2022-09-17: Our strangling roots
- Log: Our strangling roots
- Cast: Yuliana Dispersal, Elisa Kafim, Tri Darma Dian, Sashenka Dian
- Where: Northern Zaftra
- Date: 2022-09-17
- Summary: Yuliana takes Elisa to meet her parents. They reveal just where Yuliana got her problems from... but they can accept her, at least, and they can accept Elisa too.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
In the deep north of Zaftra, unforgiving and unyielding and cold, it is already snowing. Some may say it never stopped, but this is, of course, an ignorant view --
They had a very nice two weeks of summer, months ago.
Zaftra is, on the whole, a dishevelled state, and Yuliana's childhood home is quite some drive from the nearest city. The villa they pull up to, though, is much more well-manufactured and upkept than its surrounds; Tri Darma Dian might be retired, now, but he got more than enough leverage while he was in the military to live well.
Yuliana has dressed for the chill, and warned Elisa about it, just the same... in the same breath she asked her not to eat her parents, in fact. (They have very normal conversations.) A loose, wooly cap atop her head -- she doesn't like tight hats -- and a scarf about her neck; a fine black coat, covering a dark suit. The sleeves are long enough to hide her wrists, designed to hide her hands between them.
When she knocks on the door, they're all but waiting to open it, because of course they knew she was coming. Her father is a few inches shorter and darker than her, dark grey hair, light brown eyes -- and Yuliana salutes, when the door opens to reveal him. "Major!" She barks, entirely dutiful.
"At ease," he chuckles, his own stance quite straight, spreading his arms. "I'm retired, you know."
Yuliana embraces him, warmly -- "Ayah! I'm glad you're well!" She slips into Indonesian to say it, and so, perhaps it's no surprise that when she turns to her mother she falls into Zaftran, instead -- "Mamulya!", jumping into her arms, instead, "I hope everything's been quiet?"
Yuliana's mother, conversely, is almost two feet taller than her -- her mass of light teal hair peppered with white, her dark green eyes still sharp, skin much more suited to the snow around them. "Oh, don't you worry," she assures her, in a type of Russian which has claimed too much from its satellite states, and her tone, at least, is warm.
When Yuliana straightens up to step back to Elisa and slip an arm about her waist, though, she remembers to switch back to English. "Ayah, mama, this is Elisa Kafim, my fiancee. I want to marry her! Elisa, this is Tri Darma Dian and Sashenka Dian," she gestures to both of them, in turn, with her ringed hand, "my parents."
Tri Darma doesn't bother hiding the way his gaze flicks to Elisa's ears as he notes: "She's certainly an... interesting choice." He's not the diplomat, of course --
Sashenka, as it happens, is. Her own English is heavily-accented, not entirely by accident, as she reaches out to the younger women to gesture to them. "Come, come, let us orderly come inside," there are places to leave their coats, of course. "Please, sit!" And the living room she brings them to is quite nice, really -- a fireplace merrily dancing on one wall to heat the warm thoroughly, comfortable seating arranged in the middle of the room, a television tucked into one corner. Sashenka and Tri Darma sit on one couch; facing them, Yuliana leads Elisa to another.
It's Sashenka who keeps talking, with a warm smile. "So, Elisa, tell us about yourself! What do you do, where is it you have come from? How did you meet our Yuliya? We are quite curious!"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Yuliana's languages are Elisa's languages. Thus, naturally she has studied them, and understands all three.
Just as Yuliana's winter is her winter...
And she's not going to eat Yuliana's parents.
Elisa has pretended to care about a chill, wearing a nice dark coat and a warm cap over a dress, sturdy boots. She is not military, and doesn't pretend; she is all smiles, instead. How lovely!
Elisa has to look up to certain tall individuals, but she is not bothered by this. And her tone is warm indeed. "It is wonderful to meet the both of you," she says, and says nothing of being an 'interesting' choice. Instead she smiles, widely. And the diplomat--
Coat left. Elisa is in a nice green dress. Something suitable to the daytime.
Elisa takes a seat with Yuliana, looking to the fire. Did it get slightly cooler as she passed? Probably not. That would be crazy.
"I come from the Orb Union," she explains pleasantly. "My father was in business, but I chose a different path. While in my youth I was an athlete, I put my savings into my education, and now I am a doctor. My specialty is xenoneurology." Smile.
"We met through business contacts, but soon found that a distant working relationship did not suit us entirely."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
If it's any colder, surely it's because they opened the door. That is a logical explanation, which makes sense.
Sashenka smiles -- and Tri Darma smiles, when she subtly nudges the side of his foot with hers -- as Elisa tells them about herself. "You are far, far too modest, dear!" She exclaims, gesturing with an open palm. "You earned the Orb Union quite some gold medals for your gymnastics, no?" ... which means she did her research on just who Elisa Kafim was, before she even arrived.
"No, it makes sense," Tri Darma insists, still so much cooler than his wife. "I wouldn't want to be known for playing about on a padded mat, either." He is not impressed by gold medals. Perhaps it has something to do with all the medals displayed on the mantlepiece. (Yuliana's smile grows a shade more fixed, with all the dread of knowing just who was going to cause problems in this conversation.) "Of course," he frowns, "I wouldn't have chosen a specialty like that to focus on, either..."
"Ayah!" Yuliana hisses, through her grit-teeth smile. "Don't judge her so harshly this soon!" She's certainly a strange person to ask that of someone else, but...
... maybe Yuliana's own prejudice makes perfect sense, in context.
Tri Darma sighs, gesturing with an open palm. "Of course, of course," he allows, for Yuliana, at least. "I'll grant you you've made a responsible life path for yourself, at least... Elisa, was it? I'll be frank -- you're hardly the husband I expected my daughter to come to me with -- but I'm sure if you've come to us so suddenly, you have a plan for your family." He sighs, displeased, and concludes: "You'll be adopting, I suppose. Human children, I hope."
Sashenka is still smiling.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa smiles back! Not a single one of those backhanded comments about her previous work seems to so much as make a dent in her mood. Quite the opposite; she looks pleased and interested by Sashenka's research. "I am so glad to be recognized."
A laugh then, musical. "It was a fine time in my life, but I have put youthful occupations away. Though I do stay in shape. It's important to a healthy mind to maintain a healthy body, don't you think?"
As for her specialty, Elisa smiles at Yuliana. "Do not worry," she says. "It is a specialty unknown to many. But in looking to the Other, we more clearly delineate what we understand of ourselves. By focusing on what is different, we come to understand better the distinctions between each... yes?"
Blue Cosmos voters.
"Elisa," Elisa confirms for Tri Darma, and her smile widens. "Oh yes. I'm most unexpected, I'm sure. People often tell me so. But I look forward to earning your understanding."
A beat, "I have many plans and ideas for my family, but I felt it would be premature to decide on a course of action before I properly met you, and cemented this relationship officially. I know well how important you are to our Yuliana," she says, and Yuliana may be surprised that she allowed 'our', or she may not.
"Adoption is a fine choice, but I am thinking of options that allow Yuliana to carry on her legacy in blood as well as intent. Such techniques and practices are well within our means and expertise."
"But by all means before she and I decide, I would love to hear your thoughts and desires. They are very important to me."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"I do think, yes," Sashenka agrees, with Elisa, companionably, on the matter of a healthy body. She certainly looks like she keeps in shape, despite being retired. (Is she retired? She looks like she is.)
Yuliana smiles back to Elisa, a little more at ease to hear her ameliorate their worries. She can hear what Elisa is getting at, with her explanation, at least, and...
Tri Darma frowns, but he nods, after a moment. "It is a remarkably pragmatic view," Sashenka says, calming and even-toned. "It is a very important thing to understand, yes?"
"Of course," he agrees, a shade gruff.
(Brute force and sideways pressure, both sitting there opposite them.)
Yuliana isn't surprised to hear that allowance -- if only because Elisa does know how important proper respect of the family is to her -- but she is glad to hear it. She reaches out to slip a hand into Elisa's, when she does.
Sashenka hears it -- a little narrowing of her eyes -- and she sees it, just the same, the way Yuliana weaves her fingers in. She smiles, to Elisa. She is a very warm, welcoming woman. Very!
"We were... hoping our dear dochura," daughter, diminutive, "would eventually settle down with a husband and have a... proper family," Sashenka says, choosing her words and emphasis with great care. "It is so important to pass one's blood down, after all..."
"But there's no way you can do that now," Tri Darma interrupts, looking to Yuliana, brusque. "Not with -- her," he gestures to Elisa. "I won't be having some abomination of science in our family, you hear me? You keep those -- those genetic alterations out of you!"
Yuliana's grip tightens, against Elisa's hand, as the rest of her tightens up just the same. "Ayah..." She starts, and trails off.
It may become very clear, very promptly, that there's something important she's never actually told them.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
A pragmatic view. Elisa has many of those. For instance, she has the view that it costs her little to express care over these positions in the first place. An important thing to understand... the difference.
And Elisa is the difference.
Her response to the narrowing of Sashenka's ees is to continue smiling. It is very warm, and welcoming, and if anyone could sense otherwise that would be strange indeed. Elisa, for her part, is as warm as ever.
'Her', he says, and Elisa has killed for such temerity in the past. She does not, this time.
"Oh?" Elisa says. "A common option in our situation is to find a suitable donor, of course..." She says this as if that was the only scientific option she was bringing forth at all, and that it would be clear that of course she wouldn't. But she notices what Yuliana hasn't shared, and... doesn't share it for her.
They're Yuliana's parents, not hers. Elisa's fingers curl in Yuliana's, in the meantime. "...But by the same token," Elisa says pleasantly, "You will find that I do not scare off easily, either. I am honored to have this place in Yuliana's life. I would certainly not jeopardize it with unfounded experimentation."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Yuliana is glad that Elisa is so considerate, towards her parents, even though they're like this. She knows she's asking her to put up with quite a lot.
Well, it's where she came from.
"A suitable donor... without changing anything?" Tri Darma insists, and, well, he thinks he's being very clear. "Hmph... I suppose that's... normal enough. Since you've waited this long," he asides, to the tense Yuliana, "we'd have to make these allowances anyway, I suppose..." Yuliana is thirty, after all.
But Sashenka can see her reaction, too, and she presses, slipping into Russian to ask: "Yuliya, what's wrong?" She's concerned for her child's wellbeing, as well she should. She has always been the warmer of the pair.
"Mama, it's... it's... we say not to do one hostile act, or all are contaminated," and the Indonesian she lapses into is difficult to directly translate, but the essence of it means that one bad thing causes the whole family defamation. "But, I... you're too concerned with keeping things proper, I think," she approximates, looking down to Elisa's hand.
"And what do you mean by that?" Tri Darma interjects, sharply.
"I mean," Yuliana looks up, frowning, "it's too late for that. Since you're normal and natural, you wouldn't know, but I'm already an abomination!"
"What?" His eyes widen; he stiffens, just the same. "What did you do? When? What happened, Yuliana?"
Yuliana swallows at a lump at her throat, and looks to Elisa -- as far as she knows, she hasn't discussed this with her in great detail, either. "They came to me when I joined the military," she explains, looking back to him, "and asked me to join a secret project. They wanted... to understand the Newtype phenomena, and thought we could help. They... said we could help our country very much if they could succeed. And they told us it was dangerous... but I agreed, anyway. Well, they were trying to make artificial Newtypes, but..."
She looks away, to the fireplace, a little colder than it ought to be. "They made a mistake, or something... obviously I wasn't killed too, but I became... something that predates on Newtypes, instead. I couldn't just tell anyone about a big secret like that, so I never told you, either, but... you see, I'm... it's not Elisa who's been experimenting."
Tri Darma is quiet for some moments, before he moves to stand, trembling. "This is outrageous! How could they have done that?! I'm going to call the Colonel right now, we'll see if--!!"
But Sashenka puts a hand on his shoulder, and urges him back down. "Boyevaya podruga, you are too indelicate with secrets," she chastises her husband, even as she assures him she's at his side. Once he's seated again, she looks to Yuliana, with concern. "Does it hurt?"
"... yeah," Yuliana admits, quietly, her other hand lifting to rest over Elisa's, too. "But I'm on plenty of meds, so it's not too obvious, mostly." Elisa knows about her headaches, of course.
"How do they treat you?" Sashenka presses, gently.
"Pretty... pretty good," Yuliana stumbles over the words, a little, but manages to get them out. "I mean, all things considered. Since I'm a unique asset, I'm not in too much danger. Well, I have a lot of autonomy to get my job done... they're not locking me in a lab or anything."
Sashenka, herself, is quiet, for a moment. And then she looks to Elisa, quite serious. "I hope you are ready to catch her when she is thrown down," she insists, with a firmer tone. "My country is a land which adores what is replicable, for the lizard loses its tail to escape the bird. Do you understand, dear?" She's ex-PMO; perhaps it's informative, here, the way she was thrown under the bus so many years ago. "My daughter is a loyal girl, but I will not see her hurt."
Tri Darma has the sense to keep quiet, apparently.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Indeed. I have no need to perform Coordination," she says, being more specific about what she's not doing, to be on the same page, naturally. Surely no other reason. She is quiet, however, as Sashenka switches into Russian, though she understands the words. The essence of the thing...
Yuliana explains. Elisa was not certain whether she would. But she listens, as if hearing some of it for the first time. And it is all true in its way. But more notable to Elisa than the secrets she knows is the way that each parent handles the secrets they did not. Tri Darma is ready to be all fire and lightning, and she approves of that in him. But Sashenka...
Hmmm. That is very interesting in its own way. Elisa waits for them to finish their discussion; she makes no move to suggest she understands the language shift. She does not volunteer that she has taken over care of her Yuliana in this way. But to Sashenka's serious statement, Elisa sheds her smiles for the first time in this conversation, making direct eye contact to the woman who will be her mother-in-law as she inclines her head. "I am ready," Elisa says. "...I understand what you are saying, and I value her above all else. She is safe with me."
She doesn't explain how or why she could have such influence, but she cannot help the certainty with which she speaks. To all accounts... she means it.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
The Dians can lose track of what language they're speaking, in the heat of the moment... though they do eventually settle back to English. Theirs is a household of many languages. It's quite normal, to them.
Sashenka listens to Elisa's certainty, observes her eyes, her seriousness. At length she also observes the way Yuliana's body tilts in towards the other woman, the way she grasps her hand with both of hers -- how Yuliana looks to Elisa, how her fear over Sashenka addressing the disposability of any individual REA citizen is soothed by how sure Elisa is.
"All right," she agrees, finally. "I trust you." She inclines her head, and adds: "Or, to be more specific, Yuliya trusts you... and I do not think she has misplaced her belief."
Tri Darma frowns, looking to her. "Is that really fine?" He asks, clearly still unsettled.
"What is done is done, yes?" Sashenka says -- pragmatic, still. "And what was done is something which will benefit from a scientist's understanding, dear. This is what is best for our little dochura." Their daughter.
"You... do have a good sense for this sort of thing," Tri Darma sighs, shaking his head, and looking to Yuliana again. "... very well. I... hope you'll start a family, even considering... all that. Under the circumstances, I won't insist on anything in particular... I don't much," care for, "know the specifics of how children would work here. But you should have someone to take care of you when you're old, anak perempuan." Daughter, again, in another tongue.
Well, he's doing his best.
Sashenka smiles, and turns to Elisa again. "Dochka," daughter, still, but more casual than tender, "we welcome you."
Relief heaves Yuliana's chest, with a great sigh, as she looks to her parents with a smile of her own. "Really?"
"It seems these are the times we live in," Tri Darma sighs, and puts on a smile of his own. "But I want the best for you, and it seems... well, I'll accept this if it will make you happy."
"It will," Yuliana says, grasping Elisa's hand with hers.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa is aware of these things. She is aware of how Yuliana turns and tilts towards her; she is aware of the way that she looks at her. She is aware of Sashenka's awareness, not because of a psychic sense, but because she sees that observation with these human-like eyes.
And trust...
Elisa inclines her head in return, in acceptance? Approval? Understanding? She is the one who has been 'accepted' here and she is willing to continue with the idea that it is necessary because it is so important to Yuliana.
A scientist's understanding... this, too, gets a nod. It may be clear that there is some unsaid on that front, or it may not. Regardless, that welcome--
Elisa smiles, and it is less expansive than her usual expressions. It may even be genuine. "I am honored and pleased to be so welcomed. I will do all I can to show Yuliana how treasured she is."
She squeezes Yuliana's hand.
"...She is so very important."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
In many ways, this excursion was as much about Elisa accepting Yuliana's roots as it was about them accepting Elisa -- but a bloc headed up by the DHZ must surely hold that the latter was the important part.
She really loves and respects her parents, as she said. Ya ochen lyublyu i uvazhayu svoikh roditeley. Perhaps it's no wonder, in Yuliana's mind, that Elisa understands her native tongues; she's been trying to expose her to them this whole time.
Harder to translate are the feelings of alienation from her family Yuliana struggles with, now she can see so far beyond her skin, but -- it's kind to play the role regardless, isn't it?
And the tension in her fingertips wasn't feigned, back then.
... it did matter, to her, even if it is a prologue.
Just like it matters, now, that they're willing to welcome Elisa -- that Elisa smiles to them, in turn. She can see the nuance in her smile, looking to her. (Always, she is looking to her.) Sashenka isn't quite as used to Elisa, but she does see, at least, the way her smile is less broad now -- and she hears the words Elisa chooses, to describe her feelings.
Elisa squeezes Yuliana's hand and perhaps the better explanation is her fingers on on her heart, the way it skips a beat, fluttering in her chest. Yuliana's expression gentles, treasured, and for a moment it is for Elisa alone. "Elya..."
Her expression is still warm, as she looks to her parents, again. "I love Elisa," she proclaims, shifting closer to her. "There is no one kinder to me... no one who sees me more faithfully than her. When I'm with her... I am home."
"Home... all right. Good. But will you be living in the islands, then?" Tri Darma asks, and just presumes that Yuliana would move in with Elisa, in the asking. "Are you going to be all right with that? After... hrm, you know." The flooding, he means.
This is actually Yuliana's third childhood home.
The first two are quite destroyed.
Yuliana pauses, and looks to Elisa, thoughtfully. "No," she decides, after a moment. "Someplace colder, I think." It is rather cold, outside.
Hand in Elisa's, Yuliana explains: "I prefer the cold to too much heat, these days."
"Well, I'll say the rainy season was quite miserable," Sashenka agrees, with approval, slipping back into the language of the area. "I've no clue how I managed my hair in such a muggy place...! With a fireplace, you'll do much better, dear." She pauses, and adds, turning towards it: "Perhaps we ought put some more wood on the fire, at that..."
It's a little colder.
But Yuliana prefers it that way.