2018-09-23: A Weird Friendship
- Log: A Weird Friendship
- Cast: Loren Voss, Lan Lilac
- Where: Bledavik - Shakhan Square
- Date: September 23rd 2018
- Summary: Lan (now aligned to the cause of Solaris) finds Loren at a festival in Bledavik. They have a brief discussion, and he speaks of his current plans.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It's said that Bledavik is known for its festivals. It often seems like one's just barely over and done with before another's set up and underway. Even with a year and then some of service here on the surface under his belt, Loren's not certain if this is a thing that's peculiar to this city in particular, or just a fact of life for larger places on Filgaia.
One of these days he should check up on that with Cultural.
But here he is again, out and about on leave (at Major Sadalbari's strong suggestion) for the next few weeks, and with little else to do -- maybe he should head out east and see what the local Drifter population is sticking their fingers into -- he's come to the festival.
What this one is celebrating he's not even remotely sure of. There was the one last year celebrating the beginning of summer, the one celebrating the middle of summer, the one celebrating the end of summer, the one celebrating the harvest, the one celebrating the harvest moon (completely different), the one celebrating ancestors, the one celebrating the coming of the rains...
...He's really not sure what this one is about, but it seems to have something to do with... fruit? Water? ...Juice?
Of course it's in the mix of that -- and the uncertain agitation that always comes with a throng of people this size -- that he realizes he knows the trio over there, laughing and looking like they're having a generally good time.
One's blond. The other two aren't. They've been drinking, he thinks.
When he'd started at Jugend, they'd all been at least mutual friends.
He turns away, opting instead to vanish back into the festival crowd of Lambs.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Lan loves the apple festival! Sure, it's an excuse to get drunk with friends and family, but it's also a general celebration of the apple harvest. The transfer to this city went really well, she reflects, and sips at a mug of heated cider. It's really nice to be back from Lunar.
While the early fall weather isn't quite cool yet, it's not stiflingly warm anymore. She's enjoying the comfortable temperatures in a pair of capris and a light blouse, with her hair pulled back. There's a bright red apple barrette clipped at the base of her ponytail. It's not exactly her normal gear, but it blends in pretty well with the local aesthetic.
And blending in is important!
Too bad Lieutenant Voss isn't very good at it. She can practically sense him being awkward somewhere in the crowd. Also, they were supposed to meet for lunch. Something about getting familiar with the region? Lan heard 'festival' and was immediately sold on the whole thing. Siiiiigh... it looks like she'll have to search for him.
A hand lands on Loren's shoulder. It's attached to an arm that's attached to a familiar Drifter... "Hey! Did you get distracted by something?" Lan asks him, waving her cider mug around cheerfully. "Don't tell me you already ate!"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Loren has not, in perhaps the truest demonstration of how his focus can end up working for him at times, noticed that specifically it's apples and apples alone that are the star of this particular festival. Give him a few hours, he might work it out on his own, though.
Though not in uniform -- it wouldn't be too out of place in Bledavik, the natives are used to seeing Gebler soldiers and officers in their streets by now -- he does still stick out in his own way. Thus, he moves more through the crowd as he attempts to evade a confrontation (or non-confrontation, or even just making eye contact) with his ex-friends rather than with it, in search of 'an away from' as opposed to any place in particular.
Such progress is interrupted when a hand plants on his shoulder. He turns, and sharply.
"What?"
He looks her over. It's still baffling to him. He had assumed she was going to simply be disposed of, and yet -- whether it was because of what he'd said about her or not -- she'd been permitted to live.
For now, at least. She's still a tool, just a different sort of tool.
One with a likely use-by date.
"...I didn't," and it's technically true; he's only had a baked apple. "Did you have somewhere in mind?"
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"Not yet. Even if I had, it's fine to overeat a little during a party." She falls into step beside him, fingers hooked in her pockets. "I think I saw a sign for apple dumplings a few blocks ago. I want to see if they put cheese on top like some people do with apple pie." (Lan may not have an entirely accurate idea of what an apple dumpling even looks like.)
"And there was another place that was offering an apple wrapped in ham slices and dough. And apples with ice cream. I get the feeling we're going to be sick of apples before the day's out, huh?" She hardly seems concerned about it, meandering easily along. "I'm glad you ended up getting a few days off after everybody got back. Didn't you say you actually saw that whale thing? Sin?" She fakes a brief shudder for Loren's benefit. Brrr!
The streets are full of people, but not so much so that it's uncomfortable to walk and talk side by side. "What're you going to do with it all?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Cheese with a sweet pie? Hmm. I haven't heard of that." ...It sounds like it might be good. He won't be able to tell for certain until he gives it a try, himself. "As long as it's not over there." He gestures away from the direction he'd come from. Probably they won't stay there forever, probably it'll be another roving issue he'll have to deal with, but at least he can put it off for now.
...Apple dumplings do sound good though.
So does apple ice cream.
"I wonder why apples?"
"More than a few days," he corrects, following along after her. "A few weeks, at least until the next assignment." He doesn't readily offer up further clarification -- she won't need it yet, so there's no reason to add risk by mentioning anything more than she should know.
Though it's a hard thing to gauge what they've done. Not quite reprogramming -- they didn't send her to Etrenank -- but...
But what?
...It's none of his business.
Even if the truth of this Lan who is quite certainly herself while also quite certainly not entirely being the girl he remembers is...
...
What do you call this? It's...
It's complicated, is what it is. It's something he doesn't want to pry into, is what it is.
In a few months, it won't matter anymore.
"...Do with what all?" he asks, jarred from his brief reverie. "'Sin'? It's not our problem." Now, at least. As long as it's on Lunar and not Filgaia.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"I had it once or twice, it's surprisingly good," she offers, as if Loren is making a life-altering decision or something and needs some sage advice. "But I can see how some people would think it's weird."
Indeed, there's very little different about Lan. Their strange not-friendship seems to have, for her, settled into the air of two business associates who might lunch together just for company. She's been somewhat more agreeable...
Maybe a little more helpful, overall, if one were to check some mysterious data set. But still Lan, as far as he can tell.
She makes a face at him, case in point. "No, not that, your time off! Are you going to rest and relax around... uh..." It occurs to Lan that she really doesn't have any idea where Loren lives when he isn't maintaining world order or whatever. "Your... place?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It's like meeting someone you knew once only to have them recount at length an assortment of adventures and encounters you have no recollection of anymore. Maybe it was something similar to a mental readjustment, if on a smaller scale. Now there's a thought to keep you up at night if you're the paranoid set -- how do you know that who you are and what you think about are things that actually belong to you? That they weren't planted there?
Loren gives this one a thought or two, then sets it aside with the equivalent of a mental shrug. It's unlikely. Sure, there are trespasses even a First Class citizen can make. Sure, there are secrets that he isn't even aware of the existence thereof.
But they would never do that to a First Class citizen. Third Class only needs it because they still carry vestiges of their tainted origins, no matter what skills or talents they had that caught Solaris' attention.
Still, it doesn't make their interactions any less strange. It's like she's become... more distant, in the same breath that she's become more managable.
Isn't it better like this?
"My time off?" He pauses for a moment, wrinkling his brow. "The dorms. No, I'm not hanging around here more than necessary."
For once in his life since he was assigned here -- well, outside the time Major Yugh borrowed him for an extensive road trip -- Captain Petran has no power over him. If he wants to go somewhere under the pretext of preparing, he can do that.
A higher authority has made it possible.
"I was thinking about heading east. To Adlehyde or something." Technically, it'd be a low-key workcation, but to be honest, he's happier having something to do and not just... spinning his wheels.
He's sure he could for example sleep for the next few weeks and no one would notice or care, but he's not sure what sort of state he'd end up in without having something to do.
It was easier in Jugend. There was always something he was supposed to be doing.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Lan, strangely enough, would notice if he did. Perhaps there's something unjust about that... Maybe it's better if he doesn't realize it.
"Adlehyde... it seems like it's been forever since I visited." How long is forever, anyway? "Let's see, it was a festival then too. Something about a statue, maybe?" It's been forever, definitely.
Lan abandons that train of thought as they get to the fabled apple dumpling cart, taking her place at the back of the line. "Anyway, what makes you choose Adlehyde? It's nice and green compared to a lot of places, even after the Metal Demon attack." There are plenty of trees still standing in between the buildings. "Is it that popular?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Something about ancient ruins, or whatever," Loren answers, with all the lazy dismissiveness of a teenager... which, he technically still is, at least for the next month or so.
Which is also a matter he's avoided thinking much about, for various reasons.
"It's where the Golems were being displayed. Before they lost them to the Metal Demons." Well, technically, they lost one to the Metal Demons, one to the Sand Pirates, and the other is in the tender care of Gebler/Solaris. Apparently they were things used against the Metal Demons once, which might explain why they'd taken the efforts to try and steal them in the first place -- better to keep a weapon out of the hands of your enemy rather than let them use them. "From what I understand, it was the fracturing of the statue there in that city that allowed their 'Mother' to reawaken..."
It's common knowledge at this point -- at least among those who wander the wastes or have been roped up in the fight to defend Filgaia.
Though the Guardians are hardly speaking to anyone anymore, are they...
He wouldn't know. After that time on the Moon, his tablet has been as silent and unspeaking as any lump of rock. If the Mountain Guardian's power truly sleeps within, it...
"It might be interesting. It was attacked shortly after we returned," he says, almost dismissively. It's as good as any place to put some space between himself, here, and his past. At least just for a little while.
There's one additional reason for going east, beyond the need to do something and beyond his general low-key agitation with the world and himself at large:
Leah Sadalbari, and everything she represents.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"Wait, it got attacked again? But why? If they attacked in the first place because they wanted to wake up their mother..." she trails off. It had been an absolute disaster. "Why come back? Did they leave something behind? Adlehyde can't have been fully rebuilt yet, so there wouldn't be any other reason too. That or they came back just to kill more humans."
That's something they would do, isn't it.
Metal Demons are just too dangerous to allow them to roam wherever they please. It's sad, but Lan knows there's no other way.
"If you're going to Adlehyde, would you mind if I came along? I haven't been in forever, after all, and it's always better to travel with another person you can trust." Someone like Loren, who is grumpy but is doing good work, or someone like herself.
They've got kind of a weird friendship, Lan supposes: a military medical technician with a sour face and a shaman-slash-'outside consultant on retainer'. The line moves forward.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Something about a statue, I think," Loren answers. "I suppose they were less than thorough the first time?" He shrugs, only to sigh. "More of a mess to clean up after."
He feels already like he's lept out of the frying pan of Lunar and all its hardships right into the fire of whatever awaits them in Elru.
You could have chosen otherwise, he reminds himself. Could have, yes, technically. But it was never a realistic option -- not if he wanted to make good use of his life.
Nothing less than something absolute and undeniable will do.
But while his thoughts may dwell in more inwards realms, he still notes, in passing, the points where Lan seems to fixate.
...So they added that? ...He can work with it.
"Though it would only be an added bonus for them to kill humans. I've crossed paths with their like once or twice before. They think of humans as little more than bugs, infesting a planet that should be theirs."
May as well add a little more fuel to that fire. When the time comes, they'll need her to be ready and willing to channel her connection to the Guardians.
"Hm?" He pauses. "You want to, what, come with me?" The only wrinkle he can see is if people try to isolate her and start asking her too many questions, but...
At least what's been done to her shouldn't unravel easily. Even if it's not a full indocrination.
Besides, she might be useful. His face is known by some -- hers isn't. Her fate, certainly not.
"...It's probably fine," he says at length. "I'll check to see if anyone here needs anything else from you first."
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"Yeah," Lan agrees, "They're just too dangerous."
After all, so many people had died or were injured in the invasion of Adlehyde. If it weren't for the existence of Metal Demons, of Mother, then those people would still be alive. "It's selfish, isn't it," she continues a moment later. "To only think about themselves." Something could have been worked out, surely, but they attacked instead.
"If you don't mind having me along. Visiting the moon was nice, but I think I'd like to see more of Filgaia. Familiar parts." She hasn't spent much time in Bledavik, and it's not her favorite place - Lan grew up on the edge of a desert, not all the way inside of it! At least Adlehyde is grassy.
They make it to the front of the line, and Lan is a little disappointed to find out there's no cheese involved with the apple dumplings. "Well, it's not like we can't just buy pie and cheese at just about any given time," she reasons, carefully turning an artfully-decorated pastry over in her hands. "Oh look, they made a little leaf out of dough~"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Someone like the Commander might say here, 'Not to worry. We will handle the situation'. Something like that at any rate -- some statement to indicate that all will be well, and that the Metal Demons will be eradicated from Filgaia.
Loren's response is to simply nod in assent. "Yeah..."
They are too dangerous. There's no question about that. Even the 'peaceful' ones like that woman from Wayside were simply too much of a threat.
"Yeah, it is."
Maybe another time he would have had some flat statement to make, some choice comment. But his mind is elsewhere.
He's got to get his head on straight, or he'll be the one being selfish. He can't stand thinking that.
Leah's taking a gamble even permitting this. And yet, he can't say he wants it any other way.
It's selfish, there's no doubt about it.
"You've been out east before? Hopefully before parts of it were destroyed. Though I suppose it's at least in better shape than parts out west, even without an invasion to blame."
The Badlands, for example.
Before long they get to the front of the line, and lo and behold, the vendor's still got some dumplings to sell.
"...I wonder why they decorate food," he comments, looking his own over. "It's just going to be eaten."
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"I'd only been through Adlehyde once or twice before the attack, but it was really beautiful. All those trees and the grass everywhere... it was just really refreshing!" Let's see, where's a shady spot... After a moment or two of searching, she leads him over to a section of wall that's juuust out of the sun.
Resting her back against the bricks, Lan takes a careful bite of dumpling. Huh, it's a little spicier than she'd expected - there's something sweet that isn't sugar or honey. "Oh wow, I think I just found my new favorite thing~"
Crossing her legs at the ankle, she watches people walk past them. "I never thought about it," Lan admits, tilting hers a bit to look at the leaf again. "Maybe it's to enhance the experience. Like you're not just eating something good, you're eating something beautiful too. It's like the opposite of a really ugly meal."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"So that's what's beautiful to you?"
She'd danced in the pouring rains on Lunar. Here on Filgaia, they'll be lucky if they see anything stronger than a spitter of a storm, even out east.
Though he distantly recalls something someone told him about the rains in the desert. Apparently, they can make even the relentless heat a mercy by comparison.
"Places like that are rare even around Adlehyde, you know," he says, never missing the moment to be a buzzkill. "As for me, I'll take any place with an open sky."
There's a thought. If nothing pans out as far as preparation goes, maybe he'll finally have the opportunity to look at the skies and enjoy it. (Lunar had the first but not the second.)
"Maybe," he allows, though the dubiousness he bears for the subject weighs heavily in his voice. "It still seems like a waste. It doesn't matter if food looks good or not, it still tastes the same..."
Said, perhaps, like someone who lives off of military rations. Even a civilization like Solaris meets with obvious limitations when it comes to MREs.
He leans against the wall himself, turns the dumpling over once in his hands, and then after eyeing it a moment more, takes a big old bite.
... ...... .........
Maybe he's not the best judge of these things -- he couldn't begin to guess what's in it other than apples and some sort of spice -- but...
But it tastes pretty good.