2022-10-26: The Colour from Space

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<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Summer is eternal in Tsutsujidai. No matter how cold it is on Earth, no matter how hot it is, no matter how temperate or snowy or humid, it is always summer in Tsutsujidai. That's how it is in this small world Akane has fashioned. Even when there is movement, it's kept to a minimum and undone by the next day.
        
        So when the skies over the tiny corner of the plant turn liquid rainbow, and shapes like lightning that don't vanish after they flash segment the view, it's probably fine. After all, though this might be a very different phenomenon, there is no hostility or dread in the air. There are no attacks. The Venora maintain their motionless vigil throughout the city. People throughout the city may be alarmed at first, but when nothing really happens, they return to going about their business.
        
        But that's not true of everyone.
        
        From below in the city, in the center of Kamesan Park, Kaworu gazes up at the entity known as the Glow Cloud. He's dressed in his usual school clothes with the violet undershirt, hands tucked in his pockets. The rainbow "sky" is particularly heavy in this area, a portion of the gaseous entity sinking downwards towards him as through it might liquify and drip down onto him. It doesn't, though. It simply flashes with all the colors that exist, including ones that can't be perceived by human eyes.
        
        "I see. In that case, I have no problem with you," he replies at conversation volume, despite the fact that there's no one else in the area--yet. "I do recommend you pay your respects to Akane Shinjo, but even if you don't, I don't think she'll object much to your presence. She was all right with mine."
        
        Colors flicker and glow like lightning within a stormhead.
        
        Kaworu's smile broadens with a faint breath of a laugh. "I honestly don't know. But I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Until then..." He turns his gaze towards the first other arrivals to Kamesan Park. "We'll have plenty of company."
        
        By the time anyone who's come to check the strange entity out gets close enough, Kaworu's side of the conversation has already ended. The glowing cloud-like entity, however, has withdrawn its colored protrusion to instead snake several of its flickering tendrils down into the park. Up close, they're actually feathered at the ends. At present, they're brushing the landscaping and the nearby gazebo with exaggerated delicacy. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

School was such a drag... How does anyone pretend this stuff matters, once they've been in as many fights as Yuta has? At least Dance Club comes afterwards. It's fun to learn new moves with his classmates, and it delays going home to a quiet apartment just a bit longer.

By the time Yuta's run out of things to do around the school, the sky is already incandescent with rainbow light. The young man stares at it for a few seconds, before pulling his phone out.

>you guys seeing this???

It only takes a moment for a few reply texts to arrive. Max reassures Yuta that the colors seem to pose no threat to Tsutsujidai. Borr sends a shrugging emoji, and Vit...

>Not even pride month. lol

Well, if it's really not going to harm the city, it won't matter if Yuta spends some time exploring, right? Trying to follow the rainbow to its most brilliant spot, instead of a pot of gold, Yuta finds a dear friend.

"Kaworu!" He calls, hurrying up to the young man. "Do you know what's up with this? Gridman says it's not a threat, so I've just been taking pictures. It's kinda pretty, don't you think?"

Could this be Akane's doing? Strange events in Tsutsujidai almost always are. But there's no kaiju signal, no danger... Even the civilians seem calm, almost uninterested? Yuta lifts his phone into the air, snapping a picture of the cloud's tendrils gently feeling a gazebo. Like all pictures of celestial phenomena, it is unable to capture the majesty of the real thing.

"Man, here I was bored all day." A grin back to his friend, and Yuta offers his hand to Kaworu, primed for a fist-bump. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.

Yuka hadn't really planned on getting out today. Originally, she was going to do some sculpting. To make one of her Tarabaman favorites. Life always seems to have its own plans, even here in peaceful, quiet Tsutsujidai. Come to think of it. She never did find that Red King she made, specially using some of the real thing's carapace in crafting the detailing and inner spine. ...Could she have dropped it somewhere on her exit from the larger, more complicated world? ...Maybe.

As it stands now though. A strange glowing phenomenon in the park, is something she can't really miss out on. Even as she is now, her interest doesn't fade. This is something for her to catalogue and preserve in the only way she especially can. Taking notes and sketches.

Which, by the time she arrives at the park, she's already made several distance shots of. Comparisons for size against the trees and buildings. Initial observations. Thankfully, sleepy as this town is, there's not really any active traffic. No worry about her walking in front of a driver in her distracted state, or anything like that. "Oh... it has little feathers? Are these, some kind of wings, perhaps? Or..." She's largely talking to herself. But nothing is stopping other visitors from hearing her. Nothing stopping the cloud itself, for that matter.

There is of course, exactly zero hostility in her. Curiosity certainly, but no sense of malice or danger. Nothing harmful.
Alloy Kaas teleports in. 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

The constant summer of Tsutsujidai isn't unpleasant. That's the point. And yet Shinji feels on edge with it. Removing a coat to be only in his own school uniform, identical to Kaworu's except for navy instead of violet, it just another reminder of Tsutsujidai's unique design... and possibly, it's unique effects.

He still doesn't know what to make of it.

And now... the strange cloud. The 'Glow Cloud', in all its light and color. Shinji arrives nearby Kaworu without a formal greeting, his eyes distracted by the rainbow sky. "... So it is okay," he murmurs, relief in his voice.

It looked like the cloud had tried to protect them from that Angel, only to be attacked. Shinji was already assured it would be fine, whatever it was, but it's always better to see for oneself.

He glances around, watching it in a mix of awe and uncertainty as it seems to be 'exploring' the park in its own way. Maybe the Glow Cloud doesn't know what to make of it, either.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        It's strange-- despite everything that's happened here, and how those events affected the universe around her, this is the first time Lucine has ever stepped foot in Tsutsujidai.

        "It's... quiet here. But not unpleasantly so. " Lucine looks around her as she gets down from the opening cockpit of the Dianthus. "Ah, be careful coming out, Liam. It's harder to get out from the back than the front." It's not Liam's first time riding in the back of the Dianthus, but it's not like the Dianthus has gotten any easier to get out of since then.

        "... Usually a city has more background noise, at least, in terms of here..." Lucine taps the side of her head. "... Oh, uh, I should maybe have brought a change of clothes that weren't assuming it'd be fall here... I suppose the flight suit would still be okay, but... people would stare, even if I had my jacket on..." She pulls at the fabric of her black jacket, frowning. "... I suppose we should get something to eat before we go out and investigate, but, I should probably get changed first before that... maybe there's a bathroom around here? A-- .... ah."

        She stops, her senses settling enough to note one very large, unique presence, only unnoticable before the same way a hum can simply be tuned out as part of the background. "... It's the glow cloud... It's... so beautiful..." 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

EARLIER:

Lily Jung has a long journey ahead of her. With her traveling from ZAFT space in order to try and attach herself to the Sleeves, there's a great deal of thoughts swarming her mind, and emotions causing turmoil in her heart. Even now, the words of her allies stay with her, casting small shadows of doubt upon her.

She's kept to herself for most of this journey. Talking to some people in the colonies that her father managed to connect her with - as she tries to actually get into contact with a very particular old man. And it's that same travel that right now has her on a shuttle, flying this close to the Colony that now lies where once Junius 7 was. That alien, strange presence, holding a place she visited once before she truly understood it.

It is during that very same fly-by that she senses something familiar though. A sensation, a presence, that is larger than herself and those she usually feels around her. A presence she recognizes from multiple encounters now. Flickers of light, ever so subtle, breaking through the beautiful translucense of that new 'PLANT'.

The girl grabs the upholstery ahead of herself in the small luxury shuttle, and pulls herself forward to get to the cockpit, to get a better look. The captain remarking that they're not even close to earth yet. But all Lily can do in that moment, is stare at that hourglass shape.

Lily is a young woman chasing fate. Someone who seeks to gaze over the rainbow, and follows her heart. So when she feels that being once more, she simply points at the window.

    "Go there."

NOW:

Seeing this place, Tsutsujidai, from a position that isn't in her own Mobile Suit, is... a very different experience. Yet she so earily easily walks these streets, the stranger that she is. Some simple jeans, track shoes, a shirt and comfy pullover, she is drawn deeper into the city, and closer to Kamesan Park. The glowing cloud present, its existance urging her to hurry.

Until finally, she converges along others. Earnestly, she doesn't recognize any of them.

The young woman, warm of heart, slows her pace regardless of the quick beating of her heart.

Her warmth and presence rippling out, easily sensed by any NewTypes. This sunny existance that is like the sun gazing upon one during a cool morning. A presence that warms those around her. If not psychically, then perhaps physically simply through the young looking wonder in her eyes. The big smile. glimmer in her eyes as she slows near Kaworu and reaches out one hand as if covering her eyes from something that is too bright. Her fingers curling towards it.

"You're here. This time, you aren't running..." She whispers to nobody in particular.

"It's good to see you again." As if speaking to a friend, even though in truth, the connection is fledgling at best.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.


        Liam has been meaning to check in on Tsutsujidai since Mamoru made his report. Even if the kaiju isn't here, he can observe the subverted personnel, and try to establish a rapport with them. He can ignore the physical discomfort of stuffing himself into the backseat of the Dianthus for something this important.

        "I will," Liam says, as he pulls himself forward, out of his seat. He grips the edge of the pilot's seat, and eases himself out, keeping three points of contact on the machine at all times. Once he reaches ground level, Liam stretches, carefully working out the leftover tension in his joints. "...Makes sense," he says, to Lucine. "Everything feels quiet. Muted. Controlled."

        Lucine brings up clothing. "The locals seem to have... adjusted," Liam says. "To them, it's always been like this--"

        A wave of rainbow washes through the sky. Liam's heart leaps against his ribs, awe and fear mingling. "It's headed to the park," Liam says. "This way." He knows the districts well enough, and even if he didn't, the cloud is hard to miss. It isn't long before the two arrive in the park, where Kaworu sits. "Kaworu?" Liam says, eyes widening. He looks up at the cloud, then down at Kaworu, then up at the cloud again. It's... investigating?

        "...Hello again," Liam says, managing a little smile. "Thank you for helping. I'm sorry you got hurt." This is anthropomorphizing, obviously, but how else is he supposed to interact with it? He's not a Newtype.

<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.

The swim team's been making solid incremental improvements since she came on as instructor, but it hasn't been quite enough for her. They'll need to be ready for the GUTS intramural sports competitions. She's lost in thought as she steps out of the school gates, bag slung over one shoulder--

The bizarre sight in the sky snaps her to alertness. At best, it's merely an anomaly; at worst, a threat. She breaks into a run, the motorized joints in her legs whirring to life. She's easily outpacing anything on the road.

It's not long before she's at the park. Sweat drips down her face, and her shoes look a little bit worse for the wear as she approaches, wary and careful, looking between those assembled. "What's going on?" she asks, quietly, staring up at the multicolored mist.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette was planning to visit Kamesan Park after school anyways, as the quiet little corner of town had become one of her new favourite locales, ever since Yuta and Rikka invited her out.

Instead of the expectation of blissful reaction, however, she noticed something else on her way to the park. An ethereal cloud of colour and light overshadows the park, and Alouette's curious scientific mind naturally wants to investigate it. It's definitely a strange sight for sleepy Tsutsujidai... and possibly a problem if it's there to disrupt its residents.

And when she arrives, she notices she isn't the only one who had the idea to investigate.. or at the very least see the sight. Most interestingly, she spots Kaworu in close proximity to the rainbow cloud. Could it be an Angel-related phenomenon, then? If that's the case, hopefully the rest of NERV doesn't take it as an excuse to make Tsutsujidai even more their problem...

"It's pretty," she states, almost matter-of-factly, to herself, and she snaps a picture for later use. Supernatural phenomenon like this are hardly her field of expertise, but again, her natural curiosity is powerful indeed, and she might know some people interested in these things regardless.

Despite the amount of people who just showed, Alouette stands by herself, although she does not look particularly closed off but just focused. 

<Pose Tracker> Alloy Kaas has posed.


        Hands in pockets, a woman made unhurried strides through an area of Tsutsujidai that opened up into a large green space. Alloy, lifts her head to look at the sign through a thicket of white hair. Normally she would have it neat and braided, but not today. Tooday it was loose, she was using it as cover to hide the bandage over her right eye and burns that were still healing.

        "Kamesan Park. What brings you here I wonder."

        Alouette Kaas brushes some hair out of her vision, unconsciously tucking some behind her ear as she takes it in. Cloud chasing, is that a thing? Here she was doing just that. But as much as the entity they have called 'Glow Cloud' surprised her by revealing it's survival and continued existence in this place, at this time...

        ...it is the small figures she can see also drawn here that take her aback. As she makes her way towards the closest thing to a gathering point, identities of those figures are comfirmed. Alouette, Alloy, takes her time in walking towards the others. She finds herself to the backs of Shinji and Kaworu. It takes her entirely too long to think of something to say, and it probably looked really awkward from the outside. Tall girl walks up behind the two boys, and then just stands there silently for a few minutes, staring at the backs of their heads while she looks for words.

        "Is it- the same one?"

        Alloy isn't loud, but she isn't quiet either, in her interrogative. She pushes up on tip toes and tilts, looking at the others around the park. She gives a soft wave to those she knows.
Akane Shinjo teleports in. 

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Please, Vit. When Kaworu is present, it's always pride month.
        
        Shinji may arrive without announcement, but to Kaworu, he doesn't need one. He's particularly sensitive to his presence, like a sunflower to the sun, and when he murmurs in relief that the Glow Cloud is okay, Kaworu gives him a fond smile.
        
        It turns next to Yuta as he jogs over to greet him. "It is quite beautiful," he agrees, loud enough to be agreement to Alouette Pommier too, even if she was talking to herself. He does not address Yuta's other question. He does, however, smile more broadly and offer him a fist-bump back.
        
        His gaze flicks from him over to Yuka, so absorbed in her notes that it seems like she doesn't even see the rest of them. It's just like her to be so enamored, Kaworu thinks fondly.
        
        "Yuka," he calls, voice raised gently to draw her attention without startling her. "Won't you come join us?"
        
        Lucine, meanwhile, doesn't actually have to worry about people staring; even if they do, they won't care much. Except for those with the awareness to realize it's strange, but people like that will either have their own things going on... or be at the park already. Kaworu smiles over at her and Liam when they arrive, unperturbed. "Liam, Lucine," he greets back affably. "I see we share the same interest here."
        
        His gaze is curious when it falls on Lily as she approaches. Her presence was easily noticed from a long way off, and it's not surprising to him that she's here for the entity, but the way she speaks to it in such a familiar manner... He gives her a warm smile of his own, and if she's too enraptured by the entity to notice, that's fine too.
        
        Renais is significantly less relaxed. As she races into the park, Kaworu looks to her. It seems she isn't about to attack immediately, but she's clearly disturbed. "Tsutsujidai has a visitor," he tells her with no hint of concern. "Don't worry. They mean no harm."
        
        He's not concerned by Alloy's awkward approach either. Though he never turns to face her as she comes up behind him and Shinji, when she asks her question, he responds with his usual easygoing calm, "Yes. When the Ninth Angel unleashed its attack, they fled. Reports have stated for a while that they've lurked around the Junius 7 area, so it's no wonder they seem to have taken up residence here."
        
        As people enter the park, the Glow Cloud's apparent interest shifts from the scenery to--them. Its tendrils shiver, and they change direction, sweeping towards Kaworu and the others. They don't make contact, though, stopping just short of actually touching anyone. But they do shiver, the feathered bits rising towards Lily and Lucine in particular. Not Liam, sadly; he may be glad to see it again, but it doesn't seem to register his words of gratitude. The cloud itself shimmers in rainbow light, seeming to swell with what might be joy at a reunion.
        
        ...Actually, is the cloud above perhaps growing larger? Or is it coming closer? There's still no hostile intent--only a cautious curiosity that may be sensed by those sensitive to such things--but it might certainly look intimidating to those who aren't. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

Kaworu's fist-bump only inspires a brighter smile from Yuta. It's always a joy to see the other young man. If it wasn't for Kaworu and Shinji's obvious connection, maybe... Well, no reason to dwell on it. Shinji is also offered a fist-bump, and Yuta waves as others approach. Some known, some not.

Liam in particular gets a wide-eyed stare for a moment. Yuta recognizes his voice -- he must be one of the pilots who tried to save that BioNet child. It wouldn't be right to bring something that tragic up in a beautiful moment like this... So he simply looks away, staring down at the ground for a moment. Thankfully, the appearance of another friend quickly takes Yuta's attention.

Renais seems distressed. Yuta moves over to stand with her. "Gridman says it's okay." He offers, with a smile. "This cloud tried to protect us in space... if it wanted to do any harm, it could've teamed up with that monster and taken us out, then. It must be friendly. Besides, isn't it nice to look at?"

As the Glow Cloud reaches down toward the others, Yuta seems charmed. Rainbow colors reflect in his blue eyes. Completely captivated by the radiance before him, Yuta extends his hand, lightly brushing his fingers against the feathered tendril. What does living color feel like?

"Hello," he breathes, "I'm Yuta Hibiki. Welcome to Tsutsujidai." 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Yuta gets his fist-bump from Shinji, mirror Yuta's smiler with a much shier one.

Shinji regards Alloy as if her presence isn't strange at all, but nor is he startled by it as he usually might be. Had he noticed her there...? "Oh... that's a good question," he says, with the slightest bit of shame. "I didn't consider there might be more than one..."

Space is a massive place. Unfathomably so.

Kaworu, thankfully, has the answer: it is the same entity. Kaworu also seems confident of its -- their? -- intent. Even as it grows larger... closer? Shinji leans uneasily toward Kaworu, as if this might keep him from being overheard by a massive creature that can look over the entire park at once. "...You sound so sure of that."

It's more difficult to get worked up with Kaworu so calm about it... but only by a little. Shinji still tenses, despite everything, one foot instinctively moving back. He stops himself, not meaning to be rude. 

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        Lucine, for a moment, holds up a hand to help Liam down, even if this may be unwise as she wouldn't be much help if Liam *did* fall down. But, it's a bit of contact and a smile, her affection unvoiced and subtle.

        There's nothing to be afraid of here, even if her paranoia constantly tells her there should be, and that she's not being careful enough. There's nothing between her and the Glow Cloud if it does try to make contact, after all, but she's not the only one here. Lucine tilts her head, sensing the warmth of the passing Lily. "... We seem to not be the only ones who've noticed..." Even if Lucine can't reach out just yet as easily as Lily seems to be doing without suffering a headache afterwards, it's beginning to get easier.

        So she reaches out with her voice. "... I... think it's glad to see us. I didn't realize we had made a good impression when we did, but... I'm glad. Maybe... we can help people around us get to know them too." No, this is unwise, says a part of Lucine, constantly scared. Don't pass this chance up, says another.

        It makes sense, that the person already here would be Kaworu. .... Because he's a nice, calm, young man with a kind heart., who was likely investigating Tsutsujidai due to the recent incidents with Akane. Yuta too, as well as many, many others, both familiar and not to Lucine.

        It makes it easier to justify coming closer, of holding onto Liam's hand as she nears, her pull not too hard to break if there's a hint of fear from him.

        "We saw you, back then, with that Angel," she says, up to the Glow Cloud. It may not understand speech, but it may understand the thoughts her mind naturally forms with her words. "We noticed. Thank you."
Leina Ashta has connected.
Asuka Shikinami Langley teleports in.
POT: Asuka Shikinami Langley is now set observer.
Leina Ashta leaves for Nouvelle Tokyo [NRV].

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

As more and more people draw to the Glow Cloud's presence, Lily Jung's attention spreads out a bit. Almost like, now that she is here, the blinders are coming off. She kind of just puts her hands to her chest... and then stomps her legs at the ground and throws a fist to the air.

A momentary show of pure jubelation. A look that speaks: 'I can't believe this is happening'. She then glances to Kaworu, seeing that warm smile, and she quickly moves her hands back towards herself. "Ah, sorry." She remarks, lifting her right hand and scratching her cheek for a moment, then puffs her cheeks and looks almost defiant for a moment, "I was just excited." The blonde youth remarks with a bold bit of energy.

She looks around at that point, seeing Lucine being approached by one of its tendrils, approaching her a bit more closely; "Hmm. Yes. Isn't it lovely?" She asks her. Then, her attention shifts back up. "Oh, me too." Answering an unheard 'statement'.

    ~ It's so good to see you too ~

"Are you okay? You came into a rather loaded situation last. I hope you were not hurt."

    ~ I'm worried for you ~

Hearing Yuta introduce himself like that, she thinks that he's bloody brilliant in doing so. But more-over, it makes her feel like a bit of a fool.

"I'm so rude! I have still not introduced myself, even if I've asked you who or what you are. I'm Lily - Lily Jung!" She notes, as her right hand begins to lift up. That tendril that is slowly shifting down towards her. There is so little fear in her heart, and yet so much energy. As she reaches out to touch a finger to it and those feathers.

She wasn't there for the Angel situation. 

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.


        Liam's gaze tracks across the park as others approach--as he predicted, the only Tsutsujidai native here is Yuta. Alloy gets a gentle, familiar nod, but the young cyborg's attention quickly turns to the other cyborg present. He holds Lucine's hand tighter as he gives Renais a smile he absolutely does not feel. He looks past her, at Alouette, and the feeling only gets worse. They were there for him. They cared about him. And now, this. Are they safe?

        "Renais," Liam says, in greeting, though his voice is so tight it feels like it could snap at any moment. "I know. I've got her." For all the good that will do.

        For a moment, Liam wonders if the cloud will touch Lucine and unmake her, and he won't be able to stop it.

        Dammit. He just saw them and already he's breaking down. What if the cloud thinks he's a threat?

<Pose Tracker> Alloy Kaas has posed.


        The confirmation that it is indeed the same entity brings a smirk and involuntary head tilt. She rights herself and nods in acknowledgement.

        "That's good, I hope."

        Alloy doesn't have the abilities of others to sense things. She listens, and picks up on the observations and assumptions, conclusions of those gathering.

        There was a flash of fear, in part from confusion, as the entity appears to loom and grow. It's the inability in the moment to discern if it was in fact growing, or getting closer, or both. It fades as soon as Alouette looks to the horizon and gets bearings again.

        "I'm, glad. That it wasn't extinguished then. It's beautiful."

        Alloy speaks slightly louder, repeating herself to the cloud.

        "You're beautiful."

        Alloy startles again, though less so, when she sees a hand reach out to contact with the etheral creatures wisps. Her orange and blue eyes land a stare upon her own hand. What... Is it even possible? To touch the, cloud? What would happen if she were to make contact? Would either of them come to harm as a result of the Power of Kings?

        Her hand under her gaze rolls into a lithe fist. Not aggression, not a will to harm, but a withdrawal for the moment. The question however, remains at the front of her mind as she watches, quiet for the moment. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.

A familiar voice calling out to her is, thankfully enough to snap Yuka to attention. If not exactly to her normal self. She smiles up, even waving at Kaworu with the hand holding her assorted writing tools. "I'd love to join you, thanks." As ever, she's very friendly. Well. Friendly to most people, though her thoughts are well-known on the cases that are exceptions.

She runs up quickly, to join the gathering crowd. Occasionally picking up some information from them... She'd heard about a few of the cases of this mystery cloud appearing. Though she didn't know the full details, at least, not enough to know this was the same entity until now. But knowing that it, at least seemingly, likes people, is a good start. If she were... quite in her normal mindset, she'd no doubt be brainstorming ways to communicate.

As it stands, all she can do is take her notes, as she observes how it reacts to... people reaching out to touch it? "I'm glad it's come to join us, at least for a while. Hmm." She's started writing down some speculations on what could have drawn it here. Though her chief one right now is that it felt familiar people, given how many of those gathered here seem to have encountered it before. 

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Suddenly the Glow Cloud shifts in position, towards those who gathered near it. Alouette Pommier herself avoids actually touching it, because as interesting as it might be, she still doesn't really enjoy touching absolute strangers.

Still, she maintains a friendly attitude because step one to getting to know someone is kindness. The cloud did display sentience so clearly it is a "someone" and not a "something". She notices Yuta does similar, even snapping pictures of his own.

Alouette Pommier also picked up talks about a battle... that the cloud had appeared in? That's not a stretch because certainly there are things she missed while away without leave, but she has to wonder what the cloud is doing in Tsutsujidai of all places, then. Maybe it too, wants to enjoy a peaceful stroll across sunny Tsutsujidai?

And from the corner of her eye, she notices Liam, along with Lucille. And he looks at her with such sadness in his eyes, almost looking like the same stoic sadness Kaidou had in the clothing shop. Trying to take a better approach here, she simply tries to give her best reassuring smile, so as to say not to worry, and that this was her choice.

But another thought comes to mind, and she responds, much more quietly. "I wonder... have you considered leaving NERV, too? I feel like, we were both never really happy, having to fight." It's just like her question to Guy last weekend.

The death of BioNet's child subject surely hit both of them hard, but especially Liam, who tried so hard to save him. Both of them tried so hard to fight to save those they believed in, and seemed to come up short. But Alouette leaves her question there, and she'd rather not be pushy; she's just curious. 

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        At Lily's defensive remark, Kaworu's smile only broadens, a hint of a laugh in his throat. "No need to apologize," he reassures her. Meanwhile, Yuka's cheerful acceptance of his invitation gets her an outright grin. "This must be quite exciting for you. Something like this is a rare experience."
        
        He half-turns to regard Alloy with a smile at her sentiments. When her expression shifts, though, so does his, eyebrows furrowing with a hint of concern. "You shouldn't," he tells her contextlessly, gentle but decisively firm. Did he read her mind? (He didn't. But he knows her well enough to guess what might have been going through it. It's just as well, given that Alloy withdraws of her own will regardless.)
        
        The Glow Cloud itself doesn't seem to mind the withdrawal. It doesn't touch anyone first--merely offers its presence and lets those below make their own decision. Given the sheer size of it, at least a hundred meters long, it might be hard for it to really get a sense of where an individual starts and stops. The tendrils themselves are soft, but have a certain numbing energy to them that hums into the flesh. It's something like a static electric shock, save that it doesn't spark but emanate. It's not painful, but it might be unpleasant for anyone who keeps it up too long. Liam's worries at least are unfounded; nobody gets dissolved into their component particles. Yuka will have plenty of notes to make.
        
        It's so quiet, though. Even the birds don't seem as loud.
        
        Shinji's murmured comment gets him a muted but nonetheless amused smile. "Is it uncertain to you?" But... looking at him, it does look as though it's uncertain. It's uncertain enough to make him radiate ease, though the way Shinji refrains from easing back more than a step charms Kaworu. Still... He considers Lucine as she comments on what she senses from the Glow Cloud. And looking (sensing) around, Shinji isn't the only one put ill at ease. There is still a gap.
        
        Kaworu considers this wordlessly. Around the collected people, the tendrils touch ground and dig into the earth; as careful a motion as this clearly is, the sheer size of the entity still means that they dig quite deep. The glimmering cloud--is definitely getting closer, but it doesn't descend all the way. Instead, it comes to hover a few yards over the assembled crowds, not quite reaching the top of the gazebo.
        
        Kaworu turns his gaze upwards. A silent communication takes place, and something strange happens.
        
        The texture of the cloud shifts again. A normal cloud has a flat bottom; this is because the particles that make one up simply can't form below a certain altitude. The part of the 'cloud' that faces them remains textured... then becomes increasingly textured... until it forms three holes: two on top, one on bottom.
        
        Like a face.
        
        It's a crude face, to be sure. But between its tendril 'hands' and now this, it's clear that it's trying, in its own way, to imitate the creatures below. To 'look' at them as they look up at it.
        
        Whether this is charming or terrifying depends on the viewer. But while it doesn't quite fix these three holes into anything resembling an 'expression,' somehow everyone--not just Lucine and Lily--can now feel an impression of muted gladness from the entity above them. Its attention shifts like liquid from Lily's self-introduction to Yuta's, and while it has no name to give them in return, they'll feel a distinct sense of acknowledgement. And... when Alloy compliments its beauty, its depths sparkle brightly. (Is there a sphere somewhere in its veiled depths? Does that matter?) Some of those sparkles go off in the tendrils near Liam, as if belatedly realizing he'd addressed it.
        
        There are no words. There is only a ponderous silence and an alien presence. But even so, something has let them connect, in some strange way.
        
        Kaworu smiles anew. 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Shinji's too embarrassed to verbally answer Kaworu on that, but the way his gaze drops with embarrassment, face heated from his own shame, perhaps speaks volumes for him. It feels like he should be certain, but encounters are anxious things for Shinji. Whether a new human or meet, or an alien life form... both can be equally incomprehensible and terrifying.

Reaching the heart of another is never easy.

But the Glow Cloud makes its crude face in the sky, and Shinji stares wide eyed at the effort. ... It's trying, clumsily, but trying. Because it's always clumsy, isn't it? Clumsy and painful. Shinji swallows, more uncertain for a moment, but glances to Kaworu's smile at this turn of events.

His fingers twitch, tightening into a fist briefly before he gets his phone, the musical charm dangling from it and reflecting colored light across the ground. He doesn't notice it, too busy glances from the Glow Cloud's reactions to the screen.

Where they smile, it sparkles...?

With a frown at his own this-is-probably-stupid judgment, he gives Kaworu one more glance, then bashfully turns the phone toward the Glow Cloud.

This means the camera is pointed at his own uneasy face, the image put through a filter. An extremely sparkly filter.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

Lily is by no means a soldier. She wears her emotions on her sleeve. So when Kaworu reasures her, her expression clears up almost instantly. Though her defensiveness was rather light and somewhat humerous to begin with.

As she touches the tendril, she can feel that numbing energy touching her. It's not exactly pleasant, so she doesn't keep that touch up for very long herself. But she does touch it for a little while.

    ~ What is it that you wish for? ~

She asks it without speaking out loud, right before that face begins to shape and she startles back a bit. A giant face in a cloud is not exactly the most wonderful thing to see. It's delightful that it is trying to mimic humanity. But in many ways... such is perhaps stranger and less wonderful than it was. In her eyes.

Of course, that's also around the same times things get a bit... psychically louder. She's startled for a moment, looking around as if she heard something that can't easily be placed. Looking at Kaworu with questioning eyes for a moment. But with the size of the glow-cloud, she'd be hard-pressed to pin-point the source so easily. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"Woah..!"

The static sensation makes Yuta laugh. Every hair on his arms rises -- either from the energy of the cloud, or the otherworldly experience of communing with some kind of... entity. Once the sensation begins to feel unpleasant, Yuta pulls his hand back, shaking it a little.

Barely noticing the quiet becuase of his focus on the Cloud, Yuta makes contact with the cloud again, using his free hand to snap a picture of the meeting. Oblivious to the actions of those around him, the young man is totally focused on exploring the enormous being.

Just as he turns around to take a selfie with the Cloud, a face begins to form. Yuta's eyes widen in amazement, and he gets a series of photos with the cloud. First, his mouth has fallen open into an "O", pure wonder in his eyes. The next few pictures feature blurry images of Yuta laughing in wonder. One last picture has Yuta raising his hand in a peace sign, grinning brightly.

"This is great!" Yuta says, mostly to himself, flipping through the pics. Well, if they're playing host to an alien Cloud, it's only proper to offer refreshment. Digging in his backpack, Yuta pulls out an unopened bottle of Tsutsujidai specialty soda -- with a little marble trapped halfway in its neck. "Here you go!"

Yuta holds the bottle up to the Glow Cloud, gently putting the lid into a tendril. He's trying to place it in the Cloud's hand, so to speak. Will it work? 

<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.

At several points in her note-taking, Yuka has to pause. Just to observe physical reactions. The way people around it move. Their expressions, in combination what what they can explain of the feelings they get. She's also asking... a lot of questions. Conclusive data is difficult to form without full understanding.

And... sadly, for all that her love of things like the glowing cloud remains intact, she's... presently unable to bring herself to reach out. No matter how much she might want to touch it. To shake its 'hand' so to speak. The closest she can come is offering her name. "Doctor... er, actually, Yuka works better. A pleasure to meet you in person."

Titles wouldn't really mean much anyway. And... she's not really here as Dr. Ohta in the first place. She's just Yuka, the enthusiast of all things unusual, but particularly forms of life. When it forms a rudimentary face, back into the sketches she goes, to add an entire new image of it, stretched out with the emoji-esque 'expression' spread across its underside. "This is... fascinating. Intelligent, graceful, and so accommodating in its attempts to convey thought and emotion. What could we both learn, with time and communication...?" For a moment, if Kaworu is paying particular attention, it almost seems like those missing sparks of life are coming back to Yuka's eyes... Alas. It fades almost in an instant. 

<Pose Tracker> Namiko has posed.

"What the heck is THAT!?"

The voice rises up from the edges of the park, but as it becomes clear people are not being taken to the space people or turned into Namekians, Tsutsujidai High's resident Loudest Mouth jogs up, her phone camera out and pointed up. Namiko (nobody knows her last name don't worry about it) skitters up, jerking her head back and forth like she were trying to compare the evidence of her eyes to the cold truth of the camera.

Next to her, of course, is her constant companion and eternal Player 2, a dotted outline where Hass should be. ...wait hold on

"C'mon, Hass, the heck do you mean you 'went home to stream about it'," she mutters, mostly to herself. "It's a space... ...thing! We never see stuff like that!" 

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        Lily introduces herself, and Lucine realizes, with an owl-like tilt of her head, that she should do the same. It's... only polite. "Ah, um, I'm Lucine Azul. Chief Gardener and pilot from the Nadesico. And this..." She glances back towards Liam, her smile an understatement to the excited whirl of emotion spring up in her chest, left unvoiced. "This is Liam."

        "..." The pleasant heat of Lucine's emotions, perhaps visible to Lily, the Glow Cloud, or anyone else who is emotionally receptive to varying degrees, turn to fear.

        This is what Akane does. It's not as if Alouette is asking something that is too far off, as NERV, outside of the pilots Lucine knows, is an unknown entity. A corporation, that can be trusted to a certain degree, but not fully.

        It's an innocent question.

        Lucine's hand tightens around Liam's, like he could disappear at any moment.

        Her chest hurts so much... and that's not even speaking of Liam's own feelings.

        A tendril brushes by, and Lucine touches her other free hand to it, hoping some of the fear would dissipate. The numbness is like the sting of mint on the tongue, giving a shock of senses that allows her to know it had happened at all.

        (I don't want to lose him. I'm scared.)

        She doesn't even realize what might have been broadcasted, or if the Glow Cloud would even know what concepts like 'lost', and 'scared' would be, even if she did. 

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.


        'I wonder... have you considered leaving NERV, too?'

        Liam sucks in a breath as the tension inside him sharpens to a razor's edge. His grip on Lucine's hand tightens. "I don't know," he whispers, to Alouette. "But I can't--I don't want to--" She didn't mean to hurt him. Akane did something to her, and then convinced her to leave.

        So why, then, does it feel like he's just been stabbed in the back?

        Lucine introduces him. Liam tears his gaze away, and looks up to the cloud, his own mouth falling open. "Hello," Liam says. "I'm sorry." His emotions are starting to boil over. "I'm sorry you were hurt because of us."

<Pose Tracker> Alloy Kaas has posed.


        As she folded her hand, Kaworu seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. Had she said it aloud instead of thinking it? She doubts but doesn't address it. His words though, lead her to retract physically. Her other hand comes up to wrap around the other, and pull them both to her breast. Kaworu must be right, Kaworu seems to be communicating with it so he must know.

        "I won't... sorry."

        It's hushed, like she is afraid of spooking the cloud with the very thought.

        Alloy takes a step back and aside as she cranes her neck to look at it, mixing into the small group a bit more. She has to tear her eyes away from it, to avoid walking into anyone. She feels guilt, shame for having considered...

        Alloy looks back at the cloud, and watches the transformation and emulation. Thankfully pulling her out of dwelling on those feelings, awe and wonder at the being swell over her. The scene only draws widening eyes as more gather, and she overhears their own (spoken) thoughts and wonder on their faces...

        It's interrupted by a question overheard. An idea jarringly foreign, it's like the scratch of a needle across a vinyl album on the peacfulness.

                'I wonder... have you considered leaving NERV, too?'

        Does she tear her eyes away? Her pulse quickens, but her hands hold closer to herself. She chooses to look at the beautiful weave, and not think about that. 

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        The instant Shinji's face flushes with embarrassment, Kaworu's expression shifts too, smile dimming as his eyebrows dip. The transient light in Yuka's eyes, Lily's momentary confused regard, and Alloy's apology don't go unnoticed--but he won't betray his priorities. Alloy at least gets a small wave of the hand as if to assure her (as he often does) that apologies aren't needed, but his gaze remain fixed on one person.
        
        "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Shinji," he murmurs. "I can't explain why I'm sure. I simply am."
        
        As if reflecting Kaworu's own mental shift, the colors within the Glow Cloud dim and shift to the cooler spectrum, muddy indigos and bruised purples. Or perhaps it's a reflection of the fear and anxiety that Lucine gives off all of a sudden, or Liam's emotions so close to the boiling point. After all, spots of bright, frozen blue pop up on its surface at his apology. The cloud-face leans in then, the edges taking on the sheen of mercury, to 'eyeball' Alouette.
        
        But then from there, Renais... and Yuka, briefly alight with scientific delight before it deadens away. The face shifts around them, slipping to one side and then the other as if a reflection on warped glass. Still no hostility, and that conveys itself to them now too, but the regard remains quite intense.
        
        Whatever's going on there, it's cut when Yuta puts a ramune on one of the nearby tendrils. Dawn-bright pinks and oranges spark within the gas, and it lefts the be-soda'ed tendril. It sways one way, then the other, and back again, somehow never dropping the bottle.
        
        It conveys to everyone, quite clearly, the emotional equivalent of '?????'. It's as though Yuta had just put a sticky Christmas ribbon on a cat's head.
        
        As more and more people introduce themselves, though, it settles into a literally sunny yellow glow. Whatever uneasiness there may be among some, it seems to be pleased with most of the friendliness it's facing. Certainly those who've seen it in battle can tell that it's much more placid here than it was on any of the battlefield it encroached. Any questions on NERV are, for now, lost on it.
        
        What does it wish for?
        
        Peace and quiet... perhaps.
        
        Sadly, no one explains to Namiko just yet what 'that' is. There is certainly a lot of 'that' to behold, though, considering it's still making strange semi-liquid faces and digging into the earth of the park. Maybe it's one of those things that speaks for itself? (It quite literally does not speak for itself.) 

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Firstly, the Glow Cloud begins to shift, transforming itself into a face in a pure expression of joy. Dr. Ohta, Alouette Pommier's new "macrobiology" teacher is nearby, musing about her fascination with the cloud, and its ability to express itself with human emotions. Although she seemed to enjoy her job, Alouette never saw her speak with such.. passion in class.

"It's really something special, isn't it, sensei?" Alouette chimes in. "I actually took a picture to show you in class tomorrow.. but I probably should've expected you to be here!" She also thinks some of the researchers back at home might really find the photo fascinating, but if there was a battle.. it's likely they're already aware. Home... no, that's not right anymore, because Tsutsujidai is her home.

Following up its own attempts to communicate, Alouette shyly extends a hand forward. "Hello there. I'm Alouette. I guess we don't have anything to call you, which is a shame, but it's nice to meet you."

But that pleasant greeting is cut short, when Liam responds to Alouette's rather difficult question. Even aside from Liam's panic, she can sense Lucine's fear, and Alloy's quick stare. Should she not have asked that...? Although she wants to run away after seemingly hurting someone she considers a friend, just like she ran away after snapping at Kaidou and Mamoru, instead she once again tries to take a reassuring role. "You don't know... that's okay." Her eyes go a little distant. "No one can make that decision except for you." Indeed, Alouette isn't here to make decisions for Liam. Personal agency is very important, isn't it?

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"Oh, sorry, um--" Yuta pulls another soda from his bag. This one is half-gone already. "You drink it, like this! It's fizzy, and the taste is sweet. It's something we enjoy, here."

With slow, exaggerated movements, Yuta removes the cap from the soda and takes a long drink. Once he swallows, he lowers the drink again, watching the Cloud's movements hopefully.

"Namiko!" Yuta calls, hearing the voice of his classmate. "Hey, over here! It's nothing to worry about. Just some kind of, um. Weird weather, I guess?"

Watching the cloud dig into the earth, that feels like a pretty weak explanation. Yuta scratches the side of his cheek apologetically. "Um. It's actually an alien. Please don't freak out!" Yuta says, quickly, moving his hands in a placating motion. "It's friendly! I'm trying to show it how to drink soda."

"I wonder what it's digging for?" Yuta walks a few steps over to where one tendril is entering the earth. He crouches down by the hole, apparently unafraid. "Maybe it's just playing? If I was a cloud, I'd find dirt pretty strange. What do you think, Namiko?" 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

Warmth and pleasant presence becomes concern and fear. Enough to have Lily turn towards Lilith and Liam in that moment. She hadn't heard what had triggered it. Too lost in her own world. But the little grip on Liam's hand is one she recognizes. How many times now has she had to see that? People grabbing their loved ones, hoping that if they hold on tighter... they won't be able to disappear out of their lives.

Instinctively, she steps towards Lilith. Reaching out, trying to lay a hand to her shoulder. This warmth and pleasant presence expanding out from her. Trying to set the girl at ease. "Hey. Are you okay?" An inquisitive, but above all, -caring- gaze turning to her, looking her in the eyes.

The confusion at the bottle would otherwise have drawn a chuckle. But in this moment, Lilith gets Lily's attention. Though there is one thing she considers...

Peace and Quiet is good and all. But it would not approach humans and get into one of their colonies if it just wanted peace and quiet for itself. 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Shinji jerks his eyes back up to Kaworu. "I-It wasn't like that...!" he tries to assure Kaworu. But he's quick to glance down again. "I trust you."

It makes his kneejerk fear and uncertainty all the more embarrassing.

But that's also why he, in turns, tries. And he watches. The way the Glow Cloud dims and changes colors. It 'feels like' they're sadder now...? Or is that putting his own perceptions on the communications being presented? In a way, the more Shinji watches, the strangely more... comforting it feels. This is something he's allowed to not understand right away. Not like a human.

Yuta offers them a soda, and Shinji gets hit with that sticky-ribbon-cat feeling. Reflexively, his head scoots back without the rest of his body, as he'd gotten an unfamiliar object on his head. It's brief before he relaxes again, watching the Glow Cloud 'dig' at the park. "

Despite all the excitement, he manages to catch fragments of Alouette's conversation with Liam, frowning. Shinji doesn't have the courage to interject. He would not know to say even if he did.

He returns to messing with the fliter by himself for a moment, the sparkles dimmer and the colors bluer, but decides not to share that.

"...Do you think they can be safe here?" Shinji's expression dims further. He seems to already conclude: no, probably not. Because no one really is.

<Pose Tracker> Namiko has posed.

Namiko is basically flying solo here and she's very not used to it. Where is Rikka she needs to limpet somebody

Oh, hey. "Hibiki!" she calls back. He will serve as a conversational analogue if not a limpeting target. She jogs over. "'s the weirdest weather I ever saw," she says, scrabbling stubby nails through her hair. "Golly."

Yuta gently explains that it's actually an alien. Namiko nods firmly. "Oh, of course, that makes total HUH??"

She leans into his space, hands back, eyes wide, and completely fails to comply with his request not to freak out. "Wait, seriously!? I mean...I kinda figured?! It was that or a kaiju, right? But we don't really get those up here. But we don't get aliens, either? Hold on, does anyone get aliens? Huh."

...she almost manages to distract herself with that train of thought before Yuta fearlessly walks up and just takes a look straight down a space hole. She finds herself grinning a little, scratching one cheek in surprise. "Somehow didn't have you figured for the fearless type, Hibiki," she says, a little more focused on him than the cloud for a moment. Seeing Yuta is not getting turned to vapor, she steps over as well, hands on her hips. "I'm still getting my head around cloud aliens, to be honest. I guess that kinda makes sense, though? Wonder what it's doing all the way out here?" 

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        "... Oh, ah, sorry. I just..." Lucine lets out slightly more at ease laugh, radiating back a subconscious amount of warm goodwill back towards Lily. "It's nothing."

        To have your emotions be so easily broadcast, and to know exactly why... it's relieving, but also, scary, when she finds herself possessed by such strong turns of emotion.

        To feel this deeply for a person... means feeling just as deeply about them being stolen away, right?

        'No one can make that decision except for you.'

        Fear spikes her heart again, like Alouette was possessed by a virus that, just by proximity alone, it would infect Liam. "... Liam..." Fear clutches at her. ".... Let's go." Somewhere, other than right this spot, right now.

        Nothing outside of getting him away from that danger hidden inside Alouette is more important. Run away, hide. 

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.


        "I'm so sorry," Liam whispers. Why is it so important to get that across? For all he knows, the entity was only mildly inconvenienced, and didn't Alto say that its powers could be a threat?

        But he looks up, and sees those bruise-dark colors, and then the spots of brilliant blue. He can feel it looking at him.

        He doesn't want it to hurt. No one should be hurt because of him.

        Yuta offers the cloud a drink. For a moment, Liam goes perfectly still, but when the cloud turns sunny-bright, the tension eases just a hair. He even looks back at Alouette when she addresses him, nodding despite the fresh wound she tears into him.

        "...Lucine?" Liam looks down at her with wide eyes. She tugs at his hand. "What are you...?" There's something fearful and child-like in the way he moves off after her, letting him lead her even as he scans for threats. Did the cloud do something?

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        While there is a sense of appreciation that Yuta is trying to educate them on a thing, the Glow Cloud continues to convey ????? at the ramune. It was probably too far a reach to try to express 'drinking a drink' to an entity with no internal organs.
        
        Well. Maybe one internal organ.
        
        Alouette reacts to the Glow Cloud's EXTREME CLOSE-UP by extending a hand towards it. It glows a fuzzy sort of bright pink. It's unclear what this means, but there is at least a sense like a sparkler in the night that it has acknowledged her too.
        
        Peace and quiet. It's right here. Lily is right: it does not want peace and quiet just for itself.
        
        Meanwhile, Kaworu's pale face softens with quiet relief. Even so, his concern remains, and he watches him as Shinji looks back at the entity above and around them. The way Shinji scoots his head back in a reflection of those feelings conveyed brings back a fond smile to his lips.
        
        But this draws attention of its own. After its intense scrutiny of Alouette, Renais, and Yuka, the Glow Cloud twists around to (seem to?) watch Lucine run away with Liam in tow. Puffs of gray expand within it... and then it turns that face to take in Shinji and his phone. Or maybe Kaworu, or maybe Alloy or Yuta. They're all clustered fairly close to one another, and that is quite a large face.
        
        There is a long, long, long regard.
        
        And then, abruptly, it rears back, face vanishing into fog. The tendrils shrivel out of the earth and withdraw into the cloud, leaving behind gouges at least a foot deep. They'll be gone by tomorrow. Namiko wonders what the Glow Cloud is doing here, but she won't get an answer, nor will anyone else. It shrinks in on itself, crumpling up like a wad of paper in the air.
        
        "Ah," Kaworu breathes, raising a hand as if to reach out.
        
        But it's too late. The Glow Cloud scrunches up, faster and faster and faster, until it seems to implode. In the point where it was, it leaves behind a four-pointed star of light, which glows for a moment until it gutters and fades out. Of particular note--something that no one would have been able to tell before since all previous encounters have been in space--is the fact that its departure makes no sound. It might seem like it should, but... it simply doesn't.
        
        Those who turn their gaze further up may see a blossom of iridescent light a considerable distance away--as in, 'other side of the PLANT' distance away. But it is, after all, quite far.
        
        Kaworu's shoulders droop. Then he looks back at Shinji. "Safety is relative." He shifts his regard to Alouette and continues to murmur to Shinji, "But you already know that." 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

It's nothing.

How often has Lily heard that when sensing people were in trouble. How many 'I am fine' or 'there is no problem's has she heard in her time? How many times has it been since she's felt confused at people saying such things. Not that she hasn't denied her own feelings before.

"Okay." Lily offers a smile, playing along, making sure that Lucine doesn't feel bad for trying to ease it over. That is just what one does in social situations like this. She glances to Alouette for a moment, who to her just looks like a normal person.

Shrugs, and turns back to the big glowy cloud, which is in the midst of departing. The change there-of being a rather amazing thing to watch, if albeit disturbing due to the way it just gives physics the middle finger and does what it wants.

Once it's gone, Lily Jung remains for a little while, wondering what to do from there. She'd come here to see it again, to gain some understanding. And now that it's gone, she's left idle for a moment...

Before the original mission comes back to mind, and with it, a return towards spacedock. 

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

         Lucine feels a pang of regret as she feels the Glow Cloud retreat back. Maybe, if she was in a better mind frame--

         No, it would've been bad if she had lingered, she decides. If it could feel her thoughts, but not know the context... what would it do to Alouette? Alouette isn't at fault. No one is. It's a bad situation, and there's so many emotions burning up inside her, to a degree she never knew she was capable of, so quickly.

         When they are out of range, Lucine leads Liam behind a grove of trees, and, without any warning, Lucine draws him close, in a tight hug, burying her face in his chest. Her heart is hammering in her ears.

         Why? Why does she feel like this? She thought she'd be more reasonable.

         In this moment, Lucine can find herself capable of anything but that.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Hesitant as always, Shinji watches back, trying to understand. It's... a little strange, how comfortable Kaworu is with the idea. Kaworu says he cannot explain why, and Shinji won't try to ask him to. Shinji knows tere are some secrets Kaworu has to keep, but in this case, Shinji wonders if it's a secret or if it's simply difficult to describe.

Then... poof. Or slurp? It is difficult to describe. It's gone, all at once, abrupt and soundless.

Shinji sucks in a soft gasp of air as it collapses in on itself, frozen in time, and only letting it out when he spots that blossom of light. Far away, but not destroye

Kaworu was smiling and happy while the Glow Cloud was here, and now Kaworu droops. Shinji turns his attention from the sky to Kaworu himself, reaching out himself before slowly setting his hand to Kaworu's shoulder the way Kaworu's done for him before.

"...Yeah," he says, and his grip squeezes gently, because he does not know the words that lift Kaworu's spirits.

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"Oh, um, thanks." Yuta offers, smiling at Namiko as she comes over to him. "I've been working on it! Tsutsujidai deserves our protection. There's always weird stuff like this happening. But I'm not sure where it came from, or what it wants or anything. Maybe--" A glance toward Kaworu. He usually knows what's going on in this sort of situation. "Hmm."

Maybe it was a little too soon for ramune. Yuta sits next to the growing hole, watching the Cloud's confusion. Maybe it'd be best to take the bottle back?

But before he can stand and reach for it, the Cloud seems to observe them closely. Yuta stays still, calmly watching. He puts a hand out to Namiko, trying to keep her still as well. The Cloud has been friendly so far, but it's still an alien. That could change in a moment. "Hang on." Yuta whispers. "Keep quiet."

Rearing back, the Cloud races away from them, and Yuta gasps. It's so fast! And quiet -- ther'es something a little spooky about that. Once it's left, Yuta feels bad. Did he cause this, trying to feed it the soda? In a way, it's a wild creature. Even Yuta knows you're not supposed to feed wild animals.

Standing, Yuta brushes off his hands. He gives the hole one final glance, and then approaches Kaworu. "Sorry. I think I messed up. Is it going to be okay?" A pause, as he takes in Kaworu's slumped shoulders. "Are you okay?" 

<Pose Tracker> Alloy Kaas has posed.


        As much as she could tear herself away from staring at it, Alloy watched the others. It was a vicarious experience in a way that felt keen to her. What else could she do, but try to reach out as well. But the words stuck in her throat.

        "I- hello."

        But she had been lost in the moment, and it was already gone. Maybe, it heard? saw?

        Alloy shoves her hands back into her pockets and steps to give as much space between people she can. It was remarkable. Beautiful. Alouette looked for the eyes of her friends, to meet them with a lingering smile.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette softly smiles as the Glow Cloud seems to greet her back, and she tilts her head a bit as it seems to linger on her for a while. And soon after, it dissolves, silently, leaving behind only light. She doesn't have very much time to be fascinated by the odd, but beautiful way it moves though because--

Emotions begin to dwell up in her, as Lucine quickly rushes Liam away, as if Alouette is some kind of threat that must be avoided at all costs. And she feels stares like daggers upon her.

It takes her back to when BioNet's creation, their young girl genius who seemed almost inhuman, was looked upon as if she was a danger that should have never been created.
%Alouette is certainly not that person anymore, but rather a typical 15-year old girl. So why...? It's a horrible feeling, and with nothing else to see at the park, Alouette makes her own retreat. 

<Pose Tracker> Namiko has posed.

Namiko gives Yuta a brief, confounded look at his assurance that there's 'always weird stuff' in Tsutsujidai, because that sure isn't her life. "Wow, you find the fun parties, huh?" she prompts him, with a grin.

The Cloud is Looking and Namiko turns to do so as well, apparently put at ease by Yuta's whimsical calm.

Which changes, rather abruptly, when he seriouses the whole way up, and she startles a bit at that, then looks back at the Cloud, now more widely alert.

And then it just...GOES. "Heck," she says, spooked. "Didn't like somethin'!" 

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        It's hard to say if the Glow Cloud 'heard' Alloy's shy greeting. But it had stared at her (the area around her? (someone near her??)) very intently. Surely her feelings had come across.
        
        Still, it's gone now. That moment has passed.
        
        Kaworu is still here, though. Kaworu, and those who gathered out of the same curiosity that may well have drawn the Glow Cloud here. Some are already dispersing--Lily to return to her mission, Lucine out of fear, Alouette out of the oppression from that fear, and surely more--but he is here.
        
        Shinji rests a hand on his shoulder, trying to convey the comfort that Kaworu so often tries to give him, and it's immediately effective. Kaworu gives him a warm, slow smile, and the hand he'd stretched out uselessly a moment ago now rests lightly on Shinji's.
        
        That smile spreads to Alloy as she seeks their eyes, a wordless sharing of this moment of joy. So by the time Yuta asks him if he's all right, he can honestly say, "Yes. I am."
        
        His gaze and his touch lingers on Shinji for a moment longer. Then he slips his hand back in his pocket and finally regards Yuta directly. "Don't worry. You didn't do anything wrong. It's only natural that there would be difficulties interacting with something so different from you," he reassures him. "I think, more importantly, they'll remember the fact that you tried."
        
        But it did flee. Kaworu gazes up at the distant patch of color for a moment longer.
        
        Then Namiko goes 'heck!' and Kaworu glances at her. It would just be a brief thing, with her relative dimness as an unawakened Repli-Compoid, but... "Hm," he murmurs. It didn't like something. He has his guesses on that, but that had only been the case at the very end. Until then, it had been transfixed--and it also occurs to him that she'd also been there, right next to Yuta. The Glow Cloud's regard had been focused, yet at the same time, broad. She would have been part of it too.
        
        Why?

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