La Catalina

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Korben heard the faint vibrations of his phone from the table beside his bed. He reached for his phone, but his bandaged arms prevented him from outstretching them without stinging pain bearing down on him. Korben winced as he attempted to get his phone. He looked to Elizabeth, still sitting in the chair opposite of his bed.

"Help," he said meekly. Elizabeth chuckled as she got up. She went to the table containing Korben's phone and handed it to him. "Thanks," said Korben. He answered his phone.

"Hello?"

~

Bohdan pulled his supercar into the secure garage of the Embassy, after his whole vehicle was scanned by the guards for any restricted substances. Due to his status as a close friend of the Royal Family, Bohdan skated by easily armed. He parked on the second level of the garage. He exited his vehicle, locked it, and, with his messenger bag, entered the Embassy proper.

The marbled floor, engraved with elaborate red and yellow decorations, was matched in beauty only by the lavish frescoes painted on the high ceiling depicting various events in the Empire's long-documented history. Bohdan's dress shoes' clacking echoed down the rather vacant corridor, flanked by massive clear glass windows, flooding the whole area with sunlight. Light fixtures of Cornerian design were present on all the columns. An occasional Embassy guard, draped in a dark red uniform with a Ruthenian assault blaster grasped by his white gloves, stood watch, presenting his arms as Bohdan passed, recognizing his status as a colonel. Bohdan, likewise, saluted, which allowed the guard to lower his arms and resume his posture he had beforehand.

Bohdan eventually reached his office. It was a rather small and humble one furnished with his work table, chair, a pair of smaller chairs, a small couch, a small coffee table, some book shelves, and two flags: one Ruthenian and one Cornerian. Bohdan held the title of Chief Officer of Rutheno-Cornerian Relations. He wielded this title almost completely ceremonially, however, since he delegated much of his power to underlings, instead turning much of his energies towards hobbies, his duties as a clergyman, and other... more dangerous pursuits.

Bohdan sat down in his squeaky chair, and, placing his messenger bag on the table, rifled through his papers. He took some out and began examining them. Bohdan placed the messenger bag down beside him on the ground.

[Naza Sutera]

"Heyyy~!" Amelia sang sweetly into the receiver. "Thought I'd swing by to visit. Doing okay?"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Yeah, yeah," said Korben, nodding his head. He adjusted his position on the bed slightly, and cleared his throat. "You know what r-r-room I'm in?"

Elizabeth sat up, wondering who Korben was talking to.

~

Sandor's eyes opened to find Salamon sleeping in a cradle placed beside his hospital bed. He was checked in under the name of Gyula Esterhazy, since his original name of Sandor Kalocsai was marked by the authorities as a person of interest. Likewise, Salamon took on the last name of Esterhazy as well. He groaned, rubbing his eyes. A nurse, a male maladroit black labrador retriever, walked in. His hair was messy and oily, and his general demeanor was a disheveled one. He looked at the holo-pad he held in his hands.

"Mr. Esterhazy," began the nurse, "we kept you overnight for observation after that leap out of the second story window. You broke a rib and cracked some more. We might just keep you here for a few more days just in case..."

Sandor rolled his eyes.

[Kurt]

The wind whipped by Sven, pulling his T-shirt as he tore down the road, the whine of his bike was muffled by his helmet. 'Take exit 19, on the right' the guidance system chirped. He was out of the city for now. Slowing down he turned onto a back road, enjoying the view as the road winded back towards the cities commotion.

[Naza Sutera]

"Yeah, I'll be up in a few minutes," Amelia said, then hung up. Killing the ignition, she grabbed her purse and climbed out of the car.

[Tiger Carson]

A moving truck at a set of apartments in Town Square of La Catalina was dropping off the last of the home amenities that a rising star in the merc world needed in order to be comfortable in their new home.  The six members of this team waved the truck off after it dropped off the last box.  A male and female tiger, male red tailed hawk, older male great horned owl, a female oriental dragon, and a female american red squirrel, all dressed in casual civilian clothes, save for the owl who wore what was clearly a space flight uniform with a trench coat like flight jacket and a white fedora, were all standing in front of the place that they would be calling home for the foreseeable future. "It's a nice place, in all honesty." the male tiger stated, "It'll be good for us, just have to mostly deal with interior up-keep.  Minimal exterior up-keep."
"I'll say." the hawk chimed in, "We may as well have bought the entire building outright though, since we managed to snag all six suites in this two floorer."
"It's more cost effective Hawk." The tiger said, "I know we could afford to buy it outright, or even the entire complex, or heck, somewhere like Mercedes or Ibiza, but this will suit our needs right now.  We don't expect the team to grow any bigger right away.  If it does, we'll buy some town homes, condos, or a few places outside of Town Square, and move out from here.  But we'll cross that bridge when we get there."
"I guess so Tiger." Hawk said in reply.
"Come on guys, I want to set up now." The female tiger said, "This stuff isn't going to move itself after all."
"True enough, Zera." Tiger said to his sister, "Once we all get in, we can check out the town.  Or you guys can, I'll be setting up our office here for calls for work.  Kind of the first thing I should do anyways."
"You won't be the only one." The Great Horned Owl, who went by the name of Copper, stated. "I'll be helping you get your office set up, as well as the shared one."
"Nothing like working from home as it were." Jeena, who was the oriental dragon, stated. "Of course, we've always worked from home as it were, since the Sanctuary Tiger is our home when we're not planet side.  At least, it will be now."
"Yeah." Zera said, "I feel kind of bad leaving MARK on his own to keep the ship functioning while in space dock.  Then again, we did put in a bunch of mini maintenance bots to give him some help."
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Kola, the squirrel, said. "He's a robot, he'd go nuts if he were taken away from the job he's been programmed to do.  Well, as nuts as a robot like him could go."
"Right then." Tiger stated, "Enough talk, let's do this." With an enthusiastic and unanimous "Alright," the team got started on bringing everything in.  As for their vehicles you might wonder, those had already been parked in the lower level parking spaces under the building, with the exception of Tiger's truck, which was a hydrogen fueled vehicle like most others on Corneria but had a steel shell that gave it the appearance of a blue 1984 Chevy Custome Deluxe 20.  He had left it outside for the moment so as to leave room to get at the storage spaces.  If you were wondering where their Arwings were, they were of course with the ship, silly.  But, to note, Zera had purchased a garage/hangar facility kind of off-site to work on the fighters, as well as their precious few Land Masters and their Hydrowing with more ease.  That way she wouldn't need to worry about going from planet to the Sanctuary Tiger, and back every time she wanted to work on the craft.  The garage/hangar wasn't far, just a few blocks walk from the apartment complex.  It was currently empty, but that would change once the entire team, who was known as Star Tiger, had settled in.  But even with all six here, it wouldn't hurt for them to have help from a friendly neighbor or two.

[Kurt]

Sven's bike roared around a blind turn, zooming past a tree that was oddly close to the road. Soon enough he found himself on the town's outskirts. 

'You have arrived at your destination'

[Naza Sutera]

Amelia reached Korben's room on the third floor. She stopped in front of it and took a deep breath, and exhaled. She lightly knocked on the door...

[SF Redd]

The moving lorry arrived in ample time, bright and early in the morning, at 9:15 am.

"Here we are, Selina. 1409 Belluci Court." The driver, a Katinian rat, announced.

Selina, who had managed to convince the movers to let her ride with them, and had insisted that they call her by her first name, rather than anything so formal as "Ma'am" or "Miss Kyle", grinned once she saw her new home in person. She had taken a virtual tour of it before she bought it, but it wasn't nearly as good as seeing it outwith anything digital.

"Oh, it's great!" She exclaimed as she hastily opened the passenger door, and, rather than carefully descending the steps, leaped onto the pavement below. She landed gracefully and moved to get a closer look. The three movers followed her out the lorry, albeit in a more safe fashion. It being a four-seated lorry, there was plenty of space for the workers and their passenger. The movers immediately set to work, making their way around the back of the large vehicle and unlocking it to start unloading boxes. Before the first box was removed, Selina had already unlocked her door and entered to see all the open space. It was a big difference from her last abode. She watched on as the workers brought her things into her house. First they brought the furniture, such as her bed, her sofa and her dining table. Then, they brought the larger pieces of gymnastics equipment, her mixing table and her recording equipment. Last but not least, they brought the boxes containing all her smaller belongings. Having worked efficiently, they had plenty of time to spare, and even offered to install everything. Selina gladly agreed to the offer, and ran down to the nearest Greggs to get them some food for the effort.

"That's us done, Selina. You're all set." The leader of the team told once they had finished their work.

"That's great, Phill! Thank you all so much!" Selina thanked, recognising the good work they had done.

After giving them each a hefty tip of 150 credits each, she waved them off, again thanking them for their work. She stood alone in the middle of her mostly empty, large, new living room. She smiled as she admired it, and started thinking of what to spend the day doing.

[Snys93]

Ansam Sonderust entered a bit weary and stiff. His left shoulder popped as he flexed and bent, twisted his spine as he entered the lobby. He made a quick scan to see if there was anyone he knew present inside. Relieved, yet disappointed he stepped in to the quickie Mart and prompting purchased a cold drink and a bag of cheesy chips.

[Kurt]

Sven came to a stop at a red light. Tapping the Voice command button. "Play something, classic."

A small buffer disk flashed in his helmets display at the top left before he heard the opening notes of "Fortunate Son"

'Yeah, that'll work.' he thought as the light turned green and he pressed down the throttle, heading towards the hospital 

[Snys93]

Ansam walks into the hotel lobby. There was a gray vulpine female receptionist behind the counter, who didn't look at first at the tall dark shepard staring at her.

 

Klara: "Welcome to the Embassy how-can I help you?"

Ansam: *looks around with a dumb look, his mouth full of Cheetos* "I'm here for my room."

Klara: *can't help but notice how out of place he seems. The long tan leather coat, black turtle neck and combat trousers and heavy boots* "N-Name sir?"

Ansam: "Ansam Pelidese Sonderust, room 1280 I believe."

Klara: *her voiced toned with surprise* "oh, yes sir. 1280 exactly. Your key."

Ansam: "thanks love."

 

He made his way to the stairway. Ansam didn't like elevators, they felt like metal lunchboxes that would snap anytime and send you to your room. Soon after a ways, he finds his room and places assorted items on the end table. Jumping into bed with the covers still on, he turns on the holo-tv.

Ansam: "now all I'll have to do is wait and IT will come to me."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Elizabeth's ear twitched as a knock on the door was heard by both her and Korben. She walked to the door, Korben silently observing both her and the wood portal. She opened the door, and it was revealed to be Amelia, Korben's newfound friend.

"Hey," greeted Elizabeth. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met. I'm Elizabeth. Who are you?"

~

"Sh-t! Sh-t! Sh-t!" exclaimed Pawel as he single-handedly dragged a sofa up a staircase. "Goddamn!" Suddenly, he lost his grip, and the sofa fell back down the staircase of his home. "HOLY F--K!" excalimed Pawel. He then rushed down the stairs. "Oh sh-t! Oh f--k!"

[Naza Sutera]

Amelia smiled, bemused, immediately getting the wrong idea from seeing another woman in Korben's room. She pointed to her chest, "I'm Amelia. And, Elizabeth, is it? Are you sure we haven't met?"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"I'm pretty sure this is the first time we met," said Elizabeth. "Yes, I'm Elizabeth. Hi Amelia." She outstretched her hand in friendship.

Korben scratched his neck nervously.

[Naza Sutera]

Amelia kept calm, and shook her hand. Lets not jump to conclusions. "Pleasure to meet you."

[Snys93]

Ansam turned over on the bed and realized his cold drink was no longer cold. Leaving the rest of his items behind in the room, he walked out in search of an ice machine and made his way around. Somehow he found the absence of follow customers slightly disturbing, which was strange for him since he valued his privacy. Still a body or some form of life would have been welcome.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"So, um, what brings you here, Amelia?" inquired Elizabeth. Korben could feel the adrenaline flowing through his veins, his legs telling his brain that he should run out of there as fast as possible, yet his brain restraining his body, replying that it would be most rude of Korben to do such a thing. He stayed put and ground his teeth out of nervousness.

[Naza Sutera]

"I'm just here to visit," Amelia said. "Korben went and I went on a date and hung out. When I heard about the car accident, I was really worried. How long have you known him?"

***

Derek pulled up to the Castillian Revival-styled home at 1408 Bellucci Court in La Catalina. Shifting his car into park and cutting off the engine, he sat behind the wheel for a few minutes contemplating what he would say for just showing up unannounced. He had to stop playing around with her head. He really did want to apologize for opening up old wounds.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"I've known him for a long time," said Elizabeth as she withdrew further into the room and towards Korben. "We've looked out for each other for a while, and I don't see that changing any time soon. I was his superior officer and friend while we were in the service, and I still am."

~

"So, I guess you're my bodyguard?" asked the plucky twenty-something and native Cornerian Labrador retriever Jimmy Townley. He spoke to his new bodyguard that his father had hired for him as a precaution, since Jimmy had a tendency to get into trouble with his antics. However, the bodyguard, Ruthenian Sclav almost fresh off the boat Chris Antonov, was needed only occasionally, as it was not often that Jimmy left the house.

"I guess so, little man," replied Chris. He was wearing a cheap black suit and black tie he borrowed from a friend that was rather loosely tied around his neck. His shirt was hurriedly tucked into his pants, none of his clothing articles seemed to have been ironed at all, and his shoes were severely scuffed. His iron Ogniemite medallion was adorned with imitation gems one could find at a museum gift shop.

Now, the two of them were in the Town Square area of La Catalina, and while the Townleys did indeed live in their mansion in another neighborhood, would frequent the square for shopping. Jimmy and Chris specifically were in a little diner called Lester's, a well-established greasy spoon reliant on the nostalgia of the older, wealthier denizens of La Catalina to survive, as it faithfully imitated small-town diners of yesteryear. Jimmy personally enjoyed their milkshakes and burgers. Chris had not eaten food this good (or this cheap) since his days as a youth back on his home world.

"So, like, where you from, man?" Jimmy asked Chris.

"I live in Novoarkhangelsk, O-City," said Chris. 'O-City' was the nickname Cornerians had given to Novoarkhangelsk, the only Ogniemite majority city on Corneria and where almost all of the world's Ogniemites were located.

"No, I mean, where were you born?" inquired Chris once again. "'Cause you don't sound like you were born here. On Corneria, I mean. Not that that's a bad thing, I think foreigners are cool. But it's just that... You don't sound native. But not being native's okay, man. I mean-"

"No no, I understand you," said Chris, sparing Jimmy of wasting breath. "I'm from Ruthenia: my people's home world. My entire village could fit on one city block here."

"Really? What was that like."

"Well, everyone knew each other. There were no secrets. No cars. No planes. No heavy machinery: we worked with hand tools."

"Shit, man. I could not live there."

"No, I don't think so, especially since we didn't have electricity until I was 12."

"Holy f--k."

[Naza Sutera]

"Oh, okay..." Amelia said, trailing behind Elizabeth. "You guys must be really close."

Amelia's phone chimed. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her iPhone and read the message on the lock screen from her home security app. Activity at your front door, it said. Unlocking the phone, she opened the app to see the live surveillance feed. "Derek..." she whispered. He was at her front door. He rang the doorbell and stood around nervously waiting for someone to answer, not knowing that no one was home. Amelia watched as he took out his cell phone to make a call. The instant he did that, her iPhone began to ring, with the screen announcing Derek Ciriano as the caller. Her finger hovered over the answer button for a moment. Then, she decidely put the phone on silent and put it back into her purse. She didn't feel like talking to Derek right now.

[Tiger Carson]

It was approaching mid-day for Tiger and his team, and while the move was going well enough, they still needed some help.  But it was also at this time that they decided it was best to get some lunch.  Tiger and his sister Zera both decided that they would go to get some food.  There was a Taco Bell a bit further away, along with a breakfast cafe.  They both decided it wouldn't hurt to get some food from both places.  Tiger would get the stuff for lunch from Taco Bell, while Zera would get brunch food, since she hadn't really eaten too much.

They both got into Tiger's truck, and headed out there.  When they got there, Tiger parked the truck, and the two got out. "You know what to get me for later, bro." Zera said as she headed to the breakfast cafe. "Meet up with you then?"

"You bet." Tiger said with a thumbs up. "Enjoy your brunch."

"Will do." She said with a return thumbs up, and headed to the place.  Tiger at the same time headed inside the Taco Bell, hoping that they had fully switched over from breakfast to lunch menus.

[Naza Sutera]

Derek listened to the phone ring until it went to voicemail. He opted not to leave a message; he didn't want to seem desperate. He walked out of the courtyard and got back into his car and sat for a few moments. What was he doing? This was stupid, he thought. She probably moved on to bigger and better things, while he is still waiting around for a desperate maybe. "Pathetic," he said to himself and no one in particular, all at the same time.

Sighing, he pressed the ignition button to start his car. Shifting into gear, he pulled off to look for something to keep his mind occupied. There was a new breakfast cafe that opened up in town square. Maybe he'll check it out.