2021-05-20: Family Reunion

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  • Log: Family Reunion
  • Cast: Elhaym van Houten, Fei Fong Wong, Citan Uzuki
  • Where: Shevat Outer Ring
  • Date: May 20, 2021
  • Summary: Now in Shevat, Citan reunites with his wife and daughter. Fei introduces Elly to the rest of the Uzukis.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Shevat, the city in the sky.

For Elly, of course, that part isn't too different or particularly magical. What this place has been to her is *strange* - the little places which remind her hauntingly of where she grew up, even if it is no longer home. The little things that connect to other signals and signs made inside of her memory, rhetorical linkages made real and actual.

It is eerie to her on levels she cannot clearly place.

But the good news, at least, is that this is mostly a subliminal kind of unease, and is certainly overweighed by --

"It's going to be good to finally meet 'Yui'," Elly says, as she walks - freshly washed, freshly laundered, and freshly napped as some time has passed since the heart-stopping encounter with the dread form of that girl, Maria Balthasar. "I feel almost as if I know her from your stories, Fei..."

"Has it been difficult for you, Dr. Uzuki?" Elly asks. The hallway is curving gently, gracious, somehow timeless, if with subtle notes of being old - tired, maybe - that Elly can only pick up in counterpoint, and which may be entirely hallucinatory. Of course someone comes by to sweep up, occasionally, and how much can a hallway decay, anyway?

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei is naturally feeling a little nervous. Yui and Midori--much like Citan--are like family to Fei, yes, but what if he runs into others from Lahan? He can't imagine it would go well. They might think he is there to take another home away or--or something.

But even so, seeing that they're doing well will do him good. He thinks he can handle any barbs they might have for him if it means seeing them safe and taken care of.

"Aheh..." Fei stammers, rubbing his neck. "Well I hope my stories feel like they match up. It's been a long time since I've seen her." And maybe just as long since Citan has. It's hard to know for sure though. Maybe Doc snuck in some visitations somehow? He does often seem so very busy.

"Is it hard for you, Elly?" Fei asks. "Being in Shevat like this? I remember you seemed pretty apprehensive about them once upon a time."

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    Sometimes, things can end up more decayed than one might think.

    Take for instance this hallway: it still stands. It's hardly going to turn into dust and crumble away into the heavens. But at the same time, it's far more reduced than it once was. Here and there, for instance, the lights in the walls are different: here they've replaced for good the lights of old with those sourced from the surface.

    Shevat, too, is reduced from what it once was.

    Citan does not answer Elly's question at first.

    There had been a flurry of things that had taken place once they were taken up to Shevat, things that Elly and Fei, after what had happened atop the tower, had been most certainly excused from.
    Gaspar had been direct about the situation. As had others. So they'd known what had happened...

    It was expected but it didn't make things any easier.

    "...Yes," he answers Elly, finally. "It has been some time. Gaspar had told me that she was in--"

    "Four years, to be exact," says Yui, from behind them. "...Welcome home."

    She isn't alone. Midori has grown some in the four years since either Fei or her father have last seen her, but she's still -- given the fact that she's stepped behind her mother and is currently hiding behind her -- quite the shy one.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"Mm... Well, I won't ask you to compare our cooking," Elly tells Fei, with a growing level of cheer.

Elly's cooking has, despite the great temptation and cosmic gravity of Poor Culinary Skills, been pretty adequate. Of necessity and interest, most of her dishes have involved fish, and it is pretty obvious that she learned everything, starting from square zero, in either Spira or the Thames. But it has been adequate, even when you factor in the greatest sauce of all...

Monosodium glutaLove.

And speaking of love, Fei sees right through her, as if she were a ghost. Elly's face loses its slight force of bonhomie. "It's just... a complicated feeling. I'll be alright..."

Maybe Vierge would be recompense enough. A virgin sacrifice, after a fashion. If Maria - or someone else - can use the AERODs in support...

But then they reach her. Both of them.

Elly looks at Yui for a moment, and thinks: She's gorgeous! And so poised, too. She reminds me of the Commander. (She resolves also to not mention this comparison to Fei. That would be kind of a joykill.) But she also sees...

Elly crouches slightly and smiles at Midori, raising a hand to waggle her fingers. After this, she straightens up and says, rather formally, "It's good to meet you, Mrs. Uzuki. My name is Elhaym van Houten..." ...

... oh no, Elly thinks.

Oh no, I was involved in -

Ah! This is why I was anxious!! Elly thinks.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei says, "Wow Midori...! You've gotten so big...!" witha big smile.

Midori... She seems the same as ever.

Fei quirks his head strangely at that stray thought but shakes his head, clearing his mind for the moment. "Four years... I'm sorry, Doc. Keeping you away from so long. I'm glad we managed to make it back to your family." Fei looks to Citan and adds, "Well, I know that some of this is because you feel you've got your own responsibility going on too, but--We'd manage if you wanted to settle down here." Course maybe they should have that audience with the Queen first before they really come to any decisions but--

Fei does cover his smile with a hand at Elly's quip before lowering his hand once he thinks he's managed to subdue it.

"Elly's our friend." Fei says. "She sacrificed a lot to make it here."

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    Citan turns to face his wife. This is a reunion, let it be said -- but it is not a reunion where one or both parties rush across the room to embrace the other. Neither Yui or Citan are that sort of person.

    Instead, what could be best said about his reaction is that he simply stops in his tracks, gazing at her for several long moments, his attention only redirecting to his daughter then.

    It might be regret that, here, faintly colors his expression. It's been four years, and that's a long time for a young child -- a lot of time to miss and never get back.

    But he still manages a smile in the end. Perhaps what matters is being present now, even if it was not possible before.

    "...It is good to be back," he tells Yui.

    He doesn't answer Fei's suggestion immediately. "...It could not be helped. Without a means to travel to Shevat, it was not possible." ...Does that mean that he knew that his family was probably here all along (well, yes)? "Though, perhaps, that is something we might discuss after we have spoken with Queen Zephyr..." He glances back from Fei over at Yui, who regards the three of them thoughtfully.

    "'Yui' will be fine," she assures Elly, pausing a moment as if to consider Elly's name.

    "'Elly', is it...? What a beautiful name." Fleetingly, she glances Citan's way.

    Crisis... averted? (or has it been)

    "Thank you for your assistance, Elly," Yui tells her, smiling pleasantly. "Perhaps we should all have dinner together later?"

    Midori...

    Elly fails to draw out the young girl entirely, though she is watching (while trying to stay mostly hidden). After a moment or two, Midori slowly peeks out from behind her mother, watching Fei in a manner that might best get the descriptor of 'critically'. Her brow furrowed, she stares at him intently, perhaps to confirm that this is, really, her only friend from back in Lahan, in the flesh.

    "There are some flightless birds in Shevat," Yui says after a few moments, observing this exchange between Fei and her daughter. "Perhaps you might like to go and feed them later?"

    Midori's response is, after a few moments, to nod quite seriously in assent.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Four years without -

Elly breathes in deep and lets it out. Midori's emergence draws Elly's eyes for a few moments eve as she raises her attention upwards to Yui, to Dr. Uzuki. "I would love that very much," Elly says. "Fei has told me some stories about you, ma'- Yui; he was always a fan of what you would cook..."

Her attention shifts back for a moment at the topic of flightless birds. How long have they been here, Elly thinks.

Would the ones that could fly have flown into the Aura, long ago?

"I want to apologize to you, Yui," Elly then says. "... Even after your 'thanks'... but, your husband was working very hard to support us all, including Fei and myself. Without his assistance, I don't think we would be here right now. But - it has been such a long time..."

She bows her head, deep enough for her hair to end up hiding her face, clasping her hands before herself now, not behind.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"...How did Yui get here though?" Fei asks, now that she's thinking about it. Yes, this is probably a question he should have thought to ask about years ago but it wouldn't be Xenogears if Fei wasn't only thinking up these questions a day late and a dollar short. It's hard to imagine Yui getting up here without a gear. Especially if she was carting all these folks from Lahan with her. Not to mention an actual ltieral child. Maybe she had a functioning communicator?

Yui offering to have a meal with Elly. ... ... It feels like old times. Old times. It feels...strange even thinking about having dinner with Citan's family again, especially since--it is his fault, isn't it? Maybe not entirely his fault, but he certainly would understand if Citan held a grudge. But he didn't...seem to. Perhaps he's simply wise enough to not rail against that which 'cannot be helped'.

"Y-yeah. You at least should have a way back here. I can understand the Queen not wanting to give me the keys at least but you're a bonafide upright citizen, Doc!"

That strange absolute faith in Doc? Yep, that's Fei alright.

Fei's face reddens fiercely. "H-hey... Don't say it like that... She's incredibly sweet and, I hear, keeps Doc out of trouble. She's got a lot of great qualities...!"

The red doesn't fade from his face very quickly, but he does bow low to Yui and--well--to Midori.

Shevat didn't hurt her. Did they change? But if they made Xantia how different can they be? Maybe a rogue agent like Ptolomea?

Fei naturally just beams right as Midori and offers proof of his identity by doing an exagerated easy mode rock paper scissors gesture towards Midori. He ends up with scissors.

"Oh--that sounds great...!" Fei says to Yui. "It's felt like forever since we fed the birds together." Well, four years to be more accurate.

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    There's a lot that can be said by a glance alone. But the eyes can only tell so much of a story -- there are things that language is necessary for, in order to bridge that infinite gap between people. There are many things that Citan Uzuki wants to ask, or say.

    But...

    He looks to his left and his right, ever so slightly. It isn't possible just now.

    Yui has an answer for Fei at least. "Why, I called them, of course. I am from Shevat. Did I never tell you, Fei? By the way, I also brought many of the other villagers here. I thought it would be safer for them."
    ...Maybe the doctor isn't the only one who is good at conveniently omitting certain information.

    Or that slightly knowing look she gives him when Fei remarks that Citan is 'a citizen of Shevat'. "Ah, is that so..." Citan himself remarks, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck. His apparent embarrassment only increases when Elly compliments him.

    "Now, now..."

    Yui's mild amusement at this situation only seems to increase. "Now, Elly, you shouldn't go about feeding his ego," she playfully chides, which only serves to make him that much more embarrassed...Midori--

    She watches him with all the determination of a pro rock-paper-scissors player, a slight frown on her face as he prepares to throw...
    ...she throws rock, of course. But it could be said that even if he had been more cautious about his 'hand', she might have already known to throw rock. Playing a game like this with people is hard unless she tries not to 'listen'.

    "In that case, I'll make certain to prepare extra, Fei," Yui tells him. She glances to Elly, and as if in an aside, "He always has a very hearty appetite. But, I suppose you might already know that?" ...Has she picked up on the relationship between the two of them already?

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Fei raises a question Elly hadn't considered. She doesn't interject - after all, you know, the answer is right here - but it is peculiar to consider. At the same time, Elly reasons, even if Shevat may not have air-cruisers like Solaris, they would need some kind of bulk lift capability if they weren't completely autonomous.

And Elly saw those flickering lights. The subtle distinctions.

They aren't completely autonomous. (Of course, neither is Solaris, if you think about it.)

Fei reveals his past, too, in a way. Something about it is curious to Elly. Not troublesome, but-- Fei has, of necessity, few stories about how he used to live. After all, it was mostly village life; no childhood, no oddities before then. Perhaps he came into existence there. Elly hasn't been able to rule that sort of thing out. But this...

Even then, he was the person she knew.

And as her heart begins to melt slightly Yui says something offhandedly and Elly actually sways slightly as if she has just been absentmindedly told that, yes, she's going to D***yland: that everything is safe: that things are better: because if the villagers were evacuated, even if perhaps not all of them, then-- then maybe--

-- Maybe she --
-- can take it easy on herself.

"Oh, that is so good to hear--!"

And then Yui spots her out. Elly turns red, but a slightly different red from before as she raises a hand to cover her mouth. "Oh -- yes - I've had to fish extra hard to make sure that he's contented, even if he never protests. It's been a little rough sometimes! But it's a real delight... ah?"

Elly looks towards the enigmatic exchange of hands.

Is Midori... Fei's true teacher?

Of course, there are other secrets, but these wobbles keep Elly from touching on the obvious, Citan-related topic of interest. Soon enough, no doubt.