2022-12-13: My Insatiable Newfound Hunger Has Begun To Complicate My Other Relationships
- Log: 2022-12-13: My Insatiable Newfound Hunger Has Begun To Complicate My Other Relationships
- Cast: Alma Stirner, Anita Rosetta
- Where: Britannia - Burger Fiend
- OOC - IC Date: 0096-12-13
- Summary: A casual outing between two Londo Bell pilots turns a little messy, but the true nature of that mess does not make itself known yet.
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
Alma finds herself mostly based out of the REA these days -- but her new posting gives her a lot more latitude to move than her usual Londo Bell duties did, which means she's free to invite basically whoever basically wherever.
Today, 'basically whoever' is Anita and 'basically wherever' is to Burger Fiend. It's her treat, of course -- and after that, she insists, they can go shopping or something! It's a great excuse to catch up.
So it goes, then, that the two of them have just settled into a booth at the fast food restaurant. Alma has a burger, fries, and a drink. ... more importantly, though, she has a new outfit -- a very elaborate black corset dress with floral-print stockings and green trim, with matching jeweled earrings and a choker. Her makeup is a little heavier than usual, too... maybe she's just experimenting, though.
A lot has happened.
"Thanks for coming!" she enthuses, and you'd never know how much has transpired from her casual demeanor. "It's really, really good to see you again. I see a lot less of people from Londo Bell lately..." Her cheeks puff out a bit. "I know I'm posted kind of inconveniently for other people now, but still!"
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita is never one to turn down free food, especially when it means a chance to hang out with a friend circumstances have kept her from hanging out with for a while. When she arrives to Burger Fiend, though, she's a little...
...Taken aback...?
"Wow." Anita starts, looking Alma up and down. "You look good."
...She does look good, but... isn't she a little dressed up for fast food?? A lot has happened. Maybe she just wants to feel good about herself by dressing up nice...?
Anita, meanwhile, feels maybe just a bit under-dressed in her usual casual hoodie and sweatpants combo, with a pair of basic gloves covering her hands. She's been a bit more open about her cybernetics lately...
...But not here in Britannia, though. She'll have to take them off when it's time to eat, but at least then it'll be less likely people will be looking at her hands.
Soon enough she's joined Alma at the booth, her own order matching hers.
"No problem. It's good to see you again, too." Anita replies with a smile of her own. Alma comments her posting, and Anita chuckles. "Yeah, we don't usually have cause to go over there that often..."
She takes a sip of her drink consideringly.
"So, uh... how you holdin' up? Has everything been okay over there?" Anita asks.
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
"Thanks! I've been getting a lot of encouragement online... apparently I'm actually pretty stylish if I bother to try. Not that I didn't look good in my usual cardigans and stuff, but..." She waves it off.
(... About 80% of that encouragement was sockpuppets, and Alma even knows that now -- but honestly, that's fine with her. To get that kind of attention from just one person is nice in its own way...)
"I'm great, actually!" she enthuses. "It's definitely different work from what I'm used to, but not in a way I mind," she explains, taking a big bite of her burger. "I don't really... I think the Gwennangorn would be too many miserable memories. I didn't even pick up some of my personal effects; if you or someone else on the Ra Mari needs an apron, uh, feel free to ask after mine, it's probably on Londenion."
Her expression turns bitter in a way Anita has definitely never seen from Alma before. "Besides -- Lilith was just jealous of my friendship with Yulie. I can't think of any other reason she'd do what she did... I hope she stews in it until the next time the Federation drags every half-decent pilot out of prison again."
(Yulie? Certainly a far cry from 'Captain Dispersal.' And the anger and intensity in those green eyes...)
Despite the viciousness in her tone, she immediately rebounds to a big, sunny smile. "Ah, but I bet you don't find that kind of talk super fun!" she says, brightly. "How are you liking the food? I wasn't totally into this place but lately the junk cravings are definitely worse..."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Oh yeah?" Anita remarks as Alma points out that she's been getting a lot of encouragement online. "Well, as long as you're wearin' what makes you feel good, that's the important thing."
Alma says she's doing great, then. Anita finds that a bit surprising, but... a little relieved that things aren't going as badly as she feared.
"That so...? I don't think I need anything, but I'll keep that in mind. Though - if there's anything you do decide you want back, I can pick it up for you next time I swing by?" She offers.
Alma continues and that bitter expression crosses over her face. ...It doesn't feel right - somehow the expression doesn't fit. Maybe Anita's just seeing a sign of her she'd never seen before.
...She does, also, mouth 'Yulie??' to herself, with her face hidden behind her own burger.
"...I know what she did was kinda extreme, but, uh... isn't it a little cold, dropping her so quickly? You two just... seemed to really care about each other, is all." Anita asks. "...I didn't realise you and Captain Dis-" She pauses, correcting herself. "Wait, I guess she's Captain Kafim now. I didn't realise you were friends."
But Alma rebounds quickly back to her sudden disposition, so quickly that Anita feels just a little whiplash.
"Ah - nah, it's okay." She replies, shaking her head. "Food's great, though. Never been to one of these before. Me, I'd probably die if I had to go a week without eating something junky. I dunno how you handle it."
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
"Yeah... I like it," Alma says, glancing off to one side a little distantly. "Being in the environment I was in was holding me back. The Gwennangorn wasn't healthy for me at all."
She takes another bite of her burger, processing what Anita's saying to her. "Mmuhuh," she agrees, though she doesn't sound that enthused. "I guess it's different when you cook for yourself," she says, after swallowing. "I like junk, but still..."
Another bite of fries. She's still processing, a bit -- and now that she's had a little time to go over it in her head and stew a little bit...
"I don't think it's appropriate for you to tell me what's cold and what isn't when my ex-girlfriend tried to kill my best friend at her wedding." Best friend? She really is escalating. An intense pressure starts to build around her, an almost nauseating feeling that seems to pervade their little booth. "And in fact, I think you know better, and you should really just shut --"
... Yuliana's never had a problem with Anita; Alma remembers that from her own conversations with 'Captain Kafim.' She's not one of the villains of this story, and neither her pain nor her compliance have any particular value.
... and maybe more than that -- Alma's legitimately quite fond of her! Every sit-down she's had with Anita has been really nice.
Hunching forward a little bit, Alma grits her teeth and stops... whatever it was she was doing. Her eyes screw shut for a moment, and she offers no further words for the moment. Whatever pressure rolled off of her abates just as quickly, to no effect... save that just a hint of nausea might linger.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"I guess sometimes you just gotta see the world." Anita comments with a shrug. Alma agrees with her comment, though Anita can tell she isn't entirely enthusiastic about it. She nods.
"Yeah. I can cook for myself? But... my pals are the ones who actually like it so I let them take care of the hard part and just clean up afterward. Rest of the time? Junk! Much less work."
She pauses, though, when Alma continues to address her previous comment. A cutesy nickname is one thing, but... best friend?? It feels like it wasn't that long ago that Alma was investigating her, and now they're best friends. And Alma's tone intensifies. Anita feels a strange, intense pressure, and an unfamiliar nauseating feeling. She feels uncomfortable and she can't really place it.
"Whoa, hey, I'm sorry..." Anita replies, raising her hands quickly. "I know it's way more personal for you than it is for me. I don't know what it's like. I just..."
She stops, trailing off and looking away. Before long, though, she looks back at Alma, concern crossing her face.
"...Hey, are you okay? You don't look so good." Anita comments with a frown. She still feels a little bit of that lingering nausea.
...The burgers are junky, sure, but she didn't get the feeling of 'food poisoning'-junky from them... What's going on?
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
Alma remains hunched forward; she doesn't eat. It's hard for her to even really register the apology, here, at first. Her fingers wrap around the end of the table, her grip white-knuckled. "I shouldn't miss her. She was jealous, I'm better off, all I need to do is focus on cleaning up her mess and making Yuliana and her wife happy," she breathes out. "I'll be happier. I'll be happier. I'll be happier."
She takes a deep breath, straightens out her posture -- and smiles!
And it's like the entire episode never happened.
"So! What's next after this? Lately I like to hit the boutiques after I meet up with someone! I wasn't such a shopper until recently, but you know, retail therapy is actually pretty nice! Britannia might not be the best to you, but honestly, I don't mind taking people to task if they remark on your enhancements or anything." Her bright red lips curl up. "Unless you have something else you want to try?"
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Alma... doesn't seem to hear her. But Anita can hear her whispering to herself, can see the way she grips the table. It's... a little disturbing to watch, and she feels nauseous again, this time for a different reason entirely. She looks away from Alma again, this time focusing very intently on the crowd, scanning it for signs of anyone who might be watching them, before lowering her voice and leaning forward.
"...How does that make you happy? Is she threatening you? Do you need someone to get you out of there?" Anita asks.
And then Alma... pops up! Like none of that ever happened! Anita's strained smile is that of someone who very much remembered that it happened and isn't sure how to proceed. She can take a lot of things in stride but this... is a lot!
The worst part is that it's a very kind offer, and under any other circumstances she'd be very happy to receive it.
"Uh..." She starts, trying to regain her composure. "Y-yeah, that works for me. I'm not much of a 'boutique' person, but it might be fun. I don't really know what else Britannia'd have to offer..."
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
"E-eh...? It's normal for your heart to hurt when you think about someone you like being unhappy, isn't it...?" Alma asks back -- an answer that doesn't directly drive at any of the questions Anita asks, and yet implies answers to all of them.
Still -- she pushes past all that. "Yeah! I mean, you can be stylish and still have a pretty chill look... sometimes it's nice to just -- have nice things, you know? Britannian fashion's not always my thing, but we don't have to go somewhere upscale, really... there's plenty of places."
Thinking a little, she affirms, "Once we finish up here, we can head to the shopping arcade and just... see if anywhere catches your eye, I guess!"
It's now that she finishes off her burger, at last. "Thanks for this. I definitely needed to see a friendly face, after all this..." She brings a hand to her mouth, giggling a bit. "You're a really sweet person~"
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita considers Alma for a moment. That answer... It doesn't sit right with her. But...
"...Guess I'm just worried about you, is all. Maybe I'm overreacting." Anita replies with a shrug, massaging the back of her neck. ...It's something of a retreat, for now. She saw what happened when she pressed her before. She doesn't want a repeat of that so soon after the first one. Something's clearly up, but... she has no idea what, and doesn't even know where to begin without stepping on another landmine.
So instead she smiles, still looking a little uneasy.
"Yeah... I like coordinating my limbs, but I haven't usually given my outfit too much thought. I just tend toward the comfy and familiar, you know?" Anita replies, and then nods. "Sounds good to me."
Anita finishes off her food at about the same time.
"No problem. Glad to help out." She chuckles a bit sheepishly, then. "...You really think so...?"
...If that's the case, then she really does need to get to the bottom of this.