2022-04-13: The Way We Smelt Together
- Cast: Seolla Schweizer, Ouka Nagisa
- Where: AEU
- Date: U.C. 0096 04 13
- Summary: Aurum-1 and Bronzo-27 have a rare moment of solace together.
<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.
It is After Hours at one of The School's training facilities.
'After Hours' is a matter needing some clarification. After all, training can happen pretty much any time it is determined it is most efficacious for The School's scientific staff. For the Boosted Children, after hours is pretty much just whenever they have no upcoming drills, lessons, or time in the Moderators assigned. It is typically during these times that they are allowed to enjoy... within reason, rest and relaxation. Whether this is finding time to sleep, using the physical conditioning room for sports, or even enjoying the company of each other while life is relatively quiet and slow paced.
At this moment is the lattermost that is on Aurum-1's mind. Relatively fresh from a session in the Moderator, necessary to ensure proper maintenance of her more heavily augmented body and mind, she has taken enough time dry and groom herself to appear as both The School's staff and her younger siblings have come to expect.
She then begins a short trip through the dimly lit, but clean and sterile, hallways of the barracks toward her destination. The door to her personal room is marked simply with an 'A-1'. Most of the other doors she passes are empty of such demarcation. This entire part of the facility is... a lot quieter than it used to be. Once upon a time all these doors were marked with letters and numbers signifying class names and place on the roster. As Boosted Children are 'graduated' from The School, their rooms are vacated and the name plates removed. Ouka's step hesitates just a bit as she passes by the door that once held the name L-11. Some small irrational part of her wants to look inside, just to see if that small shy girl is there waiting for her.
She never is.
Instead Ouka picks up the pace again until she ends up in front of a door marked B-27/B-28. This room, like other Bronzo rooms, are a bit larger in order to allow their occupants to live side by side. Bronzos are paired with one another throughout training after all and it was found to improve their synchornization ratings. That irrational part of Ouka hopes that Bronzo-28... that Arado, will be there as well. Her rational side knows that's unlikely though - his scores have been consistently low to the point that he is under a strict training regime. One from which even she is rarely to go visit him. Today, however, it is his partner that is first and foremost on the Aurum's mind.
Raising her gloved fingers to an intercom button by the door. An act of politeness - with her elevated standing within The School, she is allowed free access to all the other Boosted Child rooms, but she tries her best to treat her siblings with dignity and kindness. Those same emotions radiating from her voice as she speaks:
"Seolla, are you there? I was wondering if you'd like to spend break time together."
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
It's a moody night for Seolla, whenever her assigned companion needs to be taken off - and it seems like that happens more and more often these days, as the staff try to squeeze more and more out of him, to correct Arado's behavior as much as they can.
He's a pain in the ass, but he's her pain in the ass!
To that end...Seolla's occupied herself listlessly rolled to one side in her bed, her phone playing a loud, cheesy, bombastic action movie. The sort where helicopters explode and big name stars have to swoop in dangerous situations to stop nefarious plots. Silly, big, flashy enjoyment puncutated by ridiculous one-liners.
The first sound at her door makes Seolla's heart skip a beat - but it's a familiar voice. One that immediately melts away gnawing loneliness in her heart. Sitting up drastically alert, Seolla bolts to her feet - pressing the button to accept a visitor eagerly. She's dressed down quite a bit - it's late in her routine and she'd probably be sleeping sooner than she's training, so she's just wearing a short and breezy tank top and shorts.
"You're finally available? Ghhh...I wish it'd been yesterday...Arado was free then too, so we could've all had some time together...mmm, it's still kind of a mess here-" Really it just means 'there's some clothes on the floor and the bed isn't made' - "B...but, yeah, come in-!"
Seolla sits back on the bed, heart racing, a little bit ignorant of how her phone's still blaring that movie.
<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.
The phone is still blaring that movie... and Ouka's ears are pretty sensitive. It's less due to a physical augmentation (having more sensitive ears is actually more detrimental than helpful in most battlefield scenarios!) than it is her brain has been conditioned to better filter out and interpret sounds. It wasn't enough for her to discern the tinny, twice-processed noise over the room's intercom... but she's hardly surprised when the door opens and she hears the movie playing in the background.
So too is she hardly surprised when the door slides open to reveal a dressed down, casual Seolla. The first thing that Bronzo-27 sees of her sister is an apologetic smile. "Ah, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm afraid my Moderator schedule has been stepped up lately. I'm not sure... but it probably means another assignment is coming through soon. Was Arado doing well when you saw him?'
All that she says is real, and heartfelt. Though her attachment and love for her siblings is manipulated for the purposes of Adler and Aguilla, it wasn't invented by them.
They could never invent something they don't have themselves, after all.
Stepping into the room, Ouka deftly removes the heavier bits of her ensemble - the metallic pauldrons and shoulder bars, the os-link bracelets and gloves, as well as the os-link anklets and heels. While laying them out on a shelf near the doorway, she looks down at the discarded clothes. She gives the mess a slight bemused grin before stepping over it and towards the bed.
... and picks up the phone still blaring the cheesy action flick. "Another one of these, hmm?" The eldest Boosted Child gives a soft laugh, "I don't understand how you and Arado can get into these. Whenever I watch them I can't help but think about how unrealistic it all is... it's like the people who made it have never been in a real combat situation before." says the seventeen-ish year old girl.
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
To Seolla, Ouka has 'always' been there. The idol, the one that stood loftily above everyone else at first. The perfect one...that, now, is someone right there. Ideals made into a person that Seolla can hold and connect with, who maintains that status even now.
And...
-
when I had to be like you
it was way too hard- - - -
One can patently hear the dial-up tone emitting from Seolla's brain for a minute - an opportunity that leads to her not being responsive enough to prevent her phone from being taken. The next thing she knows, Ouka's chiding her for that, and Seolla pouts and starts reaching for it all grabbily!
"Moooou, Arado's like that too....it's not supposed to be realistic! It's supposed to be fun and silly and still exciting! Maybe I could come up with fun lines to say in big climactic fights...!" At some point Seolla's toppling over across Ouka's lap, diverted into thinking about her partner.
"...He was doing fine-ish, but...it's always up and down and up and down. He bombs his examinations, so I've gotta motivate him and help him study and baby him, and he slowly but surely gets better...then right when it seems like he's learned how to improve, he starts slipping right back down, and rinse and repeat!" She rolls over onto her back, lips pursed, gazing at the ceiling with Ouka in the corner of her eye, shirt bundling up to where her middle is totally uncovered. "It's a big pain...but hopefully this time something's gotten through that thick head of his!"
<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.
To those who are used to seeing Aurum-1 out in the world, with her being all proper and professional, it might be a bit surprising to see a slightly dressed downa and relaxed Ouka Nagisa. It might be even more surprising to see her engage in a bit of playful keep away with the phone when Seolla tries to reach out for the phone!! It's not until the younger Boosted Child loses her balance and ends up toppling over atop her lap that she stops with a gentle laugh. Her hand lowering to proffer said digital device to her younger sister once she rolls over.
"It's fine." The eldest Boosted Child says in a gentle voice, now devoid of the earlier gentle teasing, "As long as Dr. Koch doesn't see you watching such a thing. Especially Arado. He might think his attitude on luck came from watching movie heroes gunfighting from out of cover with a half dozen henchmen, and never getting hit."
After all... Arado is pretty lucky, but he's not THAT lucky.
Allowing Seolla to rest in her lap with her returned phone, Ouka lowers one hand to gently brush her fingers through the girl's silvery hair while the other gently straightens her shirt over her tummy. All of this is done smoothly, almost automatically. As if by some onee-sama reflex. She listens to the Bronzo's exasperation regarding Arado and his test scores, and how it seems like he just can't get it right without Seolla hand holding him...
... but whatever Seolla says, Ouka can hear the bitter pain of loneliness, of separation. That same pain she has experienced. Her golden eyes stare down at Seolla, their light filled with gentleness and warmth. She listens without judgement, without assumptions. Instead there is merely the gentle tickle of her fingers through Seolla's hair, the tender tug of her straightening Seolla's clothes. The soft rise and fall of her stomach with each breath - and the faint smell of flowers from the perfume she is often given to wear. And then her voice, mature and soft:
"He does have a thick head." The apparent insult in her words throw into sharp relief the lack of venom in her tone, "... but that's part of what makes him Arado, after all. It's frustrating to watch him fail, especially after you see him succeed just before that." She sighs... "I'll talk to Dr. Cero and see if he can help with the next examination cycle. Maybe he can recalibrate the simulations..."
A distant hope. Dr. Cero does try to help out The School kids when he can, but it's always a dangerous game. Adler doesn't like people manipulating the systems to help meet the needs of the kids...
... better to manipulate the kids to make them meet the demands of the system.
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
Seolla could just about drift away on this fluffy cloud of sibling bonding, of comfort and bliss and dreaminess. It almost hurts. How easy it is to go vulnerable here. How easy it is to trust Ouka with absolutely everything. At a certain point, it even starts to make her tear up - first a trickle, then an intense, sniffly bout of sobbing.
...this is pretty normal for her, though. Ouka's certainly seen it plenty of times before. She'll break into tears from minor notices...skip with joy from even slightly feeling a spring in her step...punch holes into walls from even the smallest slight. It's just the way her expressions work. They're always intense, unmediated, big and outbursting. She cries a lot with Ouka and Arado. It can't stay bottled up.
"...we'll get him there. Arado's gonna make it, no matter what. We're all moving into our future together. We promised."
They'd made that promise with Lat, too. ...and yet...
"...Ouka...promise me you won't push yourself too hard for us too," Seolla pleads, gazing deep into her elder sister's eyes, vision blurred by tears. "...I'm not a dummy. Sometimes it's like there's smoke practically billowing from your ears. ...you take care of us so intensely...but...you need taking care of too. You'll burn up if you keep moving like you do..."
All throughout, a corny car chase involving three siren-blaring police cars gets loud enough for Seolla's phone to start vibrating at times.
<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.
There is a place within Ouka's heart for each of her younger siblings. Arado's boundless optimism, Seolla's passionate emotions, and of course Lat's shy, sweet sincerity. All of them are precious to her. It's part of the reason why with the apparent failure of the Argent class, it was so easy for The School to manipulate her into becoming the emotional touchstone for the other classes. To help humanize the Boosted Children... but also to give them a goal, a role model to strive toward.
... but neither Setme nor Koch put a moment's thought into the strain it put on their prized creation.
Nor does Ouka herself much put thought into her own needs, her own care. Part of it is conditioning: She has been trained from the very first to be a peerless soldier. To serve the needs of states that abandoned her as a war orphaned child, and demand nothing in return. Part of it though... is herself.
How many times...
... she stared into those eyes...
... seeing her back ...
... and then seeing nothing at all.
It's part of the reason why Seolla's sudden pleading that she take care of herself, that she not push herself so hard, strikes her off guard. Looking down into her younger sister's eyes... so full of tears. Though it sets her own heart to ache, the Eldest Boosted Child finds her own tears do not come. Instead she reaches up with one hand to gently brush back Seolla's bangs so that she can lean forward. Her own dark green hair briefly brushing Seolla's arms and cheek before she plants a tender kiss upon her forehead. Her other hand reaching down to take the younger girl's hand into her own and squeeze as she says softly,
"I promise I'll always come back." Her voice burns with sincerity, "No matter what happens, I'll always find a way to come back for you and Arado."
Not the thing Seolla asked for... but perhaps it was a vain hope to have someone like Ouka promise to not push herself too hard, not to put her own interests behind those she feels are best for those she cares for. But perhaps in realizing that Seolla is no dummy, and in the interest of changing the subject...
"... now, why don't you explain to me what's going on in this one? It does seem like there an awful lot of explosions and sirens this time."
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
Seolla may be observant...but at this exact moment, Ouka's eyes aren't anything but a comfort. She doesn't see that deeply into others. They are what they give her in the moment.
"...that's not the way I'd meant it, big sis...but...that's not really important now, I think. I'm not even sure what the best way to say it is," Seolla trails off, dizzying and glowing red in the cheeks from the excessively tender gesture of being kissed on the forehead. "...I'm just glad we get to be together like this. Even if it'll end at some point, we'll make sure it'll happen again. That's how we've always done it."
The attention goes back to that movie, which Seolla's totally forgotten about - and the moment she remembers it due to Ouka's reminder, she's suddenly seated back upright, eyes wide and enthusiastic, shoulder to shoulder with her sister as she gets right back into the action. "Oh! Yeah, this is one of those things where the good guy's got something so important that he's kinda gotta play into the terrorist's hands. I think - yeah, they kidnapped his daughter I'm pretty sure, but he's such a badass that he's not afraid of fighting the law to see his plan through. Just earlier he was helping some sort of huge jewel heist...!"
Enthusiastic interjections to help Ouka catch up pepper the rest of their watching it together, right up until the credits roll...!