Scene #8797: PNL: Then And Now ft Stanley, Woz and Sougo

Owner	Pose
Stanley Padgett	If you were looking for Lampport, today is not that day. That's tomorrow. And Stanley is doing his damnedest to not be freaking out about that. No, today is a chance to catch up with old friends, or those he hopes are still friends. The place is a pizza parlor in neighboring Weston. It is not Jimmy's Grotto. Stanley might have preferred that. Thoughts drift to Jan and his Shotgun. Maybe he should... no no no, that would just cause problems for Jan. A glance at his phone, at the invite he sent to Sougo. (Are you hungry? Hoping to chat and get a slice. Come if you can.) A friendly waitress has already brought over some garlic knots and Stanley's soda. He sips on it, and pokes at The Reversal game. Still running. Still running without the Wish Box in place. Still tossing weird Shadows into Lampport's Neon City. He'll stop it all tomorrow. Then he can be done with this.
Timespace Riders	Sougo arrives outside the pizza parlor, not by way of Woz's mysterious scarf, but by an unassuming sedan. The ride app's fee is such a pittance he can just use his own money, rather than his Concord card. The door is shut with a soft 'whump,' and he waves to the driver as they slowly pull away. Sougo smooths his mustard-colored button-up, and snaps the front of the oversized grey cardigan as he looks up at the sign. White sneakers and rolled jeans convey, with the rest of his outfit, a brighter exterior than his contemplative frown does, and the neat presentation is belied by the occasional bandage peeking from his exposed collarbone, or else adorning the tiny cut on his cheek. Emotionally, physically, he's been through it--so, pizza would be nice. He steps through the door, finding Stanley easily enough and taking a seat opposite. "Hey, Stanley. What's up?"
Stanley Padgett	The young man looks up and smiles as Sougo slips into the pizza place and sits. A sort of relief slips past his eyes, and he just.. puts the phone back down. "Happy to see you, honestly. It's been a while, and you've... I've..." He takes a breath. No, this is not something to apologize for. "We haven't had a time to actually chat in ages, what feels like forever." A smile. "So. Chatting and catching up and pizza and you look like you could use a friendly face and some bad-for-you food, buddy." He slides over the basket of garlic knots, after taking one himself and getting a bit of greasy carbs. "Also it turns out that Charlotte is Delilah so I'm getting used to having a friend who's an unknowable ancient being." Stan smiles wanly. "I can't imagine anyone else who'd know more about that than you."
Timespace Riders	"It's the opposite, for me," says Sougo, shrugging. "Not 'is ancient,' but 'will define an era.' There are things I could find to like, about finding out that I was 'ancient.' And things I couldn't." Sougo takes a garlic knot and tries it. Warm, chewy, savory, insalubriously greasy. Great comfort food, in other words. "It would be kind of nice not to have reminders of how much I need to improve around every corner. But, I guess everyone has those, and it's just easier for some people to ignore them when they're not literally jumping out at you." Sougo sighs. "There'd still be a weight, I guess. Just for 'past deeds,' and that's difficult in its own way." "Anyway--it has been a while. 'Catching up...' I guess there's a lot to do, if that's what you want. Where should we start?"
Stanley Padgett	Stanley blows a breath through his teeth at that. "I suppose that... would be an issue with Woz, yeah. Hearing what you're supposed to be and all that. Though I wonder if that book of his can't change its pages now and then..." A snort from the Fool, as he waves down the waitress and orders two pies for the table. One pepperoni, one deluxe veggie. > "Where should we start?" Stanley smiles. "Sure, we can trade back and forth. Uh, Charlotte and I sorta moved in together. We're still looking for a permanent place." A sip on his soda. "Still sorting that out... but it's been nice and comfortable and I am okay with comfortable I think."
Timespace Riders	"A place of your own, huh? I'm glad," says Sougo. "That sounds like something that'd be good for both of you." "For us, well... we've both changed a lot, since we met you. Like... for instance, you mentioned changing the pages of the book. The pages are... potential, I think. Ways that things could be. And Woz is the kind of person who can appreciate that more, now--who can read into them for more than just being 'correct,' or projecting his version of Sougo Tokiwa onto me." "I've learned some things about myself, too," says Sougo. "About what it's going to cost me, to be who I want to be. I think both of us have done a lot of work on ourselves, and we still have more to do. But it's also true that we owe a lot to other people, and not just the Riders we've met. Lilian, Xion, Petra, Persephone... even Hiromi and Sylvi, if you've ever met them." Sougo takes another garlic knot and chews on it contemplatively. "Why this place, and not the Grotto? Just... looking for a change of pace, or is it more about what you asked me on the radio, the other day?"
Stanley Padgett	Stanley cups his hands over his face at 'Petra'. "God I... Honestly, her burning down Charlotte's house might have been the best thing she's actually ever done for us but if I say that to her it will only encourage her to be weird about it." Still muffled. "Ms Rook has... enabled me to grow brighter. I'm still working on that. Want to be better for more people but it's really hard some days." "And yeah. It is about the thing I asked about." Stanley scoots as their slices arrive, and he takes two veggie slices for himself. "Trying to work it through my brain that being selfish isn't a crime and that I can... make choices that are just choices. They don't gotta be 'heroic' or whatever." He pokes at his straw, and then murmurs. "I'm gonna make a very... noisy wish in the middle of NovaTech, and I don't want to tip my hand by loitering around the city. Not like anyone there could stop me getting in if they tried." He stares at his slice of pizza. "I've been dumb, I've been... Holding back for so long." Those amber eyes look at Sougo's face. "I was an idiot for ever deciding to hide my powers in Lampport. And not use them to fix my problems. The problems that people were having around me. Trying to... blend in. When I knew that was impossible." Self-doubt splashes across Stanley's face, as he tries to hide the expression with cheese and veggies and carbs.
Timespace Riders	"'Desire is good.' That's a good thing to get into your brain," says Sougo. "Woz would be pretty happy to hear you say it, too." He tilts his head, reaching for a slice. "It doesn't seem like it should make any sense, does it?" He asks, folding the crust to keep the slice from sagging. "Not when there are so many stories about knights, or monster slayers, or ship's captains--'heroes.' How it's 'heroic' to sacrifice yourself." He smiles sadly at Stanley. "I read a lot about history, sociology, and political theory, in my off time. I think those things are important to being a good king. One question I've learned to ask, about ideas that everyone just accepts, like that--'who does this benefit?'" "Who does it benefit, to make sacrifices out of people, to say that the highest calling is spending yourself for other people, until you don't have any left for yourself?" He shrugs his shoulders and takes a bite. "Certainly not individual people. And maybe not even 'the people.' The village, or town, or country, or whatever. I think, in practice, it just makes everyone who buys into it tired, and sad, paying for something they won't see in their lifetimes." "It turns out that if you work on yourself, and what you want, first, you actually have a lot more to give to other people. If you remember that, and keep working towards it, a dumb mistake every now and then is okay. Maybe even expected... but it's better than never changing, never moving, at all."
Stanley Padgett	"What are you gonna give if you don't have anything left, right?" Padgett offers another one of those wan smiles to Sougo, and- winces. There's a little flicker of digital noise around the fringe of his body, and he grumbles. "Case in point. Spent a lot of myself during that big operation to save Rita's world and even though I'm feeling better, just..." He huffs. "Everything's been a little hazy." Stanley takes another bite. The pizza is... decent. It's what you expect out of a local "fancy" pizza place. Pies are about 3 dollars too expensive, but they're made by the owner's dad and delivered by her kids. "Okay, your turn. How's the Rider-ing been?" Stanley reaches up to touch in sympathy on his own face where the bandage is on Sougo's. "That's gonna bug me, mind if I fix that?"
Timespace Riders	"Huh? Oh, sure, go for it." After the adjustment, Sougo hmms. "The Rider-ing... better, I think. Being a Rider is like having a Persona, in a way--the more you know yourself, the more honest you are with yourself, the stronger you get." "It's... frustrating, sometimes," he admits. "That's part of why I'm so beat-up and tired, right now. Because I was up against something where Riders, Persona users, or Magical Girls... should have the upper hand." "But Woz and I could barely chip it." He grimaces, slightly, taking a moment to finish his slice as he searches for words. "And most of the other people who were there couldn't even manage that. If it weren't for Captain Hook, and especially Lilian, I don't know if I'd be here, talking with you. It's hard, to feel like you've come a long way, just to run into a brick wall that reminds you how far you still have to go." "So I'm trying to follow Lilian's advice, about that. That... 'moving forward,' even slowly, is better than just not doing anything." He sighs, as if to banish the temptation to dwell on that. "Even if sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm doing it fast enough, I'm learning, and so is Woz."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley's 'fix it', is to sort of close his eyes, and heal the cut. It's slowish, and it itches. But it slowly knits back together the way a cheek like Sougo is supposed to have: handsome! Stanley opens his eyes and woooos quietly. "Okay so I wasn't dreaming, I can do that. Weird." He snort laughs, and then the rest of what Sougo said catches up inside his head. "That's... yeah. Frustrating. To not be able to be helpful in that sort of way." A smile. "I spent most of the operation with Rita's fleet just... rescuing people. Running as hard as I could to scoop people off of boats and get them back to safety just to run out and get another one. Because they knew how to handle Sea Monsters and I didn't." He blows another breath through his nose. "And I lead the ones who still wanted to fight back into the fight, and-" It wasn't good. He doesn't have to say it. The look in those amber eyes is enough. "We won. Rita's back, I hear. So that's all... good." He shoves a garlic knot in his mouth again, and contemplates life as he absorbs calories. Swallow. "Okay, your turn, ask me somethin'"
Timespace Riders	Sougo gently peels off the bandage. "Being helpful... well, that's part of it, sure. But--" Sougo is momentarily overcome by the intersection, within his mind, of very many messy, emotional idea spaces that, contemplated alone, are felt, more than enumerated. Putting them to words is always so difficult--because they all leap to the forefront of the mind. The corners of his mouth pull downward, as he examines another slice. "Okay, it's like this. Let's say... that you went into Rita's world, with just your sword. You have a lot of practice with fencing, and you're used to doing it--you don't try to lose, but you know... not to be afraid of it." "But isn't it... Wouldn't it be different? When you lose with your Persona against someone else's?" He pauses. "Sorry. I don't know if you guys fight, all that much." He frowns. "It feels different to me--because Zi-O is someone that I'm putting together, piece by piece. I'm running a marathon to find out who I am. Going into a fight where that's the most important thing anyone could bring, then finding out that the me I've put together just isn't enough... that's more frustrating, I think, than just not being able to help." Okay, your turn, ask me somethin' "How did Lilian help you grow? You mentioned that, earlier."
Stanley Padgett	"Oh, the last fight I had against... someone else like... uh..." Stanley slumps in his chair. "Petra kicked the crap out of me." It's your own fault for fighting her in a quarry, Stan. "And no, I'm not... used to fighting against people-people. Mr. B and-" Thoughts of killing the twisted form of Francis Smithering, writhing in his last throes as the Shadow and Ea-Nasir consumed him. He swirls his straw in his soda. "I'll probably be fighting my father tomorrow and I'm going in blind on that. All I know is that he's got No Face anymore, he's got A Wish of some sort, and he's my Dad and I don't want to kill him. But he's got to pay for what he's done. There has to be... some sort of justice. Even if it's just getting rid of all the harm he's caused." He grumbles. "And then I don't have to think about Lampport or this 'verse ever again and I can just... go places... when I want to and where I want to." The Fool sips his soda while thinking about Lilian. "I think... getting to think about myself in more..." A guilty look. "I've been a jerk to her, and for no decent reason. And I think just trying to actually... listen to the things she's said to me in the past... to..." A look at Sougo's pizza, but not his face. "She's never lied to me. She's yelled, berated, insulted. I don't like that, to be honest. But she's never lied. Not that I could tell, anyways. So there's.... that, but." Stanley grumbles. "I've lost the trust of a lot of people around here because I ran my mouth. I'm... trying to fix that. I'm not sure how to fix that but I will." "She knows what I could be. Could have been already, maybe, if I wasn't dumb as hell." He slumps bonelessly into his chair, in the manner only teenagers can manage. "Some days I-" Stanley cuts himself off before he says "I Wish". "It would be nice to borrow some of those time powers you got and go back and kick myself in the nuts so I don't say dumb shit."
Timespace Riders	Sougo nods, his expression still faintly warm, but tinged with the solemnity of a hard day ahead. "Your father," he says. "I remember." He'd never met Stanley's father in 'the present'--but a faceless figure, freely admitting his crass antipathy for his son to a boardroom, that, he'd met. The knowledge, now, that that figure is Stanley's father, affects him profoundly enough to compel silent contemplation. After a substantial pause, "Someone like that... I think that's... the best way to tackle it, yeah. I'm glad that that's what you're after--justice, harm reduction, and 'being done with it.' There are a lot of people who would want... mm, something, from him, that he'd never give, and going after it would just hurt more." I'm not sure how to fix that but I will. "That's the spirit," says Sougo, softly encouraging. "But I have some advice I can give you, myself--no time powers necessary," he adds, with an impish little smile, despite the sobering nature of the conversation. "Sometimes, I'm upset with the Sougo who came before me, too. The thing is..." "That Sougo was doing his best. I needed him, so that I could be this Sougo. Kind of like a relay race. I said dumb things, too, when I didn't know any better. I think that's... forgivable, in the long run, if you learn why it's dumb, and stop doing it." With a slightly weary sigh, he adds, "I'm only a few years older than you. But there are people who are way older than the both of us, who still make the same mistakes, every day, and just... coast." "I'm wiser, now, than when we met. And I can see you starting to reach for a different Stanley, and that makes me happy. I'm... sorry, that Lampport hasn't been what you wanted, or needed. But when you're free of it, you can start making your own, just like you're making a better Stanley, day by day." Second slice down, after a little pause. Sougo stands up. "I should get going--things have calmed down, but they're only calm-er. You... probably know exactly how that is, honestly. I hope I see you soon," he says, before taking care of the tab and heading for the door.