2023-10-29: .from the devotional to your devotioN
- Log: .from the devotional to your devotioN
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Elisa Kafim
- Where: The Silent Castle, Kaffeklubben Island
- Date: 2023-10-29
- Summary: Yuliana asks Elisa about housing the poor, on the way back from devoting herself to Elisa's crystal ball -- and about Murasame, too. Elisa is entirely willing to subvert Murasame's data to bring down others... and to delete that data, though she's sure to make sure Yuliana understands it's not just a matter of kindness to Leina. So too does she assure her wife that getting help from the world is not unfaithful, because the world owes her everything -- and Yuliana knows their limits. (CW: Coercive control)
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana wondered what Elisa could do, drawing directly on her power, before dismissing the whole thing. She didn't consider, when talking to Shari, that pouring herself into Elisa's crystal ball might well count. All her beliefs, all her memories...
It's a habit she keeps up, though -- particularly now, after Elisa has drawn on the powers inside to create her newest kaiju. Willingly does she volunteer herself to the altar, and Elisa is there, of course, to catch her. It can be... a little taxing.
No doubt that's why Yuliana grasps Elisa's arm, as they take a stroll through the Castle's halls. (After she sat down a while.) Fingers laying across her arm, she leans into her wife, and their pace is suitably sedate. The halls can be chilly, unlike the living rooms with their cosy fireplaces, so her bear-skin cloak is wrapped about her shoulders. Yuliana is an animal lover, but this far North, a woollen scarf just isn't sufficient on its own. She's taken pains to make sure all the furs they sourced were hunted well, though.
"... oh, do you remember how that Dr. Mass came to visit us, when we went to see our people?" Yuliana asks, distracted for a moment from their talk of what to have for dinner. "She came and spoke with me... you know, she suggested just building more houses, can you imagine that? Just building more houses!" To house their unhoused unfortunates, presumably. Yuliana... hadn't thought of it. "Or to buy out old gymnasiums -- she pointed out they do already have showers installed, typically, so they make decent hostels when converted."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa would call it different. And Elisa would know.
But now, Elisa is glad enough to have Yuliana on her arm, strolling with her. Their slow pace makes it easy to support her wife, not that she ever has trouble with that. And the animals, well...
Elisa is willing to expense a proper hunter.
She is merely in her black robes, thick and warm but not entirely relevant. She walks, though. And she considers. "I do," Elisa says of Dr. Mass. She didn't speak to her, but of course she noticed that she was there, particularly after Yuliana spoke to her. And her suggestion...
"Hmm. Yes. That is a good idea," she muses. "Useful insight. It seems that you had a productive conversation with her."
"We do have the resources. There is no reason not to, other than having not thought of it..."
There are things she could do with houses. "Perhaps I will consider architecture."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana is so glad Elisa knows these things. She relies on it, really.
Just as she relies on Elisa to help her stroll down the hall, now. It would be simple enough for Elisa to carry her, or for her to just stay sitting -- but she prefers to be able to move around, sometimes, after things like this. Perhaps just to prove to herself that she still can.
(Even if she's relying so much on her wife.)
Yuliana's own black robes, under her furs, are naturally also warm; this is perhaps more relevant, because Yuliana keeping warm is important to her safety. She needs to maintain a certain temperature, or she'll die. It is... sometimes difficult.
"I did," Yuliana agrees. "Ahh, I feel foolish for not having thought of it... though little Sharochka did say I could hardly be blamed for not thinking like a civil engineer." When Elisa sent her to deliver those crystals. That, too, seemed like... a productive conversation.
Yuliana smiles, leaning against her wife. "Will you? I'm glad, zhenushka." Her gaze veils with gentled affection, gazing up to Elisa, and in the process relies on her to keep her from walking into an ill-placed corner or door or servant.
(Probably not that last one. Even the well-paid servants know very well and good to get out of the way of the Mistresses when they're wrapped up in each other.)
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa will not lead Yuliana astray. She would never allow her to run into a door, or fall down stairs, or any number of things that would hurt her. Neither will she complain when Yuliana relies on her...
Or that Yuliana needs to stay warm. She is very careful about that.
"Shari is right," Elisa says of Yuliana's report. "We all have our talents. Dr. Mass's include logistical matters for providing relief efforts. We could stand to rely on such expertise more. A pity she is unlikely to join our cause, but perhaps that won't stop her assistance, if you continue to have such a relationship."
"Shari has a number of useful insights, however."
Then, she considers architecture more; the things she could do with arcane construction techniques and geomancy, after what they learned from Burger Fiend...
"Of course. It is important to you, and thus it is important to me. Our Silent Calling could stand to grow, yet. To help more."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Elisa is so careful, with Yuliana, and with Yuliana is she gentle and considerate. That the rest of the world does not know Elisa this way doesn't change what Yuliana knows.
"Yes... it's useful, isn't it?" She asks, of Sayla's ongoing assistance. Shari, as well... "She's a very clever girl. No matter how I test her, she always prevails." And Yuliana speaks of her warmly, and it's clear that the hard time she gives her isn't rooted in sheer malice.
She listened to suggestion, then, and has not broken from it since. There's no one quite like Yuliana in all the world.
"I'm so glad you agree," Yuliana smiles. A light pause, and she tilts her head, looking up to her wife. (As much as she's wearing something much closer to a dress than slacks these days, she's never quite managed to match Elisa's heels. Flats are safer, anyway.) "Though, ah... Dr. Mass raised something else, Elya. You remember that wretched Dr. Murasame? Apparently he's looking to publish his data to anyone who will listen. He's quite desperate for it to be seen." And Yuliana steps with Elisa, as she's guided around a corner safely, grasping her arm for support. "Dr. Mass wanted to pull a little trick on the blacklabs -- by using his credentials to publish plausible fake data, attached to a virus which tells us who downloaded it, from where. I've been looking into it... there are certainly places which will accept that data. I don't suppose you could write something which looks sensible at first glance...?"
Yuliana goes on: "Having that data, you know, we'd be able to locate a lot more people who need help." She's rather occupied with trafficking people out of labs rather than destroying them, after Celestial Being asked her to destroy a Super-Human laboratory with all the test subjects still inside. She feels bad about it. Terrible, really. "And it's reasonable to share the findings with Dr. Mass, don't you think? She did come up with the idea, and it is largely occupied with her daughter. I can respect that. And..." Yuliana pauses before she asks yet more, and looks up to her wife. "Well, is that all right, Elya?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"She has indeed been helpful," Elisa says of Shari. She muses on her, a little more. Shari... Yes, perhaps she will send her to Yuliana again, soon.
Elisa would not trade Yuliana for any of those base others.
Elisa looks back down to Yuliana, her green eyes on her. She is calm, thoughtful as they move around that corner, when Yuliana explains the plan...
"Hm hm hm," Elisa says. "What an underhanded trick." She sounds approving. Then, Yuliana elaborates further on what it is that she would like to do with that data. To 'help', and...
"Sure, sure," Elisa says. "We could share with her." Perhaps they could draw the good Doctor further into their orbit, as well. Maybe...
"Yes," Elisa says. "I can, and will, do this thing. I will be very amused to see these fools pounce upon 'his' data, and come to ruin for it. It is a suitable punishment... None would ever trust data from him again."
He did insult Elisa's wife.
"So yes, it is well. We shall do it."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Hahaha," Yuliana laughs, delighted to hear Elisa's amused approval. Her smile is the brightest thing here, though of course the halls are not completely dark. That is a tripping hazard.
(The windows outside are, though.)
"I knew you'd agree!" She says, still smiling. "It's what he deserves, after all. What a wretched man. We'll ruin his name!" And Yuliana seems quite cheered by it, really; Murasame insulted her, leaving aside all he did to Leina.
But, all he did to Leina...
"There's just one more thing Dr. Mass asked, that day," Yuliana says, a shade more thoughtful, "but I couldn't really promise it to her, then and there. She wants the original data deleted, you see. I told her it would be better to ruin the man with his own credentials before we did anything like that, but..." She pauses, again, fingers curling against Elisa's arm. "... I would like to destroy it, Elya. So many people have access to my data, now," after the raid on the Institute, that is, "and I don't wish for Leyasha to suffer that fate. If not for her, I might have been shot in Magallanica... and she's not done wrong by me, even leaving that aside. I want to do right by the girl. She's earned it, hasn't she?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
A wretched man, indeed. Elisa could say more... But she does not speak much of scientists to Yuliana, as it happens. But something else? Hmmm.
Elisa listens in full to Yuliana before she replies, and her cold demeanor is not so cold looking at Yuliana--just distant, for a moment, far away, as she considers the data, what might be of use, and... Yuliana's desire.
"I am inclined to acquiesce," Elisa starts. "But I should clarify something, before we do so."
"I do not think the girl has earned much yet--not more than we have given, which is considerable. She is still a student, still at the precipice. However... Neither do I think that she deserves to have such data publicized about her, in light of her service."
"So yes, I will do this. But I will do it for you, and because Dr. Mass has requested it, rather than only for Leina. It is kind of you to think of her in this way... But we must think in broader terms than kindness alone."
"But to be sure. This can be done. I will hold it long enough to fabricate data, and then we shall eliminate it. His legacy will be forgotten."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana tilts her head, and listens, acquiescent. Of course, she thinks, as she blinks and nods; they have given her much, already. What she deserves...
She smiles, in loving relief, when Elisa decides it may be done. "Thank you, zhenushka," she says, leaning her weight into her wife. "You're right, of course... I'm surely too soft on the girl. My heart is easily moved... but still, it's what I want. Men like that care only to be recognised for their results, and so I would have him banished to obscurity. I'm glad." It's to punish him, after all. If it isn't just a matter of doing right by Leina, it must then be a matter of hurting Murasame.
"Ah, we have given her much, haven't we..?" Yuliana wonders, head tilting against Elisa's shoulder. "I've even allowed her to help me..." She hugs Elisa's arm, with her grasping hands, holding tightly to her. "... though, Elya, I wanted to ask. Do you think... it is unfaithful to trust someone else to help, when we can only really trust each other? Is it wrong to take her help, to get out of that situation? Of course, I do not wish to give too much to anyone else... even if I am trying to mentor them towards improvement."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"What you wish shall be in this," Elisa says with a smile, a serene nod. "Science without understanding... It leads to such things. There must be wisdom to guide the intellect. There must be knowledge and gnosis both."
A pause. "Yes."
But, "You have." Elisa supports Yuliana. But what she asks... Elisa furrows her brow, as if considering--and then smiles again, all calm and certain.
"It is not unfaithful. You must use every resource at your disposal to be safe, my darling. To return to me. Taking help is taking the tribute you are due. I trust your discretion, to understand when they are helping, when they are only trying to use you in turn. Always remember that the things of this world are yours by right. All things should belong to you, my Yuliana."
"Some people recognize at least the shadow of this truth, and they will help you."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"If only everyone were as wise as you, zhenushka," Yuliana sighs, gazing up to her wife, as if Elisa's wisdom would stop these horrors.
But Elisa assures her, and Elisa explains, and Yuliana is so relieved to hear it. Of course! Of course they have ulterior motives; of course it is her right to take their offerings, anyway. Her smile is bright, in the dim, chill light of the hall, endless eyes shining. "Good," she says, warmly. "Good. I'm glad, Elya. I never wish to hurt you. I want to come back to you safely... if they can support me, in this, of course they should. Of course."
She slips an arm and a tentacle around Elisa's back, to hug her properly. "And I'm glad you trust my discretion, too... I'm always thinking of these things, Elya. I'm always thinking of you. There's no way any of them could turn me against you... you're the only one who hasn't just used me. Ah, all things..."
Yuliana reaches up, to cup Elisa's cheek. "But most precious to me is you, my darling. All else is secondary, to me. You are the most brilliant gem in all creation..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Oh, Elisa's wisdom would stop some horrors. Certainly.
Those endless eyes... Elisa looks into them further, and seems to find something within. She accepts Yuliana's warmth. "Yes," she says. "Of course."
Then, Elisa pauses, as they walk, to turn towards Yuliana. "It is good of you, to think of me," Elisa says. "I am lucky. I would never believe you to be turned against me. My trust in you is absolute."
The only one...
"All I do, I do for you, my Yuliana. If I am a precious gem, it is that I may shine for you."
"Remember that." She leans down, to kiss her wife.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
She feels lucky, to have Yuliana. She trusts in her. She's doing all this for her...
Yuliana smiles, looking up to her lovely wife, eyes shining with something just for Elisa. She bids her to remember, and, "oh!", Elisa leans down, and for once it isn't Yuliana, initiating their kiss. She melts into it, happily, and happily does she etch those words into herself.
She could do nothing but remember, blessed with such rare action from her wife. She always remembers these things, because Elisa is so deliberate, in her action. Yuliana knows it takes her more effort, to remember the physical world and its little joys. That's why she's always offering them, to Elisa, reminding her.
For Elisa to be the one offering...
Oh, she's so happy.