[OTA]

[decideformyself]

After Alemar III, Philip is understandably a little apprehensive about another shore leave. But reading the information on Risa in the Enterprise's database helps to ease that. To think that there's an entire planet just for vacations! He'd never imagined such a thing before.

So once he's down there, he's going to try just about everything there is to do. Hiking; visiting those underground gardens with the glowing plants; sunbathing; and of course, eating. Alien food is so wonderful, after all.

Aside from Shotaro, he doesn't make much of an effort to stick close to anybody else from the Enterprise. He's just too giddy about trying all these new things. But if he should happen to run into anyone he recognizes, you can bet he's going to greet them.

Comments

[tanteiotaku]

Alien food was terrifying. Some of it was still moving. Or strange colors. Where does one get some fried chicken for Christmas on an alien planet, anyway? Or a cake?

But more importantly, this was the first time he was spending Christmas away from home. And the first one since Philip had come back. Like hell he was going to be anywhere else but with him while they explored this planet together.

While they walked together, even the more decadent attractions of Risa didn't seem to draw him out of his thoughts about what Christmas was the anniversary of, and further, what that mistletoe had set off. Why couldn't he get that off his mind? Sure, the mistletoe had wedged him into situations more uncomfortable than that, but shouldn't kissing his partner be weirder than that? Detectives weren't supposed to enjoy kissing each other. Unless one of them was a voluptuous police detective teaming up with a private dick for a personal grudge to avenge her old partner. Overall, it left him noticeably distracted, but as ever, he was pushing through it.

He wandered past some pink and black striped serpentlike creatures swimming in a tank. They vaguely resembled eels, but with more ribbed fins. He jabbed Philip in the ribs with his finger to get his attention. "Ah, it's Decade," he said with a grin.

[decideformyself]

Philip had spent the Christmas before this as a disembodied consciousness floating through Fuuto. It had been painful to watch Shotaro at that time. He much preferred this -- a physical body, standing and walking beside his partner, feeling the breeze on his skin. Even if it was the breeze of some alien planet and not Fuuto.

His eyes followed Shotaro's gaze, and he laughed. "Ah, I wonder if Kadoya Tsukasa has been to this world...?" It would just figure.

[tanteiotaku]

"Ah, an alien Kamen Rider. That would be something to see!" He grinned over at Philip. Philip was laughing and enjoying himself on Christmas. Yeah, that's how it should be. He preferred to pretend the previous lonely Christmas without him had never existed. It was less painful that way.

His eyes landed next at what looked like a confectionery shop. Alien sweets should be safe enough, he thought. Or he hoped. He found something that looked like a bit of green rock candy and gave it an experimental sniff. "All of this alien food is too weird..."

[decideformyself]

Philip wondered if there were alien Kamen Riders. He could look them up if they'd come to Earth at any point.

He took the strange food from Shotaro and popped it into his mouth. "Yes, isn't it amazing?" It wasn't that he misinterpreted what Shotaro meant by "weird"; it's just that Shotaro was wrong. "This is incredible! You should try it." He picked up another one and held it up to his partner's face. It was sort of meaty.

[tanteiotaku]

"Aah--" but sure he was just going to let Philip stuff that in his mouth. He made a confused face but he didn't really dislike it. Philip's fascination with everything around him was somewhat infectious, though. He smiled over at him. "Haah, I guess that one wasn't bad."

[decideformyself]

"You see?" He gathered up some more items. (How were they paying for this, anyway...?) "As inconvenient as our abduction has turned out to be, there are so many things we would never have learned about if it weren't for Q. I'll have to thank him."

[tanteiotaku]

"No way, you'll just pad his ego!" Despite himself, he picked out one or two items himself. Okay, maybe he sounded a bit more annoyed about that than he wanted to. He couldn't really forgive Q for trying to manipulate Philip's natural curiosity with the world around him.

[decideformyself]

"Is that possible?" He moved down to another stall, this one selling Risian clothing. Of course a "pleasure planet" would also try to capitalize on visitors. "Anyway, it really has been a net positive, Shotaro. Even the most recent incident was harmless."

[tanteiotaku]

There goes his face turning red again. And he was going to pretend that wasn't what they were talking about. Yes, the only issue earlier was the pigs. "It wasn't harmless to my shoes!" There was no way he was ever going to consider Q had ever accomplished any benefit to any of this, not at all. Even if Philip was enjoying himself.

[decideformyself]

"You can just replicate new ones," Philip said dismissively. He picked up a pair of interesting-looking shoes. "I wonder if we'll be able to keep the pigs... The mistletoe has been entertaining, as well."

[tanteiotaku]

And he just started shouting at that point. "Hey!" No, he didn't have anything terrifically articulate to say about the mistletoe.

[decideformyself]

That was entertaining. Shotaro had been so flustered by the mistletoe, it was amusing to think about.

Philip smirked. "Is something the matter? Ah, maybe we should return to the ship... Perhaps we'll encounter another sprig or two."

[tanteiotaku]

"No no no no no! We need to stay far away from any more mistletoe! It's bad enough we're away from the Agency on Christmas without making things more complicated!" Okay that kind of fell out of his mouth accidentally.

[morphitudinous]

Billy found himself lost in his thoughts as well: after the bad news he'd received just before departure, he was in no mood for any group holiday festivities right now. When his emotions started to creep up on him, the thing to do was involve himself in something else. Read. Study. Think.

So he lugged his trusty notebook underground, scribbling a few observations by the light of a strange flower. He'd definitely cross-reference this with a book later---and he was so engrossed that he almost missed the subtle shadow passing by his head.

But he couldn't miss him entirely, not someone so obviously happy on vacation. "Philip?" Billy asked, hoping some of that was infectious.

[decideformyself]

There's nothing like these plants on Earth -- Philip, of all people, would know. He zips about, trying to see every single one of these strange glowing flowers he can.

He vaguely registers the existence of somebody else nearby, but it's not until his name is called that he glances over to see who's there. When he does, he smiles in surprise. "Billy Cranston! Ah, so you've come to see these interesting flowers as well?"

[morphitudinous]

"You don't have to use my full name every time," Billy laughs, but hey: it draws a smile from him. Talking to Philip is certainly never a bore.

He closes his notebook for the moment. "I have! On Earth I would've assumed a flower like this was radioactive, or a sign of a coming monster attack, but as far as I can tell there's absolutely nothing sinister going on here. It's nice."

At least he hopes it stays that way. He'll happily look at the pretty flowers for a while.

[decideformyself]

He reaches out to lightly brush a hand over the petals. It feels just like an ordinary flower, too.

"The biological variation from world to world is absolutely fascinating," Philip says. Billy is right; it's very nice. "Perhaps we would be allowed to take some seeds back with us. What do you think?"

[morphitudinous]

Billy quietly agrees, admiring it in silence for a bit. It's satisfying to see something so special.

"If it's not an endangered species or likely to cause contamination problems I'd like one." He really would. He smiles at it. "Do you usually grow plants?"

[decideformyself]

"No, not usually." There was that one time a few weeks after he'd first gone to live at the Narumi Detective Agency... but Shotaro had yelled at him and they'd spent days cleaning up the mess. "I've already read everything I need to know about Earth plants. But these are so different. I can't simply look them up-- it's frustrating, but intriguing!"

[morphitudinous]

Billy can't resist cupping one of the plants. It's most likely not dangerous, but if it is...well, he can deal with that. Fortunately it seems to be safe, so he carries on admiring the light.

"Have you seen a library here? I can't imagine it being near tourist areas, but maybe we could read?"

Which is pretty much the opposite of a traditional vacation, but his brain never shuts off.

[decideformyself]

It's just so tempting to pluck a flower right out of the ground, but he manages to refrain. Instead he steps over to Billy to take a peek at his sketches.

"I haven't seen one, but I would be surprised if a so-called 'pleasure planet' didn't have one." Philip, no, that's just you. And Billy. "I'll ask around. How has your vacation been so far, by the way?"

[morphitudinous]

Billy almost shies away from showing those pages, but it can't hurt, right? It's more of the idea than the artistic value that's important. He's drawn three different flower shapes, with little ink prints to represent light.

A little smile appears as he talks. "Then we'll have to find it. I've been enjoying this time to myself so far. It's nice to observe everyone in the quiet. Have you been busy, Philip?"

[decideformyself]

Satisfied with what he sees on the paper, he steps away to look at more plants.

"Extremely so! There's so much to do on this planet. I must have spent all of yesterday hiking and rock climbing. The day before that, Shotaro and I went out to eat and spent some time shopping."

[morphitudinous]

Billy likes that answer. He makes a mental note to try some of this rock climbing himself, then proceeds to the next logical topic. "You and Shotaro are never too far apart, huh? Did you buy anything you're particularly proud of?"

[decideformyself]

Philip grins. "I'm rather fond of the new outfit I picked out for him. We'll be meeting up later tonight for dinner. He is my closest friend this far from home, after all, so..." Or back home, even, but the competition is slightly steeper there. "Ah, yes, speaking of which -- how is your friend doing? What was his name, Adam?"