The streets are busier than ever, especially now in the morning. Ika was awake, as you would expect, though they weren't experiencing any form of delirium. She was looking out the window, still fascinated that the city always experienced midnight... forever. Sure, by now she could tell what time it was *internally*, but that was only so accurate. She had just finished up a shower - taking care of her hair has been getting slightly more difficult, but she liked to revel in the fact that she could at least do it without some kind of traumatic response trying to shut it down. Today's outfit would have been the usual, but for the city, she wanted to try something different - instead the various palette of greens she had in her bag, she instead opted for something on the more blue-purple side, pulling out a shirt with a gradient of blue from its bottom left corner, to a soft purple in its top right corner. Ika never was curious in the kinds of shirts with logos or prints - so long as it covered her, it would be fine. By then, Mako was just getting done and ready, herself having picked quite the strange ensemble - a tie-dye shirt of various whites and pinks, with a pink skirt and some magenta leggings. Ika looked over at the dazzling rainbow of colors, but didn't say anything. It wasn't necessarily in awe or some kind of lust, but rather just a faint happiness about the situation she was in. "You like what you see?~", taunted a flirtatious Mako. Ika shook her head, as if to get the daze out of her eyes. "You could say that, yes. I'm just curious, have you always been into fashion?" Mako beamed. "Right on the money, sweetie!" "Heh. In any case, today is *your* day, so we're doing what *you* want, alright?" Mako put a finger on her cheek. "You're not just doing this because I complained about it the other day, are you?" Ika shook her head. "I'm doing this for *you*, Mako. I should be more considerate of you, should I not?" Mako giggled behind her hand. "Whatever you say..." She moved to rustle through her bag, which was on the counter opposite the bed. "You said you don't know this place?" "I'm as surprised as you are. I thought I'd be having cataclysmic levels of dread by now. But, no, my head's been fine, and I can't recall much about this place." Ika looked back out the window. "I'll take my blessings where I can get them." "Don't forget about your other blessing!", Mako reminded. Ika looked back at the damsel. "Right, sorry. Where are we going?" "I don't actually know that. I was just gonna go down to the lobby and see if they had any brochures available." "Sounds good to me." The two exited the room and hit up the elevator. It took a bit for it to arrive, but it eventually did, letting them on without hassle. Ika pushed the button for the bottom floor, and with a small jolt, the lift started to move. Ika sat patiently in the center of the elevator, while Mako leaned on one of the side bars, crossing her legs and arms. "Ika, I have to ask you something." "Go ahead." "Your memories... did they ever involve you dating anyone?" "No, not really. I'm pretty sure I was just a lone wolf. I feel like that'd be the first thing that would come to mind." She turned to look at her lover. "Not like it would matter. You're the only one for me, Maks." Mako blushed. "Awh... you're too sweet." Ika turned her whole body to face. "I am?" "Haha, no, no, it's a saying, you know? Like, you aren't *literally* too sweet, you're just very kind and polite." "If you say so, Maks. Sorry." "Oh, no, don't be! Maybe we should teach you some sayings, since you're so new to living and all." "H-hey!" Ika snickered a bit. "I didn't choose this for myself, Maks, honestly. But I don't know if I would have it any other way - because I don't know if I would have met you." Mako had to hold back the red in her face. "Okay, alright, I get it, you love me... You don't need to be so cheesy about it, though..." By then, the elevator door opened. Exiting to the lobby, which had a couple of people there - some looked just like the duo, others looked more like a walking ATM - Mako quickly fled to the stand of brochures, while Ika hung back, just standing nearby. She over heard a conversation, trying her best to ignore it, but she just *couldn't* - like it was some kind of skill ingrained into her head. It was between just two people, both of them appearing human enough. "So, how did he do last night?" "Oh, it was *amazing!* I never knew I could do that." "It really is something, I do it almost every day!" Ika could not have raised an eyebrow higher, but quite frankly, it wasn't her business. She walked over to her partner, who was stuck between two brochures. "Hm. This one is a lunch place, but they're probably busy right now, but *this* one doesn't open until after dusk..." Ika looked outside. The same darkness she fell asleep to, the same lights, burning bright. "They don't measure time here by the sun. I think that's just a joke." It took a second, but it clicked in Mako's circuitry. "Ah. I see." She handed a pamphlet over to Ika. "You like fish?" "What, from a pond? There's no lakes for aeons. We literally walked here." "They have a fish tank, though." "I don't think I can argue with that. Sure. What's the place called?" Mako flipped the brochure back to its front, before replacing it in the stand. "Big John's Fisheria. Don't know if I could have come up with a better title myself." She stuck out a hand, as if presenting the air upon it. "Shall we?" Ika grabbed it with her own, before the two departed the hotel and onto the streets. Ika appreciated that she could hold her partner's hand again. It felt, to her, normal, something she knew she was desperately lacking. She didn't say anything, instead savoring the moment. Having a girlfriend, someone you love and that loves you back... it's the greatest thing, in her opinion. She'd do anything to protect her, to make her happy, to- Ika discarded the thought. Her life wasn't in danger - at least, not now. She needed to stop thinking about the future, the past, and focus on the now. What was going on in the now? "We're here!" Oh, right, fish. Neither of them got a good look at the establishment's front, instead opting to head directly inside. The first thing that hit either of their brains was the *smell* - it wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't something either of them had experienced in a long time - ocean water. Looking past that, they saw a bunch of awfully nautical nonsense, numerous in nature, naturally. Life rings, blue-board walls, the whole 9 aeons. The doors opened into a small room, which then pressed further on to a small flight of 3 or 4 stairs, which then split three ways - to the left and right were hallways of booths on the outside, with open walls on the inside. Going forward, it opened into a bar-adjacent area, though there were a couple of tables around the main bar top. A host came to greet them. Ika was polite enough to say, "Table for two, please!", but Mako just flashed two with her hands. Either way, they were directed to a table inside the bar area, but not at the bar top. They took seats opposite of each other, before being handed menus, and told that "Your server will be right with you!" Ika looked around at the menagerie of sea-adjacent items on the walls. "They really like the ocean here." Mako was flipping through the menu, before looking up quickly, also noticing the displays. "Well, yeah, it's a fish place. What did you expect?" Ika thought long and hard about her answer. What *did* she expect, from the clearly well known establishment, *Big John's Fisheria*? A good time? Friendly staff? A lovely <font color="#e64539"><u>Painting</u></font>? "Fish.", she said, matter-of-factly. Mako squinted at her before returning to perusing the menu. Ika did the same. Ah, there was the fish. Lots and lots of it. Fish cakes, crabs, salmon, some kind of... inkpuff thing? She decided to go for something simple: Lake trout with a side of fries. Ika put down the menu on the table, waiting patiently for her partner. Mako was muttering to herself, probably split between a couple of items. She put down the menu. "What'cha gonna get?" Ika thought for a moment. "Just some lake trout. What about you?" "I want to try this shrimp thing they have going on..." Mako pulled the menu back up to see. "Some kind of spicy shrimp or something. Sounds good to me!" She replaced it onto the table. Ika thought to herself for a bit, trying to think of something to say. "Say, Mako, you've had fish before?" Truthfully, she could not have picked a worse topic. Mako obliged anyways. "Uh, yeah! It's pretty good, nice and meaty-" Mako just realized that her lover had an unfamiliar diet to her. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot you're a vegetarian." Ika waved her hand. "Not necessarily a vegetarian, no. I just don't like red meats. Fish is fine, I'd imagine. How does fish taste, anyways?" "Fishy." They were truly queens of conversation at this particular table. The depth of their connection was simply unmatched. Thankfully, the waiter came by and rescued them from the perils of "good" conversation. They took their orders and handed them each a glass of ice water, with a small stick pointing out of it, holding a small fish-shaped piece of wood. Ika inspected the wood carefully, before returning it to the glass. "Mako, I'm curious - what do you think of the city?" Mako didn't need to think about that. "I like it a lot! It's like, there's so many different kinds of people here, and it's nice to be around all that too, since we've been spending most of our time in solitude and whatnot." Ika scratched the back of her neck, not really satisfying an itch, but just trying not to appear stoic. "Yeah, it really is something. Except for them keeping out the cyborgs and whatnot. But, maybe after we take care of that, this seems like a nice vacation place." "Vacation place?" Mako was mildly shocked. "I was thinking about maybe moving here." "We haven't even been here for two days, and I feel like the lack of a proper sunrise and sunset is getting to me. Maybe it just needs some time to settle in me, though." Mako seemed really excited at the prospect. "I have this feeling that my people are here, you know? The Residence is nice, but..." Mako looked to the side, wondering if she should tell Ika. "I feel like I belong here more than in the woods, you know?" "I guess... To me, I do enjoy the serene silence. I don't go out at night much anymore, but I miss having the sun... The rays, gently coming through the branches of the trees, the calmness of when dawn just breaks over the horizon... I find beauty in nature." Mako was a bit amazed at the prose Ika had just put out. "Hm. Never thought about it like that. Where'd you learn to *talk* like that?" Ika flapped her hand down. "Oh, uh, I did some reading while you were out from the, uh-" Ika looked around to make sure nobody would be listening. "From the shelter." The server returned with their food. Ika's was nothing *fancy*, but it did look good - battered fish, 3 large fillets, all golden brown in coloration, crisp to the touch. To the side, a few handfuls of fries - a reminder of Ika's strange tendencies at night, sure, but these were more so straight, which was something Ika had trouble with. The whole affair was on top of several sheets of checkered blue-and-white paper, all encased in a red basket, in the shape of an oval. Her partner was given a large place, with a smattering of shrimp, fries, all topped with some sort of orange-brown seasoning. Ika was careful with her own dish, not wanting to spill any crumbs on the table. Mako had no such reservations, hungrily devouring it, never having a moment without something in her hands. "Uh, Mako, you alright...?" Mako paused her frenzy. "Oh, haha! Sorry, just *really* hungry." Ika gave her a confused look. "Fair enough, just don't choke." They both finished their meals without much to say. Honestly, Ika was just happy to have something to eat that was new to her. The lake trout definitely did taste "fishy", but that "fishy" taste was something that more reminded her of the smell of seawater. In between bites, she looked over to her partner - noticing that she was swallowing a particularly long fry without chewing, like some kind of party trick, before going back to a semi-crazed consumption mode. Mako was done much before Ika, but they both had a hearty meal. "You know, Maks, that was pretty good. This was a wonderful idea." Ika peered at her partner before motioning to the side of her own lips. "You got some crumbs- no, the other side- yeah, there you go. You liked the shrimp?" "Oh yeah! It's one of my favorites, haha." Ika and Mako had lots to talk about from then on. From there, they paid the waiter, and returned to their hotel room. Ika still had a few [[Questions]] on her mind, though... luckily, she still had that earpiece that could hook her to the Evergreens' base.