2022-05-08: Gambling the Treasury
- Log: 2022-05-08: Gambling the Treasury
- Cast: Emilia Eschonbach, Lelouch Lamperouge, Kallen Kozuki
- Where: Ashford Academy, Nagoya, Area 11
- OOC - IC Date: 7 May, 0096
- Summary: Emilia emerges from her sickbed to find a surprising poster. Lelouch and Kallen ensure a plan takes.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Today was the first time in more than a week that Emilia had left her room. She'd missed the morning classes on advice- she may not be contagious anymore but she was still a little weak. She'd had a light lunch, mostly to see if she could keep it down. So far that was a success too.
So her plan was to take a small walk in the gardens, find a quiet spot, maybe listen to the one Sheryl album she owned before going back to her room and doing some light homework. She'd dressed light for the warming weather- a pastel blue tee, a long pink skirt, discount white sneakers and a white hoodie.
This plan had hit a small snag.
Sitting on a bench in the garden, Emilia is staring at an a A4 glossy poster she's holding in her hands. It's a picture of her, from a club session. One of her early ones- Rosalie had an outfit she'd been dying for someone to try and Emilia fit it. An idol costume- frilly skirt, inbuillt corset, mostly white with a pink accent and white ribbon on the waist. It included a single stocking that had a gradient going down of black to pink, white block heels and white gloves. She was doing her best to look cute, and mostly succeeding - aided by the mild blush on her face.
There's also large text on it: Vote Emilia Eschonbach for Student Council Treasurer!
Emilia has no idea how or why this has happened, she has to assume someone is playing a prank on her. After all there's no reason anyone would want her around, in any position. Most of the school hated her by the time she'd moved in the dorm.
She hasn't noticed the very small print 'Authorized by Milly Ashford' in the corner yet.
<Pose Tracker> Lelouch Lamperouge has posed.
Saturday classes were a trifle. It was more of a formal thing than anything; The lessons quickly learned, the minor annoyance of halfdays taken in stride for the teenager in question. Indeed, the most pressing of concerns beat at his head, the minor quibble of a headache daring to manifest itself. Nothing new, but still a quibble nonetheless.
With a stride in his step that could be constructed as "mildly antsy", Lelouch took a twist, a turn, a series of events pushing him into the sanctity of the school gardens. Grass, flowers, and carefully arranged plots of land (supported by the Farming Club, Gardening Club, Birdwatching Club, Insect Club, Animal Club, and various other minor unofficial clubs that ganged up into their own Misc Garden Club for the sake of budgets and common interests in locale preservation) warmed the eyes...and Emilia was in plain sight. Saturday afternoon was not an uncommon time for people to enjoy the gardens before evening pursuits, but...
...Well, he was planning on heading over to Emilia's dorm room later. A simple movement of plans.
"Yo." And opting for the upfront approach, a lazy wave while stating his presence there. "Milly kept the student council in the loop of what's happened. It's good to see you've improved enough to head outside." Light talk. Icebreaker. Chance to respond.
Granted, the side glimpse of the poster wasn't exactly enough for information. (The sun's glare is as dangerous as ever, moreso when glossy.)
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
The day isn't likely to get much quieter for Emmy either. Not for any negative reason, mind. Simply because she has a few people out looking for her. It hasn't exactly been a secret that she's exited her room. Someone knew, and through a certain chain of events, that information came into the hands of one particular extant member of the Student Council.
Completely unrelated to this, Kallen has been a mite... moody, over the past while. She does her best not to show it, but even she couldn't possibly have hidden it completely from people like Milly or Zero. Particularly if... No, she's been trying to NOT think about Black Knights matters, lately. It makes her mood worse. She's mostly kept her mind off it via work for Milly, and by extension work for Emmy. Hanging up more flyers and posters for a certain council position than she really wants to count. Her fingers still have a few papercuts from them in fact.
She had another dozen or so to paste around the garden club-spaces when she happened to spot the familiar puff of vibrant hair... Good, her two goals happened to meet in this spot.
Kallen does of course notice Lelouch arriving through another entryway, and approaching as well. But that won't stop her. She just looks a little surprised when they both come to a halt in the vicinity. "Hello Emmy, Lelouch. Peaceful day, isn't it?" Never Lulu out loud, that's Shirley's name for him... occasionally Milly uses it as a method of teasing the both of them. But never her. They're just not that close, at least on paper. And of course, the matching evidence to prove she's at least partially responsible for the confusing item Emmy is holding, is hanging from her arm. Alongside a few other Milly-sanctioned variants.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
The 'Yo!' catches Emilia off guard, and she looks up to see Lelouch standing there. Miss Nunnally's big brother. And of course... "V-Vice President?" She's more than a little surprised, a far cry from the violent angry young woman she is in the cockpit. "Oh... Uh, thank you." Emilia remembered Milly saying something about the Student Council receiving a letter, but the details were foggy. She remembers the call from Grandfather's secretary, admonishing her for making trouble for the Student Council.
But Milly said she was going to try and keep her safe.
Kallen makes her appearance in the Garden, and she seems to relax a little more. She's missed Kallen too, scared as she was to admit it. Her face brightens a tiny bit, before the worry of having two Student Council members near her. Were they here to deliver bad news Milly wouldn't?
Or they're heare to talk about the weather. "I suppose it is..." And then she notices the stack of posters in a bag. Emilia blinks. She looks to Kallen, then to Lelouch, then to Kallen. She looks down at the poster. The gears start turning. Are they...
"Is this... These..." The words don't come. She holds up the poster, to let it handle the talking for her, a bewildered- and maybe slightly scared- look on her face. "W-why are you...?"
<Pose Tracker> Lelouch Lamperouge has posed.
The sight of worry struck the familiar chord of memories. Data was data, but little compared to seeing the woman firsthand. He never doubted Milly, but still. Confirmation did assauge his thoughts somewhat, relaxing into a lax posture.
The same lazy wave was guided towards Kallen as a secondary recipient, bag lazily slung over the shoulder. "Yes, even if it is a bit too hot for my tastes. I'd have some clouds in the sky." The sight of posters did confirm the obvious; Milly was looking out for others. Just like her.
He stares at the poster proper. He couldn't say that he had any sort of knowledge about the latest fashion trends (save for the conversations with Nunally), but that... "..." No, best not to say the obvious cuteness that came from the poster proper. "That's Milly's way of doing things."
A smile. He's trying his best to be, at least, the slightest bit lax about it all. Even if the situation was as such, there's not reason to turn this aura of lightheartedness into a disastarous miasma so soon. "If I'm not mistaken, the authorization is right there. You'll have to take it up with her if you disagree that much."
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
Milly must be rubbing off on Kallen. Well, her or that witch. Because something about Emmy's face when she looks down at the posters in confusion sparks a certain impulse to tease. The redhead pushes that urge down, it would be too mean in this case. Instead Kallen smiles and makes a victory sign with her hand. She also remembers certain things she's learned. "According to Milly you're brilliant with accounting and finances. You'd be perfect for the most vital position we have."
Also the most consistently unfilled, given what often apparently happens with the kind of students who CHOOSE to run for treasurer. Complete anathemas to Milly. Stuffy, overly proper brats who can't handle how she deals with funding and activities. Even Ashford, with it's high volume of eccentric kids, has a few of that type.
"It's good to see you're feeling better, though... you're not pushing yourself too hard, right?" It's a particular concern for her. Even if she's not as poor of constitution as she's often feigned, she's still been sick before like anyone else. And made it worse by trying to get back up and drag her body to take actions it wasn't ready for. That last part probably isn't so universal though.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia's not used to this sort of relaxed nature from someone in power, as much as vice president of the student council. Lelouch was calm and approachable and it was... probably expected given how Nunnally spoke about him, even in that brief meeting. But he was nonetheless intimidating, despite this. But most people were.
When it's pointed out to her, Emilia sees it. "But..." Her way of doing things, being an unstoppable force and immovable object both. Was this it part of it? Her plan? It's when Kallen repeats what Milly said, Emilia looks briefly like she's been hit by an emotional truck, looking down at the poster again.
Direct praise is easy to dispel- unwarranted kindness, saving face, a careful insult she won't realize until later. Praise to someone else... That's harder to dispel, and a wholly new experience. Something she doesn't know how to confront. How to push away. How to keep from letting in so it doesn't hurt her.
Emilia shakes her head. "I'm still tired, but..." The words catch again, and she closes her mouth tightly. 'I want to go back to club' is too hard a sentence for her tongue. "I need to... to get back to work soon." What work is left.
Emilia takes another few moments to reflect on the situation she's in now. A horrible thought comes into her head, and that one comes out out loud. "What if I lose?" There's genuine fear there too.
She can't handle disappointing Milly after all that she's done to her, after all the risk Milly's exposed herself too. She can't handle what might happen if she disappoints Milly, either.
<Pose Tracker> Lelouch Lamperouge has posed.
The line between wanting to tease such a gal and the morality at play to resist such an urge was a fierce internal battle. With a shake of his head, he disabused the notion of teasing. No, he could relax a bit more later. Zero's plans could be capitulated later. No better time than now.
"Work isn't something you can do if you're still sick, Emilia." The direct truth. "It's good that you're out and about, but work can wait until you're fully rested." A firm statement that attempted to have the gentlest touch of the razor edge.
Granted, there was a slight investment in gaining a treasurer. Someone so easily prodded was someone so easily usable. That, and the previous candidates were, in a word...Inflexible. Especially for Milly's way of managing things. It was a miracle special elections weren't 24/7.
"Call it a Vice President's hunch, but...I don't think that will come to pass." They didn't even need to do anything; Someone willingly going for the position, not cognizant of Milly's actions at the academy, and most importantly, someone who isn't trying to latch something extracurricular onto their portfolio for an attempt to register at some more prestigious university if their entrace exams fall barely short? It was a slam dunk.
"I've seen the candidates at store for this election. If I had to place a bet here and now, my bet is already set." The implication hung in the air. "...It would reinforce the case against your father, too."
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
Emmy isn't the most talkative, but her face speaks volumes for her. It's more honest than her words, also. When she talks about work, there are vanishingly few things the girl could mean. Well, hopefully she means the one around the school. And not the other thing, where she has angry outbursts. It's okay to relax and not immediately jump back into a Knightmare. She's pretty sure the 'work' intended is the more positive, happy experience though, whether Emilia is registering it fully or not.
"If? Are you telling me you don't already have an unauthorized betting pool going somewhere?" Hmm, more energy and sass than tiredness in this Kallen today. That ought to catch Lelouch fully off-guard. On the other hand... Now she's eyeing him subtly. If he's not shocked by this change from what she usually shows in class... Well, admittedly he could just actually be as laid back and detached as people seem to believe. Still, worth a test either way. Especially given how it could help her perfect a certain operation she's had brewing in the background.
Speaking of which... "If it's club work you're worried about, uhm... maybe I could help with some of it to ease you back in?" She needs access to that place, and hey, maybe it could help Emmy relax and not overwork, if she's splitting whatever she thinks needs doing. Besides, it's a half-day, and she has nothing but spare time at the moment.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Lelouch's firmness elicits the slightest flinch from Emilia, but she nods. She knows he's right on paper. But her slowly dwindling income has other ideas. If she wants to leave the school on her own again, or if she somehow builds up the will to go to a concert again...
When did she start having room to want more than little things?
"Betting... pool?" Emilia blinks, confused. Betting on what? What sort of thing was the vice president up to? Kallen seeks clarification on work and Emmy shakes her head. "No. My, um, my... part time jobs." Emmy looks down, a little embarrassed to have to admit to it in front of, well, students. But she trusts Kallen and Milly, Kallen and Nunnally trust Lelouch, so she's going to take the risk. "...I work at a hobby MS workshop... And I would pick up... warehouse shifts. On the docks, I mean. In the mobile workers. But..." A twang of guilt hits her with Kallen there. She hadn't been there for the behemoth raid. Of course, what was she supposed to have added against Mazinger Z, when that monster mobile weapon couldn't stop it. Anger boils quietly under the surface. "That's probably... not on unless they repair the docks."
She blinks again, as Lelouch reassures her that she won't lose. That he'd bet on her. "...are you sure?" She says, with the defeated tone of someone who has never won in her life- forgetting, for the moment, the concert. But then he utters the magic words.
"It... would?" She's hesitant to dare hope, but there's a fire there. She looks up at Lelouch and Kallen. There's a fire there, one but needs to correct fuel. Spiting her grandfather and letting her stay at Ashford in one swing? That might as well be pure Helium-3.
<Pose Tracker> Lelouch Lamperouge has posed.
Was it his imagination, or was there mental attacks coming from multiple directions? Sure, he had completely accounted for Emilia's reluctance; The meeting with Milly hadn't been for naught if he didn't pick up on the personality at play. But Kallen? ...Around a 10% level of slight surprise, an eyebrow raised before shaking his head, waving off that notion. Play along with the barb, and it'd lead somewhere.
"Not of my own making, of course." Of course not. "Is it my fault that the underclassmen bet on obvious results?" Some of them were being misled to lay down bills for the others. Not by his hand. Obviously. "I was only participating for the good of understanding their social dynamics." Laid back, indeed.
"...Mhm." The docks. The barest hint of a frown with a sigh to punctuate it, eyes flicking over. "With the docks out of commission, I don't think there'll be work there for a while." For her. For him? It's a miracle that he wasn't on over-the-counter headache medication. All the trouble that A21 caused them over the past few days was being busily handled on his off-time 'gambling' hours, after all.
Strip down options. Guide her to the obvious goal. If Emilia can't work, then she has to do something else. "I'm sure. Yes, it would." A moment to close his eyes.
"He can't argue about bureaucracy and not having a place to check in if you're literally in a position where he thinks you'd be constantly watched away from..." He trailed off, the words not even bothering to form on his lips.
Elevens and other 'undesireables', of course.
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
Kallen listens and nods carefully, at the mention of Emmy's part time work. She's certainly not looking down on it. Especially given Kallen's own occasional part-time jobs, that aided in funding the Black Knights, before they had the support they do now. "What is that like? Those jobs." The mention of the dock warehouses does spark a twitch of... irritation? Almost imperceptible on Kallen's face. Certainly on any regular person their age, it would pass by unseen entirely.
But soon enough she's smiling again, forcing down her thoughts about the docks. She'll deal with that later. When she can have a meeting with Zero, and some other figures. Lelouch then says something that's only half correct. There is after all, one known Japanese student who is a part of the Council. ...But maybe that's not a detail the old, miserable excuse of a man is aware of. "Absolutely. The only angles he could attack from then, would be angles that damage his own position. So blatant he wouldn't dare use them."
And there's the subdued surprise on Lelouch's face. And a note of frustration as well. Hmm... neither is conclusive. But they're noted. She's gradually piecing together a few different possibilities. As weird for her, as that makes what she's been scheming. "Add me to the pool, betting on her victory." She's not saying how much right now, but as Lelouch will find out later when she brings a stack of cash to him... it's pretty significant. Ought to be excellent bait for anyone else he wants to sucker out of their trust fund.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
She watchers the banter between Kallen and Lelouch, only to shrink back a bit at that twitch from Kallen. She's not great at detecting most emotions, but some she's hyper aware of. She needed to be. And she can make assumptions to the cause of Kallen's frustration, none of them right.
Kallen asks what the jobs are like, and she shrugs. "They're fine. It was just... running diagnostics and tests. Or using... the mobile workers to load things." A pause. "...onto the shelves."
Emmy seems to take the arguments Lelouch and Emmy are laying out cautiously. There's the ever present fear that he could just pull her out of the school. He's done it before.
'Hmmm... is it too childish to say, 'my grandfather could beat up your grandfather'?" If you like it here, you're gonna stay. Simple as that.'
Maybe she can believe those words now. Kallen bets on her too. Is this... okay? For this many people to believe in her. To have this many people who think she can...
You're just going to disappoint them all.
In one moment, she reminds herself of her failings. Why they're having to go to all this to defend her... And her inability to suppress those thoughts comes out. "Wouldn't it... be easier to. To just..." Drop her like the dead weight she is?
<Pose Tracker> Lelouch Lamperouge has posed.
"Exactly. The more tenacious the attack, the less able he'd be able to do so unless he was certain of it. Considering Ashford's reputation, he can't afford to slander it so brazenly." Plans of attack coalescing in his head. It was an interesting challenge, this. Do it now, have it be useful for later. If nothing else, this would serve to keep everyone occupied while Zero was out and about.
A small nod towards Kallen. His own rebuttalk served him well; As long as there were multiple conclusions, there's little one could do but wait. There was enough camraderie to understand the implicit message. (And there was a pretty penny on the election runnings; Some talk here and there may have tweaked the odds a bit. Lucky.)
Of course, the sight of everything crashing down was...Disconcerting. He knew that sort of face. He knew that sort of defeatism that similarly tinged his thoughts at times, before the resolve bubbled up.
He saw himself in the past, the minor throwing a fit and taking the direction that didn't lead him to where he was right now.
"...Yes. The path you'll be taking isn't easy." Instinctively, he straightened up his back. "But the student council has collectively decided on this." A gesture towards Kallen. "She has agreed to it, I have, and everyone under Milly Ashford has." A pause.
"We're all hedging our bets on you, Emilia Eschonbach."
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
Kallen realizes what she'd done, the moment Emmy begins to shrink. To that, she reaches out a hand. An offer, held out with the palm up. There's no even a drop of hostility in it, no matter how hard Emmy might look for it. "Everyone at the council is in your corner." If it came to it, she could almost certainly do a little convincing. As cutthroat as Britannia is, it's easy to imagine a certain energy company taking advantage of a desperate situation. Winding up the new owner of a few holdings in the aftermath of an unrelated lawsuit, padding its influence and wealth by ripping it off the back of a bitter, hateful old man. ...Maybe she's got more of a Britannian mind than she likes to admit.
Another touch of a speech from him. Dramatic, inspiring even. But a bit less grandiose than the one he'd given off the cuff some time ago. And in addition to what he said... the easy path through a situation often enough just isn't worth what you'd sacrifice for it. Giving up or betraying close friends, just to make your own life simpler? There's no life in which Kallen could ever be that person.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Lelouch lays it out tactically, the strength of Ashford's reputation, no matter how faded, and the risk to her grandfather of playing inelegantly. It makes some sense but-
'When someone's had power over you from the start, it's hard to get out from under that.'
Emmy continues to look down, until an upturned hand comes into view. She stares at it for a second.
Words and action, no matter how little, can do more than either on their own. Emmy takes Kallen's hand, as Lelouch tells her of the fact that people support her. It's not JUST Milly, the seemingly unstoppable woman. It's all of them. Each and every one.
Emmy gulps, like forcing down some emotion, but nods. "...Okay. I'll... win then." That was the first step, wasn't it? Winning the election? If she doesn't do that much, than none of the rest can happen. And now people are counting on her. So she has to win.