2023-03-04: Shared Pasts
- Log: 2023-03-04- Shared Pasts
- Cast: Sayla Mass, Akane Shinjo
- Where: AEU Spain - Villa Mass
- OOC - IC Date: 0097-03-04
- Summary: After Akane gets back from HaroCon and Sayla gets back from the Photon Power Labs, the two of them settle in on the couch and talk a little about the past and about their current situations.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Sayla had finally gotten out from PPL's observations today, and Sayla was actually doing what she promised she would- rest. Or at least as best she could. Her dreams were still... unpleasant.
But right now, the house was quiet, and Sayla was lying comfortably on the couch in the main living room with a couple of coffees, a bottle of white wine, a small cheeseboard- and a cat on her chest getting a good share of the cheese.
Sayla reached up to scritch Buer's head. "I know, I know, I abandoned you, gata." The abyssinian purrs loudly, enjoying her treatment. The series A Wanzer Football league wasn't really grabbing her attention right now, and she's already given up on reading anything academic.
"Mind keeping me company on some nostalgia, Buer?" The cat continued to purr, and Sayla smirked. "I'll take that as a yes. Play: Persimmon from Start."
The TV starts loading the media, as Sayla seems to expect no one else around.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane... has been elected to a key position in student life!
Sure, we'll call it that.
Now back from HaroCon, Akane is trying very hard to get herself emotionally ready for what that position entails. She spent most of the trip back -- and all of the night, for that matter -- agonizing over what to do. She's managed to get herself to an answer she's happy with, but...
... it is a demanding answer. Which means she has to test-drive it a bit first.
When Akane hears Sayla settling in to watch some TV from the next room over, she calls, "Mind a watch partner? I've never actually seen that end to end," making sure she's out of Sayla's blind spot. After a moment, she appends, "Oh, uh... don't freak out, I did something with my hair."
That's the euphemistic version. Akane Shinjo's hair is now a bit of a messy brown-black dye job and not her usual, and a few inches longer besides -- but maybe more relevant is that she is an inch or two taller and a little less of a knockout. You'd need to be looking pretty hard to notice some of the differences, but she's definitely got slightly squishier cheeks, too...
Making her way over to the couch, she starts, "Uhh -- I have some news! It's... good news, but kind of wild..."
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Sayla is caught by surprise by Akane's request, but smiles. "Not at all." She says- before getting surprised again. There's a wide eyed blink as the old opening starts. It takes her a moment before she remembers the girl in middle school, and she realizes what she's seeing. She smiles. "That's an understatement."
Sayla Shuffles up the couch to make room for Akane, and Buer tolerates this mistreatment to get into position to receive pets from two people. "It's nice to see you like this." Having bothered to sit up, she hits the remote to pause- they can watch after her news.
"Big news too, I'm guessing. Well, I'm all ears." Sayla's focus is purely on Akane. "I want to hear what you think is wild."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane gently pets Buer the whole time she's settling in; she isn't gonna unseat her too bad. Stretching out a little on the couch with a bit of a yawn (how is she still this tired?), Akane takes a deep breath. Wow, she reflects -- the animation's still impressive, even if it's just a skosh dated...
"Uh -- so I have no idea if they do this anywhere else, or what the usual layout is, but... Rikka and I got elected to the GUTS prom court." She turns a little pink as she adds, "We're Couple of Couples. That's, uh. Most votes of the same two people... paired together."
She looks at Sayla, and there's an earnest seriousness to her expression. "I don't want that kind of memory to be... muddled up in wondering if people were seeing the real me. I feel like I have to do it this way. It's kinda scary, but..." With a small sigh, she adds, "I'm gonna have to get this dyejob fixed up, too... I don't really wanna go back to black, but I know there's a lot of Japanese schools involved in GUTS..."
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Buer acquiesces easily, purring under Akane's hand. "She really does seem to like you. Ever since she grew out of being a kitten, she's only gotten affectionate that quickly with Chris and your brother." Sayla seems happy to watch Akane get feline affection.
But Sayla's eyes light up at the new. "Congratulations to both of you! I'm so happy for you." Sayla's smile seems... energetic. "I was going to be asking for photos anyway, but now even more so."
As Akane gets to the point, Sayla can't help but feel a bit of pain in her heart. The real her, hm? Sayla nods. "I know Rikka will support you, and I think you have more friends in GUTS than you know. They believe in the two of you. If this is the you you want to show, then I think you should. It'll turn out alright."
Sayla blinks, after a moment though. "I think the brown suits you. If black didn't work for you, why should you go back?" In fact... the photo of Akane back in the apartment had brown hair, didn't she? Why did that change?
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
'Why should you go back?' Akane startles a bit at the question, and it kinda dumps everything out of her brain at once. It's -- honestly so confusing, though... as someone who's lived just about everywhere, it makes sense Sayla wouldn't get it, she realizes. Even so, it's a little disorienting. She wants to talk more about the good parts, but...
"... 'if you want to be a proper Japanese woman, start by fixing your hair,'" she mumbles, half-out-loud, half-to-herself. "It's... I know Tsutsujidai High isn't like that, but if they've got chaperones from other schools or anything, it's..." Her gaze tilts down, away from both Sayla and the show. She pets Buer, but there's not a lot of heart in it.
"I... got written up a lot for hair and uniform violations in middle school," she eventually elaborates. "My hair's juuuust a little lighter than the average Japanese girl's, and some schools really got back on enforcing that stuff after the invasion, apparently." The hand she isn't petting Buer with clenches a little. "One time I even got asked if the reason I couldn't make myself fit in was because my parents were separated. Even the idea of having to deal with something like that again is... uugh."
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
The sudden tenseness, the startled response... And then the words out of Akane's mouth. Sayla looks for a moment shocked and angry. A thought passes through her head. How dare they do something like this to a teenage girl. As Akane looks away, she might feel Buer move- jumping on to the back of a couch. The reason might not be obvious until Sayla moves to occupy her space.
"...I'm sorry. I didn't know." She can see why... Japanese identity movements, the politics in play... And none of it excuses it. Quietly, Sayla wraps an arm around Akane's shoulders and gently pulls her close to the side, and if allowed will wrap the other around her chest. A slightly awkward hug, but a hug nonetheless.
"That's... fucked up." There's no other word for it." Sayla shakes her head. "All of it. You deserved better from all of them." It's an old refrain, but an important one. "...You won't have to deal with it. Never again. Anyone who tries will be going through me first."
Thereis movement on the back of the chair. "I want you to be able to be you all the time, when you want to be. I'm not going to let some school official throw their weight at you for something that's just part of you- and you're going to get to have this moment you deserve."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane lets herself slump into Sayla a bit, half-returning the hug. (It is an awkward position, physically.) She doesn't instantly start crying, but there's some audible raggedness in her breathing, signs that she could if she started getting overwhelmed or doomspiraling.
... And there comes the overwhelmed, a bit, but it's the positive kind. Akane shifts on the couch to hug Sayla a little more earnestly, tearing up a little. "I know they're not going to care at this school... and I know you wouldn't let things go that way. It's just --"
Here, she gets tongue-tied; it's so much. Swallowing hard, she tries to find the words -- and still can't; she eventually disengages from the hug to pull out her phone and tap something out before turning it toward Sayla.
> if anyone tries it, can I just tell them to call you instead then
... Then she's right back into the hug though. The communication was important, but the hug is... necessary.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
As Akane slumps against her, Sayla lets her pick her position. She is here to be here for Akane right now. As she feels that change in breathining, and shifts a bit herself to let her. As Akane's voice fails her, Sayla doesn't try to finish for her, letting her get her phone.
"Absolutely." There's a simple nod, and Sayla squeezes Akane's shoulders. "I'll be their problem, not you. That's what I'm here for." She accepts that redoubled hug.
And then Akane freels something bump her very gently on the head. And again. And then something licking at her hair. If she looks up, she will see Buer, alternating between grooming and gentle headbutts.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane nods, getting comfortable again, and then -- oh no!! Now she's under attack by a cat! Cattack...
... it kind of throws her momentum on the being overwhelmed thing. "Well it seems like someone wants to take care of my hair," she mumbles, getting a little more earnestly comfortable before turning her attention back to the TV. "Thanks," she says, letting herself relax and get licked by a cat.
... it's still a bit of a journey. "Is something up? I can't imagine you just settling in on the couch to do a whole lot of nothing unless, you know. Something was up," Akane asks, with a glance toward the TV. "Or is this just a nostalgia thing?"
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"She can be very discerning." Sayla says, as everyone gets comfortable. She wants to take a photo- but there'll be other opportunities. She simply smiles. "Anytime."
And Akane sees through the simplicity. "...Yeah. Something's up." Sayla sighs. "There's definitely nostalgia, admittedly but..." She closes her eyes for a moment. "Koji told you what happened, right?" She'd been told Koji and Shiro had gone to tell the villa what was up.
"That pilot... was doing something. I'd never felt a pressure like it." She pauses looking down. "I've been having troubles sleeping ever since. Whoever that pilot was- it's like she was trying to... claim me."
She shakes her head. "The PPL only let me out of observation on the condition 'that I rest without giving Leina any headaches', so here I am on the couch with a cat and one half of the Couple of Couples watching old cartoons." Sayla smiles, but it's a bit uneasy. Like she worries she said too much.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Yeah, Koji stopped by. I talked to Leina a little about it, too," Akane says, nodding. She'd... honestly let herself forget for a few moments how dicey things got -- but now they're confronting it, so it's fine.
A pressure -- and more than that, a possessive pressure. Akane's eyes widen a bit. She immediately picks up her phone again and swipes to something. Circle, slash, circle. "That's... actually pretty useful. I'm trying to figure out what was going on there... I can share you on this chart, it's shareable. I keep updating it whenever I get something new." As for why she's interested... "... it sounds like Alexis might be involved too, so I can't just let it sit."
A beat, before she appends, "We can go over it more later, though. Right now, let's just watch cartoons. I think I said I've never seen this one end to end, so let's give it a look~"
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Sayla nods slowly- before watching Akane work on her chart. That Alexis might be involved... that doesn't make any sense. "...I'd appreciate it." Akane's eye could show her something she hasn't. Still, she smiles. "You know, I think you're going to get through those exams with flying colours. You have the right mind for it."
Still, when Akane asserts it's cartoon time, Sayla smiles. "I'd like to hear what you think, but I warn you: It's probably my favourite. If you don't like it, I might just have to tell Leina your taste in magical girls is bad." There's a certain joy in her voice.
The old show holds so many pleasant memories to Sayla- getting up early to watch it with Lucifer on her lap. Seeing a second microdisc set at a store in Cheyenne, and taking it home. Showing it to Leina during her recovery, and sharing it through their life. And now, sharing a couch with Akane and Buer, she forms a new one.
At least some parts of her past aren't painful to share.