Session 3: Coming Out, Dropping In - kaseido/NeoTokyo GitHub Wiki

304 Minsky 1 Fire -> Water

The team invites Stridev and Tiffany to their going away party, who politely decline. Lane talks Eloise into coming, though. The sound system is playing Happy Aura, for the Gorn, and one of the cats takes the DJ booth. Some of it is literal caterwauling, and a lot of it is bagpipe music. And Rina’s gotten the entire Clowder hooked on Russian opera.

Their new accountant/financial advisor, Tamsyn Bancroft, is there, to see if she can handle all the crazy all at once.

Rina’s parents are around for the first time: they’ve been trying to give her space on her first job. Humans, the Gorn, and the cats are all coming through the same door. Some of the cats are already friends with the Gorn, from way back and from fishing, so some of them are riding in on Gorn.

The group starts with karaoke as an icebreaker. Kira would not be caught dead, so she shits in the back near Kat, who isn’t familiar with the concept at all. Rina starts it off with the cat DJ and bombs so incredibly hard! She has absolutely no idea, though! Lane can barely wait to the end of the song to get her off the stage. Everyone applauds enthusiastically because it’s finally over. Rina takes several bows.

Kodiak is next up with a very schmoopy love ballad dedicated to Lane, and there are tears. Kodiak is so getting laid tonight! Rook and Polina do a Klingon opera duet, and it’s pretty good. One of Rina’s cousins brought her four kids and they do a family show, and they’re pretty great – or at least really cute. Everybody enjoys it! The Gorn do a solid Happy Aura number. Lane gets Eloise liquored up and pushes her up on stage: she’s surprisingly not bad. Tamsyn isn’t nearly as good, though, but better than average. Nymphie calls the cat DJ back and bombs, but the cats think it’s great. Kniffin talks Nymphie into doing a duet, and they’re pretty decent.

Vole drags an ancient six-string guitar out from behind the bar, and plays a solid tune. Lane slays with a love song. Unfortunately Kodiak thought it was for him, but it was actually for Madison, who couldn’t be with her tonight. But she’ll have fun with Kodiak, and will call Tiffany tomorrow – but her heart belongs to Madison.

Kat gets talked into it, and she’s great: she does a perfect classically trained Russian aria – which manages to hit with the crowd, though it’s kind of a downer because she’s a real singer. Kira’s very proud: Kat’s perfect. Marley talks Kira into getting on stage, though! Marley is fantastic, and covers for Kira, who diffidently leaves the stage. She had a good time, but isn’t going to let anybody know that.

Markov’s…adequate. Butin’s a little better. Liv is so distracted making cow eyes at Kira that she bombs. Dr Winslett is second worst of the evening, though – but still way better than Rina.

Kodiak and Marley share a trophy for best of the evening.

Drinking game time! Markov knocks back a Gorn Porn, but Lane can’t handle her DeckKRASH. Kat goes for a Cobalt Velvet, which was not as good as it sounded. Kodiak didn’t realize that when it said “burning,” it meant BURNING. Nymphie went for the Starscream, but woo no. Markov easily knocks back his second GornPorn. Lane steps it back for her second drink, to a Cobalt Velvet, but is still reeling from the DeckKRASH. Eloise likes the Cobalt Velvets. Kat keeps her second one down fine. Polina doesn’t like the Cobalt Velvets either.

It’s getting to Markov in Round 3. Eloise knocks back a Dominion Bomb. Kodiak is having a bad night, and is hurling – maybe he and Lane won’t be having a great night after all. Nymphie slides under the table. Markov plays it safe with a Cobalt Velvet, likes it, and wins!

The Russian girls didn’t represent so well!

Varren racing! Kat is very drunk, very rich, and all in! Rina too, and Kira. Rook is the only winner, Markov and Lane both tie for last and get plushies. SPEECH SPEECH SPEECH! It is Kat and Kira’s coming out party.

Lane toasts them with a lovely speech. Not a dry eye in the house.

Lane’s Speech: “To the Brave and the Reckless”

(She stands with her glass raised, half a smile cutting through the candlelight.)

“Most of us here know what it means to live under someone else’s story. To play a part someone else wrote — dutiful daughter, loyal citizen, perfect headline. It’s exhausting, pretending that the cage is a stage.”

(She glances toward Kira and Kat — warmth under her steady tone.)

“But then, sometimes, two people decide they’re done pretending. They stop asking permission to exist the way they want. And the world—” (she gestures to the glittering room) “—the world doesn’t quite know what to do with that kind of honesty.”

(Her grin sharpens, the journalist’s edge surfacing.)

“So it gossips. It stares. It makes rules about who’s allowed to love whom. And the only answer worth giving to that kind of noise is the one these two gave tonight: live anyway. Loudly, beautifully, and without apology.”

(She lowers her glass slightly, voice softening.)

“Kira and Kat — you’ve fought your way out of more than one gilded cage. You’ve earned your freedom, and each other. May no one ever tame you again. And may the rest of us find half your courage when it’s our turn to choose between safety and truth.”

(She raises her glass again, with that wry little smile.)

“To the brave and the reckless — may their love scandalize the right people.”

Kira replies with a toast, her composure briefly slipping. Shock and applause! She genuinely smiles.

Kira’s Reply: “To Freedom, and the Fire It Brings”

(She stands slowly, glass in hand, the picture of nobility — except her eyes are burning.)

“Miss Bly has a talent for making rebellion sound respectable.”

(A ripple of laughter — she lets it breathe, then cuts through it.)

“She’s right, of course. We’ve spent our lives inside cages made of silk and expectation. You learn, after a while, that obedience and death have the same flavor — bland, polite, and suffocating.”

(Her voice steadies; her words sharpen.)

“But tonight isn’t about defiance. It’s about choice. The freedom to decide who we love, who we trust, who we stand beside when the world would rather we sat down and behaved.”

(She glances at Kat — just for a heartbeat, the mask slips; her voice softens.)

“Yekaterina showed me that freedom isn’t a gift someone hands you. It’s something you take — teeth bared, hands shaking, terrified, and alive.” (Then she straightens again, reclaiming her chill composure.)

“So yes, we’re scandalous. We’re improper. We’re exactly what they warned us not to become. And I, for one, wouldn’t trade that for every crown in Rus’.” (She lifts her glass toward Lane, then to Kat.)

“To freedom, and the fire it brings — may it burn every cage that dares to hold us.”

(She drinks, calm and defiant, while the room erupts — half applause, half shock. And she smiles, finally, like someone who’s never felt more alive.)

Kat, who is very drunk, leans over to Kira as she sits down, puts her hands on either side of her face, and gives her a giant kiss. She stands, tall, regal, with generations of ancestry behind her who have ruled a great nation which has dared to be different. Just two weeks ago she was presented for her coming out party, designed to force her into a gilded cage, a pawn for powerful men. Her own desires, needs loves, did not matter and could never matter. In her country she was forced to be something she was not, in a country that eschews modifications. Here she has found the freedom they were told they had back there. Tonight she looks back at her country and the people who are still trapped there, and says it doesn’t have to be that way. As she and Kira find their future, they will not leave their people in darkness. Thank you all for coming; the next round of drinks is on me.

The party taking a solemn turn, people say their goodbyes and make their way out into the night.