2022-12-18: Stumble/Bolster
- Log: 2022-12-18: Stumble/Bolster
- Cast: Emilia Eschonbach, Ai Martel
- Where: Ashford Academy Student Council Room
- OOC - IC Date: 16 December 0096
- Summary: Emilia Eschonbach hits the wall.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia Eschonbach is handling the season poorly. Snow is falling and piling up, and a good portion of students have returned home for Christmas. This is the sixth year she hasn't had a home to return to. No one to return to.
Somehow, this year is worse. She finally had loved ones to spend it with. Maybe Milly and Kallen would have to spend some of it with their families, but... at least they could have had some time. She wouldn't have been alone.
And then Tsutsujidai disappeared, and Milly and Kallen with it. It wasn't just them, either. So many of her friends had diappeared with the colony. And there were murmurs in the student body that they'd deserved it. Rumours that reached Emilia because of who her grandfather was. And then there was everything with Ranka.
As such, Emmy has barely left the Student Council room apart from the last week of classes and work. And now the customary Britannian Christmas Break is happening- it's probably been days since she's entered her dormroom. The fold out couch that Milly had ordered was unfolded, with just a thick blanket and a pillow on it.
Right now, though, Emilia sits as the student council table, monitoring GUTS and Student Council email boxes. Trying to do six people's jobs, to take the weight off of others who were missing people. Sousuke was missing, and she was sure Kaname was suffering...
There are deep, dark rings under her eats that even Emilia's makeup skill can't hide. A half eaten vending machine burger and a lemon soda sit next to her, forgotten.
Eating is not the only forgotten obligation, either.
<Pose Tracker> Ai Martel has posed.
The latch to the council room door quietly clicks, and the door opens a bit. Blonde hair and one green eye peek through the gap, spotting the room's sole occupant.
"Emilia? May I come in?" asks the familiar voice of Ai Martel.
She doesn't take no for an answer. Ai steps inside, dressed extravagantly as ever, brow knitted in concern. She takes a few steps forward, and gently says, "We were meant to have a tutoring session today... I've hardly seen you in class, either."
"The others' disappearance has been hard on you, hasn't it?" she asks, quietly, approaching the desk. She surveys the room and sighs.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emmy doesn't even react to the sound of the latch opening, and it's not until Ai speaks that Emmy even seems to notice she's there, looking up from the computer with a start. "P-P-P-Professor...?" She asks, tiredness echoing off her voice. Why was-
The word tutoring comes up and Emilia blinks once, before realising. "A-ah! I'm s--orry, I... I tot--ally f-f-forgot." Her stammer is bad today, and the ability to hide it by speaking less is one she doesn't have right now. After all, she didn't need to here. She starts to stand up. "D-D-Don't worry, I c-can be ready... I j-j-j-just...need..." What does she need again? Her books, right, which are...
And then Ai mentions the disappearance and Emilia just sags with her whole body. "I... I r-really miss th-them..." She says quietly, as if admitting it too loud will mean they never come back. Like Mom. The rememberance event was in four days, and she had been strictly prohibited from all of them. Even if she wasn't it meant going back to the mainland. "At... at l-least if I h-h-hadn't... m-messed up. I." The cold she'd picked up after the mission, combined with her injuries, had meant attending Music and Play Appreciation Day was off the table. She'd been looking forward to it too.
"Why... why i-is it... a-a-always at Christmas...?"
<Pose Tracker> Ai Martel has posed.
"It's all right," Ai replies soothingly, shaking her head. "I can see you're in no condition, my dear. We'll do it another day." She pulls up a seat next to Emmy. "I'm sure they miss you, too." She reaches out to take her hand. "But... it's not for good."
"You did the best you could have, dear heart. And I'm not sure I'd have done much differently, in that situation... I certainly can't blame you." She's quiet, thoughtful a moment, and lifts Emmy's hand, clasping it in both of hers.
"You aren't alone. There is at least one person I can think of who won't allow you another miserable Christmas." Her eyes are still worried, still melancholy... but a smile grows on her lips.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emmy lowers back to her seat as Ai takes her hand. "Is... th-that okay?" The uncertainty is clear even as Ai tries to reassure her. "...A-are you s-sure? Do you.... d-do you really th-th-think..." Now the doubt is there, in her heart. She's trembling.
Emmy shakes her head. "I... I-I didn't... I sh-sh-should have r-retreated with... with R-R-Ranka... Or...or f-focused on m-m-my defence...." But she didn't do that. She shot up a seemingly random car. "But.... I s-saw..."
She trails off, and Ai takes her hand and raises it. That reassurance starts to make her tremble. Is she allowed to have a nice time, with Milly and Kallen gone? Is it okay not to worry? Is it rude to Ai to be so fearful when she's trying to help her? She looks down at her hand, not sure what to say here, and too tired not to ask something she shouldn't.
"A-am I... allowed?"
<Pose Tracker> Ai Martel has posed.
Ai nods. "It may not have been a good idea. But... well. Given what your grandfather has done to you, I think it's more than understandable." How she knows it was him is left unsaid.
"You should have retreated, yes. You had a passenger. But... the past is the past. You know what went wrong... and you're both alive." She sighs. "I wish we'd been the ones to find you, but... Ms. Kouzuki, Ms. Starking, and I were waylaid, and had to retreat from the rescue operation, ourselves."
She looks disappointed. In herself, more than anything. But at the question, she smiles again. "Allowed? My dear, you are *welcome*. To tell the truth... I've been feeling the emptiness of the manor rather acutely, lately. I'd like the warmth of some company, and... I think you need it."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emmy falls quiet. Maybe it would have been understandable if she'd hit... But as far as she can tell she put Ranka in danger for nothing. Maybe she learned, but her messages with Ranka had been... off. And that strange cyborg who took her... What was she to do with that knowledge.
"...C-C-Captain Zinnerman was th-there at the. Right time." She wished she had been well enough to ask questions, rather than whimper and cry- and she didn't have long before she was home... even if how was still a bit of a blur to her. And who would have stopped the rescue team? She rubbed the gold bracelet on her left hand- a gift from someone beyond the distortion.
A gift from someone now dead?
Emmy finally looks up at Ai, her eyes tired, her face exhausted. "M-M-Milly said... Sh-she..." The tears she has been holding back for days start to gather, worried about breaking a promise. An agreement. "N-n-n-n-not... t-to leave... our f-f-fortress..." But is Ashford even a fortress without her? But she so desperately doesn't want to be alone, either, with how tightly she grips one of those hands grasping hers. She's allowed... she's welcome...
And Ai promised to protect her.
"...I'd...I a-a-accept..."
<Pose Tracker> Ai Martel has posed.
Ai nods, "Captain Zinnerman... he is one of the ones who's been watching over you, correct?" she asks, wondering to herself just how much this Sleeves operative can be trusted. "I'm glad to hear he got you home safe."
"But... in any event, you will do no good to anybody, least of all Ms. Ashford, if you try to shoulder the burdens of the entire council on your own, and isolate yourself this way," she chides. "When she said that, it wasn't with the expectation that she would be out of contact this way, I am absolutely sure." Not gone. Out of contact.
"I think she would want you to take care of yourself. What would she think if she saw you in such a state? You haven't been sleeping properly, I can see that much--and I'd bet this hamburger is your first half-decent meal in at least a day." She smiles. "You will be safe with me, Emilia. I would go to the ends of the earth to protect you... and when the others return, which I know they will, you will be able to tell them you were taken care of."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emmy's eyes are downcast again. "Apparently..." It had been a surprise to her. For how long... Who had even arranged it? How many people have known what he thought was a secret? Had he been involved with Mineva and Banagher? The sheer thoughts that came unbidden, tiredly.
She looks back up at Ai, listening carefully. Was that what she was doing? Isolating herself? But.... Was it so different from being the girl cleaning up the club room that Milly barged in on so long ago? The chiding works well enough. Ai's confidence and certainty does the rest.
"...she'd b-be... disappointed." The sort of disappointed where she'd be saying the exact same stuff Ai was saying now. And when Emilia looks up at Ai, with her blonde hair, her green eyes, her kind smile... for a moment, she sees someone else. She nods quietly. "Th-th-thank you."
When Emmy tries to stand, her hand still holding onto Ai's, she stumbles. With her reactions too dulled to grab onto the table, there's only one way for her to go- into Ai.
<Pose Tracker> Ai Martel has posed.
Ai nods, "Of cour--eep!" She lets out a surprised squeak as Emmy stumbles, and catches her as she falls into the older woman's chest. "Ah... hm. I was going to suggest we get something to eat when we get to the manor, but... perhaps you should eat the rest of this first, if you're in such a state," she half-jokes.
She smiles, helping Emmy right herself. "If you can make it out to the car, though, I'm sure we can find something much nicer." Another sigh escapes her lips at the girl's sorry state. "And a much nicer bed than the fold-out, I can guarantee that. Shall we?" She grins wider, gesturing toward the door.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
"S-sorry." Emmy mumbles, standing back up a little easier. Her eyes swivel to the food. A closer look at the burger implies it's been cold for hours and was probably an abandoned lunch. Still for a second she cautiously reaches for it before feeling unsteady and clinging to Ai's arm. She blinks a few times, parsing Ai's statement.
"I c-can make it." Emmy says. That offer of warmth is something she's clinging to, right now. It's desperately wanted. "I j-j-just... need s-some help. Is th-that okay?"
It's a little slow before she gets to the car, but she's asleep by the time it's left the campus. Safety does a lot to help Emilia get to sleep.