2022-06-19: Petals

• Log: 2022-06-19- Petals
• Cast: Akane Shinjo, Banagher Links
• Where: Tsutsujidai - Kamesan Park
• Date: 0096-06-19
• Summary: Banagher Links and his Haro find their way to sleepy Tsutsujidai. They accidentally give Akane... a lot.

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<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

The summer heat of Tsutsujidai is getting... worse, now that it's *actually* summer. (Or does it have anything to do with the seasons changing in the real world at all? It's hard to be sure, with a place like this.) On a day like this, Akane usually holes up in her room, but...

... right now, there's something about the atmosphere at home that just feels too oppressive for her to cope with. It's strange, given how she normally wants to just hole up there, but... maybe there's something to getting out every now and then instead of just stewing in your guilty conscience.

The cicadas cry; it's a loud one, too. Perhaps they're crying because the lilac-haired girl at the park table can't... or won't.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Banagher! Banagher!"

Haro's cheerful voice woke Banagher from his unexpected nap, leaving him to disorientedly wander off the train. He couldn't quite remember where his stop was suppsed to be, but he knew this wasn't it. Sweating in his double-hoodie, Banagher picks streets at random, walking slowly.

"Are you sure we didn't miss our stop, Haro?" Banagher murmurs, carrying the little creature in his arms.

"No!" Comes the reply, with a cheerful flap of wings... or ears. He was never sure which.

Banagher sighs. At least they've managed to reach a park, somewhere to sit in the shade and rest while he figures this out. In fact, it looks like someone's already sitting at one of the tables -- maybe a local?

"Excuse me," He starts, walking up to her. "Can you tell me where I am? I don't know how I... got here, exactly."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Looking up, Akane tracks her gaze to the sound of the lost voice. "Oh, uh... this happens a lot," she says. There's no sense in hiding it, at this point -- she's okay with giving the basics. "Let me guess -- you got here on the train from another part of Nouvelle Tokyo, right?"

She sits up, and gestures for Banagher to sit next to her. "Now, I have to kinda think about the questions here... I keep track of this stuff, but..." Stretching out a bit, she looks Banagher -- and his Haro -- over once.

"Do the words 'Gryps Conflict,' 'Axis Shock,' or 'Bloody Valentine' mean anything to you? Maybe 'Second Impact'?" She worries at her lower lip at some of it, a bit; it's evident from her expression that talking about this stuff makes her uneasy. ... but it's basic history, right? Some of those are recent enough to be 'current events,' even.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher sits down gratefully, leaving a polite space between himself and Akane. "I did! I keep asking Haro if we missed our stop, but he doesn't seem to understand." He places Haro down on the table, letting him roll around until he finds his center.

"Hello!" Chirps Haro. It wobbles slightly, but seems content with this.

"Uh -- yeah, I know all of those. Doesn't everyone?" Banagher hides his hands in his hoodie. He looks Akane over carefully. Something felt a little strange about this girl, but he didn't want to be rude. "...are you alright? Were you caught up in one of those?"

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

There's a bit of a -- psychic startle, at the question of whether Akane was caught up in one of those; it's only for the tiniest split second, but it's almost a hot stove kind of jerk back. Akane's body language doesn't mirror it at all.

"Oooh, nice Haro. I'm no good with computers or I'd pick one up... I'm more of a sculpture kinda person, though," she answers, instead. She can't avoid the question she, herself, asked, though -- so she says, "... it's not that. Those didn't happen here. You're a world away from home."

It's... a comforting-enough, and truth-adjacent, position. "You're way more lost than you think you are!" she enthuses, continuing, "It seems like it fixes itself the next time you get on the train, usually, so it's not a huge deal. Same as sleeping through your stop any other way." She leans forward a bit, before adding, "I guess I'm being kinda rude. Akane Shinjo." She doesn't move to shake hands or anything, though.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher abruptly hunches in on himself and covers his right eye. A flash of pain? What? He looks back to Akane after a moment, embarrassed. "Sorry. I guess I got a sudden headache for a second."

Happy to change the topic, Banagher smiles. "Thanks. He's modeled just like the one Amuro Ray had!" He looks thrilled by this, and clearly expects Akane to be impressed as well. "They're really easy to take care of, I bet you'd do just fine. Sculptures, though?"

His smile fades after asking about the sculptures. "What?" Banagher looks around, as if expecting to see alien flora and fauna. "A world? Another world? And I got here on a... train?" Banagher reaches out to grab Haro again, pulling it close to his chest. "...I'm Banagher. Uh, Links. ...another world?"

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

".. Kinda me too, actually. Guessing it's the heat," Akane says, with a dismissive little wave of her hand. "This is a Mark III, then, with all the bells and whistles?" Even if she's more of an *art* weirdgirl, she's aware of at least some degree of this stuff. "You must be pretty good with that kinda stuff... I can get a little fussy with this kinda thing." She does give the Haro a pat, at least. "And -- yeah. I haven't really had the energy for it lately... it's been a month since I got anything done, but..."

Waving that off, she says, "Yeah. There's a... the word I heard someone use about it was 'psychic rupture,' but that stuff's kinda beyond me. All I really know is people keep coming from your kinda crappy world to this one. As far as I know it's only happening in this ward, though..." Banagher Links, huh... that's a name to remember.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Yeah, he can do all kinds of things.." Banagher mumbles, too polite to not reply, but clearly distracted by the idea of being in another world. After a bit more aimless staring, he seems to come back to himself. If there's a Box that can change the entire world, there may as well be another world along a traintrack. "I've always been pretty good with robots. I was in college for it a while ago. Haro's the only thing left from that, now." Akane gets another concerned look, this one tinged with a sort of helpful smile. "Do you need help with... getting things done, so you can get back to your sculptures? I hadn't been able to relax in a long time, until just a little while ago. I didn't realize how much I needed help from other people." Banagher looks down to Haro for a moment, embarrassed. "I want to be able to help others like that."

"What does happen here?" He asks. "If you haven't had the disasters of, well, my world. Do you have other disasters? Are people here happy? I wonder if something strange is going on here, if this is the only place with the psychic rupture..."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

... He's already on the trail -- but, well... the trail is pretty well-trod at this point. She can at least get Banagher to a safe place at the entryway and hope it never goes any further than that. "Well, for starters... you might have seen these on the way over, but..."

She points off in the distance, toward a kaiju -- standing stone-inert. It'd be easy to mistake for a skyscraper, at this distance, if not for the... being kaiju shaped.

"If you see them, you know what I'm talking about. They don't... do anything, or anything like that... but we do have kaiju attacks. Everyone just forgets the next day, though, and things go back to normal."

With a shrug, she says, "In the end, I guess it's not a big deal, if everything goes back to normal, right?" She breezes along -- back to the other topic. That one... actually might be harder. "It's not like I need help," she insists -- maybe a little too insistently, at that. "It's just school stuff. You're... I'm guessing about my age, and you seem pretty smart, so you probably get it. When you're the ace of your class, they start piling more stuff on you!"

She sounds like she's pretty chill about it, but the vibe of the conversation starts to feel just subtly off -- that horror-movie feeling of a monster the audience sees and the characters don't.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"I thought they were for some kind of festival. Or weird mobile suits? They're kinda cool-looking, from far away." Banagher rubs Haro, as one might a small cat. "Not everyone can see those, and... sometimes they attack, and everyone forgets?" Banagher looks more concerned. "Akane, that's not okay! What happens if someone gets hurt?" He's starting to get agitated, now. Somehow his hair looks fluffier. "Listen, I have a Gundam, a really strong one. If I can bring it here, I'll protect you. I don't want anyone to get hurt. I've fought one of these things before, with Unicorn, and we won!"

In his worry and agitation, Banagher doesn't seem to notice the vibe changing. His grip might tighten on Haro a little, but it's purely subconcious. "I... guess I can't do your schoolwork for you. But maybe I can help with the kaiju. It'll be easier to study if you're not worried about attacks, right?" He gives Akane a smile, and reaches out with one of his hands. Does he want to hold her hand? Banagher himself may not know, but it feels like the right thing to do. "Then you can sculpt again. I'm sorry if this is too familiar, but I get the feeling something's wrong, and -- I feel like I can actually do something for you! For your world, maybe!" He's so earnest. How could anyone deny him?

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

The concern from Banagher is -- distressing, if Akane's being honest. This is her little world, the shape of her heart, and he wants to come in and dictate its shape? It's not like he's the first, so Akane can't muster too much actual anger, but it's a little condescending...

... and maybe a little guilty, besides.

"-- Wait, you fought a kaiju?" Akane asks, blowing past all the other things; when Banagher reaches out to touch her, she moves her hand away -- there's that... vaguely fearlike feeling, again, for a split second. She considers asking... does she want to even know?

"... Do you have pics or anything?" she asks, brow furrowing slightly as she lets her curiosity get the best of her. "Like -- gun camera footage from your Gundam, or something? I know Haros have screens inside. I was thinking of getting one for a laptop myself, but I didn't wanna deal with the hassle of turning off all the brainwave monitoring and stuff."

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

When Akane pulls away, Banagher brings his hand back to Haro. He doesn't want to distress her more -- and her distress is nearly palpable, in the strange way he feels at the back of his neck. "Sorry." He offers, looking guilty as well.

"Yeah, Haro has some. I've been keeping records of everything we've done so far, in case A-- in case I want to show someone, sometime." He blushes, a little, fussing with Haro to avoid looking at Akane. "This is Unicorn." He offers, as Haro opens and the screen comes to life. Banagher places it on the table between them, and scoots a bit closer to Akane so he can see it well. "It's my mobile suit. It's -- really strong." Even now, there's a sense of fondness in his voice.

Just as Banagher says, recorded footage plays out. The neon flash of beam sabers is clear, and frequent. Banagher was clearly fighting as aggressively as he could manage. "It was attacking a colony. It was... a lot bigger than us, but I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Some other people were helping, too. It wasn't just me and Unicorn."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Akane watches what she's shown, and she clearly doesn't like what she's seeing; it's not Unicorn, but... "Uh huh," is all she offers at first. She doesn't ask before touching Haro; just because she's generally bad with computers doesn't mean she's so helpless she can't move video back and forth.

Her lips purse a bit, and she starts looking at the kaiju. Pause. "You said you fought this at... a colony?" She starts tabbing back and forth through the footage. "Hmmm. It's not a perfect match for tourist pictures, but it's pretty close... this is Granada, I think? Or maybe the move to start calling it Copernicus actually happened over there. Either way."

Pausing, Akane reaches down to her notebook and gets it out. "Either the kaiju that attack here are actually from over there... the ones from here are escaping through that psychic rupture... or this is a weird coincidence, I guess. Maybe not that weird, since, like, our world had 'Gundam,' too. ... mostly just the one as far as I know, though." She starts taking notes down; there's a seriousness to her expression, here.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher glances between Akane and the video. "Sorry, is this upsetting? It must bring up bad memories of the attacks here." Haro doesn't seem to mind being adjusted -- simply waving its little flaps in a friendly sort of fashion.

"A colony, yeah. I don't know what the kaiju was called -- maybe one of the others would? I was just focused on taking it down. I'm from a colony myself, I know how fragile they can be." He watches her take the notebook out curiously. "If this world connects to mine by the train, how could something so huge get through?" Banagher seems to perk up at the mention of Akane's world having 'Gundams'. "You have a Gundam? Thank goodness, I was thinking you were defenseless! What is it like?"

Watching Akane write, Banagher looks back at the distant kaiju. He had promised to help fight them, but -- really, Unicorn was nearly destroyed fighting just one. This place must have a half-dozen, at least, all in the distance. Would they all attack at once, if he tried to fight one? "You're really interested in the kaiju. Do you like them? Besides the fighting and all. I've always really loved mobile suits, even though they've done terrible things. Is it like that?"

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

There's even more than that, if you go to the other end of the ward. (Thirteen. Akane knows every one's exact location; she's particular.)

"It's a lot to take in," Akane says, sounding a little distant -- and that much is true, it *is* a lot to take in. "Maybe that's the psychic part," she adds, after a few seconds. She doesn't want to seem disengaged when she was previously so curious.

She taps her pen at her chin. Then she puts it in her mouth, instead, and starts chewing. "Oh, uh -- I don't mean *I* have a Gundam. It, uh... well, that was before I was even born. I guess there *are* some mobile suits around... plus a giant of light who keeps showing up to fight the kaiju." She can say that much. If he can see the kaiju, she can't really hide it.

Banagher asks if she's a kaiju liker -- and she nods. "I used to watch a lot of that kinda stuff. Uh -- fictional hero stuff, not, like, nature documentaries!" A thin, strained laugh. "What do you like about mobile suits, though?" Get the conversation *away from her.* Back toward him. It's fine.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"I've heard of strange psychic things happening before, but never like this. It was all more..." Banagher hesitates, thinking. "Human, I guess. Smaller."

Sighing in relief, Banagher smiles. "I'm really glad to hear that. I thought I'd have to fight everything on my own. A giant of light, though? Is it some kind of mobile suit, or something from a fairy-tale?" Banagher pokes at Haro, letting it rock back and forth on the table. "I guess that wouldn't be too hard to believe, since there are practically fairy-tale monsters here."

"That's cool! I never watched much of that kind of stuff, but maybe I should check it out, if you like it. Got any recommendations?" Banagher looks relieved to see Akane laugh, though he still felt... a bit uncertain on if this was actually going well. "I've always loved stories of Amuro Ray -- he was a great hero, and the first Gundam pilot! Nobody on my world would be there without him. I guess... I always hoped I could be like that. Saving people, piloting an amazing mobile suit, and everything." He hunches in on himself a little. "I don't know how he did it. How he was so brave and sure and confident."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"Hmmm... people keep bringing that stuff up to me, but I don't really get it," Akane admits. She does her best to get away from that topic, though.

"They're like... hmmm... kind of robot-like? But way taller than a mobile suit, and more..." Akane loses her sense of what she's going to say, and drops it for now. Recommendations, though -- that's something she can give. "I like Tarabaman X4 a lot... Eclatant is pretty good too, but you gotta watch it in French. The OCU dub is fine but it isn't good." On this one, she doesn't seem to go out of her way to differentiate between universes; maybe she's been tipped off to the franchise being basically the same.

The mention of Amuro, though... "Ahaha, right? There's a few kids in the class below mine named after people from the White Base... sounds like that's the same all over." She leans in conspiratorially and whispers, "I actually met your world's Sayla Mass." ... yeah, she can namedrop a bit.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher nods at the recommendation. "I'll check it out when I can. I'm not sure when that'll be, but it's good to have things to look forward to, right? Tarabaman X4 and Eclatant in French."

"No way. The Sayla Mass? The White Base's Core Booster pilot?" Banagher's eyes practically sparkle. "What was she like? Does she really have Zeon gold? Is it true she and Amuro fell in love?"

Haro closes itself, returning to wobbling back and forth on the table. Is it interested in the talk of the heroes of White Base? Haro's little red eyes give no hint, but Banagher secretly thinks it must be so.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"I didn't ask about any of that kind of stuff," Akane answers, when the topic of rumors surrounding White Base, Sayla, and Amuro comes up. "She was just on the bus with someone from my class... we've met a couple times since then." She prefers to keep the *context* of those meetings quiet, since... that's kind of a lot.

"Your little buddy seems excited about White Base," Akane points out, after a second. "I know that's a thing, like -- they program these things to respond to those names. I..." She trails off for a moment, thinking about that.

"Do you think that's fair, Banagher? That the Haro loves Amuro and Sayla, when they've never even met the real deal?" The question feels ridiculous, but the gravity is enormous.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"I guess someone as famous as Sayla can go where she wants, even other worlds." Banagher pokes at Haro again, watching him wobble. "It's really cool that you're friends with her."

"Is it... fair?" Looking confused at the question, Banagher stares at Akane for a moment. "I... guess I could say it's different for Haro, since he's a pet, but that's not really what you're asking, is it? It's not like Haro chose to love them himself, he was just made that way."

Banagher reaches into his hoodie pocket, bringing out a small plastic tube. In it are what appears to be dried, somewhat crushed cherry blossom petals. He holds it out so Akane can see it, but doesn't let go. "You can love someone and not know them. I met this girl, a while ago... Right away, I -- well." He hesitates. "I've been carrying these flower petals around for her. I'm not sure if she's ever gotten to see cherry blossoms bloom, she's... a busy person. I thought maybe she'd like to see what they were like." Banagher frowns at the little vial. "They're kind of dried up, now. But I thought she might want to see them. Really, I don't know anything about her. We've only met once. Maybe she doesn't even like flowers. But as long as there's a chance they'll make her smile, I'm going to carry them around."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

... It seems so easy, for Banagher. He talks about this person he met, who he's only crossed paths with once, with this deep and abiding love, this fundamental understanding of her world and the ways he'd like to be part of it.

It makes her want to throw his Haro at his face.

"... Wow, you're kinda sentimental," is all she says. There's a storm in her heart, though -- something loud, something monstrous. She needs to confront that feeling sooner than later, of course -- but how can she? At this point, the monster inside her is bigger than her heart.

... big enough to spill out somewhere else, apparently.

"I'm gonna wilt in this heat," Akane complains -- despite the fact that she isn't sweating at all. "You should try to catch up with that girl you like. I bet she'll be happy to see those." She stands up, and glances off. "Maybe I'll see you later." It comes out colder, flatter than she intends...

... but it accords just fine with the monster in her heart.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher hunches in on himself a little. Sharing something so personal to be met with a cold dismissal was rough, and he quickly hides his flowers petals from sight.

"I guess?" He offers, feeling the back of his neck prickle again. "Akane, I --" Does he apologize? Something is wrong. He takes in a deep breath. "I don't think you're a bad person."

Banagher picks up Haro and stands, looking back the way he came. "I hope you're right." He hugs Haro tightly, looking up at Akane with sweet, confused eyes. "I'll let you know what I think of those shows, sometime. I hope you'll have an easier time of things."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

You should, Akane thinks to herself. Give it a few months.

"... Sure," she manages, as she starts to retreat. "Thanks. You seem like an okay guy." ... And that really is the problem. She can tell she hurt him by not being able to engage with what he threw down, and really -- that just makes sense.

Kaiju moving through the world, after all, is passive violence.

She starts to walk away just a little too fast, posture just a little too tight for a high schooler. ... she needs more information, fast.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Bye." Banagher says as Akane leaves, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess we're going home, Haro. We just have to take the train again."

Haro flaps cheerfully, playing a little tune as its carried to the train. The sooner they were home the better, Banagher thinks, he could use some food.