Scene #6259: Best of Friends

Owner	Pose
Haguro	It's been a few days now since Haguro finally returned from that fateful battle against Midway. She still hasn't had much time to get used to her new body, but she's working on it! Maneuvering the new tail coming out of her midsection has been the hardest part by far, as she still hasn't quite found a comfortable way to hold it. Around her side and behind her? She's gotten stuck in one too many doorways doing that. In front of her? Too many people had gotten freaked out by a floating monster thing with it hiding her behind it. Under and between her legs? That just feels wrong. For now, she's settling with just having it draped over her shoulder not unlike a very large conjoined baby with cannons for foreheads. She's not going anywhere in particular, instead opting to just wander the fields of Spring and enjoying a (relatively) peaceful night to think things over.
Kalia	The seas did not generally call to Kalia. But for the last few weeks they had noticed a tug amidst countless others, growing with every passing day. And on this most festive of nights, population centers are entirely too... bright for them. But there calls uncertainty and solidate in vast empty fields. That's unusual, too. Shadows gather behind a tree, or maybe it's a rock, but it doesn't last; Kalia's form pops out, one minute there and the next not. Their own white and black eyes peer at Haguro's, but just as quickly Kalia is gone from the front, whispering in behind Haguro as the equally pale person's feet touch the ground again. "You seem lonely. May we keep you company?" A gloved hand reaches to pet one of Haguro's tail endings, evidently unbothered by its appearance, even sitting on her shoulder like a menancing cannon-mouth.
Haguro	Haguro doesn't notice Kalia's appearance right away. Or.. Perhaps she's just not paying attention. That's the more likely case with everything that's happened lately, and she only catches a glimpse of something in the distance before its gone. She squints, but dismisses it as a trick of the moonlight. And then a voice comes from behind her. She yelps and whirls around to face the odd-looking person behind her. "Who...? How did you get...?" It takes her a few more moments to calm herself, although the petting of the tail things does seem to help a bit. Oddly enough, those 'heads' haven't moved much even with the pale girl doing a 180. They're still facing the same way they were when they were on her shoulder. "I... Um. I guess, if you'd like. Er. Who are you?" There's apprehension in her voice, but curiousity as well.
Kalia	"We're like you," Kalia responds, which could sound true-enough given the pale skin and glowing white eyes, if it wasn't for the rather evident lack of metallic, Abyssal-y parts. They must mean it another way. "We're Kalia. We didn't choose that name," they then answer, still petting the tail with a curious look. Their eyes shift back to Haguro from the tail. "You seem uncertain. You came here to avoid people? We have a knack for sensing those things. We noticed a lot of activity out at sea and it led us to you." And others. Others Kalia wants to visit, too. "Why?"
Haguro	Like her? Haguro couldn't quite see it at first, but on closer inspection... Were her clothes really that shoddy in this form? Maybe it wouldn't hurt to get one of her uniforms on instead of this ratty black thing. And... Maybe figure out how to fit the tail, too, without it looking weird just jutting under her clothes. "Kalia? My name is Haguro, fourth of..." She pauses, an uncomfortable silence lingering as she mulls over how to even introduce herself. Without the Fleet to base her introduction on, where does she even go with that? Also something to work on. "Y... Yeah, I've had a busy week. Um. It's been... Complicated. Ending up like this, not being welcome back home any more." She frowns, starting to pace a bit and looking for a convenient waist-high fence to lean on. "I mean.. I-I have a home now, still, but it's... Been really weird lately. A-and fast. I'm sure you've got better things to do than listen to all of that... Er. Right?"
Kalia	"Not really," Kalia says. "The night is young. We can be anywhere we want. If we find something more interesting to do, it won't be hard to go there." The royal we, not plural we. They follow Haguro, feet drifting unnaturally along the ground. Less walking, more floating, but still going through the motions of the walk. "Losing a home. A title and part of your identity. Must be rough." Kalia doesn't take a seat, even if they find that fence. "Fast is better than slow. Slow means you suffer longer. Now you're being forced to adapt. Decide. You might waste time otherwise." Silver lining in everything, right? "Who? Who did that to you? Why?" They could try cheating. Just feel it out. But making people say it, it's much better. There's a tingle of malice floating outward from Kalia, trying to incite Haguro to assign blame.
Haguro	"Huh. That's fair. Well.. If you're sure, then. It's good to have company sometimes." Haguro chuckles softly and leads the way, holding the tail over her shoulder again as she watches the sky idly. "That's... That's right, actually. The title wasn't so important, but identity..." She sighs as they reach a fence, and she leans against it on her elbows while letting her tail hang over the side. It lifts up briefly as if considering Kalia, but flops back over after a few moments like a dog that's gotten tuckered out from running around too much. "I'd prefer if it didn't happen at all, but... Fast did mean there wasn't time for a lot of things. No... Perfectly planned answers." She actually laughs lightly at that, although the bitterness is evident in her tone. "No time to spin it just right... I've never liked that. Being polite is fine, but it just feels so fake." Haguro rubs her forehead, not noticing that little nudge. Or perhaps she just doesn't care if she did? "It's... A lot of people, I guess. Midway. She killed me. If she hadn't killed me, then... Then Nagato wouldn't have seen me like this. Wouldn't have..." She rails off, already sounding somewhat upset before shaking her head. "Sorry. I'm... Getting a little too heated. It's Christmas, right? It should be a happier time..."
Kalia	"Maybe. People have different ideas of what happy means," Kalia says, bringing their hand up to adjust the scarf a bit. "Sometimes happy is making someone else sad." Or dead. Often dead! "You don't look dead to us. Are you sure that's the right word?" Ah, she's a spirit. Of course she'd question it. Haguro still seems very physical! Corrupt, maybe, but not... undead? Different, for sure. "Are you sure it was a bad thing? Maybe it just opened your eyes and now you see people for what they really are." A white and black cap appears in Kalia's hand. An admiral's cap. Kalia places it on their head, not quite right, but enough to get the point across. "Maybe the people you thought would support you forever were lying. You thought they were good people, but they were only like that because you were like them. Now you're different. You're wrong. Right?" Kalia's gaze wanders up and down Haguro's body, inspecting her closer. "Midway. Maybe they did you a favor. You should get them something, for Christmas. 'Tis the season."
Haguro	"I guess. But that's not a good way of being happy. People can do that without making others sad. Er. Usually." Haguro sounds uncertain, as if she's seen people feel joy at others' misfortune before. Like in all her shows. "Eh? O-oh, I'm... I'm not dead now, no, but I was. Er. Sort of. It's... Kind of weird for spirits like myself." She pauses to look Kalia over again, taking note of the scarf adjustment and the floating thing. "You're... Are you a spirit, too?" She tries to ignore the question of whether it was bad or not and only succeeds for about ten seconds before sighing. "I've... Always had a feeling they weren't as great as I believed they were. But back before I joined the Concord... That's just how everyone thought. That we were always right because we were 'good' and the others were wrong because they were 'evil'." The pained frown and gaze cast aside prove Kalia's point, and the admiral's cap only twists that knife in further. "... Yeah. They... Before I even saw Nagato, before anyone saw me. They were ready to believe I had attacked someone already. All I did was eat a pipe." She covers her face with her hand, taking in a deep breath and not noticing/caring about Kalia's gaze. "It wasn't even a good pipe. It tasted awful." It's the mention of Midway, though, that has her voice coming colder than before. "... Maybe. I should... Get her something." It's not a pleasant tone.
Kalia	"Happy is happy. Does it matter how you achieve it?" Kalia questions, from experience. "People will go to extreme lengths to achieve it. Because it's worth it, we think," they say, sounding slightly uncertain. That part, they couldn't claim experience. The return of a question causes Kalia to pause, before nodding. "We're not one spirit. It's complicated. We're many. Countless. But we're also just Kalia." That doesn't help much! The shift in tone doesn't go unnoticed. Kalia considers the situation carefully. Two. Two causes. One causes more immediate discomfort and... anger? Is that a seed of anger? "You should find something to eat you like then. If they don't like that, who cares? It's your life. You saw what they're really like. Find out what you want to do. What you want to eat. Then just do it." Surely, that's easier said than done. Kalia removes the cap and puts it on Haguro's head instead. "The only admiral that matters is you. That's how the world works. Maybe it's fine that you're like this now. You know. Lots of people would give everything for "a second chance" after death. You got one and you didn't even have to ask."
Haguro	"Yes. It's one thing to become happy through little things or without harming anyone, and that's fine. Creating more sadness in the world than the happiness you get from getting there, though... That'd just be a really sad world to live in." Haguro sounds a little uncertain herself, slowly gaining some confidence as she reaches that last part. It didn't come out so smoothly to begin with, but she likes the way it sounded at the end! Turning to Kalia again, Haguro raises the eyebrow of her obscured eye, then pulls that hair aside. It keeps getting in the way. "Kalia? It's nice to meet you, then. Um... Is it... Hard, being that many? How do you coordinate for talking and.. Moving?" She may be watching a few too many shows and thinking about it the wrong way. "I'd love to eat some real food. But... Abyssals don't do that. They... We're supposed to eat metal and minerals and things." Haguro sounds tired of it already. "Although if I have a burger with this stuff, maybe it'll balance out..?" Important questions. She blinks slowly at having the cap placed on her head, then smiles sadly as she reaches up to lift the cap off. "I... I wish. I still don't have a real plan for anything. Everyone at the Concord's been so kind and guiding me along, but... I'm still nowhere near the level of a real admiral. I wouldn't even know where to start. And looking like this, who would trust me?"
Kalia	"I think the people who go to those lengths are usually happier from it than the people who don't are sad. It balances out," Kalia says, offering the hypothesis that the total happiness in the system increases, so it's OK. "We think it's better to get rid of people who don't want you to be happy, or who make you unhappy. It's the obvious solution," they finally conclude. As for how their body works... "We're Kalia, most of the time. Sometimes some of us will talk a bit louder than the others and we have to put up with that. It's not that bad. The hard part is sorting which memories are ours and which are theirs," Kalia explains, as best as they can. "Anyway. Maybe you need to find a specific kind of metal you like best, if it's like food for normal people. Maybe gold is your caviar. You should try that." Best advice she has. "Besides. If they won't trust you because of how you look, they're bad friends. They're bad crewmembers. They're bad sisters. You said the Concord was supporting you. They'll help you, then. You can put Nagato in her place and make a point. She sounds like she deserves it. What would she do to you if she had a chance? Bad things, right?" Kalia shuffles a bit, raising their gloved hand to look at it. "What about Midway? You should decide. Did she hurt you or save you? Are you in a prison, or were you let out of one?"
Haguro	"Does it? Hm... Well, I guess it'd be kind of hard to measure either way. It's not like there's a... Weight or space to all of it." Haguro furrows her brow, the more mathematical-ish aspects of this comparison starting to confuse her utterly. "Is there..? Ehm. Although.. Maybe it would be better to just focus on the people I care about first, or nobody that's important to me will ever be happy." She chuckles softly, then chuckles again with a more reserved and distinctly polite tone afterwards. "M-maybe not getting ird of the others, though. They're... I mean, their happiness is probably still more important than mine, but... Not more than the people I know?" It's getting a little too confusing for Haguro. Kalia's physiology and mental whatsis aren't helping her confusion in the slightest. "So if some of you really wanted to start yelling at me, you... They could? But if you're talking like this now, then..." She trails off, a thoughtful look crossing her face before another chuckles escapes her. It's a little more earnest than that second one. "I hope it's not gold. That's still useful, but too expensive. If it was cheaper like silver or copper, though, maybe... Maybe that wouldn't be so bad." With that bit of amusement, Haguro settles against the fence again while watching her tail idly as it takes a bite out of the fence. She grimaces briefly, and the tail spits it back out. "That's... A good point, actually. I've learned not to judge people by appearances since I joined the Concord, so... If I did have crewmembers of my own, they'd learn as well. And... O-oh, no, no. I couldn't..." There's a long pause, and she's actually considering it. "... She said she wanted to cure me. To help me. But... Turning an Abyssal into a Fleet Daughter invovles killing them. I didn't like dying the first time, and I don't think I'd like it the second. Midway did it the first time, and if it wasn't for her, none of this would have happened." Haguro grits her teeth as that anger returns, but she stops upon glancing over at Kalia again. "Ah.. S-sorry! I just... Um. I just... I don't know. She definitely hurt me, but there's... A lot of hurt going around now. From... All of this.
Kalia	"If parts of us really wanted to yell at you, they'd scream in our head until we did it or it wasn't relevant anymore. It'd be distracting, but not obligating. Maybe we'd do it just to shut them up. Well, right now, most of us is pretty quiet. It's just Kalia," they explain. It's Christmas, now, somewhere. The spirits are pretty peaceful, for a change. Except one who keeps screaming about having failed to take over Christmas and wanting to break every bone in the body of the man who stopped him. Oh well. "You won't know unless you try. Maybe you can get lots of good stuff from the depths. Is the Titanic still down there? There must be tons of jewelry you can eat waiting there. Maybe you can take pictures and sell them too. Or bring valuable parts up and sell those. Or you could just steal metal. It's like stealing bread to survive, right?" They think so, anyway. "We think you'd be a fine admiral. More accepting than the current one, anyway. You could turn her into an Abyssal too, then she'll understand." Kalia lowers their hand when Haguro has her obvious if momentary fit. That's nourishing. "We were like that at first too. Then we found our purpose. Now we don't hurt anymore, and we help other people stop hurting." That's... TRUE, from a certain perspective. "That's the important thing. Deciding. Acting. But if you wait too long, you'll lose the drive. You can turn the hurt into fuel, but not if you let it go away." Kalia reaches for the tail again, to pat one of the heads. "Every problem has a dozen solutions, as long as you can muster the will to pick one and follow through on it. It sounds like they have, and you'll get swept up in their plan if you don't make your own."
Haguro	"That... Makes sense, yeah." Haguro's not lying about that, either. With what she's heard thus far, it doesn't sound too farfetched that Kalia would humor themselves to get some peace and quiet for themselves. ... MaYbe being an Abyssal really is screwing with her head, if that of all things makes sense. "I... Don't know if the Titanic had been recovered yet. It has to have been stripped of anything useful by now, though, right? Raiders, fish, salt water just... Rusting it away." And then a thought occurs. It's a somewhat vile thought, but a thought nonetheless. "I really hope I don't like the taste of rust." Grimacing slightly, she settles back down as the notion of turning Nagato crosses her mind. It's not a terrible idea and certainly not repulsive. She doesn't answer Kalia about it, but the silence probably speaks more than words could at this point. The idea of becoming an admiral herself, though... That's sticking around far longer than it probably should. "Helping other people to stop their hurting... That wouldn't be a bad goal. And if.. If I can turn what I'm feeling now into fuel for that..." Haguro trails off as a thoughtful expression crosses her face, giggling as the tail head reacts favorably to the patting. It lifts up a bit and leans in, although the other head seems to be rather lifeless. Trying to sleep, perhaps. "It does sound like plans are already being made, yeah... B-but do you really think I can do it? I've never... Done a leadership thing before. Wouldn't trying and failing just be worse in the long run if it makes everyone hate me more than they already did?"
Kalia	"Maybe. Maybe not. You won't know until you try. But real friends will support you in failure, not just in success. That's the point, we think. Besides, being a leader takes experience. You won't get that experience if you never seek it out. It's like we said. Decide. Act. Before it's too late." Kalia's attention remains on the tail. Maybe there's a reason. Or maybe they're just fascinated by the shark-horror-tail. Very unlikely they've seen something like it before. "Eating rust wouldn't be that bad though. You know you'd never run out. You'd know how to make more. And if it tastes good, then you just have to get used to the idea. If dirt tasted like chocolate, the Earth would be in trouble once people got used to the idea." Delicious trouble, though. But as for Kalia's favorite meal, they're already busy gauding it out of Haguro. "You'll be fine. We kind of want to meet Midway now. She must be that endless spiral out at sea. Maybe we'll go there next while you work on this."
Haguro	"Th.. That's true. Up until now, the Fleet had supported me, but after this..." Haguro trails off and rubs her eyes, some of the stress starting to get the best of her as she lowers her head and laces her fingers behind her head. She pulls down against her head as she pushes her head up, doing that for a good minute before raising her head normally again. "M.. Maybe you're right, though. I've got a... New opportunity now. A-and if I do this well, maybe they'll..." She doesn't finish that statement, but the intent is clear. Maybe she'll be accepted again. She laughs more light-heartedly at the notion of people eating a chocolate-flavored earth into oblivion, the bizarre situation helping to take her mind off the heavier topic momentarily. "That's definitely... Not something I would expect, but I've never tried it myself. I don't know if I could at this age, but it'd be... It wouldn't be surprising if there was a world like that already. It'd also be pretty depressing, on second thought. Eating your own planet into nothingness? Haguro's plenty happy with dirt earth. "Be careful if you do go see her. She's... I don't know if she'll do anything to you, but... Keep your distance if you can." She warns, looking up at the sky once more before turning to Kalia again. "I should get going myself, actually... I've still got training to do tomorrow and such, but... Thank you, Kalia. F-for talking to me and everything tonight."
Kalia	"We'll be careful, but we're not concerned," Kalia responds, not completing the sentence but implying they probably feel that, being already dead, it's not like Midway can kill them again. At least not kill-kill. Momentarily, maybe. Kalia withdraws their hand from Haguro's tail, nodding. "Alright. Sure. Good luck. We'll be keeping in touch. Maybe we'll be there to help if you decide to do something. We can make you stronger. It's what we do." A step back. "And Merry Christmas and all that." As soon as Haguro so much as turns her head or blinks for a second too long, Kalia is gone.