2023-04-28: .heart to hearT
- Log: .heart to hearT
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Elisa Kafim
- Where: The Silent Castle, Kaffeklubben Island
- Date: 2023-04-28
- Summary: The Kafims have a deep conversation about their relationship -- their future children, and their current difficulties. Elisa resolves to be less over-protective after she hears the burden it's placing on Yuliana, and Yuliana expresses the disdain she has for their brainwashed servants, given her own experiences. They resolve to release Alma once she's served her purpose, and... rearrange the staff. Elisa hears about Sayaka's opinion of their relationship.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zunlXCtqvsM Florence + The Machine - Howl
Cold light reigns eternal, in the Silent Castle, though the evening's crossed to night. Even so, the sun is risen. Not for long months will it set. But Elisa, ever clever, saw this issue on her arctic horizon; and so, the Castle has been built such that not every room has a window.
The bedroom, for instance. As the light which never warms runs rampant outside, glaring hostile off snow which has not melted since they came here, things are comfortingly dark inside. It ought to be. The hour grows late, and they are soon to slumber. The only light on offer, since they've dimmed the lamps, is the flickering dance of the fireplace; it catches at the veils of their poster bed, tinting things a pleasant shade of green. Yuliana needs little light, all curled up in Elisa's comfort; she lies across her chest, one hand lifting to play her hair across a silken pillow as those black things unlike hands coil at her sides. (She needn't fear crushing her.) Elisa may not be naturally warm -- but the furs covering them are, and between their efforts and the faint warmth Yuliana still claims, it's still quite cozy. Cozy, too, is the warm expression in her endless eyes, gazing up at her wife. Her frills fan out behind her ears, relaxed against the side of her head, as boneless as she is.
"Elyula~," Yuliana lilts, saccharine-sweet, cutesy, and less upset than she was, "it really is a shame we weren't able to grasp success... but next time, we won't fail." One wonders what horrific plot they're scheming now, as she brushes a suede strip from the pillow, claiming more space to fan Elisa's hair out. "I truly do wish to bear your children..."
Oh. It's not an evil plot. That's just her normal voice.
"But you will leave your mark on them, won't you? Oh, I know, I know, I've lineage to carry on... but you've such beautiful hair, Elya," Yuliana sighs, all too fond. "I insist you share it with our daughters!"
She lifts her other arm to brace against the place beside Elisa's head, lifting herself to meet her face, and her eyes remember hunger still. "You are an absolute goddess, you know," she breathes praise against her, and then she won't even let air between them. Her kiss is soft and inviting -- but she is not so ravenous, now, that she can't sink back down to rest on Elisa's shoulder with a contented sigh.
They're a very happy couple.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa has foreseen many things, and made contingencies accordingly. The daystar is only one of them.
Elisa luxuriates in the warmth of the bed and of Yuliana, arms around the other woman under the furs. It's very cozy. As is the expression in those pupil-less eyes...
"A shame," Elisa agrees, "But next time we shall." She considers, then. "...Yes," she says. "That would be lovely..."
A mark. Elisa smiles. "This can be arranged," she says, "The secret of good hair is one I can trivially share with our children."
It's a way to put it. Definitely a way. But those hungry eyes...
Elisa kisses back, for long moments until Elisa feels Yuliana sink back down, and then she smiles at her, her eyes avid. "Am I?" she muses, with a little laugh. Then she frowns.
"...Whatever I am, perhaps I am jealous. I am reminded of your words in the night..."
"Someone is meddling with our things." She says it thoughtfully, distantly. But her mind is not so unfocused that she cannot look back to Yuliana again. "...But we need not discuss that more just yet, unless you are ready to rest..."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Elisa calls it lovely, and Yuliana is lovely to see, cheeks rosy with affection and eyes only for her. Her heart flutters in her chest, and Elisa has held that, too.
"Wonderful," She smiles, as if Elisa's secrets are fine things to share with the vulnerable. (And from her perspective, perhaps, they are. Well, from her perspective now, anyway...)
Once Yuliana has settled back down, Elisa her bedrock, she reaches up to brush another strand of hair behind her pointed ear. "You are," she purrs, entirely affectionate.
But... she's jealous, Elisa says, and she frowns, and Yuliana strokes at her cheek when she hears her tone grow distant. "Oh, let me stay with you a little longer," she sighs, as if she's damned to go elsewhere.
(She is. Since she was rearranged in this world, her occasional visions now are near-constant. When she sleeps, she falls to her communion, and she wakes with strange prophecy. It is a rare night she is left to her normal nightmares, these days. ... no wonder she insists on Elisa coming to bed with her, though Elisa needn't sleep; Elisa's the only woman who could protect her, as she travels through those horrors.)
She breathes out, fingers idly playing at Elisa's ear. "But... you are jealous, of late," she says, thoughtfully, as if she hadn't always been. "It's..." Not healthy -- that's how Dr. Yumi put it.
Yuliana can't quite make herself advance the idea in so many words. "Sputnica zhizni," she names her her life's companion, "you're still anxious, aren't you?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa is not so rosy, as a rule. But she is here and she is warm, in the way that she can become so. And she is listening and speaking both. Elisa's secrets are Yuliana's secrets, and Elisa smiles at the touch to her pointed ear. ANd she is jealous. But...
But Yuliana wishes her to stay, and so Elisa makes an effort, returns herself to 'this world' by staring at Yuliana, noticing her eyes, her hair, her eyebrows, her nose, her lips, the sound of her breathing, the sensory details that can ground her here.
Elisa can protect her. And she will. And--
"...I am," Elisa says eventually, when Yuliana says it, trailing a hand down her temple. "I am anxious. You were almost taken from me, and it was so recent. How can I so easily risk it happening again...?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Warmth is something Yuliana can share with Elisa, still, while she is of this world. Whether she'll always be able to colour her cheeks...
Well, that's for tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.
There's that scar at the bottom of her lip, to the right, which lends texture to her kisses; her fang keeps catching at the flesh, her human mouth unsuited to it. Another, faint, along her forehead, and they had to cut her bangs to dress it, once upon a time. A dozen more marks, as well, easy to miss, faint evidence of her veteran's record. Her nose is rounded, and so are her cheeks, cutting stark contrast with the sharp edges of her bangs. Her eyelashes are thin -- she doesn't tend to wear much makeup, and wouldn't as they retire, anyway -- but her eyebrows are thicker, and Elisa would know she has to wax them, to keep them under control. She keeps her neck covered in public, but it's exposed, to her wife, as much a statement of intimacy as anything more flagrant.
And she tilts her face into Elisa's fingertips, as her hand trails down Yuliana's temple. Her eyes drift closed, for a tender moment. "I know," she assures her, as well. "You take such assiduous effort... no one is more dedicated than you. No one more fortunate than I, to have a wife who cares so much."
Those lashes blink open, again, as she looks up to Elisa. "But... you've grown so... controlling, Elya," Yuliana picks her words carefully, but surely she can feel the way her heart beats faster, against the walls of her chest, as she summons the courage to say it so plainly. She swallows; her own fingers curl, below Elisa's ear. "Sometimes, it... it frightens me."
It isn't new. Yuliana's been spooked by Elisa's devotion before; she wasn't always so eager to share Elisa's secrets with everyone she cared about. She was scared of getting her involved with Athrusa; she got angry, when Elisa involved herself with the Lieutenant-Colonel.
It's almost as if...
No, obviously Yuliana would never criticise Elisa's approach.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Tomorrow...
The scar; the fang. The other scar, more of them... Yes, ELisa can memorize the details of Yuliana's face and see them again and again without growing tired. Elisa wears more makeup as a rule, but not here, not now. That neck... That lovely neck.
And Elisa continues to trace her fingers down Yuliana's face. She knows, of course. And Elisa does do her best. But... 'But', there is there.
She smiles, first--and there the 'but' comes. Controlling... yes, Elisa can feel it. It frightens...
Elisa's face draws; her eyes widen somewhat in dismay.
"I have frightened you?" she asks. "...Tell me what I have done, my darling Yuliana. And I will fix it."
Of course it wouldn't be criticism. Of course. But still...
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Her neck is lovely, and it arches for her; here, as well, as Yuliana's head tilts obligingly into Elisa's fingers. Her eyelids flutter with the touch. All empathy denied her, all she has is this physical connection, her flood of warm feelings even as Elisa's fingers are cool.
It's better this way, surely.
Yuliana strokes her own fingers along Elisa's cheek, seeing her dismay. It doesn't surprise her; she knows well how much Elisa loves her, how deeply, how fierce. No -- she wasn't hesitant to tell her because she thought she wouldn't care.
She just... didn't want to hurt her.
"It's just... you've made so many demands, lately," Yuliana says, quietly. "And I -- I understood, of course. You were frightened for me... and I do take pride in being an obedient wife, so I tried to see to everything. Telling you where I was, who I was with... and then I stopped working on my wanzers, since you thought the weapons too dangerous... I've not attended to anything public in the Federation, so you wouldn't worry." Which isn't to say that none of their community outreach has been held there, given how much of the Earth is in Federation hands -- but those appointments get offloaded onto Alma, or Wen. "... even when you were fine with me fighting, you took me back before I was done."
Yuliana's gaze slips aside, for a moment, as she frowns. Then she looks back up to her, and settles on: "... it's a burden on me, Elya. It feels like... the rules keep changing, I... I never know if I'm doing enough. There's nothing you wouldn't do, I know, but... but knowing that, I have to mind myself so closely. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth going out at all... it's hard for me to see how hard it is on you, too, when I don't check in on time."
Her own expression is drawn; she pushes her face into Elisa's hand, in a silent expression of her stress, admitting anything isn't perfect.
"I just... it feels like you don't trust me, Elya," she musters the strength to admit. "How are we to achieve our great work if you'll not let me work?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
It is surely better this way. Elisa could never share such awful, profane means of communication anyway...
But Elisa cares, perhaps too much. Never too little. And so she listens, speaking of these demands, that little frown remaining on her face as she does. Yuliana takes pride, of course...
"I see..." Those appointments are offloaded to others. And when fighting...
Yes, Elisa remembers that.
"...I see..."
"Well," she says, "I am anxious, but... perhaps I am imposing it unduly on you," Elisa allows after all of that, stroking Yuliana's cheek. She does, naturally, sound hurt, and troubled, but she is coming around to the idea.
"It is this world that I do not trust. There are so many things that I cannot account for, cannot control..."
"...But it is true. If I do not let you work, we will never achieve our goals."
"I do not wish to burden you, my Yuliana. How can we address this, then?"
"...I suppose I may have been... overly protective. It is true that you are quite capable."
"Hmm. Very well. I will trust in you. I will not stop you from your work. I know how important your independence is to you, and in light of that perfidious nation's absence you have had less of it..."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana's own fingers stroke over Elisa's cheek, matching her pace and her rhythm. She is -- charitably speaking -- unsuited to caring for others in a way which orients on them, but Elisa, as ever, is different. Elisa's feelings are central, to her.
There are many things in this world that Elisa cannot account for or control -- and then there is Yuliana, who nonetheless is struggling under such a crushing grip. She tilts her head, and lets Elisa continue working through her thoughts, even after she asks.
She's answering her own question; Elisa's part of the 'we,' of course.
And Yuliana -- her Yuliana -- smiles, when Elisa sorts through her thoughts. She tilts her face into Elisa's palm, and presses her lips to the inside of her wrist, laying favour onto her. "Thank you," she says, gazing up to her again. "I'm so glad you understand, Elya... I love you, zhenushka." She calls her her wife so tenderly, in her mother tongue. "It has been... particularly weighted, since the Republic betrayed us. No wonder... even though you tried so hard to keep them under control, they went so far you even needed to involve our friends. Oh, it must have been so hard for you, just the same..."
... it's not exactly something that started with her rescue, but it's easier on Yuliana, to pretend the Republic is at fault. She's always looking for someone to blame.
"It is important to me," she affirms; her independence, implicitly. "The Republic exploited that, with the long leash they kept me on, but... I've always moved spontaneously. Searching for opportunities, taking advantage of them... my mother taught me to think on my feet, you know."
Yuliana laughs, then, tilting her head towards Elisa's touch again. "I suppose I'll cause you quite a lot of grief passing it on to our daughters in turn, won't I? Haha... but children need a firm authority as well, of course, or they'll never learn any sense." Elisa's approach, it seems, is also valuable.
Of course it would be; Yuliana needs someone to keep her steady and supported. She's always cried out for it. She's a woman of her country, even now her country has betrayed her -- and she's placed Elisa at the head of their household.
There's nothing wrong with that, to hear her tell it.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa is always different. Just as Yuliana is different. Ah, how special she is...
Elisa has to work through her thoughts in order to reach it but Elisa is still 'here' when Yuliana kisses her wrist, and she sighs lightly, at that and the thanks. "I love you as well," she says, and is always pleased with those little names. Weighted, since... Hmmm.
"Yes," she says. "They were terrible. I was so generous with them, and still! ...But of course it was harder for you, laboring under their administration..."
Who cares when it started? It's fine.
"Yes... They exploited much. But your mother did have awfully many good lessons for you, didn't she? And I do appreciate your creativity..."
She notices the laughter, and she smiles at that. "Yes," she says, "You will. And I will treasure all the trouble."
Elisa can do authority. She is very good at it.
"...Very well. Is there anything else, my darling, that you must tell me?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
There's really no one else like her.
Yuliana is glad -- always glad, desert welcoming the rain -- to hear those words, to know she is loved, and her expression warms all the more to hear it. Is it strange that she can be so warm, surrounded by the deepest cold as they are?
Well, maybe that's why she's so special.
"It was... so hard," grief flickers onto Yuliana's expression again, briefly, speaking of her return to the REA. She cradles Elisa's cheek, and assures them both: "But you came for me. I know you'll always come for me." It's reassuring, now.
"She was an excellent teacher," Yuliana smiles. "It's important for a mother to educate her children personally, I think. If there's one good thing to come from all these wrongs visited on us -- I've now plenty of time to focus on family..." Yuliana shakes her head, and smiles. "I do hope our children don't get involved in a system that will only grind them up, just as I did. You'd think I would have learned from mamulya's example!" Before Yuliana was betrayed by the Republic, after all, Sashenka was -- though not, being fair, quite so extensively as her daughter.
They let her live in disgrace, at least.
But -- must she tell her anything else? There's a pressure, there, urging her on, urging her forward; she can't very well keep anything from Elisa, when they're this close. "Nothing terribly much... only, Rusalka's been troubling me. All those damn dolls, really, but I don't much have to think of the others... I've just had such negative feelings. It's alienating to see just how... trifling this world can be. When I'm not with you, I feel so alone... though it's nice to spend time with my men, I suppose. But Rusalka -- she'd thank me even if I killed her, I think. It's disgusting." Yuliana scowls, as if she weren't the one who forced her into the position.
"It makes me feel bad... since it happened to me. I know you couldn't do such a thing to me, Elya," that's the conclusion Yuliana's drawn from what she was told, "but it just... feels as if I'm looking in a mirror." And Yuliana, as Elisa would know, doesn't much enjoy mirrors. She hates examining herself.
"I didn't know... I didn't know it was happening to me. I don't know if you figured it out, or..." It was in her files, of course. (And not just her files.) "... but I really didn't know. I didn't know why Dr. Petrov pissed me off so much... now I just think, did I sound that wretched? I'm sure I must have -- you were so generous with the Republic because I always demanded you show them mercy. Even though they weren't merciful, to me." And always she speaks of the REA, because it's the REA who have harmed her, that way. Of course.
Yuliana shakes her head. "But -- I know you promised she'd not come to harm. I'm not asking you to, Elya. But... I do want to be rid of her. Maybe not now, when she's still serving such use for us, but... it's a terrible reminder!"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
And she is! She is loved, and special, and vital.
"I will," Elisa answers, and then--hm. Her mother, yes... "You do," she says, and that is pleasing. "I share this hope. And I believe that we can ensure that they do not. There will be two mothers of your line from which they can learn," and she refers to Yuliana and her mother, of course. Not that they can't learn from her...
But Rusalka, and the dolls...
"I see..."
Of course she would not do such a thing to Yuliana, right? Elisa doesn't argue that point. But she considers. The matter of the mirror, or...
"Hm..."
"Well," she says, "It would be a trifle to reassign the servants," she says. "Now that we are established, now that we have set up our plans better, I could invite those who would prove better company. That would be something that I could do." She does so try to be accommodating of her wife's needs. However--
"...I did," Elisa says. "So I will not simply eliminate her. But perhaps..." Elisa considers. "There may be a way. Yes, I will ensure that she leaves our service, then. Not now, but when we are able, in a position to do so."
It's almost a pity Yuliana is no longer in tune with Leina... Hmmm. Perhaps...
"Well. We shall figure it out together, yes?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Yes," Yuliana agrees. "She will be a good grandmother to our children, I think. As you will be a fine mother," she presses, smile turning sly. "Your lessons are just as important, boyevaya podruga." Now, she calls her ally throughout all life's challenges -- her combat friend, literally speaking.
Is childraising a form of combat? Probably.
The point goes unargued, and surely Yuliana is correct. Neither does Elisa confirm whether she did or didn't know, but surely that doesn't matter.
"Do you think we could trust them?" Yuliana frowns, on the matter of the servants. "Though I suppose, paid enough, anyone can find loyalty in their hearts... but what would we do with these creatures? I've tried speaking with them -- not a thought left in their heads." Her lips twist up, in a sneer, as if she's blaming them for the fate they've fallen victim to.
(The alternative is blaming Elisa, and why would she? Elisa's only ever tried to make her happy.)
Still, she manages to smile, when Elisa assures her she'll find a way. "You're so thoughtful, Elya," she smiles, warm. "I know I'm awfully difficult to please... I do appreciate it, truly." She strokes Elisa's hair behind her ear, gazing up to her, nothing but affection in her eyes. "We'll figure it out together," she agrees. "I'm so glad you've been with me in my recovery. I'd really be lost if I had to figure out all my grievances alone... the Republic damaged me so extensively. But you're with me..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"I will certainly impart mine," Elisa answers, pleased to be remembered to listen to her. Perhaps she even has that feeling. It is certainly possible.
"It is a risk," Elisa admits. "We cannot fully trust any with their own wills, for the nature of individuality is such that they might decide to do other than that which we wish." She doesn't say it like it's a bad thing, though. "But it is a risk I would take, for you. For proof of our grand ideals."
A pause. "And money helps." Then she considers. Those creatures... "There are options," she says. "Do you wish to know what I could do with them? I could as easily handle it alone. I do not mind sparing you that difficulty, when the two of us together could focus on greater things than they."
But they will find a way, and...
"Of course," she says. "I would never leave you alone. And it is a delightful labor, to try to please you." She looks down with more muted but surely present affection. "You are not alone, and shall not be. ...But I have some ideas."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
It's surely helpful to know what people Yuliana does hold in esteem, given how many she treats with spite and vitriol. One would think honouring her mother would be an obvious choice, but...
Well, Yuliana doesn't place society's demands on Elisa. She's a unique woman, too.
"I don't know why everyone always ends up betraying me," Yuliana sighs, frustrated. Here, unveiled, it's surely not even a lie -- she's honestly confounded by the morality of people around her.
Maybe that's why she has a terrible habit of saying awful things about herself, when she's feeling bad.
"But... surely there are people who would stand by us. Haven't we helped them?" She says, a touch whining. "Don't they know I put so much effort into protecting them?" And this much, at least, is true -- for the Naturals of Earth, anyway. Her crest falls, literally and figuratively, as she grouses: "This world is teeming with unfair people..."
As if disagreeing with Yuliana is being unfair to her.
As if Yuliana weren't a supremely unfair woman, herself.
Even so, she thinks of the way she was asked to die, and something twists in her gut. "But -- you'll not just kill them, will you?" She asks, and for some reason, sounds unsettled. (Not by the murder, surely; Elisa's seen her kill people without a single care, and not even just with the distance of a death machine between her and the other cockpit.) "... someone just agreeing to that bothers me," she explains her thoughts, for Elisa is not the kind of abomination who could pluck them from her mind. "I don't know... can't you just put them somewhere I don't have to look at them? They're like this because I wanted a home here... but I'm always damaging them. It's not my fault," she hastens to add, "they just get on my nerves, but... I guess we're responsible for them, now, since we repurposed them this badly." Yuliana has developed a wretched sense of responsibility, since leaving the REA. Maybe it's just how she's coping.
She's a good person. She can believe that, even complaining over the manner of people they've enslaved. She can believe that, because there are no mirrors to catch her off guard, in the Castle.
Her cheeks flush with affection, though, as she streams Elisa's hair through her fingertips. "Oh, Elya, you're so diligent," she praises her, all warmth again. "And so clever..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa is not someone who needs to deal with society's demands. That's for the best.
"Who knows?" Elisa says. "Peoples' hearts are fickle and inconstant. ...But it is not so bad. It is those qualities that will allow them to adapt. We must allow them to fail, sometimes." She has taken under advisement Yuliana's fascination with individuality, after all. And here...
"There are," Elisa says. "I am certain that some of those we have aided in your... activities... would require no such coercion. So perhaps it can be so."
Then--Hmmm. "...No," she says. But only because Yuliana asked her not to. She doesn't have to say that, though. "There are many duties to which they can be assigned. Many are out of your sight." It's not her fault, of course, and Elisa is so sympathetic to that. "Our responsibility shall ensure that their lives are not wasted."
She's very specific on that.
Then she smiles. "...I do my best," she says. "I love you, my darling."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana's always been the one who cares about the affairs of this world.
"Yes..." She sighs, frill flicking up again, when Elisa reminds her of her values. She's heartened as easily as she's disenheartened; she's always been a changeable woman. Perhaps that's why she relies so much on Elisa's stability, opposite poles which create the greatest whole. "I suppose it is only through failure so many of them may learn the truth of things. Few are as insightful as we are."
Still, it's nice to think that perhaps there are people who wouldn't betray her. It's a nice thought, even if Elisa's allowing her to fail. If only she had enough personal insight to connect one thought with the other!
It's fine. Her Sight is focused on something loftier still than their existence, and Elisa will take care of the rest.
"So long as it's not wasted, that's fine," Yuliana says, and her smile is relieved, now. "Thank you for handling it, my darling. I feel better already!" Never mind that their fates are no less horrific than they were an hour before; Yuliana got to express her feelings, and isn't that what's important?
"I love your best," she says, sinking into Elisa, eyes drifting closed. "And I love you, zhenushka. You've made me so happy... I'm so glad we could talk. That Dr. Yumi didn't know what she was going on about at all, saying we weren't healthy... there's nothing better than our life, together."
What a cruel thing to say to Yuliana! At least she knows it's utterly untrue.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Her values!! Those are important. Elisa is certain of these things, too. "Indeed," she says. "It is our responsibility to guide them," she says, perhaps echoing Yuliana's earlier statements. But surely that's coincidence.
Elisa will take care of the rest.
"Of course," Elisa says of handling it. "It is the least that I can do." Their fates might actually be worse now. That's very possible. But they won't just be summarily killed, so there's that!
"And I you," she answers. "You give me the most wonderful feelings." She smiles, then. And she keeps smiling, as Yuliana mentions... Dr. Yumi.
"Yes, of course," she says, but her eyes focus just a little bit more for a moment. "There is nothing better."
Dr. Yumi, is it...?
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Yes," Yuliana agrees, again, so easily. "It's our responsibility..."
And if their fates have been sealed, now Elisa knows they're distressing her wife, well -- that's hardly Yuliana's fault, now, is it?
(She's built an excellent system around herself.)
"Mm," Yuliana hums, content, snuggling in. Content enough to close her eyes, she doesn't quite catch the sharpness in Elisa's gaze, over the affection of her words. "I never knew I could be so happy..."
If she realised, would she have interrupted her thoughts? Would she have clarified the situation? Would she have bothered at all..?
Sayaka's charger is still keeping her phone fed.