2023-09-04: .four tapestries inform our magnanimous intenT
- Log: .four tapestries inform our magnanimous intenT
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Elisa Kafim
- Where: The Silent Castle, Kaffeklubben Island
- Date: 2023-09-04 (ICly 0097-09-08)
- Summary: Elisa calls Yuliana back to her, and makes sure she's not too grievously injured. Yuliana expresses remorse for leaping recklessly into danger, and Elisa is all too happy to explain what happened in the course of the battle. They have high hopes for Leina... if not some of the other people involved. They will consume those ghosts, and save the world. How blessed everyone shall be to witness Emptear! (CW: Gaslighting)
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duc_i9NbwHQ Dave Matthews Band - When The World Ends [Oakenfield Remix]
MINE
Always, that flash of empathic insight, consumed by green light. As space warps from one place to another place, there is that heartbeat, that second, stars in her eyes all to infinite --
Yuliana lands, in the Silent Castle.
The magic circle which summons Da Xukong 0 back to safety is an enshrined part of the stables; just as there are crystals embedded at each cardinal point of her machine, so too lies this circle, drawn with old blood bound to bone-ash. And of course there is a gangway which may be swung around to meet her cockpit, though Yuliana so frequently just jumps from her machine.
She unstraps herself from her bindings; she sheds her helmet and she sheds her gloves. She's wearing a cloak with her normal suit, but she doesn't bother hiding her tentacles inside it as she lifts a hand, delicate and scarred.
Reaching for...
The machine she rises from is deeply battered. The Abyssal Veil was compromised by Jona's cannons -- the very cannon-fire which Yuliana dove straight through. It is testament to Her protection, perhaps, that the Veil gave out after protecting her from such a head-on assault... rather than during. Testament to the wanzer that it was able to deflect so much fin funnel fire with its Cleave Axe, even after its shields failed. Testament, even, to Yuliana's skill; it is so easy to imagine a lesser pilot not surviving.
She does at least appear whole, with no scent of blood or limp limb, though her balance is -- compromised.
A good thing, then, she didn't jump.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
When Yuliana's hand reaches up, a darker hand reaches down to meet her. Elisa Kafim is here.
Oh, she watched the battle, in her way, using dark magic and Fold communication to overcome the interference. She saw the way that Yuliana fought so valiantly...
And the way she dove into a head-on assault.
"My darling," Elisa says. "You are very brave."
Luckily, she doesn't have to conceal so human a reaction as a twitching eyebrow at that particular statement, when she could have said 'reckless' instead.
"Come. Repairs can commence shortly. First, we must see to you."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Mm-hm-hm-hmm," Yuliana's affirmative hum turns to giggling, as she sinks in against Elisa, nosing under her chin to plant a kiss beneath her ear. "Elyula~," she lilts, punch-drunk affectionate, "I missed yooou..."
It's very lucky that Elisa doesn't have to conceal a twitching eyebrow. It might have given Yuliana the impression she'd done something wrong.
(Give her a minute.)
Arms slung around Elisa's neck, tentacles wrapped about her midsection, it's all too trivial to pick Yuliana up and whisk her inside. Yuliana helpfully fills Elisa in, as they go.
"I'm okay," all sighed into the crook of her neck, "just hit my head, I think..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"And I you, my Yuliana."
Elisa picks Yuliana up and indeed whisks her inside, stepping over the gangplank and walking down in order to avoid jarring Yuliana. She mentions that she is okay, but perhaps hit her head...
Hmmm. Elisa considers whether it is necessary to take her to the medbay again. For now... now.
"That is very good," Elisa says. "Your powerful machine has helped to keep you safe. You are so talented..."
Hit her head, is it?
Elisa sets Yuliana down eventually on a couch in a sitting room, but along the way, she asks a few questions. "How many tapestries are on this wall?"
"Does your head hurt?"
"What day is it?"
And finally, as she sets her down, "What is your assessment of the battle then, my darling? It was... enlightening, to watch."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Mm-hmm," Yuliana hums, again, nuzzling into Elisa. She glances aside, from where she's buried herself against her, as those questions come in.
"Four," is her first response, an ominous number in the Republic she came from and perfectly aligned to reality. (Perhaps it's time to vary their decorations, though; imagine if Yuliana could just guess them from the significant number?)
"Mm... yeah," of her head hurting, though it could equally be from the sheer volume of psychic phenomena pressing into her out there. Her head does ache, forced to look upon their transgressions. One, as well, could compound the other. And...
"... it's... Friday," she volunteers, but haltingly; it took her a moment to remember.
When Yuliana's settled down into the couch, she reaches, immediately, for Elisa again. "Those damn Zeonic machines are huge," she grouses, but at least her thoughts are fuller now she's been set to analysis. (And a frown knits her brow, but she seems to be handling it well enough.) "Who do they think they are?! Honestly! Ughhh... getting Jona out of there was a pain, but I'm pleased we saw it done."
Yuliana's frown deepens, though. "But..." She repeats the conjunction a second time, and it trails, now. "Mm... I lost my cool again, huh?" Remorse enters her eyes and her tone, and she glances down to the fine velvet of the couch. "Just seeing red... it was selfish of me. I wasn't thinking about you having to see that..."
Her smile is more delicate when she puts it back together on her face -- more fragile, as she looks to Elisa again. "Even so, you gave me the chance to see it through. Thank you, zhenushka. You really believed in me..." That her ability to remain on the battlefield may have been entirely tied to her responsible management of threats is something only implicitly understood; Yuliana doesn't know whether Elisa would have pulled her out of there if she'd stayed blinded by her rage.
But she can guess.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Perhaps they should vary up their decor. Something to consider for later. For now, Elisa is satisfied with those answers, or satisfied enough not to detour to the medical bay. And when Yuliana is on the couch, Elisa sits there with her, turning to recline down and accept Yuliana's reach.
She smiles.
"It's really quite excessive," Elisa agrees with absolutely zero self-awareness on the matter of very large robots. Probably.
But, she says, and, "Not so much as you could have, my darling. You remained on the mission. You kept enough focus."
That smile is more fragile--but Elisa is more interested in building Yuliana up today, so she says, "I recall how important it is to you, so I placed my trust in you, darling. And you returned to me, just as you promised." Did she promise? It's fine.
"....But while you accomplished your goal, it would seem that we have other matters to consider now..."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Of course she promised. Even if she didn't promise in so many words, it's natural that Yuliana would promise to return to Elisa. It's understood.
But... she kept enough focus, even through her rage, and Elisa knows how important it is to Yuliana that she trusts her. And that's wonderful, isn't it? (Isn't it?)
Her fingers weaving through Elisa's, Yuliana nestles in beside her wife, legs and tentacles all wrapped up in her. "Yes," she sighs, all her weight sinking in against Elisa. "Little Leyasha is too occupied with that Newtype's fate -- though of course she was asking for it. You know she wanted to save those hungry ghosts? As if there's anything worth saving!" Yuliana is of course being rather hypocritical about what ghosts are and are not worthy, but never mind that.
"Still," Yuliana grouses, "it's a pain... since even I could see the way those damned spirits were possessing Denver. I couldn't have addressed the issue in Da Xukong 0, as it was," and give her some shred of credit -- she recognised that. She asked Elisa to retrieve her. "We'll have to escalate..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
It's wonderful.
"Miss Ashta wants many things. She does not understand yet that the more she wants, the less of it she will gain. She must learn focus, if she is to..." Elisa shakes her head. "Well, regardless. It is as you say. It is a foolish desire."
And that Newtype. Elisa may have to... No, perhaps not. If things were different, but they are not. And so she is lost.
"No, but we had to give your Rita the chance to do things her way. Yes? It was important, to allow her to try. And now she has failed, we will handle matters."
"We shall escalate. And in this escalation shall the world see."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"She's still young," Yuliana supposes, on the topic of Leina. "It's all right. We are here to see to it." Well, not that Yuliana can't appreciate how Leina might happen into that immaturity. Yuliana doesn't even have an excuse for her lack of focus and broad desires.
She's sure Elisa would never say such a thing about her Yuliana, of course; unfortunately, she still knows it to be true.
Though -- there are some things she knows which aren't, entirely. "Ritechka..?" Yuliana echoes, a shade confused, looking up to Elisa. Wasn't she talking about... Rena...?
Didn't Rita succeed in what she was trying to do her way...?
But... but Yuliana supposes it's quite likely that Rita would have fool opinions of those ghosts, just the same. Yes -- surely she would have wanted something as ridiculous as Rena did. Surely, in this way, she failed.
"Ah... yes," Yuliana agrees, a touch haltingly, as the logic seeps into her bones. "Yes," she says, steadier, as she reaches up with one of those tentacles all clad in her green normal suit, as its gently curled jaws or claws stroke down Elisa's cheek. "We will consume those spirits, and they will no longer plague this world. Perhaps they will serve some purpose, set to nonexistence..."
Nothing good for them, surely.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"She is," Elisa agrees about Leina. "Perhaps she will grow. She has much potential..."
But Elisa would never say such a thing about Yuliana. Instead, the matter of Rita--well, Yuliana looks confused, so Elisa smiles, to show her that there is no need to be confused. They were talking about Rena; now they are talking about Rita, instead. Elisa could have uses for Rena...
But, such is pointless now. Isn't it?
"Yes," Elisa answers. She reaches up, to touch Yuliana's cheek with her fingers. "Perhaps they shall. Regardless, they will not threaten this world any longer. This world, or the world to come."
"And all will see glory..."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"She does, doesn't she?" Yuliana smiles, on the matter of Leina. She's still rather attached to the girl, even if she has no hope of adopting her now she's recognised she has a mother.
But Elisa smiles, and Elisa's smile is Yuliana's whole world, the way her eyes and her whole face light up to see Elisa's comfort. Elisa smiles, and at once Yuliana's confusion washes away, secure in Elisa's wisdom.
Her own smile is warm, as she tilts her face towards Elisa's fingertips, leaning into her touch. "Yes," she agrees, again. "They'll bear witness to the saviour of this world... how blessed they must be. We are fine stewards, Elya, though these creatures don't understand us. We'll keep them safe, for the day when the path to Paradise will be opened..."
But first, she must recover, and await the chance to strike. Though Emptear is unwounded and ready, Yuliana is wearied, and ought rest her aching head. When Denver stirs...
It will be destroyed.