The Makeshift Matchmaker (yuri + arknights)

The cafeteria wasn't all that packed that morning, likely due to the landship being docked at the moment. A fairly sizeable portion of the personnel had probably taken the chance to eat in the city, for the most part the same ones who had managed to get a few days off for the occasion. That didn't quite make the place less noisy than usual though, more than half the seats filled and several people heading for or away from the counter. There, at a table closer to the walls than to the middle of the large room, were sitting three of Rhodes' youngest operators.

"So?" Suzuran asked while munching on a somewhat large sandwich.

"I'd like to... " Popukar replied from across the table, an impressively large bowl filled with milk and a slightly overabundant amount of cereals in front of her "... but Miss Orchid says I'll have to repeat my class if I don't study more... "

"Oh. I can help you with that, I think"

"Don't worry, Lisa... you already studied these past days so go and have fun while we're here"

"Are you sure?"

"You shouldn't insist so much" Shamare chimed in from between them "It brings... you shouldn't"

She wasn't really eating anything, undoing and redoing some of Morte's sewings instead as she waited for her beverage -hot tea, by the looks of it- to cool down a bit.

Suzuran stared at Shamare's dool. She knew the siracusan language and, precisely because of that, she couldn't help but find that name rather unsettling. Shamare seemed to like it though, so she never brought it up.

"What about you then?" she inquired.

"The sea would fine, but Morte doesn't like lakes"

"We can take a walk around the town then?"

Shamare turned her way and stared at her for a brief moment before running her gaze on the air around her head instead, her eyes wandering in an odd yet somehow focused way. Something Suzuran had grown rather accustomed to by that point.

"Something good might happen today if I'm not with you... but you might have to take a gamble for it"

"Is that so... ?"

That she was a bit less used to, though it definitively wasn't the first time Shamare talked of divinations like that. Suzuran was somewhat skeptic about such things, more than one might expect from the daughter of a priest, but she didn't quite consider them nonsense either. Though Shamare's predictions seemed far more accurate when she spoke of misfortunes, for better or for worse.

"What about tomorrow then?"

"Still study... " Popukar groaned between one spoonful of cereals and the other.

Shamare, on her part, grabbed her cup and drank a bit before answering.

"That depends on how tonight's ritual will go"

"Can I watch?"

The other vulpo turned her doll around and stared at its eyes.

"Morte says that would disrupt the flow"

"I see... "

She had expected that answer, in all honesty, she had just hoped it wouldn't go like that again. A vain hope, as it turned out. Suzuran mentally went over all the other people she'd asked to hang out earlier. Bubble had already planned a tour of the city's restaurants with Ceobe, Folinic had to cover for a member of the medical team who got sick, Skadi's mission was taking longer than initially planned and she hadn't returned yet -though that realistically didn't change anything as far as hanging around with someone went-, Vermeil was exploring the nearby woods by herself, Perfumer was visiting the, well, perfumeries of the town, and her instructor -of a subject wholly unrelated to her studies- could only manage a bit of time the next evening. Though with how busy she was, it was already a wonder how she managed to make room for Suzuran's private lessons, infrequent as they might have been. She had even tried contacting Eyjafjalla, but as it turned out she wasn't on the landship at the moment.

She sighed.

This is what I get for spending a whole day holed up in my room...

Then some louds noises echoed from the kitchen all the way to the hall, the large door suddenly kicked open as Matterhorn came out, dragging a clearly upset perro with him.

"For the last time, you're not allowed inside there" he said, more exhausted than angry.

"Eeeehhhh? But food's there!"

"Just wait in line, it's not that hard"

"Don't want to!" Ceobe complained as she managed to slip away from his grasp and tried to dash back into the kitchen, the forte trying to stop her as half the people in the cafeteria ignored the somewhat usual scene while the other half looked on with either amusement or curiosity.

"Ceeeooobeeeeee!" Bubble screamed as she dashed in from nobody knows where exactly, for reasons that probably made a lot of sense to her, the situation threatening to turn into a small scale brawl.

"Shouldn't we help him?" Suzuran asked the other two.

"Eehh, Orchid always tells me I shouldn't get up without having finished my food"

"I don't think anything good would come of it... "

Despite the two negative responses and a quite complete lack of support, Suzuran was about to get up herself to try and talk at least one between Ceobe and Bubble out of... whatever they were doing when someone else decided to take action as well.

"You're disturbing the others, young ladies" a towering feline said as he held them up by their clothes.

After a brief struggle which consisted mostly of waving their arms around in the air without accomplishing much of anything -unless amusing some of the onlookers counted as an accomplishment- the two girls gave up and reluctantly backed away, leaving the cafeteria altogether. Which probably meant Ceobe had some weird shrooms stored somewhere in case the raid at the kitchen failed. Again.

"Thanks, Mountain. Coffee, right?"

"Coffee is fine, yes"

"Just a minute then" Matterhorn concluded, the kitchen's door closing like the curtains over a little play as he disappeared back inside.

"He sure is scary" Popukar commented.

"Do you think so? He looks so... fluffy... "

"He's just unfortunate" Shamare said, leaving the other two wondering what gave her that impression.

A pretty ordinary morning at the cafeteria, all things considered.

Once breakfast was over, the trio broke up and Suzuran found herself walking alone through the not quite empty hallways, heading for a specific area of the landship. To a door she had been through only an handful of times, to be more accurate. On her way there, however, she stumbled upon a somewhat bizarre sight.

"Miss Lappland?"

"Oh, hi morsel" the lupo replied.

"... are you alright?"

"I'm doing quite fine, yes"

She was lying on the floor, feet against the wall, occasionally moving them as if to mimic the act of walking. With no apparent results, at least as far as Suzuran could see.

"How does she do that?" the lupo whispered to herself.

"Ehm... I'll be on my way then"

"See you later, morsel"

Suzuran decided to just not think too much about what Lappland might have been up to and continued walking, eventually reaching her destination. Most doors at Rhodes were made of steel, or metal in general, but that one seemed a slightly bit more reinforced than the average one. She took a deep breath and knocked, just twice. A few moments went by in silence, then a few seconds, and then the knob turned.

"Mnh? Suzuran. Good morning" Saria greeted from the other side.

That wasn't the first time the vulpo had gone there on her own, but the fact was still unusual enough to leave the vouivre vaguely surprised.

"Good morning, miss Saria" she replied with a bow.

On her part, Suzuran was quite surprised too. Saria herself didn't actually reside in the quarters assigned to the ex-members of Rhine Lab, for reasons the vulpo wasn't aware of, but she visited the area often enough. No, what surprised Suzuran was the fact that she was wearing an apron.

"Is Ifrit h- "

"Lisa!" the sarkaz shouted as she ran at full speed towards her.

Had Saria not caught her mid-dash and lifted her up just enough to get her feet off the floor, Ifrit would've most likely ended up tackling Suzuran.

"You got out already? I thought you'd stay grounded for a week!"

It was a single day actually...

"No, I'm, uh, out already" she replied "How about you?"

Ifrit looked up at Saria, and the vouivre returned her gaze with a rather neutral one.

"I'm clean too! Hey, wanna hang out today? Saria said she's gonna help with the barbecue!"

With how excited Ifrit seemed to be about it, Suzuran would've probably agreed even if she had already made other plans. She hadn't though.

"Sure, I actually came here just for that"

"Great! Hey Silen- ouch!"

Saria had just bonked her on the head. With little force, but still.

"Don't shout like that in the living room, Ifrit. Or on the doorstep. Not this early in the morning, at least" she admonished her as she dropped her back to the floor.

"Fine" the sarkaz pouted before heading back into the quarters.

Between her and Saria, Suzuran briefly caught glimpse of Silence sitting at the dining table, drinking what seemed like an unhealthy amount of coffee.

"We're about to have breakfast" Saria spoke, turning her gaze back to Suzuran "I can add a seat if you want"

"Oh, no, I can't intrude like that. And I already ate at the cafeteria"

"Hey Lisa!" Ifrit came back, shouting almost as loudly as before and earning a soft sigh from the vouivre "We've got pancakes! Want some?"

"I just had breakfast, actually" she apologized with a soft bow.

"Have a second one then"

"She might get stomachache if she eats too much now" Saria chimed in "That'd be bad, wouldn't it?"

"Well, I guess it'd suck today"

"Go and make some more coffee, I'll be there in a moment" she said while softly ruffling Ifrit's hair.

"H-hey, not in front of Lisa" she said in what could be considered a whisper for her standards, which is to say not a whisper at all "I've got an image to mantain"

"What kind of image?"

"Of the cool elder, of course!"

"You're not that much older than Suzuran, you know?" Saria asked with a soft smile while Ifrit kept trying to get her hand off her own head with no results.

Wether that was because Saria wasn't budging or because Ifrit wasn't actually trying, Suzuran wasn't all that sure. She leaned more towards the latter option though.

"But I'm way taller than her"

"Oh? So you think Hoshiguma is cooler than me because she's taller?" she asked, knowing the answer before even hearing it.

"Of course I don't! ... I'll reconsider the importance of height then"

Suzuran held back a chuckle, if only because she felt like not doing so would end up delaying their breakfast even further.

"Coffee, Ifrit. Please"

"Fiineee" she finally agreed as she strolled back inside, her gait much more relaxed than her speech would suggest.

"We'll head to the beach after breakfast" Saria spoke as she turned back to Suzuran again "I think the food'll be ready an hour or two after midday, if you want to come. We'll be on the third block, you should spot us quickly enough"

"I'll be there for sure"

"Thanks"

"Ehm... you're welcome" Suzuran replied, not entirely sure what warranted that "I'll see you later then" she concluded with a bow.

Then a certain scent reached her nose, making her ears twitch.

"I... I think the coffee might be burning... "

Saria sighed.

"Ifrit, you didn't forget... "

The door closed, cutting the sentence short and leaving Suzuran alone in the hallway again. She turned around and headed back to her room, with the intent of reading a bit before heading to the beach herself. And on her way there she stumbled upon Lappland again, in the exact same position as before.

"Miss Lappland? ... should I call a medic?"

"You know, morsel" she replied as she got up "One of these days you'll seriously hurt me if you keep that up"

"Ah, I-I'm sorry! I just thought that maybe you had back pain or... "

"What do you think I am, a granny?" Lappland asked back with a chuckle "I've sent some off but I've never been treated as one myself, you know?"

"You've... what?"

"Oh, don't mind that. Say, morsel, have you heard of... " she began to ask, only for her words to trail into a sudden silence.

Her eyes remained fixed on Suzuran for a few moments before jumping to somewhere else, drifting aimlessy for a few seconds as the lupo rubbed an index over her temple.

"... of one of these afternoons?"

"I... don't think so?" she replied, confused at both the vagueness of the question and the apparent uncertainty of Lappland herself.

"That so. 'lright, would you mind staying free for... no, wait that wasn't it... "

"Miss Lappland, you don't look too well"

"Ah, forget it" she concluded with a casual wave of her hand "It'll come back at some point. See you around, morsel"

"Until next time, miss Lappland... " she waved back, somewhat confused and honestly even a bit worried by that odd exchange.

Maybe she didn't rest properly? she wondered, not really convinced herself of that possibility.

"... ah"

Having suddenly remembered a little but important detail, the little vulpo hurried after the lupo, catching up quickly enough as the latter had just been walking away.

"Miss Lappland, I have a favor to ask"

She stared at her with an oddly neutral expression, her neck slowly tilting to the side. Her ears twitched exactly once, her tail waving so softly one might not even notice it. And then a smile suddenly appeared on her face, a smile so wide it almost felt threatening somehow.

"But of course, morsel!" she agreed with open arms.

"I made plans to meet... someone at the beach later" she explained, deciding to leave Ifrit's name out for reasons she wasn't entirely sure of herself "And I was wondering if you might accompany me there? Sister Folinic got quite worried the last time I wandered out on my own, so... "

"Hold on" Lappland interrupted her, suddenly pensive "... sister?"

"Ah! N-no!" Suzuran corrected herself, blushing a bit as she realized the misunderstanding "Miss Folinic and I aren't related, she's just... "

"You know, morsel, I think my heart just broke" she replied with an uncharacteristically flat voice.

"No, that, I mean, I'm... ehr, why?" she ended up asking, puzzled.

"Pfhh... "

And then Lappland laughed, pretty heartily at that, albeith without breaking eye contact, which was vaguely unsettling in its own way.

"Alright, morsel, alright! You said the beach. When do you leave?"

"I was thinking... in a little over an hour?" she replied as she briefly went over what to do and how long Ifrit and the others might need to eat, get there themselves and set everything up "An hour and a half I think"

"That's plenty of time, sure. I'll wait for you at the third gate then" she concluded as she turned around and left, her pace quicker than before as she waved goodbye.

"Thanks a lot!" Suzuran said, somewhat loudly to make sure she'd still hear her through the distance, bowing as her usual.

... was this a good idea? she wondered.

Truth be told, Lappland wasn't the first person she had thought of. Nor the second. Honestly, she wasn't even among the first ten, not after that first meeting of hers with Ifrit. But everyone she could think of was already busy, and she really didn't want to be lectured again about how she shouldn't go wandering around a new place on her own. Then again, she didn't really dislike the thought of staying with Lappland a bit either, if only for the time it'd take to get to the beach at least. It'd be more accurate to say that she had mixed feeling about it. Greatly mixed feelings, to the point that making sense of them would probably require more than a full day of reflection. And so, with a few questions lingering in her mind, Suzuran got back to her room, spent some time reading and then started packing some stuff into a shoulderbag, one large enough to hold a single change of clothes and a few other things inside. And, as she did so, she found the package she had previously put into a drawer.

"Oh, right"

That one had completely slipped off her mind. Since she wasn't really in any hurry, she decided to open the small box, only to find a plastic wand of sort, with a rounded head. There were a button and a small wheel on one side. It reminded her of a microphone in a way, though she doubted that to really be one. There was a display on the other side, where she guessed the remaining charge was shown. She tried to turn it on, which apparently required to push the button first and rotate the wheel later, and the head started vibrating. Fairly strongly too, with a relatively loud buzz coming from it.

"... what's this for?"

She was fairly sure that thing had been left in her room by Lappland, so she decided to simply ask her about it rather than wracking her brain over it. She turned it off, put it into her bag and left her room, exchanging a few brief greetings with people she passed by on her way to the landship's third gate. Thinking about it, she didn't know why Lappland had picked that one. She could understand avoiding the main gate as there was always quite a bustle there when the landship was docked but, even considering that, the third one remained a bit too far from it. They'd have to walk around a good part of Rhodes Island just to actually get to the town. Then again, hardly anyone used it on those occasions, so maybe that was the reason? She wasn't sure why Lappland would want to avoid others that much either though. Well, maybe she just didn't like crowds. Somewhat lost in her thoughts, Suzuran ended up walking past said gate and had to backtrack a bit after having realized it. And there, not quite in a corner of the empty, small area, was Lappland. Suzuran stared at the lupo with a bit of confusion before walking up to her, her tails waving softly behind her.

"Ehm... miss Lappland?"

"Hi there, morsel. Short time no see"

She was sweating a bit, and her breathing was somewhat ragged, a small bag hanging from her shoulder. And she had also swapped out her shorts and crop top for a black, not too plain bikini. Only those though, the rest of her outfit was unchanged, which made for a rather odd, if striking, appearance.

"We're, uh... still on the landship... ?" Suzuran cautiously pointed out.

"You feeling a bit sick, morsel? Of course we are" she replied as she leaned forward, resting an hand over the vulpo's forehead to check her temperature.

She decided to not insist on that particular subject, partially because the lupo's usual clothes didn't really cover that much more skin than that bikini after all. That was mostly done by her coat rather than top and shorts, coat which she did have on. Unbuttoned, but still.

"You look a bit tired"

"I had to make a run for it, nothing to fret over"

"A run for what?"

"For this" she replied as she pointed to her swimsuit "I wasn't sure I could get one in time, you know. There was a shop quite close to the landship though, so I still managed"

"Wha- you could've told me you didn't have one, I'd... "

"Aww, you wanted to pick it out for me? How sweet of you" she cut her off with a chuckle while cupping the vulpo's cheeks and shaking them, something Suzuran admittedly wasn't used to.

"That's not it! I wouldn't have bothered you had I known you had to buy one"

"You worry too much, morsel, and about the wrong things"

The little vulpo did wonder why Lappland hadn't bought one at Closure's shop, but came to the conclusion that she simply didn't have swimsuits in stock. Though the actual reason was that the prices there were... less than fair, so to say. That, and Closure didn't really have good tastes in clothing, at least as far as Lappland was concerned.

"Let's get going, alright?"

"... could you please... button up your coat? At least until we get to the beach?"

"Oh" Lappland said back, leaning close enough to whisper right into Suzuran's ear "Want to keep me all to yourself, don't you?"

The vulpo blushed, her gaze briefly ending up on the lupo's cleavage, normally hidden by her top but left pretty exposed by the swimsuit. She wasn't really one to get flustered over something like that, but the sight mad.