"It's alright.  Neither am I.  I'm not exactly good at interpersonal interactions,"  He admits.  "But you don't need to do anything right now to impress me.  Lyla, I'm already impressed.  I've been paying attention to you for a long time."

He breathes a deep sigh and puts hands on each of her shoulders and takes a hold of her waist.

"That sounded worse than I intended.  But I think you get the point?"

"Yeah, it sounded just mildly wrong. You are talking to a spy after all, so I get your point," she chuckles and leans back to him.

"Here I thought you just said that you didn't have free time for anything, and then you say that you've been spending it on stalking me," she jests with a chuckle, before laying her hands across her torso to his hands that lay on her waist.

"Hardly stalking.  Remember, I'm the Admiral of the Fleet- at least for another hour or so.  We've discussed your work at the highest levels.  There's a reason I put you in charge of retrieving the crew of the Odysseus.  I think you were the only person capable of the focus and skill necessary to pull it off."

He squeezes her waist.

"I admit.  I may have requested the occasional extra dossier on you after Ceres."

"Good to hear that there has been something to brighten your workdays. Oh, that delivery was quite something, I managed to surprise myself as well... I had not really planned on dragging Longinus and Odysseys with me," she muses.

She sighs deeply, finally relaxing after all the stress, relieved at him being close. Lifting her feet on the edge of the table, she curls up, turning to rest her cheek to his chest.

"I may have once or twice tried to get my hands on reports about myself...Got bored pretty quickly. Guessed there was nothing THAT interesting."

"Nothing about your personal life, of course, but you have a long history of heroics that caught my attention- especially since few people even know who you are."  His chest is warm but silent.

Until 10 seconds later she hears the first 'ba-BUMP', like a drummer slamming on a bass drum with all their might.  His heart beats slow.

"There was a debate about it.  Whether or not we should hold you up in front of the masses, you know, like the rest.  I argued against it.  I'm glad my instincts were correct."

"Mmm, quite right indeed. It'd have been a waste if I'd stayed in the back, and most likely would've resulted in me breaking formation to drag their asses there one way or another, without a helping hook."

Lyla nuzzles her cheek against his chest, and closes her eyes for a moment to listen to that slow heart beat.

"Of course there is nothing about my personal life, that'd lead to people actually knowing who I am," she jests. "As much as I like to fly under the radar, it's always nice to hear that my work pays off especially from those to whom I'd hope it to matter."

Once again she opens her eyes, craning her neck to the side to take a look at him.

"A couple million people probably owe their lives to you," He tells her, "So yes, your work certainly pays off-"

He's about to say more when she looks up at him.  One of the hands on her shoulders cups her chin, angling her face up towards him just right.  Their eyes lock.

His body changes like a mighty glacier, going in for the kiss-

- and there's a soft chime as his laptop registers new mail.

"Fuck them,"  He growls as his lips meets hers.

"..for once," she manages to let out a whispered mumble.

Uninhibited giggle escapes from her upon the laptop chiming away, but it's not like she'd resist, willingly succumbing to her fate. All her muscles tense momentarily, only to turn soft and warm quickly after, when she tilts her body to the side to face him. It's not difficult to notice that the kiss was a long waited one with her eager, yet a bit shy response. Her fingers slide up his arms to wrap hers around his neck.

Kissing in this position is awkward but still enjoyable- and scant seconds later (milliseconds?  it happens so fast) he's maneuvered them so they're face to face, kiss never breaking, four hands holding her as if afraid she'd disappear...

... until they surface some time later, warm and panting, a scowl appearing on Five Days Darkness's face as he looks at the ceiling. "The Last Refuge and the Fleet is here,"  He announces to her, his voice sure but tinged with anger at the interruption. "Excuse me, I have to respond or they'll assume something bad has happened to me."

He might be annoyed with the interruption, while Lyla instead fills in with the contentness shining from her eyes. It even manages to push through the ever lingering sadness in them. The laptop on the table does a disappearing trick, after some sudden blue tinted shadows spread on the table. She slowly releases her hands only to grasp her scarf, that is around his neck. A small amused hmmh accompanies his announcement.

"You're excused," she admits softly, gesturing to his laptop which has done an appearing trick, while sitting on her knees on the table.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:34, Thu 03 Nov 2016.

"Hmph, so you're holding me hostage now.  Armed Ilmorijo will storm into my cabin looking for me, ready to take on my captor.  What will I have to do to stop this from happening?" He puts hands on his hips and folds the others across his chest, held in place by the scarf. "Normally I'm not supposed to negotiate with terrorist but I think I'll make an exception here."

"A terrorist? I see. I'd like to see them try and first find me because I have a captive that might be in mortal danger if my conditions are not met," she gives the slightest tug to the scarf, while lifting her legs and wrapping them around him to keep him put.

"I'm glad you chose so wisely to negotiate. This spares a lot of trouble from both of us, Admiral Five Days Darkness. I am a woman of simple needs and desires, but my condition is that you shall fulfill my request, anyone else won't do. Are we clear?"

Without even waiting for confirmation, she continues with a calm voice straightening up and bringing her face close to his:"One more time. Then you are free to do as you please, until next occasion. We are not done here." she can't help but to grin mischievously.

"Clear as crystal," Five Days Darkness rumbles back at her- the moment she wraps her legs around him he grasps her hips and waist, hoisting her back up into the air.  The kiss this time is just as elemental as the last, made worse when he keeps her aloft and presses her back against the wall, pinning her there for much longer.

It's probably exactly eight minutes later when he stops and lets her to the floor, "If you let me send off my email I think I can buy us another thirty minutes or so?"

If earlier she was blushing elegantly pink, now she's turned to a deep crimson shade, taken by surprise. It all leaves her breathless quite so. When the whole eight minutes has passed, she slowly slides her hands down letting go of him and gives him a somewhat speechless glance, a grin tugging her lips even further.

"I think these terrorist negotiations are going rather well. Though I have to say I'm not completely sure who in the end is the hostage."

She breathes out deeply and leans to the wall, running her fingers through her messy hair.

"please do. I'm not forcing you to stay here, am I?"

Definitely not cold anymore, she tugs her pilotsuits zipper from the neck down open, though modestly stopping only 15 cm later.

"I think that'd be me,"  he smiles at her, watching her unzip some of her pilotsuit, "No, but you're very close to forcing me to stay here.  Make yourself at home."  He gives her one last kiss and then collects himself, trying to appear calm and collected as he steps out of his quarters, leaving Lyla alone.

"I'm not forcing you to DO anything...yet"

Before he manages to leave, she takes a hold of her scarf, pulling it lightly to release it from around his neck. Her grin says it all "Forgetting something?".
She watches him go, and sighs deeply.

Make yourself at home, she thinks to herself and pushes herself off the wall. A little bit of sceptism brewing in her mind, she gathers her gloves and shoes. Incase everything would turn out differently. It had been a lousy day and this turn of events was almost too good to be true.

Leaving her extra gear under the table, she turns to look at the holo tables, absentmindedly digging out a cigarette to twirl between her fingers, still undecided if she felt like smoking.

The holo-table of the Enterprise actually shows his location (the bridge), as well as the location of several others:  herself, Lucifer, the Red Queen, Jess, Tomato.  Most seem to be in their rooms, though Tomato is in the sickbay.

A second one- right nearby- shows the fleet.  It's gotten massive the last few years, and Lyla would be hard-pressed to count all the ships that swarm the battlefield like bees around the hive.


The Last Refuge itself is surrounded by a picket of Nike-class cruisers, protecting the vast egg in a hard angry shell.  It looks like the Enterprise is moving to dock, no doubt for repairs.

Lyla gathers her hair back, and absentmindedly looks through peoples locations. She does some digging in order to find out at what state Tomato was, also incase there was any medical record of Jess' wounds, she'd pull that forward. There was worry brewing in her now that the sadness had subsided, both her solar friends had seemed so odd at the end of the battle, estranged. She'd talk with them later, when things were better.

Eventually she finds her lighter and lights the cigarette. She throws a glance at his laptop but decides to leave it at peace.

Controlling the holotable is easy.

Tomato's gotten her ribs smashed, her lungs perforated, and part of her heart pierced.  If she was a mortal she'd have died a few times already.  With best help from the doctors of Sanctuary, she'd be up and about in a month- a benefit of being Exalted.

Hmm, interesting.  Five Days Darkness was talking on the bridge, and from the looks of it, he's coming back.

According to a script taken from any romantic comedy show, this is the part where Lyla should open her zip more and lie seductively on the holotable or bed, which ever would suit better. She though does neither, instead looking around in search of an ashtray, eventually settling for the shot glass she used earlier.

She closes Tomato's records, and opens up her Benisuzumes information, checking to see what was the only dent in her ship and how easy it'd be to fix. Curiously she keeps an eye out for the door.

The Benisuzume has taken a few scratches, which are currently being investigated to make sure they're not infectious or coated with 'goddamn cheating Abyssal bullshit' or the like- a literal quote from the chief mechanic.  They expect it to be ready to fly in 2 hours, an hour to check the damage and an hour to do a fully reload and refuel.

The door slides open and Five Days Darkness lets out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"I've been called in for a court martial, but as it stands they've already accepted my resignation.  I'll be allowed to keep the Enterprise because they can't take it anyway."

Lyla lets out a sigh as well, closing the holo image of Benisuzume and turning to lean on the table.

"Court martial, what does that mean? Sorry, don't really know the standard procedure for things like these," she dumps some ash from her cigarette to the shot glass.

Despite the fact that she had expected all this, it was still hard to push aside the bitterness of it all. Though in the end it was just one of the many unlucky things within one day, maybe the tables could still be turned. Lyla waves a hand to beckon him closer.

"What's the deal with you and the Enterprise? Now that I'm interrogating you," her tone is jesting but a bit insecure when asking such questions, maybe she was just tired.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:38, Sat 05 Nov 2016.

"A court-martial's a military trial, usually for an actual crime or criminal incompetence.  It means that word has spread about what happened at the hangar, and people are worried and trust Lucifer, so it probably has to be done.  If I didn't resign there'd be an inquiry and I'm certain I'd be vindicated, but the court of public opinion is another matter.  It won't mean anything we didn't already guess."

He steps forward, standing directly in front of her.  He puts his hands on her knees.

"After Ragnarok, I received Sol Invictus's mantle.  But not everyone can handle that.  When I destroyed Luna's corrupted form, I used up a good portion of his strength.  It was worth it, otherwise I wouldn't have done it.  Afterwards when we started developing the cruisers, we found we needed a power plant and a Wyld-goblin just wasn't going to do it.  You know how Benisuzume's reactor works?" He smiles tiredly, "Just like that.  I'm the Enterprise's reactor.  I can't leave the Enterprise for longer than an hour before I start losing essence.  If I leave, the Enterprise starts losing power at a commensurate rate.  The exception, of course, is I don't need a Wyld-goblin.  I don't think I could stand having one of White Arcing Lightning's puppets hanging over my shoulder all the time."

Lyla nods in understanding to the whole court martial thing, obviously not interested asking about it in more details. It was in the end about things they discusses through. But she can't help but to chuckle at the thought of Five Days darkness having his own wyld-goblins.

"That explains a thing or two," she blushes. "Enough about these things. I think we've tormented our minds enough about all the troubles so we can focus on important things...such as what about the 30 minutes?"

She runs her fingers up his arms that are resting on her knees.

"Turns out I've bought a bit more than thirty minutes.  Still, I'd best make them count,"  He says as he moves closer to her, "If I had thirty hours, it wouldn't be enough."

His other two arms remove his robe.  He leans over, gripping Lyla by the hips and lifting her up and towards the bed, laying her down on her back, and then they lose themselves- just for a little while.  Maybe just long enough.

((New thread incoming.))