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The mission had been a success, and while this might have been more to avoid the dreaded portion that was paperwork, it didn't mean Joy's desire to celebrate was any less genuine. Considering how Rhys had taken point as the leader, the Moon figured the Mist deserved to have a load off his chest and sidled up to Seren when she was available. And more importantly alone.

"Yooooo~ that was a great mission!" she said with an ear-to-ear smile, "Whaddya say you and me plan a victory party for Rhys?"
Aria -
Seren was thrilled that her first mission was a success, honestly, and so getting back to Deus, she would be obviously ecstatic and in a great mood. When Joy approached her, she turned and impulsively gave the older woman a big hug in her happy good mood. Joy's words had Seren's eyes going wide, and then she said "Ohhhhhhhh!", clearly pleased by the idea.

After a minute, she said "Where? I am all for it... I'll totally bake up some goodies for us..."
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Laughing, Joy returned the hug with a tight squeeze of congratulations and kept her arm slung around the younger woman's shoulders. "Well that's depend," Joy began, "Do we want it semi-public because we could reserve a couple of tables in the cafeteria. 'Course that would mean anyone can just pull a chair and join in just for the food instead of celebrating our accomplishments. And if I wanted to feed others, I'd just feed others."

She continued, "If we want it more personal, we could hold it at my flat. It'd just be the three of us, maybe four including Kai because it'd be rude not to invite him since he lives there too."
Aria -
Seren nodded a little, thinking this one through. "Yeah, your flat works for me. I've never been to it before, so that sounds like a good idea. You got any favorite goodies you want me to bake for this?" She stepped back to lean against the wall, looking thoughtfully at Joy. "I know the kinda stuff Rhys loves, so that wont be hard."

She sighed and glanced off to where he was working on the paperwork. "Poor lad, having to do the mission reports for this."
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"Better him than us," Joy automatically declared, glad someone else was handling the mission reports. "But we'll still have to check it over and add in anything he might have missed. We did get split up for a while." As much as Joy hated the task, she would do it grudgingly. And complaining the whole time.

"Surprise me with the baked stuff. Bring something sweet and Korean, other than you." She winked, lightly tapping Seren on the nose.
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Seren couldn't help chuckling at Joy's desire to avoid the paperwork, not really blaming her. Paperwork was never fun for anyone. "Well then, we'll hang out til he's done, then get that done, then head to prep? What time do we want things to start, so we can ask him to be there?" It also gave her an idea of how much time she had to cook, too.

"Ahahaha well then. You'll be getting plenty of that, because I'm going to be making Chapsal donuts, which are a Korean treat... Hmmm wonder what else I can make..." She gave Joy an amused look at the nose tap, and chuckled again at the comment.
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"Hmmm, we got enough time to get ready for a late-ish dinner. So we got the food down, but uh, think we can skip on alcohol this time around?" Joy asked, trying to think of a reason of why but not quite coming up with anything that wasn't directly tied to why she actually wanted to avoid getting drunk.
Aria -
She nodded, listening thoughtfully to all of that, and bit her lip, staring into the distance as she considered it all. "Maybe have some on hand in case Rhys or Kai want it?" She finally suggested. "But not too much?"
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"Sure, if the guys end up drinking a lot, you're both welcome to sleep over. Miiiiiight need help getting Kai up to the second floor if ever," Joy laughed, relieved that Seren wasn't going to push at the issue. "Although we could ask a certain someone about certain topics that they wouldn't talk about unless they were in a certain situation," she said cryptically, her brows waggling playfully.
Aria -
"Whatever works. Sounds good to me. I can definitely help you get Kai upstairs as needed!" She laughed, and shrugged. She was stronger then she looked, in the end.

Joy's suggestion earned Joy a blush and a soft 'aaa!' at the idea. "Oh my Gods. Is that fair to him, taking advantage of his drunkenness?"(edited)
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"Girl, we'll ask him when he's had maybe one or two sips. If he's too drunk to remember what we asked and what he said, pretty sure that doesn't do anyone any good," Joy nodded sagely, "Plus, at that early stage, we won't risk learning if he's an angry drunk. No fighting in the flat, we just got the stairs fixed and I don't want to have to runic any other appliance!"
Aria -
Seren laughed and shrugged. "Alright. I have no idea if he even drinks, so we'll have to see if that's an option." She brushed her hair of her face, and nods, before looking over at where he was doing the paperwork with a soft expression on her face.
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"If youuuu wanna drink, I won't stop you~" Joy declared in singsong, "But if you ever feel worried, lemme know. I will be there to protect! Although I gotta be up front, I might have to resort to using the Girl Problem excuse to get you away from the situation. Honestly, I don't often get to use that," Joy admitted. "I will try to come up with less embarrassing reasoning, but no promises."(edited)
Aria -
Seren laughs and hugs Joy. "I might have one glass, but I don't plan on drinking much." She looked lost in thought, and added "Not sure I want to risk letting anything slip, after all, if I don't know for sure where things stand."
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The older woman nodded in understanding. And while to her, the pair was shaping up quite nicely from what little she's seen (and probably exaggerated in her imagination) of their interactions during this mission, she was going to stick by her promise of supporting Seren and not pushing the younger woman into anything she wasn't ready for. As a sort of quid pro quo. There were things after their Girl's Night that Joy didn't think she wanted coming to light.

"Well, I'll leave you to invite Rhys, we can text each other the deets for when you get his sched. We'll work to fit all of ours."(edited)
Aria -
Seren gave Joy a grateful smile, glad she wasn't going to bring that up unless there was a goooood reason to do so. She hugged Joy again, in fact, she was so happy with all of this. "All right, I'll let him know, have him get his schedule for us for the next week or so if he can... I'll just make it sound like hanging out for a meal, without saying anything about it being a celebration, if he seems to feel he needs a reason."

She chuckled softly, and added "Food usually works as a motivator."
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"Fastest way to a man's heart," Joy laughed, and somehow unable to stop her own frustrations from coming out, "Too bad it's not working for me but I'm glad it is for you. Hell, you should teach me some of your dishes, maybe it'll start working for me." There was a hasty save at the end.
Aria -
Seren made a soft, sad sigh, wishing she could help Joy find some one right for her. Her friend deserved to be happy, and now she was sad and lonely instead. It made Seren's heart ache for her. "Well if you think it'll help, I can certainly teach you what I know!" Was all she said, however, in a warm, friendly-teasing kind of way.
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"And if it doesn't I'll at least have a few more dishes under my belt. And a Korean dish pa, o diba~" her cheer was genuine because Joy was determined to see the best of her situation. Because she was certain if she dwelt too much on the bad, she would never be able to look at a certain Moon trainee in the eye ever again. Not that she could do that right now but she'll figure it out.

Someday.
Aria -
"Yeah... Which reminds me. I want you to teach me how to make those chicharrons, they were sooooooo ******** good. I never had homemade before!" She paused, then her brow wrinkled as she considered that night, and the next morning. "By the way... You disappeared on me after I fell asleep. What... happened? Where did you go?"
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"Ooooh we'll see about the chicharon, dunno if I got enough ingredients. Might have to go off island for grocery shopping," Joy rubbed at her chin thought, making a mental check list of what she still had on hand and what needed refilling. She was thankful for the excuse to look distracted because when the subject of her accidentally disappearing on Seren was something she didn't want to talk about.

It would be easy enough to play if off as something embarrassing in a silly way, which was what she went with. "Oh that? Ha! I cleaned up the trash a bit and went to throw it, no sense in inviting bugs into your dorm diba? Took longer than I planned cuz my legs forgot how to listen to me. And when I came back to your room it turns out I'd locked myself out."
Aria -
Seren looked grateful regarding the chicharons, and said "Maybe I could get them when I go off island for the first time? I've been thinking about making a small grocery type run on my first leave day, there's things I want."

She nodded thoughtfully at all of that, and smiles a little. "Thank you for getting that trash, it's super kind of you... But where did you go after you got locked out? If your legs were being wobbly, you didn't try to go home, right? That's so far!" She sounded honestly worried, and like it was something she'd been concerned about.
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Joy waved a hand in dismissal, "Clyde found me. After I accidentally told him I was in the basement," she chuckled and quickly changed the subject, "Make a list of stuff you want, but unless you got a personal fridge, don't get too many perishables. I mean I could let you use the fridge in my flat but it's kind of a walk, y'know? And we pretty much use it for our stuff too."
Aria -
"How much is a place like that?" She couldn't help asking, wistfully. Her tattoo plan came first... For her own sanity... But then a place of her own, or with a roommate, would be amazing. Roommate preferred but... She wasn't expecting that would pan out any time soon.

"Clyde? I haven't met him. He lives in dorms? I'll have to meet him, your friends have all been nice so far, and I can always use more friends." And also thank him for helping Joy out, but since Joy seemed embarrassed about having gotten locked out, Seren wouldn't mention that.
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"Payment plans are best talked about with Rep," Joy provided, "It'll be hard for a trainee to get a flat without a roommate, especially if you plan on, like, furnishing it to your tastes. I'm not ashamed to admit majority of my budget went to the kitchen and my bedroom. Living room's good for guests and if someone needs to crash for the night, but yeah kitchen's my baby~"

She tried not to react at Seren's request to meet Clyde, "S-sure, he's a Moon trainee, so there might be missions you'd need extra backup. Oh and he's a pretty good carpenter too," the initial hesitation was quickly overrun as Joy described him. Turning the focus away from her relationship with the man and more on the man himself.
Aria -
"Well I'll have to look into it all once Kai is set up and I have my tat, then. That's going to come first, money wise, for me." She was determined, very determined, almost obsessed sounding with getting that tattoo. It was clearly incredibly important to her.

"Oh? Definitely some one good to know, then! I'll have to look him up. What's he look like, in case I see him before you get the chance to introduce us?"
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All talk of tattoos got two thumbs up signs from Joy, "You can do it!" she declared in encouragement and complete faith that the younger woman would achieve her goal.

Talking about Clyde felt weird after what had happened between them. And while Joy was in better control of her feelings now that she wasn't fall-down drunk, she wasn't making much eye contact as she set about describing the other Moon. "-hair style, and if you wanna get him to do stuff for you, best way is to bribe him with coffee. I swear, he acts like he's in love with the damn thing." Her laugh was a little forced but she wasn't trying to make a big deal of it.
Aria -
"I can! Kai just needs to work out his price list." She laughed some and shrugged happily.

"Coffee fanatic, good to know! I'll remember that. Coffee is good stuff, but the stuff they serve here is more like caffeinated melted brown crayons, I swear." She heard the hint of the forced laugh and wondered why, but didn't push.
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"Hopefully the rain lets up soon, wouldn't want to risk any renovation while water golems just pop outta nowhere. But at least you get a bonus from successfully doing EMs, at least you do with the ones I've done." Joy mused, "I wouldn't say I'm a coffee expert, but I'll let you have a cup of a Filipino blend we call barako. It's pretty strong so I like to use a lot of milk with it. I only drink black if, like, I really need to wake up."

Having moved away from the specifics of Clyde, Joy was beginning to relax again, believing she'd successfully navigated past Seren suspecting anything.
Aria -
"Barako? Cool. I look forwards to the chance to try it?" She grinned and adds "I prefer my coffee milky and sweet, myself, so that's fine. Black coffee upsets my stomach... So no matter how tired I am, I don't risk it." She gave a little shrug, the smile still on her face.
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"Sounds good. So you ask Rhys when he's free and I'll get the flat ready for the party~" she whispered, "Oh and we can go grocery shopping together so we'll have all we need to cook. If you want, you can come over to prepare there. My kitchen's big enough for two to work in."
Aria -
"Awesome! I'll do that. If you text me your schedule for the next week or two? So we can plan the shopping day, and I know when all three of us are definitely available." The idea of working in a kitchen that wasn't the public ones got Joy a look of excited gratitude. "That would be amazing!"