2022-08-06: Before the Crossroads

• Cast: Banagher Links, Marida Cruz
• Where: The Garencieres
• Date: U.C. 0096 08 06
• Summary: Once more, ice cream is a portent of change on the horizon.

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<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        Physical therapy has gone well. Most of Marida's injuries are fully healed. The bones of her right hand have mended. Now she just needs to exercise it to get it back up to where it was. Ordinarily, that would be difficult given Marida's already high-caliber physical capabilities, but the same genetic engineering and training that got her there also help her to heal quickly and improve quickly.

        So, while there's no combat expected, Marida is still standing in the hangar bay in a loose, short-sleeved lavendar coat over a black top with a yellow trim, and white pants, with black boots. She's looking up at the Kshatriya, opening and closing her hand over and over, the redhead ponders climbing back into the cockpit.

        But she's also thinking about Ten, the girl who left the day after their reunion. She doesn't emote much outwardly, but having one of her sisters taken away from her again so quickly left her feeling raw. Like a bandage torn off the wound far too soon.

        And then there's the matter of Earth... And why they're going there.

        Turning away, Marida decides against flying today. She would want the go ahead from the Captain first before deploying, anyway.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Miss Marida!" Banagher calls, running up to the taller woman. "Are you going out to fly? I'll come with you, if you are."

Banagher is dressed in his typical casual outfit, Haro held tightly in his arms. "Marida! Marida!" Haro cries, waving its winglets. There's a lot to worry about, or be sad over... but today, Banagher seems to be in good spirits. "Oh, are you not going out?" He asks, noticing Marida turning away as he approaches.

Falling into step beside her, the young man seems happy to fill the silence with his own thoughts. "I brought some ice cream back from Shangri-La. Leina's brother and his, uh." He pauses. What was Roux to Judau, anyway. "...partner bought it for me. It's really good. If you're not going to fly, do you want to eat some with me?"

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        Marida comes out of her thoughts when she hears Banagher's voice, pausing to see what the fuss is about with him and Haro. Does she know who Leina is? "Yes. There's no need to deploy right now." she replies in her characteristic dull tone and stoic facial expression. She tilts her head slightly at the offer of icecream, as if considering it, when she's mostly just wondering where this is all coming from.

        However, she doesn't hesitate long. "Sure. It's been awhile since I've had some." She starts walking again, heading towards the exit so she can make her way to the mess hall, where she assumes it is. Not the best conversationalist by any stretch of the imagination, Marida stills prompts Banagher with, "You met with some friends?"

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

It takes a little effort to keep up with Marida's stride. Even still injured, she's taller and faster than Banagher. "Yeah, it was a misunderstanding at first. I was just enjoying a concert by some idol and these people started yelling at me from a car. I thought they were trying to use me to get to the Box, so I ran."

"I accidentally knocked over one of the speakers. I feel kinda bad about that." Banagher laughs, embarrassed. "But The two people from the car cornered me. It was someone I'd met before, named Roux, and Leina's big brother. Oh, Leina is the one who told me about, um." Banagher hesitates. He decides on a kinder word for the situation. "Your sisters. She's the one who has a contact with another one, named Callisto."

As they approach the mess hall, Banagher hurries ahead, grabbing two small cartons of ice cream. For himself, a minty-green creation, and for Marida... "I thought... strawberry, maybe?" He holds out the carton hopefully, offering a spoon alongside it.

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        Marida sits down once they reach the mess hall. She puts some things together with that explanation. 'Callisto must be Two.' Well, good for her to have found a name and identity of her own. She makes a note of all the names dropped by Banagher, and takes even more note of the icecream offered to her. She accepts it quietly, and the spoon as well. Strawberry for the woman with the strawberry hair. Cute.

        Peeling off the lid of the carton, Marida skillfully uses the spoon to scoop with the edge, push it forward to get the icecream rolled onto the utensil, and then deliver it to her mouth. She tastes the icecream slowly, enjoying it despite the lack of reaction on her face. She seems satisfied with it though. She repeats her spoon trick as she says, "Can you tell your friend that I'm grateful for her help?"

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher sits down across from Marida, opening his own ice cream. "I will. Leina is -- really great." He blushes, slightly, picking at the ice cream to soften it up. "I think we're going on a date, when we finally get to Earth."

A spoonful of mint is eaten, Banagher smiling at the taste, before his face grows more serious. "Miss Marida... I've been thinking lately..." He glances around, making sure the mess hall is empty. "I think I need to go. To spend time with -- other factions. If the Box is really as powerful as everyone says, I need to understand the world more, to make the right choice."

"I haven't talked to the Captain about this yet. I -- well." He picks at the ice cream again. "This place feels like home, more than anywhere has in a long time. I don't really... want to go. But there's so much I don't know about the world. I know my father intended for the Sleeves to have the Box, but -- I've seen some of the things the other parts of the Sleeves do. I can't agree with their choices."

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        Marida misses nothing as she looks up and watches the boy across from her. Only a couple years younger, but the gulf of experience between them might as well be a decade. She inserts another icecream roll into her mouth while she listens. She wasn't given a choice as to whether or not to fight. Or whether to be born. Or her time after being salvaged like some spoil of war and turned to doing... That.

        The Captain gave her purpose. But choosing for herself? Following her own heart? As bleak as it is... She can't say she has ever truly done that. Even sparing Vitaly Sokolov was just her implimenting the lessons that Suberoa Zinnerman taught her.

        The talk from Banagher of what he wants to do, and what he thinks is right, push aside any thoughts of her own lack of agency. Here is someone who has a chance to have a life.

        Marida thinks carefully about what to say. She decides to stick to familiar territory first. 'Stay on task. Complete the missiom.' It's how she was programmed.

        She puts down her spoon next to the carton and looks at Banagher Links seriously. "Are you taking the Key with you?"

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

If it were anyone else, the long silences would make Banagher nervous. But this is Marida's way -- listening, taking in all details, before she makes a decision. "I'm sorry if this is painful, but -- some things Leina told me are what led me to think this way. About what happened to her, and what happened to your sisters. About a man named 'Glemy'. The things the Federation did, and Neo Zeon did -- they're both bad. They're both wrong!" Banagher grows agitated, forgetting his ice cream for a moment. "I -- couldn't believe something so cruel --"

But this isn't about him. This pain belongs to Marida. He's an outsider to these feelings, and it's not fair to force her to relive them just for his sake. Banagher takes a deep breath and calms himself.

"Sorry. It's... been a lot to take in." Another bite of ice cream, the mint green bright in the sterile space of the mess hall. "I'm going to bring it with me. Unicorn and I belong together. We -- can't be apart, not now."

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        Just the mention of Glemy is picking at an old wound, but she has had time and help healing. She no longer sees him as her 'Master'. That role has been taken by someone far more deserving. Marida closes her violet eyes as she listens to Banagher's reasoning, his explanation of the crimes on both sides, and how neither is wholly just in their goals.

        It's not as though Marida didn't know that already. But she also remembers a church on Palau, and its purpose in providing hope for the future, even if the way there is a hard-fought struggle.

        No, Neo-Zeon is not some entity that she is beholden to nor does she have any particular loyalty to Full Frontal. It is not him whom she calls 'Master'. But she also knows that, in his own way, that man is a path to hope for many in space.

        Just like the Captain is for her.

        But even so...

        Opening her eyes, Marida picks up her spoon again, placing her thumb at the arc of the metal instrument, thinking about how, even with her hand newly healed, she could snap off the scooping portion on the edge of the table, lunge over it, and hold the sharpened stick left over to Banagher's throat, to take him prisoner. He trusts her, so he might not be able to react in time. But then again, their scuffle on Industrial 7, and what she has seen and felt from him since, says it may not be so easy.

        It's not your purpose to think or question. Just do as you're told, and we'll all be a happy family one day.

        The words of a dead man. One who did awful things.

        But even so...

        "If you leave with it, I will be obligated to come after you." A simple statement, not a threat. Not even a warning, or question. Just a voicing of what Banagher might, deep down, already know. But also, in addition to that, an invitation to confirm his course of action. That this is what he wants.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Marida's feelings echo faintly to Banagher, making him wince in regret. "Sorry..." He murmurs, looking down to his ice cream. Banagher weathers her feelings of pain, her memory, and then -- his eyes widen as she briefly considers attacking him.

Frozen before Marida, he watches as the thought passes. The first time they fought, he got lucky. Marida hadn't wanted to draw attention, or distress Audrey. If they were to fight with nothing holding her back... No amount of Haro tricks could hold her off.

"Do you -- have to?" Banagher all-but whispers, looking up at her with sorrowful eyes. "I don't want to fight you. I -- won't. I won't hurt you. You matter to me, Marida." But does she matter more than the Box? Would Banagher sacrifice it, if it came down to a choice?

"Maybe the Captain will agree. Maybe he'll think it's a good idea I learn more about the world and -- then come back. I do want to come back. The Garencieres, the crew... I feel like I belong here."

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        In the end, the spoon goes not to Banagher's throat, but back into the icecream. But there's a long, pressure-filled moment before it does that. Marida takes time to eat another spoonful of strawberry before speaking. "You should speak to him first. If he allows it, then so will I." Marida gets up from her seat, icecream carton in hand, the spoon planted in the frozen dessert.

        She walks all the way around the table, and then places her free hand on Banagher's shoulder. Though there's no smile accompanying the words, the warmth that flows from her touch, even as mixed in with conflicted feelings as it is, should show clear enough that she doesn't WANT to have to fight Banagher either.

        "It's nice to see you happy about something."

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher's spoon does much the same. The tension ebbs away between the two of them, thankfully. "I will. I've been wanting to talk to him about some other stuff anyway."

A hand is placed over Marida's for a moment. Banagher's smile is every bit as warm as Marida's gesture -- for the moment, they're both safe here, with nothing to worry about. "Thank you, Marida. No matter what, I won't leave until you and Callisto and Puru Ten all get to meet."

Banagher places the lid back on his ice cream, walking it back to the freezer. The spoon is left haphazardly in the sink -- no matter how powerful a Newtype he might be, Banagher is still a teenage boy, after all.

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        They're headed for Earth. The place where her sisters supposedly are. Before meeting Ten, before discovering Two is still alive, actually believing something like that would have required more hope than her heart is capable of. Marida slips her hand off of Banagher's shoulder after awhile, stepping back so as not to crowd him while he gets up.

        She has the feeling that everything will change when they reach Earth. The crossroads of destiny are waiting.

        Before she leaves the mess hall, she murmurs quietly, whether Banagher hears it or not, "Thanks for the icecream."