2022-02-20: Intersection - -Empty Set- and -Repetend-
- Log: 2022-02-20: Intersection - -Empty Set- and -Repetend-
- Cast: C.C., Kaworu Nagisa
- Where: Tokyo-3: Geofront
- OOC - IC Date: 0096-02-20
- Summary: Atop the pyramid at the heart of Tokyo-3, two infinities reconnect, for a brief moment.
<Pose Tracker> C.C. has posed.
The sensation of being high above the ground is often met with vigorous winds, the flow of the air un-burdened by the earth and left to whirl and blow as it may. But here, in the vast enclosure of the Geofront, there is no wind, nothing more than a gentle and consistent breeze. There's no future for the air to blow towards, so it stays still and silent, mismatched with its surroundings.
At least, that's the kind of poetic pondering ambiently swirling through C.C.'s thoughts as she seats herself a little bit moodily atop the pyramid that crowns NERV's headquarters.
This is absolutely not a place she is supposed to be. (How did she even get up here to begin with...? She actually rapelled down from above at slightly irresponsible speeds and would've hurt herself on the landing, were it not for, well.) Those within the halls down below have every reason to pursue and capture her. Indeed, this is where she was being transported on that fateful day. They would pursue her at all costs - and potentially the key people who would do so are already aware of her presence - but she's able to 'reduce' it, make herself silent to some of the more esoteric radars. NERV is meant to monitor for Angels, after all, and despite everything...
"So you've at last assembled all your pieces, Ikari. That pitiable crying child is now right back 'home'...and all that was foretold is coming to a head..."
"Heh. I suppose it was silly of me to refuse. After all, the whole idea is that it wouldn't exactly matter what I thought, after all. And at this point...do you -really- need me?"
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Perhaps it's a cradle. Perhaps it's a tomb. Perhaps it's both, linking one to the other to the next endlessly through infinite versions of itself. Who's to say?
Kaworu might, but that's not really what's important. What's important is C.C. herself. As he walks through the Geofront, hands tucked into his pockets, on the way to the Evangelion cages, he stops. He turns his gaze upwards, out of HQ facilities. And he smiles.
---
"Arguably, Commander Ikari has no need for anyone but Yui-san," Kaworu remarks. If C.C. turns towards the sound of his voice, she'll see him strolling up one of the pyramid edges as if it's no effort to him. The Geofront is big, and so are the targets NERV is constantly on guard for. For the moment, no one will pay attention to two human-sized individuals, no matter how inappropriate their location is.
"But it doesn't really matter who he does or doesn't need. The scenario may be coming to a head, but there is time yet before it completely unfurls," Kaworu adds, slipping around elegantly to take a seat neat to her, one leg tucked underneath himself while the other dangles along the pyramid's surface. It doesn't look like he should be able to keep his balance, but somehow, he does.
"It's nice to see you again, by the way. I wasn't confident we would again this time around." He half-turns to smile at her. "Although I don't think you're here for me, is there anything I can do for you?"
<Pose Tracker> C.C. has posed.
The moment Kaworu stops, and gazes upwards - C.C. widens her eyes, and looks downwards. Ah, of course. That presence is here too. The -Repetend-. She doesn't need to turn her head to know who's bringing her company - her golden hued gaze stays fixed on the brilliant lake reflecting the Geofront's upper structures - that city that dangles from the sky...
"I wonder how much I envy Yui. Yet once more, a lynchpin of destiny shines in front of me, then is gone beofre I know it. She saw so clearly the shape she intended to fill, and molded the world to receive it. What's even more unfair is that despite everything, she's seemed rather pleased with it all."
The witch dangles her legs against the upper-most beam of the pyramid, a few little clanks and clunks echoing where her boots hit the metal. She's still somewhat avoiding looking directly at Kaworu, in a way that's definitely intentional by now, her neck craning juuuuust slightly enough to make sure he's not right in view. "I wonder how many I've met that remarked such. 'This time around'. It stings just a little for me. Then again, maybe the way I'm always there to hear it stings for them too. I've heard it plenty of times. We find ourselves wishing we were each other. I could ensure the chosen path happens properly. They could get to finally meet new people amidst the endless numbers of the same. Maybe if we did exchange natures, we'd find ourselves having the exact same regrets."
With a pouty little sigh, C.C. finally steels the nerve to glance over her shoulder, green locks whirling around her. Despite all she's said - a little smile quirks at her lips. "You can probably tell me a little better than I can whether I'm here for you or not. I can only imagine I arrive at this very peak rather often, to your perspective. Or do our roads wind up diverging much wider than they would if I were just like any other person?"
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
"She's truly a unique example of the Lilim," Kaworu agrees, gazing up at the ceiling of the Geofront, through which light still filters in. "As you say, no matter how many times I go around, she always seems satisfied with her fate. Perhaps she has that much faith in her husband. Perhaps she has that much love for her son. Perhaps it's something else entirely. We haven't had many opportunities to speak. I don't believe she'd be bothered by your envy, but perhaps that's meaningless to you."
It stings, C.C. admits, and Kaworu breathes a faint laugh. "Sorry, sorry," he says mildly. "If it reassures you any, I don't mind that you're here to hear it. You're not as common a fixture here as you might think."
Which might be answer enough for C.C.'s half-smiling question. Kaworu smiles back at her, unperturbed. He always was difficult--though not impossible--to rattle. In this case, when their eyes meet, he gives her question due consideration. It's not often he's asked something like this; precious few people are aware of his nature.
"They do diverge quite widely," he replies at last. His smile widens, and he adds, "It's not often I have the opportunity to call you Mother. That much, I'm not sure Yui-san would appreciate."
...Is that a joke? It's hard to tell. Kaworu's sense of humor is opaque at best.
<Pose Tracker> C.C. has posed.
"Hmmm. A terribly earnest apology. I suppose it makes enough sense. For most, things needling the heart are troublesome." The tilt of C.C.'s head gets just a little more dramatic, like some sort of owl or overly flexible cat, head tipped and staring a little more directly into Kaworu's eyes. "Well, I suppose in my case, the sense that it's -something to feel- is a bigger one. In my position, it's understandable to take risks like this, isn't it? Otherwise, I'd risk becoming a terribly overwrought statue."
The way Kaworu phrases the idea that C.C.'s his 'mother' does belt out a little laugh from her.
"Kehe. I can see how you'd feel that way about our connection. But a 'mother' is more than just someone responsible for your existence. To me, just bringing someone into this world isn't enough to become a specific person to one another."
"A mother is a guiding figure, and in that respect, neither of us have ever really had one of those, have we?"
Her posture loosens slightly, back bending just a little bit more forward, returning to the tranquility of the Geofront's lake. "Besides...you've probably heard this a lot, but I'll say it 'this time' all the same. I wouldn't be able to easily live down being a 'mother' to someone where it feels...more like my 'fault' that they're in this mess. Our circumstances are opposite to the world, but they're similar to one another, aren't they? We can never know our endpoint, only hope that one day we attain one with meaning. X and Y, colliding together in this one moment of our infinities..."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
"True," Kaworu agrees of that which needles the heart. "You would be a masterfully sculpted statue, at least. Though I wonder how much of a risk you're truly willing to take? If you truly wanted to place yourself in danger, you would have appeared in a far more obvious spot. I wonder what it is about the desire to feel a thrill while remaining safe...?"
As C.C. laughs off the idea that she would be his or anybody's mother, his smile turns rueful. However, it doesn't fade. It, and his next words, make it clear he's long since accepted this: "I know. I'm not here because I was loved."
A mother is a guiding figure. Kaworu considers the shafts of light above as C.C. considers the tranquil lake below. Before he can decide on how to respond, she continues, and so he listens. "Very true," he says softly once she's done. Which part he means, he doesn't specify. "As much as each of us have seen, as well as each of us can predict, the 'hope' that burns in the breasts of the Lilim always has the chance to illuminate a new, hitherto unseen path. In these circumstances, far more than usual. It's how, despite everything, I can keep going on. For you... I wonder what 'hope' keeps your heart lit now?"
He falls silent for a moment. Whether a cradle or a tomb, there's something calming about the stillness of the Geofront. It won't last--life still beats at its heart, and a variety of it--but for now, he can relax.
<Pose Tracker> C.C. has posed.
"Oh, I suppose the answer to the danger factor is simple enough," C.C. muses, as the lighting settings in the Geofront slowly transition from a simulated afternoon to a simulated sunset - though it's always been a terribly orange sunset, in an oh so obnoxiously oppressive way. It's beautiful once, but it's also a little nauseating and oppressive to exist in. The witch suspects it's intentional. "It's the view. I absolutely could put myself in much more perilous places, but they're terribly ugly. There's many out there who find destruction and chaos beautiful, and at one point, I empathized with them, but by now I've seen more than my fair share of it for that momentary thrill to have turned into ennui."
Again, another dark little chuckle escapes her lips, eyes narrowing, mouth pressed firmly together. "It's curious to try answering things from the heart from someone who's surely asked these questions countless times. Or have you? I can only wonder if this is the first time, and the burden of epochs simply means there's so many more questions to ask me. It should be obvious. It's never been about hope. No, I'm afraid..."
With an acrobatic, nimble type of movement, C.C. hops up from her seated posture atop the spire, making an oh so flexible and catty sort of stretch, one lengthy leg arcing upward, balancing on a thin point.
"It's that the easiest way out is for me to be stubborn, and so I may as well be. The one selfish thing I know how to want anymore, after so many times of trying to change the world. Maybe I still believed in doing it the other times we met, or maybe I've always given up easily."
Her leg catches on something. A silvery little rope dangling from high above has descended, and her skyward foot catches on it - somehow allowing enough leverage to flip herself upwards and onto the rappel. "I'd say hope is far more pertinent to you than I, in somehow escaping our prisons. After all, how many like you have I met? How can I know that this time we meet will mean anything for your fate? The world keeps going past those like you, so if there's some destiny you're forced to fulfill...well..."
"I've been kept away from ever seeing it 'this time'."
Slowly she rises upwards, hair whipping and flowing like she's ascending into the heavens...
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Orange... NERV always has had a close relationship to orange.
"Oh, is that so?" Kaworu wonders, tone once again mild. "I don't disagree with you, though. There is beauty to be found in the ugliness of this world, certainly, but destruction is both trite and easy. If I have a choice in the matter, I'd rather behold something aesthetically pleasing."
C.C. comments on how strange it is to ask these questions. "Didn't you say so yourself? X and Y cross for but a moment," he points out, as if that should explain everything. It's not *exactly* what she said, but... it's close enough. Even so, he half-turns, looking up at her as she balances on the tip of the pyramid. For her, it's not about 'hope,' simply about 'stubbornness.' Kaworu tends to take others' claims at face value, but--
"I find that hard to believe, that it's *never* been about hope," he remarks. "But I can easily believe that you're being stubborn, too." Then again, maybe *he's* the one who wants to believe in hope, as C.C. points out. He falls silent at that, smile waning at last.
"...Perhaps you're right, C.C.," he murmurs as she rises, above and far away from him. "Either way, I know I'm of no further concern to you."
He rises to his feet, tucking his hands back in his pockets. There's no bitterness or accusation in those last words; it's simply a fact--or at least, he believes it to be a fact--and is delivered as such. For a moment, he watches her go, rising up a silver thread as if out of Hell. Then he turns and makes his way back down. Though it's a sheer surface, he never once loses his footing.