Jessica gives a hum of affirmation and digs into her food, taking a big bite of her spicy wrap. If she's concerned by the mystery food she sure doesn't show it, going as far as to lick some stray, dripped sauce off of the back of her thumb. Maybe it's her upbringing. Never having much. Not always sure where the next meal might come from. When it might be. She adapts. She's good at adapting. Living out of a hotel room above a bar for
#Nilhaven – September 11, 2024
months. In a tent at the edge of the world. Or a cramped, stuffy truck with some makeshift bedding made from pilfered sheets. So some dubious protein isn't about to bother her. The security, however, is another story. She seems none too happy about their presence, made obvious by her occasional glances their way.
Yan Sun is making rapid progress with her sandwich, but Jessica's unease makes her follow her glances to the source. "Mhdon't worry about them," she mutters between bites, having a sip of cola before elaborating. "Those rent-a-cops aren't gonna be a problem. Scanner tech is outdated, and they don't get paid enough to give a shit about who we are. Arcturus is where things are gonna get tricky. They're gonna have full bioscanners, background
checks, all that crap. Out here? We'll be fine. Just... don't antagonize them. And... you did get rid of all your guns, right?"
Jessica shoots a grumpy look Yan Sun's way at her initial statement. "I'm not." she asserts, sounding as if she should be offended that Yan Sun thinks she's worried about these, as Yan Sun put it, 'rent-a-cops'. She takes a nibble on what little remains of her wrap as Yan Sun explains the situation, eventually gaining a small smirk at Yan Sun's final question. She gives an indifferent shrug, purposely not answering it, gaze returning
back to the food in her hands. She shoves the final bite into her mouth and looks pointedly at Yan Sun as she chews, annoying smirk shining through.
Yan Sun rolls her eyes, deciding not to rise to the bait and instead finish her sandwich. She grabs one of the bars to nibble on and holds the bag Jessica's way again. "Wanna grab anything else before I toss this?" she asks while getting on her feet, eyes settling on a banned items discard container near the queue.
Jessica snickers to herself, leaning a bit to bump the woman seated beside her with her shoulder. The question causes her to furrow her brow, sitting up a bit straighter to see into the bag without having to get up. She examines the contents for a moment before ultimately giving a shake of her head. Clearly not quite ready to get up yet, she gives a heavy sigh but begins to collect her things before rising from her seat and slinging her
duffelbag back over her shoulder. "How long we will be on Arcturus?" she asks idly as she falls in step with Yan Sun.
Yan Sun stops by the discard container to dump the excess vending machine items before getting in line to the security checkpoint. Ahead of them is a human couple wrangling two young kids that already seem to be sick of standing in line, and the space behind is soon taken up by a tired-looking older turian. "A few hours, at least. We should have time to look around a bit, if you want."
Jessica discards her trash before joining Yan Sun in line. A testament that, despite her usual level of dismissiveness, she must be taking Yan Sun's desires to stay low key during this trip at least somewhat seriously. No littering today! "Mmm." she hums, relieved that they won't need to hurry to their next departure at the very least. "Is anything fun to do there?" she asks as she brings one arm around Yan Sun from behind as they
Yan Sun allows her backpack, only slipped onto a single shoulder since getting up, to slide off to be held in her hand instead to make room for Jessica behind her. It's gonna need to go on the conveyor soon anyhow. She leans back a little against her, free hand lifting from the duffel slung over her shoulder to rest on the arm wrapped around her. "There's a lot of shops and restaurants and stuff." And a whole lot of Alliance troops, but she
allows that to go unsaid. "Or we can just take a seat somewhere and do some shipspotting or something. Your call," she says, her smile felt as cheek brushes Jessica's head. In front of them, the younger of the two children has been scooped up by her father, and is staring at Jessica with big eyes over his shoulder.
Jessica falls quiet for a moment, considering the decision while idly returning the child's, quite frankly, rude stare. She gives a soft hum, "We will see..." she says, rather than committing to anything. She playfully closes her good eye and pokes her tongue out at the young girl, a gentle smile spreading across her tired face.
Yan Sun nods in acknowledgement, disentangling from Jessica as they shuffle forward, the family ahead of them heading into the checkpoint. She moves closer to the conveyor, shifting the backpack onto it before letting the duffel slip from her shoulder and doing the same with it. She nods for Jessica to do the same, aware this is new for her. On the other side of the conveyor, a security guard watches disinterestedly, arms crossed as their
Behind, the turian lets out a loud, screetching yawn, talons scraping as he scratches his headcrest and shambles forward.
Jessica snickers softly to herself. As they approach the conveyer belt, she releases her grip on her partner and follows the wordless instructions, if a bit rigidly. After slinging her duffelbag onto the conveyer belt behind Yan Sun's, she crouches down to collapse the handle of her armor crate and lifts it up onto the conveyer belt, only briefly casting a glance towards the security guard.
Yan Sun moves ahead on being waved forward by the guard by the security gate, a pale, lanky man with tightly cropped ginger hair. The gate itself is a scanner-laden metal arch wide enough for an elcor. As she passes through it lights up in red, a negatory bleep sounding. She seems entirely unsurprised by this, lifting up her left hand in a demonstrative manner as the guard approaches. "Cybernetic replacement." she explains, blue lines
Security lets out a huff and grabs Yan Sun's wrist, turning her hand over as he studies it. "No kidding... that's some fancy tech right there. Can't even tell, can you?"
Yan Sun props up a polite smile. "It's a custom build, with high-end synthskin and tissue emulation," she explains, what would normally be a bragging tone tempered by annoyance.
Security doesn't let go, running a thumb across the fabricator set into Yan Sun's palm with a questioning look.
Yan Sun half-chuckles a little uncomfortably. "Integrated omni-tool," she's quick to supply, slipping her hand free at the first opportunity. "Prism Silver X."
Security lets out an impressed whistle. "Fancy, fancy... reckon it's a good idea, making sure something that pricey can't be swiped off ya," he concludes with a chuckle and a few nods. "Move right along, miss," he tells her with a smile before turning to Jessica and waving her forward.
Jessica does her best not to watch the security guard too closely as they await their turn. Not only might it tip them off to her nerves but, even worse, it might tip Yan Sun off. When it's Yan Sun's turn, however, those nerves are very quickly replaced with an annoyance as the guard begins to fuss over her cybernetics. She finds herself biting down to avoid saying something. "Just don't antagonize them." said the (annoying)
cybernetic Jiminy Cricket on her shoulder. And she's not without self control! She merely rolls her eyes and pokes at the back of her teeth with her tongue, folding her arms across her chest as she waits impatiently. When she's waved forward she follows Yan Sun's lead and steps through the large, metal arch.
The scanner doesn't complain as Jessica passes, but the guard at the gate signals for her to stop regardless, studying her with furrowed eyebrows. "Where are you headed, then?"
Yan Sun gets moving towards the conveyor to retrieve her bag, which has been opened and inspected, no doubt thanks to the electronic components within. Her attention is split between the bag and looking back towards Jessica, wanting to be sure she'll make it through without issue.
Jessica stutter stops after being instructed to do so. The security guard is hit with an accidental scowl discharge. She passes a glance Yan Sun's way and an annoyed sigh happens to slip out before her attention shifts back to the guard. "Earth." she says flatly, her tone very much signaling that she'd prefer the conversation end there.
Security raises an eyebrow at the attitude, and checks his omni-tool briefly. "Beat up old hardsuit in the case, that's yours then, is it?"
Yan Sun is relieved to have her bags back in hand, but seeing Jessica stuck with the guard makes that a short-lived sensation.
Jessica shoots a glance towards the conveyor belt, brow lifting as she studies the security guard. "Mmm." she hums in affirmation, hoping to keep it short. The expectant tilt of her head that accompanies it is intrinsically dripping with attitude. Something between annoyed and bored. The Jessica Kaya dialect of sign language for 'Are we done here?'
Security nods, glancing over towards the armor crate. "What's it for?" he asks as his attention returns to Jessica.
Jessica cocks an eyebrow once more. "Is for wearing." she explains flatly, clearly getting annoyed by his continuous questions.
Yan Sun is quick to step in with an apologetic smile. "Jessica! Stop being difficult, please!" she exclaims with a tone and expression that'd be immediately recognizable as fake to anyone that knows her. "I'm so sorry, it's been a really long flight to get here, and we're both exhausted," she explains with a sighed laugh. "She actually used to do security for a company back in the Phoenix Massing..."
Security lets out a "Huh." but seems placated by Yan Sun's intervention. "Dangerous out there, innit? Is that-"
The guard behind the conveyor clears their throat and shoots a 'get the fucking line moving' stare that prompts the man to cut himself off.
Yan Sun just barely stops herself from dragging Jessica out of there, instead making do with meaningful eye motions.
Jessica shoots Yan Sun a confused, 'I have it under control' look when she intervenes. But, as she's chastised, she seems no less annoyed by the fact that it's clearly an act, illiciting an eyeroll. She manages to slip in a quiet "Real security." correction under her breath. When they're finally cleared, she lets out a breath and steps over to retrieve her things, slipping the duffelbag back over her shoulder and extending
the handle on her crate to drag it along behind her. She keeps her attention straight ahead as they continue on their way but, once they're out of earshot of the guards, she speaks up, seeming to sense what's likely to come. "I was not antagwhatevering him." she insists, seeming to decide better than try to pronounce the word midsentence. "He was me!" She gets a few more steps. "And he wanted to fuck you." she adds.
Yan Sun 's shoulders slump with relief once they're on their way away from the guards. Jessica's preemptive defense elicits a snicker, and she's about to comment when the last addition makes her wrinkle her nose. "Yeah, I noticed, thanks..." she mutters, but after a few more steps the grimace gives way to mischievous grin. "...want to know something?" she asks as they make their way down the starliner terminal. Gates for various flights line
the walls on each side, and in the center are clusters of uncomfortable plastic seats for waiting. Above, screens display upcoming departures, and the PA system announces calls for boarding. All around people are waiting, or moving to their gates. It's not a large spaceport, not in the slightest, but it's entirely different organizationally to a freeport like Freedom Falls, which has more in common with the independent docks where
Jessica is quick to chime in after Yan Sun's initial utterings. "Move right along, miss!" Her thick accent makes her impersonation less-than-accurate. She makes a gagging noise. "He is definitely going to think about you when he jerks off tonight." she muses while looking about, talking over Yan Sun. "He will probably even wear his uniform while he-..." she trails off, thankfully distracted by Yan Sun's question and the visual
overload of a real spaceport before she can finish her thought. "Mmm?" she hums, gaze shifting back to the woman beside her.
Yan Sun gives Jessica a shove. "Urgh, gross!" she exclaims, but it doesn't take long for disgust to give way to the same look of mischief. She lowers her voice to a whisper, leaning closer to Jessica. "His omni-tool was unsecured. I took a little drive-by peek. Shuffled the names of all his contacts around, and set an alarm for 3AM every day this week," she informs with a diabolical giggle.
Jessica bursts into laughter and shoots a glance back over her shoulder in the general direction of the security checkpoint. She gives a lazy, affectionate bump into Yan Sun. Something seems to occur to her and she comes to a sudden stop. "Shit! You almost make me forget!" she exclaims, passing on the blame for-... something and she slings her duffelbag off her shoulder, setting it on the ground while she digs into her pocket. After
retrieving her omni-tool, she holds it up and gives it a little wiggle, a raising of her brows accompanying the gesture.
Yan Sun stops on realizing Jessica isn't with her anymore, turning around to look at her in confusion. Her gaze lands on the omni-tool with a confused look. "...what?"
Jessica sighs. "We can not leave without taking any pictures here, kitty cat." she explains, as if that should be obvious. Plenty of pictures were taken onboard the This Side Up. It seems she's intent on chronicling their trip and this is one more leg of the adventure. "Come here." she ushers, gesturing for Yan Sun to come to her before she begins to navigate the orange glow of her omni-tool.
Yan Sun cracks a warm smile after the elaboration, letting her duffel bag drop next to Jessica's before squeezing in close, wrapping her arms around her in a hug and resting her chin on her shoulder in a reversal of earlier. While Jessica navigates the omni-tool she nuzzles the side of her face, planting a few quick kisses before facing the camera with a grin.
Jessica leans into Yan Sun, unable to keep an uncharacteristically gentle smile of her own from manifesting. Reaching out to put some distance between them and the camera, she uses the interface to frame them in the picture. She increases the field of view to show off the terminal with screens hanging from the ceiling behind them. After the telltale 'click' lets her know a picture has been taken, she stops Yan Sun from moving with a
quick, "One more, one more!" This one is a little more personal, the FOV reducing to focus solely on the two of them. She lingers on the image for a moment. Then, just before another picture is taken- intentionally timed of course so Yan Sun has no time to correct it- she lifts her other hand and sticks an index finger in Yan Sun's nostril. 'Click'
Yan Sun pulls away with a startled "Kwfhhh!" and a grimace, but it's already too late. She swats at Jessica, shooting a scowl her way, but it's undermined somewhat by the fact that she's on the verge of cracking up as she retrieves her bag. "Jerk," she mumbles fondly.
cackles loudly, tilting away from the smack and reaching up to protect the sunglasses seated on her head from tumbling off. Her laughter only seems to intensify as she examines the picture. Proud of her photography skills, she gives the interface a few quick pokes and the screen fades out. "Is good picture." she assures as she stows the device back into her pocket and moves to collect her luggage with a big, annoying grin.
Jessica cackles loudly, tilting away from the smack and reaching up to protect the sunglasses seated on her head from tumbling off. Her laughter only seems to intensify as she examines the picture. Proud of her photography skills, she gives the interface a few quick pokes and the screen fades out. "Is good picture." she assures as she stows the device back into her pocket and moves to collect her luggage with a big, annoying grin.
Checking into the flight is a quick process, requiring nothing more than a quick verification of the tickets. Soon enough Yan Sun is leading Jessica down one of the narrow corridors aboard the starliner, eventually coming to a stop outside one of many identical doors. After a quick wave of her omni-tool it opens to a small cabin taken up almost entirely by a pair of narrow beds, a tiny table wedged between them, and on the far wall a porthole
with some adjustable shutters. She steps inside first, depositing her bags on one of the beds before dropping onto the other with a sigh of relief, immediately spreading out across the sheet, arms wide.
Jessica follows quietly behind Yan Sun. When they reach their room, she tosses her bag alongside Yan Sun's and tucks her crate up against the bed. As tired as she is, the bed isn't her first stop, instead heading over to the porthole beside it to check out the view.
Outside the porthole, another ship can be seen docked a bit away, the gray hull cast in a rusty red from smog and the dim glow of the sun.
Jessica watches through the porthole for a few moments and, as probably expected at this point, snaps a few pictures. When she turns back and catches sight of Yan Sun, she snickers softly and a couple more 'clicks' sound out. As it sets in that they've finally got a bit of a reprieve from all of the outside stimuli, she lets out a heavy breath and places her omni-tool on the table beneath the porthole. Her sunglasses join it and she
Yan Sun doesn't seem any more bothered than Jessica in that department, but after a moment she reluctantly sits up to peel her boots off so that she can pull her feet onto the bed. "Definitely beats the cargo hold..." she assesses. "...even if the monkey was cute."
Jessica snickers and takes a seat on the edge of the other bed that's currently holding their luggage, across from Yan Sun, and begins to remove her own boots. "Wesley." she corrects. Once her boots are set aside, she tosses her floofy hat onto the table and leans back, palms pressed against the bed behind her to keep her propped up. She hasn't shaved her head since before their road trip and the few weeks of growth highlight the
damage caused by the fire, small patches over her right ear completely devoid of her dark hair. Abstract designs etched into flesh.
Yan Sun lets out a quiet snicker of her own, pulling her legs up and crossing them under herself. She falls silent as she studies the woman across from her, a soft look in her eyes. As she follows the uneven lines of Jessica's hair her expression turns thoughtful. "I've never seen you with this much hair," she comments with a small smile, before clumsily adding "I mean... outside of pictures."
Jessica watches Yan Sun from across the narrow gap between them. The comment causes her gaze to fall slightly, a hint of self-consciousness slipping out. "Mmm." she hums, lazily bouncing her shoulders in a shrug. "Looks like shit." she snickers, putting it out there before Yan Sun has a chance to.
Yan Sun frowns and scoffs. "No, it doesn't. It looks nice. I like it." The words are soft and warm, accompanied by a small, slightly sad smile. She reaches out to grab Jessica's hand, tugging her over to her bed and scooting back to make room for her to sit on the edge with Yan Sun behind her. "Let me have a look."
Jessica looks unconvinced, but allows herself to be led to the other bed with an amused snicker and a roll of her eyes. She settles against Yan Sun, using her as a back rest. There's still plenty of discomfort associated with her burns. Maybe there always will be. But, somewhere along the way, Yan Sun seemed to slip past that particular defense system. Small steps. Inevitable, really, given how close they've been. Living on top of one
another in a single room for months. Roughing it in the cab of a truck. Camping out in a cramped tent. The level of physical intimacy they've shared is bound to cultivate a certain amount of physical comfort with one another. She'd need to be delusional to think the burns bother Yan Sun. No, at this point her burns look better in the reflection of Yan Sun's eyes than they do in the bathroom mirror. "Is fucked on the side. So
maybe I am thinking-..." she begins, lifting her hands to run her fingers through the short stubble on both sides of her head, above her ears, with an accompanying 'Shooooo' sound effect to, presumably, emulate cutting it. "...take it off? Yes?" she hums, tilting her head a little, "...And keep it only on the top?"
Yan Sun wraps one arm around Jessica, fingers of the other brushing over the stubble, a slow, gentle touch. She traces the edges of the burned patches on the right side. "Yeah... yeah, I think that'd look great," she agrees through a smile. "Want my help trimming the sides?" she suggests, pointing out that "I've... got some experience."
Jessica closes her eyes, enjoying the soft touch of her partner. "Mmm." she hums absently. "You owe me a haircut anyway, kitty cat." she adds, smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Yan Sun smiles. "Okay, get on the floor. I'm not sleeping on your hairs, it'll itch." She gives her a nudge to scoot off the edge of the bed, and then stretches across to the other bed to grab her backpack and bring it over, unzipping it and digging around.
Jessica blinks her eyes open, seemingly not realizing she meant now. Still, she complies, rising from the edge of the bed with a tired grunt. She takes a moment to slip off her thermal shirt, ball it up, and toss it onto the other bed, leaving her in a black sports bra. Slipping onto the floor, she puts her back against the bed Yan Sun is seated on and leans her head back against the bed, using it as a pillow while she waits. "You
Yan Sun pulls her electric trimmer out of the bag, a buzzing sound briefly filling the room as she test-starts it. She scoots forward, putting one foot on either side of Jessica and running her free hand over her head, but the question makes her freeze. "I-... yeah, I-... I have, actually."
Jessica straightens up, back to Yan Sun. "Mmm?" she hums expectantly, Yan Sun's tone obviously having caused her to think the woman has more to say.
Yan Sun chuckles a little uncomfortably. "Uhm, yeah, I-... I cut Changying's hair a couple of times..." she admits quietly, the fingers of her left hand curling up a bit.
Jessica hums a quiet, "...Oh." She tilts her head back, looking up at an upside-down Yan Sun, brown eye seeking out the gaze of her partner. The admission serves as a reminder that each leg of this journey that takes them further away from Jessica's past is bringing them one step closer to Yan Sun's. "This means you get all of the bad haircuts out of the way on her, yes?" she teases through a smirk, tilting her head to press a kiss
Yan Sun meets Jessica's upside down gaze her hand shifting to the side of her face, thumb stroking across her cheek as she studies her. The comment elicits a surprised snort of laughter and a nod, doing a good job of dispelling any lingering discomfort. "Definitely," she assures, fingers tracing Jessica's jaw as she bends down to press an upside down kiss against her forehead, which turns into a second against her lips, blue hair brushing
across the familiar face below her as she pulls back. "Now sit up so we can do this!" she instructs, jostling her a little with her knees.