2024-04-01: What's New, Millycat?
- Log: 2024-04-01 What's New, Millycat?
- Cast: Sheryl Nome, Milly Ashford
- Where: Macross Frontier Fleet
- OOC - IC Date: Early UC 0099 (during Controlled Acceleration)
- Summary: Milly and Sheryl get together to catch up, including chatting about Sheryl's recent accomplishments, and absolutely not any totally unfounded rumors that she might be ill.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Submissions closed for the Amateur Songwriting Competition that Sheryl's hosting several months ago, but that doesn't mean it's over. Literally thousands of hopefuls submitted lyrics, melodies, or both, and even with a team helping her judge, those months have largely been spent listening and reading and sorting through them all. It's been a lot of hard work. Sheryl almost turned down a hire request to sing the opening theme to some up-and-coming anime, but Grace convinced her otherwise. That at least is out of the way now, which means Sheryl can focus back on her main thing right now.
So at the moment, she's at a cafe on the Frontier that she likes. She'd seated in a booth at the back, hair tied up in back and large shades obscuring her face. She's got earbuds in connected from her specialized taiyaki phone, eyes shut as she listens. Her right hand taps a pen in tune to the melody she's listening to overtop a small notebook. Her left hand is settled next to a cup of hot tea with honey. Sheryl hasn't traditionally been about tea and honey, but this past year she's gotten really into it. It helps with--things.
The proprieters of the cafe know who she is, and they've been discreet about it. If they weren't, Sheryl wouldn't come back here, so it's win/win. And if a certain cyborg bodyguard happens to be hanging out (lurking) outside, just in case, well, that's probably totally unrelated to anything!
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly's been busy lately -- so much so that it's been hard to find the time to meet up with friends. It turns out that it's actually harder to sell your assets than transfer them through marriage under Britannian law, which makes some things about Milly's life make more sense in retrospect.
... but she is the sort of person who craves social activity, so she'd made a couple phone calls and up to the Frontier she went. She's budgeted a little time to just wander around -- it's been a long time since she went here with GUTS, now -- but for the most part she's here to see a friend.
Settling into the booth across from Sheryl, Milly gives her a slightly tired smile. "Hi there," she says, giving her a nod. "How've you been? We haven't hung out in a long time." Milly adjusts her coat a little bit, having sat down in a way that leaves it just a bit awkward.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Being busy is a way of life for women like them! All the same, when Sheryl had chatted with Rin a while back, Milly had come up, and Sheryl had realized she hadn't seen her friend in ages--had no idea what she was even up to these days. So when Milly had gotten in touch, she'd been happy to agree to meet up with her, work or no work. Obviously this is the sort of thing you can do at the same time as seeing a friend, anyway!
So when Milly seats herself in the booth, Sheryl glances up, then gives her a broad smile as she pulls off her shades and takes out her earbuds. "Milly! It has been ages, hasn't it? Who'd have thought leaving school behind would net us less free time!"
She breaks out into a cough then, cutting off her cheer. She claps a hand over her mouth; that goes on for an uncomfortable number of seconds before the fit settles long enough for her to drain her tea.
"Ugh, that's embarrassing," she says with a grimace. "Right when you get here, too. Don't you dare tell anyone that happened, all right?" She gestures to the cafe owner for a refill of her cup; then she sets it down with a faint sigh. A smile follows, as if too clear away the moment that just passed. "But never mind that! I'm sure I don't have to tell you what I've been up to, so why don't you fill me in on your hot gossip?"
It's not beyond Sheryl's notice that Milly seems tired, but much as she'd prefer not to get called out on her coughing fit, she refrains from pointing it out.
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly opens her mouth to respond -- and then sees that Sheryl's coughing pretty severely, so she cuts herself off. That worries her a bit; her expression softens, and she almost thinks to say something -- but when Sheryl tells her not to tell anyone it happened, she files this with all the other secrets she keeps and elects not to dwell on it, simply giving her a nod.
"To tell you the truth, I kind of anticipated my free time evaporating..." Milly admits, with a slightly lopsided smile. "Things are busy. I've had to negotiate with a bunch of reps from the Orbital Ring and get started studying for an education degree," comes her explanation of her own hot gossip. "I don't know how hot that gossip is, exactly..." Still, if she's boring, she's willing to take it in good humor that she's boring.
... Those aren't the only things, of course, and some of them would be quite interesting... but she's confident that it's better not to share that secret with Sheryl.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Secrets aren't secrets if you'll share them with just anyone. There's gossip and there's private business. Sheryl gets it. She has plenty of private business of her own.
...Also, there's a difference between gossip and tragedy. Sheryl's heard more than she'd care to about the Nagoya Massacre and how that influenced Ashford Academy, and she doesn't want to press on any secrets that Milly might have to keep related to that.
So: "Is that all? I figured you of all people would have a lot more going on," she says, leaning her cheek on one hand. "But then, I had to buckle down for my last year of high school, too. I graduated on time, though!" Barely, it felt like, but she graduated. "What is it you're studying? Anything fun?"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly rubs at the back of her head a little at the mention of graduating on time. That's something Milly didn't do -- though for her it was strategic... still, it's a reminder of the person she used to be, and to this day she's not sure how she feels about that decision.
So instead, she talks about the present. "Secondary education!" Milly answers, nodding to Sheryl. "I thought GUTS was a really good experience and wanted to carry that stuff forward. I think I'm having a pretty good time with it, even if we read a little too much theory for my tastes."
Milly considers asking a question about Sheryl's plans, but decides it's both intrusive and possibly in poor taste. Instead, she says, "I saw you did an anime opening recently... any other career highlights lately?" Best to get the focus onto tangible, positive things.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Arresting your personal development so you can stay with friends you ultimately end up drifting away from anyway? What's to feel bad about a decision like that!
...Though Sheryl isn't really much better. She didn't repeat a year on purpose, but it still ultimately meant she got to stay in school with her friends--and with Ranka in particular--a little longer. Alto graduated a year ahead of them, and then they got to graduate together.%
"It was a really good experience! I wonder how it's doing now that we're both gone. Secondary education though, huh... I wouldn't have guessed that from you, but thinking on it, it makes sense. You always were really passionate about school," Sheryl muses.
She smiles as Milly brings up her recent song release. "Oh, graphite/diamond? That was a good one, if I do say so myself. I also did the theme for a movie that came out last year--did you see Trial Trust? Beyond that, I've been working on a bunch of original songs--and, of course, the contest." She taps her notebook with her pen. "Judging has been a lot harder than I imagined it would be. And it's not like this is my first rodeo."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"I did stop by a couple campuses a while ago. I was curious too. I don't think it's going quite as intensely since I graduated, but everyone put a lot of work into keeping it going." Milly smiles, thinking about that; entrusting that project to the student councils rather than hanging on further was ultimately the right call.
She's more excited to talk about Sheryl's career, though. "Oh, that was you!" she enthuses. "I thought I recognized you. When I saw it I ended up going out with Shirley and Nina right after and forgot to confirm that." Sounds like Sheryl's been busy, really making her mark cross-media...
The contest has her attention, though. "How many entrants did that end up getting? Even if you only give each song a couple minutes to wow you, if there's thousands of entrants, that's..." Well, she doesn't need to tell Sheryl how much time that is. "Are you judging all by yourself, or do you have people weeding out the total clunkers for you?"
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"That's good to hear. GUTS really did a lot to make my time in school a lot of fun," Sheryl says, smiling back at her. For someone who otherwise never got a chance to attend school, that meant a lot to her.
That smile broadens into a grin as Milly enthuses about her song for Trial Trust. It was hardly her first movie theme--that honor goes to Bird Human--but it's important to maintain momentum. (That's why Sheryl agreed to do the opening theme for Azur Rain: the Animation. Unlike the others, it wasn't a project she's all that interested in, but she did enjoy doing a song for it.)
"God, how many was it? At least five thousand. I forget exactly how many," Sheryl says, pressing a finger to her chin. If Grace were here, she'd be able to give an exact number seemingly off the top of her head--maybe even actually off the top of her head. The question gets a laugh out of her. "Even I couldn't judge that many songs all by myself! No, I've got a team of judges helping out. We weeded out the clunkers ages ago, but that was the easy part. A lot of the entries are really good. It's been tough paring them down."
She pauses as the care owner comes by with a replacement cup of honeyed tea. They take the empied cup and share nods and smiles with her, then walk off. Sheryl takes another sip, then sighs contentedly. That feels much better.
"It's also tough because there's a whole lot of familiar names among the entrants." Sheryl's lips twist to one side. "In a good way and a bad way."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
... Milly probably would have taken the responsibility of weeding out all the clunkers herself, in Sheryl's shoes, making the whole process take radically more time. This is why Milly is Milly and Sheryl is Sheryl, one supposes.
"I'm really excited to see what you end up doing," Milly enthuses. "That's a big break for a songwriter who really makes it, too..." She chews that over. ... She really ought to order something; when the cafe owner comes by, she thinks to ask for some cookies. ... She's been good this week, she can indulge a little bit.
"Familiar names, huh... anything you can say?" She hasn't reviewed the contest terms, obviously, so she's not sure that she'll be able to say anything -- but on the other hand, Sheryl Nome doesn't seem like someone who's regularly stopped by things like 'rules,' either, so it's at least worth asking.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Sheryl is a perfectionist, but she's also only one person. Rest assured, all the other judges are professionals in the music industry. Sheryl's come to accept that there are a lot more talented amateurs than she once was willing to accept, but she still thinks highly of professionals... and professionalism.
Thus: "I can't name any names--yet--but there's at least one known terrorist on the list. And their submission? Is actually really good," Sheryl says dryly. "Otherwise it would've gotten thrown out already."
She takes another sip of her tea and smiles. "You're right, though. It'll be exciting to see who takes advantage of this opportunity to climb those steps and make a name for themselves."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly's eyebrow rises just a bit at the mention of a known terrorist with a great submission. She can think of a few people who that might be -- not that the list of known terrorists is exactly small, but known terrorists and Sheryl fans... that's a bit of a shorter list.
"That doesn't surprise me," she eventually says, instead. "I think a lot of really good writing comes from difficult backgrounds... it wouldn't surprise me for a terrorist to be putting out quality songs." That was her experience at Ashford, at any rate -- the Honorary Britannian students presented a unique challenge to the faculty because their composition was usually pretty solid.
When Milly's cookies arrive, she takes a bite, then takes a few seconds to think. She's not yet so old that she's able to be consumed by nostalgia, but just the same... "I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of this, then," she agrees, brightly.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
And known terrorists who are Sheryl fans and talented enough to be able to compose a strong song is a shorter list yet. If Milly ended up guessing who Sheryl means, it'd be no surprise. ...Well, it might be a surprise to Sheryl. She wouldn't think it'd be that short a list.
But then, she's already come to learn that at least two of her good friends were secretly former members of the Black Knights.
"True," she replies. "At least, that's true for me."
Those cookies do look tasty, but Sheryl restrains herself--for once--and sticks with her tea. She flashes Milly another grin. "Me too. Who knows? Maybe you'll end up seeing some names you know on the winner's list!" She taps her pen on her notebook again as her smile turns wry. "...but we've still got a lot of submissions to go through before we're ready to announce them."
Some of the entrants requested to be known only by a pen name, anyway, which is their right.
"Until then--do you have some more time after this? It feels like it's been ages since I could go out somewhere, and I could use a break for a couple of hours," she continues. Even if it's just window-shopping, walking around and chatting with a friend is one of life's true pleasures--and Sheryl really did miss Milly. When she had time to miss anyone, anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
... It's probably going to bug Milly until she figures out a list of possibilities, but at the same time, she's not going to press. Besides -- Sheryl can't exactly give an answer. So she moves on, taking another bite of her cookie as Sheryl mentions the winners' list.
"I'll look forward to it," she says, with a little smile -- and that's true and honest; she's enjoyed being Sheryl's friend, and more than that, it's added some new dimensions to following her career, to be sure.
When Sheryl invites her along for a little more hanging out, Milly has to think about it. "... I'm definitely up for that. I'll need to make a quick phone call to shuffle something around, but that's not going to be a huge problem," Milly answers, eventually. She was supposed to make some time to do some group work online, but that's not actually due for two weeks -- she has the space to shuffle things around.
"Do you mind showing me around Frontier?" she asks, after a bit. "The last few times I've tried shopping here on my own, I've ended up kind of lost."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Sheryl's been lucky to have been able to make so many level-headed friends during her school career--girls who might be her fans, but also treat her like a normal person. Ranka was the first like that, and Sheryl does adore her, but she really is happy she's met so relatively many.
"Oh, go ahead. Grace will probably huff at me for making last-minute plans myself--" Sheryl's grin turns mischievous. "But that's what a manager's for. <3 She'd just get bored if I didn't give her plenty to do!"
In other words, Sheryl's also supposed to be getting back to work. But it wouldn't be any fun if she only got to spend half an hour catching up, would it? So:
"Not at all! I've lived here long enough that I finally can show someone else around." Sheryl leans in conspiratorially, one hand raised, and stage-whispers, "Just don't mind the stoic cyborg who'll be following us around from a discreet distance. He's just doing his job; he doesn't care about girl talk."
She winks and leans back. "But first, do you mind if I have just one bite of one of those cookies? I really should stick to tea, but--they look so good!"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly prides herself on her level-headedness. ... Plus when you're acquainted from childhood with multiple children of heads of state, it tends to make it a little easier to avoid being starstruck.
... Only a little, though. Sometimes Milly does find herself a bit starstruck -- but in the end, Sheryl's just another person, even if she happens to also be an idol.
"Ahaha... how is Grace doing? I haven't had a chance to talk to her in a long time, actually," Milly reflects. They really only intersected a couple times, most notably at the start of GUTS as an initiative -- then again, it'd be kind of weird if they did talk particularly regularly...
The mention of the bodyguard gets a nod. "A girl like you would need security," Milly muses. It's good that he's discreet about it -- and, crucially, that he doesn't care about girl talk.
... Then Sheryl asks for cookies after all, and Milly decides to snap off half of one and slide it across the table. "That'll be our secret, too," she teases.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
At the time, Milly was a student--technically a minor, depending on which country you asked--and Grace was a full-fledged Adult. Even if Grace does manage the Galactic Fairy, it would have been weird if she had too much to say to a teenager.
"Same as ever. She always keeps busy and looks good doing it! Even if she'd look even better if she actually wore something other than that green dress suit of hers," Sheryl says with a loud, melodramatic sigh. Her smile returns quickly. "But her reliability is what's so great about her. I know I can rely on her without worrying about a thing."
Brera's an excellent bodyguard, too. Most of the time, anyway. When Ranka gets involved, he can lose his cool... but Sheryl doesn't mind that about him. It's a very human part of him--something that she thinks is important for him. But then, she has been helping him try to search for his lost memories on the sly for a long while now. The trip to Gallia IV pushed that forward a solid bit...
But that's between her, him, and Ranka.
"I knew I could count on you," Sheryl jokes right back, winking as she accepts that cookie and nibbles away. (It goes great with that tea.)