2017-08-15: Just a Friend

• Log: Just a Friend
• Cast: Riesenlied, Kalve
• Where: Photosphere
• Date: 15th August 2017
• Summary: Riesenlied catches up with Kalve and accidentally embarrasses him!

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<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

In the wake of Old Petra's destruction, some of the Tainted have returned to their homes, returned to the Photosphere. But the atmosphere is not one of gloom and despair -- there is talk amongst them, of a new village. A new place, further west; a new hope, to replace that seedling which had been so thoroughly crushed from under them.

Riesenlied has done her best to handle things in the wake of this attack too -- and one thing she's perhaps left for too long is to visit Kalve, and check up on him. Ida had mentioned interesting things, and she needed to ask whether he was onboard the situation as well...

<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

Kalve isn't in his remote hideaway in the Photosphere this time. He's actually in a place near Alhazred's section of the place, a slice of workspace for more intensive lab work that isn't /strictly/ his personal projects. It still counts as one, but since it's for the betterment of their race, he warrants the larger space.

Said space is effectively a giant cylindrical chamber like the inside of a vat. It's got an airlock, but it opens to admit Riesenlied without issue. Inside is... idyllic?

It's like a park, a cut-away of the outside world during a sunny day. There's a big tree in the middle of it, with sheltering branches covered in green leaves. There's grass, and wildflowers. There's glass panels along the walls that make it look like it's an island floating in mid-air to sort of cement the illusion of a greenhouse, probably for practical purposes beyond just aesthetics. There's even a little stream flowing endlessly from one side to the other, probably fed into itself under the dirt-and-grass-covered floor.

Kalve is kneeling by a little shrub. He's got a glass globe with a slice taken off the top in one hand, full of what looks like metallic sand, with a greyscale plant of some kind resting inside. He's doing something with two of his other hands and a hovering display to it, but it's not easy to tell. He seems somewhat engrossed.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

In truth, Riesenlied probably doesn't come particularly close to Alhazred's section of the place unless she absolutely has to -- there's something, suffice to say, unsettling about the way she forever remains a... subject of study for him. A fascinating subject, indeed.

She places her hands opposing her elbows as she glances towards--

She pauses, staring rather confusedly, glancing around to the grass, the wildflowers... the mid-air island... her breath is taken away, just a little. She hadn't seen anything like this in the Photosphere before.

"... ah-- Kalve?" she expresses quietly as she steps a little closer to the Metal Demon scientist. "It is Riesenlied. I hope I am not interrupting? This is a fascinating... view you have here."

<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

"A moment, please," Kalve murmurs. One of his many arms snakes out and makes a little cutting from the greyscale plant. He does something precise to put it in with the other shrub. Then, he stands and turns, letting one of his sub-arms hold the glassy pot off to the side while he regards Riesenlied. Kalve inclines his head politely.

"No, I was just finishing. Ferroforming experiments require a closed environment before they can be transplanted onto the planet itself. Given what happened to our last installation..." He shrugs his shoulders, then looks towards the false horizon. "It /is/ impressive, though. A reminder of what we stand to gain."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied plants her hand to her cheek as she watches, and looks towards the glass pot as she murmurs quietly, "I..." A pause. She looks up towards the skies herself, even if they may be fake and artificial. "I am impressed. I had not known you were into such ferroforming experiments." A pause. "But at the same time, I am glad that you were unscathed from the incident..." Not so herself, given reports of how she was thrown into fits of anxiety and pique following her 'communing' with Id...

But, communing on a mental landscape is an interesting thing for a Metal Demon herself, isn't it? "What do you call the shrub?"

<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

"I do not create weapons alone," Kalve says. "We must adapt the land to live upon it. Alhazred has shown no interest in this task, so I have taken it upon myself. It is somewhat calming work, even if it has yet to bear any fruit." Literally or figuratively, apparently.

Kalve looks back at Riesenlied. "I was fortunate enough to avoid the incident. Or, perhaps, unfortunate enough to be unable to help attempt to curtail it. I had heard you were in poor condition afterwards... have you recovered well?" He sounds a little bit actually concerned. Given what he's heard about what happened, that isn't exactly unfounded.

"It doesn't have a name until it proves viable," he replies. "Nothing about it speaks of its purpose and ability yet. ARMs are... simpler."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied nods, as she expresses, "Well said. Adapting to live upon it... it is something that the Tainted have learnt to embrace. To scorn this world as it is, to believe we can change it utterly for ourselves... it is not as easy as many of our elders think it to be."

A pause, as she glances towards herself as Kalve makes comment about her condition. "I was... struggling for weeks afterwards." She chuckles ruefully. "Do you recall that phenomenon that you had observed in me?" Kalve had noted when Riesenlied last came for healing that her very being was... becoming unstable, ever so slightly -- on a very minute level. And now...

She holds onto a brooch with a tear-shaped gem -- it shimmers with the colours of the rainbow as she starts to emit soft, luminescent photons that surround the field of flowers with a faint, gentle light. A comforting, calming... soothing feeling comes from within it -- it seems to come from Riesenlied herself. A field... of empathy.

"... this strange power came when I-- I suppose when I tried to stop that red-haired man, Id, from killing Lord Siegfried."

<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

"Nothing is ever as easy done as it is said," Kalve agrees with a little sigh to his voice. "The effort required will be monumental. I have not even begun the planning stages for attempting to ferroform a small region we might populate comfortably. The material requirements alone..." He just shakes his head. "Still. I would rather avoid reducing the planet to a husk if we are able. Truthfully, I do not think we have the means to repair it after the power it would require to do that in the first place. An alternative is almost certainly necessary."

This room has /got/ to be soundproof.

He nods. "I do, yes. Have you had progres...?" She shows it off in short order. Kalve looks around for a moment, frowning. He doesn't quite understand, but the edge of his previous frustration at the grand problem of their lack of a homeworld has been taken off, softened by the field. "...hnh."

"It does not appear harmful... is it stressful to use...?" Curiosity, always.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

It is rather wearisome...

Her voice seems to echo from thin air, like she is speaking from her heart. There's a faint, strained noise from Riesenlied, as she lets the power die down very gently, the motes of light slowly returning to her side, then fading into ambient thin air. "... I can only concentrate it for a short moment right now..."

She shakes her head with that rueful chuckle at her lips. "An empathic light... a way to connect, emotionally, to others... other Demons would find it a poor jest of a weapon, would they not? Yet, I feel it is deeply important to me..."

A pause.

"And... yes, those were my sentiments exactly," Riesenlied nods as she lowers her voice, if only out of protocol given she trusts Kalve to have his countermeasures in mind. "There is much rhetoric of rebuilding the planet from a desolate state, yet... nothing of how we may achieve that, from any of the elders. It is something I have always questioned, for I find the explanations... lacking."

<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

Kalve's head twitches, tilted to look up and around, as if searching for the voice. He recognizes, more or less, the source once he stops and thinks about it. "Being able to clearly and effectively communicate your intent and understand that of your allies, however, is an extremely useful tool. It may be less so for us, given our cultural predilection for combat, but working with humans who lack that sort of innate understanding..."

"You would not be able to properly wield something like that if it was not important to you," Kalve states with surety. "It would wither and fade if you did not wish to see it grow stronger. It is something to embrace and explore rather than fear and reject." His main hands come together in front of him. "Not all tools worth using are fit to be weapons."

He nods a moment later, looking off into the false distance again. "I would very much like to know how we are to go about this. We take, and destroy, and assume we will have anything left afterwards. I would like to have faith in the Quarter Knights. I would /like/ to. But..."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"Indeed... to feel their pain, to hear them in their time of need..." Riesenlied whispers ever so gently. "It is something I have always desired -- to be able to hear more of what others feel, to open their hearts..."

A pause, and there's-- a very tender smile as she nods gratefully at Kalve's encouraging words. "You have encouraged another as well, recently."

It might sound very strange, out of the blue, but then she is unwittingly incriminating as she laces her hands together to say, "You gave your blanket to Miss Ida, and she still drapes it about herself for comfort. You are very important to her, of that I have no uncertainty..."

She tucks her head gently. "Thank you for being there for her, Kalve. Miss Ida is a friend, and I would loathe to see her wounded."

<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

Riesenlied slides smoothly from the conspiratorally professional to the warmly personal and hits Kalve right in the blind spot. He blinks a couple of times, and looks genuinely uncomfortable at the thought. Kalve shifts a little on his feet, his fingers twitching with little fidgets. He gets a look on his face that mostly looks like he's trying and failing to keep a straight one.

"She is, er... a friend, yes," he agrees awkwardly. "I had hoped to provide her a means of protection, to arm her while her weapon of choice is damaged, but... but if she finds comfort in it, then..."

Kalve inexplicably feels like he needs to blame Noeline for this. He does not mention this aloud. "I... wish she would pick her battles more carefully," he sighs.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied does, at least, notice as Kalve starts to fidget as he noticeably struggles lightly, before... blushing in turn, lowering her head to gently say, "Oh-- oh, my apologies. I did not mean to embarrass, but... ...w-well, that is how it is. I did not mean to wheedle you with it, just-- that it makes me happy to see."

She clears her throat very gently, then says, "Kalve... the Tainted are on the move once more. We are seeking to rebuild anew out west... there is a particular spot that I think would fit our purposes. And this time, I wish to separate the Tainted's new home from our brethren's military purposes -- lest we repeat Old Petra."

There's a tender little noise, as she expresses, "Wayside. A place where all that has been cast aside by the planet, to the wayside, are welcome. This ferroforming project of yours deep reminded me of it."

She smiles wider. "Would you care to join us there, when the time comes for it?"

<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

At least she has the decency not to poke and prod even more when he reacts like that. Kalve mostly composes himself and gives Riese a sharp nod. "It's... fine. I am sure it was unintentional. You, er... ahem." Right. More important things. Like --

Tainted. His mood shifts. He frowns a little, straightening slightly. His opinions on the Tainted as a whole are somewhat negative, but he has to admit that what they have been able to do under Riesenlied's direction has been... more than he expected. He has, perhaps, started to come around.

"A wise decision. There will be fewer reasons to strike at it if it is not a place of military import. Still, it carries certain... risks." He seems doubtful, but there's a moment's contemplation on the matter. "...I would be willing to make the journey, and perhaps assist in its creation. It may be educational."

Which is a pretty promising answer from him, all in all.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied nods as she laces her fingers together, in a heartful kind of way. She knew that he would have interest in it... and at Old Petra, his defenses have been helpful, to say the least. "Thank you, Kalve. I'm sure it will be educational-- we are joined by more allies than ever before... let us make this one a lasting home."

A pause, as she tilts her head. "There is a girl amongst the Veruni that have accompanied us -- Kaguya is her name. She is a flowergirl by trade, and a botanist by research. She has shown me a variety of flower strains that are not cultivated here in Filgaia. Perhaps her research could serve as an inspirational bed for your own ferroforming ends? I can introduce you to her if time wills it."

She steps back towards the airlock's hatch, before smiling wider. "She will be there as well, out west. Perhaps that would be a good time for it. But until then... please be well, Kalve. You have my gratitude, as always."

<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

"A botanist would be helpful, though I am uncertain if any natives of this world would truly be willing to see us thrive," Kalve murmurs. "Still... thank you. That sort of assistance could be invaluable." Making a new home... and surrounded by allies. He isn't totally convinced, but... he'd like to be.

He inclines his head as Riesenlied starts to retreat from the chamber. He's smiling faintly, now. "I am nothing if not resilient, Riesenlied. If you should require my skills, please do not hesitate to ask. I am sure you and your... second," he decides is a good word for her, "know where I'll be."