Scene #8562: Quaver Rest

Owner	Pose
Dysnomia	"I've been thinking of ways to make it a little more accessible." Dysnomia had said to Hibiki, of her home, a statement made more and more incredulous with every necessary step it took to reach it. Step one; ascend into space. An ask that Hibiki's Symphogear, thankfully, made a less insane ask that it might otherwise be. The second step, to sail through space to a nearby moon. Dysnomia led the way on silent wings, leaving a violet trail behind her as she soared over great moondust seas. On the dark side of the moon, untouched by the sun, all untouched and veiled in black, except what was illuminated by the thrust of Mia's own wings. Down, down, they went, through ancient volcanic rock, last stirred to life when the solar system was young, and the planets were still learning their places in the sun's orbit admidst tumult and cataclysm, testing each other's gravity, consuming one another, enslaving the meek and cowed into orbits of their own. They soared through a lava tube large enough to house a city...No...A civilization. But there was no such civilization here, no sign of life at all except the bioluminescent glow of the dragon and the light of Hibiki's thrusters. Nevertheless, Mia found what she was looking for--a spot in the cliff, easily overlooked, carved inward into a small, glassy cavern. Her body folded back into its human shape as she landed, the world trembling at her touch. She strode across the glassy floor with ease, small floodlights fluttering alive around them, casting the hovel in harsh yellow shadows. A jury-rigged warpgate stood in the center of the cavern, on a small catwalk bolted to the floor, beside a pedestal. "It only activates if triggered on both ends." Sound could not travel in a vacuum, but luckily, Dysnomia didn't need sound. "Unless they're both running, this is just expensive scrap. You can't find a code or override to force it to work. You can't manually override it. You can't spoof it. It'd be easier to just find the Lindorm the old fashioned way." A pause. "Which wouldn't be too hard. But it'd take a while. Long enough to give you a chance to rest, maybe. As long as I know to expect you." She stepped to the pedestal and placed her hand upon it. It glowed with light, purring under her fingers as the warpgate purred to life, a liquid shimmer distorting the air, becoming a window to another place. With warm orange overhead lights and walls covered with various alien mementos. If she was to step through, the first things Hibiki would notice would be the pressure of an atmosphere, and the comfortable weight of artificial gravity. The next might be the scattering of sofas and chairs about the lounge.
Hibiki Tachibana	'Insane' tends to be synonymous to 'possible' to Hibiki in the first place, to varying degrees, but even she has to admit this is even more ridiculous than she had imagined. Getting to space? That's fine. A little difficult on her own, but with Dysnomia's help, perfectly doable. Sailing through the dark void? Keeping up with someone who flies between the stars as casually as one breathes is also rather hard, so she makes sure to keep a one-handed hold on the side of that far larger, inhuman body so that she's not at risk of falling behind and being lost. Her Symphogear might have thrusters, but long and extended flight isn't really what it specializes in. So it's almost a relief when they're out of the pitch black darkness and deep underground instead, where solid grounding exists--only almost, as silent awe of the sheer scale of the lava-forged tunnel they're traveling through wins out just a little more. On and on, until they finally touch down. Hibiki had mentioned before, regarding the Lindorm, that she still couldn't help but worry about putting it - and Dysnomia - in any danger of being discovered where they hide, or worse. If her opinion on that has changed, she doesn't speak it out loud, silently taking in the explanation and reassurance as the gate alights open. Though that might just be because words, in her mind or otherwise, can't come very easily right now. In the lighting bearing down from overhead, the exhaustion in her eyes can't easily be masked. Whatever sleep she's been getting recently must not be amazing, and it's more than just physical tiredness at that. Slow and steady steps, while favoring her left arm, have her quietly glancing from various keepsakes to the array of furniture. And, in a brief burst of golden light, Hibiki's Symphogear disappears from around her as she practically collapses down onto a sofa - back in her casualwear, with just her usual large jacket not doing much to hide the bandaged cuts and scrapes on her cheek and legs. The cushioning is sunk into like a rock into water, and she avoids burying her face in it enough for one half-lidded eye to still watch Dysnomia, and the rest of the room. "All of that was 'more accessible' to you...?" Even as out of it as she is, the disbelief still makes it into her voice.
Dysnomia	Dysnomia followed Hibiki through the warpgate, then tapped upon a pad on the other side. It dimmed and diluted, behind her. "Absolutely." She said. If she noticed the disbelief in Hibiki's tone, it flew well over her head. "This shortens the travel distance by at least 10 light hours. The further you get out into space, the greater the distance between anything is." And if you do get caught by them later, you won't have any idea where this is. "And anyway. You can't be too careful. Never know who might be following." She was accostomed to thinking this way, wasn't she? "There's the airlock, not much to see through there but space...You've seen the chairs..." Much contrast to the grand, elaborate entrance and near-ritual warpgate, the room itself was small. Cozy, even The walls were the same color of oak, and the tile below mix of proud with specks of purple. A small kitchen had been installed in the corner of the room, complete with countertops and stairs. They seemed new additions. As did the door she pointed to next. "And there's a spare bedroom. It has three rooms to itself." She paused, to give this display of bottomless luxury the incredible gravitas it deserved. "A bedroom, a bathroom and a sitting room. "Everything that used to be here was rotten or broken, so I found..." ...Stole, or salvaged... "...Whatever I could get. Should be nice enough." And it DID look somewhat haphazard, many different styles, though tending toward dark. It matched, in its own odd way, the eclectic style of the rest of the lindorm. It seemed less like the lair of a reclusive dragon, and more like the sort of hideout that a child might daydream of putting in a treehouse.
Hibiki Tachibana	"...Can't be too careful. Yeah. That's fair." There's still a line somewhere before it gets a little ridiculous, though. Dysnomia's thoughts on this sort of thing are pretty hard to miss. Hibiki's one visible eye shifts, gradually pouring over the details of the room. It's...unexpected, compared to whatever her mental image of the place might've been on the way here. The color of the walls give it an oddly earthy atmosphere to her. The installed kitchen adds to the feeling of a small, comfortable space. Despite the mixture of styles, everything was obviously done with intent. She might not be able to see the other rooms from this position splayed out facedown on a couch, but she can only assume they're as renovated as this one. And Dysnomia pretty much confirms such. "It's..." She takes a moment to find her words, shuffling just enough that she's not muffling them inaudibly into a couch cushion. "...really nice. Comfortable. Warm...and done with your own hands. I like it." Which is justification enough to not want to risk ruining it, in her mind. "But I can't really picture you spending a lot of time just sitting here and relaxing, for some reason..." Hibiki lets that linger in the air for a second, then lets her weight fully ease back down into the sofa. Again, it seems to take her some time to find what she wants to say, if anything. "...I shouldn't stay for a long time, either. But maybe...just a little bit..." Enough tiredness seeps into her tone that it'd be easy to think she might fall asleep on the spot after saying that. But her focus remains somewhere on the floor on the far side of the room. "...You didn't have to go out of your way for me like this."
Dysnomia	"Shut up." Mia said, tonelessly. "I was already making this shit You think I did this in a couple days? I've spent months on it. Something to work at, when I'm bored." She hid her lies behind technical truths. "You're right about one thing. I don't lay around here." There was still some dust on the arm of the sofa. "Little small, for me." She hesitated, for a moment, before allowing her hands to form claws, scales to climb up the side of her neck, as she sat herself into a chair across from Hibiki. "I've got my own place, for that." Then what was THIS for? She didn't wait around for the question to be asked. "You look like you got caught on the wrong side of an airlock." She hit Hibiki with, bluntly. "This should be safe for a little while, at least. Spend a day or so resting, before you go out there again." She looked Hibiki over again. It was hard to miss just how ragged Hibiki was. How shattered her usual energy. "Some of the paladins find you?"
Hibiki Tachibana	If Hibiki minds a slight bit of dust, she doesn't show it. Probably too exhausted to care enough to express it--or maybe it legitimately just doesn't bother her. The attempt at downplaying things similarly seems to be brushed off, and she only closes her eyes briefly as Dysnomia takes a seat. The obvious question she likely would've asked sure was cut off. The magical girl keeps her curiosity in mind for later anyway. "No. ...I found Nephra. It was...pretty messy..." It was. In more ways than one. Although after a moment of tense silence, she continues a little more quietly. "Do I look that bad...? I guess I haven't been sleeping great, either. I'm not good at doing that anywhere but home." She leaves out all the other things that might've contributed over time, like trips to Lobotomy Corporation or trying to stop planetoids plummeting from low orbit. Because they don't matter as much as that, to her. "...I got some sincerity out of Remee. I did something to Nephra she can't just pull away from and laugh off. Next up, I need to...destroy that damn robot, or at least try to. As long as it's around..." A flare of muted anger raises her voice before Hibiki trails off, just to half-open her eyes again. Even with Dysnomia sitting in front of her, her actual focus still seems to be somewhere past her. "...And there's so much I still have to try to do after that. I dunno how I'm gonna even start with half of it, and I probably won't even get far enough to. I'm waiting for the Paladins," Lilian. "To get it over with already." "Maybe I'm just not important enough for them to rush it."
Dysnomia	"It's not so much 'look.'" Mia said, matter-of-fact. "You're oozing hurt, so thick I don't have to dig. Like someone who saw their pet get shot." "I don't know why you care about them so much." She said, bluntly. "You hate what they did. If they knew you at all, they'd know it goes against everything you stand for, wouldn't they? And they made you part of all that anyway." "Especially Nephra." Dysnomia leaned forward. "Remee started thinking nonlethal, with the darts and all that. Everyone knew the plan was to avoid killing anyone. And Nephra tries to pull down the whole hanger on EVERYONE. What was it she said? 'Think they wouldn't shoot to kill?'" "That I almost get. But...You said they weren't even armed?" She raised her hand, her suit humming, a glass shuffing from a counter and over a faucet as it turned, filling with clear water. "And she was practically crying over it in the link, after it was done, like she wasn't the reason it ever happened in the first place?" "Someone who won't look at you." The glass flew from the facuet into Mia's hand, which she held outsretched to Hibiki.. A few slices of bread flew out from the cabinet, slipping into the toaster. "Who just sees you for what you can do TO them or FOR them. Who doesn't try or want to understand..." "Why try so hard to reach someone like that?"
Hibiki Tachibana	While Hibiki doesn't respond verbally to the nature of her hurt, the way her one visible eye shifts further off to the side of the room says all it needs to. She doesn't answer after that either, remaining silent all the way up until the sounds of running water and the thrum of a toaster fill the background. When the drink is offered, she finally looks back to Dysnomia--holding the stare for a second before shifting her attention to what she's offering. With a quiet groan, the magical girl moves herself just enough to sit up and take the glass. "...No. They weren't armed. They were just trying to stop us however they could. Defense systems...calling for backup..." She trails off. "I guess...you said part of why yourself." Her throat is a lot more dry than she thought it was. She hasn't eaten anything since fighting Nephra, come to think of it. The appetite just wasn't there at all. The rim of the cup comes to Hibiki's mouth, and she takes a small sip before continuing. Her voice is a little less husky afterwards, even if her expression isn't any less mortally exhausted. "'And she was practically crying over it'. ...That's why. Because underneath all the screwing around, there's more to it. And with Remee. She was making excuses and justifications, ignoring how she really felt." Her eyes fall down to the surface of the water in the glass, just barely rippling with every slight tremble of her hand. "...They didn't make me a part of it. I made myself a part of it, even when I shouldn't have. When I should have stopped it. It was like that with Petra, too." "If someone is hurting, I want to help them. It doesn't matter if it's because of someone else, or if they're doing it to themselves--or even if they can't be helped. I want to believe they can do better. Be better." The words ring hollowly, in her current quiet and lethargic tone. "...Something has to be wrong with me, right? Thinking like that has caused so much trouble. And I'm not even good at doing it. I should have learned better a dozen times over. All the times I did the wrong thing, or forgot to fight for my own 'justice'." "...But even right now, doing what I'm doing, I'm still like this. So of course it has to be a problem with me."
Dysnomia	"You're kind, Hibiki. Maybe too kind." Dysnomia shifted, looming for a moment. "You're not wrong." Then, her eyes slid away, an exhale turned into a sigh. "You keep trying to have both." "Lance, maybe he didn't want to kill them, but he wanted to take people's LIVES from them. You said you'd take responsibility, but I think what you really meant was, 'I'll stand in his way. I'll be strong enough that I'm the only person who has to get hurt.' You'd just try to talk him down, even if he tried again. Why? Because you can't give up on saving him?" "Sometimes." Her voice was very quiet. "You have to decide. If you can keep going, and keep hurting other people. Or it can get worse." There was a CLUNK noise, and browned toast, (a little TOO browned) slipped from the toaster and onto a place, hovering out to Hibiki. "But you've seen, right? Not making a choice is another choice too. And people won't forget they saw you standing back, watching." "...Well, if you showed Nephra just how wrong she was, I guess I can't complain THAT much." Mia grumbled, planting her cheek on her palm. "Even monsters can get hurt. I'd know. The people who were hurt see you turning to the people who hurt THEM instead. What are they supposed to think...?"
Hibiki Tachibana	In the interim time of Dysnomia speaking, Hibiki takes another, longer sip of water. It's not as if she's been bumming it on the streets or anything like that. Money isn't especially a concern for her, and the only thing barring her from going anywhere she likes is...herself. But she's certainly been neglecting the basic needs of thirst and hunger more than she should, the last two days. She only realizes how much now, and by the pangs in her stomach as the too-toasted toast is offered her way. She extends her hand halfway, hesitates, then slowly takes the plate. "Lance..." It comes down to rest in her lap, her eyes looking over the piece of bread visibly cools down. "...Yeah. Maybe that is how it would go. 'I'll be strong enough to...'" She begins repeating, just to trail off into an inaudible murmur. Not making a choice is another choice. She's seen that. More times than she'd have liked to. Too many times. A hand falls down to pick up the toast, and she bites out a fourth of it at once. It might be the most energetic motion she's made all day, and it helps hide the way she still hasn't taken her eyes off her own lap, a slight contorting like a wince on her face. The people who were hurt see you turning to the people who hurt THEM instead. "...That really is how it all got to this point, huh..." Hibiki whispers to herself, before a second bite leaves only half the toast remaining. She at least speaks normally after she's done chewing, albeit without much of a change in tone. "I already know I can't keep doing things like I have been. ...It only works if I'm strong enough to shoulder everything by myself." It's difficult to tell if that speaks towards a desire to obtain that strength, or to change her approach. It could be either, or it could be both. Even a read of her thoughts wouldn't find her settling on what, but her voice drops lower still. "The only thing I know for sure...is that I'm tired of being the reason people get hurt, whether it's from what I do or don't do. That's probably impossible...never hurting anyone, ever. So I can at least start learning when something deserves my fists first and my understanding later." Nephra might be a case of that, doing what she did regardless of her sympathies. "...And the people I did hurt...the least I can do is let them hurt me back."
Dysnomia	"I wouldn't have bothered trying to reach them at all." Dysnomia leaves out that she might have just killed them for it. Even her smile was sharp. "Let them hurt you?" Dysnomia trailed off, looking to the magical girl. "...You want to get hurt? To be pulled apart, or whatever other awful thing that Lilian and Petra cook up for you?" That left her speechless for a moment, studying the girl's face and mind. "I can't tell if you just care about them that much, or just hate yourself that much. Is that your plan? Let them take you? Do whatever they want to you?"
Hibiki Tachibana	No, Dysnomia probably wouldn't have. Despite the situation the two of them have found themselves in together, they certainly do have a lot of differences. Hibiki is at least aware of this. She also doesn't seem especially surprised at her reaction, taking her third bite of toast as her tired eyes finally drift back towards her. There aren't any mental defenses to stop her from being read. Hibiki's heart, as ever, for better or worse, is worn right on her sleeve. There's just a lot of mess to sort through even on the surface. "I'm not going to /let/ them take me. I'm going to fight them," she says, as if she doesn't already know that's not one she has even a bare chance of winning. Especially as she is right now. It doesn't really change Dysnomia's point though, and she seems to be aware of that too. "...I said there's probably something wrong with me, didn't I? I can't make myself do it. The little bits of...slow and steady and constant work to fix a relationship. I can't just stop caring either, even if I wanted to. ...There's too many messed up feelings for me to let it be that simple. From way before everything with the Kana. Maybe I really do hate myself that much." The last piece of toast goes down, and Hibiki closes her eyes - a little too tightly - while washing it down with another gulp of water. "...I don't know what else I can do to try and unscrew everything inside me. I don't know what else I can do to try and make it all up. If I'm the only person who has to be hurt," she echoes what Dysnomia had said before. "...Then I can handle it." She hopes.
Dysnomia	Dysnomia's claws twined together in front of her, eyes set on Hibiki. She didn't know what to make of this. Should she just let Hibiki suffer...? Something felt wrong about it, something she couldn't quite get a grip on. She felt so blind. It infuriated her. What did Dysnomia want to happen? What did HIBIKI want to happen? She breathed a harmless arc of plasma. Leaned forward. Eyes met hers. "For now, rest." She commanded. "Think about it. And if you can really get what you want, just by letting someone else hurt you." "I guess I won't stop you. Mia frowned. "But I don't know if it will really get you what you're looking for."
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki meets that burning stare back without flinching. As exhausted as she looks, darkened bags under her eyes and all, there's not just tired acceptance of her fate behind her pupils. There's a lot of that, but somewhere beneath it... There's a desperate, screwed-up kind of resolve. Someone set on doing something stupid, because it's the only choice they have. Or the only choice they think they have. And then it's gone, as she glances back down to the surface of the half-drunken cup of water. "...It might not. At this point, I don't even know if what I want is possible anymore." A slight shift has her moving back into a more comfortable position, setting aside the glass and the empty plate. "...Sorry, Mia." Shortened name. "For making you worry. I know I don't really make any sense most of the time. And this might as well just be the same as turning myself in, huh...?" That thought lingers for a long moment, before her weight eases back against the armrest, and her focus settles straight ahead, up onto the ceiling overhead. "...I'll think about it some more. I promise. Being able to rest here...is nice." Laying down a little more properly, her eyes begin drooping, bit by bit. All the fatigue is settling in now that the hunger pangs are satisfied a bit. "...If none of this ever happened..." And she's out like a light. It's probably the most unguarded she's let herself be in two weeks. That says something.