Forget the Surprise [Closed]

[ribbonyidentity]

Characters: Shion Mion Sonozaki and Pip Bernadette
Content: Shion covers Pip's quarters with oodles of decorations to give him a surprise 'welcome back!'  Only problem is that it isn't so much a surprise if he walks in while she's finishing it up. 
Setting: Pip's quarters.
Time: Backlogged to being shortly after the whole intruder-invasion-ordeal.

Comments

[ribbonyidentity]

It was md-way through the formation of the letter 'l,' when she caught the sound of a click. Abruptly halting, one hand remained hovering near the fabric, with the other near her chest, clenching a single string of lights. The handle. That was the handle turning opening, she realized as she jerked her head in the direction of the entrance. Sure enough, the door swung open barely a second later to reveal no one other than the brown-haired quartermaster.

Seeing how she was most certainly in his line of vision, that definitely ruled out diving under the bed and pretending she wasn't there. No, in this case, there was only one option available: facing this head-on, whether she liked it or not. Although, technically, she didn't really see it as an option. It was more like a consequence of insisting upon trying to spell out the word 'Welcome Back' when she probably should've left it alone. Either way, she could still make it work out the best she could. Assuming he wasn't just outright outraged at seeing her there - and with decorations. She couldn't tell from his expression just yet.

"Um..." She gave a nervous chuckle, as she slowly lowered her hands, shifting to face him. "Hello...?" For once, she was at a loss for words. "Ah...I suppose I'll be leaving now!" These words left her lips in a hurry, as she swiftly swerved her attention towards the strings of lights and jewels, hastily beginning to pull them together into a bundle for her arms to carry.

So much for facing it head-on.

[coyotealpha]

Pip blinked as he took in the sight before him, pretty much surprised at what had happened to his room in the somewhat short amount of time (in his opinion at least) that he had been away. He looked at Mion when she spoke, having gotten his attention and only took a moment to gather back his wits when she suddenly spluttered and started to keep back whatever she was doing on his bed and he himself jerked a little.

"A-Ah, wait!" the brunette went before he could stop himself, pausing for a moment to get a better handle on himself before he rubbed the back of his head before speaking again. "What I mean is zat... what are you doing 'ere, mademoiselle?" It wasn't everyday when you entered your own quarters to find it... well. Like this.

[ribbonyidentity]

At the exclamation of 'wait,' Shion came to a sudden halt, leaving a few strings remaining on the pillow. Shifting her gaze towards him, the corner of her lips quirked upwards lightly. Perhaps it was in semblance of a nervous smile or maybe it was relief that he wasn't upset. Assuming he wasn't already, that was. She still couldn't be entirely certain, but the fact that he hadn't started screaming was a good sign.

"W-Well, I...ah..." She exhaled deeply, shoulders drooping with disappointment as her eyes briefly flickered away from his. "You see, I wanted to give you a nice, warm welcome back by surprising you with all of this..." She swept her arm back, indicating the decorations around the room. "But I guess I timed it wrongly." She gave a helpless chuckle once more. "Er...I hope it's not too unpleasant?" She absentmindedly fingered one of the strings with her left hand as she awaited his response.

[coyotealpha]

...ah. So that was what it was then, was it? Pip only paused for a moment to blink and take in what the girl had said before he let a somewhat exasperated look (smile) cross his face, hand still rubbing the back of his neck even as he spoke after he managed to get the surprise through. "Well... you really didn't 'ave to go through so much trouble, you know," he said as he glanced around his somewhat transformed room - it looked like Mion really did quite a lot of work in decorating the whole place.

He glanced back at the green-haired female, still smiling warmly as he continued. "Zough I do 'preciate it a lot. How long did you zake to do all of zis?" Because goddamn, this was a lot of decorations.

Sorry for the delay. Memorial Day activities distracted me. D:

[ribbonyidentity]

As the smile formed upon his lips, Shion could feel relief surge through her, allowing her body to relax. As he finished speaking, the corners of her mouth quirked upwards, as she playfully continued to twirl the end of a string with her left index finger. "Not too long, really," she answered, her voice gaining a lighter lilt. "A few days and a couple more hours, that's all." She briefly waved one hand, modestly disregarding the length of it.

"When those intruders came, they actually messed up some of the decorations I set up beforehand, so I had to come back and fix them up..." Her eyes momentarily ran across the length of the room, taking into account the areas she had to touch upon again. "...Which is why it's not entirely complete." She let out a small chuckle that sounded like a cross between wistfulness and resignation. "Didn't expect you to return so soon, but at least I can greet you with a verbal 'welcome back' instead of having you try to figure out what 'wel' meant." She gave a small wink, inclining her head towards the three letters she managed to hang on the wall.

Haha its cool.

[coyotealpha]

A few days? Pip could help but raise an eyebrow at that, looking around the room once again while a mildly impressed look crossed his face as he did so. By the look of things... well, it certainly was pretty obvious that Mion had done quite a bit of things around here. It wasn't possible for anyone to do this in a matter of hours, even if one was a demi-human or what not. Maybe.

"Still, 'ooks like you've put a lot of work into zis," the brunette remarked with a light laugh and the warm smile still on his face. He hadn't thought there'd be anyone on the Fiertia who would do something like this, especially after the stunt he and Greed had pulled on everyone. Well, maybe there were people like Seras who would do this but he sure didn't expect anyone else who'd do something like this for a guy like him.

He blinked again when she greeted him, and there was a pause before he broke into a full grin and returned the gesture. "Zanks."

And I'm late again. So sorry. XD;

[ribbonyidentity]

Shion had put quite a bit of work into it, but some of it was enjoyable as well, especially when she thought about the end result. Although, this wasn't quite the conclusion she expected, it wasn't the worst either.

Hearing him thank her, she gave a small chuckle. "No problem! Now...would you prefer I leave, or would you rather I stay?" She tilted her head lightly, as a sort of inquisitive gesture. "'Cause if I do stay, I'm going to start asking how your visit to the 4423 went and how Greed is." She was, admittedly, curious to know how the priate ship was like. She heard about it, definitely heard about it, but never knew someone who served aboard it before.

Its alright! |D

[coyotealpha]

The brunette perked up a little at Mion's words, blinking once more with his lone green eye as he made a vague questioning sound before breaking into a smile and responded to her question with a shrug. "Sure, feel free to stay! Sit down; I'll join you after I removed my stuff." He didn't have any secrets after all - not much, at least.

That said, the man started to move about his room to take out some of his clothes; the hat was removed and hung up along with his coat, and his many belts and buckles for his guns and cartridges were removed and placed at the side as well. He turned back when he was done, moving towards his table as he removed the leather gloves usually on his hands and placed them beside the bowl of soup that was there as the quartermaster settled himself down nicely.

:'D

[ribbonyidentity]

As Pip proceeded to settle himself down by the table, Shion worked on untangling a few of the wires within her arms, deciding that she'd work on finishing the word 'Welcome' while they spoke. It was better than just sitting there talking away while carrying a bundle of strings wound around her wrists like accoutrements. Extending a short piece of wire, twisting it to form the letter 'c,' she glanced over at him.

"So, tell me," she stated, a smile traced with eagerness beginning to spread across her lips, "how was the 4423? Did you enjoy your visit?"

|D;;

[coyotealpha]

Pip busied himself with trying a taste of the soup that was on the table (made by Mion, he supposed), taking the spoon and sipping almost delicately at the liquid. A pause, and then the brunette's face brightened up a little. Minestrone soup, was it? It had been a while since he could eat (well, drink) something like this, and it tasted really good.

He drank carefully as the other spoke (the soup was still pretty pippin' hot), speaking in between small sips as he answered her question. "Ah, everyone's fine. Kinda surprised at 'ow many people missed me, given 'ow I first arrived zere..." the quartermaster trailed off to a small chuckle there, before he blinked as he remembered something. "Ah, yeah - Greed liked the booze you gave him. He didn't say anythin', but I'm sure he'd say zanks."

♥~?

[ribbonyidentity]

As the 'c' went to join the other three letters, Shion listened to Pip's response. It wasn't all that much of a surprise to hear how the others on the 4423 missed him. He was rather charismatic, with only the secrets he previously withheld making it difficult for the other crew members aboard the Fiertia to accept him. Hearing how Greed liked the alcoholic beverage she gave him, she could feel a small smile play across her lips. It was partly from relief to find out that it was to his liking after all. Then again, considering how he took nearly all of the alcohol when he left, he likely wasn't all that fussy when it came to drinking.

"I'm glad he liked it!" she remarked, giving a small chuckle. "So...I suppose he's happier, now that he's back with the 4423's crew?" She briefly glanced over at him, as her hands went to work on another wire to form the letter 'm.'

♥♥♥!

[coyotealpha]

He didn't respond immediately to Mion's question, instead helping himself to another spoonful of soup before responding as he swished the spoon around like a conductor's baton. "Oui. As much as he can be a great mercenary, I zink he likes bein' a pirate batter." It was the truth - Pip really did feel that Greed could be a pretty good mercenary if he gave it a shot.

He paused to sigh at that thought. "Zhough its his decision to remain on ze 4423, and I respect zat." As much as it was going to be not as interesting with the other quartermaster around, Pip knew he had to deal with things like this - one of the downsides of being a mercenary.

♥~:3

[ribbonyidentity]

Shion gave a slight nod to show that she understood. She didn't know Greed's personality entirely, but from the few glimpses, it would make sense that he'd enjoy being a pirate better than a mercenary. Of course, she didn't know him very well, so she couldn't say she missed Greed the most or anything, but she did wish he was there so she could teasingly call him 'Ro-Ro' again. Even if he was no longer using an alias, but she was sure he'd get her drift regardless.

"So...what is it like, exactly? Being a pirate?" A slight, curious tilt of the head accompanied this inquiry, as she rose the 'm' to let it join the other letters. Hopefully, he wouldn't mind speaking about the 4423 too much. He likely missed the ship and its crew members, as evidenced by his sigh, but perhaps he'd also like relishing in the happier memories. Otherwise, she'd find a way to change the subject to something more of his liking.

~~~/o/

[coyotealpha]

How was it like? "Its... different. A bit like bein' a mercenary in some areas-" He really didn't want to start on about the mission that had involved Mew, as... interesting as that had been. "-but its pretty different from bein' a merc. For one, zey still 'ave to be loyal to somethin'. A merc's free to do what he wants to! Well, most of ze time at least," he finished with a small chuckle. It was a pretty common fact that mercenaries that set out along were usually very confident, or very stupid. Mercenary teams were a beginner's best bet.

...though Pip himself had never really been in one until he formed the Wild Geese, but that was another thing.

"To be 'onest the 4423 ain't ze first ship zat I worked on," the brunette spoke as he went on sipping on the soup on his table. "But ze 4423's certainly ze one pirate ship zat left one hell of an impression on moi."

~~~<(･ω･)^

[ribbonyidentity]

That was certainly a different description than what she often heard. Pirates were, supposedly, rowdy, raucous, and fun-loving. As for loyalty? Well, she never heard that they were backstabbers or anything, but the way Pip compared it to a mercenary's life struck her differently. That perhaps they weren't just all fun and games. That perhaps there was some serious thinking involved when times called for it. Loyalty could do that to a person.

A hint of a smile curved Shion's lips as finished the letter 'm,' pausing with a slight chuckle under the breath once she realized she forgot to form 'o' first. "Is that your favorite ship so far then?"

ffffff that emote.

[coyotealpha]

Mion (or rather, Shion) wasn't that all wrong really. Most pirates were pretty much how she had thought they were - with a few exceptions here and there, of course. But the 4423... well. They were very different from your usual fare of pirate ships. Their captain was already something to talk about, let alone the crew. It was somewhat amazing how Isako could run such a large band of pirates and not have... too many things happening.

The brunette laughed a bit at the question, smile gracing his lips as he responded. "Oui, I do believe so." Though of course, the Fiertia was pretty interesting by itself as well - mercenary ships weren't all too common after all.