Jessica shrugs, intentionally turning her focus to her food as she pokes at another bite and considers the names and places that Yan Sun has told her about over the very short time they've known one another. People and places and events, far removed from the vast, unclaimed wilderness of Aite or the cozy comforts of a cramped room above the Respite. Somehow here, surrounded by buildings that reach up towards the sky, the people and
#HongKong – December 14, 2025
stories, previously only touched on in shared moments of vulnerability, feel a whole lot closer. Like a reminder that Yan Sun's past is more than just those stories, they're moments that reach back to long before Jessica walked into the sleeping quarters on the Saint Lucia. She's hit with the sudden realization that... "I travel alllll the way across the galaxy with you. All the way here, yes? And I am realizing that I barely
know you, kitty cat." she says with a passing glance back to the woman across the table from her. It's not some grand epiphany, and certainly not a regret. Just an amusing thought. As a matter of fact, the smirk on her lips implies it might even be a point of pride. She gives a dismissive little shrug and shovels another bite of rice into her mouth.
Yan Sun smiles a little uncertainly. Unsteadily. "You know me," she protests. "The... stuff that matters, anway." The words sit uneasily after how easily her story just came to her, the sights and sounds of home making the past feel closer than ever. Making it feel a whole lot less irrelevant than it did just days ago. How long can she dance around her reasons for coming back here? For bringing Jessica here? To show her her home without
actually showing any of the bits that matter most? It doesn't make any sense even to herself, but it's also the only thing that makes sense to do. The alternatives all require opening doors that she has no intention of touching. Her parents. Changying. She has no intention of letting either leave the realm of memory.
Jessica studies Yan Sun, making a show of considering whether or not she agrees with that with pursed lips and a long hum. "Mmmm. No." she seemingly decides without much fanfare, gaze only briefly dipping back to her food to jab her fork back in. "I know what you want me to know." she says, gaze once more leveled on Yan Sun. The neon of the district reflects a bit more harshly in the fog of her right eye. She takes another bite of
rice, chewing as she gestures Yan Sun's way with the fork. "I want to know the shit you do not want me to know." she threatens. It's a playful threat, unaware of the uncertainties and concerns swirling around Yan Sun's mind.
Yan Sun 's shoulders hunch just slightly, a faint, uncomfortable noise slipping out. "Like what...?" she asks, trying her best to make the question sound light, before using her chopsticks to eat another bite of food, studying Jessica as she chews.
Jessica tilts her head slightly, grin growing mischievous. "I am thinking that maybe we are needing more booze for this." she muses aloud, stabbing the fork back into her food. "You have played 'talk or drink', yes?" she asks, leaning down to take another bite.
Yan Sun furrows her eyebrows. "Uh... if it's the same as 'truth or drink', then... yeah. I have," she confirms, looking a little skeptical, but the corner of her mouth quirks upward regardless. She reaches over to grab the center of the crab, given that Jessica has stolen her crab fork, leaving her without easy means to deal with the legs without fabricating a new one. "Are you saying you intend to get me drunk...?" she asks through a grin,
undercutting her accusatory tone. She picks at the crab meat with her chopsticks, freeing a piece and popping it into her mouth.
Jessica seems to have no plans to relinquish her stolen fork and hums a quick affirmation. "You are a lightweight." she explains matter of factly, annoying smirk ever present, "Is going to be verrry easy to get all of your secrets when you are drunk." She casts a cursory glance around the area, brows furrowing. "You know where can we get a bottle of batarian ale on the way back...?"
Yan Sun sticks out her tongue at Jessica, but grins afterwards, the teasing seeming to have lifted her unease. "Yeah, right..." After another bite she snickers at the question and shakes her head. "Yeah, uh... you're gonna have a pretty hard time finding that on Earth. Pretty sure it's banned, actually, even if there was a market," she explains with a shrug, taking a sip of her soda. "Buuut... I'm thinking some baijiu should do the trick,"
she suggests thoughtfully, her grin returning as she does a little shimmy in her seat, gesturing with her chopsticks to emphasize her words.
Jessica frowns, scoffing at the idea of her favorite booze to hate-drink being banned. A reminder that she's not in Kansas anymore. Well... technically she's closer to Kansas than she's ever been, but that's not the point. Besides, she doesn't know who or what Kansas is. But the mention of a potential alternative seems to have piqued her interest, causing her eyebrow to lift slightly, grin returning. "Baijiu...?" she asks, the
Yan Sun smirks. "'Booze', obviously. Strong, too. Think you'll like it." A PubSec drone passes in the background as she takes another bite of food, its scanner sweeping the crowd as it moves down the market lane, hovering above the crowd. For the most part no one seems to pay it any mind. "I can order a bottle to our room." Room? Apartment? The former is force of habit. Would the latter be more accurate? It sounds too permanent. And this is
anything but. Just another stop. Besides, it is a one room place. "Or..." Her eyebrows furrow as she considers, gaze skimming out across the market before going back to Jessica with a glint in her eye that wasn't there before. "We could go somewhere with a view, if you want...?"
Jessica is briefly distracted by the drone. The novelty- the annoying novelty- of it is going to take some time to wear off. The suggestion causes her to study Yan Sun with a look of suspicion, assuming she has a place in mind. "Mm." she hums in affirmation. "Is still early, yes?" she adds through a grin. Far too early for them to just turn in, at any rate. Not when there's a whole city to explore. Her gaze shoots in the direction
they arrived from before her eyes flick back to Yan Sun. "I see a place for tattoos, too, when we are coming here. Is a good place...?" she asks before dipping back down for another bite of her food, as if Yan Sun might be familiar with some random booth they passed.
Yan Sun returns Jessica's grin, that eager, mischievous glint lingering. The question that follows reflexively makes her look off in the same direction as Jessica. "Uhm... no idea? You gave me my first tattoo, remember?" She hesitates a little before speaking more, tripping just slightly on the same name she spoke earlier: "Hotaru used to do holo-tats. She was really good at it, actually. I don't really know anything about old school ink
Jessica's smirk widens. "Mmm. I remember." she says fondly. The mention of holo-tats once again clearly piques her interest and she listens as she takes another bite of food. "...This is the friend you were saying before?" she asks, reminded of their earlier conversation on the subject.
Yan Sun stiffens slightly as she's made to remember her drunken self's mistake weeks ago, gaze falling down to the food, but she nods. "Uh, yeah, that's her. She did holo-tats for a few people in the Dragons. Helped with this too," she says with a gesture to her left arm, lifting her elbow out to the side a little as the intricate circuitboard pattern lights up her skin. "It's similar tech." She tries not to let it show, but her mood seems
Jessica glances to Yan Sun's arm as it lights up, a few nods following, her own thoughts too preoccupied to notice Yan Sun's own discomfort. "I see Burd do some things like this." she says, her gaze turning down to her own hand. Where once there were vibrant colors there's now jagged, uneven scars and marred flesh, only the occasional pop of color indicating what used to be there. "They put things under the skin for this, yes?" she
Yan Sun nods, relieved to talk about the tech instead of the person. "Yeah. Subdermal micro-projectors. Lots of them. Thermoelectrically powered, so they run off your body heat, create a projection on the skin. Basic ones are static and follow the outline of the design, but with a programmable grid you can swap through different artwork, and even do animated designs," she explains before sliding another fishball off her skewer.
Jessica continues to study the back of her hand as Yan Sun speaks, far less interested in the specifics of how the tech works than the results that it gives. After a moment of consideration, she merely offers a shrug, reaching for her fork once more. "Mmm. Maybe." she says, "But I am thinking something smaller first. The place we passed does piercings, yes?" She gives Yan Sun a goofy little wiggle of her eyebrows, the scarring
Yan Sun 's face lights up a little, and she swallows. "Looked like it, yeah. Why? You... want to get pierced?" she asks through a grin that she can't quite keep off her face, despite her teeth catching her lower lip.
Jessica shrugs again. "I used to have many piercings." she explains, perhaps in the moment forgetting that Yan Sun has seen pictures of her from before the fire. "Maybe... maybe is time to get some of them back." she concludes, doing her best to make it sound casual. Like it's not a big decision. Like it's not a sign of taking at least a tiny step forward. She reaches out with her fork, rising slightly off her seat as she does, to
poke it into the next fishball she thinks Yan Sun is reaching for. "And maybe-..." she continues, settling back into her seat, "...if you are not a shit? I will even let you choose them for me, kitty cat." She holds the fishball up in front of her face, displaying it like a trophy before popping it into her mouth.
Yan Sun 's smile manifests fully, wide, goofy, and warm, and the toe of her boot nudges Jessica's foot. "Sounds like a great idea," she agrees. "Let's finish our food and go check it out!" She's unfazed by the theft of her fishball, used to her dinner companion's attempts at being obnoxious - she instead scoops a big pinch of rice and veggies into her mouth, eager to finish their meal now.