Traingham
Cannam
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Post by Traingham on Mar 13, 2015 19:01:13 GMT -5
Synopsis: Geetz has resigned. Sera needs a new secretary. Trigger brews exquisite coffee. Author's note: I'm just bored, and I need something to keep my creative juices flowing.
001- Resignation
“He resigned?” This here was a question of disbelief, because servitor units did not simply resign from their duties—the EDEN did not approach Geetz and offer him the position to be Sera’s personal attendant with the option of turning it down for other pursuits; that was his assigned duty. Resignation was unheard of, and speaking frankly, who the hell was he to make that decision on his own terms?
Yuna looked over the slip of parchment that had been found posted against Geetz’s door (How old fashioned of him), glanced at Sera to gauge her sister’s stoic expression and responded with a tentative nod.
“Looks like it.” Yuna very much wanted to laugh, but for the sake of Sera’s dignity she chose to squash the impulse before it could take hold. Still, “What did you do to him?”
Any way you looked at it Geetz was the perfect servitor— always obedient without question, and quick to attend to Sera’s every whim and decree, whether it be seemingly inconsequential tasks like the preparation of her morning coffee, her afternoon tea, and the occasional nightcap (only he was privy to the last one), or essential duties like keeping her posted on council meetings and the like. Never once did he hint at any dissatisfaction with his position.
“Nothing has ever changed in our daily interactions.” Sera stated coolly. “I’ve only held him to carrying out the necessary tasks and nothing more. In comparison to the burdens you place on Gatz—“
“Burdens? I do no such thing.” Yuna denied the offhand accusation indignantly. Gatz was only too happy to help her with everything she asked of him. Everything. “Gatz likes to be helpful, so I assist him with being helpful by being in constant need.”
“Yes.” Master at sarcasm that Sera was, it was almost impossible to tell when she chose to employ it. “Of course.”
“Anyway,” Yuna went on sweetly, “You’ll be needing a replacement, won’t you?”
“Seems so.” Sera replied, at that moment becoming quite aware that Geetz had taken his leave without the decency of preparing her a cup of coffee before doing so. “How does Gatz prepare your coffee?”
“I don’t do coffee, actually.”
Sera’s left eye might have twitched. “Of course you don’t.”
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Aiyumi
Gorubeshu
Brazilian Kobun
Posts: 222
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Post by Aiyumi on Mar 13, 2015 20:38:25 GMT -5
Hi, Traingham! I'm that person that was leaving reviews for Love Heist over at Fanfiction.net. You may or may not remember, because it's been a while... I stopped commenting around chapter 13 or something. I seriously need to finish reviewing the rest... This is getting interesting already! Your stories' interactions between Yuna and Sera are always fun to read. And yay Elysian coffee! The summary hints that Trigger will be the replacement... Sera needs to pray that this Trigger is nothing like mine, or she'll be in for a lot of headaches.
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Post by Dashe on Mar 13, 2015 21:16:17 GMT -5
This story seems like it's going to be fun! You have an unexpected line break at "Gatz was only too happy to help her..." and no grammar errors. Pretend I'm putting a thumbs up of Mega Man's gauntlet here. I think we used to have one of those in Emotikobun ++ when that was in play.
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Traingham
Cannam
Oooh. What's this?
Posts: 320
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Post by Traingham on Mar 14, 2015 6:06:22 GMT -5
Gah! I read and reviewed your first chapter, Aiyumi. I like what you've done!
....And I see you've already implemented an idea regarding Sera, coffee, and Trigger. What. The. Hell?
Also, thanks for taking an interest in this humble little project. The purpose here is to have a much fun as possible, mainly with character interaction. (I do love writing conversations.) Love Heist is going to be hitting a major drama bomb soon between Sera and Yuna, so I just wanted to write some lighthearted material between the two sisters before I take a dip into that mess. Writing dreary stuff manages to mess with my head--my fault. I try so hard to get myself swept into the mood of the scenes I write (Kinda like a Daniel Day Lewis situation, but without the crazy) that I end of getting myself depressed...somehow.
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Aiyumi
Gorubeshu
Brazilian Kobun
Posts: 222
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Post by Aiyumi on Mar 14, 2015 15:13:33 GMT -5
I read and reviewed your first chapter, Aiyumi. I like what you've done! Thank you so much! Love Heist is one of my influences, and I think it shows especially in the parts involving Yuna, and the ones with Rock refusing to believe he had been someone quite different in the past. ....And I see you've already implemented an idea regarding Sera, coffee, and Trigger. What. The. Hell? We had the same idea. Awesome! This theme is becoming a running gag around here already... Well, at least between Dashe and me, and probably no one else understands what we're talking about when this subject appears , so it's nice to see someone else picking up the theme of Sera, coffee and Trigger. Welcome to the club! XD I'm eagerly awaiting the coffee bomb in this story and the drama bomb in the other one!
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Traingham
Cannam
Oooh. What's this?
Posts: 320
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Post by Traingham on Mar 14, 2015 15:43:53 GMT -5
002- Fireworks
Today was a good day, and that meant a lot on the colony dubbed Elysium, because to claim to have a good day on a place that decidedly claimed to be incapable of offering anything but perfection was to say that there were days that were not so good...which would imply the denied existence of bad. Now, EDEN council members Veronica and Rebecca were not the sort to gossip (lies)—that would be unprofessional—but word going around the building was that Geetz resigned from his position as Sera's attendant.
"He can do that?" Rebecca inquired of Veronica guardedly, not wanting to come off as ignorant of such matters. "You know, quit?"
Veronica did not answer her immediately, instead opting to slurp from her cup of coffee—a noise rising from the back of her throat when she did that could have indicated anything from negatory to barely suppressed ecstasy. That Veronica did this all while narrowing her eyes to near slits could have been taken in any way, really.
"Okay, what?" Rebecca thought she was trying to pick a fight.
"Good morning!" Luckily Yuna's cheerful greeting prevented misunderstandings from escalating violently. It also kept the two council members from going any further with their unsavory subject of conversation, which could not have happened at a better time because Gatz and Sera were accompanying her, and Sera was looking slightly...off. Off in the way one entered their bedroom after a long day and thought to themselves "That book on the shelf looks off somehow."
"Good morning, Yuna!" Veronica, ever the politician, greeted the gentle mother unit. Her eyes swiveled to regard the cold one, adding, "And you as well, Sera."
"Bad day?" Rebecca questioned Sera against all other more advised persuasions of judgement available for selection at that given moment, and Veronica's sharp side glance could not have made that any more apparent.
Sera's response came so quick that she almost came off as annoyed—"What?"—but she was Sera, so that would have been up for great debate.
"Nothing." Veronica went in for the save. "It's just unusual to see you in the cafeteria, Sera. You usually have Geetz bring you your morning meals, don't you?" An Oscar worthy performance of feigning ignorance if ever there was one.
"He resigned." Yuna chimed in without a care in the world. "So Sera has to settle for the instant stuff." She pointed to the drab coffee dispensing machine in the corner of the room, which suddenly seemed quite malevolent.
"He can do that?" Rebecca tossed the question in quickly, the ache of wanting an answer still sore in her mind from earlier. She was ignored.
"Bleh." Sera elected to show her distaste in a rare moment of unguarded disgust. Coffee appeared to have been a serious subject for the gynoid. "I am in no position to choose. I will take what I can."
"Try this." Veronica offered her own cup for sampling.
Sera's nostrils twitched. This aroma, it was unmistakable. "Freshly brewed coffee." Sera eyed the cup wantonly. Well, as wanton as she could express through her cold, calculating eyes. To the others in the room she looked ready to make the cup explode with her mind. "A rich aroma. Who brewed it?"
"Why are you worried about that for?" Veronica waved the cup around enticingly. "Why don't you try it first?"
"Fine." Sera accepted the cup from the council member and brought it to her lips for a slurp, and OH MY GOD. This flavor. This body. It was unlike anything Sera had ever experienced before and she wanted more.
Shluuuurp! Lump after lump of the elixir traveled down her throat without reserve.
Sera drained the cup, ignoring the look of "what the hell" that contorted upon Veronica's lovely features as the last of her morning ambrosia was stolen from her. The colors in the room were now so much more vibrant—the world was alive with something more than she had witnessed ever before. Her heart was beating with a newfound rhythm and the gynoid could feel it traveling from her chest, down her stomach and into her hips.
Sera wanted to dance. Sera felt the irresistible urge to express her love for this coffee with her body.
"It's Trigger's personal brew!" Rebecca then told her, slurping from her own cup of coffee.
Sera wanted to die. Sera wanted to express her newfound self loathing and, by extension, her loathing of the one called Trigger with the ultimate offering of her life.
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Aiyumi
Gorubeshu
Brazilian Kobun
Posts: 222
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Post by Aiyumi on Mar 14, 2015 16:40:54 GMT -5
Veronica probably had offered her own coffee because she hadn't expected Sera would accept it. No one would expect the cold Mother Unit to accept something that someone else's mouth could have touched (and it already had). And she lost her coffee... Too bad that Rebecca cut in early and we didn't get to see Sera dance. And it looks like I was almost right about it being a coffee bomb. I take it that the title refers to the sensations that exploded inside Sera's body as she consumed the magical coffee. Well, okay. Fireworks, not bomb. But it was something explosive. XD
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Post by Dashe on Mar 14, 2015 18:34:39 GMT -5
fAB's entry for Secret Santa 2014 covers Sera dancing. Ever since that happened I'd been wondering what incited Sera to dance at all. Apparently coffee is enough. AaronD's Teisel's into coffee, too. He likes it with bite! As for the fic...I spy two typos! You've got "a place the decidedly" and "cup coffee." Does Elysium just consider all coffee from a machine to be instant and have a preference for using a french press? I'd always considered instant to be the powdered kind that you stir into hot water. If machine coffee is their version of instant I'd hate to be there if Sera were to try hardcore instant coffee!
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Traingham
Cannam
Oooh. What's this?
Posts: 320
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Post by Traingham on Mar 15, 2015 11:35:58 GMT -5
To be honest, I've never had the pleasure of drinking a cup of vending machine coffee, though I have seen other people do it at my job. I've brewed my own coffee in my kitchen since I was sixteen (bad age to start, maybe), beginning with the commonplace glass pot brewing contraption and moving on to the full metal coffee brewing pot...thing. (It makes coffee soooo delicious)
Hitting my last two years of high school I opted for Dunkin Donuts coffee because it was so much more convenient on days I had to rush out (which was almost all the time since I used to stay up until morning talking on the phone so much at that point in my life), and nowadays I spend my money on Starbucks, or the occasional hipster coffee shop I come across in my walks through New York City.
...Oh, and yes, I've had coffee from packets before, but only for iced coffee.
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Traingham
Cannam
Oooh. What's this?
Posts: 320
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Post by Traingham on Mar 16, 2015 10:17:17 GMT -5
003- High Demand
The Master held a deep yearning in his heart for all of the things that reminded him of his youth; for the sweet and nutty smell of peanut butter ("I would like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."), for the touch of something raw and unrefined between his fingers ("It's called clay."), and even to hear the passages of tales of old. ("It's 'You shall not pass'. You need to say it with more conviction!") The ageless father of Elysium now pined for the taste of coffee—specifically Columbian Coffee, and authentic beans, too. None of that artificial crap that they sell in the coffee shops that line the streets of the main city like gas stations.
It was a demanding task, but Trigger had long ago come to the conclusion that The Master's tastes were nothing but demanding, so what was deemed demanding for most had become standard fare for the blue purifier. One visit to Ciel's lab for consultation, a night in the library for information on the climate and soil of Columbia, and a week in the controlled agricultural area allowed for that demand to become possible. The Master was extremely pleased and grateful for the fruits of Trigger's labor—as were Thomas, Albert, Cain, Claire, Rebecca, and Veronica. The entire council of EDEN was absolutely taken with Trigger's coffee, which set him up with the task of making their morning coffee every other day of the week.
"You know what you've become, right?" Trigger recalled first commander Nero's question to him on their last lunch break together. "EDEN's bi–"
"Shut up, Nero!" Trigger hissed to no one in particular, coming out of The Master's personal garden with a sack of his coffee beans tucked under one arm. "I'm sure this is just temporary." He muttered under his breath, though honestly he wasn't even sure if that would be the case given the raving reviews (Any form of praise from Master Albert was not to be taken lightly). There was cause for relief however.
Yuna had not gotten wind of this, and as long as that remained true–
"Trigger."
The purifier dropped his sack to the floor on reflex and pivoted sharply on his left heel to come face to face with the one person he dreaded even more so than he did Yuna. They both stood there, staring into each other's eyes for far longer than any two people should be comfortable with before Trigger broke the heavy silence in the only way he knew how.
"Sera."
This had become something of a ritual between them, really.
"Loitering here instead of attending to your duties, I see." Sera began with the usual line of contempt.
"And, as usual, you have enough time on your busy schedule to seek me out and lecture me whenever I am around. What do you do all day, Sera?" Came Trigger's riposte. "I'm beginning to see even more of you these days than I do Yuna."
Ignoring that second part, Sera replied with, "You're about to find out." Which, taken out of context and location to a darker, more secluded place could have easily become something oddly suggestive.
"Wait, what?" And Trigger was vaguely aware of this fact.
"She wants your coffee." Yuna's voice whispered huskily from beside his ear before two tanned arms wrapped around his waist. "I want your coffee."
Trigger's heart sank. "No." He whispered, his handsome face now resembling something that would make Edvard Munch green with envy.
She knew.
That statement, however, deeply disturbed Sera. "You don't do coffee, Yuna." And she was going to ruin this moment for Yuna even if it killed her.
Yuna did not receive this well. "I'm adventurous, Sera!"
"No." Trigger whispered once more.
It would not be the last.
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Post by Dashe on Mar 17, 2015 19:56:26 GMT -5
I'm accidentally taking it suggestively anyway. I blame The Neighbors. That Tommy Wiseau is a diabolical mastermind. Aaaaand, "The entire council of EDEN was absolutely taken with Trigger's coffee." There may be a lot of people, but they make up just one council!
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Traingham
Cannam
Oooh. What's this?
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Post by Traingham on Mar 19, 2015 18:42:12 GMT -5
004- Decisions, Decisions
"He can do that?" Having been explained the situation by Sera and Yuna (Who was not asked by Sera to assist in laying things out so much as it was that she insisted on volunteering information of her own accord.), Trigger had, by necessity, asked the question that had undeniably been asked by almost every other person who got wind of Geetz's resignation. Unfortunately for Trigger, two things got in the way of him obtaining a satisfying answer–one of those things being that Sera could not be terribly bothered in any way to invest some immediate effort in matters pertaining to the one called 'Trigger', so the satiating of his curiosity was not attended to by her at that time nor were there plans in her head to do so at some point thereafter. The second thing was that Yuna derived a sort of guilty pleasure from seeing the lost look on the blue purifier's face, so it occurred to her that the natural course of action to take would be to be as unhelpful to him as possible so as to keep it there for her sustained delight.
Yuna might've had issues.
With Sera being far more content to stare back at him from the other end of her expensive looking desk, leaning back in her expensive looking arm chair with one leg folded over the other, and a steaming cup of his coffee held in one hand, Trigger was left with no other option than to keep asking questions until she cracked open her mouth to offer more information. One question being, "Why am I here?" He glanced over his shoulder at the other mother unit leaning over the headrest of his chair with one elbow–also holding a cup of his coffee in her other hand and slurping just loud enough to reach his ears, which brought him to his second question. "Why am I making everyone coffee?"
After that question went up in the air Gatz tried drinking his own cup of coffee as inconspicuously as possible.
"It's good coffee." Yuna answered the second half of his question, winking to him after doing so as she took another slurp.
"This coffee is better than most." Sera affirmed, somehow making it sound like a backhanded insult when she did, though it could have just been that Trigger's impression of her made it impossible for him to take any statement from her mouth as anything but unkind. "Now I am placed in a rare position of indecision."
The purifier quirked a brow. "What exactly are you stuck on?" His eyes momentarily strayed to the view of the city behind Sera. "Do you need my advice?"
"I don't need your consultation." A flash of emotion streaked across Sera's face when she replied. It made Yuna smile. "You are the decision, Trigger. I need a replacement for Geetz, one that can satisfy my..." She could not have averted her eyes in a more suspicious manner. "...needs."
"...Uh huh." Trigger, once again, was vaguely aware that this conversation was sounding strangely suggestive. "You're trying to figure out if I can satisfy these...needs?" The pause wasn't needed, but he figured he may as well have fun with it.
"You've already satisfied one of them." Said Yuna in Sera's place. "Might be better to say that you did more than satisfy it."
Sparing Yuna a stare for that second remark, Sera turned her attention back to her prospective replacement. "I'm curious to see if you can meet the rest of my needs."
"It doesn't seem like a hard decision then." Trigger said without realizing just what he said. It took a few seconds for him to catch it. "Actually, on second thought, I'm committed to other things right now." He felt that it was self explanatory, but Sera seemed expectant to hear more–maddeningly so. "You know...with me being second commander at Hunter Headquarters..."
"Yes, well, that can be easily resolved by having someone take your place." The cold mother unit waved off his concern without a moment's consideration. "Your partner, Alia, can take over."
Yes, naturally she would be well aware of the fact that Alia was his partner (That much wasn't a secret to anyone), but that didn't keep the sound of her name leaving Sera's mouth from unsettling him. It made him feel vulnerable for some reason–that, and hearing her say that he could be easily replaced sent an unpleasant chill up his spine.
Sera might have smiled, because it then occurred to her at that moment that she too liked to see Trigger taken by such uncertainty.
Sera might've had issues.
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Aiyumi
Gorubeshu
Brazilian Kobun
Posts: 222
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Post by Aiyumi on Mar 20, 2015 12:10:52 GMT -5
Yes, Alia, of course! I think I can speak for your other readers. We also like to see Trigger in awkward situations! Which means, your readers also might have issues. And it looks like Trigger will be the one getting headaches, not Sera. Let's see how he'll handle his new job!
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Traingham
Cannam
Oooh. What's this?
Posts: 320
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Post by Traingham on Mar 23, 2015 12:56:56 GMT -5
005- In the Dark
"No." Trigger was firm about this decision and he wasn't going to budge from it. "You can't make me, Sera." But this decision had nothing to do with whether he would be the one to take the position that Geetz had vacated–that much had already been unanimously decided for him, without even the decency of providing an illusion of choice for him to mull over. One conference call from Sera to the other council members and The Master from her personal office, a quick vote, and Trigger had officially been made that which Geetz had refused to be one day more.
Both mother units enjoyed the array of emotions that went through the purifier's face during the course of the conference call– immensely, in fact; Yuna far more open about the immensity of her enjoyment of it than Sera, naturally, though it would be a memorable day for the universe to see Sera slapping Trigger on the back repeatedly, cheerily congratulating the purifier on his promotion.
Yuna meant well.
What Trigger was concerned with now were the two articles of clothing that had been brought into the office for him by a young woman attired in black slacks, a white dress shirt and sleeveless blazer– those two articles being what looked to be a form fitting, white tank top with an extended shirt tail and chestnut colored harem pants that came with boots attached to the legs. Sera was going to dress him like Geetz, wasn't she?
"This will be your new uniform." Sera informed him from behind her desk, a new cup of hot coffee held in one hand. "That blue armor of yours will no longer be necessary."
Even Gatz could not help but feel as if something important was being confiscated from the purifier after hearing that last statement. He almost wanted to protest the decision, but frankly he did not want to place himself as a blip on Sera's mental radar.
"You know..." Yuna regarded Trigger, one of her eyes narrowing as if weighing an important subject in her mind. "I think he would look better in black anyway." She concluded to Sera, the look in her playful eyes now hardened with a decisive stare.
Sera leaned over, one brow quirked ever so slightly. "Black? Like you, you mean..." An aspiring actress mistress Yuna did not make.
"Why don't we trade?" Yuna's question made Gatz blanch from his seemingly immovable spot three paces behind her. "You take Gatz, and I'll take Trigger." If only she did not appear so willing to actually go through with it, her sister might have humored her.
Sera's "No" came surprisingly quick, with Trigger's "No" coming not a moment sooner, though that left the two sisters confused as to what that "No" was directed at. Yuna did her best to look genuinely offended by what might have been an outright rejection. Sera took that moment to raise her cup to her mouth for a deliberate slurp, eyes calculating as always.
"You will wear the uniform I have provided for you." Came her firm decree upon lowering her cup of coffee, and many in Elysium would have found themselves unable to oppose her under such an uncompromising gaze. Trigger was not one of th– "And if you insist on refusing to do so, I will dress you myself."
...Well then.
"I have things to do." Yuna suddenly announced. "Let's go, Gatz."
"Huh?" Trigger felt his safety line going taut, and straining as Yuna hurried Gatz out of Sera's office. The moment the door closed behind 'Mother One', Trigger felt the safety line snap. He was in the den of a lioness now.
"Nothing leaves." Sera ordered to an unseen recipient, and the room obeyed her, engaging the lock on the door and blotting the view of the city behind her, leaving the two in complete darkness. The only sources of light visible were two sets of eyes meeting one another, with the set of red eyes making its way around the desk hidden in the darkness to close the distance between itself and the set of green eyes.
"Know this, Trigger." The red eyes looked down on the set of green eyes. "This will be very pleasant for me."
The set of green eyes rose from its original position, placing it almost two feet over the opposing set. "I'll make this uncomfortable for you."
"This room is sound proof."
"I just need your ears, Sera."
When the door to Sera's office opened again Sera was the first to come out. Yuna watched on with Gatz in total silence as the normally composed mother unit appeared to stumble in her walk, halting a few paces from the door to lean a hand against the wall and collect herself before resuming her trip to what looked to be the outdoor balcony. Trigger came out a moment after her dressed in his newly issued servitor uniform, his expression almost smug.
Looking down at the lack of blue now touching his skin, the purifier sighed to himself. "A pyrrhic victory for sure."
Yuna merely clicked her tongue. "I would have gone about it much differently."
Trigger flinched away from her general direction. "Didn't you have things to do?!"
"I would have done it while you were sleeping."
Yuna meant well–honest.
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Post by Dashe on Mar 23, 2015 14:24:37 GMT -5
I take it everything that went down in that dark room was meant to make us assume that, if it had been explained directly, the rating for the fic would've been bumped up to a solid M, but it was probably actually something way tamer, right?
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