Sinope Harbour Festival (IC, MT)

[Shwe Tu Colony]

Ava smiled, thinking, that he would love the G 20...

Spiciness simply glanced over the motorcycle, feeling just a little impressed, but his lack of motorcycle knowledge left him not quite sure what specifically to be amazed at. "Huh, interesting, interesting. Kind of tragic that they died off... I wonder if maybe they were Psytrine," he said, nodding his head, "Nice bike. Though I think you'd prefer riding m—" He suddenly stopped talking, blushing a little bit & looking rather confused. Why'd I stop? That's what I'd usually say, he thought as he began to step towards the motorcycle, still feeling incomplete, "Well anyway, I think we should get going now. I don't think Seafood would appreciate me keeping him waiting! I wonder if he'll need my help after whatever he did, but Gods, do I feel dead inside without him..." He sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"We both knew, magic fades..." he softly began with closed eyes, waiting for Ava to ready the motorbike & for them to get going. He would follow her moves & orders, continuing to sing to himself if they went on their way.

[Kuronami]

Damir laughed at the anecdote as he led Yuzu aboard.
"I must admit, that the reason for giving Aurelia her name is far less elaborate or delicious.", he admitted with a smile, "In the fifteenth century, there was an Ilkhana of Utica, Aurelia the Wise, an ancestor of hers and mine. She is known for being the first Ilkhana to introduce compulsory school attendance for all children, no matter their station. A social revolution."
He smiled slightly, worry in his eyes.
"And it seems, that Aurelia honours her name. Not even twenty and already being the symbol for a huge social reform.", he said.

"We have both.", the saleswoman said with a smile, then motioned Haru to follow her through half of the store to a shelf two metres long and adorned with combs and hair clips and other helpers for styling the hair, including hair bands and even small circlets. Some were of simple metal, plastic or wood, but some were also silvered, some strutted with artificial jewels, richly decorated and, if the saleswoman was honest, quite tacky. "It all depends on what your mother likes."

"That is a very good motto, Milady.", he said and smiled at her, "Although I must confess, that this would be the first of such tours with someone other then Soraya."
They arrived by the door, the Prince opening the door as he explained.
"A very good and close friend of mine.", he gave as an explanation. Shirin would say, that this was a bit of an understatement.

"Aurelia the Wise sound quite appropriate for a woman who introduced compulsory education and to hear her ancestor as well lives to her namesake is something to be proud of! Sounds like a lovely woman if I may say so."

Haru taking a look at the selection was again wowed by the craftsmanship and the fact they were pretty affordable. "Mmm." She examined until her eyes fell onto two things she liked then made her decision "That butterfly comb would be perfect."

"Wow I feel honored that I can be in such a position!"

[Danceria]

Fara began to massage the stern, putting her hands onto it, heels of the hands on the cheeks, fingers facing down. She then pressed her heels down, slowly pushing them towards the fingers as well, pressing the stern slightly together.
"You could do that.", she told Aceus, "But I am not sure, if you would find me... unless you followed the signs to the Swimming Hall 1 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday afternoons, watching the Training of the Swimmer Team, but why should you want to do that?"
She grinned and she was quite sure, that Aceus could hear her grin.

"Perhaps to swim with the girls, since only a perv would peep." Aceus countered with an equally ear-splitting grin. "A man would just simply saunter up in there...assuming the girls don't throw him out. Or throw him into the pool to see if he quite literally sinks or swims. I trust the captain would judge a man by how well he swims rather than how good he looks in a swimsuit." he paused. "The question is...when should he make his move? When there are a lot of swimmers present? Or slip in for a more...private tutoring with the good captain?"

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

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."

Erika chuckled. "I would imagine. Even the slowest buzzard can and will claw your face off if it has to...and it doesn't really take orders from anyone once it's in the air. I'd imagine that it would be problematic at times, but very, very satisfying at other times." She raised an eyebrow. "By the way, what species is your falcon? And why the name 'Junah'? Is it a pun on 'Judah', or something else?"

The Luna Mysteria
Marie came abovedecks to find a Kyrenaian camera crew setting up.
She looked at Gina. "...I'm out of the loop, what happened while I was below refilling my canteen?"

[Shamsiyya]

[quote="Kyrenaia";p="35351802"
Atif nodded and rose.
"Thank you, Layla, you too.", he said and smiled, then decided to bugger it all and leaned over, giving her a soft, nervous kiss on the cheek. Returning with his face scarlet, he bowed his head and turned on the spot.

The other two teens rose.
"The pleasure was ours.", the second teen said and offered his hand for her to take, he would then kiss the back of it. "Especially learning from such a skilled master with the dart. Have a nice festival and many nice visitors!"
"And fun at the parade.", the other teen said with a small bow. "It was fun."
[/quote]

Atif wasn't the only one in here with a face scarlet; although Layla had a darker skin tone, it was not in any way helpful to hide her blush this time, as he had followed the wonderful Kyrenaian tradition of damning the torpedoes and buggering it all.
Layla rose, too. As Atif had already turned on the spot, she made a few small, fast steps until she stood next to him, softly grabbed his shoulder, counted to three inwardly, then pecked him on his cheek in the same manner.
"There's got to be time for that" - she said.

Maryam took the second teen's hand, so he could kiss the back of hers.
She smiled and said, "If it goes on like this, we will definitely have a lot of fun!"
She had to think of her Granny Dunya again, imagining her telling her something along the lines of, Give it to them all, it's a destiny for any true Abdaliha to make them all wet!, all in her notorious dialect of Shamsiyyan that identified her and everyone in her family as a Mountain Lands hillbilly, and in a tone of a keen coach.
Still smiling, Maryam bowed her head again, and she would still be grinning, as soon as they would have left.

[The Scarlet Eagle]

"Oh, instead of many museum ships, so many, that the term becomes overused, the Selkie have scuttled a lot of their old ships as artificial reefs. Beautiful to dive in!", Ilia almost gushed with a grin, "For example, there is SDFS Aeval, she was scuttled in 1979 as a diving wreck by the Duo close to Tearmann Island - Damir, Aurelia and I were there two summers ago. It's beautiful!"
He let a beat pass.
"Now, Miss Qadir is right, I do have a few aviation stories to share.", he said and grinned, "Which I tell you, though, that depends on what sort of story you would like to hear?"

"Indeed, that's a thing we do too nowadays, answers Peter as he takes off his jacket. About the stories, choose one, anything, and then we'll tell you one, and we'll go back and forth. How does that sound?" asks the former Emperor.

[Kyrenaia]

The Sultana nodded.
Aurelia spoke: "And that is another thing I love about you. You wear your heart on your sleeve and speak, what it tells you...", she said and leaned over so that their shoulders touched. "Around here, people are mostly so... withdrawn and secretive. You are like a breath of fresh air compared to that!"
"Girls, I hate to interrupt your love-talking, but we are in a public, well-visited harbour.", the Sultana reminded them gently, "So..."
Aurelia held her shoulder close to Marcella's and raised an eyebrow.
"...don't give them too much of a show.", the Sultana finished with a smile.

"Aha right, guess we'll have to keep some of it for later."

Atif smiled, leaning over.
"What a weird place the UIS must be, if you must thank someone for speaking the truth.", he said, slightly joking, "For it is the truth, Asuna. You are a beautiful rose from far-away shores... I must thank you for spending time with me."

"Well, you're not totaly wrong about it being an odd place. But I really just always want to show I appreciate it. i've never had a boy call me so beautiful before is all" She smiled. "Well you are plenty handsome yourself, Atif."

"Indeed.", Aurelia said softly, then exhaled, "Speaking of which, we should get underway."
She looked to her Grandmother, who shrugged: "You are the Captain of this vessel, Aurelia. Your decision when to get underway!"
Aurelia gave a small smile. "Thanks.", she said, and turned to Marcella. "First Mate, ready the sails!"

Atif smiled.
"Thank you...", he said with a small, self-ironic smile, "How about this: Every time you call me beautiful, I give you a kiss. Every time I call you beautiful, you give me a kiss. Not something big and large on the lips, but a peck, okay?"
He smiled slightly.
"Let's try it.", he said, "You're beautiful, Asuna!"

Ava smiled, thinking, that he would love the G 20...

Spiciness simply glanced over the motorcycle, feeling just a little impressed, but his lack of motorcycle knowledge left him not quite sure what specifically to be amazed at. "Huh, interesting, interesting. Kind of tragic that they died off... I wonder if maybe they were Psytrine," he said, nodding his head, "Nice bike. Though I think you'd prefer riding m—" He suddenly stopped talking, blushing a little bit & looking rather confused. Why'd I stop? That's what I'd usually say, he thought as he began to step towards the motorcycle, still feeling incomplete, "Well anyway, I think we should get going now. I don't think Seafood would appreciate me keeping him waiting! I wonder if he'll need my help after whatever he did, but Gods, do I feel dead inside without him..." He sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"We both knew, magic fades..." he softly began with closed eyes, waiting for Ava to ready the motorbike & for them to get going. He would follow her moves & orders, continuing to sing to himself if they went on their way.

Ava grinned.
"Oh, I would ride you to town and back, don't worry, if we wouldn't have a more important concern right now.", she teased and ran her hand along his chin bone. Maybe it would cheer him up a bit. "Maybe later, we can talk again... I never had an Aspect to share my bedroll with!"
She then put on her helmet and motioned for him to sit behind her and to grab onto her as she fired up her machine. She did not care where he put his hands.
"Hold on, this is going to be a ride!"

"Indeed, that's a thing we do too nowadays, answers Peter as he takes off his jacket. About the stories, choose one, anything, and then we'll tell you one, and we'll go back and forth. How does that sound?" asks the former Emperor.

"Sounds like a plan.", he said and thought for a moment, "Now, let's start with a funny one. You see, I was a bit of a prankster in my time in flight school..."
He then continued to tell them of a few of his pranks during flight school, including, once, pranking his superior officer, who did not really like it. Luckily for the Prince, said superior was not someone to sic the military police onto someone for a prank, but someone to retaliate.
Which resulted in Crown-Prince Ilia, one day, after he had taken a longer shower (a luxury, which he allowed himself sometimes), not only found his hair dyed pink, but also all of his clothes gone, the only thing he found being a garbage sack.
So, rather opting to go fully naked, hair dyed pink, he walked through the corridors - only to be intercepted by the superior officer and the commander of the flight school, who looked at him with quite a bit of surprise, the superior holding back laughter.
Ilia snapped to attention: "Sir, Ma'am, I am unhappy to report, that the prototype personal stealth device appears to be malfunctioning.", he reported with a textbook perfect salute.
That drove the superior over the edge, bursting out laughing, while the commander looked from one to the other with confusion. He let both of them off the hook, in the end, but the Personal Stealth Device became a legend at the Flight Academy of the RKN.

Damir laughed at the anecdote as he led Yuzu aboard.
"I must admit, that the reason for giving Aurelia her name is far less elaborate or delicious.", he admitted with a smile, "In the fifteenth century, there was an Ilkhana of Utica, Aurelia the Wise, an ancestor of hers and mine. She is known for being the first Ilkhana to introduce compulsory school attendance for all children, no matter their station. A social revolution."
He smiled slightly, worry in his eyes.
"And it seems, that Aurelia honours her name. Not even twenty and already being the symbol for a huge social reform.", he said.

"We have both.", the saleswoman said with a smile, then motioned Haru to follow her through half of the store to a shelf two metres long and adorned with combs and hair clips and other helpers for styling the hair, including hair bands and even small circlets. Some were of simple metal, plastic or wood, but some were also silvered, some strutted with artificial jewels, richly decorated and, if the saleswoman was honest, quite tacky. "It all depends on what your mother likes."

"That is a very good motto, Milady.", he said and smiled at her, "Although I must confess, that this would be the first of such tours with someone other then Soraya."
They arrived by the door, the Prince opening the door as he explained.
"A very good and close friend of mine.", he gave as an explanation. Shirin would say, that this was a bit of an understatement.

"Aurelia the Wise sound quite appropriate for a woman who introduced compulsory education and to hear her ancestor as well lives to her namesake is something to be proud of! Sounds like a lovely woman if I may say so."

Haru taking a look at the selection was again wowed by the craftsmanship and the fact they were pretty affordable. "Mmm." She examined until her eyes fell onto two things she liked then made her decision "That butterfly comb would be perfect."

"Wow I feel honored that I can be in such a position!"

Damir nodded.
"Indeed.", he said with a whole lot of pride in his voice, "She is a wonderful young woman. Marcella-Khana is really a lucky person to have conquered her heart..." He led her to a staircase, which led up to the Sun Deck. "So... here we are. Short question, did you already have your debut?"

The saleswoman smiled and put the butterfly comb into the basket.
"So... anything else catching your interest?", she asked with a smile, "Maybe something for yourself?"
There was a lot of things, which the souvenir shop sold, from plant seeds to trinkets to kitsch to actually useful stuff, but also things like sweets, card games, a board game, all of them a bit on the cheap side for tourists.

Mahmut smiled.
"I am not sure.", he said, smiling a dreamy smile, "Soraya is... no offense to you or Haru, but Soraya holds a special place to me. One, which neither of you will ever occupy." He decided to be honest with both of them and himself, letting the flirting go. "I'm sorry if I caused you offense."

Erika chuckled. "I would imagine. Even the slowest buzzard can and will claw your face off if it has to...and it doesn't really take orders from anyone once it's in the air. I'd imagine that it would be problematic at times, but very, very satisfying at other times." She raised an eyebrow. "By the way, what species is your falcon? And why the name 'Junah'? Is it a pun on 'Judah', or something else?"

Fadia smiled.
"Actually, Junah means wing in English. Wing as the appendage, with which the bird flies.", she shrugged, "I know, awfully creative, but I was ten, when I named him." She leaned back. "He's a Small Kyrenaian Falcon, or, as we call them, alsaqr alfirkh, or Falcon Chick. He spans two metres from wingtip to wingtip and is my whole pride and joy... and one of the deadliest birds currently in the circle of the Mounted Falconry Cups."

Fara began to massage the stern, putting her hands onto it, heels of the hands on the cheeks, fingers facing down. She then pressed her heels down, slowly pushing them towards the fingers as well, pressing the stern slightly together.
"You could do that.", she told Aceus, "But I am not sure, if you would find me... unless you followed the signs to the Swimming Hall 1 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday afternoons, watching the Training of the Swimmer Team, but why should you want to do that?"
She grinned and she was quite sure, that Aceus could hear her grin.

"Perhaps to swim with the girls, since only a perv would peep." Aceus countered with an equally ear-splitting grin. "A man would just simply saunter up in there...assuming the girls don't throw him out. Or throw him into the pool to see if he quite literally sinks or swims. I trust the captain would judge a man by how well he swims rather than how good he looks in a swimsuit." he paused. "The question is...when should he make his move? When there are a lot of swimmers present? Or slip in for a more...private tutoring with the good captain?"

"Hm...", Fara made, moving from the stern down towards the backside of the legs, "That is a very good question. Maybe he should come in a bit before five o'clock, when the lessons end, so that the Captain can introduce him properly to her team, prevent unflattering rumours to spring forth and to maybe have a race or two against him."
She smiled.
"But she would have to make clear, that no matter how good he looks in a swimsuit, or how good he is as a swimmer, it is the Captain's duty to deal with the disturber." Her strokes down his upper leg were calm and relaxing. She whispered: "And dealing with him she will."

[Folaisia]

"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."

"Well, that sucks," commented Cormag, "but at least you have something that pretty much simulates how sail a boat, that's good."

"And Sand Skiffing sounds cool," said Alexander, showing interest in his tone, "how is that done?"

[Mervay]

"Indeed, we are.", Samira said and bowed her head slightly, "And once again, thank you for your donation. May the Lioness protect you."
Ellaha remained silent for a moment, then looked at Jessica.
"Ma'am, please forgive me, if what I am about to do is a transgression.", she said and then struck: She wrapped her arms around Edward, kissed him on both cheeks and smiled at him. In her eyes, there were tears. "Thank you, Sir. May Manat bless you with many long years with your wife."
Speaking of which, next, the dancer hugged Jessica, kissed her on both cheeks, tears running down her cheeks.
"Thank you, Ma'am. May the Lioness bless you with many healthy and strong children, and may Manat give you a long and happy life.", she said and let go of her. "And allow me to assure you both, that your kindness will be remembered."

Jess was kinda dumbfounded about what Ellaha meant with what she would do as an transgression... Until she saw her wrapping her arms around her husband and kissing him on the cheeks. That was an transgression?? For Jessica, no, she knew very well that the girls were happy about the contribution that he made with his wife and so there wasn't an problem with it.
Edward on the other hand was shocked by the surprise of Ellaha with her wrapping her arms around him and kissing him on the cheeks with her crying of happiness for his help, when she pulled off, he could see her tears of happiness.

"Thanks Ellaha, I'm sure that I'm blessed for have such beautiful wife and be able to have an great life with her" he told her smiling as she then hugged his wife and did the same to her with tears running through her cheeks.

Jess was shocked too, but she understood this was because of them having helped her and her friend with the funds they needed, she hugged her back before she let her off.

"Thanks Ellaha. I appreciate it, but those blessings are already accomplished for me and my family" she told her grinning. "Wherever you need help or something, you can count on our help" she took her husband hand and begun to slowly walk.

However the couple looked at the girls one last time and Edward told to the girls, "We wish you the best in what you do and that more and more people help in wharever way they can, Samira, Ellaha, Godspeed girls" with that they leaved to walk to their next destinies.
As they walked through, Edward thought about what Ellaha did, he was curious and concerned to know if Jess wasn't jealous or anything like that; sure she wasn't someone who was possesive or something like that, but it would be good to ask now in case.

"Hey... About what Ellaha did, you know... Her arms wrapped around me and she kissing my cheeks, you are not jealous right??" he asked, placing an hand on her shoulders.

Then his wife expression was... Laugh?? Why would she laugh at such question???

"Jealous?? Me??, Hahaha" she kept laughing for some minutes before stop, then she looked at him and spoke. "Ellaha did that to both of us as an way to show her grattitude on helping her and Samira with their task for the foundation and help the childs with the butterfly skin" she said, wrapping her arms around him.

"I know very well that you have eyes for me and only me, that's why I fell in love with you, because of being always loyal to yourself, your family, your friends and your lover" then Jessica kissed her husband in an romantic kiss, she knew well that he wouldn't cheat on her as she wouldn't cheat on him, they both loved so deeply.

After she pulled out of the kiss, she smiled at his husband which was in deep shades of red about the surprise kiss, but still he grinned at her.

"Why don't we walk on our own for an while and we meet back in the Godspeed, I want to try those Kyrenaian baths" she asked they both pulled out of their embace being an little embarassed for have done that in public.

"Sounds good, I might take an walk through the port meanwhile so once we meet back on the ship we go and roam through the rest of the city" he grinned.

"Sounds like an plan then. I better be going now then" she told him kissing his cheeks. "Love you" with that Jess leaved to find one of those Kyrenaian baths.

Meanwhile Edward, he just begun to walk back through his route back to the port to have an nice an calm walk for now, might be strange for an couple to have their time alone and without each other?? Possibly, but part of the vacations of them meant that they needed to spend it on their own at least for a little so they could enjoy too out of their time as an couple.

[Shwe Tu Colony]

Ava grinned...

Spiciness's song paused as Ava replied. "Hmm, I guess, yeah," he murmured out, his voice almost entirely devoid of any sense of emotion, his eyes blank as he thought, "Maybe if Seafood's down for it, he could join in, but I think I'll have to see. I really don't know if he's all good, or..." It seemed he had something more to say, but trailed off. "I'm not much different from a normal boy, thankfully, so I've got my own knowledge of how to make things happen," he said with a faint smirk, "As for Seafood, well, he's my bro. I'm sure he'll be smart enough to figure it out at a disadvantage." He got on the bike, & suddenly his eyes widened as he remembered something. "O-oh... maybe he's not at a disadvantage here. Maybe that's why he was behaving so weirdly," he muttered out as he got on the bike with Ava, his absentminded hands first accidentally groping just a tad too high, "Er, whoops!" His face wreathed itself in a spicy pink glow, while his hands slid down so that he grasped her sides instead of the more forbidden regions. "Oh man, do not tell him about that!"

Assuming that the two of them took off soon thereafter, Spiciness began to sing quietly to himself as he hugged Ava's body, his oddly soft voice — one whose gentle heat caressed rather than overwhelmed in a strange contrast to his hotter, spicier voice, scalding in its sheer heat — vibrating a little against her back with its romantic tone. Even with the speed of their ride & his helmet, he seemed to be unrestricted in his song, unrestricted in the name of love. Even when forever ended, Spiciness knew that he could wait for Seafood.

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Erika chuckled. "I would imagine. Even the slowest buzzard can and will claw your face off if it has to...and it doesn't really take orders from anyone once it's in the air. I'd imagine that it would be problematic at times, but very, very satisfying at other times." She raised an eyebrow. "By the way, what species is your falcon? And why the name 'Junah'? Is it a pun on 'Judah', or something else?"

Fadia smiled.
"Actually, Junah means wing in English. Wing as the appendage, with which the bird flies.", she shrugged, "I know, awfully creative, but I was ten, when I named him." She leaned back. "He's a Small Kyrenaian Falcon, or, as we call them, alsaqr alfirkh, or Falcon Chick. He spans two metres from wingtip to wingtip and is my whole pride and joy... and one of the deadliest birds currently in the circle of the Mounted Falconry Cups."

Erika was silent for a moment.
"...the only way you could steep lower would be if you named him "Bird". And trust me, I've run into, or heard of, people who have...or people whose parents were like that. It takes a special kind of...creativity and a certain amount of sadism to name your child '@' or 'Facebook'...or 'ABCDE'."

[Kuronami]

Damir nodded.
"Indeed.", he said with a whole lot of pride in his voice, "She is a wonderful young woman. Marcella-Khana is really a lucky person to have conquered her heart..." He led her to a staircase, which led up to the Sun Deck. "So... here we are. Short question, did you already have your debut?"

The saleswoman smiled and put the butterfly comb into the basket.
"So... anything else catching your interest?", she asked with a smile, "Maybe something for yourself?"
There was a lot of things, which the souvenir shop sold, from plant seeds to trinkets to kitsch to actually useful stuff, but also things like sweets, card games, a board game, all of them a bit on the cheap side for tourists.

Mahmut smiled.
"I am not sure.", he said, smiling a dreamy smile, "Soraya is... no offense to you or Haru, but Soraya holds a special place to me. One, which neither of you will ever occupy." He decided to be honest with both of them and himself, letting the flirting go. "I'm sorry if I caused you offense."

"Oh no, I haven't actually." She blushed a little.

Haru nearly forgot about herself when getting wrapped up in picking stuff out for her family. "Oh well...Anything you suggest? I should have just enough to spoil myself too!"

Yuki blushed in Mahmut's describing of Soraya. "Eeeeee!" she squealed in delight about how cute it was, honestly she wasn't offended "That's so sweet! See that's what girls like, Dear Prince, they like a boy who is sensitive and caring like you!" Yuki also noticed a mixed expression of relief and still concern on Mahmut's face and it did sink in he was concerned he might offend Yuki or Haru. "Oh uuh no, no offense taken at all. I know you'd be well out of my league anyway, and well...Ahem....Do not think less of me as a dedicated Maiden for eavesdropping but I had heard the murmurs you might be betrothed to a woman, well then again I guess that's a bit expected, a Prince like you how could you not be. Well again don't worry about me, I'm but a common girl anyway, and Haru well she'll be okay as long as she has us to help her through it."

[The Scarlet Eagle]

"Sounds like a plan.", he said and thought for a moment, "Now, let's start with a funny one. You see, I was a bit of a prankster in my time in flight school..."
He then continued to tell them of a few of his pranks during flight school, including, once, pranking his superior officer, who did not really like it. Luckily for the Prince, said superior was not someone to sic the military police onto someone for a prank, but someone to retaliate.
Which resulted in Crown-Prince Ilia, one day, after he had taken a longer shower (a luxury, which he allowed himself sometimes), not only found his hair dyed pink, but also all of his clothes gone, the only thing he found being a garbage sack.
So, rather opting to go fully naked, hair dyed pink, he walked through the corridors - only to be intercepted by the superior officer and the commander of the flight school, who looked at him with quite a bit of surprise, the superior holding back laughter.
Ilia snapped to attention: "Sir, Ma'am, I am unhappy to report, that the prototype personal stealth device appears to be malfunctioning.", he reported with a textbook perfect salute.
That drove the superior over the edge, bursting out laughing, while the commander looked from one to the other with confusion. He let both of them off the hook, in the end, but the Personal Stealth Device became a legend at the Flight Academy of the RKN.

As the Prince tells his story, the four Blazing Angels laugh to their heart's content.
"Ha ha, that's a good one! says Joe. So, now our turn. I'll start. Back in 1940, before the Empire had entered the war, I chose to volunteer myself to fight with the RAF against Germany, lying on my age and making myself a year older than I was on my papers. It was before the four of us had met each other, and before I had met Pete and Joe.
Anyway, when I arrived in Britain, I started to flirt with a girl named Alice who I was meeting on break, but her father wasn't too keen on seeing a Yankee get its bloody hands on his doll, as he said himself. So, one day, I was training to bomb a target, by dropping tracts from my Gladiator. But on that day, I had specially prepared a pack of tracts with Can I date your daughter? on it. You should have seen his face when I dropped them on his house! says the former mechanic with a laugh.
Anyway, he reluctantly accepted after that, but then Peter and Tom had arrived too from the Empire, and I ended up as a mentor for them. We were then moved to Dunkirk in May, but after that, when we came back to England, I learned that Alice had died in the early hours of the Blitz. he finishes with a small sigh. So Prince, your turn again!"

[Aurora Confederacy]

Sorry for delay - R/L got in the way

"Thank you very much.", the young TV-man said and smiled, refusing to take the ballpen back. She would have found a standard contract for such things, at least standard for Kyrenaian TV. "So... for a start, could we please do a short interview with you, Miss..." He looked at the form. "Miss Maraner? Of the Lunar Mystique?"
He let a beat pass.
"My apologies, but I can't read your handwriting.", he said sheepishly, "In any case, may we do that on the foredeck?"

"You're welcome" replied Zoe Mariner, "Mariner, Zoe Mariner, and the boat is the Luna Mysteria, yeah we can use the foredeck, perhaps if its okay with everyone else, perhaps slip the moorings and go out into the channel and let Luna here stretch her legs" Zoe then looks at her guests on board, "you guys up for that, a run out to the parade start point and back?" she asks before turning to the reporter, "what do you think?"

Micky took hold of a set of keys and put them into the ignition of the auxiliary motor and turned the key to the first click bringing on the ignition system, then to the second click and a buzzer on the panel sounded off, then with a turn to the third stage the starter motor spun up for a few second then moments later some exhaust smoke puffed out of the exhaust as the engine coughed itself into life, as soon as the engine was running smoothly Micky let go of the key and turned to Zoe with the steady beat of the small diesel engine chugging away, "yes, no?" she asks.

The Luna Mysteria
Marie came abovedecks to find a Kyrenaian camera crew setting up.
She looked at Gina. "...I'm out of the loop, what happened while I was below refilling my canteen?"

Gina looked at Marie, "we got invaded by a camera crew, thats all, you fancy a run out to the start point of the parade and back to here?" she then turned to Robbie, whats up?"

Robbie looked at Gina, "nothing, just finding my residuals a little uncomfortable today, should be okay though when it cools down"

[Danceria]

"Hm...", Fara made, moving from the stern down towards the backside of the legs, "That is a very good question. Maybe he should come in a bit before five o'clock, when the lessons end, so that the Captain can introduce him properly to her team, prevent unflattering rumours to spring forth and to maybe have a race or two against him."
She smiled.
"But she would have to make clear, that no matter how good he looks in a swimsuit, or how good he is as a swimmer, it is the Captain's duty to deal with the disturber." Her strokes down his upper leg were calm and relaxing. She whispered: "And dealing with him she will."

"She already has...quite...well~" Aceus sighed. "Good Gods, how'd I get so lucky?" he wondered aloud in bliss before realigning himself. "...Sorry, apparently I'm a lot stiffer than I gave myself credit for. But yes, shortly before Five o'clock, Swimming Hall One, Monday, Wednesdays, or Fridays...Any last tidbits I should know about? Something to garner the trust of the swim team aside from eventually beating you in a race?" the Dancerian smirked with exceeding confidence. While he may not have swam competitively, he'll be darned if he said he let a girl win because she was prettier than him. He couldn't see much while swimming fast anyhow.

[Kyrenaia]

"Well, that sucks," commented Cormag, "but at least you have something that pretty much simulates how sail a boat, that's good."

"And Sand Skiffing sounds cool," said Alexander, showing interest in his tone, "how is that done?"

Laila smiled.
"Sand Skiffs are small... no, wait, hang on..." She thought for a moment. "Imagine a small rowing boat built of either light wood or fibres or even light metals, make it slimmer, give it two outriggers and a sail either on a mast or on a kite rig. That is a Sand Skiff." She grinned. "Fast, agile and an awful lot of fun to use, but also quite dangerous! Definately not usable for carrying freight!"

"Indeed, we are.", Samira said and bowed her head slightly, "And once again, thank you for your donation. May the Lioness protect you."
Ellaha remained silent for a moment, then looked at Jessica.
"Ma'am, please forgive me, if what I am about to do is a transgression.", she said and then struck: She wrapped her arms around Edward, kissed him on both cheeks and smiled at him. In her eyes, there were tears. "Thank you, Sir. May Manat bless you with many long years with your wife."
Speaking of which, next, the dancer hugged Jessica, kissed her on both cheeks, tears running down her cheeks.
"Thank you, Ma'am. May the Lioness bless you with many healthy and strong children, and may Manat give you a long and happy life.", she said and let go of her. "And allow me to assure you both, that your kindness will be remembered."

Jess was kinda dumbfounded about what Ellaha meant with what she would do as an transgression... Until she saw her wrapping her arms around her husband and kissing him on the cheeks. That was an transgression?? For Jessica, no, she knew very well that the girls were happy about the contribution that he made with his wife and so there wasn't an problem with it.
Edward on the other hand was shocked by the surprise of Ellaha with her wrapping her arms around him and kissing him on the cheeks with her crying of happiness for his help, when she pulled off, he could see her tears of happiness.

"Thanks Ellaha, I'm sure that I'm blessed for have such beautiful wife and be able to have an great life with her" he told her smiling as she then hugged his wife and did the same to her with tears running through her cheeks.

Jess was shocked too, but she understood this was because of them having helped her and her friend with the funds they needed, she hugged her back before she let her off.

"Thanks Ellaha. I appreciate it, but those blessings are already accomplished for me and my family" she told her grinning. "Wherever you need help or something, you can count on our help" she took her husband hand and begun to slowly walk.

However the couple looked at the girls one last time and Edward told to the girls, "We wish you the best in what you do and that more and more people help in wharever way they can, Samira, Ellaha, Godspeed girls" with that they leaved to walk to their next destinies.
As they walked through, Edward thought about what Ellaha did, he was curious and concerned to know if Jess wasn't jealous or anything like that; sure she wasn't someone who was possesive or something like that, but it would be good to ask now in case.

"Hey... About what Ellaha did, you know... Her arms wrapped around me and she kissing my cheeks, you are not jealous right??" he asked, placing an hand on her shoulders.

Then his wife expression was... Laugh?? Why would she laugh at such question???

"Jealous?? Me??, Hahaha" she kept laughing for some minutes before stop, then she looked at him and spoke. "Ellaha did that to both of us as an way to show her grattitude on helping her and Samira with their task for the foundation and help the childs with the butterfly skin" she said, wrapping her arms around him.

"I know very well that you have eyes for me and only me, that's why I fell in love with you, because of being always loyal to yourself, your family, your friends and your lover" then Jessica kissed her husband in an romantic kiss, she knew well that he wouldn't cheat on her as she wouldn't cheat on him, they both loved so deeply.

After she pulled out of the kiss, she smiled at his husband which was in deep shades of red about the surprise kiss, but still he grinned at her.

"Why don't we walk on our own for an while and we meet back in the Godspeed, I want to try those Kyrenaian baths" she asked they both pulled out of their embace being an little embarassed for have done that in public.

"Sounds good, I might take an walk through the port meanwhile so once we meet back on the ship we go and roam through the rest of the city" he grinned.

"Sounds like an plan then. I better be going now then" she told him kissing his cheeks. "Love you" with that Jess leaved to find one of those Kyrenaian baths.

Meanwhile Edward, he just begun to walk back through his route back to the port to have an nice an calm walk for now, might be strange for an couple to have their time alone and without each other?? Possibly, but part of the vacations of them meant that they needed to spend it on their own at least for a little so they could enjoy too out of their time as an couple.

Samira and Ellaha waved their goodbyes as well, smiling and grinning. And glad, that they weren't getting into trouble - cultural differences were something even they sometimes stumbled over with the most well-intended of gestures.
Edward, walking along the Promenade, would have the choice of the many different boats on display, both foreign and domestic, from Kyrenaian Bagalas and Jaras Type vessels to Xebecs and even some ordinary sail fishing vessels and even a replica of a Kyrenaian Frigate from 1799. Selkie-vessels were out as well, plus ships from places like Markaz, Lutetii and others in the general area... and from further away, like a place called the Polish-Prussian Commonwealth, which was so obviously a warship, that one could only shake the head.
Not all vessels were open for visitors, though: The Takhatiy, Dardan-Ilkhan's personal yacht, was closed to the public, despite the Ilkhana and the Khana of Las having a demonstration fight after the other in front of it, even against eager volunteers. At the moment, that concerned two young men, who seemed to put up a good fight, if one looked at the exertion the two women displayed.
The entire pier on which the Aurelia and the Harira sat was closed off by fearsome men in lamellar armour and with tall pole axes.
All in all, it was festive, much to see and many people seeing it, as well as enough concessionaries and harbourfront restaurants to not go hungry - and the old warehouses, too, had opened for art exhibitions and even, in one case, a concert of small, local bands.

Meanwhile, Jessica had quite a choice in front of herself, too: The Merchant Navy Academy's Hammam was open today, the little Saghir Hammam, boasting exclusive services at exclusive prices, tourist-friendly Old Town Hammam were available, all of them open and all of them all too happy to receive well-paying guests.
And who knew, she might be able to find nice people to share a bath with, like the trio of young men, two of them black haired, one grey haired, none of the three looking older then twenty-five. They were grinning, talking to a Kyrenaian woman, asking her for direction to the next Hammam in English, receiving an answer in the same language.
They got directed towards the Saghir.

Ava grinned...

Spiciness's song paused as Ava replied. "Hmm, I guess, yeah," he murmured out, his voice almost entirely devoid of any sense of emotion, his eyes blank as he thought, "Maybe if Seafood's down for it, he could join in, but I think I'll have to see. I really don't know if he's all good, or..." It seemed he had something more to say, but trailed off. "I'm not much different from a normal boy, thankfully, so I've got my own knowledge of how to make things happen," he said with a faint smirk, "As for Seafood, well, he's my bro. I'm sure he'll be smart enough to figure it out at a disadvantage." He got on the bike, & suddenly his eyes widened as he remembered something. "O-oh... maybe he's not at a disadvantage here. Maybe that's why he was behaving so weirdly," he muttered out as he got on the bike with Ava, his absentminded hands first accidentally groping just a tad too high, "Er, whoops!" His face wreathed itself in a spicy pink glow, while his hands slid down so that he grasped her sides instead of the more forbidden regions. "Oh man, do not tell him about that!"

Assuming that the two of them took off soon thereafter, Spiciness began to sing quietly to himself as he hugged Ava's body, his oddly soft voice — one whose gentle heat caressed rather than overwhelmed in a strange contrast to his hotter, spicier voice, scalding in its sheer heat — vibrating a little against her back with its romantic tone. Even with the speed of their ride & his helmet, he seemed to be unrestricted in his song, unrestricted in the name of love. Even when forever ended, Spiciness knew that he could wait for Seafood.

When his hand found purchase a bit too high, Ava almost burst out laughing, especially at his reaction.
"No promises!", she told him about his request to not tell his friend, who may or may not be correctly equipped as an Aspect, which may or may not be the reason for his breakdown. She grinned. This one would be fun, she thought as she started up the motorcycle.
She was a bit surprised, that his singing, which was awfully soothing, was heard even over the wind of the ride, but she did not mind. He was a good singer.
While he hung on closely, he might be able to smell her scent, the soft scent of roses, mixed with the more powerful smell of aviation gas as it was used on air bases.
Their ride was slow at first, but smooth as soon as they got onto a larger street.

Damir nodded.
"Indeed.", he said with a whole lot of pride in his voice, "She is a wonderful young woman. Marcella-Khana is really a lucky person to have conquered her heart..." He led her to a staircase, which led up to the Sun Deck. "So... here we are. Short question, did you already have your debut?"

The saleswoman smiled and put the butterfly comb into the basket.
"So... anything else catching your interest?", she asked with a smile, "Maybe something for yourself?"
There was a lot of things, which the souvenir shop sold, from plant seeds to trinkets to kitsch to actually useful stuff, but also things like sweets, card games, a board game, all of them a bit on the cheap side for tourists.

Mahmut smiled.
"I am not sure.", he said, smiling a dreamy smile, "Soraya is... no offense to you or Haru, but Soraya holds a special place to me. One, which neither of you will ever occupy." He decided to be honest with both of them and himself, letting the flirting go. "I'm sorry if I caused you offense."

"Oh no, I haven't actually." She blushed a little.

Haru nearly forgot about herself when getting wrapped up in picking stuff out for her family. "Oh well...Anything you suggest? I should have just enough to spoil myself too!"

Yuki blushed in Mahmut's describing of Soraya. "Eeeeee!" she squealed in delight about how cute it was, honestly she wasn't offended "That's so sweet! See that's what girls like, Dear Prince, they like a boy who is sensitive and caring like you!" Yuki also noticed a mixed expression of relief and still concern on Mahmut's face and it did sink in he was concerned he might offend Yuki or Haru. "Oh uuh no, no offense taken at all. I know you'd be well out of my league anyway, and well...Ahem....Do not think less of me as a dedicated Maiden for eavesdropping but I had heard the murmurs you might be betrothed to a woman, well then again I guess that's a bit expected, a Prince like you how could you not be. Well again don't worry about me, I'm but a common girl anyway, and Haru well she'll be okay as long as she has us to help her through it."

"Well, no time like the present!", he said with a grin and offered his arm to link, "Miss Yuzu, if I may?"
Once she had accepted the gesture, linked arm with her, he would lead her up onto the Aurelia's Sun Deck, where they were already expected.
The woman standing in front of them suddenly was toweringly tall, well above two metres, in a white, knee-long summer dress, which emphasized her curves. To her side, there stood a girl, which looked very cute in her own sun dress. She was grinning, but not as large as before.
"Ah, Damir-Amir...", the tall woman began, then noticed Yuzu. "...and who might you be, Young Lady?"
"Khana, Princess, if I may introduce?", Damir said with a smile, "Lady Yuzuki Shijou of Kuronami. Miss Shijou, Amina bint-Karim, the Khana of Sheliak, and her ward, Princess Marla."
"It is our pleasure.", the Khana said and bowed her head lightly, a gesture done by the little Princess as well.

The Saleswoman smiled.
"Oh, I must admit, that I am a fan of getting a stuffed animal from every place I travel to.", she admitted, a small blush covering her cheeks. "Girly, I know, but it's fun! And they are very cute, too!"

Mahmut smiled.
"Do not say, that you are out of anyone's league, Yuki.", Shirin said from behind them, smiling, "You are a sweet and nice girl, every Prince you manage to capture the heart of would be happy to have you. And there will be enough men trying to woo you, who are way out of your league - them being unworthy of you." She put a hand onto Yuki's shoulder. "You'll be a pretty young woman one of these days, too."

As the Prince tells his story, the four Blazing Angels laugh to their heart's content.
"Ha ha, that's a good one! says Joe. So, now our turn. I'll start. Back in 1940, before the Empire had entered the war, I chose to volunteer myself to fight with the RAF against Germany, lying on my age and making myself a year older than I was on my papers. It was before the four of us had met each other, and before I had met Pete and Joe.
Anyway, when I arrived in Britain, I started to flirt with a girl named Alice who I was meeting on break, but her father wasn't too keen on seeing a Yankee get its bloody hands on his doll, as he said himself. So, one day, I was training to bomb a target, by dropping tracts from my Gladiator. But on that day, I had specially prepared a pack of tracts with Can I date your daughter? on it. You should have seen his face when I dropped them on his house! says the former mechanic with a laugh.
Anyway, he reluctantly accepted after that, but then Peter and Tom had arrived too from the Empire, and I ended up as a mentor for them. We were then moved to Dunkirk in May, but after that, when we came back to England, I learned that Alice had died in the early hours of the Blitz. he finishes with a small sigh. So Prince, your turn again!"

Ilia nodded. "Seems like it.", he said, then thought for a moment, "Here's about my first brush with combat..."
He then retold of his first deployment, aboard the Nazir, flying the AWACS-Baghl for the carrier, making his rounds with two fighters on his wingtips and the radar crew in the fuselage behind him directing the carrier air patrol and Markaz Coast Guard assets.
They were, at the time, lending administrative assistance in a coast guarding operation in Markaz. At the time, the relations were still tense and that they accepted the aid was only due to the fact, that the Sultana went and told them, that they either accepted the help or the Sultanate would simply do as they pleased.
The issue was smuggling, small boats bringing illegal wares into the Sheikhdom, which needed to stop. Kyrenaia's interest in that matter was simple: The suspected criminals were Kyrenaian.
And not everyone in Markaz was happy about that.
One day, he was flying his patrol according to his schedule, scanning the sea for small boats where small boats did not belong - when his radar picked up two contacts.
Fighters.
IFF was off, so there was no way of knowing, who they were. Standard procedure, hailing them.
No reply. The CAP was redirected into their direction, the escorts got ready. Radar crosssection spoke, that KAF-4 Altuyalkatif Light Fleet Combat Aircraft were the most likely explanation for the contact. A type, which was used by Markaz's little air force as well.
Completely out of their league when compared to the Daburs on his wingtips.
But the fleet group command instructed them to not attack unless attacked first. The fighters came up to our altitude, but did not shoot.
The situation grew tense, the fighters coming closer. No one shot, no one even turned on fire control radars. Then, they made a long arch towards us, the leader of the CAP requested permission to fire - denied, again, he did not budge in his course.
And then, they shot past.
Those idiots nearly provoked an incident because they wanted to buzz the Kyrenaians!
Of course, there came a complaint and it turned into an incident, until the Sheikh ordered both pilots, both women, to apologize to the Kyrenaians.
"I pulled them to the side after it.", he finished his story, "Turned out, that females were allowed into fighter cockpits not too long ago and that the two of them were actually the two first female combat pilots of Markaz... and had been mobbed by their fellow pilots, that they didn't have the mindset and, quite frankly nuts." He shrugged. "By that action, they wanted to prove, that they had the nuts. That part worked, the rest didn't."

Sorry for delay - R/L got in the way

"Thank you very much.", the young TV-man said and smiled, refusing to take the ballpen back. She would have found a standard contract for such things, at least standard for Kyrenaian TV. "So... for a start, could we please do a short interview with you, Miss..." He looked at the form. "Miss Maraner? Of the Lunar Mystique?"
He let a beat pass.
"My apologies, but I can't read your handwriting.", he said sheepishly, "In any case, may we do that on the foredeck?"

"You're welcome" replied Zoe Mariner, "Mariner, Zoe Mariner, and the boat is the Luna Mysteria, yeah we can use the foredeck, perhaps if its okay with everyone else, perhaps slip the moorings and go out into the channel and let Luna here stretch her legs" Zoe then looks at her guests on board, "you guys up for that, a run out to the parade start point and back?" she asks before turning to the reporter, "what do you think?"

Micky took hold of a set of keys and put them into the ignition of the auxiliary motor and turned the key to the first click bringing on the ignition system, then to the second click and a buzzer on the panel sounded off, then with a turn to the third stage the starter motor spun up for a few second then moments later some exhaust smoke puffed out of the exhaust as the engine coughed itself into life, as soon as the engine was running smoothly Micky let go of the key and turned to Zoe with the steady beat of the small diesel engine chugging away, "yes, no?" she asks.

The Luna Mysteria
Marie came abovedecks to find a Kyrenaian camera crew setting up.
She looked at Gina. "...I'm out of the loop, what happened while I was below refilling my canteen?"

Gina looked at Marie, "we got invaded by a camera crew, thats all, you fancy a run out to the start point of the parade and back to here?" she then turned to Robbie, whats up?"

Robbie looked at Gina, "nothing, just finding my residuals a little uncomfortable today, should be okay though when it cools down"

"Actually, we would prefer staying here for now.", the leader of the small group said, "I am sure, that you would love to show off your boat and its capabilities for a bit, but we have quite a few interviews to do today. Sorry."
The cameraman was already setting up on the foredeck.

Erika was silent for a moment.
"...the only way you could steep lower would be if you named him "Bird". And trust me, I've run into, or heard of, people who have...or people whose parents were like that. It takes a special kind of...creativity and a certain amount of sadism to name your child '@' or 'Facebook'...or 'ABCDE'."

"Cut me some slack here, I was ten!", Fadia complained with a grin of her own, "Besides, all the good names like Firewing, Doombringer and Bomber, were already taken!"
She shrugged.
"Besides, I did not want to burden him with too much of a name, mainly because he was my first chick.", she added with a smile. "Father helped me, of course, as did the Master Falconer, but still... my little chick."

"Hm...", Fara made, moving from the stern down towards the backside of the legs, "That is a very good question. Maybe he should come in a bit before five o'clock, when the lessons end, so that the Captain can introduce him properly to her team, prevent unflattering rumours to spring forth and to maybe have a race or two against him."
She smiled.
"But she would have to make clear, that no matter how good he looks in a swimsuit, or how good he is as a swimmer, it is the Captain's duty to deal with the disturber." Her strokes down his upper leg were calm and relaxing. She whispered: "And dealing with him she will."

"She already has...quite...well~" Aceus sighed. "Good Gods, how'd I get so lucky?" he wondered aloud in bliss before realigning himself. "...Sorry, apparently I'm a lot stiffer than I gave myself credit for. But yes, shortly before Five o'clock, Swimming Hall One, Monday, Wednesdays, or Fridays...Any last tidbits I should know about? Something to garner the trust of the swim team aside from eventually beating you in a race?" the Dancerian smirked with exceeding confidence. While he may not have swam competitively, he'll be darned if he said he let a girl win because she was prettier than him. He couldn't see much while swimming fast anyhow.

Fadia smiled.
"Hm... being aware, that we are a co-ed team and who the Leftenant is.", she explained, "The Leftenant, my right hand man, is a chap named Ilia, studies ancient history and archeology. He has a girlfriend in my half of the team, a girl by the name Aurelia. The butt end of many a joke, that she is a submarine in disguise, her ballast tanks giving her away." She let a beat pass, turning her attention to the lower legs. "He's a nice guy and she's a sweet girl, who'll both help you, if you ask - especially if the girls want to feather and tar you because you are suspected to be a peeping tom. That, and they know both who you are and how you look."

[Danceria]

Fadia smiled.
"Hm... being aware, that we are a co-ed team and who the Leftenant is.", she explained, "The Leftenant, my right hand man, is a chap named Ilia, studies ancient history and archeology. He has a girlfriend in my half of the team, a girl by the name Aurelia. The butt end of many a joke, that she is a submarine in disguise, her ballast tanks giving her away." She let a beat pass, turning her attention to the lower legs. "He's a nice guy and she's a sweet girl, who'll both help you, if you ask - especially if the girls want to feather and tar you because you are suspected to be a peeping tom. That, and they know both who you are and how you look."

"I'll knock first, then probably hang about near the stands or the pool itself. I'll be too obvious to be a peeping tom if that helps." Aceus chuckled. "I'll give the changing room a wide berth, as for Ilia and Aurelia...that sounds like a good plan. I would reckon that with Okan being an antique coin collector, and Ilia a studier of those antiques, the connection wouldn't be too hard to make. Especially considering I'm going as a chap named Aceus Elurion, rather than a prince. I don't want to put any unneeded pressure on the school with my presence, just have them consider me as that one pale-haired boy from out of town that's head over heels for the cap. Or the most recent, and hopefully the most successful of any would be suitors." he would grin, with a slightly mischievous tone in his voice. "I at least keep my eyes above your assets long enough to know what color your eyes were."

[AHSCA]

"Indeed.", Aurelia said softly, then exhaled, "Speaking of which, we should get underway."
She looked to her Grandmother, who shrugged: "You are the Captain of this vessel, Aurelia. Your decision when to get underway!"
Aurelia gave a small smile. "Thanks.", she said, and turned to Marcella. "First Mate, ready the sails!"

Marcella leapt to her feet with a salute "Aye Aye, Captain!" She darted off to the mast, sails were her specialty she knew how to rig a ship more ways than one and this one didn't seem like it'd provide too much of a challenge.

Atif smiled.
"Thank you...", he said with a small, self-ironic smile, "How about this: Every time you call me beautiful, I give you a kiss. Every time I call you beautiful, you give me a kiss. Not something big and large on the lips, but a peck, okay?"
He smiled slightly.
"Let's try it.", he said, "You're beautiful, Asuna!"

"Well you drive a hard bargain, but I accepte. All right." She leaned in and gave him a quick gentle kiss. "How is that, handsome man?"

[The Chuck]

Alexander smiled at the enthusiasm of the young man.

"Aye, you are welcome aboard my ship and we can have an interview. Just give me a moment to consult my maps and check in with my home port in Charles Rock. I just came back from securing a freight deal and as such I need to file my route and quickly glance at the weather."

With that, Alexander gestured for the crew to come aboard before walking along the deck to the house and raised quarterdeck. Walking inside of the house, it was actually quite modern and there were multiple machines and screens hooked up to power outlets. While gesturing for the crew to gather round the main table, Alexander walked out of the room and a few moments later the news crew could hear a fire being started and a tea kettle start to bubble. As they listened, Alexander walked back into the room with the new maps that he had picked up from the cartographer's office and spread the parchment one on the wall before carefully tacking it in place. The USB drive one, he popped into a computer before opening a weather program and consulting it. What he saw on the screen made him frown. A large spring gale was brewing out between Kyrenaia and Charles Rock. Taking a moment to calculate the distance and the storm projection, he turned around and smiled before speaking.

"Apologies but my crew and my ship will not be attending the parade. However, I have more than enough time to have an interview and give you fine men and ladies a tour of the ship."

[The Scarlet Eagle]

Ilia nodded. "Seems like it.", he said, then thought for a moment, "Here's about my first brush with combat..."
He then retold of his first deployment, aboard the Nazir, flying the AWACS-Baghl for the carrier, making his rounds with two fighters on his wingtips and the radar crew in the fuselage behind him directing the carrier air patrol and Markaz Coast Guard assets.
They were, at the time, lending administrative assistance in a coast guarding operation in Markaz. At the time, the relations were still tense and that they accepted the aid was only due to the fact, that the Sultana went and told them, that they either accepted the help or the Sultanate would simply do as they pleased.
The issue was smuggling, small boats bringing illegal wares into the Sheikhdom, which needed to stop. Kyrenaia's interest in that matter was simple: The suspected criminals were Kyrenaian.
And not everyone in Markaz was happy about that.
One day, he was flying his patrol according to his schedule, scanning the sea for small boats where small boats did not belong - when his radar picked up two contacts.
Fighters.
IFF was off, so there was no way of knowing, who they were. Standard procedure, hailing them.
No reply. The CAP was redirected into their direction, the escorts got ready. Radar crosssection spoke, that KAF-4 Altuyalkatif Light Fleet Combat Aircraft were the most likely explanation for the contact. A type, which was used by Markaz's little air force as well.
Completely out of their league when compared to the Daburs on his wingtips.
But the fleet group command instructed them to not attack unless attacked first. The fighters came up to our altitude, but did not shoot.
The situation grew tense, the fighters coming closer. No one shot, no one even turned on fire control radars. Then, they made a long arch towards us, the leader of the CAP requested permission to fire - denied, again, he did not budge in his course.
And then, they shot past.
Those idiots nearly provoked an incident because they wanted to buzz the Kyrenaians!
Of course, there came a complaint and it turned into an incident, until the Sheikh ordered both pilots, both women, to apologize to the Kyrenaians.
"I pulled them to the side after it.", he finished his story, "Turned out, that females were allowed into fighter cockpits not too long ago and that the two of them were actually the two first female combat pilots of Markaz... and had been mobbed by their fellow pilots, that they didn't have the mindset and, quite frankly nuts." He shrugged. "By that action, they wanted to prove, that they had the nuts. That part worked, the rest didn't."

"That would have indeed been a bad incident, comments Frank, but at least their actions are undersantable. I hope the pilots who mobbed them were punished too.
-Anyway, my story now is a short one, but funny. It was at the fall of 1941,in North Africa. Our Squadron had started to earn some fame, after we had fought in Dunkirk, and during the Battle of England. We were still fighting under the RAF colors at the time.
On the 15th of November, we were tasked to conduct a mission with Hurricanes II, armed with rockets as additional armament, to help secure a tableland where German troops had set up a camp, with an important artillery presence. Our job was to help neutralize that artillery, as well as providing aerial cover for the ground troops.
After the artillery had been mostly neutralized, allowing a safe advance of the British 7th Armored Division tanks, the famous Desert Rats, we were told that 2 Stuka formations were arriving on our position from the East, and we had to destroy them. As Ii was flying towards one of the formations, with Joe in tow, while Frank and Tom were going for the other one, my finger accidentally ripped on the rocket firing button on my joystick, sending my last rocket towards the Germans. Next thing I see, the Stuka just right of the lead one goes down into flames. Man, how we laughed about that when we got back! he finishes with a chuckle, mirrored by his friends.
-That was our last mission with the RAF, continues Thomas. After that, we were sent back home, to the Empire, and as we were officially committed as Imperial Guard pilots, our first assignment was in Hawaii, Pearl Harbor..."

[Folaisia]

Laila smiled.
"Sand Skiffs are small... no, wait, hang on..." She thought for a moment. "Imagine a small rowing boat built of either light wood or fibres or even light metals, make it slimmer, give it two outriggers and a sail either on a mast or on a kite rig. That is a Sand Skiff." She grinned. "Fast, agile and an awful lot of fun to use, but also quite dangerous! Definately not usable for carrying freight!"

"Ooh," Alexander cooed before turning to Cormag, "maybe, we should have a bet on who can stay there the longest."

"Fuck off, man," Cormag replied, snickering, "I'm non gonna crash and drown in the sea," he turns to Laila, "Sorry about that, by the way."

"Edmund's gonna try to make you do it if we're able to afford one."

"I'll beat the shit out of him if he ever drags me into it!"

[Kuronami]

"Well, no time like the present!", he said with a grin and offered his arm to link, "Miss Yuzu, if I may?"
Once she had accepted the gesture, linked arm with her, he would lead her up onto the Aurelia's Sun Deck, where they were already expected.
The woman standing in front of them suddenly was toweringly tall, well above two metres, in a white, knee-long summer dress, which emphasized her curves. To her side, there stood a girl, which looked very cute in her own sun dress. She was grinning, but not as large as before.
"Ah, Damir-Amir...", the tall woman began, then noticed Yuzu. "...and who might you be, Young Lady?"
"Khana, Princess, if I may introduce?", Damir said with a smile, "Lady Yuzuki Shijou of Kuronami. Miss Shijou, Amina bint-Karim, the Khana of Sheliak, and her ward, Princess Marla."
"It is our pleasure.", the Khana said and bowed her head lightly, a gesture done by the little Princess as well.

The Saleswoman smiled.
"Oh, I must admit, that I am a fan of getting a stuffed animal from every place I travel to.", she admitted, a small blush covering her cheeks. "Girly, I know, but it's fun! And they are very cute, too!"

Mahmut smiled.
"Do not say, that you are out of anyone's league, Yuki.", Shirin said from behind them, smiling, "You are a sweet and nice girl, every Prince you manage to capture the heart of would be happy to have you. And there will be enough men trying to woo you, who are way out of your league - them being unworthy of you." She put a hand onto Yuki's shoulder. "You'll be a pretty young woman one of these days, too."

"Wow you'll do that for me? I uh--thank you." She blushed taking his arm and he was introducing her with such grandeur she felt like one of the highest nobility. Yuzu bowed when introduced and gave a polite response "It's my great pleasure to meet you as well. I'm flattered and honored to be a guest here today."


"Oho," Haru let out an elegant high chuckle "Believe you me, Madam, girly is my specialty" She gave a cute little wink, "and with that, a cute plush toy sounds like a perfect idea! I do love me something adorable."

Yuki looked up at Shirin with her wide eyes of admiration. "Wow...Thank you Shirin! I feel like---" She blushed a little again her cheeks flush with being so flattered by someone like Shirin or Mahmut did make her feel special. "Just like--well like a big sister, giving me advice. I'm only child you know and since losing my mom I guess I haven't had many older women with skill and confidence to really give me the advice. Well except for Milady perhaps...But I haven't really broached her with romantic advice."

[Aurora Confederacy]

"Actually, we would prefer staying here for now.", the leader of the small group said, "I am sure, that you would love to show off your boat and its capabilities for a bit, but we have quite a few interviews to do today. Sorry."
The cameraman was already setting up on the foredeck.

"yeah, foredeck is good, just watch your feet on the winch lines" replied Zoe, gesturing to Micky to shut the motor down. "so, let me know when you're rolling" Zoe then leaned casually on the mast with her arm around it, almost like she is hugging the mast, well actually she is, for the Luna Mysteria, a once unloved little boat has been given a new lease of life and saved from the scrap man's torch.

Once given the signal, Micky turned the key back to the off position and moments later the little diesel engine was back in its state of slumber allowing the boat to fall silent again. By the side of the Cameraman's foot is a small metal plate, polished and welded to the deck, this metal plate is about 6 inches by 6 inches and about a quarter if an inch thick, on it is an engraving.

"This boat was re-launched by
Gina Fittipaldi,
09 - 14 - 2014"

The plate also bares a scar from being struck from the bottle of champagne, yes this little boat was blessed and launced with a ceremony, probably not what the original owners ever thought would happen after she was once unloved and forgotten about, submerged in a marina after being allowed to flood with rain water

[Kyrenaia]

"Indeed.", Aurelia said softly, then exhaled, "Speaking of which, we should get underway."
She looked to her Grandmother, who shrugged: "You are the Captain of this vessel, Aurelia. Your decision when to get underway!"
Aurelia gave a small smile. "Thanks.", she said, and turned to Marcella. "First Mate, ready the sails!"

Marcella leapt to her feet with a salute "Aye Aye, Captain!" She darted off to the mast, sails were her specialty she knew how to rig a ship more ways than one and this one didn't seem like it'd provide too much of a challenge.

Atif smiled.
"Thank you...", he said with a small, self-ironic smile, "How about this: Every time you call me beautiful, I give you a kiss. Every time I call you beautiful, you give me a kiss. Not something big and large on the lips, but a peck, okay?"
He smiled slightly.
"Let's try it.", he said, "You're beautiful, Asuna!"

"Well you drive a hard bargain, but I accepte. All right." She leaned in and gave him a quick gentle kiss. "How is that, handsome man?"

The Sultana could only watch in astonishment, as the two women, the two girls, readied the little boat for departure with a speed and quickness and coordination only a very well tuned crew could even hope to achieve.
It was marvellous to watch and to feel how, after barely a few minutes, the little boat was unshackled and began to move.
The Sultana waved to the men on the Tabardariyya ashore, smiling as she saw Aurelia take the wheel.
"First mate!", the Captain called, grinning, "Excellent work! Keep the sails taught, we don't have much wind to work with here!"
And indeed, there was not much wind to be felt, but that did not hinder them in the slightest.

Atif leaned over and pecked her onto the lips.
Staying not even a nose's length away, he replied: "Hearing your beautiful voice is only compareable to seeing your beautiful face.", he whispered to her, blushing lightly.

Alexander smiled at the enthusiasm of the young man.

"Aye, you are welcome aboard my ship and we can have an interview. Just give me a moment to consult my maps and check in with my home port in Charles Rock. I just came back from securing a freight deal and as such I need to file my route and quickly glance at the weather."

With that, Alexander gestured for the crew to come aboard before walking along the deck to the house and raised quarterdeck. Walking inside of the house, it was actually quite modern and there were multiple machines and screens hooked up to power outlets. While gesturing for the crew to gather round the main table, Alexander walked out of the room and a few moments later the news crew could hear a fire being started and a tea kettle start to bubble. As they listened, Alexander walked back into the room with the new maps that he had picked up from the cartographer's office and spread the parchment one on the wall before carefully tacking it in place. The USB drive one, he popped into a computer before opening a weather program and consulting it. What he saw on the screen made him frown. A large spring gale was brewing out between Kyrenaia and Charles Rock. Taking a moment to calculate the distance and the storm projection, he turned around and smiled before speaking.

"Apologies but my crew and my ship will not be attending the parade. However, I have more than enough time to have an interview and give you fine men and ladies a tour of the ship."

Figuring, that something was decidedly not right, the leader of the small group frowned for a moment, then smiled again.
He turned to Alexander. "Captain, if you and your crew are busy with loading and planning for your trip, we would not want to stand in the way.", he said and looked dead serious, "Do not get me wrong, I would love to take you up on the offer, even if your beautiful ship doesn't participate in the parade, but... well, as said, we would hate to stand in the way."

"That would have indeed been a bad incident, comments Frank, but at least their actions are undersantable. I hope the pilots who mobbed them were punished too.
-Anyway, my story now is a short one, but funny. It was at the fall of 1941,in North Africa. Our Squadron had started to earn some fame, after we had fought in Dunkirk, and during the Battle of England. We were still fighting under the RAF colors at the time.
On the 15th of November, we were tasked to conduct a mission with Hurricanes II, armed with rockets as additional armament, to help secure a tableland where German troops had set up a camp, with an important artillery presence. Our job was to help neutralize that artillery, as well as providing aerial cover for the ground troops.
After the artillery had been mostly neutralized, allowing a safe advance of the British 7th Armored Division tanks, the famous Desert Rats, we were told that 2 Stuka formations were arriving on our position from the East, and we had to destroy them. As Ii was flying towards one of the formations, with Joe in tow, while Frank and Tom were going for the other one, my finger accidentally ripped on the rocket firing button on my joystick, sending my last rocket towards the Germans. Next thing I see, the Stuka just right of the lead one goes down into flames. Man, how we laughed about that when we got back! he finishes with a chuckle, mirrored by his friends.
-That was our last mission with the RAF, continues Thomas. After that, we were sent back home, to the Empire, and as we were officially committed as Imperial Guard pilots, our first assignment was in Hawaii, Pearl Harbor..."

Damir nodded.
"Ah, yes, the infamous attack on Pearl Harbour...", he said and shook his head, "The first in many amateurishly planned military operations of the IJN in the coming four years. It even made headlines in Kyrenaia." He shook his head. "The stupidity of the planners and the Admiralty to allow for such an operation to even be considered as a viable option... I can not understand that.
Yet, I must admit, that there was a similar operation planned by the RKN, around the same time.", he finished, "Tell me, are you familiar with Khuta Siad Altuyur or Operation Bird Hunter?"
This had been a top secret military plan from 1942/1943, which had been disclosed to the public fifty years later, 1993, and had caused quite a stir in some media outlets, even leading to a bestselling book: The War that never was, by Damir Waraqa.
It was supposed to be adapted into a movie in 2020.

"Ooh," Alexander cooed before turning to Cormag, "maybe, we should have a bet on who can stay there the longest."

"Fuck off, man," Cormag replied, snickering, "I'm non gonna crash and drown in the sea," he turns to Laila, "Sorry about that, by the way."

"Edmund's gonna try to make you do it if we're able to afford one."

"I'll beat the shit out of him if he ever drags me into it!"

Laila raised a hand, a bit like in school.
"Actually, the chances of you getting a Sand Skiff moving on water are rather limited.", she explained, "Sand Skiffs are specifically designed to glide over sand, not water. It's still a dangerous sport, though, and protective equipment mandatory." She let a beat pass. "As for the F-word, none of us is made of sugar."

"Well, no time like the present!", he said with a grin and offered his arm to link, "Miss Yuzu, if I may?"
Once she had accepted the gesture, linked arm with her, he would lead her up onto the Aurelia's Sun Deck, where they were already expected.
The woman standing in front of them suddenly was toweringly tall, well above two metres, in a white, knee-long summer dress, which emphasized her curves. To her side, there stood a girl, which looked very cute in her own sun dress. She was grinning, but not as large as before.
"Ah, Damir-Amir...", the tall woman began, then noticed Yuzu. "...and who might you be, Young Lady?"
"Khana, Princess, if I may introduce?", Damir said with a smile, "Lady Yuzuki Shijou of Kuronami. Miss Shijou, Amina bint-Karim, the Khana of Sheliak, and her ward, Princess Marla."
"It is our pleasure.", the Khana said and bowed her head lightly, a gesture done by the little Princess as well.

The Saleswoman smiled.
"Oh, I must admit, that I am a fan of getting a stuffed animal from every place I travel to.", she admitted, a small blush covering her cheeks. "Girly, I know, but it's fun! And they are very cute, too!"

Mahmut smiled.
"Do not say, that you are out of anyone's league, Yuki.", Shirin said from behind them, smiling, "You are a sweet and nice girl, every Prince you manage to capture the heart of would be happy to have you. And there will be enough men trying to woo you, who are way out of your league - them being unworthy of you." She put a hand onto Yuki's shoulder. "You'll be a pretty young woman one of these days, too."

"Wow you'll do that for me? I uh--thank you." She blushed taking his arm and he was introducing her with such grandeur she felt like one of the highest nobility. Yuzu bowed when introduced and gave a polite response "It's my great pleasure to meet you as well. I'm flattered and honored to be a guest here today."


"Oho," Haru let out an elegant high chuckle "Believe you me, Madam, girly is my specialty" She gave a cute little wink, "and with that, a cute plush toy sounds like a perfect idea! I do love me something adorable."

Yuki looked up at Shirin with her wide eyes of admiration. "Wow...Thank you Shirin! I feel like---" She blushed a little again her cheeks flush with being so flattered by someone like Shirin or Mahmut did make her feel special. "Just like--well like a big sister, giving me advice. I'm only child you know and since losing my mom I guess I haven't had many older women with skill and confidence to really give me the advice. Well except for Milady perhaps...But I haven't really broached her with romantic advice."

The Khana smiled.
"I can imagine. Especially if your date is such a handsome man.", she said and threw Damir a quick wink, "However, allow me to assure you, that it is my pleasure, Lady Shijou." A beat passed. "Unfortunately, I must snatch your date away for a few words, so if you would please excuse us?"
And with that, and a hand gesture to Marla to stay, where she was, the Khana had pulled the Prince aside.
Marla was, as one could tell at a glance, growing into the role of a Princess, not being one originally. She smiled a bit nervously, though. "So...", she began after a moment, "...nice weather today, eh?"

The saleswoman smiled.
"Then you'll love this one, I am sure!", she stated and went to a nearby shelf, producing a stuffed toy.
It was a pudgy, slightly mouse-like creature in beige, large, triangular ears on its head. The eyes were dark, but somehow, with the muzzle on the short snout the way it was, one could not help but think, that the creature was looking naively, but curiously. The belly was of a light beige, the back being of a darker sand-brown.
It was insanely fluffy, although the 'fur' was only short.
"A Kyrenaian Desert Mouse.", she stated.

Shirin smiled.
"I have many siblings, and even more cousins and even a few nephews and nieces already.", she said with a smile, "As one of the older ones, I was often asked for advice, and even as a Handmaiden, I was the go-to person for advice."
She let a beat pass.
"Except for romantic advice.", she admitted, "I am not a romantic person..."

"Actually, we would prefer staying here for now.", the leader of the small group said, "I am sure, that you would love to show off your boat and its capabilities for a bit, but we have quite a few interviews to do today. Sorry."
The cameraman was already setting up on the foredeck.

"yeah, foredeck is good, just watch your feet on the winch lines" replied Zoe, gesturing to Micky to shut the motor down. "so, let me know when you're rolling" Zoe then leaned casually on the mast with her arm around it, almost like she is hugging the mast, well actually she is, for the Luna Mysteria, a once unloved little boat has been given a new lease of life and saved from the scrap man's torch.

Once given the signal, Micky turned the key back to the off position and moments later the little diesel engine was back in its state of slumber allowing the boat to fall silent again. By the side of the Cameraman's foot is a small metal plate, polished and welded to the deck, this metal plate is about 6 inches by 6 inches and about a quarter if an inch thick, on it is an engraving.

"This boat was re-launched by
Gina Fittipaldi,
09 - 14 - 2014"

The plate also bares a scar from being struck from the bottle of champagne, yes this little boat was blessed and launced with a ceremony, probably not what the original owners ever thought would happen after she was once unloved and forgotten about, submerged in a marina after being allowed to flood with rain water

The crew set themselves up, which took a few minutes, the cameraman indeed noting the small plaque, making his reporter aware of it with a small word in Kyrenaian, he made a mental note to get a shot of it later.
When the crew was ready, they told that in a quick word in Kyrenaian as well, the cameraman shouldering his device and pointing it at Zoe, who was hugging the mast. It looked a bit awkward, but to each their own, the cameraman thought.
A red light went on.
"And we roll.", the reporter said - of course, they were recording and not directly sending, which gave them the option for post-production. "So, we are aboard the Luna Mysteria, 23rd of Decembre 2018. Sinope Old Harbour, attending the Festival. It's now... 11:16 o'clock." He looked to Zoe. "Alright, Miss, please introduce yourself and your vessel in a few sentences."

Fadia smiled.
"Hm... being aware, that we are a co-ed team and who the Leftenant is.", she explained, "The Leftenant, my right hand man, is a chap named Ilia, studies ancient history and archeology. He has a girlfriend in my half of the team, a girl by the name Aurelia. The butt end of many a joke, that she is a submarine in disguise, her ballast tanks giving her away." She let a beat pass, turning her attention to the lower legs. "He's a nice guy and she's a sweet girl, who'll both help you, if you ask - especially if the girls want to feather and tar you because you are suspected to be a peeping tom. That, and they know both who you are and how you look."

"I'll knock first, then probably hang about near the stands or the pool itself. I'll be too obvious to be a peeping tom if that helps." Aceus chuckled. "I'll give the changing room a wide berth, as for Ilia and Aurelia...that sounds like a good plan. I would reckon that with Okan being an antique coin collector, and Ilia a studier of those antiques, the connection wouldn't be too hard to make. Especially considering I'm going as a chap named Aceus Elurion, rather than a prince. I don't want to put any unneeded pressure on the school with my presence, just have them consider me as that one pale-haired boy from out of town that's head over heels for the cap. Or the most recent, and hopefully the most successful of any would be suitors." he would grin, with a slightly mischievous tone in his voice. "I at least keep my eyes above your assets long enough to know what color your eyes were."

"That is indeed a step forward from quite a few others.", Fara said with a giggle as she came closer to finishing his legs. "My university would love to see you as a seeker of wisdom, even if it is only about the hydrodynamics of swimmers."
She grinned as her hands reached the feet. Well, he had kept her entertained with small kisses...
Softly, her hands began to work the sole of one foot, drawing a few shapes on it with her finger.
"Okan and Ilia know each other, though. They get along quite well, at least the half-dozen times they met during contest of mine, and their discussions were even entertaining to Aurelia, who collects coins herself.", she further told, "In fact, it was that, which brought them together."

[The Scarlet Eagle]

Damir nodded.
"Ah, yes, the infamous attack on Pearl Harbour...", he said and shook his head, "The first in many amateurishly planned military operations of the IJN in the coming four years. It even made headlines in Kyrenaia." He shook his head. "The stupidity of the planners and the Admiralty to allow for such an operation to even be considered as a viable option... I can not understand that.
Yet, I must admit, that there was a similar operation planned by the RKN, around the same time.", he finished, "Tell me, are you familiar with Khuta Siad Altuyur or Operation Bird Hunter?"
This had been a top secret military plan from 1942/1943, which had been disclosed to the public fifty years later, 1993, and had caused quite a stir in some media outlets, even leading to a bestselling book: The War that never was, by Damir Waraqa.
It was supposed to be adapted into a movie in 2020.

When Ilia mentions tha fact that the RKN had planned a similar operation to Pearl Harbor, Peter and his wingmates understand at first that the Kyrenaians planned to strike the Empire.
"Well, I'm always glad to learn seventy years after that we would have been struck for no reason by a country who we had had no ties with before, replies the former Emperor as he crosses his arms, a neutral look in his eyes. But let me tell you Prince, if you had done that, we would have gladly showed you our capabilities. And since at the time, you were knee-deep in the shit called the Decolonization Wars, I wonder how well you would have handled our response."