Scene #8822: Return to Duty

Owner	Pose
Petra Soroka	Some girls are just valuable enough to be able to vanish from work for a couple weeks without warning and still be welcomed back gladly. It helps that Petra's duties as the new Extraction captain aren't as pressing daily as when she was in Control, especially before Abnormalities get transferred to the cells she'll be responsible for. In a fit of guilt after talking to Lilian, Petra burned through all the last trainings and paperwork she needed to do, and narrowed down agent candidates for interviews, to at least have some good work to show off for all her time away, but there's still a sense of automatic bracing when she finally steps back out of the artificial warpgate in Control Department. She's a little bit worried she'll be reprimanded, a little bit worried about whatever strange looks people might give her, but what she's worried about most of all is the people that'll be happy to see her return. Petra tries to avoid being seen by anyone while slipping her way into Angela's office, without a call or notice ahead of time, then closes the door behind her. She lingers by the door, shifting awkwardly with her hands in her bomber jacket pockets, looking a bit more pale and tired than usual, but otherwise fairly well put-together. Hair washed, skin vaguely sunken from exhaustion but clean and cared for, even with a pop of subtle eyeliner; though there's not much to be done about the ragged state of her bomber jacket ever since Liza. She takes a breath, hesitating before saying anything, then closes the distance to Angela's desk and draws a small stack of papers out of her jacket to press them down onto the desk. "I'm as caught uup as I can be. There's requests for Bloodbath, Parasite Tree, Red Riding Hood, Blue Star, and Mountain of Smiling Bodies in there for Extraction. I've got interviews scheduled for this afternoon. And I'll be back regularly starting tomorrow." Then she heavily exhales and her head droops, leaning with her hand on the desk. Looking down at the floor and pausing for a few seconds longer, Petra follows the professional-sounding update with a muttered, "... Sorry, Ange. I'm back."
Angela	It can be tough to sneak into Lobotomy Corp completely unnoticed since the chief way in is a Warpgate that is constantly monitored but Petra knows the facility inside and out at this point--more than most Agents in fact considering she's even been to the locked off area within the facility. And there's something else that makes it easier-- There is no announcement of her arrival, anybody who DOES see her just throws a wave and--sensing that she is busy--elects to let her be. Without her, the facility continues operating as best it can which is less effectively but still ongoing. The Manager is getting used to operating the facility. Even Angela has little left to advise him on. Angela's door is locked as it usually is when she isn't expecting company but Petra can hear the unclick of the door before she even knocks. Petra sets down a stack of papers on the desk. Angela looks towards them, then up to Petra. "...It has been a long time since we could speak face to face." Angela says. "But I cannot complain. You needed the time." It was lonely, of course. It was like facility management had returned to the way it usually did. More death, more pain, more times she had to close her eyes, more isolation. The depths of her curse never fails to find a new way to punish her whenever she thinks she has fully adapted. She stands up and extends a hand. "...Welcome back. I have been informed that some of the pertinent details is not my business from the Commander so I will not ask for them. I apologize for failing to stop Persephone and hope you can forgive me." "And I hope you are feeling better but I understand if you need more time." She doesn't say 'I Missed You' because she thinks it'd just hurt her right now but it is hard for her to obscure the sensation from everything else she is saying. Instead she says, "I am glad that you are here."
Petra Soroka	Petra shakes her head, still facing down. "No, I need to be back, I-- I don't have the right to sit around and be useless like that, not if I...." She swallows, struggling to put her words together while visibly holding back some incoming outburst of emotion. "It's not fair to you. And it's not what I want. I want to be here, with you and-- and everyone, no matter how bad I'm feeling. Like, I-- I like it here. I like being around here. I don't-- it's not like I need time away, or, like, that I could ever just, like, be fine just sitting around and rotting like that, I just..." Rather than taking Angela's offered hand, Petra reaches past it and pulls Angela into a hug-- or, at least, wraps her arm around Angela and pulls herself close, since Angela's too dense for her to move on her own. She presses her face into Angela's shoulder, fists clenched, and lets out a long, shuddering exhale. "I missed you." She doesn't have the same hesitation as Angela about saying it; she just has different, worse hesitations. "The thing is, I-- I feel like-- you know, Angela, you haven't heard the details, I-I think, but... you know how badly I fucked up with Lilian before." "It's, like... it was bad enough that she'd be better off never knowing me in the first place. And that's the case for, like... for everyone I've ever known. I ruin people's lives by being near them, since I'm a fucked up wreck of a person. Even-- I don't know what you saw in there, really, but I even did that with the Beauty of Ash, and everyone else before Lilian that you never met." Petra twists her fingers into Angela's labcoat, fidgeting aggressively, then wrenches her hand back open to release her. At this close distance, her aura's worse than ever before, even for Angela: needlepoints of pain and itch scintillating and digging across Angela's artificial nerves. "Except you. And Cinder." Petra adds after a second, voice rough and low. "For now." "That's why I-- really, all I want to do is help. I have to be helping, you and Lilian and the rest of us, or there's no point to anything about me at all. And it's just like, you know... sort of felt like I should quit while I was ahead." Petra half-steps back away from Angela, just enough that her face can be exposed to the air again, and looks up at her face. She forgot she was wearing eyeliner-- she almost never does-- so it's been smeared a bit because of pressing her face into Angela's shoulder, but she doesn't notice. She lays her hand on the stack of papers again, as prop-assisted emphasis, and closes her eyes. "But I, uh, can't. That's not fair. You deserve better than that, and I've got to measure up to what you deserve."
Angela	Angela, who thought she had ruined everything by failing to stop Phony, is shocked by being pulled into an embrace. Surprising herself, she half steps into the hug and is half pulled in and she feels pathetic that she needed this so much and that she was so scared she'd lose it and that she feels like a parasite for taking what is offered instead of just enduring, wondering if it is even possible for her to have a real relationship with someone. She places her head into Petra's shoulder as that artificial distance evaporates with contact. "I missed you..." She parrots, like she's been given permission to say it. "I didn't... I don't want to be weird about it or disrespect your boundaries. Too many people do that already." ''I ruin people's lives by being near them, since I'm a fucked up wreck of a person.'' Angela feels the itch. It hurts, it hurts bad, but Angela would rather feel it than its absence right now. It's a sign that Petra's really here. "You're...good at helping." Angela admits. "Helping me, helping Meika. It's not like I'm not--" She takes a steadying breath. It's fake, but it serves a purpose for her all the same, a reminder her nature is carved out of a human. "--I think I might be the same way. I was told I could be kind now but all I've really managed is hurting others. If you get something out of being here, that--I'm really glad to hear that." Even if it's via helping her. 'For now', Angela thinks, it's terrifying to think of the future. She's stepping into unknowns as of late. Angela hesitates, but does let Petra step back without trying to hold onto her. "...I feel that you do. This facility, me, we are pain engines, I've done my best to avoid it reaching you but..." She exhales again. "...I also destroy my selves I cannot allow be. You were with Hod so you did not see but... Hook, the others did. They didn't...care for that part of myself." She looks to the papers. "You've already done a great deal but I won't deny the journey and effort you have to make. The Dame Commander deserves it, doesn't she? Perhaps in time..."
Petra Soroka	"I didn't... I don't want to be weird about it or disrespect your boundaries. Too many people do that already." "Don't--. Actually. Don't." Petra interjects abruptly enough that the words themselves almost seem to take her off-balance, like she didn't properly stabilize herself before saying them. "People are weird about it right up until they feel uncomfortable and then they don't say anything at all." Still hugging Angela, Petra pulls her head back so she isn't muffled by the labcoat, then rubs at her nose. "Remember back-- back when we met, and Lilian needed help. And everyone was talking like, 'giving her space', and 'respecting her boundaries'. There isn't anyone who'll actually be there when we need it but us. Being apart is the end of the world. Letting-- letting any of us go through it on our own is...." Petra shakes her head, trailing off, then blurts out more before she can settle into silence. "I don't have any boundaries that are-- that are worth being farther away from you for. So you shouldn't respect them. That's-- anything that makes me less of 'us' makes me less of 'me'. Like you said, pieces of selves I need to kill." "They didn't...care for that part of myself." "No one else gets it. No one else will ever be able to understand. It's just us." Petra shivers, then lifts her hand that isn't leaning on the papers to squeeze Angela's hand, lingering to hold it for a little while longer. "... Just us. So we have to stick together. And I-- there's a duty for me, specifically, to be better for-- to not wallow and stagnate and keep working harder to be better than I am." Her gaze falls down from Angela's eyes, coincidentally landing on the papers, where she lingers for long seconds while gears visibly turn inside her head. After processing, she abruptly mutters, "Only-- only half of these are even supposed to go to you... I need to get the others to Binah. And I should say-- I should see Cinder."
Angela	''I don't have any boundaries that are-- that are worth being farther away from you for. So you shouldn't respect them.'' The idea is alien to Angela. She had to learn, quite keenly, the boundaries of her fellow Sephirah, of Ayin, of Benjamin. Her own. Her work meant deliberately crossing those lines and she saw the pain it caused keenly but the idea that this may have bought her closer to rather than farther from the Sephirah isn't ... It doesn't really matter, does it? She asked for help, she believes in that help, and she'll die without it but the Sephirah don't want to live. Getting closer to them... ...Is kind of pointless. Petra also has indicated a desire to die multiple times, but she is not allowed to--so that makes her pretty different from the Sephirah. But despite this being something that sounds particularly dangerous, it isn't as if the idea is unappealing. Wouldn't it be lovely if she could just admit how much she loves this strange sister of hers? To be able to fumble without losing everything, to do her best irrespective of the risk? "That...does not come easily to me," Angela admits. "...But you are worth stepping outside my own. So I will do my level best--I mean, hah... I prefer company than isolation myself." Face the fear, she thinks bitterly, build the future. "...I've dealt with this alone for a long time. I wouldn't want you to face what comes alone either. This 'Titanomachia', even if it's just company--you'll have it." She can't cry even though she wants to so she rubs at her eyes to try and show that there was an emotional effect even if it doesn't really show on her face. "You've given me this lesson before" She squeezes Petra's hand and manages a smile. "Thank you so much for...entering my life. I won't give up either." She hopes she won't, or that it isn't already too late, but she imagines Petra has felt similar struggles so she just sets that aside for now. "I...of course. I'll be here, Petra, I am within reach. And if you don't return I'll come looking so..." She steadies herself. "Thank you." When Petra leaves the office, Cinder is there getting pecked on by Punishing Bird. Her job is stand there and sort of let it happen without stomping on it or hitting it or getting too aggressive about it because that'll set Punishing Bird off. "O-oh!" Cinder startles, promptly a slightly stronger warning peck from Punishing Bird. "Oww. Ah, um, Petra! I'm sorry. I rushed it. I, um, welcome back! I'm glad you're back." PECK PECK PECK. "...I uh. IS it...uh... Punishing Bird's here too." She adds.
Petra Soroka	"..But you are worth stepping outside my own." Petra wobbles and frowns, immediately worried and instinctively pulling back. "Well, I-- I don't want you to have to push yourself for my sake, I mean... it's just me. I just mean that you shouldn't worry about-- about respecting anything, or about my feelings, and-- and if it's stepping outside your comfort zone, then it's just worth it for Lilian. She's the one who actually...." Petra cuts herself off and rubs her hand across her face, forcefully shifting her mental state to end that train of thought and replace it with a more productive one. "... No. Thanks for trying hard. I'm going to-- to do my best too, always. I got here, somehow, so I'm never ever going to give it up. I've already given up way too many things." Petra shuffles through the stack of papers and sorts it out to take half the stack with her when she leaves Angela's office. It's only a short ways wandering down the hallways of Control before she hears Cinder's cries of (mild) pain and beelines towards them, pulling out the Silver FullBottle as she does. Any normal agent, of course, just needs to deal with being pecked, and maybe Lobotomy Corporation has been functioning closer to normal for the past few weeks, but it's all those little apathetic harms that are minor enough to accept as routine that she hates the most. The blob of morphmetal floats up out of the bottle and then lunges around Punishing Bird, encapsulating it in a metal orb before it can get a retaliatory bite off. As much as it thrashes and struggles around in there, the Silver can take anything the Abnormality tries to do, morphmetal bulging whenever Punishing Bird throws itself against the inside. Petra makes a victorious little 'heh', then pulls out her first aid kit and hurries over to fuss at Cinder. She's only got minor cuts and puncture wounds; Punishing Bird doesn't do much damage at all if not enraged, but that's still enough for Petra to start pulling out bandaids and dabbing antiseptic. "Yeah. Dumb bird." After a few seconds of quietly stinging antiseptic in shallow wounds, Petra ventures, "You're... you've been... managing alright? Er-- what am I saying. I'm just-- I'm glad I'm back too. Fucked up that I was worried that Extraction would feel too far away, and now it's like-- it's practically close, in comparison." This isn't the best time or place to have this conversation, and it's deeply ironic with the scenario of Petra currently rubbing her thumb on the edges of a bandage to make sure it's secure on Cinder's arm, but Petra blurts it out anyways. There's absolutely no leadup, no further small talk, no other gratitude that she's going to be around again; she just goes straight into talking about violence. "I'm worried I might hurt you. It feels like it's always just about to happen. I don't think anyone could stop me if I did." Saying that as matter of fact and unprompted as she does is almost frightening, since it sounds more like a thought that's been constantly on her mind and only just now finally bubbled into speech, rather than any kind of threat. "Other than me. And only by staying away." "But, um, I'm not going to be doing that anymore." Petra, without looking directly at Cinder, repacks her first aid kit, then flips open her compact mirror to hand it back to Qetra. Once that's done, she bumps her shoulder into Cinder and exhales, trying to brighten her tone a bit. "So I'll, uh-- be trying my best to protect you from everything, and me. That's it, really."
Angela	"...Ah, well." Angela says. "I wouldn't say ..." She stops herself as well. "Yes, I am not one for resting on my laurels either. There is still much I wish to learn and try and...live." She says that last one as if living is something that requires a kind of effort. "You best not give up," She agrees. "I don't intend to." She isn't sure if that's a powerful declaration or her simply being too tired to keep giving up--actually she's pretty sure it's more the latter. The bird turns its gaze towards Petra like looking at a lifelong nemesis. Its eyes narrow dangerously. It rears back with its beak to peck Cinder once more and-- --The blob of metal rears up around it and it throws itself to try and escape capture--but fails! It bonks it's little head against the 'wall' and then goes ballistic in the orb, thrashing around as it attempts to peck itself and fails because the beak ... is the mouth. There's a satisfying clang and then many smaller continuous clangs that get quieter and quieter. Cinder breathes a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Petra--" And then she blinks like she remembers she's supposed to maybe stay away? Petra tells her that she's glad she's back and Cinder struggles for a moment, taking a breath or two and then says, "I'm sorry I couldn't um, equalize your electricity cheeks," in a kind of blubbery tone. ''I'm worried I might hurt you.'' "Don't...don't worry. You don't have to worry--" She manages but the idea of being protected by Petra doesn't really feel bad even if she sort of hopes she could protect her too. Cinder smiles, awkwardly, and then says, "Thanks for coming back. I.. I'll do my best to make protecting, um, easy. Yeah...!" It's like her world returned. (clang clang clang)