Scene #8117: A Peaceful Talk Where Nobody Gets Drowned

Owner	Pose
Kale Hearthward	A QUIET TOURIST TOWN ON THE COAST The beach! ... The beach in October! Not quite the height of summer anymore. At least it's still nice, if a bit chillier. ... At least it's still nice normally. Right now it's raining. Absolutely pouring. The beachfront is empty, all of the tourists and cart vendors having retreated back to town via the boardwalk - except for one person standing on the beach, in swim shorts and a t-shirt, who's managed to get drenched despite his hastily (and expensively) acquired umbrella. "Weather report was all clear when I suggested this time and place..." he mutters to himself, not for the first time and not for the tenth time. He considers, again, contacting Rita to ask to change the rendezvous spot since it started raining - not sure if she'd go for a sudden change, or if she'd be too skittish if he changed the spot minutes before the meeting and she'd call it off. Best to not chance it. Notably, he's wearing the beachwear - and nothing else. No swords, no jet boots. If there's anyone else around, they're not visible from nearby. Idly, he reaches out from under the umbrella, feeling the rain on his hand, as if redundantly confirming that yes, it is still raining.
Rita Ma	The person who approaches him doesn't look at all like Rita, until suddenly she does. Despite the downpour, she's chatting on her phone. "Mmmm. Don't worry! I'll call you back in twenty, okay? You too. Bye!" Then she hangs up and stows it. That was definitely meant for Kale to hear. Rita doesn't have an umbrella, but the rain doesn't wet her clothes- it just runs off the fabric, even off her hair, as if it were perfectly hydrophobic. She stands awkwardly a few feet away from him, staring out at the ocean, arms crossed over her stomach. "For someone who doesn't like me," she finally says, "we end up talking a lot. But it's been important every time so far." Implicitly: what is it now? Another pause, this one shorter. She side-eyes him. "You're sure you don't want to go inside somewhere, Mr. Kale?"
Kale Hearthward	Kale stays quiet at the approach. He stays quiet once he's been addressed, but is clearly building up to explaining what this is all about. And then Rita asks him about going inside. "Yes please," Kale says instantly. "My crew has a motel room back in town," he adds. "If you're fine with going back there." After a moment, he offers her the umbrella, not really noticing that she doesn't need it.
Rita Ma	Rita weighs her options in her head, briefly conflicted. On the one hand, going to his motel room seems really sketchy. On the other hand, she suggested it so it can't be part of a plan, and he's unarmed while- wait, isn't that strange? "Yeah. That sounds good," she says, and gestures down the beach for him to lead the way. The umbrella is absentmindedly accepted; then she feels a little guilty for taking it from someone who actually needs it, and tilts it over to cover Kale anyway. "Who's your 'crew'? Have I met them?" She trudges along the sand for a little while before piping up again. The rain and the crashing waves seem like they've soothed her nerves; she's less anxious, maybe, than she ought to be. "Why didn't you bring your weapons, Mr. Kale? It isn't like I don't have mine. That's really trusting, isn't it?"
Kale Hearthward	Kale hands the umbrella over, but he gratefully accepts being covered as much as he can by it, even if the damage has largely already been done long before Rita showed up. "I don't think you would have met them - Hazelthistle and Skye," he says. "Managed to recruit them from my world." Back towards the motel. It's dreary, with only business lights and car lights cutting through the rain. "I have a pretty big thing to ask," he says. "It's important, and... it also requires a lot of trust on my part." "I figured if you were going to break it, it'd best to just get that over with now," he adds. "And also because the plan I have requires a lot more of my trust than that, I figure. And - also some from you." "... See, ah, I ended up going to your home world," he says. "There was a distress call. I met some people there." Start with that, lead up into everything else.
Rita Ma	"Oh. Those are nice names. What are they like?" A car's headlights wash over them as it makes a turn. Rita's pupils shine green in the illumination, like a deer's. "Well, you don't have to answer. It sounds like there's a lot on your mind already." "I figured if you were going to break it..." "You helped me make up with Ms. Rook. That counts for at least a little," she says. "Maybe a while back I would have, but..." She doesn't finish her sentence. The pattering rain fills in the silence. Her spine stiffens up when he mentions her hoemworld. "I heard a little bit about that," she says tensely. But, evidently, not enough to answer all her questions. "So you were there, too. You met Bota and Kana, didn't you?" There's a note of hope, but also a note of dread.
Kale Hearthward	The duo reaches the motel's parking lot. There's a bit more activity - a few tourists deciding to cut their visits short and leaving, or returning from elsewhere on the coast to shelter in their motel rooms... ... and a songbird of indeterminate species, up on the second floor walkway. She's also in touristy gear, and has a pair of binoculars in hand. The bird nods once she notices Kale and/or Rita looking her way, but stays where she is. "That's Skye," says Kale. With the rain, they're not likely to be overheard. "She's... got a bit of an outer shell? Hazelthistle is more open, but she tends to overworry." "... I met them, yes. They're doing well. Kana has..." 'A bit of a odd taste in clothing' is not voiced. "-Nevermind. They're both doing well," he repeats, slightly awkwardly. "This is not entirely about them, but I did need to let you know about them, and that Lilian and I are both trying to help out your home ship, as best as we can," he says. Blessedly, or at least blessedly for those who have water-absorbing feathers and not rain-repelling skin, at that point they make it into the cover of the motel, and to Kale's first floor room. There's a pull-out couch, and a pair of beds - one of which has a mouse sitting on it, though she quickly stands when Kale opens the door. "Welcome back - you're soaked. I'll get the hot chocolate going-" She pauses, seeing Rita behind him. "- I also have tea and coffee," she adds, with only a moment's pause.
Rita Ma	Rita smiles and waves up at the songbird. Then her lips twitch with the faint precursor of a wince when she registers the purpose of the binoculars. Was the beach really visible from here, even with all the rain? "Skye," she repeats, trying to commit the name to memory. "And Hazelthistle. I'll try not to give her anything to worry about." "Kana has..." That does get Rita to brighten up, tucking her umbrella into the crook of her arm so she can clasp her hands together in delighted fashion. "She's really cool, isn't she?! Kana is the best. I wish I could be as stylish as she is, but you know how it is." Oh no. She approves. "You're helping them? I mean, thank you, but..." Rita trails off, then frowns. "No, I guess it makes sense you would. The Paladins are supposed to help communities like that, right? I guess how you feel about me wouldn't matter to it." Rita folds up the umbrella and shakes herself off almost like a dog before stepping into the hotel room, then waves at the mouse timidly from behind Kale. "Um, tea, if that's alright! I'm Rita Ma- it's good to meet you, Ms. Hazelthistle! Sorry to be a bother." She sits down on the couch with her hands balled up in her lap, already practically dry except where the water still pools in the impermeable pleats of her skirt. "... but that still doesn't tell me what you wanted to ask of me, does it, Mr. Kale?"
Kale Hearthward	"She - is an imposing woman, yes," says Kale. "And Bota feels like someone I could easily call a comrade. You have good choice in family, at least," he says, making a joke, unaware (or forgetting) that at least some of that family is found, not blood. Rita gets tea. Kale gets hot chocolate, plus more beach and bath towels than he really needs to dry off. "Helping them is not about you," lies Kale as he dries off, stepping into the room's bathroom to change and speaking to her through the door. It is about her. It's about how Lilian feels about her. The ship wouldn't nearly get this much attention if Lilian Rook hadn't attached to the ship's wayward daughter here. "Your whole world is, frankly, a massive charity case - don't take that personally, I should say it has a lot of people that need a lot of things, and... well, that's the job. Your approval is appreciated but unnecessary." "And-" the door opens. Kale's gotten a still-touristy set of slacks, shirt, and Paladins-logo jacket on. "We went on a mission. Diving to salvage some irreplaceable goods. The... steam swords your harpoonists use, mostly." "... Hazelthistle," he says, after trailing off for a second, and then waving her towards the door. "Classified stuff." "Classified - but you already told us that you - oh, right." She gets up and heads towards the door, lingering at the threshold to give Rita and Kale both a worried but otherwise hard-to-read look. The door closes. Kale moves over to stand across the room from the couch, and takes a breath. "We ran into the queen of the sea monsters. She badly wants to capture you."
Rita Ma	"Thanks, Ms. Hazelthistle," Rita says, accepting her cup of tea in both hands. She takes a little sip, then brightens up, smiling sunnily. "Mmmm! It's actually really good! I mean, not that I wasn't expecting it to be, but..." "It is a charity case," she agrees with a slight grimace. "I've been a lot of places in the multiverse, this past year. And not many of them have been worse off than where I came from. I know that. And that's why I'm really glad you're helping." The request for the mouse to leave snags her attention. "Classified... Oh! Bye, Ms. Hazelthistle! Thank you again!" Afterwards, she sets her tea down on the nearest table and stares into its surface, as if she could divine something from it. With an atmosphere like this- building up, agonizingly slowly, to something she is increasingly suspecting must be awful- she doesn't want to look at Kale. Her reaction to his mention of the Queen overcomes that aversion, and she looks up with widened eyes, but her expression isn't one of shock. It's guilt. "You met her?? That's- I..." "Yeah. I know." Her fingers tensely clutch handfuls of her skirt. Her voice is a little scratchy. "That's why I left. Wherever I went, she'd sent monsters after me. So anyone I was with... I'd just become a danger to them. I can't go back, Mr. Kale. I can't."
Kale Hearthward	Deep breath. "So first. I will speak frankly, Miss Ma, you don't need to justify... whatever choices you've made. At least not to me." Oh no, she's sad. Kale goes as professional as he can as a defensive maneuver. "I can offer to relay whatever message you'd like to, to Bota or Kana or both, or arrange safe passage back to your world if you want to try a brief visit, but-" He shakes his head. "That's - not my purpose here, and it's not my business either." The tension in the room hasn't dissipated. Kale's still building up to something worse. Mercifully, he gets to the point. "She tried to negotiate with us to get us to capture you and bring you to her. I don't think being away from your world is going to afford you as much protection as you think, and that'll change probably very soon." "Because - I sincerely doubt that she won't stop at negotiating with just us, and the next person she talks to might not say no to her."
Rita Ma	Kale breathes in, and Rita breathes out, slumping her shoulders and hunching forward. Her eyes sink to the floor. "Thank you. You already told them that I'm okay, right? I don't have anything else to say. I said it already, before I left. Except 'I'm sorry'." She doesn't seem terribly surprised by the fact that the Queen tried to negotiate for her, either. It's only the last part that startles her, forcing her to straighten up again. "You think she might convince other people to work for her? But nobody would, right? I mean, she's a monster. I'm sure that..." But it's sounding more plausible the longer she thinks about it. She looks off to the side, rubbing her arm uncomfortably. "Well, what do you think I should do? I can't just go into hiding forever."
Kale Hearthward	"Maybe some harpoonist, who lost their family - sure they may hate the queen, but maybe they're the sort of cold calculating bastard who'd put their feelings aside and say 'We can finally have peace if we just kill this one little girl'," says Kale, professional cold calculating bastard. "The thing is, she wants you, why she wants you I don't know for sure, she said a bunch of stuff but who can trust what she says, but I figure maybe you're either key to one of her plans, or key to stopping one of them..." "... Meaning that, given how big of a threat she is, you're theoretically one of your world's lynchpins. Like, how some worlds have... crystals of elements or something, or orbs of prophecy." "I could tell you what I would do if I were in your shoes, but you wouldn't like it and wouldn't do it. What I can tell you, is that you have my protection, since it means you might be key to saving - or not-dooming - an entire world of people at some point." "And I don't know how to handle her on the bigger picture scale yet, but - we can at least start taking care of the smaller picture stuff. Things to make sure you will survive whatever her next move is, and keep buying time for the big picture." Kale stands a bit easier now, in contrast to Rita who probably has more things weighing on her shoulders. He's pushed onward through the bad news, presented the problem, now we get to the solutions! And he gets to play the good guy and ride in with some of them. "Starting with - I think it's most likely she'd send a harpoonist after you. So I'd like to make sure you know how to handle fighting one of them."
Rita Ma	Rita's face scrunches up as Kale outlines the hypothetical. She can't convince herself it isn't plausible. She takes a sip of her tea to steady herself, but the cup wobbles a little in her grip. "I think I fought a Harpoonist once. Right after I became 'this', when I wasn't in control of myself, one of them tried to put me down. I don't remember exactly what I did, but I'm still alive." "But she didn't have any stars. Against someone more experienced like Kana, I don't know how I'd do. I know I've survived fighting you and the other Paladins, but... it's not like I can compare, right? Back then, when I was around Harpoonists all the time, they all seemed impossibly strong. Now, I don't know." She finishes her tea, finally, and sets down the mug with a clack. Then she straightens up. All her tension is smoothed over, replaced by that fake demureness she puts on when she's trying to be brave. "But, before you come up with any plans, I should tell you something." "I think I know why I'm important to the Queen. It's because we're the same thing. You've seen that thing I do, haven't you? I tell monsters to do something, and they just do it. She does the same thing; she's just had more time to build up. And she can't risk having a rival. 'One kingdom, one Queen.'" She looks Kale in the eye, her expression unreadable. "And if you kill her, all those lesser leviathans won't just go away. You'll be leaving a power vacuum behind, won't you? Knowing that I'm a 'queen', too... are you sure you want to save me?" At its heart, it's the same thing she asked Lilian on that beach weeks ago. Please let go of me.
Kale Hearthward	There's a long pause. Some of it is obviously due to gears turning in Kale's head. He's not the most observant person, so he was starting out a bit behind most everyone else, even with having been present for doctor Foid's infodump. As the seconds drag on, he goes from standing up straight to leaning against the wall he'd been standing in front of. The professionalism is a sort of armor, and much like actual armor its protection is lessened after a strong enough hit. Sometimes you need to shed that load instead of trying to fight on in broken armor. "You're the same thing... hoo. Boy." "Power vacuum." Kale reaches up and rubs his face. "Do I want Rita Ma, active Watch agent, to have access to an entire underwater kingdom of sea monsters? No, and hell no." "You're not nearly the 'same thing', you know? The queen said she had some sort of human component that she gained, but you're starting from human - starting from a human that went out into the multiverse and knows how human things work beyond your world's borders. And starting from a human that has allies and that has non-allies that are still sympathetic to you, and..." He rubs his face again. "I think... you're more dangerous, to have in that position. So no, to answer your question, I'm not sure, at all, that saving you isn't going to come back and bite me in the tailfeathers in the long term." "But - of the two of you, only one of you has shown the capability for any sort of morality, and only one of you has threatened to 'extinct' humanity. And that's the short term concern. I don't..." He rubs his face one more time. "I don't have a head for the big picture, Rita. I don't. And I can imagine you saying something like 'what if I end up corrupted or craving eating people like her' or something and - I don't know. That's big picture stuff. That's worry about it when we come to it stuff. I'm a small picture person. I'm really bad at the big picture stuff, but I'm really good at the small picture stuff, and I rely on people like Lilian to handle the big picture stuff like 'help Rita not become a genocidal monster' while I ace the small picture stuff like 'make sure Rita doesn't get stabbed' or 'make sure the boat people don't become a floating buffet'. You know?" "And right now, small picture, my answer's still unchanged." He stands back up straight. "You've still got my protection. If that's a mistake on my part, I'll worry about it later and deal with it later."
Rita Ma	Rita's stoic, demure bravery gets less tenable with each passing second of silence. 'Begone, monster' would be a relief. 'Of course I'll still protect you' would at least be endurable. It's waiting for the other shoe to drop that gets her the worst. But her head stays upright, and her hands stay folded in her lap. 'No, and hell no' brings a sad little smile to her face, but it's a smile nonetheless. There it is. Release. And then he goes and ruins it. The turn into supporting her- or at least 'supporting' her- has her looking a queasy mixture of guilty, hopeful, and quietly distraught. "I don't understand," she says in a small voice, pulling her knees up against her chest as if that might ease the knot in her stomach. "You know it'll go badly. You know me being around can only lead to awful things. But you still want to do it?" She laughs. It's small, and desperate. "You really are an idiot, Mr. Kale." Rita finds the energy, after a moment, to stand up and walk to the hotel room's window. The rain is still crashing down; visibility is awful. But even though the ocean can't be seen from here, her eyes are still drawn to it. She can see Kale's reflection behind her in the dark glass, too. It's easier than looking him in the eye. "I didn't know the Queen has a human part to her. That's kind of scary, isn't it? Even if I started as a human, and she started as a monster..." When Rita looks back over her shoulder at him, the sad smile is back, but it's a different kind of resignation. "I already want to eat people, Mr. Kale. Everything's pulling me towards this, but I'm not sure I want it either. That won't change your mind, though, will it?" A couple more seconds pass. She's visibly struggling to come to terms with it. "... Thank you. I think. If I did get stabbed, it'd make Kana and Bota sad." "So, what's your plan for making sure I won't get killed by a Harpoonist, Mr. Kale? You must have had something in mind."
Kale Hearthward	Kale crosses his arms when he's called an idiot, but he doesn't refute it. And when she looks away, when he thinks she can't see him and he doesn't realize how clear his reflection is, his guard drops, and his true thoughts can be seen on his face. He's frowning at her. Glaring at her. When she turns around his face goes carefully blank, but watching him through the mirror he doesn't seem quite as friendly anymore. "I was one of my empire's aces, Miss Ma. I killed a lot of people. If you feel the urge to eat people - then I'm not going to be the one to cast the first stone on that. We also have a necromancer who-" There's a pause. He screws his eyes shut. "You mean in the context of turning into a monster. Right. Okay. That's - yeah." He is an idiot, but he gets there. "I mentioned there was a plan I'd take in your shoes. I'd held off on it since I didn't think you'd go for it and it might upset you, but I do feel the need to say it now, after you've revealed that." "And that is: let me take you in. I'm not," he says carefully. "Attempting to put you under arrest. If you want to leave you still can. But I think it'd be a good idea if we considered upgrading from 'protection' to 'protective custody'. And along the way, getting you in with people who can... help you figure out your condition and how to handle it a bit better than you can on your own." He waffles for a moment on if he should bring up Doctor Foid, in the context of Paladins doctors being actually ethical and moral versus what she might be used to, but decides against it at the last second. "If not - the other plan is to get you more experience sparring against actual harpoonists we'll hire from your homeworld. I'll get Lilian to front the money for hiring them, and Tamamo will put a geas on them to ensure their silence. Ishirou can run combat analytics to help you improve, and I'll referee."
Rita Ma	Kale's reflected glare is oddly soothing. Nothing else, no other reaction, makes sense in Rita's mind. To not be hated is bewildering. Giving her a little sincere animosity to latch onto is an anchor in the storm. When the first plan is described, she turns around with a swish of her skirt. "I don't trust the Paladins," she says, without any apparent relish. "Most of them have tried to arrest or kill me. When this is over, why would they let me go?" She glances off to the side. "And even if I did trust them, there's people that I'd rather not be separated-" Oh. If someone comes for me, Ms. Grier might get hurt too. Rita stops with a clammy jolt, then crosses her arms uncomfortably. "... I'll think about it. I don't have to give you an answer right away, do I?" She breathes out, suddenly seeming immensely stressed again, and rubs her face with both hands. The second plan being elaborated on doesn't spike her anxiety like that again, but it doesn't help, either. She flops back onto the couch and picks up her mug of tea, forgetting that it's still empty. "I'm scared to fight a Harpoonist." Her finger taps restlessly on the ceramic. The noise is a little sharper than it should be. "Not like I'll get hurt. But like... it's their job to fight monsters. They judge what's human and what's a threat. What needs to die and what doesn't. If I put myself in front of a Harpoonist, and they condemn me, then... I don't think I could take it." She laughs a not-really-laugh, self-consciously. "That's kind of pathetic, isn't it? It was bad enough when Ms. Rook was disgusted by me, that one time. Because she's 'a person who fights monsters', if she thought I was bad, then I really must be. If it's someone from my own world..." Rita looks to the window again. She looks queasy. "... And besides, Kana and Bota are the only really strong Harpoonists I know. And I can't see them. Couldn't you fight Harpoonists to fight, instead? You and your friends?" "After all- if it's okay to say so, Mr. Kale- the Paladins couldn't kill me. So if you can beat them... they probably couldn't kill me, either."
Kale Hearthward	Kale looks confused at the sudden change from 'absolutely not' to 'I'll think about it'. He doesn't comment verbally, though. He gives her some space as she gets onto the couch, and then goes back to the spot he'd been leaning against. And when she mentions the Paladins being unable to kill her, the neutral face becomes more of a careful frown. "If you'd like a rematch, I'd be glad to provide," he says, with a bit of comforting genuine animosity leaking into his voice. He clears his throat, and it's gone. "Apologies. Ahem." "Alright. Arranging a sparring match with a harpoonist is a non-starter. Fine. You will," he raises a finger, in emphasis, "take steps to make sure you can defend yourself so whatever the queen does try - and I doubt she'll just sit around and wait for you to decide to come back home - won't result in her taking out her rival and clearing the way for her to do whatever she's planning. Whether you take me up on my protection offer when you need an escort somewhere dangerous, or you find someone or something else, fine, whatever, as long as you don't go somewhere dangerous solo and end up getting ambushed." He holds up a second finger. "Secondly, you check in, once a week, with me - or with Lilian, or just with someone I can trust. So we know you're still alive. Because if you bite it I'm going to assume our next step is going to be mass evac and planning for the queen's ambition to cross world borders, and we need as much heads up on that as possible." "Does that sound reasonable?" is what he says, but the implied tone is more of an ultimatium.
Rita Ma	'If you'd like a rematch...' "No thank you," Rita says, as if she were politely refusing a second helping of lunch. Then, after a little exhalation: "I don't enjoy it, you know. And I'm not proud of being able to fight. It's not like I earned it, or anything. So what's the point of seeing who's stronger?" Of course, she'd just been implying that she is, but shhh. She takes his terms well, at least compared to the rest of the conversation. They give her some time to decompress, evidenced by her drooping posture and her setting the mug down once she no longer needs it to fidget with. "Take steps to make sure I can defend myself. And check in once a week. I... can do that. Thank you, Mr. Kale." She shuts her eyes and smiles, and it's barely even forced. "No, I'm sorry. You're not doing this for me. You're doing it for my world, right? "So... thank you for thinking of those people, and reminding me that they're depending on me, too. I'll try to take better care of myself." Okay, the sincerity wavers a little on that last sentence. But she's trying her best. Rita pushes herself up from the couch, shoulders her leather satchel again, and glances towards the door. "And you'll find out how the Harpoonists measure up, right? Since I can't." She grimaces a little. "Actually, the ones from outside the Union Busan probably wouldn't work with me at all. That's a reason I can feel less guilty about." "Was that all, Mr. Kale?"
Kale Hearthward	"... That's all. And thank you for understanding that this isn't about me, or about you." It is, though, at least a little bit. "I'll see about checking out your world's other harpoonists. And let you know." "You're free to go - I mean, you always have been. Me and my crew are staying here through the weekend..." He glances out through the window. "Assuming things brighten up, anyway." Who knows. Maybe things will brighten up. They're at least looking less stormy than they were way back at the start of all of this, right?