2017-11-01: To Know Someone

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  • Log: To Know Someone
  • Cast: Riesenlied, Hiro
  • Where: Wayside
  • Date: 1st November 2017
  • Summary: Hiro visits Wayside and discusses matters with Riesenlied, while Odjn, Ruby and Janey play a curious game of demon-eyes...


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Wayside!

It's been a while since Hiro's been here, hasn't it? The place's progressed some since the last time -- several more buildings have finished construction; the orphanage is looking rather pretty at the top of the hill, with a cutesy 'Wayside Orphanage' sign grafted on with a giant Gear bolt. Beside and down the hill from it, the first of what look to be terraced, irrigated crop fields are starting to grow, owing to the large white ARM purifier sitting atop a mound.

In the midst of this...

Riesenlied's certainly seen better days -- and it was in the middle of physical therapy that she was notified that Hiro was here, a curious thing for a Metal Demon to have to endure. But until she is--

"Bang bang bang!"

Calamitest Janey runs around a corner and hides behind a barrel, going, "You took a hit from my Ark Smasher ARM, which means--" A pause. "You've got to give me cookies!" She's got a domino mask on that looks like it was made out of strips from an old t-shirt, and a pillowcase for a cape.

Odjn grumps to say, "Whaaat? That's a really lame ARM power! The ancients wouldn't make something so frivolous!"

Riesenlied steps onto the scene, dressed in her usual gown and capelet as she smiles towards Hiro. She looks a bit tired, perhaps from her therapy session. "Ah, welcome, Hiro..."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

The first thing that happens is that Odjn notices Ruby creeping up into her periphery, pink pawsies crossed as she looks forward at Janey, "No. No Odjn. I think she's on to something. What ancient civilization would be civilized without cookies? Maybe whole wars were resolved by instant confections. Think~about~it~"

Hiro snerks as he walks up behind Janey and ruffles her hair as he walks on by, looking backwards with a grin as his orange scarf crosses her field of vision. "Hey Janey. Guess you're gonna be the first Lord of Calamity who uses ARMs?"

"Hiro seriously don't enable her!"

He then steps past Ruby and Odjn. "Well you know, Agatha says Lord of Calamity just sorta means someone who revolutionizes the world. Why not encourage her if that's what it means?"

"Because-" Ruby waves a pawsie "...becauseeeee..." Ruby sighs, "Because people don't associate the title with good things."

Hiro sorta just chuckles as he approaches Riese instead past Ruby, not really answering it. Maybe he thinks it's implicit enough that it just means they have to change the meaning of the title.

"Hey Riese." He says once he's right next to her before he murmurs, "You look worn out. What kind of therapy do they have you doing?"


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Odjn pauses to grump, "Eeeh? That sounds like--" Before Odjn pauses to perk up and go, "Ruby! You're here! Waoo~" she spins around and starts doing a little happy-dance, taking up her pink pawsies as they bobble around.

Janey blinks a few times to go, "Huh? Does the Lord of Calamity not use an ARM??" A pause. "But Calamity Jane uses an ARM! And--" she grins. "Once I become Lord of Calamity and place the Demon sealed inside my eye into my gun...!"

Odjn's 'ears' kinda droop as she goes, "Oi oi, you also have a demon eye inside of you...?" A pause. "A Metal Demon eye, maybe?"

Riesenlied smiles very warmly and nods, lacing her hands -- her arm and leg have significantly become overgrown with the draconic scales lately, which shows signs of creeping up erratically, as well as up her neck and cheek. "... Miss Lily recommended a physical therapy regimen for me to counter all the strange and erratic atrophy that seems to have happened -- fundamental things like... muscle buildings, balance, coordination..."

She chuckles faintly. "It's surprisingly hard work, but I imagine Miss Lily knows of effective regimens..."

She bobs her head the other way. "How have you been? Ruby looks quite well. I hope Lucia has been hale lately?"

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

Ruby joins in in the little happy aerial happy dance shaking Odjn's paws and giggling. "Huh in your eye? That's- Aaaa - aaaa-"

Ruby gets some dust in her nose. There's an adorable kitten sneeze which sounds like- chuunibyou, except that obviously wasn't intentional. It's just how Working Designs subtitled it phonetically. Rubbing it off, she looks towards Janey, "So uh- Janey, how are you going to get the demon out of your eye? Like with an exorcism or something?"

Ruby flaps over to her shoulder, "I know a guy who could mayyyybbbeee do something like that. Or at least I did. We kinda lost him on a magic carpet ride... so it's high time we find his butt and make him be useful again."

Riese's mention of Lily causes him to flinch and chuckle, "Yeah. If anyone would, it'd be her." A hand rubs his face, "If it's anything like her boxing regimen then you'll be fit as a fiddle in no time."

Putting his arms back behind his head, he actually stretches back up and over. "We're doing well." Right now the stretching actually seems like it's part of some nervous habit, that's easily covered for by the prior topic, "Lucia.. she's... distant sometimes."

There's this light sigh as he picks up a foot and puts it behind him, pulling it up as he balances on a single leg. "She's worried that..." His eyes float over to Janey and he lowers his voice, "That the Church's directive wasn't a mistake... that due to her malevolence.. she really is the Destroyer."

He inhales once through his nostrils, "That's why she hasn't come into any settlements in a while. She's scared that everywhere she goes, she's spreading Zophar's corruption, whether she means to or not."


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

You know, Janey, being 8 years old, is probably *ahead* of the chuunibyou curve, which... makes her precocious, in a strange way? "U-uhmm-- well, it's a Metal Demon eye, so maybe through-- um..."

Uh oh, Calamity Janey hasn't thought this all the way through.

"B-boxing regimen? Truly, Miss Lily is quite the tutor..." Riesenlied murmurs with some surprise.

Riesenlied's expression dies down a little, her brow furrowing a little harder as she says, "... I hope that she isn't digging too deeply into it. I know it's hard, but... did you not say that she was-- cursed?"

She breathes in deeply as she thinks... and says, "... why don't you invite her here?"

She places her hand -- her normal hand -- to her chest. "I can sense malevolence, but... as far as I know, I can't be infected by it. None of the Tainted can be. We could have the children out -- they go to November sometimes. If she'd have the company, we here at Wayside'd be happy to meet her."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

Six years ahead of the curve is definitely precocious...

"Well if not an exorcism then maybe magnets? They're like magic..."

"Haha... tutor... yeah... that's one thing to call her." Hiro rubs the back of his neck. More like she beat the crap out of him to work out her own personal issues as well as to try to teach him a hard lesson.

Hiro puts his leg down as he nods, his head drooping lightly in a heavy exhalation that takes his shoulders up and down. "Yeah she's cursed. But all being a victim changes is that she's involuntarily spreading malevolence rather than doing it out of any actual desire to destroy."

He closes his eyes for a moment, "I think it bugs her a lot, but anytime I try to bring it up she... doesn't really want to talk about it I think. She changes the subject... or just doesn't."

Doesn't what? Doesn't talk?

Lucia is kind of like that sometimes...

He smiles a touch and his eyes open as he looks towards Riese, "I'd really appreciate that. I mean I understand her wanting to minimize harm but..."

He makes this sort of weak gesture, "I don't think isolating herself from people is going to help. It might still take some convincing and coaxing though to get her to... try."

After all, she was still disturbed by those Hellions she inadvertently created.

He clears his throat, "So... how have the Ebony Wings been holding up?" He sounds a little worried- maybe a lot worried, "The Quarter Knights are still letting you be?"


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Odjn furrows her brow as she says, "Weeeell, if somethin's stuck in your eye, then-- the only way to get it out is to pull your eeeeeeeeeeeyeeeeeee out!"

She's making exaggerated hands to go 'oooo', Janey cackling to say, "Just you go and try it, you newt!"

"Hey, I'm not a newt!"

Riesenlied doesn't exactly know what happened, but... she isn't someone to know Lily to do half-measures. "... between Jean and Lily, you have a lot of extreme training, don't you?" she can't help but chuckle very softly... but her expression softens just a little.

"... I know how she is. At least, I think I know her type... because I'm like that too, sometimes. ... Miss Ragnell's shown me that I bottle more things than is really healthy."

She nods as Hiro talks about isolating from people... "I've never known a case where a Hyadean's become infected with Malevolence. If nothing else, it's--" A pause. "Just a... way to release some stress, try to have some normalcy."

She -- chuckles very faintly, weakly. "... Lord Siegfried is still busy, though I should touch base with him. ... to be completely absent without communication is strange... and... I owe him the visit, no matter the reason."

A very soft sigh. "We've been distracted by issues closer to us as well -- the waterway's manifested in some... anomalies lately. I knew the aquifer's had a history, but... we've got a way to go -- more excavation and digging to support a deeper investigation inside."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

"Uh Janey- maybe you have something stuck in your eye after all because obviously you'd know that Odjn is one of Filgaia's most majestic creatures. The noble dragon."

Ruby looks pretty satisfied then because as Janey makes exaggerated hand gestures with that ARM, Ruby wags a paw, Don't just wave that around! You have to holster that ARM first! You don't want to shoot your eye out, do you Janey? Then you'll never reach your destiny...

Hiro sort of smiles weakly, "Yeah. More Jean though. Lily was kind of incidental. Gwen sometimes joins in... then there was Ragnell that one time. Though that was more a bet..."

Sweet Althena Hiro, how many of your travelling companions do you fight?

"...Jean says I've still got a ways to go."

When Riese talks about Lucia, he looks thoughtful, scratching his chin, "Well with her... I think it's more because she's used to being self-reliant. Not dealing with people. I'm not sure she knows /how/ to release those things... or maybe that she even can."

He manages a smile, "All I can do is try to make her comfortable when she does want to confide in us. It's the same way with you right? You find a few people you can trust for that release..."

That's a little naive, that he doesn't wonder if someone like Lucia or Riese would worry that the very idea of confiding in someone might cause harm or worry to the people they care about, but he's kind of a straightforward guy.

But then Riese mentions Siegfried, and Hiro frowns at the thought of him being without communication. "Hey. Be careful when you do. He may be your old friend, but he's a ruthless guy. Maybe he's on to what you're doing... and has cut you off to try to attract you back into a trap."

He quirks an eyebrow, "Anomalies? Like monster infestations or something?" That makes him sound a little worried, after all he's seen the results of a Wels infestation of a town. "If you need any help on that front let me know."

He clears his throat again, "Also I was wondering... has Ida come by since the meeting with the Guild representatives?" Then more quietly, "How's... she been?" It sounds like he's worried about... the stress getting to her too.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Janey puffs and says, "She doesn't get to be a real Dragon until she transforms into a big, strong, majestic form!" as if there's some... universal rule in her mind about that.

Odjn grumps to say, "I'm workin' on it! It doesn't come easy, y'know?!"

Janey laughs with a cackle and says, "O-ooh, yeah, you're right!" A pause. "Wait, what if an ARM misfire's the reason the Demon gets released from my eye?!" A longer pause. "That doesn't sound cool, though...."

Riesenlied nods and, what she hopes is encouraging, she says, "You'd know her better than I do. ... and..."

That smile makes her smile too. "Friends -- her closest friends... you, Jean, Lemina... you'd be the best ones to show her the ways to release stress, to deal with people... to have balance in life."

There's a gentle sigh in turn. "I know. ... I know it would be deeply difficult and dangerous to speak with Lord Siegfried, yet..." She places her hand to her heart. "In my mind, even as we have converged ways... he remains the most probable shot I have at convincing that we have paid too large a price in the pursue of our rescue of Mother. ... it hurts me, to see my brethren embody the myth that've been cast against them once more..."

She shakes her head. "... it may not be possible. I am not that naive to think it is likely. But we cannot step forward as a people, without communication. But I shall be extremely careful..."

Her horns wilt just a little as she thinks on the topic of Ida. "No, I have not seen Miss Ida here since then, I--" she swallows. "... I don't know how she is... it hurts me that I cannot help her more."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

Ruby wags her pawsie at Odjn, "She's right you know. It is /super/ hard, so you shouldn't pressure her. Odjn can take alllll the time she wants to figure that out." Ruby's current plan on growing up is to wait a century or so, when all of her friends will certainly still be alive and well- then reevaluate the idea of growing up then. Why hurry?

"Yeah I mean. You don't want to be known as Clumsy Calamitest Janey right?"

Hiro offers a smile and a nod when it comes to them helping Lucia.

But when Riese sighs, that smile fades in consideration, "I dunno... I guess..." He trails off... "...I dunno. You know him better than I do. But it seems like to me... even if he agreed with you-"

There's a pause, a hitch in his voice, "...he'd still feel that high price is worth it just to wipe out all the people of this world."

Does he hate them all that much? Hiro certainly thinks so.

"But I guess if you want to try, it'd be pretty hypocritical of me to try to hold you back. I want to change how Althena's Guard thinks of Lucia after all..."

And when she brings back up the topic of Ida, Hiro slowly toys with the idea back and forth- before finally saying, "I thought she just needed some more rest... but the meeting kind of proved otherwise. I sure don't know how to help her... but it doesn't feel like you can at all. That anything you do will just make things worse... I brought you up in front of her some and... everything she says about you is positive."

He laces his fingers behind his back, considering how to put this, "But there's this sense of tension about it. Like her jealousy of what you've achieved gets in the way. And no matter how you try to tell her that she shouldn't be jealous... her desire to achieve something worthwhile on her own gets in the way. It doesn't matter that you've lived twenty times longer and have earned your role in the eyes of your people... it doesn't matter how much you've failed and how hard you've had to work. She acts like she can't see your failures, only your success- that the more you succeed, the more you try to help... it's just like more poison in her veins."

There's this long sigh as he shakes his head, "I don't get it myself, but I was raised... well I wasn't raised rich, with every advantage- and those kind of expectations."


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"H-h-hmph! W-well of course not! I want to make sure my Calamity... is the Calamitest! Pure-grade, totally organic, fresh Calamity!" She... sounds like she's just rattling off words that sound good, perhaps from travelling food merchants that pop into Wayside sometime.

There's a faint wince as she rubs at her head, says, "... it hurts." A pause, as she clarifies that it's not something she's feeling, "It hurts to think... we may very well have to try to march forward into the future on our own..."

She sighs very faintly.

"... I think I ... somewhat, understand." A pause. "Not perfectly, but... Miss Ida appears to have followed a life prescribed to her since childhood, and it isn't until the Exhibition that she really understood that it may not be what she wanted all along..."

She tilts her head and places her hand, to her cheek. "My coming from a position where we've built everything ourselves through our shared struggle... it is painful for her to realise that gap, perhaps."

She's silent. "... but, I'm not perfect either. I have my wounds... the things I can't let go..."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

"Sounds like something you'd hear about being sold in an Adlehyde produce stall~" Ruby teases lightly.

Hiro can't really understand Riese's pain there- but it's not his people. "Well... I'll just try to be optimistic and have a little hope there." Not for Berserk though, "Bearing all the pain of those divisions... being resolved to move onward... you're really strong Riese."

But when Riese gets into talking about Ida, he's quiet until the end, "She called you saintly... but I think she knows that you're not."

He takes a breath as he rethinks that, "I hope she knows that. I told her you're definitely not perfect..."

He rolls her shoulders, "...and she seemed to accept that but... I don't know."

After a few seconds he looks vaguely abstracted, "... I think I'm coming to realize that maybe that I don't really understand anything about anyone."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied sounds tired too for a moment... before-- before reaching forward gently and pats Hiro on the shoulder, gently. "I try to be. Because I have a lot of people whose lives I want to protect... but sometimes, I do forget that to help others, I need to be able to help myself too."

She chuckles very faintly. "Noeline chides me as much, many times."

She raises one eyebrow as she says, "We... do tend to know less about other people than we assume, I will say. You meet someone, you get to know them... you find out more about them over time -- sometimes it shocks you... sometimes it delights you."

The Hyadean places her hand to her heart, closer. "And each time, it tests your relationship... but it's a change to temper it too. Isn't it that way with, say, Jean? There are things you know you don't know about her... but you understand the space she needs. And one day, you two might understand her better still."

A pause, as she scratches her cheek. "That's... how I feel. I have the perspective of age, with some of my relationships... Noeline and I have awkwardly danced over a lot of issues over the years..."

"Mama...?"

Riese pauses, and then smiles as she turns to say, "Mikaia, over here...!"

The cutest five-year old with the tiniest wings bobbles over, rubbing her nose as she says, "I took my pills... did you do your therapy?"

Riese nods gently as she picks her up and says, "I did do it. We both did a good job today... say hi to Mister Hiro, hmm?"

Mikaia nods, as she waves at Hiro again and says, "Hello...!" It looks like she might have a cold or something, aww.

"We should bundle you up nice and warm..." Riese suggests as she draws her capelet closer around her. "Would you like to come inside with us, Hiro? We've got fruits for a snack, and dinner will be on soon."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

He smiles at the shoulder pat.

Isn't it that way with, say, Jean?

When Riese says that, Hiro looks actually looks. Guilty.

Terribly so. For all the mistaken assumptions he made about her. For all the naive things he said.

He knows now what her past life was like. It's not for him to bring it up... eventually he nods. "Yeah. That's a good way of thinking about it... I just..."

He trails off as Mikaia walks up.

It's hard to think about personal angst when there's a cute little five year old right there. Struggling with being a Beastgirl on a world that doesn't treat them kindly.

"Hey Mikaia. You really are working hard. The first time I tried to take pills- I had a lot of trouble swallowing them whole." Back on Lunar there were just herbs, and gels... nothing like pills at all, "And I was a lot older than you when I tried to do that."

For now he can forget the fact...

That when he fails to understand the people he cares about...

...he feels like he's failed them.

"I'd like nothing more than to spend my evening in the company of two special ladies like yourselves."