(Expecting)


"I don't think you're going to find proper leather jacket on this planet, Yul-san," Hyeon-ju remarked as she pushed her aviators on top of her head like a makeshift headband that kept her hair away from her face.

"Am I to assume the loss of your jacket and clothes has to do with the rumors I heard of a bloody chopper?"

"I know." Yul grumbled. "I liked that jacket, too. I got it just before I left Shinjo's Grace." Even behind his aviators, Yul was clearly scowling, visible in his frown, and the slight lines around his eyes. Lacking jacket, he wore a plain outdoors jacket instead, plain brown. It was clearly much less nice than the destroyed one.

Yul winced. "You heard that. Don't suppose I can convince you that Ishiyo's flying tea party went really badly instead?" He sighed. "Yeah, that was me. Things... kinda got out of hand." In other ways, they went really well." Yul's lips pressed together, stuck between smile and frown.

There was the familiar sound of an exasperated sigh. "I don't think I even want to know..."

She gave him a sharp look before they headed into the best clothing store. "... Was the jacket and your clothes the only things lost that need to be replaced? Or was it anything else?"

Yul swallowed. "No. There was also my sidearm. I was carrying it when..."

He looked at her, frowning. "What, you don't want to know what happened? Really?"

She gave him a very no-nonsense kind of look. One she used very often with him.

"I don't feel like I need to know why you're smiling like that, but..." another sigh, "go on."

"I mean..." Yul waved a hand. "My jacket was destroyed. People were talking about how much blood there was in the Ornithopter that I just said I was in. I mean, I feel like a 'hey, wingmate, did you almost bleed to death yesterday' seems like a question you could ask. Even if you don't want to know how the rest of the date went."

Yul smiled, jerking his chin up. "Although since you mention it, it did go pretty well." Again, his lips quirked, just a little.

"I don't need to ask questions to the obvious things," she said as she looked him over, "and you're alive."

As he said the date went pretty well, Hyeon-ju rolled her eyes. "... I guess this means it's the one? You've made up your mind?" Despite the eye-rolling before, the question was serious.

Yul let out a long sigh. "Really. Okay. Well, that makes sense."

His annoyance softened at the next question. There was a little hesitation before he answered, but it wasn't because of a lack of certainty. "Yes." Yul said confidently, nodding. "Definitely. I've made up my mind." Well, with that, he had to smile, his grin only tempered by the knowledge that he might not have the power to make it so.

"You really are incorrigible," she said, already looking through the racks of clothes on display.

"Very well. We'll do what we can to make sure you get your match, do right by her. Do you know if anyone else is pursuing her hand as well?"

Hyeon-ju took out a jacket that seemed to be faux leather, gave it a critical look, and put it back on the rack.

Yul shook his head. "No idea. Maybe?" He chewed his lip, clearly nervous about the idea. "Next time I see her, I can ask her, I guess." He sighed, then smiled. "Well... we're gonna make the most of our time here, anyway."

He shook his head, following Hyeon-ju. "Here we are, on a planet with no cows. Probably a sector with no cows." Yul chuckled. "Guess we're just gonna have to do our best." He gave her a sidelong glance. "Something that fits my style."

"We should get you some nicer clothes while we're here too, in addition to a new jacket," she remarked, finding another jacket in faux leather, and faux fur trim.

"Problem with buying these jackets new, you have to weather them to get rid of that new shine look..." a pilot with a shiny leather jacket clearly had never really used it, and thus was just a poser.

Yul studied the jacket for a moment, and shrugged. "It's alright, I guess." He said. He let out a puff of air. "Maybe I should just wait until we get back to Unicorn space." If that was their fate, of course. "I've got some uniform jackets still. And it's pretty warm, anyway."

He chuckled. "You're right about that, Wasp. If I kept wearing it here, seems like it'd get broken in pretty quickly."

He glanced around. "What else do you think would be good? You're the expert." He pursed his lips a moment. "Maybe... stuff I can move in."

Since he didn't mind the jacket, she passed it to him to try on.

"No." She said firmly.

"You need something formal to wear that isn't uniform. Do you prefer traditional or something more contemporary?"

For a moment, it looked like Yul was about to argue, then he shrugged. "Whatever." He said with a sigh, sliding his uniform jacket off. Underneath, as usual, he wore a tank-top. Yul wasn't heavily muscled, but his form had nice clean lines, a good masculine form.

He pulled on the other jacket. It looked rather sharp, in fact. Yul spread his arms, inviting comment. "A mix, I guess. Unicorn traditional, I guess you'd say. Or semi-traditional. Pants and jackets, but not high fashion." He made a face. "I don't know if what I just said makes any sense."

"I don't think we'll find anything remotely traditional Unicorn clothes here, unless you count proper kimono. But I think I get the gist of what you're saying; nice and formal, nothing frilly, no suits. Kimono out the window because it doesn't have pants unless hakama is acceptable?" she looked him over a few times, guesstimating his size and measurements.

Then it kind of hit her. "You don't look like you nearly died...?"

"Sounds about right." Yul agreed. "Hakama... I guess I'd try it, but I don't know if it's really my style."

Smirking, Yul crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, now you notice." His expression softened. "Mumei is a shugenja. She healed me. A water monster bit me almost in half. I was this close to death..." he held index finger and thumb barely apart, "-and she managed to heal me."

He took a deep breath. "And that's after she dragged me to the ship, and took off. Oh, and she got clawed by the monster, too." He shook his head, smiling. "I think it might have been the bravest thing I've ever... been nearby." Yul frowned. His memories immediately after being bitten were vague and a little traumatic.

"Seems like you were lucky," she remarked, knowing it wasn't the first time Yul had luck on his side. There was a faint hint of relief in her tone, that she was glad he had been lucky. One funeral was enough.

There was a moment of silence as she browsed through some more of the racks. "... Should we get together some friends to go look for your sidearm? I have a feeling you won't like the paperwork you have to fill in on a missing weapon when you return home and go through the trouble of requesting a new one..."

"More than lucky." Yul breathed.

After a moment, he nodded, giving her a faint smile. "Yeah. I mean, I know it's not like it's my ancestral sidearm or anything like that. But it was still issued to me, and I'm responsible for it."

Smiling, Yul gave her a nod. "I'd really appreciate that. Thanks, Wasp."

"So... you, me... who else do you want to bring? The ornithopter fits four."

While she was talking, she was taking some clothes off the rack and draping them across her arm. It seemed she had plans of sending Yul to the dressing room with plenty of things to try.

Yul looked at the growing pile of clothes with a shrug. Well, he knew Wasp's hobbies. He expected that this might happen.

"Hmmm... I'm not sure, exactly." Yul said. "I can think of a few names. Some of the Lion, or this Firefly I met yest... no, day before yesterday. Oh, he's not quite a pilot like us, but he does a bit of flying. He's pretty cool."

Yul shrugged. "But I'm open to ideas."