2024-07-05: Roux Louka vs the Tragedy of Warfare
- Cast: Marian Cross, Roux Louka
- Where: A quiet part of town in Orb
- Date: U.C. 0099 07 05
- Summary: Roux Louka meets a sentimental stranger standing in front of an orphanage. They talked about war and home...and snorkeling?
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
You'd normally never find Marian outside of the base, or a mobile suit. Even before her coma, all she ever does is training, work, and the occasional cooking whenever she felt like it. She's practically married to the military life.
But today is a little special. She's been feeling a little sentimental, and so decided to pay the orphanage she grew up in a visit.
It's a humble little place facing a quiet street. But the place is kept tidy. Kids playing in the courtyard, its caretakers...not in sight. But they're likely just in the main building itself.
But she didn't need to meet any of them, even if she's wondering if the caretakers she knew still worked here, or if they're even alive. So she's just stood outside the fence, content with just watching for a little bit as she reminisce.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Behind Marian, a bicycle stops.
"Hey," says a woman's voice. "You waiting for someone?"
She sounds -- dubious.
GO BACK A FEW STEPS
Roux had come to the Orb Union's immediate outskirts in order to collect Something or Other, and having done this, she had several long hours to kill, as there was a queue for clearance of sub-freight aircraft from the immediate area of Orb. (They have to think of a lot of factors, between the mass driver and the safety of the local environment.) She had opted to go shopping, and part of that had been getting around.
On a whim, Roux had rented a bicycle with a cargo basket.
SO THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING
Roux is straddling a bicycle; the basket (on the back, not the front, of the bike) has several shopping bags in it. Roux is wearing a pretty simple T-shirt and shorts combination, although she has added to it a pink straw hat with a wide brim, which is currently perched atop her head. Her features and her long blueberry-yogurt-purple hair are distinctive.
She also has her phone out on the little space where you can latch such things, between the handlebars. "This looks like an orphanage on my map," Roux continues, "but maybe it's outdated." (Quieter, "Frigging AnaheiMaps.")
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
Marian turns towards the voice that called out for her half-heartedly. Marian must've looked suspicious to passerby. An adult just standing outside an orphanage and staring at the kids within. Also doesn't help she's dressed in a trench coat. But it's a clear woman's cut. Her right hand is bandaged after a little scuffle she had at the base recently, and her white hair is fluttering in the wind as she faces the stranger.
Her somber expression remained, but a little wide-eyed as she quickly defend herself.
"No- I... I'm just looking. I grew up here, believe it or not," she said. The choice of her wording is clear that she's self-aware. But she doesn't move away, that would make her look even more suspicious. Instead, she finally turned her body fully towards Roux, and offered to help when she caught her muttering, "do you need directions? Like I said, I grew up around here."
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Roux blinks, several times. She looks over, and then back to Marian. Abashed, she says, "Oh. I get it; um! No, I think I'm good. Uh... Were you going to go visit and say hello to the... nuns, or...?"
Roux laughs, probably due to the nervous tension of giving the stink eye to someone who was, it turns out, completely reasonably here and not just eyeballing an orphanage for shady reasons. "Haha! The colony I grew up had like three different places - I actually had a couple of the orphans in my high school class - but it was run by nuns from the AEU! I mean originally the AEU: I don't really get it."
Adjusting her hat, Roux says, clasping her hands together. "Let's start over. Hi! I'm Roux Louka! I'm visiting. So you still live in Orb?" Her eyes turn to the hand injury, but curiously, not with Suspicion. (At least not suspicion *as of yet*.) "If you're worried about going in, I mean, I have literally no reason to be here but I can walk you to the door or something."
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
"...no," a quiet reply. Marian's head is dipped as she looked back at the orphanage. "...might cry my eyes out if I go in now. That would be unbecoming of 'the Hero of Orb.'"
Recent events has caused her think about her life...which is why she's here to begin with today. And she releases a deep breath, gathering herself before she finally moves away from the fence and towards Roux. She doesn't comment on the subject of orphans, much rather move away from that topic entirely. Marian herself is one of those orphans, of course. And she's constantly bullied for it while she was there.
"Marian Cross," she introduces. She seems to recognize Roux's name, but she couldn't exactly place it. "I still live in Orb, yeah. It's nice to meet you, Roux," she continued, referring to her on a first name basis, assuming they're around the same age. And then extends her hand for a shake. Not the right hand, naturally. Since it's injured.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"Oh," Roux says.
Beat, beat. "Wait, the Hero of Orb??" Roux says, brow knitting with something like consternation. She does reach out to offer a hand out -- shifting it crosswise when it's not the usual hand she's being faced with. After a brief squeeze, Roux smiles. "Okay, so how'd you get that orb? I mean that title."
"You want to get a drink or something?" Roux says. She points back the way she came. "It's like most of a kilometer back that way, but there's a shaved ice stand. It's the least I can do after I cast aspersions on you... Marian."
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
She gives off a little chuckle. But it wasn't a happy one, despite the smile. "Almost died for it. Long story short, I was here when we were invaded," she says, and content with just leaving it there if Roux doesn't push the subject. After a quick beat, she raised her injured hand, facing the backside of it towards Roux and added, "oh. Unrelated." The smile on that seemed more genuine. As if she's laughing at her own twisted little joke.
"And sure, that'd be lovely," she says. Some shaved ice would be nice right about now. And she didn't mind that Roux gave her the side-eye earlier. She did look suspicious. It was rather justified.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"I'll throw in a bicycle ride," Roux says, before she gets off the bike, huffs as she turns it around, and gets back on top. "You ever ride a bike like this before?"
It is not tandem seating, although Marian could PROBABLY perch on the back... wait, is that what those little strutty things sticking out from either side of the hub is for?
"I'm very glad it was only almost," Roux continues. "Is that an official title or something? I hope they give you a pension. If they didn't, yell at somebody."
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
Marian looks at the offered 'seat' questionably. That has to be against the law or something. Not that she's a stickler for rules, but it seemed rather dangerous to be riding a bike like that. But she shrugged anyway, and placed her hands on Roux's shoulders and stepped on the little struts. "First time for everything, I suppose."
She chuckled once more when she's on the bike. "Heh, no. It's a sick joke of a title they gave me for being the only survivor of that fight."
And then she muttered under her breath, probably rather concerningly, "...but I'm going make it one..."
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"OK, now wrap your arms around me," Roux says, which seems to be standard procedure.
"... Oh, god, I'm sorry," she says then, before starting to pedal, which is a lot less awkward than asking after the dead. She makes it about 200 meters before saying, "But - uh - yeah, they should get you payouts and benefits and everything. I was in the AEUG originally, and that was just a giant mess but even now I still have the grandfathered price on like all of my net stuff, I just have to loop it through the Anaheim portal --" It's babbling, but the good news is that this isn't going to be THAT long of a trip.
That looks like the shaved ice stall, in fact, if Marian takes a peek!
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
Marian does so when prompted. But she didn't know exactly where to wrap her arms around Roux. She first wrapped it around her neck with her chest pressed into the back of her head. "...this isn't right." Then trying a few more different positions awkwardly as she's still trying to figure out how exactly this is going to work, before finally settled on just holding Roux by her waist. It's the least awkward position she could find.
She listened to Roux babble, offering a few words of acknowledgement. But she gave no indication that she hated it. On the contrary, she rather enjoyed it. She found it refreshing for someone to be able to speak their mind so easily.
"Oh, I've never seen this stall before," she says when they reached their destination. She's been to this part of town plenty of times, so the stall must've only opened recently. At the very least it wasn't around while she still live
around these parts.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"Yeah," Roux says, as she has a chest mooshed behind her head for a moment. She doesn't offer useful advice afterwards, although she doesn't seem to take offense. Maybe she's a little tense?
Bicycle bicyle bicycle. It's understandable that Marian didn't see it, since it seems to be mobile! It's not an ice cream truck or anything, but it would be pretty easy for it to be relocated - perhaps hooked up to a bicycle like what Roux is riding. She brakes to a halt and tells the attendant, "Two, please. Ooh, I want lemon blueberry."
After engaging the kickstand of the bike, Roux looks over her shoulder.
"Do you like that hometown feeling?" she asks, which may seem to come out of nowhere. However, she DOES cough up the money -- or at least swipes her card. (Her outfit doesn't have a ton of room for cash.)
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
"I'll have strawberry," Marian added as she steps off Roux's bike. She decided rather quickly. Seems like it's the flavor she's partial to the most.
Then she looks at Roux a little quizzically. "Hometown feeling?" Not entirely sure what she meant by that. And she stopped Roux from paying, instead getting out her own purse she has in her coat and paid for the two shaved ice.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"Hmmm - oh?" Roux says, as Marian steps in front. Reversal of treat fortune! Roux laughs. "If you're sure," she says, digging the little spoon in once she gets the filigree of snow with its anointing syrups. Crunch, crunch.
"To answer your question," she continues, "I mean... when you get really familiar with a place and then you leave it? But then when you come back it's a weird kind of feeling. It's comfortable, but you can see the changes when you were away. That might not apply to you anyway from what you're saying," Roux concludes with a wave of the spoon.
"I got it for my home colony, originally," Roux says, "but not Earth." *munch*
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
She doesn't chew, and rather just allowed the ice to simply melt when she have a spoonful. Yum! There's a little smile on Marian's face as the strawberry syrup coated snow melts on her tongue. The mood has definitely seemed to lightened up from just a moment ago by just having a sweet little treat.
Then she hummed, cocking her head sideways with the spoon between her lips. "Hmm..." Is she referring to her coming back to see her old orphanage, or is she just asking in general? "Well, I've been Orb my whole life. I've never gone beyond the borders except for training or missions." She's going to assume to latter.
"How are you finding Orb compared to your colony?" she asks, showing interest in Roux's childhood. It's a whole lot different from hers from what she could glean.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"Huh," Roux says. "Not even for shopping trips or something?" She points her spoon towards the long shape of the mass driver. "I thought you guys could at least get up to the Ring pretty easily... still, I guess even a short visit is just a taste of whatever's going on."
crnch crnch
"... Well, don't take this the wrong way," Roux says, "but whenever I come here I feel really tiny. This happens to me all the time on Earth, though; it's just, there's so MUCH stuff and it's like you could just WALK everywhere, and when I look up and see the sky sometimes I'm astounded and sometimes I'm like aaa aaaa all the air's gonna fly out oh god oh god. Right?" She didn't actually get that excited.
"But the weather here's nice," Roux continues. "Usually I live with my, uh," a pause, "future sister in law in Spain, but I have a secret way of getting from just about anywhere on Earth to anywhere else, free."
"But if I was going to compare it to Blue Vision 3... it's less sticky, that's for sure."
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
Shopping? Oh, yeah. People do that for fun. Marian sees shopping as a utilitarian thing. She buys the things she needs and quickly go home afterwards. Her wardrobe is comprised just practically of dress shirts and pants. Jeans, T-shirts, maybe some shorts. There are a few fashionable pieces, like the coat she's wearing. But for the most part she just order stuff online and not really bothered with it. "Not really. But I guess I should get out some more and see the sights. Second lease on life and whatnot," she replied.
"I feel entirely the same when I'm up there," she points her spoon towards the sky. "The vast emptiness up there. The stars surrounding my cockpit, and they're all seemingly out of reach." There's a little hint of wonder in Marian's voice as she talks about space. "...I remember throwing up a little when I first got up there. Don't tell anyone though," she chuckled.
"...That's nice," she says as Roux talked about her future sister in law. She doesn't want to make it awkward, but that's something she can't relate to. 'That's nice,' is all she could muster at that moment.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
There is a momentary pause. Roux then lets her head roll to the side and she sounds both more gentle and more purposeful when she speaks again. "I've been lucky," she says. "I don't know if I deserved it, or if I did something in a past life, or if it really is just nothing but... luck. Random chance."
"Maybe fortune's a better word for it," Roux continues, before taking another bite of ice. "But there's no reason not to enjoy the time we have. We can't trade it to each other, or anything like that."
She thaws out a little, nearer to her earlier tone. "I'm not going to judge you for that... it happens to everyone, first time, I think. Just that moment when, boom, microgravity. We just get it over with early. Though you know," Roux continues, pointing the spoon downwards, "Sometimes I feel weird because I mean... I know Earth is MOVING but it's really hard to TELL... it's not like you can feel the rotation in a colony, either, but if you look up through an open space it's pretty clear. So I'm like, why is it all so... still?"
"And don't get me started on this ocean thing," Roux concludes, gesturing now in the general direction of the ocean.
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
Marian similarly allowed for a pause as she processes Roux's words. The sweet strawberry syrup somehow tastes just a little more bitter now. "...sounds like you've had it pretty rough too," she says. There's a moment of hesitation as she opened her mouth again, but she knew better than to pry. And instead just scooped up another bite of ice.
Then Marian laughed.
She could laugh?
The closest thing to a laugh she's had so far is a chuckle.
"You should try going down into the ocean. It feels more like space. Except heavier. It's like having gravity turned up to eleven. At least you won't feel seasick."
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"What, like in one of those submarines?" Roux asks, sourly. "I rode in one once and it smelled like a damp spaceship. You don't mean like, without a machine, do you?"
Roux does seem to realize something, and then leans her head forwards to ask: "Have you gone deep in the water without a machine or anything?"
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
"Hah! No. I've only been under in a sub and mobile suit," she replies. And then there's a beat as she thinks.
"Though I heard you can see some cool fish this time of year. Ever been snorkeling?" Marian offered. It's not like she's snorkeled before, but she'd love to try, after what they just said. And it'd be nice if she could try it with someone. It'd be an experience, if nothing else.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Roux's lips purse to the side. "Been whatting?" she says, as if she expects she's being pranked. Her head tilts forwards. "If that's some kind of local activity, tell me about it before I say yes or no."
"I always worry when I end up in the water in a suit," Roux sighs. "Once we were crossing the desert in Africa and there was this big gorgeous lake and it was like ten times saltier than the ocean, can you believe it? And that's already too damn salty, in my opinion."
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
"Snorkeling! It's like scuba diving but you don't go as deep," she explains, but then quickly catches herself. If Roux doesn't know what snorkeling is, would she even know what scuba diving is?
"Well, you put on a snorkel which is like a tube that goes above the water so you can breath while you're underwater. There's also diving masks with an oxygen tank instead so you can go deeper and the saltwater won't get in your mouth," Marian continued, rather excitedly. It really does seem like she wants to do something fun now that they got the topic going.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
That seems to ring something of a bell; "Ohh," Roux says, nodding along. "I get you. Like a normal suit but underwater." She frowns, though: "Just how big of a tube? Wouldn't you have to deal with the pressure if you're going any depth at all?" She rubs the bridge of her nose.
"And you've done this before?" Roux asks, for clarity.
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
Marian gestures, holding up two fingers as she measures out an imaginary snorkel. It's about the length of her forearm to the tip of her hand. Or at least it's how long she thinks it is. "About this big. And it's not a worry for snorkeling, you don't go that deep."
And well, she knows how to swim at least, what with her being raised in Orb and swimming is a mandatory skill you need to learn in the military...
"Yes," she says plainly while flashing a smile. She has definitely snorkeled before. She's absolutely not lying to get someone to snorkel with her right now.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"Huh," Roux says, still skeptical but apparently open to the plan. "So do you have to... make, rent, buy these snorkel things? God that's such a funny word. Snorkel. Is it like... what language is that, anyway?"
Roux is game; she is not afraid of the water, even if she might be a little suspicious of deep water. More to the point, she can swim and is actually in shape.
<Pose Tracker> Marian Cross has posed.
She shrugged. Marian doesn't know the etymology of 'snorkel' either. It's just what everyone says. "We can rent or buy them, yeah!"
She nodded and clasps her hands when it seemed to her Roux is up for it. "It's a date then!" The excitement in her voice and face very apparent.