Elizabeth Stirling stormed through the front door of Christy's pausing gratefully in the doorway to remove her rain-soaked police helmet, leaving her short auburn hair plastered to her skull. New London's weather was at its dismal best. Even the short walk from the landing pad to the Hub had been enough to result in an absolute soaking for the newest Police recruit. At least her helmet had maintained its shape, a vast improvement on the caps that had been standard at Universal.
The tea house exhibited a gentle glow, in spite of the weather, filtered electric lighting casting faint shadows in any available corner. Once her brown eyes adjusted, Elizabeth made a beeline for the counter, and the woman patiently waiting for orders. It'd been a while since any new blood'd wandered in. At least the lass seemed comfortable enough, if a touch uptight. The waitress, an elderly woman by the name of Abigail (though anyone that mattered had since resorted to 'Abbie'), was an ex-officer herself and adopted a welcoming smile as the Junior Constable strode to the counter.
" 'vening girl. Kitchens closed 'til the new cook comes on, so it'll just be drinks." she declared cheerfully.
Elizabeth frowned, mentally scrapping plans for tea and scones. Typical certainly, but it wasn't every day you came back home. Putting a dent in a certain BAF Officers ego had further served to lighten her mood and she took the news with an obliging nod. "Just a tea then. Earl Grey, white, if you please." Say what you would, but they just didn't make tea the same in Liberty. As for coffee.... Well, if Stirling ever saw another cup of the stuff it would be too soon.
She took a moment to cup the tea between her palms; a futile attempt at warmth but it made her feel better. Elizabeth set a course for the nearest booth, deliberately lowering her soaked headdress onto the seat opposite her, evidently intent on keeping her own company.
George.Miles entered the first time in the popular Christy's ,Looked around and seemed noone was around,after all it was really late...except Christy herself.Went to the bar and ordered the finest tea,the went in the corner,sat down and drank the cup with pleasure,after the long exausting day at work.
Rex stepped in to Christy's for a quick bite, looking over the new faces as he approached the counter. Before he could order an item, Christy was already there with a delicious, if not odd, looking pastry. A hole had been punched through the middle and it was sprinkled heavily with sugar.
Rex looked up in surprise.
Christy smiled back. "Fixed it just the way you like it, Rex."
A broad smile widened his face. "Wow. Kind of reminds me of home. Thanks Christy."
He looked over the small cafe. "These new officers treating you well?"
Christy looked over at Sterling and Miles. "Yes they are. I think they will do Bretonia proud."
"Good," he said. "They're doing a bang up job so far."
And with a small nod at the two new officers, he walked out the door.
"Easy does it Cly, easy.." she said softly to the Clytemnestra as her new form landed slowly, installed now inside a Paladin fighter, the AI still getting used to its new shape, heavier and more cumbersome than the Hussar.
Cly landed the ship promptly and without incident, it powered down the throttle and lights. The engines billowed with steam as the rain evaporated off their hot surfaces. Kiriko shivered again, looking at the rain streaming down her screen.
She looked at christy's, the light was on but Kiriko was nervous, looking down she pressed a few buttons and Cly lit up the cockpit and activated the heater. Kiriko cradled her arms together and sat in thought. the thunder rattled a little ways off, and the clouds flashed ambiently above her ship.
"Na..Cly..are you.. sure none of these ships are... well, that none belong to... De'havilland-san.." Kiriko shivered again at the thought of seeing him again. The AI scanned all the ships in the area slowly, checking their registrations and ID numbers, it typed a quick messages of its findings on the screen infront of Kiriko ::scans confirm, seargent Justin Dehavilland's ship in not present in the vicinity::
Kiriko took in a deep breath of quiet relief, she undid her saftey belts slowly with mildly trembling fingers, unfastening her helmet brace the took it off slowly.. her arm panel glowed a steady amber glow which illuminated the right side of her cockpit, she pulled her uniform sleave down over the light and looked at her hands still trembling, she made fists with her hands and still they quivered gently.
"I.. I dont want to see him again Cly... are, you sure he isnt here."*a thumbs up was displayed in the display*Kiriko smiled a little and nodded, "ok I believe you, gomen ne."*a sun with shining rays is shown on the display*"hyaha your welcome cly, ikimasho, ne?"*a thumbs up was displayed*Kiriko took Cly's portable unit from the consol and a sound of compressed air was released as the consol folded away and the front of the Paladin slowly opened, Kiriko yelped a little and covered her head as the weather swept around her inside the cockpit "Gyaa! Cly wait, I need my hat and coat, quick you'll get sick!" the AI presented her coat and a wolly hat, grabbing them quickly she climbed down from the spaceship "close Cly close!" she said hurriedly to the PDA in her hands, the cockpit closed promptly and Kiriko struggled with her coat in the wind and rain, eventually just running as fast as she could for the door to christys shop.
The door opened with a jingle and Kiriko shuffled in shivering, completely wet through, holding her coat and hat under her arms, Christy leaned forwards and rolled her eyes coming round the counter to help the chief inspector, "honestly what are you like?.." Kiriko sneezed and sniffled loudly, "Gome.. I mean , im sorry Christy-sama.. it was Cly, she opened the cockpit too soon and. a-a-and I ..*atchoo!* wasnt.. ready".
Christy placed both hands on her hips and shook her head, "what am I going to do with you.. are you done with your patrols?"Kiriko looked up with a big smile and sniffled lightly, "Yep im all done.."Christy raised an eyebrow, "Right well you must get out of those wet clothes before you catch a death of cold.. come on, you can borrow some of my daughters clothes for a little while"Kiriko followed Christy out of the shop through a door behind the counter. "Arigato christ-sama".
Despite all effort, Christy just couldnt resist mothering Kiriko when she just looked so daft and helpless, and could never possibly imagine her out by herself for even a moment. "come on keep up" Christy said behind her as Kiriko followed slowly, besides there was nobody in the shop at present so there was no harm in it.
Kiriko looked around christy's house through the doors that were left open, Christy ushered Kiriko up a flight of stairs, the landing was covered in piles of clean washing and washing still to be done, "Wait here" Christy said and dissapeared into a room with a holosign on the door displaying violet "keepout" text. Kiriko shuffled in place and looked around, a strong shiver running up her spine, the house behind the shop was cosy, calming wallpaper and sliding doors.
"Kyaa!?" Kiriko exclaimed as a cat brushed suddenly inbetween her legs, the cat bolted as she shouted in suprise, Christy came back holding some clothes, a mild mannered smile spreading across her face, "I see you met Giles then.. dont worry he does that to everyone, here take these" Christy gave Kiriko a pile of clothes and began to usher her to the bathroom, "I wasnt sure of your bra size but I dont suppose it matters with these baggy clothes, my daughters bigger than you anyways" .."bra? size?" kiriko said quietly, "Right here is the bathroom, get changed before you catch a cold". the bell jingled very fainly in the distance, "Oh a customer, go on get in there and change, and then come back down" she slid the door closed and Kiriko stood holding the clothes, she turned round and put them on a woven basket in the corner, placing Cly down on the sink she proceeded to change.
The clothes literally drowned her, Kiriko chuckled and flapped the sleaves round like a bird and wriggled her hands free, pulling the draw string so it was at least a little tight around her small waist. Kiriko stood looking in the long mirror dressed in a baggy red jumper and bottoms, giggling loudly at her appearance in the mirror. Kiriko gasped as there was a knock at the door, and stood back from it, "Hai.. um.. im done."Christy wandered in and laughed shaking her head, "well dont you look funny.. haha"Kiriko blushed and giggled a little nodding in agreement, "well come on then.." Christy signalled for Kiriko to exit and they both walked back down the stairs, Christy holding a hand over her mouth to supress further laughter.
Through a door a television lit the room, Kiriko's eye widened as she saw the news, images of a bretonian battleship cracking and exploding around leeds flooded the screen, she swallowed and Christy put a hand infront of Kiriko's eyes, she looked up to Christy who had a calming smile. "enough of that... come on... lets get something warm down you, eh?"Kiriko smiled and nodded quickly, thinking about food she scurried ahead of Christy into the shop area.
Kiriko sat down in her usual spot and placed Cly down on the counter, a single Constable was sat in a corner booth, keeping quite to herself. Kiriko paid her no mind and looked at the menu, to which she knew by heart but could still never decide what to have. "umm...... I will haaaave....... this!"Christy was mildly suprised that she had picked something, "Apple turnover hmm? those are nice, you like apples?"Kiriko bounced in her stool and nodded "I do like them, but the skin is annoying sometimes, I dont like the skin I think". Christy chuckled at the response she expected to hear, "I thought not, well its a good job they dont have the skin on them isnt it? haha, it wont be long".
The single Constable was indeed keeping to herself, and allowed only a quarter-eyebrow raise when the sopping wet Kiriko stepped through the door. The sight a Kusarian in a Bretonian store was odd, to say the least, but she could always check the database later. Besides; Christy seemed to know her, and that would have to do for now.
Elizabeth's tea had long since gone cold, forgotten in the sea of paperwork the woman was wading though. The combination of medical studies, police bureaucracy and the request from universal generated enough to topple a small rainforest. If Bretonia had any left which, judging from her brothers emails, it didn't.
The remnants of the Junior Constable's tea were halfway to her lips when Kiriko staggered back into the tea room, baring more resemblance to something from a Christmas card then a Police Officer. Unfortunately; Stirling's mind finished processing the fact just as the cool tea entered her mouth, resulting in its rather unfair return to the table when she laughed. All over her paperwork. Brilliant. She made a half-hearted attempt at mopping up the more important documents, but evidently she'd have to fill the majority out again.
It was probably for the best. Tea caused Alzheimer's anyway.
Elizabeth took a moment to stack some of the marginally salvageable documents and made an admirable attempt to slide to another table without anyone noticing. When the Officer raised her eyes from her new seat however, she found herself looking directly at the now-dry Inspector.
So much for stealth.
Elizabeth forced a smile, though conversation was the last thing she felt like.
'Elizabeth Stirling.' she managed curtly, extending a hand over the small table. If anyone asked, she could have done it intentionally.
Dark atmosphere over the New London, indeed. David rushed to Christy's as fast as he could in the heavy raid and wind. He entered Christy's, soaked to the skin. "Holy hell..." He mumbled, as he was appereantly pissed off a bit. He silently walked around, found an empty table, and sat down. Was he annoyed? Tired? Nobody knew.
[10:46:32] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): And actually, the KU Dessie is the best GB.
[19:29:19] Joseph (Aphil): SCRA|CPW-Capitalism.
Chris walked into Christy's and fumbled his umbrella back to its usual position before analyzing the mess on the floor he just made. He mumbled to himself " ah not to worry". Walking up to the counter he looked around the room to see another officer called David and noticed he was wet, slightly aggravated and uncalm. Christopher walked over to the Counter. "erm, yeah may I get two coffees' please"
After collecting the coffees he walked over to greet David hoping that a coffee and some company would cheer him up.
"Afternoon David Sir, My names Chris, Christopher Columbus, don't know if you'd recognize me planet side *laughs* I er, thought well to bring you a coffee and give you some company... " May I?"
Stirling was interrupted by the beeping of her PDA. Apparently things on Leeds were getting interesting. She keyed in a brief response.
Expect us within the hour.
The Junior Constable scooped up her sopping wet helmet, and made for the door, brushing past another soaking Officer. She'd head up to her office before departing. There was a case she needed to collect...
David looked at Chris and smiled. "Oh thanks. And yes, feel free to sit down." He grabbed the coffee and started drinking. "I'll repay you sometime later." David looked around when he saw Inspector Hidamari. He was suprised, most probably. "That... is Inspector?" He turned to Chris and drinked from his coffee.
[10:46:32] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): And actually, the KU Dessie is the best GB.
[19:29:19] Joseph (Aphil): SCRA|CPW-Capitalism.