Week 12, Thursday Night: Relaxing

Four seconds passed and the stars appeared above, filling the room with low purple light. The techno started again too, soft and low and melodic. Sosie looked at Ace with her mouth open.. And began to giggle. Her body slid into the water--the thankfully closed bottle of alcohol going under too--laughter bubbling just under the surface. It took another few seconds to pull herself back up, in part because she got distracted by watching her arm move.

"Uuh.. oh. Oh, right. Ace, no no nuh, siddown. Sit. Full disclosurr? 'M already really relaxed, an' as the ancient sayin' goes, ya can't harsh my mellow. Not right now. An' Mizz Pinkie, hee hee, well she's gonna be inviserble a lot. Sadly Mizzz Pinkie doesn't know how weird it is fer the rest of us." Sosie reached out to pat Pinkie's shoulder companionably, realizing on the fourth or fifth try that she could see where Pinkie was looking. An idea overcame her, and she sat up straighter, and she looked directly into the space where Pinkie's face was. She moved her eyes this way and that.. Until she got eye contact with her invisible friend. She wondered if it had ever happened before, and how it would make Pinkie feel.. And Sosie was stoned enough to risk it without asking. After a second of meaningful eye contact with the air, Sosie looked back at Ace, grinning.

"The poinna trynna relax is that you do leggo. You.. let.. go. You do what you wanna do. An' you? You try toooo hard, Ace. Dun worry about what naked ladies an' tubs do. You go frem tryin' hard to freakin' out. I thought ya wanted to push it an' show ya were a big WF man, so I put ya on the spot. I'm sorry." Sosie did look a little sad, her eyebrows rising sympathetically. She pat the bubbling water with a hand. "Relaxin' isn't about do, it's.. do not. An' I dun mind yer company. I thought you just mi' wanna talk."

*Pinkie stood, displacing some more water and collapsed her cloak, looking at Ace. It was a look somewhere between her usual expression and a warning face... possibly leaning more towards one side than the other. Perhaps this was a bad move oh her part considering where the smork hams were on her swimsuit but Pinkie did not care.*

Ace, if you thought I was at all at ease with the situation then why did you think I was invisible? You are not the only one.... new to this. And no it is not easy. But I doubt giving up as a lost cause half way through will make things uncomfortable around the house as well as not making it any easier.

*Sitting down gently in the water, so as not to drown Sosie, Pinkie faded out, out of habit. Looking over at her housemate for support Pinkie found instead that she was looking at her intently and managed to make eye contact. Knowing that Sosie was using Pinkie's own eyes against her, Pinkie merely found it off putting rather than a reason to freak out. Fading in she affixed Sosie with a sternly raised eyebrow, by which time the cyberneticist had turned away from her. Sosie gave a small speech doing an okay impression of Pinkie which only caused Pinkie to roll her eyes and suppress a slight smile. As she finished Pinkie nodded once and looked up at Ace.*

I... think Sosie is correct.

"Ms. Pinkie, I guess I just assumed you enjoyed being invisible. Let me get this streight. I’m... not spoiling anything? And you are uncomfortable too? Huh.”

Ace sat down, his desire to get out of the way and let people get on with enjoying themselves curtailed with the knowledge that he wasn’t messing things up this time after all. Pinkie’s reappearance had startled him slightly, partially because he wasn’t expecting it and partially because of what she was wearing. He had assumed she was nude and the show of modesty from the invisible girl was a surprise. It seemed like everything he was thinking was wrong today. Funny how that kept happening these days.

“I’m... not very good at not doing nothing. I was trying to do what I thought you wanted me too, and I thought you would have wanted me to drink harder stuff. Guess I was wrong there...
Do what I want? Honestly what I want to do this evening is pull my gun apart and see if I can’t work out how to silence it without affecting the performance so I don’t disturb you when you sleep. I’m no good at talking to people unless there is work to be done. I try, and sometimes it works but I’m never sure why.”

Ace sighed and looked at the bottle in his hand, reading the label briefly.

“I can take orders though. Tell me, what do you want me to do? How do I ‘let.. go?’”

"Lezzon one a relaxin'. Be yerself." Sosie nodded sagely, slipping slowly down into the water again. She didn't seem to be aware of it, or the fact she was listing sideways. She was a little sad that she was with two relaxation newbies, but visible Pinkie was covered in a halo and purple and Ace sparkled softly, so that made up for a lot. The bubbles were crackling rhythmically, musically. She sighed. "Lesson two. Lesson.. two.. I tole you I dinn't mind the gunshots. S'fine. You can barely hear 'em and when I sleep, I sleep. Hard. S'quieter then the labs bya long shot, too."

She smiled at Ace crookedly, one of her many-pierced ears dipping into the water. "I haf a few shortcuts ta help you relax.. but the easiest way is ta.. ta.. just sit down. Feel the bubbles. You dun hafta worry about talkin'. Truz me, you're much better as yerself then anbeonb elbse." The last two words were delivered under the water, though her eyes watched Ace. She could see every hair on his head, chin, face and every one was shimmering. She sighed happily into the water, tip of her nose dropping into it, feeling a lightness through her whole body.

*Pinkie didn't really understand what Ace meant when he suggested she could enjoy being invisible. That wasn't really the point. Silenced weaponry huh.... Pinkie knew just enough to maintain her weaponry, she had not considered modifying them at all. The notion struck Pinkie…. as a troubling one, she was not entirely certain as to why. Pinkie did not see what Ace meant, the only person she had ever witnessed being good at people was Xu and… Pinkie suspected that was not what Ace meant, or wanted. His next statement Pinkie assumed was a joke. Ace was far, far too… green to possible mean what he had just said. Pinkie decided to ignore it in favour of listening to the font of wisdom that was Sosie. She certainly seemed much more coherent than… other people did on drugs. Her first few suggestions didn’t seem... that constructive though, to Pinkie anyway. She idly wondered about learning to distinguish ‘silenced’ gunshots because whoever was using them probably didn’t want her to. Pinkie looked up at Ace, shrugged and gently pulled Sosie out of the water. Shaking her head with a slight indulgent smile on her face, Pinkie settled into the water and closed her eyes. Then snapped them open with a quizzical expression*

Ace, what… did you say about Bell?

Ace glanced worryingly at Pinkie as Sosie fell into the water and was just about to react when Pinkie came to the rescue. Surprisingly Sosie nearly drowning did little to convince Ace of the merits of relaxing and neither did her continuing loss of coherency. But despite this Ace tried his best to do what he was told and relax. He took a swig of the new drink and ran it around his mouth, savouring the texture and flavour. It wasn’t too bad, although it did burn a little when he finally swallowed it. Ace tried to sink deeper into the water and relax, but he was still very aware of the noises from outside and the potential drowning issue. Then Pinkie asked her question.

“Bell? I... didn’t say anything about Bell. Erm... why?”

"You azsked Bell ta turn stuff back on. Pinkie's a protective godmozzer." Sosie blinked a few times, and settled for leaning on Pinkie. "Mng." Really, her smooth and collected inner voice reminded her, The hallucinogenic effects of this really are mild, but the Neurotrans really does help bring them out. She sighed happily, and slowly looked at her own skin. The little bubbles shined and sparkled. Her arms felt like they were flying, raising.. She double checked them to make sure they were under the water. She did feel at ease.. And by the time the alcohol left her system, she would be floating high. She closed her eyes and slid intentionally off of Pinkie, resting her head on the side. A little bit of foam dropped form her mohawk to her cheek. Her thoughts drifted back to the story she was writing... Hm, was the opera better? Or should she wait until Varstaag.. Ah! No! The climax could take place in the starport. The scanners, the UIG presence... A thought popped in her brain. "Though, Bell's reaction time iz... off..f." She struggled upright, unable to move her arms on the first try. She stared at her fingernails for a moment and then splashed forward. She rested her hands heavily on the side of the tub. "Bell? Whaddaya doin'?"

From the other room there was a soft sound, like fabric sliding on fabric, and then a muffled crash, sharp intake of breath. Sosie was already climbing over the tub, obviously wobbly but with purpose.

Oh, no I just had not understood what you meant. Never mind.

*Pinkie returned to staring at the dark behind her eyelids and tried to ignore the crawling sensation in the back of her head. Glancing over at Sosie, Pinkie made sure that she did not sink again and was enjoying herself at the same time. Reassured of both Pinkie wondered whether the low nosies from the other room were Dusty after all.... Pinkie was spending quite a lot of resolve on not fading simply to put others more at ease, which struck her as strange. People had tended to be much more relaxed when they thought she was not around now that it occurred to her to think about it. Pinkie chewed on the notion for a while examining its validity in light of recent occurrences, though she supposed they could hardly fall under the bracket of normal. Then again From what little I have seen... I do not think "normal" has ever applied to my life. Her eyes snapped open as Sosie spoke again and Pinkie affixed her housemate/friend with a wary look wondering what that mean and how Sosie had noticed. Following the thud from the other room, Pinkie leapt out of the bath in one movement and waited to follow Sosie’s lead.*

One moment he was listening to sage, if somewhat drunken, advice and trying to work out what Pinkie was talking about. The next there was a crash and everyone was moving. Finally the situation had become one that Ace could deal with and he rose out of the water and rolled sideways out of the bath, landing on his feet. He grabbed his gun from the holster and moved quickly towards the door in one fluid motion, completely ignoring the fact that he was dressed only in his boxers and dripping wet. The pistol grip on the gun was moulded slightly to Ace's fingers and he had no difficulty keeping his grip despite his wet hands. He stood upright with his back to the wall on the side of the open door way and made a complex gesture towards the ladies in the room with one hand while he moved the gun around the doorway with his other hand, using the inbuilt camera linked to his internal GUI to get a view of the situation in the next room without presenting himself as a target.

Sosie looked blankly at Ace. His hand moved in intricate gestures that left trails of light... And meant nothing to her. From the doorway of the bath, it looked as if the living room had been ransacked. It was a complete mess, though from this angle Ace couldn't see the source of the crash. And then all he could see was the back of Sosie's wobbly head as she made her way into the living area.

Uneven gait aside,the landlady seemed.. relaxed. Floppy, almost. She padded into the next room on wet feet, apathetic to the suds sliding off of her and pooling on the floor.

In the living room, there was total disarray. Dusty's fort had been knocked over, the chair overturned, and the couches were tilted at off angles, on their sides. Bell--wearing a pink shirt with flowers along the bottom and a pair of brown shorts and looking very much like the little girl her mother claimed she was--was making her way upright. From the looks of it, she had jumped from the chair to the couch, had fallen short, and slipped landed horribly on the couch. Her left arm looked.. wrong, almost, there was definitely something wrong with it. She landed on it hard, that was for sure.

She looked up at her mother, her godmother, and eventually Ace. Her eyes were wide and very wet, as if she was about to cry, and for a fast moment... She looked.. guilty?

*Pinkie grabbed a towel and dried herself very quickly, it seemed to be barely more than a second and she was dry. Which suggested she had experince in getting dry quickly.... whatever that might imply. Following Sosie out of the bathroom Pinkie shrugged to Ace as she past him, indicating that she had not understood his signal. Surveying the room, Pinkie wondered how she had not known it was not dusty. She also felt.... bad almost, that Dusty's work had been undone. Even if it could be fixed quite quickly. Been a secuirty guard too long. Pinkie regarded Bell looking up at them and looked at the angle she must have fallen at. That must hurt... and her arm as well. .... Why does she look.... sorry? Pinkie turned to Sosie, aware that the U-view was still on and waited to see how she would react. The situation seemed strange to Pinkie and the only things she was sure of were that Bell was hurt and that someone who did not know what they were doing I.E. me. Tend to make injuries worse. Pinkie nodded once to Bell a perturbed expression on her face and before setting off to put things back where they were supposed to be, placed a hand on Sosie's shoulder and said.*

.... I'll let the two of you alone, if you want?

Ace’s trained eyes scanned the room for danger and took in the sight of the small child and the destroyed fort. This was clearly not a combat situation and Ace wasn’t quite sure exactly what was going on. One thing was curtain, Bell was injured and the house doctor was horribly inebriated. On the other hand Pinkie seemed to be willing to leave the two of them alone, and domestic situation were really no business of his. Ace lowered his gun to the floor and padded back into the bathroom. He holstered the weapon and started to towel dry, aiming to get out of the way as quickly as possible.

Sosie, still wobbling, immediately strode to her daughter and knelt down on the ground. She cooed and said things on Korean, obviously soothing and questioning. It was obvious after a second Sosie was examining her daughter's arm. Bell opened her mouth to reply after a question, but let out a tiny strangled mewling noise instead. The replicant, with tears on her face, looked more shocked than in pain. Sosie made more cooing, affectionate noises, and then grabbed her daughter, pulled her close, and with one violent motion, YANKED. Bell cried out again, louder.. And then blinked a few times. It was only then that Sosie turned to Pinkie, and said in English, "You're're part of our family. You don't leave."

The mother, still saying soft things in her native tongue, ran her fingers through Bell's slightly knotted hair. Her daughter was lovely, yes, but with the glowing eyes and the silver skin and fair soft hair, she looked like an angel. Sosie smiled inwardly, her whole body warm. Her eyes scanned the room for Dusty, who came forward when he saw his mother staring at him. Sosie put and arm out and collected him too. Her poor youngest child would need a body too, someday. She kissed the top of his body. "I did tell her not to, Mom," was his only response.

Sosie made a little noise, and Bell picked her head up and looked at Pinkie. The drugged doctor was still petting her daughter's hair. "Bell wanted to practice an.. athletics training course you worked with her on?" Bell stared at a point on the wall, moving her eyes away from her tutor.

*Pinkie met Sosie’s gaze and then slowly nodded. Well that clarified being part of a family a little more. Looking at Bell, Pinkie knew enough to know that Bell’s shoulder had just been re-located. It occurred to Pinkie that she had not really seen Dusty lately and she wondered if, and if so why, Dusty had picked up stealth-ing from her. Pinkie met Bell’s eyes as she looked at her and up to Sosie as Bell looked away. Pinkie nodded in reply to Sosie then took a single step towards her and spoke.*

Yes I made an… obstacle course for Bell. It was to…. Demonstrate the… way you only get to attempt to deal with a situation once. *Pinkie’s eyes widened slightly as a reason Bell might have done this occurred to her.* Setting up this… shows good initiative Bell, but I… failed to communicate the idea behind the exercise. I am sorry.

*Pinkie sighed, uncertain of what to do now. She knew she had let Sosie and Bell down but…. She already owed Sosie a not inconsiderable amount, making this up to them would add to that. Pinkie would make it up to them but she was… less than comfortable with owing anyone this much. She also felt… unpleased with having failed Bell as a trainer. She looked back up at Sosie meeting her eyes and wondered if many people had to deal with situations like this in their bathing gear.*

Sosie met Pinkie's gaze, and after a second smiled a little. Her fingers were still twined in Bell's hair, and she gently undid them and smoothed out the tangled tresses. She looked at Bell nudged her with her arm, eyes unable to easily pull away from her face. Her thoughts felt so soft, and for a moment.. sad.. Bell looked back at her and then moved her large green eyes to Pinkie hesitantly. "I wanted to get better. I know I could do better." Her voice was soft, and her eyes left Pinkie's face after she spoke.

The pilled-up parent rubbed her daughter's back, and then stood, kissing Bell on the cheek. Then she let go of her daughter, took a few steps toward Pinkie, and got on wobbly tip toe to give Pinkie a kiss on the cheek, too. "You two haf some stuff ta talk about, I see." Sosie gave a smile to Pinkie, and a very.. sloppy wink, and then headed back into the bathroom with a few mumbled and slurred words in Korean. She passed Ace in the bathroom, and with a loud splash she flopped back into the tub. After about a minute, she rose back to the surface, grinning. She leaned back against the side, eyes closed, and listening to music.

Bell only met Pinkie's eyes after Sosie left, and she reached up and stroked her shoulder, which was red and slightly swollen.

*Pinkie gave Sosie a very strange look, caught between -wait what, panic and something like outrage, as Sosie walked over and kissed her on the cheek. The wink received a similar reaction which Sosie did not seem to care about. Pinkie decided she needed to learn Korean simply so she could understand half of what Sosie said, the strings of swear words especially. Pinkie kneeled down so that she was on eye level with Bell. Carefully keeping her expression neutral, Pinkie wondered how to go about apologising to Bell.*

I know. I know you can. It, the.... *Pinkie hung her head* I should have listened to you when you tried to tell me.... that you wanted to do it again. That was what you were going to say, wasn't it? I am sorry that you got hurt Bell, but I am glad you have the.... freedom to make mistakes.... it is a part of growing no matter what anyone says.... come here.

*Only now did Pinkie look up, and she did not make her last statement with the force of a command or the hollowness of her usual voice. Pinkie looked tired, much more so than when she was in the tub or any of the hours preceding it.*

Bell nodded at the question--yes, she had wanted to do it again--and watched Pinkie with growing confusion. Her brows rose and almost touched, and her hand dropped from her shoulder. Why did Pinkie seem bothered by this? Still, the mention of mistakes made Bell's head pick up, and she walked over to Pinkie. Her steps were hesitant, but she didn't seem.. afraid. The pained noises and teary eyes were gone. She felt compelled to add, "It is causing me much less pain now." She looked up at Pinkie, curiosity still plain on her face.

That is good. I am glad Sosie is here, and that she invited me to live here... thank you for being such a good student Bell....l but do your best to avoid that severity of injury, okay? You need to watch out for yourself at least as much as others.

*Pinkie searched Bell's face in an attempt to uncover how the little replicant was feeling, but almost felt that it was a hollow gesture. Bell usually only gave anything away why she was confused or frustrated and Pinkie hoped Bell was not frustrated with her. She knew she would have been.*

I.. have something quite a bit more dangerous to teach you next week, and I will take precaution to see that you do not injure me, okay?

*Pinkie cast a glance back towards the bath and checked if anyone was in hearing range, not because she was embarased or ashamed but because this should be private, the words she was about to speak for Bell alone.*

.... Forgive me?

Bell nodded once in agreement with each of Pinkie's statements, eyes looking around the room and not at her godmother standing directly in front of her. Yes, she would avoid severe injury. Yes, she would watch our for herself. Her eyes settled on Pinkie's bare feet. She reacted like a child being scolded, head down, hair over her eyes.. but her face was impassive as ever.

She nodded once again at being taught more. She knew she was not good enough her new fleshy form to be satisfied with what she had learned so far, but her godmother had taught her the basics and she could finish learning on her own. It made sense from what she knew of Pinkie that she would be expected to learn fast at many things, and that did not bother her... Though she looked up when her godmother mentioned injury, brows raising just a little in questioning.

When Pinkie asked for forgiveness, Bell looked even more confused, lines in her forehead deepening. She matched Pinkie's quiet voice and replied, "I do not know for what you wish to be forgiven, Pinkie."

*Pinkie narrowed her eyes slightly as Bell expressed her confusion. Were it anyone else, she would think they were trying to humiliate her. But no, Bell genuinely does not understand, hmm. Pinkie slowly unfolded upwards and looked down into the little replicants eyes.*

I was assig, ....I have been entrusted with your protection. In my rush to teach you what I thought you should learn, I disregarded your own feelings on the matter and this is what led to your injury. For that I am sorry. The failing is mine Bell.

*Pinkie looked aside, focusing on one of the errant pieces of furniture. Absently she scratched at her left arm with her right almost like a regular person's behaviour. She had entirely forgotten she was wearing nothing but a smork bathing suit. Pinkie... put off the urge to fade or abscond and waited for Bell to respond.*

Bell watched Pinkie. Her brows stayed slightly knit in confusion. She blinked a few times, keeping eye contact with her godmother as she rose. She rolled her hurt shoulder once. When Pinkie stopped talking she looked thoughtful. Her eyes glowed for a moment, and her mouth opened as if she wanted to speak... but it took her half a minute to find the right words.

"I.. do not think you intended to 'disregard' my 'feelings'. And my.. 'feelings' are not injured. My shoulder is no longer causing me much pain. I attempted to do a training course I had not yet properly set up, which was beyond my skill. The failing is mine."

She continued, softer, more thoughtfully... "However, it is common practice to accept 'heartfelt' apologies. Thank you for saying sorry. I am not offended."

She sounded more grown up and formal than the young girl who had been crying out in pain only a few minutes before. Her confused look was gone, replaced with something more.. subtle. More.. awkward? Sosie may have abandoned both her daughter and daughter's godmother in their moment of need.

*Pinkie found it increasingly difficult not to flee as Bell found her words. At least there was a time to work within and a thing to do while planting a bomb in the middle of cult chimeras. Pinkie did not think that using her butterfly knife as stress relief would be a good idea right now. How long have I been dripping on the carpet now? Pinkie's face was a mess of lines and creases the shifted slightly as Bell spoke. Pinkie nodded as she finished and then cast, somewhat desperately, for something to say.*

I suppose everyone makes mistakes, Bell and so long as they are not repeated that is... a part of learning. We both did. So let us do better. I'm... glad you are not offended. Do you wish to set up the course in the training room and continue, or shall we put everything back in its place?

*Pinkie had met her godaughters eyes during her talk and despite the hiss she sounded... reassured, reassuring? Confident at least. She tilted her head as she waited on the little replicants answer and smiled at her ever so slightly. She did cast one glance over at the bathroom, to see what Sosie and Ace were up to.*

The the bathroom there was nothing but the sounds of soft music and occasional splashing as Sosie sloshed around. She was somewhere else, surrounded by fluffy nebulas of purple and red, surrounded by gold stars. She floated happily, or at least, her top half floated happily, in mounds of bubbles and jets.

Outside, Bell looked at Pinkie soberly. Her hands swung at little at her sides, relaxed. "I.. do not feel like trying the course again right now, Pinkie. I.. will set up everything as it was. You do not have to assist." She left her eyes on her godmother a few moments longer, and then turned and silently began setting the room right. Dusty watched from a distance, in the corner of the room.

*Pinkie shook her head slightly as Bell waved away her assistance and helped her godaughter set everything back the way it was. Pinkie did derive some enjoyment from how easy it was to move supposedly heavy furniture around. Once they had finished, Pinkie nodded to Dusty in his corner and, being very cautious and polite about it, lifted Bell up onto one of her shoulders before walking downstairs, over to the rig and saying goodnight to her godaughter. Pinkie seemed to have rubbed off on the little replicant or at least Pinkie hoped that it was that and not that Bell was simply uncomfortable around her. Not that you could really blame her. Trooping back upstairs, Pinkie looked once again into the bathroom and, seeing Sosie happily enjoy her "floaty space times," remembered that she was still in her own bathing suit. Pinkie carefully slid into the water, causing the minimum disturbance possible and nodded to Sosie. If her friend would recognise the gesture, if it was noticed at all, didn't matter. It was enough to be able to make it. Pinkie lay back gently and closed her eyes. A light pattern played out in her head and here, in the hot tub of her short minder, in their shared but mostly Sosie's home, Pinkie saw a small flame light in her head. And there it stayed until much later on, when Pinkie would insist on picking Sosie up and taking her to her room.*