2017-09-08: Life Advice From A Rabbit

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  • Log: 2017-09-08: Life Advice From A Rabbit
  • Cast: Elhaym van Houten, Seraphita
  • Where: Bledavik - Noble Quarter
  • Date: 2017-09-08
  • Summary: Elly seeks advice from Seraphita, leaves with coffee.
==========================<* Bledavik - Noble Quarter *>==========================

Named after the Prime Minister of Aveh following the fall of the Fatima Dynasty, Shakhan Square is a large open plateau laid over with ancient, polished stone. The Square plays host to a variety of events, festivals, and official gatherings designed to raise the morale of the population. When not in use for these more pleasant purposes, it also serves as a marching and training ground for Aveh's regular military forces.

At the moment, the Square is taken up with a large circus festival, with booths offering a range of food, drink, goods, and services to anyone with coin.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut-wmZ4Z9oI

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

After the battle with the golem known as Sado, Elhaym van Houten came back to Bledavik. The first thing to do was to hit the shower, of course.

After this, there's a range of other things you can do... outside of alert situations, Gear pilots get a little discretion. You can hit the refectory. Take a nap. Your report is required shortly, but flying a Gear is terrifying and difficult, even for an ace or a veteran.

But Elly isn't doing any of that!!

Her hair is still wet, and yet she hunts through the structure and fortification near the Gear airstrip, looking not for dinner or a cot, but for Seraphita. Fortunately for Elly, who is already struggling with still-damp hair and a complicated mission report structure, Seraphita is not necessarily difficult to find... 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Seraphita is indeed hard to miss. The mess of reds and pinks that is her hair and uniform makes her stand out in the dull blue and grey halls of Gebler installations, so clean and sterilized as they are, though to say she doesn't stand out in other locales wouldn't be accurate either.
There's also the whole loud part.
"WHEEEEEEEE!" goes the rabbit beastman, as she swings from some loose cabling in a hallway. Repairs had been underway on some areas of the facilty - to expand, to fortify against a potential Kislev attack - and Seraphita saw this as a playground, not a place of work.
Luckily, the cables aren't powered.
"Alright, now it's your turn, Mr. Shoutshout!!"
Across from her on a crate of materials and tools, a large two feet high white ball of fluff, her Shriekbun pet, sits adorably. It chews on the cable Seraphita provided for it to swing from.
"Come on, you'll never pass physical tests like this!!"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Well: That escalated quickly.

Elly steps closer to Seraphita... closer yet. She coughs a little uneasily, looking up at the cables but spotting perhaps that they aren't full of lethal electrical power or exploding plasma, and then clapping eyes on the big white fluffball that is Mr. Shoutshout.

Elly stares at the free-roaming monster. She doesn't want to find out why it has that name. She can guess - it's like the 'Rankar Dragon' or the 'Widowmaker Adder.'

She sidles a little closer, and takes a risk: "Ah..." 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Mr. Shoutshout eyes Elly with its big, baady yellow eyes. It might look intimidating if it wasn't a very large rabbit. It just looks adorable instead. Seraphita for her part spins on her heels in place like a dancer, stopping after a full one-eighty to face Elly.
"Oh hiiiii Elly! Do you want to play with us?! You'll need to ask Mr. Shoutshout for permission but he probably won't say no!!" This sounds like a terrible idea, given Elly's history with monsters.
"Ooh, or do you need something else? Hey your hair is all wet!! Did they install a pool? Oh can we go swimming?! Kelvena said it's OK as long as I have my little inflatable armband thingies so I don't sink!"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly knows what large rabbits can do.

Seraphita's right there!

"I just wanted -" She pauses then to look at Mr. Shoutshout, and starts over. "No, no - I just wanted to talk with you for a few moments, ma'am." Then she ends up reaching back to toy with her still damp hair with self-consciousness. "Oh - no, I don't think they have any pools here. I went to wash before I came to find you."

Somewhere, a sewer level waits. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Huh? Just talk?" Seraphita blinks, discarding the wire she was holding onto. Some scrap and screws fall from the ceiling and scatter everywhere in the hallway. Oh well!
The Element wanders towards her pet, picking up the large white rabbit from its crate to hold on to it. It resumes chewing on its cable silently, which probably beats anything else it could be doing right now, if its name is accurate.
"Here, here, you can sit! When a guest wants to talk you should always offer them a seat!!" Her grandma said so, some fair time ago now. "Oh, but I don't have... coffee or drinks here... should I go get some?! Elly, do you want coffee or tea or maybe just water?" The cafetaria's not that far.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"Yes!" Elly says, eyes widening a little.

Inwardly she has an attack of self-consciousness. Is she wasting Seraphita's time? ... but she was pulling on wires and talking to a monster she's half-tamed as a pet, Elly reasons.

After this she moves over to the side to sit down on the crate that was indicated as a seat, before saying, "Thank you! - Oh - Uhm - I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee, but," oh no she stood up again, "Please, I can get it if you'd prefer to sit. What would you like?"

Did I screw that up? Elly thinks, glancing at Mr. Shoutshout as if he has advice. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Mr. Shoutshout stops chewing on its cable.
He opens his mouth.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
Its voice is probably enough to knock the poor red-head back onto the crate, though it, sadly, lacks weaponized bubbles. She could beat it in a screaming contest. Think about that.
Finally, he closes his mouth again around the cabling and resumes chewing, staring at Elly intently. /O_O\
Seraphita, completely unfazed, grins. "I think he said sit down!!" she laughs. "No, no, you stay here! I'm gonna go get drinks super fast!" In complete contrast to Elly being so formal, Seraphita is just... all over the place, and definitely too familiar. She steps closer, handing the Shriekbun to Elly. It does not scream again or complain, so long as she pets it and doesn't confiscate its chewtoy of a cable.
Seraphita rushes off to get drinks!
Seraphita returns after a long, tortuous few minutes of wait for Elly, holding Gebler's equivalent of a Starbucks coffee and a bottle of lemonade for herself. She hands the coffee to Elly, and it is, amazingly, not spilled in the slightest. "Heeeeere!"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly ends up landing on her ass, rocked back by the sheer power of a furiously vocal lapine. The echo of that screech sends sound rippling down the metal hallways; in the distance, a couple of technicians yelp in pain as the sound reaches them.

Elly's ears ring as she stares at the rabbit, breathing heavily. She reaches up to dab a fingertip at one but there isn't any blood... this time. When Seraphita speaks, it seems like she's coming from a distant signal, or the far end of a metal tube.

But at least she can still hear her! Elly looks right straight at the Element in order to make sure she has the most info possible to answer her questions.

Probably. "OK!" she answers Seraphita, piecing things together...

Elly's hearing has mostly come back in time to receive a good strong cup of local coffee. (Damn good coffee. That's what happens when you're vaguely Arabic.) After a sip of the hot juice, she says, "Thank you very much, ma'am. Ah - I'm trying to remember exactly what I was going to speak with you about..." 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
The Shriekbun remains in Elly's arms.
It's pretty docile when you don't upset it.
With the coffee delivered, Seraphita pops open her bottle of lemonade and sips from it, making a face at the sudden citrus. A few times, as she repeats sips. But it's so good! Then she finally looks back at Elly, blinking a few times in silence.
"Oh yeah, you wanted to talk! I totally forgot." It was just a few minutes ago. "Say, why're you being so formal? Just Sera is okay you know! I mean I guess I'm your... oh, wow, I'm your boss! ... that's so weird. I hadn't thought about that before! ... but I still like Sera better!! We're friends right?!" Are... are you?
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly doesn't realize yet that she's probably trapped here. Maybe she could outscream the bun... but she took that attack off her list! Can she hope to prevail?!

After another sip of the coffee, Elly blinks a couple of times. "I didn't want to be too familiar," she says, "but if you prefer 'Sera'... Then I suppose I should use it. Um!"

Her hand trembles. She resists the urge to pet the bun. Should she...?

"I wanted to brief you about the operation that I'm conducting, since I know we haven't been documenting it heavily on the data feed," Elly says. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
The Shriekbun is perfectly still, if you don't count chewing through a cable. That cable is actually getting shorter. Can Shriekbuns digest rubber and metal? Evidently so! It's a monster, what do you expect? Steel stomachs are a must in that domain.
Dare, Elly!
Seraphita on the other hand is nothing like the Shriekbun, barely holding in place as the two talk. She's wandered over towards a tool box now, poking at the stranger, more refined tools she hasn't seen before in it. It's probably not a good idea to let her play with those.
"Ooh, an operation? You're a doctor now?!" Seraphita pauses. "Oh! Oh you mean like, a mission!!" The rabbit can learn things! Tolone would be proud, if she was capable of such a thing. "What kind of mission? Is it super secret?! Do you get to wear disguises like a fake beard and big funny glasses?!"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly's hand shifts, just a little.

*pet*

Elly laughs then, and nods. "Right," she says, "exactly! I ah - I wish I would be able to spend more time with you, and everyone." Maybe especially Kelvena? Is Kelvena Elly's FRIEND? Well, she's a close friend equivalent.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Elly dares pet #2. This creature's so soft, she thinks. Aloud, she says, "It is secret, but you're cleared for it, I'm sure. I mean, you outrank all of us except perhaps the Lieutenant Commander, right?" Elly smiles after that, taking another sip of the coffee.

"No," she says. "My disguise for it is... me. That's why it's been working so well thus far. You've followed our accounts of SLIDE-1 - the machine they call Weltall - and its pilot, Fei, right?"

OH NO, it's time... FOR A FLASHBACK

"I met Fei during the initial operation to recover SLIDE-1... or more accurately, its aftermath."

(IMAGE: Lahan, on fire.)

"Fei attempted to pilot the machine after we were overtaken by a Kislev patrol near his town... he's talented, but he only made the situation worse, even if I know his heart was in the right place. After that, we encountered each other while trying to get away, and I think Fei developed a sort of..."

(IMAGE: Fei fighting a dinosaur that threatens to eat Elly.)

"It's a little embarrassing to say..."

(IMAGE: Fei and Elly talking at a camp fire.)

"But I think he cares about me."

(IMAGE: Fei and Elly (in civilian disguise) talking at a fairground.)

"Even... if it's not to his advantage."

(IMAGE: Weltall trying to beat the living crap out of Corwynt, who beat the living crap out of Elly!)

"So the summary is that I'll be using Fei's feelings for me... to infiltrate his new allies, the Yggdrasill Pirates."

(IMAGE: Elly standing on an outcropping looking towards the long tube of sandy seamen that is the Yggdrasill.)

"Does that make sense?" Elly asks, back in regular time. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Elly pets the Shriekbun. Nothing goes wrong.
Self-confidence +1???
This will continue as long as Elly gives the rabbit sufficient adoration. By love, its screeching anger is tempered! Seraphita, for her part, nodnods with vigor. "Well, I'm deployed to help you guys on the war front for a while, so we can totally spend more time together!! We'll be best friends! Well not best bestest friends, Tolone might get mad if you take her place, but like, second best friend!" Tolone might get mad regardless. Dominia definitely will.
"What's a well tall? Is it a tall well?"
That, meanwhile, answers Elly's question. Seraphita then pipes down to listen to the rest of the story. Eventually Elly finishes, and the bunny bounces towards Elly one step closer. "That's so cool! So you're a pirate right now?! Should I make you an eyepatch, do you want an eyepatch, I hear pirates need an eyepatch!!" Oh. Oh no. This was probably not the desired effect at all. "But, pirates are bad people, they hurt others and steal from them! So it's good you're going to stop them!" Seraphita finally pauses, to point at herself. "Ooh, do you need something from me? Do you want me to help? Just tell me how!!"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly pets again. That's three. She's not going to go for four yet... it's an unlucky number.

"It's what they call that Gear," Elly explains, before she laughs weakly.

"I'm not... one yet. It's going to be a little more complex than that. I hope to meet their leader... Fei seems to be someone they trust, so I think he can speak well of me. After that... I think our plan is to try to build my credibility, while I return information from their operations. There's a lot of questions about that group, you know..."

"I don't know," Elly then says. "I wanted your advice, I suppose. We may need your help for later stages..." 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Me?" Seraphita blinks on confusion.
"Advice, advice... um... well I think you should be really nice to them! If you're nice to people they're more likely to be nice to you!" This isn't untrue but it's probably not what Elly expected. Or rather, it may be exactly what she expected, but not what she wanted or needed. "I don't know otherwise! In stories pirates always like swordfighting and swinging from ropes, right?! So you should try to impress their leader!! Be the super awesome Elly only you can be!!" This, however, might be really good advice. "If you make them go wowie they'll let you get closer!"
Then it swings back to what she can do to help. "What's the later stages gonna be? Oh, if it's me you want, I bet it's gonna be like, getting rid of the pirates, right? So the world is a safer place without evil pirates!!"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

That one gets another laugh from Elly. "It's strange... a lot of them seem to find me very... nice?" she says, shifting slightly. (And then pausing. The bun may yet shriek again.)

She relaxes afterwards. "That's not a bad idea, I suppose... I don't know much about him, other than his name." She takes a deep breath and lets it out. "I suppose we'll have some common enemies, too. The Metal Demons aren't anyone's friends."

After she takes a sip of the coffee. "Um," she says. Then, "I imagine we'll shut down the operation eventually... I talked with Miss Hawwa, and we may sacrifice some of the picket outposts to prove my good will." Elly's eyes go down, shriekbunwards, after saying that.

"I feel guilty to do all of this, but I suppose it can't be helped." 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Seraphita hums in response, indicating she's capable of giving thought to a situation. To some degree, at any rate. She crosses her arms, tries to look pensive. "I think feeling bad is okay! But!! If you say thank you, you don't have to!" Is that... how she copes with it? Is Elly getting as very slight peek at how Seraphita, happy fuzzball, can cope with the things being an Element must require of her? The deaths? "For instance, when you eat chicken, you should always say thank you to the chicken for being your food!! That way you don't feel bad for eating it! It's the same way with these pirates, right? They're being mean people and they need to be stopped! So if you tell them thank you for everything they've done for you, it'll be okay."
Maybe that's not so useful after all.
At least the Shriekbun is still cooperating.
"The Commander always says, we can't afford to feel bad for doing what we have to!!" From her tone, she really must respect Ramsus a lot. And not just as a superior.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

".. but who would I," Elly begins, but she doesn't continue.

"Oh - I see," Elly says with a nod. "That's how it is. I get it now."

^^-- doesn't get it at all

But Elly's eyes turn back upwards and purses her lips. "It's possible some of them... Well, I don't want to prejudge my situation too much. It's something that I suppose only I can do, even if it's just a lucky accident." Presumably meaning the contact with Mr. Good Abs and his black robot of doom.

"You're very good at encouraging people, m- Sera," Elly then says, going for pet #5 and #6 as she smiles. "I was worrying this was all going to go poorly... I'd been pressing my luck with the Guardian Temple incursion and everything there. You didn't happen to go in there too, did you? I imagine it wouldn't have been difficult for you, but I was really struggling." 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"I didn't! Some people in my old village used to talk about the Guardians a lot but I'm not a shaman or anything like that! I kinda wish I'd had a chance to go!! But I bet the temple is all like, ruined from the fighting, so that's kinda sad." Seraphita almost pouts, but then quickly bounces back from the praise. "Ooh, you think so?! Thank you, thank you!"
She pounces at Elly. GROUP HUG. Mr. Shoutshout is included.
"Don't worry! If you believe in yourself you can do anything!! The Commander says so so it must be true!" She lowers her tone to try and match Ramsus'. "'True talent must come from a desire for greatness.' Or something like that! It means if you wanna you can! If you don't wanna you can't! So Elly, you gotta wanna!!" She is, clearly, a font of wisdom beyond all sages of this era.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly is silently horrified.

Enough so that her patrician instincts take over and says, "W-well... I suppose I shouldn't argue with the Commander's opinion, should I? It's gotten us this far, even if the way hasn't been simple..."

"You know," she then says about the shriekbun, "he's much more friendly than I expected..." 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"That's right! The Commander always has an answer!" Seraphita says, nodding. She doesn't break the group hug, so that's on Elly to initiate getaway protocols. We might be here a while.
"Mr. Shoutshout is very well behaved!! I found him at that weirdo tower called Cage Tower, I went there looking for Guardian stuffs but instead all there was there was mean robots and angry security systems!" In a way that's very reminiscent of Etrenank so... "He likes it when you pet him and also when you feed him I don't think he likes swinging from ropes though." Alas, that's not a trick she'll be able to teach him.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get out of the hug. Maybe because she doesn't have to hug back? It is mysterious. She laughs a little bit, cheeks coloring, and says, "He won't get scared like this...? We might squash him."

After that, she says, "You mean like those statues? I had a thought about them, but - I don't know if it's feasible..." 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Nope! Bunnies like heat and comfort! We have big families and are super close!" Maybe Shriekbuns are different, but Seraphita doesn't think nearly that much about things. "Ooh, did you know, rabbits can die of loneliness?! I know I hate being lonely! It's weird being here without the others, but it's okay because I have you now!!" Oh. Oh no. Elly, have you ever considered defection? You might want to.
"Yeah, the statues! We got orders to be on the look-out for them but I haven't found anything yet! Maybe they're hidden really really REALLY well?" Good work Seraphita, great observation. "Have you heard anything?"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"W-well I can't - I can't stay forever, I have to further the mission," Elly says, perhaps thinking 'oh no escape immediately'

"I haven't," she says, "but I'll keep an eye out. I had thought... if they could be moved - I didn't know their size, the Guardian I encountered wasn't very clear - if we took them away from the surface..." 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Aww, okay. But you'll come back, right?!" Seraphita has broken the hug to bounce in place as she awaits Elly's response. Freedom!
On the matter of the statues, she mostly offers: "If we can move them we can keep them safe! The Metal Demons are after them, right?! So we just have to take them! Then we can do the thingy with them that makes Metal Demons go away or something!" If only it were that simple.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"... I hope so," Elly says, not looking at Seraphita.

"And... that's true; though, I wonder how long that will last...?"

After this, Elly looks down at Mr. Shoutshout, and then up at Seraphita again: "Will you take him? I think I should get something to eat, but..."

It's like a lapcat, except cats won't shriek you deaf! 

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Of course!"
Seraphita re-acquires her pet. It doesn't shriek.
"If you're hungry you should go eat! You don't want to have an upset tummy while trying to focus on other things! Just let me know when you need my help for stuff!" Useful life advice continues to flow from her like a great river.
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