2022-12-22: Always and Forever, No Matter What
- Log: Always and Forever, No Matter What
- Cast: Leina Ashta, Judau Ashta
- Where: Tuatha De Danaan
- OOC - IC Date: UC 0096-12-11
- Summary: After the events in Khanka, Judau and Leina speak; Judau learns about the Shuffle Alliance, and that it is not a gambling and/or theft ring, allegedly. Leina explains what she's been doing -- and Judau makes a choice.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
The frequency that Tessa sent Judau gives him coordinates for a rendezvous. A short trip a ways out into the Pacific Ocean takes Judau to a calmer stretch of the clear blue waters and there's just nothing there.
That's more the case than usual, as nothing comes up on the Double Zeta's instruments at all, not even the smallest ping. He certainly feels Leina somewhere nearby, but besides that instinct he's having trouble validating it with his other senses.
He may start to get frustrated when he gets his first ping of a friendly IFF signal, and that enormous submarine breaks the waters again, its hull sliding open to a hangar that takes up over half the size of the vessel.
People in the hangar wave him right on down into an empty bay. Several mechanics get to work on basic maintenance and refueling.
A far too straight-laced bespectacled officer in a tan uniform and a naval baseball cap with the words 'Turbulent' and 'S87 HMS' arrives to greet him with a salute, "Pilot Ashta? ... I'm Commander Mardukas of the Tuatha De Danaan. Let me be the first to commend you for your actions back in Khanka."
He only pauses for a moment or two before continuing. "As I presume you're wanting to see your sister right away, I'll escort you to her quarters. Please follow me."
The Commander pivots and leads Judau down surprisingly spacious submarine hallways? They're the width of TWO PEOPLE! Enormous for a submarine!!
Along the way Judau is saluted by several other people, noone under the age of thirty. Several even say something along the lines of 'Thank you for your service.' and he hears a few whispers of 'It's really him?' or 'He's actually back!'
It's probably by now that he's getting the impression that this was not some Smash and Grab gone wrong, maybe! I mean it might just be extremely well-funded. Leina is rich after all. She might have gone full paramilitary!
If he truly thinks about it his mind may may wander to times since he's been living there where she keeps a strict household food budget, with detailed SPREADSHEETS that she revealed to him.
How her room is humbly kept and doesn't have many expensive items - mostly personal and sentimental ones.
How despite the Villa having staff she still tried to cook her own meals and clean her personal space even while she was recovering in a wheelchair and having difficulty bending.
She certainly doesn't SEEM like someone who's living it up like some super thief performing mobile suit crimes to make bank, but maybe she's a super boring criminal who just steals and saves everything up and just enjoys the accrual of interest as she updates said spreadsheets and doesn't increase the household budget at all?
That sounds like the kind of criminal Leina would be be. Either way the point is that none of this is really adding up!!!
When he arrives at her room. He'll find its is shockingly spacious andmid-range hotel quality. She's visible from the door, sitting on the bunk, tapping something on a datapad.
She's got on a red sweater, a pair of jeans, and is wearing sneakers despite being on the submarine, and she looks up immediately, eyes lighting up, "Judau!"
The datapad is forgotten instantly, as she gets up and basically rushes him for a hug, arms squeezing around him for a tight embrace, standing on her tip toes, "Even feeling you coming - I was getting a little worried." She says quietly, and her smile is a touch lopsided. "After that save though, you get a free pass on keeping me waiting."
Concern knits her eyebrows, "You're okay right? She backed off?" Then a more thoughtful pause, "Should I send for a sandwich from mess? Roux insists that's the way to go coming back from a scrap like that."
Slowly releasing him and bringing her weight down to her heels, there's a momentarily guilty look on her expression, "Soooo I won't make you be the one to ask. What..." She gestures all over the room, though its obviously she means more the submarine, or maybe even something much - bigger than the submarine, "... this all is."
She gives him an inquisitive look, "Since you've been gone for so long I'll just ask first, what do you know about the 'Shuffle Alliance'?"
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
HOW IT STARTED
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?"
HOW IT'S GOING
"_Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh._"
So yeah there's been some progress.
These are the general sounds of Judau Ashta as he boards the Tuatha De Danaan. They are not the only sounds, of course; sometimes he even makes some coherent words!
For example:
'Pilot Ashta?' is what the stern-faced Mardukas greets the tanktop-and-jeans-clad Judau with, clipping off a salute. Judau squints for a second before he pound-pound-peaces in response.
"Uhhh yeah, sure thing, dude. And -- y'know -- it's Judau. Judau Ashta. Not Pilot."
So yeah there's that.
There's also, for example:
"Yeah sure. We're not gonna like -- go under water, right? With this -- whaleship? I'm not really an underwwwwwwait Leina's quarters?! Leina's got quarters?? Like -living space-?! In this death trap?!"
--
"Uh no offense it's real nice lookin' for a death trap. Spacious, an' crap."
So there's also that.
Between the 'uhhhhh's there's a lot of waving or attempting fist bumps in response to salutes and at least one "thank you for your -- ship?" in response to at least one of those greetings. It's delivered rudely -- he's actually very respectful, if a bit stiff and uncertain. All the whispers, all the thanks, all the attention -- normally it's not something he minds, necessarily. But...
... he's never been comfortable being in the spotlight for -this-.
So he mostly just ducks his head, rubs the back of his neck, and takes in his surroundings as he goes. He puts a few things together in the process: 1) he really doesn't like submarines; anything that exists to dive into this much water makes him wary (it's way too much water; who could trust this much water?? there could be sea cthulhus in that much water!!); 2) despite his realizing he doesn't like or trust submarines, this is a -very nice- submarine that is working in concert with Leina and he's -pretty sure- a submarine this nice PROBABLY costs more than a mass-produced Double Zeta so there's no way they wouldn't be operating at a loss here working on mobile suit heists with a Giant Secret Submarine budget. Knowing fact number two, and also that Leina lives a rather budgeted lifestyle and ALSO has the connect to Old (Space) Money Wealth, it's unlikely Leina was doing a smash and grab for profit, so, that means either,
a) there's something else, -weirder- going on here
OR
b) they're stealing mobile suits for the SHEER THRILL OF IT
He's still debating this fact by the time that the doors to that spacious, very comfy-looking room open and he finds himself abruptly Leinassaulted!!
"Gah!" is his greeting as he is bullrushed into an embrace; to his credit, the short once-and-future junker only stumbles a -bit- before he makes an astounding recovery, arms wrapping around Leina to pick her up -all the way- off her feet for an Ashta-style POWER HUG.
"Hey, I got your back, you know that!" he insists as he releases her and makes her way inside everything else forgotten in the moment in the face of the two most important things in this world: Family, and--
"Hell yeah I want a sandwich!"
--Food.
"They got real meat here, right? -- they're not like -- Cthulhu burgers, right??" Where did Judau even learn about Cthulhu--
"I'm okay. I bluffed 'em pretty good, they didn't tail me. You oughta be -- wait a fuckin' minute!" But FAMILY and FOOD can only last so long before he remembers exactly WHY they're here, wheeling around to point an accusatory finger at Leina.
"What the hell were you doin' in that mobile suit?! When'd they start mass producin' my Double Zeta?! And what the hell were you doin' in that mobile suit?!" Repetition is the path to power-- "You're not runnin' some kinda... adrenaline junkie theft ring on Earth, are you?! 'Cause there's no way any of this is profitable, just look at the size of this whaleship!!"
He's -pretty sure- it's something else but really he needs to take his lectures where he can get them and stealing at a loss is a big lecture point because I mean, seriously.
Sadly, it doesn't last. His full force rant is cut off by that guilty look. That gesture. That confirmation. He blinks. "Uhhhh... yeah. Right. Alla this." He kind of -- mimics the gesture, lamely. And then:
'... what do you know about the 'Shuffle Alliance'?'
Judau, who could give a crap less about Gundam Fights and who thinks they rule all known space, just blinks once, blankly.
"... uh...
"...
"...
"...
"... some kinda illegal gambling circuit?"
It's honestly the best he's got right now.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
To Mardukas' credit, he doesn't turn his sandpaper 'charms' on Judau when he asserts his name. And he answers his questions one, "We'll stay surfaced until O-900 hours." By one, "We are not." By one, "Yes. They were assigned to her after her extraction in Vladivostok."
He only slightly turns his face to the periphery, to look at Judau as he calls it a nice looking death trap, "We are very proud of it."
His awkwardness doesn't seem to put the people aboard the ship off - strangely. Maybe they assume that former ace pilots that went to Jupiter and back are just, like this?
Obviously they fit the pattern of mobile suit thieves that are stealing for the sheer thrill, not questioning such things as the presence of Sea C'thulhu's.
Leina however, laughs as Judau picks her up off her feet in a power hug, "You always do." With a sweetness to her tone, like she doesn't doubt that.
Once she's put down, Leina leans over and without missing a beat, "Nope ran out of Cthulhu burgers this morning-", She hits an intercom, "Hey there. Sorry to trouble you but could I please have a-" She gives Judau a look of amusement as she answers his question, "-ribeye steak sandwich delivered to my quarters? Appreciate it."
Ordinarily she uses her own two feet to walk down to the mess hall, but it's for Judau so she doubts they'll mind, "Ah good-!" Wait a fucking minute!
Leina's lashes flutter, as she stands there with her hands laced behind her back, head tilted at the barrage of questions, as she lets him get all that out, though an eyebrow twitches. And she makes this frustrated noise, as she puts a hand on her forehead, "Judau..."
There's just a sharp inhalation.
...
...
...
"Did you NOT see the note I left on the counter? Sayla just - vanished into God knows where Tsutsujidai just went and- there was a charity project that needed someone to run it!"
She just gesticulates with both of her hands, "You know, get aid to kids? War orphans? In the distant reaches of the shithole country that Khanka is? It's what her Foundation does! And I took over last minute since once again Sayla vanished. And MAYBE I was a little stressed, as a result, so Banagher and Audrey offered to come support me. And guess who shows up but Yuliana! Being all - 'Banagher you're under arrest, I'm taking the Unicorn - because I want to have a Newtype murdering machine to kill someone who ruined my wedding then keep it for the FUN OF IT!"
She throws her arms up for emphasis. "And BECAUSE Khanka is such a shithole, Sayla was running this project out of a more secure place. On top of a secret base. And there really was just a Double Zeta LAYING AROUND-! I KID YOU NOT! And I got into it because it was either do that or let her take Banagher away - and probably throw him into a Cyber Newtype lab because THE REA IS LIKE THAT! So in conclusion-"
She thrusts both of her arms back to her side, "-I am not stealing for the thrill of it! I am NOT STEALING AT ALL!"
She just takes a few deep breaths as she comes down from it. Then puts her hands together, "The... Shuffle Alliance. Is in simplest terms. A group of people who have come together to tell the Federation and the Sleeves..."
Leina is giving Judau this intense work, deciding how best to phrase this, with terms he'll understand. She can just imagine saying 'We have an ancient mandate to oversee war inherited by magical crests on Gundam Fighters' and watching him immediately categorize it as just another group of assholes while his eyes glaze over.
So how does she explain it to Judau in the end?
"... to stop being complete dicks."
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
There's nothing quite like hearing the holy words 'ribeye steak sandwich' to temporarily abate one's concern that they are in a swimming death trap in an environment potentially chock full of cthulhus.
"Heh heh, hell yeah, real-ass steak meat here I come!"
Sometimes the earth has things worthwhile. Like real cows, for Judau to eat.
So, he's at ease. At least for the few seconds it takes for him to wheel around and realize he has an opportunity to lecture Leina on her stealing technique; it helps that he took the information Mardukas supplied him and assumed, quite naturally, that the submarine wouldn't be submerging for the next literal nine hundred hours, which is going to be long long after he's gone.
A little weird that it'd take that long but, hey, not Judau's problem!
No, what Judau's problem is, is Leina's association with a cutting edge thrill theft ring probably!
And also the fact that she's skillfully turning his lecture against him, which is just unfair!
_Did you NOT see the note I left on the counter?_
"Uhhhhhhhhhh."
A MONTAGE OF MOMENTS JUDAU FAILS TO SEE LEINA'S NOTE ON THE COUNTER
Judau rushes past the counter from the refrigerator in hot pursuit of a cat that has pilfered his provolone as he was gathering the essentials for the Perfect Sandwich. He does not see the note, too busy as he is shouting threats at a cat.
---
Roux and Judau use the counter for an aggressive game of one-on-one beer pong. Judau loses terribly, as Roux is ruthless. He reads the note but he is understandably too blackout drunk to remember it because, again. Roux is rouxthless.
---
Judau is passed out sitting at the counter, his face plastered to the note. He wakes up with it stuck to his face, shambles off, and fails to recognize it falling off his face, due to the throbbing headache of a hangover.
---
Judau finally notices a piece of paper on the ground. Unfortunately, it's face down. He frowns, considering it, and then does his good deed for the day by grabbing it and tossing it in the recycling. He cares about mother Earth.
---
"HEY! WHERE'S LEINA BEEN!"
Begins a long string of a conversation with Roux that leads to a Newtype Feeling which leads to a bad gut hunch which leads to Yuliana: Axe Murderer which leads to
NOW
Where Judau just kind of stands stock still for two seconds in that telltale way where his brain is bringing back ERROR signals on anything to do with a note.
"Of course I saw it!"
And so he plays along like he knows exactly what Leina is saying except he doesn't really aside from Sayla being missing; her explaining everything outright helps, of course. His brows furrow a little as he listens, head tilting as his expression turns towards the sympathetic.
"If you -- y'know -- need help with all of that kinda stuff, or just someone to watch your back, Leina -- y'know you can come to me, right?" he asks her, in the lull between her frustrated explanation and what comes after regarding the Shuffles. "I'll even give you a family discount!" And, from the way he offers a smile, this is a joke. ... Probably. Still. There's some things that make this all feel... off.
"How's Sayla got access to secret bases like that, anyway? An' what's the deal with the submarine?"
He notably doesn't question anything about Yuliana or the REA because, yeah, that all checks out.
But -- answers come, in some manner, at least. Judau leans against the quarter walls, arms folding over his chest as he watches Leina work through the right way to phrase this to him. It's a patient look -- a look he reserves for the important people in his life, like Leina. Not judging, just... waiting.
'A group of people who have come together to tell the Federation and the Sleeves... ... to stop being complete dicks.'
"Good luck with that," is Judau's first, kneejerk thought on the matter. He hesitates a second.
"So... what're you sayin'? You're workin' with these Shuffles? You're piloting for them?"
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
A blonde haired man complains to a mess hall cook, "And why don't I get my meals delivered to my quarters?"
"Because you are not the Captain's Guest."
The cook pronounces as he finishes scooping up the steak, onions and cheese mixture from the grill, and putting it on a toasted bun, before plating it.
"You're sure it has nothing to do with the fact the Captain's guest is a cute girl? I know your type..." He says with a waggle of his eyebrows.
"It's got nothing to do with that!" The cook protests, before Kurz Weber snatches away the tray, "Good good, then you won't mind me doing the delivery."
"Hey! That's my job!" "Benefits of the rank!" Kurz calls out as he struts down the hall.
-=-=-
At best, Leina looks like she put on her 'Skepticals' when it comes to him having seen the note. With crossed arms and a single lofted eyebrow she just stares at him for a bit, but despite them being two heavily connected Newtypes she can't just peer right into his mind to see him and Roux playing beer pong before pointing and going 'Ha J'Accuse!!!'
His words though serve to deescalate her, her stance shifting, her arms growing more loose, and a smile, "I know and-" 'I'll even give you a family discount.' There's a short pause, but she recognizes almost immediately it's a joke, and there's a laugh. "Yeah we can count it towards how much you owe me for all those years of cooking for you back on Shangri-la."
She teases back, warmer, before explaining, "I honestly just didn't figure this kind of thing would happen - or else I would have asked your help, promise." As she tries to give him a reassuring look, "Yes Khanka's dangerous - but we were careful sneaking in, and didn't leave the warehouse - plus, there was a lot of security. Just... not enough for that apparently."
Soon the question turns to how Sayla got access to secret bases like that, anyway. "So, Sayla joined the Shuffle Alliance a few years after she took me in. I kind of, grew up around them? ... I wasn't a member myself until recently. When, it was just decided it was safer given everything I get involved in by being around Banagher and Audrey."
'Good luck with that,' Leina for a short time after just looks, tired, despite the optimistic contrast in her smile, "Don't think I don't realize how impossible that sounds, Judau. ... Think anyone who went through those times knows."
Then that question... her eyes grow a little pinpoint, "I was in a non-combat intelligence role... not piloting."
She scratches the back of her neck, looking up at the ceiling, "I promise... I never wanted to pilot, just about the last thing I ever wanted to do. It just felt like... the only option."
Momentarily, she closes her eyes, like she's just trying to, process, "Kinda like, what Roux says you know? Just had to make something bad... stop. And I don't think, I would have ever felt good about myself again if I'd just let her have her way - if she'd taken Banagher off to some Cyber Newtype lab because I decided to be a bystander."
She realizes that she forgot to answer one question, as she opens her eyes Leina then leans over to tap the metal of the Submarine wall, "As for this submarine... it belongs to Mithril, which is a secret organization whose mandate is to try and end war. They're a part of the Alliance. ... The Tuatha de Danaaan's got advanced stealth systems, so it's pretty much the safest place on Earth if we need to hide out?"
Knock knock knock, "Hey cutie - guess who brought the meat-!"
The door opens to a blonde haired man wearing a white shirt, and suspender pants over boots, the picture of confidence.
... Until the first thing he sees is Judau Ashta... and Leina raising an eyebrow to look at him just beyond Judau- looking mostly irate.
There's just this longggg awkward pause, before he slides the tray onto a bolted down dresser...
"The crew of the Tuatha de Danaan is always happy to service-" Cough. "Serve our guest. Enjoy your meal!"
That door sure shuts REAL quickly.
Leina rubs her forehead as she murmurs, embarrassed she's trying to make a good impression about Mithril and the Alliance - and that happens. "'Course, I don't think anyone is ever safe from Sergeant Weber, no matter where they might be."
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
"'s never enough to deal with an axe murderer. Haven't you ever watched any of those movies? They just murder all the cops immediately!"
Judau knows it's more probably involved than Yuliana being a horror movie axe murderer monster. But, look. She had the axe. She had the murderous...ness.
In his eyes, the classification is a slam dunk!
"Glad I got there in time. Somethin' about her just..."
Triggers all of his 'DANGER! ASSHOLE APPROACHING!' warnings even on first meeting. But also...
... makes him feel a bit sorry for her.
The reasons are entirely different, but it reminds him distantly of Haman.
It's something to mull over later, perhaps. In the end, Judau just shrugs and waves his hands in the air about it. "Ahh whatever! You're all alive, so that's good." A second passes. "You are all alive, yeah?" He didn't actually. ... check. But Leina'd be much more upset if Banagher died or whoever this Audrey is so he's going to bank on 'yes.'
The problem of Yuliana is on the backburner for now, though: now is the time to talk about SECRET CULT-- SECRET ORGANIZATIONS.
"Sayla's been with 'em, huh...?" For at least the past five or six years. "They been around a while?"
It makes sense, for Sayla at least. She knows how to pilot, she was associated with that Very Intimidating Woman and her associate Roux has some strong opinions about the dynamic of. Things click into place, at least a little bit.
Leina joining, though. When that tired look filters in to her gaze, a little frown touches Judau's lips. He thinks to say something but -- what can he say that wouldn't just be disingenuous?
"S'not bad," he says, after a moment. "To try."
That much, at least, he does believe.
Why else would he have come back?
He absorbs the rest of it. The reason why she decided to get into that suit -- it's as good as a reason there could be, he thinks. Better than the reasons why he first got into one. Despite himself, he smiles a little, but doesn't speak yet. Because she's talking about secret, war-ending organizations and their fancy high-tech stealth subs and he's just slowly going cross-eyed at digesting this whole secret organizations within secret organizations thing like a Russian Nesting Doll of conspiracies so he just kind of has to focus on the most cogent thing to protest:
"There's nothin' safe about bein' in this much goddamn ocean! You can't stealth a -- a -- giant goddamn shark! They smell blood! We're all fulla blood!"
how does he know so much and so little about the ocean
And this is about when Kurz enters with his cleverest innuendo, with an irate Leina and a fully incensed Judau, who just sort of jabs his finger at Kurz,
"An' who the hell is this guy talkin' about meat all creepy-like?! He's not gonna save you from a giant ass-eating shark, that's for sure!"
Kurz wisely makes his exit. A second passes as Leina rubs her forehead and Judau realizes "Oh damn, my sandwich! Score!"
And thus, his anger abated by promise of food, he swipes up his sandwich, takes a big bite, and chews. "Wephpuh? Liehg a" gulp "spider?"
...
"Dude's a creep but he makes a kickass sandwich."
Why else would he be here if he wasn't the one who made it, after all?
A second passes. Judau chews another bite. Gulps. And then:
"Okay. Shuffles. Mithril. Alla that. They're all secret stuff. You're workin' for 'em." A second passes. She didn't want to pilot, she had said.
"... An' now?" It's not the only option, now that they're out of those circumstances. But...
"D'you wanna keep it up?"
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"'Course I have. I'm actually kind of a fan of horror and zombie movies? The schlockier, the better. All kinds of axe murderers in there."
'Something about her just...'
Her eyes soften, her feelings are complicated but, this she can clarify. Leina ultimately decides not to broach that topic right now...
... she knows it's going to be a tough one for Judau, given... everything during the war. He still might feel her become a bit glum for a time.
He still cheers her up right away by talk about how they're all alive. "... Yeah. And the casualty reports indicate, noone died? I'm kinda stunned by that fact. They could have killed everyone there..."
They been around a while...?
"Uhhhh... I'm told they've been around for thousands of years? Like, things get murky that far back but, that's what they claim. You know how Domon has that crest on his hand? Supposedly that kind of thing gets passed down. Most people just know the Alliance by the crestholders, they don't realize there's people behind them, like us."
Talk of Domon's crest being passed down makes her think of Shuuji, and she looks distant, behind that tired look... 'S'not bad, to try.' Her smile broadens at that, "Yeah, that's how I feel, though it's more like - I've got to try? I guess I can't just live my life without trying. ...I know these things now, so I gotta do something about it."
Judau does his best to absorb it all, and his conclusion is...
... Leina takes a deep breath, then exhales. Despite how Judau can be a pain in her ass...
"Judau how big do you think the sharks get!? There's not a shark in the world that could even put a dent in this hull! You think people on the Earth go to the beach for some life or death thrill seeking!"
... some part of her really really missed this. "It's not like that! You're more likely to die in a car crash than to something out of the ocean attacking you!"
Kurz comes, mistakes are made, those mistakes may not involve the sandwich, but the rest are explained - "THAT, is Sergeant Kurz Weber of Mithril. ... And I dunno, he might? He's actually their best sniper. He'd probably just be real shitty about it after."
There's a snort laugh over the sandwich, she's going to have to give that evaluation to someone else out there... tell Sousuke and Tessa what Judau said about him...
... the smile dies off her face, as he asks her a question, and Leina almost immediately blurts out 'No!' But that impulsive reaction dials back on her face, as if she's giving it further thought, some real thought...
"I don't know. ... Maybe? We're kind of in dire straits right now, with Sayla and some of the Crestholders struck in Tsutsujidai..."
Her hand rubs her opposite arm, as she obviously seems uncomfortable about this, "I'd be lying if I was saying I didn't feel the pressure to step up. It's all... Sayla this, and Sayla that from the rest of Shuffle right now, because she was basically running the show, in the field too. Even though I'm brand new they act like I'm her... I dunno heir or something! Like they value what I have to say."
She definitely looks stressed out about all of it, "... I'll have to think about it. It just..."
There's a deep sigh, as she pinches the bridge of her nose and rubs right there, "... Maybe. It definitely feels like even if I tried to avoid it, even if I like, quit the Alliance tomorrow - I'm going to be put in that position again."
Then softer, almost inaudibly, "So maybe I should."
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
They've been around for thousands of years.
Judau just slowly squints. His lips purse. His entire expression, curdling inward, just says,
'I have some complaints.'
It also says,
"Who puts a crest in their hand??"
'Who is Domon and what is his crest?'
"That's messed up, Leina."
Because Judau definitely pays about as much attention to the pop culture going ons of Earth as he does a thrillingly dense pay-per-page novel.
It's clear, though. The seeds of an idea are forming there.
The seeds of 'this kind of sounds like a cult, right, like, I mean'.
At least they sound like a well-meaning cult! But there's no time to think about it for -right now-, because -right now- is time for--
"How big do YOU think sharks get?! It's the ocean, Leina! Get serious! There's all this -- space -- of water! Things grow big with more space! Imagine how big a space shark would be!"
His logic cannot be denied. He's pretty sure this is mostly science.
"The beach is probably fine because of how shallow an' crap it is! Plus -- it's the beach, not the ocean!"
S C I E N C E
Leina explains Kurz. Judau's sea green gaze narrows. He processes the details. So... he might NOT have made the sandwich, is what he hears.
"Well, screw him, then."
The redeeming qualities of Kurz are no more, now he's just a creepy... webber... man.
He's missed the debates, too. The arguing. Most of all, he's missed her. And so, as much as it might not be the easiest topic to broach, he brings up the possibility of piloting anyway. Because he's missed her. Because it wasn't that long ago she couldn't walk because of mobile suits. Because choosing to sit in that cockpit might...
There's a moment of conflict as she speaks. He considers, rubbing his right forearm with his left hand, chewing on the inside of his cheek in gestures of agitated thought as he looks off to the side. He sees, feels, that kneejerk impulse. But the real answer is...
So maybe I should.
He knows the reasons why she might. He knows what might happen if she does. Every part of him wants to tell her that it's a stupid idea, to tell her there's no way in hell he'd let her, to maybe sneak into the hangar and eject that other Double Zeta into the cold, unforgiving depths of the HIDEOUS OCEAN.
"... Tch."
He, too, fights against impulse.
"What if," he begins, and sets aside his sandwich to approach Leina, "what if you did, an' you didn't hafta go it alone?"
Obviously, Banagher will be there. And Audrey. And whoever else is in their culllorganization. Sayla will eventually be back, he's certain of that. But...
"... What if... I was there to help you out?"
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina can recognize that Judau has some complaints. SHE has some complaints about Shuffle herself it's just...
... what other alternative is there out there that's even trying? And aren't assholes, like Celestial Being, who don't give a damn what affect their interventions are having?
"Their predecessors? It's, like magic. I don't know!"
She says of the crest, however she having grown up around Shuffle does not get the Cult Vibe, so she can't see the seeds of the idea forming in Judau either.
Leina just looks at Judau evenly as he speaks of how big Sharks get, her mind trying to PROCESS this sense of logic from the school dropout... and...
"I can't even!? What! Are you getting your earth information from like- fictional adventure movies!?" A breath, calms down, "Judau. Newtypes are supposed to be space adapted humans right? So if what you're saying applies, then wouldn't you - a Newtype from Space - be the size of the Moon?" A beat, "At least?"
She just looks him in the eye, not backing down on this. Though it then becomes wry, "All that space on Jupiter and you didn't put on that kind of a gut." She teases.
Screw him then, she definitely understands the idiom, but she given the context, she can't help a joke... "Nope." She manages a wry grin, "Last thing I'd want to do actually."
She definitely seems torn up over it. She always has felt pressured between what she actually wants to do - and what she DOES do for the people in her life.
And right now piloting definitely looms large as something she can and maybe should do for the people in her life.
Her eyes are just, elsewhere, mind moving a mile a minute, trying to even process her feelings over what happened in Khanka versus what's happening here... Judau however, puts the sandwich down - a sign that he's at least 11x more serious than usual.
And her eyes raise to him in wonder... 'What if she didn't have to go it alone?' For a few seconds she seems to be just, reflecting... then she smiles, "You're sure?"
She asks quietly, "You know I almost didn't... walk up to you, that day you were leaving for the Energy Fleet. Because... I was afraid if you saw me you'd do what you thought I needed, rather than what was best for you. Sayla had to talk me into it..."
Those eyes, the same hue as his, search his, as if part of her introspection required searching his feelings, "I had to work myself up to offering for you to live with us, because of that. And this? I was going to offer this, because... I really want you to be a part of my life, desperately so, but... I've always wanted you to live your own life too."
Leina puts his arms around him in a tight hug after a moment, laying her head against his shoulder, "And even if I want you here with me. It just... sucks to think I'd be drawing you back into fighting again, for my sake."
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
'It's, like magic. I don't know!'
Leina does not know something. It's a rare moment. And so behold, the older brother in his natural environment,
"Heh heh, 'like magic,' pthhhhbt--"
Lording it over her.
He's got just the smuggest smile and everything. See?? What good's reading when a book can't even tell you why weirdo cultists put crests in their hands!
Score one, junker life!
He'll table his growing concerns about what is seeming like the space occult rituals of the Shuffle Cult for now, though, because Leina's on the attack on his completely valid findings re: space lifeforms. Not one to let his research of 'he had a gut feeling after he saw some movies' be denied, Judau puffs up with stubborn defiance, waving an accusatory sandwich Leina's way as he does.
"I'm just very dense!!" is his rebuttal.
A few seconds pass in which Judau has time to consider his counter-argument.
"Wait, shut up! I mean in, like, physicology-wise! I've got Newtypeness packed in through the pores! So I'm Moon-sized in my heart!"
JUDAU ASHTA - vastly mighty Newtype who still doesn't really get how it works, really, just -- mechanically.
"PLUS - PLUS - I don't gotta eat entire planets to stay alive like a space shark would!"
just where is he getting this information on his hypothetical space shark
(odds are high he saw a series detailing all the weird things that have been found in shark stomachs and just extrapolated from there using his vast Newtype power and/or runaway imagination)
Frowning mightily in the wake of all this, Judau is discreetly patting his stomach for careful inspection of a potential gut. With his sandwich-bearing hand, he's pointing at Leina and giving a thumbs up as best he can around said sandwich death grip when she jokes. Leina has good taste and good sense -- this is known. Even their dumbass Banagher is alright by Judau's estimation.
But that doesn't mean that Leina -doesn't- take far too much on herself, good sense or not. Sandwich abandoned, Judau makes his offer. Leina questions it, but the young man from Jupiter's expression doesn't so much as shift as he leans back.
'You know I almost didn't... walk up to you, that day you were leaving for the Energy Fleet.'
Judau's gaze affixes forward as he listens, thick brows knitting. But when those arms find their way around him -- the young spacenoid is already hugging back, knowing the intent before it's even realized. Arms around her and squeezing with firm affection, Judau lifts his right hand, ruffling her hair as she rests her head on his shoulder. And for a long time, he remains like that even after Leina finishes saying her piece, just quietly hugging the sister he spent nearly a decade worlds away from.
"Me an' Roux, we had to get away, y'know?" he begins finally, a smile on his lips. "But I dunno if I coulda stuck with it if you hadn't been there. Seein' you, that you were okay, that you had people who cared for you here -- it made me sure I could try to figure out what was goin' on in my own life. I'm glad you did."
He stops here, considering. And then:
"It's the same now. I wanna help you, Leina. You're my sister. I always wanna help you, an' I always will. But... this is for me too. I came back because I wanted to see you, but... it's also because it felt like..."
Axis Shock, felt from worlds away, lingers in the back of his thoughts, a sentiment more than a memory.
"... there was somethin' more I oughta be doin'. To help, to try to... get everything past the same stupid crap everyone keeps gettin' caught up in again and again. I dunno what that is yet. But maybe bein' here, with your--" it's not a thrill-seeking thieves' guild judau-- "... magic... crest... superfriends..." better "... will help me find it out. I want to fight. For your sake."
He pulls back, then, just enough to look in her eyes.
"But for mine, too. Okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina gives Judau a cross sideeye as he raspberries his worldly street smarts over her book knowledge. Not that she doesn't have worldly street smarts in spades too, it's just he's done exponentially more crime, junking and fighting.
"What you never saw magic stuff you couldn't explain while you were out there fighting with Koji or something? Sounds like he's got one up on you."
And then, quite maturely as sibling arguments go Leina sticks her tongue out at him, and pulls down her left lower eyelids. Making faces is a habit she's never quite shed.
'I'm just very dense!!'
Leina holds on for a second, but then her face twitches, and there's the biggest snerk into a hand, then she just starts giggling even as he tells her to show up.
"Moon-sized in your heart! Use that line on Roux sometime!"
Leina's still on the edge of laughter even as he brings up that he doesn't have to eat entire planets to stay alive like a space shark would, "I dunno, I think you could give a space shark a run for its money in an eating contest! You gotta remember-!"
Leina holds up a finger and winks at him, "I always did the food budget when we were younger, so your little sis knows just deep that stomach goes."
Leina too would like to know where Judau gets his information on hypothetical space sharks. Is this a Jupiter thing? All she knows is weird GGG stuff happens around Jupiter.
She could imagine Guy Shishioh fighting a planet eating space shark.
When the tone shifts, Leina can at least tell Judau is taking this talk seriously. The two of them always know when the other is. When the bickering ends and these moments begin. Even before they were Newtypes, they knew.
Judau's arms are around her instantly, and with a ruffle of her hair, a broad smile on her face that thins out instantly... as she just listens now in turn.
There's a nod of understanding when he says he had to get away. She doesn't interrupt, truly wanting to get a sense of how he's feeling, where his mind was while he was gone towards Jupiter, where he's at now. When he says it's for him too, the look in her eyes changes to one of surprise and wonder...
... noone would blame Judau Ashta for staying away from it all forever. Least of all her, and yet he says its for him. That he ought to be doing more to help. He draws back, and the same shade of green is reflected in his.
"Okay." That sunny smile is there as she seems to acquiesce to his explanation of where he's at, "You can stay as long as you like, and leave when you want. This isn't some formal military thing..." A beat as she thinks of the TDD-1 crew, "... despite how Mithril makes it look."
A breath taken, and- "If you feel like there's something more you should be doing... I want to be there for you too, helping you figure out what that is." Her smile grows broader, "Even if it's not this in the end. Maybe this isn't where I'll end up either."
A small tilt of her head, "I just know wherever it is we should be, whatever it is we should be doing. I want to figure it out with you. I have other people there for me now in my life..."
And her smile transforms into a close eyed one, "...but I only have one big brother."
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
Judau Ashta: knowing just enough terrible facts about underwater creatures to assume horrifying things about their space counterparts.
Don't even get him started on the true terrors of the sea and cosmos: (SPACE) DOLPHINS.
Judau still has no true rebuttal to how much food he consumes at any given time and the horrors of the dinner bills he has racked up and absolutely paid for and did not dine and dash on. So, being a mature adult who has experienced the best and worst of life, he offers a reasonable counterpoint instead:
"Yeah, well -- whatever!"
The rest, though...
One way or another, it was back in the turmoil of the Earth Sphere that Judau would end up. He knew that, the moment he and Roux returned. But at the very least...
... at the very least, he can do it on his terms, moreso than before. He can decide for himself what form his efforts take.
At the very least, he can do it in a way that doesn't have to involve military protocol.
Speaking of which: upon prompting, Judau looks around him as Leina calls attention to their surroundings. He frowns, frowns -big-, his brows screwing up into a knot.
"Yeah I'm not truckin' with any of this," he ultimately decides. Because of the intense MILITARY atmosphere? Maybe. But also--
"I don't care how good their sandwiches are, no way I'm messin' with this deep sea coffin."
--that. Also that.
His attention inevitably returns to Leina though. It's a serious conversation -- but it doesn't stop the grin on his lips either, as he takes a small step back.
"Then we'll have each others' backs, no matter where we end up, yeah?" he says.
And then he lifts his right hand, offering up his pinky finger.
"No matter what."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
All Leina can offer is a grin to his 'whatever!' like she just scored a point on whatever invisible sibling bickering tally they've had since... well forever really.
However, she can see where THIS is going as Judau looks around, and frowns - frowns big.
"It's-" She begins as if to try and defuse this thought, 'I don't care how good their sandwiches are, no way I'm messin' with this deep sea coffin.'
Okay maybe she didn't know where this was going after all.
"You're really fixated on this submarine thing, aren't you?"
Leina sounds only lightly exasperated, but that gives way to a smile as she puts her palms up as if asking for trust, "Okay okay - I'll introduce you to the rest of Shuffle, the non-Mithril side soon. Trust me, MOST operations don't launch from the Tuatha de Danaan. We just fly in. ... So we'll never make you park the Double Zeta underwater."
Once back to the serious side, Leina's eyes open as Judau steps away, and holds up his pinky, and Leina hooks hers around his, "Always and forever."
It feels like a lifetime ago when it was just the two of them, but for however much things have changed, one thing won't, "No matter what." She repeats with that affectionate smile.
They may not always agree on what having each other's back means, what siblings do? What's more important is that the two know that each of them does.