Plank Sinatra

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

She winced at the sight of Astrelle hitting the mattress - not an airy hit, like the grace of a child bouncing on their mattress, but like a...like a wet sponge, hitting the sink. Or a bug on a windscreen. Nicole stretched out her left arm and pushed her extended index finger into the unoccupied mattress, testing it for any sign of flex.

"Oh my God." She pressed her finger deeper into the mattress, and although it wasn't firm enough to stop her once she put a little pressure on it, she could almost hear the squeak of a spring inside. A tiny exhale blew through her pursed lips in displeasure, an unbidden little noise that reminded her of the beauty of the human body - all those different systems, working in tandem and unison, to keep people as different as the five of them, Victoria, and all their guards grooving the exact same. Her displeasure must have been a cry for help from her skeletal system that had thrown a little switch in the nervous system, then come out through respiratory...the beauty of the human body, indeed. And hey, speaking of beautiful bodies...

"Ha, y'know what?" She looked back at Astrelle and laughed, impish amusement in her eyes. "You look prrr-etty comfy where you're at, and you're already going to hate me enough when I start leaving skincare stuff out. So why don't I bite the bullet on the first shower and tag you in when it's at Goldilocks temp?"

After Nicole walked into the bathroom with her chosen set of towels - surprisingly not starchy enough to have recently cleaned up a crime scene - a clean set of clothes, and a music player on medium volume, the classic sounds of a girl a new shower for the first time started to ring out, muffled, through the walls.

"Porca miseria!"

A few seconds passed. The faucet made a squeaky sound, followed by a squeal of anger and shock.

"Ma che cazzo fai!?"

Twenty minutes later, Nicole walked out in her chosen sleepwear - a faded black t-shirt commemorating the release of the Sancho Stromboli action classic Behemoth (a collector's dream that Nicole's dad had gotten for attending the premiere back in his day) and a pair of short emerald shorts - and a forced grin on her face. Her long legs, as well as her forearms and what parts of her collar were showing, had turned salmon. She plopped down on the mattress; the springs squeaked again.

"Found Goldilocks," she said, grinning through gritted teeth. "Watch the cold faucet. That one sneaks up on you."

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

She supposed what she admired most about her parents, their boundless activism, was that they seemed to find the beauty in everything - every day, every cause, every person. There was something to love about yourself, and those around you, but sometimes it took work to find it. It was easy to draw a path from that philosophy to her good nature and the laid-back way she treated her peers. But Palmyra was a homely city by nature. The buildings were mere cubes stacked upon cubes, with artless neon and xenon for splashes of color, like trying to disguise stale bread with cake frosting. Hasta was cosmopolitan as Sanctum Cities went, so she recognized one sign in three, likely more than most of the other girls present.

But the signs she read only discouraged her further. Grocery. Cab depot. Grocery. Accountant. School. Hospital. Library. Hospital. Restaurant! ...Accountant.

Obviously, there was plenty of representation for the world's one true universal church - the pizza joint. She even saw a few cafes, such as they were. But they were wedged in between other structures (which was all they were) and lacked patios, let alone rooftop views. She could count the number that were actually on a street corner on one hand. But pan pizza and cappuccinos were for binging with her study group, not a replacement for nightlife. She looked for telltale signs of arcades or little hole in the wall bars, the kinds of places that she had grown up sneaking into with friends, but nothing jumped out. The city was a den of brutalism; the rare peeks she got of its inner workings were cold and lifeless. Even Astrelle - who was doing her best to make the other girls think she lived up to those descriptors - must have been miserable, she mused. This was a far cry from what she remembered of Valentia too.

So it was that Nicole, whose humor and vibe had seemed indefatigable even at their emotional nadir during the attack, spent most of their first ride through Palmyra in contemplative, almost sullen silence.

"So there's the answer to 'what happens when you make a barracks into an entire city. And here I thought Ciscia's D-Fens Quarter was ugly and blocky."

“Yeah, I guess it’s not much to look at. But, when ya think about it, it’s really the people inside the buildings that count."

Nicole mustered a half smile at the sentiment - and at the image of her mom spoiling Dana the way she'd spoiled all her other friends - but the most she could muster was a quiet "Yeah..."

"You're hopelessly cheerful, aren't you?" Penny was saying to Dana. "Eh, as long as they have a decent pizza joint in town, I'm fine with it."

"I've seen a few so far," Nicole assured her, but after that she remained withdrawn from the conversation.

The checkup cheered her up a bit. She was polite to the technicians, and they were polite back; soon, she was able to make a couple joke during her blood draw. By the time she was undergoing her examination the ennui had faded to the point where she was even able to hit on her doctor, who deflected her with a smile and professional grace. It was probably for the best. It would never work. She was in her late twenties, and a doctor for the military - clearly, a woman in such a lax, carefree position would never be able to handle Nicole's skill on the Dance Til Sunrise pad at the arcade, or withstand her high-intensity erotic brofists.

She smiled and thought of home, and of all the times her Prince Charming's eyes of molten gold had rolled into their sockets at her antics. She swore, leaving the hospital, that she would keep making the best of all this. The other girls would probably need her help to do the same.

Her new attitude, same as the old attitude, was on full display when they finally arrived at their dorms. She was going to be living with Astrelle, a realization she had audibly laughed at when the arrangements were made. Odds were she'd be covered with a pillow and hacked to death while sleeping in a few months, but in the meantime, Nicole was going to make the most of it. As soon as they stepped through the portal and into their own home, she was breezing through the place with the same effervescence she had glided up and down their beleaguered vessel with. The bed was a little small, but about what she would have expected from any university. The kitchenette was much more her speed, and she quickly began inspecting the cabinets to see what kind of dinnerware was available to them, testing burners on the stove, the ice maker in the fridge, all the usual things. Not that she expected Nova Lux to leave anything lacking, but...

...well, after her first glimpses of Palmyra, she'd totally almost expected shit to be lacking.

"Nooo shit," she exclaimed playfully once she had stepped out of their bathroom. Her grin was so wide it had almost caused her nose to wrinkle. "It's a real shower. With glass and everything. I was starting to think we'd get, like, a prison shower or something."

The Zephyr Extinct

Well that was a mess of a week, but much like my leftovers, I finally managed to finish off this post!

The Zephyr Extinct

I R I S

She almost couldn't believe her luck.

The smoke she had inhaled earlier still left her huffing at the end of every pant; her lungs chafed from the effort it took to lug her muscular body up and over the same obstacles as her fleeing prey, and her shortness of breath was only another detriment compounded on top. But when she saw the orange-robed man's mode of extraction, a getaway driver on a hoverbike, a winded smile grew across her masked face. This leg of the race would be much more her speed.

Thankfully, it also seemed she had far more experience - or wherewithal - to know where most buildings would incorporate high-flyer perches into their gardens. Every building was different, obviously, but all architecture had a style, constants in its design and function - the realities of Rig's midair society had slowly been incorporated over the decades, as surely as the needs of the gardeners and sunbathers. She hopped off the branch a bit later than her target had at one such perch and hurriedly paid for a glider rental. When she was at the lip of the perch, an excellent vantage point, she started scanning for her target again.

Most high-flyers would instinctively recognize the sight of the healers on their hoverbikes, stretchering the injured or infirm to facilities for care, and steer clear of them to avoid congestion at critical junctures. Iris was no exception, and the OSO acronym - Orange-Stretcher-Orange - she'd been drilled with during childhood rose to the forefront as she scanned for healers. Thankfully, there was at least three times the orange to look for as there had been on the roof, and she found them in short order. When they peeled off, Iris went soaring too, kicking off from her nest as gracefully as a falcon. She felt the fresh air in her lungs, great heaving mouthfuls of it, and smiled, all chest congestion and sear in her lungs forgotten. Her smile grew--

--and, watching the getaway drivers from above, she continued to soar.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

Nicole smiled at Penny as she knocked herself out in short order. By now a majority of the team was either asleep or, like Dana, looked like they were liable to doze off again as soon as Victoria went back about her business. Only Nicole and Astrelle seemed completely cognizant, and even Nicole was feeling a little spaced out as her adrenaline continued to ebb away. She found herself staring at the cut on her hand again. Maybe she'd see if Dana could do something about it later, even if that took a day or two. As long as it didn't scar.

Or maybe let it scar? Scars were a pretty universal constant, as long as they didn't show any weirdo inner workings of the body that people preferred not to think about. A cool face scar, or something across the palm? They added a few fractions of a point to everyone's hot meter, guys and girls alike. That was just science. Let Dana heal it but with a scar, maybe that was the best option.

It seemed like she was feeling a little loopier than she really acknowledged. Maybe spending the last hour of the flight in silent reflection would do her some good, and she'd wake up feeling a bit more grounded. Gods knew Astrelle wasn't about to be much for company, especially after lining up only to be rebuked by the Wing of Justice like that. It was a little hard for her not to roll her eyes at how confidently Astrelle had lined herself up for a verbal forehead flick by Victoria like that, but Nicole let it roll off her back. She just wanted to assert her individuality or whatever. Still, the Hastan thought it was a little much. Who was she trying to prove something to when half of the girls were unconscious?

Nicole's curious gaze found Astrelle again, and one eye closed in a lazy wink; her uninjured hand formed the universal 'o-kay' symbol, and she mouthed a sardonic Nailed it to the black sheep of the Lennox family.

Lightening up will do her some good, she thought to herself, a little grain of impish humor buried deep within the thought. And if she doesn't want to make friends, theeeeeeen...it's just gonna suck to be her.

Her head lolled back, and she felt herself land on something too warm to be a cushion, or any furnishing at all. It must have been Vanna's arm.

Yeah, yeah yeah. You're in the same boat, bambina.

Her eyes remained half-lidded, and her head calm and clear, for the remainder of the flight.

The Zephyr Extinct

I'll try my best to have a post up today or tomorrow!

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

[afterpost with mass]

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

_{haha fuck yeah, yes//well this fucking sucks, what the fuck}

Their shrill, anguished yells reverberated through Gypsy Soul, from her armor to her very core, to the beating heart of the pilot within.

Not that her heart was beating very fast. For some reason, Gypsy felt unnaturally calm inside - like anticipation had been building in her chest, and she had now gone through the worst of whatever she had silently feared to face. Sure, she felt a few drops of sweat, licking down the inside of her face's cold, metallic surface. Her hands were certainly clenched. But that was pilot's instinct, her body reacting to imminent vaporization. Inside, she was poised. She wished the same could be said for her poor, screaming Orbital.

//Engage retreat! Y!Y!//

No.

//Preparing communications suite. Engage retreat! Y!Y!//

No.

...

//Communications suite offline. Diverting power to Samadhi. Samadhi functionality rating raised to 4.//

The cascade of beams that Gypsy faced down should have been beautiful, by rights. But they were no true gold; they lacked glitter, the power and allure that had drawn humanity to the metal since it formed its earliest notions of currency. These beams were diseased, ugly - not aurum, but jaundiced. Gypsy Soul raised its Looking Glass and blocked the beams contemptuously. She barely even felt any buck from the impact. That was good; she hadn't been certain that the Chiron Works defensive mechanisms would be as effective against enemies that could only be hypothesized about, but the ablative coating definitely seemed to do its work.

Bedwyr and Odysseus were providing support, launching extensive salvos at the alien from behind. She appreciated the effort, and maybe they would even get lucky and hit some weak point in the monster's spindly lower half. But she doubted they were so lucky - and the alien might even have hated Gypsy enough to survive no matter what they managed to shoot. The Orbital sensed her intent.

//Alert. Alert. Melee range imminent.//

<<Hey, thanks. You boys are real gentlemen. We should get drinks.>>

//Error. Do not do this.//

<<Deploying Samadhi. Gypsy Soul, engaging.>>

To the creature, the sight of the Orbital, scarlet saber in hand as it approached, must have felt like pulling away an old, delicate scab - and digging fingers into the fresh wound underneath.

The Zephyr Extinct

How's everybody doing?

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

It sure seemed like Nicole had done a lot of carrying people around in the last half hour. Suddenly she felt that strain deep within her shoulders, an ache she longed to reach back and rub out. It didn't help that she seemed to be one of the more conscious of the group of girls at the moment. She sat on the other side of the unconscious Vanna, with her legs kicked up against the armrest of the couch with maybe a little too much irreverence when making physical contact with a daughter of the Duodecim. But honestly, she doubted anyone had the energy left to care. Dana and Penny both looked likely to pass out as thoroughly as the Diana had. Nicole went to rub her eyes and realized, just before she smeared it all over her face, that someone's blood had greased her palm. She thought for a second it might be Vanna's, or the wounded soldiers, before she realized a long, thin gash had opened up across its surface. She must have sliced it open while fumbling around during the crash.

Despite herself, the last of her adrenaline escaped her in a little giggle. Haha. Gnarly.

“That was...an enemy combatant. I couldn’t tell you any more than that. Regardless, what you saw is not to leave this ship. Understood?”

"Wait, what?!"

Penny turned to the other end of the couch, obviously and justly shocked, to look at Nicole. Looking up from her bloody hand, the most Nicole could do was manage a tired shrug and nod, although she smiled as reassuringly as she could at her exhausted new friend. The girl had been through a lot, and if Nicole was in her shoes then she wouldn't be too psyched for Victoria's backhanded putdown. For what it was worth, Nicole thought that Penny and Vanna had done a hell of a job under circumstances none of them had been prepared for. She tried to communicate all of that in an understated, sympathetic wink at the bespectacled girl - with a crazy foul mouth, come to think of it. She'd seemed so put together when they were talking about cartoons...

"We understand, ma'am," Nicole answered collectively for all five of them, both conscious and unconscious. It was probably pretty helpful that they start looking like a united front, no matter what. "I guess this is the kind of thing we'll have to be prepared for from now on, right? Now we know what we've signed up for."

Like their earlier conversation, the queen of vibes' gentle, casual way of speaking belied a quiet perceptiveness regarding their situation. She was still staring at the Wing of Justice, wounded herself in the frantic duel that they had witnessed for themselves, although she felt as though they definitely shouldn't have. She tilted her head curiously.

"Still, that all went to crap pretty fast..." she mumbled to herself, slumping back in her own display of exhaustion. Her head almost hit Vanna's shoulder before she realized that was probably a little too familiar for a girl who wasn't even at the 'returning finger guns' stage yet. "Was there any idea that we would run into enemy, uh...combatants?"

Sounds like the sort of thing you call trained soldiers, not a Void...