2022-10-07: Permission
- Log: Permission
- Cast: Anti, Nidaime
- Where: Train Station, AEU Spain
- Date: 2022-10-09 (backdated to 2022-10-07)
- Summary: Anti leaves Spain, and Nidaime invites herself along.
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
The staff, at Leina's request -- she's too injured to cook herself, right now -- cooked up a grand breakfast to send Anti off: eggs benedict, with smoked salmon and baby spinach, on fresh toast. He stayed to eat, and told them that he had to follow Akane's kaiju.
And then he set off, for the train station.
Anti knows how the train works. He even knows how tickets work, now it's been explained to him. in many ways, walking to the train station is the most normal, most nostalgic thing Anti could have possibly done. There's even still a vending machine out the front, as if all train stations were built from the same assets, background structures a creator spent little time thinking about.
It's not the same, of course. This is the real world; it isn't designed so simply. Vending machines are simply convenient enough that it's a coincidence easily made.
His hands bury in his pockets, and he walks.
<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
Nidaime is pretty broken up about Leina getting injured again but she's trying to keep optimistic. Leina overcame wounds like this before, she can do it again. She was quiet during breakfast, lost in thought, and no doubt excused herself early and spent some time in her room.
Don't worry, viewers, there's probably a sign somewhere indicating this is a different train station instead of THE train station...!
But Anti is able to get some distance away without interruption before he gets the sense he's being followed and by someone he has gotten fairly adept at detecting.
Also there's the faint squeak of a roller suitcase that a middle school girl kaiju is dragging around behind her with one hand.
"Ah, sorry sorry! I realized I had to pack in a hurry!" Nidaime says, waving a hand towards Anti as she gets near. "That was a close one, mm~?"
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
A lot of the signs are in Spanish, but it's fine, because Anti was taught how to recognise the important ones.
Anti does have a sense, in fact, for Nidaime's approach in particular; he knows where that squeaky-wheel skitter is coming from, even before he turns around.
"The Second," he blinks, stoic.
Five seconds pass on the clock in dead silence. The gaze of his one apparent eye falls, to the suitcase behind her.
He asks, rising tone: "Pack?"
(Anti hasn't, though he does have, in his pockets, beside his phone, a wallet. With money he can use to buy food.)
<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
"Mmhmm! I packed essentials! Snacks, a couple bedrolls, a jacket, umbrella, and even an extra shirt AND a sweater." Nidaime says. "A suitcase is really convenient, it's like a shopping cart that you can close up...!"
She presses a hand on her cheek, "And of course I packed up mom in there...!" She doesn't have her earbuds in at the moment and doesn't seem to be listening to music just this second either so 'mom' might really be inside that suitcase.
Nidaime brings a hand up to her face, cupping it and faux-whispering. "For privacy... In case you get overwhelmed at how cute the sweater is."
Nidaime will never stop being a flirt even if her way of going about it is a bit strange.
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
Anti stares, momentarily flabbergasted. This isn't actually terribly apparent on his deeply intense expression, but just trust this one, flabbergasted is the correct word.
Finally, he settles on: "I understand. It's easier." Than a shopping cart. Anti wonders how Nidaime is supposed to ride around in a suitcase, but he elects not to wonder too loudly.
"But," Anti says, a beat later, "you should stay here. Sayla Mass and Leina Ashta are injured. Akane Shinjo has no reason to target you... so it's safer if you protect them here. In case I'm wrong."
(Without comment or highlight, he's mirroring Nidaime's speech.)
<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
The sad truth is... The convenience of not exposing your stuff to the elements comes at the expense of not being able to jump inside and ride it down a hill like a calvin and hobbes comic strip.
Nidaime figured Anti would say something like that. It honestly isn't a wild thing to say either. Leina and Sayla could use a helping hand though whether Nidaime has the capacity to care for injured adults is a fair question.
Nidaime doesn't answer that immediately, though she does lower her hands. There's always emotional recovery as well, after all.
But instead, while she collects her thoughts on that...
"It's frustrating, isn't it?" Nidaime asks. "Giving it your all and more and feeling like you can't help her."
Nidaime lets that hang for a moment. She speaks as if she understands the feeling, or something approximating that feeling...
And then she adds, "Alexis has plenty reason to target you."
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
"..."
Anti's lips part, and for a moment, nothing comes out. His gaze shifts away, for a moment, past Nidaime, to the vending machine.
He looks back to her, and says: "Yeah."
It's frustrating.
Anti at least doesn't look any more scared, as he considers Nidaime's next point. He frowns, but that's not such a strange expression, on his face. It lends itself to a scowl, in just the way Akane's expression adopts smiles so easily. "Alexis Kerib thinks I'm a problem to be solved."
Silence, for long moments.
"He's right."
Anti's hands curl to fists, beside him. The motion, in his stillness, is sharp and defined.
"Even so, I can't ignore Akane Shinjo... or what she's doing now. I won't give up on her. I'll keep fighting." He sounds so confident, but...
... Anti can't get any bigger than his body, these days. He hasn't been able to transform, even when Gridman appears.
<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
Nidaime says, "It's frustrating for me too, when I'm feeling like I can't help even if I give it everything." She looks directly at Anti.
She doesn't usually act it, with how often she smiles, but maybe that's her own way of being defiant. She doesn't clarify past that.
Anti tells her that he can't ignore Akane Shinjo. That brings the smile back, though it's subtle.
She looks to the vending machine for a moment. Does he think...?
"I like that about you, ~Knight~." Nidaime says. "You don't give up at all. That's super cool."
She says despite the fact that Anti can't get any bigger than his body, even though he can't transform even when Gridman appears.
"Papa and I can hurt Alexis." Nidaime says. "So he has reason to target us too." Nidaime walks closer. "Even if Akane doesn't. The music can dispel the fog in Tsutsujidai."
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
"Mm." Anti grunts, and he doesn't really know how to express himself, but this is his best attempt: "We're the same." Of course, they're both kaiju, even though they're talking here like humans, but... it's not just that.
It's not just... that.
Anti blinks, once and once again, as Nidaime brings up his thoughts and aspirations. Surprised, for a moment -- before he nods, firmly.
"... I understand," he says, hands flexing open again when Nidaime takes another step. His arms fold, instead, all tucked into his elbows, all across his body.
"But I can't guarantee your safety now."
There's a note of shame, to that statement all standing alone, running along his usual gruff tone. Inadvertently, he admits he's doing something dangerous, himself. It's only revealed when she enters the picture, which calls his attitude to himself into sharp relief.
<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
To Nidaime who had been alone for so long, 'both kaiju' meant a lot to her. Maybe too much, really. Maybe she put too much on that. Understandable it may be. When Anti says 'we're the same' like that, Nidaime's eyes widen--even though she was essentially making that sort of argument on a smaller scale.
Well, her smile grows, showing that little hint of fang there in the teeth. Being alike in this way, it's great too.
Will Leina and Sayla be okay? She thinks they would be. They're the strongest people she knows. And since they are hurt, that means she has to step up more so they can rest easy.
Nidaime isn't going to point out that Anti is also putting himself in danger because she can't do that to him. He's already had to admit his limits. She won't make him do it twice.
"But we can still be a team. It's still safer together."
And, unsaid: If being safe means being apart, then I don't want to be safe. Like with being in this world where even a silly accident can fiercely harm a loved one, so with Anti really.
She brightens, now that she's thinking of Leina. "Oh! I forgot to mention! Leina taught me a lot about school recently! You have to sit in chairs A LOT, and if you get sick you have to ask someone to escort you to a nurse, and if you tell the nurse you threw up a lot but you aren't covered in throw up--she won't believe you!"
"It was super exciting stuff. It was very sweet and also...super embarrassing! Leina's pretty cool huh? Yeah? Yeah?"
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
It's hard to admit things.
Anti has always abjured teamwork. He's gone so far as to attack the people who would place themselves on his side, all for the crime of attacking Gridman -- just like he was. He is a painfully absolute solo act.
Relying on other people just isn't in his DNA.
"..."
He opens his mouth, and finds he can't just tell her to leave.
He can't tell her to come with him, either.
"Yes," he settles on, finally, after Nidaime has filled the silence with more words.
"That's why she has to know how to warm up."
...........................................
anti that isn't what being cool means
<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
Nidaime was raised by a village. Accepting help comes easier for her, though it does come with its own weight.
Nidaime shifts her grip on the luggage to her other hand, shifting the case so that she can start rolling it again. If Anti told her, truly, to leave--she would.
But if he's simply going to not tell her to come along, then she's free to make that choice for herself.
"Eheheh," Nidaime laughs because she's not sure how to explain the colloquialism because now that she thinks about it, she is largely going off of an implicit understanding through television rather than an understanding of the etymology. Why DO people use the word 'cool' in that way? Nidaime doesn't know.
"I bet she's drinking hot cocoa as we speak!"
She gets close and whispers in Anti's ear.
"She also had me practice flirting~."
Does Anti know what flirting is?
"But I could probably use more o~" That, in the singsongiest tones. Almost Mari-like, really.
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
Anti blinks, as Nidaime keeps walking. He takes a half-step back, not entirely sure whether she's just going to ram right into him, before he realises she was trying to close into his personal space instead.
His gaze shifts to her, as she leans in. He frowns. He doesn't think Nidaime would attack him, certainly, but it's unusual.
His confusion is even audible, as he says, at a normal volume: "What are you doing." He's familiar with Mari, certainly, but he still has no clue.
"If you need hot cocoa, there'll be some in the city. Leina Ashta gave me currency for food."
Oh yes, it's gone RIGHT over his head.
<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
"Oh wow...She did??" Nidaime says, even though that shouldn't really be a surprise. Nidaime, notably, has brought currency but hasn't asked Leina for anything so she mostly just has her 'bag of comically small denomination coins' with her. Inside the luggage.
She did expect Anti to not know flirting though because Nidaime only knows about flirting through television and it always seemed super fun to her.
"Flirting's when you tell someone you like them without telling them you like them." Nidaime says.
Nidaime...
By that definition lots of people have flirted with Anti haven't they?
"Yeah we can get cocoa. It'll be fun." Nidaime agrees.
It's entirely possible Nidaime doesn't have the best understanding of it either but not having a great understanding hasn't stopped her before.
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
"That's right." Anti didn't ask, either, but Leina has been very stern about how garbage food isn't for eating, so perhaps it's no surprise she gave him a crash course on money too. Anti, of course, already knew money could be exchanged for pizza, but that doesn't necessarily mean he knows how to GET money. So it's still very helpful!
He blinks, looking, sidelong, to Nidaime. "Oh. Why?" He doesn't understand -- why someone would tell someone else they like them without telling them that. It really feels like defeating the whole purpose, to him.
Still, he nods, when Nidaime decides hot cocoa would be fun. He steps away, and turns to start walking towards the train station. "It will take some time to reach the city," he says, as if to explain why they can't have cocoa now.
It's not an invitation, but it isn't a dismissal, either.
<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
Why flirting?
"Um..." Nidaime thinks about it. It's actually more of an 'ummmmmm...' but Nidaime meant to just do an 'Um' and it sort of turned into an 'ummmmm...' as it went on. Does she even know the answer?? Humans certainly seem to enjoy being flirted with and flirting themselves but sometimes they flirt and they feel bad about it?
"I guess because it's fun too." Like hot cocoa! "Maybe I should ask Leina about it next time I see her, or maybe Sayla. I'm pretty sure Leina has done flirting before. I bet she knows 'aaaalll' about it."
"Humans like being indirect about things."
She follows after Anti, though she does dally a bit to return Anti's personal space to him.
"That's okay! There's plenty of time!"
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
"I don't get it." That's Anti's eloquent response, to the indirectness of flirting. He speaks without looking back, which at least helps to obscure the deep frown he adopts when he doesn't understand something.
"... but, all right. So long as you're having fun."
He's inclined to be permissive, with Nidaime. He's aware that her cheer isn't all there is, to her; she's bigger than her body, too. If saying something without saying it outright makes her happy, he thinks -- that's fine. She can be strange like that.
And he's... happy, there's still time.
It's strange, but he won't be travelling to Nouvelle Tokyo on his own, this time.
<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
Nidaime is now wondering if SHE gets it but--she does enjoy doing it, it does make her happy--and if something makes you happy, do you really need to understand it? Even humans do thinks that make them happy without any sort of coherent framework outside of that happiness.
Nidaime doesn't need Anti to shift his emoting strategy for her. If he's happy there's still time. That's all she needs.
That and the company, which is also a thing that makes her happy. She carries a genuine smile, not of defiance, but--of just enjoying the moment. She'll follow that moment all the way to Tokyo.
She hopes they can be strange for a long time.