2020-09-28: The Spirograph Complexities of Immortal Bonds
- Log: The Spirograph Complexities of Immortal Bonds
- Cast:Seraph Boudicca, Marivel Armitage
- Where: The Fereshte
- Date: 2020-09-28
- Summary: Braided hair and muddied waters. Two immortal beings reconcile their differences and affirm their friendship, even though forever is a very, very long time. At least for now, Marivel can keep Boudicca close - as a new member of ARMS.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
And so the dragon-headed Fereshte spreads its wings...
... unseen by those in the rear guard.
Yevonites take a lot out of you.
When light becomes Boudicca again, weaving ribbon through braids, silks fluttering out around a frame of plate metal, she finds herself in a place familiar. She has been on board Fereshte before; she has seen its infirmary.
Her ribbon was on a nice little tufted pillow or something, obviously, because the Tainted medics here can at least give her a nice place to nap. Boudicca brushes it off before she ventures through the infirmary to find her friends. The ones who are actually awake, that is.
Again, Yevonites are a lot.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel has by this point abandoned the car wreck victim schtick and is just sort of sitting around in the infirmary, minding her own business as she writes in a small book titled 'Wisdom of the Crimson Nobles By M. Armitage', a gag that surely hasn't gotten old by now and that she's still going with despite everything. She lets out a faint yawn and any sort of goofy energy she had during the battle has faded once more. Marivel struggled with everything she had to just get through the events of the day and now she's just done. She isn't interested in people pleasing or, quite frankly, even leading at the moment.
She looks up to Boudicca upon hearing her enter. There is a faint brightening in the eyes and that's it.
Marivel nods once to Boudicca and then looks back down at her book. She doesn't say anything.
What a terrible prompt, Marivel!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
Boudicca smiles to Marivel. Boudicca looks to Marivel's book, and the weariness she carries.
Boudicca considers exiting out of the room, because Marivel looks completely done with everything. That's still her first instinct, when it comes to psychic injuries. But...
Instead, Boudicca enters the room properly, heads over to Marivel... and a little past Marivel, coming to a stop behind her chair. Her terrible plot..!
Cautiously, she reaches out to touch Marivel's hair, to see if Marivel will allow her to hair touch.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
- poik*
Marivel's hair is blonde and kind of curly at the ends. It does not attempt to bite Boudicca on the first poke. Does she dare try a second poke?!
So far Marivel just kind of endures the poke, though she does look up so she's clearly felt it. But the question on Marivel's mind right now is: Where is Boudicca going with this?
She holds off on asking to see where Boudicca is going with this. Boudicca can notice a pulse of tension in Marivel's shoulders. The body, when she's in it, is still a body after all. She holds off on engaging in an Ethius-long monologue in her head but she does look back down at her book, though she's stopped writing it.
A change has occured...?!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"Do not be alarmed," Boudicca speaks up, quietly, as Marivel tenses up. "Your hair is so long... I thought I might braid it."
Boudicca's proclivity for braiding things might be easy to miss when she braids her ribbons using magic, but it is surely still right there.
"Is that all right?" She asks, and the question is gentle.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"I'm not alarmed...!" Marivel says in a tone that suggests she might be a little alarmed here. But Boudicca offers to braid her hair and Marivel's shoulders slouch as they relax, slightly. "Oh--" Marivel does often braid her hair, usually a pair of them but she turns her gaze forward.
"Ah---" She says with an a ir of uncertainty, and then she lets out a faint sigh. "Yeah." Her cheeks get a faint blue tint. "Yeah, sure. Braid them. If you want."
She seems embarrassed, but--well, she did say to go ahead!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
Maybe a little alarmed, but Boudicca doesn't press it. Instead, she waits to see what Marivel has to say! And when Marivel says she can go ahead, Boudicca nods, smiling, and gets to work.
Well, her hands are clad in gauntlets, but they're pretty gentle anyway. It helps that Boudicca has a fair amount of experience in the art of braiding. She smooths Marivel's hair over the back of the chair so she can reach it more easily; carefully she sections it off.
She's going for two braids, too, because - well, look at her hair. Two is clearly the best number of braids, especially with how much hair Marivel has. One single braid would be immeasurably thick..!
She doesn't say much while she's braiding; perhaps she's concentrating on not pulling Marivel's hair. Or perhaps she's giving her space to brood with her book while having a person around. Who knows?
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel is silent for a while. She's prone to talking but she hasn't said much at all today. It's still affecting her. But silence with company is far more awkward than silence by your lonesome. Even so, Marivel perseveres for a while...
...But then,eventually, she does say, "Why are you still my friend?"
She says it like she genuinely doesn't understand. Surely, Boudicca heard what she shouted, knows what she's willing to do. She's seen her kill men that stood no true threat to her, or atleast severely threaten their lives and no doubt exacerbate an already terrible situation.
She knows how Boudicca feels about people. She knows the role of Seraphs, to an extent. "At least by some metrics, calling me a threat to the world... is completely accurate. If I met someone like me, I would show them no mercy."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
There it is.
Marivel's depression is practically a physical presence in the room, as far as Boudicca is concerned; and if it isn't comfortable for her, it can't be comfortable for Marivel, either. Perhaps Boudicca isn't just braiding Marivel's hair for the Crimson Noble's comfort.
It's just a comforting gesture in general, to someone like Boudicca.
"Hmm," Boudicca considers, as she carefully weaves one lock of hair through another. "Did you know, when I was quite young... I was hidden away from the world? There was a woman who acted as my mother, though she just happened to find me when I emerged. And I heard..."
Gently, she makes sure her weave is strong. "... humanity was a threat. Mortals would use me, endanger me, imperil my soul and my psyche. So grievous were their crimes that they would sicken me with the sin in their souls, and this was a thing like death, anathema to us." Her voice is gentle, too, no matter what she recounts, though there is a grievous edge to this one word: "Malevolence."
She sighs, and the world sighs with her, a ruffle of breeze through the infirmary. "When my curiosity got the better of me, it even proved correct. And so I did not venture from my vessel; I was too afraid. It was many years before I ventured to the world of Man, and found mortals with strong hearts. I thought I knew very much about Hellions, from the animals possessed by conflict in the mountains. But the very first woman I met..." Boudicca trails off, for a moment.
"... after Ida's recovery, I saw the acts of Hyades. The danger they placed humanity in... and then, the pressures behind them. With the fall of Mother, I saw the efforts of Zed to heroism, Riesenlied's efforts..."
There's an element of gentle reproach in her voice, as it gets a little more personal. "... even that enemy of all Filgaia... Ragnell was the one who helped me realise I could stand the world without a mask." And perhaps that is why she cannot bring herself to hate her fellow Seraph so personally.
"Again and again, Marivel, the monsters of this world prove themselves more than the threats I knew them to be. I do not enjoy the severity of your actions at times, but how can I boil your existence down to its worst edges? I know just as well there is kindness to you, as much as you may wish to veil it."
Her eyes, too, are veil by her eyelashes, as her expression gentles to match her voice. "... and you named me friend. That matters, Marivel. It matters... to me."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel Armitage listens to Boudicca's words. Her bangs sway with the world's sigh. She is very still. It's quite apparent in moments like this how still Marivel can be but, well, as someone who had live as a statue for a while--maybe Boudicca is not one to be put off by that. The only wind around her is Boudicca's. She doesn't breath. She doesn't twitch. If she wasn't talking and reating, it'd be all to easy to see her as a corpse but there's enough of a pause between such reaction that the stillness is palpable.
Marivel doesn't really hate Ragnell either though it's hard to get along with someone who is so similar to her.
"Those actions will not change. And I will not be deterred from my path. We Crimson Nobles are mercurial but once we've made a decision, we can be as stubborn as dirt."
She looks back to Boudicca, eyes twinged with a faint crimson glow.
"All the friends I made abandoned me. Anastasia became a memory too soon, Lumen died too soon. Luceid left me and hates me. Althena abandoned me. Yue left me. my parents killed themselves to protect this world, and me. Brad sacrificed himself to protect us, becoming the hero he did not wish to be. At a certain point, I can't help but suspect--that the issue is not with them, or with fate---but rather, the problem is me."
"I don't want to lose you the same way." Marivel says. "Thte closer you all get to my heart, the more..."
She trails off and goes silent.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
Boudicca looks to the glow and does not blink; strange things for mortal eyes to do, perhaps, but they both are older than that. Luceid's rejection cut Marivel this deep, she thinks, with sorrow, and it is sadness reflected in her own grey-green gaze.
"Loneliness is the worst affliction of immortality," she reflects, after a moment. "Meeting so many... and they go. Even if they do not die, eternity is a long time to collect disagreements... is it not?"
Gently, she tucks a braid back over Marivel's shoulder. "I wonder if you see the bravery inherent in allowing us approach to your heart, scarred as it is. I think it is a wonderful thing to care, Marivel, even when it is hard, even when it is frightening. I may be Oracle, but I could not tell you what the future holds... and yet, I think I am not the only one who sees that spark in you."
She smiles, "... even though you are stubborn."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel senses the deep kindness within Boudicca. She wonders why it's so hard for that kindness to talk hold within her, even though she is a friend, even though she's one of her closest friends. Maybe she's smoothed out her heart for so long that the hooks can't find purchase. She understands it intellectually, but--
--at least she understand. Marivel misses those carefree days. Even their fights. Being given a hard time... having to give others a hard time. Has it really been missing? Or has she simply kept herself detached?
She supposes she's not sure. But she does say, "I suppose you could call it bravery but I'm much more frightened of being alone."
"Eternity is a long time," Marivel agrees. "And it's frankly gauche to complain about it. I am not tired of life, but I am tired of the fighting. It's all so...predictable. The rise and fall of threats to the world, threats I've clearly fallen off of looking after."
There is a little something there, Marivel thinks, that little bit of teasing at the end there. Once again, for a moment, she thinks she sees her face.
"The kindness within you," Marivel says. "Is louder than a hurricane, and brighter than an inferno."
She reaches into her pouch and draws out a pair of sunglasses, sliding them on.
"There, that's better."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
Well, sometimes it isn't as simple as being kind. Still, Boudicca can't help but giggle when Marivel puts on sunglasses. "Gracious," she exclaims, "I should take care then, should I not? I dare say your skin has never known a tan, Marivel." Boudicca's olive skin, on the other hand, tans very well. That's why they're so striking together!
She shakes her head, and smiles. "Being alone does tend to give one a host of idiosyncronicities," Boudicca goes on. "It was not so long ago that I settled in to watch some birds, and a mortal girl remarked on my braids when she passed me. A short time later, she returned, and was terribly surprised to see me still observing their nest. I thought it rather strange she had changed her clothes so quickly - until she informed me two weeks had passed!"
MAYBE THAT'S WHY BOUDICCA SOMETIMES DISAPPEARS WHEN THINGS ARE GOING DOWN. She just didn't get the memo because mortals do too many things too quickly???
"These little things which do not seem so strange on your own... well, I think we are better with people around us." If they don't have friends to remind them to be normal people, they'll end up as bird perches. Or is that just Boudicca?
"But the fighting... does wear on one, yes. I am of half a mind to mandate a vacation amongst my fellows, because it seems whenever we adventure out we stumble upon some new fell chains or dark plot. I never knew there were so many plots." She makes sure the other braid is settled just so, on Marivel's shoulder. "Really, it is an unreasonable amount of plots."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"I don't tan," Marivel assures Boudicca. "I just burn."
"Yes it's surprising how much they move about. Normally when I'm tired I sleep for a month, but since I need to keep busy, I usually only sleep for a few days at a time at the most. I had to do it during my adventuring days, but I'm a firm believer in lazycamping properly. Once our work is done, I intend to wholly take advantage of all the vacation time I earned up."
Whatever work thaat is. It's clear it goes beyond Odessa.
"...By the by. We are down a member." She turns back to look forward. "...You're welcome to join us, if you want. Ida's there and it might be easier for you that way but--I understand if you're not too interested in signing up. But it's my offer. Your company would be welcome--though, of course, I'd take advantage of your company either way."
It's strange that Maarivel would give the pitch here after everything but--Boudicca IS making her feel better. She can't be sure if it'd last until the time passes, but it's welcome all the same.
"Oh yes, more dark plots than there are stars. A dark plot in every mind lurks waiting to see the light of day."
"But only some truly reach the point of becoming a threat to the world."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"Yes, that is the worry," Boudicca says, on the topic of Marivel and sunlight, because sometimes you just need to dissect a frog.
She listens as Marivel keeps talking - about vacations, and what she would vacation from. Her brow creases, as she thinks of Brad, what he did for them...
Certainly she has seen much of ARMS through the lens of Ida; this is not the first time she has worked with them, just by virtue of association. Still, she is silent for a long, thoughtful moment.
Boudicca is friend to many factions; but she has always stood apart from them. At times this has served her very well - when Althena's Guard revealed their true face, it would have been much more painful had she aligned herself with them properly, rather than helping them from arm's length.
But, in coming to immerse herself in the world...
There are more dark plots than there are stars, and even if they are a little contentious at times, Boudicca has always observed ARMS to stand against them.
Those thoughts, though - they fade to the background, as her thoughts come back to Brad.
They're down a member.
That would almost make her decline in itself, if not for --
"... because it is your offer," Boudicca says, finally, "I will accept. Though, I cannot - would not - replace him, that you would ask... means something, as well. Besides... perhaps it will serve me well to be closer to this band of saviours you all have cultivated. There is much strength in humanity, after all."
There is a beat of silence.
"Ah," Boudicca says, more uncertainly.
"Just, one thing."
In bafflement, she asks: "How does one earn time for a vacation? It is an inherent right of all creatures!"
SERAPH BOUDICCA HAS NEVER ONCE HAD A REAL JOB.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"I'm not asking you to replace him." Marivel tells Boudicca. OR BRADICCA?!?!?!
No. That's not how Marivel thinks. She's flat out told the team as much when she appointed new XOs. "Nobody's replaceable. That's why you have to live, Boudicca."
"Because if you're gone, there will not be anyone else like you in this universe."
Nobody else. The person just like Brad is gone forever.
"It's just an excuse to keep my friends close. That's all." Marivel says. Is that what ARMS is? Is that the secret purpose of the organization?! To keep Marivel's friends within ARMS length?!?!! That's some diabolical thinking, Marivel! Luckily, that isn't the reason, but Marivel could always use the companionship. Reaching into her pouch, Marivel draws out an empathite radio and offers it to Boudicca. "This is your first time adventuring amongst mortals, no?" At least through the lens that Marivel sees the world. "You should enjoy it with close companions. It's never quite the same the second or third time. Take care of them, don't say anything you'd regret. You might not get the chance to take your words back and they'd linger."
Even now, Marivel can't help but be a know it all. She blinks at Boudicca's question.
"Oh, it's just an expression." She says. "Take a vacaation whenever you want."
She is kind of a lazypire sometimes herself.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"The good thing about my people," Boudicca reflects, on the topic of death, "is it is rather hard to get rid of us." Of course, the cost of immortality is that when they do experience a death of personality, what takes their body has claws which catch and jaws which bite. But there are ways for a Seraph to manage Malevolence. Like Boudicca's fancy ribbons!
THEY'RE NOT JUST CUTE HAIR DECS, THEY ARE ALSO THE HOME OF HER SOUL.
"I see!" Boudicca reflects, on Marivel's reason for ARMS' existence, and it might be difficult to tell whether she's taking Marivel at face value or not. She certainly sounds like she thinks it's a marvellous plan. So too does she take up the emphathite radio, turning it around like it is a marvellous invention.
To Boudicca, it probably is.
"Ah - yes!" Boudicca responds, which might not make much sense when one considers that Boudicca has been adventuring with them for a few years now, but - maybe on Boudicca's timescale, it still feels new. "I shall do my best to maintain their wellbeing!"
A brief pause, and she remarks: "And we shall all take a vacation as soon as everyone stops shooting at us!" OH NO SHE'S INCLUDING MARIVEL IN THAT.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
It has occured to Marivel that the Seraphs are hard to slay, and live forever, and are perhaps perfect immortal companions for that reason.
But...
Nothing is really immortal is it? Marivel's people never had something quite like malevolence--nothing quite like malice...
...Or did they? But in the end, it hardly mattered. Something that could destroy all souls revealed itself. The Soul Devourer: Lord Blazer. And even Seraphs could surely burn. Even fire can burn. The promise of eternity is one that Marivel has long since understood to be a lie. But perhaps they can be eternal enough. Eternal enough for her to become a sad memory. It will happen when it happens and as much of Marivel loves life--a similar portion aches to become that sad memory.
On Marivel's timescale it feels new. And--really--in Marivel's eyes the adventures that started a few years ago---
---are but one adventure when gazed at with a bird's eye view.
Marivel smiles at Boudicca's threat. "I shall look forward to it."