trans_9 | Cascade [Open party time!]

Billy had just launched another portal in that maze of mazes, exhaustion setting in. Surely this time he would land on another moving platform of death?

Nope, just the exterior of the finished bathhouses. All polished, systems running, and just about ready to open! Given how sore and exhausted he was, that sounded like an excellent idea at the moment.

With a quick message to the rest of the crew, he set out the 'Open' sign for the first time and took advantage of his owner status---the prime waterfall spot could be his!

((ooc: The bathhouses are now open! Feel free to mingle around, relax, and have a party. Or cause trouble, but that might invite more trouble. Just start a subthread with your character's location and have fun. For reference there are individual showers in front, followed by hot tubs centrally located, saunas further back, and private baths along the side. The showers, tubs, and saunas have smaller sex-segregated units along with a central group unit that's larger.))

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"Yes, of course!" Miku agreed and smiled. She was quiet for a moment and then piped up again, "How are Vivio-chan and Fate-san?" She hardly saw the little girl most days, but Nanoha's devotion to the other woman was sort of sweet. Even if it wasn't what Miku was quite used to. ~~Oh, Showa-era girls.~~

"Vivio's doing very well," Nanoha assured her. "She's working hard at the library. Fate-chan..." and at that, the mage's expression visibly quieted, becoming far more serious. "...her mother woke up in the most recent pod release."

Miku furrowed her brow. "That's not something good, I take it?" She wondered how that came about. Though Miku's relationship with her mother had been a bit strained (to put it nicely), she'd still be very happy to see Miyuki.

Nanoha sunk a bit deeper into the water, letting it cover her mouth - she exhaled, watching the bubbles breach the surface, before moving back up. "Fate-chan's mother Precia Testarossa was a very powerful mage. When the two of us were nine, Precia sent Fate-chan in search of some incredibly dangerous magic items called the Jewel Seeds. That's how we met, actually - I was trying to seal them safely away so nobody could use them."

"We fought a few times, and I tried to understand why she was going after the Seeds. I didn't know she wanted to get them for her mother, to make her mother happy again." A pause - she wouldn't tell her the whole story. "Precia was... very cruel to her. When she finally lost to me, Precia said she was no longer her daughter, and abandoned her."

"The last anyone saw of her was eleven years ago, and we all thought she'd died."

Miku watched Nanoha's expression change quietly. "I see. I'm sorry, Nanoha-chan," she replied earnestly. "Can you have Security keep a tab on her?" It was the less invested choice, after all. "Or do you think she would want to join the magic department?" Another difficult choice, but at least then Nanoha could keep a closer eye on her.

She only wondered what kind of detrimental effect it would have on her friend. "At least then, you could watch her."

"I'm... not sure," Nanoha admitted after a moment's pause. "She's an incredibly powerful mage - the TSAB ranked her an SS rank, and Fate-chan and I are only S rank. If she lost control, anyone on Security who was following her could be really hurt."

"Hm," Miku sank into the bath to her chin. "Well, there must be something we can do. I suppose if we can't think of anything, Medical still has those tranquilizing guns." Magic or not, Miku was fairly sure that there wasn't anyone that could withstand a good sedative.

"I'm... not sure how well they'd work on her," Nanoha admitted, "But it might be worth a shot!"

A long pause, and the mage looked up at the ceiling. "If it comes to it," she said after a moment, "I can beat her by using the Blaster System. But as cruel as Precia was to her, Fate-chan still loves her."

"Please be careful, Nanoha-chan." Sure, she didn't know exactly how her friend's magic worked, but it seemed like she landed herself in medical bay when she overexerted. It was a little bit like wrangling Steve, she realized, and suddenly felt very sorry for Fate.

"It's not that I don't have faith in your ability to act, though. Just... well," Miku shrugged. "It might be war, and she might be dangerous, but I'd rather not see you hurt."

Oh Miku, that was only because she had a dangerous overcharge system that ate at her internally every time she used it too much! She was just fine other than that. "I'll be fine, I'll be fine," Nanoha waved her off. "I won't do anything reckless." Not too reckless, anyway.

"I just... I'm not going to let her get at Vivio. No matter what."

Miku gave Nanoha the same look she did when Steve made a promise she knew he'd break as soon as something riled him up. "No, I don't think you would. You're a good mother, Nanoha-chan."

Kind of how Miku wanted to be, some day. With less magical lasers and talking necklaces, of course. "Being cautious is good, but paranoia will certainly stress Vivio."

The corner of her mouth turned upwards in a small smile. "Do you think so? Fate-chan says I'm too strict on her sometimes."

She looked down at the water, once more letting her toes breach the surface. "I don't want her to find out if I can help it."

"It's good to be strict, I've always thought." Spoiling children just made them kind of expectant on everything, her mother had taught. It was better to be strict so they knew their place in the world.

"You can't deny she's a smart little girl, Nanoha-chan. And smart little girls have a habit of finding things out even if you don't want them to."

"That's what I say, but Fate-chan always wants to spoil them. Honestly, she's so soft." Though given what her own mother had been like, it was perhaps rather understandable.

Another sigh, and Nanoha closed her eyes. "...I know," she admitted after a moment. "I just worry that Precia will try to do something to her to hurt Fate-chan."

Cascade [Open party time!]

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