2018-07-17: My One Joy

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  • Log: My One Joy
  • Cast: Riesenlied, Noeline, Lily Keil, Lydia Seren
  • Where: Vane
  • Date: 17th July 2018
  • Summary: In the wake of the battle for Rigdobrite's statue, Riesenlied recuperates with her family.


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Vane is something of a second home for a lot of the Fereshte family, as well as the Wolves; but more importantly than that, it's also home to Miria Ausa and her team of very dedicated specialists, so it's much easier to receive healing when, say, you've just faced down a terror of Valmar to protect the Statue of Rigdobrite without having to do it yourself.

Perks of the territory, really.

Riesenlied has been unconscious all of last night as Miria's mages work on her; there's probably others attending to her as well, and Mikaia and Janey haven't left her side at all...

... but by the time morning comes, and the sun rises... the Hyadean's eyes stir gently as she looks towards her sleeping children, curled up at her side, looking exhausted. "Mmm..."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline is fidgeting to herself by the window, staring out of it to squint at the morning sun. She's still in her armor, pitted and dirty, and evidently hasn't done a terrific amount to look after herself in the wake of the attack. Her injuries are mostly healed - that much is thanks to the Althena Statue and her 'full' metal demon nature - but she's clearly not slept all that much, having been on a quiet but persistent alert ever since.

At least she's made sure the same isn't true of the children, who have a blanket carefully draped over them and a pillow beneath their heads. Riese, too, has been carefully fussed over to ensure she's warm and tucked up properly. She's no healer, but she has at least spend her time trying to assist them wherever possible - even if that help is rather limited to lugging things around for them.

The horizon hasn't blown up since then, and she can't help but think that's remarkably good news given the circumstances. She's not terrifically inclined to trust the words of the host of Valmar at this point, but it does at least seem as if her 'news' that she wouldn't be pressing the issue of Guardian Statues any further is genuine enough.

At the sound of Riesenlied stirring, she glances back over her shoulder - and lets out a heaving sigh of relief, stepping up to offer the other metal demon a hand through her hair. "... good morning," she notes with a lopsided smile.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

For Lily, Vane is a place of peace--somewhere they can fortify, certainly, but also somewhere less suffused with the prickling miasma that so often wears at her senses. However: unlike Noeline, Lily's wounds are /not/ particularly healed. She didn't consent to anything more than basic binding, despite the awful nature of the wound in her side from guarding Ethius. In general she has, since the battle, been skittish about being touched generally, even more than usual.

She didn't help the healers, though. She got minimally checked out again upon arrival, and then went up to a room alone. Now...

There's a knock at the door, light, a little strained. She is not a metal demon, of course. But--

When the door opens, whether she opens it or not, Lily Keil is standing there. Her black hair hangs loose, and her old military-style jacket is draped over her shoulders. One arm in a sling, her side padded with bandages under her tanktop. The strange markings, like circuits, lightly pulse light up and down the paths the markings make; up and down her arms, on her shoulders, up at the base of her neck, partway down her chest. She isn't bothering to hide them here in the Wolfsbane right now.

Also she looks drowsy still, because she just woke up. ...Very, very tired--as it turns out she hasn't even put on her usual makeup even. Once waved in, she steps through the door, closes it behind her. "...How're you feeling?" the sorceress asks.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia is exhausted after all that and lately? Emotionally exhausted too. In the grand scheme of things, her relationship with Ethius isn't exactly saved--if anything Ethius's actions for most of the situation were resoundedly negative--but maybe it isn't SHREDDED. It's hard to say. Lydia can think about that more, but she has decided not to.

Working hard is important but feeling good is important too after all.

Lydia has been sleeping for ages before she finally wakes up, washes up, and trudges over to Riesenlied and Noeline's place. She wasn't majorly wounded and didn't need special care and Riesenlied may be her mom but SLEEPING WITH MOM is something that's a bit beyond Lydia's age bracket. Some moments you can't replace.

Lily is actually there first since Lydia DID make herself up though she never really goes heavy on cosmetics. "I feel like I could use another nap." Lydia says blearily, holding the door open so she can slide in too. Oh no everybody is coming in ahhhh.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied lets out a little grimace as she visibly struggles through the first influx of sensations hammering her mind -- all her nerve endings screaming out in pain after her. It passes, though, and then she places a hand on Noeline to express, "... morning..."

She looks towards Lily, who doesn't look much better than Noeline -- at least in condition. "... I haven't... been out long, have I?" She looks towards her children, stroking at Mikaia's hair as she curls up and clings a little closer.

At least Janey's dozing off in the usual way she does, splayed out with an oversize sleep bubble coming out of her nose. That one can sleep through an apocalypse, she can.

Lydia comes in too, and Riesenlied smiles very quietly as she says, "Ah, everyone's here... I'm so glad to see you all..." she squints and winces for a moment. "I'm not going to move for a while."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline glances up at the door as it opens to reveal the sight of Lily Keil; her expression clearly indicates her opinion, but she voices it anyway as she chuckles to herself: "You realize that healers can work on more than one person at a time, I hope," she notes, but waves the other woman in regardless, shifting to one side to allow some space at the bedside that isn't taken up by dozing kids.

She snorts again when Lydie shows up as well, knowing full well what her rather plaintive comment means by now. "If you can find space on the mattress, you are technically welcome to it," she notes with a light humour. "Just be careful of her injuries, I suppose. And your own, for that matter. Really, I should be glad that the children made it out best out of all of us, but at the same time I can't help but wonder how they manage it," she grumbles pleasantly.

Her eyes flick towards Riesenlied's wince of pain, watching it with sudden and clear concern - but she lets out a slow breath, and nods her head. "It's morning - that's all. I have been told to make sure you don't take a single step out of bed, however," she adds, inclining her head slightly towards the sleeping beastgirl cuddled up against Riese's side.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily steps just a little farther when Lydia comes in, nodding her way but apparently a little... touchy. She nods to her though. But--

At Noeline's /look/ Lily is already looking right back at her tiredly. "So I've heard," she answers. "...But it's fine. I'll heal on my own." Riesenlied might feel a little discomfort radiating off of Lily that fades as she steps further into the room, looking over the... kids. Instead of looking to the mattres she moves over to a chair and takes a seat.

"Good," Lily says. "You shouldn't move. Noeline's right." A pause. "You haven't been out any longer than I have," she offers. "Which seems to be one morning. ...I'd ask if I'm bothering you showing up this early, but it's a regular party already."

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia gives Riesenlied a big smile of ultimate power.

Then she flops down in a corner and leans against it. "Feels like I've been fighting one thing or another for months. I mean it's really been more like every other week but uggh." She looks over to Lily and smiles at her. "Hey, sorry I didn't chat you up much then. You doing okay? Anything I can help with? Um."

It's awkward because every time she's talked to Lily before she really had an objective like 'sorry for nearly killing you by biting you I totally didn't know that would happen' but in practice Lily isn't someone she knows too well

And honestly while she knows Noeline better...It does feel like there's this kind of 'theater' to her behavior that makes it difficult to ascertain how genuine she is in a casual setting like this.

"Well, Neriah didn't want to hurt them in any way except emotionally I guess and even then I suppose that was just kind of accidental rather than like intentional and all."

She smiles at her offer though and adds, "Maybe in a minute. I don't mind the foor."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"You never bother me with your company, Miss Lily," Riesenlied expresses warmly as she reaches towards Noeline to lean by her side when she shuffles in. She looks very much more relaxed when she's closer. "And-- yes, I should folow that advice..."

Mikaia stirs at about this point, blinking a few times with a groan-- then suddenly perking up as she exclaims, "Mama!" A pause, "Miss Lily, Lydie!" she whines very quietly and looks towards the Hyadean, but relaxes just a little. "... I was so worried..."

Riesenlied strokes at her daughter's hair and whispers, "I'm so sorry, dear. I only wanted to show you wonderful fireflies in the forest... I didn't expect we'd walk into danger like that..."

Mikaia swallows for a moment, then looks towards the others again. "You should rest, mama! I'll do everything for you today, including meals!" Well, she has been working with Argus at the Wolfsbane Tavern a lot... "And-- that should include Noeline and Lily too!"

Whew, Lydia is getting off scot-free--

"And I wanna spend time with Lydie today too!" Mikaia is making all the demands today! She smiles just for a moment... then settles down as she expresses, "... we're okay. I'm not about to-- I'm not about to yell at anyone over what happened... and I know we can still overcome things as a family, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"I've heard that one before. The idea of healing on your own never quite seems to take for all that /long/, though," Noeline shoots back towards Lily, apparently deciding that the best way to face the day is to lightly needle people who can take it. Her grin is light and playful, and her eyebrows raised. "Or perhaps that simply speaks towards people's propensity for getting hurt instead. That said, yes - just a morning. Everything has been remarkably quiet," she admits, turning more serious as she glances to the window.

"Somehow, I don't think Mikaia is going to let you get away with that right now," Noeline turns her attention on Lydia next, shrugging one shoulder; her smile is lopsided, and tired, and perhaps a bit more genuine than many of her expressions. "We are all safe, that much is true. Still, I--" she wavers for a moment, and huffs. "Whether it was accidental or not, knowing or not, I have to admit I'm still seeing red. Some time to rest would probably do wonders."

"I'll be alright in a bit," she adds, more for Mikaia's benefit than her own; she chuckles as she pats the winged girl on the head, then puffs out a breath as she-- pouts. "Wait-- am I helping, or being grounded? I'm perfectly able-bodied," she whines at the girl. "At least let us go curl up in the armchair."

Who exactly is the parent, here?

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"Most don't heal as well as I do," Lily counters Noeline lightly, though she seems at least to take it in the spirit it was meant. "I don't need their magic."

Lily doesn't smile--but then, who expects her to? She looks back to Lydia though, shakes her head lightly. "I'll be fine," she answers. "You don't have to do anything." ...At least she doesn't sound angry or anything, but Lily certainly doesn't make it less awkward. She's kind of hard to read.

"...All right," she says to Riesenlied, and then actually /does/ smile lightly as Mikaia wakes up--a little distant. "I wasn't expecting trouble either," she admits. "I suppose I let my guard down..."

She pauses, as Mikaia makes her offer, and Lily blinks. "Ah, you don't have to..."

They're okay, sure. But the ex-soldier finds herself hesitating. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather spend time with your mothers than me?" she asks, uncertain--and of course Noeline's response... Well, Lily clearly isn't quite sure of her place, here.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia smiles over to Noeline. "Heh, well, that's what's important. But it's also important to have fun and I wish...we were able to see the stars together that day, catch some fireflies. I don't know. I guess it's a lot more frustrating getting into a fight if you weren't expecting to get in one."

Lydia swallows faintly as Lily doesn't improve the awkwardness situation and then she laughs it off in an attempt to not stare into space for a while. She does say, "So um. How do you know Riese and Noeline, exactly?"

There we go. A conversation topic???

But luckily there is at least one 'distraction' in the form of Mikaia. "Whaaaat! You want to spend time with 'Lydie' huh?" She crosses her arms. "Well I guess it's your lucky day, Mikaia, because I'm all yours! Hopefully I won't bore ya to tears!"

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied looks between Noeline and Lily with a bit of a wan smile; amongst them all, she definitely has the hardest time healing, not having any of the luxury of a 'full' metal demon's ability at regeneration. "It feels very peaceful here, just the way I like Vane..." she agrees with Noeline.

She lets out a little chuckle as Mikaia pumps her hands to go, "You don't have to think about it as being grounded. Think about it as-- being accessory to Riesemama's recovery!" She rolls her eyes and says, "Do you really wanna leave her side?"

Mikaia might have Noeline's number here.

Mikaia tilts her head as she comments, "You're important to me too, Miss Lily! All that time in Wayside... you know, I want to have more of that. It's important..." okay, so maybe she's projecting a /little/ after what happened, but. "

Riesenlied looks at Lily with a bashful smile, saying, "I trust you to take care of yourself, so I won't chide you to do anything... but-- you do know you're welcome here..."

She looks at Lydie as well, expressing, "We can still try it another time. You liked what you saw, right, Mikaia? Let's try to find more beautiful scenery... look up at the stars sometime." She's reminded of Gwen for a bit, when she said that to her once. Lydie asks how she met Lily, though, and she stammers, "Ah, it was... back in Adlehyde..." A tilt of her head. "We were frequenting the same inn..."

Mikaia grins, though, at Lydie's response. "You could never bore me, Lydie, you're so much fun!"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline does at least drop her rather lazy and half-hearted sniping at Lily, choosing to finish off with another light chuckle. "Well. Just by coming here you've fallen under the dread eye of the Lord of Calamity's Partner, so I suspect it might be rather a moot point in the end. I doubt very much you're getting away from her, just as Lydia here isn't," she snickers to herself, one hand smoothing down Riesenlied's hair for a moment in affection.

"Well-- that much, I certainly cannot deny," the spy puffs out a breath, nodding to the shaman. "To think we'd end up in a fight like that... it certainly wasn't part of the plan. On the other hand, we can at least rest assured that the stars are not going anywhere, especially not after exchanging words with their Guardian. There will be other chances, wouldn't you say?" she hums with a more relaxed grin, before her eyebrows raise lightly at the question.

She chooses to let Lily and Riese field it first, though, because she's too busy snorting with laughter at Mikaia's comments. "Well, of course not. All I'm saying is that there's a warm fireplace down there, and a comfortable chair. There are certainly worse places to recover. ... still, you don't have to do it all yourself. I'm more or less well, at this point, so if you need a hand simply let me know," she doesn't quite lecture, but it does come kind of close.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"..." Lily doesn't have much to say about unexpected fights, about peace. But--when Mikaia answers her, she sets her gaze on the little girl, quiet for a moment. "...All right," she says after a moment. "I should take a day to rest anyway." A glance to Riesenlied, "...Sometimes I forget. That's all. I'll stay." A shake of her head to Noeline, "I suppose you're right. I'm stuck regardless."

Her voice is quiet; she doesn't inflect much, is a little distant still. But at the question, she quirks an amused look. "Awkward, is it?"

A shake of her head. "Downstairs is good. As for how we met..." Lily trails off, "I met Riesenlied in Adlehyde. It was back while I was studying Malevolence, as I recall. ...It's a strange feeling, meeting... It's like a twin, but not quite. A mirror."

"Of course, we weren't friends for a while. We were on opposite sides for a time after we met."

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia laughs at Mikaia's maximum guilt trip works on Noeline. "Hey, take it easy on them, Mikaia. You gotta save some doe-eyes for when you're older so they don't build up resistance." She pauses a moment and then adds, "aw who'm I kiddin'? They'll fall for it another hundred years right?"

Her smile brightens as she iams to pull Mikaia into a hug. "Ahhhhh, I'm the fun one? I'm the fun one! Look who'se talkin', you're an instant joy t'be around. Makes it easy to be fun!"

She looks back to Riesenlied for a moment. She's not really working too hard on analyzing relationships right now, she just wants to enjoy them. "Heh, you know, I don't think I've ever seen you in an inn." She tells Riesenlied. She nods once to Noeline. The stars are probably going to be around for at least another week and she focuses on what lily is saying.

"Huh... I met Ginny back in Adelhyde. I guess it was a place of beginnings for a lot of people." She smiles. "And you're friends now, that doesn't happen often you know?"

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied closes her eyes and sinks in a little bit closer still around Noeline, while being rather aware of the injury on her side. It looks like it's been well dressed, at the very least. "Speaking of such, though... I'm very proud of you, Lydie. I was very moved with your experience with Rigdobrite. I can but only hope my own time with Odoryuk will go as well."

She laces her hands together around Mikaia's hand for a moment, as the beastgirl smiles and looks up towards her. "Well, if Noemama insists... we'll both make you a tasty meal that'll brighten your spirits up, Riesemama." Riese can't help but chuckle further with a nod. "I look forward to it."

Lily mentions that they weren't always friends... "That's... true. I was still very much vested in Lord Siegfried's instruction at that point..." she tilts her head. "Even if the doubt had nagged deep in me, even before Ignas. I think that was why I wanted to make it up in any other way I could... like helping you with Gryndille's chase."

She bobbles her head the other way and chuckles at Lydia. "It's strange, isn't it? I guess we haven't done that often since we established Wayside. Noeline does like tugging me to them, though..."

Mikaia hugs Lydia in turn to go, "Aww, you're such a sweetie too, Lydie! We should--" she glances, "--well, let's hope Janey doesn't sleep too long. She'd wanna spend time with you too!" Maybe doing a Super Mario longjump takes a lot out of her.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"... to be fair, that was true of most people at the time of Adlehyde. That was before we had truly broken off from the rest of the Metal Demons - to be honest, I'm not sure if the idea of Wayside was even fully-formed at that point, I don't think," Noeline notes, glancing at her partner, held in her arms, for confirmation.

"I do manage to get Riese to stop and slow down /sometimes/," Noeline notes to Lydia with an amused hum. "More commonly, now that this place is more or less our home for the time being. If you haven't, you should make sure you're around for one of the evenings when she's playing for the bar," she notes with an amused and rather prideful smile, flicking out her hair as if she herself were the one playing and not Riesenlied. "It is an uplifting experience."

She's quick to trace her fingers through her partner's hair once more, letting out a relieved sigh. "... I will do my best to help. It's not exactly my forte, I suppose, but I can at least make something edible," she grumbles good-naturedly towards the winged beastgirl, before raising her eyebrows lightly at Mikaia's last statment - and playfully prodding Janey lightly in the side, to see if she's awake.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"Oh, is that how it is?" Lily asks Lydia and Mikaia both. "...You certainly are both energetic." A pause, at that, and she considers Virginia. ...And Adelhyde. "Adelhyde... It was a good city to be in. It was a place I had a chance almost..."

She trals off, shaking her head. "Nevermind. But it's true, that is rare. ...I wasn't expecting friends, at all."

She pauses, at that. Inns... And Riesenlied. "You avoid a lot of civilization of Filgaia," she points out. But--hmm. Mikaia is being super adorable, of course. But--

"Yes, that's true--that was most. You were invested in Siegfried, in what you were doing... And I still fancied myself some kind of heroine, I suppose. It's strange to think back to it."

"I'm all right with a performance. But... You don't want me to help with cooking. People don't seem to match my tastes."

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia Seren says, "I think I'm probably going to take it easy for a while too. I got people to look out after but other than that I just want to be with m'family. I guess that migiht be a little weak of me considering all these unsolved problems but..."

She pauses as she looks over to Noeline and adds, "I'll have to though we should probably hang out just the two of us sometime I mean just to be fair and all!"

There, she thinks, then they could really do ... Noeline things. Noeline and Lydia. Hmm, she does have some gadgetry right? Hmmmm.

"Well," Lydia reddens to Riesenlied. "I don't know. Maybe I imagined it but... I guess I've always felt close but--well I'm sure it will. Odoryuk is a high tier Guardian'n'all they don't just appear before anyone so if you manage to make it happen, well, it'll probably be something special."

"She has to charge up longer because of all that extra energy she has," Lydia asides to Mikaia beforel ooking back to Lily. She says, "What are your tastes? I eat just about anything."

As uh evidenced by, you know.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied glances to Noeline, then back towards Mikaia as she fusses with a bit of her hair, even as Mikaia's starting to grow up enough to pout just a little as if she wants to do it herself. She doesn't hate it or anything, though. Woe be the day Mikaia also feels she's too grown up for Sleeping with Mom...

"Wayside..." Riesenlied whispers. "... is an ideal older than the siege of Adlehyde, but..." She hesitates. "Suffice to say, I was conflicted with how to carry out the logistics of it. My vouching to bring the Tainted as the workers of Old Petra to carry them to Ignas was... a pragmatic way to bring us out of the Photosphere... a staging operation, as it were."

Mikaia beams as she says, "Just think about how happy Riesemama will be! Her horns will be-- wiggle-wiggle..." as Noeline pokes Janey-- and she suddenly rolls and goes, "Gyaah, have I been found out?!"

Janey flops with a big, silly grin to go, "Aww, and I was happy just listenin' in."

Riesenlied smiles warmer at Lydia as she expresses, "Ah, that would be fun if the two are you are up to it. I'll get out of your hair for a bit, hehe..." at the idea of Noeline spending time with Lydia, looking to the shaman as she expresses her thoughts about Odoryuk.

"That's right... I've got your support, I know it'll go well," she decides to be optimistic.

Janey beams to Lydie and goes, "Ta-da-dah! Janey's one hundred percent charged and ready to go!" She tilts her head at Lily to go, "I think it's all that, adult drinks. You know, the stuff Val likes to make and Argus likes sneaking under the counter..." but she doesn't sound too serious.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline is very much Janey's mother; even though she's still quietly fussing over Riesenlied, she's still incredibly quick to pick up on the sudden teasing and add her own to it. "Drinks /and/ burnt bits," she corrects quickly, unable to avoid the grin on her face as she says it. "Mustn't forget to get some fibre in your diet, after all."

She pauses, and even if she'd never admit it-- closes her eyes to offer a brief moment of silence for Adlehyde. Her thoughts on it aren't quite as complicated as Arctica, but her smile is sstill rather rueful. "And I was still the flighty Crimson Noble, as opposed to the tamed one," she jokes afterwards, though, putting a toothy grin on her face. "We have all come a very long way, of course, and I don't just mean to Lunar."

When she tilts her head towards the shaman, it's with a quiet huff of air. "You cannot solve every problem. I realize we all keep trying regardless, but it's still important to bear in mind," is her surprisingly measured response, softer than one might expect from the metal demon. "And-- yes, that sounds like a good idea. After all, it's been long enough that I'll bet Janey's forgotten everything Ambrosius taught her," she adds with another grin. It's a pretty bare-faced lie - but perhaps that's just her way of setting up a starting point.

That said, she puffs and grumbles at Mikaia; perhaps light teasing back and forth is just how she interacts best with the children. "I should hope so. Last time, I'm sure the oven was just too hot on its own." Even saying that, she tilts her head a little, nudging Riesenlied in Mikaia's direction. [OOC] Lily Keil pffff

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"I promised van Houten that I would relax," Lily says with a sigh. "...And told Riesenlied as much." She pauses, at that. "I don't think that's weak, Lydia. It's natural, to want that. These unsolved problems--are they your problems?"

The talk of the Guardian is interesting, but she doesn't know much about them beyond what she's learned. Wayside, though, "Old Petra... I remember that, too. When I first met..." She trails off. "Yes, I see. It's taken you time."

She actually /does/ laugh very faintly at Janey's answer to the question of her tastes. "Yes, you can't forget the burnt parts," Lily answers. "...No, though you're more astute than I realized. I like rations. I enjoy trying the rations of different armies--they grew on me some, in the army."

"Have we, though? I'm not sure how far I've come, really. But the set of you... certainly." Yes, that is measured. "Regardless, while you handle such things I can keep Riesenlied company, I think. ...I've had enough of walking so far today."

Which, considering how stiff she's sitting, might be for the best.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia gasps. "Janey! You were awake...the whole time?!" She reaches forward and will pull Janey into a hug too if she doesn't escape. She has learned to not do the headpats. Even if they are OK with them, she doesn't want to remind them of their scars or even make them flinch. It's better to show affection in other ways. There are options in life besides headpats.

"You're not in our hair Riesenlied, you're in..." Lydia places the back of her hand on her forehead. "...our hearts!"

CHEESY SOAP OPERA STING.

Lydia doesn't argue with Noeline. "Hey you're not wrong, it's just how it feels sometimes, you know?" Her cheeks are red though from embarrassment, though it's not like ANGRY embarrassment, just the normal sheepish kind.

"Some of 'em." Lydia admits to Lily. "I don't know. Sometimes problems that are yours and those that are others kinda get mixed up."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Janey and Mikaia get a Lydie hug! It's cute to see the three of them bunched up like that, with Janey cackling as she remarks, "Oooh! What a cheesy line, I love it! Mom's in our hearts, uh huh!" as Riesenlied very predictably flushes and melts as Janey makes a little heart with her fingers. "Oh, you three..."

Riesenlied chuckles faintly to Noeline to say, "You don't have to say -- 'tamed'... that makes it sound like I browbeat you into it. And yes-- one problem at a time. The hunters of the Fereshte always say that if you chase after two hares at once, you catch neither, after all."

Janey blinks and grumps, "Hey! I'll show you the Super Magdalen DX robot that I've been tinkering with!" The Super Magdalen DX is a little wind-up butler about three inches tall, but it's the thought that counts. Right? Besides, she's a future gearhead...

Surprisingly though, she also chimes in: "Ooh, rations! Man that takes me back. We had a big roaming stint before we met Riesemama where we could only find rations in abandoned boxes." She seems like she's super nostalgic about it: "Remember when you got so sick of the veggie omelette, Mickey? 'Vomelette' you called it! You got so miserable you would only eat peanut butter straight from the tube."

Mikaia kind of-- melts in embarrassment at that. "Janeeey... you said you'd never tell that story again...!"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline looks almost comically glum at Lily, and the thought of subsisting on rations; her own tastes have always been very eclectic, after all, but more likely to trend between adventurous or comforting depending on how she's feeling. Obviously, from her point of view, she's not entirely sure rations count for either. "Really, now... I realize that you probably can't compare them to Photosphere supplies, but still, I perish at the thought. They've yet to learn about 'flavour' there," she grumbles.

"I know. All too well. ... well, at the same time, I dare say I'm a little too stubborn to truly help out in some of those cases. Certainly, I didn't do a great deal last night in presenting my point," she huffs to herself with a shake of her head, but she's quick to let it go, and tilt her head towards Janey's exclamation. "I've promised to let her work on it all alone, so she can figure out how it all works. But it wouldn't hurt to look it over sometime and see how you've done."

(... Shalune probably helps. 'Helps'. "Janey, let's add little firework launchers on the shoulders!")

Noeline's chuckle in answer to Riesenlied is just as fond; despite everyone around, she huffs as she leans down to place a kiss on the other demon's hairline. "I'm only teasing. Of course, my being here is my own choice--" The moment is kind of postponed when Janey blithely reveals Mikaia's secrets, and Noeline's right back to 'comically glum'. "... somehow, it feels like I should prepare a lecture..."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily offers /no/ one hugs, whatsoever. She sighs about the cheesy line, though. "I think that one was almost actually painful," she answers. "...But, it's not so bad." She's not going to complain about the sweet moment between them. Not much, anyway.

"Still, welcome to awake, Janey." She pauses, and when the two talk about rations--"Ah, yes, I remember that one. It wasn't /that/ bad, really. ...Of course, our squadron dumped it in the desert and claimed it'd been destroyed in an Avehan raid." Slow shrug.

"The worst is probably their attempt at bread pudding. Have you ever found one of those?"

She grins at Noeline, not quite energetic enough for cheer but trying. "The flavor is part of the adventure. ...Besides. Back when I was hiding my magic... I'd eat whatever I could get my hands on. It's not like I could explain to my squad why I was so hungry all the time."

She considers, "Don't worry about the point. ..I'm interested in your robot, Janey. But..." Being here as a choice. A lecture, is it. But--

"Sometimes that happens," Lily says to Lydia, "...But it seems to happen more when Riesenlied is around. If people would listen to me more, we'd be less entangled in other peoples' business."

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia is happy to be bunched up like this even if it is cute. Lydia secretly likes being cute even if she is tall and awkward. "What does the DX stand for?" She asks because someone has to. Naturally, she snickers a bit at 'Vomelette' because she's not exactly super mature.

"Can't lectures wait...?" Lydia whines because even cute lectures are still lectures. She looks over to Lily for a bit before she laughs a little, managing a wider smile. "Fair enough!" She admits. "Maybe we secretly get off of it." Pause. "Or not so secretly."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"Uh..." Janey squints for a moment at Lydia's question about the 'DX'. "Um, to be honest, I was gonna draw a smiley face on it but my hand slipped so it kinda more looks like it's screaming in pain. So it's like, 'Super Magadlen Bwaaaargh'!" It doesn't stand for Deluxe....?? "I'll show you sometime, Miss Lily!"

Riesenlied's cheeks are still rather red as she smiles at Noeline and says, "They were rather unique, weren't they...?" She pats her on the hand again and crooks her head down, letting her stroke her hair and kiss her on her hairline.

"I'm so glad to be able to cook for all of you now..." Riesenlied says, with Janey laughing to go, "Oh, me too! But it's kind of-- I mean, we were even littler back then, and finding food in a box like that felt like-- getting manna from Granas or something!"

Mikaia's reaction to Lily is all she needs to know. "...Bread pudding is a gift from Valmar, not Granas..." That bad, huh?

Janey whistles to go, "Huh, magic makes you super-duper hungry? Maybe I should learn magic so I can have seconds!" to Mikaia very gently wapping her over the head to go, "You eat more than your share already, you're as bad as Dean!" There's a soft laugh as Riesenlied slowly closes her eyes, feeling rather pleased about all of the amiable banter going around...

... oh dear, she might be dozing off soon...

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline glances towards Riesenlied, and the way she's quietly powering down; she huffs softly under her breath in a moment's concern, but at least this sleep seems much more peaceful than that from earlier. Her hand continues to sift gently through the other demon's hair, coaxing her into drifting off.

"--so be it, but bear in mind your rations weren't the equivalent of a handful of screws," she grumbles good-naturedly, flicking out her hair again. That's still selling the Photosphere rather short, but then this is Noeline, who left the demon's cradle long ago and promptly touristed her way all around the world, so perhaps her viewpoint is a bit skewed.

"Don't deny me my one joy," Noeline huffs towards Lydia in the next moment, though the way she says it is anything but serious, a rather toothy grin; she glances towards the children once more, letting out a quiet sigh of private relief.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"True," Lily says to Noeline. "I doubt even I could eat that much metal." It is pretty cute, overall. Lily is willing to watch cute but she is not willing to be a part of it right now. Lydia's answer, though, gets a rueful shake of Lily's head. "You're like Riesenlied," she points out. "...It's not an awful way to be. But it proves that I was right to try to keep you alive instead of expecting you to manage on your own."

"Hmmm. I'll look forward to it, Janey."

"I can't complain about home cooking," she admits, though she actually smiles at Mikaia and Janey without noticing she's doing it at all, now that they're talking with her. "I agree." Learn magic, hm? "I can always try to teach you. ...But I doubt you'd like my methods much." That hangs, "It does, though. Many mages I've known have greater appetites than most--I'm no exception. And the more magic I use, the more I need to eat."

She notices Riesenlied dozing... and doesn't try to wake her.

"One joy, is it? I think you have more than one of those. If I could relax half as well as you can I wouldn't need to drink."

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia says, "That's okay. Sometimes in science, a mistake is an innovation. A lot of important discoveries were found by messing up, so perhaps 'DX' is just an innovation in the making."

Lydia nods once, believing this entirely all the way. It does seem like folks are getting dozey. Lydia is not dozey because she is young and cyborgy as opposed to old and tired like her player, but she isn't about to wake Riesenlied up all the same.

"Well everyone should have at least one joy," Lydia admits to Noeline.