2023-02-05: Empty Walls
- Cast: Seolla Schweizer, Teletha Testarossa
- Where: TDD-1, Pacific Ocean
- Date: U.C. 0097 02 05
- Summary: Mithril accepts a new soldier onboard the Tuatha de Dannan. Informally: Tessa gives the meet and greet to a defecting pilot.
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
Tessa is the sort of Captain to adapt to changing circumstances; To watch the new crew members closely and note their capabilities and drawbacks. So far, with this and the dossier...There's a good sense of where Seolla shines, and a half-decent sense of her recovery time. Yes, the woman was just getting out of being transferred so suddenly, but she has support. Tessa isn't the type of person to push someone out of the nest with nothing less than their best.
She does follow along... "Mind the pipe on this turn, to your left." And as if on cue, that same pipe popped up on-route to the gal's quarters, nimbly stepping aside.
"...Has the School not talked about the submarine?" That just means it was doing a good job, up until...Recently. By choice. "Like I said, it's fitted with nothing but the best." And more. "I know every inch of this ship inside and out." She did design it.
And as if on cue, she stepped over the entrance to the quarters...Successfully. And took two more steps before tripping on her own two feet, crashing down unceremoniously. ... "Ow..." It takes a few seconds for her to stand, to raise her head and OhShe'sUndressingRightHereUhUhmRightLetsJustCloseThatDoooooooor...
Even if Seolla was wearing something underneath (and being tempered by Mao's own indiscretions), it was still a practical /stranger/ undressing in front of her. "My quarters? I intentionally didn't make them that much more spacious..." Granted, it was by design, and both as a way to passively assert the chain of command. Psychological reinforcement even in the most benign of places. "When you have your first order, you'll see it." For a small while.
That being said, she rubs her forehead while looking over Seolla's attempted fit. "You'd be considered the..." Second weirdest? Third? "...Quite honestly, I think you'll fit in just fine in Jindai. The Student Council President will vouch for that outfit, if nothing else." And the rest of them, too.
"Though..." She's looking carefully. Yes, it fit relatively well. "Will the buttons last?"
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
Taking a seat on her bunk, Seolla handily drinks down half a bottle of water in one gulp, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and slowly pulling at her braid, briefly glancing to Tessa's much larger, more prominent one. "...Hmm, I wonder if I oughta...grow things out longer..."
A pillow soon appears in Seolla's lap, hands resting upon it for a second, before clutching it a little bit close, the lower half of her face smothered in its creased fabric. "...Ughhh, no, if I sit here too long I'll wanna...fall right back asleep for too long again. I should stay...awake..." Eyes start to dip. Then-
"Uwah, nonono, a little longer-!" Rapid head shaking, eyes blinking over and over to keep herself up. "I...really hope I'll fit in. But ugh. ...I was...attending Tokyo-3 for a little while, and it was just...really tough. I only kinda made a few friends and mostly with the people I was also fighting alongside working with NERV for a bit, so...I might be relying on Sergeant Sagara some. ...oh wait, do you go there too? If so I'll...rely on you too..."
A finger falls on the metal buttons that are fighting for their life. Seolla looks down at them curiously, then back up. "They're not cheap, they're made of pretty sturdy metal, so I dunno why they wouldn't last..."
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
Seolla's drinking habit did not go unnoticed. Was it just self-preservation? Something relating to her metabolism? She's already mentally mapping caloric count; How much goes in, how much goes out, how much is intended. There's no certain number in mind, but Seolla's going to find her food intake monitored slightly closely.
Note to self: Prone to falling asleep. Check brain scans, check for any sign of mental stress. Monitor closely. ...The slight pang of seeing someone like this as something to be /fixed/. ...Vexing, that, but she wants to be helped. /That/ is the important part for all this.
"Mhm. Sergeant Sagara and I both attend Jindai, though we're both out frequently for missions." She chooses to skip over Kaname and Alouette; Outside of scope. "It's a hard process...Trying to fit in after so much, right?" ...Her mind brings up a fateful conversation. Sometimes, you just need someone to nudge you forward. "I do think you'll fit in, just..." ...This feels like a farce, in of itself. All her acqauintances were either crew or on the small slivers only gained in the past year. Who was she, to try and be a mentor to someone barely a year younger in something that she also failed in?
"...Around 5 years ago, I also didn't fit in. A small school, before Area 11 became where it was known." The dredging of memories. The displacement. The isolation. The feeling of being there, but mentally...somewhere else. "I was out after a month." Hands clasped together, thumbs twiddling. "It's tough. I know it is." Her words are barely whispered, audible enough to pick out he deep shame of that time.
"But...I made it out. If I can have some semblance of school life, even with my job, then I think it can be the same for you, Seolla."
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
Seolla's 'used' to being examined a little bit closely - it's clear from a lot of things that her sense of boundaries is...a little 'off'. Not that she doesn't have them, but they're clearly built rather differently from most typical people. But then - since when was Tessa's company very typical people?
...even so, Seolla does sense that Tessa's fascinated in a way, watching her so carefully, and rosiness enters her cheeks. "A-ah...you've been observing me really closely, I can feel. I don't think your eyes have really been off me from the moment we met..." Two fingers pushing together. "...is there something I need to tell you, something you don't know yet? ...you seem to be very invested in me feeling well, so I'll...tell you anything at all."
She hears Tessa out, slowly turning back to face her captain, eyes a little wide as she begins to understand. "Ah...right, of course a captain and engineer my age hasn't been through anything 'normal'. Mmmm. ...I always had a tough time fitting in, even befo-"
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...she's paused for a long while then. Caught up in a faded, waking dream that always strikes her in downtime. There's a glistening in her eyes. Something important. Something so important. Something unimaginably important - but it's down there, deep in the river's sediment, and it's so, so dark. How can it ever be found. How can it-
"...hey, Capt- ...Tessa. ...thank you for being there for me too. I had no idea this was even possible. Honestly, coming here, I was...a little bit scared you'd be like...some of the others I've worked with."
---maybe there's depths she doesn't yet know. Colonel Grims wore a smile on his face - roped people in - - - but the laughter at the sight of blood he had a habit of. [sometimes it helped take the edge off though, didn't it-?] [maybe if she learned to laugh about it]
Rapid head-shaking. The braid tousles against her nose a little bit. A more clear, sky blue in Seolla's gaze, locked tight on Tessa's, even as tears well up from somewhere. "...But I imagine...they're warm people. They wouldn't have suggested I come to you if you weren't too. So I'll...hold everything about you close. Okay? Because...we're a lot alike. I...I really like telling you things."
...one soft pause.
"...D-don't go asking anything weird or anything, though! Pffu..." As round and succulent as a cactus may be, its spines exist for /some/ reason, no matter how easy they are to work around...
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
Was it really anything more than close observation? It did worry hr from reading the dossier; Child soldiers were always a...minor handful, and the request was something Mithril accepted because it was /advancing their own mission/. There was little alturism other than the usual "we're helping others out", in this case. But still. To hear Soella say it so blanatly, Tessa does look away with a cough. "I'm not the type to force someone to tell me everything about them, since I'm the Captain. We're soldier and officer here. I need to know how my crew is, especially the ones recently onboarded." Tell her? Tell her anything?
...Why did that sound so sinful, or was that just her own tiredness making connections where duty demanded there be none?
Of course, such thoughts fade away at Seolla's...strange tapering. No, she wasn't a Whispered. Not at all. But...She opts to remain silent. Everyone has a burden, and asking someone to talk about /that/ would be unwise at the best of circumstances. There's only the minor shuffling of her skirt, pulling out a handkerchief, taking Seolla's wrist (gingerly, tenderly), and setting that same napkin on her palm.
'I had no idea this was even possible.' ...Validation. The Captain keeps silent. Let her work through it. Let her process. There's times to pull the band-aid, and there's times that time itself helps more than any shove.
"Yes. I understand, Seolla." Warm people, huh? It was Shuffle's suggestion. It was Mithril's choice. But in the end...It was Seolla who wanted to move forward. How nice. "Don't go around saying the thigns I said to others, okay?" Precaution after precaution. Limit knowledge. Staunch the floods.
Ensure everyone knew as little as possible for them to work with.
"So long as you're under my command, I won't let you be adrift." You have somewhere now. You can work. You can go to school. You have people who know the sorts of trials, tribulations, and pains and can help you with it.
"I think asking for a proper sleep schedule is within reason, shouldn't it? And keeping a log of your diet for the next week." Both reasonable demands. She hopes.
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
That little offering of a handkerchief makes Seolla's face fall deep in - makes her fall deep in. A slow, soft smile crosses her lips. Even though this girl's a trained soldier - or maybe...because of it? After all, the program she's in is known in these circles for having done a lot of personality conditioning...
If Tessa wants her to fall into some position, Seolla clearly would leap there of her own volition. The glimmer in her eyes of an unbidden loyalty. The searching in her actions for something to be loyal to. She wants to hold on, so she does - to Tessa's hand as it clears her face.
"Everything will be between you and me, Tessa. And I can do that easily. Nnnn...I should probably...try to get on a sleep cycle that works well if I'm gonna try working as part of the crew, yeah? Something that gives me a good space to slot into. And a dietary log...I'm accustomed to that sorta...being logged as part of me getting food to begin with. Wouldn't the galley keep track of-"
Seolla shakes her head. A little bit - forcefully? Some instinct that flares up whenever she gets obstinate around authority - an automatic brake to [stop] that and comply. "I'll get on that right away, Tessa. May as well start right now - we had the chicken and potatoes and salad earlier right? Hum hum hum..." A notebook from Seolla's duffle bag is procured, and she flips through page after page of drawings of peoples' faces - surprisingly decent pencil sketches - along with notes beneath them. A new section past an internal divider - =Dietary Log=. 19:00, February 5th, 0097. 300g salad (mixed vegetables, mostly lettuce). 180g chicken. 210g roasted potatoes. 1 liter of water. 2 pills of prescribed anti-withdrawal medication.
She's practically sparkling and beaming from this. "I won't miss a single entry, Tessa!" And then she flips back to the prior section - beginning to carefully look back and forth between her sheet and Tessa's face, quickly outlining her basic shape and features before filling in details...
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
She slowly wipes those tears off, a hand on that cheek to eep Seolla steady. It'll be good in the long run; Deprogramming, helping someone transition in an environment from total, complete alert to something less; Something where death isn't a thing to be worried about with every passing day.
She keeps that reassuring smile, pulling away after a few more moments. It's clear that Seolla needs someone, and hopefully, with this chain of command, and Jindai...Things will soon change. A bit of a rough transition period, but everyone has those.
"So long as you can do it and can make progress towards it. I don't think it'll change in a day, but take steps however you can, okay?" Sleep schedule, set. There's already a note to keep track of Seolla's variances; How early, how late, energy levels...Tessa's being thorough in the backend, if nothing else.
...? The sudden brake did raise a question, one vaguely noted. The galley? Of course. That was being done even before Seolla raised the question; This was partially to check on level of detail of recordings. The things that people say they know and he things that people can actually do were a vast gulf.
That being said, she can't help but look over Seolla's shoulder. "...Do you draw these on your off time, Seolla?" Sketching. This might be useful, actually...Worrying, too.
...She doesn't move for the length of that sketch. Just how much detail is in that drawing...?
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
The finished drawing is...actually a little /alarmingly/ detailed. It's an odd talent of Seolla's, it seems. Something practiced - though the notebook doesn't seem to be that big...
-there's been a lot of lost ones-
"Oh-! ...It's a habit I picked up...at...some point. ...there's a lot of stuff I wasn't allowed to remember, and sometimes, I'd...want to remember them anyway. So whenever I got a chance, and started meeting people, I'd draw their faces, and information about them. Never went on as long as the operation in Tsutsujidai, and I actually get to...keep this one. ...Do I even still need to do this? I did it there because I...assumed I'd just be going back where I was before. But I can't...I can't stand the idea of stopping..."
Notes go down below it. Tessa's name - then: 'Very brilliant engineer.' 'Diligent and observant.' 'Can tell her about experiences.' 'Comfortable'- "...Ah, right, I probably should have the diet logs in a different book than this. The faces are for me to keep, but I want to give you the personal notes I take on my own activity, so I might need a few more things to write in. ...p...please don't take this away."
...When she finishes, though, she's quick to lay down on her bunk, staring up at the top for a few moments... "...I'm...so tired again. ...Tessa, I...just woke up a few hours ago, but...I really gotta...see you again...after..." Words trail off into dreamy murmurings...