Day 7, Late Afternoon - Cafeteria, Cards, Comrades

[Yoko Lee]

A small shrug to the question, "Maybe. I'm almost done eating anyways."

She indicated the empty bowl with an inclination of her head, "I used to try to invent card games when I was bored, back when I worked at a casino. A couple different types of solitaire. Not that any of them were inventive or amazing. Helped keep me a bit more sane the last time I was stuck in a transport ship, not counting the much nicer accommodations on the dropship; Cheap transport out of Combine space doesn't get you many luxuries. Though cards in zero-g was a pain and a half anyways..."

[Ezmeralda]

"Oh, yeah. I know we had a deck of magnetized cards around. They aren't great to shuffle but atleast they stay on a metal card table. But inventing card games made me think of some of those cute monster fighting card games from back home."

She took a mouthful of udon and cursed in Japanese, "The dashi is terrible." She kept eating anyways, "I need to see if I can't find a decent noodle place in one of these towns. This used to be Combine space, right?"

[Yoko Lee]

"So I hear. Though certainly the area didn't seem to have a lot."

Yoko seems to think a bit, "...though I DO think I remember seeing something that looked like a sushi place back in Pryvidok. So maybe I'm underestimating how much Combine influence there is on the local cuisine?"

[Ezmeralda]

"Hmmm, that might be something. Now I just need to arrange a hover-transport over and find it," she hrmmmed, "I wish we'd invaded in summer. Oh, well, gotta chase that paycheck."

[Yoko Lee]

That got a more sustained chuckle; Yoko couldn't help it, nearly spitting out the lukewarm green tea she'd been drinking but instead choking on it a little as she swallowed. She patted her chest, coughing a little.

[Ezmeralda]

"You okay?" she asked with concern, "It is dangerous to choke on tea you know?" She offered a couple pats on her back hoping it might help.

[Yoko Lee]

Yoko nodded as she took a deep breath through her nose, coughing a few more times, "Y-Yeah. Luckily, it wasn't too hot anymore or such. I just wasn't... mf."

She steadied her breathing and sat up fully, "I wasn't expecting someone to just come out and say they would have preferred to attack in warmer weather in such a casual way. Not that I don't agree."

[Ezmeralda]

"Well the first town we secured is a seaside resort town," she raised her hands, "In winter. Early enough spring that you may as well split the difference? Either way too cold and slushing for enjoying the beach, too warm for skating. Can't win." She sat back and pouted.

[Yoko Lee]

"Mmm, reminds me of home really. I grew up in a seaside fishing town; Warm winters, cool summers. There was a 'beach', but it was mostly just stones and some big concrete tsunami barriers. You could swim sometimes in summer, if you didn't mind really cold, dark water. Was never really my thing though. And certainly the sea and the river that ran through town never froze for skating..."

Yoko scooped out some of the peach she had left with her spork as she talked, "I suppose that's not really much help for people to have fun though."

[Ezmeralda]

"Sounds relatively nice. Back home was, well, Bad News," she laughed to herself, "Appropriately enough. A bit of mining, some second rate cities, more blasted ruins than you could shake a stick at, and a string of big ass military bases. From Itrollsdown to Watanabeton just all bad. And that is why I left on graduation day at the academy."

"And then I got to see the ass end of anywhere but at least I was being paid to shoot sleezy bandits while I was there," she laughed, "I have also been to nice places too. St. Ives Compact is pretty."

[Yoko Lee]

A small shrug after another bite of peach, "At least you made it to graduation day; I dropped out. Was still left with the tuition and such to pay off though, cause my family certainly couldn't. At a certain point, was helping pay for that too. Though I hope that's all taken care of by this point..."

[Ezmeralda]

"That sounds rough. My parents had some moderately significant civilian positions. So money for on planet schools was easy to get and I did pretty well in my middle school mech club so getting into the local DCMS academy wasn't too hard," she curses in Japanese, "The trainers there were not happy about being instructors on a backwater world either. The Head Mistress would complain about being exiled from Luthien a lot. She was a 'Charge of the Horde' tactical theory supporter and after training under that I decided mercenaries were safer than the DCMS."

She smiled and moved on to her own dessert. "So now you know I got to here so I hope I'm not too nosey for wondering how you ended up at a casino? I feel like there is a chapter missing: Home sucks, drop out, question mark, work at casino, get nowhere, fuck it how bad could mercenary life be?"

[Yoko Lee]

"There... are some missing chapters in there certainly. Both before and after the casino. Nothing I like talking about. My time here with the Angels has been some of the most pleasant work in my life so far, frankly, even with the stresses of constant watchfulness and contributing... at least it feels like important stuff, even if it's a lot bigger than what I'm used to. This is stuff that will effect whole worlds, nations... I'm mostly used to just being eye candy."

[Ezmeralda]

She grinned and gave her a look. "The company can't be hurt for having more eye candy. But I can get that, I mean the only way a casino dealer is having that sort of impact is if they are handling the game of baccarat where some Great House Lords decide to bet a planet and spark a war. Which, I mean, only seems like how some of these conflicts start," she seemed to realize she had wandered off on a tangent, "Anyways so what position are you working in? I haven't seen your name on the mech rosters?"

[Yoko Lee]

"Me, handle a mech? No no... that'd be silly. I don't have any training in that sort of thing. I work with intelligence and communications, handling encryption and decryption of messages in the HQ mainly. Also sorting through the information and communiques we get for important or relevant stuff. That sort of thing. Fits in alongside my past work and such."

[Ezmeralda]

"Oh! You're the pretty voice on the comms! I thought it was a new voice. Shireen owes me a Steiner PPC," she smirked, "When I recover... after our next sortie likely."

[Yoko Lee]

That got a blush and a small clearing of her throat out of Yoko, "My voice? Clearly not. I may still be young, but I've been told my voice is a bit.. husky. Likely due to the smoking habit, even if I try to stick to filtered and all. But yeah, that was me. Being low on the totem pole, I'm assigned the menial stuff. Not that I mind; Making a lot of decisions is clearly out of my paygrade. Plus... not knowing anything about that kind of thing."

[Ezmeralda]

"Yeah, yeah, you've got that sexy jazz club voice," she says clearly having thoughts she's been trying to put together land in place, "Which fits that sexy dress you had on at New Years."

[Yoko Lee]

"That WAS the idea I suppose, for the costume, as it were. ...perhaps I could try my hand at singing some time. It's something I've thought about in the past, but never really taken up. Beyond the usual karaoke sometimes."

[Ezmeralda]

"Hey, I have gotten over some bad times with drunken karaoke!" she said with indignity that lasted a fleeting moment before she grinned and laughed, "But I'm down for karaoke and killing a few bottles of whatever the local booze is. I mean this planet is a Rasalhague, Combine, Lyrian hot potato who knows what it is."