2022-05-06: The Ashen Aftermath of Unfortunate Encounters
- Cast: Rena Lancaster, Anita Rosetta, Eight York
- Where: Ra Mari
- Date: U.C. 0096 05 06
- Summary: After the battle with Verdiska, Rena gets some medical treatment -- and Anita and Eight come to pay her a visit.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
After they got Rena out of the Mass Production-type Nu Gundam -- and some treatment from Athrusa -- they got her back to the Ra Mari. The MP Nu came back, too, but was quickly determined to be a total loss.
Now, Rena is in the medbay -- and is freshly cleared for visitors. She sits in her bed, in a hospital gown. Her forehead has a large bandage on it, wrapped around it and holding a large gauze pad for where her head was cut. The worst of it is hidden, except for her hair; a lot of her long ashen hair, on the right side, is blackened and burnt on the lower part. The blast of sparks burnt that, and while Rena put it out, her hair is a mess.
She is holding a hand mirror up, turning it about. She frowns as she looks at it.
"Geh..." She groans. "That looks so bad..."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita's been... a little subdued since that fight, as she waits for clearance to visit Rena. It's been pretty evident to those familiar with her that her usual mellow, laid-back attitude is a little put on, her thoughts elsewhere.
Once she gets that clearance, though, she immediately makes her way to Rena's room, knocking on the side of the doorframe.
"Hey Rena, mind a visitor?" Anita asks. She'll understand if she wants a little privacy, after everything that's happened.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Captain York received a report about the battle. She did a very good job of remaining composed about it. She handled the matters at hand, including signing off on the MP Nu's loss. She handled the work of having someone scan for their assailant or any allies, just in case. She gave out some orders. And she sat down to do some paperwork until Rena was ready for visitors.
Pens were broken in this effort. She didn't actually get her work done.
NOW:
Knock, knock.
It's Anita! But Eight shows up right behind her, and can't help but loom a little bit, with obvious concern practically radiating out of her. Her presence is assuredly not a surprise.
"Or two?" Pause. "Hi."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena looks up at the knock, blinking. Her ale-colored eyes look at the door thoughtfully for a moment, as she blinks. She hears Anita's voice -- and then Eight's. She can sense both their emotions and presence. Eight's leads into a sort of a emotional feedback loop; she can feel the concern, and Rena's own anxiety about everything that happened is obvious.
She hesitates only a moment. "O-Of course!" she says. "Come in. Sorry, I didn't mean to worry the both of you..."
She trails off. Her eyes are on them both as the door opens. Rena lowers the mirror; she looks somewhere between embarrassed and exhausted, as she tugs at her hair -- and a crisped, burnt strand falls away and breaks into ash.
"...Hi."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Rena says to come in, but Anita notices that brief hesitation. Still, she enters, immediately taking a seat as she does and making sure there's one for Eight, too.
"Hey, Rena. How're you doing?" Anita asks with a smile, taking a moment to note her condition. ...She doesn't need to be psychic to get an idea of how she's feeling, though. Her hair... seeing it burnt and damaged like that kind of puts everything into stark contrast. Anita's head hangs down a little, as she finds herself briefly at a loss for words.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight notices the hesitation, too. It feeds that loop! ...Until Eight comes in, and sees her--and doesn't even see the fact that her hair is a bit burnt over the fact that she's alive and reasonably well, enough to sit up and talk to them anyway. So she comes in immediately and steps over, while Anita looks for words. ...Okay she does see it it's just--
Compared to her presence at all--
Eight comes over and gives her a gentle hug, her face against Rena's shoulder. "Rena!"
"Yes," she says as she pulls back, but keeps a hand on Rena's shoulder, "How are you feeling?" She smiles at her, and to her credit, she doesn't actually cry even if she thinks about it. "It's okay. It's your job. And you only look a little terrible." ...She's trying to lighten the mood a little. Does it work?
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I'm... okay," Rena says to Anita. She hesitates, then she looks down. "...guess I'm a bit spooked, still. I don't know why I said I'm okay. It looks pretty bad, doesn't it? We probably need to call a barber."
If only that's the only thing that matter.
She startles a little, when Eight hugs her -- then both arms wrap around Eight's shoulders and she sighs, looking down at her. She tilts her head to the side, and she looks down at Eight. "I'll be okay," she says. "I'm pretty shaken. That person... they were terrifying."
She sighs. Then, she looks up at Anita, motioning her closer with a tilt of her head. "Are you okay, Annie?"
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Eight makes a joke to lighten the mood a little. Anita manages a small smile, massaging the back of her head.
"I could recommend some styles, if you want..." Anita offers, as Rena comments that they probably need to call a barber. Anita knows short hair styles, since that's her usual preference.
Rena mentions that person... and then, asks about her.
"...I guess I'm still a little rattled, too." Anita admits. "I don't know if you heard, but she said some things after you... went down, that kind of got to me. I'm still kind of..."
Upset. Angry. Frustrated. She might be calm and casual most of the time, but when her emotions do peak, they tend to stay that way for a while. Anita's always been that way.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Spooked... Of course. From what Eight heard about what happened, she would be. One woman able to fight the three of them? To say nothing of what she was like.
"All right," she says to Rena when she says she'll be all right. The relief doesn't go away. "Yes," Eight agrees with Anita about styles. And then, well... That person...
"I gather," she says. "The report indicated... unhinged, at the least."
"It's OK for both of you to be a little rattled; you're obviously going to take a few days off to recover."
Hmm...
"Do you two want to talk about it?"
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"You are the expert on short hair," Rena says to Anita, with a smile. She tilts her head. "I'll... I'll take you up on that. I guess I should plan on short hair, for a little while, huh?"
She smiles, but it's a little sad. She glances at Eight, then she looks down. She nods her head after a second's thought. "She was. She said she... hated me. People like me," she says. "I'm not sure what she meant, exactly, but..."
Rena's brow furrows. Then, she looks back at Anita. She glances at Eight -- but she nods. "Yeah. We're here, if you need to talk, Annie. I'm... I'm sorry she said some disturbing things to you."
Kaworu Nagisa has arrived.
Kaworu Nagisa leaves for Nouvelle Tokyo [NRV].
Kaworu Nagisa has arrived.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"It's super aerodynamic, and you don't have to worry about hair blowing into your face midflight. It's worked out well for me." Anita comments, managing a small chuckle.
She goes quiet, though, as Rena recounts what happened - the way Verdiska seemed to hate her.
"...Hey, you're the one who got hurt. I should be apologizing to you, and asking you that..." Anita replies, shaking her head. "She said... She should've made me have to choose. Between you, and Doctor Athrusa. I feel like she would've done it, too, if her machine had been in any better shape. And she seemed... pleased, that I shot her machine full of holes."
...It's terrifying, that there could be a person like that out there.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
For a little while... Eight can't hide the truth, of course; she liked Rena's long hair. But she's sure she'll like Rena's new hair, too, and she puts some emphasis on that thought in case Rena is listening. "Oh, that's true," Eight says of Anita's talk of short hair's good qualities. But...
"People 'like you'," she repeats thoughtfully. "I can't more than guess, either. But it's..." She pauses, and ooks at both of them. "...Well, we'll have to face people like that I guess. The ones who can't let go of hate. If we want to build the world we want to see."
"I'm glad you both came home," she says. "...And that you didn't have to make that choice. Maybe she would've, but she didn't get the chance."
She looks to Anita again, "That you both came home."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"That does seem like an advantage. And--ah, you know, short hair's cute, too," Rena says, with a bit of a fluster because Rena is like that. More, when she feels Eight's thought that she would like her new hairstyle. Rena leans her head against Eight, then. But, she looks up after that, and her eyes widen.
Forced to choose?
She feels something like ice on her heart. Her brown eyes look away from Anita and Eight alike, and the color leaves her face. "That's... that's horrible," she says. "That's just... cruelty for the sake of cruelty. It's..."
She tenses. She would say she doesn't know anyone like that, but a face comes back to her. Sweetly said words, but cruelty behind them. Those memories stay like a shadow across her heart. "...yeah. The world we want to see," she repeats. "Still... still, it's frightening."
She bites her lip. "We'll need to be ready for her. If... she comes after us, now. Or if we cross paths with her. I don't... she felt wrong, somehow."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Rena says short hair is cute and Anita smiles... and then smirks a little, as Rena leans against Eight.
People who can't let go of hate, though... Anita nods quietly, at that. And as for cruelty for the sake of cruelty... she can't deny that, either.
"...Yeah." She murmurs, clasping her hands. She absent-mindedly runs a finger across the metallic grooves of her left hand, in the way she always does when something's on her mind.
...She's not sure what they can do to be ready. Verdiska was able to handle the three of them so well with just a Desmatz... she doesn't want to think about what might have happened if she had a more combat-focused machine. Rena says something that catches her attention, though.
"...Wrong? In what way?" Anita asks. She didn't feel anything... but, she knows her friends have always been able to key onto things she can't.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"It is!" Eight agrees about short hair, especially when Rena flusters a little. But...
The topic is serious, and she thinks it's pretty terrible, herself. She nods along, not liking the sound of this woman in the least. But no, it's not wholly alien and unfamiliar, is it? Not at all. "It is frightening," Eight agrees. "...But we're here." Ready...
Just in case. "We will. But..." She thinks, and tilts her head. "Wrong? Can you explain?"
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"N-Now you're both teasing me," Rena sighs, but she doesn't stop leaning against Eight.
She nods in agreement with what Eight says. Her eyes linger on how Anita is running her finger over the grooves of her arm. They're all tense. It's one thing to say they can do better next time. It's another to do so, and bravado won't get them very far. But then, Rena frowns, as she is asked to explain.
"Normally... I can kind of tell what someone is thinking or feeling. More if I know them well--like if I'm close to them, emotionally or just proximity. Or both, especially," Rena says. "And in tense moments, too, like a fight."
She hesitates. "There was nothing, with her. At all. It was... empty. It was really unsettling. I've never... met someone like that before."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
...They're here. Yeah. And like Eight said, they both came home. They're both safe. Anita nods... and then listens, as Rena begins to explain.
"Nothing at all?" Anita replies. It's... a little hard to picture what it might feel like, since she's already used to not feeling anything like that. Picturing emptiness when you're already used to that... it's a strange feeling. "I guess that would be pretty terrifying..."
The question is... why did this happen?
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"Mm-hm," Eight agrees.
But they are all tense... and bravado isn't going to help much. Maybe a little, confidence is nice, but... the explanation comes, and Eight frowns. "So not just 'you can't read them' but... You feel nothing?" Eight imagines it, and frowns some more. "Empty..."
"That does sound concerning. That's not..." She shakes her head. "Well. We have a name, and we know she's after the doctor, and we know where she operated and what she used. That's a start. We'll just have to try to get ready for next time."
"...But part of that includes getting some rest, I think."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Yeah. Nothing at all," Rena agrees. "It wasn't... right. I wish I could explain it better."
She feels a little awkward at that. She smiles, though, and she looks down. Eight is right, she decides: they have information to get started, and they can go from there. Her fingers brush some of her hair back, and then she looks up between the two of them. "You're right. We can all get some rest, and then we can go from there."
She smiles. "Sorry I gave you a scare," she says. "And... I'm glad we all came back, too."