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| Owner | Pose |
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| Rita Ma | <r08m22??>: Now's a good time. Wow! That's a weird message to get from a probably-burner-phone! <r08m22??>: To come over if you're free, I mean. <r08m22??>: Oh, sorry. This is Rita. <r08m22??>: [Address] This girl has definitely never learned to text like a normal person. - - - - Stepping through Apple Tree Island's artificial warpgate might make one suspect that one's been rused or imprisoned. A dim room with rusty metal walls, slightly tilted like it's mid-collapse, is furnished with the bare minimum: a 'portable' warpgate apparatus bolted to the floor and the thick power cables feeding it. When the overhead light flickers, the only light comes from the slightly-ajar bulkhead door ahead. Walking out there is like stepping into a different world again. The bulkhead opens onto what might've once been the deck of an aircraft carrier, smothered with great tree roots and smooth white alien tentacles as thick as a leg. Straight ahead, a tree that must be at least 200 feet tall has erupted from what was once a deck-top garden dome. You'd never guess it was an apple tree if not for the fruit. They're just taking over from the blossoms now- don't worry; they're normal-sized! Grayish clouds hang overhead, but it's a beautiful day. The crashing of waves, the distant crying of seagulls, the rustle of the wind through deep branches... A hundred feet below, to the ship's right, a town sprawls across the "C"-shaped island it's beached on. The crescent's center is a small port for fishing-boats, and people-as-specks mill on packed-dirt roads between scrap-metal houses. On hillsides, white flowers flutter in the breeze. . . . How are you supposed to get down, anyway? Surely Audrey has ways, but still. From far below, in the ship's shade, the wind carries voices up. It's hard to make out the words, but one of them sounds familiar. Peeking over the ship's edge, one might spot Rita in an adorable little hard hat talking to a burly silver-haired man on the ground next to pallets of supplies. https://youtu.be/y-KJZtjfnDQ |
| Audrey Basque | What a totally normal message to get!! Audrey'd be deeply concerned if it wasn't signed, but is still deeply concerned regardless, because... PHONE: Petra Soroka texts | i don't think i'm ever fixing things with rita PHONE: Roland says, "Huh? No. Oh-- right, Outsider. You might not know about this. But Rita--she's classified as a 'Star of the City' by the Hana Association." Rita's been gassed up. Not just a bit, either; it's either terror, reverence, or both, and Audrey might have found her friendly on the radio, but she found her imposing at Trideag, given the tone, and... she might be a bit sleep deprived today on top of that. Heading on over, taking the time to change after class, Audrey's put on some tight blue jeans, ankle-high brown leather boots with a slight heel, and a black blouse, long-sleeved, high collared, no doubt intentionally. Her hair's drilled up proper, and she's got no sign of a handbag or anything of the sort. Arriving in the shady and rusty room, Audrey blinks, almost considering taking a step back into the gate, but bravely walking out to see... "O-Oh... wow..." Hearing this is where some agents were coming to retire, or for vacation, gave her this impression of a tropical island. This is definitely not that, but also kind of that. She eyes the massive tree, its roots-- tentacles? At least the apples seem normal. There's a town down below, and... ah... she spends a minute looking for stairs, or an elevator, or anything really, and then deflates a bit, squinting to look down at the town. "Well, alright then..." She thinks about just warping the area to make steps down, but then considers that might be rude? Did they isolate this spot on purpose? So... she just refracts, stepping through mirrored cracks to reappear on the shaded ground below, not right next to Rita, having learned a lesson about doing *that* from Petra, but rather far enough she'll have time to shout and wave hello like a normal person, which seems infinitely safer. It's probably notable to Rita that Audrey smells like blood. Her own blood, and it's some twelve hours fresh at most. Quite a bit, actually! Seeing the man she's talking to makes her politely wait before just barging into the conversation, though she does approach and wave! |
| Rita Ma | From behind, Rita looks to be dressed more colorfully than her City norm: a peach windbreaker goes with a cinnamon skirt, complementing a white shirt whose sleeves just poke out past the jacket's cuffs, and black leggings. (Is this island at a high latitude? It feels pretty cool for 'summer'...) A colorful, shoestring-thin ribbon is tied back in her hair just under that slightly-silly hard hat, swaying it towards 'cute' over 'pretty'. The guy she's talking to- flat cut, tank top- has an old rough face and a young tough body. He might either be a worry-creased forty-year-old or in great shape for seventy. "... and check the filters by the port condenser, too." "Okay, Boss Huorong!" "Now don't change them yourself, if..." "I know, Boss! Don't worry." "Right. Now I'll be.... huh? Rita? Rita, you alright?" Rita's whipped around to stare at Audrey with huge wide eyes, like she's just made a loud noise only Rita could hear. But it's seconds after Audrey warped down- she can't have a sense for magic, then... "Rita...?" 'Boss Huorong' nudges again. "... Oh! Um, right. I'm fine! Don't change the filters on my own." "Hmph. Alright. Is that one of your new friends?" "Not yet, but maybe." "Well, so long as she doesn't make trouble." With that, Rita trots up to meet Audrey halfway with a heavy-looking bundle of industrial pipes under one arm. "I'm glad you could make it, Audrey," she says, pupils only slightly blown and nose only slightly wrinkled. (Keep it together, Rita.) "Here. You can warp around, right?" She casually palms three pipe segmnts off on Audrey that, together, must weigh about forty pounds. Oh no. They're putting this rich girl to work. |
| Audrey Basque | It's okay. Everyone dresses more colorfully outside the City. That place just does that to you! Really, Audrey's normally colorful too... and then her Library uniform is all black, grey and white. Sure, it makes her weird, starry, golden-blue eyes stand out better, and she doesn't hate it, but that's just the City vibe. Being stared at is uncomfortable either way! When Rita frees up from her filter tutorial to approach, Audrey hesitantly asks, upfront, "S-Sorry, did I... startle, or do something wrong, I guess-- some worlds have different rules on magic, so..." No, wait, now she's being asked to-- "EEEP!" Audrey is practically floored when she's handed the heavy pipe segments. She might not be tiny but she's got the consistency of noodles, and it'll be months before working out every morning starts showing real results, no matter how much Petra insists. She has the reflex to trace something with her finger, along the metal, in a hurry; suddenly it looks weightless, and Audrey lets out a sigh of relief as she straightens herself up without anything broken or dropped. "You made it look so light... y-yeah, I can do that. Where do you need to take these?" She eyes Rita, wondering how strong she is. Rich girl or not, though, her desire to not make waves is too strong to just say no to work being dumped into her lap like this. "It's ah... nice to meet you, in better circumstances. This place is really nice. I understand why Shajo wanted to come here." |
| Rita Ma | "Huh? It's only ten kilos," Rita says, re-examining Audrey with concern like an anemia patient. Boss Huorong laughs not-unkindly in the background, arms crossed. It's definitely more like twenty kilos. Rita's got about another eighty pounds' worth of pipes tucked under one arm. That's not superhuman, though, and she does have to lean to account for its center of mass. The mention of magic leaves her smilingly confused- "Magic's not real here. Unless it looks scary, don't worry."- since she doesn't seem to have seen that teleport, but the pipes-lightening gets a silent 'ooooh' from her. "Here. Take this too," Huorong says, gently tossing a haircut-ruining hard hat to Audrey, like the one Rita's got on. "I know you probably don't need it, but set a good example for everybody, alright?" (He isn't wearing one himself. Hypocrite.) Rita smiles apologetically. "... How come you're zoning out, Rita?" "Huh? Oh! I..." "If you're having a bad day, you can break for dinner early, y'know." "No, no, I feel fine!! I'll finish this bit at least, Boss." "Hmph. Your new friend didn't shower or something?" Huorong says, turning back to inventorying a pallet. What's that mean? "Nnn- I said don't worry about it!" Now Rita looks aghast on Audrey's behalf. "Where do you need to take these?" "Up over the deck, and down on the far side. I'll show you, Ms. Basque." With an implicit 'follow me', Rita crouches slightly, and-- One, two, three hops up the side off tiny footholds, and Rita's vanishing up onto the ship's deck again. It's like skipping up a flight of stairs, if each step were thirty feet high. At the top (she's assuming Audrey can get there perfectly well), Rita's already heading towards a side corridor: "Oh, you know Mr. Shajo?" Somehow she sounds more guarded, knowing that. |
| Audrey Basque | "I-Is it?" Audrey awkwardky questions, wondering if she's getting weaker; ten kilos... well, that's still pretty heavy for her, if it's true! That definitely felt heavier though. She's able to catch the hard hat, now that the pipes can be handled with just one, and places it on without arguing. She'd not want anything to fall onto her head, even if it means she's got to scrunch her hair a bit. And then the shower comment. Audrey looks about as equally aghast as Rita does, realizing that, yeah, actually, after... things, and then working out, which no doubt reopened the injuries, she'd only had time to freshen up before class, not shower fully. Since Rita says not to worry, she tries not to either, but now it's stuck in her head!! How did he know? She looks fine! She's got a light whiff of strawberry perfume on, she smells fine!!! Shaking her head to focus, she follows after Rita, who says she'll show her... and then Rita leaps up, and up, and Audrey lets out a slightly tired sigh. No days are allowed to be normal anymore. She steps forward, disappearing and reappearing in a display of mirrored cracks that shine a dull pearlescent blue, refracting light and sights for a moment, taking the easy way up to where Rita ends up-- in multiple steps, if Rita ever gets out of sight! "Well... know is a strong word. I worked with him at the Library for a little bit. Not much! More like, I've met him and we talked once or twice. He seemed really nice, so I'm glad he was able to come somewhere like this. The City's awful. I don't think anyone should stay there if they have any choice or say in the matter." She considers her position as a Librarian common knowledge enough not to feel the need to hide it, least of all from someone who seems connected to the City and surely must already know. "But then, Miss Rook would say to an indoor cat like me, everywhere must feel awful. So maybe the City's secretly really nice and I haven't seen that part of it yet." |
| Rita Ma | Rita leads Audrey across the roots-and-tentacles-strewn deck- the tentacles never get much more than a foot and a half around, but some of the roots are nearly as tall as a person, so Rita hops them and then offers Audrey a hand up. From there it's down an improvised-rebar ladder welded to the ship's far side, back in through a door of suspicious provenance, down a patchwork-metal hallway or five that Rita seems to know like the back of her hand, and finally to a Pipe Room (you know; the room with all the big pipes; every ship has one). This place- the whole ship, really- looks like it was cannibalized from a dozen different junkyards over a hundred years. There's a hole through the room's center like someone pierced it vertically with something the size of a telephone pole, but only the vital components struck have since been replaced; the floor and ceiling are allowed to gape. "You work at the Library?" Rita says, warily listless. Uh-oh. "Ms. Angela and Petra are..." She struggles to find anything diplomatically productive to say, to someone who's obviously at least chill with them. "... they'll never put you ahead of themselves, as friends or allies. I'd be careful if I were you," she finally says, setting down her pipes with a clatter-thunk near some instrument panels and gesturing for Audrey to do the same. Squeak-squeak, and she turns a big wheel-valve to shut off the pipes they'll be working on. She shifts topics for a moment while unscrewing an industrial flange bolt by hand, and more practical matters bring a little of the life in her tone back, even if she doesn't turn around. "Most of these pipes are going to have corrosion or buildup. It's the water-cooling system for the reactor. We still need that for power to the warpgate and town. If you're good with a wrench, you can help me replace all the ones with a red mark-" someone's designated them with a paintbrush- "or, if you're not, just hand them to me as I go, okay?" It won't be a long job, but it is exactly the kind of thing you'd want to have company for. "... The City's like anywhere else, Ms. Basque. If you go to the same school Ms. Rook did, you're pretty 'well-off', right? So I'm not sure if you'd know, but... everywhere people live, they're trying to survive. Nobody makes them stay. If it's better for them to leave, they do. I'm not saying I'd rather live there than Apple Tree Island, but..." But. "There's good things and bad things everywhere," she finishes lamely, still bending over her work. |
| Audrey Basque | Audrey follows; not nervous, exactly, but somewhere between curious at seeing a ship's innards, however patched together they may be, and a bit restless, from being tired-- from being led around and helped up climbs-- from being around someone whom she mostly knows for... PHONE: Petra Soroka says, "No, I mean, it's cool if Gebura wakes up. Like, it's scary, but I'm honestly less scared of Gebura than of Rita." "Y-Yeah. I know, about Angela and Petra. They treat me well, but it's not like I haven't seen their bad sides." She puts her pipe sections down where instructed, restoring their weight as she does so to avoid possibly messing up the piping system by installing sections that behave differently, physically. "You... definitely do not want me handling that wrench," she admits, for reasons that are surely obvious. "But I can pass you things at least." She doesn't look like she'd be able to do this for hours, but she's trying. Like she can't handle doing otherwise. "And like... I mean... Angela's... cold, sometimes. A bit intense. I'd say scary, but I don't want to talk ill of my employer-- and friend. But for every one of those moments she's had a dozen helping me out some way or another. Petra's kind of the same." Kind of. There's a tone there, a weird one. Like she chose the wrong words, maybe, but confidently somehow. "Don't worry. I know about... well, not in great detail, but I understand there's tensions, for very good reasons. I wasn't present for what happened between all of you. So... I don't get to judge it." She passes a section of pipe to Rita, idly, between thoughts. "I'm "well-off" yes. I'm sure you're right, that even the City has its ups, not just downs. I still can't help but feel it isn't a nice place. There's a violence in the air, and the stars themselves drip blood. There are more bad fortunes and omens in the sky than good ones. Maybe that makes "trying to survive" even more worth it. I am..." She hesitates, awkward and a bit muted. "Not knowledgeable, in these matters, though. But unlike a certain princess, I am not about to take a hammer to the streets of the City and start bashing skulls in blindly. So there's that." Whimsical. |
| Rita Ma | They treat me well, but it's not like I haven't seen their bad sides. She rolls around the idea of commenting on Angela and Petra more while she works. But she doesn't; at least not yet, beyond a measured: "Well, if they're ever bad to you, please let me know." Rita sighs sweetly, more through her nose than her mouth, while unscrewing the last few bolts. Clunk; the pipe drops free, drizzling residual water with about two decades' worth of mineral buildup. "Here you go, Ms. Basque," she says, while taking the identical one off Audrey's hands. It won't take too long at this rate. Twenty minutes, maybe. Rita didn't invite her here just to slave away! "You're a sweet person, Ms. Basque. You're right," she says, lifting her face to make only-slightly-tired smiling eye contact again. "The City isn't a nice place to live. It can't keep going on like this. In the next ten years, I think it'll have to change. But... life keeps happening there. It keeps happening everywhere. It has to. Everywhere's 'normal' to the people living in it. I guess that's all I meant to say." Pause. Scrape, scrape. Squeak, squeak. Again, the wind rustles through the great apple tree outside. Even in a moment like this; even in a dim room like this; Apple Tree Island is a tiny bit magical. After unscrewing the next pipe, Rita takes off her helmet and windbreaker to cool off with a little wink of 'don't tell Huorong', then gets back to it. "You sound sort of embarrassed about not being more... 'worldly', Ms. Basque. Why's that? I mean... please don't take it the wrong way, but rich mages seem to usually think they're above everybody. Ms. Rook used to." |
| Audrey Basque | "I, ah... I will, yeah," Audrey nods, unsure if that's really a good idea. No, rather, she's sure it's a terrible idea, but if Rita's everything everyone says she is, she'd like to be on her good side. With old crusty water splashing down, Audrey gives a concerned look towards her boots and jeans, but resigns herself to this, too, being her life. At least it's not like... blood, or something. "Normal... I'd love to see what's "normal" for the City. Because whatever is going on right now can't possibly be it. The Head's to blame, as I understand it, but it's also surely more complicated than that." As Rita removes her helmet, Audrey smiles back, despite accumulating a bit of exhaustion already. It's not strictly that she's weak, truly, for real! Though she is. It's the lack of sleep on top of that. "Out of curiosity, why are you relying on this... erm... system? for power. Surely you could call in a favor from any number of people to modernize this a little bit?" Though, she has to admit... "The aesthetic is striking, mind you. I've never been in a ship's innards before. Decommissioned or otherwise." It could use some cleaning, but... She laughs, weakly, a bit half-hearted, about both being told she sounds embarrassed... and that Lilian thought herself above everybody else. She almost speaks her mind. Almost. "Suffice to say I've been humbled a few times already. I think I'm trying to prove that I can handle this life, but I can't do that if I don't broaden my horizons a bit. B-But, also... it's because I really am not worldly at all. And anytime I manage to conjure up some confidence again, someone makes sure to remind me it's misplaced." She leans backwards a bit, resting against one of the intact pipes, realizing a bit late that'll probably get rust or dirty water all over her clothes, but she needs a moment to tug at something bugging her under her shirt, which makes her wince. "I imagine it's clear as day why Miss Rook does not like me, though. And I suppose she is right not to." |
| Rita Ma | "Surely you could call in a favor from any number of people to modernize this a little bit?" Rita's eyebrows lift as if Audrey had just declared her maids do all her laundry, but she doesn't look scornful. She just shakes her head neutrally, while turning to screw on new bolts. "How many Apple Tree Islands do you think there are? And how many people would do that for free? Not everywhere can depend on favors from heroes. The people here can get by on their own, so they do. Besides, I don't like to trade hero-favors. Because..." Reaching back for another bolt, she looks up, and she's smiling sympathetically but her eyes are very serious. "Ms. Audrey. You're new to being an Elite, aren't you? This one's very important: please, never ever think of other Elites as 'your community'. They can be your friends. But if you ever become 'a hero who protects heroes', and not 'a hero who protects the people'... that's the start of a really bad kind of evil." "... Sorry. I'm not scolding you for a mistake. You're fine. Just, keep it in mind, okay?" She takes another pipe and thumps it into place for a tight fit. The pile of new ones shrinks as topics shift. It's meditative work. . . . "I think I get it. I wasn't confident at all either, when I started. I was used to being overshadowed all the time, so..." She stands back up, carelessly wiping her rust-stained hands on her pretty skirt, and taps her lips. "I don't get why Ms. Rook dislikes you at all, though. You're doing your best, aren't you?" She tightens the bolts, and that's the last one! Time flies. Rita stretches. "Alright! Thanks, Ms. Basque. Let's go back to the town, and we can have some seaweed soup, or..." Just then, Audrey stretches. A second later, Rita's eyes are drawn to a certain spot on Audrey's body. "Um," she says. Small gulp. "How'd you get hurt, anyways? Can I- is it okay if I heal you? Please." Wow, Rita! When'd your pupils get so dilated? |
| Audrey Basque | Audrey fixes her starry eyes on Rita, as she explains a few important life lessons. She understands, and yet doesn't, that conserving the island's... uniqueness? Feel? Independance? Is important. The 'rich girl' gene just says she should do whatever it takes to make the island better and better, without much regard for anything else. But it's the "heroes who protect heroes" line that makes her blink. Isn't that the Concord ethos, though? No, more importantly... isn't it the heroes that are most worth protecting? If you just let them fall, the people go anyway. Where would her Earth be without the Enlightened? "I'll keep it in mind. I think I understand a bit where you're coming from for the island though. I suppose it's important for people here that Apple Tree Island stay Apple Tree Island, and not..." An idle wobble of a hand. "I don't know. Another city amongst thousands. That seems important to you, so that's the only explanation I need." Confidence... If it were just that she were missing. "Miss Rook has high standards for Elites, I suppose, and I fall short of every single one of them. At first I thought she was trying to protect me and make me go home before I went and injured myself, but now I'm not so sure it's just that. She won't even acknowledge my tal--" She stops herself, sighing. "No, apologies. I shouldn't be... really, I wanted to make a better impression on you, not... whine incessantly about myself. I'll sort it out, sooner or later. I just have to keep trying my best, and if it's not my best, up my game." With the last pipe fixed, the idea of food... even seaweed soup, actually doesn't sound so bad at all! ... why's Rita staring like that? "Oh, I was involved in a fight. Well, a few fights. I... ah... I wouldn't... want to be a burden like that, I mean--" Okay but she's looking kind of... And it's Rita. Star of the City. Someone who makes *Petra* shake in her boots. "I... I mean, I guess... if it..." Why is she so torn up about it? Anyone else would say yes please to free healing. "It's just, a few cuts across my back. All this moving around just made them sore again, is all. I didn't have time to dress them up." |
| Rita Ma | Confined space. The airflow down here sucks. When was the last time she ate? Early lunch; half a raw fish? Rita's been brining in the scent for a while. That stretch-and-wince reopened something, a fresh perfuming of the air. It's so sweet. Rita's eyes are softly worried and her pupils are so blown Audrey can see her own face reflected in the black. Her lips are smiling, holding back hot drool. The room feels like it's swimming around her. She steps forward, steady. "Miss Basque . . ." 'd feel so good to just reach inside hHm. Why doesn't she want me to heal her?ip the back of her head and just take a bite like an apple, through skull throIs this Petra rubbing off on her?scle skin blood hair nails bones even the tendons suck them down like little worms aI should get out of here. Need fresh air.o warm cold cold cold inside barbed wire void in my ribcage need it to warm up she's sCome on, Rita. Don't zone out. She'll think you're a weirdo.l kill kill just crush her enough to shovel her down don't even chew just twist u Rita's hand grips Audrey's wrist. Did Audrey even see it move? "No, youu're nnot-" Swallows. "-a bother." Her hand glows from within like an incandescent lightbulb. (It isn't 'magic', somehow.) The glow washes into Audrey before it fades; tracing down her blood vessels, and it feels soothing as it goes. Aching muscles don't. Wounds close up, in-filled by a surge of cellular activity. Blood, more importantly- even in millidrop quantities- ceases to be shed. It still hangs in the air though. Rita smiles awkwardly, like a clammy angel. "Let's get going," she says. "Mao's restaurant closes soon." She has no idea whether or not that's true. But she doesn't let go of Audrey's wrist unless prompted, and leads briskly back out to the side-hatch by the welded rebar ladder, and breathes the fresh air a little too deeply. Better, she thinks. Looking back, after a moment: "... The point's to get to know each other. Not just to make a good impression, you know," she says, like a hypocrite. "I'm not disappointed in you, or anything. Even if you feel bad, that's... good to know, too." |
| Audrey Basque | It might be fear, briefly, in Audrey's eyes. The several instances of Petra insisting firmly that 'Rita almost killed her' but explaining no further than that. How? What can Rita do? Grab her wrist, apparently. When? Audrey's turning pale in those tense few seconds. If she was going to protect herself she had to do it before Rita grabbed her, now it won't work. Frozen in place, even as she's told she's not a bother. But nothing bad happens. The opposite, though it's also a bad thing from a certain perspective. Her back, covered in surface cuts, feeling better; burns and bruises fading away. Even that nick from the arrow, and the scratch from the javelin. It's both a relief, and a terrifying problem. Rita has no idea how right she is about Petra rubbing off. "Let's get going," It snaps her out of her terror so suddenly. "A-Ah?" She doesn't struggle. She couldn't even if she wanted to. Rita can keep her wrist, for now! It's a bit stiff, but it's not that she's resisting. "Not just to make a good impression, you know," "Oh... oh, you are... you're very correct, I am-- I am very... *I'm*," she insists, like she's trying to break a bad habit, "I'm. So very sorry. Audrey is fine, by the way. Thank you-- thanks, for the healing. That's... is it magic? You said it wasn't real, earlier," she tries, like changing the subject will make things any better any faster. "I can... I'll get us back down." Outside, fresh air. She looks down, to spot a safe spot back on the proper ground she can see. Free hand raised, half-trembling; why is it so hard now? This is easy, normally. Was-- was that line there before. The sky didn't change, right? Everything's the same! Calm down. Calm down. The air crackles in front of them, a portal of broken mirror shards and dull energy, the exit point visible down below. "We can just step through." |
| Rita Ma | Rita, of course, isn't an idiot. Even with the world still spinning a tiny bit and her gut still turning, she can tell that Audrey's terrified for... some reason. She saw me looking at her really weird, didn't she? That's probably it. Or something bad's going to happen because I healed her? Or Angela made her think I'd kill her...? "I'm... really sorry. Are you feeling okay, Ms. Audrey?" Nonspecific and smooth. Good job, Rita! The portal is really cool! "Oh! Thanks!" Under any other circumstance she'd be happy to take it. But... it looks a bit jagged and threatening. And portals can send you, like, anywhere, right? And Audrey is a friend of Angela. Isn't there a tiny chance it just kills her or something? So... Audrey goes through the portal, and Rita releases her wrist, and instead leaps down- a hundred foot drop- to land gracefully in a low crouch next to Audrey again. Crnch. "It's around this way," she says, leading by the gentle-rocky-volcanic shore around the beached ship's hull and back towards the edge of town. "They've got roast fish skewers, and ganjang-gejang- that's one of my favorites, but it's really salty- and hwareo-hoe..." Maybe she feels awkward rambling on too, with Audrey so out-of-sorts herself. The awkwardness is contagious. "Oh, and, um... it's only surplus 'bio-energy'." She makes her fingertip, pointed up, glow briefly. "I'm not sure there's a good name for it. But your body knows how to use it, if I put it in gently. It's not magic; I just get it from eating things." Boy that's going to be a little awkward if nobody's explained anything about Rita to Audrey. She maybe just assumes everyone's heard she's a weird predator. Surely there's no other reason Audrey would be primed to be stressed! "... You don't need to beat yourself up. Are you sure you're feeling okay?" |
| Audrey Basque | Is she feeling okay? God no! That was... What was that, even? Petra's held a blade to her neck, *literally*, and it wasn't half that terrifying. Rita's being so friendly, and welcoming, actually, and here's Audrey letting her reactions be dictated entirely by people telling her Rita's some kind of monster and worse than Gebura. She even *healed her*. That's the opposite of harm! "Yeah. Yeah, sorry, I'm... I didn't sleep at all, last night, and I had class this morning, and injuries and... it's all really new to me, you know?" She's not lying about that, at least. But she's wide awake now. Passing through the portal, only to hear Rita crunch next to her, makes Audrey stare. Oh no she's like Petra about jumping off tall places. Why can't she meet normal people who don't act like fall damage isn't real? "Roasted fish... that actually sounds really good right now," she manages, regaining both a normal tone and normal skin color as the situation stops being so intense. She can recover from this, she'll be okay. So much for making a good second... third? impression though. "Oh... you turn food into energy and you can share it? That's... kind of cool, actually." No, in fact, no one mentioned *what* Rita does to her! And focusing on this, makes it easier to get her mind back where it belongs. "I can't imagine how useful that must be. Though I bet it means you have to eat a ton if you use it a lot?" Ah... is she feeling okay, after all? "I'm okay, I promise! Thank you, Rita." |
| Rita Ma | "You're welcome, Audrey! But you should sleep," Rita urges, gently aghast. The village's edge is just up ahead, past a gentle hill where white flowers blow. The murmuring of people going about their day blends with the sound of the waves and breeze. "Um, my brother and sister have a spare bed... but I guess you probably don't want to stay." A self-conscious smile. As Rita looks back, hands in her pink windbreaker's pockets, the sea breeze blows her hair across her face. "Though I bet it means you have to eat a ton... Does Audrey... not know? Should Rita say it? She'll find out eventually. What if it breaks the spell, of them getting along not-terribly? "Mmmm. Something like that. I'm not really..." Rita starts. The wind picks up again, and she has to brush her hair away to keep her face clear. "... a human being. Anymore. And it's nice when that means I get to help people, you know?" . . . Is that going to make her think the way I looked at her is *more* or *less* creepy? She turns to go again. That scrap-metal building up ahead doesn't have a sign, but it must be Mao's restaurant- anyone can tell by the scent of delicious fish-and-smoke, or by the tables outside. "I'm sure that... Ms. Angela, and Petra, are going to say all sorts of things to make me sound scary. Maybe they already have. But..." There's no clear conclusion to that 'but'. Emerging onto a dirt road, passersby wave or greet Rita, and stare at Audrey for a moment but wave too. Rita rests her hand on the sheet-metal door of the restaurant, not opening it yet, and waits for a lull in the traffic to give them privacy. "... You're doing your best. You even got your hands dirty with me." The rust counts! "So I want to be kind to you. Please don't beat yourself up so much, okay? That's the only thing." Even though they're exactly the same age, Rita's getting to be older-sister-ly for once. |
| Audrey Basque | "I try, but I've got a lot going on," Audrey responds, once more not lying by some technicality of being vague enough to be telling the truth. "Just have to tough it out until the end of the year. Then I graduate and I'm free." Free to... Do something, surely. She still hasn't figured it out. "I really wouldn't want to be a bother though, but maybe sometime when I have less going on," she says, to the offer to staying the night. That's definitely too much, right now, but maybe she can get past this... vibe. Vibe that seems like it might be a bit unfounded? Not human. Maybe it is founded? "Well... there's people who would argue, in good and in bad faith, that us Enlightened aren't fully human the way humans use the term. And, like... Angela's an AI. Natsuki's a... youkai, I guess? The Magical Girl of Love is an Abnormality, Miss Rook's better half is a goddess... I think I might have actually gotten to know more non-humans than humans, out here, so far." Audrey remembers to take the hardhat off, though the wind doesn't bother her as much as Rita considering her hair is all drilled up. "As for that..." Audrey sighs, trying desperately to put what happened moments ago behind. She can't, not totally, and won't be able to, but she tries. "They haven't said anything specific. Just that you're scary, really. Which applies to them too, situationally, so... I'm not here for that, anyway. I wasn't involved with L Corp, or the war it brought about between all of you. It sounds like it was a really big thing, and that means it's not my place to meddle. If... you're being this welcoming to me, then I can chalk it up to... them seeing your bad side, in a bad situation." She tries to lift the mood just a bit. "You know, the first time I went to the Library, Angela ripped all four of a man's limbs off. I didn't like, *see it*, but I know it happened. She gave him back his limbs, later-- don't ask, I don't really get it either-- but sometimes I still think about how I wouldn't want to see her bad side like that, because it's really different from her usual. So..." She fidgets, even as passerbys greet her. She waves back awkwardly, a little unused to that kind of atmosphere. "So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm here despite them saying that. If you were *that* bad you'd have probably tried hurting me while we were up there. And you didn't! So..." So... so... Audrey's not very good at this, is she? "So, well, I'm hungry. Are you?" She looks down at her hands, and clothes, reminded of the rust and awful dirty water and the dust and... "Maybe we should go wash our hands first though." |