2022-09-07: Malaise

• Log: 2022-09-07: Malaise
• Cast: Alouette Pommier, Akane Shinjo
• Where: Orbit Base - Medical
• OOC - IC Date: 0096-09-07
• Summary: Alouette Pommier receives a rescue from 'boredom,' from an unexpected source, in an unexpected place.

---

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Since her injuries in the last battle in Kabukicho, Alouette has been resting in one of the hospital rooms in Orbit Base's medical facility. She's wearing a simple gown, with a cast tied around her left arm, rather unlike the more elaborate outfits she usually wears when she's out. It will be an easy recovery, with no long-term complications, but she was ordered not to leave her hospital bed for the time being.

Because this, Alouette's mood has been at an all-time low. Normally, when things go wrong, she buries herself in distractions, getting all the work she needs to be doing done, and more. Such as after GaoFighGar was destroyed and Guy was hurt, and she holed herself up in her office, desperately finding ways to improve the GaoMachines - not only to make up for her shortcomings, but also to make sure Guy is never hurt like that again. This time though, there's nothing to be done except suffocate inside her own thoughts and worries that she might be more of a detriment to the team than anything.

Just as she is finally about to doze off to sleep for once, the last visitor she expects to see appears from the corner of her eye.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

3G's Long Dagger has been a pretty persistent thorn in Akane's side at this point; Akane's sole interest in 3G, however, is in Guy. To see them continue to deploy assets even after GaoFighGar was -- presumably -- finished and Guy himself severely injured is a deep, deep frustration.

So naturally, Akane decides she'd like to relate to its pilot differently.

Alouette's fitful hospital sleep almost comes -- but as she turns from side to side, one moment, there's nothing -- and the next, there's a familiar silhouette leaning against the sink in her hospital room.

"Hi there," she says, smugly. "So -- are you done playing the hero yet? It's starting to get kinda boring... I liked you a little better providing support for Guy in Porc-Auto~." She glances off, noting, "Then again, my kaiju broke GaoFighGar pretty bad! So I guess you're pretty much out of options at this point."

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Akane," is all that Alouette says when she sees her emerge from the sink. She's not sure if she's hallucinating from the lack of sleep, or how Akane of all people would somehow make it to Orbit Base, but it feels real enough, and if she asked she knows Akane wouldn't give up that secret.

Alouette is well aware of the clear power dynamic at play here, if Akane wanted to "finish the job" here, she certainly could try. But that's clearly not Akane's style, and Alouette's a bit curious and very bored anyways, so she decides to just hear her out. If things go really bad she always has the 3G support staff on speed dial...

"Yeah, you're right that I'm a pretty bad at being a hero... But you still lost. Doesn't that make you an even worse super-villain?." she matches Akane's energy right back at her. Out of options, huh? Akane seems very.. unbothered by GaoGaiGo, even though it's just as much of a Vessel of Light as GaoFighGar was, under her definitions.

Alouette's not done yet, she still has more for Akane. "I have to ask: if you're so bored of me, why did your kaiju target me in the first place? I don't think I'm a Vessel of Light. And it completely ignored Gridman too.. Subconscious, maybe?" This actually gives Alouette something interesting to think about. She doesn't mention Sayla Mass or Renais out of respect for the promise, but the three of them took the brunt of the damage.. all from outside Tsutsujidai, even if they aren't Vessels of Light, and even if Akane claims to only care about fighting Gridman anymore.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"Hm," Akane starts, at the idea that she's a worse supervillain than Alouette is a hero. "I see what you're saying, but I was expecting more BioNet backup. How was I supposed to know they weren't doing much in that part of the city anymore?"

Given she's allegedly working with them... she could have probably just asked. That's a level of humility Akane can't muster about anything, though, so she slides right past it in favor of taking a few steps toward Alouette's bed. "Next time I'll pick somewhere I know BioNet still has some resources." Letting that hang in the air for a few moments, she looks down at Alouette's long blonde curls, murmuring, "I have a few ideas~."

Sauntering ever closer, she continues, "My kaiju make their own decisions about how to handle situations!" A half-truth -- and one Akane knows is a half-truth. But she persists. "And the truth is, every time Gridman's beaten me, it's been because he had help. Going at a Vessel of Light head-on isn't going to cut it... so the first step is getting rid of all of his friends!"

It's at this point that she actually sits down. It's a slightly annoying movement for her -- Akane usually prefers to slump or flop, and her ridiculous supervillain corset dress is -- as ever -- a complicator on such movements. More than that, though, it's a smaller, less expressive movement; while wearing this, at least, Akane finds it best to move as little as possible.

"But enough about me," she whispers, leaning slightly to one side and turning her head to look down at Alouette. "I wanna hear about you. I've got a burning question now that you and your creations are coming up short, and you've had a couple days to stew in here."

Her lips curl up in a smile that shows just a few too many teeth.

"Are you bored?"

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

When Akane asks how she was supposed to know BioNet stopped operating in that area, Alouette was going to remind her she's the one working with them, but evidently, she realized that and quickly changed the subject, and how she'll target somewhere where BioNet has resources. France, maybe? 3G France itself is also pretty understaffed at the moment, but she doesn't dare tell Akane that, of course.

Akane also explains why the kaiju targeted Alouette instead of Gridman, although the response doesn't really satisfy her. "But aren't kaiju usually made out of emotions? And not just algorithmic patterns like that." She thinks to BioNet inducing stress in their subjects to create pseudo-Zonder Robos, who run on that stressful energy; kaiju in their own way. She'd assumed that Akane's kaiju, then, ran on her own emotions.

The next talking point hits closest to home, as Akane asks if she's bored while honing in on her insecurities, all while staring down at her face with a big toothy grin. Honestly, even if it stings in the moment, it feels kind of relieving to hear that sentiment, out-loud, after it's been stuck in loop in her head for a couple days. Alouette turns her face away by reflex, but she gives Akane the truth:

"Yes."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"I mean, unless you're dealing with the kind that are just like, 'an animal bigger than an elephant,' sure," Akane replies, carefully not touching the rest of it. (What does Alexis even get out of helping her express herself through kaiju, anyway? Sure, the feelings they bear are hers, and they do help her get those feelings out into the world safely, but...)

... she'll leave that alone, for now. Best not to give Alouette any more data to work with than she already has. Shifting her weight a little, she slowly, slowly turns to face Alouette a little more directly. "I thought so," she affirms. "Then again... you'd be bored anywhere, wouldn't you? You don't have GaoFighGar to work on, and the battlefield isn't really your place either... I'm not going to act like I'm depriving you of some great experience by having you laid up for a chunk of the Deculture Festival, either."

One hand comes to rest on the bed next to Alouette's head, stabilizing Akane's position a bit as she scoots in a little closer. (... They're quite close now. A few stray hairs touch Akane's hand as she looks down into Alouette's eyes.) "You'd be bored there too. Like, really -- what are you going to do? Watch a relay race? I bet you'd have the results figured out three steps in. Haunted house? It's obvious which walls are fake. You're not gonna get surprised, let alone scared. I bet you don't even have any friends at Jindai." (Here she makes a guess about where Alouette attends, but... it's not like Nouvelle Tokyo has a ton of schools.)

"I could list more events, but I bet you'd get bored of that too!" She brings her other hand up to her mouth, giggling. "This world just isn't made for you! BioNet made you for their world. I'm not saying 'go back to BioNet,' like, I get it! But... why defend a world --"

Her leg moves up onto the bed a little more fully, allowing her to turn more of her body toward 3G Blue's operator.

"-- that has no place --"

Her glasses glint in the light, hiding her eyes for just a moment.

"-- for you?"

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Akane hones in closer and closer, both in her words and in physical distance. Alouette doesn't really make any effort to physically resist, it's not like she *can* anyways. Akane is right that she doesn't really have anything to *do* anymore. She could go back to operating for GaoGaiGo, but Hana's really been improving lately, and surely she can handle one machine on her own. And on the topic of school, she was planning on accepting her early graduation anyways. It was always too easy even before her memories returned and she had a pretty hard time connecting with people, even when she wanted to. What's the point of doing math metric tons easier than what she's capable of in 3G?

Although, Akane is wrong that the festival had *nothing* to look forward to. She would've been happy to take Rikka up on her offer to hang out at the festival. Even if that's just a small thing... But she doesn't bring up Rikka, not to Akane.

"Why defend a world that has no place for you?" As Akane practically touches her, Alouette flinches. This must be how Akane feels.. at the very least Alouette was rescued by 3G, who showed her kindness. All Akane got was an abuser. And currently, all she can do is recite that abuse.

"I really hate how the world is right now. But.. I just don't think it's fair for me to give up on it yet when there are so many innocent people suffering - some of them just like me," Alouette glances Akane in the eye at that last part of the sentence. She really means what she says, although understandably, she doesn't show the most conviction in her voice. She doesn't know how long she can keep it up, or if she's truly cut out to be a Brave, but it's the best answer she can give.

"I hope you can come up with your own answer soon, Akane."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

The flinch startles Akane out of her rhythm -- more than even she expected. Her thoughts drift out of the moment, back to Yuta extending a hand to her in the park. She pulls herself back away, getting off of Alouette's bed and slowly making her way back to her feet.

"I think you're gonna have a pretty rough time if you keep worrying about whether what you're doing is fair," Akane answers her as she starts to step away. "And I don't want to see you on the battlefield again, either... then again, if you're going to insist on it, maybe we'll meet again in Paris?" Evidently, she'd come to the same conclusion Alouette had, earlier.

With steps slightly more confident than last time, she strides toward the exit. "I've got my answer. I think you should work on yours while you've got a little downtime!" she enthuses -- and the next time she breaks Alouette's line of sight, she's gone, with a, "Seeya~."

---

Akane lies across a dozen garbage bags. "If that breaks her spirit, that's one less ally for Gridman and the Evoluder," she says, head lolling to one side, eyes half-lidding. That's the only reason she wants Alouette off the field.

... right?