Lunch Energy (Day 2, EA, Dropsite Mess Hall) Open

[Yoko Lee]

Having been out all morning, Yoko was glad to get back to camp. She wanted something warm to eat, even if the day was warmer than yesterday, so she made her way over to the mess tent. It was midday, and the lines for the cafeteria menu were long, so the young woman simply went over to the snack cart with its rations and easy to eat stuff and grabbed a cup noodles. As she filled it with hot water from the coffee machine and closed it she also grabbed an orange to eat.

Taking the two over with a bottle of water, she found a table. Looking at the utensils while she absent-mindedly peeled her orange, Yoko was kind of sad it was just plastic forks at the tables and no chopsticks. She hated forks, so pokey...

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Hungry, hungry, hungry. Time to grab a quick snack and something to drink, before going back out. A water pack to rehydrate and a Cup-o-soup to replenish some lost sodium. Ooh! Strawberry sticks! Let's take ... three.

Peeling her fresh loot out of its wrapping, Catherine stuffs one end of the violently pink sweet into her mouth. Yummy! While filling up her instant soup with hot water, the young Mechwarrior continues nibbles on the chewy chemical treat of her choice. Cheap plastic soup cup filled, she wanders over to the nearest free seat and plops herself down.

Oh. Hey, somebody is sitting across her. "Mh~mh~mmhnn." The small redhead greets the purple haired woman over the table, making her strawberry stick wiggle.

[Yoko Lee]

Yoko blinks, looking from the fork on top of her noodles to the young woman who had just sat down; She'd been in the middle of putting an orange wedge in her mouth, and she chewed it thoughtfully as she looked at the redhead. Younger than her, shorter... smelled a bit like a tech or a pilot from the smells of powder and oxide and fuel (smells she'd become unfortunately familiar with on the dropship), but best to not assume anything yet. Probably not from Combine space though, not with that red hair. Best to stick to English.

"Oh, hello. Going for a quick pick-me-up as well?"

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Hm-mh!" She nods, putting her soup cup and water canteen down. The two extra strawberry sticks she took peek out from a breast pocket of her mech pilot fatigues.

Having sorted herself out thusly, the young Mechwarrior, a Sergeant by the rank insignia she is wearing, looks at her cup of soup. At the table, then back at the snack cart. One dismayed groan later, she suddenly blinks and turns back towards Yoko. Or rather, the food in front of her. Taking the half eaten pink stick out of her mouth, the small redhead uses it to stir the soup in her cup.

Looking up, she returns Yoko's greeting. "Hi. I'm Catherine. Seen you around before, but not all that much. Guess you got onboard back in Kelenfold, shortly before departure."

[Yoko Lee]

Yoko is wearing a tight marigold-yellow sweater and some tight slacks tucked into fur trimmed boots. She doesn't have an insignia on, but she looks over Cat's and notes it.

"You're right on the c-note there. And I'm Yoko."

Thinking over the uniform and insignia, as Cat finishes stuffing strawberry treats in her pocket, Yoko smiles a little as she takes the fork off the noodle lid and starts stirring them. "Aren't you a bit young to be a Sergeant?"

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Mildly caught off guard by the question, even though she really should be expecting it by now, Catherine continues to stir her hot soup while she formulates a reply. She does not notice the pinkish trail left behind by the strawberry stick.

She answers Yoko with a small shrug. "I guess I look a bit young, seeing how I am on the smaller side. I am a founding member of the Obsidian Angels, I was just a kid at the time." A fond smile graces her lips and she lifts her stirring stick out of the soup, to lick it clean.

Which causes her to pause and grimace. Looking down, her expression falls into more open dismay at the sight of pink streaks in her salty soup, regretting her thoughtless choice of stirrer.

"I did well enough in Kelenfold to be promoted, despite my age." The small redhead keeps talking a bit more stiffly now, while she considers her options.

[Yoko Lee]

"See, that answers my question before I ask it; It was less about the age you are now as to how you got all the training required at such a young age. I guess growing up with a mercenary company more than qualifies. Still... I know what it's like to be a teenager and kind of thrust into certain responsibilities, so you can rest assured I'd never hold such a thing against you."

Yoko ate a bite of noodles gingerly; It really was so much harder with a fork than chopsticks, better a small bite at a time.

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Tearing her gaze away from the soup, Catherine gives Yoko a little smile. "Thank you. That is a relief to hear. Growing up with the mercenaries was a lot of fun and is helping me a lot now. Being around Battlemechs nearly all my life is also coming in real handy too. I have good friends and people who take care of me, so I will keep working hard to make people proud."

Wrapping both hands around her cup, the small redhead lifts it up to her lips. She is clearly reluctant to consume this special concoction, but wasting food is a bit of a mercenary taboo. At least she way she grew up.

Augen zu und durch! Pressing her eyes closed, she begins to force the strawberry sweetened broth down her throat, swallowing it with some effort.

Afterwards Catherine sets the now empty cup back on the table with an audible thump. Shuddering, she tries her best to will the taste away.

"Brrrr ... that was a bad idea."

Note to self: Never ever stir your soup with candy, no matter how handy.

"So ... Yoko. How'd you end up joining the Angels, if I may ask?"

[Yoko Lee]

"That looked... unpleasant."

She wasn't changing the subject. Certainly not that. No sir, no way, no how.

"Did... a lot get in the broth then? Where I'm from a lot of people actually throw out soup broth. They have special containers to collect it in when you're done even."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Catherine gives an affirmative nod in response to the remark.

"I just needed a stirrer." She explains weakly. "And didn't really consider what exactly I was using there."

The strange twist of the conversation throws the small redhead for a loop, but she decides to just go with the flow. "Why would people throw out soup broth? And who would collect that?"

She eyes the remainder of her strawberry stick. Half eaten and partially dissolved she has already licked it clean, so it should be safe now. Stuffing it into her mouth and chewing gently, Hellcat soon relaxes when the familiar flavour of strawberries touches her tongue. And pushes away the lingering taste of sweet'n'salty strawberry soup.

[Yoko Lee]

"I mean, usually whomever does the trash or such for the restaurant. It's just separate so the actual trash doesn't have a bunch of liquid in it. I guess it's because it's more thought of like a 'sauce' for the noodles a lot of the time, and it can be too salty and oily to drink."

A small smile.

"Though I'd never heard of strawberry soup... just the usual salty, meaty stuff. I suppose the mercenary life means making due sometimes though, whether that be stirrers or calories?"

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"That sounds like a real waste of foodstuff." Catherine mentions slowly. Doing that is not something space farers can easily afford to do.

The small redhead continues with a shrug. "Yes, kinda, but I've never heard of strawberry soup either and do not really want to hear of it again. Ugh. I just made an error of judgement, because I wasn't thinking too much about what I was doing. I just needed a stirrer and had something suitable in my hand. I mean, I thought it was suitable. Instead I got a nasty mess." She gives another shudder at the memory and finishes the reminder of her strawberry stick.

"Uh ... let's talk about something other than disgusting soup mistakes please." She pleads.

[Yoko Lee]

That actually gets a soft chuckle from the taller woman, but she nods, "Fine fine. I suppose I owe you an answer to your earlier question anyways. As to joining the Angels here."

She took a thoughtful sip of water, her face going from mirthful to more thoughtful, "Believe it or not, I kind of ended up joining up because it felt... well, FEELS like the safest place for me to be. I used to be mixed up with a bad crowd, to put it more bluntly, and the further I'm from those people and whatever they might still want from me the better. And what could be a more effective way to do that then put my particular set of skills to use with a traveling mercenary company?"

Yoko stirred her noodles slowly as she talked, watching them steam still from the formerly boiling water.

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

The revelation catches Catherine somewhat by surprise and she is silent for a moment.

"That sounds kind of dangerous ..." She offers tentatively, not really sure about what to say here. "The Obsidian Angels are a good bunch of people, so I can understand why you joined up with us. Let's hope you truly did escape those people now."

The small redhead pauses, poking the empty soup cup. "You're .. communications, right?"

Then her gaze wanders down and she states with a little grin. "Don't let your noodles soak for too long. Soggy noodles may not be nearly as bad a salty strawberry soup, but they are still not pleasant."

[Yoko Lee]

"Communications, yeah. Specializing in encryption and decryption. Have a knack for that and a second hand DES module. Personally, I think Miss Wentworth took some pity on me with the application, since I was kind of desperate."

A small smile of remembrance before picking back up the fork, "And yeah... I just wish I had some chopsticks, that's all. The noodles keep slipping off this darn plastic fork..."

Yoko picked some up gingerly before slurping them quietly.

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"I can somewhat guess what a DES module is, but wouldn't really know." Catherine admits. "Don't worry too much about being a pity case. That'll just make you end up moping in your room for months, until a friend drags you out."

She turns her attention on the fork and suggests with a little grin. "Hm. You could try using it more like a shovel. Stab and lift. Otherwise, you could also just drink from the cup without the fork. Noodle soup shouldn't be too far off from normal soup."

[Yoko Lee]

"Hmmm..."

She looked at the fork thoughtfully, "...a DES is a Digital-Encryption Suite, by the way. And thank you for the suggestions; I don't mean to moan and whine about things, but I guess I'm a bit... pessimistic? I suppose that would be the right word."

Yoko picked up the cup and sipped a bit from it as she looked at Cat, slurping up a noodle with the broth.

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

"Ah ... my mind came up with Data Encryption Something." The young Sergeant admits. "I should try to remember that."

She tilts her head a little. "What makes you so pessimistic though? Aren't you here to get rid of your bad things?" Catherine gives Yoko a little smile. "The Obsidian Angels are good bunch for the most part. I have certainly had my own downs and my friends have helped me through them."

[Yoko Lee]

"I would definitely agree that almost everyone here seems like good people. I'm just overly careful with people. I grew up with one parent and no siblings, and that one parent was often too busy or ill for me. So I learned to look out for myself. And when you do that, you tend to run into other people who think like you do, and they're not always the most giving or pleasant of sorts..."

Another sip, finishing off the salty, artificially flavored broth, "...then again, I suppose that means I'm not always the easiest to get along with myself." A slight grin to Cat, "Though I've definitely worked on that with some of my past jobs. Unlike some of my past friends and associates of the same mindset. I do definitely think of this job as an opportunity though, to hang out with and get to know different sorts of people than outcasts and rebels."

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Catherine's smile falls a little when she answers. "I grew up with my Dad. Always been with mercenaries and while we are who we are, we do tend to stick together. Haul each other's ass out of the fire often enough and things usually turn out that way." Her smile becomes a bit more teasing again. "And I hope that wasn't a roundabout way of calling me unpleasant."

"We mercenaries can be a prickly bunch, but we have to rely on each other. We're not so much outcast or rebels, as we are a bunch of people in war machines for hire. Our cause is to come home alive and get paid. Although many of us do enjoy what we do, more or less. I love Battlemechs, because I grew up around them."

She peers into her empty plastic soup cup for a moment. "You have been with us for a few months now. How are things going for you?"