Phantasy Star: Hollow Future » Places

         

~Kylli & Lance ~

Bec followed along with Kylli, making light conversation as they trekked back towards the Pit Stop, fanning her face with the cheque.

“Ugh, can you believe that girl? Here we are, busting our arses off and she gets to sit on her butt all day and act snippy. Sometimes I think I’m in the wrong business, but it comes with perks I guess. Great excuse to pound out the frustrations…” Rolling her arms and shoulders to stretch, Bec looked to her partner, before dryly half lidding her eyes. Kylli didn’t seem to entirely pay attention, fretting over her little mag, before asking the HUnewearl about food.

“I guess. The old man’s got plenty of junk around out back, and seeing as we’re done early, I can’t imagine he’d turn down your request for a bonus.” Bec replied as the two wandered into the bar, looking around the customers before turning to Tawny. Seemed Kylli was as eager as always, running up to the bartender with that goofy grin.

“Back already, eh?” The boss raised an eyebrow, looking to the box Bec placed down in front of him, the HUnewearl standing on tippy-toe as she leant over the cool box.

“Yeah, definitely waaay faster with the kid. She’s a keeper.” Bec winked, smiling as Tawny nodded.

“Sounds like ya’ve got the seal of ‘pproval. Yer part’ve the family now.” Tawny chuckled a bit, before yelling over his shoulder. “’Ey, Justin! Git out here ya slacker!”

The sound of clattering and crashing filled the storeroom out back, before a somewhat scrawny teenage boy stumbled out, shaking his foot to remove a bucket and pushing a broom off his head. On closer inspection, he looked to be in his late teens, though still a little on the younger side. His thin frame, was actually a bit more athletic then initially visible, hidden mostly by the baggy shirt and jeans he wore. Taking a breather, he paused before stepping up to the three as Bec snidely commented across the bar.

“Finally recover from that bout of constipation, bucko?” The HUnewearl’s tone was teasing, but her intent to embarrass the boy in front of Kylli was clear. His face flushed a bit red, but it seemed he was quite used to Bec’s attitude as he responded.

“Y-yeah, I did. You should see my doctor too. I think it’d do you wonders…” Trailing off at the end, as he scratched the back of his head, he jumped as Bec slammed a hand down on the bench.

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Her look adopting a bit of malevolence, it was clear by the icy tone that Justin should tread carefully. The boy glanced to the side, mumbling under his breath in somewhat bitter annoyance. “Well maybe you’d stop being so crabby if you just-YEOOW! OW Ow! Stop It!”

Bec was quick to pounce after fuming a bit, leaping partially over the bar to grab Justin by the cheeks, pinching them hard and tugging them outwards while the boy got a palm in her face, attempting to shove her off as they got into a small fight. If it wasn’t for the fact that Justin was human, one could almost swear he was Bec’s younger brother.

“What was that you little brat?! I couldn’t hear it over how stupid you are!”

“I said you’ve got a stick up your butt and need to get it out!”

Tawny sighed, shaking his head and holding his brow before grabbing Bec by her twin-tails, dragging her off of Justin.

“You wanted your food, right? It’s in the kitchen.” Bec winced, tugging her hair free as she hmmphed, Justin laughing at her all the while. Shooting daggers across the room with her eyes, the HUnewearl stormed off with another loud huff, heading through the doors behind the counter.

“And you, get this stuff unpacked an’ ‘ung, alright?” Chucking the box of meat to Justin, the boy struggled under it’s weight a moment before turning to take it through the doors. Stopping a moment, he turned back to face them, looking to the red-haired ranger as recognition clicked in his eyes.

“O-oh, sorry about that. You must be Kylli, right? I’m Justin, the kitchen hand around here.” Extending his hand out to shake with her, Justin quickly recalled it as he nearly dropped the box, giving a weak smile. “It’ll be nice having someone else to work with around here. B-but uh, I better go and take these out back.” Chuckling a little as he noted Tawny watching him, the boy slunk off out the back.

Turning back to Kylli, Tawny spoke, washing out another glass. “So, think ya’ll be able to handle them?” He grinned, a somewhat humoured expression on his face.

~Everyone ~

Around the Vanguard, lights had dimmed a little, a chime sounding amongst the plaza to inform people that it was now considered the evening, the orbit around the planet making it an essential reminder. At the Pit Stop, a few finished hunters, would be arriving, along with a few of the official around the ship for some R&R, only a few odds and ends stores and locations remaining open, such as the Hunter’s guild. There probably wouldn’t be any more missions until morning…

         Lance eyed Kylli as she disappeared, and then was too caught up in his own thoughts to even bother noticing Ridly leave. He strode over to Sienna, casually dropping her a 'Mission Accomplished' as he waltzed past her seat. He'd meet Kylli at the Pit Stop later, but right now he had more important things to do. He quickly swept out of the Hunter's Guild, tracing back the already well known steps to the Deposit Boxes. He strode quickly to the usual Box, 696, and unlocked it. He placed the Data inside and closed the door, relocking it. He'd always laughed at the thought of him changing the 9 around so it became a 6, but he decided to keep quiet, because the people around him would probably think he was crazy if he started laughing randomly. He quickly exited the scene, a slight tinge in his stomach. He set off almost immediately for the Pit Stop, a small grin on his face.

Lance stepped into the Bar, quickly surveying the area and finding Kylli almost as quickly. He would've proceeded over to her faster, but something stopped him. "What if she found out what I'd been doing?....". Lance lowered his eyes as if he hadn't seen her yet, and quickly moved over to a vacant Booth, a sigh escaping his lips. He was loyal to R, even though he'd vowed to never go illegitimate, but he didn't have much choice, and besides, R gave him an excuse to fulfill his sadistic desires, and there were many. Lance knew that if anybody caught on to him or R, or found out what was going on, he would kill them, or at least keep their mouth shut. Lance sighed again, taking another look at the Car R had given him, and he closed his eyes, thinking about what could happen.

         Being declared that she was insane didn't faze Ridly a bit. In fact, the way she saw the situation and their words, the two were afraid of her. Being afraid meant they were no longer any sort of threat. Well then, mission accomplished. Fortunately for everyone, she wouldn't have to resort to violence of any sort. With the current problem solved, she immediately began to settle down, shrugging off the two assumed offenders as they walked away in absolute agreement.

"Some experience," she replied with a wary sigh, the slightest bit annoyed with how frantic she was about keeping everything in order, "I now know I shouldn't let my guard down at any moment. Even where it should be safe." Ridly rolled her neck, stretching out the tense muscles that had flared up during the conflict, muttering to herself, "What a pain. Everyone wants a piece." Hearing that her suspects had been tracked to be a significant distance from where shots had been fired, she planted hands on the monitor and peeked over it's edge to get a look at the map. No matter good of a shot that Kylli person was, there would have been no way to even draw a line of sight from A to B. Ridly stepped back with her brows furrowed and scratching her cheek. It suddenly occurred to her that maybe she had been wrong all along.

Oh well. What's done is done and there was not a chance that she would go running after the two to apologize. They didn't deserve it. Still, she strode her way in the same direction to leave the building and go find the person that was suppose to be finishing up business and collecting payments. Of course her suspicions would be proven as she entered into the Science Wing to find Hal just leaving with his arm around Stutters McCower. Based on his actions in the field, he really didn't seem the type to ever stick to a plan.

"I seriously hope this isn't our payment," she spoke, putting herself between Hal, Tiara and the way out with her arms crossed, "Last I checked, I can't eat co-workers. So, c'mon, what did you do with that mag?"

         Hal was thankful enough that Ridly stepped up and took charge as soon as the FOmar was knocked almost out of commission. To be honest, if it wasn’t for his Resta tech, the poor Force might’ve had to go home and get put in a body cast. Unfortunately, though the injuries were technically gone, Hal had to still deal with the lingering pain from his ordeal, the stinging causing him to lose a little focus as he struggled to concentrate on his next tech. After all, while he excelled at casting, offensive techs weren’t exactly his strong suit, and they usually took a bit of time for him to conjure up, especially when he needed an especially strong version of it.

That meant that Ridly would have to distract the beast a bit more, her peppering rain of bullets helping the situation a little, but doing no real substantial damage to the Hildebear. The Shifta buff did strengthen her shots a little, and it got stunned every now and then, but the monster eventually got frustrated at its inability to close in and started resorting to its long range attack. He could feel it charging up, preparing and ultimately firing a rather strong Foie right from its mouth. Though Hal hoped his companion had dodged it, it made little difference, as the Force had fully prepared his tech.

“Ridly, move,” he stated with a surprisingly commanding and serious tone. Once she was out of the way, either through her own volition or getting hit out of the way by the burst of flame, Hal thrust his hands and his staff forward towards the beast, and a spray of ice shards spewed forth towards it, the icicles from the Gibarta blast piercing the Hildebear’s tough hide a few times before the cold managed to freeze the monster solid. Hal snickered, walking up to the incapacitated beast with a smirk before turning to Ridly.

“Well, I’ll let you do the honours of taking it out however you like from here,” he said. “I’m going to start looking around. Hopefully our target should be nearby.” Hal was mostly using the reasoning that this was the last known location of the hunter, but could have just as easily used any of the information Ridly might of given him, including her assessment of the fire and those tracks, assuming she’d given him that information at one point or another.

As Hal searched the outer points of the clearing, around the brush that surrounded the area, he managed to hear a little rustling where something or someone may or may not have been spying on them. He of course had no idea as to whom or what it was, or whether or not it was really anything at all. Naturally, after the fight with the Hildebear, the Force was a bit wary of any movement within the forest, and he carefully approached the next portion of bushes near the aforementioned noises. However, as he did, his mag, Sunni, started beeping and spinning around, forcing him away from what might’ve been in that direction.

“What is it, Sunni?” He asked, petting it to try and calm it down. But as he did, it seemed to pull him in another direction, one away from those noises and towards a patch of bushes. It pulled him directly towards one in particular, as if to encourage Hal to investigate. Peering inside, he saw something shimmering within the deepest part of the plant. Reaching in, Hal managed to pull out something that definitely could be assumed to be near and dear to their target’s heart, his mag. Sunni hummed and whirled around once he found it, both in excitement and in concern. The poor thing was barely alive now, its eyelense cracked and its power supply nearly exhausted, forcing it to go into hibernation mode. So, naturally, after his discovery...

“Ridly! Come check this out!” He cried out, waving the RAnewearl over. And no matter her response, Hal would say the following.

“Even if it didn’t belong to Gil, I need to get to the Science Wing ASAP and get it fixed. I can’t stand to see a mag like this...” He looked down at it with a sorrowful look, Hal’s own mag beeping and humming in response. He paused for a moment, contemplating the situation until he finally came up with some reasoning that would sink into Ridly’s head a little better. She didn’t seem the sentimental type, after all.

“...Plus, it might have some valuable information. It was near this clearing, after all. Either way, I’ll meet you at the Science Wing, okay?”

Standing up, he pulled his sleeve back and began to type on his wrist communicator, requesting Rio for immediate pickup.

         Kylli looked at Bec for a moment, both in an admiring way and in a slightly fearful way - she wasn't sure if she wanted to work in the same place as a Hunter who was so skilled as she was - skills were all good, but Kylli preferred knowing that she was the best - which she usually was. Or had been.

She was distracted from her contemplation by a plate being set down in front of her. Surprised, she looked down. She hadn't ordered anything. She looked up at Tawny, about to say as much. Before she could, Tawny assured her that it was on the house, adding that she'd need it if she was going to work for him. She smiled a bit at the words and picked up the fork he'd provided, ducking her head to get a good sniff at the food. It was freshly made by the texture and heat waves rising from it, and it smelled delicious - not that she was a very picky eater by anyone's standards.

As she twirled her fork into the parmagiana, lightly breaking the surface, Kylli looked back at Bec, considering. Well, one she already had this food in front of her, and two, really, what were the chances that Bec was better than her? And if she was, she wouldn't be for long. Kylli was good at what she did. She would beat anyone in her way.

"This is really tasty," Kylli said after a few bites. She looked at Tawny and smiled. "And I'll start work as soon as I finish. Don't worry. I'll try not to take too long." She ate rather quickly, though still trying to take long enough so that she could savor the delicious taste. Tawny - or whoever had made it - was a good cook. It was something she hadn't expected from this bar, but it was a welcome unexpected occurence.

When she'd finished, she looked back at Tawny. "So, waiting tables?" She got ready to get started. "You got anything else for me? Any interesting gossip or tidbit?"