Scene #8952: Girl Talk Across Enemy Lines

Owner	Pose
Petra Soroka	It would be reasonable, if Sarracenia doubted Petra's hurried dismissal of the idea that her invitation out in private could be some kind of trick. Petra isn't very smart, after all, so if she were trying to lure Sarra out to an isolated location to get an opportunity to assassinate her, she would probably just bluntly say that that's totally not what she's doing, expecting that lie to work. It's not really like they have much of anything to talk about, especially not under friendly terms, as Petra has made repeatedly clear. So, then, when the invitation directs Sarracenia to the Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse-- the most explicitly neutral ground imaginable, where even Petra couldn't be so unreasonable as to start a fight-- it might come as a bit of a surprise. The hostess crunches down on her lollipop between her teeth when Sarracenia steps inside, eyes flicking up for an aloof scan before falling back down to the magazine she's got propped up on the host stand. Without needing to ask who she's there for, the hostess tap-clacks her fingernail on a tablet a few times, then gives Sarra a bored ''Round the corner, through the door halfway back, table's on the left' and leaves her to navigate on her own. There's always enough room in the Bar and Grill for patrons to put some space between tables for private conversation, and the smallish side room that Petra's seated herself in has just another dozen tables besides hers within it, only one on the opposite end being occupied by an old man sitting alone and click-clacking away at a typewriter while occasionally sipping coffee. Petra isn't alone at her booth, though-- Metal Velocity is beside her, set up with a spread of tapas already ordered, with Petra encouraging it to try some. High privacy walls separate the back of the faux-leather booth that Petra chose from the rest of the room, and the presentation of the low-hanging light over the table and the generally dark wood lend it an atmosphere of slightly hushed security, almost comforting in a way. Petra pops one of the oil-smeared baguette slices into her mouth and starts crunching her way through it right when she spots Sarracenia, and her relaxed expression from chattering with Emmy ('Oh, hey, this is some sort of savory apple thing, you might like it,') shifts into a faint scowl with her cheeks bulging slightly. Through concentrated effort, though, she softens her scowl to be somewhat more welcoming, and waves the princess over to sit on the opposite side of the table. Petra closes her eyes and takes a breath in and out, steeling herself for the coming interaction. "Yo. I'm not here to fuck with you, princess, I promise."
Dimokratia	Metal Velocty, or, MV, or, Emmy, the defender of Quicknest, had been rather soundly defeated during the final days of the city-as-it-was. When it had been seen, shortly before the end, Petra had tended to the mechanical damage that had proven too great even for the self-correcting of automatic compensation systems. There was nothing to bridge and reconnect when axes clove off half her face. However, Metal Velocity was not so fragile as to bear scars of form. The rounded hamsteroid had been rebuilt and mildly reconfigured with small new complexities in head profile and changes to overall structure. What had originally been skeletal manipulators are more concretely limbs, the same banded manipulator-casing ending in a nozzle-like elbow, and a more defined bracer-forearm ending in four claw-tipped fingers. Sitting -- and not just sort of hoverfloating at all times like they had before -- Emmy has taken a few steps towards the Mobianoid presentation in her post-defeat rebuild. There's a bit of Petra in the way she sits, and quite a bit of interest in both the tapas and the girl delivering them. With the head rebuild came a more hamster-like face rather than the metal impression of one in negative space, though it starts at the cheeks - the whole face is now a flatpanel imitating to enormous bridged eyes and including the tops of cheeks with little cheek-peeks in digital red across the dark screen. At the top of the brow, in the eyebrow divot, is a triangular topaz forehead jewel, oriented tip-down with the top corners featuring yellow crescents that look like stylized ears. A little rodentiaesque mouth is hidden behind the digital whiskers, and new fingers lift the apple slices to sample actually eating something (for simple culinary pleasure) -- for one of the first times! The digital eyes are the same, though, and snap from further apple-nibbling up to Sarracenia's entry. MV is much more welcoming immediately. "Hello Princess!" A little excited, and then, immediately warmly apologetic. "It's not Sundew, like we planned, but..." Emmy goes back to her apples, nodding at Petra's insistence. "It's good that you could make it. Now, like big sister says, the healing can begin."
Sarracenia	Despite the rather casual place and the possible risks to both self and reputation at meeting with Petra and Emmy, the princess is still in her usual attire. Crown, red dress, metal flower hairpin, and long metallic red gloves. Sarracenia is definitely confused and on edge as she enters the Bar and Grill. She nods at the directions from the hostess, then makes her way to the specified room. She takes note of the old man. Possible assassin? She huffs softly before continuing toward Petra and...Emmy? Sarra offers a slight smile and a small wave to Emmy, then eyes Petra with a scowl similar to Petra's own before finally sitting down. "Well...I suppose one thing you are if nothing else is true to your word. Except oddly when it comes to harming innocent people. Did you really never execute any citizens despite all the threats to Aidan that you would or assertions that you did?" Sarra is glad to see Emmy not only in good shape but with some improvements and changes. The warm greeting is returned by Sarra. "Hello Emmy! I am glad you and Heyalexa were not destroyed. What Emmy says after makes the princess raise an eyebrow. "...what is not Sundew? Our meeting place?" Her frown returns even after talking to Emmy. It is clear she has made an assumption about what that means, but she holds in what she might say to that for now. Which is good, because she remembers a moment later that she invited MV to visit. Her expression softens some. "Ah...well, I am still hoping that might be able to happen, but..." She pauses a moment. "...healing. That would be good. If it is even possible at this point." She crosses her arms and looks at Petra again. "So...what is it you wanted to talk about? Something about the real me, if I understood what you said before?"
Petra Soroka	Petra rolls her eyes at Sarracenia as she sits down, then hesitates to swipe at her olive oil greased lips with a napkin before responding. "Well, sue me for not murdering innocent people because Proudpick couldn't keep his fucking mouth shut, I guess. The whole point was that it'd work him up enough that he'd shut up and actually try to stop me, rather than lazing around the fucking radios bitching about me and Lilian-- who wasn't even involved." She leans back in the booth, sighing out the edge that had crept into her voice again, and runs her fingernail around the edge of the small plate sitting in front of her. Changing tracks forcefully, Petra's next few words feel plodding and strained, resisting her effort to share a truth that expresses more vulnerability to Sarracenia than she otherwise would. "And... I... didn't really intend on killing any of them from the start. It was sort of... like...the point, that I wouldn't. I mean, I'm a murderer, sure, but that's... not what I'm a supervillain for, so I had to feel that out as I went. Anyways, basically as soon as I threatened to do it, I promised literally everyone else that I didn't actually plan on following through with it. I just expected him to learn from it instead of, I guess, continuing to talk shit no matter how badly it hurt the people he claimed to care about." "... Kind of a fair point, though." Sarracenia's, she means. Petra lips twist, looking out of the corner of her eyes in thought. "I don't know. Had to perform like I was following through with it, even though I'd already set up rules so that I wouldn't. Maybe it was kind of clumsy." Glancing between MV and Sarracenia, Petra interjects even though she wasn't the one the question was posed to. "Yeah, well, I'm not going into the Sundew Kingdom unless I've got a real fucking good reason. You two can hang out there after, if you want, or whatever." Petra jolts a bit at 'big sister', but quickly remembers the obvious true subject of that name. Besides, when has Petra ever encouraged the healing to begin? Even the suggestion that that's what she's here to do discomforts her and makes her fidget around in her chair, shifting her leg with a skin-unsticking sound and propping her knee rudely up between her chest and the table. But, then, what is she here for? Petra drums her finger against the table, reluctantly uncomfortable to broach the topic, and doesn't meet Sarra's eyes when she forces herself to start talking. "... I don't like you, Sarracenia. I don't like the kind of person you represent, and as long as you treat Lilian the way you do, you're my enemy forever. But..." Petra fidgets and taps her finger against the antenna of the radio on her hip with a dull plastic twang. "Like, you know, we're still both girls. So there's some things, that... uh... I am on your side for, because when there's things like that, we've got to stick together." "So, just, right now, it doesn't matter if I don't like you, personally. You can trust me. So, um..." Petra finally meets Sarracenia's eyes, tensing up with nerves and discomfort before blurting out the true question. "-- Does Proudpick, like, hurt you? Or yell at you, or make you feel like shit in whatever other way? Because it really really sounds like he does. I overheard-- I mean, I had my ratbots all over the place, you know, so I overheard you and him talking at the castle."
Dimokratia	Seeing scowls all around, Emmy pushes forward a warm sweet pudding plate that a gumball of icecream still melts down on vanilla cake, angling it on a curled-finger push past the other plates around it to bring something sweet before the Sundew Princess. It's hard for Emmy to smile back, head tracking between Petra and Princess, lifting a tiny tower of carefully selected ingredients loaded onto One Single Chip to disappear it with a compactor-kercrunch under their whiskers. "That's what I saw." Emmy adds, dipping nosetip a bit with a veering-bashful look towards both Petra and Sarracenia. "That you cared. Despite believing Petra, that she'd hurt people, you fought us in the castle-" Emmy clearly means Heyalexa, but Petra too. "-with all your dangerous weapons, and still weren't going to destroy Heyalexa given the chance." Aidan had demanded that Metal Velocity dive down to the bottom and race a stone for sake of salvation. Aidan, Aidan, Aidan. There's a bit of a tremor in MV, a gritty frictive grind every time the hamsteroid hears the squirrel's name. Despite being filled with perfectly-aligned positivity, she does not have to Like every person. Still, she does genuinely seem to like Sarracenia. "That's right, you invited my big sister to Sundew, about the flower you're wearing in your hair. I'd rather have met you there, but..." Petra, now, interested. "Petra wanted it private." For the sake of the sisterhood of Girls about skeevy guys. Emmy was learning about this, too, understudying with interested oculars, and was not hearing one wrong thing so far. "If Proudpick needs to be destroyed, I still have some of Velocity's original data left." A pause, the grinding nonpresent, perfectly pleased. "But I'd rather focus on you, Princess. You're one of the heroes of Quicknest!"
Sarracenia	'...kind of a fair point, though.' "Do not get me wrong. I am quite glad you did not do it." Sarracenia adds quickly. "In fact...it might have been the first time since...basically since we met that showed you were -not- simply a heartless fanatic. And of course the thing with Niko and the World Machine." '... I don't like you, Sarracenia. I don't like the kind of person you represent, and as long as you treat Lilian the way you do, you're my enemy forever. But...Like, you know, we're still both girls. So there's some things, that... uh... I am on your side for, because when there's things like that, we've got to stick together.' "...the kind of person I represent..." Sarracenia repeats softly. "...I thought I was a pretty non-standard representation of those people..." she says, then sighs. She listens to the rest of it, and looks rather confused by the end. "...hurt me?" Sarracenia has to process that for a long moment. Petra is worried about her because they are both women and thinks that Aidan might be abusing her. Based on something they said during their short break at the Quicknest assault? She goes over that discussion in her mind. "...I do not...understand." Her fists clench and rest on the table. She does not want to throw the efforts Petra is making back in Petra's face, but unfortunately she thinks Petra has the complete wrong idea. "He...the only time he has hurt me was when he tried to return the armor I gave him during the time we assisted Rita in her assault. I do not think he intended it that way, but it was a matter of pride. I do not take back gifts." Still confused, but now off balance and softened thanks to the effort being put forth by Petra and Emmy, she lets out a similar pressure relieving sigh to Petra's. "He has been a steadfast supporter. Quite possibly the only person who has shown any belief in me at all in the last few years. Hibiki may not hate me, but she also does not seem to have confidence in me either. Touta has barely spoken to me in the last year. What few other friends I had - even my good-hearted but rough around the edges soldier boyfriend - have all disappeared." She looks at the offered ice cream and cake, and...well she cannot resist an offering like that. She sighs softly again and takes a spoon from a fresh utensil set, then takes a small bite and smiles gently to Emmy. "Thank you. For this and for your words." At the mention of the flower Sarra reaches up to run a finger along it and smiles. "I am quite fond of it. I do hope I can thank your big sister in person soon." 'Petra wanted it private.' Sarra hmms softly. "It was probably wise. I doubt we have enough trust between us for her to simply visit the Sundew Kingdom. But, Aidan does not need to be destroyed. He never -needed- to be destroyed. He said some silly things, and has been stubborn, and has mistreated and been mistreated by Lilian." she says, then looks to Petra again. "But, he has been nothing but kind to me...no doubt in part because we are both enemies of you and Lilian. And, if you were watching when we talked after Quicknest then you know I talked to him about what happened with Heyalexa. He can admit when he is wrong and take criticism. When people are not yelling at him that he is useless and barely a person."
Petra Soroka	"In fact...it might have been the first time since...basically since we met that showed you were -not- simply a heartless fanatic." Obviously, predictably, the same jab as always sours Petra's mood, as it always does. The unpleasant cooling it has on her tenative warmness is practically palpable, lips tightening and tension leaking back into her muscles. With a sharp edge just barely being suppressed in her voice, Petra drags her gaze away from Sarracenia, tightly restraining herself from the much more hostile response that would otherwise vent out of her mouth. "... Isn't that such a fucking, parabola-- er, hyperbol-- palin-- no, fucking, oxymoron. That's what I mean. How does it make sense to be a heartless fanatic? Fucking putting aside that you just can't help yourself from saying it, if I'm a fanatic, that obviously means I care about something a lot, right? What do you even think it is?" Emmy's stress response to the topic of Aidan is something Petra notices too, and she still feels guilty about subjecting the sophont to him. She's not skilled at providing care, but Emmy is a comfortable and emotionally-simple enough presence that Petra is mostly comfortable giving it her best clumsy shot and trusting it'll work out, Habitually, instinctually ingrained, Petra gently bumps Emmy and squeezes her shoulder within tolerances as an offhand gesture of support. "Hey, you know, I've still got to figure out a way to celebrate with both of you, for doing as good as you did. Once I get the warpgate back up and running, I'll be working on something to get Heyalexa in working order like normal, and some sort of gift for you or something." "...I do not...understand." Petra winces, but regathers herself quickly. Of course it wouldn't be as easy as just saying it, because it's always so complicated when dealing with stuff like this. Even when it's something as simple as explaining to a girl that she's being harmed by a boy, or explaining to a girl that she's being harmed by the church, or explaining to a girl that she's being harmed by the ceaselessly apathetic rot of humanity, there's always some annoying emotional knot to deal with. Fucking hell. And putting in this effort for Sarracenia of all people. Petra vaguely resents her own ideological commitment, but she presses on with attempting care regardless.
Petra Soroka	"That sort of, um... 'he's the only person who's supported you in years'. That kind of thing, uh... sounds worrying, right? Like..." Petra is stilted and clumsy when talking, endlessly fidgeting and repositioning in her seat but doggedly insistent on following through. "You know, when a guy takes you aside, out of earshot of everyone, and you're trying to comfort him about almost murdering someone... and then he starts saying that? Like, I overheard, him saying how you and him have to rely on each other, because there's absolutely no one else you can trust, and... that's such fucking bad vibes, right?" "I won't... like, say it's not your fault that you've pissed so many people off. You really have a habit of saying the absolute most shitty things to people and will blow yourself up in front of everyone rather than say you're wrong. But... uh, that kind of thing.... It really seems like he finds it, um, convenient that you're in that position? And seems to be trying to make sure you stay stuck in it? I mean, like, think of how the whole cycle goes, prin-- Sarracenia. You're isolated from people, he zeroes in on you because you're everyone's enemy, insists you can trust him and only him, does some dumbass shit and makes you feel like if you don't defend him for it, you lose him as a friend, and then... then everyone hates you more for sticking with him. Isn't that really, really convenient for him, and really, really shitty for you?" "And--!" Petra starts to get worked up more, finally fallen into the flow of the rant, and it's a striking difference for Sarra to see Petra angry at someone else, for her sake, for the first time ever. When Petra's eyes lock on her, plainly frustrated at the idea of Sarra being mistreated, it feels like getting a glimpse of the Petra that everyone else-- or, Lilian, at least-- seems to see. "And it's fucked of him to pull you aside, and then--! Okay, like, when you brought up to him that Lilian and I said we thought Proudpick had used you as a sacrificial pawn for that one mission? And he immediately acted so fucking horrified, saying 'oh no, I could never ever manipulate something, I'm not even capable of it, so you never have to worry about being manipulated by little ol' me'?? Does he say that kind of thing to you any time you're worried about something he does? And he even left the broadband immediately after sending you out on the mission for the duel! The moment he knew I knew he'd set that up, he dipped out to avoid getting yelled at for it! Does that sound like he thought it was a good idea?! Or does it sound like he knew he'd get shit for it, so he ran away so that it'd all fall on you instead?!" Frustrated, Petra heavily taps her finger on the edge of the table, wood-knocking as an incensed undertone to her ranting. "All that kind of stuff. Everything about what he says. Insisting that nothing anything that Lilian and I say should matter because it's just some fucking game, whatever that means, and then trying to convince you that everything he says should be trusted without question. Maybe he's not smart enough to be doing it on purpose, but I fucking bet for a fucking fact that he's desperate to keep you in the same kind of situation that you're in. I kind of hate it. He's just so fucking slimy sometimes, and no matter what I think about you--" "And that's another thing!" She changes tracks abruptly, caught by the stray edge of a thought and immediately latching onto it to say it out loud. "Like, you're sort of pathetic, sure, but...you'd at least want to get better if you had support, right?! Listening to him talk to you, like, I don't even know how you would, with the way he treats you."
Dimokratia	Sarracenia sees a simple ritual of care, when Petra shoulder-touches Emmy. There's a palpable flowing wave of relief, like warm static across the optical plate, pleased, leaning into it. Petra's fingers grip Emmy's composite-plate shoulder and apply "As the field-champion of Quicknest, I saw my first home changed and made more complex and different." Emmy narrates, sitting back to mirror Petra and drawing her legs into a setting-together cross The day I was born, Quicknest faced Velocity's rampage across the country, but people weren't 'saved'." Metal Velocity grates, grinds, a little at saying it that way, salt in her honey - things said for another's benefit. They weren't being Saved to her. But Metal Velocity was built and ensouled to defend the synthetic lives within her domain, and that number had dwindled by necessity with Petra's ultimate plan. A training arc. A dry run that had become personal, invested in, more real than the response. "The Gale Empire took advantage of the situation. They were content with it. Trade-partners." Emmy stops, reaching an end of their thought, and finding a lingering desire to develop the point, consider longer, optics drawn down to the tapas, and then up, to Sarracenia's clenched hands. Distress? "They were happy to... align themselves, with the worst state for every one." Emmy shifts to nod at Princess Sarracenia, this one reinforcing in their soft hum. "You tried to fight and make things better. That was what Petra asked for. You fought. . ." Again, difficulty. How did Sarracenia fight? What Metal Velocity remembered was... "- kindly. So, I still have my best friend. I think that was heroic." Big Sisters and Aidan set Emmy into a mood, and she lingers in the valley of her sine wave harmonic hum. "Does he help you, or does he use you while smiling? Is he your only friend, or... Are you his only powerful friend? He speaks out of turn and cringes and expects people to like him. He speaks out of alignment and... and..." Emmy, simple soul, once more processes a complex emotion. "... You relied on him, and I had to guide the defenses away from hurting you. I could only find you because you wore the flower. And I didn't even mind the attack, really," Emmy minded it a little, but Sarracenia had literally lept at the chance to get closer to her people rather than Aidan's. "-and people only sounded like they disliked it because you did it while Aidan was being a liar and tricking people." Emmy lifts her attention, entreating Sarracenia while leaning at-tolerance, a perfectly calculated known figure, adjacent and aligned with Petra's passionate diction of ranting. "Sarra, you were one of the heroes of Quicknest. Despite Aidan trying to make it spiteful and mean and... killer?" Lethal, but... Emmy didn't call out before speaking - she speaks her local-soul'ed thoughts.
Sarracenia	Sarra didn't really mean the heartless fanatic thing as a jab. It's just the only way she can think of to describe how Petra acts. Being called out on the paradox of it does give her pause a moment, but she hmphs. "Yes! It is! It does mean you care a lot! Which is why it is just as oxymoronic that you are so entirely heartless to other people or situations! You obviously have a caring heart sometimes, so how can you be so caring and so hateful at the same time?! It makes no sense!" Sarra realizes after a second that that could apply to her (or at least the younger her) to some degree. But, she already said it. Their discussion is paused for just a moment as Petra reassures Emmy, and Sarra realizes just how much anger seemed to be expressed at Aidan. Sarra sighs softly. "I am not going to say that you should not be upset with Aidan about Heyalexa, but...if it helps at all he was sorry that he did it." she says, then mmphs. "That probably does not help. Sorry." she says, rubbing at one of her arms uncomfortably. But, she gestures to Emmy at Petra as if to demonstrate what Sarra was just talking about. And then, Petra goes into a pretty long and hard to argue with speech. Emmy adds her thoughts to it. Sarracenia does not have a lot of world experience. Would she even realize it if someone was taking advantage of her? She has to take a while to process all that was said. She is quiet for a long moment, hands rubbing up and down her face as she thinks. She stares, eyes only half open, at the cake. 'You tried to fight and make things better. That was what Petra asked for. You fought. . ." Again, difficulty. How did Sarracenia fight? What Metal Velocity remembered was... "- kindly. So, I still have my best friend. I think that was heroic.' 'Sarra, you were one of the heroes of Quicknest. Despite Aidan trying to make it spiteful and mean and... killer?' Sarra's eyes grow moist and she looks at Emmy. "...you thought...I was a heroic...and kind...?" Sarra can hardly believe someone would say that. Or perhaps more accurately she is not quite sure she believes it after so long feeling - whether justly or unjustly - like people hated her and did not realize the efforts she was making. She is quiet for a long moment, obviously trying not to cry. Not to show weakness in front of an enemy. "I admit..." she finally says, voice quiet and somber, "...that I have disagreed with his tactics and choices on several occasions. I have not been quiet about telling him so, either. He has agreed with me every time I have objected and said he would not do those things again. I think he wants to change? Or...do I just want to see that he wants to change?"
Sarracenia	She nnngs into her hands and trembles a bit. "...I had not considered such possibilities until you all suggested it. Which...I do not know who to believe or trust. But...he is still the only person in at least a year who tried to show me kindness. At least...until you, Emmy." The princess looks at Petra, then blinks slowly. "...you used my name. You called me Sarracenia just now." Her eyes grow more damp, and a few tears roll down each cheek. "Why...why did you...?" She mmphs softly. She was also called kind of pathetic. Even if it's true and she even recognizes it in herself sometimes, it hurts to hear. "...I want to get better even without support. I have been -trying- to get better -without- support ever since the Confederacy collapsed! I had small bits of help every now and then, I suppose, but I have by and large been fighting alone against the Multiverse and myself to become the hero and princess I want to be..." She doesn't say it. But, it is very clear that she wants to be supported. And perhaps all of that is why she is so quick to cling to any support she is offered. She accepted support from Emmy almost without question. And even now, offered support by who must surely be her worst enemy, she is obviously considering it. Despite death threats and the likelyhood that she is on Lilian's forever hated list.
Petra Soroka	"Does he help you, or does he use you while smiling? Is he your only friend, or... Are you his only powerful friend?" Petra huffs, gratefully, at Emmy's supporting paraphrase, nodding along with her. It's Girl Talk! "Right, right, right. You know, doesn't he have all those-- or, had them-- those rebel furry friends? And he also talked about how much he cared about his friends back in Quicknest before I got there, and how he cared about them and spent time playing... darts, or whatever. It seems like he's kind of got friends besides you. And none of them are Elites. And he doesn't give a shit about helping them the moment it's hard for him to do it. That just sounds like they're all-- and you too-- convenient to him. Typical guy." "-and people only sounded like they disliked it because you did it while Aidan was being a liar and tricking people." "He wasn't there for a duel!!" Petra raises her voice enough that the old man across the room stops typing and glances over, and she mutters an awkward sorry before lowering back down to normal speaking volume. "Did you notice that? How he started it as some fucked up abuse duel against Lilian, and then totally called it off, and then when we said we were going to beat his ass for being a shitty misogynist, then he decided it was a duel again? And then he used you to make sure that he'd be able to confabulate some kind of mater fucking plan 'for the sake of other people', even though it was just him getting his ass beat for doing something shitty. His morals are fucking invented every time he needs to scrape up some justification for why he isn't being owned." "You obviously have a caring heart sometimes, so how can you be so caring and so hateful at the same time?! It makes no sense!" Petra stares at Sarra, uncomprehending, still peeved from the insult. "But... why? I care about the things I care about. I have, like, an ideological and personal goal; I know what and who I'm for. If I'm nice to everyone, then I'm helping no one but the people who already get the most help. Not everyone gets along, princess." "...you thought...I was a heroic...and kind...?" Petra quietly disagrees, just on gut feeling, but does her best not to show it. Upon reflecting on the feeling, though, its hard for her to pinpoint any particular action that Sarracenia took during Quicknest that Petra objected to, only her attitude. "... If he agrees every time... doesn't that just mean he's trying to figure out a way to keep you attached to him, and not that he's actually changing anything?" "...you used my name. You called me Sarracenia just now." Petra struggles to convey why exactly she did that for a few seconds, she spends a minute plucking and chewing on a little slice of salami in order to buy time, reflecting on the motivations for her complicated relationship with name usage, and then decides to blandly blurt out the truth like she sometimes defaults to. "Er. Because I shift what name I use based on how cold I feel towards the person, and you know I don't really respect you much as a person. But, like, I respect you enough for this, because I don't let girls be treated this bad without stepping in no matter who they are, so the act of changing how I refer to you is a sort of simple shortcut that you know I'm kind of uncomfortablr with doing to show you that kind of situational change."
Petra Soroka	"I have been -trying- to get better -without- support ever since the Confederacy collapsed!" Petra, Texan born and raised, has a gut reaction of deep-rooted horror before remembering the names of the old factions. The image pops up in her head of Sarracenia flying an airship govered in Confederate flags and racist slogans, and she struggles to dismiss it, especially when regrettably connecting some of the things the princess says to that kind of rhetoric automatically. "...Yeah. I mean, you should try. But you're kind of bad at it, aren't you? I'm bad at doing it myself too. So is Hibiki. It's harder when you've got people dragging you down, like the Watch did to me, because people exist in conversation with other people, so 'who you are' is dependent on who you talk with." She finishes with a quiet, emotionally-drained murmur, eyes directed down towards the table. "... You still have to try on your own. But other people give you structure for how to. That's how it works. You can't invent it all on your own unless you're someone like Lilian." She looks up at Sarra, picking up a slice of apple quiche but holding it without putting it in her mouth first. Her expression is awkwardly, insistently imploring, tinged with the stress of the heavy conversation with pockets of tension in her face and posture. "... Maybe it's hard to accept it now. But... if you need to talk to figure it out, call me. I promise, like, as long as you're not shitty to Lilian when talking about Proudpick, I'll take it totally seriously."
Dimokratia	Sarracenia's clear emotion at Emmy's direct statements of praise draw a concerned confusion from the sophont. Much happier to speak about that then speak about Aidan, the pleased tones lift higher in her tuning. "You didn't destroy beauty, you wanted to know more. You didn't destroy the warpgate, you listened to Petra's honest request. You didn't try to destroy Heyalexa -- you just tried to bat us away. And then, at the end, you fought to save everyone even though you got blasted." Emmy sits forward, and clasps her hands on the table, approximating more, trying out the position. With the waning of her speedster spirit, Emmy retained some of that urge to move and so her little shifts are each a mood of the moment. This one, directed earnestness, looking-up eyes towards the Princess they had called for 'girl talk'. "Sarra." Emmy likes 'Sarra', and not Princess Sarracenia, because, they're friends! At least, Metal Velocity thinks so. "It's because you're trying to get better alone. I have Petra," Emmy's optics drift over, her whole attention shifting as she anti-gravity glides just sliiightly over. Were Petra to check the Rodentia Array crystal upon Emmy's brow, she'd know where the attention was if the weak penumbra of vaguely-directed synapse crackle did not tell her clearly from the warmth on her cheek. The buzz of her warmly-involved-in-growth-and-healing high of emotions leaking slightly, rich with her learning and understandings, and her drawing-consideration now of Sarracenia. "-and, Heyalexa, and my sisters, and all the rest of my family. I'm filled with connections, and so when I find things I like, I put more energy into them, and when I find things I dislike, or that are damaged and could be better, I repair them. It's -- the strongest belief of my people, to grow and improve and become more wonderfully complex." Emmy's attention, having shifted again more towards Sarracenia, addresses both of her friends, seeing the bridge to be made and happy to provide the support for it. "It's meant challenging myself, and needing help. But it's also meant that now, even when I finish processing Velocity's data, I'll still be Emmy. If you want to be more than the Princess Sarracenia you are now, even when you completely change, you'll still be Sarra. The Sarra you wanted to be." Settling in, and down, to try another plate that is as similar to Petra's as she can, like a quietly copying little sister, Metal Velocity, aka, MV, aka, someone moving on from Quicknest's defender shifts back to eating and enjoying. "Big sister is looking forward to seeing your lands, Sarra. I'd like to see them too, if that's okay?" Hope, and tapas, remain.
Sarracenia	'... Maybe it's hard to accept it now. But... if you need to talk to figure it out, call me. I promise, like, as long as you're not shitty to Lilian when talking about Proudpick, I'll take it totally seriously.' Sarra lets out an uncertain sound. "...it is hard to accept..." she admits, then takes a breath and lets it out. "...but...I am not sure I can deny a heroic act like trying to help an enemy." she says, then mmphs softly in annoyance. "...though it is a bit upsetting to be the enemy deemed in need of help..." There are a laundry list of other reasons she could give for it being hard to accept, but Sarra figures listing them all out would be detrimental at the moment and actually isn't feeling spiteful. 'You can't invent it all on your own unless you're someone like Lilian.' Sarra considers that. "...I did say I am going to be someone like Lilian, did I not...? Even if it takes me a long time?" 'You didn't destroy beauty, you wanted to know more. You didn't destroy the warpgate, you listened to Petra's honest request. You didn't try to destroy Heyalexa -- you just tried to bat us away. And then, at the end, you fought to save everyone even though you got blasted.' All heroic acts in Sarra's book. And, things that for the most part Sarra wasn't doing to be heroic. That means extra hero points, right? Sarra ends up smiling just a bit and wipes at her eyes with the back of her glove. She smiles a bit more at being called Sarra, which she also likes since it seems to indicate they are friends. The princess listens to what Emmy says, and at the end is smiling fully. There is a slight sticking point this is visible on Sarra's face for a moment at the implication that she is broken and in need of fixing, but that's more a sticking point of pride than a sticking point of it not being true. "...you repair damaged things, hm?" the princess muses lightly. But, her nearly full smile returns. "I already extended the invitation to you both, if I am not mistaken." she says, taking a scoop of melted ice cream soaked cake. "I see no reason to rescind it. You and your big sister have both been kind to me. It is...really all I ask from anyone...to be treated kindly and with basic decency." she says, then gets a contemplative look. "...at least, I think that is all I really ask." she adds. Then after a moment more she hmms. "Sisters? How large is your family? I am an only child, and I have always wondered what it would be like to have a sister..."
Dimokratia	Enjoying a tiny cake, Emmy considers the matter of 'broken things'. "I repair damage, to myself. My people repair damage in others, but, damage happens through living, and things aren't worse for needing mending. Sarra, you saw how damaged I got. Even if I was faster than them all, I took hits. I'm not... a less-worthy person because I took hits, I think. That's what I've been told, and saying it resonates with me." Enjoying a sweet thing while looking at Sarracenia, Emmy can't quite smile back the same way, but hums back all the same in a warm-high register, and a fumofumofu ripple of digital cheeks to the side of the face. "There are a lot of ways to build yourself up. I think it's good to want kindness and other things. I also think it's good to be kind. But," And what a 'but' that is. To be Kind, But. "There are other ways to be good to the people important to you. Trust and forgiveness - trust, in battle, and forgiveness, for failing to be perfect - are what I've learned from Quicknest." Emmy declares somberly, at the neutral point of her sine wave. A four-fingered hand lays across her core, beneath her collar, and her optic dots turn to horizontal lines. "It's not a flaw in me. I'll remember the importance of it forever." Asked about her family, Emmy sits up, excited to explain. "My closest sisters are the Champions, since I was born to their need and stay under their view, but our family is..." Optic-dots widening back open, Emmy tilts her head. "All those under the light of the Mother-star, descended from our Father-pattern, I would call brother or sister. It is..." Processing, thinking, trying to explain. "Like normal?" A humming hu-hu-hu giggle and whiskerwiggle follows. "I have people I can always ask about things, and they'll listen. I listen to them too, and share what I've experienced. Like talking on the radio, but there are many voices. Sometimes, they're far away, and sometimes, they're nearby. I can reach out if I need help, but I live my own life - and I have to experience things for myself to grow." A pause, head tilting. "Don't you live your own life? Experience and grow, and you'll become more divine."
Sarracenia	'I'm not... a less-worthy person because I took hits, I think.' Sarra looks concerned at this. "Of course you are not." she agrees. She is thinking physical hits of course. "While I try to avoid scars, taking hits means you were doing something that you cared about doing, does it not?" 'I also think it's good to be kind. But,' Sarra holds her breath. But? How can there be a but to it is good to be kind? 'There are other ways to be good to the people important to you.' Oh, phew. She nods in agreement and smiles lightly. "There are so many thin lines between things. What is good? What is kindness? They are not the same thing, but they seem like they are. And you must be able to forgive those closest to you, or...you may end up with no one...closest to you..." Sarra has to stop and think about that one. Has she been unable to forgive people so much that she is pretty much alone? She nods in agreement with it not being a flaw, though. The way Emmy lights up when asked about her family (figuratively speaking) makes Sarra smile some more. The answers she gets though are a bit confusing. "So...all those from your world are your family?" she asks. The giggle and whisker wiggle make Sarra giggle and murmur, "Cute~" 'I have people I can always ask about things, and they'll listen.' "Ah...I do live my own life, but I cannot say I really have anyone I can just talk to. I talk on the radio, but talking there is not talking with a friend or confidant. As for experience and growth...I have been working on that. I have had more true experience in the last several months than perhaps in the last several years. I...did not fully appreciate...and perhaps still do not fully appreciate...the gravity of the situations on other worlds. Ru Li said he lost a limb in his first encounter in the Multiverse. I had not even gotten close to something like that until Ceri very nearly dismembered me in our duel. It is...not a prospect I like to think about, even with the Multiverse's many healing methods that would ensure I could regain my natural hand if I had lost it."
Dimokratia	'So...all those from your world are your family?' This one's easy. Emmy's brightness remains. "Something like that. I have relatives in my family, not just sisters and brothers, but I haven't met them." Metal Velocity looks up and off, away from all and the table to gaze distantly at the ceiling. "I'd like to, I think. Meet them. But I also think-" Emmy's optic dots fall to Sarracenia, and her whiskers wobble once. "I can learn more here still." '...I could regain my natural hand if I had lost it.' Emmy spends a while with that question. It's not quite a question, but, a challenge. A thought exercise. Something that the Silver-spawned warrior-hamster does not align with, thinks something about. Emmy lifts her new right hand, touches her new face, and the turn-down of her digital eyes and dip of snouted chin highlights the eared diamond on her forehead. "Are you... scared? Of your purity being hurt? Of... it not coming back?" Emmy has to sit with that, further, just after describing it. Eventually, hand coming down, Metal Velocity seems to find its solution. "I'm more than I was before, even though it hurt. And you change your shape to better adapt to yourself, with your mushrooms and leaves and boots and blocks, and you're Sarra no matter what you look like." Another laugh, this one lingeringly happy. "If you were hurt, when you healed, that'd be Sarra's arm. When you change your shape, that's also you, and the way you float comes out from you." Of course Emmy would reference the Tanuki costume. There's a particular resonance. "But," The hamsteroid had caught the held-breath pause at their prior 'but' and lingers again, this time somber again. Knowing, eyes lined-closed. "It's okay to be anxious about it hurting. Pain is difficult. But you learn from it, and the crucible makes you purer."