Trying to survive

[Sosina]

Nola was sleeping soundly through the night, her antenna twitching now and again as people passed by the home, but none came close, She felt safe and comfy and as she slept she gently snuggled with the soft and fluffy Ricter and smiled in her sleep, having Kokonoe there to helped as well as it felt like being part of a group again, and that was all taken together to make it far easier to relax, and she was actually getting a full rest unlike the last few days when she was alone, barely sleeping barely eating, and so she wanted to just stay sleeping and snuggling.

But of course that couldn't happen and as she continued to cling to Mister squishy he started to thrash from the sunlight and as he did she was swung around as well, however she simply continued to cling to him until he decided to wake up, he then nuzzled her and she looked up and nuzzled him back "Morning mister squishy" she mumbled as he wriggled out of bed and she scooted around so she was clinging to his back to give him room to move around.

Looking for al the world like a little ant Girl backpack she simply continued to cling to Ricter and as he wriggled his tail for her to cling to she scooted down a bit to cling to that as well she knew she was still being childish despite her age but she really did just wanna stay feeling safe and comfortable after those many days alone after the destruction of her Colony, and it was safe and warm here, and there was a mister squishy so it was the best place ever as far as she was concerned.

As Ricter moved about cooking, Nola's Antenna would twitch to the scents filling the place and she would wake up a bit and scoot back up to cling onto his back once more, and she would peak over his shoulder as he cooked, and she simply smiled and closed her eyes to rest again drifting back to sleep for a time. During that time she would mumble a bit as she stayed snuggled into Ricters fur "Noo...mister Squishy is mine..." as she remembered having to protect her plushy from her sisters that wanted him as she hugged Ricter a bit tighter, but not to tight.

Eventually Ricter wandered into the bathroom and as he did Nola mumbled in her sleep "Time for mister Squishies bath....." and she stated to groom his fur and gently nom on him, much in the manner that she cleaned her carapace she was cleaning his fur, though from the reflection from the mirror it would look like she was simply nomming on the top of his head in her sleep with a happy content smile on her face.

 

[Ricter]

"Good morning Kokonoe, and Nola."

Enjoying the attention, Ricter would go about his normal duties when it came to making himself look clean and proper. With everyone up, somewhat that is, the weasel would take his tooth brush and scrub along his somewhat pointy teeth, which were not made for eating greens at all and more so for hunting small animals. Yet he was too docile for that, and more civil to just buy his meats from a shop, a perk of being more evolved than the common animal.

Once that was done he would take a brush and begin to brush along his tail now, it was the only thing he cared to brush out, yet the rest of him felt slightly messy. Given Nola was seemingly nibbling his head he would guess that she might just like the way his head tasted, hopefully not taking a bite but he would try to stop her if she did give him a hard chomp.

"She seems so content, I still feel really bad for what happened to her. Maybe one day she can make her little colony again, though I don't know how she will manage it, I really don't want to see her go through such a traumatic experience again." He murmured to himself mostly, of course she would be able to hear him if she was awake.

Focusing though, he would no sooner leave the rest room as he had no intentions of taking a bath when they needed to eat and go to the museum, besides he smelt nice still. "Nola? Foods done, I know your enjoying my head but its not that tasty." Smirking, his ears wiggles from side to side, gently poking her cheeks with them as he tried to sit down but it was a little hard to balance an ant girl on your head and back while sitting in a chair.

Looking to Kokonoe though he would ask, "Kokonoe, were going to be leaving as soon as were done, that way you both can get signed up and what not." Giving her a brief run down of the plans for the day he would add, "After that I'm going to the market for materials, I'm guessing you may want to go and do the same thing too."

Surely he could pay for some materials, or have someone go grab them from the wild again, kind of like how he had Kokonoe do a few quests for him to gather flowers and herbs. Hell, if Nola wanted to even try her hand at them, and she felt safe enough to try, then he would be more than happy to offer her payment as well, even if silver seemed almost lost on the ant girl she could maybe use it to buy more things. Like food to make protein rich wall stuff with.

 

[Kokonoe]

"Mornin' you two. Even if one of you seem to be still half asleep. I got all the ingredients ready for you to look over for the business before we go out, that way you can make a list... It's like remembering machine parts really, then again I guess chemical compounds would be a better example... It's strange I deal with chemicals all the time and that's basically cooking, I wonder if I can actually cook and I'm just making it harder on myself with excuses..." She shrugged thinking out loud again as usual, it was a constant occurrence. As Ricter cooked she cleaned a bit with a bit of counter waxing because she liked things to shine and sparkle. "You know... we could get marble or onyx counter tops, probably... We'd need to reinforce the bottom portion with steel or hard wood." She'd suggest, just to make the place look nicer for Ricter, she was always suggesting ways to improve the kitchen. By far the best thing she did or the place is reinforce the use of clean energy through mana recycling and solar power, they didn't have to waste money on gas or electricity using these methods.

Of course Kokonoe was the first to the table, she was thinking of chemical compositions silently to herself... That's probably why her hair was down instead of in a pony tail still. She waited for the food happily as Ricter gave a run down of the day, "Sounds like a good day, the Museum will also help me update the database... The ship should also be recharged, I should start working on the teleportation pad for missions today, too. First the sign up, though then we can tour around the Museum, then we can head to the market if it isn't too much trouble... Just make a list before we go in-case I missed something. Thanks for the breakfast by the way!" She grinned.

On that note she'd begin her eating, however today she was taking more tips from Ricter on how to use a fork without shoveling everything in to her mouth... After about five minutes she seemed to get it down, now it was mostly about going back into her old habits. "This feels a lot easier on the body, truthfully... I never got the luxury to slow down on eating before. In my line of work I generally was working on my break, or working after five minutes of sleep... or just working... Mostly just working, my meals were mostly lollipops for that reason... I needed my hands, ever tried to hold a wrench with your foot?" Suddenly the shoes she wore because she hated wearing shoes made more sense in her line of work. She was barefoot currently, only really wearing shoes outside. "Food is great as always, of course... Nola, Ricter, how did you sleep? I slept well, woke up once or twice and got to see some fireflies out and about."

She seemed to be more talkative than yesterday, it was probably due to her being more comfortable at home. She also had more time to warm up to Nola after all the chaos from last night giving her a better insight on her as a person, she did want to test a bit on the two. "Also, another question, do you both mind me running x-rays and other minor tests on you both? I need to learn your physiology the best I can so that if you get hurt I can treat you, maybe give you physicals and so I can track your presence from the ship more accurately. It'd also be able to tell if you were in danger or something, it'll be simple little things like weighing, measuring... a bit of running on a treadmill. Unless you know all the data on your medical records, of course. Sorry for rambling, I mostly care about how your sleep was. I don't need an answer about all the medical stuff at the moment... More-so I want you to think about it." She said before taking a bite, everything was clear and surprisingly calm.

 

[Sosina]

As the food was served Nola simply continued to Cling to Ricter and as he sat down she wriggled about to make sure he could sit comfortably, but she continued to gently clean the fur on his head in her little ant way of doing things, that is until she was booped by the fuzzy soft ears of the Weasel and she wriggled a bit before letting go. The gentle acids she was using to clean his fur had leaft all the fur well groomed and clean, it was after all how she cleaned herself too, thankfully it was a weak acid, it wouldn't do damage to him or his hair but it would kill bacteria and germs.

As she wriggled off him she scooted her chair close to him once more and started to groom his tail with one set of hands as she started to eat, she had heard him before about feeling bad for her and wondering if she could remake her colony, and she was wondering the same, though she could feel Mana in the air and was able to collect it in her body, she felt healthier and making an egg would be quite easy with all the mana in the air. so as she ate she looked to the two as they talked and she nodded a bit to the two of them, though as she ate she looked to the tall one "X-ray?" she asked looking a little confused as she ate, but she had been asked how she slept and she pointed to ricter.

"I slept snuggling Mister Squishy..." she said answering the question with how she literally slept, but then she kinda fully woke up and shook her head before answering again "I slept well...it was the best sleep I had in a long time honestly...thank you both" she said as she looked to the two of them before looking to Ricter as the plans for the day were laid out. It seemed they had a lot to do, or at least enough to make the day somewhat full but it wasn't nearly as busy as she used to be in the colony, honestly she had the leisure to sleep more here then she had before which felt very nice...maybe she would adopt a more relaxed schedual for her own colony when she finally started to make it?

Though as she finished eating she realized that any of her workers would need to be registered and thinking on that he decided now would be a good time to make at least her first couple of workers. "Finished, thank you for the food" she said as she hopped out of her chair and walked over to one of the corners of the room and she started to concentrate, she would need workers to start the building of her Colony, so that would have to start now. As she concentrated she held all four hands close to each other and soon a ball of Mana started to grow and rotate between her hands, growing larger and larger as she pulled her hands slowly away from each other, soon the Mana ball split into two balls of roughly the same size, both being about as large as Nola's torso.

as the two mana balls started to slow down their spinning they starts to change color and grow more into an elongated oval shape, they then started to solidify, the outside of them at least, taking on the color of Nola's Carapace and hardening as they hovered in front of her, the concentration was also quite clear on Nola's face as she poured her mana into the two orbs that now looked far more like ant eggs though they were colored much like the little girl that made them. And finally they slowly started to sink towards the floor, her four hands reaching out and catching both eggs as she held them close to her.

The little ant girl took a moment to let out a sigh and inspect the, now quite obvious, eggs to see if she had done it right and making sure there were no fractures or incomplete parts, and on seeing they were healthy and solid, she nodded a bit and looked to the other two "I am ready to go when ever you are" she said as she held the eggs to keep them safe.

 

[Ricter]

"X-rays?"

He didn't have such an inquisitive tone like Nola did when Kokonoe asked about giving them an x-ray, but he seemed to be fine with the idea. If she was willing to make sure they were both alright he would gladly go about accepting her offer, "Sure, I don't mind that, just as long as its not some experimentation." She was a scientist after all, and a random check up seemed fishy but Ricter was too trusting to care.

Collecting the plates, platters, and utensils, they would be placed into the sink to soak away the grime and food that littered the white dishes. Not bothering to spend time on washing them now as he reached for a bag that hung near a coat rack and slung it around his shoulder, "We should go-" Turning to face the two of them he had hardly noticed that Nola had gone off to the side of the room, and now as she came out with two eggs, he was surprised.

How did she do that? Surely ants needed to procreate like people to make children, but maybe she was special, or as she mentioned prior about mana that it played a key role in her ability to reproduce. Either way questioning it wouldn't be needed, in fact he had plenty of time to ask about it on the way there.

"Nola? Will you be okay carrying them? I have a back pack for eggs you can maybe use, it can keep them nice and safe."

The bag was padded, made for capturing monster eggs and taking them back, although it wasn't invulnerable to damage it seemed better than openly carrying them around town. If she accepted though the bag would be only a few feet away from him, on the back wall where he kept his pressure cooker, knifes and many other tools for harvesting certain plants and cooking.

Looking to Kokonoe though he would smile a bit and add something, "They will take your picture too, so you should try to smile a bit when they do. No pouting please, now, you guys head out so I can lock the door behind us." Kokonoe also had a key but the weasel wanted to be sure the place would be secure and so, just like yesterday, he would slip into the back room and take out that covered flower that was still under the dish cover.

Seems it had a very long longevity and could last for sometime with out much oxygen, which it would soon get. This was better than any security system, and would stop a good majority of thieves. He would have to be sure though that he kept all its pollen inside, so that anyone who dared come in here with out his permission would suffer.

 

[Kokonoe]

"I am glad you slept superbly. I should explain, however... X-Rays are used to see through a body to see your bone structure. It's harmless, looks weird but it basically reflects light off your bone and takes a picture of them. Through that I can get a more accurate representation of your body, however only one person should be in the room at a time due to safety precautions and other procedures of the sort. At least that's what doctors do, so I'm rolling with it." She was of course she needed her data, though part of her check ups was to check heart rates. An easy test and one that might give her insight on Ricter's secret, not the smartest idea but the curiosity was killing her; that and she needed accurate data for the teleporter which would kill two birds with one spray bottle. She looked up for a moment thinking to herself about how that's not how that phrase goes.

"Other than that it's just data I need for the teleporter and ship's data base... Basic check up stuff for the most part, a few simple tests. It's mundane and takes a while but necessary." She said as she helped Ricter clean up the table, she cleans the three plates in the sink and the utensils since most of the other stuff had been cleaned. She turned to Nola walking in the other room to see her lay eggs, "...Wait, you're a Princess- er... Queen Ant? So you've been fed Royal Jelly in your larval stage? What are the odds... I hear it's more sweet than honey." Go figure the biologist starts speaking about a bit of biology, she actually sounded rather impressed. She wondered how different Nola was from the ant species she knew, it was nice to be able to watch these things first hand. The first difference was mana, which probably meant they didn't need males in times of great need as well as a bunch of excess food and protection; meaning they wouldn't need to be unable to move, either. She nodded a few times before grabbing her own bag, but she went in her room for a moment and gave Nola a blanket, eggs were fragile after all. "This blanket can keep them safe like a silk wrap, better to hide them from sight around here." She'd leave the blanket on the table if Nola didn't take it.

"I smile all the time, I am right now." She had on her usual pouting resting irritated face, before actually smirking, "Kidding, I'll try. It really depends on the line also how interesting the museum looks. I'm expecting them to have something impressive." She said before walking out into the sunlight, she squinted. She'd never been out quite this early in the morning, "The sun is out to blind me, I already have eye glasses... what more does it want?" She said as a joke, well mostly. She didn't exactly like bright lights, she hoped the pictures didn't have flashes... She'd never get a good picture otherwise, flashes on cameras were the worst kind of light.

"So my fluffy buddy, setting up that flower as security? I ask because well, won't it effect the neighbors..? What if you get someone while they are lifting something heavy when on the job... Please tell me you have something to help prevent the honest working people from getting hurt." She was using her serious look bending over to look dead in his eyes, Kokonoe wasn't for any form of accidental repercussions or casualties towards people that shouldn't be involved. Especially preventable ones like this one; if there was an option less dangerous for others she'd take it even if it was more risky towards her goals. "I just want to make doubly sure..."

 

[Sosina]

Nola looked at them as they seemed surprised she made eggs, she had told them she had to make her colony, how did they expect her to do that if she couldn't make eggs? Though Ricter offered her the use of a bag to carry them in, and then the Tall one offered her a blanket to keep them safe and warm, and mentioned that this might not be the best place for them to be seen, these two seemed to know the place better so taking there advice would probably be the best Idea, and so she took the blanket and wrapped the eggs up in it before putting them in the bag that Ricter had offered her, and she slipped it over onto her back.

"Thank you but the eggs are as tough as my armor as it's made of the same substance, but I will take care to keep them safe, they are going to be the first workers of my new Colony" she said before looking to the Tall one asking if she was fed Royal jelly or something and she simply tilted her head to the side for a moment as she tried to figure out why she was asking but then she looked to Ricter then back to the Tall one "I was hatched this way I wasn't fed anything special just food" she said looking to the tall one as she followed her out as Ricter seemed to get something ready, though as he seemed to be ready to go the Tall one started to loom over him and talk to him with a tone she didn't like.

She moved over between Fluffy and the Tall one and gently hugged and picked up the fluffy one and moved him a bit away from the Tall one before looking at her while still holding Ricter with two arms and poking Kokonoe in the nose "don't be mean to Mister Squishy" she said as she seemed to be trying to protect Ricter and gently put him down....after a few moments of nuzzling into his fur and hugging him, then she looked to Kokonoe "Why is Tall one worried? Mister Squishy probably knows what he is doing..." she said then looked to Ricter "Right Mister squishy?" she said with a smile as she looked to him apparently fully trusting in what he was gonna do, as her antenna twitched as she got ready to leave with them to the place The fuzzy one said they needed to go.

 

[Ricter]

"Yes I-" Ricter was cut off.

Startled, he was no sooner picked up once Kokonoe mentioned about the safety of using his flower as a deterrent for people to come by his establishment unannounced, he noticed that Nola had picked him up. In a manner similar to him being a doll, funny given their size difference, but she was an ant and it made some logical sense that she was this capable in lifting him. Not like he was that heavy anyways.

He didn't struggle, nor would he even move as he was picked up, moved away, and then placed back down after being hugged for a bit. Their back and forth was cute and made him scratch his head, smiling as he added, "Yeah, uh I was just going to close the windows and vents. Maybe keep it in the back kitchen area if need be, that way it wont travel too far, and if someone comes in they will get the blunt of it if they try to rob us."

He knew what he was doing, mostly, but would be careful in using it all the time, after all it was a very potent flower, one that many people were not used to encountering. Yet, it worked well for what they needed it for, so as he would take the flower he walked into the back and placed it down into the kitchen area before opening the lid and closing the door once all the windows and vents were sealed.

It wouldn't be air tight, but it wouldn't have a strong effect unless someone opened the door, which he hoped no one had any intentions of going to the bathroom any time soon. "Alright, all done, lets head out now." Directing the two girls to the door he would be the last one out of course, locking the door behind himself as he walked with the pair down the streets towards the museum.

Along the way it seemed like the place was just as busy as yesterday evening, yet this time they would get a few looks from the humanoids walking past them in heavy armor. Some seemed shorter and over all friendly, while Nola would be sure to notice that their were a lot of cat people around, full of fur and just as short as Ricter they seemed cute and cuddly, palicos were the name of their species.

They were cats that stood up right, with bright eyes and a demeanor that was almost too adorable not to want to hug them, one that was working at a food stand would even wave towards Ricter and the group. Causing the weasel to wave back, maybe they were friends? Or just business partners, either way the walk seemed fairly nice, no one dared bother the group even if they got a few lurking eyes from a number of hunters as if wondering why so many creatures were walking along the roads with out so much of an indication of why they were here.

But ahead of them they could notice the large marble building that was the museum, it was tall and took up plenty of space. Possibly to house all of the exhibits of monsters that could be found in this world, which on climbing up the steps they would no doubt find any and all information on the current monsters that were on this planet and much more.

"Welcome to the museum, if you guys want to look around feel free, but see the lady at the front desk if you would like an ID, its free and only takes a few minutes."

 

[Kokonoe]

Kokonoe of course got poked for being worried, "I just don't want anything hurt, that's all. I'd rather accidents stay at a zero percent ratio, cleaning up after them is a pain... Also it's bad for business." She chuckled a bit at Nola's actions, "...I don't like the chances of spores getting out but that should help a bit. If any one gets hurt though, you owe us Ice Cream for a week to fix it. I should probably build a machine for it to just give a burst of spore to whatever walks in the door with out a key cards or something. Well if you want a contraption for it built, Ricter I'd be more than willing." She stated as she put a lollipop into her mouth, she seemed to have pulled it from her sleeve. They were like small bags themselves, apparently all sweets. She would follow Nola out, waiting for her fluffy weasel friend to close up shop. She had her ideas in mind to set up a teleporter, perhaps she's add more in the near future.

The pink haired nekomata lady squinted in the sunlight, she watched the people walking by closely. People of all shapes and sizes, armored and the like... Then her eyes spotted cat people, the Palico as Ricter knew them as, her eyes widened a bit after she waved she would walks over and picked one up. "Are you part of the Kaka Clan? Did they come here, too....? Wait does that mean.... He's here?" She was talking about her father, Ricter would pick that up... but that would mean... Her father looked like these people?! She stood staring it in the eyes, "If my... parent... is here I would greatly appreciate knowing... Two tails... your build but calico with an eye patch with a katana in a yellow hoodie... Heard of a guy like that?" ...No way... her father really was an or an alternate dimension counter part to the palico race! After she got her inevitable answers she'd end up apologizing to the palico, even if she seemed slightly excited over the chance her father might have been there before returning to her travels. It left questions for her friends, of course.

Soon they would get up to a marble building, she would feel the marble herself, "This planet seems to have high quality marble in high quantities... There must be a lot of it, so in short I might be able to buy a marble counter top for you cheap, Ricter. Not sure how much this type of rock is here, but in my world it was super expensive... A rock for the rich, really. Also thanks for this... I'll see the lady first and then we can walk around safely." She said before walking in while adjusting her glasses, she walked with her hips moving back and forth having her tails follow in the same motion. It seemed to be a force of habit down to the arm she'd rest on her one hip. She put her hair up to make her ears look bigger than the were but left it down otherwise instead of in a pony tail, walking up to the front desk, "We heard this was the place to get IDs. We have... at least two that need them if you could." Her eyes were sharp in her usual resting pout despite her more polite speaking, it was an odd mixture.

 

[Sosina]

Nola followed along, the eggs safely in the bag with the blanket wrapped around them to keep them safe and warm, not that they really needed it but all precautions needed to be taken for her first workers, she knew that unlike her who needed time to grow and train, workers were born ready to get to work and needed little in the way of training, though what training they would need she could provide once they hatched. Soldiers would take a bit of time to train and grow, she could also train them thankfully, Overseers were another caste that would take time and training, and if she got the colony large enough and found a male to provide Mana, she might even have some High Caste to raise and train much like she was. But that was all thinking to the future and right now she had to stay grounded on starting her colony and getting the ground work set up.

Looking around as they walked she noticed the other fuzzy creatures that looked to be the same size as Ricter, though they looked physically different, and as Kokonoe started to interrogate one Nola herself walked over to one and gently lifted it and hugged it "I wanna keep this one" she said to Ricter as she walked back over to him with the Palico, though as she looked back to them the palico had a bit of a pout and mentioned it couldn't just be owned, and it had work to do.

This little realization made Nola nod a moment and put them down, gently petting them "Okay sorry I didn't know you had work to do" she said as she pet the Palico a bit longer, before they headed off to go work though they seemed happy to have gotten petted and listened to, she then looked to Ricter a moment and hugged him again "I have a mister squishy anyway..." she said as she then let him go and followed along after him towards the museum though she did notice the looks of the other creatures wandering around, most being plains, but she paid them no mind for the moment since Ricter didn't seem bothered by them at all.

As they walked in and Ricter announced were they were and what to do about getting these ID things he had shown before, she nodded and then walked over to the desk, Though the tall one had walked over as well. now where Ricter had poked just barely over the top of the desk to be seen, Nola only had her antenna poking up to be seen, and as such was at first not noticed and as the tall one spoke Nola climbed up onto the desk, making sure to not tip anything over "Yes please I would like to have this ID thing that Mister Squishy told me about" she said pointing to Ricter as she called him by the name of her old plushy once more.

The girl at the desk only started to giggle as she heard the nickname and gave a wave to Ricter as it was the same woman from before, and she then handed the paper work over to fill out for the ID's, Nola looked at it a moment and thankfully she could actually read it, seemed it was simple enough, name, age, race, things like that. So she filled it out and soon her picture was taken and added to the ID but then a question popped up into her mind "When my eggs hatch will I have to bring them here to get ID's as well?".

The woman on the other side of the desk looked a bit surprised but nodded "Yes they would need to have papers filled out as well, though if your expecting them you can fill them out ahead of time I suppose" she didn't expect the little one to have any eggs or anything but her expression changed as she watched the ant girl take out the eggs and she only handed her the paperwork as she looked to Kokonoe and Ricter questioningly. "Umm..t..they would have to come get their pictures taken later...okay?" she said to Nola.

Nola nodded a bit as she filled out the paper work, it was different paperwork, asking about children and the like and it was apparently meant to cover them until they no longer lived with her.....which to her was a silly thing to add in, the only ones that would apply to was any High Caste she made once the colony got large enough, and maybe some warriors and workers if she wanted to take them, and considering how dangerous she heard Ricter and Kokonoe say the place was, she would probably send them with any high Caste she had whether they wanted them or not.

So with her Paperwork done and her ID in hand she hopped off the desk and walked over to Where Ricter was and she hugged him "Done Mister Squishy" she said as she snuggled into his fur and just let out a happy little chuuring sound as she simply liked how soft and warm he was, she wondered if she could make a new plushy out of his fur if she would let her gather some from him?

 

[Ricter]

Of course the palicos seemed to be a little confused by the two women aiming to ask questions and or keep them, but they know just how popular and cute they were too, so they didn't seem to mind it much. In fact given they knew Ricter they only let it be just a normal casual thing. Though it did cause Ricter to shake his head as if to say how silly they both were acting, but maybe this was normal for them as Nola just wanted to keep the cute bright eyed cats as a pet.

However, he did wonder as to how Kokonoe could mistake one of the palicos as her dad, or similar to her father in some way, was her father that similar to a feline? By her description he sounded like himself but with out the attire to match, or just like one of the palicos in the market but again with out the attire to be exactly like them. She did mention her mother being a lot like herself, just not in the body department, so did that mean she was human?

It left a lot of questions, but he wouldn't address that, and instead would wait for the two to finish up at the desk once they had signed out and gotten their ID's. For him, he would be sitting on a bench, looking up at some exhibits in the main halls, large monsters dotted this world, most scary and having some form of sway in how the food chain operated. Which only helped to cement the idea that he should never leave the city, at least that is if he wanted to remain safe and sound.

His visual enjoyment of the exhibits would be interrupted though as Nola came and began to hug him, his body was always warm, and his fur seemly soft as it usually was. "Already? That was quick, well we can head back home once Kokonoe is finished as well. Oh speaking of home, I'm sure you would like to make a nice home for your eggs and yourself, I know I don't have a lot but would you like to help me with something?"

The weasel inquired as he let her hug him some more, even lifting the girl to sit in his lap, "I typically don't go out in the wild a lot, and was wondering if you wouldn't mind getting some white oak flowers for me, I can pay you in materials, I'm sure you will need plenty of food and what not to help supplement your colony. Would that be a nice trade off?"

He seemed more than happy to offer this to her, and it seemed like a nice trade, flowers for food and materials for which she could use. Granted he had no clue she needed mana, but she was getting that easily from being so close to him all the time.

 

[Kokonoe]

Kokonoe took the form, she would read it over twice before beginning to write. Her writing was surprisingly cursive, as fast as she was writing it was legible to the point it just looked like a fancy way of writing. She must've signed forms a lot due to her line of work at the old lab, she did say she used to work for the government.. That was a job where pens went to die with how much paper work had to be done, and that doesn't even count her recorded data that she could only record by hand due to a higher up's orders. She would hand it back almost immediately with the following data;

'Name: Kokonoe Mercury
Sex: Female
Height: 5'1
Weight: 92.6 lbs
Hair Color: Pink
Eye Color: Gold
Age: 9 21
Profession: Magi-Tech Bio-Scientist
Race: Half-Beastman'

This however was a lie as Kokonoe was well over 90 due to her incredibly long life span probably due to her mother and father who still aren't past their primes so they may as well all be twenty one years of age. There was a nine scratched out in-front of the two, hard to confuse those two numbers... how peculiar. It was another curious thing about her within the span of a few hours, just what else did she conveniently leave out of conversation? First her Father looking like a Palico, now this... Under all that interesting information was her place of living which was 'Ricter's Baked Goods and Services' as well as her checking a box to apply for a Hunter's License at some point in time, all and all pretty boring with the other information above. She would explain to the lady at the desk about the guard that was on patrol on the road they live on vouching for her after seeing the small fight that broke out, and how she went out to gather for Ricter from time to time. She'd eventually schedule a test just in-case the guard's words were credible enough for a free hunter's pass. She also spend a few extra minutes explaining how Beastman was the race, not Beastwoman, it was a confusing topic and Kokonoe understood it herself and how Kokonoe didn't want her race as 'Cat Lady' because it sounded like something entirely different. Finally they came to an agreement with having her ID say 'Half-Cat,' in the pink haired nekomata's eyes it wasn't as cool a name for her race but it wasn't wrong. Her golden eyes showed annoyance as the lady took her else where.

She walked in to get her picture taken of course, she'd then walk out after a bit from being out of view of the others for about ten maybe fifteen minutes. She looked around at the exhibits around for a while as she looked for Ricter and Nola, lucky for her they were sitting on a bench and easy to find. She'd wave gently before walking over, still looking at the exhibits. Good thing for Ricter, she did in-fact smile... with the most smug cat face she could possibly do. Maybe that's why she didn't smile? Though that leads to another question, how was she able to bend her lips like that? Was she more cat than she was letting on? That answer was of course a yes, in her younger age she looked more like a cat than she'd ever admit. Possibly her body was changed due to science experiments since her race was looked down upon in her world, almost illegal due to the racial issues in the matter.

"How's the museum, you two?" She asked, her eyes stopped darting to look at the two, "Should we look around or do we need to go else where? If we need to go someplace I need to hit the market place down town to upgrade my ship's features and then do those tests asap so it's calibrated properly, I don't want to teleport people in a few pieces after all..." That explained why she wanted to do the testing at least, she was making a customized system for herself again, she must only be using codes from her world which would explain why. Possibly her tech wasn't compatible without her codes in-place, from what she explained to Ricter that was exactly the case. She seemed to be counting money by the bronze coins... She was definitely a penny pincher, she was used to it when working for her world's government whom gave constant consistent budget cuts to her sector. She'd look up with her golden gaze, "I have just enough to get a teleporter range of ten feet." She knew that from only looking at her coins...

 

[Sosina]

As Nola sat there hugging and snuggled up to Ricter she looked around at the exhibits, the creatures were quite large, she had never seen creatures this sized, nor had learned of any like this, how far from her original colony had she ended up? She honesty didn't know, but she did know that she at least had some friends here, and she was starting to build up her colony, the two eggs on her back in the pack was evidence of such and as she sat there with the soft and warm Ricter he mentioned that she probably wanted to make a nice home for her and her eggs, and she tilted her head to the side a bit at this.

Technically the workers in the eggs would help her to make a nice safe home for her and the other eggs to follow, but considering what she seen she thought she understood it seemed they didn't have workers, maybe she could lend them hers? ether way though it seemed like he needed help with something and as he brought it up she looked up at one of the exihibits and then to the Small fuzzy Ricter and she realized what he was offering as he explained and she nodded "Of course Mister squishy, if you need help I don't mind helping at all" she said as she hugged him glad she could keep him out of danger by helping him like this.

It was about around then that the Tall one named Kokonoe walked back and Nola waved back to the woman as she walked up to them, "The place is okay though I have never seen beings this large before, or even heard of them before...I guess I have come a long way from my original colony" she said as her antenna twitched a bit before she looked to the tall one again as she started to talk about building something and she looked back to Ricter a moment before hopping off his lap....Nuzzling him before hand of course and looking up to the Tall one "Well Okay Tall one though I don't really understand what your talking about, but Then it seems Mister Squishy needs help" she said as she looked back to Ricter with a smile.

 

[Ricter]

A surprised look would drape along his face on hearing these words, she never seen, nor noticed any of the large monsters that dotted these lands? It made him question exactly where she came from, or what was she in general, yet he didn't wish to be rude and question it right now. Especially after what she told him before about her family and what Nola had lost, so for sure this was something for when she had more time to grieve over her loss.

With Kokonoe soon joining them he would give her a soft nod and understand that she had her own intentions, wishing to build up her lab and then some. For him he had time to wait on the work order to get things done, the construction workers were quick and probably would finish his small renovations in a couple hours. So it gave everyone plenty of time to maybe go and do some things they needed to finish up, and with the mention of doing something for payment Ricter slipped out a flyer like piece of paper.

The flyer had a number of things on it, mostly information on what he needed and a picture of the flowers in question, as well as possible locations Nola could find them in. He had offered this quest to Kokonoe before some days ago, so he knew that maybe writing it all done for his notes later would be helpful.

"Here, this should have everything on it, but you should be careful too, if you go out you should keep an eye out for any big creatures maybe wishing too botheryou. But if your confident I'd be happy to let you go off on my little request."

For which her work wouldn't go unrewarded, in fact as he said this he would move close and give her a little nuzzle back and a small lick that tickled. Just so she knew she was still loved and would be cared for while she stayed here, though his attention turned to Kokonoe as she laid out in better detail what she wanted to do for a fraction of the day.

"That sounds alright, I think the construction people are working on the house, so you can go buy and work on your lab too, we can all split up and handle our business for the day then spend the rest of the evening just relaxing while we can."

It seemed like a promising endeavor but he wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page as he had no problem splitting up if it meant everyone would get some work done for themselves. Especially for himself since he had to deliver some things and ensure his little shop turned out nicely.

 

[Kokonoe]

Kokonoe noticed the same sheet Ricter had for flora retrieval, she hoped the notes they had were recorded properly enough for Nola. Thinking to herself about how she should've made a map rather than notes came to mind but she shrugged it off, then heard Nola's little issue and nodded. "You've never seen them at all, huh? Well if need be we can take the ship out for safety reasons... I haven't got around to making keys for the ship yet, however... So I'll have to end up driving if so, up to you though. If you decide to go on foot I'd record the data from our last mission from my lab's computer." She pointed to the number on the paper Ricter held, seems it was important. "It's the log number, that code will bring up the last mission we had." Kokonoe was surprisingly organized, despite her lack of organization of furniture in the lab... Mostly due to twenty five percent of it being snack food in bins.

"Splitting up sounds decent... but I still need to administer those tests for the teleporter... and it'll take me time to build out of junk, I'll give it a half hour if I screw up. Plus the calibrations needed from the tests, which will depend on the time it takes to test everyone using the teleporter. Though I am pretty impatient so I made the tests as quick as possible to do without being harmful to your health, they will have some temporary side effects... probably. Dizziness, grogginess... that type of thing, but food or sugar should fix it like most types of medication; unless something unforeseen happens. In-which case I'll handle it with no problems, unforeseen problems are my specialty! They are also the most interesting, if you have any questions you can ask me. If you don't then I'll probably explain it before I start the physicals anyway." At least she was honest, though she was hoping there was no questions. Though people were staring confused due to having no idea what type of tests she'd do, it sounded like potion testing. Now everyone thought Kokonoe was some sort of Alchemist or Witch, not a surprised with the lack of technology on Kraw.

"Sounds good to buy my stuff, I have a few other projects in mind of course but that's for a later date. Now we should probably prepare, huh?" She said, if there was no questions to answer she'd be running off for lab remodel preparations, she was replacing the materials for a stronger metal exterior and the like. It was a huge endeavor to metal all the metals down to remake an entire ship's exterior but she had an invention for that, what was it? No one really knows, it's probably a test telepad or something... Kokonoe never shows her prototypes so that's the most likely conclusion.

 

[Sosina]

Nola looked at the paper given to her and started to read it looking it over really and seeing what it was he needed, she then meeped a moment and then giggled as Ricter licked her and she placed a hand on his nose "GAh don't be silly mister squishy" she said with a giggle before hugging him and starting to groom him, though then The Tall one started to talk again and she looked over to her as she stopped her grooming of Ricter for a moment as she listened to what she wanted to say, and her antenna twitched a moment as she looked at the woman then to the Weasel before she looked back to the woman.

"So are we all splitting up? or are we waiting?" she asked looking a bit confused, she could probably and easily go get the plants herself, she could avoid the large creatures rather easily is she simply dug through the ground, Looking up at one of the skeletons it definetly didn't look like something that could dig after her, but maybe there were other things out there that could? She just really didn't know.

Looking back to Ricter and Kokonoe though she gently slipped off of Ricter's lap and onto the floor before picking up Ricter and holding him like he was her plushy, "So...did you want me to wait till this teleportal thing was done? or did you want to see me about this when I got back?" she asked as she hugged Ricter and nuzzled into his fur, still holding him like he was her favorite plushy as she looked up at Kokonoe, though she did start walking to the exit of the Museum since they were done there by the sounds of it, and she didn't want to be in the way of the workers there.

As she walked though she continued to hug and hols Ricter for the time being, wanting to enjoy his fuzzy fluffiness as much as possible before she had to go get these things for him, after all it sounded like he needed them.

 

[Ricter]

Not one for being picked up a lot, Ricter began to grow accustomed to it as he was no sooner lifted off his feet and in the arms of the little ant girl. Whisked away towards the exit as no doubt Kokonoe would be following them, when she mentioned her questions about waiting or going now, he would think it would be better to do so now.

"I think going now before it becomes late is best, I have no doubt you can work rather quickly Kokonoe but it would be better to pool our efforts into things we would like to do for ourselves. Besides, if we do our own things we don't have to worry about having to do much this evening."

Additionally he had some delivers to make so he couldn't accompany them if they wanted to wait on each other, which the weasel would no doubt explain. "Either way if you two wish to go with one another or just simply help each other out that's fine, but I really have to deliver my baked goods around town. I can't delay them much longer or else those cats will get angry and throw tantrums."

Of course he hadn't planned on making his clients skeptical of his ability to provide his services, but Nola took precedent over work when he had found her in such an unlikely place. Now that she was okay he was back on the daily grind, granted that wouldn't happen till he was placed down. Looking at her again though Ricter gave a smile then began to begin nuzzling her frantically with his wet nose, trying to tickle the girl as he believed he could walk with no help, so his only choice was to have her submit to his ticklish nature.

"Once Nola puts me down we can split up, focus on what we need to do, then after just come back and I'll have something nice for us to maybe eat."

 

[Kokonoe]

"Either way it works, Nola. I need time to work on the teleporter and it has no external lights, it's basically dead weight at night. It's powered by the sun so it's really limited in the dark. I can wait if you'd rather get everything out of the way now or I could finish the technology I need to and we can fly the ship to that location, either way the map to the places with all the locations of the spices or herbs in the wild are on my lab's computer. It'd be easier to get to those places after reading the mapped locations from it, alternatively... I could give you a device that would let you contact me and I could fly out and pick you up, since I'd have to run tests on all three of us to calibrate the teleporter. Then Ricter can use it to deliver goods as I tinker before we pick you up, I'll let you decide since you seem the responsible type." Kokonoe said confidently in Nola's capabilities, giving a complete run down of two different scenarios. She gave Nola the full choice of what she'd felt like doing, following out Nola and Mr. Squishy as the weasel would try tickling the ant girl into submission.

"All it changes for me is if I am working while flying or not... and whom gets tested first and last in the telepad's coding. I have a pretty easy day though we all should go to the market since each of us need supplies for separate reasons. I'll wait until we meet up again for your answer unless you have one already." She said, placing a silver-vine lollipop into her mouth before heading off to the market, specifically the section where she got her metals from. A small smithing business that just so happens to be supplied with great quality ores which Kokonoe used her fire magic and scientific gadgets to forge her own steel. She was going to reconstruct the entire outside in a full steel coating. It wasn't the thickest walls for a moving lab, but was way more durable then a bunch of rocks held together by sheet metal. She carried out enough ore that she needed her gravity magic to help her out, it was a massive amount... Enough to make others stare since she and Nola were talk of the town at the current moment; Kokonoe's gossip always revolving around her eccentric attitude and random projects that normally involved hammers late in the afternoon. Next she would hit a few other random shops to get glass and oddly enough some crystals. Some components couldn't even be named due to them looking like junk... but they wouldn't be for long.

The pink haired neko girl would meet back with the group, having set her golden gaze on them. This would be the best time or Nola to decide her fate with the Jungles of Kraw, as Kokonoe would be walking back with the two as they met up. "How'd shopping go, and what did everyone obtain? I got ore, some glass, and a few extras for the telepad." She said, as she toss her shoes in the bag and began to walk around bare foot. She couldn't be heard walking anymore without the clack of her shoes, but she would follow along aiming to get to her lab for now. Kokonoe would of course ask if Nola had decided if she didn't give her answer earlier.

 

[Sosina]

Nola continued to carry Mister squishy as they walked towards the market, and as Kokonoe and Ricter both spoke of their Ideas, it sounded like the Tall one had some information to give her before she left, and she decided she could at least wait for that info before heading out, All the while she continued to carry Mister Squishy who also seemed to think splitting up was best, and that did make a lot of sense, after all with so many tasks to do splitting up would let them all do their individual tasks faster and have everything done by tonight, but it would mean letting go of the soft warm mister squishy and she really didn't want to do that at the moment so she only continued to walk towards the market.

It was about then that Ricter mentioned needed to get some work done and Nola looked to him a moment, he had important work to do that people were expecting done, but still she didn't wanna let him go, and then suddenly she meeped as she was tickled by something wet and wriggly as Ricter started to nuzzle her and trying to tickle her making her squirm and giggle as she tried to hold the Wriggly Weasel in a way that he couldn't get at her, but of course that was rather impossible with how flexible and wriggly Weasels were, and as they walked into the market her loud laughs could be heard all over the place as she finally released the Wriggly Weasel "No fair mister Squishy" she said with a playful point before hugging him once more before looking to Kokonoe, really she didn't have anything to get so she simply waited for her.

Though as she waited she simply walked around with Ricter every now and again checking on her eggs, She was keepinga close eye on them as they were not going to take to long to hatch, they were only worker eggs after all, and as she walked around with Ricter she looked at things and noticed weapons and the like being sold, she would need to make some weapons for her soldiers once she started to make some. For now though she simply hung around with Ricter a bit till the tall one returned.

As she wandered about with Ricter as Kokonoe bought her things Nola felt some wriggling from the bag she had and she reached in and took out the eggs "Their ready" she said to Ricter as she held the eggs and cracks were starting to form along their surface, light starting to shine through the cracks as the mana inside the eggs pulsed and forced the shell open slowly. Hands reaching out of both eggs and prying the shells open as Nola gently placed the eggs on the ground and slowly two fully grown New Workers emerged from the eggs, looking exactly like Nola, except the color of their markings was different, and they were just a little shorter then their Queen both looking around a moment before picking up the pieces of the egg shells and starting to eat them to reclaim the materials used in making them.

After they had finished eating the looked to Nola again then to the Fuzzy Ricter "Is this food for the Colony?" one said pointing to Ricter as the other picked him up "It's very fluffy" the one picking Ricter up commented as it looked around them for the location of the Colony before loking to Nola for direction.

Nola smiled at the two then as one picked up Ricter she meeped and gently took him from the smaller worker "No no this is not food this is mister squishy....he helped us so we take care of mister squishy okay?" she said as he hugged him and the other two nodded hugging him as well before Nola put him down "You two are going to be with me as we get things for the Colony, Mister Squishy is part of the colony, there is a tall one too...There she is" she said as she spotted Kokonoe walking up "This is the Tall one, she is part of the Colony too" she then looked up "That information would be good so I can get the things for mister squishy" she said looking to the taller female.

 

[Ricter]

Ricter didn't seem to mind accompanying them for a moment but he did need to go and do his job, which he was just about to do till it seemed Nola's eggers were about to hatch. Something he rather not miss given it seemed important for her possible offspring to know he wasn't food or something like a pet to their mother.

Watching in awe, the eggs were different than anything he's ever seen, being made up of some form of energy that were capable of expanding, growing and shaping themselves into the very creatures that Nola herself resembled. From the two eggs the two creatures would begin to eat them, looking around at the two of them and having different markings and colors than their queen.

But it wasn't long before they inquired about the environment, namely who was there as he was picked up by one and started to wiggle a bit as he didn't expect it. Not that he hasn't been lifted about twenty times by now since meeting both Kokonoe and Nola, it still came as a surprise that two newborns, only a few seconds old, were able to pick him up like he was just a sheet of paper to them.

"Uh I don't think I'm food."

The stoat chimed in as Nola would then take him from her daughter/worker, holding him instead while explaining whom he was and that he was a friend rather than food. Once the hugging festival started he would allow it as always, being free soon after, at least not before he would playfully nibble on them and return the hug as his body made for a nice warm and fuzzy cushion to sink into at all times.

When Kokonoe returned he would wave, taking notice of how many things she managed to acquire in such a short amount of time, making him smile softly while pointing out something to the neko woman. "Uh nothing so far, I have to go actually, kinda can't sit around and do nothing, but I'll be sure to come by soon. If you both are heading home you should be mindful of the construction work, the house is being expanded!"

Proud of his investment he knew that a bigger home would help promote more business since it doubled as his store front, it would also ensure that they could have more space and wouldn't all be sleeping in the same little bed. Though he still had plans for later investments, this one seemed like the best call for his money, for his two friends he had no clue what they would plan to buy or build with what they had on hand. Yet it was their money, they could spend it however they wished, in the mean time Ricter had other things to do as he began to walk away.

"I'll see you both soon, okay? Just be safe if your leaving out of town and don't get hurt please!" A fair warning for what could be a very dangerous excursion if they choose to go on his little mission.