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It had been quite a long time since PQ had seen her friends. It took some time and effort to admit this to herself, but over the past few months her life had taken quite a turn for the better. Better for PQ meant busier, more obligations, more challenges, and less spare time. What spare time she had was normally forced upon her by her significant other through means of trickery and sneakiness.

As the summer began to wane, PQ's longing for familiar faces grew stronger. And so she sent out invitations to her friends for a special night at her place. Her place being the third floor of her building complex where there was normally a bustling crowd of clubbers coming upstairs for food and drink. The third floor was a casual but well kept diner with a full bar that was open from early evening to early morning. People of the night were regulars, and often students during midterms or finals.

But tonight there was to be no one but those who the cyborg invited herself. Light conversation, laughter and good company were to be had this night and she welcomed the idea of it.

The cyborg had been wiping down the bar as the man had walked in. Not that there was a speck of dust on it originally, but it was hard to keep herself from doing anything. Looking up at him, PQ forced herself to stop cleaning for the moment.

"I can't help but wonder if it's a good or a bad thing," she told him, her voice teasing with a smile in her words. "You're looking good, the red hair suits you well."

Clockwork. She smiled in her mind at his word play. "Work has been brutal. I'm taking off for a few days to celebrate my one year with White in a few weeks and honestly I'm interested in seeing how that will go."

Tossing the towel she had been cleaning with over her shoulder, PQ folded her arms across her chest casually. "Now how about yourself? You seem bored or tired or both and that's not very much like you."

A faint sound could be heard, since the room seemed quiet enough for the two individuals to hear beyond its walls. It started out really dull and muffled, the only thing that could be at least half-certain was that it was a sound repeating itself with no reason or rhyme. Though, over the passing minute, it became more audible, like it was getting closer. The sound (a voice?) was becoming clearer; a nasally mimic of a common animal sound being belted out in a sing-song fashion. There was one known person in Aekea that regularly made this....

"Nya nyanya nya nyaaa~"

After seconds more of closing in, the voice seemed to stop just outside the room it had been invited to, going quiet for a pause. The door slowly creaked open, just enough for a familar, curious face to pop out from around its corner, minty locks, red irises, green scleras and all....

"....Neow?"

Gera's shy-natured, curious stare melted away for her usual cheery face, revealing herself completely.

"Porter-chan! Rara! Neow!"

Gera entered the room, closing the door behind her, waving to them just as enthusiastically as she greeted them. Her minty hair was done differently than usual, the ends thickly curled together, split in two to curve to both sides of her front. Other than that, the rest of her appearance was familiar; her typical blue and white casual attire, looking like your average, but chic housewife....

The eccentric cyborg nurse surveyed the area, her face returning to curiousity. There were only two people here, including the host and excluding herself. Gera closed her eyes and rocked her head to and fro in typical exaggeration of bubbly thought....

"....Nani? Did I arrive too early, neow? I could've sworn Porter-chan's letter told me that I was supposed to be here at this hour....ara ara...."

A silvery laugh escaped from Gera upon hearing Black's joke. She responded with her same ol' heartiness.

"Nah, just some curling irons and really strong hair gel! Makes your hair defy gravity, neow!"

If Gera had cat ears, they'd be perking up along with her stance as her face brightened even more. Despite training very hard, both by herself and with Black's assistance, she had not made the cut for the first practice run, being too weak to even meet the minimum level requirements. Maybe this time, after much more training....

"Tashikani, neow! I'll do my best, just like previous times!"

Gera then made the sort of jump where one's legs bent as they pump a fist upwards to emphasize their enthusiasm and eagerness. Her friends never seemed to mind her peppy, almost-childish behavior. She could always unleash it fully amongst friends and family, just like now....

"I got mine from Salon Durem, neow! Forgive this overused saying, but....It's selling like hotcakes, neow! If you want some, you may have to be quick! Either that, or place an order for it!"

Gera was glad to see her good friend get his energy and zing back, as she had been getting concerned, deep down. Zestrel once said that she was a walking, talking generator of happiness. Perhaps it really was true. Either way, Gera laughed again when Black told her what (s)he planned to use that gel for.

When asked about the Helpers, the sprightly cyborg thought back to that specific day of training....

"Mora-san, Mina-san, Wavy-san, Swim-san....They were all very helpful, neow! Very nice and delightfully kooky, too! I'm glad I got to meet 'em! Thanks for introducing them to me and vice versa, Rara! Neow!"

Gera hoped that she didn't leave someone out of the mentioning. Though, it had been a small group, so she was almost sure that she didn't forget someone. Other than that, she was very sincere with her opinion, despite it sounding a little generic. She had only got to meet them in less than an hour and most of that time had been filled with busy training regimens....

X knew she was breaking a longstanding tradition of being the first to arrive as she lingered with the engine idling around the block. These damn social calls would be her downfall. At least one of the guests was inevitably fussy with her by the end of the night, but that generally paled in comparison to the flak PQ would send her way when she didn't show. She sighed and put her truck into gear. Let's just do this already...

She pulled her truck alongside the building and made her way upstairs. She walked in as she ran her hand through her short black hair. She was dressed casually, making some kind of feeble pretense of knowing how to be a civilian. The swishing tags around her neck, visible knife sheath strapped to the back of her waist, and omnipresent figure and body language really kept her from being anywhere close to believable, but hey, at least she'd tried.

She was pleasantly surprised to see Gera. It had been a long time since they'd caught up. She seemed engaged in conversation with Black at the moment, so she instead strolled up to their host. She flagged PQ's attention subtly before placing both hands on the counter in front of her. "I don't suppose you have anything to eat around here, do you?" she asked with a hint of a smirk. Icebreakers and parties weren't her forte, but food was, and she figured her friend knew this just as well as she did.

"Now that I think about it, I think there was a sale on them....but I think you can also reserve an order for it....and have it delivered to you, too...."

Gera perked up in notice as her programmed feline senses detected a newcomer. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the surprisingly casual-looking X just step in. The cheerful nursebot took two seconds to smile and give a somewhat-formal greeting to the Captain of the Aekean Guard before quickly returning her attention to Black. She was still "Hayley-sama" to her, after all, despite the informal circumstances....

"Speaking of which, I've been meaning to repay the Helpers. I always do my best to thank you whenever you help. I know the Helpers don't do what they do for the sake of items or gold, but there has to be a way I can at least thank the ones who volunteered to help us out, neow...."