2024-01-15: Return To Me
- Log: Return To Me
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Elisa Kafim
- Where: The Silent Castle, Kaffeklubben Island
- Date: 2024-01-15
- Summary: Yuliana runs right back to her wife with concerns over whether Green Fold Quartz affects her -- and Elisa agrees that they should remove her necklace, concerned for her wellbeing. Her doubts assuaged, Yuliana shares her relief that she can come to Elisa with her worries, and Elisa is pleased that she would come straight to her. They speak of the mysteries of the Orchid Cells and the potential that their newfound assistance might help unlock them, as Elisa takes a pragmatic view towards the help of outsiders. It's not long before Yuliana's anxiety is replaced with affection for her wife, joking with her and affirming their jealous devotion to each other. (CW: Coercive control, implied sexual content)
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ampn-5hcZg Assemblage 23 - Let Me Be Your Armor
On the first day of March, Yuliana flies back to the Silent Castle. She wasn't due back for another three days -- though of course she's not unannounced; she tells her wife everything, and she's told her this, too.
She sounded shaken, though she assured her wife that Sayaka's men had done her no harm.
Taking flight from the Photon Power Labs in the middle of the night brings her to Area 10's airspace in the middle of the day -- and now Spring has technically begun, there even are three hours of daylight to enjoy, though much of the day is still spent in some measure of twilight. (But this is the sun which never warms. They might enter the bare minimum of positive degrees during Summer, but right now, it's still -25 degrees Celcius out here... or -13 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the measurements of an Area.) Thankfully, Ghost's stealth-running capacities let Yuliana slip past Britannia's guard; if she weren't such a skilled pilot, it might be a different matter, because the world knows where they live now.
For instance: the way the shuttle DROPS, from high cruising altitude, precisely like a stone. A last-minute activation of its thrusters stop it from plunging through the ice and shallow water to an unceremonious grave... and circumvent any attempts to monitor their airspace for activity.
It's very blink-and-you'll-miss-it. Now the sun is rising over the Silent Castle, she can't leave under cover of night any more; she's had to adapt her methods.
And that's why they don't take the Shandor.
"Auntie Yulya! Auntie Yulya!" She is, of course, greeted on the docks by the children, as she opens up the shuttle hatch; she's already dressed in her furs and thick black robes, because she'd rather be uncomfortably warm leaving Japan than lose her fingertips here. And of course she leans down, as soon as she steps out, to pick up the four-year-old Makar and hoist him up. "Yeah!!!" He crows, throwing out his mittened hands as he gets an express trip up.
"Were you good, boys?" Yuliana asks, as she places Makar back down on solid ground, and ruffles the older Maksim's hair.
"Uh-huh," Maksim nods, quite serious. "Minyok's taught us all about computers here and stuff."
"And stuff," Yuliana says, raising her brows. "And he told you to call him that, did he?" She recognises the Zaftran nickname, all wrapped up in criminal brotherhood, even if it's far from its roots -- they're talking about Parminder.
"Yeah! And he said to say that," here Maksim switches to really quite decent English, "being a polyglot is pointless now that computers can tell you how to translate stuff, L-O-L." Maksim pauses. "Auntie Yulya, what's a polyglot?"
"That's a person who speaks a lot of languages, like I'm going to teach you," Yuliana says, "and it's definitely not a useless skill, sweetheart. Now -- you've run off from your Grauntie, haven't you?" And she waves to Sashenka, just to demonstrate to them that she's definitely caught them out. She smiles, hands resting on her knees as she leans down. "Run off back to her, all right? I have to say hello to your Aunt!"
Maksim's face twists in childish disgust. "Are you gonna kiss her?" He asks, aghast.
"Big time," Yuliana assures him. "It will be super gross, so get out while you still can."
"Ewww!" Maksim laughs, and grabs Makar's hand, dragging him along. "Makar, c'mon! C'mon!"
"'Kay," Makar nods, as he grabs Maksim's hand for safety and toddles off back towards Sashenka.
With that, Yuliana can finally leap into her wife's arms. Not that she suspects Elisa was waiting for that, or anything. And, as promised -- as always -- she kisses her, big time. All the six-year-olds present agree that it's the most embarrassing thing in the world.
... she's putting on a brave face for the children, but the affection carried in her lips is as real as it ever was.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa Kafim has been concerned, since her wife told her she was returning early. Yes, Yuliana assured her that Sayaka's men have done her no harm, but the possibilities nevertheless multiply in her mind. And there are many, even before that.
But here she is, also in her black robes, standing at the docks and waiting. The children wish to greet her first, and that is well enough. It gives Elisa a chance to observe her with them, consider her demeanor, watch her for a moment...
Oh, and it's nice for them, of course.
Elisa smiles, as the children start to go. "Be well, children."
Then, she picks up Yuliana and kisses her back. It is well that the children are leaving.
But that affection does sink through, and almost imperceptibly, Elisa has a little less stress. However, when their lips part, she stares into her wife's eyes, intense.
"Now," she says, "...I will take you home." She turns, and doesn't set her down, beginning to walk to the castle.
"And you can tell me what has troubled you so."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana's arms sling about Elisa's neck, as her tentacles curl about her chest; held aloft with nothing but the power of her wife's arms, she trusts her centre of gravity to her, totally.
And her endless eyes are relieved, under the intensity of Elisa's gaze. It's difficult for her to say just what she was afraid of, but being held in the overwhelming grasp of her love is a balm.
"Please," she murmurs, a hand lifting to cup her wife's cheek. "Thank you, zhenushka..."
... and when they come to their room, and Elisa sits them down on their bed, all silk and fur and suede, Yuliana settles herself into Elisa's lap and hooks her legs about hers. Her tentacles curl at her sides, as she nestles in against her wife's chest.
"Elya," she starts, her fingers curling in her wife's black robes, "it's -- it's the Green Fold. Do you remember, someone stole it, all that time ago...? ... it must have been them. They used it to experiment with those Orchid Cells you sent them... and they saw them activate, when they did. Apparently, they expected the effect to be stronger, but..."
Yuliana sighs, glancing away. "I told her of Sharochka," she admits, though it's hardly a revelation; she's already asked her wife if she can be straight with Sayaka's men. That's why she knows not to speak of the Voidframe. "But she was convinced the Green Fold affected me, too. I told her that wasn't why my body had changed, but..." Her frills wilt, over her ears.
"... I showed her the Quartz I was empowering," she says, after a moment's pause. "Do forgive me, I know it's private, but -- but it seemed the quickest way to assure her I wasn't affected by the things. But... as soon as I gazed into them, I had a vision..." She blinks, and reaches into the sleeve of her robes, pulling out a folded piece of paper. "Ah -- Sayaka was helpful enough to write it down, since I was worried about making sure you heard it exactly."
Be welcome, it reads, in Sayaka's handwriting. The abyss calls, and requires answer. These empty halls yearn for a mother. Space and distance feigned foibles of a world demands this. Shatter illusion and grasp.
"She didn't want to overlook it... I'm worried I won't be able to go back there, Elya," Yuliana admits, and what she isn't saying in scapegoating Sayaka -- what Elisa can feel, anyway -- is the way she's not only afraid Sayaka will stop her from visiting again. "But she wanted to know what it meant... maybe you could tell her, if it's no danger. Oh, like I thought it would be a nice idea if you told them about that spray you made..."
Yuliana can't distract herself from the point for long, though. "But -- but she wanted to know if I was certain it was fine, and -- and I wasn't certain, Elya. I wasn't. All this time, I thought the Green Fold Quartz couldn't touch me, but..." She looks up to her wife, brow knit in tension. "But what if it does, Elya?"
And she's asking her.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Of course."
In their room, Elisa is imperious, her robe sweeping about her as she sets Yuliana on the bed. And then, she listens. She said that she would; she does as she says. Yuliana nestles in against her. And Elisa...
"I remember," Elisa says. "Hmm..."
Data. If she could get their data, that would be convenient. But it is less important than Yuliana wilting. She pauses. "It's all right," she says of her forgiveness. "We did decide that you would be up-front with them about things that might be relevant. This could be relevant."
She reads the paper. She furrows her brow as she does, considering it. "I see..."
"I see indeed."
Elisa is silent for a few moments; Yuliana can feel her contemplating, concern her primary emotional export in the moment. But when Yuliana asks her, she looks down into her eyes.
"It is possible," she says. "The Green Fold amplifies, enhances, assists our connection to the Void. But it absorbs, unless commanded to do otherwise. ...If there is the possibility that it is affecting you poorly, then we must of course test it. Will you give to me the crystals? We shall see you without them for a time, and learn for ourselves."
"...This message you gave implies it is the case; the abyss calls. It must be calling to you, and to Sayaka, through the Crystal."
"I will not stop you from visiting again. Indeed, I encourage you. I will consider this message... I am not certain that I wish to give Dr. Yumi Her words, in my understanding, but if you wish it I shall."
"...We can discuss other medicines later. Is this what troubled you then? The Crystal, and its potential effects?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Mm," Yuliana hums, with a small smile, when Elisa forgives her. They did come to that decision... so it's fine.
And of course Elisa is concerned for her; she would never have knowingly given her something which would harm her! Yuliana knows this, and knows at once she was right to return to her wife. Someone else might have twisted the situation...
But Elisa looks into her eyes and tells her what's going on, and just as Yuliana trusted her wife not to drop her, so she trusts her now. "Yes," she breathes, at once, and undoes her cloak, letting it fall away so that she can reach in beneath her robes and free that necklace from her tattooed neck.
The Quartz is dark, in her palm, as she lifts it in offering to her wife. And her gaze strays towards it, with a strange glint, before she rips her eyes from it and looks to Elisa instead.
And she smiles, again, when Elisa encourages her. "If you're not certain, we needn't push ourselves, sputnica zhizni," she assures her life-companion, gently. "We have already given them so much. Surely they do not need to know the Empress's intent to grant me space from Her."
Her tentacles coil tighter, around Elisa's waist, as she nods. "Mm," she nods, again, humming through her lips. "It's silly, and I'm ashamed to admit it, but... for a moment, I doubted you. I wondered... how much of what I'd done was aggravated by the Quartz you gave me, ever since '96... I was afraid, Elya," she admits, frowning. "That's why I came straight back... I had to talk to you." As if it was her idea that she should talk to Elisa first, and not something Elisa's assured her of, so many times.
"But I really shouldn't have worried," she says, smiling, as a hand reaches up to brush down that feathering at the edge of Elisa's ear. "I'm glad I came back to ask you, Elya. Now you're looking into it, and I feel so much better..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Someone else could've twisted it terribly. It would be wrong. ...But Elisa notices the way Yuliana looks at the Quartz. It is strange, how she approaches it... Yes, perhaps this is for the best.
"Mm. Yes. I will think on it," she says, and takes the Quartz, placing it on a table for now, since she cannot disentangle herself without distressing her wife. She will remove it from her presence soon enough.
"..."
A silly, shameful thing...
"I am glad you came to me," she says. She wonders about that; is Yuliana's increasingly erratic behavior a result of the Fold Quartz? Or was it inevitable regardless?
"...if it is the case," she says, "Then perhaps we will see improved results soon." She reaches to Yuliana's face, and strokes her cheek. "A moment's doubt does not wound me terribly. Your actions are what matter above all. And you returned to me. So all is well."
"I am glad, that you feel better. I wish you to feel good things, my darling."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana would be so distressed if she were disentangled from Elisa. She might even reach distraught.
Was Yuliana's instability inevitable...?
... it might be hard for Elisa to say, since she gave Yuliana that jewellery so soon into their courtship. Certainly the REA's documents painted an erratic and labile picture over her decade of captivity, but the REA also spent a decade torturing her wife. It's in the spirit of science to investigate herself, isn't it?
Yuliana doesn't know much about those sorts of questions -- she was only ever their subject -- but she trusts Elisa, when she says it will get better. She leans her cheek into Elisa's palm, nuzzling her hand with her face, eyes fluttering closed for a satisfied moment. "All is well," she murmurs, in fond echo.
Her gaze veils with her affection, as her eyes open again, and she grasps Elisa's hand in her own so that she might press her lips to the heel of her hand. "You've always been my foremost advocate, my love," she purrs, her frills fanning out lazily to either side of her head. "Even back then, you worked so hard to earn my trust..."
Yuliana sighs, happily, leaning in against Elisa's chest. "It feels so strange that I used to return there, with the way they were hurting me... but you never gave up on me, zhenushka. After you worked so hard... you've proven your harbour a thousand times over. It's the least I can do -- to ask you directly. I know you wouldn't object to me asking someone else, if it was really something which didn't have an easy answer..."
And in all the ways her situation is different now, she doesn't seem to recognise at all the similarities she's describing.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Science. Yes... Elisa still cares for science.
Elisa looks to Yuliana, as she purrs to her, as she speaks of advocacy, and her hard work. Elisa does not encourage her to think back too much, but as she does here, it is well enough. She puts arms about Yuliana again as her wife nestles close.
"And I will not give up on you," she says. "Not then, not now... And not in the future."
To ask her directly....
"If I had no answer, indeed, we would be forced to ask elsewhere. And perhaps we shall see their... data, if it bears any fruit. But these crystals I will take, now."
Different, the same. Does it matter?
"We shall have our answers. We shall have our future."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
And Yuliana sighs, sinking into Elisa's arms, heartbeat thudding slow and calm against her. "Oh, Elya," she murmurs, all swept up into her love.
To have someone who will never, ever give up on her, no matter what (she does) -- really, it's a dream come true. Of course the reason she wished for such a thing is what Yuliana thinks of, when she recalls receiving those Fold decorations from Elisa.
What else would she think of? Certainly not the way Elisa knew how strange she grew, around the Green Fold Quartz.
"Take them away, Elya," Yuliana beseeches her, sweetly, nuzzling her face into her wife's neck. "I really don't like mirrors..." And why she would call the Fold Quartz a mirror is a thing she doesn't elaborate on -- but Elisa has heard many times how her self is amplified, in their facets.
(She never realised why seeing them made her grow as strange as laying eyes on a strong Newtype. The Silent Calling's seer has a particular talent in blindness.)
Even so, "I want to know...", she murmurs, against Elisa's skin. "It's hard, Elya. Even though they're nice about it, and they've never hurt me. It's hard... to feel like a subject, again. But I want to know," she repeats herself, firmer. "I'm not human, and I break this world to bits. Why... why is that? Who are my people, Elya, if not humanity? Why did they die? Why did Cypripediodea come here... and where is her grave, Elya? Why is this world beside the Void, and why does it occlude the realm of Newtypes? And why is it that I occlude, when Siti brought everyone together?"
A third time, and a touch more uncertain: "I want to know..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Mirrors, Yuliana says, and perhaps that is why. There is much of Yuliana's power that Elisa must tease out in riddles, must search through and work towards understanding. This may be another of those things... Though she never minded that Yuliana spoke more as an Oracle the more she used the Crystals.
"Hm?" Elisa wonders. "..."
Yuliana has many questions, to which she wishes to know the answers. "...I took for granted for some time that some of this was simply true," Elisa admits, musing. "But my heart does not rest."
"...We shall find out," Elisa says. "I shall find out, for you. These things you wish to know, these answers you must have... What of Cypripediodea, of the reasons you are as you are, of what the relationship is between the Void and these Newtypes..."
"These things I will learn for you, my darling."
"And we shall know. And in knowing shall you be free."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana is trying to impress the wisdom of the Void onto this reality, after all. It's no wonder it comes out confused -- puzzling -- metaphorical. She shapes ineffable truths with mortal words, and it's a wonder it's not yet driven her mad.
(Or has it?)
"Mm..." Yuliana hums, eyes lidding, all sunk into her wife. "I didn't question it, either, for a long time. I thought... I was the antithesis of the Newtype, and that explanation made sense, to me. But I'm not merely a weapon the Republic created... they were exploiting the thread of an existing tapestry, zhenushka. There's more to it... there's more to us." Because of course Elisa is involved in Yuliana's tapestry; of course they're entangled. Her legs curl in, where they're hooked around Elisa's, as if to punctuate her point.
"I know you'll find the answers, for me," Yuliana smiles, against Elisa, a thing more felt than seen. "You're the only one who could set me free, Elya. Maybe... Sayaka's men will be of aid to you. They might find something, searching through the Orchid Cells..."
Yuliana sighs, her frills curling as she thinking. "... I don't even know why they call them Orchid Cells," she murmurs. "Is it just because of her name...?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
It is a certain kind of wisdom.
"I knew that I was possessed of Power, and a way to change the world. I knew of you. And yet..." She considers. "yes. There is more to us. More to this tapestry. The Republic, we knew, did not understand you fully. But there is more yet than we understand, as well."
She smiles, when Yuliana says she knows. "Yes. I will accept their aid, for now. We shall use what methods we can, in order to learn what we must."
Orchid cells...
"The name is the most obvious connection," Elisa agrees. "Perhaps there is more. The cells do not have a particular resemblence to orchids or to orchid cells."
"I will study them. We will share information, for now."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I'm a little scared," Yuliana admits, totally vulnerable in the eyes of her wife. "Scared of myself, when anything could be behind me... but I know you'll keep me safe, zhenushka. No matter what happens..." Her hand reaches out, to stroke down one of Elisa's arms, holding her so securely.
She tilts her head up, on Elisa's shoulder, to gaze at her wife properly again. "You know... they really seem to wish to aid me," she murmurs, reflective. "It's sweet, in a way... perhaps they still think of me as their comrade." She pauses, and adds, with a more cautious thread of hope: "It would be nice if they found a solution... and it's nice of you to let them try."
She laughs, a light, melodious giggle. "Aheheheh... really, I'm glad! I know there's a resemblance in my new limbs, but I'd hate to be part plant, Elya. Can you imagine if I needed to sun myself? I'd have to leave home half the year!"
Not that becoming reptilian is much better, for that, but Yuliana doesn't bring that resemblance up.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"The unknown always presents its share of terrors. But I am with you. No matter what happens, I am with you."
Yuliana's wife looks back to her, at that murmur. "Perhaps," Elisa says. "That would be a reason. ...I care only for your well-being. If they are where a solution is to be found, then there we shall find it. It matters only that it is found."
A smile, then. "If you were a plant, I would capture the sun for your use. ...But perhaps it is better not so, yes."
"I would hate to see you leave so often as that."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"No matter what," Yuliana echoes, warmly. "As I am with you... forever, zhenushka."
She loves her wife so much, sometimes, she feels her heart will burst.
There are all sorts of reasons why they might be choosing to do this, for her -- as Elisa outlines, when she acknowledges one. But Elisa calls Yuliana's attention back to herself, and Yuliana loves to focus on her, reaching up to brush her fingers down Elisa's cheek. "Oh, Elya," she smiles. "You're so beautiful when you're pragmatic, you know."
And she smiles, brightly, when Elisa makes a joke about the sun that both of them know isn't really a joke. "Heheh... I know you would. You know, I said I'd eat it whole, once, when I was beside myself? I think about that, sometimes... I wonder if I could."
She drops her hand to Elisa's shoulder, so she can lift her head, to press her lips to hers. "But you know I'd never leave you," she breathes, against her, gazing up with those endless green eyes. "Never."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Forever. Yes."
There are many reasons indeed. Elisa for now has spoken one. But Yuliana calls her beautiful for it, and Elisa smiles. "Pragmatism is a useful tool."
Then, indeed--no joke. "I recall," she says. "...I think you can do anything you wish, my darling. And I will ensure that it is true."
But, "I do know. ...No matter how often you go to these... people..."
"It is rewarding to hear the reminder that you will always return. I love you, Yuliana."
"Remember that."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yes...
"At our disposal," Yuliana agrees, of pragmatism. "I'm so glad you see the value in it, even with all your vision..." Elisa's vision for the future, of course, is different to Yuliana's visions of the future.
(Perhaps it's no wonder that the Captain of the Nega Force would be enthused by Elisa being willing to take any opportunity for herself.)
She laughs, again, cheerfully, when Elisa assures her she can do whatever she wishes. "Haha... I know," she smiles, all full of affection. "There's nothing I can't do beside you, Elya!"
But Yuliana hears the way Elisa lingers over those people, that little implied shred of jealousy, and her covetousness brings hunger to her own green eyes. "Make sure of it," she smirks, with a note of teasing challenge, as one of her snakes uncoils to reach back --
-- and pull the veils of their poster-bed shut, separating them from that grasping world around them.