[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/dGFSkqO.png[/img][/center][hr]

Nicole liked Penny and Dana a lot, but there were some arguments she wasn't about to wade into for [i]anyone[/i], even friends. Defending the honor or artistic merit of magical girl cartoons she'd never watched as a kid had never really occurred to her as a bullet on her no-fly list, but after thirty hours or so with her new group she could tell it was going to need to be wedged in somewhere. Nicole, personally, found it a little soothing to hear them go on and on about one cartoon or another; as a mediator and people person by nature, it was always nice to see two people resonate on the same frequency without her having to butt in. But that also meant they were more than capable of handling themselves without her ignorant butt elbowing in. 

Personally, she was all about neon thrillers with more blood and guts than plot. Or, on the nights where she could see the rain fizzle and burn on the lights of Hasta, she would crawl under a blanket and get into the mood with something tech noir, movies with cityscapes that were like Hasta's in aesthetics but without her warmth. The characters would lack warmth, too - hot android babes, hiring hunky detectives who grew besotted with them only to be killed off at the end so the androids could run away with other women. Like all good noir, it was a beat-to-death twist on a beat-to-death formula, but that was the main reason to love it. There was nothing twisty about it, in her mind, but the vibes were all that mattered. Nicole would do some pretty crazy things for a babe too, be they hot androids or hunky detectives, or [i]definitely, definitely[/i] hot androids.

...

[color=ec008c][i]Wow, wait, that [b]real-ly[/b] explains some things about me.[/i][/color]

Her head craned over to look at Vanna, conspicuously silent in the wake of her roommate's full-throated introduction. She gave her a thumbs up and winked, but she knew better than to try and engage Vanna here and now. Her Duodecim status alone was enough to deflate that idea, and the number of girls present at the table who hadn't been through what they had - what [i]she[/i] had - was just icing on the cake. Besides, she was already pushing enough limits trying to warm Astrelle up to the others. So she tuned one ear back into the conversation a little.

[color=39b54a]"In all seriousness, though, I like to think of them as a teen girls' equivalent to the 'Join the Self Defense Forces' clips. I mean, they show them all shooting those shiny new guns, but never seem to mention 90% of soldiering is either cleaning your stuff, digging holes, sitting in a freezing foxhole, or cleaning latrines with a toothbrush. Hopefully, we won't have to do that bit - cleaning latrines with a toothbrush, that is."[/color]

Nicole stifled a giggle. Maybe she was starting to feel Astrelle's influence on her a little after all, like Penny had said. It seemed pretty crazy to respond to a retort like the blondie's by openly admitting to enjoying propaganda since childhood, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that was part of Penny's blunt charm.

The conversation quickly turned, at the behest of Vanna's new roomie, to a few other missing arrivals. Nicole furrowed her brow a little bit, thinking of the girls that might have gone through something similar to what they had - or even worse, if they hadn't arrived yet. Her heart went out to them. As for their own experiences, Penny and Dana did a good job of embellishing the tale where necessary and leaving other stuff out, but it seemed that Penny was growing a little uncomfortable with the way she was starting to stick out in the narrative. [color=ec008c][i]Time to slip the knife in, babe.[/i][/color]

This time, Nicole let her laugh fly.

[color=ec008c]"C'mon, Penny, bask in your glory a little bit. Not every girl gets to be a hero before she even puts on the uniform. Sure sounds like an origin story to me."[/color] She winked. [color=ec008c]"You wouldn't believe how cool under pressure she was, either. Don't pick a fight with her, ladies, you wouldn't believe the nerves she's got. [i]Real[/i] crocodile."[/color]