2021-06-03: Grape is Good Actually
- Log: Grape is Good Actually
- Cast: Loren Voss, Seraphita
- Where: Deku Isles
- Date: June 03, 2021
- Summary: Loren seeks caffeine to keep himself awake long enough to finish some paperwork. Into this ill-advised life decision, Seraphita intervenes.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
He's led to understand that some people drink coffee and other stimulants for the flavor alone.
Cracking open the can of the energy drink he's just retrieved from the vending machine, Loren takes a drink and grimaces. What's this flavor supposed to be, anyway? ...Grape? It tastes terrible.
Obviously they've never had Energy Blaster Prime. Then again, he'd tried coffee and tea and they didn't taste that good, either, until he'd poured enough sugar into them.
But in either case, he supposes, walking the halls of Elam Base in Southern Aquvy, beggars can't be choosers. The paperwork's not going to solve itself, and especially not if he's face-down on his desk.
The night is young and Loren sort of low-key wants to die again. He takes another swig from the can and makes a face again.
"Whey did I pick grape?" he asks the world at large, not really expecting an answer..
(Probably because 'Fruit Punch' and 'Orange' were sold out, is the real answer.)
Maybe if he chugs this he won't have to taste it too much.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Loren might not be expecting an answer, but he's going to get one anyway.
"Because grape is good??"
Nobody actually asked Seraphita. 'Asking' Seraphita would imply that Loren knew she was there, and there's pretty good odds he didn't; she isn't even in the hall with him, she had to call from around the corner.
She has very good ears.
The ears are actually the first thing that rounds the corner as Seraphita sticks her head around it, followed shortly by the rest of her from about the shoulders up. "What are you even doing? I didn't think you were here right now!" In her defense, Seraphita doesn't always know everybody's schedule when it's not her business - that is, when neither she nor they have been assigned to the other. Loren is usually out of her orbit; it's always a bit of a surprise when she runs into him.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Loren stops dead in his tracks and glances behind him, even though he's reasonably sure that came from a ways ahead.
...Bingo, so to speak.
"Ma'am," he says, inclining his head as she makes her appearance. Their schedules haven't aligned in some time, recent mission aside, but that itself is expected, perhaps--
After all, and he can't let himself forget this, she's an Element.
"I'm here because I'm working," he explains, closing his eyes a moment and taking a breath as if to steady himself. "There's paperwork to complete for my team." Which is to say, the medical/support team that works under him now, as a Captain. ...Who are to a person almost entirely 'green' when it comes to surface ops, still. But as he's gathered, the further along he gets into his career, that sort of thing becomes increasingly more 'typical' than his very unusual work history. At this point, his experience is probably the reason he keeps getting assigned to things like... ...well, 'all of this'.
"I'm only here briefly until I need to return to the Spira outpost," he explains. "But not all of them are assigned there, even if I'm still responsible for them here."
It's... a pain.
"And... you?"
Because he has to at least try to be civil with someone of her rank, and 'I'm busy' probably won't cut either, and...
Well, even if he won't admit it (much), no one's really asked after him even in the way she just did in weeks.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Seraphita finally steps out around the corner, in best Solaris-sort-of-approved uniform. Presumably someone either approved it, or they gave her up as uncivilized enough to not try, despite her military use.
Even Seraphita, Element that she is, can't avoid the dangers of opinions.
"Oh, the support team?" Seraphita might not spend enough time with Loren to know where he's deployed, but she's the kind of person who talks to everyone, and she knows what he does in a general sense. (Which is more than some commanders who aren't *your* commander can manage.) She's *friendly*. It might be new to Loren, but it seems authentic.
She sounds curious. "I've never been to Spira! What are you doing up there? Is it an interesting operation?" Seraphita comes over toward Loren, mostly so she doesn't have to keep raising her voice to actually chat with him; she bounces on her feet when she gets there.
"Me? I was in Sylvaland recently to check something," Seraphita says. "It wasn't real important... or, I guess, I didn't find out anything important is more accurate. There's not a lot of Drifters there right now."
While Seraphita's beastfolk-ness is a detriment socially, in Solaris, it *is* useful for one thing: outside of a uniform, she absolutely doesn't look Solarian, and so she can go wander around cities without any issue. Sure, she's memorable if you've met her, but who'd believe a Drifter if they accused her, a beastfolk, of being part of Gebler? Gebler doesn't really have beastfolk in it.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Yeah," he answers, before (professionaly (no)) taking a big old drink from the can. It somehow hasn't improved its flavor any. "A lot of them are pretty new," he adds, glancing about himself as if expecting to see one of /them/ pop up all of a sudden. But, no, if they're not in their dorms they're either on clinic duty or clinic/supply organization.
It wasn't all that long ago that it was him tasked with that.
The problem with Seraphita, though, is exactly that: she's friendly. And high-ranking. And more or less ignorant of the conventions that array even Gebler along class lines.
"Spira? Well, the outpost's pretty cold." He regards Seraphita for a moment, or more precisely, her uniform. "...Not sure if you'd like it, ma'am. I understand the Earth and Water Elements are often on assignment there lately."
Meanwhile, Air and Fire appear to be deployed to different areas back on Filgaia.
"I guess it's better to the south. It's pretty backwards all around, though." When he'd first arrived, the locals had even looked askance at basic ARMs.
"To check 'something'?" he wonders, tilting his head to one side. "Actually, forget it, I probably don't want to know."
When will he learn, the more you know, the more you wish you didn't know?
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Ignorant, or intentionally ignoring? It's hard to tell. She *seems* kind of oblivious, at least...
No medics, new or not, jump out of thin air; that appears to be a privilege reserved for Seraphita herself. Perhaps they really are busy, and Seraphita isn't. An Element... well, an Element *does* have to do paperwork, but it's a different kind, and she doesn't get assigned to clinical duty afterwards.
"Oh, I never get cold," Seraphita assures Loren.
This explains some things.
"But I'd like to at least see it. I heard a lot of it was tropical but I guess that's the south part! It would be nice to visit, at least to see. Even if it is backwards - but aren't a lot of places? And you get to say you've been to the Old Moon! That's exciting, isn't it? Even if you're also on an operation doing... um, something." She is friendly, and excited. Loren doesn't - quite - have to deal with Seraphita physically bouncing around him, but she does have some excess energy that needs to burn off.
Seraphita considers for a moment, but Loren corrects himself. "Well, okay!" If he doesn't want to know, she won't tell him. He did ask for it. Still, she can't help but say, "It's a nice place though. There are a lot of trees, and they build in them."
Another pause, just for a moment, and Seraphita says, "I thought you didn't like that." The expression was a giveaway, but Loren is still drinking it.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Oh," he says.
It... kind of makes sense, all considering... all of it.
But he frowns a little when she says she'd like to see it anyway. "Then go and take a look sometime. Other than one or two things, though, I don't think it's all it's cracked up to be." He pauses, for just a moment, a strange and wary expression crossing his face as he eyes her. "...Ma'am."
And glances away when she says 'at least he can say he's been to the Old Moon.'
"It lost its charm the first time," he grouses, rubbing at the back of his neck the first time. But it is true that a lot of places are pretty backwards.
Just about all of them, really.
Like, for example, Sylvaland.
"I know," he says, of Sylvaland, and in a move that could be called 'actually trying to be decent, kind of', tries not to let his exhaustion filter into his voice.
He's blunt about his drink: "I don't. It's awful." But he sighs after a moment and explains, "I have to stay up to finish my work. I'll worry about sleeping later," Loren says with a sigh, shoulders slouching.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Seraphita spots that wary look. She's seen it before, for several reasons - not on Loren's face specifically, but other Solarians. If she was anyone but Seraphita it might make her frown.
However, she is immune to that, and so: "Well, what are those things? Tell me about them if you want!" She even gave him permission not to, but she wants to know what made him uncomfortable. Is it her? Or is it Lunar? "I never went even the first time."
She might not have picked up on the exhaustion, precisely, but with him admitting it it's easy enough. "You should always get enough sleep," she says, seriously. "If you aren't getting enough, take more! I'll make it okay. Because... you have to be at your best! And I can't help you stay up, so I can help with this instead." She sort of can, actually - there's Ether - but she doesn't usually use it on other people, because it's hard to judge when it's helping, and when it's making things worse.
"But if we're working together - and if you're here, I guess we are? - I want you to be in good shape too!" Seraphita *does* bounce. She has the energy to circle around him, and it wouldn't really be charitable to call it hopping, but... there's no other word that really fits it.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Things? Uh," he starts, hesitating a long moment under her assault (so to speak). "I guess the... river was kind of nice looking? And the food wasn't too bad." Not that Loren is particularly picky about whatever it is that he eats, being nearly entirely omnivorous in his choices... as long as it's prepared properly. He hasn't forgotten the time that Lan tried to get him to eat grubs. They had been wiggling.
It was awful.
To be fair 'low-key exhaustion' is sort of Loren's ground state. It might be part of the reason why he's so grouchy: he's usually one of tired, hungry, or overwhelmed. Sometimes it's even all three!
"Uh, but I have a deadline to meet," he tries to protest, gesturing vaguely with the partially-full can of energy drink. "I mean, I wouldn't mind getting to bed," he adds, frowning, "but someone's got to take care of... well..."
He trails off.
She really reminds of him Lan, now that he thinks of it. Or is it that Lan reminds him of her? It's not as if he hadn't been assigned to some of the same tasks as she in the past or that they hadn't once worked together -- in fact, it had just about predated his first encounter with the Baskar Shaman.
"Uh," he hazards, trying to turn around as she easily laps him; his reflexes are off. He really must be tired. "Seriously, I don't think you can just... make the paperwork go away. Doesn't someone have to sign off on their..."
He lapses into silence.
"...Huh. Why can't it be reviewed and signed from the outpost?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"See, there are good things. Even for you!" Seraphita is pleased that Loren isn't completely joyless. She wouldn't understand him if he was. As is he's *hard* to understand, but not impossible. And honestly, that's fine by her.
She wouldn't eat wiggling food, either. At least, not twice.
"Well, you can sleep after, but sleep in!" Seraphita wiggles her finger. "I can't make the paperwork go away, but I can make sure you get the extra time to rest. It's important to take care of yourself too. I work out really hard, but I also eat well and sleep afterwards, because they're both important. So you should do the same. You can work out with me sometime too if you want but you might not want to," she adds, both because of occasional awkwardness *and* because Seraphita isn't sure that Loren is up to keeping up with her routine.
No offense to Loren or anything. Seraphita is just an exercise fiend. She found out long ago that it was the best way to burn off her excess energy and the eventual result is that she ended up in fantastic shape, even if it doesn't always show.
Loren comes to a conclusion. Seraphita lets him, but with a big beaming grin. "There isn't one! Especially if I visit the outpost, then even if the transmitters don't go as far as you travel I can bring it back with me."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"...What's that supposed to mean?" he protests initially, frowning deeply as he squints at her through his glasses. "Actually, forget it, on second thought, I'm not sure I want to know."
"Exercise? How so? I'm good at reactive defense, and I've been practicing forms."
But something tells him Seraphita's workout routine goes above and beyond any of this. Still, though--
"Maybe I'll give it a try sometime. I think you'd be surprised."
He has his own pride, after all.
"I know, I know," he sighs, slouching his shoulders. It's exactly the sort of thing he would have gotten on the case about for... literally anyone else. But the fact is that he's not been sleeping even nearly enough the last few weeks, and it's not helping, say, literally everything else he's trying to do, job-wise.
But then, there's technically a reason he's had some trouble sleeping of late.
"...Right, if you can do that, then there's no need to worry about it," he decides at last, nodding once. "And there's no need for this."
He parts from her for a moment, approaching the nearest waste shute, and shoves his can into it with feeling.
...That felt pretty good to do, honestly.
"Right, then I'm going to sort it out after the transfer. But if you don't come and pick it up, I..."
Loren trails off. Had he just nearly threatened a superior officer?
Seraphita is not Lan.
He shakes his head, vigorously. "Forget it," he says, not for the first time. "Just... make sure you pick it up." He pauses, glancing over at her. "...Please," he adds, in a rare plea.
Otherwise he's going to be neck-deep in it.
"But I guess I'd better get some rest." Even with whatever amount of caffeine in his system, he thinks he could still manage to collapse into some sort of sleep. And if not, he's a medic.
He can resolve it other ways.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Oh, I just work out a lot," is Seraphita's excuse. "Do you do inverted pull-ups? Oh, or parallel bars? A lot of people don't like those!" Just because Seraphita can turn herself upside down and do all sorts of body weight lifts doesn't mean everyone else does their exercise her way.
And... Seraphita is not Lan.
But she seems perfectly willing to accept that from Loren. Because Seraphita, too, is lonely sometimes. She is an upjumped Third, a beastfolk, who has ended up in a prestigious position. Some people won't talk to her outside work because of the first. Others are uncomfortable because of the second. She *knows* some people talk about 'Ramsus' pet' behind her back. And when she went to Filgaia most recently, she got abuse going the other way, for reasons she was not comfortable dealing with.
Loren treating her like a person, despite the (rather confused) social difference, despite the fact that she's a superior officer - Well, it's a breath of fresh air, in some ways.
"I'll definitely do that," Seraphita promises, already sounding excited - she gets to go to Spira! She's already looking forward to it. "Don't worry about it! You can count on me." And, in that, she's dead serious... if nothing else, Seraphita does what she says. Even if Loren, who does not know her well, may not take her very serious look as as reliable as it is.
"Good night, Loren!" She actually waves, bouncing on her feet when she does it.