2021-06-10: A Rare Rainy Day
- Log: A Rare Rainy Day
- Cast: Citan Uzuki, Gwen Whitlock
- Where: Shevat Gear Hangar
- Date: June 10, 2021
- Summary: It's a rarer rainy day in Shevat (in that it's dipped under the clouds for a spell) when Gwen and Citan have a chance to speak in private.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Today, it's raining in Shevat.
Shevat is a flying country, and so its experience of the weather is somewhat different from the rest of the world. When it flies higher in the sky, it won't experience even a drop of rain -- only the tallest thunderclouds would be any threat in that capacity, and city typically avoids them. When it drops lower to collect the substance of lower clouds, though, there are times when it might experience rain.
Citan has often been given to wonder about it. Is this 'theft'? Or, given the nature of Filgaia, would this rain even reach the ground to begin with?
He stands on a balcony on the underside of one of the many 'towers' dotting Aphel Aura and considers this yet again, his hands clasped behind his back as he gazes out into the sky.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
When the clouds come in, it's like the city is floating in a soft white void.
Gwen had come over to see the city roll into the clouds, seeing them stretched like a soft blanket of white that grew more translucent as the city dipped below.
She's seen some of this before, in the seat of her Gear, but it never had the level of calm like dipping into a lake.
When Citan hears Gwen walking up, as she doesn't disguise her arrival, she looks towards the doctor, and nods her greeting, then looks up.
She's oddly quiet, but it may be due to the look of wonder in her face as she jerks off her left hand glove and reaches up into the air, feeling the moisture collect there against bare skin.
Auntie's books were right. But how does this air come together? Is it due to some will, or winds, like the books say?
"... Sorry, about the whole bit with Ida. I didn't... realize just how much stress she still felt, over her arm." She's tucked the glove in the strap of her dark vest, one glove on, one glove off. "Well, I guess, I chose to selfishly think Ida was coping well." She's still cupping her hand against the rain. "I know our cases are different, just ain't sure of the nitty gritties. The things that mean I've never had someone possess--" She clears her throat. "Well, technically, that's still true, but y'get what I mean." She shifts. ".... Annnnd I am being bad at bein' social. How're you and yours? Is Midori up here too, or is someone looking after her?"
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
He doesn't turn towards her as she approaches. Is he perhaps lost in thought? Might she be interrupting him after all?
But he merely turns his head once she finally speaks, as if they had been standing alongside one another for hours and not merely for a few minutes at best.
"No, there is nothing for which you need apologize," Citan says to Gwen, shaking his head. "In truth, I had some sense of it, though I had not realized how deeply it had affected her. ...You are not the only one who was behaving 'selfishly'."
He had spoken to Ida since. Perhaps with the analytics, she might gain some peace about her situation. Or, it is equally possible, she might not. Delusion and ignorance can be protective. To learn can be a terrifying thing.
And yet, better to know and to plan, the doctor has long thought and felt, than to be caught unawares.
Fate is cruel. Fate will act as it pleases.
It's still better to know what will come.
"My family?" he says, after a moment's time. "They are well. Midori is with her mother today." He smiles, and it's a gentle and fleetingly tired smile. "There are some things which I cannot teach her. Therefore, I thought I should take a walk! A day like this has its charms, do you not agree? And yourself, Gwen?"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"... My ARM..." Gwen raises her gloved right hand as she lowers her left, the hand gently cupping the air. "There's been no sense of something or someone 'else' bein' there. Not in the same sense as Ida n' Fafnir. It's more like... lookin' into a pool of water. It's me, as much as my other arm, but a me that came later, since I was a whole 'me' even without it. I'd get frightened of that power, yeah, but in the end, all I had to blame was myself if something went wrong. But I guess... having something attached to you that seemed to have a will of its own... it's a lot scarier than I initially gave credit for."
Something dark seems to pass over the sun's light, like a slightly denser cloud, removing the light in Gwen's eyes.
"It's easier to accept 'alien' things when you understand it's been a part of you all along."
The light comes back, and it's like that stray moment had never happened.
"Wha, you, not bein' able to teach somethin'? Though..." Gwen begins to do the math in her head, then blinks, her eyebrows raising in defeat. "So, did Midori even know about her mom bein' from this place? Seems like it'd be a big change for a kid, even a sharp one like her. I mean... Lahan's a mountain village n' all, but that's still, like... wayyyy lower than this."
"Hm? Oh, I've been watching the clouds," Gwen admits, with a guilty half-grin. "Figured I'd get a better view over here than where I was, once the rain came down. Pretty nifty, eh?" She turns her hand over. "I wonder if Solaris has a similar system."
It seems weird, to think of Solaris as a place with normal needs, like rain water. They'd have to grow crops, though, or source them from the surface.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Yes... I can only imagine what it might be like," Citan says in response to Gwen. He glances over at her briefly.
"...Gwen?"
And just like that, she continues on, as if nothing at all untoward had occured. He pauses for a moment, regarding her still.
The last time that he'd seen her act in such a way had been just before... but hadn't its presence been purged?
...Or had he only assumed it had been purged.
Whatever it is that goes on behind the eyes of Citan Uzuki, he's quick to smile indulgingly and shake his head. "No, there are some things that only her mother can teach her. As for me... well, Midori has little interest in machinery and medicine! ...Hmm?" He tilts his head slightly to the left, as if in thought. "To be quite honest, she had been born here. However, she had left when she was young, and she was still young when she left Lahan... I do not know how much of an adjustment it had been for her. Perhaps I might ask her later." He's only been in Shevat again for a matter of days, and there is four years of absence for which he must make up.
Perhaps, he considers, his expression more sober for the moment than before, this might play into her... apparent reluctance, around him. To say nothing of the missed birthdays, holidays, first lost baby tooth...
He sighs.
"...Yes," he says after a moment. "This permits Shevat to sustain itself, to a degree. You are likely aware that while Shevat grows and recycles what it can, it must still collect and use supplies from the surface. ...As with Solaris, Shevat is supported by the actions of those below it. Neither is truly 'detatched' from the world." He nods, as if considering this. "Indeed, we are all connected with one another, in this way..."
Rain patters on the edge of the balcony for a time. "It is... not the same system," Citan says, shaking his head. "Solaris exists... much higher up in the skies of Filgaia than Shevat. I believe the capital circulates its own water supply independent from the world, but even that was once drawn from Filgaia's surface."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Hm?"
Gwen regards him, as if he was the one who just did something curious. "Yeah?"
But Citan goes on, and Gwen just moves along with him. "Huh.... t'think, when I met her... she was born in a city in the sky..." Of course, it's not as if Gwen's interactions were that extensive with Midori. "I mean, I suppose this might be kind of a change for her. But change comes easy to the young! But yeah. It might be a good idea t'ask."
They are all connected, in a way.
Even Solaris.
"B-but how--" She stops, then starts again. "But where does--" She tries again. "So the water..."
She's quiet, for a long, long time.
".... they... drink.... the same water, over and over again, which can only happen if--"
She just stares blearily, at the clouds. "..... no wonder some people get messed up."
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
He pauses, again. "...Ah, no... it is nothing," he says, turning his head to gaze back out into the rain and clouds. "Just a trick of the light..."
It was not.
"Yes," he says to her, nodding. "I do not think it was overly traumatic, but it may be a good thing to ask after." Along with other things, if she will tell them to him. Does she have friends (other than the Chu-Chu)? What else has she been learning? What is her favorite book? Would she like him to read it her?"
It's astonishing how short and how long four years can be.
But he's taken away from such thoughts when Gwen asks-- when she wonders if--
"Ah, well -- no. You understand, they process and clean the water, of course! Otherwise it would be... rather unhygienic. Are you familiar with the sewers and waste treatment systems used in Nortune and Guild Galad? ...I believe there is something cruder used in Bledavik. Ahem! Anyway, in Solaris it is possible to cycle a single molecule of water almost endlessly through the system and ensure that there are no contaminents. I believe Shevat also makes use of water reclamation, though not to Solaris' extent..."
Is he going to talk to her about city-wide waste management systems for hours if permitted? oh yes.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Oh, yeah." Her initial bewilderment softens.
Just a trick of the light, like the anvilhead of a thundercloud passing skimming over the lowest point of a sunbeam, or a distant rumble of thunder.
"She's got you guys, after all, so I'm assumin' things ain't too bad. I'm glad you were there when Shevat was attacked. That was a scary deal, n' all." Not to mention that Yui had to save her and Ida from meeting their own ends.
She thinks, quietly reflecting against the white clouds.
"I wonder... how the rest of Lahan is doin'. The people who are still around." It still feels too much to say 'who are alive'. "I mean... I'm assumin' they're managing, but I still wonder."
She wonders other things as well, like--
well, yes, of course Gwen wonders about this. She nods eagerly as Citan explains, making encouraging nods, her eyes bright and interested.
Though it's hard to tell if this is from experience from living with scholarly types in the first place.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Something isn't right with Gwen. But he's hardly in the position to untangle whatever it might be. Is it related to Setanta?
Or could it be something else?
"Yes," he agrees, though he glances over at her and says, "Though, if our positions had been reversed, I would have done similarly." Citan pauses. "Ah... if to the best of my ability," he concludes, fidgeting with his glasses. It would have likely been through quite different, less 'one swing one cut' means, given that he focuses on hand-to-hand when he must and hardly seems to have Yui's level of show-stopping force...
"I have spoken to some of them, actually," he says on her question about Lahan. "Many of them are here. Yui had brought them here after Fei and I had left Lahan. Between the investigations from Aveh and Kislev, and the possibility that Solaris itself might come come looking for the villagers, she had felt it the best option." He pauses. "To tell the truth, I thought it was likely she would have come here, but I could not know that for certain." He shakes his head. "I am sorry for keeping silent, but I did not wish to speak wrongly."
Continue he does, speaking about gravity as a simple method of filtration -- using sand alone, it's possible, with the use of gravity, to clear impurities from water.
"...And of course by using gradations of finer materials, we can thus replicate and improve upon this technology. Now, in proper wastewater treatment, there are additional stages, and certain chemicals that can be added to improve upon the water clarification process..."
How does he know all this stuff, again? Did he get really into reading about infrastructure in Solaris?
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Something isn't right with Gwen, for sure. She never acknowledges that anything out of the ordinary happened, and if there had been any recent examinations Citan had done, Gwen would have shown herself to be back to her normal self.
It's wedged in there, stable, content to show its hand like a butterfly exposing its wings to a patient watcher.
"I'm sure you would've done great if it came down to it," Gwen says, beaming. "I know the power that can happen with a good punch!" She even swipes casually in the air with her left hand as she talks, still bare to the air, the other resting safely on her hip.
The jovial mood softens its tone as Citan reveals the positive fate of the remaining Lahan villagers. Gwen shakes her head, giving Citan a soft smile. "Nah, you made the right call. They're people I've done business with, in the end. I don't have the right to know their business, 'specially seein' as how they were hidin' for a good reason. I've been... 'compromised' at least once. Who knows what'd happen then, if the Stranger happened to be interested."
Once. As if it had happened, and was over.
"So if you put the bad water through real fine sand, it'd make it good water again. Huh. We could do that in the Badlands, no problem!! Though I guess.... it kinda already gets done that way? With the Seed Cities, that is, not the smaller towns. I think Auntie tried to make some weird system like that, but she was never satisfied with the results."
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Which is all the more concerning for that moment just then. Has he misjudged Setanta? Could it even now be affecting Gwen? He had heard some of the effects of one of the other Primarchs from Fei and Elly -- what would this mean for Gwen, if it were still present?
Even now, he might be getting ahead of himself. He needs to learn more before he can even make plans.
As Gwen demonstrates with a punch, he shakes his head and laughs. "Ah... if only that were so," he says.
She says he made the right call. "I admit, that was a part of it as well. Not that I distrust anyone in particular, of course! But there are some things that it is better are not widely known? Even unintentionally, it is possible for information to slip out."
Citan Uzuki would know that better than most, after all.
"Yes, though... you would need a sufficient volume of water to begin with to purify to support a village or town. Moreover, this is insufficient for salt water..." he continues, then glances over at Gwen. "Ah, but I am certain you would much rather speak of other things. As for your aunt, I assume she has been well? ...She was not troubled by that incident that befell you, was she?"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"What, you're able to do all the fancy stuff with your punches!" Gwen laughs. "Y'know, the odd thing, 'bout Ida n' I? She was gonna teach me a bit more about how she handles herself, with what Kalve taught her and her own martial arts, back when it was gettin' clear I had some new abilities. But things happened, n'... yeah." She glances out towards the white expanse again, rain softly pattering beyond. "Sort of like how you had me turn to Elly for possible advice with controlling the Primarch's spark. .... she was a good sport, about all that."
It established something very important for Gwen, for one: that Elly, a Solarian, is... Solarian, and that there are others, like her, some of which aren't soldiers, but normal people. Normal, that is, in the context of being a citizen of a floating city.
"My take is that sometimes the worst leaks are the people who sit comfortably in our blindspots." Gwen nods, her earrings dangling from the movement. "I'm as guilty of it from both sides, when I don't realize the full scope of a situation."
Citan begins to catch on, and Gwen laughs. "Well, old habits die hard. Auntie was the sort to talk endlessly 'bout things, even if not everything made a lick of sense."
But what of Frea?
Gwen's expression turns hesitant as she crosses her arms, her eyes looking downward. "I tried telling her, but... I don't think she really... understood? She thought it was somethin' connected to my ARM's abilities, which, in a sense, it is. The Stranger..... he wanted me to hold onto that energy for him. Maybe even convert it, or temper it. That's the ability my ARM has." She gestures, with her right hand. "You know, like the mockingbird. It mimics the songs of other birds. My ARM takes one bit of energy, and translates it into another my body can use, and vice versa. I suppose it makes me like an anvil, if someone had somethin' in mind."
She stops, guiltily looking down. "My aunt's health... I'm assumin' she's okay. I guess I... avoid thinkin' 'bout it, to a degree. I wish I could take her to some other place where she'd be better off, but I wonder if she's actually safer where she is, in a way." She gives a nervous laugh. "Sorry, Doc. I know you're just askin' out of politeness, but I figured I'd come clean there."
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"That is not quite the same," is about as much as Citan says on that aspect. But Gwen continues on, speaking of Ida further, about how she had once made an offer to Gwen...
"Hmm, I see. Perhaps you might ask her again? It may be useful for her, as well. I am not much of a 'teacher' myself, but I have heard from others that the act of teaching is... useful for solidifying their own understanding of their skills." He laughs, lightly. "I have never been much of a teacher, myself."
He after all had suggested that Gwen speak to Elly on the matter. Is it because he had thought that Elly would receive more benefit from teaching Gwen?
Citan is silent for a moment, his gaze apparently tracking the movement of the clouds through Shevat.
"Yes... often, that is the case," is what he says without looking back at Gwen.
"Your aunt and I may well be kindred spirits! But I had ought to learn to be more aware of my audience, at my age," he cannot help but sigh, shaking his head. About Frea, though...
"...I see. So she thinks it is another function of your ARM. ...Perhaps it may be for the best," he decides, turning back towards her. And you... have not felt his presence since?" Citan himself hasn't encountered the man since that night.
As for her health, that is another matter altogether. "...I see." He touches a pair of fingers to the bridge of his spectacles. "While it is possible that she might be able to receive care elsewhere," perhaps even here, to some extent, "from what you have told me of your aunt, it may be that she is precisely where she wishes to be. ...Even a doctor cannot treat those who do not wish to be treated," he says, closing his eyes for a moment. "We must respect the wishes of the patient, in the end."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"I dunno if Elly could take that much more of me tryin' to make things happen without the right ingredients," Gwen states, laughing. "Can't get blood from a stone, y'know? She's already got stuff on her plate."
As Citan laments his inability to teach, Gwen laughs. "What? I think you'd make a fine teacher if y'had the right student! I bet Fei could learn a thing or two from you. I bet you two could benefit from some sparrin'!"
Just.... who would win? Fei definitely has an edge, but Citan seems to have his own abilities as well.
She looks to the clouds as Citan does, unaware of just how her earlier words may prod at the truth of the matter.
"I dunno if it's fair, keeping her in the dark. She's the reason I'm even alive, now." She glances towards Citan. "She's even dealt with the Veruni, just so she'd have the technology she needed to install my ARM. More than once, even. I just... I dunno. Keepin' secrets from her just feels wrong, even if it's unintentional. Maybe... next time I go to Ignas, I'll explain everything."
That seems to make Gwen feel relieved, at least until Citan moves to his next question.
"Who, you mean the Blue-Eyed Stranger?"
Gwen's silence may be more unsettling than a quick answer in either direction, to some.
"Not directly, I guess. But I've gotten no indication that he necessarily intends to leave me alone." Her lips thin to a straight line, like she had bitten into something sour. "Besides, it's not like I intend to keep out of his business. He's still got Lan. If I have to wade into his strings to snatch her back, I will. I'm the one who's not a stranger to it, after all. The people who care about her..." The bitter taste in her mouth morphs into something bittersweet, both a fondness and a distrust, a dislike, in her eyes. "They wouldn't withstand the journey to her. And that's not a slight against them."
"...." Citan may have a better handle of Frea's personality than Gwen assumed, at first. The courier sighs and nods, closing her eyes. ".... Sometimes I just wish she'd be someplace where she'd be nice n' safe, where she'd get all the care she needed, even if I couldn't see her. She's done so much for me, even though I wasn't her kid."
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Citan shakes his head when Gwen says it's likely Elly wouldn't have been able to hold out much longer on that. "No, actually, it was not the end results that were of importance, in your case, but rather the technique itself. I had hoped that the degree of focus involved, if learned, might have helped you." He closes his eyes a moment though and sighs. "However..."
In the end, it had not amounted to much, it had seemed. Luca had still in part burned.
He glances over at her and blinks as if in surprise. "Me? No, I do not think so... I am still only a student in the Shevite art myself. He would be better off learning from my master. Or perhaps..."
He trails off, and shakes his head.
And the things that he does know and could, theoretically, alone teach, he has no business handing down.
"...In that case," he says at last, when she speaks of her desire to tell Frea what's happened, "It may be best to tell her in person. Written words have a strange ability to only capture a part of what it is we attempt to express, it seems... try as we might, we are limited."
Does he mean the Blue-Eyed Stranger?
"Yes."
There is a long pause on his part.
"...I see. Yes, I am aware... she is in a dangerous position." A pause. The doctor shakes his head. "But, you already knew that, did you not? It seems she is emeshed in this far more deeply than you had been." Gwen had been a means to an end. But as far as he can determine...
To put this in the terms of a particular game: if Gwen is the Pawn -- a useful, upgradable piece, but dispensible -- then he would say that Lan appears to be the Stranger's Queen.
He fidgets with his glasses, returning his gaze to the rain and clouds. "At times... we must trust in the wishes of those we love, even if it runs counter to our own desires. That is another part of 'being human'," he says to her.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Focus, huh..." Gwen rubs the side of her neck. "I 'spose that would be pretty useful..."
But Luca.... still burned.
Gwen presses her palms against the railing, the cloudy grey sky suddenly seeming far too large to look at, or assess in turns of space.
"... We didn't know his plans. .... I didn't know his plans.... I still don't. I was just the furnance he needed. I hurt my friends, n' even if I made amends, I don't know if I can avoid a situation where I might hurt people again. I guess..."
Is this why Fei always feels so down? Could she even compare this to what Fei feels?
Is this why he trains, to find clarity? To find focus?
"... You sending me to Elly... I did get some things, Doc. Maybe, I just need some time to figure out how t'apply them to what skills I have."
So Citan uses the Shevite style? "Huh. I guess I never realized it was a specific form! T'be honest, I can't tell the difference even if I tried. But, I think, maybe sparrin' will help Fei, a little... oh? Your master, huh? I guess they would be here, right?" If they're still around, that is. "So, send Fei to your master, like you sent me to Elly. Even if it's not gonna be a direct fit, I think he'll get somethin' from it."
In regards to Frea, Gwen nods again. "I should be the last to admit the downsides of the written word, bein' a courier. But you're right."
As for Lan...
"So you noticed, huh." She sighs. "I'm gonna make sure she doesn't fall, even if I have to hold onto her, or even be dragged back. If she's alone, it's easier for her to fall. If I'm there... she's not alone." She grins. "And then..."
She drifts off.
Trusting in the wishes of those we love. The advice may be in regards to Frea, but they seem just as apt here. "Part of bein' human, huh..."
She looks up at the falling rain, then tilts her gaze towards Citan, a small, sweet grin on her lips.
"Seems we can all use a little trust in each other, eh, Doc?"
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
So it's possible that he still might have use for Gwen. That's true. Lan might be the 'Queen' on the board, from what he's been able to discern, but while Gwen is 'just' a Pawn... let it not be forgotten.
If a Pawn is not lost, it can be promoted. A Pawn can become another Queen.
"...I see," he murmurs, at last. "Then if you cannot be sure, it is important to do what you are able to prevent it in the meantime. Whether that comes from within yourself or others, or by learning more about 'that man'..."
Citan shakes his head. Even he can only, at this moment, advise. There are not many actions he can directly take.
"Shevat Open-Handed Arts," he says rather abruptly. "That is the name of the hand-to-hand techniques practiced by the warriors of Shevat over the ages. Fei is a practitioner, as was his father, as I have learned... and so am I."
Fei had ought to train with Citan's master, though, eh? Citan cannot keep from smiling a bit slyly. "He should, then? Very well. I will ask Yui if she is willing to accept another student. Her time is limited, but for him... she may make an exception."
But it's not a mood that lingers, even for him. "Yes. You had alerted me, I believe. She appears 'well enough', I would say, but appearances can be deceiving. There is something, hm... amiss about her." Some tremor to her being, like shadows just before an eclipse. "Though I do not believe I have seen what she might be capable of just yet."
But such seriousness can't seem to stay on his face too long. Chagrined, he smiles and shrugs, shaking his head. "That much, I cannot deny..."