2023-07-17: Say Uncle

• Cast: Shozo, Yuta Hibiki
• Where: Tsutsujidai
• Date: U.C. 0097 07 17
• Summary: After Gridman failed to protect Duma at Tokyo-3, he returns home with his comrades. Shozo is there to meet them, along with his usual endless questions.

---

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

The journey home from Tokyo-3 is a quiet one.

Thankfully, it doesn't seem like NERV is taking any action to arrest Gridman, his brother, or his comrades. Upon arriving back at Tsutsujidai, Calibur and Vit quickly go to relieve Borr and Max from their shift guarding Rikka. In a flash of motion, Gridman is flanked by Borr and Max.

Taking one look at the young man's face, Borr grimaces. "That bad, huh?"

"Yeah..." Gridman mutters.

"Hmm." Max rumbles. "Let us return home before discussing things further. There is no reason talk cannot happen over a warm mug of herbal tea."

Borr grins. "And nobody has better herbs than I do. Let's go, big guy."

With a nod, Gridman allows Max to pick him up, and the three Hyper Agents vanish. In an isolated part of Tsutsujidai, where four expensive homes stand, they come to a halt.

"Alright, I'll go harvest some mint. Max, you put the kettle on, yeah?" Borr opens the door to their house, stretching their arms over their head. After Max and Gridman enter, they close the door, then raise their voice. "Shozo, you home?"

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo had been sitting there absently since the group had left, but immediately snaps to attention as the door opens, hopping out of his chair and walking up to Borr, standing in front of him and smiling.

"Hello, all! Welcome back. Did you kill the Angel, or did you let it get away?"

There was that odd tone to him again — the calm, almost cheerful vocalization of deeply unpleasant statements. All the same, he goes in for the hug, almost mechanically.

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

"There you are." Borr hugs Shozo, not minding the mechanical movements, smiling at the little boy. "I'm going to get some tea ready, will you get the mugs out?"

Max, a fond look in his eyes, pats Shozo on the head on his way to the kitchen. The sound of water filling a kettle can be heard. Gridman, looking weary, tries his best to smile at Shozo.

"...we let him get away." Gridman answers, at length. He slowly walks into the dining room, taking a seat at the table. "I... don't want Duma to die. I tried to protect him, but I couldn't get through to him /or/ to NERV."

Gridman sighs. He pulls his phone, the odd, squishy red thing that it is, out of his pocket and sets it on the table. No notifications greet him. Gridman lowers his head to the table's surface, pillowing it on his arms.

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo nods and runs to the kitchen, scooping up 6 mugs in his little fingers, and runs back, the clanging of porcelain jingling like bells.

"You let him get away," he repeats as he carefully puts down the mugs. "Did he successfully hurt or kill anyone before you did that?"

"He hops onto the chair he was sitting on before, scooching it towards the redhead before patting his head in an attempt to... comfort? him.

"I'm assuming he didn't, since I don't think you would protect him if he did do that." He leans an arm on the table.

"Duma kind of reminds me of a kaiju. I don't think I could /make/ him stop, though."

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

Gridman tilts his head to look at Shozo as he feels the other's fingers through his red hair. It's an odd gesture, but... not an unfriendly one. Maybe this is just Shozo's way of being supportive.

"Did Borr ever tell you about the kaiju Bujack?" Gridman asks, after a moment of silence. "Duma's a lot like that. He wants to protect humanity by forcing them to stop fighting each other. But... that's never going to work. Bujack proved that."

Straightening up, Gridman takes one of the mugs, scooting the others toward each chair waiting at the table. It gives him a moment to think.

"Especially not the NERV pilots. Duma tried anyway, though, he forced everyone in Tokyo-3 to stop fighting and calm down. The Evas countered it, and I tried to protect Duma, and help everyone understand each other... No luck though."

Gridman looks into his own mug. It is empty. He isn't sure what he expected. "Duma won't try to understand humanity, and humanity won't try to understand Duma. I got beat up a little, and they shot Duma anyway. There was no point in any of it."

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo nods almost sagely at Gridman's demoralized attitude.

"I didn't know about Bujack, but... That makes sense. Kaiju aren't really compatible with the human experience, y'know. We don't see th'world like you do, I think. The way you guys talk about things... mm. I don't /get/ it most of the time, y'know. There are things that /do/ make sense. Like hurting, n' threats. I get what those are, even if I don't see what you see when you try to describe it."

He took a long sip ? there was nothing in his cup.

"Humans only ever come together when someone like me is trying t'destroy something you all care about. I don't think Duma's realized that yet."

When Gridman describes getting /hurt/, however, Shozo pauses.

"Wait, Duma beat you up? I thought he was, um... what's the word... pacifist?"

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

"Shozo, we haven't made the tea yet..." Gridman watches the little boy drink from his empty mug. "Uhh... Never mind, it's fine."

The way Shozo speaks... is he a kaiju as well? Gridman shifts his gaze to Max, who seems to be at ease, taking the tea kettle off Borr's stove and shutting the heat off. The masked Hyper Agent makes his way to the table, taking a seat in a large chair just to the other side of Gridman.

"I cannot say I agree, Shozo." Max says, gently. "Kaiju are capable of gaining human hearts. It is my theory that any number of non-human entities have this ability. Are my comrades and I not proof of this?"

As if on cue, Borr steps back into the room, a basket of long, leafy stems hanging from one arm. She makes her way into the kitchen, preparing the herbs for tea. "Lot of long faces in here... Thanks for getting the mugs, Shozo."

But Shozo continues to speak. Borr's brow furrows, about to speak up, when--

"No way..!" Gridman tries to control his volume, even as his heart recoils at Shozo's words. "Humanity is more than that! I'm sure of it! And... someone like you? You'd never hurt people, Shozo!"

Deep in his heart, Gridman wishes he /felt/ as sure in humanity as he sounds.

Borr returns, dropping a small silver orb filled with herbs into each mug. "Yeah, aren't you selling everyone a little short? You've seen humans line up to do lots of things together, destruction or not."

Raising the kettle, Max easily fills each mug with warm water. "The water is quite hot. Be sure to let it steep, and cool, before you drink."

The instruction is mostly for Shozo -- Max hasn't forgotten the way the little boy devoured a fork.

"Uhh..." Gridman looks a little embarrassed, poking the silver tea-leaf holder down into the water of his mug. "It wasn't Duma. Though, his song did affect me, Calibur, and Vit this time. I think it'd probably be able to affect you, too, Shozo. Be careful if you bump into Duma again."

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo /laughs/ at Max's assertion. He smiles often, but have Gridman or the others ever heard him laugh?

"That's silly, Max. Kaiju can't have human hearts."

Who can say why the birds outside stop singing, but they do, leaving the room in silence.

"If they had hearts, they wouldn't be Kaiju."

He tilts his head at Gridman's outburst, the smile not leaving his face.

"Of course humanity is more than that. Humanity is all sorts of things that something like me could never understand." He pats Gridman's head again, looking into his eyes.

"But I'm not. I was made /only/ to hurt things, /especially/ people. I'm just doing a /very/ bad job at what I was made for, thanks to Mister!" His smile turns into a grin again before he holds out his mug for the tea.

"Ohhhh, it's supposed to have something /in/ it..."

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

Gridman blinks at Shozo's laugh. Once, then twice. His gaze shifts between Shozo and Max -- who seems unaffected, for the moment. Given another headpat, Gridman looks bewildered.

"You are incorrect, young Shozo." Max says, warmly. "In fact, you know a young man who has accomplished this very feat. Knight is a human-hearted kaiju. It was a difficult path for him, but one he deserves praise for."

"Well." Borr says, taking a seat next to Shozo. He reaches out, steadying the child's mug as Max pours water into it. "I was made to be a set of drills for Gridman. Seems like I've become a bit more than that."

Borr grins. "There's no reason you can't become more than what you were made to be. And no reason that's a bad thing, either. Who cares what you started off as? What matters is who you /want/ to be. Sounds to me like Mister's got the right idea."

"Indeed." Max agrees, holding his mug of tea close to his chest. Wait, with that huge mask on, is he even going to drink it?! "Give the tea eight minutes to steep. I shall mark the time, when it has elapsed."

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo shakes his head at Max, still smiling.

"I met Knight! I met him when I went to Riksent. It was very interesting. Buuuuuut he's not a Kaiju anymore. He said so himself." He looks out at the others, the red, cross-shaped pupils in his eyes sparkling a bit.

"You can't have a heart and still be a Kaiju, after all."

He puts down the cup when Max takes it and nods at Borr.

"He tries very hard. And I think I would like to be something other than I am, I think, even if I can't imagine it." He leans on the table, eyes dimming a bit, though his smile does not.

"It's just hard sometimes, especially when folks get hurt when they shouldn't."

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

"Riksent..?" Gridman asks, still looking confused.

Max shakes his head. "Ah, but you see, there /was/ a time when Knight considered himself a human-hearted kaiju. That his evolution has brought him past that point does not mean it is any less worthy of note."

"I can't say I'm happy with the way Duma's been acting." Borr says, with a frown. "But I've never liked those NERV people either. The kids are fine, but there's something wrong with the adults."

Gridman looks down. "Everyone was doing what they felt like they had to do. Saving humanity, protecting their home. But if they could just be /more/ than they were, just for a few minutes, and talk to each other, I really think things could be different."

"You can be whoever and whatever you want to, Shozo." Borr says, turning their concerned gaze from Gridman to Shozo. "You've got a whole family here who will help you every step of the way. It helps if you have a goal, I think."

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

"The moment he could feel human, he was something new. I wonder what that something was," Shozo muses. He looks over at Gridmon, frowning finally.

"How did Duma even hurt you? Were you fighting in your lil' human form?" he asks, crossing his arms.

"The worst it could do to me was push me back, and I was close enough to nearly touch its big red heart thingie."

His smile returns, softer now, when Borr speaks kindly to him.

"Don't worry, I've got a goal. Don't be like either of my fathers. That would be bad for /everyone/."

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

"Perhaps you will be the one to find out, and put a name to it." Max replies, warmth in his eyes. Looking down at the tea, the large Hyper Agent hums thoughtfully. "I believe it has now steeped enough. You may drink as you wish, Shozo -- remove the small metal orb first. It is not to be eaten."

Gridman takes a sip of his tea. "That's really good, Borr, thank you. And, Shozo, during the fight, Calibur and I transformed to protect Duma. We took some accidental fire, and, well." Another sip. "One of the pilots got pretty upset with me. I chose not to defend myself. It's not like they were wrong to attack me, they were just protecting their home."

"Duma went easy on you, Shozo." Borr drinks their tea and smiles. "Oh yeah, that's good stuff. I can taste how hard you've worked helping me with the plants. Great job, kiddo."

Reaching forward, they ruffle Shozo's hair. "You know, it's better to decide to /be/ something, rather than to /not/ be something. It's like saying 'well, I don't want to grow weeds.' So what are you going to actually grow? Flowers? Herbs? Vegetables?"

"Nah, you need something you can admire and work toward." Borr raises their glass, gesturing toward Gridman, who looks almost startled. "You won't go wrong emulating your... Hmm."

"Uncle, perhaps." Max offers.

Gridman makes a sputtering noise. "Uncle?!"

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

The smile dropped from Shozo's face, and just as his fingers had slipped into retrieve the ball, his hand suddenly /clenched/ around it, tea mush pouring out from his closed fist.

"Your... /allies/ attacked you?" he says, voice cutting to a whisper. "Why would they attack you? That's not what allies are supposed to do at all." He stared into Gridman's eyes, and under his gaze, those red crosses that were his pupils /shifted/, into rings of red concentric circles.

"Who was it? Which person called themselves your ally and then attacked you?" It was as though he heard nothing else after that moment, staring into Gridman's eyes unblinkingly.

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

"Shozo, you're going to burn yourself!" Borr reaches out with a napkin, trying to retrieve the little ball from the child's fist.

"Borr." Max rumbles. "His eyes have changed again."

As the other two Hyper Agents fuss over Shozo, Gridman is entirely focused on their conversation, not noticing Max or Borr's efforts. "I... well... No, it wasn't their fault. They didn't mean to attack me, not really."

"They were protecting their home. We'd do the same thing, right..?" Despite his reassurance, Gridman looks distressed. His yellow eyes are soft, and he can't help but bring a hand down to touch his thigh. "I was in between them and a monster attacking their home. The NERV pilots... They can't go against orders. That commander controls their whole lives."

Max stands, and it's as if a spell has been broken. Gridman glances up to his comrade, then back to Shozo -- distress replaced with worry. With slow, easy-to-read movements, Max kneels at Gridman's side, placing a hand on Shozo's shoulder. If this subtly puts him between Shozo and Gridman... Well, that's just a coincidence.

"Shozo. We are all safe. We have returned home, and though there will be a cost to these actions, Gridman, Calibur, Vit, and Sigma are safe." Max speaks with a gentle urgency. "It is important to me that you understand this."

Borr subtly shakes his head to Max. "Sometimes allies have different goals. Like when Vit's dumb drone crashed on the flowerbed. Remember? I was mad at him, but we're okay. We're still comrades. Sometimes, even when everyone does what they think is right, people get hurt."

"And someone has to be the first person to say 'no'." Gridman lowers his gaze to his quiet phone. "Someone has to stand up and refuse to hurt anyone else. I don't know if that'll mean anything, but it was something only I could do."

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

"...Gridman, like I said. I am /made/ to hurt people. I am made to do worse than that, but to say I am made to hurt people is easier." His eyes have not changed back, and he leans in closer to Gridman's face, until their noses are practically touching.

"And I do /not/ want to hurt you. All of you make me want to be something different than what my fathers made me to be. You are Most Important to me." His hand opens to keep balance on the table, releasing a pearl-sized bead of metal, still oozing tea leaves.

"I am /told/ to hurt you by them still. They are in my blood, and they demand that you suffer. I can ignore them with Mister's help, and I am /choosing/ to ignore them. I do not believe /any/ human can demand more effectively than they can."

He does not breathe. He does not blink. He does not look away.

"I want to hurt the people who hurt you. I want it very badly. If I will not hurt them, I need to understand why they decided that you should hurt. Not your excuses."

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

Gridman blinks widely as Shozo leans in -- once, then twice. Max shifts, slightly, only stopped from pulling the child away from Gridman by Borr taking in a sharp breath.

"Most important... Me?" Gridman doesn't notice the crushed-down herb orb, focused in on Shozo's oddly-shaped pupils. "I haven't really done anything... I don't know why it would be me."

Gridman, again, gets a look of distress in his eyes at Shozo's words about his fathers. "I'm sorry, Shozo, there must be a way we can make that easier for you -- huh?"

"I was between them and their mission." Gridman says, seriously. "If someone got between me and defeating Alexis, I would've done the same thing, if I had to. I didn't leave them any choice. I was endangering everyone in the city out of... hope and foolishness. She -- they made the right choice."

Is that enough for Shozo? Gridman doesn't know, but it's all he has to offer.

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo lets himself smile, but his eyes are still those unsettling concentric rings.

"It is everything you are, Gridman, that makes you Important. You are everything my fathers hate. That is a good thing."

He pulls away, and sits back down.

"Even if it is something that makes you weaker." Shozo gently picks up the already-compressed bead of former herb ball and crushes it into a thin little disk between his thumb and index finger.

"I want to talk to Kaworu. He was nice to me. I want to understand why his people hurt you, from his own mouth." He does not respond to the statement about his fathers' presence.

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

Shozo sits back down, and the tension in the room abates. Max takes his seat as well, again picking up his mug of tea and simply holding it.

"Thank you." Gridman mumbles, watching Shozo crush the bead of metal into a little disk. "I can give you Kaworu's VERTEX, if you want... Please be nice to him, Shozo. He's, um--" The young Hyper Agent flushes. "I love him a lot. And none of this is his fault. Kaworu and Shinji weren't even on the battlefield."

Yellow eyes slip closed. "I don't mind being weak if it lets me experience loving someone. Despite everything, it's been worth it."

At some point, it seems Borr slipped away to grab a first-aid kit. Though they know Shozo won't need it, they still plop it down on the table. "Let me see your hand."

Should Shozo cooperate, Borr will examine the child's hand carefully, and apply a singular band-aid across his palm. It's the principle of the thing -- Borr isn't sure how to treat burns at all, but if a child could've hurt themselves, they need to be cared for.

"There." Borr says, with a nod. "I'm sure Kaworu will be able to manage this. He's a smart, capable young person. You'll see, everything is going to be just fine."

Borr shoots a Look at Max.

"Indeed." Max rumbles. "For all of us. Now, it is a lovely summer day. Shozo, have you ever been swimming? The Tsutsujidai recreation center has a lovely pool. I believe it would be a good use of our afternoon."

Gridman, still looking weary, brightens slightly at the idea. "That's a great plan. It's been ages since I was really swimming!"

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo meekly opens his hand to Borr -- it is, of course, unblemished. However, it seems even someone as alien as Shozo can recognize the importance of the gesture in this moment, and when he and his adoptive parent meet eyes again, the red crosses have returned.

"Thank you, Borr," he says softly, before looking back at Gridman.

"Please inform Kaworu that I would like to talk to him, and then I will message him." He then looks up at Max and nods. "I've never been swimming before. I wonder if I will sink in the water?" As the group gets up to go to the pool, Shozo looks back for a moment at the crushed herb ball, and his eyes flicker to those red rings once again before he turns back.