2022-07-01: Alma Stirner, Professional Purumom

• Log: 2022-07-01: Alma Stirner, Professional Purumom
• Cast: Alma Stirner, Puru Two
• Where: Ra Mari - Vending Machines
• OOC - IC Date: 0096-07-01
• Summary: Alma Stirner tracks down a reclusive Puru Two because she can feel the girl's lonely vibe, and smothers her with Eternally 17 energy.

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<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

Getting herself into a position to transfer back to the Gwennangorn from the Ra Mari is proving harder than anticipated for Alma, due to... something. Resupply schedules? Who knows. The important thing is that she's still here and finally remembering to follow up on something she floated months and months ago -- or at least, it feels that way. Technically it's fewer months than you'd staple 'and months' to.

She knocks on the door of Callisto's quarters -- firmly, three times. She shifts her body weight back and forth from leg to leg, a bit; to tell you the truth, she's a little nervous!

... She's also got a big smear of chocolate frosting down one cheek from attacking a vending machine donut a little too voraciously. It sits on the cheek of a blissfully oblivious Alma.

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

Maybe all the good pilots on the Gwennangorn are busy. Maybe all the shuttles are in for repairs. Maybe the infamous Federation Bureaucracy has lashed them to the decks, come to life as great and sprawling tentacles of scarlet tape.

Maybe.

                                        --=--

Callisto Diana, focusing intently on that name, is sitting on her bunk with legs folded. She's reading a book. Yes, paper and spines still have a place in the Universal Century, it's called aesthetic. Her gaze carves through it at a ferocious rate, swallowing paragraphs whole and synthesizing the meaning while moving to the next. The topic is ... Earthnoid history, more specifically, the history of Earth's Modern Era and industrial revolution.

The book tells her that a famous figure once said the industrial revolution and its consequences had been disastrous for Humankind. She squints, giving it thought.

The door knocks and pulls her from her reverie. Where nobody can see her, she fumbles the book into her lap in surprise, then slips from the bed and does the top button of her uniform back up.

Door... open!

The short redhead wears a look of mild surprise at having been sought out. "Oh, Ms. Stirner. Something the matter?" she asks, craning her head to one side. Is that... grease, or something, on Alma's cheek?

Callisto trying to be subtle about this only makes it more obvious.
+pot

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

Alma's all smiles nearly the instant she opens the door; she's oblivious to what Callisto is looking at for a few seconds. Then she blinks once; then she blinks again; then she runs her finger along her cheek. "Oh, that's got to have been there for six hours at least...! I ate a whole other meal with that in the middle!!" Alma declares, though she doesn't actually sound that bothered; this is firmly in the cute fluster category.

"Oooghhh but the donuts were so good," she mumbles, as she licks the frosting off her finger. It's at this point that: "Oh right right right right! Ahaha, sorry, I got distracted, uh... no, nothing's the matter, just..."

She glances down and to the side a bit. "I kinda... felt like I left you hanging! When I checked in with you and then didn't follow up for months... I don't wanna come off as, like, cold or inconsistent or something! Just... I mean, we're both soldiers, but --"

No, too many complications. Alma skips to the end. "So! I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and you knew you could talk to me." ... Why does she feel so responsible for this one singular girl before her?

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

Callisto's mouth is only slightly agape as Alma has a very minor short-circuit at the realization she's been wearing chocolate makeup for the better part of the workday. This does not jive with her limited memory of the cool, big-sis style redhead telling her to come for a chat if anything ever bothered her.

"... pfft..."

She stifles the laugh, but not the smirk that tugs at one corner of her mouth.

"Ahrrm. It's, um, it's okay, I should've said something sooner. It was a good offer." the rationale cuts any excuses she might have made off at the knees. Might as well take ownership of being bad at adulting. Callie taps the door to her room and it slides shut behind her.

"... is now good? I'm just studying to kill time. I could kind of use a snack."

The quiet rustling of an empty tummy is -not- very dramatic and Gundam, Puru Two, tsk tsk.
+pot

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

"Oh, sure! I could eat." Alma could always eat.

She starts leading Puru Two back toward the vending machines -- which is actually a bit of a walk, so it gives them a chance to talk. "Aha... I know this is weird," she says. She used to be a little worse about skipping to the end of these things; while she still *does* it, because it's part and parcel with how she experiences the world, she at least tries to allow people a little space.

Rather than launch directly into 'So you're a traumatized Newtype,' she decides it's actually better to enter Callie's world a bit. "Whatcha studying? I... always got kinda impatient about that kind of stuff. I'm not -- bad at it? But I'm a little bit relieved at not having to read much... ahahaha, no, I definitely sound kinda dumb if I put it like that..."

"Anyway! I dunno if I can follow everything you're studying, but I'm interested! Oh, and, uh -- my treat." This is probably the last 'my treat' Alma can let skate on the Ra Mari. "... Uhhh, five gilla maximum though." Alma doesn't get paid until next Monday...

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

The adoption of Japan's Vending Machine Standard (VMS) is some of the scarce, and direly-needed proof that there may be a just and loving God somewhere in this cold world. As such, even underway, you can find a bevy of hot/cold goods and a bench to enjoy them on. To deny servicemen and women this privilege would be cruel.

Callisturu Two (she's not disassociating about her identity, not today, or at least not yet today) pockets both hands as she walks. This is likely not a test of Alma's professionalism, but I mean, if you've ever known a junior enlisted, just ask them about GETCHER DAMN HANDS OUTCHER POCKETS--

"Weird?" she echoes, as Alma immediately goes for the gentle defensive. She regards the older woman (oof) with a neutral gaze, but there's clearly no malice in it. She's just searching, thinking. The two sail at a comfortable pace through the corridors via liftgrip, or at least, Callisto is. She has an obvious comfort in low-gravity that is borne of real Spacenoid instinct. "I don't think it's weird... I mean... you noticed I was feeling pretty spaced out that one time, and offered to help out. If it's weird, I guess that's a good kind of weird."

Having reached full corridor acceleration anyway, Callisto turns while drifting towards the vending machines, to look at Alma without doing the over-the-shoulder thing.

"I was just reading ... about Earth. I don't know much about it, you know? Compared to people who live on it, I mean." Callie admits, soft-spoken. "Where I grew up, we didn't get to learn that kind of history. Wasn't important, I guess..."

Paf. That's the sound of foots skidding against walkway, coming to a halt.

Hands come out of her pockets. Callisto glances back at the vending machine with a wry little smile. "Uh, I'll just have a tea or something." now there's a lie, you soda-drinking ice-cream munching little clone. "Feels bad to sting a guest for a free snack."
+pot

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

Alma notices that the Ra Mari is pretty chill and is very thankful. (The Gwennangorn is a little less chill, but Alma prefers chill.) Alma, too, sails the sea of space pretty comfortably. She was born in Side 3, after all!

Once they get situated at the vending machines, she says, "Oh, come on, I said five gilla, not five luke," giving Callisto a casual nudge on the shoulder with one hand. "Hrrrm, though, let's see... Maybe..." Her eyes fix on the frozen section. Did she pick up on the Secret Ice Cream Urge subconsciously? Or is she just *also* wired for ice cream? "Or -- mmm, look..." She decides to go with the letter of Callisto's request and pick up the tea -- and then also taps out the code for an ice cream block, seemingly for herself...

... except she *immediately* unwraps it, snags a bioplastic knife from a nearby utensil caddy, and starts cutting it in half. About midway through, she murmurs, "Awawawa, it's cold...!" OF COURSE IT IS COLD IT IS ICE CREAM.

Half an ice cream block floats in midair comfortably. "Just because I'm kinda broke doesn't mean you need to ask down *that* much," she affirms, again... and then they're onto a slightly more serious topic.

"Earth, huh... yeah, I don't really know much either. I've been a few times, but after I finished middle school and would've gotten to that stuff," she explains, "the Flanagan Institute kinda... well, I ended up there." There's a version of that story that's... well, it's not painful to *Alma*. But at this point in her life she gets that hearing it is painful to others. "What do you think? I don't always... 'get,' Earth, but... maybe 'getting' everything in the world isn't the point, so..."

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

Nudge. Callisto's shoulder rolls with being nudged, a kind of lazy muscular pulse of acknowledgement. Every social move here takes... not effort, per se, but it feels like a minor test. Can she pass for a normie? Or does she really have to try?

"... hmmph." those letters look dour in text, but trust me, it's more of a bemused huff of breath than anything. The orange-haired girl parks her bottle of ocha over one shoulder. She watches Alma suffer greatly from cutting the ice-cream in half, and comments briefly: "You know... one of my sisters, way back then,--" way back -when-, Callie? "--would always just bite ice and things with her teeth. I'd get goosebumps watching every time. Just remembering it..."

Anyway. They settle in, so to speak, for a bit of a chat.

"What do I think?" Callisto echoes the question. She does that. "I don't know if I'll ever 'get' it. It's weird. I'm just trying to figure out where I came from, but maybe I'm starting too far back..." she has a cute scowl for a moment. She flicks the slowly-spinning slice of iced dessert to halt its motion, and then chomps it out of existence like a powerful ice-cream predator. "The more I read, the more I think Space is my home. That's okay, I guess."

Are the goosebumps from biting ice, or from Alma's words?

"... I think there were a few ex-Flanagan guys where I grew up. Hope you had a better time with them than I did." she muses. It isn't mused coldly, but it's definitely not from a happy place.
+pot

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

"Ahaha, I used to do that kinda stuff too... not like, the same thing, but, you know." Alma glances down a little awkwardly, taking a bite of her ice cream block. Well: her ice cream block half. "For me it's more stuff like -- drinking half of a shake and then getting that dizzy, brain-freezy deal! And I just think 'oooohhh that is SO unfair, but it's sooooooo good...'"

She giggles a little, despite the somewhat heavy topics. "No, yeah! I kinda -- they, uh, buried my service record. I couldn't find the rest of my squad for years... I got a custom postcard back from my boss once! But -- I guess we're both kinda trying to figure out who we are and where we came from, huh? ... I guess that's why I was worrying about you." It sounds heavy, but in spite of it, Alma's actually pretty peppy? She seems... happy, to be talking like this.

"They weren't... much better to us, probably! I'm kinda lucky -- I don't put my feelings *out* there, I think, is what they figured? I couldn't do the bits or anything. And they tried... a couple times." That memory? Yeah. Painful. (More the second time than the first. B Group liked chemical correction a lot more than A Group.) "I'm sorry you had to deal with that..."

Long red hair flows behind Alma as she repositions a bit to Callie's side. "It's not like it was all bad, though! I mean -- when I was in there... we had each other. Like, I probably sound like I'm just trying to rationalize it! 'Oh, it was fine 'cuz we stuck with each other, and we made it through,' but -- I mean, maybe? But I think it's more important to be happy with you now than be happy with how you got there. You're here now, and the Ra Mari seems... pretty homey."

It's now that the knowledge she's rambling hits her, and she laughs. "Ah -- where was it for you? If you're okay with talking about it. We don't have to dig it up if you don't want!"

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

"Hmmmm~..." Callisto is a quiet listener, for long stretches. She's not shy about making eye contact while listening, either. She unscrews the cap of her ocha and takes a measured sip. ... it's okay. Not great, but okay.

Her back is to the vending machine, and she makes no motion to maintain the distance between them or anything as Alma skooshes closer. The more she listens, the more she *opens*. Perhaps she senses a kindred spirit, the two having footsied around with terms like Flanagan and bits.

         > I guess that's why I was worrying about you.

"Ha~a..." Callie's head leans back slightly, donking against the vending machine glass. She opens her mouth to interrupt or at least respond, but instead, her brows arch and Alma keeps... going. Motormouth. It's not bad, or annoying, she thinks, it just seems like the natural ebb and flow of the conversation means... waiting. Catching the wave once it slows. Besides, it gives her time to draw all the parallels.

Finally: Alma asks her a question. Simple. Callisto rubs her head briefly, fingers sifting through her own improbable bob of orange.

"... no, it's okay to talk about. A few people here know about it by now, and you don't seem like the kind of person who'd rat someone like me out..." she cranes her head to glance away for a second. "Well, uh... I was made on Axis. I guess it was before Haman Karn took over the place. Just someone's child-weapon science project..."

That's underselling it, but, well. No need to discuss the real freakshow cloning business just yet. One secret per social link rank.

She smirks, but softly. The corner of her mouth mirthlessly turning upwards. "Wonder if you could feel the scars, and that's why you reached out? I'm trying to be 'normal', but, you know... I was threatening haughty little Neo Zeon nobles when I was ten. 'Normal' is way out of reach."

EVEN IN DEATH, GLEMY TOTO, YOU GET NO RESPECT--
+pot

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

... Axis, huh. That's -- hm. "Oh, that's..." Huh. "That'd be about... a year after the guys that became the Flanagan Institute talked to my parents? Just guessing from how old you are." 'Talked to my parents' is pretty euphemistic but it tells a story. "I didn't realize they were doing stuff like that out there!"

"... Ahaha, yeah, I think I kinda did," Alma admits, ducking her head a little sheepishly. "I felt like you were... Aah, it's not that you're the same type of person as me? Like, I was born -- I wasn't a Coordinator or anything!" The words are a little mushy, a little weird to work through. "But... I could tell you'd been through some of the same stuff!"

... it actually sounds like there's something pretty different in their experiences. Maybe that wasn't it -- or at least, that's not the whole picture.

"Hey, though, uh -- listen. I kinda had to flop my way through a bunch of feelings at your age and I didn't have a ton of idea what I was doing, but, like... don't torture yourself over it, okay? I don't think you need to be 'normal,' just... I mean, my old unit was full of weirdos! And we got each other through, and... I liked us then, and I'm really hoping I like us when we meet up again."

That actually sounds lame, so Alma affirms, "... No, I know when we meet up again we're all going to like us." She clenches and pumps a fist a bit. "What matters is you've got people who care about you! It doesn't have to be 'normal,' it's just gotta be kind and it's gotta be something you can be at peace with."

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

Callisto's fingers remain in her hair, tugging the veil of orange before it can drift into her eyes. Dummy, she thinks to herself. Really letting your guard down around this woman.

"I... think I follow what you're saying. I dunno if I count as a Coordinator... maybe?" she wonders aloud. "Not like I really have all the labwork from when they made us..."

Her gaze travels to the distant hallway lights. The concourse has no nighttime lights, or at least, they ain't on right now if it does. When Alma speaks of not torturing herself over it, her facial features tighten a little. Something struck home there, didn't it?

"Don't torture myself... yeah, I know. She says something like that all the time." Callisto murmurs, eyes still on the lights. But her gaze is piercing somewhere beyond.

"I guess you're right, huh, you really went through a lot of this same stuff when you were a kid too... but it sounds like--you've still got friends from back then you're trying to find, right?" Callie asks, features returning to neutral calm as she returns to her own mind. "And it's been how long?"

If Alma feels self-conscious about lame, or overenthusiastic, or something... well, there doesn't seem to be any sign of it from her new friend. Maybe she just thinks it's heartening, despite her cool exterior.
+pot

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

"I mean, in the end, they're just words, right? Like... people hang their hats on 'em and stuff, but you're just you!" Alma can tell that Callisto is doing her best *not* to self-torture, despite the impulse. She catches 'she says,' too -- but she feels like poking that would be poking a little too much.

Alma moves -- slowly -- to float around to Callisto's side and put an arm around her. She's always been pretty casually physical, and she's used to same. "It's been sixteen years... we haven't seen each other since the end of the war. We got shuffled around as prisoners of war for about a week, then shipped back to Zeon one at a time... separate shuttles."

"Yeah! After I flunked out of Flanagan after it... *became* Flanagan," Alma starts, "I got assigned to a special operations unit... our records are all burned and buried, but --" She waves it off. "Ahahaha, sorry, that's... still kinda something I get mad at if I think about it too hard. But I don't wanna be like that! *I* know what we did and *I* know what cakes I ate and I liked them." ... you really like those cakes, yes.

"It's not like I'm stuck back there!" she protests, earnestly. "I've made a lot of new friends, I've fallen in love, but... ahaha... even if my callsign's changed, I'm still Fairy Leader at heart," Alma affirms. "People can't destroy what they are. They can't stop being themselves."

She's not quite sure where she found the words. She holds Puru Two a little closer, though.

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

This world is full of things we do not yet understand. Miracles, curses, Gods and Devils. Do you believe in fate? Do you believe the dead can speak through the living? Perhaps they don't need to, because ironic happenstance is more powerful than supernatural meddlings.

There's a rustling of clothing at first as Puru Two, who can never really stay as Just Callisto for very long lately, maybe moves to try and keep *some* space. But it's a defensive reaction, and there are things communicated on levels other than words. Voice, body language, vibe. A moment's tension relaxes. "Sixteen years..." she mutters, thinking about that. That's twice the length of her own search. "But you didn't give up hope either, huh..."

It's the way Alma puts her thoughts into words on what comes next that leaves her stunned. The clone girl is squeezed around the shoulder loosely, and...

        > "People can't destroy what they are. They can't stop being themselves."
                > "People can't destroy what they are. They can't stop being themselves."

Somewhere in the winds between worlds, a faint giggle is carried on astral threads. Those who have moved on, free of worldly concerns, are bastards. And fair enough.

"Sure can't..." Puru Two murmurs, putting a hand on Alma's arm after a long period of silence. "They sure can't..."

Don't cry. Don't cry! Don't cry!!
+pot

<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.

<poem> Alma isn't sure what she tripped into -- but she orients even more firmly on Puru Two for a few moments and pulls her into an embrace. It's instinctual -- maybe at her tone, maybe just at the feeling-of-a-feeling behind it -- but the whys don't matter.

"... You're here, and I'm here, and it's okay," is all she can think to say. "I'm glad I met you. You're not from Tir na nOg, and I'm not from Axis, but we're here, now, and we can be here for each other."

She stays like that for a nice, long while; eventually, though, she moves to give Callisto her space again -- only once Callisto's ready to *need* and *use* that space, though. "... You want another ice cream block?" she asks, a little soothingly. ... Lilith will understand if she breaks out the emergency card for this, right? Right???