Scene #8486: You're Starting to Like the Moon, Aren't You?

Owner	Pose
Kale Hearthward	The saying goes... The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math. Kale Hearthward didn't even do the math, really. Invoking the failure state on Persephone's geas on purpose wasn't ever going to turn out well, but Kale was at a point where he wasn't sure he cared anymore. He just needed to leave, and the door was a few steps too far. It was entirely understandable that she wasn't there when Kale arrived. The talk wasn't meant to be a way out, she wasn't waiting on his pleasure for it to be invoked. So, nothing to do but wait for her to arrive. At least there were things here, he wasn't going to starve once he ran out of the food he'd scavenged from the train (plus the single days' rations in his emergency kit). There was... fruit tree, a pond, and... another cooler. Kale decided to put off looking inside for as long as possible. Plus he had his radio, if he felt like talking to someone (though he didn't, really) and some downtime wouldn't be terrible. He... could stand to just have some downtime. By the time Persephone does show up, Kale's entirely chill. He's sitting against the tree, watching the celestial landscape go by. His radio's been put on speaker mode nearby and is emitting some easy listening. Throughout the area, there's a few things scratched into the dirt with a stick - notes he's taken while lacking pen and paper, most likely. His boots, swords, and other bits of gear are in a neat pile at the other side of the clearing. This is probably the most chill Persephone's seen Kale during the dozen times they've interacted.
Persephone Kore	It's a few hours at least, and maybe nearly a day, until I am at my leisure to have The Talk. The Queen in Veils shimmers in behind him with a ripple across the night sky. It's silent, but my presence is oppressive enough to turn heads. Given the circumstances, one might expect it to feel less warm and gentle than usual. It doesn't, even though the tidal forces pull at the feathers on the back of his neck. The chest-cockpit hisses open, and Persephone strolls down the extended arm with the sharp clack-clacks of heels on heavy plastic, until she can step from its palm onto the soft greenery of the lunar crater meadow. The three-story doll-mech disappears behind her. Somehow, she feels no less imposing than it did. Persephone takes a breath and shuts her eyes. The fatal "So." that will start the talk is almost audible. But it never comes. Instead she sits down next to Kale, and reclines with legs crossed in the way that nobody else who wears skirts would, and floats over two mimosas from the cooler. Her nail slides under the tab of one, and she flexes her finger for the crack-hiss. She lingers in quiet for a while. Phony's surely spent more time staring at the stars than he has, but they never get boring. "A month and a half," she finally says. "You could do worse, you know. I'm not disappointed." Then she turns aside to look at him, and her hair swims in that strangely zero-G way with the twist. With a patient smile: "But how are you going to do better?"
Kale Hearthward	The bird endeavors not to look up and over when Persephone's arrival is felt. He almost succeeds. Kale's waiting for the 'so'. This is like when his mom caught him trying to push stormclouds around to make it rain on his cousin's birthday party because the cousin had... well, whatever petty childhood squabble it was about was lost to time, but that talk remains etched in Kale's memory. When she speaks up, and it doesn't start with the dreaded 'so', it's a relief. Though... has it really been a month and a half? It feels like it's been a lot shorter. "I don't know. That's what I've been trying to figure out." The passive-aggressive words I've had a lot of time to think up here while waiting for you float to the top of mind but don't get through his beak. He's trying, but he doesn't have a great mental filter for his thoughts. He cracks open his mimosa and sips at it, more out of the need to take a moment to get words together, and to partake in the hospitality ritual, than any desire to actually drink it. It's still too sweet. "A pretty large part of me wants to say... I don't know if I can do better, Persephone. That I'm a lost cause for whatever it is you're trying to get out of this deal, and if you want to take my advice, you should think about cutting your losses. I don't know what I'd do for Kayoko and Meika after that, but I'd try to figure out something." "If you aren't going to, though... I don't know. Lilian and Petra feel like lost causes. Petra, I didn't realize was going to count under the terms, but Lilian..." He pauses, and rubs his forehead. "Sorry. Let me start over." "I told both of them about the terms. That was a mistake. It feels like everything I've said and done after that, they assume I'm doing because I have to fulfill the terms. Which... okay. That's not untrue. But then everything I would have done regardless, they assume it's not genuine. Which... I had trouble dealing with. I like Lilian. I'd go pretty far to help her, if I could figure out how. And Petra is..." He falters a bit. "Petra is..." "... I mean..." "... Well, it's difficult," he finishes, lamely.
Persephone Kore	The unspoken passive-aggressiveness doesn't seem to upset her. Actually, the fact that it is unspoken makes her smile for a moment before the can hides her lips. "I don't believe you're a lost cause," Persephone says gently, afterwards. It sounds almost comforting, until she adds: "And you don't want me to believe it. Because if you're a lost cause for being kind to rejected girls, then we're enemies, you know!" That she tops it off with a playful little wink doesn't really diffuse the threat. Aw, come on! It's not a 'threat'. It's a fact. "Okay, okay, I'll let you start over~" she says, and laughs before taking a sip with pinky extended. (Did she learn that from Lilian?) While he explains, she seems oddly at peace. Maybe it's just that the crater environment is really nice. Maybe she had time to cool down, too, while he was waiting. "That was a mistake. And Petra is difficult," she says. "Ahaha, I'm not going to punish you for saying so! It's just a fact. I'm not always kind to her, you know? But I do my best." Then her lips purse in thought, and the thinking drags on for a few long moments. Gentle currents of force flow out from her to rustle the grasses. She holds out a hand, and I wish I had that one, and that one, and that one, and a few wildflowers begin to pluck themselves, floating towards her to hang in the air. "But the problem, really, isn't that they don't believe it's genuine. Their behavior didn't put you on the moon." Her eyes linger on a floating dandelion. "It's that when they doubt you, you feel angry, don't you? Or, not even. It's that you're being nice, maybe nicer than you've ever been, and they're not being grateful. Which makes you discouraged, and frustrated, and then you lash out."
Kale Hearthward	Those words tumble around in Kale's head. "I mean, when you put it like that, you're making it sound like I'm expecting them to be grateful that I'm not being a jerk to them. And if someone expected me to be grateful that they stopped being mean to me, and then got upset when I wasn't, I'd be-" He cuts off. Gears are turning. Mirror neurons are firing. The tree shakes slightly as he leans back againt it, and covers his face with his forearms. "Stale winds, I'm an asshole," he says. On the palm of his left hand, underneath the glove he's wearing, something's glowing and making a noise not dissimilar to an old-tech mechanical train schedule board changing its arrival times.
Persephone Kore	"Ahahaha, kind of!!" Phony's arm wraps around his shoulders. It's a little intrusive, but also soft and really warm, so maybe you can forgive me? "But I really did mean it, you know! That you're not a lost cause. That I believe in you, absolutely and completely." Her hand reaches around to tap his chest on the far side. "There's a good person in there. I know. That's why I gave you this power at all. I've known since Lily-R had her troubles, and you were there to help, even though you didn't have to be. And I'll help you bring him out, okay?" The stems of the plucked flowers are weaving together in a circle. It's a garland- no, too small; a crown. Nearly every color of the rainbow. It lifts up, as if by its own volition, and lands gently on Kale's head. "So don't think you're getting out of it this easy! I'm on to you! You are absolutely, utterly doomed to being redeemed~"
Kale Hearthward	"Hgh." Kale's doomed, yes. The newly garlanded bird removes his arms from his face after a moment. "I'm going to regret this... alright. Fine. Let's..." "... talk, then. If I'm going to keep doing this, I... still can't deal with Petra. She messed some things up for me. Some pretty personal things. I told her some important things, while I was... trying to work things out with her, that I was going to tell to Lilian later on in private when I was ready, and she ended up just blurting it all out in front of everyone as the punchline to a joke." "I don't know if I'm really ready to forgive her for that. Even if I was an asshole to her and Lilian that felt... really disporportionate."
Kale Hearthward	Also Petra tried to kill Kale but that's, you know, just kinda routine for elite stuff. He's already past it.
Persephone Kore	"Awwww. Petra can be kind of cruel, can't she?" Phony doesn't know the half of it, but she sounds like she does. The empty can is returned to her lap; her fingernails idly tap against it, and it sounds like an instrument. "Even though I think she's good deep down, too." Persephone's eyes drift shut, but her head stays tilted slightly back, as if she were still gazing out at the stars. Maybe I am! You don't know! "So, you opened up to her and she hurt you. You can't forgive her for it. And you can't trust her with your openness anymore. That's it, right?" "That's completely alright. Knowing who you can't forgive and can't trust is important! It's how you draw healthy lines! But," she says, and her near eye opens a dangerously smiling sliver. "Aren't there still ways you can be kind to her, Kale?"
Kale Hearthward	> "Even though I think she's good deep down, too." Doubt. > "Aren't there still ways you can be kind to her, Kale?" "I mean... I'm trying to look into what exactly happened to her while she was in custody, but that's not being kind, it's my job," Kale says. "Like, the bare minimum I'd expect out of myself for being a Paladin is investigating any wrongdoing by my organization. Alleged wrongdoing." There's another brief bit of light from underneath his glove, but he doesn't seem to notice it. "I could try to get the train to stop bothering her. Oh - you wouldn't know, there's this train... long story. But she's having problems with that." "Are you sure we can't just... put in an exception for her?" I wouldn't have taken this deal if I knew she'd be covered under it. "I could just be... not mean to her, and then not expect her to be grateful for it, and then call it even there."
Persephone Kore	"An exception," Persephone repeats. Her eye lazily shuts again. She slumps back, breathes in, holds it for a moment, and breathes out. The answer is no. The answer is always going to be no. But... "What do you want to grow up to be, Kale?" she finally says. "Do you want to become the sort of person who can be kind, even if someone else hasn't been kind to you first? That's the greatest sort of person, I think. I'm not always that strong, but I try. And I really do think you could become that strong too." Phony tosses the can, which isn't littering because it never hits the ground, and twists onto her knees to take both of Kale's hands in hers. She's smiling, but her eyes are unwholesomely bright. "Have you ever heard a sculptor say," she says honey-sweetly, "that they can see something in a block of marble, and they want to set it free?" "Because I see you!! I really do! And I want to set you free, Kale. And you're going to let me~" When the green glow catches her attention, a moment later, she tugs at the glove without a single thought in her head. Like she might just be doing him a favor by checking it out.
Kale Hearthward	> And I really do think you could become that strong too. "That's - I feel like that's not a fair question to ask," Kale complains. "You say you see something in me, but I don't... feel like it's actually there." "I don't believe in good and evil, Persephone. But if I did, I feel like I'd have a hard time sorting myself into 'good'." "And if you are having a hard time with that kind of strength, I honestly don't believe..." He lets that thought trail off. "Nevermind. But fine, if only because I don't think you're about to take no for an answer. I'll try. No contracts necessary." And then Persephone tugs off the glove. Kale reacts just a moment too late. "Wait, don't-" { 7 } Kale grabs Persephone's arm. He looks her directly in the eyes for the first time today. "You can't tell Petra what number that is." He takes a breath. "Lower is good. Hers is four digits long. If she found out it'd - I don't know. Probably mess her up worse."
Persephone Kore	Persephone, for a moment, looks shocked. By what? A glowy tattoo on Kale's hand? It can't be that; she's seen stranger things. Maybe it's by that earnest intensity. No, that's definitely it! That you'd look so focused about protecting someone you kind of hate... Persephone bubbles over into a sweet, warm, sincere laugh. Her free hand cups her face; she almost looks doting. "You're actually kind of adorable, aren't you, Kale?" she says. "You say you can't do it, but secretly, you're being kind to her already? Did you even think of it as being kind? Ahahaha, I bet you didn't, did you?" Phony rocks back off her knees, stands up, and effortlessly pulls you up with her. "Just keep that up and it'll become habit. And when it's habit, it'll be easier! Think of it like that: this is the hardest it'll ever be, I bet." "Now. Doesn't it feel less scary? Don't you feel a little better?"
Kale Hearthward	Kale blinks. "No, that's... not being kind, that's just not being an asshole, and not pouring gasoline onto a blazing trash fire." So no, it didn't really occur to him. > This is the hardest it'll ever be, I bet. Now. Doesn't it feel less scary? Don't you feel a little better? Kale, standing up straight again, blinks at her. "... Maybe." "The thought of being kind to Petra and trying to unfuck my relationship with Rook is still utterly terrifying even so, though."
Persephone Kore	"No, that's... not being kind..." Phony smiles distantly, like there's a joke that only she's in on. "More terrifying than fighting Lilian? More terrifying than fighting me?" she says, and then sighs fondly. "No, I guess those are different. Heroes are like this! But even if you're scared, I think, you'll find a way to make it through. You always have so far." Her hand squeezes his, and something flows through the connection, a glimpse of that starry sea from before and that sensation of a strange settling weight. Pulling the knots a little tighter, just in case you've found any slack! She starts to turn around, then, and casually says over her shoulder: "I'll get you some drinks, too, for next time. You don't really like mine, do you?" It's tacit acknowledgement that they'll probably end up meeting here again. But for now... I wish you were somewhere you like better, she thinks, and she throws him by the arm at a close approximation of c, and one-point-four seconds of starry void later it is so.