2018-05-04: The World We'd Like To Live In

From Dream Chasers
Jump to navigation Jump to search
  • Log: The World We'd Like to Live In
  • Cast: Rebecca Streisand, Dean Stark, Avril Vent Fleur
  • Where: Meribia - Merchant's Row
  • Date: May 4th 2018
  • Summary: As the trio reconvenes, Rebecca has something very important she would like to discuss with Dean. Avril weighs in. Dean makes his case.

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.

Rebecca was absolutely livid. She thought that when Dean had declared that he'd made a friend with a Veruni he was mistaken, or just exaggerating in his very Dean way where he trusted something too much. Now that she knew it was a real thing though she understood the kind of trouble this could get them in! There was no human that the Veruni acknowledged other than Nightburn Acklund, Dean's hero. Anyone else...

"We are soooo dead-! Sooo dead once we get back to Filgaia."

She moaned as she broke into a jog along the path. What happened once the Veruni found out? Would they come after all of them? What would happen to the three of them? "Think Rebecca Stark - think! How do you keep your friend and future - you know, breathing!"

She wouldn't dare ever call herself that anywhere but alone - and only when she's thinking about their future. Is this how it's always going to be? Dean getting them into huge trouble - and her trying to think of a way to deescalate it. Would he ever calm down?

Did she want him to?

Well that question she decided was a solid yes. And that's when a flash of something appeared in her vision. Skidding to a stop quickly enough that she raised up dust, she whirled around to see something nestled off the path. "Wow." The mere sight of it seemed to spoil her focus on that anger.

"It's just like in Mirapulse... but it's such a pretty color..."

She'd seen flowers before of course, but on Filgaia they were rare. On Lunar though - the kinds and numbers of them seemed plentiful. The world was like a miracle.

"They're too gorgeous to be flowers you offer at a funeral."

Plucking one of the stems, she twirled it around, feeling the petals between two fingers. For how gossamer thin they looked - they were pretty sturdy. Her fingers didn't bruise them at all. And then after considering it for some time, she tucked it over an ear. Clearing a throat into a fist she lowered her voice. "Why Rebecca - there's something different about you today. I mean I've always thought you looked good - but today you're just astoundingly gorgeous - and that's the least interesting thing about you too you know..."

Flapping a hand lightly in the air in dismissal, she changed her voice back to her own, "Oh really Dean - it's too much - you need to stop..." Before her whisper became like a soft susurrus, "... don't stop."

Closing her eyes and inhaling once through her nose, she started to laugh as she plucked it out from behind her ear - started to laugh so hard she snorted in the most unladylike way, "Yeah like that'd ever happen..."

With a sigh, she twirled the flower in her hand again before putting it away in her bag gingerly - then she picked up in a jog back to town again. Her anger subdued a little beneath insecurity...

... but she'd find a way to work herself back up again.

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    Rebecca isn't the only one heading back to Meribus with something on her mind. Dean... okay, he doesn't have anything particularly on his *mind*, but he does have something in his *pockets*, as he jogs along the road to return to the inn where he and his friends have been saying, a bright smile on his face. Finding treasure chests isn't quite the same as digging in ruins for Golem parts, but it's still pretty awesome--especially if you got to do it with friends!
    
    ...However, he has nothing to distract him from the way back like certain redheads do, so he gets back rather sooner. Which is for the best for everyone, really, because if certain people overheard certain *other* people, there would be a lot of spontaneous combustions going on.
    
    And so soon enough, the young Golem Hunter-to-be bursts into said inn room. "Hey guys!" he cheers. "You'll never guess what... aw, man, they're not here?"
    
    He looks around in mild disappointment; then he shrugs and shuts the door behind him. They could be in the bathroom for all he knows! And he's, uh, not going to bother them if they are. For now, instead, he goes over to the table, shrugs off his jacket--and upends it, dumping a *wealth* of silver doubloons all over the table, his share of the treasure he'd found in the Flooded Caverns. Th-that door locks behind itself, right...?

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Avril, on the other hand, has taken a more sedate route this day, having apparently opted to make her way around town and see some of the sights (now that they're not, for instance, lying low in a pantomime horse costume, or hiding out in a building while their wounds heal).
    That and go and peruse the contents of the book they found deep in the trials of the cave in Vane. It's strange, but she almost has the feeling that some of these principles... it's not exactly the same way her magic appears to work -- she can tell that much with her experimentation -- but it's given her some useful stepping stones as she seeks to understand the limits of and how best to control her unusual abilities.

    Still, it feels easy when she uses it -- even if the understanding arrives bit by bit. Whoever she was, this power was as her swordplay: well-honed, oft-used.

    So it's perhaps a few moments after Dean busts into the room -- she sees him from down the hallway and calls out, but it's poorly timed for the moment he slams the door shut again -- that the door to the room at the inn swings open again and in steps Avril, magic book clutched to her chest with her other hand.

    "Dean? Did you just arrive?"

    Her gaze then slips towards the enormous pile of silver coins.

    "Oh, it seems you've made quite the discovery," she says, stepping over to pluck one of the coins from the pile, which she holds up into the light.

    ...She has not shut the door behind her.

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


If Dean and Avril were paying close attention he'd hear the pounding of footsteps on the wooden stairs of the inn behind him - and then on the floorboards heading in their direction. Though seeing Avril at the door causes her to dial it back."Hey there Avril! You must be really into that book... And whoa Dean - that's quite a haul. Did the two of you bring that in together? Good work!"

That haul on the table momentarily distracts her ire because well - treasure was always wonderful, and it's shiny enough that she just wants to run over there and dig through it herself. But no! She had to be the adult here! "Um, we may want to get inside and close the door though rather than - letting anyone who walks by seeing us counting it..."

Some light pressure for them all to go inside at least, after which she closes the door. "So - you'll never guess who I met on the road - it was your good friend Lady-"

It sounds almost affable, albeit pressured, until she gets to the last word, in which she changes to the tone Dean would well know means 'You done goofed up boy.' "-Kaguya."

And so instead she closes the door. "Dean what the heck - I thought you were exaggerating when you said she was your friend! I mean don't you know anything? Veruni and humans just can't be friends! We could get in real trouble! Like - hunt us down and kill us all kind of trouble! You remember what they almost did to Chuck right? Well an execution would be getting off light if they think we're cozying up to one of their people!"

Crossing her arms defensively, she keeps going, "And besides - there's just... something wrong with her! She acts like her idea of friendship is that you're some yappy puppy she kicked once -" Or dropped a wall on, as it might be, "-and you just happen to still like her!" It really bothered her on some level, to think of a Veruni taking advantage of Dean's kindness, "It's just... real patronizing." Before she glances sidelong at Avril, "Don't you think so Avril?"

She was hoping Avril would take her side here... given that, Kaguya hurt Dean like that.

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    'Dean? Did you just arrive?'
    
    "Hm?" Dean turns around, then smiles, to see Avril walk into the room. "Oh, hey, Avril! Yeah, I did! Guess I beat you and Rebecca back, huh?" He turns to her more fully, grinning, and spreads an arm to gesture over the pile of silver. "Check it out! You won't have to sell any of your jewelry this way! --Oh hey Rebecca!" he adds when the redhead suddenly bursts into the room. "Nah, I got this with help from a few others friends. But it's pretty awesome, huh? We founded it in the Flooded Caverns!"
    
    But then Rebecca points out, very sensibly, that shutting the door would be wise, then goes ahead and does that very thing. Dean blinks, then nods in agreement, going over to the door to double-check that it's locked. Once that's done, he heads back over to the table to join his friends.
    
    "Uh huh?" he says to Rebecca in curiosity--until she names Kaguya, and gets That Tone in her voice. Dean blinks rapidly, openly lost. "H-huh? Yeah? What about her?" And then Rebecca starts lecturing him, much to his confusion. "Why would I lie about that--yeah, I know what they almost did to Chuck, I was there! But that doesn't mean *all* Veruni are like that--hey, it's not like that!" he protests, frowning... and now a little hurt. Is that what Rebecca thought? That couldn't be true! "Besides, Kaguya doesn't want to go back to Filgaia. She told me so herself! If she stays here on Lunar, then it's no big deal, right?"
    
    Still, Rebecca tries to get Avril on her side here. Dean's frown deepens, but he looks at Avril too, to see what her opinion of this will be.

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "That is a significant amount of money, is it not? Hmm... I would be happy to, if it became necessary." She smiles softly. "Still... I'm glad, all the same." A part of her... call it sentimental or vain, but she has an attachment to the ornaments she wears.

    "Rebecca?" is perhaps the second or third comment out of Avril's mouth, as the younger girl races on up to their room. "Is everything alright? --Yes, I have found this book to be quite useful. I do not think it is precisely of the same mold as my own magic but -- ah, yes, of course, the door..."

    Which, it seems -- after Avril herself heads on in to inspect the pile of coins -- Rebecca once again has managed herself.

    "These appear to be somewhat old. Does age increase or decrease the value of coins?" she asks, tilting the tarnished face this way and that in the light. "Though, perhaps it might not matter much if the difference is not significant in either direction," she adds, turning then as the tone of Rebecca's voice tilts headlong for a rather different pitch.

    "Kaguya?"

    She slowly sets both book and coin down on the bedspread, her expression in rapid slant itself towards a more sober cast itself.

    "That was the woman who destroyed the Sea Statue," she states, her gaze hooding when Rebecca brings up Chuck--

    "Promises must be kept."

    --and the more recent incident which had seen Dean hurt--

    "I will not forgive you."

    --and her expression perhaps most approximates grim rather than sober.

    "Dean... is this true?" she asks, gazing at her friend.
    It would be like him... even she has to admit that.

    Not all Veruni are good. This, she knows. Not all humans are good, either. Here, she thinks of Janus and the dangerous scrape they had within the caverns, the same that only Rebecca's timely intervention may have stopped.
    But not all humans are bad... so it follows, in spite of a lack of direct evidence, that not all Veruni are necessarily bad, either, but...

    "She did hurt you, Dean. And she did shatter the statue. Even if she does not want to return to Filgaia..." Avril shifts as if troubled, folding her arms loosely across her midsection.

    Isn't it natural, the whisper speaks, to want to hurt those who hurt those who are important to you?

    "..."

    It's a funny feeling. As if she were invading her own tomb, in some manner -- odder still for the unfamiliar/familiar feeling that the concept of a 'tomb' invokes.

    "...I do not know if it is possible to so easily forgive someone for those things."

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Normally Dean bringing in a haul like this would have her actually praising him! If only she hadn't came upon Kaguya on that road... "Well I'm relieved she won't have to. A girl shouldn't have to pawn her jewelry off just to get by!"

She could understand being practical like that but - Avril's was just so beautiful. Her brain could only associate it with you know - Avril wearing it. It seemed like a real tragic event if she ever had to. "If only they were... Avril..."

"I didn't say you lied! I just thought you know - you maybe didn't entirely get it - like she said something like 'Sure whatever I'm your friend' just to blow you off." Raising both of her hands like knifes to either side of her face she cuts them downward, "Whether they're all like that or not is beside the point - the point is they rule part of our world and the lives of humans like the three of us are nothing to most of them. And the idea of humans being friends with them - it... well it threatens their image. And they'll go real far to protect that."

She didn't know though that Kaguya was planning to stay here - so she just admits... "Okay well... that helps, so long as they don't find out. Which means like... you have to be careful who you tell..."

Rebecca nods lightly as Avril mentions the sea statue. While she thought some of the Guardians were jerks - destroying the statue brought humanity a little closer to being destroyed. "Yeah... she definitely did that."

And she thinks about how Kaguya was afraid of Avril - really scared. Right now - a little of that intensity shows, but she can't ever think of being afraid of her.

Instead she's glad to have this kind of solidarity here. "I feel the same way Avril." There's an exhalation of relief. "Look... Dean. I'm not saying we should just suddenly be her enemy again or anything. In fact - I feel like that girl's dangerous - and we should just not do anything to antagonize her. If she keeps her promise to you not to kill humans - then great! You can feel like something good came out of trying to be her friend!"

But putting her hands together as if pleading, she suggests, "But can't we just... not... say she's your friend? If... someone were to you know - ask. Just to keep her and us out of trouble when we get back. You can look at it as being for her own good too... her own people would probably punish her for this kind of thing. And that might not end just because she's up here on the Moon."

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "Oh, right, that book from the Trial Cave," Dean says, noticing the book in Avril's arms for the first time. "You're getting some use out of it, huh? That's good to hear. That place was terrible." He makes a face. "It'd be rotten if we went through all that for nothing, so I'm glad--" Right, right, the door. And... coins? He rubs a finger under his nose, expression thoughtful. "I dunno, I don't think so... I mean, it's the same amount of silver either way, right?" He looks at Rebecca as he says this, though, even though she probably wouldn't know for sure either. They're only all on a different world, after all. As for the jewelry, he nods to the redhead, grinning. "Yeah, same!" He looks back at Avril. "I know you'd do it if you had to, but it's good to not have to, too!"
    
    But Rebecca brings up Kaguya, and Avril's not too keen on her either. This isn't a surprise to Dean, but that doesn't make him any happier. "What d'you mean, 'is this true'? Of course it's true! Just because we had a big fight doesn't mean we have to stop being friends because of it..." he replies, expression somewhere between indignant and disappointed. When Rebecca chimes in with a claim that Kaguya only agreed that they were friends to patronize him, he jolts back and stares at her like she'd slapped him across the face. He doesn't even know what to say; the Veruni who'd nearly executed Chuck just because he was a convenient patsy had been his introduction to Verunikind, and it was only after a lot of interaction with Kaguya, then learning that she was the same race, that he realized that those Veruni might not be emblematic of all their kind. But...
    
    He looks back at Avril, mouth twisting harder, when she brings up the Guardian Statue. "True, I'm not happy about how she broke the Statue... but I don't like how Greg crushes Golems either, and they both promised to rein that in!" Specifically 'killing humans' where Kaguya's concerned, but still. "And sure, she hit me really hard, but it was a bunch of us against one of her!" But when Avril ultimately says that she can't forgive Kaguya for what he's done...
    
    Well. Dean gets it, sort of. If Kaguya had broken a wall over Avril, or Rebecca, he's not sure he'd be so quick to forgive her either. But it still saddens and upsets him, and it shows. And when Rebecca suggests something that, to him, just sounds utterly heartless and self-serving--how can anyone suggest that someone only claim someone else is their friend when it's convenient for them!?--and he can't help but glare at her, somewhere between hurt and betrayed.
    
    But on the other hand, Rebecca's always been the one who knew the most about Veruni. If it weren't for her, he probably wouldn't have even known they existed before encountering one. And... as much as what she says upsets him, he knows she wouldn't say that just to be mean.
    
    "........." Ultimately, Dean looks away towards the window, body tense, jaw taut. "I hear what you guys are saying. And maybe you're even right. But... only owning up to being friends with someone if you think you won't get in trouble for it... that just--it feels wrong to me."

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "It would be a shame, wouldn't it?" Avril muses, gazing over at the pile of coins. "I have had these as long as I can recall," since the moment she awoke in the palm of a Golem's hand that is, "so I suppose there is a certain sentimental value to them. Still, if it ever does become necessary... I wish to see all of us cared for. They are only things in the end." She pauses, as if considering something. "And, I suppose, it is always possible to acquire one's possessions."

    Hopefully, she means 'buy back' and not 'steal'.

    It's hard to tell for certain, sometimes.

    She's heard this and that about Veruni from Rebecca before -- between those Veruni who ventured far enough west and the stories that circulated out of the east, there was always this or that tale about the behavior and intentions of the mysterious conquerors. Avril has even heard tell of a few herself, back out when they had traveled the dry dusty roads to the east half of Ignas.
    But it's Rebecca who is the authority, or so she's been lead to understand.
    "...To protect their image... hmm. Is that important..." she muses, the discussion and contemplation of the new friend Dean has made broken up briefly on her own end by such musings.
    She's approaching that little tidbit with gravity, it seems. Before she comments out of the blue on another thing that Dean had said: "Then, you knew her before."

    And in spite of the world the Veruni must have for themselves back on Filgaia...
    Kaguya wants to stay here.
    Hadn't there been something...

    But from this, at least at the present, her focus averts from. Not out of cruelty or aversion, but simply because the conversation makes a bank right towards the things Kaguya has done.

    Dean brings up Greg. "Yes, that is true. Humans and Veruni alike are capable of doing grave cruelties to one another, or shattering that which is important or necessary. Nevertheless... I do agree with Rebecca on this, Dean. I do not mean to say you should not be friendly or that you should avoid her. But, you should take care. Think about what it is you wish to achieve, and think about her intentions as well. What she says... and what her actions tell you."

    And yet.
    She knows without question that she has caused pain to other people, though the means or intent remains evasive.
    She knows that she is the sort of person who, without question, would do whatever was necessary to see what must be, be.

    So there lie the questions:
    How easily can someone find forgiveness?
    Should forgiveness be found easily?

    ...And what in the world had she done?

    "...You are a kind person, Dean. I do understand that you want to have faith in her. That's a valuable and rare ability to possess, I believe. Nevertheless, you should consider what it is you do and its outcomes carefully. Not all humans are kind, yes, and neither are all Veruni."

    It's when he looks like that though, and looks away that her own expression falters some, her attention scattering for the wall opposite the window.

    "In the end... one's actions are their own to take, as are the consequences," she murmurs, as if drifting to some distant land of thought.

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


"When you put it like that Avril - it sounds like the saddest thing in the world to try to make you part with them." At least - it does to Rebecca. Avril was so gorgeous anyhow, all the time. She felt insecure standing up to a real beauty like her. Yet at the same time she never would want her to do anything to detract from that beauty, even if she thought it would up her chances.

And the way Dean looks at her right now - it makes her feel cold inside. Like here she was being some kind of heartless witch for being sensible-! She really does feel like she's betrayed him as a friend. But it's a hard world they grew up in - and have to survive in. She knew that before she got her ARM - before she made herself promise not to cry. If you leave your ribcage open with your heart visible - people are just gonna line up to take advantage of it. To hurt it.

And Dean - Dean was that kinda guy who left his heart right there in the open for anyone to hurt. Even if he'd let her have her ARM to practice her circus act - she told herself it was also a promise that she had to protect him. That she had to be this way to protect him.

She listens to Dean talk about Greg - and how he's backed off - and he listens to Avril's response... she's so grateful for her support. In fact it feels like because she has that support that she can ease off just a little - "Yeah - that's what I mean mainly. I just want you to be more careful about how you... consider her."

And then he says it. With that look like that - with that face like that. For a while her expression doesn't budge - and then it just... does... some, just a fraction. There's a light sigh as her chin dips, "... Maybe you're right Dean. Maybe it is wrong. Maybe it's not good - or right. It just is what it is because this is the kind of world we live in. And... Avril's right... you're kind. And I think you're too kind for your own good. The two of us - we just don't want you to get hurt because you're so kind."

She felt like such a soft-heart, here Dean was telling her it was wrong - and here she is backing off from what she told herself she had to do.

"Still when you make that face at me... I can tell you feel real strongly about this..." She glances at Avril as if to maybe ask if she sees it too, "So if that's the way you feel, I'm not gonna try to tell you no anymore. Because asking you now would be like..."

Because the fact of the matter was - while she knew her way was the world they lived in - that it was for the best. The way Dean feels is the kind of world where she would want to live in. Where people didn't have to be afraid to say who they were friends with.

"... telling you not to be you anymore."

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "Right!" Dean agrees, of buying back possessions. "But still, it's good to not have to." Even if Rebecca exaggerates, in his opinion. It's not the *saddest* thing in the world. A shame, but not the *saddest*! (No, the saddest thing in the world would involve Golem crushing, and you can take that all the way to the bank.)
    
    The topic moves on to Kaguya and the Veruni in general. Avril concludes that he'd known her since 'before.' "Before I knew she was a Veruni? Yeah. She was keeping it a secret at first. Apparently there's a lot of people who think the Veruni are just fairy tales since they tend to live far away from humans, and she didn't want any trouble," he explains.
    
    But Avril makes the very sensible point that, even if they are friends, their goals don't align, and Rebecca chimes in. And that's a hard point for Dean to argue. In the end, he's not sure exactly what Kaguya wants. He's not sure *Kaguya* knows what Kaguya wants. And... he's seen Kaguya gravely hurt people before, and be incredibly casual about it. They're not wrong; she *is* dangerous. But is it bad to be friends with someone even though they're dangerous? Avril could well be dangerous herself, with that strange ice magic she has, and the way she can become coldly furious sometimes--and even Avril doesn't know what she's done. No matter what she's done, Dean wouldn't stop being her friend, though.
    
    But on the other hand, that's because Avril truly thinks of *him* as a friend back. If Rebecca's right, and Kaguya's just been patronizing him, tolerating his overtures of friendship the way someone who doesn't like dogs but doesn't hate them either might tolerate an excited puppy's greeting licks... It hurts to think she might have been looking down on him, but he ought to make that clear, at least.
    
    So when he looks back at Rebecca, he's... well, he's not *happy*, but he's not as upset, either. "...No, it's okay," he reassures her. "I know you're always trying to look out for me, and maybe sometimes you're overbearing about it, but I know it's because you care. Both of you," he adds, nodding at Avril. "At the same time... I think it's okay to get hurt, if it's because I decided to be kind. I'd rather be nice to people and get hurt because of it than protect myself by being cold or indifferent." He scratches the back of his head. "...I'll go and talk to Kaguya about it. If you're right, Rebecca, and she really don't see me as a friend... then I'll back off. That way, it won't be hiding the truth if I don't go around saying she's a friend of mine. I don't want to force her to put up with me, either."
    
    He lowers his hand and looks at his two best friends. "...Does that work for you guys?"

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Avril does not look precisely, well, happy at his response, but she still nods all the same. "Then, if that is how you feel and what you think is acceptable, then that is how it must be. I cannot tell you to not be who you are, Dean. I can only ask that you take care."

    She glances back over at him, her expression muted, pensive.

    "So, I suppose, to answer your question... yes."