2023-07-03: Being Fair
- Log: 2023-07-03: Being Fair
- Cast: Emilia Eschonbach, Sho Tachibana, Alouette Pommier
- Where: Ashford Academy, Nagoya, Area 11
- OOC - IC Date: 3 July, 0097
- Summary: Sho Tachibana tries to reach out to Emilia Eschonbach, hoping to salvage their burgeoning friendship with the help of Alouette Pommier. Emilia tries her best to be fair.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia has gotten home late last night, so focused as she was on getting Kallen to a friendly hospital.
Tomorrow, she'd be eyeball deep in exams, and then after exams DecuFes was not far away.
Today, however. Today she waited in the part of the school she felt safest- the Student Council Room. Certainly, as School President, she had the right... but it wasn't her presidency that made her feel safe.
Rather, it was the lingering presence of what the room represented during her first year of school. A place for sleepovers, and private moments, and curling up on the couch when things got rough.
She'd sent a vertex message in reply to one that had been sitting for a week.
>okay. can you meet me at ashford? tomorrow. before exams.
It was the least she could do after yesterday. After Sho had let her go. Not that she knew who was in that Arm slave. Hopefully not that anyone knew.
Maybe it was a mistake having a meeting that upset her this close.
But Milly had made something clear to her. Even if she didn't like admitting it.
...It was hypocritical, after all, to claim the high ground here.
<Pose Tracker> Sho Tachibana has posed.
[VERTEX] sky-jaguar2: Hey, Emilia?
[VERTEX] sky-jaguar2: I think we need to talk.
[VERTEX] sky-jaguar2: When you're ready, of course. I'll let you pick the meeting place.
====== ======
[VERTEX] sky-jaguar2: okay.
Sho Tachibana is nervous. She hasn't felt that way in a while.
The messy fight over the 'Toy Box' is under review - part of her wonders if Captain Jin will have something to say about her decision making - and finals are coming up. It's been a long time since she's been worried about exams, too - it feels unreal despite being possibly the most normal thing for a girl her age to be worried about.
But that's in the future. Today she has an opportunity to build a bridge. Gai would be a better choice for this, by far... Except he'd outright told her "You can't just send me as your diplomat, Sho, she knows you, not me. You know why you chose this job, right? Just tell her that and try to be kind to her pain."
As she steps into Ashford's student council room, she's wearing a white tank-top and black slacks, with her NISAR jacket worn open, over her shoulders. She could have come in full uniform, but... that sets a very different look.
"Hey," she says to Emilia, holding the door open for Alouette. "I, uh. My girlfriend asked to tag along. I hope you don't mind."
She looks around for where to sit. "How do you want to do this?"
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Alouette knew there was something aching on Sho's mind for a while. She's been supportive throughout the process, even upon hearing how.. difficult and complicated a situation.
As someone else who finds interpersonal troubles like this to be a new and challenging struggle, she urged Sho to reach out, and if Emilia isn't receptive... it is what it is.
So while she could be studying for those exams she doesn't need to study for, she instead tags along with Sho to meet Emilia at Ashford.
Despite her penchant for looking extremely fancy, she arrives in a rather casual outfit too - a white buttoned sweater with a heart motif, and the subtle colour schema of GaoFighGar, plus a skirt and tights.
Following closely behind Sho, she gets a good look at Emmy in her student council room. "I know your face..." She says, unintentionally way too ominous. "You're Mimi... from Yes Milady, aren't you?" Her expression turns to a smile. "It's Alouette. Right, I'm Sho's girlfriend. It's.. nice to meet you again."
But despite those pleasantries, she knows this is still going to be a tough conversation. She hopes she can make it easier. "But.. yes. I suggested coming along not because I wanted to corner you, but because I figured these sorts of conversations usually go a lot better with a third person." She looks for a seat more to the corner of the room. "And I wanted to believe that things might turn out okay between the two of you." She knows some of the strongest friendships start from the darkest of places.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
"H-hi." Emmy stammers out, after a second. Sho's not the only one who's nervous today. She does seem caught off guard when Sho mentions her girlfriend is coming- and a second time, when Alouette enters and she's someone she knows.
"Uh, y-yes." She admits, a little awkwardly. "Um, please, um, c-c-call me, Emilia."
Alouette explains her reasoning, and Emilia nods. A part of her instantly wishes she'd asked Milly to come...
But she can't lean on Milly every time. If a problem is small enough to handle herself... she should handle it herself.
Emmy herself is dressed simply- a pastel pink t-shirt, pale distressed jeans, cheap sneakers. She's wearing white gold versions of the earrings Sheryl Nome released increasingly long ago, and a silver bracelet with green stones- not emeralds, but they stand out.
Sho asks how Emilia wants to start. Emilia pauses. "...W-would you like something to drink?" She asks, eventually. "W-we have a b-b-bunch of teas, or coffee or s-s-some soda? I think we might have s-some juice, too."
It's an awkward start but... Emmy's not sure how to do this herself.
After decisions are made, Emmy gets up to sort it out. The process gathers her thoughts, with difficulty. When she returns to the table/couch set up that the room has, she seems to have worked out what to say.
"...So, uhm. Y-y-you know I'm f-from New Y-Yark, right?" It's a weak start, but it's... something. "I w-was born there. My m-mom too." Her tone darkens. "...My Grandfather w-w-was the, uhm, the Mayor, until." Her voice halts, and is quavering when she speaks up again. "...while th-th-there still was a N-New Yark."
She bites her lip. This wasn't going well. What was she supposed to say? "...I w-w-was evacuated. When it h-happened. M-mom wasn't. I... still h-have n-nightmares every D-d-december."
Emmy starts to curl inward on herself. "...Of the m-mechasauruses. And of G-Getter R-R-R-Robo."
<Pose Tracker> Sho Tachibana has posed.
Sho smiles as Emilia seems actually receptive to a few things - she was expecting this to start with yelling and recrimination, not explanation.
"I'll just have water, thanks," she replies to the offer of drinks. "Still on-duty, technically."
"I remember," Sho replies when Emilia brings up she's from New Yark. "That BC brat enjoyed bringing it up, it's what got my attention in the first place. My parents used to work at the Saotome Lab, before it was shut down - I grew up around all of that, and..." She trails off.
Emilia mentions the nightmares, and Sho glances to Alouette... then looks back to Emilia and nods, moving to sit next to her on the couch. "Yeah. Me too. Not of Getter, but... Mechasaurs are scary enough, really." The other nightmares seem self-effacing to bring up, so she lets that sit, thinking for a second.
"When New Yark happened, I was with my family, in a monitoring bunker under the lab. We had... drone feeds, keeping an eye on Getter Robo."
She closes her eyes, taking a sip from her drink. "It was awful." This is a vast understatement, of course.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Alouette notes Emilia's skittishness, and steps back a little bit, giving the girl enough space. She's not here to take it up, particularly. "Very well, Emilia." She nods, politely.
But she does notice something about her presentation. "Those earrings... Sheryl Nome?" Alouette perks up. "I'm a fan too, actually..." Sheryl is of a personal friend at this point, but that feels like mention it'd raise way too many questions.
"I'd like some tea, thank you very much. I'm feeling mint today, if you have that." She replies on the offer of drinks. "They still have you on-duty, huh?" She glances at Sho. "Harsh."
Alouette gives Emmy's story the proper respect it deserves, listening to every detail, and nodding thoughtfully. There's also a sharp, noticeable frown on her face when Sho brings up the kid from Blue Cosmos.
Sho gives her own story, then - one that shows that the two girls who saw the flames of New Yark might have a lot more in common than anything.
"If you'd like my opinion, Emilia," Alouette starts. "I'm not here to tell you not to be scared. It's okay to be scared. You went through a lot, and lost a lot on that day. And the mechasaurs and Getter Robo are both deep-rooted symbols of that." She takes a short sip of her tea.
"You didn't have to do it... but despite it all, you still reached out and talked about those feelings, to reach an understanding with someon who scares you so much." She points out. "That's probably why I'm rooting for you right now."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Mint tea and water are easy enough. Emilia herself has a cup of Britannian Breakfast, with a squeeze of lemon.
Emmy does brighten up when Alouette mentions Sheryl. "Y-yeah! Sh-she's incredible." Emilia says, with an enthusiastic nod. "H-her music ch-changed my life. I... w-w-wouldn't be here without her." She's certainly not as close to
"Y-you... s-s-saw it too, th-then." Sho's only as old as she is. It must have been traumatizing.
But some loud part of Emilia screams that it's not the same. That all Sho lost was the man piloting Getter Robo. That Emilia lost so much more.
Even Alouette's reassurances seem to fail to land.
She seems to sit there, staring into her tea for a full minute. "...I. W-w-was in G-Grandfather's bunker. W-w-we only had the HITV f-f-footage." Her voice is quiet. Alouette says she's rooting for her but...
"Th-that... that k-kaiju put me. B-back there." She says, that shakiness returning to her voice. "B-b-back in that moment where I'd. L-lost the only p-p-person who cared about me." Her grip on her tea is white knuckled. "...and then. Y-y-your teammate blares it. Over the r-radio."
It's okay to be scared, is it? "Wh-wh-when Getter Robo self destructed. I l-l-lost everything." She finally looks up at Sho. "Y-y-you weren't. You weren't o-one of those pilots." There are tears in her eyes, but sadness isn't the only emotion, even as she fights her anger.. "It's... n-not fair to b-blame you for th-that." Milly had called her out for saying as much.
After all, her family had done so many horrific things.
"But... th-that machine... wh-why does it have to exist... Why... can't it be o-over?"
<Pose Tracker> Sho Tachibana has posed.
"Musashi-san was dear to all of us. He was like a weird uncle - he always had a joke when you were down, seemed to always know just what to say. Even now, we still miss him." It hit Hayato and Ryoma hardest, but Sho looked up to Musashi a lot.
"Yeah... That's where it sent me, too. That memory." Again, they're more similar than they are different.
"I decided, on that day... that I had to be the kind of person who could make sure something like that never happened again. A pilot good enough to destroy any threat to humanity."
She quirks a half-smile. "That's why Captain Jin scouted me - he has always believed that the war with Emperor Gore isn't over. That's why he built Neo Getter."
"As for Go... He's a hothead and an idiot, but he doesn't mean harm. He lost everything to the Dinosaurs too, during the first war with them."
She sighs. "I think you're allowed to be angry with me. I knew what piloting a Getter would mean for the people around me, but I... didn't want it to get in the way of being at school and making friends for the first time in ages."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"Changed your life, you say?" Alouette asks of Emmy, when Sheryl comes up. "I would believe you... because I've seen her make miracles and change lives." She smiles, as warm as the cup of tea she's holding.
The smile fades as the conversation turns back to Getter Robo and the destruction of New Yark. Emilia lost a mother... and in many ways, Sho lost family too.
After this, Alouette is... really quiet as the conversation goes on until Emilia asks why Neo Getter must exist. Sho says that it's because the Dinosaur War isn't over yet... but that Emilia is allowed to be angry. But Emilia still doesn't sound angry.
She sounds like she's in pain. "Emilia? I think... as long as you keep seeing Neo Getter Robo as the same Getter Robo that destroyed New Yark... you'll only keep hurting more and more." Alouette voices, not out of detachment, but a little bit of empathy.
"It's not the same machine, and I don't mean that in a literal sense. I mean that Neo Getter wouldn't be what it is without people like Sho, Go, and Gai - who saw that tragedy and are fighting to make sure it never happens again."
She clasps on of her hands on her sleeve while holding the teacup. "You've probably figured this much out, Emilia, but I'm not an ordinary girl. And I think that's the only reason I can say that with any sort of confidence." She can't meet her gaze at either Emilia or Sho right now. "I.. was responsible for a lot that I don't take pride in. But if I kept my gaze stuck on that forever... I don't think I would've ever gotten better. I think the same is true when it comes to Getter Robo."
It's only now that she can look back up at Sho, at Emilia. "She said you're allowed to be angry with her. But how do you feel? If you're angry... it's okay to let it out. That's what this is for, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
The war with Emperor Gore wasn't over? "Th-th-then..." What was the point goes unasked. The dinosaurs were there. It bought them time. A part of her understands that. Sho talks about being someone who would never let something like that happen again.
Maybe she lived up to it.
Alouette tries to convince her not to see Neo Getter as the same machine. To see the pilots as different people, who would never let that happen again.
"I d-don't..." She shakes her head. "I... don't kn-know how." She says, her voice still quiet. She does seem a bit surprised, however, at Alouette's comments about not being a normal girl. She knew Alouette was physically strong, and graceful. But... responsible for things she didn't take pride in?
That felt like probing deeper than she had any right to right now.
But it's Sho talking about making friends for the first time in ages that hits her hardest. She looks up again, looking astonished at Sho. "I... I d-d-didn't..."
Maybe there were more similarities than differences.
%Alouette asks how Emmy feels however. "...I...d-d-don't know." Could she really rob Sho of an opportunity she'd only gotten for herself in the last year.
No. It wouldn't be fair.
"...I'm. St-still scared." She says. She can give them honesty. "I-I'm a little angry. But." She takes a deeep breath. "I-It's not. Fair. T-to blame you. F-for something that h-h-happened when we. Were still k-k-kids."
She shakes her head again. "...We all. Have th-things that. P-people could hate us f-f-for. M-my G-grandfather h-hates me..." She stops, and realises she has committed too far to stop there. "...because. M-my dad w-w-was a spacenoid." She tries to push on, tries to not linger on it. "So. I. D-d-don't want to be. A p-person like him."
And after all, when push came to shove, Sho had let her save Kallen.
And she had to be fair. "...S-so. I'll... I'll t-try to be b-better. E-even if it's hard." She can promise that much, right? Maybe that would be okay.
<Pose Tracker> Sho Tachibana has posed.
Sho smiles, visibly relieved. "I'm glad. I'd like to be your friend, Emilia, but I understand if it's a little much right now."
She looks down at the floor for a moment, thoughtful. "If... You want to know more about what happened - on our end - just let me know, okay?" She's sure there are questions to be had about what happened at Saotome Labs that day that made Musashi the only pilot for Getter Robo... but maybe Emilia doesn't care about asking them. Still - she needs to put that out there.
She looks up to Alouette, green eyes soft - a wordless thankyou to the Operator for supporting her.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Emilia doesn't know how to separate the two Getter Robos in her mind, and admits she's still scared... but that it wouldn't be fair to blame Sho for it.
Alouette nods. "It sounds like all three of us have been through a lot. And we might have more in common than anything. Especially the two of you." She sips the last of her tea. "But more than anything? I don't think any of us deserve to have these things get in our way of making friends." She feels strongly about that one.
"So if you would have me... I'd love to be able to help bridge the gap as your friend. And I'm sure there's a lot more to you than your worst trauma and your secret side job. We already have music taste in common, right?" There's a small, cutesy wink, as she looks to Sho. "There's a lot more to Tachi-chan than being a pilot, too~" Seeing that wordless thank you... she leans in closer.