The Office of RollerMan

"Mmm... My wife actually gave me the idea for this massage business and encouraged it. I've massaged her before, although... many of her ideas were not the conventional sort of massages that we typically enjoy. I've seen people enjoy the... full range... but I don't think it's something I could subject her to," RollerMan responded, sounding conflicted. "Her conditioning is not like yours, Katran. That massage I gave you just now ought to prove therapeutic, even if you are left with some sores. Garnish, my wife... I'm not sure she would appreciate that sort of pain." It sounded like he didn't know his wife as well as they did, somehow.

He looked to Katran, raising his eyebrows and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, I confess I held back quite a bit. This is necessary to provide a therapeutic experience and not a... counterproductive one," he nodded. "Hm... She's always told me she appreciates a gentle touch, but... perhaps I could try applying more pressure and seeing how she reacts," he agreed, then turned his eyes back to Katran. It was hard to tell if he was checking out her towel-clad body and the many things it failed to hide, but his face was a mostly emotionless mask. "You've given me something to think about. I must admit, I'm eager to try it."

The navi stood back up to his feet, cracking his knuckles. Unfortunately, dressed as he was, it would be possible to tell he might be a lot more excited at the prospect than he'd let on, and whatever professionalism he could muster while wearing an immodest pink loincloth was now failing him. It also made it clear that his size didn't stop at muscle mass. "Of course, that's no reason we need to stop your massages for that. Shall we continue?" The only thing more awkward than continuing after seeing that would be continuing face-up after seeing that. It might be good for the two of them to find an excuse to wrap this up without going another round.
Katran listened carefully as RollerMan spoke, and while there were a few interesting points of note she had to piece together carefully what ones would lead to the optimal solution. While they could resume the massage, there were many indicators going off in her head saying they should make thier move now to have RollerMan put his attention towards garnish. It was just a matter of how.

Katran shook her head, her face stern as she looked RollerMan in the eyes. " No, my tactical training is telling me that the optimal course of action is to attack while the enemy least expects it! That is to say, if you feel being gentle and caring has created distance then you must act now! We can always return another time, but this is important to the both of you." She emphasized, almost taking the tone of a drill instructor.

"You surprise her, with a show of strength by taking the lead firmly, and this might just be the perfect opportunity to turn things around!" She added, almost as though commanding to elaborate on her point.

" You were correct earlier in assuming that garnish had sent us, in fact we had previously been speaking with her moments before coming here. Intel suggests she should still be free making it the best time to move, now." Finalizing the thought and perhaps dodging a bullet by making this suggestion. Briefly Katran glanced over to ship, curious to see what her partner thought on the matter, feeling uncertain about her plan. Still she couldn't show weakness herself here, Katran's point had to be made.

" I cannot speak to this full range you mentioned as I do not know what it is. However, variety is a must and tastes can change. An occasional show of force, even a firm swat on the rear could do wonders. Using the same tactics over and over will never win a war, that's just setting yourself up to lose, after all." Katran was giving it her all to try and out everything she had learned today into words, using the only method she knew how. If she couldn't get through to him this way, it was all on Ship to turn it around.
"Well, no," Lyn replied to Mira's question. Quickly, she added, "If I find that fat bastard, first I'm gonna knock him on his *ss, then I'm gonna start doing the tally on how much overtime he owes me past my regular fee! And in case you didn't get me, there ain't gonna be a 'lonely' period. I'll go straight to training another Navi, numbskull." A combination of the conversation and the situation of their Navis had taken Lyn out of her comfort zone, and she watched the proceedings on the PET with her pipe bitten in frustration.

Ship, meanwhile, couldn't be more pleased with the breakthrough she and Katran had managed to make. She smiled at RollerMan, fancying she saw a twinkle of excitement in his eyes, whether it was truly there or not. She clenched one fist to her chest, holding the oversized towel in place while propping herself to sitting with the other. "Katran's absolutely right! A gulf in a relationship is best crossed by a leap of faith. On the eve of your anniversary, the best gift may be a completely unexpected one. I urge you to try, perhaps, a different kind of love... The tough kind. I know it's not intuitive, but please, give it a shot. I bet you'll both be pleasantly surprised. Take it from a woman's perspective," the apparently quite young woman said with a knowing and mischievous wink that belied the fact she'd just wanted to get it over with when she'd experienced it a short time earlier.

Her eyes had been well trained on his face, but as he made the offer to continue the massages, her eyes couldn't help but wander. Immediately, they shot back up, squinting awkwardly as she tried to keep a polite smile on her face. "No, I think we're quite satisfied with our massages. I feel that if you've got the momentum on your side, nothing would make us happier than seeing you run to your lover's side right now. Forget us! Forget your other obligations! Your wife is waiting for you, and by golly, she's... she um... she wants, no, deserves... a proper spanking!" she finished awkwardly, begging RollerMan with her eyes to please just leave. "I imagine," she added, thinking it a somewhat rude thing to see about a man's wife, no matter how much she knew Garnish desperately craved it.
"Yes... attack," RollerMan murmured darkly, rubbing his chin in a foreboding way. "Strength... firm... turn her around... yes, that could work," he mused, now moving from rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger to massaging his whole lower face the cup of his hand. At first, he had no visible reaction to hearing the two had been spent. "Well, yes. When you presented VIP passes, I knew that she must have given them to you. Not to diminish your friendship with her, but she does have a tendency to give a lot of them out. That said, it's not a bad thing for business," he admitted, shrugging his broad shoulders. "I agree, she- wait, did you say a swat on the rear?" RollerMan murmured, sounding ridiculously as though he hadn't quite understood what they were getting at yet. He turned his head to Ship, as though he was looking for a second opinion.

"I suppose you're right... She's obviously looking for something I haven't given her yet and that's certainly something I haven't tried yet. I suppose I don't have much to lose," he sighed, glowering harder at the space in front of him, away from the girls. "She deserves a spanking? Hm. Does she?" he asked, tapping one finger atop the knuckles of the opposite hand. He looked at the two of them and arched an eyebrow, as if expecting a proper answer, then noted Ship's expression and his better nature (the one he needed to get rid of) showed them some mercy, realizing that they might need a break themselves.

"Okay, well... I'll head out right away, before I lose my," he paused, looking down, "nerve. I feel like it would be a little awkward to exchange information so I could tell you how it went, but, er... well, you're friends with my wife anyway. So you will probably know soon enough whether this has gone well or poorly," RollerMan finished up, stumbling over his words a bit. He looked like he was considering asking a bit more, looking between the two, then again thought the better of it. "I was just wishing I had a little more practice with this sort of thing... but well... I suppose I do have plenty. Some of the women who come through here... Er, nevermind." He pressed down both hands on the table and quickly pushed himself up, seeming as if he was doing everything he could to avoid hesitating. "I'm off."

With that, he disappeared, seemingly not even taking the time to redress. Hopefully he was teleporting right into his wife's office, or else, things were going to get a little weird at the club.

No sooner had he left than a figure burst in from the other room; the short, blond girl with her hair in big, double, star-shaped pigtails was identifiable from their earlier run-in. Her blue, yellow-starred eyes were put into a fierce expression while a big grin spread across her face. "I heard the whole thing! This is gold, ladies, gold! I'm glad you came around to my side! That's hilarious, you're gonna make me bust a gut! Getting him to spank his wife and that's how they break it off? Oh ho ho, it may be a sleeper when the first crowd goes into it, but once word gets around about how crazy my program is, this thing's going to go as viral as the UnderNet!" she tittered at length. It seemed like at this point they could either stand around and let her pay them, or politely inform her that they hadn't done anything to earn her thanks.

At the same time, the two of them would receive a message from Garnish:

Quote (Garnish)

Report in at the GNA

Going to be a little busy for now

Good work ladies

Wunderbar!!!!
Ship continued to nod with enthusiasm, pleased with every development except how much RollerMan was still talking instead of doing. "Have fun and be well!" Ship finally bid him off, quickly flashing her ally a thumbs-up once RollerMan was gone. "I'd say your plan worked perfectly, Katran. It's a shame we don't get to finish our massages, but... I think we'd probably better jack out directly, rather than going back through the lobby. I certainly support love above all else, but I feel we'd probably be facing some rather upset waiting custom-"

The Navi didn't get to finish her thought before a familiar face appeared once again. She watched Showbiz with a bemused smile on her face, vaguely aware of some embarrassment at being energetically chatted at by a stranger while half naked... Nonetheless, when Ship caught on to what the other girl was enthusiastically implying, a catty expression of triumph crossing her own face. "Oh ho, but I already told you! Katran and I are on no side other than the side of true love. Why, I wouldn't start packing up your cameras just yet, if I were you. Rather than a break up, I assure you you'll be looking at the spiciest re-kindling of a relationship to ever grace your programming. There's no need for thanks or even separate payment, but I do hope you'll have learned an important lesson about the power of-"

"Spanking?" Lyn interrupted, reminding Ship what she was actually advocating.

"Creativity in marital problem solving!" Ship shouted, correcting her operator with a red face. "Whatever works for a perfectly loving couple to pull them out of a rut, I'll accept and even advocate! ...I'm just glad we managed to get out of it without any demonstration to the kind man after all," Ship told Katran as an aside, perhaps inconveniently forgetting they had a guest at the moment. "Are you ready to depart?"
Katran nodded at Ship's plan, grabbing her body suit as she prepared to redress. She was fairly proud of how the mission had turned out albeit an odd one through and through. Still, a victory none the less. Before she could start however, the door burst open revealing a most unsavory navi to reintroduce herself. While not startled by the act, her instincts kicked in and reflexive battle conditioning caused the feline to activate her military-grade camoflauge programs, causing her to fade completely from sight. ((Stealthy ManeuversA sig used))

"While i cannot attest to fighting for True love," A seemingly disembodied voice rang out about the room "I do agree that we have completed our original mission in it's entirety, as a true profesional should." Katran added, a hint of struggle in her voice as she spoke? While handling her situation well enough, the feline was finding just how tough it could be to change ones clothing without actually seeing what you were doing. It took some shifting, and a few moments of turning around the outfit but after a few more struggles, a zipper could briefly be heard in the room.

"We have done nothing to aid you, but if you insist we've done so I'll take the extra payment if it makes you feel better. Otherwise, we shall be on our way." She added, not one to turn away a bonus. War and battles always cost in one way or another. "Ready when you are, Ship."

"True love? Barf! That's nobody's side! It's a fairy tale side that doesn't exist," Showbizz complained. "But I guess it's... okay television. Just makes the inevitable implosion that much more fun!" the producer snickered. "Anyway, if you guys aren't asking for pay, then I'm cheap enough not to give it to you! Makes my bottom line all the stronger. Even if it's not the juiciest program, you can't beat free!"

She looked around for a moment, now failing to spot Katran. "You're more of a scaredy cat than you look, huh, Cat? I don't have any cameras with me," Showbizz taunted, rolling her star-spangled eyes. "No no, far be it from me to pay you if you didn't do anything! Ya'll got the reward of true love and friendship and peace on earth! That's all you need," she grinned, shamelessly throwing open the door to leave while she (and Ship) were both still towel-clad.

Luckily, there was a small hallway between the room and the entrance door, the one they'd passed through earlier. "See me again when you're ready to make some money!" she encouraged the two of them, then vanished through the doorway. Nothing remained for the two of them to do now but go collect the reward Garnish had promised them at the GNA.
Ship quietly let her eyes wander towards Katran, her breath catching in her throat as she prepared herself, thinking it would be a forgivable mishap if something were finally to slip at the end, only to find her ally had suddenly vanished, her disembodied voice coming from where she'd been seen earlier. The Navi let out a small internal sigh, then listened to her ally give the more pragmatic evaluation of their performance. She listened to her hard-edged military talk almost as intently as the shifting, tugging, stretching and zipping of her unseen actions, keeping her polite smile on to hide that she was paying it any mind.

That aside, Ship had been hoping if Showbizz wouldn't have a big enough heart to accept the power of love, she'd at least understand the potential ratings increase she'd just been handed. Then again, it was perfectly possible Ship was overestimating how powerful the spark RollerMan would ignite would be, or how visible the change in the relationship, but she didn't think she was wrong. Showbizz was taking a "time is money" approach to the conversation, so she was out the door before Ship could get a word in edgewise. "And you see me when you're ready to make some l- ... er... when y-you're ready to learn a thing or two about making... well," she trailed off, realizing there was no way to save that line, and her intended recipient was far gone.

"Well... I'd say that just about settles it, then? Showbiz may not be paying us, but I have a feeling someone will be in a good mood. Let's talk to Garnish at the GNA." Ship hoped she was still talking to her ally and not thin air. "Hopefully I'll be seeing you around, hm?" Ship giggled, giving a girlish wave to where she thought Katran was. "Thank you again for helping me out this way, regardless of whether or not you're personally invested in the success of my friend's romance. Until next time!"

Ship left with her trademark splash, leaving her towel fluttering indecently to the ground. Of course, she was going back to her PET, so she wouldn't be flashing anyone.

((Jacking out.))
Katran wasn't surprised at the lack of success in her approach when it game to securing more funds from Showbizz, though honestly it wasn't her intent to force her to pay them regardless. As Showbizz bolted from the room, and Katran now fully dressed she faded back into sight, disengaging her camouflage. All in all, Katran wasn't sure how this mission was going to turn out as they progressed. So many foreign topics and procedures to her usual life style had left her in quite a state, her skill set for the majority had to take a back seat. It was a wonder she contributed at all with how the situation had escalated. Still, she realized a good part of their success rested on ship's shoulders.

" It would seem so." The navi agreed at the wrapping up of this excursion. " You did a wonderful job out there, I'd happily take you on as a partner again sometime." Katran responded, offering up a less often seen smile.

With Ship taking her leave, Katran had no reason to stick around any longer, disappearing from the net in a whirl of snow.

((jack out))
((Katran gets:
32 Ship FXP
5 Coral FXP
2 Showbizz FXP
6 VoiceMan FXP
11 Garnish FXP
9 RollerMan FXP
2 Escort FXP

Ship gets:
32 Katran FXP
7 Coral FXP
3 Showbizz FXP
18 Garnish FXP
10 RollerMan FXP
2 Escort FXP))