2018-01-23: ...is Before the Dawn

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  • Log: ... is Before the Dawn
  • Cast: Riesenlied, Noeline
  • Where: Baskar Colony
  • Date: 23rd January 2018
  • Summary: Noeline comes to Riese's rescue. Takes place right after the Darkest Hour.


<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"Riese!" There's a clatter, a hiss of pain as as a dark figure bursts through the doorway of the bedroom they've been lent; she might be hard to see in the gloom, but there's no mistaking the urgency of her too-strained voice, or the shape that drops to its knees next to the stricken figure to yank Riesenlied against a shoulder. Her body twitches hard as she does so, her injuries not yet healed - but there are more important things than worrying about herself, right at this moment, and part of her can't help but offer the grim thought that it's just the price she pays for being late once more.

"You're here," she mutters roughly. "You're here. Listen to me. You're here."

A somewhat panicked scan of the floor catches the Dragon's Tear and its glint; caught by the soft blue light, Noeline studies its colour for a moment, her lips set in a tight line of uncertainty. Her gaze shifts, and then looks down her partner's body, at the bandages and dressings Riesenlied is still sporting.

"... you idiot," she mumbles the second time today, fond and relieved and scared all at once as she slides a leg to one side, kicking the discarded Pendant towards them both. It means she doesn't have to let go of the other woman as she scoops it up - presses it into her partner's unresponsive hands.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied is struggling on the ground of the lent bedroom; she hasn't lit any candles or another form of the rather crude lighting offered to them, so it's only in the light of the moon that she struggles, gasping as she holds onto Noeline when she scarce hears her voice. "... I am an idiot ... a fool... berate me... punish me..." she begs and whispers to her, her tears flowing freely over her face as she spasms and tenses, bracing against the adorned Hyadean.

She's apparently just held onto -- a rock, for some reason, or something. She's nearly cutting herself on it as she clings onto it, whimpering, "But do not look at me... I do not want to present myself to you like this..."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"Others have done that /quite/ enough," Noeline bites back, a little harsher than she might otherwise intend thanks to her worry; she winces immediately afterwards, and not just from the way she tightens her hold on Riesenlied at the expense of the next jolt of sensation from her shoulder. With an effort, she tries to force herself calmer, sucks in and out a slow and shuddering breath as she puts a hand into Riesenlied's hair - hoping the slow strokes might help at least a little.

"... the least I can do is support you at a time like this, rather than beat you even further down," she whispers after a moment to centre herself; carefully, she slowly works to pry Riesenlied's hands from the rock, little fingers first, nudging the Dragon's Tear into its place instead. She finds herself frowning, even as she tries to offer a wan smile. "... did you think I would think any less of you for seeing you like this? ... of course, I would not."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied chokes on her gasps, sobbing as she rests her head on Noeline's shoulder. She hears that wince, looking towards Noeline desperately and with a deeply concerned look... and so the cycle of care for each other continues. She looks a little rattled at that harsh rebuke, nodding slowly as she... concentrates on the feeling of Noeline's hand on her hair, the way she supports and embraces her...

And then the Tear is back in her hand. She blurrily looks towards it, rubbing at her eyes with her good hand slowly.

"I ran off... on my own..." she murmurs, gasping. "I'm sorry. ... I tried to calm down and rest, but in the moments where nothing was happening, I could not help but--"

She chokes another sob out.

"I thought of you disappearing again. From my life... and it drove me restless and anxious. I couldn't cope with it."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Slowly and deliberately, Noeline reaches up - cupping one of the other woman's cheeks with her hand to coax her gaze upwards. It's in opposition to Riesenlied's entreaties to not look at her, but the twintailed demon still does so, leaning down a little to ensure their eyes meet.

"... I made a promise. To accept and be by your side, no matter if the whole world turns against us. How am I supposed to /not/ look at you, even in times like this, and still keep that promise?" she offers quietly. It's an effort to force her voice steady, her eyes dark and full of concern, but to her surprise she manages it somehow.

Her hand slides higher, brushing away some of the tears with a thumb; she draws in afterwards, letting a series of carefully light kisses do more of the work. "... as if it were just me that drove you onwards," she drawls unexpectedly, a rough chuckle of amusement at the back of her throat. "We both know that 'I could not help but help' is you to a tee. ... there's nothing to apologize for," she adds in a gentler tone, and this time she does manage the wan smile. "If you were not so driven, you would not be the one I love."

The throb from her injuries makes her wince again when she shifts her legs underneath her, but it's gone in an instant as she levels her gaze back at the woman opposite her. "... I will not leave. I promise you. I'm tougher than I look, you realize," she grumbles for a tiny moment, almost pouting as if to draw Riesenlied's focus towards them both, and away from other things.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied is turned, her scaled cheek coaxed to move -- and their red eyes meet with each other. Riesenlied's, bleary and red and stressed, her pupils shrunk from fear. But she is calming down, as the twintailed demon takes hold of her and sets the pace for her to calm down in. "Our promise..." she whispers slowly, as she finds her hand and clings onto it.

Riese feels her other hand, as it brushes her tears away and feels the kisses in the dark. She slacks and rests against the cot. "I know you are. ... I am the one who has to pull myself together." She sucks in a breath. "For Wayside, for our children..." she trembles, biting her lip ever so gently.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline's eyes are obviously full of concern and fear; she isn't panicking, perhaps, but she would never claim to be unaffected, and the way she studies Riesenlied's face speaks to her own pent up feelings. There's a part of her that still longs to be wild and free, that can't help but want to just grab Riesenlied, leave everyone else to their own devices and disappear off - but by the same token, she knows that would never be acceptable, that Riese... would likely never forgive her for it.

"--you don't have to do it all yourself," returns Noeline almost immediately with a fond if mildly exasperated sigh; she slides forwards as Riesenlied rests backwards, settling into place at the other woman's side but quick to offer her shoulder, quick to draw her arms around Riesenlied's waist and tug her in to hug that only looks mildly ridiculous given their slight difference in height.

"Did you think that Janey wouldn't notice the stress of it all getting to you? That Mikaia wouldn't feel it? ... did you think that they wouldn't want to help?" she wonders, closing her eyes as she rests her chin on one of Riesenlied's shoulders in turn. "... around us, you are not a military commander. You do not need to stay stiff and unbowed," she stresses quietly. "If you need to lean on us, then do so."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied is not empathic just by the virtue of her own powers, and she can see that look in Noeline's eyes -- tracing from her protective nature, bordering on the possessive... but at the same time, though she appreciates that Noeline cares for her in that way of hers. "... I know I don't. And I know I /can't/," she enunciates, finally finding that foothold she desperately needs in her metaphorical slide down. And she scoots into that hug, feeling herself seated on Noeline's lap ever so gently.

"I..." she trembles more gently, whimpering. "I want to see them... I hope they haven't been restless because I haven't been home." Unbeknownst to the both of them, Janey and Mikaia have gone off on an adventure to an abandoned theme park and met the CaraKin again...

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"... they are fine, if rather restless," Noeline notes with conviction - because even if she's not sure what the kids are doing right this moment, that much is a pretty safe bet when it comes to Janey in general. After a moment, she lets out a soft chuckle. "Mostly, they are waiting for you to return to them. I wanted to make the trip quickly, so I couldn't exactly bring them myself."

"... Wayside still stands, with nothing on the horizon," the Crimson Notble adds quietly after a moment, slowly expanding the sphere of accomplishments and news outwards, offering more in the way of footholds. "Dva is overjoyed to be of use in the caves all of a sudden. It's all I can do to stop her working double time. I haven't a clue on timescales, of course, but everyone is working hard."

She pauses, knowing this is going to be a tricky subject; as if in apology, she places a kiss amidst Riesenlied's hair, resting an arm around the other woman's waist to tighten the embrace. "Filgaia may still reject us for the time being... but you have made more inroads than anyone would ever have thought possible, could ever have considered possible. Step, by step, by step, we still move forwards. We still stand," she adds resolutely.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"I know. I just... promised them I would be back earlier... and I have never broken that promise before," Riesenlied answers with a shake of her head, a genteel sigh escaping her lips again. She gasps again, to settle herself down and work another sob and a hiccup out of her.

She clings a little tighter to Noeline's hand. "I was drawn to the Statue of the Ocean... Lucadia's. I met Kaguya there... do you remember her? And I heard it with my own ears... Lucadia told her..."

She lowers her head, trembling. "The Veruni... are the Guardian's enemy. What must be... will be." She sniffles and-- trembles further, shaking as she fears when she recalls that memory. "It shook me to my core, to hear. Why did they give us more of a chance than her...? What did she do...? I can't do anything for her right now..."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"... they'll understand," Noeline responds quietly, smoothing down Riesenlied's hair slowly; she can't help but chuckle to herself, tilting her head just a little. "But-- I think they would prefer to hear the truth of it, so that they can share in your worries at least a little. ... they're survivors, the same as us. Somehow, I think they'll understand well enough."

She falls silent at the news of the Veruni, and of Kaguya; her face tightens a little in response, having heard enough of the story from those gathered in the colony to piece together what exactly happened. The sigh is particularly ragged; Noeline doesn't despair, not in general, but she certainly makes an exasperated noise at talk of yet another escalation. She would rather not feel ill of Kaguya - but it's difficult, right now, and she can't mask the way her face darkens in protective instinct.

"... there may be nothing we can do. Not for the moment," she notes eventually, trying to keep her voice level and quiet. It's an unfortunate truth, but it's one she has to admit, if only because she knows Riese's methods don't gel well with impulsive mindsets. At least she's quick to add: "But... it is as you've said. The Guardians are blind. There may be much they don't know - for that matter, there may be much /we/ do not know about the Veruni as a whole either. ... our exposure to them has not exactly been complete," she mutters uncertainly, thinking of the Elder's words. Humans, working in mines-- she shakes it away. "It is another thing for us to learn about - the history of that conflict from Guardians and Veruni both."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied can't help but nod in turn. She's never been one to shy away from Mikaia and Janey; dote and spoil them, yes, but to leave them in the dark... is to do a disservice for how precocious they are. There's no point in pretending they're children needing cover from Filgaia's truths -- they're survivors, as Noeline says.

"I can't provide for her... she calls me 'mom', but... some mother I am, the way things have gone at present..." Riesenlied can't help but sink her shoulders, looking wounded and stricken. "And you are right. There is so little I know..."

She places her hand to her side, to say, "This wound... I received from Mister Ambrosius too. I tried to reason with him to the best of my ability, yet..." There's a soft sniffle. "It's still difficult. But like with our own conflict... understanding is key..."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

With a significant huff of air, Noeline slowly shakes her head. By now she's stretched her legs out, the position a little ungainly but the demon looking past that; she coaxes Riesenlied towards doing the same, never mind that they're more or less sprawled on the floor.

"It may not be a matter of providing for her. It may just be the way you've offered her understanding where others have not. ... it is her choice to consider you in that light, just as it is her choice to balance that against her own desires and plans." A pause, and her expression falls. "... I will at least try to overlook the two of them /shooting/ you," she adds with a little more in the way of irritation plain in her voice. "Though it may take me some significant amount of time."

She sighs again, letting her hand slip back into Riesenlied's hair once more. "I understand your feelings... but remember you need to protect yourself, as well. Should something happen to you, the progress you've made... I don't know if I could foster the same sort of understanding," she admits quietly, and swallows as she looks off to one side. "More than that--... you're not the only one who gets scared, you realize."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

There is silence as she splays out, more or less, at Noeline's side, her blonde hair spilling out to either side of her. Even on the small cot that's more or less designed for one, they find comfort, more in each other's presence if nothing else.

"... they will battle us, if it comes to it. And I would not have you harmed because you hesitated for my sake..." Riesenlied murmurs. She clutches the Tear for a moment, gasping softly as she takes a moment to calm herself further.

She-- bites her lip as Noeline looks aside and admits she gets scared... then coaxes her gently back and presses a kiss to her lips. It's laced with a needy feeling for companionship.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"... I will not hesitate. Not if it's to protect you," Noeline promises quietly and solemnly, her gaze turning back to meet Riesenlied's. "... I am your shield. Even if I will not go on the attack, I will at least be there to try to keep you safe from harm until your feelings can be conveyed." It's a solemn declaration, and it's only slightly marred by the way that Riesenlied's empathy is actually a coded attack that invites a counter. Rieseee...

The demon sighs, lost enough in her worry and her thoughts that it's almost a surprise when her partner kisses her; she pips a little in response, but is quick to return the affection in kind, turning towards her to deepen her touches. "At least--" she adds when she finally draws back, unable to avoid the slightly growing grin on her face, "--when I can actually catch up to you. ... haaah... to think I was resting in bed and Cetiri pads in to tell me you've been greviously wounded... I practically hit the roof," she grumbles.

But it's a fond grumble this time, and she nudges back in for another kiss, her hand back on Riesenlied's cheek.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied looks ever shyer as Noeline makes her dramatic declarations. Riese is weak to strong, suave declarations like that... who would've known? Her cheeks are red -- both from the kiss and from how dramatic Noeline is being... and she can't help but just be coaxed back for another kiss after Noeline grumbles. The two might be kissing for a while, please wait warmly...