2024-07-23: A Good Person
- Log: 2024-07-23 A Good Person
- Cast: Flay Allster, Elan Ceres
- Where: Asticassia School of Technology
- OOC - IC Date: July 23, UC 0099 (2024)
- Summary: Flay and Elan discuss who is and isn't naive.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
Not least including a disastrous attempt to get information on the mysterious mobile suit, Aerial, Flay Allster has had a lot of business on behalf of the Gaia Sabers' interests in the Orbital Ring lately - particularly Asticassia.
It's a strange feeling, walking around the grounds as something 'beyond' a student, especially when she never really made any lasting connections in such a breakneck competitive school in the first place. While previously, she went in 'casual' clothing to some success until Miorine called her out - this time she just has her uniform on as she makes her way to the Dueling Committee's office.
"...And that's this month's summary of the Gaia Sabers' CANON settlements." Flay concludes, making a digital transfer of paperwork to the Committee. "It's a pretty impressive record, don't you think, Mr. Ceres?" She smiles - it's more of a joke than anything, seeing how little seems to impress the 'Ice Prince' - and that the record seems to suggest CANON is not much more than an amusing side project to the Gaia Sabers' interests.
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
The Dueling Committee office is generally open to the public. It has to be, for people to be able to come in and request approval for a duel. The lounge where committee members oversee the actual duels is a bit more exclusive, but even that is still open to people with connections to members, like Guel's brother and adherents in Jeturk House. But there is a front desk, so to speak, and that has to be manned (or womanned) for those who come by with requests--or, in the case of certain university students, rejected.
Elan is manning the desk, such as it is, today. There have been several requests coming in, while other members of the Dueling Committee have been actually running and observing duels in the lounge. Right now, though, the paperwork from the Gaia Sabers of their CANON settlements has his attention, such as it is. He observes the digital transfer from her device to his, his expression impassive. It doesn't so much as twitch at Flay's little joke. He and his fellow Dueling Committee members already noticed that CANON seems to be getting less attention than was probably desired by the one who demanded it be implemented.
As such, he outright ignores Flay's comment. A flick of his gloved fingers on the screen of his datapad, and the documentation opens up. He glances it over. Then he swipes the screen and files it for further processing.
"Summary received," he states, meeting Flay's gaze. "Is that all?" His gaze seems curiously dead, but that's probably just how he always is. Certainly it's how he was last year when Flay was still a student here at Asticassia. The world may be going through a lot, but it seems he hasn't changed any. He still has such a pretty face, for one--but that isn't likely to impress Flay, either.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
Among the members of the Dueling Committee, Elan Ceres might be the one Flay knows the least about, given his icy reputation - it's always been difficult to get a good read of him, and his ~pretty~ face is little use without that. And while she has less of an outright issue with him than most... sometimes overly 'passive' people can get on her nerves.
Outwardly, that mostly culminates in an annoyed twitch of the eyebrow when Elan moves right past her comment without a word, though her practiced smile doesn't fade. "That's everything that would matter to you," She confirms, continuing to gleam nothing from that dead expression of his, as she picks up her own datapad and shoves it back into her handbag.
Normally, that would probably be where the interaction ends, with the business conducted as smoothly as possible, and no words left to exchange. She'd probably return again in a month with more... but that interaction wouldn't be any different. But when she sees that icy gaze of his, it reminds her of something... that perhaps she should raise. The matter with Miorine and Aerial probably wouldn't interest him, but there's something else.
"Oh, actually..." Flay stops walking, and turns back to face Elan again. "I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of one of the students in your house." She says, unblinking. "I think her name was Trem... Trem Firmal. She's a student attache with us." She pauses, as if even recounting that interaction with her is overwhelming. "And a model Gaia Saber. In every single sense of the word."
She doesn't actually expect much of a reaction from Elan, but she wants to hear it from him, who'd supposedly at least see her every day....
"As her House Leader, I want to know... what's your opinion of her?"
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
The irony, of course, is that this doesn't matter to Elan. But he doesn't correct Flay. It doesn't matter.
Another irony is that the matter of Miorine and Aerial would interest him. There's no reason for Flay to think otherwise, though.
When she packs up, Elan lets her, of course. He has no reason to stop her and no interest in her in general. The fact that she's in the Gaia Sabers is... a thing, but it's not as though Elan's planning on socializing with them. (Of course, Elan's plans don't really matter, either.)
But then Flay turns back and brings up Trem. Elan, who had been looking down at his datapad to start reviewing the information in more detail, looks up at her. As she expects, his stony mien doesn't budge. However, it strikes him how Flay describes her: a model Gaia Saber, in every sense of the word. It also strikes him that Flay is asking his opinion on her. Is it really as innocent as she makes it sound? Or does she suspect?
This new aspect of his work for Peil Technologies certainly is... unpleasant.
So for a moment, he thinks about it. It might seem to Flay that he's ignoring her, given his lack of expressiveness, until he at least echoes, "Trem Firmal." Another moment of reflection. Then, finally: "She seems naive."
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
Indeed, Flay doesn't know Elan at all - she has no reason not to assume that his lack of interest in dueling to become the Holder reflects a lack of personal interest in any of the involved parties. Though it's not completely out of the question that he's biding his time and looking uninterested until he swoops in at the last minute to claim the title...
Whether it's as innocent as it sounds is a good question, as while she has her suspicions... she had it fairly cleared spelled out that they could get her killed. Which means the safer option is to use Elan, Trem's house leader, as a medium to level them instead.
'Naive', is his assessment, though, and Flay's brow furrows for a moment, followed by a smirk. "Hahaha...! That's too funny, Elan Ceres. I think you must be the naive one if you'd think that of anyone else who goes to this school." That is to say, she doesn't buy his answer at all. What else can naivete be but a front in such a cutthroat place?
"Though I guess there's always exceptions..." Flay's expression turns back towards neutral as she considers something. "I had a chat with Miorine Rembran the other day... and I feel like that girl from Mercury must be pretty naive, if she really believes she can be her groom." There's no way there's love involved in that engagement... right?
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
Elan doesn't react as Flay laughs at him. In fairness to her, she's not wrong. However, going into detail on why he thinks that of Trem--on the nuances and the intricacies of it, and the way he knows it's actively changing away from what he said--is something he wouldn't want to do even if he liked Flay... and he doesn't.
Mind, he doesn't dislike her either. Either way would require him to care more than he does.
But then she muses on exceptions--specifically, on Suletta Mercury. His deadpan remains, but there's a slight shift in the light in his eyes to something more attentive. "Oh?"
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
It takes a pretty cool head to barely react to being laughed at, and Flay can even almost respect that. While she'd love a more concrete answer from him, it doesn't seem like the thread on Trem can really go anywhere further without putting either Elan's position, or her own at risk.
Flay frowns, wondering if there's anything else she can wring out of Elan, until she sees that ever so slight shift in his eyes. It's the most his face has changed this entire conversation. That might be pursuing. She clasps her hands together as she leans forward on the reception desk.
"I haven't met her," Flay clarifies, as to Suletta Mercury. "But I did get to watch her fight. And I think it would be pretty foolish to think that her strength isn't being exploited. That's just how this school works... but I doubt she's realized it yet." She turns back to face Elan. "But since you're actually showing some interest for once, what do you think of her?"
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
Trem is a complicated matter for Elan and for Asticassia both, after all. Flay seems willing enough to not ask about her further, and that's fine by him.
She's a perceptive woman, though. Elan didn't react to Suletta's name on purpose, but she caught onto that minute change--even calls him out on him directly before asking him again for his opinion. His expression cools again, but there is a twinge of annoyance within him.
Why does everyone want to know what he thinks of her?
...For all that he feels that way, though, his feelings are also far clearer on her than they are on Trem. Again, he doesn't think Flay's wrong--this time on the matter of Suletta being exploited, and her not realizing it--but the topic being different now prompts him to give Flay an appraising look.
"You're saying that Miorine Rembran is exploiting her?" he wonders. (He has that same impression too. But he's also aware that, as head of Peil House, Miorine is naturally going to be more hostile and more on guard around him, so what he sees may be a harsher version of Miorine. If Flay also sees it, though...)
As for what he thinks of Suletta, though... "She's a good person." She's my friend, he thinks but doesn't say. He didn't care when Flay laughed at him for calling Trem naive, but if she laughed at him for calling Suletta his friend... He already knows he doesn't want to hear that.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
Flay waits for Elan's answer, absently drumming her fingers on the desk in front of her. She might be surprisingly perceptive, but she doesn't quite pick up on that hint of annoyance from Elan.
"I'm pretty sure of it," Flay nods, though it isn't quite with conviction, even if she's fairly certain she's right. On the other hand, Miorine sees her as a threat too, so her own perception is definitely coloured in the same way as Elan's might be. Indeed, she sees Miorine is a rather unkind light and that soon becomes clear.
"When we talked, Ms. Rembran only really had anything to say herself and her own so-called 'problems'. Honestly, it didn't really sound like she saw Suletta Mercury as anything but... a sword to hack away at them with." She concludes, a little heavy-handedly, as she crosses her arms. She knows it would be hypocritical to judge Miorine for that, but because she knows, she can't just smile about it.
Elan actually calls Suletta a good person, though, and Flay's eyes widen with the slightest hint of surprise. That Elan would actually say that about a person. So this time she doesn't laugh at him, and maybe she wouldn't even laugh at him if he really did call her a friend. "You don't say that about everyone," She points out, instead, expression returning to neutral.
She taps her foot when Elan leaves it at that. "...So, what, are you going to propose to her, too?" A massive leap of logic considering Guel got laughed off the press for trying exactly that.
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
Flay shares her impressions of Miorine and how she treats Suletta. Elan nods once, gaze going distant. So she has the same impression he does. He supposes the one positive thing about Miorine Rembran is that she's exactly what she seems. It puts her above CEO Nugen and the others, at least. Not that that serves Suletta any better.
At Flay's surprise, though, he focuses back on her with a single blink. He barely knows her, but he is infamous on campus. The Ice Prince and all. It always feels strange when people he doesn't know talk to him like they think they know him.
All he says, though, is, "Not everyone is a good person."
Or that would be all if not for Flay's leap in logic. Something about his impassive mien flattens. "No," he says curtly. But because it does keep coming up, one way or another--even if at this point Elan might be a little hypersensitive to the notion of him being in love with Suletta for some reason-- "Why would you ask something like that?"
He isn't expecting a satisfactory answer, though.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
Flay sees Elan's nod, though when his gaze goes distant, hers does, too, briefly lost in thought about something, until she stops leaning against the reception desk and straightens her posture.
Because Flay doesn't know him, many of her preconceived notions of Elan are quite wrong, even if some of them are right. But when he says that not everyone is a good person, she just nods, slowly. "That's right. Not everyone can be a good person... it's fine to be honest about that, at least." She agrees, averting her gaze again.
Flay frowns at Elan's sharp 'no', wondering why this is what causes him to lower that absolute veil of indifference. Normally, she'd just assume someone of his standing would take offense to being asked if he would marry a country bumpkin from Mercury, but he just said that Suletta was a good person.
He does ask why she asked, though, and Flay can at least try to answer that much. "Well, people throw around marriage proposals like it's nothing around here, right? I could see it as a bid for Peil to claim the Aerial, but I don't think that'd be it for you..." She considers.
"Well, even if it were something else, I don't know either of you well enough to say for sure." Flay admits, taking another step back. The idea of Elan making some move to 'save' Suletta from her marriage to Miorine was an entertaining one, though. "It's nice enough that you seem to care about her enough to spare her a thought."
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
It's a truth that's more common than not at Asticassia. That's something else Flay was right about. Elan regards her as she acknowledges that and looks away. It feels like there's a story there... but he doesn't ask about it.
When she explains her reasoning, he has to admit that it makes sense. If the CEOs of Peil ordered him to propose to Suletta, he'd do it. The idea feels... unpleasant, though. Not the idea of marrying Suletta, necessarily, but that he would do it because he'd been ordered to. He mulls over this nuance--a nuance he'd never considered before now. Romance isn't for him, and he would never fall in love, so it isn't worth considering. Or it wasn't.
...Why does he keep getting made to think about this? He doesn't want to think about this. It would never go anywhere. Love and falling in love would only be the ultimate cruelty, both for him and whomever he cursed with feelings like that. He bows his head. It's suddenly hard to breathe.
It's nice enough that you seem to care about her enough to spare her a thought.
"..." He sits up straight, squaring his shoulders, as he looks back at Flay. There's a certain emptiness in his gaze. "...I see. No, I'm not interested in marriage, period. Especially not as part of the duels."
But it doesn't really matter what he's interested in.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
Perhaps there is a story to the way she views kindness, but it's one that would be rather a lot to get into, so Flay doesn't really linger on it, especially since Elan doesn't ask.
And it is rather unpleasant to marry someone because you're ordered to - Flay at least knows what it's like to be engaged to someone she doesn't love, but she doesn't talk about that, either. She lingers on Elan, and even she can notice the sudden discomfort in his posture in response to her prying about Suletta.
"...Hey." She motions her hand on the desk in front of where Elan's head bows. "You okay?" It's maybe the kindest thing she asked of him all day, but there's some genuine concern. "Do I need to call someone for you?" She follows up, considering the campus nurses.
Soon enough, though, he straightens, meeting her gaze again. And he reinforces that no, he is not interested in marriage. "That's fine." She tells him, removing her hand from the desk. "It's better to think it through first before rushing into a relationship you'll never be happy in. Don't you think?"
She considers her own relationship with the concept, and frowns. "Of course, I'd love to get married someday. But I want to be happy, too." She says, as if the two ideas are at odds with each other, that they just can't meet.
She lingers on Elan one last time, still seeing so little in those eyes. before turning to face the door. "I've got to make my shuttle, and I'm sure you're quite busy, too." She explains. "...You're an interesting person, Elan Ceres." It's more credit than she previously gave him, but she can't say if they'll ever have a conversation like this again.
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
"I'm fine," Elan murmurs. This is a clear lie, but whatever this sensation is, it too will pass. And it does pass. He's back to the flat nothing of indifference soon enough. This is how it always is. How it has to be. Feeling something--anything--only makes his curse weigh that much harder on him.
...But it is kind of Flay to ask. He hadn't expected that from her. Of course, he hadn't expected anything from her, but certainly not that.
He doesn't respond to the rest of what she says, though. His problem is different from what she's thinking--naturally, since she's a normal person with a life and a future. Even if she is in the Gaia Sabers. Eventually she turns to leave, calling him interesting.
She has no idea.
"Have a safe trip home, Flay Allster," he murmurs--and though it's polite on its face, there is a certain finality to it that forbids further conversation ...Just as well that she was on her way out anyway.