Sinope Harbour Festival (IC, MT)

[Danceria]

Fara smiled, leaned down to whisper into his ear, propped on one hand and using the other to keep her breasts up so that they didn't touch his back or shoulders - she imagined, that he was not entirely sure about this, so no need to add something uncomfortable... or something, that was too comfortable.
"I can imagine, why you wouldn't want this session to end prematurely.", she said, "You are in a terrible condition... but let me help you with that..."
And with that, she gave him a small peck onto the cheek and rose again to continue, smiling to herself.

"My pride would insist that I am perfectly fiiii-" Aceus winced, before relaxing once more. "...But I submit myself to your professional examination." he would then silence himself, mostly out of a cheeky desire to not vocalize as much as Fara did under his care. After a few moments, Aceus asked. "Though, as professional Hammam goer, I...would like to know a few things." he ventured. "Our last venture resulted in me being very flustered, and deprived mostly of the true Hammam experience." the Dancerian King would smirk in recollection. After a long day in Utica, Aceus had used the bathing facilities presented towards him, but was rather spartan-like and insisted that he bathed himself, mostly to respect the image of the serving-girls and household. "So, after you thoroughly and completely de-knot my back, we head towards the cold room, correct?"

[Kuronami]

Lady Fara smiled slightly.
"That's the spirit. Atta girl!", she said and led her further down the Boulevard, towards the Smaller Basin, where the Aurelia awaited. One could already see the heads of a few masts, but not the ships themselves.

"Alright.", Mahmut said and led her further, "Hm..."
He looked at the signs.
"A jeweler?", he asked and pointed to a window, where indeed, jewelry was sold - not diamonds and sapphires, but jewelry of crystal glass and less precious stones, for example Lion's Stone. Necklaces and rings, but also bracelets and brooches were on offer.

"Hm...", Shirin made, "She has taste, have to give her that, Milady." The last word was accompanied by a small smile in Yuki's direction. "Shall we follow them into the shop they decide to go into? It would raise our chances of being detected..."

"Is that our destination?" Yuzu asked in regards to the ship. "Well she's a beauty either way!" she grinned.


"Oooh perfect, and it looks modest enough it won't break my budget!" Retracting her parasol she with Mahmut entered the shop. Taking a look at everything they had to offer it was simple but perfect for her. "Ooh this would look great on Minako! Or maybe this would! Actually this might work best for Hiiragi!"

"Too risky, best we keep a safe perimeter on the outside!" Yuki clenched her fists in excited determination.

[AHSCA]

Aurelia smiled.
"Indeed, she is. But not nearly as beautiful as this ship's first officer.", she told Marcella in a whisper, only for her. That her Grandmother heard it anyway was missed by her.
Said Grandmother spoke: "Alright, ladies... with the formalities done, Captain, First Officer, I would like for the three of us to sit together for a few moments, if possible outside." She let a beat pass. "But no tea, please, no one wants to need a potty break in a crucial moment."
Aurelia nodded. "We have a few minutes.", she said.

Marcella blushed seeing Aurelia slip pleasure into business really made her love her more. Resisting the urge to kiss her again she turned around when The Sultana spoke. "Yes ma'am, we'd be glad to sit with you. Assuming of course, Captain, all needed work is done?"

Atif smiled, making sure, that her eyes were closed.
He then gave her the gift, which he had picked out for her, which was, ironically enough, a small necklace, which he put around her neck: He had gotten her a necklace of silver (actually only silvered) engraved with the image of an Edelweiß, a symbol for the beauty of a person.
He placed it around her neck, then his lips sought hers, planting a soft kiss on them.

Her face was red and eyes glowing "Wow, it's so lovely, thank you so much!" she ran her hand along the lovely silver necklace, real or not it was lovely and all she could ever ask for. She enjoyed the kiss form him once more. Taking his hand and firmly latching onto it. "Do all people who come to your public baths end up with someone?" She giggled knowing it's what happened with Marcella and now with her.

[Aurora Confederacy]

Merle nodded. It was interesting to see how different even these things could heavily vary from one federated state to another (Bavaria not being one, but actually independent, contrary to popular belief), and while she was from a federation herself, variations of gun laws were rather little in Lillorainen.
Zoe opened the doors to the lavatory and the main bedroom; the former looked comfortable enough, just as the one of the Milenka, which had been upgraded to modern standards over the time, the latter looked cozy, too, with LED light strips and small windows. And there was no lack of space for storage. "Not bad!" - Ratko said, whistling through his teeth, while Jax, who had waited behind the door patiently, had his one snack he had obviously left over in case of emergency.
"Now, our own legislation on that is not that much different" - Merle now explained to Marie, "There aren't many weapons concerned by state law - actually, it's just heavy artillery and fully automatic firearms; most states explicitly require them to be carried concealed, so boxed in, in public, but they aren't outright banned in any place in Lillorainen, at least not that I knew. Pistols and other small arms, however, are pretty much sold like candies and can be taken almost everywhere; carrying them concealed is optional, yet strongly recommended and usual - same goes for semi-automatic firearms, but they already require a special license, which you may, for example, get after a certain time of military service. I'm not sure about RPGs and stuff - owning them is very uncommon, yet not entirely unheard of, either."
"I think, tank ownership technically isn't illegal, either" - Ingmar added. "But you're unlikely to ever see that."
"All in all, Fun With Firearms is indeed given" - Merle said. "What I've pretty much grown up with, given how long I've been in the Navy, is the MJR-210, a fully automatic rifle by Morschenich-Jäckrath Systems Limited. It's pretty much a Sturmgewehr, 969 millimeters of total length, a range of 600 meters, rate of fire 720 rounds a minute. But of course, MJR makes most of its domestic market profit by small, non-automatic arms."
Ingmar had to grin. "It's often said, that a semi-automatic rifle like the MJR-102, 105 or 109 belongs into a Lillorainian household as much as a fridge does."

"get an RPG in the Aurora Confederacy and the army will come looking for you, probably armed!" comments Gina, "we can't even own a nine mil pistol, yet we can own a bolt action sniper rifle, but not a machine carbine, no fifty cal's though"

"When Luna was lifted from where she lay, we also put a hose through that hatch there" comments Zoe, pointing to the skylight, "we did have to smash it though but as you can see its been replaced" and now has LED strip around it". Zoe then taps the light switch and rather than going straight off, the interior light gradually gets dimmer until it is fully off. Tapping it again and gradually the light returns. Zoe then moves to the shower room, "this room actually survived pretty well, or at least the shower base did, however it got replaced now it is a body-jet shower and also has an air-blade drier too" Zoe then moves to the main room before turning her attention to the aft of the boat "and at the back there are two smaller cabins, those are used for storage now"

[Kyrenaia]

The entire show lasted, from start to finish, for four minutes, ending with both dancers ending on one knee, kneeling to each other with small smiles on their faces, their eyes closed.
The Kyrenaian part of the audience applauded, the tourists mostly joining a few seconds later.
Both dancers rose, the applause subsiding, when one of the dancers took off her veil and spoke a few sentences in Kyrenaian, a soft, velvety voice speaking.
A moment after she had finished, the other spoke in English: "Thank you, everyone, for your kind applause. We still need to learn quite a lot, but it shows us that we are moving into the right direction." She let a beat pass. "We are collecting money for children affected by the Butterfly Skin Condition, more specifically for the Farasha Foundation, which is committed to research and aid. If you want, we would be glad about a small donation."
Quite a few of the Kyrenaians indeed donated.

Four minutes of an good show to say at least, it was great and good to always see street art when they have the chance.
They clapped as many tourists and locals after having enjoyed the show, then both of them explained in Kyrenaian and english that they were collecting money for the butterfly skin condition and to be handed for an foundation which was helping against it; the Farasha Foundation, they might make an visit there if they wanted to help more closely.

After some of the people donated, the couple decided to finally approach the two dancers and bow to them in respect.

"Excuse us young ladies, but we wanted to tell you two that you were great back there and we appreciate what you for help those childs" Edward told them grinning. "Allow us to present ourselves, my name is Edward and the woman at my side is my wife, Jessica" his wife then bowed again and continued.

"We came here to at least give our small contribution for the cause and we hope you don't mind about it" after Jessica said that, she and her husband took out their wallets for hand them the money, however it wasn't an small quantity... Fifty thousand Barquas. Yup they changed an lot of money in the exchange market before come here.

"Here, we hope that it is more than enough for help"

The two dancers smiled as Jessica and Edward introduced themselves, wanted to thank them for their kind words and donation, expecting maybe ten or even twenty Barqas...
...they got fifty thousand.
Something in their minds broke, and for a moment, both of them were like fish: Mouth opening and closing without a sound.
Then, the younger of the two spoke: "May the Lioness bless you, Sir, Ma'am.", she said and bowed deeply, her companion following her lead. "I am Samira, that is Ellaha." The other dancer nodded. "We are deeply grateful for your donation, it will surely help."
Ellaha then spoke. "We are actually part of a four-girl crew, which split in two 'teams' to raise money for the Foundation and... well, it seems, as if we already reached our objective.", she said, "I have to also thank you, because... my little brother is one of the butterfly children."
Samira nodded. "That is, to tell the sad truth, the reason why we know about that desease in the first place."

Now, it was Layla's turn to nod slowly.
"Of course, it's a matter of perspective. If you ask a Mairani about their opinion on Shamsiyyans, they are unlikely to describe us as the lovely and chaotic bunch of sun-worshippers we're usually perceived as in Northern countries - at least in those that don't mistake us for Muslims, that is, but that's a problem you guys know from somewhere as well. Now, the perspective is always dependent on a certain background, usually found in history. There has never been any major war between Shamsiyya and Kyrenaia, at least none I could think of out-of-hand, so there is no noteworthy bad blood between our countries and peoples. If I had grandparents who could remember my home city being bombed back into the Middle Ages, I'd surely have a different opinion as well."
A beat passed.
"Other than that, it does sting a lot to hear, or rather read such insults from a foreign statesman, no matter the history - especially if it's the President, who is actually supposed to appear as a role model for his people, especially the youth." She shook her head. "I vaguely know what has been going on in Eadhra back then, and it was plain horrible, but the leader of a country still shouldn't behave like that. Although we seem to live in a time where some decency in public and on public platforms seems to be asked too much from many. Sadly."

Maryam nodded, smiling.
"This is the thought I had back then. I decided, quite quickly, that being famous for winning a bet and getting a dance with the most-desired guy in school - not to mention what came afterwards - is better than being famous for taking a beer shower and losing an amount of money that is a lot for someone who has just finished Middle School. As easy as that. And I think it was the first point ever that Farida eventually agreed with me on!"
She grinned for a moment, then turned serious again.
"And Atif Qalb even made it into Shamsiyyan media - of course, rather as the guy dating Princess Aurelia than as a world-class Axerider, although he'll surely have gained fame within the scene before. Pretty much the kind of fame he hated. Now he's famous for being the one who got foiled by her, thanks to her switching teams. I honestly don't know what's worse."

"To be honest, that is what I like about our Minister of Foreign Affairs.", Atif said, a small smile forming, "Following that rant by the President of Eadhra, the Kyrenaian public demanded an answer, though in this case, 'an answer' is meant to be written as revenge. A similar rant, from the Sultana, the Grand Vizier or anyone, to be published on the title pages of all major newspapers and so on. Some people say, that it especially stung, when he claimed, that no Kyrenaian man had the balls to stand against him."
He shrugged.
"They got their reply: The Sultanate does not consider Social Media Platforms as an appropriate platform for diplomatic or international communication. If His Excellency, the President of Eadhra has something to say, he should prove, that he has the balls to do so over proper channels and face to face. The address is - and so on." Atif grinned. "Apparently, he does not have the balls, because there has been no reply."

"I don't know either, but I don't think, that it was a pleasurable experience.", the second teen said, "To be honest, I don't want to find out."
Neither wanted his friend, who added: "Getting dumped by a woman, that's bad, but her switching the shoreline..." He shook his head. "...especially if you work together with her that closely as they did and still do. They are an odd pair, that's for sure."
"And then there is of course the entire matter with Fiafia, the rumours of her being in an incestous relationship with her father and-slash-or Uncle and who her new lover is.", the second one added to that, "He surely had no easy break-up."
"By the way, how did the thing with Samir end?", the other asked.

"Don't worry, replies Thomas with a laugh, we totally agree that this joke was outdated logn before we were born! Anyway, for us four, our favourite kind of ships are the ones we were stationned on in our heydays, and who gave the Japanese Navy a run for her money. Our good old Essex-Class Carriers, Iowa Battleships, that sort of thing.
-Before we continue with the pleasantries, Prince, continues Frank with a more serious tone, we would like to adress a small issue concerning your Aide de Camp.
-As we were on our way down here, explains Joe, we were talking about Naval Submarine Doctrine, and the conversation stumbled upon the fate of civilians that would happen to be caught in the crossfire. The way Miss Qadir said it, it sounded as if the RKN Subs would deal with civilian cruise liners and the like the same way the Fleet Ground Forces dealt with civilians in Va'a Mamao last March. Although we personnally didn't comment on her answer, our bodyguards did.
And so, as the Able Sailor wasn't too pleased with what she heard, she sort-of reported her anger on Peter, who had done nothing wrong. And she didn't change her attitude when Frank told her to tone down and adress him with more respec, considering our background, without mentioning the fact that if it weren't for us, your niece would have joined her mother last October during the Hunt.
-I don't know what it is with you Kyrenaians and your trademark Pride, says the former Emperor as he strokes his chin, but it sometimes is a pain in the ass. I'm all for the young Miss to express her anger for a few misplaced words, but in this case, have her report her anger on the right persons, aka our guards, not on us guests. Would you feel comfortable if we were to be angry with your brother during the return visit because of some misplaced words by a Tabardariyya or a Handmaiden?
-Seeing as how your brother's acolyte, Captain Elba, is already on thin ice with us concerning her interactions with my grandaughter in July, continues Frank, I can't imagine Anax's reaction if we were to tell him that his grandfather was disrespected by an unruly brat. You are aware of the Emperor's impulsive instincts, especially when it comes to family, no?
Anyway, new that we've said it, what's your say on the matter Prince? asks the former General.

Ilia listened and, at the end, let a beat pass before he motioned to one side.
One of the Sailor Girls appeared out of the shadows, a tray of cups with steaming hot tea in front of her, carefully setting down one in front of each and everyone, in a manner, that would make a Handmaiden proud. Qalb got one, too.
Ilia bowed his head to her, to which she replied with a bow, the Crown Prince remaining silent through the entire thing. The sailor-girl then stepped back, the tray in front of her stomach, and knelt, her eyes closed as if meditating.
The Crown Prince still did not speak.
He took the cup, raised it to his lips and took a sip.
"Ah, Navy Tea, wonderful.", he said and gave a small smile, settled the cup down, took a breath, "To the matter you raised to my attention... I will look into it." He let a beat pass. "Now, to my knowledge, and please correct me, if I am wrong, the Iowa-class Battleships only carried a limited amount of floatplanes for reconnaissance purposes. I did hear, that you four were fighter pilots and not recons - or did the Empire do a Selkie and develop Flying Boat Fighters like their Penguins?"

Lady Fara smiled slightly.
"That's the spirit. Atta girl!", she said and led her further down the Boulevard, towards the Smaller Basin, where the Aurelia awaited. One could already see the heads of a few masts, but not the ships themselves.

"Alright.", Mahmut said and led her further, "Hm..."
He looked at the signs.
"A jeweler?", he asked and pointed to a window, where indeed, jewelry was sold - not diamonds and sapphires, but jewelry of crystal glass and less precious stones, for example Lion's Stone. Necklaces and rings, but also bracelets and brooches were on offer.

"Hm...", Shirin made, "She has taste, have to give her that, Milady." The last word was accompanied by a small smile in Yuki's direction. "Shall we follow them into the shop they decide to go into? It would raise our chances of being detected..."

"Is that our destination?" Yuzu asked in regards to the ship. "Well she's a beauty either way!" she grinned.


"Oooh perfect, and it looks modest enough it won't break my budget!" Retracting her parasol she with Mahmut entered the shop. Taking a look at everything they had to offer it was simple but perfect for her. "Ooh this would look great on Minako! Or maybe this would! Actually this might work best for Hiiragi!"

"Too risky, best we keep a safe perimeter on the outside!" Yuki clenched her fists in excited determination.

"That it is.", Lady Fara said, "The Small Basin and the VIBs there - Very Important Boats."
She shook her head.
"In any case, the Aurelia, our destination, is amongst them.", she further explained, "You will recognize her by being the only vessel at her pier guarded by men with poleaxes and with a small yawl opposite to her. Said yawl being the Harira."

Mahmut smiled slightly as Haru was a bit like a child in a candy shop, staying by one of the shelves with brooches. Coming to think of it, he still needed a present for Aurelia for Spring...
A saleswoman approached him, which made him motion towards Haru. He would be alright.
The woman, around twice Mahmut's age, smiled and nodded, coming up next to the girl. "Searching for something specific, young lady?", she asked.

Shirin smiled slightly as it reminded her of her first surveillance tours.
Only that she was now the teacher and not the Cherry anymore.
"Alright, Milady.", she said and nodded, motioning for Yuki to come with her to a stall with a good view of the shop's entrance, which sold dried meat. "Now what?"

Aurelia smiled.
"Indeed, she is. But not nearly as beautiful as this ship's first officer.", she told Marcella in a whisper, only for her. That her Grandmother heard it anyway was missed by her.
Said Grandmother spoke: "Alright, ladies... with the formalities done, Captain, First Officer, I would like for the three of us to sit together for a few moments, if possible outside." She let a beat pass. "But no tea, please, no one wants to need a potty break in a crucial moment."
Aurelia nodded. "We have a few minutes.", she said.

Marcella blushed seeing Aurelia slip pleasure into business really made her love her more. Resisting the urge to kiss her again she turned around when The Sultana spoke. "Yes ma'am, we'd be glad to sit with you. Assuming of course, Captain, all needed work is done?"

Atif smiled, making sure, that her eyes were closed.
He then gave her the gift, which he had picked out for her, which was, ironically enough, a small necklace, which he put around her neck: He had gotten her a necklace of silver (actually only silvered) engraved with the image of an Edelweiß, a symbol for the beauty of a person.
He placed it around her neck, then his lips sought hers, planting a soft kiss on them.

Her face was red and eyes glowing "Wow, it's so lovely, thank you so much!" she ran her hand along the lovely silver necklace, real or not it was lovely and all she could ever ask for. She enjoyed the kiss form him once more. Taking his hand and firmly latching onto it. "Do all people who come to your public baths end up with someone?" She giggled knowing it's what happened with Marcella and now with her.

The Captain thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Yep, everything ready.", she said and nodded again, "Right... let's sit on the foredeck. Need a chair, Grandmother?"
"No, thank you.", she said and smiled slightly, following Aurelia and Marcella to the deck in front of the deckshouse. "I would like to know, though, where did you learn poetry, Marcella? I've rarely read such love letters and they did not feel sappy at all!"
Aurelia smiled at the memory of each and every letter, which was in a shoe box under her bed.

Atif thought for a moment.
"No, I don't think so.", he said, "Some do, some don't... It really depends on who you meet. And I..." He smiled softly at her. "...I got incredibly lucky."
He looked deep into her eyes, squeezing her hand.
The moment or minute or century, which he spent gazing into her eyes was broken by someone yelling something, not at them, but in general.
Atif smiled softly.
"Well, it's a few hours until the concert still... wanna grab a bite to eat?", he asked.

Fara smiled, leaned down to whisper into his ear, propped on one hand and using the other to keep her breasts up so that they didn't touch his back or shoulders - she imagined, that he was not entirely sure about this, so no need to add something uncomfortable... or something, that was too comfortable.
"I can imagine, why you wouldn't want this session to end prematurely.", she said, "You are in a terrible condition... but let me help you with that..."
And with that, she gave him a small peck onto the cheek and rose again to continue, smiling to herself.

"My pride would insist that I am perfectly fiiii-" Aceus winced, before relaxing once more. "...But I submit myself to your professional examination." he would then silence himself, mostly out of a cheeky desire to not vocalize as much as Fara did under his care. After a few moments, Aceus asked. "Though, as professional Hammam goer, I...would like to know a few things." he ventured. "Our last venture resulted in me being very flustered, and deprived mostly of the true Hammam experience." the Dancerian King would smirk in recollection. After a long day in Utica, Aceus had used the bathing facilities presented towards him, but was rather spartan-like and insisted that he bathed himself, mostly to respect the image of the serving-girls and household. "So, after you thoroughly and completely de-knot my back, we head towards the cold room, correct?"

"Oh, I will not only de-knot your back, Aceus, but your front, too.", Fara replied with a small smile, letting that sink in for a moment or two, while continuing her work, before she added: "There are three major styles of Hammam, though. The Cold-Hot-Warm-Style, the Cold-Warm-Hot-Style and the most common of the three, Warm-Hot-Cold-Style. This Hammam is a Warm-Hot-Cold-Style Hammam."
She took care of an especially nasty knot with expert fingerwork.
"We are still in the Warm Room, letting the sweat flow, not only due to the warm air, next comes the Hot Room, where we soak up steam, which is good for the skin. After that, Cold Room, relaxing and refreshing and with a good cuppa.", she explained with a smile.

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

"get an RPG in the Aurora Confederacy and the army will come looking for you, probably armed!" comments Gina, "we can't even own a nine mil pistol, yet we can own a bolt action sniper rifle, but not a machine carbine, no fifty cal's though"

"When Luna was lifted from where she lay, we also put a hose through that hatch there" comments Zoe, pointing to the skylight, "we did have to smash it though but as you can see its been replaced" and now has LED strip around it". Zoe then taps the light switch and rather than going straight off, the interior light gradually gets dimmer until it is fully off. Tapping it again and gradually the light returns. Zoe then moves to the shower room, "this room actually survived pretty well, or at least the shower base did, however it got replaced now it is a body-jet shower and also has an air-blade drier too" Zoe then moves to the main room before turning her attention to the aft of the boat "and at the back there are two smaller cabins, those are used for storage now"

Marie smirked. "Try to take away a guy's privately owned MG34 in the Commonwealth and you'll have a SWAT APC smashing into your house to arrest you for theft."

[Folaisia]

"Sure.", Laila said and nodded, smiling, "Come with me, I'll show you around! If there are any questions, feel free to ask them!"
She let a beat pass.
"So, this is the Sayarfur's Main Deck, the major work surface for all the stuff done over a normal day.", she explained, "She is a Bagala-Type vessel, a trusty mule of the seas, which carried freight and cargo but which are, nowadays, usually used for recreation. They were also very capable warships, compareable to what others might call corvettes."
She allowed them a wide sweep of the deck with their camera, which also caught a few of her classmates catching a bit of a tan, another one working on a small piece of wood with a rather large-looking knife and a few girls sitting over schoolbooks.
"Of course, once the tasks of daily maintenance are done in a harbour, we are mostly free.", Laila continued, "And since we are all still students, we also learn. Don't worry about me, though, I'm already finished with my school tasks for the day!"

"Well, you're certainly awfy better than how we did our homework in high school. I'll give you that," Alexander nodded.

Cormag chuckles quite loudly at that, almost how like a woman would sound after using Laila's given opportunity to film.

"So, during school, how much time are you lassies given to tend to this boat," he then asked.

[The Scarlet Eagle]

Ilia listened and, at the end, let a beat pass before he motioned to one side.
One of the Sailor Girls appeared out of the shadows, a tray of cups with steaming hot tea in front of her, carefully setting down one in front of each and everyone, in a manner, that would make a Handmaiden proud. Qalb got one, too.
Ilia bowed his head to her, to which she replied with a bow, the Crown Prince remaining silent through the entire thing. The sailor-girl then stepped back, the tray in front of her stomach, and knelt, her eyes closed as if meditating.
The Crown Prince still did not speak.
He took the cup, raised it to his lips and took a sip.
"Ah, Navy Tea, wonderful.", he said and gave a small smile, settled the cup down, took a breath, "To the matter you raised to my attention... I will look into it." He let a beat pass. "Now, to my knowledge, and please correct me, if I am wrong, the Iowa-class Battleships only carried a limited amount of floatplanes for reconnaissance purposes. I did hear, that you four were fighter pilots and not recons - or did the Empire do a Selkie and develop Flying Boat Fighters like their Penguins?"

As the ailor girls give the tea to Peter, Frank, Thomas and Joe, the four men accept it with a nod of thanks, before taking a sip as well.
"Prince Ilia, replies Peter, as he sets his cup down, you did ask us on our favourite ships, not the ones we served on. As Imperial Guard pilots, we served both on Carriers and on land, and not at all on Battleships. The only offensive role those floatplanes ever served has been anti submarine warfare, so for us, it 's not diverse enough."

[Kuronami]

"That it is.", Lady Fara said, "The Small Basin and the VIBs there - Very Important Boats."
She shook her head.
"In any case, the Aurelia, our destination, is amongst them.", she further explained, "You will recognize her by being the only vessel at her pier guarded by men with poleaxes and with a small yawl opposite to her. Said yawl being the Harira."

Mahmut smiled slightly as Haru was a bit like a child in a candy shop, staying by one of the shelves with brooches. Coming to think of it, he still needed a present for Aurelia for Spring...
A saleswoman approached him, which made him motion towards Haru. He would be alright.
The woman, around twice Mahmut's age, smiled and nodded, coming up next to the girl. "Searching for something specific, young lady?", she asked.

Shirin smiled slightly as it reminded her of her first surveillance tours.
Only that she was now the teacher and not the Cherry anymore.
"Alright, Milady.", she said and nodded, motioning for Yuki to come with her to a stall with a good view of the shop's entrance, which sold dried meat. "Now what?"

"Ah very important boat is deadly accurate then" She grinned again. "Small but quaint, must belong to someone very special!"

Haru turned to see the woman greeting her and Haru replied with a polite bow of greeting. "Oh, good day to you! Actually I am shopping for my family. I was thinking something nice for my sisters and my mother. And I don't know if you sell them here but would you also by chance have pocket watches? My father could really use a new one as well."

"oooh well I guess this is a stakeout! So we watch carefully!" She cupped her hands around her eyes. "Mmmm 12 o'clock and all is well. Alpha Subject is calmly shopping with Delta subject and has been approached by a Sigma subject...." Well it probably wasn't 12 o'clock and all those details probably weren't needed but Yuki really only knew these things from various cop dramas. She was having fun. Releasing her hands from her eyes she looked up at Shirin. "Boy, you really do this all day? I've always had a lot of respect for Palace Guards knowing they too must work like this all day and all night in defense of The Family but you're a fellow handmaiden who takes it upon herself to protect someone dear to her." She blushed again holding to her cheeks.

[Lillorainen]

Marie raised an eyebrow. "Unless it's chambered in a rifle round, it's not an automatic rifle." She then grinned. "Sounds about right, though, with the fridge. I've never owned a gun, to be honest-had a bad time with one as a kid. But I plan on buying one soon-apparently Mauser still makes historical firearms in limited batches- Imperial German Tankgewehr M1918, Austro-Hungarian M1912, even muzzle-loaders. Of course, they also have more modern weapons-for example, the StG17, which is essentially is a clone of the G36, or the G3."

"get an RPG in the Aurora Confederacy and the army will come looking for you, probably armed!" comments Gina, "we can't even own a nine mil pistol, yet we can own a bolt action sniper rifle, but not a machine carbine, no fifty cal's though"

"When Luna was lifted from where she lay, we also put a hose through that hatch there" comments Zoe, pointing to the skylight, "we did have to smash it though but as you can see its been replaced" and now has LED strip around it". Zoe then taps the light switch and rather than going straight off, the interior light gradually gets dimmer until it is fully off. Tapping it again and gradually the light returns. Zoe then moves to the shower room, "this room actually survived pretty well, or at least the shower base did, however it got replaced now it is a body-jet shower and also has an air-blade drier too" Zoe then moves to the main room before turning her attention to the aft of the boat "and at the back there are two smaller cabins, those are used for storage now"

Marie smirked. "Try to take away a guy's privately owned MG34 in the Commonwealth and you'll have a SWAT APC smashing into your house to arrest you for theft."

Especially Ratko was quite amazed how the shower base of the bathroom had survived pretty well - even though the shower had, more or less, completely been replaced - and definitely not by anything bad, quite on the contrary. Also, there were no traces of a smashed hatch, which had been necessarily smashed to get the hose through it, in the sleeping room left.
"Won't have been that cheap, eh?" - he said.
Merle, meanwhile, said to Marie, grinning, "That, again, sounds familiar to me. Stealing anything that shoots is theft, and every Lillo has a little resistance fighter right in here." She tapped onto her heart with her flat hand. "Of course, since Kyrenaian gun laws are basically like, 'Cancelled 'cause no way!', we've only brought thrusting weapons here, for most basic self-defense, even though we're sure, that we won't need it. Ratko hasn't even bothered taking anything. One never knows, though."

[Shamsiyya]

"To be honest, that is what I like about our Minister of Foreign Affairs.", Atif said, a small smile forming, "Following that rant by the President of Eadhra, the Kyrenaian public demanded an answer, though in this case, 'an answer' is meant to be written as revenge. A similar rant, from the Sultana, the Grand Vizier or anyone, to be published on the title pages of all major newspapers and so on. Some people say, that it especially stung, when he claimed, that no Kyrenaian man had the balls to stand against him."
He shrugged.
"They got their reply: The Sultanate does not consider Social Media Platforms as an appropriate platform for diplomatic or international communication. If His Excellency, the President of Eadhra has something to say, he should prove, that he has the balls to do so over proper channels and face to face. The address is - and so on." Atif grinned. "Apparently, he does not have the balls, because there has been no reply."

"I don't know either, but I don't think, that it was a pleasurable experience.", the second teen said, "To be honest, I don't want to find out."
Neither wanted his friend, who added: "Getting dumped by a woman, that's bad, but her switching the shoreline..." He shook his head. "...especially if you work together with her that closely as they did and still do. They are an odd pair, that's for sure."
"And then there is of course the entire matter with Fiafia, the rumours of her being in an incestous relationship with her father and-slash-or Uncle and who her new lover is.", the second one added to that, "He surely had no easy break-up."
"By the way, how did the thing with Samir end?", the other asked.

Layla had to grin. A short answer, with the note how to communicate over the proper channels. Diplomacy For Dummies 101, so to say.
She said, "Indeed, a good note. Why doesn't it even surprise me, at least not a lot, that there was no reply by them? In fact, the Sultana definitely has more balls than a whole horde of men together. There is a reason why she enjoys a lot of respect in Shamsiyya, just like the Vizier and the Grand Vizier do. There's no need for a long, childish rant on-line - honestly, that's what thirteen-year-olds do; that tiny note on what's considered a proper channel and what isn't will have humiliated him more than anything else."
She let a beat pass.
"Let me guess - there wasn't even another post referring to this by him, eh?"

"I wouldn't wish to find out, either" - Maryam said. "If I had a boyfriend who broke up with me, saying, 'Sorry honey, but I've just recently found out that I'm more into dicks' ... not to mention the other scandals ... honestly, I'd most certainly be completely speechless for the first time of my life. Especially if the entire nation, as well as probably pretty much half the world, knew about that from the press." She shook her head. "And then even having to see him every time at work ... wow. Thanks for nothing. Well, I did have a boyfriend who broke up with me, not even a long time ago, but at least not for such ... awkward reasons. But that's another story."
A beat passed.
"Now, as for Samir: as I said, it was not the last party we have rocked. There were still two class trips, where we quite enjoyed especially the parties in the nights, dancing, drinking, and so on. And a town disco was something that even we hillbillies in Hammamat Alhadba had." She grinned. "We've had a good time overall, someday decided to try a less party-focussed and more serious relationship, and it worked out excellently."
Another beat passed. Maryam sighed.
"But of course, our schooltime was over once upon a given Friday, and therefore the day each of us had to go their own ways, and even though we both know the day would be coming, it was stinging both of us hard, when it came. He got accepted at the Technical School of Sahrahan, right at the other coast, and I would continue Qaranisa service first, with the ultimate goal to go to a naval base of the SFDF at the South Shore. While we did try to stay in contact in the first time, it was clear for us, that a relationship at distance is nothing for us. That's how it ended with us."

[AHSCA]

The Captain thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Yep, everything ready.", she said and nodded again, "Right... let's sit on the foredeck. Need a chair, Grandmother?"
"No, thank you.", she said and smiled slightly, following Aurelia and Marcella to the deck in front of the deckshouse. "I would like to know, though, where did you learn poetry, Marcella? I've rarely read such love letters and they did not feel sappy at all!"
Aurelia smiled at the memory of each and every letter, which was in a shoe box under her bed.

"Oh poetry huh? You read those...." Blushing she thought a moment, on the one hand she was flattered her amateur poetry was met with praise but on the other hand a fellow head of state reading her silly love letters to her girlfriend was a tad embarrassing. "Aah well, just part of my daily lessons including appreciation for the finer arts."

Atif thought for a moment.
"No, I don't think so.", he said, "Some do, some don't... It really depends on who you meet. And I..." He smiled softly at her. "...I got incredibly lucky."
He looked deep into her eyes, squeezing her hand.
The moment or minute or century, which he spent gazing into her eyes was broken by someone yelling something, not at them, but in general.
Atif smiled softly.
"Well, it's a few hours until the concert still... wanna grab a bite to eat?", he asked.

"Ah just a dumb joke, I'll explain in a bit. But I feel lucky too..." As if cued up, her stomach seemed to concur with that suggestion. "I'd call that a big yes." She giggled a bit embarrassed but glad she'd get some time to talk.

[The Chuck]

Alexander looked around the room with a smile and addressed the cartography employee,

"Hello ma'am. I was wondering if you potentially have a traditional parchment nautical map of Kyrenaia that has an assortment of features. I am looking for a map that contains tidal highs and lows, light house markers, an index of common local radio frequencies, and depth. Along with this parchment map, I was wondering if you had a map on a USB or data stick that could be used in conjunction with a low power all weather GPS system."

With that, Alexander made sure his pipe was fully extinguished since it would be a damn shame if an ember accidentally ignited the valuable maps and scrolls that were around him.

[Kyrenaia]

"Well, you're certainly awfy better than how we did our homework in high school. I'll give you that," Alexander nodded.

Cormag chuckles quite loudly at that, almost how like a woman would sound after using Laila's given opportunity to film.

"So, during school, how much time are you lassies given to tend to this boat," he then asked.

"Sadly not as much as we would like to.", Laila said, "Utica, where the HGA is, is deeply inland and Motya, where she is homeported, is far away. We mostly learn to tend to Sand Skiffs, but many of the lessons can be applied to a sea-ship as well." She grinned. "And tending to our skiffs... three days a week in the afternoons and either Saturday or Sunday, mostly both."
She let a beat pass.
"She is well-tended to by her regular crew, though.", she said, "A few of us girls think about joining them as soon as we graduated. And if the Crown-Prince accepts, of course."

As the ailor girls give the tea to Peter, Frank, Thomas and Joe, the four men accept it with a nod of thanks, before taking a sip as well.
"Prince Ilia, replies Peter, as he sets his cup down, you did ask us on our favourite ships, not the ones we served on. As Imperial Guard pilots, we served both on Carriers and on land, and not at all on Battleships. The only offensive role those floatplanes ever served has been anti submarine warfare, so for us, it 's not diverse enough."

"Ah, that clears that up...", he said and gave a small smile, "Still, I think, Battleships, no matter their class or country of origin, were vastly over-estimated as soon as the first aircraft carriers came around. If you were asking me for my favourite vessel of that time, I would reply to you with one name, though: SDFS Snámhán." He grinned. "A... vessel of the SDF-Navy, a friend of ours even in those days, and a great example of gallows humour, for she was a Shane Airworks Snámhán floatplane, which suffered from wings literally breaking off. The hull floated excellently and the crew of one Snámhán commissioned their mighty vessel into the SDF-Navy upon one crash landing too many."
Ilia, by then, grinned.

Layla had to grin. A short answer, with the note how to communicate over the proper channels. Diplomacy For Dummies 101, so to say.
She said, "Indeed, a good note. Why doesn't it even surprise me, at least not a lot, that there was no reply by them? In fact, the Sultana definitely has more balls than a whole horde of men together. There is a reason why she enjoys a lot of respect in Shamsiyya, just like the Vizier and the Grand Vizier do. There's no need for a long, childish rant on-line - honestly, that's what thirteen-year-olds do; that tiny note on what's considered a proper channel and what isn't will have humiliated him more than anything else."
She let a beat pass.
"Let me guess - there wasn't even another post referring to this by him, eh?"

"I wouldn't wish to find out, either" - Maryam said. "If I had a boyfriend who broke up with me, saying, 'Sorry honey, but I've just recently found out that I'm more into dicks' ... not to mention the other scandals ... honestly, I'd most certainly be completely speechless for the first time of my life. Especially if the entire nation, as well as probably pretty much half the world, knew about that from the press." She shook her head. "And then even having to see him every time at work ... wow. Thanks for nothing. Well, I did have a boyfriend who broke up with me, not even a long time ago, but at least not for such ... awkward reasons. But that's another story."
A beat passed.
"Now, as for Samir: as I said, it was not the last party we have rocked. There were still two class trips, where we quite enjoyed especially the parties in the nights, dancing, drinking, and so on. And a town disco was something that even we hillbillies in Hammamat Alhadba had." She grinned. "We've had a good time overall, someday decided to try a less party-focussed and more serious relationship, and it worked out excellently."
Another beat passed. Maryam sighed.
"But of course, our schooltime was over once upon a given Friday, and therefore the day each of us had to go their own ways, and even though we both know the day would be coming, it was stinging both of us hard, when it came. He got accepted at the Technical School of Sahrahan, right at the other coast, and I would continue Qaranisa service first, with the ultimate goal to go to a naval base of the SFDF at the South Shore. While we did try to stay in contact in the first time, it was clear for us, that a relationship at distance is nothing for us. That's how it ended with us."

Atif grinned.
"Not to our knowledge.", he said, "Didn't make headlines, at least. He hasn't said anything about or against Kyrenaia in the last few months, so..."
He shrugged.
"I'm going to call it Lesson learned and leave it be.", he added, "Apparently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is of a similar opinion."

The two teens nodded at the points about Atif and Princess Aurelia. He was not in a nice position.
At the story about Samir, both nodded.
"I can imagine, that our Service will be a huge change in our surroundings, too.", the second teen said, "And that we, too, will not be for long distance relationships."
"On the plus side, you have a fetish for women in uniforms.", the third teen said with a grin.
The second shook his head. "I like women in uniforms, real ones and not the skimpy imitations. There's a difference.", he clarified.

Alexander looked around the room with a smile and addressed the cartography employee,

"Hello ma'am. I was wondering if you potentially have a traditional parchment nautical map of Kyrenaia that has an assortment of features. I am looking for a map that contains tidal highs and lows, light house markers, an index of common local radio frequencies, and depth. Along with this parchment map, I was wondering if you had a map on a USB or data stick that could be used in conjunction with a low power all weather GPS system."

With that, Alexander made sure his pipe was fully extinguished since it would be a damn shame if an ember accidentally ignited the valuable maps and scrolls that were around him.

The woman nodded.
"One moment, please.", she said and went to her PC, picking a USB-stick and plugging it in, starting the copy process a moment later. Then she went to her shelves and began to look for a moment. She picked out a large, leather-bound book. "These are the detail maps of harbours, dangerous passages and reefs. Now, the other one..."
She looked through another shelf for a moment, then picked out another volume, this one considerably smaller. "Light House positions and markers and radio frequencies and who is allowed to send on which when.", she gave a small, mousy smile. "Anything else? The stick is in the works."

"That it is.", Lady Fara said, "The Small Basin and the VIBs there - Very Important Boats."
She shook her head.
"In any case, the Aurelia, our destination, is amongst them.", she further explained, "You will recognize her by being the only vessel at her pier guarded by men with poleaxes and with a small yawl opposite to her. Said yawl being the Harira."

Mahmut smiled slightly as Haru was a bit like a child in a candy shop, staying by one of the shelves with brooches. Coming to think of it, he still needed a present for Aurelia for Spring...
A saleswoman approached him, which made him motion towards Haru. He would be alright.
The woman, around twice Mahmut's age, smiled and nodded, coming up next to the girl. "Searching for something specific, young lady?", she asked.

Shirin smiled slightly as it reminded her of her first surveillance tours.
Only that she was now the teacher and not the Cherry anymore.
"Alright, Milady.", she said and nodded, motioning for Yuki to come with her to a stall with a good view of the shop's entrance, which sold dried meat. "Now what?"

"Ah very important boat is deadly accurate then" She grinned again. "Small but quaint, must belong to someone very special!"

Haru turned to see the woman greeting her and Haru replied with a polite bow of greeting. "Oh, good day to you! Actually I am shopping for my family. I was thinking something nice for my sisters and my mother. And I don't know if you sell them here but would you also by chance have pocket watches? My father could really use a new one as well."

"oooh well I guess this is a stakeout! So we watch carefully!" She cupped her hands around her eyes. "Mmmm 12 o'clock and all is well. Alpha Subject is calmly shopping with Delta subject and has been approached by a Sigma subject...." Well it probably wasn't 12 o'clock and all those details probably weren't needed but Yuki really only knew these things from various cop dramas. She was having fun. Releasing her hands from her eyes she looked up at Shirin. "Boy, you really do this all day? I've always had a lot of respect for Palace Guards knowing they too must work like this all day and all night in defense of The Family but you're a fellow handmaiden who takes it upon herself to protect someone dear to her." She blushed again holding to her cheeks.

"Yes, she is.", Lady Fara replied, "Princess Aurelia bint-Damir, Prince Damir's daughter - read, your host's daughter."
She let a beat pass.
"Don't worry about it, though, Aurelia is a nice young woman. She'll most likely hug you before you even memorized her face.", she said, as a bit of a warning as well, "She wears her heart on her sleeves."

The saleswoman smiled.
"We have pocket watches and I am sure, that we have something nice for your mother and sisters as well.", she said and smiled slightly, "Let's get the watch out of the way first so that we can concentrate on your sisters and mother, okay?"
She motioned for Haru to follow her, leading her to a shelf with watches, the lowest three being occupied by wristwatches, while the top three held pocket watches. Some were metallic, some had a more stoney feel to their casing, a few were even of plastic (the bottom end of the price range), all were equipped with a silvered small chain. From modest to showy and anything inbetween, a lot of watches were there.
"What sort of man is your father?", the saleswoman asked.

Shirin almost burst out laughing at the antics of Yuzu.
"To some extend, I am a palace guard... well, Tabardariyya, part of the Ostaz House, which protects the Ilkhan of Sarepta and his family.", she explained, "Trained on my own request and a bit informally... I..."
She let a beat pass, looking at Yuki.
"...I love this lad like my own little brother. I want him safe... Gods know, I want him safe.", she said, "And they know, that I would punt them in the face, if they harmed him."
She looked up, towards the shop - and blanched.
Mahmut was not where he had been.
"Oh... sh...", she began, but controlled herself.
"This is a nice stall.", a very familiar voice said behind them with all the self-assurance a boy starting out on that whole teenager-thing could muster, "If one is interested in decorations for Christmas as the Kyrenaian Christians celebrate it."
Shirin smiled slightly and turned, seeing Mahmut looking at the stall's offers.
"Hi.", she said, "Fancy seeing you here."
Mahmut snorted in amusement.

The Captain thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Yep, everything ready.", she said and nodded again, "Right... let's sit on the foredeck. Need a chair, Grandmother?"
"No, thank you.", she said and smiled slightly, following Aurelia and Marcella to the deck in front of the deckshouse. "I would like to know, though, where did you learn poetry, Marcella? I've rarely read such love letters and they did not feel sappy at all!"
Aurelia smiled at the memory of each and every letter, which was in a shoe box under her bed.

"Oh poetry huh? You read those...." Blushing she thought a moment, on the one hand she was flattered her amateur poetry was met with praise but on the other hand a fellow head of state reading her silly love letters to her girlfriend was a tad embarrassing. "Aah well, just part of my daily lessons including appreciation for the finer arts."

Atif thought for a moment.
"No, I don't think so.", he said, "Some do, some don't... It really depends on who you meet. And I..." He smiled softly at her. "...I got incredibly lucky."
He looked deep into her eyes, squeezing her hand.
The moment or minute or century, which he spent gazing into her eyes was broken by someone yelling something, not at them, but in general.
Atif smiled softly.
"Well, it's a few hours until the concert still... wanna grab a bite to eat?", he asked.

"Ah just a dumb joke, I'll explain in a bit. But I feel lucky too..." As if cued up, her stomach seemed to concur with that suggestion. "I'd call that a big yes." She giggled a bit embarrassed but glad she'd get some time to talk.

Sitting down on the bare foredeck, the Sultana nodded.
"I indeed read them... they convinced me to allow Aurelia courting you. And, when the time comes, to change the law.", she said with a small smile, "I have similar ones myself, in a box at a place I do not want to disclose, from my own husband, her Grandfather. Soon, the last ones will turn 34."
She smiled.
"Let's just say, that Dschafar was not as good as a poet as you are, Marcella.", she added.

Atif grinned.
"I know just the place!", he said and motioned her to follow him, "I even know the owner!"
Two minutes later, they were in a little side street in front of a door, a large, wooden board. The side-street was clean, but one could see, that not many people even knew, it existed. He knocked, a slit in the door opening.
A phrase was spoken and the door opened.
A moment later, the door opened into a small stairway, Atif giving Asuna a warning as they ascended, and at the top, they looked into a small restaurant with half a dozen tables, a bar to the side, windows with a nice view of Sinope and a small stage.
A barkeeper stood behind his bar, grunted a greeting, which one could interpret as friendly.
Atif grinned as he turned to Asuna, the look on his face basically begging her to tell him, what she thought.

[The Scarlet Eagle]

"Ah, that clears that up...", he said and gave a small smile, "Still, I think, Battleships, no matter their class or country of origin, were vastly over-estimated as soon as the first aircraft carriers came around. If you were asking me for my favourite vessel of that time, I would reply to you with one name, though: SDFS Snámhán." He grinned. "A... vessel of the SDF-Navy, a friend of ours even in those days, and a great example of gallows humour, for she was a Shane Airworks Snámhán floatplane, which suffered from wings literally breaking off. The hull floated excellently and the crew of one Snámhán commissioned their mighty vessel into the SDF-Navy upon one crash landing too many."
Ilia, by then, grinned.

"It may be true, replies Frank, but at least they did their job. Although today, with guided missiles cruisers, you perform the same actions, although more precisely and from a longer distance, adds the former General as he takes a sip of his tea. By the way, this is an original story you told us, Prince."

[Mervay]

The two dancers smiled as Jessica and Edward introduced themselves, wanted to thank them for their kind words and donation, expecting maybe ten or even twenty Barqas...
...they got fifty thousand.
Something in their minds broke, and for a moment, both of them were like fish: Mouth opening and closing without a sound.
Then, the younger of the two spoke: "May the Lioness bless you, Sir, Ma'am.", she said and bowed deeply, her companion following her lead. "I am Samira, that is Ellaha." The other dancer nodded. "We are deeply grateful for your donation, it will surely help."
Ellaha then spoke. "We are actually part of a four-girl crew, which split in two 'teams' to raise money for the Foundation and... well, it seems, as if we already reached our objective.", she said, "I have to also thank you, because... my little brother is one of the butterfly children."
Samira nodded. "That is, to tell the sad truth, the reason why we know about that desease in the first place."

It seemed the two girls were surprised about the amount for the donation, can't blame them it was an lot of money.
The girls bowed in respect and then presented themselves, their names were Samira and Ellaha, the two girls were part of an four girls group which divided in two for raise more funds for the foundation and for what it seemed with this money, they accomplished it or at least were more close to their objective.

Ellaha then thanked the couple and told them why they knew about the Butterfly Skin disease, it resulted that her young brother was one of the many with the disease. Ouch, surely it was painful to hear that for them at first but it might gave them hope that they won't allow to more children to pass through that and help to cure the disease too.

"We are sorry to hear that, I'm sure he is fighting like an warrior and try to not let that to interfire with his childhood whaverer he can" Jess said bowing to them in respect. "Did the goverment has made something about this or at least has helped in everyway they can??"

[Aurora Confederacy]

Especially Ratko was quite amazed how the shower base of the bathroom had survived pretty well - even though the shower had, more or less, completely been replaced - and definitely not by anything bad, quite on the contrary. Also, there were no traces of a smashed hatch, which had been necessarily smashed to get the hose through it, in the sleeping room left.
"Won't have been that cheap, eh?" - he said.
Merle, meanwhile, said to Marie, grinning, "That, again, sounds familiar to me. Stealing anything that shoots is theft, and every Lillo has a little resistance fighter right in here." She tapped onto her heart with her flat hand. "Of course, since Kyrenaian gun laws are basically like, 'Cancelled 'cause no way!', we've only brought thrusting weapons here, for most basic self-defense, even though we're sure, that we won't need it. Ratko hasn't even bothered taking anything. One never knows, though."

"About three grand for the body spray shower" replies Zoe, "the bath base is enamel coated fibreglass so its meant to get wet, then another two grand for the dyson air blower, the thing is its a juice hog and can really drain the batteries if we are not careful"
Zoe then turned to Micky "can you go out side and see if there is any sign of the parade please?"

Micky nods and nips up onto the aft deck from the cabin as Zoe continued to show the Lillo's and the Polish - Prussian citizen the Luna. "back here are the two additional berths, these are where we store our non perishable provisions on long trips, things like tinned dehydrated milk, tea bags, coffee and such. This one here is also a place where Jax likes to sleep sometimes" comments Zoe, pointing to the port side cabin, "then out on deck is where most of the expense was spent as the entire boat was re-rigged as corrosion had meant that the old mast couldn't be used, it now has new running gear for the sails with new winches and a small wind turbine" Zoe then takes a cover off the main sail, "These are totally new, lighter sails that are actually racing heritage material, manly because they're lighter and stronger than the original ones. and if you look forwards you will see the solar kit, we put that on last year"

[Kuronami]

"Yes, she is.", Lady Fara replied, "Princess Aurelia bint-Damir, Prince Damir's daughter - read, your host's daughter."
She let a beat pass.
"Don't worry about it, though, Aurelia is a nice young woman. She'll most likely hug you before you even memorized her face.", she said, as a bit of a warning as well, "She wears her heart on her sleeves."

The saleswoman smiled.
"We have pocket watches and I am sure, that we have something nice for your mother and sisters as well.", she said and smiled slightly, "Let's get the watch out of the way first so that we can concentrate on your sisters and mother, okay?"
She motioned for Haru to follow her, leading her to a shelf with watches, the lowest three being occupied by wristwatches, while the top three held pocket watches. Some were metallic, some had a more stoney feel to their casing, a few were even of plastic (the bottom end of the price range), all were equipped with a silvered small chain. From modest to showy and anything inbetween, a lot of watches were there.
"What sort of man is your father?", the saleswoman asked.

Shirin almost burst out laughing at the antics of Yuzu.
"To some extend, I am a palace guard... well, Tabardariyya, part of the Ostaz House, which protects the Ilkhan of Sarepta and his family.", she explained, "Trained on my own request and a bit informally... I..."
She let a beat pass, looking at Yuki.
"...I love this lad like my own little brother. I want him safe... Gods know, I want him safe.", she said, "And they know, that I would punt them in the face, if they harmed him."
She looked up, towards the shop - and blanched.
Mahmut was not where he had been.
"Oh... sh...", she began, but controlled herself.
"This is a nice stall.", a very familiar voice said behind them with all the self-assurance a boy starting out on that whole teenager-thing could muster, "If one is interested in decorations for Christmas as the Kyrenaian Christians celebrate it."
Shirin smiled slightly and turned, seeing Mahmut looking at the stall's offers.
"Hi.", she said, "Fancy seeing you here."
Mahmut snorted in amusement.

"Aurelia huh?" Yuzu pondered as the name sounded vaguely familiar to her. But she couldn't place it where so she didn't pay it much mind. "Yes, I'm sure she'll be nice."

Haru followed the sales lady along taking a look at the watches. With all kinds of watches to see some on the cheaper end which she very well couldn't do for her dear father. "Oh my father is an old fashioned man. Fiercely patriotic and traditional. So I think something classy would do him right."

"Wow so ambitious, Shirin. And so warm and caring. I feel the same about Milady too.." She blushed placing a hand on her chest then taking a look back to the shop. "Huh? I see Haru-chan but not Mahmut. Oh go figure he was behind them. "I guess our cover is blown. Good to see you again" she giggled nervously and a tad embarrassed.

[Shamsiyya]

Atif grinned.
"Not to our knowledge.", he said, "Didn't make headlines, at least. He hasn't said anything about or against Kyrenaia in the last few months, so..."
He shrugged.
"I'm going to call it Lesson learned and leave it be.", he added, "Apparently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is of a similar opinion."

The two teens nodded at the points about Atif and Princess Aurelia. He was not in a nice position.
At the story about Samir, both nodded.
"I can imagine, that our Service will be a huge change in our surroundings, too.", the second teen said, "And that we, too, will not be for long distance relationships."
"On the plus side, you have a fetish for women in uniforms.", the third teen said with a grin.
The second shook his head. "I like women in uniforms, real ones and not the skimpy imitations. There's a difference.", he clarified.

Layla grinned back.
"Probably the best lesson they have ever learned, eh? A pity it's still just one head of state out of many who did so - there are still lots of these in the world who think social media were a proper channel to communicate on an international level. Just putting their message on Twitcher, and that's it." She shook her head. "Although I do think, that most of what these particular ladies and gentlemen have to tell the world doesn't need more than 280 characters." She grinned again.
Then, she took another sip of her apple juice.
"On a more serious note" - she continued, "While I already have posted in social media, and even met a few very nice Kyrenaians and others there, I don't let it take over my spare time, for I think, that life is too short for that. I got better things to do."

Maryam grinned again - quite some of the lads she had met in both the Qaranisa and SFDF-Navy service had come there for that particular reason; motivation was everything, after all.
"Service will definitely change a lot for you guys" - she said, "but the end of a stage in life is always also the beginning of a new one. Of course, I was sad, that I couldn't stay together with Samir, and in retrospective, he was the best boyfriend out of the three I've had so far. But, if I hadn't gone to the Navy, I wouldn't have met friends like Layla and Iska, and I, most likely, wouldn't have gotten the job at Yenikonya Dockyards, meaning that I wouldn't be here now. I'm sure this isn't the first time you hear something like that, it even may sound like a truism to you, but like most phrases that appear like truisms in the first place, it can't harm to remember that every now and then."

[Danceria]

"Oh, I will not only de-knot your back, Aceus, but your front, too.", Fara replied with a small smile, letting that sink in for a moment or two, while continuing her work, before she added: "There are three major styles of Hammam, though. The Cold-Hot-Warm-Style, the Cold-Warm-Hot-Style and the most common of the three, Warm-Hot-Cold-Style. This Hammam is a Warm-Hot-Cold-Style Hammam."
She took care of an especially nasty knot with expert fingerwork.
"We are still in the Warm Room, letting the sweat flow, not only due to the warm air, next comes the Hot Room, where we soak up steam, which is good for the skin. After that, Cold Room, relaxing and refreshing and with a good cuppa.", she explained with a smile.

At first Aceus merely nodded along, soaking in the information as well as the dexterous de-knotting that was occurring across his back, before something clicked in his mind and he buried his blush beneath his arms. Any frontal massage was welcome, and he understood it, but due to his rather...exposed nature it would be most awkward. Quickly shelving aside those thoughts for a moment, he chuckled nervously. "Seems like Sabin and Edgar are going through this backwa-aaah." he gave a playful glare. "There went my confidence that I had when massaging you. Granted, I shouldn't be surprised, you Kyrenaians practically grow up here, I just got into massaging roughly...a month ago?"

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

So they weaponized birds of prey, eh? Erika thought. Not a bad idea, except for the fact that friendly fire is a major issue. Then again, they might have something to prevent it...I've never heard of people training birds of prey to discriminate among targets, though...
Upon hearing her say 'Dog Leader', she raised an eyebrow. "Is your dog a 'leader', or is his name simply 'Leader'? Or are you referring to a person who leads dogs?"

"I actually mean a person, who leads the dogs.", she explained, "Mounted Falconry as a sport sounds simple, but is highly difficult to actually pull off, but here's the short version: There are two humans, two horses, one falcon and four to eight canines, usually Sand Wolves. And, of course, the prey."
She smiled a bit sheepish.
"Usually a rabbit or something - quicker then the dogs, but slower then the Falcon.", she explained, "So, the two humans sit on the horses, the dog leader, who trains the dogs for hunting and and seeking prey, rides with them as they seek, the falconer keeping the falcon at the ready. And as soon as the prey is found, the hunt actually begins. The prey runs from the predators, they give chase and the falcon is released." There was excitement creeping into her voice. "And it is important to release the falcon at just the right moment, so that it does not miss the prey. And then, the real chase begins as the falconer rides to the Dog Leader the falcon gets the prey, if the falcon is skillful enough and from there, you have the entire procedure."
She grinned.
"I would love to give you a live demonstration, but I don't have my horse with me...", she said.

Erika smiled. "Certainly sounds fun...I did go pigeon-shooting once as a kid, when I was 8 or 9. Pap took me out to the woods, handed me his 20-gauge, and loaded birdshot, and told me how to track pigeons." Her smile grew. "At this point a drone comes in, starts buzzing over our heads and emitting a high-pitched sounds, scaring away the pigeons. It was presumably piloted by one of those foreign animal rights activists, so he cancels the pigeon shoot for another day and we had a merry time shooting down the drone instead. For the hell of it, we even emptied out the wreckage and had the fuselage stuffed before hanging it on our wall."

[Shwe Tu Colony]

The Priest listened to the young man...

"You really believe me? Huh," Spiciness said, squinting at the man in disbelief, "But you know, that's just how I am. It's in my name: Immature Spiciness. I'm too hotheaded for my own good." He put his back against the table, leaning his bottom against it. "I still say she deserved it, & it's not like she would've listened to me or anything. I'm not 'noble' like her, or as 'dignified," he sneered, glaring in the distance, "I mean, she's not wrong, as I'm sure you can tell, but she makes such a big deal out of being one. She's cold as... no, no, she's frozen solid! Completely unaware that the rest of us, even if we aren't like her, still matter! She puts up this facade that makes it impossible to tell what she's feeling other than her usual elitist pride, too, so I would never tell if I'm even close to breaking her confidence... Like, sure guys like Immature Bitterness are pretty unpleasant, but I feel like even in life or death situations, she'd be the last of us doing anything!"

He sighed as he sat down at the table, beginning to eat his friend's fish with his hands. "Even if she was actually here, she wouldn't even bother listening to what I have to say, assuming she even comes in here," he said, the pieces of food in his mouth hardly impairing his speech, "Hmm, this is pretty nice fish, but maybe..." He got up & washed his hands in the kitchen, after which he began to search through it with a rather reckless hand, eventually finding an assortment of spices that he would return to the table with to sprinkle onto the fish. "Drinks's sister though... she's cool. Kind of hot, but not really my type, honestly. Guess she's too pure for me," he chuckled a little to himself as he mixed up the cod & jammed a piece of it inside his mouth, "Better, better... But, like, the Drinks sisters are polar opposites. One's fine with talking to anyone, the other only with nobility like her. One feels free to be emotional, the oth— ach!" He shook his right hand, his fingers swollen. "Sorry about that... Anyway, the Drinks sisters never really interact much either because of their differences."

[The Chuck]

Alexander stood for a moment thinking before speaking.

"I assume these maps will cost a pretty penny? I've never met a cartographer who gives out their maps for free. Especially maps of this quality."

Although Alexander hated to have to pay for maps he was more than willing to pay a fair price for the maps. These weren't your run of the mill shoddy maps but rather beautiful, well detailed ones which gave him all the information he needed to safely bring the Geezer's Rest through.

[Kyrenaia]

"It may be true, replies Frank, but at least they did their job. Although today, with guided missiles cruisers, you perform the same actions, although more precisely and from a longer distance, adds the former General as he takes a sip of his tea. By the way, this is an original story you told us, Prince."

"It is.", Ilia confirmed, "She's the only museum ship of the SDF-Navy nowadays, on display in Fortham." He grinned. "Away from any body of water, true, but that did not stop the Navy or the Army. She even arrived in Fortham under her own power, so to speak, the crew, all of which survived the entire ordeal, rowing their boat up first the Imeall and then up the Mór into Lake Mór. Of course, they did that three years later and not in a day, but still - she was still entirely seaworthy."

The two dancers smiled as Jessica and Edward introduced themselves, wanted to thank them for their kind words and donation, expecting maybe ten or even twenty Barqas...
...they got fifty thousand.
Something in their minds broke, and for a moment, both of them were like fish: Mouth opening and closing without a sound.
Then, the younger of the two spoke: "May the Lioness bless you, Sir, Ma'am.", she said and bowed deeply, her companion following her lead. "I am Samira, that is Ellaha." The other dancer nodded. "We are deeply grateful for your donation, it will surely help."
Ellaha then spoke. "We are actually part of a four-girl crew, which split in two 'teams' to raise money for the Foundation and... well, it seems, as if we already reached our objective.", she said, "I have to also thank you, because... my little brother is one of the butterfly children."
Samira nodded. "That is, to tell the sad truth, the reason why we know about that desease in the first place."

It seemed the two girls were surprised about the amount for the donation, can't blame them it was an lot of money.
The girls bowed in respect and then presented themselves, their names were Samira and Ellaha, the two girls were part of an four girls group which divided in two for raise more funds for the foundation and for what it seemed with this money, they accomplished it or at least were more close to their objective.

Ellaha then thanked the couple and told them why they knew about the Butterfly Skin disease, it resulted that her young brother was one of the many with the disease. Ouch, surely it was painful to hear that for them at first but it might gave them hope that they won't allow to more children to pass through that and help to cure the disease too.

"We are sorry to hear that, I'm sure he is fighting like an warrior and try to not let that to interfire with his childhood whaverer he can" Jess said bowing to them in respect. "Did the goverment has made something about this or at least has helped in everyway they can??"

Ellaha smiled.
"He sure is. A brave young man, fighting like a lion... but even a lion needs a hug sometimes and... the sad part is, that I can not hug him without hurting him.", she recounted, pausing, taking a steadying breath, Ellaha's hand finding hers. "The government, both of the Khanate and the Ilkhanate and the Sultanate, is doing what they can, financing the healthcare for not only him but everyone, pouring billions and billions of Barqas into research on diseases in general, raising awareness, too, Princess Aurelia and the Sultana Herself were even in his hospital and met Butterfly Children... you saw it in their eyes how much it hurt either of them to see children suffering like that. I know, that there are several groups of researchers trying to make it at least bearable, but they all say, that they will not be able to cure him. Maybe in future generations, but not this century."
She let a beat pass, then snorted.
"The interesting part is, that the government pays for the medication and operations and everything, but, as usual for a government, they forgot the most crucial part.", she said, "Every child needs a stuffed toy, right? Shirts and pants and so on... There are fabrics and materials, which do not hurt as much, but they are expensive. My family can afford them, but... others are not so lucky. And that's what we are collecting for. That a sister can go to her little brother with a lion and say: 'Hey, I can't hug you, but he can. And every time I want to hug you, I'll tell you and you will hug him with all your might, okay?'"

"Yes, she is.", Lady Fara replied, "Princess Aurelia bint-Damir, Prince Damir's daughter - read, your host's daughter."
She let a beat pass.
"Don't worry about it, though, Aurelia is a nice young woman. She'll most likely hug you before you even memorized her face.", she said, as a bit of a warning as well, "She wears her heart on her sleeves."

The saleswoman smiled.
"We have pocket watches and I am sure, that we have something nice for your mother and sisters as well.", she said and smiled slightly, "Let's get the watch out of the way first so that we can concentrate on your sisters and mother, okay?"
She motioned for Haru to follow her, leading her to a shelf with watches, the lowest three being occupied by wristwatches, while the top three held pocket watches. Some were metallic, some had a more stoney feel to their casing, a few were even of plastic (the bottom end of the price range), all were equipped with a silvered small chain. From modest to showy and anything inbetween, a lot of watches were there.
"What sort of man is your father?", the saleswoman asked.

Shirin almost burst out laughing at the antics of Yuzu.
"To some extend, I am a palace guard... well, Tabardariyya, part of the Ostaz House, which protects the Ilkhan of Sarepta and his family.", she explained, "Trained on my own request and a bit informally... I..."
She let a beat pass, looking at Yuki.
"...I love this lad like my own little brother. I want him safe... Gods know, I want him safe.", she said, "And they know, that I would punt them in the face, if they harmed him."
She looked up, towards the shop - and blanched.
Mahmut was not where he had been.
"Oh... sh...", she began, but controlled herself.
"This is a nice stall.", a very familiar voice said behind them with all the self-assurance a boy starting out on that whole teenager-thing could muster, "If one is interested in decorations for Christmas as the Kyrenaian Christians celebrate it."
Shirin smiled slightly and turned, seeing Mahmut looking at the stall's offers.
"Hi.", she said, "Fancy seeing you here."
Mahmut snorted in amusement.

"Aurelia huh?" Yuzu pondered as the name sounded vaguely familiar to her. But she couldn't place it where so she didn't pay it much mind. "Yes, I'm sure she'll be nice."

Haru followed the sales lady along taking a look at the watches. With all kinds of watches to see some on the cheaper end which she very well couldn't do for her dear father. "Oh my father is an old fashioned man. Fiercely patriotic and traditional. So I think something classy would do him right."

"Wow so ambitious, Shirin. And so warm and caring. I feel the same about Milady too.." She blushed placing a hand on her chest then taking a look back to the shop. "Huh? I see Haru-chan but not Mahmut. Oh go figure he was behind them. "I guess our cover is blown. Good to see you again" she giggled nervously and a tad embarrassed.

Lady Fara nodded, then straightened and schooled her face.
"Alright, I hope, that you have your ID-card ready.", she said as they neared the vessel.
A security cordon had been established, not because of the Kyrenaians aboard, but because of some of the foreign guests, which were either aboard or expected to visit. In coordination with the local police, the Tabardariyya held the cordon, more specifically the Tabardariyya House of Utica, not of Megido. And one of the faceless men in heavy lamellar armour with a huge intimidating axe, stepped forwards.
Lady Fara bowed her head in greeting, showing her ID, then nodded to Yuzu.

The saleswoman thought for a moment, then she decided on a piece, a simple pocketwatch, easily fitting into Haru's hand, her exterior silvered, her interior classical.
"What do you think?", she asked with a smile, as she gave it to Haru for inspection. "I think, it would suit him just fine. Classy, elegant, small enough to be stowed away and not to be used as a murder weapon. You can also have it etched, for an extra personal touch or, which would be more awesome, the inside clap can be used to hold a photograph."

Mahmut smiled, for a moment at Yuki, asking her for a moment with a small bow.
Then he went and hugged Shirin, who smiled and petted the back of his head. It held only for a few, wordless moments before the Prince stepped back.
Silence, for a moment, then he cleared his throat, turning to Yuki.
"Thank you, too, Yuki.", he said, not moving to hug her, "I'm sure, that we did not give you two too much of a challenge?"
"Certainly not as much as that time in Tarbia...", Shirin said with a smile.

Layla grinned back.
"Probably the best lesson they have ever learned, eh? A pity it's still just one head of state out of many who did so - there are still lots of these in the world who think social media were a proper channel to communicate on an international level. Just putting their message on Twitcher, and that's it." She shook her head. "Although I do think, that most of what these particular ladies and gentlemen have to tell the world doesn't need more than 280 characters." She grinned again.
Then, she took another sip of her apple juice.
"On a more serious note" - she continued, "While I already have posted in social media, and even met a few very nice Kyrenaians and others there, I don't let it take over my spare time, for I think, that life is too short for that. I got better things to do."

Maryam grinned again - quite some of the lads she had met in both the Qaranisa and SFDF-Navy service had come there for that particular reason; motivation was everything, after all.
"Service will definitely change a lot for you guys" - she said, "but the end of a stage in life is always also the beginning of a new one. Of course, I was sad, that I couldn't stay together with Samir, and in retrospective, he was the best boyfriend out of the three I've had so far. But, if I hadn't gone to the Navy, I wouldn't have met friends like Layla and Iska, and I, most likely, wouldn't have gotten the job at Yenikonya Dockyards, meaning that I wouldn't be here now. I'm sure this isn't the first time you hear something like that, it even may sound like a truism to you, but like most phrases that appear like truisms in the first place, it can't harm to remember that every now and then."

"Truer words were rarely spoken.", Atif agreed, "Which is why I don't have a social media account in the first place, but that's another story."
He exhaled.
"Now, I believe, that we came more or less full circle...", he said with a small grin.

Both teens were silent.
"That sounds corny.", the second teen said, not meaning it as an insult, but as an honest statement, "I get, what you mean, but... it still sounds corny. And actually not that different from leaving your friends behind to go to a prestigious Academy in some far-away city, away from everything you hold dear."
He shrugged.
"But regardless..." He raised his glass. "...to cornyness."

Erika smiled. "Certainly sounds fun...I did go pigeon-shooting once as a kid, when I was 8 or 9. Pap took me out to the woods, handed me his 20-gauge, and loaded birdshot, and told me how to track pigeons." Her smile grew. "At this point a drone comes in, starts buzzing over our heads and emitting a high-pitched sounds, scaring away the pigeons. It was presumably piloted by one of those foreign animal rights activists, so he cancels the pigeon shoot for another day and we had a merry time shooting down the drone instead. For the hell of it, we even emptied out the wreckage and had the fuselage stuffed before hanging it on our wall."

Fadia grinned.
"I can imagine that fun... Junah is also trained to hunt drones, which led to an interesting incident during one tournament, when a TV-station launched a drone for an overhead view and he ganged up with half a dozen other birds to tear apart the poor machine." Fadia shrugged. "The camera actually survived long enough to show, how it looked from close range and let's just say, that upon reviewing the footage, we all decided, that we didn't want to be at the receiving end of our falcons' rough love."

Alexander stood for a moment thinking before speaking.

"I assume these maps will cost a pretty penny? I've never met a cartographer who gives out their maps for free. Especially maps of this quality."

Although Alexander hated to have to pay for maps he was more than willing to pay a fair price for the maps. These weren't your run of the mill shoddy maps but rather beautiful, well detailed ones which gave him all the information he needed to safely bring the Geezer's Rest through.

"On the contrary.", the mousy woman said, smiling slightly, "The Merchant Navy provides all ship-owners and Captains with all necessary maps for free. However, both the Merchant Navy and the Coast Guard, which also acts as the sea rescue service, would be very happy about a donation for their cause of equipping all vessels passing Kyrenaian Waters with the appropriate maps."
She pointed to her desk, where a little donation box stood.
"Please put it in there.", she requested.

The Priest listened to the young man...

"You really believe me? Huh," Spiciness said, squinting at the man in disbelief, "But you know, that's just how I am. It's in my name: Immature Spiciness. I'm too hotheaded for my own good." He put his back against the table, leaning his bottom against it. "I still say she deserved it, & it's not like she would've listened to me or anything. I'm not 'noble' like her, or as 'dignified," he sneered, glaring in the distance, "I mean, she's not wrong, as I'm sure you can tell, but she makes such a big deal out of being one. She's cold as... no, no, she's frozen solid! Completely unaware that the rest of us, even if we aren't like her, still matter! She puts up this facade that makes it impossible to tell what she's feeling other than her usual elitist pride, too, so I would never tell if I'm even close to breaking her confidence... Like, sure guys like Immature Bitterness are pretty unpleasant, but I feel like even in life or death situations, she'd be the last of us doing anything!"

He sighed as he sat down at the table, beginning to eat his friend's fish with his hands. "Even if she was actually here, she wouldn't even bother listening to what I have to say, assuming she even comes in here," he said, the pieces of food in his mouth hardly impairing his speech, "Hmm, this is pretty nice fish, but maybe..." He got up & washed his hands in the kitchen, after which he began to search through it with a rather reckless hand, eventually finding an assortment of spices that he would return to the table with to sprinkle onto the fish. "Drinks's sister though... she's cool. Kind of hot, but not really my type, honestly. Guess she's too pure for me," he chuckled a little to himself as he mixed up the cod & jammed a piece of it inside his mouth, "Better, better... But, like, the Drinks sisters are polar opposites. One's fine with talking to anyone, the other only with nobility like her. One feels free to be emotional, the oth— ach!" He shook his right hand, his fingers swollen. "Sorry about that... Anyway, the Drinks sisters never really interact much either because of their differences."

"You sound an awful lot like you all family, yet at the same time... not.", the young Priest said with a small smile, not minding the young man going through the spices. "It's... kind of weird..."
"That might be because they are not family. At least not in the sense you might imagine.", a new voice said - said voice belonging to a woman, who stood leaning against the doorframe.
She was, in one word, gorgeous, dark skinned, her long, blonde hair falling over her back like a golden cascade, strands framing her face. Her blue eyes were deep and dark like the ocean's depth, filled with the experience of a long, long life, despite appearing not much older then twenty-five, thirty, if one wanted to be evil. A brown leather jacket hugged her form very well, the blouse underneath that took care of accentuating her figure, a pair of jeans completing the ensemble.
Behind her aviator sunglasses, which she had pushed up, there was a pair of grey ears, which stood high and alert, belonging to a canine species, twitching every now and again.
"Oh, hello, Ava.", the young Priest said and rose from his stool with a grin, "How was the trip?"
"Wonderful, thank you.", she replied, her eyes finally leaving Spiciness. She bowed her head lightly. "Say, care to put on the kettle for a cuppa?"
"Of course, one moment!", the young priest said, hurrying away - that had been his signal to occupy himself in the kitchen for the next few minutes.
Ava's eyes found Spiciness' again. "You are an Aspect, right? An entity separated from your host and master and given human shape and form to fulfill various tasks... right?" She sat on a chair next to him. "I met one of your kind, a long, long time ago, in a place so far away, I am not sure it exists anymore..."

"Oh, I will not only de-knot your back, Aceus, but your front, too.", Fara replied with a small smile, letting that sink in for a moment or two, while continuing her work, before she added: "There are three major styles of Hammam, though. The Cold-Hot-Warm-Style, the Cold-Warm-Hot-Style and the most common of the three, Warm-Hot-Cold-Style. This Hammam is a Warm-Hot-Cold-Style Hammam."
She took care of an especially nasty knot with expert fingerwork.
"We are still in the Warm Room, letting the sweat flow, not only due to the warm air, next comes the Hot Room, where we soak up steam, which is good for the skin. After that, Cold Room, relaxing and refreshing and with a good cuppa.", she explained with a smile.

At first Aceus merely nodded along, soaking in the information as well as the dexterous de-knotting that was occurring across his back, before something clicked in his mind and he buried his blush beneath his arms. Any frontal massage was welcome, and he understood it, but due to his rather...exposed nature it would be most awkward. Quickly shelving aside those thoughts for a moment, he chuckled nervously. "Seems like Sabin and Edgar are going through this backwa-aaah." he gave a playful glare. "There went my confidence that I had when massaging you. Granted, I shouldn't be surprised, you Kyrenaians practically grow up here, I just got into massaging roughly...a month ago?"

Fara giggled.
"Don't worry, you were plenty good.", she said, "And to be honest, while many Kyrenaians know a few basic tricks, not many are as knowledgeable as I am... many boys believe, that the best way to a girl's heart is to be good at massaging and while there is certainly some truth to it, it's not the whole story... not by a long shot."
She smiled, not mentioning, that Sabin and Edgar had abandoned the course by having a cuppa now.
"Don't worry, though...", she said, having noticed his blush before he buried his face in his arms and having counted one and one. "There are techniques to get excited boys under control." Her hands reached his lower back, beginning their work there. "So don't worry... we're both adults."

[AHSCA]

Sitting down on the bare foredeck, the Sultana nodded.
"I indeed read them... they convinced me to allow Aurelia courting you. And, when the time comes, to change the law.", she said with a small smile, "I have similar ones myself, in a box at a place I do not want to disclose, from my own husband, her Grandfather. Soon, the last ones will turn 34."
She smiled.
"Let's just say, that Dschafar was not as good as a poet as you are, Marcella.", she added.

"Aha well...." She still was red from the combination of a bit embarrassment and flattery "I suppose that's understandable, a person's poetry is often the soul writing it out in rhythm and rhyme. Although...I wouldn't mind reading some of the ones addressed to you....But of course you don't have to share. "

Atif grinned.
"I know just the place!", he said and motioned her to follow him, "I even know the owner!"
Two minutes later, they were in a little side street in front of a door, a large, wooden board. The side-street was clean, but one could see, that not many people even knew, it existed. He knocked, a slit in the door opening.
A phrase was spoken and the door opened.
A moment later, the door opened into a small stairway, Atif giving Asuna a warning as they ascended, and at the top, they looked into a small restaurant with half a dozen tables, a bar to the side, windows with a nice view of Sinope and a small stage.
A barkeeper stood behind his bar, grunted a greeting, which one could interpret as friendly.
Atif grinned as he turned to Asuna, the look on his face basically begging her to tell him, what she thought.

"Wonderful" She took his hand so he could lead her on. the place he picked it was quaint and seemed like a good spot the two could enjoy a meal together. "This is very nice. The view is great! Perfect choice!"