2022-11-13: Enforced Idyll ~AFTERPARTY~
- Cast: Guy Shishioh, Renais Cardiff
- Where: Renais' apartment in Tsutsujidai
- Date: U.C. 0096 11 13
- Summary: Still smarting from the difficult battle to defend Orbit Base, Guy comes to visit Renais.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy has had some important discussions with a number of Akane Shinjo's victims, now. The last time he saw Renais, she'd turned him down for an offer that should've had her jumping up and down, and he left with Sayla to discuss their mutual secrets. This time, he's come alone, but not unencumbered.
Guy does not send her warning he's coming other than quietly pulsing his internal G-Stones in a way that will make his presence more easily felt to the other system he feels nearby. He takes the stairs, and he knocks, of course.
When it opens, it's not on the Guy she saw last time. Last time he'd dressed differently, like he were from here, in a not terribly great suit right down to a mediocre tie. Now, he holds himself with more strength and conviction; and he's dressed as himself, complete with that green GGG jumpsuit with the GGG Green logo on the high collar. Over it he's wearing the knee-length black sleeveless jacket that marks him as the Acting Chief of GGG Green. More than that is on his left hand, the glimmering golden bracer of the GaoBrace, a tool Guy hasn't needed for as long as Renais has known him. After all, it's for housing a G-Stone, which is part of him; and summoning Galeon, who Renais knows better than most isn't in this universe to answer...let alone of the mind.
But he's smiling with confidence anyway. "Been a bit!" he says, gloved hand on his hip, bracered one hanging loose. "Thought I'd come see ya."
He looks just a little banged up, favoring his side like he's been hurt recently. He does his best to play it like it's nothing.
<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.
Renais' apartment isn't much to look at-- it's to be expected, maybe, for someone who's been living here a month. It's fairly unremarkable, all things considered--most of the accoutrements of a typical one-person apartment are present, though it seems she's splurged for a couch as well. A small bookcase sits against one wall, stocked with a few novels, a few surprisingly advanced books on the level of the elder Shishiohs, and several seasons of Tarabaman--including a copy of Taraba Q in M-Color, still in shrinkwrap.
However, something *delicious* seems to be wafting from the kitchen. What's that about?
Renais looks surprised to see Guy as she opens the door, moreso as she looks him over. Her eyes linger on the GaoBrace. "Oh. Uh, Guy, hi. Come in." She gestures inward, opening the door the rest of the way for him. "Definitely a surprise... what were you gonna do if I wasn't home?" she asks with a smirk.
She's clad in more or less the same outfit she's been in, recently, though the greatcoat's been swapped out for her lighter-weight normal cooling jacket. "Go ahead and make yourself at home. I'm just working on some cooking experiments... we're at the exciting part, where I wait and hope I didn't fuck anything up."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy steps on in as he's invited, eyeing around with curiosity. He's never seen her place before! Not even back in Paris. "Fish around? Go see Alouette or Asuka, maybe...see if any of the coffee isn't dire...you ruined me for that, by the way." He grins at her, wry.
"Oh, cooking, huh? Yep, that's the fun part, alright...smell's great!" He cranes his neck a bit. Interesting to see her change the cooling jacket styles...good, though, he decides. "Guess you've been experimenting for a bit, then?"
"Oh, there was one thing," he adds. "Some things are going on outside, so I don't know that Sayla's gonna make it by anytime soon. I thought I'd at least bring you something for housewarming." He reaches into his jacket pocket and produces an actually kind of large, rectangular black box, which he presents.
Inside is...a succulent in a pot. "Should hold even in a PLANT environment," he says, brightly. "Thought something independent like this might suit you a bit more than the flowers I got Alouette."
<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.
"Well, the coat Akane got me is nice, but... it's a bit much to wear around the house... and Aya's about the only place with decent coffee," comes Ren's reply. "You might already know where it is, though--it's also Rikka's house. Her mom runs the place." She gives him a look of vague concern as she watches him limp, taking the box from him. "You okay? You, uh... kinda look like shit, Guy."
"And I know what happened to Sayla. Her ward, Leina, came by to talk to me about it." As she opens the box, she murmurs, "Amuro Ray... how the *fuck* did that happen?"
Carefully, she lifts the potted plant out of the box, smiling a little. "Oh, I love it! Might help brighten up the place a bit..." After a few moments scanning the room, she decides to put it on the coffee table, now, in front of the couch.
"Anyway. That's actually what the cooking's all about. Leina's helping me plan a dinner for the three of us... want to show Sayla I care." Her tone's a little gloomy as she sits down.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"Huh, yeah? I haven't been yet." He doesn't know that it's also where Gridman lives, another destination he never quite got around to. "Maybe I'll swing by! Seems like I'm in the area a lot."
There is a reason for that, of course. And he's anxious about a development there recently. But he chuckles as Renais calls him out instantly. "Still got a detective's eye, at least," he teases her. "Uh..." He scratches the side of his head, face screwing up. How to say this one? Well, directly's probably best, maybe? "J came by," he says. "They launched a big attack. Not sure how Taiga predicted an Angel incursion, but the Ruin Apostles hit three different places on top of it, including Orbit Base."
He gives her a sad smile. "Speaking of Amuro, I guess he raised some hell at Zeon and got their key, along with some big mobile armor I haven't seen yet. Bad time. Can't imagine how he got infected. Hard to imagine how he's alive, for that matter. Teleported to Jupiter, somehow...?"
Live the life you should have had, Mikoto exhorted him. But he can't do that...not without the people he cares about. His gaze refocuses on Renais.
"Had to give J a few wounds to remember me by, and he returned the favor. I'll be OK, just a bit stiff today. Orbit Base held, by the way."
He waves it off. Words it as he might, for someone who's not involved. He doesn't even entirely mean it as a jab at her condition...though he's definitely not giving her the news the way he would before her 'retirement.'
And...he moves on, as if it were something to be brushed past. "Oh, that dinner sounds great! I'm glad. I'm sure she'll love it!"
<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.
Guy compliments Renais' perceptiveness, and she smirks. "If I ever lose *that*, you should probably shoot me then and there." If not for the smirk, it'd be *exceedingly* difficult to tell that she's joking.
The smirk fades, though, at the next bit of news. Once again she finds herself wishing she could be there... but she's made her decision. She can't just go back on it.
"Is everyone okay?" she asks, not so willing to move on. "Ugh. I had a feeling Taiga would do this... how many keys did they get?"
Her eyes focus on the GaoBrace again. And for someone who's taken herself out of the fight... she's asking quite a few questions about it.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
He tries not to let himself smile when she sticks to the line. There's the girl he wants to see...fiercely loyal and as worried for others as anyone. And with a sense of humor as dry as the moon.
"One, Zeon's. They tried to sneak J past us with an ES Missile while Takeshi and Volfogg fought outside alongside some kind of....Triple Zero-driven false GaoGaiGar. Looked like the BioNet EI-15s, actually. Intelligence is still analyzing that one. Similar to what we saw Takeshi doing during the attack on NERV Central Dogma, at a guess. Nobody's dead."
He taps the table with one braced hand's finger, idly. "Koji and Sayaka got a big taste of how nasty Sigma can be, though. Couple Shuffles showed up as well." He cants a head at Renais, clarifying, "The alliance that swept that last Gundam Fight, right?" He has the history a bit wrong. But at least he covered for Sayla. He suspects Renais knows more than him; or at least, now, as much as he does. The fact that they got to know each other so quickly after Renais came back....but, he's not risking a friend's secret on a hunch.
"Anyway I'm afraid I had to get rough with him, but I fought J off. Orbit Base's key is secure. And I think Doctor Hirata has some ideas for securing Orbit Base against ES Window invasion to prevent them from using it to sneak in so easily next time. They're running out of ways to hit us. With JOSH-A gone...That just leaves the fourth as an option for them. The fight in Dakar will be soon."
His hand drifts on the table. This time he doesn't change the topic. He wants to prompt her. But he knows she'll say no. She'll have to. "Hopefully we'll have Final Fusion online by then," he says, quiet. Worried.
<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.
Renais nods, "I've heard of them." She glances over at him. Sayla still hasn't told him, then, then. It's not her place.
She looks relieved to know that things are still in their favor. "They're using spare parts, then. Guess they wouldn't need them for Genesic... I'm a bit surprised they took so long with that." To Final Fusion, she winces a little, but nods. "I hope so, too." She clearly feels at least a little guilty about the damage Alouette did, even if she didn't have anything to do with it.
It doesn't occur to her to offer to ask Alouette, of course.
"Just one left." One key is the difference between life and death.
"At least you know where they're going to hit, now. They can't fake you out the same as they did before."
Another glance toward his wrist, as she sits back, relaxing again--if only slightly. "What's with the GaoBrace, by the way? Didn't you stop needing that after you became an Evoluder?"
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"I think the Angel, combined with the--" ...he stops himself short, glancing briefly at Renais. He can't quite hide the several thoughts and emotions that come crashing together in that second, before he sighs. "Uh, resignations," he says, covering himself poorly. "Anyway, I'm sure it was an irresistable lure. If I hadn't passed Sayla that pager for her birthday, we'd have been dead in the water with no help but the Photon Power Labs. Count on Taiga to spot a perfect moment..."
"Just one left," he agrees, grimly. How many can they work without? Hard to say.
He doesn't even notice he's fidgeting with his gloved hand until Renais asks about the Brace. "Oh, the G-Stone in this is just an indicator light," Guy says, in answer to her second question. "I guess...after you and Alouette left - I mean, you hadn't rejoined anyway, but you get me - I...wasn't doing so well?" He laughs, lightly, embarrassed. He scratches the back of her head. "Said some nasty stuff to Akane, actually. But...the world can't wait for a hero, not right now. This is...a reminder. It's how I summoned Galeon, before - I guess before we ever met, huh? I need to be the King of Braves, right now."
"It's also my promise. To me, to you, to everyone here and back at home, that I'll continue to believe in miracles. I'll never stop believing in our ability to do the impossible."
<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.
"Resignations... yeah." Renais' eyes fall.
They really left everyone in a bind. It's hard to accept that it's okay for them that she's here.
And it's getting harder by the day for her to accept it for herself, but... she can't do anything about it. This is her life now.
She can't face the world outside anymore.
"I know what you want to say, Guy." She looks over at him. "I know what you want to ask. Leina asked me, too. And... I'm sorry that I can't come back with you. I've thought about it, but I just..." She shakes her head, looking down. "I can't do it."
"Which is why it's so important for you to do what I can't. I still have my G-Stone... and I can still help you. You can draw on my will. Even if I can't fight, I'm still there."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
That's not what he wants to say. It boils in his ears. What he WANTS to do is pick her up and walk out of here! Take her away from this place that's making her say these lies about herself!
His finger twists against the table and he smiles. "Renais..." he says, quietly. "...I think I'm beginning to understand. A little, anyway. I feel a bit like I failed you, honestly. I let you wander after we purified you because I figured you just needed space, but...it let this hurt fester to the point it's at now. I'm..."
He draws a breath. Considers. "I still believe in your courage, Renais. I still trust you, no matter what fears you harbor now."
He stands up, then, and draws closer - so that he can use his now-armored left hand to grasp her cybernetic one, and hold it. Heatproof glove. He grins.
"I will never reject you," he tells her, eyes sincere. "And I'll use that courage to protect everyone." Until you're there again to use it with me, he doesn't say, but perhaps it's there in his eyes. "I think something amazing will happen for you very soon. I'll make sure of it."
<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.
Renais wants to tell him, even as he holds her hand--as it stays there--that the only person who failed her here was her; that's how it feels. She's here because she failed, because she wasn't strong enough.
She knows, though, however true it may be, that it'd be cruel to say she's the failure. That she doesn't believe in her own courage.
But a failed courage like this is still useful--it's still something that can help others. Another voice in the cheering crowd... even if it can't be relied on, in the end. She knows she can still do this much.
She gives him a smile. it's weak, unsure... but her other hand moves to clasp over his, over the stone socketed in the GaoBrace.
She says just one thing, quietly. "I'll trust you."