2023-11-09: .the villains visit a theme park, and nobody dieS
- Log: .the villains visit a theme park, and nobody dieS
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Elisa Kafim
- Where: Stellar Park, Olofat, Orb Union
- Date: 2023-11-09
- Summary: Yuliana and Elisa visit an elegant theme park on the eve of their next step. They have a lot of fun, but in the end, they're pretending at these roles; they are Called to a greater purpose, and even Elisa's history cannot touch her, now.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTOPBQhrvtQ Lady GaGa - Bad Romance
The Kafims still date, you know; marriage scarcely needs to kill a romance. And today, to celebrate two successes and anticipate another...
They've come to Stellar Park.
Stellar Park, of course, is Orb's finest and fanciest theme park, a lineage hundreds of years old. (Before it was in Orb, it was in Sydney. ... the Sydney location is a memory, now.) These rides are all new, though, owing to the novelty of the Olofat location; it only has the memory of age.
After a frightful leap off a bridge (with bungee cords attached) and a zippy round of bumper cars (everyone learned not to overtake Yuliana), we now come to the teetering top of a rollercoaster track, clack-clack-clack go the wheels up an absurdly steep climb. And there's a dip, and --
"EEEEEE!"
Yuliana throws her hands up in fearless glee as they plummet DOWN, stones to gravity, all breath forced from them.
For some reason, her jacket does not go flying in the motion. (She is, of course, wearing leggings under her black skirts, for all the appropriate modesty. And a lovely blue and purple scarf around her neck, for much the same reason.) Thankfully, neither do her sunglasses or sunhat, thanks to their fine fitting and a sly little chinstrap; it's important not to be recognised on sight, when venturing out like this.
Their successes are only making the Federation more eager to question them, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Zip! Zip! Zip!
Elisa may be having 'fun'. But the best part, of course, is spending time with her wife. Now, though, they go up the roller coaster...
"Ah! We are at the apex..."
ZOOM!
Elisa is briefly struck by Yuliana's fearlessness. None of the emotion displays on her face, of course--but she feels elation at a quality of her wife's. Then she feels dismay, at how often that quality leads to trouble for the both of them. Her emotions mix, and she considers them calmly as they go up and down and up and down...
Elisa of course is very dignified, even as her hair whips from side to side with the motion of it. But...
She does have a small smile on her face. Just a small one.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana's, in contrast, is not small. There's a big grin on her face as they go, "YEEEEEE!!!", down those deathly plummets. She doesn't even think about diving headfirst into danger; she's not philosophical about it. She's just a fan of the adrenaline.
And of course when they emerge, Yuliana grasps her wife's arm. That's nice, too.
"What shall we do now?" She asks her, leaning in. "Perhaps... oh! Look at that!" Yuliana points, with her free hand, to a deliberately old Victorian manor stretching up across the skyline. A haunted house. "Don't you think that would be fun?" She asks the scariest woman here. "I'm sure you'll be amused!" ... well, that much might be true.
And so, of course, they head inside; they've brought the sort of tickets which don't necessitate waiting in lines, of course. Inside it is gloomy and dark, unlike the sunny park atmosphere, and they are tasked with walking through the terrible manor. There are of course little mechanical spiders, in carefully-curated webs, and those don't phase Yuliana terribly much, but...
Skitter skitter skitter, there's the sound of bugs on the ground, and Yuliana actually does hop up when she sees the little mechanical: "Yeegh! Cockroaches!" Who knew Yuliana was spooked by cockroaches?
(They get pretty big in Indonesia.)
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
That is nice. But Elisa has just enough of a natural body that she has to take a moment to adjust to not being on the rollercoaster anymore, a couple of steps where she's a little slower. Just a few steps. Now...
A haunted house. "Oh, you think?" Elisa says. "Then we shall definitely try it."
It is gloomy and dark, and Elisa rather likes it, actually. "A lovely atmosphere..."
"Look upon the spiders in their webs. They are almost natural. Spiders are fascinating creatures..."
But Yuliana does not spot the cockroaches first. Elisa does. "Ahhh, such fine little survivors," she says. "They can--" 'Yeegh!'
Elisa frowns. Then, she points. The cockroach robots disintegrate.
"There, that's better. Shall we continue?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
The cockroaches disintegrate, and Yuliana -- laughs. "Elyaaa!" She says, reaching up to bat the back of her head goodnaturedly. "They're not real! Hahaha... really, did you think I was in danger?"
She leans against her wife, her arm slipping around her back in half a hug. "You're so diligent... but calm your heart, zhenushka. They're actors. Actors!" And little tiny robots, in the case of those bugs.
This is, perhaps, a prescient warning by the time a human drops by in the next room, shrieking at them, all dressed in the rags of a pale, bloodied ghoul. "WE KNOWWWWWW," the so-called spirit rasps, reaching out with a gnarled claw. (Her claws, of course, are attached to her gloves. It's a costume. The blood dripping from her cut neck and belly isn't even real.)
"Oh!" Yuliana gasps, entirely willing to play along -- and, as it happens, jump into the arms of her wife.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Yuliana laughs? Elisa tilts her head to look at her wife. She is batted! "You were distressed," Elisa answers, rather than in danger poerhaps, but when Yuliana explains... They are actors. "Ahhhh. A pity then! They will have to replace those." A smile.
A human shrieks!!! In the next room, Elisa tilts hre head again, staring at her owlishly--until Yuliana plays along. Yuliana jumps into the arms of her wife, and Elisa catches her--and catches on. "Oh!" She says, and steps back a half-step, managing to shake without actually being unsteady on her heels. "Oh, my!"
She does a pretty good job of pretending to be scared... eventually.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana can't help it. On seeing Elisa do her level best to be scared, she... just starts laughing again, a helpless little quake of giggling that, if anything, has her clinging onto her wife for support more than the 'terror' ever did. "Hehehehehehe...!!"
The ghoul looks a little confused at that response, but Yuliana insists: "Oh, no, you're lovely, just, my wife is so cute..." And Yuliana, at least, can say that of Elisa entirely sincerely.
"PROCEEEED," the ghoul demands, to her credit not missing her beat for long.
And so goes the haunted house: with nothing close to the frights in their home, but it's fun to pretend like it's frightening. They're trying very hard! Their costumes are really very good! And when they get to the half-drowned basement, the bloated 'corpse' which crawls up from the water and reaches for them even really manages to scare Yuliana. "Ah!" She yelps, grasping tightly to Elisa, and thankfully it's dark enough that it's not immediately obvious how her fins unfurl in alarm from behind her ears.
Luckily, she remembers her own adage about how these are actors a moment later, and tucks them back away before anyone can notice she's scarier than the residents.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
No more disintegrations, at least. As the ghoul is confused, Elisa looks adoringly at her wife. But the ghoul figures out what's going on, and so it goes; Elisa is not really afraid of... well, any of these things, but she gets better at pretending, and later, she will comment on how intricate and good the costumes are. For now, as the 'corpse' that comes from the water--Elisa feels Yuliana's fear in the way she grips her, and smiles, despite it, because this is the point of this exercise. "Very good," she says.
The fins go away; Elisa holds her.
"That is. Aaaaaa..."
She'll carry her out.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Ahaha..." Yuliana laughs, a little embarrassed, but still quite pleased that Elisa's figured out the trick to the attraction. She is, of course, entirely happy to be princess carried out of here.
And no one is brave enough to approach Elisa about the destroyed bugmachines.
Once they're safely out of the haunted house, and Yuliana is safely on her feet again -- unlike Elisa, she's wearing flats, which explains why her wife is taller than her right now -- she takes her wife by the arm again. "Wasn't that fun?" She asks, gazing up to her wife adoringly. "El~yul~a~ you were amazing!" In 'getting into it', presumably.
"Come, come!" She declares, and drags her off again. There is a shooting gallery, in the games set up across the walk; Yuliana snickers, as she brings them there. "Why, look! Elya, what would you like?" She asks, gesturing up to the wall of prizes. Amongst the gems are massive teddy bears, cats which double as backpacks... and a giant stuffed shark.
Of course she can win her any of those, and more.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
It won't matter anyway, about the bugmachines. But this is not about that.
Yuliana is on her feet, and Elisa laughs faintly. "Yes," she says. "Such fine costumes. I haven't thought to be scared in... a very long time," she reflects. Excepting when Yuliana is in danger, of course, but there's no need to talk about that. But Yuliana drags her off again, and soon, a shooting gallery! Elisa looks to the prizes. The cat backpack would clash with her elegant attire. The massive teddy bear is a thought. But far more interesting...
"I do enjoy sharks," Elisa says. "Such ancient and majestic creatures..."
"I would like the shark, my darling. Surely it will be no challenge for you, but I would like it."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Then it will be yours," Yuliana promises, and takes up the gun. It's not a real gun, of course -- it weighs almost nothing in comparison, and there's not even a safety, though Elisa might note the way her thumb flicks up there automatically anyway. No: this gun shoots plastic darts, which stick to the targets on the far end of the booth.
The 'gun' doesn't really have sights which work, either -- the facsimile riding atop the gun actually misleads one's shots, if subtly -- but Yuliana takes a moment to figure out a better estimation for how to aim the weapon. Having done so, she levels the gun, and...
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Five targets, each with a dart lodged right in their centres. "Hah!" She crows, as she spins the toy gun about, and hands it over to the boothworker, grasping the barrel. "We'll be taking that shark, now."
"So you will," the man blinks, a touch surprised. He supposes she must be another of those soldiers. They do come by just frequently enough to keep him on his toes. But he takes the shark off of the wall, and presents it to Yuliana -- who immediately turns around and holds it out to Elisa.
"My darling! A majestic creature, just for you!" The shark is VERY toothy, though the teeth are all made of felt. And, yes: it is smooth as hell.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa smiles. For someone else, it might be small, but for her, it qualifies as beaming. The plastic darts in the hands of her Yuliana are a conquering weapon!
And Elisa does notice every detail of her darling's shooting, as it happens.
Pop!
"My wife is so talented, isn't she?" Elisa offers the boothworker. He seems surprised; she imagines so. "You do not often find any who can shoot nearly as well as she, I am sure..." But soon, there is--
A toothy, smooth shark.
"Thank you," she says, and hugs the shark close, leaning against its maw with her face.
"Would you like anything for yourself?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"It's certainly impressive," the boothworker agrees, easily enough. "I wonder if you shoot as well, ma'am?" He's noticed the rings, of course, so she's not a miss.
Neither does Elisa miss with her reaction. "Eee!" Yuliana absolutely squeals in delight, seeing her wife hug her shark. She clasps her hands by her cheeks, and wriggles. And when Elisa asks if she'd like anything, she looks over at the prize wall, and declares...
"Oh, look at that!" She points at a floppy stuffed cat designed to drape over one's head, all fitted with an unobtrusive headband to keep it in place. "He's so handsome! I'd like that, Elya!" Black cats are bad luck, so they say -- but they say an awful lot of things about the Kafims' omens, so no wonder Yuliana finds affection in them.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Oh, not so well as my wife," Elisa says modestly. The rings are very noticeable, aren't they? Of course they are. That's rather the point. Elisa smiles at Yuliana as she makes that wonderful reaction... and--
A floppy stuffed cat...
"Yes, he is, isn't he? Very well." Elisa walks up to the boothworker, and then, "I will accept one of your firearms."
She takes it, and because of the way that Yuliana eyed the sight, she does not rely on it. Instead, she considers--space. Distance. How she would need to exert her Energy... As precisely as she might jump or tumble.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!!
Elisa is not as fast as Yuliana, but she is as accurate, slamming down five targets with the darts.
"Please give the prize to my wife," she tells him.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Here you are," he hands the gun over, and might feel confident, for just a moment, that surely they're not both going to clear him out.
This confidence is dashed with Elisa's deliberate, careful approach to shooting every single target. "Well," he blinks. "How about that. All right, here you are, ma'am," he hands the cat hat over to Yuliana, who promptly seats it atop her sunhat. The black cat drapes over the straw, looking entirely at peace with the situation. It's as if a cat has elected to just take a nap on her head!
"Look! Look at him! Isn't he darling?" Yuliana spins, so as to show off the full three-sixty effect of her cat hat. She places a hand on Elisa's shoulder, so she can lean up to kiss her cheek. "Thank you, my darling! And that was such marvellous shooting, too! You truly consider every motion...!" Elisa isn't the only one who can admire her wife's style, apparently.
"Come, come!" She chirps, grasping Elisa's hand -- just one of them, thoughtfully, she leaves her a hand to hold her shark with -- and leading her on. Onwards, to...
"Oh, a Ferris wheel!" Yuliana points, delighted, as it rises up into the skyline. "They're so romantic...! We simply must go up, Elya!" Thankfully, again, they don't have to wait in line. They're even able to get a booth all to themselves!
Not that Yuliana was ever going to sit anywhere but right beside her wife, all draped over her as they rise higher and higher above the Earth. "Really, it's like we're at the top of the world, isn't it...?" Yuliana's clearly enjoying herself, up here.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa is good at dashing confidences. But she has no malice in it this time; she is polite and appreciative of the man and his work. And then, the cat...
"Very fetching," Elisa comments, appreciating Cat Hat in the moment. She smiles at Yuliana, and if she never actually touches anyone but her, it might be easy to miss that fact. "Of course. I lack your experience, so I must be more careful."
But then... Shark and hand, shark and hand!
She walks along, to... Ah, yes. "They are, aren't they?" Elisa may have even been to this very theme park before. She is comfortable enough with it. And now, as they move up, up, up...
"It is," Elisa says, and snaps her fingers. The ferris wheel comes to a gentle stop as they reach the apex. "...For we are. Our plans continue apace."
A pause. "They will fix it soon enough. For now, let us take a moment to ourselves."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Ahh, Elya...!" Yuliana purrs, nestling in against her wife, ankles hooking in about Elisa's ankles, arms embracing -- both her wife and her wife's shark, presently. She is not at all worried about the ride breaking, because it is, of course, Elisa's influence, and Yuliana is nothing but safe beside her wife.
And, of course, now they're hanging up here alone, she can take a moment to kiss her properly. She has, of course, noticed that Elisa doesn't touch anyone but herself; she's been happy to facilitate it, this whole trip. She's been the one to take things, for her wife. Anything Elisa needs, Yuliana has offered to her.
Doesn't it make her special?
She pulls back, arms slung around her wife's neck, and her smile practically glows. "Yes... the next one is right here, isn't it...?" Yuliana asks, looking out at the vista the Ferris wheel affords them, the beautiful grounds of Stellar Park and the bustling, modern streets of Olofat beyond it. "Ah... it's well that the flowers do no harm. This is a fine city... I'm so pleased it raised you well, Elya."
She pulls one of her arms down, to slip her fingers in between Elisa's, squeezing her hand. "This will be the third... we're almost done. She is almost here... I wonder what will happen to these Ferris wheels, when She is come." She's contemplative, as she looks out at the view. The world... will change.
For the better, she adds, privately.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Shark is very soft. And very smooth!
...But in the moment, Elisa will hold Yuliana safe; the ride will be fine enough, for now. She returns that kiss, properly, and indeed it does make Yuliana special. ...Many, many things do.
Elisa is calm, as she speaks. She considers the lovely grounds, the fine experiences they've had here...
"...It did," Elisa says thoughtfully. "The flowers themselves do no harm. But there will be harm done." A pause. "...I have not come here in some time. It is..."
She trails off, and looks to Yuliana, instead. "Almost," she says. The world will change, but, "I see no reason that they would not remain. There is nothing about a Ferris wheel that holds humanity back from its glorious future. There is nothing about a little haunted house, that destroys the spirit."
"...But I do not know," she admits, muses. "The world I lived in, when I was here..."
"It seems far, far away, now. Even as I return, it is not the way it was."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Of course," Yuliana says, lashes veiling her eyes, when Elisa confirms that harm will come. "A sacrifice must have meaning." They're Elisa's own words, now coming through Yuliana's lips. So often does she echo her wife. It offers her something much like strength.
Her other hand drifts down to Elisa's, as well, her fingers petting the back of her wife's darker hand. "It's strange to return, isn't it?" She asks, gently. "The roads are in the same place, and sometimes even the buildings... the weather is familiar, and the manner of the men... but I felt it too, zhenushka. To come back to these places, oppositional... we are strangers in a familiar land."
She squeezes her hand. "And it must be harder for you, musn't it?" She asks, brow creasing. "You drifted from hotel room to hotel room for so long. Since before I met you... right? We scarcely even speak to your parents..." Oh, they ring, occasionally. Very occasionally. And Yuliana is pleased to try and get to know them, but she can tell her wife isn't terribly interested, so neither has she invited them out for tea. Really, Yuliana would swear that Elisa speaks to her mother more than her own. (Is it really just because Sashenka is more diligent in ringing them..?)
"Elya..." And Yuliana is gentle, speaking with concern, "... when did you disconnect?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"It must."
It is strength of a kind. Elisa, too, has it. To be reminded of this place, though, is something different. Once, she might not have bothered...
Elisa glances down to Yuliana's hand. "It is," she says. "Strangers in a familiar land. That is true."
For her... yes, she did do that. Since before. Those things--they are all true. And there, there is concern.
She is quiet, for long moments, as elsewhere people get nervous at the Ferris wheel's stop. She listens to that, melancholy.
"Scarcely," she agrees. "I... Do not entirely remember when," she admits. "Sometime after my departure from Nergal, or perhaps sooner. ...It hardly matters much. It is as it is."
"But they will not be here, tomorrow. They are not here now. I have arranged a vacation. That is my gift to them."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Other people are nervous about the Ferris wheel, but Yuliana is occupied with the feelings of her wife. They are quiet things, not loudly expressed, but Yuliana knows they're there. She knows her wife is not as unfeeling as the world thinks she is.
"Is it all right?" She asks, cradling her hand. "That it matters little? Elya, you need not throw it all aside without flinching. These things shaped your life... it's all right if they matter. There's nothing wrong with sentiment." Of course she would say so; Yuliana is so sentimental.
(It's difficult for her to think of others, like this, but of course she loves her wife; of course she is interested in her wife's feelings, too. For Elisa, she can go out of her way and worry.)
And she smiles, and reaches up with her free hand to cup Elisa's cheek. "But I am glad you have spared our parents the battle," she says, doing her best to be supportive. (And now she doesn't have to distinguish between each pair of parents, it's 'ours', again.) "It is well to hold that familial piety in your heart. Ah, just as I decided not to plant the flower in our home growing up, I suppose... since they still live there. Chobu's base was close enough... and it's good I was able to bloody them, too." That flower's still out there, on top of the pile of rubble, its roots ever digging deeper.
Deeper, and further, until...
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"It matters little," Elisa says again. "The time when this was important to me... is long ago. I have greater purpose, now." A pause. "Sentiment is well and good. I am glad that you have it. But the time when I competed for this place... it is long gone. It is has been gone for some time."
But Elisa turns towards Yuliana, at that supportive moment. Familial piety... "Yes," Elisa says. "Of course. We must respect that from which we came, in order to have the foundation for that which shall be."
The flowers...
"Yes, it is well that you were able to bloody that place. And this..."
"Yes. Soon, the flower will be here."
She looks down, musing, and snaps her fingers again. The Ferris wheel, slowly, starts to power back up. The technicians exclaim in surprise--but will have time to move out of the way.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I'm..." Yuliana starts to say, before she stops herself from doing her wife such a great injury. (She does so hate it when Yuliana says sorry.) "I grieve, that you lost what you had. No wonder you are so fully committed to what we shall have..."
Yuliana pauses. "... though... I suppose I can't return, either. There's no going back... to where we came from. That life is forever closed to us, now." They are more frightful than the haunted house could ever hope to be. It's always going to be a game of pretend, now, when they try to fit in.
"Soon," she promises Elisa, smiling to her again. "But for now, let us enjoy ourselves, zhenushka. I am still so hungry for your smile..."
Even if they don't belong here, any more, it's a wonderful diversion.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
She does hate that. But now, "Thank you," Elisa says, because this is better. "I am committed. I am... quite committed."
"No," Elisa says then. "We cannot be as we were, not now. This is something that others do not understand; it is too late, to live as they would, to live as we might have, in another world."
"This is the world we work for. This is the future we strive towards."
"This... This will be."
Then she smiles back, faintly, and places her hand over Yuliana's. "Yes," she says. "We shall do this."
The Ferris wheel slowly starts to move again...
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I can think of no one as committed as you, sputnica zhizni," Yuliana praises her life's companion quietly. "And you are beautiful in your conviction." She is beautiful regardless, of course; but particularly in this. Yuliana admires her strength.
"Yes," she agrees, adopting Elisa's view so easily, "it's far too late."
Yuliana tilts her head, and echoes, when Elisa decides what will be: "... and it will be beautiful." She adopts Elisa's words so easily, speaks them as if she were the one to have crafted them. So easily does she inscribe Elisa's wishes into her soul.
And so easily does Elisa indulge Yuliana's. "Wonderful," she smiles, to her wife, delighting in the cool touch of her hand. "I'm so glad we visited, Elya. This place raised you... I love it for that."
She brightens, and adds: "Come, when we land, let us find the restaurants!" Of course Yuliana, noted lover of food, would want to visit their eateries; even if Orb borrows most of its cuisine, she's still curious.
Perhaps the offerings here are better than in Peaceland.