Scene #5706: Dinner with Eva and the Strike Witches.

Owner	Pose
Blossom	Letting her curiosity get the better of her, Blossom has been enjoying exploring the Multiverse and seeing what sorts of worlds were out there beyond her own. Perhaps she should be a bit more careful though, as this excursion has found her pretty close to a large military base. It was late afternoon, and the sky was fairly clear. From the sparse forest where she was walking, to her, the base looked like a large city, at least it would be large by her standards. She liked it's aesthetic too, with the trees and other greenery around the base rather than it all having been wiped out like some cities she has seen. She could also just make out the water beyond, which just made the setting even more picturesque. She knew that many people liked living near water, and she could certainly see the appeal herself. Soon her stomach starts to growl. She has been wandering around for a while now however, and forgot to eat before coming here. She reaches into her pack for her pouch of dried fruit, to find it empty, and remembers eating that earlier in the day. Looking around, there wasn't much to gather for food in the sparse forest. "Hmm, I wonder what kind of food the people who live in that city eat?" She wonders out-loud before starting to walk in the direction of the base. "Come on Max, let's find out."
Evangeline	When she nears the walls of the base, Blossom would be greeted by a rather loud speaker. "Halt! State your intentions!" It's a female voice, and she sounds like she is in her late teens or perhaps even early 20s. And within moments of the 'greeting' there are men on the wall with rifles. They aren't yet aimed at Blossom, but they are at the ready. And from behind the wall emerges a rather unusual-looking girl. Metallic black, she floats her way into view without any apparent means of propulsion and only a slight whisper like fingers on a guitar string. She has cat-like ears and a tail, but for some reason her face has no features, like a store mannequin. She doesn't raise any weapons, though. Instead she floats forward to just beyond the wall and in a soft, demure voice with minimal inflection she says, "...hello...I am Evangeline...please identify yourself...so we won't have to destroy you..."
Blossom	Blossom stops suddenly when she hears the voice on the loudspeaker, but looks around with a confused expression as she tries to find the source of the voice. Then the men with rifles appear on the wall above her, with the sight of all those guns making her tail twitch with fear. She tries to remain calm as yet another appears, and she watches Eva approach hovering above as she gives both a greeting and a threat. At the threat of being destroyed, Blossom drops her staff and blurts out her response. "Please don't hurt me! I'm just hungry. My name is Blossom." She says with a clear tone of fear in her voice as she cowers a bit before Eva, while Maxwell bravely stays perched on one of her antlers, watching both Eva and the men closely.
Evangeline	The men on the wall get mixed expressions as the deer-like woman seems like she is scared out of her wits. Evangeline floats forward slowly. It probably seems rather ominous, the dark girl who doesn't touch the ground floating toward you. Especially when she has no eyes or mouth or nose. She floats forward until she is only a foot or so from Blossom, then stops. "...hungry..." she says, her voice sounding a little synthetic and...coming from a watch on her right arm? "...we have food..." She leans forward at the waist, still not touching the ground, and holds out her arm. It has no hand at first, just a sleeve-like arm with a flat tip. But then, fingers emerge from that flat end, stopping when it gives her the appearance of wearing a jacket just a bit too long for her. "...please...come with me...if you are escorted...you won't be harmed..."
Blossom	When Eva echoes her stated need, and says that they have food, Blossom slowly looks up at her. That featureless face did creep her out a little, and even as Eva reached out an arm toward her, she was internally still debating whether to stay or run for her life. The fingers extending from Eva's arm where there were none certainly didn't help either. At the request to come with her, Blossom swallowed hard and reached to pick up her staff, taking a deep breath as she looks back at her, but doesn't yet bring herself to take Eva's hand. "What... what are you? Are you some kind of machine person?" She asks, lacking the word robot in her vocabulary. She still hadn't decided if she would go with Eva or not, and that would depend on how Eva responded to her question.
Evangeline	Eva doesn't move the entire time, just floating there holding out her hand. "...I am not a machine..." she says, as if she is used to answering that question. "...I am a Neuroi...my name is Evangeline..." she says, then tilts her head slightly. "...I will not hurt you...as long as you don't try to hurt any of us..." she says, then her head tilts up slightly. Her gaze suggests she is looking at the bird atop Blossom's head. "...oooh...a bird..." she says in that soft voice of hers, then she floats up a bit more and closer to Maxwell. "...hello...I am Evangeline..." she says to him, then reaches out to try and pet the bird.
Blossom	Blossom nods at Eva's answer, looking a little relieved. "Well, I guess if you aren't going to hurt me, I won't try to hurt you either. I like making friends better than making enemies." She replies as she reaches out to take Eva's hand, but then Eva floats higher and closer, then reaches out to try and pet Maxwell after introducing herself to him. Max responds by chirping loudly and flitting over to Blossom's other antler to avoid Eva's attempt to pet him. Blossom frowns a bit and looks up at Eva. "His name is Maxwell, or Max for short. We've been together since I was little. He takes a bit to trust strangers though, so don't feel bad if he won't let you pet him right now." Her stomach growled again and she blushed slightly, looking past Eva at the base beyond. "Anyway, if you lead, I will follow."
Evangeline	Eva freezes when Maxwell moves away, then slowly lowers her hand and straightens up again before floating back down to head level with Blossom. "...I see..." she says, then holds out her hand to Blossom again. If Blossom takes her hand as she was about to, Evangeline holds her hand all the way through the huge gate to the base and to the mess hall of the female barracks. It is rather nice, espeically for a mess hall. Rather than simple, mass produced tables and chairs, it seems much more intimate and bright, with large windows and cheerful colors. The kitchen is much smaller than a typical mess as well and more like that of a home than a military facility. And...there are people here! Several young girls blink as Evangeline brings Blossom into the mess hall. One, who looks like the youngest and smallest of the group, greets them cheerfully. "Evangeline! Who's your new friend?" She smiles cheerfully to Blossom. "Hi there! I'm Yoshika! What's your name? Do you know you have a bird on your head? Does it have a name? Oh! Are you staying for dinner?" The young girl showers Blossom with questions until a much older girl with an eye patch and a sword intercepts her. "Ha ha ha! Yoshika! Our new friend looks a bit shaken. Perhaps we should take it easy on the questions for now."
Blossom	Blossom normally preferred being out among nature rather than inside a building, it just felt nicer to her, and her claustrophobia certainly didn't help either, but she had to admit, this was pretty nice, with the cozy feel and cheerful colors scoring points with her. She noticed quickly that they were not alone, and when a very young girl came up to greet her, it practically melted away any apprehension Blossom was feeling. She smiled warmly at the little girl and nodded at her barrage of questions. "Yes, he's almost always with me, and his name is Maxwell. My name is Blossom, and yes, it seems dinner is the reason I'm here. Got a bit hungry while traveling. Your name is Yoshika then? That's a pretty name." She says as she finds a spot to prop up her staff and puts it down.
Evangeline	Yoshika seems like she can't be any more than 11, yet...she's on a military base? And the other girls around her range from her age up to late teen. What are they doing here? Evangeline floats over to sit in a chair. Though sit is not quite accurate, since she doesn't actually touch the chair. She floats just barely above it as if she is sitting. She then motions to Blossom. "...you can sit by me..." she says in her soft voice. The other girls each greet Blossom with a friendly wave, then continue about their business. They don't really seem to question that Blossom has deer traits. Yoshika also seems satisfied with the answers she got, especially after Mio (the older girl with the eyepatch) shoos her away to the kitchen again. Evangeline sits quietly as the other girls get dinner prepared. Yoshika and an older girl with brown hair who seems rather soft-spoken serve dinner, which turns out to be a simple rice dish with plenty of vegetables and lean chicken that seems as if it had been made by professional chefs. "Eat up, everyone! There's plenty!" The other girls dig in with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Evangeline eats quite slowly by comparison, seeming as if she is not quite used to eating. She holds her spoon very carefully and slowly moves the food toward her mouth, which she suddenly has rather than a blank face. But, it is only there long enough for her to deposit the food rather stiffly before it disappears again. She doesn't chew at all and doesn't seem to swallow, yet she takes another spoonful and does the same thing without any evidence of the previous.
Blossom	Blossom would have happily continued talking with the girls, but after they all greeted her, it became clear that they were all responsible for preparing the food they were about to eat, and she would move to sit next to Eva as requested. As Blossom had never been to a military base before, she didn't question the presence of very young girls as much as many might, though she still thought back to how tight the security was and curious questions began to form in her mind as she ate, not touching the chicken, but eating lots of rice and vegetables. Finally after a bit she turned to Eva. "So, what kind of place is this? I thought it was some kind of town or city, but the tight security makes me wonder. Is there some danger outside that I'm not aware of which you are trying to make sure stays out?"
Evangeline	Evangeline pauses her meticulous eating to look over at Blossom. "...it is the base of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing...or the Strike Witches as they are known...." She pauses there and looks out toward the ocean through the window. "...across the ocean...more like me...the Neuroi...they want to destroy all the humans...but I think we can learn to live together..." She looks back toward Blossom. "...I came to learn from the humans...to see why it is that they attacked us...but I have learned that there seems to be no reason for the war...no one knows who started it...but the only way to end it is to find peace...or for humans and Neuroi to destroy each other..." "We didn't even think there -were- nice Neuroi until Evangeline showed up!" Yoshika chimes in helpfully. The other witches nod slightly.