Late night

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

[It's one in the morning. The Tower rumbles along the ground alongside the giant White Chalice. After the last few battles, the two ships are closer together than they normally are for safety, and so any of you night owls may occasionally pick up the sound of someone playing a harmonica when the wind blows in the right direction if you're standing on the deck of the White Chalice. If you look you might make out the figure doing it, although it's too dark to be sure. Investigate?]

Comments

[aceshighgrope.livejournal.com]

[Despite Shirley being on the ship Lucchini can't sleep. Being restless she's on the deck, sitting on the edge of it watching the stars. Hearing the noise she thinks of Sanya a moment and her singing. Climbing back to her feet of course she investigates.]

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

[She comes upon Commander Jin, perched on the railing over a drop that is hundreds of feet down the entire length of The Tower, playing a harmonica. He stops when he notices her and gives her a curious, slightly impatient look.]

[aceshighgrope.livejournal.com]

[Waves a little, she didn't mean to stop him from playing.]

I'm sorry I was just curious as to who was playing. It was pretty.

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

It's a very old song. Reminds me of the world before...

[He gestures to the dark, post-apocalyptic wasteland rolling by.]

...All of this.

[aceshighgrope.livejournal.com]

[She nodded and thought a moment.] Wait right there.

[She ran into the hangar grabbing her Strikers, forgetting to ask for take off clearance she jumped the gap using them to fly over the ground, landing on the deck of the other ship a few feet away from him.]

This way we're not yelling at each other. And it is so different from where I'm from, but still a lot like it too... But I don't remember much before the Neuroi.

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

You can't be old enough to even remember the world before the second impact.

[aceshighgrope.livejournal.com]

[She shook her head.]

Is that what caused all that? [Nods to what he had motioned before.]

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

Don't they teach you these things in school?

[aceshighgrope.livejournal.com]

[Have a sheepish look at the ground.]

I haven't had formal classes in a while okay? Not since I became one of the Strike Witches... then it was more about battle tactics...

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Neuroi are responsible for a fair bit of damage, but compared to the second impact, they are toddlers kicking over sand castles. We'll be lucky if we can stabilize the earth environment before it finishes descending into a centuries long nuclear winter.

[aceshighgrope.livejournal.com]

[Lucchini catches the 'winter' bit. Winter = cold, something she hated with a passion]

Okay yeah that would be bad. There a plan in motion? Why we stan... Oh right, I'm still out of commission for missions at least another week, they're still off a little. [Meaning her strikers, she was going to have to ask Shirley about helping her tweak them right]

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

It's also the middle of the night.

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

[What a lonely-sounding melody. Of course Devon will investigate.]


[She transforms immediately, and now she can get to the Tower in but a single leap. The landing is strangely silent and Devon aimed at places with no people visible, Hayato included. She does not want to be seen.

But apparently she does not care about being heard instead, because after unsummoning the Black Cloud, she just enters hearing distance of the harmonica song and listens wordlessly.]

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

[After several seconds of listening, the music dies off. Although nothing is said, the silence has a quality to it that says to Devon that Hayato knows she is there and is waiting for an explanation or at least an introduction.]

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

Do you play this every night?

[Devon is rather disappointed that the music stopped, but she wants to know.]

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

No, but sometimes even I feel nostalgia for the past.

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

Nostalgia, is it...
[Understands what Hayato means. Understands very well.]

If given the chance, would you do anything from your past differently?

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

Who wouldn't?

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

Someone who lives a life of no regrets.

Is there anything in particular?

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

...No.

[There is a silent but very present "I'm obviously lying but don't you fucking push it." tacked on to that no.]

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

[Shrug. Suit yourself, Hayato - Devon is not bloody-minded enough to continue this thread of thought. She'll stay around on the off chance he continues to play though.]

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

[After a minute or two the harmonica picks back up. Devon can do as she pleases.]

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

[Will listen for a while, seeming absentminded. This is the most vulnerable Devon has been ever since her arrival on White Chalice.]

[azure-savior.livejournal.com]

[Not like Josh needs to. He's got a fairly good idea of who's the one playing those tunes. After all, he did some work under Hayato a while back. He can't help but smirk a little though.]

... And to think he's still managed to not lose that...

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

[The music stops for a second as Hayato looks around, thinking he heard someone. He decides he must have imagined it and starts back up.]

[azure-savior.livejournal.com]

[Well hot damn. Hayato may be getting up there in years but he certainly still had the ears of a jaguar. And according to some of those rumors about his early days, he had the claws of one back then too.

[Not necessarily in the mood to disturb someone's alone time if only on principle, Josh milled around for a bit after finding a folding chair and found a nice, obvious spot on the Chalice's deck to relax on and wait to see if Hayato notices him.]

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

[What is this, a concert? Whether or not he notices you, he's ignoring you.]

[phantompilot.livejournal.com]

[Not being able to sleep tonight, 'Shiro' decided to go out for a late-night smoke on the deck when he happened to hear the harmonica playing.]

...Hm?

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

[More harmonica.]

[phantompilot.livejournal.com]

[Curiosity getting a hold of him, he decided to head to the source of the sound.]

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

[Apparently everyone is going to interrupt Hayato tonight. Maybe if he ignores him Shiro will go away.]

[phantompilot.livejournal.com]

[Luckily for Hayato, Shiro is not saying anything.

Unluckily, he's not leaving until he's done with his cancer stick.]

[getter-class.livejournal.com]

[Hayato smokes too.]