2019-05-23: Dinner for Three

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  • Log: Dinner for Three
  • Cast: Marivel Armitage, Kamui, Acacia Saitani
  • Where: Luca
  • Date: 23rd May 2019
  • Summary: Marivel releases some pent-up frustration with chores and Kamui and Acacia are invited to a nostalgic dinner.


<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel returned to the Luca hideout seething and snarling and saying unkind things about White Knight Leo (the latest attempt at diplomacy, it seems, did not go well) with a slew of shopping bags being carried by Nob behind her. Said hideout has gone from 'hideout' to rapidly more comf living space as time has gone on without being kicked out. She has shooed everyone out for a while saying she had some work to do and to come back later in the day.

Some time later, she has finally opened the door to let folks come back in. Marivel is all smiles and whatever has been bothering her has been banished for the moment. Apparently when Marivel is very upset she does chores and it does seem to do its job of improving her mood. The commons area has a table set up with several plates around the table of various romanian dishes such as stuffed cabbages (Marivel is not vegetarian so some have beef inside but others are filled with vegetables), tripe soup, and eggplant salad and she's made plenty for anyone who happens to come by.

No deserts, of course, since Marivel knows to hide such things but Marivel has set aside an E-Tank 'Juice Box' near one of the plates.

"I thought I would work off some stress. I don't know your diet, Acacia," Marivel is saying. "So I tried to keep to some variety. I'll eat whatever you two don't want so don't feel pressured to try anything."

"Chirp chirp...!" Nob is bouncing around Kamui excitedly. This is happening no matter what she's actually doing.

<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.

Kamui has spent the last couple of hours wowing Acacia (hopefully), nearby children and a whole lot of concerned Yevonites with the miraculous, magical act of the mysterious hair-shifting Kamui! The hottest newest magical act in the blocks!

This involves just rapidly pressing L1 to change her hairstyle as she tabs through all her Special Weapons. There's Mari Blonde, Acacia Red, Lanval Water, and so on.

She also looks pretty tired by the time they've returned, because hairshifting seems to take a lot out of her. "Oh... ooh..."

Nob is chirping around her, and Kamui instinctively goes and hugs the little adorable sphere. She's...

Staring straight at the E-Tank juice box.

Bad Kamui, no dessert until you've finished your vegetables!

<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.

Acacia hasn't really minded being turfed out of their hideout; she's a pretty active sort in general, and it's given her a chance to nudge Kamui out to take some photographs and write some stories about recovery and hope, rather than bad news and Sin attacks. She's not normally that sentimental, but she's self-aware enough to realize how frayed she's been getting - and it's easy to see that the people of Luca could use a break as well.

It's also given her a chance to catch the arm of a couple of Al Bhed still in port, and ask them a few questions on the downlow. Not that it really presents her with any direct leads right now, but... a lead to a lead is enough for her to be satisfied with the day, and she doesn't want to stay away from Kamui too long just in case she's labelled a machina and carted off by the guard.

There is only one problem with leaving Acacia outside for any length of time: when they return, she's carrying a suspicious paper bag, the smell of something fried wafting up from it. If that weren't enough to give her away, the guilty look she offers at the sight of the food laid out certainly is; she coughs, and clears her throat, and then raises her eyebrows as she hides the bag behind her back in the least subtle manner possible.

"Wow, you went all out," she comments instead with a huff of air and a light grin, setting the bag aside - she's not rude enough to turn down something like this - and she's hungry besides, so she sneaks a square of eggplant to tide her over while she shrugs her jacket off. "I don't recognize it. West Aquvy stuff?"

<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.

She's making up for her recent stress by fussing over Kamui a little - and with the way the Reploid is stumbling, nudges her enough to propel her towards a place to sit down, doing her best not to swat at Nob. "You did good, I think. Doesn't hurt to be entertainers for a day, right?" she encourages with a chuckle.

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Nob is seized by Kamui and is hugged! It wiggles a little bit in Kamui's arms and immediately makes a sleepy face.

"Nob," Marivel chastizes. "All you did was hold bags, so don't you dare."

Nob chirps noisily and then goes back to sleepyface version.

Marivel sniffs. At first it's to express her displeasure, but then she sniffs again, noise wrinkling as her gaze travels towards that bag Acacia is hiding. That bag... with something FRIED inside! She sniffs again.

"Hey." She says. "I can reheat that if it gets cold later. Or this. If you prefer this." She cups her chin thoughtfully. "I guess I should have mentioned I was going to do some cooking so you didn't go out and pick something out yourself. My mistake."

She takes one of the stuffed beef cabbages for herself. She only really gets nutrition out of blood and spirit but she can still put vegetables in her mouth and enjoy the taste of it.

"I made something else," Marivel tells Kamui. "For when you've eaten your vegetables. But you'll never know where I hid it until you do...!"

She glances at a nearby fridge for a too long length of time before turning back to Acacia. "Hope your week's been going better than mine. How's the Bouletin." She puts extra emphasis on the Boule. "I think the work in Kilika is going well though to hear Leo speak of it...ngghh..."

She shakes her head. "Anyway, I feel a lot better so I will not be talking about that any further."

She nods once. "Urartu region, thereabouts. You'd likely find some similar stuff near Guild Galad, but I'm using my family's recipes." Pause. "Minus the, ah, parts you would not likely find appetizing."

<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.

Kamui does spend some time patting over Nob's head, because between this and the foods that Marivel has prepared...

MEMORY ACCESSED

Once more, Kamui finds herself patting Nob and cradling her in her arms as she overlooks a grand castle's dining room, with the mysterious but familiar M. Armitage looming over one end as she prepares various delicious Urartu dishes like aforementioned stuffed cabbages with beef and eggplants.

...

The camera pans out a little to reveal that M. and Kamui are using basically 10% of the comically long dining table. They're seated apart from each other, because Hob is between them and Nob in the other--

MEMORY CORRUPTED

"... hhh ... hhhrr--" Kamui's voicebox kind of goes mechanical for a moment as her camera eye twitch-convulses.

Then she recovers from that, as she doubly reanimates and pumps her hands to go, "Master! We have to eat all the vegetables, so that we can have a treat! I'll start with the cabbage..."

There's a twinkle from her surviving blue, human eye.

"My Solar Furnace can efficiently convert vegetables...!" Kamui proclaims proudly, despite all she's bragging about is being... an incinerator for food? That doesn't sound particularly beneficial.

She was out with Acacia too to talk to some of the Al Bhed, but eventually entertaining became the story of the day. "Hmm... it was very fun. And the children were laughing... it was... good."

<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.

Acacia smirks over at the vampire, shrugging one shoulder as she sets the bag down on a kitchen counter. She's pretty used to their hideout, remarkably capable at adjusting for someone who grumbles so much about wanting to be back at /her/ home. "I'm not that stupid as to turn down something fresh. It's just old habits dying hard, that's all," she adds with a wry grin as she waves off Marivel's apology, then... ... sneaks another bag out of one pocket of her vest, to join the first.

Someone really needs to reevaluate her dietary habits sometime soon.

Sitting down next to Kamui, she busies herself loading up a plate. "Mm. We had a chat with some Al Bhed, asked them to spread the word around that we're looking out for a machina. ... promised them they could take a peek at it too if we found it," she adds with a smirk, but relaxes immediately. "See what that turns up, I guess."

"In the meantime, the Bouletin's taking it easier this issue. I think everyone needs a bit of good news. Maybe that's biased of me, but it's not like all the other rules are holding steady in a place like this."

Sensitive to the noise of it, she glances across from her plate of salad with a sharp look when Kamui's voice twists, and holds her position for a long moment - until she's absolutely sure the Reploid is alright, until Kamui's cheering and suddenly a lot more upbeat. "... uh-/huh/. You didn't efficiently convert those carrots you pushed around your plate the other day," she finds herself teasing with a nudge of her elbow.

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel lowers her head, not looking directly at Kamui when she convulses. She swings one arm over to the other and gives it a squeeze. She never really means to trigger memories within Kamui, knowing how often it causes her pain, but in a way she can't help it. Her habits haven't wildly changed over the years. Sometimes she wonders if she really ever lived past the Zeboim era or if her heart and thus the rest of her has remained behind and all she is a collection of echoing feelings that never quite fill all the way.

But then Kamui recovers and seems just as energetic as ever. She's really tough after all. Marivel manages a smile again. "It honestly took most of the time to make it. After all the hard work you've done I felt I owed you two. Especially you, Kamui. Thanks to you we might be able to get back home."

Her eyes widen as Acacia says Kamui hasn't been /eating her carrots/.

"Have you been skipping out on meals, Kam Kam?" She crosses her arms. "Carrots are good for eyesight, you know!"

Or at least that's what she heard on some TV station back in the day. If it works for humans it probably works for robots.

"A light issue would be welcome." Marivel admits but she doesn't go into detail. It's tough to avoid the harsh reality right now but Marivel can use her cleanse tool FOUR TIMES to help dodge it. Her supreme vampiric senses totally miss Acacia sneaking away another bag of fried goods. SNEAK SUCCESS.

"That should help a lot. If anybody can find missing machines that may be under the ocean for all we know--it'd be them. I pray it doesn't draw them into danger--" But even Marivel with her own brand of salvaging experience cannot compare to a crew of Al Bhed. If she could, her castle would be even more full of random crap.

"When we get back home, I wonder if she'll be upset for keeping him away for so long."

<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.

Perhaps it's just inevitable, much like how reminders come and go in a regular human or Crimson Noble's mind, that memories resurface so often. And perhaps to Kamui, constant reminders are worth the pain than the numbness of forgetting everything, however darque that sounds. "Master really likes her fried foods..." she muses.

She looks to Acacia again and whines as she gets teased about carrots. "Carrots are tough... they spend so much time powering up. Even when you put them under pressure...!"

Marivel joins in! "Muimuimui... mmm, it can't be helped..." Kamui goes full shikatanai for a moment, "Then, for the sake of my camera eye, I will eat carrots."

She forks a carrot and starts nibbling at it. She makes the face of a kid eating her veggies. But then... there's a pause. Marivel's compliment of her helping seems to make her happier.

"Mari... we had a moment... like this. A long time ago... in a... a..." She hesitates. "Castle." There's a deep frown as she remarks, "It was... nostalgic. In a good way."

It sounded like it was very tough for her to resurface all of that, but she seems more happy at the effort and that she has tried.

<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.

Acacia might be dimly aware of the history of her own line, but only in a vague sense. In all other respects, she's a fairly immediate person, stuck firmly in the present; she can't speak towards Kamui's memories, or Marivel's past. Part of her knows this, even as she watches the pair while nibbling around the circumference of a slice of cucumber.

"I dunno that I've done all that much. We've mostly been tossed around by fate or luck so far, I think," she admits with a lopsided grin, tugging at a lock of messy red hair to twiddle it between her fingers. "But, it's appreciated. I kinda feel a lot more human this week." Given the company she keeps, she could have worded that better - but as a means to fish a response out of Marivel, it's probably the most tempting line she could dangle.

"I figured they knew what they were doing. Still, I gave them a description of each of the people who attacked us, told them to stay clear and be careful," she reports - and then visibly puts it out of mind, stretching up her arms as she lets out a sigh of relief. Her habit of drawing a thick line between rest and work... ... even if, the way she described the day, it's swung back and forth enough times already.

"Yeah, don't think I didn't see you trying to squish them with your spoon, too," she puffs. "That's not the pressure you're supposed to put them under. And what's wrong with what I eat?" The pout suggests she knows full well - still, for someone who eats like crap she's surprisingly unpicky when it comes to the food in front of her, humming to herself as she peers at her stuffed cabbage then giving it an appraising try.

She's still chewing when Kamui pipes up, glancing across to give the robot girl her full attention. That turns out to be the right thing to do, and she's quite to perk up as she listens along, her curiosity riding high as Kamui paints a picture. A past that already feels nostalgic. How long ago must that be, she wonders?

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

"Sometimes the way we help one another isn't something that can be seen in objectives fulfilled or battles fought." Marivel says. "Sometimes who you are is more important than what you do. And sometimes, sharing a little bit of 'who' you are... is the best help you can give someone, your presence and your nature proving a capable salve for the wounds of the spirit."

She smiles. "I feel a lot more human in this moment too." She pokes at the cabbage. Humanity, she has a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. Sometimes she finds them all to be arrogant and barely functional, othertimes she finds herself truly impressed by what they have accomplished and the care they can show to others.

"I tried opening up a bit to Leo yesterday." Marivel says. "It did not go well. His pain is as such that his heart is closed. I fear for the Guard and what they might do."

She looks towards Acacia. "But I feel with you two, I need not worry about such things. In this way, even a world in which I am a stranger can feel like home. Though making some old comforts from home certainly doesn't hurt."

She smiles over to Kamui as if to say 'that's right, eat it all up'. She laughs briefly at Kamui making that face, finding it incredibly precious. Kamui might forget one day, but moments like those Marivel never forgets.

"When Lumen had..." Marivel shifts tracts quickly. "...I made sure you always had a place to stay there. You still do. Whenever you want. 'Master' is welcome too, of course, though she might need time to get used to it."

She smiles. "I know how that's like, to remember something that is both nice and tough. I hope you remember a lot of memories like that, Kamui, and make new ones too though I know it's hard."

<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.

Kamui spends some time working through her carrots and some of her other foods. She seems to warm up to the food after a bit; as she's already pointed out, the familiarity seems to be invigorating her appetite and getting her to eat more. Monch monch monch. Mmm mari make good food, 10/10

She doesn't know about the Guard all that much, though, so she can't really comment on it. "Hmm.... they lost a lot of folks," is all she can express, from what she wrote and covered on Operation Mi'ihen. She looks to Acacia with a whine and says, "Master's eating habits is going to make her gain weight. Did you know, if you gain too much weight, you lose Speed and therefore Master's turn will come later? Think of the improved initiative, mui."

...???

But she pauses back towards Marivel and wipes her mouth, looking towards the Crimson Noble a little more intently. A bit longer.

"... Kamui feels bad that she forgot. But Mari was there... a lot longer... how far back, she doesn't know, but..."

She closes her eyes.

"I'm glad to remember that much, mui... even if it's slow and comes in pieces and I get details wrong..." She nods a few times. "It feels... like home. Kamui agrees."

<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.

"... it's good," Acacia adds out of the blue when she swallows, directed towards the Crimson Noble. Not exactly the eloquent sort, it seems like the best bit of punctuation she could add to Marivel's words of warmth; she's a little awkward in her own skin to add more than that, at least for the moment, and maybe that's okay.

"Leo-- the Althenan Guard. I remember there was a whole lot of bad feeling when they turned up in Adlehyde," she muses in between forkfuls. "I mean, it was always pretty fishy that they'd show up out of the blue and basically take occupancy of a major city. Relief work, sure, but their presence was pretty forceful. ... still, from what I remember, they're mostly likely to try pushing their religion, right? Seems like a good way to get dumped on in Spira," she adds rather bluntly.

She shares a silent glance with Marivel for a moment, her brow furrowed a little as she considers the difference between 'Lumen' and 'Master', and the fragmented state of Kamui's memories. There's a suspicion building at the back of her mind that the two might be muddled together, but-- well, what do you do about something like that? It is better to just not mention it? She's still not sure. Caring for a Reploid's a bit different to owning a hamster.

Shaking herself out of it, she gives Kamui the lightest of bops on the head. "You just watch me. I've got plenty of initiative, thanks," she grumbles back, though with an amused light in her eyes. "And I'll have you know I do enough exercise. I don't even eat that much, if you spread it out for the whole day," the reporter adds defensively, glossing over the occasional 1-meal days.

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel's first thought when Kamui says the Guard lost a lot of people is 'Is that a lot?' but she pushes back such a thought. Instead she says, "Mm. But if he is not careful..."

She nods slowly to Kamui's explanation even though it clearly doesn't work like that. "It's true. You are what you eat after all." Well for Marivel that might be more literally true. Nevertheless, Kamui is giving her a long look and Marivel says, "Ah--right. I should fetch the secret desert."

She stands herself up and makes her way to the fridge--who knew it would be in there??--and draws out a tray of three baked apples with nuts on top! It's basically this: https://romanianfood.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/mere-coapte-baked-apples/

She sets it down on the table but does not reach for one herself. She may have anticipated that Kamui might go for two.

She looks towards Acacia. "Mm... Perhaps that is why he is so angry at Killika. They don't seem to be so intent on allowing the Guard be in charge of the reconstruction. And I suppose now most Spirans would prefer to stay close to Yevon in light of recent events."

She wonders for not the first time how to tell Acacia her suspicions of who she is. Would she believe it? It might not even mean much to her. Maybe once she gets to know Lumen better. She isn't feeling very chatty after those talks with Vinsfeld and Leo.

"Well, more than exercise, diet is what's most important." Marivel says. "The benefit of exercise is not entirely in weight watching either. Truly not even the most important part."

<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.

Religion is a really curious topic to Kamui, because she never... really understood it, perhaps. Perhaps it is a limitation of the depths of simulation that the Suffering Circuit could reproduce, or perhaps it's the self-awareness of one's being as a mechanical construct. But it isn't like she isn't sympathetic.

...

...

But her thoughts are interrupted with apple, with nuts ontop. And her face turns more apple-like the more she stares upon it. Waggle waggle... nom.

Mmm... apple...

"Hmm......." Kamui seems content right now. Perhaps thinking of Marivel and the Castle has exhausted her for the time being.

Then she sips from the E-Tank juice box.

X* [||||||||||||||||||||||||||||]

ah, this is reploid heaven...

(* its a K but it's stylised mysteriously so that its two struts are pulled leftward. It probably means nothing.)

<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.

Acacia isn't quite ready for dessert; she's being quite slow about eating, perhaps recognizing this is one of the few times she can sit back and savour it properly rather than grab a running breakfast or a hurried dinner. In deference to Marivel's effort, she's also taking care to try a bit of everything; if she didn't have the curiosity to try for new things, she reckons, she wouldn't be nearly as much of a reporter.

"Maybe. But it could just be that they're stranded, too. ARMS is a pretty small group, and we're all the sort to travel light and roll with it. I'll bet 'an entire wing of the Althenan Guard' has a lot more trouble adjusting." She hesitates - you can see in her eyes that the same sort of curiosity has flared up again, and that she might be thinking about going to Kilika and making a bit of a nuisance of herself as she looks around.

At the same time, she lets that thought go for now, instead grimacing at Marivel. "I'm fine," she positively whines. "I know my limits! Mostly! I try to eat well when I've got the chance," she adds in protest, then chuckles. "I mean, sure, I'll admit this is pretty much getting spoiled, but that's what happens when you're working solo."

She settles back, giving herself a bit to rest between courses. Her gaze naturally strays to Kamui, and she huffs out another laugh as the Reploid blobs out. "... want to swing by the kids again tomorrow morning? They're not Tony and the other boys, but maybe it'll do some good to stop in and say hello?" she suggests.

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

The apples seem to be the end of it. She tries not to make it seem like she's rushing the meal so much as setting it out so that they can be there whenever someone finishes their non-desert meal.

Nob seems to be happy to just be held by Kamui and flops over onto its side a bit. Don't forget to pamper the robopet. At least, that might be one interpretation of its movements.

Hob hasn't revealed itself because Marivel has lent that particular robofriend to Rikku in the aftermath of Operation Mi'ihen as a therapy bot.

Kamui seems to be in a good mood, Marivel thinks. That's good. It's good. It's really good. After everything you put her through, it's good.

"Stranded." Marivel reflects. "Well, maybe so, but they chose to come here."

When she's got a chance, Marivel thinks. "Well I am in a spoiling mood." She says, managing a smaller smile, which becomes a grimace when Tony is mentioned because Tony is, well...

Sometimes kids say the darnedest things.

"I think they'd like that." Marivel says, resisting the urge to send them towards the Fereshte to see how adorable THAT place is. She's honestly not sure how she managed such resilience... she must have have had some eelectrical help there!

"I can't wait to go back home," Marivel says. "Drifting isn't the same when there is but one path before you."