2017-12-05: Hug Time
- Log: Hug Time
- Cast: Riesenlied, Gwen Whitlock
- Where: Wayside
- Date: 5th December 2017
- Summary: Gwen returns to Wayside, only to find that Riesenlied's shut herself in her room. On behalf of Mikaia, she comes up to see if the Hyadean is all right...
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied is typically seated on the porch of the Wayside Orphanage, but... just this once, she doesn't appear to be present when Gwen comes to check up on her, perhaps after one of her usual daily tasks. Instead, there's a furrowed brow from Mikaia as she bites at her lip, sighing deflatedly as she glances up towards the Courier.
"M-Miss Gwen, Miss Gwen... I think something's..." A pause, as she clings onto her poncho, pleadingly looking up at her. "Riesemama was looking through her letters and... she just-- started crying and excused herself..."
She glances up to the second floor. "I don't know what to do, Miss Gwen..."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
It's been a long enough time since the day the formation of that mindscape interrupted what was supposed to be a decently festive afternoon. Since then, Gwen has taken to staying at Wayside, but the horizon would still call to her to explore the world, causing her to depart via the nearest train or caravan. Then, she would arrive back a few days later, sometimes sporting an injury or two from an opportunistic bounty hunter. It says something about the power of the prime minister's words in these lands that it takes days or even weeks for anything to happen, rather than hours or minutes. Gwen really doesn't have to disguise herself or make a big deal about hiding anymore. Maybe, she can soon regain Gulliver and her caravan and continue her work as a courier.
But hiding out isn't the only reason Gwen comes here. The other, of course, is-
'M-Miss Gwen, Miss Gwen...' The first clue that something was off should have been Riesenlied not being out on the front porch. The second is Mikaia's pleas. Gwen looks down at the pleading MIkaia, her expression softening as she kneels down to pat the winged girl on the head in a comforting gesture. "I'll check it out. If she wants to be alone, I'll wait with you until she feels better. How's that sound?" Regardless of Mikaia's answer, Gwen sets out to investigate, pressing a hand against her shoulder in a quiet bid for her to stay downstairs. "Don't worry. I'll figure out what t'do, okay? If I don't come down after a bit, it's probably 'cause we're talking somethin' over." She offers Mikaia a reassuring grin and starts up the stairs, looking for a possible direction where Riesenlied could've disappeared to. "Riesenlied," she says, raising her voice slightly, "It's me, Gwen. Came to see if anything was amiss."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Mikaia swallows gently, and then nods as she looks just a little more soothed as Gwen comes up with a plan. "I've never seen mama like that before..."
She looks up towards Gwen as she goes upstairs, and towards Riesenlied and Noeline's shared room -- they kind of occupy the master bedroom together. There's a cute drawing drawn by the children that reads 'MAMA'S ROOM' with smiling stick figures on it.
"A-ahh--" comes the kind of familiar startled gasp from inside.
A moment later, the Hyadean emerges from her room, rather obviously trying to dab at her eyes and trying to put on her strongest smile. "Gwen, I did not know you were back... I hope everything was all right while you were a-away...?"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
A gasp, and Gwen sees Riesenlied emerge from her room.
The redhead knows that face she's wearing quite well.
Gwen puts on a face of her own- a wide, disarming smile that comes quite naturally to her as would a fist in a fight. It is, after all, a weapon, but used for a different sort of fight. "Mikaia was downstairs wonderin' what was going on. But, like a good girl, she waited until a responsible adult came 'round to investigate for her. Unfortunately, she had to settle for me." Humor is another weapon in this battle. "Wanna talk about it? If it's somethin' you care to share with me and not someone like Noeline, that is."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied hesitates as she murmurs, "... I--" she hesitates further, sighing and trembling as she eventually acquiesces and allows her to come in.
Riesenlied's bedroom is quite cute, is perhaps the way to put it -- there's a rather nice amount of personal affectations of a tribal bent from all the way in Elru, possessing a kind of old look to it. And, of course, the children's affectations are there as well, from where she's hung everything from pictures to little dolls and clay figures that they've made and sewn from the weeks they've been together.
"This... letter," Riesenlied admits, as she hesitantly hands her a letter from her table. "... it took me rather by surprise, but it shouldn't have."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
As Gwen moves into Riesenlied's room, she takes a look around to appreciate the decor. "Nice place y'got here. Real comfy-like." Nothing like the metal walls shown in Noeline's memories.
Sitting on the nearest available soft surface as she takes the letter from Riesenlied, Gwen unfolds the paper and reads, red eyebrows wrinkling the middle of her brow as she reads further and further in. When she's down, she sets the letter aside with a sigh.
The weary look on Gwen's face is similar to the grimmer expressions her younger self wore in the bridge of minds, appearing briefly before Gwen dispells it away in favor of something more hopeful. Her 'new' self never did have much room for negotiating complex matters like these, but her old one did, if usually with a fatalistic bent as she grew more ingrained with the ways of Little Twister.
It'd be easy to dismiss Ida's written words as baseless anger directed at someone who did nothing wrong.
And that's exactly the sort of reaction that may have only fueled Ida's anger, as it oversimplified everything, like someone trying to recreate a child's drawing.
"Can't really explain Ida's actions, but I can maybe give some context. Somethin'... really terrible happened to Ida recently. Little over a month, I'd wager?" She closes her eyes, taking a gloved hand to massage her temple. "She had to kill someone. A Ethos priest that had turned into a Hellion, or somethin' like that." Her voice grows soft. "It was... real terrible. The worst way someone could've learned what it meant to take someone's life."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied nods very slowly, trembling just for a moment as she-- takes a deeper breath and shakes her head. "... I knew that she harbored... jealousy. There is a dissonance between what she perceived herself as up until this point... and after Adlehyde..."
She lowers her head. "That I am trying to sequester Dragon Fossils away from her company is not helping."
She shakes her head and places her hand to her cheek. "That is horrible... the sensation never truly goes away, and I do know that--"
You would know that, would you not?
Riesenlied's pupils shrink for a moment as she starts to jitter, a shaking sensation moving through her. She places a hand to her head.
"... all I can do is stay true to myself, to stay true to the people of Wayside... to stay true to my friends, like you, Miss Gwen... and to stay true to my loved ones... the children, and Noeline..."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Dissonance. Not everyone was afforded a clean break to remake themselves like Gwen did. Or the choice. "Adelhyde's hurt a lotta people. It's easy for me to be here and talkin' with you, but in the end, my losses durin' that time weren't as bad as other people." A loss of innocence, perhaps. All it takes is a look at Kalve's more 'alien' forms and Gwen still feels the inclination to recoil. ... But she managed to survive that fear last time, maybe due to feeling the resolve and good will of those around her.
Ida's darker emotions can't be resolved so neatly. "Not sure what can be done over the Dragon Fossils business, unless you could manage some sort of payment. But those things run far beyond the sorts of money a person could get, including me, without incitin' some sort of misery in the process." Which would only pass the pain and anger onto further parties.
Gwen notices that cut-off, and, judging by what Riesenlied was referring to, she can make an acute guess as to what thoughts may be swirling in the blonde woman's head.
Her answer comes blunt as a slap to the back. "It's okay." Gwen folds her legs and settings back onto the chair. "I may be all idealistic n' such, but I ain't cruel about it. None of us are saints here."
She takes in a breath. "Which is why you might be the sort of person who'd be able to talk to her about it. How t'handle it. But only when the right time comes. Try comin' to her now, and I could see it endin' in failure. Y'can't get a person to change, anymore than you could get your former boss to change. Or you, changin' to meet Ida's demands. My words wouldn't mean a thing to her. They'd be empty."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Of course... I know that," Riesenlied murmurs, the thoughts of Adelhyde perhaps drawing her towards a more despairing space. "Though to say 'I know' is--" she hesitates and falters further, for once really bringing her down to a low space. As much as she tried to assert it with Jacqueline... 'being kind to yourself' is a really difficult space right now.
"..."
She places a hand to her forehead and sighs, sinking into her chair to say, "... it-- I'd meant to tell you... there is a situation broiling here at the moment. We found a-- Guardian Statue underneath Wayside..."
She sighs timorously. She feels like she's evading. "... there may be another force buried underneath it. Something... powerful, and primal. Sealing or breaking... it may affect the balance of the ward either way."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Seeing Riesenlied struggle causes Gwen to take in a breath. Time to take matters in her own hands. She can't hug Ida, who seems to be going through her own high level of pain, but she can definitely hug Riesenlied.
Which she does, right now, quietly moving to a standing position. Then quickly, silently, she walks, her body posture open about her intent, as well as mutely asking if Riesenlied would allow for it.
When Riesenlied does, Gwen presses her into a hug, an action that's as much for her sake as it is for Riesenlied's, all in that gentle but firm manner than is uniquely Gwen's own.
'She does not know what it means to kill. But she shall now.'
K.K.'s words spring up in her mind, lending a temporary stiff note to her hold. ".. It was almost like it was all set up, in a way. That white knight was there. K.K., I think his name is? Or hers. I'm... not sure, due to the armor."Her voice is low as she continues to hug Riesenlied.
'Or she will break in the trying.'
Gwen squeezes her eyes shut, feeling her utter uselessness in the moment as if the memory had just happened, moments ago. "In the end it probably was just the way things happened. K.K. just wanted to make sure it was noticed for the event it was."
Eventually, the courier moves away from Riesenlied, sitting near her on another chair. "Yeah. I was just there, yesterday. Noeline helped us all out down there." As Riesenlied explains further, Gwen's eyes widen. "... So that's what Noeline was referrin' to... But what the heck could it be? Y'think it's, er... the Mother that you guys refer to, or something else completely?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied slacks and-- limps just for a moment, as Gwen draws her arms in for a hug... she's surprised by it, not in a frightened way, but just in that way someone doesn't quite realise how much they... need it.
She lowers her head, her tears beginning to form in her eyes further, gasping and hiccuping as she whimpers and sobs.
"... the Trial Knight ..." she swallows. "They can be so cruel to others, but..." she looks to Gwen, still teary-eyed. "They have urged me to be on this path of mine, and I would be amiss to deny that they have been a mentor and an aide to me, no matter how harsh..."
She pauses, and shakes her head. "For better or worse..."
She sighs just for a moment further, but as Gwen lets go, a faithful little someone decides enough is enough-- and Mikaia bursts in, scampering her way up needily and clinging to her mother to go, "H-here's a hug from me as well, mama...!"
You could just see Riesenlied's horns wilt in affection as she sniffles to say, "Mikaia, oh goodness..."
She breathes in and-- looks to Gwen. "It is not Mother... Mother is-- far away from here. ... it is something frightening and old..."
She looks towards Mikaia, and hugs her gently. "But we'll fight it together, won't we, Mikaia? You're being very brave... I need to be brave too."
Mikaia nods, and looks to Gwen. "Mama has many people who'd help her out...! Right, Miss Gwen?"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Hearing Riesenlied gasp and sob, Gwen holds her with a reassuring pressure in her hold, allowing the blonde woman the quiet space to cry.
She can't comfort everyone. She can't wrap her mind around many concepts in a way that she'd be able to give satisfying answers. She thought she could kill, even preparing herself to if she came across Isiris once more, but after seeing Ida's pain, she's not even sure she could manage killing someone else. But she can do this, right here. And tomorrow, she might be able to do something else.
Something in Gwen's gaze seems relieved at Riesenlied's words about the Trial Knight. "Yeah, I... don't know what to think of 'em, really," she admits, "but that makes me feel like that one time I met them wasn't just some fluke." She clears her throat. "I, er, had to deliver a letter to them, strangely enough. And they were very polite. Nice, even. Complimented Gulliver." Yes, she'll count what K.K. said as a compliment, when so many have called Gulliver so much worse. Including her.
And now Gwen's missing Gulliver again. And suddenly Gwen's just hugging Riesenlied *real* tight, before she realizes and quickly relents. "Maybe I'm just the simple sort, wantin' to put them in some box, but I'll just take their title literally. They're puttin' people through trials, and they don't care if they hurt people. They don't have opinions otherwise."
'My heart beats for the sake of my purpose.'
"... 'For the sake of the flame'." Gwen allows herself a smile. "... Wouldn't mind chattin' with them, as long as I'm not the one bein' put through a trial. They weren't that bad to chat with. Don't tell anyone that, though- Oh!"
A laugh is quick to spring on Gwen's lips as Mikaia scrambles in. "Yeah, sorry, I just take too darn long sometimes, don't I? But it's okay, Mikaia. She just needed some time to process somethin'." She looks at Riesenlied out of the corner of her eye, and nods. "Dunno if I have enough time to check if Auntie Frea has any info on this area, but I can try. She's been in the excavation business a long while."
Which probably isn't a good thing to bring up around Riesenlied, but anyway!!!
Gwen curls her right arm in a 'can do' gesture. "You bet, Mikaia! I'll help your Mama, *and* Ida, *and* everyone, the best I can, when I can. So never fear! Gwen Whitlock's here!"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Uh huh!" Mikaia adorably exclaims, and says, "Super Courier, Super Courier... Gwen Whitlock!" She throws her hands both in the air, like she's hip-hip-hurrahing her.
There's a look back towards Gwen from Riesenlied, and even as she's still tearful, there's a happier look on her face as she spends time with the young orphan from Little Twister she's come to call her daughter.
"I'll be heading back there to investigate with Jay," she expresses. "Hopefully, there will be some good news."
"Miss Jay's really strong and clever! She can find a solution for you, mama..."
"Mm," Riesenlied nods. "Should we have dinner? I know you're hungry, and if I know Miss Gwen..." she winks gently.