2017-05-31: Crunk

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  • Log: Crunk
  • Cast: Riesenlied, Noeline, Zed
  • Where: Old Petra
  • Date: 31st May 2017
  • Summary: In which Zed gets very crunk with Professor Bridges. Riesenlied and Noeline have to intervene.


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied has been busy.

For all their bluster, for all the doctrine, for all the harsh discipline and training imposed on so many of the soldiers in the Photosphere...

There is no substitute for experience.

The winged commander of the Tainted has been going around the barracks -- lots of disputes have broken out amongst the fellows. Arguments about glory, arguments over those experiencing loss, /real/ loss for the first time, arguments over the perception of one's strength... fears about being discarded to the Gutter, for those who were injured beyond salvation. There's a ticking time bomb of emotions and stresses that needed to be assuaged gently, with time, with patience.

And amidst that, there's one person Riese knows will need the counsel.

She's walking the streets of Old Petra, to one of the buildings on the surface -- she's not quite sure where the ninja is, but she needs to speak to him.

And find Odjn. But, priorities.

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Where has the ninja been, indeed. That is the question on everyone's minds. Or rather, just on Riese's. Maybe Noeline's and Kalve's. Zed has been... missing since the attack on Adlehyde. Disappeared, it seems, into the wilderness in the days following the assault. But there have been rumors that he's been seen towards the surface, doing... Something in a tavern up on top.

That something, apparently, is mixing drinks.

For the terrified man who appears to be lashed by the ankles to his barstool.

"So then I tell the guy," Zed says, shoveling a pile of crushed ice into a crystalline glass. "That there's no way anyone could call ME a coward." He pours some dark, chocolatey-smelling concoction into the cup. And then milk. And then... Vodka. Then he mixes up a second one. "Anyway, I told them good. That was just a couple days ago.

He slides the drink over. Professor Bridges trembles at the clinking ice. "Well?" Zed grins, "Go on! I promise, it's safe! Learned this recipe back in Adlehy--"

The doors would swing open, then.

Riesenlied. Walking into a bar that's otherwise completely empty, except for holographic townsfolk, a terrified professor, and a metal demon ninja who looks like he's been up for three or four days without rest. "Oh, hey guys!" Zed waves. "Come on in. I brought some actual booze!"

oh no he's drinking

oh no, he's drinking and also coherent

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied kind of just... ... ...stares... for a long time at the both of them. Stares. /Stares/. It takes her a long while to even process what's going on here.

The horned woman clears her throat, and walks over towards the other part of the counter and stares at the both of them, then back at Zed. "Zed. ... who is this gentleman, and what have you--" she frowns. She takes the drink aside and kind of just puts it somewhere out of arm's reach. "You need to stop drinking."

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"Naaaaaw," Zed grins, with just a little bit of flush in his cheeks. "Don't worry. I've been adding Uncle Alhazred's Special Alcohol-Soluble Vital Metal Supplements to mine. It's perfectly safe." Zed shakes a little bottle of what... look to be metallic fish-flakes.

"Oh, right! You two haven't met. Riese, this is Professor Bridges. Bridges, this is Riese. Bridges is that gentleman who was running the awful, terrible, Metal Demon-focused exhibit back in Adlehyde. Ida's... Boss.... I think? Anyway, I brought him here! To educate him."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Riese can pick up the sight of her bodyguard-slash-girlfriend-slash-adjutant visible at the edges of Old Petra, slipping back into the confines of the village streets with a practised sort of stealth; she's back in her traditional clothing, apparently finding it more comfortable and comforting compared to a soldier's armor. Having announced to the Ebony Wing commander that she was going to Adlehyde for the day to help with the relief efforts and see if she couldn't find some of Riese's old friends, Noeline looks a little haggard and pretty tired...

... but at the same time, quietly satisfied - even if that satisfaction is edged with a rather grim frown as she spots the look on Riese's face and picks up the air around the town. She's no stranger to emotions, after all - and no stranger to how it can feel to learn about them for the first time. "--Jacqueline wants to meet you," she reports quickly with a nod as she joins in at the commander's side and easily picks up her pace - and just for a moment, while no-one is around to see, clings to and hugs onto the other woman's arm just long enough to offer her some comfort.

Even the finest spy can have her moments of surprise, though - and as she and Riese step through into the tavern she clamps her mouth shut, her eyes wide in disbelief and uncertainty. "--wh-- what are you--" she blurts out of sheer surprise and a growing edge of anger, and then common sense and the need to maintain her cover take hold as being more important. Which is why she's suddenly hiding behind the tavern door, mouth thinned out into a line.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Some measure within Riese is starting to pulsate, like a D-Counter whose numbers are rapidly rising. No, don't hold the button down. It's too early for that. She does rub at her forehead, mentally just trying to register what Noeline tells her without trying to look alarmed. Jacqueline wants to meet her? Really? She would've thought she'd want nothing to do with her.

But there's Bridges.

"I'm sorry for my companion's behaviour," Riesenlied decides to approach it somewhat -- somewhat -- somewhat gently. As gentle as she can manage. She seizes Zed's arm and suddenly drags him outside, though, where Noeline's hiding, shutting the door behind her.

"We are going to have a long talk about security procedures and prisoners very soon," she speaks in a tone that tries to simulate patience. "More to the point, why did you even kidnap him at all? What is this about -- 'education'??"

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"Aww," Zed frowns as he's snatched up. "Now don't you run off, professor! I can run faster than you, you know! Just sit pretty and we'll have you nice and cozy in your new apartment soooooo-" Zed is dragged outside. His booze-glass tinkles with clattering ice. He takes a nice, long sip.

Ahhh. Good.

"Soooo," Zed drawls, grinning. "Kidnap is a strong word. He was uh. Volunteered by his colleagues! To learn more of our culture. And so I brought him here! You see, he's kind of a jerk, and was doing all kinds of things like making a profit by stringing together bits and pieces of metal demon into a single slapdash model. That he put on display. For profit! And credit." Zed sniffs. "It wasn't even a good model of a spear. Didn't look anything like The Dark Spear Glumzambor."

Full title. It's necessary.

Beat.

"Aaaaanyway. You guys came to greet me! I'm so glad. Hi! What's... Going on?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline has the sense to realize what's coming as Riese stalks forward; she gets the way out of dodge as quickly as possible, providing the commander with the space to grab and swing Zed out of the tavern in one smooth motion. "--honestly!" she hisses quietly, not really certain how much the professor will manage to overhear through the closed door. "We've been here a single day and you bring a human here? How are we supposed to let him go - let him learn - if we have to kill him on the way out to prevent this place being discovered?!"

She relents the next moment, her hand going to her forehead for a moment as she pinches her brow. "... you never saw the exhibition on Metal Demons, I take it," she lets out a heaving sigh, already feeling herself lean slightly towards Riesenlied in a need to relax. "At the very least, I can collaborate what Zed says. The exhibits were awful, the lecture completely facile, and even the audience knew more about Metal Demons than he did - but that is still no reason to endanger Old Petra!" she rises up again, her twintails spiking upwards for a moment as she lets out the biggest huff yet.

Screech over, she pauses - and actually looks at Zed for the first time, watching him waver and drawl - equating him with the rest of the Metal Demons currently licking their wounds around the rather makeshift town. "... you are drunk, for a start," she huffs softly, suddenly feeling at once irritated and sympathetic.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied puts a hand to her forehead again. "There are ways," she murmurs to Noeline. She didn't like to use them, but there were concoctions whose uses she's learnt the uses of over the many, many years she's lived. Tribal medicines, which, while harsh, are... nothing compared to what Alhazred probably has in store to deal with a potential information breach.

"Zed. The fact that you said his 'colleagues' volunteered means that you exposed your identity to them as a Hyadean, does it not?" Riesenlied speaks patiently... slowly, to match Zed's drunken tone. Can't speak too fast. She places a hand on his shoulder gently. "We'll never convince anyone of our true worth if we act like hooligans."

She sighs faintly and says, "Why do you think they have that idea of us? No human in Ignas has ever seen us. Their information is based on hearsay and rumour, on poorly established contexts over a few centuries in age. And acting like this, Zed..."

She shakes her head. "We risk becoming the myth they so far. Is that what you want, Zed? Do you want their opinion of Hyadeans to be so poor?"

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"Whaaaat, no, I'm not drunk~" Zed is... Just a little bit drunk. "Eheheh." He flops back against the side of the tavern, grinning like a fooool. "Naaah, this isn't like that. I'm just... Hmmm. Just letting him see what we've really got! I even asked Devet. To uh. Make... A presentation! You know. Slide show?"

Beat. Zed waves his hand. "Pssssh. Yer saying that like it's not inevitable that they're gonna find this place anyway. They're smart. So when they do, and once we're done, I'll just..." He makes a little walky motion with one hand and two fingers. "Stroll him right back to Linga or something, and we'll be fine! Or return him to Ida, or whatever. Don't worry, I'll blindfold him and carry him down, so he can't memorize anything about the layout. It'll be fiiiine."

In the long-term.

Probably.

"'Sides! They already hate us and fear us, so I figure, you know, blunt force to the skull of the problem. Might work!" Shrug. "Might not. Does it hurt us either way? I don't think it does, much. S'pecially if we treat him nice while he's here!"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

For just a moment, the spy glances towards her commander, her brow furrowed. It isn't for the Professor's sake, so much as Riesenlied's own - because Noeline would certainly assume that the use of such concoctions would weigh heavily on her conscience. "... at least we need not spare much in the way of sympathy for him, at the very least. I will at least admit he seemed a very odious sort," she points out in an attempt to spare Riese's feelings, sagging slightly as she shakes her head.

One hand gets planted on her hip, aware that they're out in the 'street'. "... to his credit, Zed did not explicitly announce himself - at least, not that I heard out loud. To be quite honest, I expected he might - but that situation with Ethius and the canister of blood blew things out of proportion long before Zed had any chance to do it himself."

When she looks back at the ninja, though, there's-- something written across her face that doesn't often show itself. If it weren't for the fact that this is Noeline we're talking about, it could almost be a look of sympathetic pity. "... honestly..." she sighs again, her hand going to her forehead. "Right now, this place is volatile. Too many demons are too on edge, hurt and wounded in more ways than one from their battle. If they knew there was a human in their midst... I appreciate you want to help bridge the gap, but this is moving faster than is appropriate."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied looks /horrified/. Even considering his drunkenness, even considering everything else-- even considering his Zedness.

She seizes him by the arm again and pulls him over towards the cliff, gesturing towards the camp below. The camp where so many soldiers are nursing their wounds, recuperating from a long and hard-fought day; where dragons are lingering amidst them, curled up and dozing, some of them grounded from a direct strike from the unexpected anti-air strikes from the Yggdrasil.

"Listen to yourself!" she barks. She's ... only got her right arm functioning at the moment, so she's awkward. "Do you want the discovery of our base to be on your words, Zed?! The discovery of our technology to be on your words?! Do you want their blood to be on your hands?! Carelessness has been our undoing before, and carelessness can still very much be our undoing!"

She's out of breath. She can't deal with this right now. Her breath is hoarse, she's trembling. She's terrified, honestly.

She lets go. "... wash up," she begs. "Wash your face and wake up, Zed. Please. You're not acting like the Zed I know. The Zed I respect."

The hurt in her voice is rather evident, and she turns around to face the tavern again. She looks to Noeline. "... please clean this up. I'd rather not let the elders know about this, or his life would be forfeit."

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Riese brings him to stare over the cliff. Over the vast numbers of his fellow brethren down below. For a moment, Zed is silent. But then Zed...

Zed laughs.

It's a deep, sad, tired, but somehow undeniably defiant laugh. The kind of laugh a man gives when he knows he's in deep shit- terrible, awful, insurmountable shit- and the only way forward is going to hurt. The kind of laugh that anticipates pain and suffering and spits in its face.

"It's the truth, though." Zed says, his laugh dying into a sigh. "You think they haven't been studying us? Maybe just our bones, but they've been studying. Making our strength their own." He clenches a fist. "You're talking about our superiority like it means something when Solaris is overhead all the time, watching, waiting. When the Veruni, and Shevat, and everyone else is out there getting stronger all the time when all we've done is lick our wounds."

"It's not technology that will win this war. If that meant anything, we'd have won when we were at our height and they hadn't even begun to figure out our secrets. Nah, it'll be something else that'll win this." He taps his chest. "In here. So. I'm not worried."

"They're stronger than you think they are," he says, then, crouching over the cliff, teetering ever so slightly from the haze in his mind. "Humans. And us. But only if we figure out what makes THEM so strong, 'cause I think... I think it goes both ways. We can make each other stronger. Better than before. How do you think they won the last time? Was it the Guardians? Or was it something else?"

A shrug.

"Well. Anyway. Do whatever you want with the guy in there." Zed thumbs over his shoulder. "You're the boss, I'm just the guy with the sword that doesn't break. Chances are Berserk's gonna find me sooner or later and shove me in a locker again anyway."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Even Noeline isn't expecting the outburst, stronger than her own by some magnitude - but she barely blinks at it, either, too tired from the rollercoaster of the last few days to really do more but rest her hand on the commander's back in support. "... of course," she nods softly - and whether she's referring to cleaning up the Professor or sobering up Zed, she doesn't particularly elaborate. Probably, knowing Noeline, she means both.

She's silent after that for a long moment, watching whether Riesenlied will stalk off in the face of Zed's words or not, studying Zed's face as she talks, taking in the entirety of his words. It's perhaps even respectful, coming from her - but she shakes her head as his words trail off.

"... that is entirely Riese's point," she says eventually, her voice held steadier and calmer than ever before, her crimson gaze almost piercing. "I cannot say that you are wrong, in general. Certainly, I agree with you that Drifters are far more powerful than we ever expected - and that their hearts are what will get them through this battle of ours, their emotions. And it is my hope that, in time, the Demons here will learn something of that themselves."

She motions down towards the massed demons with a wave of her hand, glancing towards her commander for a long moment before she looks back to Zed. "But those children down there do not know /any/ of that. Not yet. They are blind, and confused. They need /time/. They do not have your experience of the world, or my confidence in it, or Riese's bonds. They need a place of safety and security while they process the fact that humans are much more than Photosphere ever taught them."

She relents, briefly, as she folds her arms. "Wanting humans and demons to learn about each other - that is not an incorrect impulse. On any other day, I would applaud you for it. But as you've said yourself, we are suddenly in a position of weakness - and we need to consolidate and secure our position in any way possible. Breaking down the barrier between our races will take longer than a day, Zed."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied catches her breath, her eyes starting to flicker as she feels some of the injuries on her start to shift. She really shouldn't even be standing up right now. She closes her eyes as she listens to Noeline as well, delivering the point more calmly than she can at the moment.

"That's exactly it. Our enemies are far wiser and known to the world than our forces ever have been," she corroborates with Noeline. "I know the truth, Zed. Our enemies have the leg up. Solaris and Shevat fly on an invisibly dark cloud above us, capable of seizing opportunities at a rate far faster than we ever can. The Veruni set us back so far, a hundred and ten years ago, that we have not recuperated fully from it. The Althenan Guard possess a rapport with the kingdoms beyond what I can dare to dream, even on my best day. But I do not make that declaration yesterday, on those Fairgrounds, lightly."

She narrows her eyes. "Even if our edge is blunted, I won't let it go so easily. Not while there're so many people who've never even seen a real battleground until now, down there. I will use every trick and every piece of technology we have to keep them safe and alive until they can mature and see the world for what it is. Because once you're a fossil on the ground, it's too late."

She turns around to face Zed, slowly kneeling down next to him. "And I'm going to need your help to do that. Because you're more than just 'the guy with the unbreakable sword'. You're someone who has seen, spoken, befriended people. And you're..." She thrusts her finger down. "Going to need to be a mentor for them too. For our fellow Hyadeans, who've not had the opportunity."

There's a really tired, faint sigh as she rises. "... true victory lies in unity, in solidarity, in the maturity of one's heart. In learning and experiencing for oneself, not just being told how everything works. And I'll do everything I can to ensure everyone grows from this experience, because therein lies the bridge that can gap the seemingly insurmountable gap between Hyadeans and humans."

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed is quiet for a good, long time. He's quiet as he watches the hundreds, or thousands, perhaps, of his brethren milling about down below. So many lives who don't yet grasp the horrifying truth behind this war. How many are going to die before it's done. Maybe all of them, if the Guardians have their way, and then that'll be that. Peace on Filgaia. Until humanity decides it wants to kill the parts of itself that it doesn't like, too.

Another long beat. Zed shrugs. "I don't think I can be," he says then, after a moment, rising up out of his crouch. "Most of them think I'm just some guy who Berserk hates on alot. Chances of me being a mentor to any of them issssssss pretty slim!" He sounds... Chipper. Maybe deceptively chipper. "And getting their respect probably means doing something I'd end up regretting a lot down the line. So I'm kind of thinking, it might be better for them to just learn on their own. I mean, can you imagine what they'd do if Zed, the Guy Who Gets Beat Up A Lot starts saying they should maybe try to see the people they've been told are their enemies for hundreds and hundreds of years as... People?"

"They'd probably laugh, and then they'd do the opposite. Best thing that I could probably do is force them into situations. Over and over again, until they get it through their heads." A long shrug. "You be their mentor. You're good at that. I'll just be the guy who gets them into the good kind of trouble. And occasionally, gets them out of it. Deal?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

For just a moment, Noeline's eyes flick to Riese's injuries, a wave of protective uncertainty washing over her. Trust her, of all people, to fret over the commander's wounds more than Riese herself does.

"--honestly! Everything else aside, was the 'Great Zed' someone who radiated such self-pity?!" she finally decides to burst, both hands on her hips as she stands over Zed and looks down at him with fire in her eyes, almost stopping him from standing up. "Just as the metal demon opinion of emotions will not change overnight, nor will their opinion of you. But, little by little, like grains of sand, such things can change over time. That is why we all protect this place until it does," she maintains with a solid huff.

"We are not asking you to do anything you would regret. Just-- stay by them, and protect them however you deem fit. That much will count for a very great deal, down the line," she heaves out a final sigh, and then slowly shakes her head. "And perhaps do not kidnap humans until both we and they are liable to be more receptive to the notion, hm?"

"... I cannot know what happened to you in the midst of the Adlehyde attack," she adds quietly as she straightens up. "I cannot dictate how you should feel about whatever it was that transpired. And I can certainly understand feeling conflicted - after all, I am the great 'human sympathizer'," she declares with a puff of rueful pride and a wave of one arm. "But whatever else you feel - you are rushing. You are jumping in both feet first, far too fast. Slow down, for once in your life, and rest."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied lowers her head to say, "You'd be surprised." She peers towards several telltale candidates, and says, "Even after this one battle, the ripples of experience have already started to change many of them. So many fresh-faced young Hyadeans down there have told me that what they saw on the streets of Adlehyde was nothing like what they expected. That they didn't expect a comrade to die. They haven't experienced loss before, or grievous injury. It isn't just a pile of hubris and barrel-chested pride down there, Zed. Opinions, feelings, emotions... they change. Just like how you've changed, ever since you touched down here, ever since you met the Fiends... and those other Drifters..."

She quietly rises up to her feet. "Give it some thought. Maybe I will have you get them into some good kind of trouble for the time being. And Noeline's right. I know how you feel... but pace yourself." She quietly pulls back and turns around, half-limping away. "... and never think you're alone in this either. None of the Ebony Wings will ever let someone be left behind. Everyone chips in. That's how the Tainted do it..."

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"It's not self-pity," Zed says with a sniff. He stands regardless, scarf billowing, as it is wont to do, in the winds of these high-altitude places. "I don't pity myself! I just know of my reputation. It's not self-pitying to recognize that."

That's the big hurdle. Perception. The only way Zed likes to remedy it is by punching it right in the eye. The unfortunate fact is that you need eyes to be able to see.

"Jeez, what did they expect?" Zed sighs, shaking his head. "Just a cake-walk? Stroll into Adlehyde Castle and steal forty cakes and the Teardrop and have it be a flawless victory?" Zed crosses his arms, his expression unreadable as he keeps right on watching the valley down below. "If they don't shape up quick, there won't be anyone's minds left to change."

"That's why there's no time," he says, in some measure to both of the women at once. "We're on the clock. If the Drifters or Solaris or whoever doesn't kill us first, Filgaia will. I don't have time to rest, and I probably don't really even have time to slow down. The sooner we can do all that we can, the sooner this stupid war can reach a resolution."

There's along beat before Zed finally turns his head upwards, eyes fixing on the moon. "...Wouldn't it be great if we could just leave, though? There's gotta be a world out there somewhere without Guardians or gods or whatever. Ah. Well."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"What they 'knew' was that Metal Demons were insurpassable, insurmountable. They were wrong - but do not blame them, because they had absolutely no other metric to go off. And do not force them to change faster than they are able," she cautions, remarkably patient save for the huff she makes as she rubs at her forehead. "Of course it is frustrating - but going too fast will only cause just as much friction, and risk tearing it all apart. Those kinds of changes only happen slowly. After all how long did it take /you/ to reach this point, hm?"

A pause follows her challenge, and then she shakes her head. "... we have longer than you think - and Riese has more allies than you think, even now," the Crimson Noble reports quietly. "I spent today in Adlehyde - and spoke with some of the humans involved in the attack, those who knew Riesenlied prior to it. Their hate is not total - far from it. And from that, we may be able to build something."