolf flails an arm energeticly in the air as Rock starts taking questions. Though she's too hyped up to be patient enough to actually wait to be called on before she blurts out what's on her small mind. "Does this mean I finally get to blow stuff up?"
Dr. Thomas Light moves back to his chair, sitting. No, he wasn't talking to a bush. He was talking to someone in it, though admittedly hard to spot. He looks up, looking around, glad to see so..."Ether, your tail is in my drink."
Dropping his smile like someone might drop a hot plate, Crescendo soberly raises a hand, settling down on the sand more comfortably.
While still slightly disappointed and unnoticed by Mike, Harpy almost looks up at Rock makes this statement. Well... yes. He's got something he wants to get off his mind, but... not here. Not now, and especially not... in front of all the other Hunters. He'll wait until afterwards.
Frostmane Unicorn just... drops his head into his hands. "Well, life's always been interesting..."
Reiji cocks his head to the side, directing a sidealong glance towards Cacophony and Ether. Mayhaps there's something to what he said about excessive genkiness being harnessed as a force of destruction. Those two appear to be walking examples of the concept.
Rock's words jerk Alloy out of his surprise, and he tries to get his mind back on track. Yes, there was something he wanted to bring up. This'd probably be the best time to do it, but it seems plenty of other people have the same idea, so he doesn't bother putting his hand up. He'll be patient.
Chill Snowcat crawls out and sits by Light with his head down.
Blade Raven finally gets up off the rock he was leaning on, and starts back towards the base, .o(This was a waste of time. A memo in the command center would have done the same thing.)
Rock facepalms slightly at Cacophony, but... offers up a little smile. "Yes, Cacophony. We'll be getting back to the business of blowing things up." Unfortunately, he thinks, but bites it back savagely. "Ether?" he asks, giving her energetic display a little nod of acknowledgement. "What's on your mind?"
Harpoon Hydra suddenly spots movement somewhere along the beach. Could it be?... Yes. He gets out of his chair and, squatting down so as not to be noticed, he moves towards Light and Chill. Taking a seat behind them, he taptaps Chill's head.
Pause. ".....I suppose it could be a tactically efficient tactic." He must give some thought to this. *deadpan* Still. He allows the others to speak, not raising his hand. His plans are not quite ripe yet. And how he will proceed will require discussion with his.....superiors...before disclosure. And besides. It is far more efficient to see what everyone else's plan is, before forming the secret plot to conquer all of the Masters' ice cream supply, throwing the Masters into a state of psychological depression, thus making them ripe for removal from AFrica. .... No, really. Think about it. It could work.
Bowie is still in laconic mode, and so at this point has nothing to contribute to the idea pool. He does, however, find the little fragment of nickel from beyond the straosphere. He'll hand it over to Light or Rigger later. For now, he'll continue listening while he looks it over.
Dr. Thomas Light reaches down and scritches gently at Chill's headfur. He's listening, relaxing in his chair, and just...trying to be here for as many people as he can. Not going back on decisions, not getting in the way, and not doing 'battle plans'...not his style, nor is his brain built for it. But he IS here. Whispers, gently, "Rock on..."
Ether Skunk hops to her feet and stands up straight, whirling on a heel and wobbling precariously before she finds her footing. The skunk plants her feet firmly, puts her hands on her hips, and raises her head high to survey the rest of the Hunters... somehow, that cigar she had tucked behind an ear got back in her mouth. Still unlit. She gnaws the end of it. "So, when the B&C ceasefire ends, we're prolly gonna have our hands full. I think the most we can expect to do is to be ready for it! Everybody should make sure their gear an' their mad skillz are in tip-top condition, an' don't get too comfy sittin' around on our gold medals. We might have to respond on a moment's notice!" She pauses slightly, then turns and looks back at Rock. "We should get a fireman's pole installed in the Sammy, leading from the command center to the staging level! We can just slide down whent he alarm goes off! Wouldn't that be... uh..." The skunk pauses, then quickly sits down, spitting her cigar out and resuming her seat.
Michael Eildath hrms, and moves over toward his new XO, silent for the moment.
Chill Snowcat doesn't realize its harpoon. He just lowers his head and closes his eyes allowing Light to scritch him.
Bastion is being antisocial in the back.
"Of course. It would be a very efficient...strategy...indeed. I'm at a loss to find a scientific basis for the phenomena, but I'm beginning to formulate a hypothesis with regards to catastrophic shutdown of reploid brains, following synaptic failure..." Reiji trails off, as Ether stands, listening with increasing disbelief as the skunk outlines her...'plans'. When Ether plops back down to her chair, Reiji blinks once, twice, and three times, before turning to Mizu. He shoots the swordman a look that says: 'See what I mean?'.
Desperately, Harpoon pulls out his broken spear and prods Ether's back gently with the blunt end. Pokepoke.
Auto says nothing, having no idea about planning militarily and stuff. "Umm....err....yeah." Meanwhile, the met is still in Trance's grasp, and still seems to be in a daze. oO(Wheeeeee......ooh, a probhiscus monkey dressed like Richard Nixon!)Oo
Rock ... stares at Ether for a moment, and to his eternal credit, manages not to break out laughing. He smiles, though, biting his lower lip until he's sure he won't laugh. "Ether's got a good point," he remarks. "Everyone start getting ready for a full return to action by Monday. Does anyone else have anything to bring up?"
Tilting his head back, Reiji downs the last of his mineral water, and tosses the can over his shoulder. Behind his back, the empty beverage container arcs gracefully through the air, before lodging itself dead centre into one of the black trash bags set up near the food tables. Precision aim. Gotta love it. He remains seated, as he casually raises a hand, waving it ever-so-slightly for attention. Just enough to catch Rock's eye.
Crescendo raises his hand again, still serious.
Ether Skunk squawks and squirms in her seat, then whirls around to swat-swat at Harpoon's poking spear. "What?!" she hisses, peering at him, eyes narrowed.
Bastion sends a radio transmission.
Ether Skunk receives a radio transmission from Bastion.
Mizu says nothing. His fingers remain steepled. He .. simply nods sagely to Reiji. Nothing. Though he does raise an eyebrow as the man raises his hand. Well. It perfectly suits that one of the most opinionated Hunters would have some form of opinion to give.
Don't blame Ether, Rock's the one that put her in charge of a squad...
Rock turns, eyes sweeping over the crowd before alighting on Reiji's half-raised hand. "Okay... Reiji? Then Crescendo and Alloy," he remarks, nodding to the newly promoted, sarcastic second. Funny, he seems rather at ease for his somewhat unique choices in commanders.
Ether Skunk looks back up to rock, squirming slightly in her seat, fingers and toes wriggling. She begins piling up sand in front of her, gathering it into a small pile, then carefully shaping it into a pyramid... every now and then, giving it a little dribble of coke to keep it moist and give it stability. Soon, she's rather engrossed in her work, and a miniature Egyptian metroplis begins to spring up around Ether, complete with pyramids, little temples, tiny chariots and horses... and slaves! Workers, toiling endlessly to please their lord and the pantheon of gods that look over them! Flamboyant nobles parading down the streets in majestic robes! Gladhanded vendors sell apricots and... yams and other egyptian things in an open-air market, while babes in topless Egyptian dresses scream and pull their hair out, like those 'professional mourners' you always hear about. And presiding over it all... THE PHARAOH! Bwahahahahahahaaaaa!!! .... okay, so it's all just a bunch of shapeless wet sand lumps and odd arrangements of small rocks. But Ether is entranced all the same. . o O (Must... gather... resources... faster! The zerg... er.. the romans shall invade soon!) O o .
Instead of standing, Reiji remains seated, sprawled inelegantly in his beach chair. When he speaks, he doesn't even raise his voice by a significant degree - only just enough to make himself heard by most in the vicinity, forcing those at the edge of listening range to strain if they want to make out what he's saying. "Every time we infiltrate Master territory for...whatever purpose strikes our whimsy, their pet media brands us terrorist infiltrators. Enemies of the people, destroyers of public works projects, dangerous invaders. It's easy for them to do that, we do have a -distinctive- modus operandi. We supported, and I believe we still support...resistance movements in Maverick Europe. Presumably similar cells are present in Master Africa. We can encourage those. And if we can't, we can always...pretend to be one, ourselves. Yell a few liberation slogans during attacks, wave a few flags, the usual nationalistic sabre-rattling. Disguises and body shells can change our appearences enough to make us look like locals or mercenaries."
Pause. "True, I don't doubt that El Presidante Wily's press corps will call anything remotely resembling local resistance 'UN-sponsored terrorism', but that's at least a degree better than having the finger of blame pointing directly at us...possibly it'll ease up on repercussions. If it looks like the people are rebelling, who can they take revenge out on? We hit the Mavericks, they blow up a city somewhere, sure. Wily, though, he's trying to make nice to the Africans. We could use Deniability. Of course, there would be hell to pay if we were found out, but..." Reiji shrugs, and lapses into silence.
Chill Snowcat curls up a bit more and just continues to lay, sleeping by Light.
Dr. Thomas Light caresses the cat's head. He's not very inspired tonight, but glad to be here. That is all.
[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Andromeda's voice screeches onto the radio as she keeps chanting, "I won!" Aren't children annoying?
[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Reiji transmits, "And I'm two. Now, if we can find people to be three and four, we can get a whole numerical sequence going."
[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Bowie transmits, "Good fer ya, Miss Andromeda!"
[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Dr. Thomas Light transmits, "*chuckles* Congratulations, Miss Andromeda. What did you win?"
[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Crescendo transmits, "Congrats! On...whatever it was!"
Rock nods quietly to Reiji, looking thoughtful. "But there'd be hell to pay if we just stood by and let things happen," he remarks. "I like that idea. See what you can do with it," he tells Reiji, suppressing the urge to grin before turning to the new Hunter, Crescendo. He hasn't met him fully yet, but he's read the files... "You had something on your mind?"
[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Cacophony Timberwolf transmits, "Yaaay!"
[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Andromeda transmits, "I won the gold in battlebots against Snake Man!"
Standing up and tucking a straw-straight lock of too-red hair behind one ear, Crescendo selfconsciously dusts off his yellow and white attire before speaking. The grin he often wears is absent as he first addresses Rock, "This isn't a plan more than... I guess you could say it's an issue. But more one of gratitude." He turns his head one way, then another, slowly, as he speaks, tawny, slanted optics taking in the Hunters gathered. "It's about the earthquake that struck Neo-Tokyo. Those who helped in the aftermath of that disaster, working together and, in a way completely unrelated to combating some direct opponent, silently showed by example what it is we fight for... I thank you. After leaving Singapore, Neo-Tokyo has, for some time, been a home to me - the city was a family." His head bows in a gesture of respectful appreciation, "And though I've found a new home, a new family, I wanted to extend my deepest gratitude to you all." Turning his attention back to Rock, Crescendo quirks a faint, though sheepish, smile, "That's... all I wanted to say." He smoothly seats himself on the sand again.
[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Dr. Thomas Light transmits, "Oh! I fought him, well done! Well done indeed."
Kalinka comes creeping up a sandy embankment very, very quietly. She knows she overslept. It's just as embarrassing when she does it in the Hunters as when she does it at the university. Who knows how long she's been in the vicinity.
Bowie listens thoughtfully at the ideas suggested so far. He also nods at the mention of the disaster relief for Neo-Tokyo. All part of the job, at least in the Texan's eyes.
Cacophony Timberwolf scratches the back of her head, trying to keep up with everything, even though it's not all making a lot of sense to her at times.
Chill Snowcat seems content and doesn't stir. He's just happy to be laying there. Which that spot is about 30 degrees cooler then the rest of the beach.
Glancing idly at Crescendo, Reiji snorts. Rampant sentimentalism. He should have guessed. It was only a matter of time before someone said -something- all nice warm and sappy. Shaking his head, he subjects Crescendo to a look of intense scrutiny, before returning his errant attention to Rock, and the next person in line to say his two cents. The fact that he -agreed- with Crescendo's little speech is entirely besides the point; you wouldn't catch Reiji wearing his emotions on his shirtsleeve. Oh, no. That kind of thing simply isn't -done-.
Rock smiles quietly at Crescendo's rather charming speech, and inclines his head politely. "You're most welcome. I'm glad to have you into the Hunters, and I hope you're finding things to your liking," he replies. "Neo-Tokyo's been a home for us for a long time now, and it's the least we can do to try and help out when disaster strikes." Concluding that, he turns now to Alloy, expression expectant. "You had something to bring up?"
Ether Skunk mumbles to herself, as she reaches for a little rock and throws it at one of her assemblies of sand lumps. 'Your puny offering does not satisfy me, mortals!' she murmurs, most quietly, to herself. 'Suffer the wrath of your displeased goddess!' Every now and then, she lifts her head to look at the various people as they speak, though the whole while, her ears flick and swivel, catching everything that's said... she's listening, really! Just multitasking.
Alloy coughs and nods, straightening up to raising his voice so he can be heard, unlike evil Reiji. "I was wondering whether or not we were going to follow through on Zero's plan to refurbish one of the old Repliforce outposts in Russia. With all the attention focused towards the western areas of Europe, we could use a platform facing their back door to watch on 'em and base operations in the area from." He tries to think of anything else there was in relation to it. Doesn't really sound like he's said enough compared to the others. Oh wait, "Daito Suppor- uhh...well, our squad did some early planning on teleport links and communications lines already, so it should take a bit less time than normal to get a new base established up there, if we do go ahead with it." That seems to be it. He sits back again, waiting to see what the response is.
Cacophony Timberwolf just.... eyes Ether for a long moment. This is supposed to be her commanding office.. Oooh, she's smashing stuff! Even if it is just stuff of sand. Nevermind. Caco pulls out one of her firebombs, and hands it to the skunk, while smiling broadly then entire time. "Here, use this and teach those little sand mortals a real lesson!"
Out to sea, a shape gradually draws nearer, walking along the bottom of the sea floor. Before long, for the sake of not having to pose again, it begins to emerge from the water, revealing itself.. to be Hyperion. Eventually reaching the beach, he gives his coat a good shake, before firing up his vents to dry himself off. Yes, that's right, he's a walking blow dryer for now. And his hair is gonna be so damn afro-like in a few minutes. Better late than never in his arrival, he moves up to the back of the group.
Dr. Thomas Light raises a hand to Kalinka. "Welcome!" Words out of place, oh well. He can talk if he wants to.
Michael Eildath is so lost. He just sits around.
Frostmane Unicorn's amused watch takes a more serious turn. "Alright," he says quietly, moving over towards Caco and Firebomb Goddess Ether. "Let's not use more firepower than necessary, just yet?" He leaves his post by the food, to stand brazenly across the defenseless sand people. With an ear cocked towards the Commander, in hopes of hearing his own squad designation, in time.
Kalinka smirks in a bit of embarrassment, then grins and waves sheepishly at Dr. Light.
Rock nods quietly at that, scratching at his chin thoughtfully. "Right, I remember that," he muses. "Well, that'll take some coordination from Repliforce and quite possibly some mutual back-scratching..." Something flickers to his mind, and he scowls. No, he'll do a report on that tomorrow. "... but it might be possible. I'll have to talk with the Repliforce command, but it's definitely an option I'd like to keep open." Nodding slightly at that, he takes a moment to jot it down on the ever-present datapad, and then looks up. "Anything else tonight?"
Auto is still here...not doing much. His player's too busy playing rockstar with his guitar.
Alpha just sits. hee.
Ether Skunk turns to look up at Caco as she offers the firebomb, and whistles, accepting it and constructing a little sand-rock temple around it. "And the Sphere of Infernus shall consume you all should you displease your mistr... eh?" A shadow falls across Ether's empire, and she looks up, to see a big ol' unicorn looming overhead. The skunk frowns slightly, looking back to her people. "A demon blocks the sun! But fear not, for I shall..." Her voice drifts off as she thinks. Lifting her head, Ether looks to Cacophony once more, then back towards the crowd... spotting Trance... thinking about Blade Raven, Bastion, and everybody else in her squad, she looks back down to her make-believe empire, as a sadistic grin sspppreeeaaaddds across her muzzle. Her tail begins wagging quickly, but she makes no other indication of what's on her mind.
Out of her mind, that is. Ether is out of her mind. But Light would never think that...he's just looking at the interaction a bit as he gets up and welcomes Kalinka with a clasp of her hand. "I'm glad you could make it. I hear you're doing well, and it's been a while, Miss. I have missed seeing you around the labs."
Giving the datapad a flick of his wrist to send it skittering back on the table, Rock shrugs a bit, a grin creasing his face. "All right then. Meeting adjourned! Don't forget to pick up your pins," he remarks, giving the small stack of black boxes a quick wave of his hand before picking up his half-finished rootbeer, and sauntering into the crowd.
Cacophony Timberwolf aaaaws, eyes lying back a bit as her tail slumps over the arm of the chair. "But we were just getting to the good part too!"
Now that the meeting is over, Bowie is more than happy to get out of the way and let the Hunters get their fill of burgers, franks, and other goodies. He grabs himself a juice out of the much-abused cooler and moseys back to the grill.
Frostmane Unicorn kneels down next to the Temple of Fiery Goodness, jeweled eyes whorling with light. "Yes, but with the Doctor present? And the little girl..." . o O Whose name eludes me... O o . He pauses, motioning in their direction. "They aren't flame proof, you know. Besides, that's one less bomb to use when things kick off again for real."
Alpha stands up slowly as the meeting is adjourned and starts to walk away. Aww. "..."
Hopping to his feet (and inadvertantly tossing sand in the direction of one of Ether's creations - oops!), Crescendo dusts himself off and disappears. Okay, so not really, but the yellow and white blur with the red streak for hair would be him, as he's getting a pin so he won't have to wait in a line. Because he's eyeing the food. Why else?
Rising from his seat, Reiji walks over to the table bearing the slim black boxes, picking up the one labeled with his name, and sliding it open. Interesting. Some measure of uniformity in Hunter attire. How very military. Hell must have frozen over. Studying the pin very carefully (a feat, considering nobody has even the slightest -clue- how the Hunter emblem is supposed to LOOK), Reiji replaces it into its box, and slides the slim black rectangle into one of his pockets. Then, he glances briefly towards the line forming at the grill. Charming. Maybe he'll queue, too. Except he doesn't -eat-...but he hears calorific fatty foods are supposed to be a festive, traditional element of these occasions.
As Bowie relaxes, a black shadow begins descending on the grill. Just about the only thing that could clue anyone into it's identity is the telltale scent of Cuban tobacco smoke that trails in his wake. Carefully, methodically, a clawed, grasping hand is extended, as Stalker reaches for a hamburger. Right before Rock calls the meeting to an end. "Well damn..." grunts the Hunter. "Just as I'd spent all this time sneaking up on the grill." Muttering, the Tiger gives up on stealth, grabs a burger, and begins hunting for the condiments. "Where's the hotsauce?"
Bowie grills up one last burger - this one for himself. Or it had better be for him, considering the amount of spices being added to it. The Texan points to the bottle of Tobasco perched on the edge of the table for Stalker's benefit.
Stealth Nekojin rises, refolds his chair, and hovers his way over to claim a hamburger. And a hot dog. He hasn't refueled in a while, so he needs fooooood.
Alloy stands up as well, stretching out of habit. Rank pins, eh? These should be interesting. He walks up towards the table slowly as the group starts to drift apart, and looks down at the stack of boxes, picking the one that's marked for him out and opening it. Interesting... looks like his player will have to erase that OOC note at the end of his main desc after all.
Cacophony Timberwolf perks up as Rock calls the meeting ajurned, forgetting completely about the sand people and stuff. "Does this mean we can go back to eating and stuff now?" Though she doesn't waste time waitign for an answer before heading for the food tables again, while Frost is busy defending imaginary people instead.
Rock pauses to look down at Ether's little sand village, and can't help but chuckle softly before moving past them towards the grill. Hmm. A line up, but there's nothing wrong with that. He swings by the potato salad instead, picking up a paper plate to pick and choose at the picnic-ish fare laid out there.
Hyperion makes his way over to the food, vents dying off. He's dry, but with some really odd hair. Attempting to smooth it with one hand, he glances about -- none of the food is interesting him thus far, unfortunately, so he simply walks down the table intent on trying to find something he might be able to keep down. "Probably down the end there, Stalker." He replies for the Tiger's benefit, before smirking to himself.
Dr. Thomas Light had food. He scritches the kitty a bit, then looks at the sky, the water, the sand, the people, the 'the's he's using too many of, and sees it as good. The old man gets up, shaking his head a bit as he walks from the group. Away, just a bit, to have a moment alone.
Auto gets up and 'WHOO!'s as the meeting adjourns. Time for drinks and food!! WIth that, Auto rushes back toward the drink table and gets himself another Met-Cola as well as a hot dog or two.
Ether Skunk hauls herself to her feet, putting her hands on her hips and watching Frostmane with an appraising eye. Er.. optic. Her cigar is back in place, its end nice and gnawed up, the thing passing from one side of the skunk's mouth to the other and back again as she surveys the Hunter newblood. Ptooey! The cigar is spat out quickly enough and she slips past, skipping over towards the boxes of rank insignias with a cheerful whistle. She calls back over her shoulder as she digs through the little black boxes. "Hey, Rock!! Can I have a big hat instead of a pin!? Like Signas?!"
Stalker Tiger turns towards his comrade, and looks highly amused. "Nice hair Hype. Come from the salon?" jibes Stalker, before starting towards the condiment area. "So what'd I miss?" he comments, having gotten in fairly late-on.
Frostmane Unicorn is outflanked! On all sides! But since the meeting is adjourned, Frost has no problem with the savage rending and snapping as food vanishes from sight. A white hand snaps out, catching the cigar from the air; with a chuckle, he turns to watch Ether go, twirling the cigar before setting it down next to the abandoned Etherian Empire. After removing a certain firebomb, first.
Bowie flips his burger over, adding a bit more spice, and proceeds to let it finish cooking. His gaze wanders over the gathered Hunters, and smiles. He's been here longer than some, not near as long as others. The Hunters are beginning to feel like a real family to him, and he has no complaints about that.
Hyperion raises a gloved hand, intent on giving Stalker a particular salute, but instead just cuts the hand in a dismissing manner. "Hey, don't ask me, I only got here a few minutes ago myself." He won't mention the underwater part, nor the jumbo jet, nor the.. well, it just goes on from there. "Just here for the food, huh?"
Cacophony Timberwolf snatchs up some food, and then makes her way back towards the base. "Catch you guys later.. *munch chew*.. I'mm gonna take Ether's advice.. *more chewing sounds* And make sure my stuff's tuned and ready."
Michael Eildath wanders over to Bowie, finally. "So, what's your opinion on your new position?"
Alloy snaps the case closed and puts it away in a pocket. He can take a look at it later on. For now though, time to find something to eat. With that in mind, he heads over to the milling throng and joins in, trying to find a plate and some bread. Wonder if Bowie's cooking up some sausages?
Crescendo emerges victorious from the line! So, with slim box under one arm, a soda in one hand and a burger in the other, the redhaired rookie drops himself into a beach chair. And of course, he's grinning. Too bad, though, that he eats the burger before the spice kicks in, because at that point, the soda's guzzled to cool off, eyes watering. "Gah!" Low tolerance for spicy food, it seems.
Stalker Tiger shrugs. "Actually, I meant to get here earlier, but I had some problems with customs." Granted, he could talk about the rowdies that thought he was strolling around in Tartarus with far too much hardware, and far too nice a look without being social, or 'in'. But, that's the luck.
Crossing his arms to pin the coat against him, Hyperion smirks anew. "That's why I just don't deal with them. Although I'm probably up on boards through most of the European countries as an unidentified bogie, but I think I can live with that. You should tag along sometime. There are some nice buildings set up in France under the new regime just waiting for an artistic hand."
Bowie hms? as he's addressed by Mike, and turns to meet him. "Like Ah told Rock...if ya want me fer the job, Ah don't mind bein yer XO." He looks like he wants to say something further, but he doesn't.
Rock pulls back from the immediate gathering of Hunters slightly, and contents himself with munching on his potato salad and roll for a while. No, not his sister, but the little baked good.
Mizu, at his cue, rises from his seat, tugging at the wrist of his gloves once for each, and then heading on over to the table and locating his pin, as directed. He flips the case open idly with a single hand... and all of -two seconds- is taken to examine the pin with a healthy degree of sentiment, though he is far from teary-eyed. He would succeed at this task set before him, or die trying. It is as simple as that. The Hunter looks to the right and left discreetly, before clapping the clamshell case shut, sliding it into that same miscellaneous compartment he secreted away the squad listings datapad in yesterday. Understand, with his fast processing capabilities, he is quite capable of taking in all he needs to know about the pin in that two seconds. He'll have to find a place to clip it to his armor, perhaps. He then turns, peering about the scene pointedly. If nothing else, Mizu -is- observant. Noting the line to the barbeque. If Mizu was a more loose man, he may have considered acquiring one. Maybe a simple lemonade later. First.. curiosity takes precedence over hunger.... A hunger of the mind, if you will. Therefore... he wanders on over, to of all things, the meteor that landed earlier. Kneel and examine. Poke. o_o It is not unheard of to have a meteor land on a beach, but if nothing else, one could say Mizu has a scholarly interest in the celestial object.
Michael Eildath nods. "Well, I'm glad to have you, Bowie. So, what do you think of our new squadron?"
Stalker Tiger rolls his eyes. "Well, some of us can't fly." At Hyperion's comment, Stalker's wry smile changes to an amused grin. "Could be fun." he agrees, finally getting hold of the condiment in question, and liberally placing some on his hamburger and bun. That done, the feline begins moving towards the potato salad. "When would you be considering doing some urban renewal?" asks Stalker with a hint of mischief in his tone.
Ether Skunk stands back up, holding a pin up to the light... wait... oh, foo. This one is Bastion's. She tosses it back in the box and turns away from them all with a yawn, leaving her pin somewhere in there for now, before she reaches down to tug her bikini bottom back up... her tail had it riding down for a bit. The skunk looks around, looking for a suitable target of her attention... hmm... Rock's busy with his roll... Caco's leaving....
Bowie says with a chuckle "Well, Ah'll be spendin time meetin some a our group." A short pause. "As fer the rest, we got a good mix, Ah thank."
Auto eyes his met on the ground, who seems to be out of things. "Um...guys, I think I'm gonna head back to the Labs. Johnny don't look too good." And with that, he scoops up his assistant and heads back through the cave into the FSH.
Hyperion can't help but narrow his eyes in a hint of disgust as Stalker deals with the food. He glances away for a brief moment, looking out to sea. "Oh, sometime. I don't think Rock'd appreciate us running off right now to blow **** up. Ugh. How can you eat that?"
Frostmane Unicorn snickers with a shake of his head, a tiny burst of ice hissing away from the venting mane. Cupping the bomb idly, he stands up, turning back out towards the pins, moving over with a curious glance.
Stalker Tiger shrugs. "When you've had a relationship with one of the most infamously bad cooks of all time, you get a real strong stomach, real quick." jests Stalker, before a displeased look crosses his face for a brief second. "Well that, and drinking a few pots of Anthem's coffee." he adds.
Rock wanders down the beach a little, humming idly to himself. Kicking over one of the few bits of driftwood not being fed into Alloy's fire at the moment, he plunks his behind down on it and watches the flames with quiet intent while his slow player types up the pin description. Yes.
Michael Eildath nods. "Me, too."
Hyperion shakes his head. "Well, you can have my share of it then. I don't think I'll be eating, unless I can find some plain rice in this mix." He gives the offerings a glance, before shaking his head. "Anyway, I'll get in contact with you. I'm due back for more recon in the next couple of hours."
Stalker Tiger nods. "Good luck on finding plain rice. That ain't likely." Nodding, he takes a bite, and looks back to Hype. "Right. You know where to find me. My radio's always on." he explains, before moving along in search of a beer cooler.
For those that actually open their boxes that they picked up, they'll notice the pins are colour coded, and each box has a Hunter's name on it, neatly engraved in block lettering on a small silver plate. The pin inside is about as big as a silver dollar, the unknown Maverick Hunter insignia winking up at the viewer. Depending on rank, the pin's colours change, and the small typed slip of paper explains the ranks rather simply.
F Class: white with black accents
E Class: jade green with black accents
D Class: golden yellow with black accents
C Class: purple with black accents
B Class: red with black accents
A Class: bronze with black accents
SA Class: silver with black accents
SA Command Class: gold with black accents
And if anyone bothered to really look, Rock himself wears the same pin... except his is blue and black. Said Hunter continues to watch the fire, idly sweeping away a couple ants that decide that they deserve dinner too.
Bowie retrieves his burger from the grill, adding a slice of cheese before slipping it into a bun. Since it looks like there's enough burgers and franks to go around, he relinquishes grill duties for now. If there's plain rice to be found, the Texan had no hand in it.
Ether Skunk makes her way over to Rock, reaching down to stuff her hands in her pockets and realizing she doesn't have pockets to stuff her hands in. Foo. Instead, she hooks her thumbs around her bikini as she saunters over, to pull up a chair and settle down beside the boss. Her vanilla coke from earlier is back in her hands. Where did that come from? "Fire is neat," she offers in a conversational tone, watching... the fire.
Stealth Nekojin reappears! No, really, he was always here. Just quiet. Which is what you get from having a PlushieNavi downloading fanfiction into your brain while you eat. Mmm. Bad fanfiction...
Alloy manages to snag a sausage (yes, there's sausages in that assortment of meat if there's hamburgers) and puts it in the middle of his piece of bread. Folding up the sides, Alloy takes a bite out of the sausage roll and walks over to one of the braziers, maing sure the wood has burnt down to coals properly and adding a bit more wood as necessary.
Dr. Thomas Light comes back. He was over...there...yeah. Not far, just a bit away. Blinks as Ether nearly pulls down her own bottoms, looking away politely and covering a cough. He thinks this way is safer. "Hello, Miss Rigger." Er...no. Oh well, live with it. "Would you like your own squad, soon? The way you're going, it could well happen."
Rock smiles a little as Ether plunks down beside him, and manages not to look anywhere lower than her chin. Ahem. "Nice stuff," he agrees. "Pretty warm, too. Funny how though this is a tropical island, the nights still get kinda cool."
With burger downed and soda consumed to wash away the spices, Crescendo's got a chance to open that box and check out his pin, which is something he does, of course, without hesitation. After a pause to stare, he twitches a smile, reading the slip of paper before removing the pin and affixing it to the high, close-fitting collar of his tunic. There.
Rigger is drawn out of her thoughts by Light's sudden questioning of her. She still has her pepsi in hand, though it's been forgotten long enough that it's warmed by now. She blinks at Light for a moment as her brain processes his words, and tries to find a proper answer to it. "Mm? Never thought of it, really. I don't think there'd ever be a need for yet another science or medical division though." She pauses to take a sip of that warmed soda while ignoring the fact that the temprature is less than ideal.
Stalker Tiger takes a glance over towards the fire, and suppresses a smile. He doesn't want to block the boss's social life. Then again, poor Plum oughtn't be left in the lurch. And he rather does need to speak with Rock. These are the thoughts that bounce through Stalker's head as he withdraws a Molson from the cooler. Using his fangs as a bottle opener, he spits out the cap, and takes a swig, before sitting down cross-legged to dig into the extra-spicy burger and potato salad.
Sonata wanders over by Light and Rigger, smiling at the both of them as she catches the end of the conversation. "Well, given how things have been reorganized of late, we could need one soon... you never know. I can't think of anyone better suited for the job..." She smiles, sipping her drink. "...although wth the amount of work that it involves, that might cut you out from your own projects...
After a little bit, Mizu makes the ending conclusion that it -is- indeed nothing but a simple meteor. And not anything with an intent to destory the word on anything. Yes. HOWEVER.. again, for pure scholarly interest, the tanuki does take a sample for his own benefit. Then... his next destination? Rock. That's right.. the big guy! >.< He wanders on over in his direction. OR rather strides purposefully in that direction. o.o Ho! >o<
Ether Skunk slowly lounges back, folding her hands in her lap, making burbly noises with her lips and watching the fire. Fire... fire pretty. Pretty colors, pretty... "I kinda like it. I tried snoozin' out here once! Woke up to find a hermit crab tryin' to move into my nose, but it was still pretty neat."
Bowie sets his burger on a plate, well away from the others. Anyone who decides to eat it will suffer from the same degree of spice as his now-infamous chili. You have been warned.
The Texan moseys in the direction of the box of pins. It takes a little rummaging, but he finds the one labeled with his name. He turns away, walking down a ways down the beach, past the people clustering around the braziers, to the shore. Only then does he open the box. The pin glints in the evening light, catching some of the sun and firelight. In a way, it's not unlike another ceremony a few years ago, involving another pin...he casts that thought aside. He takes the pin from the box, affixing it on his shirt to where his Ranger Star used to be.
Rock isn't dating Plum!! Well, not in any official sort of way. And frankly, he doesn't think he really owes her a date, but he'd rather not have an angry woman chasing after him... "Into your nose? Your nose isn't that big," he remarks, before blinking once and wincing inwardly. "Er, I mean, it's not big at all. It's little! It's small, it's, uh, not big in any way," is the swift correction before he looks up. Mizu's coming towards him. Huh. He gives the incoming tanuki a slight smile of acknowledgement.
Dr. Thomas Light nods a little at Rigger. "There is the option, if we open up in Russia. They will need their own team, Miss Rigger. As Sonata says.." He leans over and hugs his daughter gently. "Doubt anyone else could handle it, except perhaps Kalinka...after a few years experience. One never knows. But I would recommend you for that project. Now...burgers." It's his turn, he waited patiently, now to eat!
Ether Skunk looks up towards Rock curiously, shrugging slightly; she reaches a hand up and narrows her fingers in a 'pinching' gesture. "It was a small hermit crab," she offers, before looking back to the fire. Wuh oh. Mizu's coming. Ether gives Rock some space for now, content to sit and mull.
Rigger lifts a hand to wave curtly at the mere suggestion of Russia. "Cossack would be best suited to that, I can barely speak beyond elementary grade Russian. Or Kalinka, yes." Burgers? The realisation that there is food here comes to her rather suddenly, and she stands as well. The conversations nearby didn't go unheard however, and so as she heads towards the location of food for herself as well, she asks of Rock in passing, "Good idea. Think I can handle two burgers, Rock, or am I fat enough?" ...Yeah like she was going to resist teasing him.
Sonata returns her father's hug, giving a very soft sigh, a faint softening of expression that she only shows around her family... but it doesn't last for all that long. She steps away, turning to look at where Rock and Ether are sitting. Now isn't that a cute scene there... except that this was HER brother over there. A little teasing might be in order...
Stealth Nekojin appears from the crowd, pausing near the fire long enough to state softly, "Rock? The appropriate response to that question is to scream 'nooooo' at the top of your lungs and run away." He then carries on, the Plushie holding his drink as he carries a plate.
Alloy chuckles as he overhears Rigger's question. Ohhh, he could make an evil comment, one which might even get Reiji's approval...but he won't. Nope. He can withstand the temptation.
The box that held his pin is snapped closed. Crescendo rises to his feet and, glancing over towards the others still engaged in conversation or staring out at the water, or snoozing or...any number of things, tucks his hands (and the box) into his pockets. He turns on a heel and heads off towards the cave, whistling some forgotten tune. That is, unless someone is familiar with (of course) yet another 1980s tune.
Mizu sketches a bit of a bow to Rock and Ether. "My apologies for any..." Pause. Peer to Ether scooting away. "...Interruptions I may have caused. I have merely come to note... I observed you during your Battle and Chase Team Combat match with Colonel.... I congratulate you on your cunning skill and subsequent victory. Colonel is one of the finest fencers I know." And Mizu got -wasted- by him, too. :D "This said.. I must depart, to take care of a few tasks." Read: He has to escape the aftermath. Wise men escape before women ask them such questions. ._.;; That, and his player has to like, run iRL. Like, quickness. Mmyeh. C.C;
Bowie walks back to the rest of the party, now that his own little ritual is completed. Time to have a little food and fun. The box is tucked into a pocket somewhere along the way.
Eyes narrowing playfully, Hyperion watches the little byplay between Rock and the others from the food stand. With a shake of his head, he walks over in Rigger's direction, passing by behind her, but not without applying a hand to what might be considered fat on the girl; her ass. At least it's a gentle enough slap. "Don't grill the Boss, he gets enough of that already." He admonishes with a broad grin, before pondering a swift get away from a beating and/or a law suit.
Sonata wanders across the sand, to where Rock is sitting and Rigger is passing. She smiles, looking over at the retreating Ether. "No need to run away - it makes for a cute scene," she says as she too walks by, following Rigger to the food table. Catching up to the older woman, she offers her a faint smile. "That was mean Rigger. But amusing... poor brother..."
Rock stares up at Rigger, blinking a few times before looking horrified at the question. Now, being a male of good standing -- well, okay, just male in programming mentality -- even HE knows that question is a deathtrap. "Yes!" he squeaks out, making sure he's only looking at Rigger's face. Or the scenery right behind her left ear. His gaze casts around to land on Mizu, and the Hunter is pleased as ever to focus on something other than women and body fat quotients. PHEW. "Oh, thank you very much, Mizu," he says with more gratitude than one would expect. "Have a good evening!"
He turns just in time to spot Hyperion's slap, and turns crimson as his mouth starts to work, finding words and plugging them together in some semblance of coherency. "You're hardly fat in any way, Rigger. In fact, I'm sure any right-minded fellow could see that you're a, uh, very attractive woman and a delightful person underneath your... um, apron." He winces. Not quite as good as he could've been. Distract, distract, distract! Run, Hyperion!
Ether Skunk turns to watch all of this with raised eyebrows, lips flopping uselessly against the rim of her coke bottle (VANILLA COKE). He blushes! He blushes more! He squirms frantically! He gibbers and chatters! He's so cute. Ether giggles to herself, squirming back in her seat, looking back to the fire; her tail bobs and sways as if directing an unseen orchestra, just dancing to itself.
Dr. Thomas Light puts a burger in Rigger's hand. He looks her in the eyes, firmly, whispering to her. "Easy." That's all, he's got this look of 'don't you dare' and a grin attached. Staring Rigger right in the eyes.
Stalker Tiger meanwhile finishes his beer, and begins walking over behind the debacle. "Meh. Those burgers go right to the hips Doc." explains Stalker, with a knowing wink. "Right?" adds the mischevious feline, before leaning over to whisper one word to Hyperion.