2022-11-29: Decision ~PROMISE~

• Cast: Alouette Pommier, Guy Shishioh
• Where: Orbit Base - Alouette's Quarters
• Date: U.C. 0096 11 29
• Summary: Alouette receives a visit from Guy on her off-shift. She makes a promise.

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<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

After relieving her shift to Hana, Alouette returned to her personal quarters. Ever since she clocked back in to Orbit Base, the room saw a few changes - notably, the gravity toy from the Three Doctors is proudly floating above a shelf, and the addition of Sheryl Nome and Tarabaman Eclatant posters on the wall.

Presently, Alouette is on her bed, absently scrolling her phone, staring outside the window into the vastness of space. Recently-touched notes and sketches are sprawled across the desk nearby. Now that she has the parts, all she can do is wait for the hardware crew to finish their work.

Part of her feels that it's wrong to be taking a break after wasting away such a long time, but when she glances at those posters, she wonders if maybe it wasn't entirely a waste. Regardless, she understands that overworking herself won't make those conflicting feelings vanish.

Alouette hears faint footsteps near her door - it remains unlocked. She certainly won't mind some company.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Step, step, step - knock knock knock.

Guy Shishioh waits for her call before entering, stepping in with a rather less weighty walk than he was swinging around Tsutsujidai with. Still, he keeps his smile down to a fond one. He did not, in the end, do the hardest work, after all. "Evening, Operator," he greets, leaning against a bare spot on the wall with a little grin and crossed arms. His eyes slip from spot to spot on her room. More decorations. It's nice.

He looks for words to say. She's already been hard at work again. Still... "Welcome back, Alouette. It's good to have you home."

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

The footsteps turn out to belong to Guy! She lets him in, remaining seated on the bed. "Good evening, Chief," she smiles in return. She notices him glance around the room - she's proud of the amount of personality she could put into it, even if Sheryl Nome and Tarabaman might seem aesthetically-clashing.

"Thank you," she replies. "I'm glad to be back. I really missed everyone.." She's not yet sure if she deserves that welcome back, but she will live true to what Ikumi told her, and do the best she can with this opportunity.

"I've been thinking a lot about that miracle of yours," she adds, that sharp smile of hers remaining as she glances at the GaoBrace. "I've been wondering about the how. The official reports were rather bare, you see." All miracles have their "how", otherwise we wouldn't be able to create them, she thinks. And she's very interested to hear about the lengths Guy took for Renais and her.

"But either way, it's an honour to meet PhantomGao's.. older cousin?" she half-jokes - the smirk is on her face, but when she says it's an honour she means it.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

He does, in fact, hang on Tarabaman, and he can't help but grin. "Swear, everyone who even talks to her gets into that at some point," he says. "That's gonna be Mamoru's entire gift list next year, isn't it?"

A statement of assumptions. That they'll be talking to Akane next year. That MAMORU will. That it'll all end well enough to celebrate. He's the King of Braves and he dares to assert all of that upon the world.

He brings up that braced hand and waves with it, chuckling. "We missed you too," he says, sincerely, and then lets himself grin at it. "As you probably guessed when you saw my hours logged on the transport ship this last couple months..." Damn near commuting daily, for a while there. Until the Ruin Apostles harshly reminded him of their presence, his missing friends in Tsutsujidai was a preoccupation for him.

"As for Galeon, It's a bit of a story. Betterman's involved." He says, and his smile gets just a bit strained. "After GaoFiGhGar was wrecked - you'll remember, I think, that Kikuho contracted Algernon, and Lamia...came to collect. When he did, I told him the situation we were in."

He stands straight, right hand going to his pocket, the braced one staying out. "A few weeks later, Lamia came to take me to some...Somnium elder. Deus. A being that could travel through time." ...His face goes hard. "We couldn't see eye to eye. But we took from him the Animus Seeds he'd collected that gave him that power. One of Lamia's allies could use it, turns out." ...no need to bring up his quiet complicity in Deus' murder.

He lets that all hang long enough for Alouette to put it together herself.

"Galeon's quiet," he says instead. "But I'm sure he's pleased that there are others to bear the burden. Cain never wanted his son or Galeon to be the only hope...I'm glad we can finally fulfill that part of his dream."

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette is a little surprised at how.. easygoing Guy takes the situation with Akane. Akane seemed certain everyone would hate her for what she did to their friends, but in truth, even Alouette can't find it in her heart to hate her. Clearly, Guy hasn't given up on her, and neither will Alouette. "She promised we would watch Tarabaman Hammer sometime after we finished Eclatant. We might just need to include Amami-kun in the watch party, don't you think?" She laughs softly.

Alouette certainly noticed the excess hours - and seeing it warmed her heart. He might've given enough space, had enough restraint to not visit every time, but it's obvious he was thinking of them every waking day. Although he may wish he could've done more, in Alouette's mind he did everything he could and more.

Betterman did this... she slowly nods, thinking about the implications of the Somnium's strange form of assistance. "Yes, I was there for the terrifying.. food mixer-incident. Although I was up in a hospital bed when Lamia arrived," she recalls. She quickly connects the dots from Guy's explanation - this isn't Genesic Galeon purified, this must be a Galeon plucked from the past.

"I hope he's adjusting okay," she nods. It must be terribly disorienting, to be transported to such a strange and unfamiliar time. "And you're right. I'll be standing by his and your side too." She glances over at her desk and the notes that cover it, and then she resolutely looks back at Guy. "And once we fulfill that dream, I hope Galeon - and Cain can rest with pride in their hearts."

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy can't help but chuckle at that, and takes back another leaning posture, back comfortably against the wall. "Oh, man, I'm in trouble!" he says, and laughs.

And then, after a few moments' thought: "Honestly," he says - some subtle part of him picking up her worries, perhaps through the Limpid Channel and their own growing comfort with each other - "I am mad at her. She's a frustrating girl, and she's been doing her best to get under my skin for months." His smile on Alouette is just a touch sad. "And losing two more people important to me for a few months was somehow worse than the first round."

"But. I still don't want to hurt her, or see her hurt. Being a Brave means saving people. And being an adult means learning how to forgive them. I mean to show that to her."

As for Galeon: "He's never been much to communicate, but I think he's fitting in OK. That Betterman, Rice, explained it to him at the same time as all of us. As long as Mamoru and I are alright I think he won't have any issues. The real problem is gonna be that when we send him back, he has to be pretty much exactly the way he arrived. We can't repair any of the damaged or locked systems, even the ones we can do easily by now."

And then he brings that smile back on, eyes drifting to her desk. "Going for it, huh," he says, softly. "And here I was wondering if I'd need to talk to you about if you wanted to continue piloting."

He turns eyes on her, holding that resolute gaze of hers. "Looks like you've already made up your mind."

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette begins to laugh at Guy's lighthearted joke, until he turns serious. And she listens intently, as he explains what he really thinks of Akane. "I don't blame you at all," she responds, slowly. "I'm.. somewhat disappointed, myself. The last thing she told me was that she didn't want me to end up like High Tension's pilot. Like a dead BioNet subject, in other words." She shakes her head. "Once it all became clear, it frustrated me how much she missed the point." Sighing, she finishes that thought with, "It would be easiest to just drop the issue and never see her again. But I've never been one to take the easy path, isn't that right?"

Her expression softens, when the topic shifts back towards Galeon. "I see, that makes sense. So it's back to the original model GaoGaiGar, then."

Alouette beams a smile back. "That's right. Even if GaoFighGar isn't needed right now, I'd like to show how much I've grown since then. A King of Braves needs a worthy knight, don't you think?"

"I think I made that decision twice over," she responds about returning to piloting. "Right before the fight against Bujack, Miss Mikoto came to visit me. I'm so glad she did but.. she implied it would all come to an end very soon. That we wouldn't even make it to graduation. Not long after that, we were able to purify Volfogg."

Looking Guy straight in the eye, she combines those two thoughts into a logical conclusion. "I decided I wasn't satisfied just not fighting them anymore. You've always been the one to tell us this, but this time, it's my turn. We will bring them back, all of them - together." Including Mikoto. She feels like she became very intense for a moment, so she returns to that soft, yet wise smile.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

"If you were, I don't think either of us would be here," Guy says with approval. "I think we're right on the money. It's going to be hard. She might fight us to the edge of our patience and beyond. But...that's being a Brave, too, right?" That big, hero grin of his.

"Knight of Braves, huh? It's got a ring to it." He listens to her plans, nodding quietly.

...and it grows softer at her promise. Guy keeps a certain amount of a mask up - he's not an insincere person, but there's VERY few people he lets his guard down with enough to really show how deep the cracks go. So maybe it's telling that he has to silently wipe his eyes after a promise like that. He doesn't go right to affirming it, like he would with Koji. He takes a moment to breathe it in. Think about the people whose absence are a constant ache. "Thank you, Alouette," he says, quietly. "We're going to need courage like that to get them all home."

A quiet, unspoken admission, side-on, of just how hard he knows the battles to come are going to be. His lips quirk up, and he nods at her, firm. "I'll be glad to have you fighting with me, then and after."

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Mm.. for a while there, I forgot what it meant to be a Brave," Alouette begins, but stops for a moment. "Or rather, I forgot it was something I could do. I want to show her that I don't need to be a helpless victim, and neither does she." The more she pushes herself away from the world, the more she gives up on her own self. Maybe Akane forgot that being Brave was something she could do, too.

"Guardienne Aviaire," she sounds out. Yesterday, at Aya with Rikka and Yuta, she conceptualized a lark that transcends globe and galaxy to protect others - that puts the concept into an elegant form. "How is that for a name?" she jots that down on her notes app really quick.

When Guy seems to let his guard down - it doesn't escape Alouette's notice. She's never seen that side too often, especially in the recent months. But it's a side she knew was there - and she imagines what she said might have been what he needed to hear. "You're welcome," she replies softly. "No matter how difficult, I think it will be worth it... I miss them too."

Then and after. She had been so focused on the present situation she hadn't thought about what comes next. The world can be such an awful place, but after putting a stop to a force that threatened to end it, it will be their responsibility to take care of it. She nods in return. "...Me too. Thank you for having me, Guy."

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy gets that grin of his back. "Anyone can be a Brave. I really believe that. It's not something you can lose, or have taken from you. It's something you have to reject." He nods, confidently. "And she did make you do that, yeah. But I can tell, it's only brighter for you now that you can see it again."

That metaphor sucked, but he seems pleased.

He repeats it: "Guardienne Aviaire," sounding out the syllables. "I like it." A smile again. "A protector who can fly to peoples' side. I think it suits you."

"I know you do," he affirms. "A lot of people do. It's why I know we will. I've felt that kind of courage before. It's our most powerful key to victory...the strength of everyone's wishes together."

As for the last...A long, deep breath, letting some of the tension flow out of him. And he gives her his best hero grin. "Not a problem at all," he laughs. "I wouldn't miss it."

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Right.. that's exactly what you told me back at Tsutsujidai. At the time, I wasn't sure what to think about it. Now I realize what you were trying to tell me." And when he says it's only gotten brighter, he's right. For Alouette, it's less that she "returned to normal" and more that she has a new resolve entirely. One more powerful than the dispirited girl she quite honestly was even before Bujack.

When Guy says the name suits her, she smiles. "I hoped so. A bird.. needs its wings after all." That metaphor might also be a little clunky, but she seems just as pleased.

The most powerful key to victory being the strength of everyone's wishes together is a very powerful statement. And although she doesn't have anything of her own to add to it, she listens very attentively. And then takes a deep breath of her own after psyching herself up so much.

"Ah!" she exclaims, noticing the clock on her phone. "It's just about time to relieve Hana." Straightening out her uniform, and fluffing up her hair a little, she prepares to make for her station. "I'll see you around, Chief!" She promises.