2022-11-08: Can't Get Her Out of My Head
- Cast: Leina Ashta, Rena Lancaster
- Where: Londenion, Side 1
- Date: U.C. 0096 11 08
- Summary: Rena and Leina catch up. It's very casual. Then Leina mentions she is dating Mineva Lao Zabi, and Rena explodes.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Londenion is a large colony, with a large city. Rena is meeting Leina here at the same cafe they were reunited, though this time it's planned.
She looks reasonably well -- wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and a light jacket with a Londenion sports team's logo on it. But, there is a faint aura around her; a sense of being overwhelmed and exhausted. It's lingered since her encounter with Yuliana and JOSH-A.
There is happiness too, though: after all, this should be a fun time!
She has a drink, already. It's a cup of hot tea.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina's at least healed up enough for space. The travel wasn't always pleasant, but, it was doable. She was cleared to start Physical Therapy soon, but she still wasn't able to get up, which means that she's still in the wheelchair.
Bearing a box on her lap, she rolls around in a pink jumper and jeans, an old pair of running shoes on, tapping on her phone...
... however as she approaches the cafe, she puts the phone away, putting up her hand to wave Rena's way as she approaches. Rolling up to a side of the table with no chairs, "Hey Renalle. Glad we could meet up like this." And picking up the box without bending too much, she puts it on the table. "This is for you. Grasshopper cake. Went on a baking spree recently."
Leina smiles at her sunnily, "How've you been?" Despite it all, and her injuries, and all she went through at Torrington, she's looking like she's in high spirits at least. "Life on the Ra Mari treating you well?"
When a server comes by, Leina orders a pumpkin spice latte because the haters don't deserve her time of day.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena knew that Leina might be in a wheelchair soon. One didn't heal that quickly from those sorts of injuries. At least, without some help...
A broken arm, when she was fourteen, healed remarkably fast. She knows why now.
She waves at Leina approaches, smiling a little more brightly at her -- and then her eyes widen. "Aah, Leina! You shouldn't have!" she says, energetically. "I love those sorts of things!"
Leina knows that, of course.
A beat. "I'm... okay. There's been a lot lately," she says, with a knowing smile. She sips her tea. "You probably saw it in the news. Plus some other stuff. How are you? Are you healing up okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina initially grins away at her reaction, before tilting her head, and there being a small frown as she nods. "JOSH-A?" Leina's in Shuffle Intelligence now, even if she'd never say. They're still trying to collect data points to put together an analysis. "... I can only imagine, that kind of WMD, awful."
Taking out a pen, she scrawls on a napkin: 'vist may be watching been following me around lately so careful what you say' and slides it over to her.
Leina's smile returns, "Yep, cleared for PT starting next week. Gonna take a few weeks of hydrotherapy still but - nearly there."
How is she though? Despite her good cheer before, she admits to her "Hmm. Been rough lately with Banagher is on the run."
That much she can say safely. She's hesitant to talk about Audrey casually, especially out in the open. "Was actually detained at my school last week by the Feds. Luckily the Londo Bell Captain stood up for me when it went too far."
There's this light sigh, "Then I'm all wound up about this Zaftra wedding I've been invited to for one of the REA's Cyber Newtypes. It's just... bad idea, and I know it's a bad idea. But can't get her out of my head. Reminds me too much of..."
There's a shake of her head, she figures Rena can probably guess what it reminds her of.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Yeah. It... was pretty terrifying," Rena says. That might be an understatement, though -- after all, she still felt tense. She takes the paper slid over, her eyes on it. There is a faint narrowing of her eyes; also a faint nodding of her head.
She doesn't say anything else. In fact, she takes it and slides it into her pocket. She'll destroy it later.
"That's good," Rena says with a nod. "That you're getting better. That's awful about Banagher... and that they came after you."
She sighs, and she hesitates for a moment.
Rena raises an eyebrow. "An REA Cyber-Newtype," she says. "She... invited you to a wedding?"
She feels a chill.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Rena gets a look of sympathy in her eyes, she hates that she had to deal with seeing that. That level of death experienced as a Newtype, it would overwhelm anyone. "Vist actually sucks at being fascists." Leina puts it bluntly to Rena, when it comes to how they came to her school. She doesn't need to hold back...
... there's a civil rights lawsuit already filed against them.
Leina lets out a prolonged sigh, "Yeah it's. It's messed up. She's actually been trying to harass me and my friends lately as like some manipulative game... but I don't play it, so it drives her up the wall. I should stay away and know it, but it's like... a lot about her reminds me of... her, if she'd gotten to grow up? Gotten even better at manipulating people? Hurting them?"
There's this small shake of her head, as her latte shows up, and she picks it up, having to bring it up all the way without bending to take a sip, before putting it down, "She even has this Major as her superior, I ran into him and he's like... if 'he' were in the REA."
Leina says 'he' in those vague terms, but she doesn't need to explain to Rena that she means Glemy Toto. "Going would be incredibly stupid, and I know it. She obviously has something awful planned, and the way she sees the world - it'd be impossible to reach her." A beat, as her seagreen eyes fall upon Rena, "But I can't get her out of my head. Just can't."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena spent a good thirty minutes in her cockpit afterward, just to be able to move along. She takes a deep breath, though, and she nods her head.
"I don't like them," she says, keeping her voice low. "I don't... I'll try to keep an eye out and see what I can do from there. I'm--" She quiets down, then shakes her head. Rena has to juggle two things -- and that means not getting Londo Bell in trouble or losing a chance to keep an eye on Vist.
She quiets down, after a moment.
This person sounds familiar. If she hadn't mentioned her being an REA soldier, then Rena might dismiss it. Her eyes widen; there is a sudden pulse of trauma and fear from her, psychically. It brings back memories.
"Is..." Her voice sounds strained, for a moment. "Is her name Yuliana Dispersal?"
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina just smiles at her and nods, "It's okay. I get it. It puts you all in a complicated position. I imagine Bright's doing what he can too."
After she tells Rena all about that, however, Rena asks a question, and Leina's eyes grow briefly wide as she catches the strain. Then...
... she looks horrified, "Oh God I'm so sorry. Dr. Bidan said recently that... she really hurt someone he knew. I didn't realize it was on the Ra Mari."
There's a distinct pause, as she asks gently, something welling in her throat, "Was it you? Or someone on the crew?"
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I think so. I hope so," Rena says, with a sigh.
Her eyes look down for a second. She nods, hesitation written all over her face. Rena debates how much to say -- and she takes a look around her, before deciding no one was watching.
"It was me," she says. She can see why Dr. Bidan wouldn't mention the specifics. "She... decided she hated me. I don't know why." Rena shakes her head. She has thought a lot about that; she never could settle on one thing.
"She went digging into my past. She... learned some things and decided to tell me," Rena says. She glances down at the table. "And it was all with a mind to get at me. She's... not a good person, Leina. Something's very wrong with her."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina winces abruptly as Rena confirms it was her. That she went digging on her past. And the wheelchair rolls out from its spot, over to Rena, as she puts a hand over one of hers. "... I'm so sorry. And no. I know she's not. She's an asshole." Leina says it bluntly, abruptly.
Cursing is rare for her, which means that she definitely really means it. "As for what's wrong with her. I think I understand what it is. She told me how she sees the world." Leina looks at Rena with those seagreen eyes, "I'm not telling you this so you'll sympathize with her. I'm telling you so you can protect yourself." Her fingers curl over her hand, she takes some time to compose her thoughts, "She hates you because she hates Newtypes Rena, because she is one, and would never admit that. She especially hates being compared to us. She was likely in a Cyber Newtype lab, and they conducted an experiment so that the same moment she awakened..." There's a pause, a hitch in her voice, "... they turned the lights off. The exact same moment. And where she's supposed to feel people, that connection. She feels nothing. There's nothing there. Just, hollow spaces. It's... driven her insane. Her worldview is solipsism. She believes nothing in the world is real except for her. The rest of us are all fake."
Leina looks away, somewhat abstracted, "But she still hates Newtypes because I think we draw attention to what she was meant to have - and worse yet - she can sense us, somehow. She makes it a hobby of hers to find us, to harass us." Her gaze creeps back to Rena, "Like she did you. It's her way of lashing out."
Leina pauses, gives Rena some time to digest all of that, before saying, "However, there are ways to stop her. She's terrified of her superior, for example. It... disgusts me to have to threaten to tattle to a man like that. It does, but... sometimes its the only way."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina winces abruptly as Rena confirms it was her. That she went digging on her past. And the wheelchair rolls out from its spot, over to Rena, as she puts a hand over one of hers. "... I'm so sorry. And no. I know she's not. She's an asshole." Leina says it bluntly, abruptly.
Cursing is rare for her, which means that she definitely really means it. "As for what's wrong with her. I think I understand what it is. She told me how she sees the world."
Leina looks at Rena with those seagreen eyes, "I'm not telling you this so you'll sympathize with her. I'm telling you so you can protect yourself." Her fingers curl over her hand, she takes some time to compose her thoughts, "She hates you because she hates Newtypes Rena, because she is one, and would never admit that. She especially hates being compared to us. She was likely in a Cyber Newtype lab, and they conducted an experiment so that the same moment she awakened..."
There's a pause, a hitch in her voice, "... they turned the lights off. The exact same moment. And where she's supposed to feel people, that connection. She feels nothing. There's nothing there. Just, hollow spaces. It's... driven her insane. Her worldview is solipsism. She believes nothing in the world is real except for her. The rest of us are all fake."
Leina looks away, somewhat abstracted, "But she still hates Newtypes because I think we draw attention to what she was meant to have - and worse yet - she can sense us, somehow. She makes it a hobby of hers to find us, to harass us." Her gaze creeps back to Rena, "Like she did you. It's her way of lashing out."
Leina pauses, gives Rena some time to digest all of that, before saying, "However, there are ways to stop her. She's terrified of her superior, for example. It... disgusts me to have to threaten to tattle to a man like that. It does, but... sometimes its the only way."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Yeah. She is," Rena agrees.
She quiets down as Leina explains. Some of it is stuff she could guess at -- twice now, she encountered Yuliana near a laboratory -- but the confirmation helps. She looks down, though, and her brow furrows. "That... explains a lot," she says, as she glances to the side. "She'd talk about Newtypes--about how much she hated us. I never quite understood why. But... it explains why what I sense from her is wrong."
Because there isn't anything there; there is only a void.
Rena looks up, then, and nods. "That's good to know. The things she found out..." She leans closer. "...It could be bad, if she decided to bring them out in public. I'm not sure I'd want to provoke her into doing that, at least--not unless I'm sure it was the end of her."
She swallows. "Though I think she's enjoying having something to torment me with."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"It's horrible being close to her... It's..." Leina stops, then just shakes her head. Like it's indescribable to her.
Rena explains how it's bad what she knows, and her face tightens into a distinct frown, "God... blackmail. I wish I was surprised. You're both Federation Military but... it's the REA way."
There's just this shake of her head, she doesn't ask what dirt they have on Rena because she suspects Vist isn't around in a Panel Van or a Box Truck today.
"She does." She confirms quietly, "She does. If you can't do that... then when you encounter her, just don't play her game. She wants to provoke a reaction out of you, because she likes the attention. Even if it's negative attention."
Is it any wonder she compares her to Elpeo sometimes in her head? Even without that sense of vacillating between innocent and malicious childishness.
"She wants to feel powerful, and in control. She actually ran across Banagher a while back and..." Despite how much she's frowning, there's sort of this, wryness that enters into her expression, "... he's a bit gullible. What she did with him was pretend she was having a medical emergency, and latched onto him so he couldn't get away. It was this... whole Wounded Gazelle act."
She squeezes Rena's hand again, "I know its hard, with her lording something over you, but the way to deal with her is just to not let her have control of the situation. Don't look at her as a dangerous monster - that's how she wins. Look at her as a childish asshole."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Yeah. Like she's just... blanking out everything nearby," Rena says. She would ask if it's like what life is like for an Oldtype -- except it's not. It's not the absence of a sense, but the absence of sensation that she should expect.
Rena doesn't volunteer the information, but not out of distrust for Leina. It's simply that this isn't the best place to do it.
"Yeah," Rena says. She glances down for a moment, then she swallows. "...I'll try that. And just... keep an eye out for when we can do something that'll stick."
Maybe they could have her arrested -- or something else.
She looks up, then, and she tilts her head. "She did that sort of thing to me before. She'd act hurt -- or act like she was regretful. Then... she'd strike." Rena sighs, before she squeezes Leina's hand back. Then, she smiles. "I'll try. It's a little hard to not see her a monster, when she's being monstrous, though. But... you're right."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"I lived without Newtype senses for... ten years of my life, then there was a whole year where it was just, small flashes. Before..." Part of the reason perhaps why she can empathize with Yuliana is how traumatizing her own awakening is. Feeling the adults she was groomed into becoming one day, and feeling only hollow spaces in their hearts, action without feeling, deception without substance.
It was maddening.
"... but even so it's terrible. it's like she's taking a whole world that's a sixteen lane Britannian freeway and turning it back into a balance beam for me. It's dizzying, nauseating, like I'm going to fall off at any second."
Leina listens to Rena resolve to try it, to keep an eye out, and she nods with this rueful but unsurprised look as Rena speaks of how she did that Wounded Gazelle act before striking like a snake. "I get it. It is. And like I said, not asking for you to sympathize with her. I just want you to stay safe Renalle... and she's obviously making things awful for you."
Eventually she lets go of Rena's hand, and heads back to her place at the table, "Nnngh, think we've talked about her enough for one day." She raises her coffee, and it's easy to miss the mischievous look in those seagreen eyes as she lowers her coffee...
"So how's your love life been lately?" Leina says as she springs an ambush of her own, however it's a benevolent one, as she feels like it might easily jolt Rena's mind to shift gears off something extremely unpleasant.
"Are you seeing anyone right now?"
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena hesitates, before she nods. She knew Leina didn't always have it -- it's different, now. When they were younger, Rena was the more powerful one. Though, after she went to Winter Wonderland...
She learned to constrain herself some.
"Yeah," Rena says. "Be careful, okay? She is dangerous. She'll go to a lot of ends that are out there."
She smiles, though. She nods in agreement -- that's enough about Yuliana. She hesitates for a second, before she tilts her head. "Ah, yeah. Eight York, actually. For a few months. And, um, there's... some kind of complicated things, too."
She scratchesat her cheek.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"Oh yeah. I know. There are... other factors keeping me safe from her. I think she understands it wouldn't turn out well for her if she went too far."
Sayla and Yuliana have a business arrangement... bribery mostly, to get relief aid in the REA. Harming Leina would only cut off her revenue stream. And that'd just be... step 1, given how Sayla Mass would likely respond.
"But all the same I'll be careful, promise."
She's still considering the wedding but... security measures are at the forefront of her mind.
Leina's eyes shoot up, and there's this coy smile, "Dating the Captain hm? Good for you, Renalle. She seems like the type who can keep it professional too while on duty."
Though she gives her a questioning look, "Complicated... things?"
A waiter replaces the napkin, and Leina actually takes that too after a moment, and starts writing. However, she doesn't slide it over to Rena yet.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"That's all I ask," Rena says, with a smile. She has her doubts, still -- but those have more to do with Yuliana's predictability than any concern about what actions Leina might take.
Rena takes a sip of her tea, then she nods. "She is. And, ah, we kinda-sorta saw each other before she was promoted. We go back," she explains. "Before either of us joined up. After... you know."
They both spent time with Neo-Zeon, but with very different parts of Neo-Zeon.
Then, she tilts her head. "Well--there was someone else, but she's not really doing the... military thing, right now. So I think that's on hold."
Which, really, may be best for Arriety. "And, um, there's a friend that I also kind of like. But I haven't talked to her about it, yet. I don't think it'd be an issue with Eight, though."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"Ohhh I see, back on Winter Wonderland." Leina says, eyes brightening. "Glad to know you've been in that kind of long term relationship then." And then there's some surprise at what she says, and the pen scrawling on the napkin stops, she looks to stare at it. Then looks back up at Rena. "Ah. Hopefully she's okay."
Then she blinks again, and her lips press together tight, and Leina looks back down at her napkin. Then back at Rena, "Wow. You'll have to tell me how you handle having that kind of relationship..."
Leina slips the napkin over to Rena...
'Keep it secret but I'm also dating Mineva Lao Zabi'
She's kidding right?
However all it takes is one look, and Rena will understand she's dead serious in her intentionality.
"...as ah, I'm new to this kind of thing. I was in a relationship with a guy for two years before but..." A fingertip scratches at her chin, "... this is real different from that."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Mm-hm." Rena scratches at the back of her head, then nods. "Yeah... it took awhile for us to figure things out. Well, for me to. Eight had it pretty figured out. And yeah, she's okay."
She pauses, thought, and tilts her head. "I-I'm not exactly an expert. I'm--"
She gets the piece of paper. She opens it -- then stares for a second, her eyes widening. She makes a face, before she looks up at Leina. Is this a joke? Or--no, Leina doesn't look like she is telling a joke. She seems...
...completely...
...serious...
"Th-that's not what I expected," she says, with a laugh. "I'm... glad for you? I, um--I wish... I wish I had good advice. You just kind of have to feel it out, I think. What works, what doesn't..."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina watches Rena with keen interest because, she's... not new to relationships, but she is new to this. She's trying to glean anything of note here just because she finds herself wanting to make this work, in fact she's desperate to make this work. After Sayla told her how a Newtype Bond between four people caused...
... the Axis Shock.
It's easy for her to believe that if things go wrong, that they could go disastrously wrong.
Still, she nods as Rena says she's not an expert. And perhaps Rena gets a greater idea of how serious this has become with letting her know that she's dating the Zeon Princess. Even if to Leina herself - she's Audrey Burne, because that's who she chooses to be.
She gives Rena a sheepish smile, "No I imagine not." And after a moment, Leina just sighs, "I was afraid of that. I'm... the oldest and have the most relationship experience, so it feels like a lot of it is on my shoulders to make it work." She confides, "We'll figure it out. It's just. Yeah. It's a lot of pressure."
The pressure and the complications of two partners being in the middle of a vast conspiracy, and one of them being the person Neo-Zeon remnants want to revive their entire society, as a figurehead.
"Guess there's nothing to do but... keep the lines of communication as open as possible."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena can understand that.
It's not fair, in a way, how close she is with Eight. It's something that is hard to put into words -- and it extends past what could be described, easily. She hesitates a moment, before she smiles. "It's okay," she says. "No one has it all figured out. I definitely don't. Just... don't add pressure onto yourself, okay?"
A beat.
"This is not advice I follow," she says. "I guess, um, take it easy and try to enjoy it. And... listen, yeah. And... if it's ever not working, that's okay. You don't have to be perfect."
She sighs. "Also advice I don't really follow, b-but still."
She hesitates for a second. "If I can ever meet her, I wouldn't mind. I know that's complicated, but... you know, since we're friends. We might need to do it on the down-low, though."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Newtype Bonding with three people this powerful is a bit of a whirlwind experience, Leina is fast discovering. In a sense it's exhilarating being so close to two people so quickly. In another its overwhelming, because is her life going to be defined by these bonds from now on?
Rena notes that it's noone has it all figured out, and to just not add pressure on herself. Leina actually laughs at that, just sharp, quick, "Renalle really? You know I'm not gonna follow that advice either." She says as she winks at her, closing a single seagreen eye, "This is a situation where I just... have to be the mature one. It's just the way it has to be."
Then again, when is she ever... not, that. When has she ever let herself take a break and be... young.
"But... Alright, I'll, try to keep my expectations realistic."
She asks to meet her, and Leina gives her a serious look, "There's a lot of security concerns right now. The moment it becomes safer..."
She trails off, but the implication at least is, 'I will do my best to set up something as soon as its feasible.'
"... but I think she'd be happy to meet you too."