2023-09-15: Friends in Strange Places

From Super Robot Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search


 Board 19: NERV
 Title: Personnel Reassignment
 Poster: Mari Makinami Illustrious
 Date: Fri Sep 15
 
 (A report from the office of Vice-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki.)
 
 In light of the growing crisis on Jupiter, Evangelion Unit-04 and its pilot Mari Makinami Illustrious have been reassigned to Orbit Base to assist the Gutsy Galaxy Guard in whatever way required to resolve the Triple Zero crisis.
 
 All other Evangelion Units are to remain on standby at their respective NERV branch assignments.
  


<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Although NERV includes many umbrella organizations, from NISAR to STORAGE to GGG, and technically they're all part of the same organization, each branch tends to be treated like it's its own group. This isn't entirely unfair. NISAR, STORAGE, GGG, and NERV's main branch all have different bases and different ways of going about their business. Take yesterday's announcement that GGG--not NERV, but specifically the Gutsy Galaxy Guard--would be investigating the King of Ruin over on Jupiter. NERV is contributing personnel and resources to this expedition, but it is quite explicitly GGG's gig.
        
        One such personnel is Evangelion pilot Mari Makinami Illustrious. Kaworu Nagisa is with her at the Orbit Base, dressed in his formal administrator suit, as that's the capacity in which he's here today. As far as anyone knows at present, she's the only one being sent along with them, and the remaining Evangelion pilots will remain on Earth in case of any Angel attacks. Since the flight to Jupiter (and Mars) is imminent, and the S-type equipment will need more testing before anyone can be certain it'll be fine for such a deep space mission, she's been sent here along with Unit-04 and all the S-type equipment they'll need right away.
        
        So once Unit-04 is set up in Orbit Base's hangar, and the equipment has been stored and set up, there's only a bit of paperwork to finish up, and then they'll part ways. That should be it. But...
        
        "It's reassuring to know you'll be helping out with this matter," Kaworu remarks, drifting along past one of the panel windows overlooking space, letting a moving handle carry him and Mari towards their destination. "Is there anything you'd like Rei or me to handle at home while you're away?" A beat. "If there isn't, there's something I've been meaning to discuss with you."

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

o/` "You walk ahead indifferently~
     I pout and follow behind you~
     Along the long and dazzling white sands~
     You say Im crazy for him, but I like you better~
     We're always together at Sunset Beach~" o/`

    "The salty breeze... mm?"

No matter what the situation, no matter where she is or what she's doing -- Mari Makinami Illustrious has a song in her heart.

This is as much a literal thing right now as it is figurative, as the sweet sounds of Minmay's "Sunset Beach" fill the intervening space between the bespectacled pilot of NERV and her silver-haired companion. The figurative part comes from how, even now, as she prepares to embark on what has very high odds of being a suicide mission, she remains nothing if not easygoing. Relaxed. Smiling.

It was the same when she received her new reassignment orders as it is now. 'Oh? I don't mind! I'd like to see what a King of Ruin is like up close and personal, really!' had been her sentiment at the time, and it seems to be now, too. If anything... she looks rather excited, as she floats along with Kaworu, her hand on the guardrail and a smile persistently decorating her lips.

She wears the uniform she wore when she and Kaworu presented on the Angels, over a year ago; it's not even remotely an official uniform of NERV. But she looks very crisp and professional in it!

Her smile only fades briefly as her song does, when Kaworu addresses her directly. Behind red-rimmed glasses, Mari blinks once; bright blue eyes look sidelong towards Kaworu... before a smile settles on her lips. "I want you each to pick one book from my collection and read it before I get home," she instructs, as if she were handing out a homework assignment. "It has to be one you never read! I'll know if you have. Chop chop!"

At least -- she seems fairly serious about it. As serious as she can be, at least. But it's easily dropped, as Kaworu adds on that little addendum. Her brows lift. Blue eyes glance around thoughtfully.

"Hummmmm," she exhales. "Well now would be the time to have discussions with meaning. Who knows what tomorrow might bring, after all?" Her free hand swivels, a little, eloquent gesture towards Kaworu. "You may proceed, Tabby Cat." 

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Songs are so good. That she always has one in her heart is one of many reasons why Kaworu likes Mari. He has faith that the Jupiter mission will go well, which is founded on more than simply a feeling. But there's no need to discuss that part, at least right now. Suffice to say that it's reason enough for him to be just as easygoing as her, even though this could be the last time they speak.
        
        "Really? How will you know?" he wonders, regarding Mari in her own uniform. He trusts that she will know, but it piques his interest. Either way, he'll be sure to pass the message along to Rei and pick out a book of his own. Given how Mari's room is absolutely stacked with them, he's confident that he'll find something he hasn't read before somewhere in that mountain.
        
        It is an aside, though. Whether Mari had anything else to say or not, Kaworu would have brought up the matter he has in mind. It isn't a great place to discuss it, which is why he'll need to be circumspect, or moreso than usual.
        
        "Indeed," he agrees, a small smile tugging on the ends of his lips. It's just like her to be excited for a mission like this, and that's something else he likes about her. She always brings her own unique twist on even the most mundane affairs, and this one is anything but. At the same time, while he has faith that the Jupiter mission will succeed, there's no knowing how long it will actually take. If there's anything to be said, it should be said now.
        
        As such:
        
        "I trust you recall the reports on the fate of the Tenth Angel, and the unregistered Evangelion that spirited their core away," he says, that faint smile lingering. The look in his eyes, though, is quite serious. "I was wondering what you thought about it." 

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

        Really? How will you know?

Mari's palm presses against the handrail, effectively 'leaning' her towards her left as she floats. She pushes out as far as she can towards Kaworu without letting go of the rail, her eyes hooded, light catching at just the perfect moment to make her glasses glint.

"That is..." she begins, voice a hushed, ominous whisper, as if it could contain a wealth of earth-shattering revelations not meant for mere mortals.

"... hi mi tsu~."

Her lips blossom into the biggest, most impish of grins -- the grin of ~denial~.

"Ufu."

Sensitive topics are often not best discussed at the headquarters of an official organization under the NERV umbrella -- this is especially true of topics that involve rogue Evangelions, a thing that NERV - and the Federation - have fanatically kept a tight grip on. And yet Mari seems to take to it just as easily and casually as she did the topic of her reading assignments, floating back closer to her guard rail as she considers his words. But while she might take to it easily, that doesn't mean she takes it -lightly-, his request for her opinion on the matter - delicately, deliberately phrased - earning the upward tilt of her stare and the steady, pensive climb of her brows.

"Mm," exhales Mari, as the hall curves them on an outward track. "What a complicated situation! I doubt NERV is very happy about it. 'All Angels must die,' after all. And it's an Evangelion they have no oversight over! It might as well be a roving war crime! Or even worse -- a roving question begging to be answered!" She pitches her voice slightly lower there, to give that last observation a proper, threatening gravitas.

"... But, well. If people are concerned that the core might be used as a weapon, I don't think that's worth worrying about. I'm more inclined to believe Ms. Alouette, that our mystery assailant has no designs like that. But that does beg the question... what DO they want it for? To use it some other way? Or to save it?"

Mari whistles, low and impressed.

"Wouldn't that be something? If someone didn't want to use an Angel, but save them?"

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Despite the fact that Mari just denied him any answers, Kaworu genuinely laughs along with her declaraton of secrecy. He appreciates the importance of secrets, even as it would be nice to live in a world that doesn't need them.
        
        Those of GGG would at least be perfectly aware of the rogue Evangelion; Guy and several other members had been present when it had appeared, and Alouette--as Mari herself brings up--had even attempted to chase it down, if with little success. So while it might not be best discussed here, it's hardly an inappropriateplace.
        
        Besides. Kaworu is monitored more or less everywhere he goes. It's just a matter of some places being more closely monitored than others.
        
        "It's certainly troubling to those in charge that Evangelion technology is known so well to someone or someones outside the organization that they could create an Evangelion of their own. The technology is supposed to be top secret," Kaworu observes. A breath of a laugh follows.
        
        "I suppose it depends on what one means by 'save,'" he replies. "For example, Shozo--" remember, from the NERV reports, "--is interested in 'saving' the Tenth Angel, but in his view, that means giving them a proper death so they aren't turned into a weapon of mass destruction as he fears they will be. He'd offered me his help in dealing with that core, but..."
        
        A light shrug. They reach the end of the corridor; Kaworu uses momentum to swing himself around and float around a corner feet-first at exactly the same speed as Mari, however, she rounds the corner herself. "One can't accept help on a matter with so many unknowns," he concludes. "I doubt Commander Ikari would be eager to allow another alien being to get involved with NERV operations at this point, anyway."
        
        A pause. "But that of course is only an example. We can't know the wishes of a person who cloaks themselves in anonymity," he continues. "So instead, let's talk about ourselves. If it were you, Mary, how would you go about 'saving' an Angel?"

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

        The technology is supposed to be top secret.

"Ah, well, you know what they say: tell the world how things are supposed to be and there'll inevitably be someone who wants to do things how they aren't."

Do people say that?

Well -- Mari just did!

They reach the end of the corridor. As they turn the corner, Mari releases her rail and twists gracefully through the air, until her back bumps against the nearby wall. It takes a few seconds longer for that momentum of hers to still as she crosses her arms under her chest, one bending at the elbow to bring her hand up to her cheek so that she may tap at it thoughtfully with her finger.

"There's as many ways to save a fish as there are fish in the sea, I suppose!" she surmises -- and if she takes some small, warm amusement from this statement on the plethora of life in the sea, seemingly from nowhere, then it clearly must just be some sort of an inside joke. "I'm not saying this stalwart young Shozo is wrong - it's very admirable that he has that kind of resolve to try to save even a thing like an Angel from circumstances like that! - but I guess the question becomes: 'what next?'"

Mari swivels her index finger through the air in gentle orbits.

"That's the question I'm most interested in, personally."

And one that has a painfully obvious answer with the death of the Tenth Angel, saving it or not.

Mari's hand flops back down against its opposing forearm just as her inertia finally comes to a stop. She regards Kaworu thoughtfully. She could say something about Commander Ikari's personal preferences - a lot of things, really - but instead, she chooses to focus on Kaworu's hypotheticals.

"Ah ah ah, a hypothetical is lying to your brain, Tabby Cat!" chides Mari; she even clucks her tongue! But the grin she flashes belies the admonishment utterly. "It's a good thing I happen to like lying to your brain." It's one of the most human things you can do, after all. So, she lets out a soft, musing sound, and chews over that question.

"That's the issue though, isn't it? If an Angel -must- die or destroy, how do you save it from the binary of its existence? I won't lie; it's something I've thought about a lot!" For reasons they both know. "What if the Angel found a new planet? Would it feel compelled to return to Earth, even if it was hundreds of thousands of lightyears away, because its nature compelled it to? Or... if the rules compel it... what if the conditions of its existence were to change?"

She eyes Kaworu thoughtfully. And then, she points a fingergun at the silver-haired Fifth Child, and fires.

"Ptooo. Your turn~."

How would HE save an Angel? Hypothetically.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        "Hmmm... Is it really the world that says that?" Kaworu wonders, a bit of a tease tugging the edges of his smile up a little further.
        
        But then, are individuals not worlds unto themselves at times? Even if it's just Mari saying it now, there's no guaranteeing it won't become a saying among the people in the future.
        
        That's one good thing about his circumstances. Some things never change, but there are many little changes that accumulate over time. It can be wearying, but it's also fascinating. The progress of Lilim follows the same broad strokes, but the minute details are never exactly the same.
        
        Mari takes the bend as an opportunity to take a little break. Kaworu matches her speed, tucking his hands into his pockets and watching her as they both follow their inertia down the bend. He chuckles a bit, but there's a rueful note to it. "There are not nearly as many Angels as there are fish in the sea."
        
        What next, though? What comes after saving an Angel? Kaworu's smile warms too then, though his gaze is somewhere far away. "Hmmm... Then I suppose what comes next is simply... living." He tilts his head as he shuts his eyes, still smiling. "Assuming of course that salvation isn't death in this circumstance. But even then, there will be life. Just life of a different sort."
        
        He laughs again--and this time it's actually more than just a breath, more like an actual chuckle--at her chiding. "Do you think so? In my experience, a hypothetical is more like an examination of the way things could be under lightly different circumstances." And he has quite a bit of experience. "But if you're willing to entertain it anyway, I don't mind if our perspectives differ. Those differences are part of what means this existence worthwhile."
        
        His gaze softens. How do you same something from the binary of its existence, hm... "Hypothetically, it wouldn't be impossible for the Angels to travel to a different world, far, far away, and settle there instead. But that would require a drastically different set of circumstances," he replies. "To change the conditions of its existence..."
        
        Gradually, he resolves, pulling his gaze away from Mari. He gazes instead into space, far beyond the metal walls that contain their physical forms. "Yes. That would certainly do it. But even then, it would require a great change of the heart--and that in turn would require one willing to reach out, over and over, without giving up--until they were to finally listen."
        
        His good humor fades like a painting left too long in the sun. "...Perhaps it wouldn't have been impossible to convince the Tenth Angel, in that way. But we won't know, because there hadn't been enough time... or perhaps their perspectives were too different to come to an accord. And ultimately, Lilim must think of their own survival first."
        
        There's no resentment or judgment there. It's a statement of fact--no more and no less. But it doesn't mean Kaworu doesn't wish it couldn't have gone differently.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

Who doesn't want to set a trend, create a saying? Mari, after all, loves to recite the words of those figures of history who lived so long before any of them.

But to her, for all her aggressive confidence and casual vanity...

... it's much more fun to her to inspire someone to set that trend. Create that saying.

Reddish-brown twintails ripple gently in the all-but-nonexistent gravity of Orbit Base, strands flowing like little waves as she listens to what Kaworu has to say. Simply living. She clucks her tongue once in a teasing chide.

"'Simply living,'" she recites, and heaves a great, dramatic sigh, hand to forehead. "Oh, if only living were so simple!"

Her smile, of course, never fades; it just adds to the dramatics, in her ever-so-humble estimation.

"We'd never be able to understand the tribulations of what life would look like for an Angel. But that just makes me even more curious about it! When an Angel no longer needs its purpose -- what happens then?"

What next? Simply living.

And 'simply living' is the most exciting mystery of all.

"Hmm. I guess it begs the question of if every unrealized, hypothetical possibility is just a lie... or a reality waiting to be recognized," she muses, in response to Kaworu's thoughts. She seems to take to the idea, at least, if the way her smile grows is any indication. "Oho. What a tantalizing thought!"

And so, she offers her possibilities yet unrealized. And in turn, Kaworu offers his. "Practically impossible!" she interjects as he assesses her own, her expression bright. "But doesn't that just make you want to see it even more~?"

But Kaworu's humor fades. He talks about time, and the lack of it. Mari's own smile dwindles towards something smaller, something more thoughtful, as her gaze turns out towards a window showcasing all that space beyond -- space where Duma met its not-so-ultimate fate.

"If it were me, I would have killed the Tenth Angel," she says simply, matter-of-factly. "Lilim living to see tomorrow is what matters most to me. Who can say what our little saboteur was thinking, then? Maybe they weren't thinking any human thoughts at all! Or maybe they just want to stick it to NERV that badly!"

She mimes driving a knife into someone's chest here. It's... distressingly... believable.

"... Or maybe..."

And her hand falls here, as she looks up, glasses glinting gently in the light.

"... maybe it was just some flight of fancy. Maybe the saboteur saw a helpless Hyper Agent trying to rebel against inevitability, and had their heartstrings tugged. Maybe they wanted to know 'what if?' too."

Maybe...

Ultimately, her shoulders lift in a hapless shrug.

"Who can say~?"

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Ah, if only. No matter how simple a being one may be, there are always other factors that complicate life. Say, for example, if Kaworu wanted to simply live with those he cares the most for, he could only do so for a little while before those unable to tolerate the existence of someone like him--even as they brought it about in the first place--set to putting an end to him.
        
        It's one of the things that has always been. Lilim will use even that which they detest if it will ensure their survival. Back then, he didn't understand it. Now...
        
        Now he understands that he doesn't need to understand.
        
        "Hmm... 'No longer needs,' hm," Kaworu muses. "I'd say it's more like it has actively chosen not to fulfill its purpose... or perhaps that it has chosen a different purpose. Perhaps that sounds like the same thing to you." His smile turns wistful. "Captain Hebikura is of the opinion that one can hold the world in one hand, and thus can hold something else at the same time. I believe that the world is too precious to be held with anything less than two hands, and therefore one must inevitably set something else down to hold it. Knowing you, I imagine you probably lean more towards the Captain's point of few."
        
        Which is a hypothetical? A lie, or a reality waiting to be recognized? "I concede that to the average Lilim, it's closer to a lie than an unrealized reality," Kaworu says. "But I'm glad you're willing to change your mind. I'd be surprised if you couldn't see it my way at all, really."
        
        He chuckles faintly, a more sorrowful color to its tone now. "Perhaps, one day, it will come to be," he agrees. Sort of.
        
        She says she would have killed the Tenth Angel. That's normal for an Evangelion pilot, of course. Even kind-hearted Shinji, who felt bad for the Tenth Angel, still ultimately saw the necessity in stopping them, and that the only way to stop them with the time and resources they had at the time was to kill them. As for the saboteur, though...
        
        Distressingly believable, perhaps--but not to Kaworu, who already knows what Mari is capable of. "I'd actually be grateful to the saboteur if that were true. Gridman saw himself in Duma and wanted so badly to save them as a result," he muses. "I would have liked to see a reality where that Angel could have lived in peace, too. Perhaps if I weren't in the position I am, I would have done something similar. But... I didn't have that option. And I suppose being locked away in senselessness is as kind a fate as Duma can expect for right now. For now, they can simply... sleep. Sleep, and perhaps dream."

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

"To be able to choose, you need to be able to let one thing go."

Mari's thoughtful words come on the heels of Kaworu's own musings on purpose. Her palms turn up, head canting.

"Maybe a purpose no longer necessary, and discovering a new purpose, are just reflections of one another," she concedes, ultimately. "Aah, but to be born with a purpose you know instinctively! So many Lilim go through life without purpose, desperately grasping for one."

Her head goes from a cant towards a leftward loll, her eyes hooding as fondness and nostalgia both creep into her expression.

"... But I guess that's just part and parcel to the twisted nature of the human heart. Mm. I wonder what it must feel like, to give up a purpose you've known all your life...?"

It's something she'll never know. But she can always savor imagining; that, too, is a gift of the twisted heart of humanity. Which is why...

"Yup. I'm with the Cap'n on this one. You're outnumbered, Tabby Cat!"

How could Mari's answer ever be anything other than that?

It, of course, comes complementary with the way she swings back upright, floating forward just a little with the momentum as she makes threatening wriggle-fingers in Kaworu's general direction and chants "we're coming to get youuuu~~~", but well; it should be given that things like this are just gratis with Mari. It only lasts so long, though, before they talk about their oh-so-mysterious x-factor-in-an-Eva. Before...

I'd actually be grateful to the saboteur if that were true.

There's hardly any technology on Earth that could quantify or capture the motivations and intricacies behind the way and the reasons why Mari's expression softens as Kaworu expresses gratitude.

"Ah, if only defying the laws of the natural world were part of my many, many remarkable skills," laments Mari, "then I too could bask in praise like our pesky provocateur!"

ALSO ONE OF MARI'S MANY, MANY REMARKABLE SKILLS: LYING (when it suits her)

A second or two passes by. And then she offers, "Sometimes a nap is all you need. Maybe even Angels can see the life they want to live when they sleep." Her head tilts. Her brows lift. Her expression turns downright salacious.

"Being grateful to your assassin though, Tabby Cat? Quel scandale!"

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Mari mulls over Kaworu's assertions in her very Mari way. Kaworu doesn't interrupt. After all, he knows the things she muses on very well. He even bows his head as she wonders what it's like to give up a purpose you've always known.
        
        It's a bittersweet feeling indeed. In his circumstances, far more sweet than bitter, though. To change... to leave behind something that was supposed to be all you are... it was freeing even at the same time it clasped him in chains. He'd expressed that in the lyrics he'd written for Ranka's Azure Ether, even. A pain he had kept silent for so long--and to hear her voice lilt it... even if Shinji never realizes it was for him, it makes Kaworu feel better that someone knows, and that it has reached the hearts of others through her.
        
        So, when she gives her answer: "I expected as much," he says with dry humor. "But don't worry about me. My very nature means I am at all times outnumbered."
        
        Not that that means very much. Even so, Mari's play-threats get her a breath of a laugh as he squints his eyes shut. If she and Hebikura were to team up, he's sure they would come for him. But would that be so bad?
        
        Regardless, when Mari's expression softens, Kaworu's eyes are open again to bear witness. His own smile softens in return, a little communication between them, for just the two of them.
        
        "Oh? I could always praise you for something else, if you desire so strongly to lavish in it," Kaworu replies with that same subtle humor. "Your taste in birthday gifts is impeccable, for instance." He shrugs, hands still in his pocket. "Is it so scandalous to find the benefit in the harm another has done to you?"
        
        His smile still lingers, as does the crinkle in the corners of his eyes. The dreams of Angels... He prays that Duma will find their own dreams peaceful.
        
        And that one day, they meet again.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

Freedom. It might be odd, to consider a life of narrative bondage an expression of freedom.

But Mari understands, at least.

What's more free than being able to choose to give that freedom up for someone's sake?

"Oho, the tenacious Tabby Cat is accustomed to fighting with a handicap," muses Mari, who knows full well the meaning behind his words. That's why, despite the tease, she means every word she says.

"How formidable!"

After all... what could you call someone in Kaworu's situation, except for that?

Praise given is praise returned, though, and as Kaworu offers praise to her directly, Mari's expression alights. Backside parked against the wall, she leans her upper body forward, blue eyes big as saucers as she steeples fingers together in front of her and smiles a big, cheshire smile. "Mmhm, mmhm!" she agrees, humbly, to his compliments on her gift-giving. "And my gregarious grace and generosity! And my loquacious eloquence and elegance! And my artfully alliterate adroitness!"

She could go on and on, really. But instead, silence overtakes her after, as Kaworu offers that shrug of a question. Her smile is a smaller thing, but not a faded one, as she tips her head rightward and taps her two index fingers together twice.

"Tres scandaleux, Chat Tigre," she proclaims with light solemnity. "It's not very common to find strength in the actions of another's harmful ways, let alone gratitude! One might call it positively bizarre!"

Her brows lift. Her smile grows.

"... But that strangeness is one of the things about you I'm grateful for."

Strange gratitude, exchanged for strange gratitude.

She heaves a little sigh here. Her head bumps against the wall once more, as she looks at her destination, not too far in the distance.

"I suppose it's not too much longer now before I should heave off to prove I am worthy to fight for my right to exist my sinful, misbegotten existence." She sounds, at least, eager for it. Which, 'eager to face an existential threat of universal proportions' might be a strange thing to be excited for, but...

One could call it her holy cause.

"So! I have a single request: hold down the fort until I get back, Tabby Cat?"


<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Precisely. It may be bondage, but it's the bond that Kaworu chose and embraces for himself. Indeed, what greater freedom could there be?
        
        And in the same way, formidable is indeed the word for someone in Kaworu's position. His smile doesn't so much as flicker at Mari's apparent tease. He knows she's fully sincere at the same time that she's prodding at him. "Of course," he replies.
        
        "It wouldn't be fair otherwise."
        
        He is a lion among lambs, after all. He must be very, very careful with his claws.
        
        And speaking of of course, Mari not only takes Kaworu's praise in stride but uses it as an excuse to heap more and more upon herself. "I wonder if you really need someone else to praise you?" he says, amused. "Well, it seems to have made you happy, so I don't mind." Whether she needs it or not, he does enjoy giving it to her. That's part of being friends.
        
        Mari insists that it's scandalous. Again of course, being scandalous is something she revels in, so it's no surprise she's grateful for that trait in him. He laughs a little, smile broadening as he shuts his eyes. "Bizarre is not an inappropriate word for it," he agrees mildly. "Or for me."
        
        They're both strange in their unique ways, but for both of them it includes having a heart as open as the sea. That's what makes their friendship work.
        
        But then Mari looks off towards her destination, and Kaworu follows her gaze. "Yes," he agrees. "It's a crucial mission, not only for us but this entire universe. I expect Commander Ikari won't send just you to assist, but it seems as though you'll be the only Evangelion pilot."
        
        It seems that way, at least. When your predictions of the future hinge on what's happened in the past, it's easy to get taken by surprise. But that's a separate matter for now.
        
        "At least you'll have no lack of worthy foes," he continues, smiling over at her. "I'm sure you'll have the thrill of several lifetimes out there."
        
        He listens to her request; then he nods. "I will." His smile fades into something more grave. "I don't know how long it will take until you and the rest of the Gutsy Galaxy Guard will return... but I'm certain we'll see more Angels before then." His eyelashes flutter shut. "And I will do what I must, for the Lilim."
        
        His eyes open as he reasserts a smile. "Just as you will, Mary."

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

I wonder if you really need someone else to praise you?

"How could you ask such a thing!" exclaims Mari, visibly - visibly - shocked in a way that's utterly undercut by the twinkle in her eye.

"Everyone needs pawsitive reinforcemeownt sometimes!"

...

Rest assured:

If there was anyone in this whole universe capable of applying positive reinforcemeownt upon themselves without any outside assistance, it would be Mari Makinami Illustrious.

It's that unique way about her; just like Kaworu, and his own anomalous quirks. Like an impish reflection of his calmer presentation, Mari indulges in a teeth-baring grin for Kaworu's laughing words, a magnetic flash in the frying pan that lasts only a few handful of seconds before her attention is stolen away by the place off in the distance, that will usher her somewhere further yet.

Triple Zero. It's a threat to everyone. But for Mari?

It's much more of an ideological struggle.

"Mm," exhales Mari, as Kaworu speaks. "Thrills, chills, and zero bills~. If we fail, the universe goes back to how it was. If we succeed, we prove incontrovertibly that the universe is warped beyond any salvation, even from a fundamental force that deigns to have designs over it."

That -- would sound like a terrible thing, delivered from most mouths. From Mari's, it sounds sweeter than the nectar of the gods, and twice as tantalizing.

"How much more reassurance could you get about the future? The trip practically pays for itself~."

But, Kaworu agrees to her request. And Mari allows a smaller, more grateful smile to grace her lips as the soles of her feet plant back against the wall behind her. Grateful in a way neither of them can really quantify in words, here. But with trust enough to be confident the sentiment carries through.

So how could her response be anything but a double finger gun guarantee?

"You better believe it, buckarino~."

And with that, she pushes up off the wall and, floating in mid-air, turns to face Kaworu, offering out her hand.

"Now, escort me to my fate, o' noble guide!"

It's more than just a chance to talk further before he has to leave.

After all, who wouldn't want to spend as much time with a friend before they must part for who knows how long?

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        "Of that I have no doubt. What I doubt is your need to have anyone else give it to you," Kaworu replies, ever the tsukkomi to Mari's boke. There's a twinkle in his own eye, though, that makes it clear he's aware of the joke and playing along in his own fundamentally honest way.
        
        After all, even when they're joking, and Mari is play-acting at feeling something she doesn't, Kaworu can't be anything but sincere. They really would make a good manzai duo. Their humor might be a little too dense for the average viewer, though...
        
        "To live is to change. A force that is unable to accept that the universe may grow into more than what it once was isn't healthy for it," Kaworu opines. "But then, I expect they say the same about us."
        
        The trip pays for itself. Kaworu chuckles a bit at that, too. He may be an administrator this time around, but finances are of little concern to him. He can balance a budget, but that's only playing around with numbers. The weight of those numbers is largely lost on someone who spends almost all of his monthly wages on cosmetics for his hobby.
        
        (In fairness, it's a little more balanced these days, but that's because he's also taken up curry--not "cooking," just "curry"--as a hobby as well, to say nothing of his extensive music practice.)
        
        "I do believe it. That's why I said it," he replies mildly, the corners of his eyes crinkled. As she offers her hand to him, he accepts it and pushes off the wall with her.
        
        "It will be my pleasure," he replies. As they move forward into their (seemingly) diverging fates, they'll have time enough to talk as they please. When at last it comes time for them to part, he'll give her a smile and the words: "Until we meet again."
        
        Because, however that mission goes, he has confidence that they will meet again, one day, one universe.
        
        And that's what makes her one of his dearest friends of all.

Retrieved from "https://srtmoo.net/mediawiki/index.php?title=2023-09-15:_Friends_in_Strange_Places&oldid=8272"