Chapter 14 - The Darker Path

[photonicfighter]

((Rather than being salvaged from a RELICS site by the Gurhalian Tripartite Goverment and GRM, Dakki was retrieved by the Illuminus, the bad guy faction of her world. She was rebuilt slightly differently, and used to carry out all sorts of sinister covert missions. The result is a much colder, much more violent Dakki. Gat was still with the good guys, however, and the two have clashed on many occasions.))

[Action A - Locked to residents of 458 Stone Street, Morning of June 1st]

[Dakki awakened from sleep mode, and immediately felt disoriented. Where was this? This wasn't the base. This wasn't the small room that she kept for herself. This was... oh, damn it, this was Mayfield again, wasn't it?]

Curse it...

[And opening her eyes and feeling about lead her to an additional unpleasant conclusion. That wretched Falk Gatt was still her housemate. And still in the same bed with her. With a disgusted noise she gave him a hard kick, then tossed the blankets aside, rising swiftly.]

I'll never be rid of you, will I? Hmmph!

[Action B - Around Town, Any Day]

[Some things will always be the same. Whether or not she has someone to give her orders and missions to fulfill, she must keep herself in proper fighting form. As such, she has considerably stepped up her regular workout routine. While Dakki can usually be found out jogging, she's doing it with much more intensity today. And if she's not jogging, she's out in the park or at the ball field, taking advantage of the open space to practice her swordplay.

[Action C - Makeout Point, Any Late Evening]

[She wanted to be alone, and there was no "alone" to be had down in the town proper. And certainly not in that horrible little house she had to share with her horrible rival. From here, she could sit and watch the stars.

She always liked the stars. And the nighttime. And the sound of the wind in the trees. Though she'd hate to have to admit it to anyone.]

Comments

Action A - Phantasy Star Zero Mode is Go!

[nanocerancowboy]

[CLANG.]

[A second or so after getting used as stress relief, Gat sits up himself with a grunt of annoyance. Half a year of living with this strange CAST-but-not woman and she's still as violent and irritable as ever.]

Ain't my fault that th' town paired us up.

[At least what happened in the first week that the two of them were kidnapped got most of the fight out of her systems. Where he's concerned, at any rate.]

Woot!

[photonicfighter]

[The war has gone cold, but it's still a war. It's rare that she feels any real need to bring the violence any more. The external issue of this stupid town has her conserving her energy for bigger things. Although she does recall the day when she got a photon saber back to be one of the more violent ones past that first week....

Still. Kicks are often satisfying.]

I suppose not.

[She stretches high, works a few kinks out of her shoulders, and then materializes her armor from within nano-storage.]

You should have removed yourself from the bed as soon as you were aware of my presence.

[nanocerancowboy]

[Gat doesn't have an expressive face, and yet the way he turns his head ever so slightly is enough to give an impression of a dismissive side-eye.]

If'n I feel like takin' some downtime, then I damn well will.

[Even without any proper combat equipment, and knowing just how much the town has been generous with regained equipment for her than it has for him, Gat's going to remain defiant.]

[photonicfighter]

[He can side-eye all he wants. For she is above such things as caring what her horrible housemate thinks.

Well, maybe not. She has just snatched up the pillow from her side of the bed and flung it at him. Hard. And it's one of those heavy feather pillows, too.]

Take your downtime somewhere away from me!

[nanocerancowboy]

[Gat's no Hunter, but he's still a CAST. And his response to getting a heavy feathery pillow thrown at him is to snap his arm up and try and either deflect or catch it.]

This house don't belong solely to you, girl.

[Said in an indignant manner.]

C

[andmyvoicerustedaway]

[There's another sound joining the wind today. If Dakki listens closely, she might recognize it as the sound of Miku's guitar and her voice. She isn't full-on singing right now, but she's distracted enough that she's humming the tune.]

[photonicfighter]

[...music. Miku's music. That's something that she can't ignore, in spite of her best efforts to. It's easy to hear in the night's stillness. It's not long before she rises from her spot and heads towards it.

Miku might well hear Dakki's footsteps as she approaches. They crunch on the rocky ground. But while she approaches, she says nothing. Not yet.]

[andmyvoicerustedaway]

[She looks up, smiles slightly when she sees Dakki. It's nice to know there are other people here like her.]

Hey. Doing okay?

[photonicfighter]

I can't say that I'm any worse than usual.

[There. Miku made the first conversational move. So it's alright to speak. She continues forward until she's off to Miku's side.]

...why are you singing here? There's no audience. There's no point.

A - after Gat madness because kitty needed sleep

[spinningorange]

(Well that was...a lot of commotion coming from upstairs. Last time there was something wrong up there, Chen was stuck in Dakki's body! Confirming that she really was in her own body and nothing seemed to be wrong, Chen flied up to wherever Dakki was to do a little investigating.)

Dakki-chan...? What's going on? Did something bad happen?

Sorry to be slow in getting back to you! D:

[photonicfighter]

[With the commotion settled, for some vague definition of the concept of settled, Dakki proceeded downstairs. And she ignored Chen at first, making her way straight to the kitchen. She efficiently (and with no small amount of repressed irritation) tossed some bread in the toaster and poured herself a glass of non-milkman milk.

...oh. The little thing was talking to her, wasn't she? She turns her head and eyes Chen irritably.]

Gat was in my bed.

It's okay; I'm just as slow!

[spinningorange]

(Oh, that's not a good look...Chen's beginning to worry now.)

Did he wake you up too early? You seem tired...

The slowness marches on!

[photonicfighter]

He should not have been in my bed.

[The expression of narrow-eyed displeasure does not leave Dakki's face. Why did the little thing seem so confused? Why was the little thing talking to her?]

I am perfectly well-rested. I am at the pinnacle of efficiency and alertness.

[And then she gulps down about half her glass of milk.]

Action B - Around Town

[genkibot]

[While jogging around, Dakki may find a Tachikoma suddenly gliding along side her!]

Hi there, Miss Dakki! Do you jog every day?

[photonicfighter]

[Dakki's pace does not slow. Surely Tachikoma can keep up. It would do the mini-tank some good.]

Of course I jog every day.

[It's very short. It's not very nice.]

[genkibot]

[Tachikoma indeed can keep pace, at least as long as it is running on its wheels.]

Oh okay! Does it help your pseudo-organic parts to exercise them as such? Or help keep your mechanical parts working properly?

[photonicfighter]

Yes. Both.

[And still, she continues to run. She does shoot a quick look in Tachikoma's direction. Why was everyone talking to her today? What was with them?]

B - I am the worst planner in the world

[stupidsexydate]

[Dakki, some of Date's yummies were getting out of control. They were shambling towards you in a very monster-ish sort of manner, followed by a mantis yummy.]

No no, I am the worst. D:

[photonicfighter]

[What is this? Wandering monsters? Why yes, yes they were. Which was right up her alley, especially on a day like today. She could use some stress relief.

Without a moment of hesitation she pulls her photon saber from storage and is diving in at the nearest ones, slicing with cold efficiency.]

So we're both the worst

[stupidsexydate]

[Cute Phantasy Star Online battle music. In short, the Yummy was knocked backwards and exploded, sending the others lurching after her as the mantis yummy stood back, observing her for a moment.]

[photonicfighter]

[Battle music, eh? It suits the occasion. Knockback is to be expected, the way she's throwing around the Photon Arts. And the observing mantis-monster is given no quarter. She pulls her handgun from storage and immediately fires several bullets at it.

It's just a Mayfield standard gun. With bullets. But still.]

C

[silver_reign]

-He enjoyed himself a night time stroll now and again. During his walk, he happens upon someone familiar. Though he didn't want to disturb her.-

[photonicfighter]

[As quiet and isolated as it is up here, it's easy enough to tell when someone's coming if they're just walking along. And so she shifts uncomfortably when she hears the nearby footsteps. It likely wasn't a hazard... but she held herself tensely, prepared to draw a weapon from storage just in case.

But when he came into view, she.... didn't quite untense, but didn't pull a gun on him.]

Dynamo.

[Her face is the closest to non-hostile that it's been all day.]

[silver_reign]

-He stopped and looked over. A finger went to his chin in thought, and he offered a smile.-

Ah. It's you.

-That finger began to tap his chin idly...-

Tell me... how goes the ah... hunting business...?

[photonicfighter]

[Her brow furrows, and she looks confused. And vaguely irritated by the confusion.]

I have no idea what you're referring to.

[She rises to her feet and turns to face him. So much for quiet contemplation. Now it was time to be on her guard.]