She shakes her head.
"No, just need to get back to the ship." she says, moving into the dark cave-like structure adjacent to the town's spaceport.
After a long stretch of work, Doc needed to unwind. Elsmere was in a place that hadn't gotten too cold yet on the planet so he found it enjoyable. Sure, most everyone knew who he was but he managed to be inconspicuous. It was an older style bar, one that he liked. Walking in the door, he stood a moment and looked around. He didn't notice anything unusual so he kept on about his business.
He was dressed of a time past. Black and white gambler's attire with a large hat. He wore his trench coat slightly open. Inside but out of site, one about chest high set for a right hand brandish and the other tucked center in his belt were his pistols. He kept them but seldom had to reach for them at this point of his life. Still, he hadn't lost a step should he have to. He stepped up to the bar.
"Scotch, Please," he asked the bartender.
"Right away," the barkeep answered as he put a glass on the bar and began to pour.
"Anything else, Mister?" he asked.
"Not right now," replied Doc as he placed some credits on the bar. "I'll take the bottle with me. That should more than cover it."
He took his glass and his bottle to a table toward the back. Once there, a waitress took his food order.
It was evident. The man just looking to unwind a bit.
Nodoka steps through the door with Honya, proceeding to one of the booths. Nodoka is wearing a black T-shirt and blue bell-bottom pants, along with her usual boots, clearly, she's been prepared to enjoy a day off. Honya is wearing a familiar ensemble, her cropped Sailor fuku and hot pants, exposing a small part of her high-leg underwear, blue thighhigh socks and blue-green shoes covering her legs. Franz approaches the two as he moves away from the kitchen. "Aah, Frau Hanamura. Guten tag. It's been a while since I last saw you. Congratulations on the administrator position, by zhe way. " he says to her before turning his attention to Honya. "Who is this schönes Mädchen?" he continues, curious about her. Nodoka smiles to him and nods with his greeting. "Thank you. It's stressful. This is Mieko, my aide. We're meeting a friend of mine from Kusari, Mei Ayasato. We'll be ordering once she arrives." Nodoka says to Franz.
"Ist fine, Frau Hanamura. make yourselves at home and let me know when you're ready, Ja?" Franz says, heading back to work on food for the other customers. Nodoka returns her focus to Honya, placing her hand onto her friend's, hinting at there being something more in their relationship.
Mei is looking straight at the bar's door, wondering if she followed Nodoka's directions correctly. After a short moment of psyching herself up, she opens the door.
The two women, Nodoka and Mieko, worn in casual and colourful attire immediately catch her gaze. Their getup is something she never quite saw anything like before since all she ever had was a janitor suit, and now a 'custom' Blood Dragon uniform, which is basically the female variant with the intimidating spike patch from the male one.
"Nodoka, a pleasure to finally meet you in person!" she says with a wide smile, then looks towards her friend."Mieko-san, right? Nice to meet you too!" Mei then proceeds to give enthusiastic handshakes to both girls, while being careful not to squeeze too hard.
Nodoka returns the handshake with a smile, as does Honya, bowing to her afterwards, with what little she can in the booth. "It's good to see you in person too, Mei-mei." Nodoka proceeds to gesture to Honya, using her hand to suggest she scoot over to give Mei room. "I've never seen that variant of the Dragons uniform before. I take it it's a custom revision?" Nodoka says to Mei, only for Honya to chime in. "It's good to finally meet you too, Mei-san. Also - It's okay to call me Honya like Hanamura-sensei does." She says tilting her head slightly to the right, giving a small smile.
"Alright, Honya. It's a pretty cute nickname." She smiles. Right after this moment, Mei realizes her attire is way out of turn from the two ladies. The apparent difference between their light getup and her, for all sorts and purposes, battle armour leaves her wishing for something 'normal' for a change. Mei lowers her head a little and runs a finger over the spikes on her shoulder piece. "Yes. I really like how these spikes look on my fellow Dragons' uniforms, so I figured to strap it on to mine. Haven't heard feedback from my sister Dragons, though. What do you think?" Mei asks as she sits next to Honya, minding her personal space.
"It does come off a little intimidating, but knowing you more kinda defeats it, if you ask me - Too cute for spikes." She says to Mei, giggling a little. "Mei-san actually.. uhm, looks really cute." Honya adds, blushing as she does. Nodoka turns to the counter and sees Franz cleaning it. "Herr Franz - We're ready." The man moves to the booth they sit in, carrying a notepad and pen. "What will you all have?" He asks to the three. "I'm feeling fruity. A Curacao-style Tequila, and.. a Rheinland beerburger in the usual way. Also, bring Mei here your best sweetest wine." Nodoka says, leaving Honya to chime in. "I will take Watermelon Vodka and.. uhm.. You wouldn't happen to have any Kusarian cuisine, would you?"
Franz nods. "Ja, Satsuki in the Kitchen makes fresh sushi. We do have.. uh, schwein, what is it again.." He turns to the Kitchen and yells in that direction for a moment. "Satsuki, what's those noodles you make, the ones in the special sauce that tastes like beef?" A woman's voice returns Franz's statement. "Yakisoba!"
"Ja, Yakisoba. As for the Sushi, we have several kinds, A Rheinland Roll, California Minor Roll, Baffin Roll, Shikoku Roll, and one Frau Hanamura suggested herself, a Delta Roll." He says, turning back to Honya. "Uhm, what's in a Delta Roll?" Honya says, leaving Nodoka to chime in. "Cream cheese, Tuna, cucumber, onion, and daikon radish, chopped into pieces Libertonian style, partly glazed with a spicy sauce." Honya's face turns to intrigue, turning back to Franz. " I will take Beef Yakisoba and a Delta Roll, non chopped, spicy sauce in the roll."
Nodoka turns to Mei. "Anything you'd like to eat?"
Mei is visibly taken aback by their words. "H-Hey, you are too sweet!" She says smiling, clearly embarrassed. "I really like how you two look, too. I wish I had such adorable clothes as well." Mei giggles as she admires Honya's bright garments.
She gets up and approaches Franz, towering above him. A bit unexpectedly, Mei receives a firm, satisfying handshake from the old man. "My name is Mei Ayasato," She quickly scans his name badge. "A pleasure to meet you, Ulrich-san!" He smiles and nods in return. "As for my order, Shikoku roll sounds nice, reminds me of my old home. I'll have that." She contemplates joking about the Red Dragon roll for a little but decides to leave it for later, while Franz jots the order down on his notepad. "Anything else, Fräulein?" "That will be all for now, thank you."
Mei returns to her seat, a little closer to Honya than earlier.
Franz nods to Mei and turns around, heading to the kitchen to help prepare their food.
Honya blushes a little more, with Mei being close to her. She doesn't seem to mind, however. "So, I've told you part of my life story. What's yours, Mei?" Nodoka adds, curious about her friend's past, her eyes focused on Mei's.
"Well-" Mei starts thinking back, leaning closer to the table, placing hand-support on her chin. "There isn't much about me, to be honest. I was born on a battleship in Shikoku to my lone mother. We both worked in maintenance, fixing... maintenance robots. For a really long time, I was doing practically nothing while watching my mother wither away from dementia." She stops, averting her eyes from Nodoka's for a second. "So... as time passed I was becoming more and more worried about my state. I knew I had to do at least something rewarding in order to not meet the same fate, but, for reasons I didn't know about then, I couldn't move to a better place, or even find a better job."
Remembering this story made her anticipate the imminent sweet taste of wine even more. Mei sighs, pulling away from the table and rests her back on the sofa. "So... not going into much detail, I learned what was keeping me from living a fulfilling life, and ended up with the Dragons. I'm really happy that Hirotada-dono accepted me." She says, smiling. "Though I must say, it's very hard." Mei leans a bit closer to Honya, trying to place her long legs at least somehow comfortably beneath the booth.
"After two decades of slaving, every new thing is challenging for me to learn. All these new duties, a new hierarchy, space combat... Never even imagined I'd partake in it. It's all scary and difficult; never a day I don't feel discomfort, but I guess that just means I'm learning something." Mei fumbled with her hair and observed every nook and cranny of the bar's interior as she was speaking. She then looks back at Nodoka, straightening her posture and smiling. " You could say my life just started." Mei chuckles. "I really feel valued among the Dragons. I hope I can live up to their name someday."