2023-12-27: Special Delivery
- Log: 2023-12-27 Special Delivery
- Cast: Redi Hayworth, Claude C. Kenny, Dias Flac, Rena Lanford
- Where: Viridian City - Emerald Way
- Date: December 27, 2023
- Summary: Even on another world, nothing can stop a mailperson from making their deliveries.
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
Redi Hayworth found herself spirited away to a new world...
But even in such trying circumstances, the Lacour Postal Express does not rest!
She found herself in Viridian City after everything. She didn't quite have any packages for the locals, though already a few people have handed her some and asked her to make deliveries. It may come with the blue hat and uniform, which loudly declares 'letter carrier' even on another world.
She is walking down the street, not too far from a star loudly declared to be a 'Poke Mart,' when she happens to overhear something. Her pale blue eyes widen.
And then she zips over to a certain group of three people. Who, much like her, are not dressed like native Nedians.
She is a young woman of perhaps nineteen or twenty, with short brown hair, and a blue coat and hat. Both have the golden honeybee emblem of the Lacour Postal Express on them. She smiles, cheerfully, and adjusts her mailbag.
"Pardon me!" she says. "I'm sorry for overhearing, but... did you say your name is Claude C. Kenny?"
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude is outside the Poke Mart just now, with a number of new Objects for his Kakuna. ...The Pokemon Center assured him it was entirely healthy, and that turning into a coccooned state was entirely normal for this kind of thing. So it was time for supplies! A ball for it to live in, but also some kinds of curative items, and some food, and...
A collar and name tag. 'If lost, please return to Claude C. Kenny.'
"Wow," he says. "It's been a while..."
It's a little bittersweet--he hasn't had a pet in a long time. But it's different, too. This is a Nede matter. And if they want to understand Nede, they have to participate in the culture! But his thoughts are interrupted by--
"Ah?"
"Yes," Claude answers Redi, looking her over. He recognizes Lacour, all right. "I'm him. ...Why do you ask?"
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Dias hasn't ever had a pet himself, but he's helped take care of others' pets before. Rena's dog that passed away comes to mind. He doesn't bring it up because Dias might be blunt but, despite impressions, he isn't thoughtless.
It's also why he keeps his opinion to himself about buying all this... stuff... for a near-unknown creature. It might be sensible to participate in the culture if they want to understand the world they're on, but Dias isn't so sure about committing to raising a living creature as a complete beginner to the local wildlife. The Poke Mart might have given them a crash course on Pokemon, but it's still next to nothing, and everything else aside, a collar is *very* much a commitment.
So as he walks out of the Poke Mart with Claude and Rena, he's quiet. He shoots a sharp look when someone rushes over to them, one hand instinctively gripping the sheath of his sword just under the hilt--but then he recognizes her uniform. It's a little surprising to see a Lacour postal worker here, though not *that* surprising.
Still, it's Claude she addresses, so Dias doesn't weigh in on this, either. He just keeps an eye out, as is his wont.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
Rena Lanford has her nose buried, in a pamphlet! The store had to dig it out because they could not believe she didn't have a Pokedex.
The pamphlet is named 'Your Kakuna and You!' showing a little boy in a hat carrying around a Kakuna.
It may be little surprise to Dias given her propensity to take care of strays as a child that she is ALL ABOUT commitment when it comes to cute animals.
"Kakuna: Able to move only slightly. When endangered it may stick out its stinger and poison it's enemies. Huh!" Rena looks at Claude's Kakuna, "Only slightly! You really are defying all expectations following us around!"
Rena turns the page in the pamphlet...
Suggestions on what to do with your Kakuna while it evolves:
*Lawn Ornament
*Paperweight
*Door Stopper
*Nutcracker
Rena sweatdrops, then looks at the Kakuna... reaching out to pat him once, "Hang in there, little guy."
He replies with his usual disyllable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs7NtHug0Yc
�
Rena also has a new satchel with a Pokeball over her shoulder, filled with pokesupplies for the party.
Which is when she turns around at Redi's call. "Oh? Someone's looking for you here, Claude?"
Dias may not address them but-! Rena's eyes trail up to Redi's ears and-
"You're not from around here either, are you? I'm Rena Lanford." As she points towards the man with the long blue hair, "And this is Dias Flac, if you've ever heard of him. He's a pretty famous swordsman back where we come from."
She's leaving this person an opening thus, to introduce themselves.
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
Redi glances, for just a moment, at the Kakuna in Claude's arms. That was how she noticed, of course; the collar and the name tag gave it away, and she has eagle eyes. (Necessary, for reading address numbers from a distance.)
She smiles at him, then at Dias. There is a glance down at his sword and his hand, but she says nothing when he relaxes. She also got pretty good at spotting when people go for weapons, because mail robbery is also part of the job.
Then, she looks at Rena, and she actually pauses a moment -- because the ears do seem like the natives' ears, but the clothes...
Redi nods at her. "I'm not," she says. "I was in the -- erm -- mess. With the Ten Wise Men. And the tower. And the... god? It seemed like a god," she says, with a sigh. Then, she raises her chin -- and eyes widen. "Dias Flac! I-I've heard of you!"
She smiles. "It's nice to meet all three of you. I'm Redi Hayworth!" she says. "I'm with the Lacour Postal Express. And..."
She beams. One finger is raised next to her forehead. "We deliver out here! Come rain, shine, or other planets entirely, we always make our deliveries!"
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
The many sturdy qualities of Kakuna are not lost on Claude. It makes him want to stick with it even more. Besides, he doesn't have a lawn to ornament. WIth his hands full, he can't pull his own weapon, but he wouldn't anyway.
"He's a tough little guy, right?" Claude says to Rena. And then--Someone looking for him...?
"I'm obviously Claude," he says with a laugh, as they introduce themselves. "Oh... Yeah, it was a big mess, wasn't it?" he asks. He doesn't comment about the god. Instead--
"Wait, really?" he asks. "That's... Some serious commitment," he decides.
Oh well, it's probably fine.
"So what do you have for me, Miss Hayworth?"
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Oh, when it comes to Rena, it's not surprising. (It isn't really surprising coming from Claude, either.) Dias just doesn't think it's wise. It's not *his* new pet, though, and if Rena's willing to read up on the creature, then Claude will *probably* be all right. Knowing her, she'll get one or more of her own soon enough. Apparently the 'culture' around these Pokemon creatures is to 'catch 'em all,' for some reason...
Regardless, Redi approaches, and Rena takes it on herself to introduce the rest of them. Redi's here via the obvious way of getting here--that whole mess on Marduk--and given that she's from Lacour, it's not a surprise that she's heard of him.
"Hmph." And it might seem at first that that's all he'll say, until Claude comments on her commitment. "It's something else, all right," he says--and he doesn't even mean it in a bad way.
Even if Dias expects Redi only has packages for any non-Nedians on Nede at all because she just happened to bring them with her to Marduk. Just in case, though, he wonders, "So how do you plan on making your deliveries back to Lacour?"
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
"Definitely!" Rena enthuses with Claude, "He's going through so many changes right now, he has to be tough. He's our adorable growing boy!"
Yeah Dias can definitely see that this is going to be a thing for her. It's almost like it's in her blood. 'Catch 'em all' might be something that Rena in fact, is on board with now that she knows how adorable they are.
"It was." Rena agrees with Claude on it being a big mess. "I can't say we expected any of what happened really. But, now we're here."
"It's nice to meet you Miss Hayworth!" Before- "The Lacour Postal Express?" Rena's blue eyes blink in wonder, as Claude notes it's serious commitment. Whereas Dias asks about his return route. Whereas Rena asks perhaps a similar question in reverse-
"Your service delivering here. That's... a new development right?"
Rena would feel really really silly if she could have found out about her place of birth by just mailing herself here from someplace in Lacour.
There's perhaps - a tiny bit of intensity as she asks again to confirm, "... Right?"
Rena can just picture it now.
To: Rena's Mom
(Attached: Portrait of little Rena, Picture of Pendant beside it.)
984 Viridian Lane
Viridian City, 34602
With a stamp on the side: LIVING CARGO - DO NOT COVER AIRHOLES
Redi delivering the package. A Nedian woman opening it and: 'Um- Hi! I know this might be something of a shock but... are you my mother?'
Rena pops out of the daydream long enough to look away with a hand near her mouth as she murmurs, "Gosh I hope not."
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"Y-Yes!" Redi says, with a sheepish laugh to Rena, spotting that daydreaming look. "Yeah, um, brand new. Actually..." Her foot scuffs the ground. "...they're actually little old," Redi says to Claude. "A-And actually, I've got some for all three of you. I, um--" She glances at Dias, because this answers his question. Even if she thinks, a little, that he might be judging her.
"I sort of got teleported to Aquvy first," she says. "And I couldn't get back, due to ships back to Ignas being all messed up by the war, Odessa, and everything else. So a lot of my Lacour mail is from a few months back."
She waits a beat, then, before she opens her mailbag.
The messenger bag has a few Symbols sewn into it; not nearly as complex as Nedian ones, but it explains a simple enchantment that makes her mail bag larger on the inside than the out. "So, Mr. Kenny, for you we have..."
She pulls out three letters. "Two from a weapon shop in Lacour, and this one is from Jean Bowman in Linga. I hope they're good news!"
She hands them over cheerfully -- and gives it a moment, before she goes looking for more.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude likes animals! Even bugs! Bugs are cool. And with Rena, "Awww, yeah! I wonder what he'll be when he comes out of his cocoon?" WHenever that is. It's fine.
He does think Dias has a fair question, though. And... "We are," Claude says. And then--
Hmm... "You OK there, Rena?" she spaced out a little. Then, he looks back to Redi and, "Ohhh. That's no good! Well, I'm glad you were able to track me down, then."
He accepts the letters, and looks them over. "Hmm... Rena, can you hold our little buddy here?" he asks, so that he can open the letters. He'll start with Bowman's!
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
'Our' adorable growing boy, huh.
...Well, it's just as well this is Rena and Claude's 'boy' to raise. If it helps bring those two together, Dias is (silently, privately) for it.
He does glance at Rena when she asks, rather intensely, about the service to Nede being a new one for Redi. He doesn't know what she's thinking, but... he can wager a guess about the general subject.
But sure enough, it's a new service, entirely because this particular deliveryperson just happened to be at the appropriate place at the appropriate time, and she accordingly doesn't actually have a way back to Filgaia. He isn't judging her... *that* much... but that's hard to tell with his frown and his own intense red eyes.
"I see," he says. The curtness of which probably doesn't help Redi feel un-judged.
Then he waits, because apparently there's mail for him too. A smartly crafted bag, that one. Claude, wisely, doesn't try to ask him to hold his Kakuna for him. (Dias likes animals, but he does *not* want a part in raising one.)
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
"Well the pamphlet says-"
Rena flips the page- "See Pokedex Entry for more information." Not one to dwell too hard on small disappointments, she instead folds it away, "We really should get one of those. The store clerks were very insistent."
It is perhaps a relief that there was not some way to Nede, known only to the Postmen all this time. A profound relief.
"Well, that's still pretty great time given your... difficulties. After all, in my small town we were luck to get the mail once a month." Claude does catch her momentarily spacing however, and she smiles. "Ah don't worry. I'm fine."
Claude however hands over his Kakuna, and Rena- "Of course. Also that reminds me-" As Rena reaches into the satchel, and pulls out something which she straps over one shoulder, then another, with a sack of webbing attached to her front by the straps.
AND THEN!
She slides Kakuna into the webbing of the Kakukarrier.
Leaving the Kakuna strapped to her chest.
As she turns to Dias, "Ta-da! What do you think?"
As she asks for his opinion... on the Kakukarrier.
Which does nothing at all to help the 'child care' comparisons of Rena and Claude raising a child together, even if Rena herself seems oblivious to that implication, since it's of course, a cute Pokemon!
Also it should be noted, that...
... she purchased it for CLAUDE.
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"He looks cute," Redi asides about the Kakuna. "Does he have a name yet?"
Then, she beams at Claude, as she waits. The two letters from the Lacour weapons shop are, ultimately, thinly veiled advertisements -- hoping to lure him back to represent them in the next Armory Contest. The other, though...
'Dear Claude,
'I've found a strange herb! Next time you're in Linga, you should come by. I'd like you to compare it to ones from Lunar. I found it growing in the Sacred Grounds, and heard it might be a transplant. Could you have a look?
'Yours,
'Dr. Bowman Jean'
Redi glances at Dias -- and she laughs, a little nervously, because he might be judging. She coughs, then, and she looks at Rena. "Mm-hm. It's been a bit complicated, to say the least," Redi admits. She looks at her, for a moment, and then she stares for a second at the Kakukarrier. Redi considers.
"It has my vote!" she adds, before she pulls out a single letter for Dias. She turns it over for a moment. The writing on the envelope is a bit hard to make it out; she squints, then she hands it to Dias.
"It says it's from... someone named Gamgee?" she says, but it turns into a question. "Not sure I recognize that name..."
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude is not going to ask Dias about holding Kakuna. ...Not if he doesn't want Kakuna to fall on the ground. Which would probably be enrichment for Kakuna but feels mean to Claude.
Rena says she's fine, so... Ah! The karrier!
"Oh! I can take that off your hands," he offers, but smiles.
Wait.
"Uh, I mean--" Claude pauses. "No, I really should name it... I wonder what kind of a name a bug would like?"
He does look over the weapons ads, but he doesn't have time for them right now. "Oh," Claude says. "We should get back to Linga sometime, when we have a chance. Bowman's got an herb for us to check out..."
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
'Ta-da! What do you think?' Rena asks, turning to him with the Kakuna in a Kakukarrier.
Dias's frown gets... frownier.
"Is that really necessary?" he asks, voice ringing with doubt. "The clerk said this creature doesn't last in the cocoon state for long, and given that harness is made for it, you wouldn't be able to reuse it for some other creature you end up picking up later on."
awww he *was* paying attention
He *doesn't* weigh in on the contents of Claude's letter, though; Dias wasn't present for the leg of their journey that included Bowman, so he doesn't actually know the pharmacist from Linga. He does accept the single letter Redi has for him, though.
"I do," he tells her curtly, before opening it up. He doesn't read it aloud, and when he's done, he folds it up and tucks it back into the envelope, then the envelope into a pocket in the inside of his cloak.
"When we have a chance, huh," he does remark, though. "I wonder how soon that'll come. From what I've heard, there've been times where Drifters were stranded in some area or another for months on end."
That's being generous, too.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
Redi gets a smile as the Kakukarrier gets her vote. Dias' frown gets frownier, Rena seems unperturbed, because she KNOWS he was paying attention.
Dias is always paying attention. Even if he doesn't look it. Rena is only slightly miffed, but she hides it behind this only SLIGHT thinning of her smile.
"Well it does seem like a lot of money for a limited amount of time but..." Rena tells him, as she produces a little sewing kit, brandishing it for him to see. "I figured I could modify it after he grows out of it, for other Pokemon."
That definitely seems to confirm she's forward thinking towards, many, many more Pokemon.
Bowman's letter, gets a smile from Rena, "Well - I'm interested in going back, I learned a lot from him. And I'd love to see how Ninay is doing"
She does hand over the Karrier, unstrapping Kakuna, to give him to Claude, thus allowing him to be with his owner. Kakuna's eyes look fractionally happier once strapped to Claude!
Redi however brings up Gamgee, and even if Dias tucks the letter away, "It's so nice that he thought to. I hope he's getting more business after the Armory Contest."
Ostensibly because she doesn't want Sofia to be having to go into rough and tumble places trying to dredge up business for him. That almost became dangerous for them both.
Rena however looks at Kakuna long and hard after Claude's request for a name and stares at him. He stares back at her, for a time it's like she spaces out... has she empathically connected with the Kakuna!? Is it communicating to her its will! Its wishes! It's name!?
"Barry maybe? He looks like a Barry to me, Claude."
No. No it is not.
Rena has... never had the most creative names for stray animals, even when she was a child.
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"Uh... maybe after something the bug does? Like..." Redi looks at Kakuna, and she seems to consider this for a moment longer. "...I-I'm sure that it does something."
She pauses, though, when Rena makes a suggestion. Barry? Redi blinks -- it's, well, it's a... perfectly normal... name. She glances at her...
...and decides discretion is the better part of wisdom. "Barry is a cute name," she offers. "And, uh, you can say you're carrying Barry, Mr. Kenny!"
The letter from Gamgee is rather simple, and without direct address: 'How is the Swallowblade working? Have you had cause to test it against blades from Aquvy? I have considered a few customizations for it. I have some notes on that; it could improve the balance. Of course, if you want me to do it, you will need to do so next time you're in Lacour.
'- Gamgee'
Redi glances sideways at Dias, when he remarks on people being stranded. She sighs, then raises a hand as if to say 'present.' "That's me. I-I mean, I'm not sure I count as a full time Drifter," she adds. "But definitely stranded. I haven't been back to Hilton in a long while."
Then she looks at Dias -- laughs nervously -- and says, "But it happens to the best of us! Right, Mr. Flac?"
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
It's not necessary, but... "Oh, you were already thinking ahead to repurposing it?" Claude asks Rena. "Wow."
Claude attaches the Kakuna to himself, carrying it along. It's nice! Kakuna seems happier...
It doesn't even seem to mind the name! It closes its eyes, slowly, in contentment. "Barry it is!" Claude says, surprised but willing to go with it. "You must've thought really hard about that name..." He can tell! She was doing it!
Still, "Well, we can be stranded together then," he says then to Redi. "I know you've probably got other mail to deliver, but we'll probably want to stay in touch while we're on this world, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Dias is always paying attention, because the cost of letting your guard down is just too high.
Rena produces a sewing kit. Dias shuts his eyes and swallows a sigh. "...Well, you already bought it." It's her money and thus hers to do as she wants with it. At least she *does* have a second step in mind.
As for Gamgee, he opens his eyes to regard Rena. "He didn't say. He just asked how the Swallowblade has been holding up and offered some notes on how to customize it."
Dias has been planning to customize it on his own, as he does all his swords--but he's very interested in what Gamgee's ideas would be. He'll stop by to ask, regardless of what the others do. (Naturally, Dias doesn't ask or invite them along, but Rena and Claude both know where Gamgee live. It won't be hard for them to follow if they so choose... whenever they all get back to Filgaia, anyway.)
He doesn't weigh in on the name 'Barry.' It's very normal, and Claude and (more importantly) the Kakuna itself seem pleased with it. He doesn't even comment on Rena gazing deep into the Kakuna's eyes. This is normal for her.
"It's not exactly something you could avoid with skill alone. Everyone's stranded here right now," he tells Redi. (This might be her first inkling that he's *not* judging. It did indeed happen to the best of them.)
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
"He does things." Is Rena's reply to Redi, "Like..." Rena blanks, "...Eats! He was this cute centipede before that made sounds like 'Wee~dle~' until he ate something Mister Hesiod gave him."
What DID Ethius give the Weedle!?
Rena's reply to Claude comes effortlessly, "Well of course. It wouldn't be a practical purchase otherwise." While eyeing Dias, "Have some faith in your little sister. I've been shopping on a shoestring budget for years." Indeed, after Rena's father passed away, their household had no income save the odd jobs that Rena or Westa could do to make ends meet.
Yet perhaps Dias won't be able to shake the notion that all of that goes out the window the moment she's spending pocket money on adorable animals.
Dias does reveal the contents of the letter however, and while it doesn't reveal what she wanted to know, "He must really respect your skill as a swordsman." Is her simple reply, perhaps impressed how well Dias and Gamgee get along in that regard.
She may not live the way that Dias does, but she can at least understand how two men of few words and a focus on their respective crafts communicate.
On the name though?
Rena replies to Claude, "Oh- y-yes, absolutely!" Dias will catch the white lie, from his natural insight into her.
She definitely came up with it completely spur of the moment.
He really did just look like a Barry to her.
But as Redi talks about how she hasn't been back home, "Oh it does but-" Re: Being Stranded. "-do you have family back in Hilton?"
Silently she perhaps apologizes for enabling them... all being stranded. Redi included.
Maybe?
The Ten Wise Men were very unclear on how her pendant accidentally helped them! What jerks!
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"He--he just at one thing and turned into this cocoon buddy!?" Redi says, looking at Barry, and then back at Rena. "I'm..."
She blinks her pale blue eyes once.
"Intrigued? Disturbed? Honestly, a little jealous? I wish I could eat one thing and magically achieve that level of chill."
Dias answers her -- and it's not judging. She actually smiles in a more relaxed way, then. "I guess there's no avoiding teleporter mishaps," Redi tells him. She tilts her head -- then she nods. She looks satisfied, for a moment.
Because, it seems, both of their letters brought good news. "I'm glad it had something good," she says. "The letter, I mean."
Then, she looks at Claude.
"Stranded together," Redi says, with a laugh, looking at Claude. "Yeah, that makes me feel a little better." She smiles, then she nods her head. "Mm-hm! And keeping people in touch is kind of my job. And us people from other worlds... well, we've gotta stick together! Right?"
Then, she glances at Rena. She didn't quite catch the comment the Wise Men made about the pendant; that came from fighting their monsters. "Yeah," she says. "My mom and dad. I was teleported after a monster attack, a few months ago, and..."
She sighs. "I'm a bit eager to get back." That makes her blink, though -- and realize, and she digs through her bag.
"Ah, here! It's from a Westa Lanford," Redi says. She smiles as she extends a letter in an envelope to Rena. "Family, maybe?"
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
"Dias is right," Claude chimes in. "It's not something anyone could've helped, ending up here. What's important is what we do next!"
"Yeah, we're not sure what Mister Hesiod gave Barry here, but we think maybe he shouldn't give to anything else for a while..." He laughs a little at Redi's blink. "I guess I see your point." Then he smiles back. "Yeah," he says. "Just remember that."
Claude does not catch the lie. He does however catch that silent apology. "Rena," he says, gently, trying to remind her with just a word of the conversation they had about it. "...Your parents, huh?" Claude asks Redi then, and nods. "Well, we'll have to see about a way back, for sure."
But--Oh. Rena has a letter, too! They all know who Westa is but Redi, so--
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
"Hmm." Dias's lips curve into a faint, faint smile. "I suppose I should," he concedes, of having faith in Rena's practicality. "I just figured with all the extra money you pick up these days from fighting monsters, you'd turned into a spendthrift."
Claude and Redi might wonder: is that a tease???
Rena will know: that is a tease.
In the same way, when she tells Claude that yes she TOTALLY thought long and hard on that name, she'll be able to tell by Dias's side-eye that he sees right through her.
...Fortunately, he doesn't comment on that, either. "Of course," he says instead, of Gamgee and respect.
Any enabling Rena might've been complicit in on teleporter mishaps, he also doesn't comment on--because that wasn't her fault. (But it's truly difficult to see when blame doesn't belong to you when sometime bad happens anyway, isn't it?) He does glance at Claude when *he* says something... but it's just a gentle word. He leaves it be.
"It's sensible," he comments to Redi of sticking together, with a slight nod to Claude when he weighs in too. Dias is not a stick-together sort of person, most of the time, but: "There's value in keeping company with someone you know what to expect from."
He grimaces at the reminder of Ethius Hesiod's 'food.' "Definitely not."
But finally, Rena has a letter, and it's from Westa. Dias glances from Redi to Rena, eyebrows lifting a hair or two. "What's it say?"
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
"Mmph." Rena puffs her cheeks briefly, embarrassed at Dias' tease, "Clearly I've been responsible with our increased budget."
When Redi is JEALOUS of Barry. Honestly Rena is kind of jealous too? She definitely suffers from anxiety at times.
"Same? Though, maybe without the cocoon part."
Redi tells them however about their Mom and Dad and Rena tells her sympathetically, "I get it. And it's a bit hard to send mail when - you are the mail. And your... route's been extended?"
Well, it makes sense to her, "Hopefully you get the chance to visit soon." Assuming they all find a way back and forth from Energy Nede.
She can't quite look at Claude when he invokes her parents, especially since Redi produces a letter from Westa...
Which takes her mind instantly off those recriminations, "My Mom." Rena tells Redi softly, taking it without hesitation, but perhaps slight reverence. There's a smile on her face. "It's been years since we left."
She opens it up, and reads it, eyes looking briefly emotional. "She... asked how me and Claude are doing. How the investigation is going." There is the implication 'how Claude and her are doing romantically' because Westa is Westa, but Rena doesn't relay that to the group. Her eyes look over at Dias, "I wrote her a while back about how we ran across you in Marze, so she asked about you, too, Dias. And invited you over for dinner sometime... as she wanted, to see for herself if you'd been eating right."
There is also certainly the implication of her Mom wanting Dias to visit Cecille and his parents' graves, but Rena doesn't say that aloud either. There's no need to stab him more than any implication of returning to Arlia one day might in and of itself.
"She also asked if I found what I'm looking for and..."
She understands how much that likely hurts Westa in and of itself, even if Rena still considers her, her Mother - it still compelled her to leave.
"... well... Mom. I think I've taken a big step in that direction." She says in a moment of being quietly emotional, showing some vulnerability. "Almost there."
Briefly she considers writing back and giving it to Redi but-! It isn't the kind of story one tells someone over the mail.
Not this one.
"Ah! Um!" Rena gives Redi a smile, looking like she wants to hug her for a moment but trying to resist the impulse, "Thank you for this, Miss. For... being so dedicated! This was... definitely the best time for me to get this letter."
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"You get it!" Redi says, with a bright smile in Rena's direction. Maybe, one day, they will reach Barry's heights.
But her expression becomes more somber when Claude and Rena talk about her parents. "Yeah," Redi says. "I miss them a lot. I hope they're okay, I didn't see everything about how the monster attack played out... and it was kind of hard to get mail back, yeah. The ships weren't even going there, except for military ones." Worry creeps into her expression, for a moment, and then she shakes her head once. No letting her worries get the best of her.
Besides, they have to stick together.
As Dias affirms. She looks at him and nods. "Mm-hm. I came here with one friend, but--" There's a beat, and then she says in an upbeat sort of way: "It's always nice to have more!"
That isn't quite what Dias said...
Redi brightens up when Rena has that sort of response to the letter. She tilts her head to the side -- and then she smiles, in a satisfied way. Redi is, at heart, someone who loves her job. And delivering a letter that connects someone to relatives they've not been able to talk to...
Well, that's a good day.
Redi smiles, straightening her back out. "I'm happy to help!" she says. "And please, just call me Redi. If you need a letter sent back to her... or anyone else! I'm your woman."
She adjusts her floppy blue hat, securing it on her head with a proud twist.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude is pretty sure Dias is teasing Rena!! He is proud of himself for figuring it out.
And 'someone you know what to expect from' is about as good as he expects to get from Dias.
He doesn't say more about Redi's parents; it just made him think of his own, was all. Since it's been a long time since he's seen them, too.
Claude smiles at Rena. "I'm glad you got her letter," he says sincerely. "...And I'm sure you'll get to tell her the rest in person."
He doesn't really have any reason to be so sure. But he is anyway.
Then, he looks at Redi, who had a friend, and... Hmm. "Hilton, too...
"Redi it is," Claude says. "Heh. I almost..."
Nah. There's no way Redi could get mail out that far.
"...Almost couldn't believe how great that hat is!"
Kakuna makes a noise. It's inscrutable.
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Dias eyeballs the Kakukarrier. "Clearly."
It'd be even more fiscally responsible to just use the Pokeballs for their intended purpose, Rena! ...his stare seemed to say.
He turns that stare off into the distance when Rena relays the message in her letter from her mother, though. She mentions that she'd told her about *him*, way back, and that Westa thus has a standing invitation for him to come over for dinner sometime. Which would imply him staying the night, and which would imply a visit to his family's graves in the Sacred Forest...
"...I'll pass."
There's a lot else he could say. But he'll stick with that, for now.
It's not as though he's the loneliest person in this group, anyway. (And of course despite that, Claude is certain they'll get home sooner or later. But then, that's something he'd have to tell himself, isn't it.)
He does glance back at her as she continues, though, and consequently gets emotional. And when the conversation turns to Redi's parents getting caught up in an attack, he once again looks away.
Having more friends is definitely not what Dias said, and he doesn't even look at her when she looks at him. He might not be judging her, but he's certainly not warm and fuzzy.
"Maybe you should take up postal service," he remarks, dry as a bone, when Claude praises Redi's hat. It'll even fit his Pokemon! ...Eventually! Not that Dias would know what Barry's going to end up looking like.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
Dias' tease gets an indignant puffed cheek look from Rena a little longer, as he DEFINITELY scores points, proving they are indeed, siblings. "Mmph. Dias! Sometimes it's just fine to spend a little on things which bring someone joy."
Yeah the Pokebudget is gonna be through the roof.
"Me too." Rena tells Claude, before- "One day. Just - first. Well... you know." Whereas she beams at Redi, "Alright! Redi it is and- okay. I might just take you up on that... just... you know-!" She waves a hand as if to say 'this place'. "Some things it's better to say in person." She tells her as if to say 'Who would believe this place anyway!?'
Dias says he'll pass, and Rena says quietly, "Dias..." But- as much as she wants to say more to him right now, about going home, visiting... she isn't seriously entertaining going back to Arlia in any fashion that isn't just 'passing through'. It was a promise to herself, and she isn't about to talk about this, about what Dias went through in front of everyone else.
With a sigh, she decides to just let it go for now.
For Now.
Claude however, brings her attention to the hat, "It is a great hat!" Rena seems, low key awed now that she's truly noticed it's greatness. Rena then looks towards Claude, then back towards Redi, then back towards Claude.
And... out of her pack, produces... something that looks like a camera.
"Hey Redi, do you mind if I-?"
Rena asks, it looks entirely like a camera.
Just a camera-!
And then, the moment she snaps a picture of Redi-!
Rena uses REPLICATION. Skill 6!
A little Chibi Rena hops left and right on the IC Specialty Menu as something takes shape in a growing cloud of smoke!
LACOUR POSTAL HAT!
SUCCESS!
The back of the camera looking RIRICA suddenly spits out magic film, which traces 3D grid lines that form a postal hat shape, until a complete replica of Redi's hat, down to the stains forms in mid-air.
Rena then holds it up to Claude's head as if she was weighing it, and then tells Dias, in response to him teasing Claude.
"It really would look good on him!"
She is definitely way more sincere about it than him.
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"Mm-hm! I know how that is," Redi admits. "Sometimes you have to go talk to them. And... ah... yeah." She looks around Viridian City, and laughs. "I'm not sure how I'll explain it to my parents, either."
Dias looks away at the mention of friendship and Redi glances to the side. He might be a tough nut to crack, in that regard. She glances between them -- spotting something that must have passed between them about Dias coming over for dinner.
She looks back at Claude, when he seems to consider something -- but, in fact, settles for praising her hat. That prompts her to smile.
"I am pretty proud of it," she says. Then, she glances at Dias. "And it's a good job! You could do a lot worse."
Rena asks if she would mind -- and Redi blinks, looks at the camera, and shakes her head. "Sure?" she asks. She strikes a pose, fingers in a V-shape.
And then she gasps as the replica of her hat appears. She points. "Oh my gosh," she stammers. "Th-that's--Rena!! That's amazing! Oh my gosh! H-How did it--is it--it's just another copy of my hat...!!"
She pokes at the one on her head. Yep, still there.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
"Right," Claude answers Rena. Some things... Claude lifts an eyebrow about taking up the postal service. But Rena really goes with it!! He blinks when she pulls the camera. "W-wait--"
"It's a great hat," Claude reiterates, "But it brings with it an important job! And I've already got a job! I'm with the Federation, remember?"
Not that he's been back in years. But he's got the uniform and everything. THe jacket is still in good shape...
What does surprise him is that Rena can do that at all. It's fine.
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
"Emphasis on 'a little,'" Dias counters with a wry and subtle smile. (At least the emphasis wasn't on 'joy'...)
Still, he hasn't actually told her not to buy more. Indeed, he said earlier it's her money to do with as she pleases. Maybe this back-and-forth is his own way of engaging with a thing he otherwise doesn't want anything to do with.
He certainly isn't engaging with the idea of going back home to Arlia.
The replication of Redi's hat is definitely impressive, particularly since it's still on her head as she poses. Dias is the type to do his own thing at all times, so he doesn't see a point in copying items that already exist most of the time. This seems convenient, though, even if he wasn't really serious about Claude becoming a delivery person.
Claude's insistence gets him a long look, though. "*How* long has it been since you've had contact with the Federation? Your loyalty does you credit, but if you aren't getting paid, you don't have a job." He shakes his head. "Not that it matters. What you do is up to you."
At least Redi's happy about the hat! Now if she ever loses it, she's got a spare. One certainly could do worse than a delivery person, but Dias suspects it's a job you can't be polished 24/7 at.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
Indeed, Rena perhaps realizes this about Dias, and in fact appreciates it, but it won't stop her from playing the role in these little sibling squabbles.
(Honestly she enjoys them too much to stop.)
AND it draws Dias into... interacting with the world, takes him out of his shell. She realizes this, certainly, that few things ordinarily can.
"It's this weird ARM we found!" Rena enthuses Redi's way, "It's really useful. It doesn't always work? It's kinda like, how well I picture something in my head when I use it."
It also takes this really expensive high quality film to use? She's not bringing THAT part up, because well, it gives Dias more ammo.
Claude protests that he's with the Federation, and Dias DOES bring up a good point.
"He does have a point." Rena tells him, "Right now given where you draw your pay you're really more of a Monster Hunter, Treasure Hunter, and..." Her eyes drift down to Kakuna, "...a Pokemon Trainer aren't you?"
A thought does occur to her-! As her eyes light up.
"... In fact, you probably draw more passive income from people thinking of you as the Hero of Light in Krosse than you do as an Ensign right now."
Just think of all the free stuff people give to a Hero of Light Claude! Just think about it!
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
"That's so amazing!" Redi says, staring at the Ririca camera. She contemplates it. "I bet you could do all sorts of really cool things... aah, I'm jealous!"
Redi sighs, happily.
Then her eyebrow twitches a little.
'If you aren't getting paid, you don't have a job.'
Redi frowns when Dias says that, her eyes darting to Claude. "B-Back pay! If you end up somewhere unexpected, like... um... where he can't get in touch with this Federation thing--" Redi missed Ethius's briefing. "--then... I-I'm sure he'll get that!"
It might be two people aren't getting paid right now, and still doing their job regardless.
"P-People can do a job and not getting paid that very moment! If Claude's dream is being--" Redi looks at Claude. She glances at his strange coat his shirt, his pants; she looks at his sword. She blinks. She doesn't know what he is.
"...a... Federation Guy! Then he's a Federation Guy, even if other things pay the bills! I-It'd be like a letter carrier who hasn't gotten a paycheck in six months and has to sometimes go into ruins, do private courier runs, and one time be a waitress but it doesn't mean she stopped being a letter carrier!"
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Dias... kind of has a point. "I mean..."
Rena brings up another one. "I mean, the Federation doesn't exactly need money much," he points out. "But..."
Right! Back pay! Claude nods to Redi. "Right!" he says. "Back pay!"
His dream, was it?
"My dream was..."
He looks around at the others. He grows quiet, for a moment.
"...A-anyway," he says, "Right. Redi here is definitely still a letter carrier. And I'm... Going to get Barry some enrichment!"
He starts off, "Hurry up!"
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Rena suggests that Claude be a Hero of Light, professionally.
"Rena," Dias says in an exasperated, warning sort of tone, shooting Claude a glance. But it's not so much that as Dias's own point, and Redi's follow-up, that gets Claude to fall silent, then hurry away to run from an uncomfortable topic.
...It's a familiar sort of behavior. Like looking into a dirty mirror.
"...If you say so," he tells Redi. He can pick up what she's putting down even without her explicitly spelling it out, and he isn't so cruel as to repeat his same point, only louder. If that's what she needs to tell herself to get by, then that's on her.
"You'd better get back to your job, then," he adds to Redi. He looks to Rena. "Let's go." A beat; then, jerking his chin Redi's way, he adds, "*You* better give her that extra hat. Looks like Claude's not going to need it."
He'll leave Rena to do or not do that as he strides after Claude.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
Redi's invocation of Claude's dream of being a Federation guy, Rena looks puzzled at him for a moment, even as Dias says her name in that exasperated sort of way.
Rena knows he's not the Hero of Light, she just kinda got swept up in the moment.
Still, in that moment, she says quietly, "Claude..."
It occurs to her that she doesn't know what his dreams are, at all.
As he leaves to give Barry some enrichment, Rena watches him for several long moments, as if lost on what to do here. Then... as Dias gives his advice, "Oh! Ah!"
Rena smiles and hands Redi both the hat, and a few extra Gella, "For your troubles." That way she has an extra hat! "My Mom's letter... it really brightened my day. Thank you for bringing it all this way. It was really nice meeting you, Redi."
She'll linger for just a short while longer, to perhaps consider... well...
When it's Dias at least, she can understand what's bothering him. Claude though, even with all she's learned recently of him... sometimes she just feels clueless as to what's bothering him.
<Pose Tracker> Redi Hayworth has posed.
Redi blinks when Claude takes off like that. She hesitates for a second; maybe she made a wrong assumption about whether something was, really, his dream. She opens her mouth, then closes it again. "A-ah, right, see you later, Claude!"
She glances back at Dias, then she hesitates for a second -- but he doesn't call her on it. Which, in a way, is a kindness. "Mm-hm. Yeah, always more letters to deliver..."
She takes the hat -- and the gella, too -- and then she blinks, before she brightens up. "Thanks, Rena," she says. "It was nice to meet you. You, too, Mr. Flac."
The hat gets slid into her bag. A spare will always be good. She lifts a hand, then waves. "See all of you soon!"
Since the offworlders do have to stick together.