2017-08-17: Problems That Don't Go Away

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  • Log: Problems That Don't Go Away
  • Cast: Leon Albus, Lily Keil
  • Where: Gounon
  • Date: August 17, 2017
  • Summary: Prior to the Yggdrasil heading west, Leon and Lily have a discussion in Gounon.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

The Yggdrasil is preparing to move west, which necessitates supplies.

Leon Albus stopped in Gounon to buy a few of them -- to pick up shells for Argent Divider, commissioned from one of the ARMs meisters in town here. He has already done so; those slugs are tucked away inside of his coat, now. The trials of a couple weeks ago show less on his face. He looks more his old self, less drawn and less exhausted, and yet the thoughts remain. Word, by now, has circulated back to Kislev. He has kept his eye on the bounty boards...

But he knows what is coming.

The blonde-haired man waits in Gounon's central square, under the porch roof of the general store. His silver eyes scan the street, with the usual level of anticipation and wariness. It isn't likely that someone would chase his bounty in Gounon.

Except that, of course, is precisely why Leon watches for someone to try something. They might catch him off-guard. He is, however, watching for someone else too -- and there is far less trepidation, there. Lily was shopping here, too.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil too looks a bit better, though not as much so as one would hope. The exhaustion about her eyes is still plain, even through her usual way of concealing it. She's quiet. Or that's what she's been today.

She hasn't watched the bounty boards; Leon is watching them, and that's enough. She knows something is coming.

And the black-haired woman rounds a corner from where she'd been to another store as she moves back to their agreed-upon meeting place, bandages light in her satchel and other medical supplies ready. So too she has bullets for her ARM, and a few other odds and ends useful for where they're going soon.

Lily is thoughtful, looking around with practiced wariness as her own paranoia has not abated. Any of the people here could be soemthing more than they seem.

Lily steps into easy view of Leon and sets eyes to his, saying nothing. Still, she's quiet.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

It isn't hard to see that Lily hasn't recovered, yet. Of course, Leon thinks, neither of them has fully recovered since Gryndille. Perhaps they never will; perhaps this sort of life is a new normal for them. He finds the idea of it grim. He frowns for a moment, as he watches her approach, and then he lifts a hand in silent greeting. He steps closer, then.

His silver eyes meet Lily's gold, and he regards her for a moment. He isn't prone to many public displays of affection, so he just steps next to her, and then looks out over Gounon.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asks, quietly. "This town seems well-supplied enough. What we can't find..." He frowns. Will they really be able to find much more for awhile? The Yggdrasil will move, with or without them.

And, of course, they have business out west -- not that the blockade will help with that.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

That's something Lily knows, too; while she's had a difficult time, she knows that so has Leon. This opened the wound for her, and worse, but even so... She'd rather not think of what any new normals are. There are things hey have to do, and having tasks before her makes this simpler.

That silent greeting is enough, and Lily looks back at him into silver eyes, before he steps beside her and she stands there, unmoving for a few moments but appreciative of his presence.

"I did," she answers, not so loudly that others are likely to hear either. "What we can't find we'll do without. We'll be fine." She murmurs the last, shaking her head.

They have business out west, all right. Lily looks sidelong up at Leon for a moment. She isn't prone to many public displays of affection, either. "Did you?"

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"Mm, good, then," Leon says. Medical supplies are important. It helps that they have the Yggdrasil -- and after the events in Mt. Eldrin, he isn't entertaining ideas that they won't, unless they have to part ways. The fact they could rely on them feels strange, though.

"I did," he says. "The commissioned rounds came through, and they look sound enough. We could use them, if we run into..." Into more soldiers from Kislev. It seems like a certainty. His eyes narrow, as he thinks about it.

"...How have you been holding up?" he asks, instead of finishing that thought. He glances sideways at her, the concern far from unmasked in his expression. "It's been... quite a couple of weeks."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily has her own things she likes to use when it comes to medicine, her own tools that she's most comfortable with, but the Yggdrasil's assistance matters. They'll have to part ways eventually, she's sure... But it's worthwhile to keep them. It's a little less strange to her, though still strange.

But what does she think about the Yggdrasil now, after all this?

'Good' her expression says when Leon confirms that he got what he needed, but she remains silent as he trails off. The commissioned rounds may be useful, but she can think of who and what they might run into, and her eyes cloud over.

His question comes and she looks at him again, hesitant and more than slightly vulnerable before she closes her eyes, that pain in her expression still obvious as she shakes her head. "...You know how I've been holding up," she says quietly. "Poorly. I can adapt, to destroying my friend so thoroughly that I didn't even leave her a body. It's war. But Father... That my own father..."

She presses her mouth closed, looks down, takes in a sharp breath. "I'm sorry. I need to be stronger than this, I know I can be. I can't leave you alone to deal with all of these things." A sigh, "Adapt," she says bitterly. "I'll... I'll do better when we're moving again, Leon. I will. You know me."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily has her own things she likes to use when it comes to medicine, her own tools that she's most comfortable with, but the Yggdrasil's assistance matters. They'll have to part ways eventually, she's sure... But it's worthwhile to keep them. It's a little less strange to her, though still strange.

But what does she think about the Yggdrasil now, after all this?

'Good' her expression says when Leon confirms that he got what he needed, but she remains silent as he trails off. The commissioned rounds may be useful, but she can think of who and what they might run into, and her eyes cloud over.

His question comes and she looks at him again, hesitant and more than slightly vulnerable before she closes her eyes, that pain in her expression still obvious as she shakes her head. "...You know how I've been holding up," she says quietly. "Poorly. I can adapt, to destroying my friend so thoroughly that I didn't even leave her a body. It's war. But Father... That my own father..."

She presses her mouth closed, looks down, takes in a sharp breath. "I'm sorry. I need to be stronger than this, I know I can be. I can't leave you alone to deal with all of these things." A sigh, "Adapt," she says bitterly. "I'll... I'll do better when we're moving again, Leon. I will. You know me. But..."

"Did you hear what they asked about me? What they said? These people who I knew."

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"It's..."

He looks to the side. It isn't as much an effort to look away as it is to gather his thoughts. A couple of weeks later, and he still has no answer. For awhile, they had been able to hold out hope that Dietrich Keil had not turned on them. They had been able to think that something else was at work, hidden from him too. But it seemed impossible that the Colonel did not know what was happening.

That hope was gone now. He didn't know where it left them two weeks ago and he doesn't now. "I don't know what he's thinking. Or what he could be planning. Or what he... knows. He was always... ambitious, but this..."

He closes his eyes and shakes his head. After a moment's hesitation, he puts an arm around her shoulders, then pulls her over closer to him. "I know you will. It won't stop me from worrying. And what they said--they don't know anything. They..."

He swallows. "...There is too much they don't understand. Whatever they did, they made their choice to fight us and forget who we were. And to try to murder the people with us."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

The removal of that hope has badly wounded Lily; she can think of her father, of so many things she remembers about him... And just enough to know that it isn't impossible. Only that it's impossible that one way or another, he didn't know.

"He was. Sometimes I don't want to know what he's thinking, but I need to."

Leon pulls her closer, and Lily slips an arm about his back, rests against him for a moment with a slow breath. "You..." She murmurs it, but mostly listens, staying near rather than shifting away. Yes, it's public, but she needs a little of this more than she needs distance.

Her ARM wavers lightly about her back.

"They don't know," she agrees hollowly. "What you say... Would I have chosen differently? I don't know. How much was kept from us? Is there anything we can trust?"

"I... I know you'll worry. I'm sorry. You've always protected me. But this..." Lily lets her eyes stay closed for now, "They're right to ask. They don't know anything, but I don't know anything either. I don't know what I am."

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"We're going to have to find out," Leon says, quietly. "This is... if they are, somehow, working with Gryndille--then this is larger than Gryndille. Then..." He stops himself from saying that the Black Wolves' deaths also rest on Kislev's hands. Once he does, there is no turning back from that. His expression hardens, ever so slightly, at the very thought.

He keeps his arm on her shoulders, but shakes his head. "We never... did the things the Crimson Wolves did. We never agreed with those methods--with killing a soldier, instead of leaving him behind. We..."

He frowns, not sure how to finish that. Did the Colonel know? He must have. But did he approve? Leon wonders.

"...You're the same person that you always have been," he finishes, instead. "The magic you can use doesn't change that. You're more than that magic. You're more than any power you might wield."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Larger than Gryndille. Lily can't even think yet what Leon holds back from, but she can see that much, that they must continue. ...And she knows that she'd never allow herself to stay away. They've come too far already.

"Mm," she agrees, and that simple logic addresses at least some of what Lily was concerned with. "...We trusted our comrades more than that," she says about not killing their soldiers. "We... Mm. True."

Lily is sure that her father knew. She knows the tactical and strategic lessons he taught her, and it lines up well with them. It was arrogance to think otherwise. ...But she had the arrogance of youth to back her up.

"The same..." Lily sighs, puts her hand up against Leon's hand briefly, glove and all. "Then I know whatever I am, I'm better with you." She remains silent for a moment before, "...Do you still think my magic is beautiful? Even now?"

Regardless of the answer she continues after another breath, "Thank you. ...How about you? I know it isn't easy for you, either. About my father, or the rest of it." Her questions matters to her... But so does this one.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Leon hesitates, frowning, and squeezes Lily's hand back. Glove and all. "Of course," he says. "That never changed. It's still as amazing as when I saw it, when we were little." He still remembers that day in the snow, watching a little fireball crackle over her outstretched hands. He had barely spoken to her, before then. Ever since he saw that, the two had become inseparable.

Sometimes, that day feels very distant. But, it was how all of this started, and he clings to the memory even now.

"I'm... there is a lot to consider," he says, settling on that, instead. His eyes shift away from their hands, to look up at her face. "That all of them--even Moshe--came to help us. We aren't alone. I don't know what to make of that. And... your father, and the Crimson Wolves. I had hoped, maybe, we could clear our names."

He swallows and looks away. "That we could find a way to go back. Now... I don't know that we ever will. It runs so much deeper than we ever thought, and I think that your father is tied into this."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

'Of course'. It isn't small to her. Lily remembers that day, too, treasures that memory of that boy who she'd barely spoken to before, the first she'd ever been able to show that secret. Lily sighs softly, and inclines her head. The bit of relaxation is obvious in her shoulders.

She was so different, then. But some things...

Lily listens to Leon then, letting her answer be silence. She looks at him too, watching his expression as he talks about what was on his mind. As he looks away.

"...I don't think we ever will," she agrees. "We have to find out how far it goes, regardless. Or..." She stops. "...No, actually," she admits. "We don't have to. We could stop at Gryndille and leave it all behind, if we live. But I want to know."

"And I don't know what to make of it either, of these people who want to help us even knowing the danger we're going into. But..." She points out, "You're inspiring. People approach you. People see things in you. You're a leader, Leon. And whether we ever clear our names or not... That's who you are."

She speaks quietly still; she still looks tired. But this she's certain of.

All channels have been gagged.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

She was different, while they grew up. The person that Lily used to be would surprise Fei and the others, Leon thinks, but that person doesn't surprise him. He sees how, even if Lily has changed, so much remains the same. She is still that girl that she used to be. Leon is quiet for a moment, before he nods once to her.

"I do, too," he says. "The Black Wolves... Roanie, Shel, all of them--we can't leave it at Gryndille. If Gryndille was the weapon who killed them... then we also have to find who wielded that weapon."

He closes his eyes, his breath exhaling softly.

And he listens, when she explains something she knows so well. Once, he would have agreed with her. He knows he used to be a leader; he knows he used to be good at commanding people, at taking charge of a situation. Sometimes, he almost feels that.

But he isn't a soldier any more. After a failure like his, he can't let himself be that. After all, he wants revenge, instead of justice. He wants safety, instead of peace.

He isn't the person they think of him as. Not any longer.

"Mm..." He doesn't quite disagree aloud. He doesn't have the energy for it -- not knowing that they are about to head west. Instead, he leans his head atop hers, cheek against the top of her head, and closes his eyes. "...We still have a long road ahead of us, Lieutenant. I think it keeps getting longer."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily doesn't talk much about the way she used to be. ...Hardly at all, if that much, but Leon sees, and Leon know her. Lily isn't always sure herself she's the same girl she was. But this...

"Agreed," Lily says. "Even if you just said can't again." It's a little levity, and Leon is one of the few who would recognize that from Lily. "But we will. Or we'll join them trying." That is a promise she'd be willing to make.

Lily knows what she explains because he inspires her so easily, so quickly. She has more ability in some realms than she thinks, but in this she knos what he is. And if he can't feel it, then she can feel it in his place, and let her certainty tell the story.

Are they soldiers, now? Are they becoming something else?

The near disagreement is obvious enough to Lily, an she considers pressing... But doesn't, when Leon leans against her, her fingers stroking his hand. She listens, and doesn't move, so as not to disturb him. Instead...

She keeps her eyes open, looking out over Gounon. "We do, Captain." She agrees simply enough. "But a longer road just means we need to get moving." A beat before, "...You know I like travel."