2023-12-31: .new resolutions, new understandinG
- Log: .new resolutions, new understandinG
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Elisa Kafim, and their family
- Where: The Dian's Estate, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
- Date: 2023-12-31
- Summary: Elisa escorts Yuliana deep into enemy territory -- that is, the REA -- in order to meet her family again. There, Elisa finally gets to meet the Morozov boys, Makar and Maksim. (She does not eat them.) When Sashenka sits down with the girls to have a chat, Yuliana suggests they come and live at the Castle, given the dangers the REA is posing to the Dians these days; it's Elisa who answers Sashenka's pointed questions about how they'll survive the siege which is no doubt coming. Once Sashenka agrees that moving to the Silent Castle would be the wisest choice, however, the Kafims have something else to tell their mother... namely, that her daughter-in-law is part of God.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Sashenka suggested that Elisa escort Yuliana here, to their villa in rural Chukotka; under her wife's care, not even her dozens of outstanding REA warrants can harm her. It is difficult (though not, Yuliana previously proved, impossible) to sneak into the Republic with a machine -- but Elisa has no need to sneak.
And her wife sags against her, for a moment, as the green portal around them recedes to leave them standing in the snow. "oh," Yuliana gasps, grasping tightly to her arm. She wears a black bear-fur cloak over a thick green cardigan, buttoned up over dark slacks; an ushanka on her head, and a grey and green scarf wrapped about her neck.
But she blinks off the daze, and smiles up to her wife. "Thank you, zhenushka," she purrs, and she, at least, is warm. (It's quite cold up here, too.) "Please... let's not be too strange, around the children." Or, in other words: please, try to act normally.
Yuliana leads her wife to the door up the veranda, and knocks -- "Hello? It's us!" -- only for the door to crack open, latched by a chain...
... and Yuliana and Elisa find themselves looking down the barrel of a sawed-off shotgun. "Ayah, it's me, Yulya," Yuliana assures him, fearlessly reaching over to the barrel to tilt it down so she can look him in the eyes. She's still smiling, at least. "You're going to make Elya nervous!"
"... so it is," Tri Darma scowls, as he puts the shotgun back onto its rack beside the door with an audible chunk before he unlatches the door. "Excuse me, precious. We can never be too careful, these days. They have come around with voice recordings, you know."
"I know," Yuliana says, and maybe that's why she wasn't at all panicked to open the door to a gun. Now it's out of the picture, and the door is open, she latches herself about his midsection in a fierce hug. "I'm glad you're still well, papa," she murmurs, and he'll excuse the casual register, clearly, by the way he returns the hug.
"Come in, come in," Tri Darma extends a hand inside to them, where Sashenka holds the children. Makar is a four year old boy hiding behind one half of her skirts; Maksim, six, hides behind the other. They're far paler than Yuliana is, but Maksim recognises her, anyway. Sashenka helps them, asking: "Who's that? Tyotya!"
"... Auntie Yulya!!" And Elisa would have been warned about that one -- Yuliana may be their cousin, but she's always been introduced to them as their aunt, because she was always around Lyubov's age. It was less confusing, for them. He scrambles forward, and she crouches down to give him a hug -- and little Makar, who wanders out a few moments later.
"Hi, boys," she smiles, and she is warm. "I know it's been kind of tough, so I came as soon as I could... but hey, it's New Years Eve, isn't it? Don't you guys think you need New Year's presents?"
Makar's face lights up, as he says: "YEAH!"
And from her cloak, she produces two wrapped boxes, which they proceed to lay into with immediate fury. ("Wow, a FIRETRUCK!", the younger exclaims, while the older instead pipes up with: "A Wonderswan XL!" It's important to understand what captures the different age groups, apparently.)
But while little Makar is turning his deluxe model firetruck around (it has real lights and a ladder which really extends up and a hose made out of actual hose), he looks up at Elisa, and tilts his head. Seeing his brother's attention, Maksim asks: "Hey, you Auntie Yulya's wife?"
Yuliana's always visited them without Elisa before now, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
No, Elisa need not 'sneak'. Sahsenka's suggestion was amenable to Elisa, as her suggestions often (though not always) are. So she has endeavored to make this as normal a visit as possible, at Yuliana's request. They are in the snow, and she is likewise dressed 'normally'. She is dressed in a lovely green sweater and blue jeans, with heeled, low boots. And of course, fur. She doesn't care much about the cold, but it would be unusual to not care about the cold, and so she dresses for it.
"Yes," Elisa agrees with Yuliana's request simply, and there is--
Hmmm. That is a shotgun. "Hello," Elisa greets, and does not move. Mostly because it would scan as a threat. They, with voice recordings...
"Due caution is quite reasonable," Elisa agrees. "It is good to see you." Her language is precise and polite, but she does smile, to show that she means it.
And there is Sashenka....
Elisa watches the exchange until she is addressed, and while she is not so warm as Yuliana, she is not cold to them. "Important," Elisa says of presents, and then--
"I am," Elisa answers. "My name is Elisa. You may call me an Aunt, as well. If you would like."
She steps inside properlike, "I am privileged to be a part of my wife's family now."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Tri Darma does not hug Elisa. This has less to do with him not approving of her (he's warmed up to her, if a little grumpily, over the past year), and more with Elisa not being a terribly huggy person with people who aren't Yuliana. He does kind of pat her arm as he's waving her in to indicate that she's not being completely frosted out, though.
"El... Elya?" Makar guesses, only for Sashenka to suggest, behind him: "Elyushka, sweetie." The perils of Yuliana making Elisa's shortened name her own is that when other Zaftrans meet her, they're bound to offend her!
But Elisa wouldn't eat a four-year-old child, would she? Well, not THIS four-year-old child.
Maksim looks up at her, and considers her, for a long moment, before... "You're weird," he concludes, with the frightening insight of youth. (It's not unusual insight, at least.)
"But she smells good," Makar says, which is DEFINITELY not what you're supposed to say to someone you just met, but, again: four.
"Are you a spaceman?" Maksim asks. "Your ears are pointy. Did your dad come from Pluto? Pluto is the planetoid at the edge of the Solar System." He's been learning about space, evidently. "Gruncle Darya says that spacemen coming here is eroding our social values. Are you eroding Auntie Yulya's social values, Elyushka?"
"Ahaha... just what are you teaching them, ayah," Yuliana hisses, to her father, through a smile fixed on with screws.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa smiles at Tri Darma. It is her way. She's indeed not very... huggy, as a rule. This is sufficient.
Elisa is patient as they work out what to call her, and doesn't even seem offended because they're children! Or maybe because she was warned.
She has never eaten a child in Yuliana's presence, at least.
"I am," Elisa answers Maksim pleasantly. She is weird! It's fine!
"I am not," she says of being a spaceman, "My mother is Meltrandi. My father is human, like you." A musical laugh. "I am not," she says. "Indeed she has taught me many important values, as well. We learn from one another, as wives do."
"They're charming," she says to Yuliana. Apparently?
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana would, after all, be sad if Elisa ate a baby. She likes babies.
(But she can eat as many adults as she wants, obviously.)
But luckily, Elisa takes the children in stride, and Yuliana is visibly relieved. "What's a Meltrandi?" Maksim asks, and Sashenka helpfully prompts him: "Do you remember the Zentradi boy in your online classes, sweetie? She's like him."
"Oh. Then why'd she say she was melty?" Maksim asks, tilting his head the other way.
Makar wanders up and grabs Elisa's knee. "You're not melty," he points out, looking up at her. "You're cold."
"Did Auntie Yulya teach you about food?" Maksim gets distracted from Elisa's relative temperature immediately. "We always used to go cool places to eat with her. But we haven't done that for a while. Auntie," he turns to Yuliana, "are you in trouble? The TV's talking about you. Grauntie Shasya says that's a bad sign. It's not good when the TV talks about you."
Yuliana takes a deep breath, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder. "That's a long story, sweetheart," she says, smiling to him. "I'll tell you later, but you don't have to worry about me, okay? Auntie Elyushka is protecting me. She's really strong. She won Olympic gold medals! Those are the best ones!"
"Wow," Maksim looks up at her, eyes wide. The shyer Makar chips in, to ask: "How far can you throw a ball?" No one tell him that there's no Olympic category for throwing a ball really far.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Adults are tasty.
"Girl Zentradi are called Meltrandi. There's a different word because until recently, boys and girls in that society were separated from one another all the time."
Elisa... is cold. She peers down at the child. The touching is not ideal. "I am," she says. "It is quite chilly."
But food! "Yes, we have been to many good places to eat, and she has introduced me to many chefs. Of course, I knew a bit about food myself, but I do not have the passion for it that my Yuliana does."
Pause. Is she in trouble?
"I will protect her," she assures them. "And I did." A pause. "Quite far. But my medals were for gymnastics. That is to say, jumping and flipping and doing acrobatics and so on, in an artful fashion."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Oh," Maksim blinks. "Is that why you married a girl?" Is that really what he's taking away from the gender-segregated society?!
The touching isn't ideal, but Makar is too young to get the cues. He even hugs her leg. This is terrible! "You're real cold," he concludes, straightening up to look at her, hands all balled in her jeans. "Do you want a blanket? I got a blanket. Grandma Anya made it for me." He's four years old, and he's already learned about sharing! Isn't that nice?
Maksim grins, when Elisa says she did acrobatics. "Can you do a handstand? I can do a handstand. Wanna see?" And just before he can cartwheel onto his hands in the middle of the living room and break something --
-- Sashenka claps her hands. "All right, boys! Why don't you go get dvoyurodnyy dedushka to go show you his ice fishing tackle kit! Remember, you wanted to learn all about it?" And the kids scramble off to follow Tri Darma, chorusing, "Yeah!" "YEAH!"
Yuliana's father is, give him credit, smart enough to exit stage right before he is pursued by a bear.
"They're full of questions, aren't they?" Sashenka smiles, before she hugs her daughter, too. (The one who likes hugs, anyway.) "Please -- come, sit," she gestures them both to the couches. "Would you like something to drink? Tea, coffee...?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Ha ha. Perhaps." Elisa smiles.
Makar is too young to get it, and he's very cute, but, "Oh, did she? I am sure it is a lovely blanket. That is..." Handstand. Sashenka rescues them. Who? It's not important. Someone is rescued.
"Have fun," Elisa says.
"They are," Elisa agrees. "Inquisitiveness is a good trait in a child." In an adult, often, too. But they're talking about children. "I would appreciate some coffee," Elisa answers, polite enough not to refuse Sashenka's hospitality.
She will sit with Yuliana!
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Surely the boys don't need rescuing from their Aunt Elisa. Don't be ridiculous!
Nevertheless, they run off to another part of the house to go check out the exciting world of ice fishing, and Yuliana naturally sits with her wife on one of Sashenka's nice couches. (There are crotcheted throws over them. They're lovely, and Sashenka has already told Elisa how she tried to teach Yuliana these feminine arts only for her to prefer to run around and do her theatrics outside instead.) "Some tea would be nice," she agrees, with her wife. Yuliana has to avoid too much caffeine to avoid aggravating her medications, so naturally she elects for the other option.
"All right," Sashenka smiles. "It'll just be a minute." She bustles off to the kitchen to make the tea-and-coffee, and Yuliana places a hand on Elisa's knee in their moment alone, smiling to her.
"How are you holding up?" She asks her, quietly. "I know kids can be pretty high energy..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Not only does Elisa appreciate Sashenka's nice throws, but she has leaned some from her about the art of making them. ...She does have a lot of time on her hands that could use something to occupy her hands, when she's not busy with more important work.
Elisa inclines her head back to Sashenka. "Thank you."
Yuliana smiles at her, and Elisa turns towards her with a small, more amused smile in turn. She is still a little distant, a little odd... But not completely out there.
"I am well," she says. "I meant it when I said that they were charming. Traits that in adults grate are welcome in children."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
It's so nice that Sashenka now has someone to teach about needlework! Earning an extra daughter through marriage really isn't that bad, you know, once you get over the shock.
(Tri Darma might miss out on imparting valuable knowledge, but this is not about him.)
Yuliana laughs, rubbing up against Elisa's side with her own weight. "Aww, Elya! I'm so glad you like them. They really are good kids, you know. I wish you'd been able to meet them before, but..." Her good mood is shadowed, a little, as she sighs, recalling the boys' mother. "... Lyubov was always a little suspicious of you, I'm afraid. I think she thought you were going to put her children in a cauldron and stir. Honestly, it's ridiculous!"
"What's ridiculous?" Sashenka asks, as she comes back out, with three piping hot cups on a tray. (In the glorious Soviet future, no one has to wait for the kettle to boil.)
"Oh, nothing," Yuliana shakes her head, reaching over to take the cup which Sashenka passes to her. And there's a cup for Elisa, too! It's made just the way she likes it, and there is, naturally, a coffee table to put the cup on. "Mamulya, how have things been here, anyway? We haven't been able to visit for a while..."
Sashenka settles back in her rocker, facing the two lovebirds, and sips at her own cup of coffee. (She takes hers black, with sugar. And Yuliana takes her green tea with honey, amongst the many ways she takes it.) "You have put us in a tense situation, my docheri," and she refers to both her daughters, as she says it. "We have had even more visits from the State wanting to discuss matters... I'm sure you noticed the greeting you got. Haa," mama sighs like that, too, "even the press have trekked all the way out here to try and bother us!" She says the word with the exact cadence one would use to describe a cockroach. "Honestly, we first settled here because my grandfather's people are less nosy... if we wanted visitors, I'd have gone down south, to Kamchatka Krai, with the rest of my sisters." That's the peninsula in Zaftra where Yuliana planted one of their orchids -- apparently, they have family there, too.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
It is nice!
Elisa shakes her head. "That is fine. I am not an approachable woman, as a rule."
She doesn't spill the beans. Instead she takes the cup, black without sugar, a memory itself of her student days. "Thank you."
Sashenka settles down, and...
"I apologize for the difficulty, Mother." It is a formal way of speaking, but Elisa is a formal kind of woman. She does at least refer to her with respect, which might surprise some.
"Hmm... I see." She glances to Yuliana, and considers the matter of who is bothering them.
"We have no plans to do anything quite so... public, in the near future," she says. "What do you think, Yuliana?" She is letting her wife take the lead with her family--she's doing her best!
But she's said before, that it might be best to bring such people as they care for up to the Castle...
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"But you're doing very well," Yuliana encourages Elisa, before their mother(-in-law) comes back. "You even let little Makar hug you!" And she's so proud.
Sashenka does come back, though, and she smiles to Elisa, when she's gracious enough to apologise. She doesn't begrudge her her formality; she's always been a little stiff, with people who aren't her wife. (She hasn't missed the way Yuliana is still leaning on Elisa, even now she's sipping her tea.) "I know you had your reasons," she excuses her.
But Elisa is doing her best, and Yuliana is, too, really. So she tilts her head, gazing down at her tea, for a moment, before she looks back to her mother. "Mamulya," she starts, "if the Republic is giving you such trouble again... why not return to the Castle with us? We could arrange safe transport," for of course they're not taking children through the spooky portals, "and there's no place more well-defended than the Silent Castle."
"And no greater a target," Sashenka points out, raising a brow. "I believe you when you say you two don't intend to make a fuss for a while, dear," and it was Elisa who said that, but naturally she takes them as a package deal, "but what of a while after that? And after that? Perhaps your stone won't crumble to missiles... I'm sure Elyushka's magics are cannier than conventional weapons. But do you know how armies defeated castles in ancient history, dear?"
"There were a few ways..." Yuliana starts, frowning.
"One more than any: they starved them out." Sashenka sips her coffee, calmly. "A castle's worth of people requires a castle's worth of supplies, dochura. Your elegant defense is as vulnerable as the weakest link in your supply chain. Tell me," she says, gesturing with a hand, "what is your plan?"
"Uh... well, that's..." Yuliana is, naturally, put on the spot, looking to Elisa haplessly; she's never planned anything a day in her life.
Of course, her mother knows that. Morozovs are named for the winter, and she can be harsh, where she must.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
She did. She did allow that.
But they are on practical matters now, and Elisa is garbed for war in this, as well. Not that she is at war with mother, of course--but they are at council. This is where battles are won and lost.
"True," Elisa says. "It is a target, and the more people we accumulate, the harder it is to feed them, if not defend them. And that is indeed the key."
Yuliana frowns; Elisa faces it head on, matriarch to matriarch. "I have plans," Elisa says. "...Foremost among them concerns the safety of our Yuliana." 'Our', only Sashenka and Tri Darma have that honor among mortals. And them because of Yuliana's wishes. "My mind is primarily bent upon this task, and thus, I cannot assume that I will be free to solve each issue as it comes up with my personal power."
Which is considerable, of course.
"I have already initiated plans to move our supply lines beyond the sight of Man. As this is unideal for wholesome foods, I have also had installed hydroponics gardens for those times when our supply lines are strained. And I have forged allies to ensure that attempts to block our survival are costly to the enemy."
"Most of this can run without my supervision. If, however, my direct intervention is necessary..."
"The North Pole is a potent source of Power, and it is close enough to the Castle to be drawn upon, at need."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
And Yuliana doesn't mind if Elisa shares ownership in this context; she is still beholden to her parents, in some fashion, even now she's given herself to marriage. Familial piety doesn't end at the altar. She smiles, to her wife, in both love and relief -- because at least one of them is thinking ahead.
Sashenka sips her coffee, and listens. "Hmm..." She hums, thoughtfully, as she does, her fingers tapping on the side of the cup. "Yes, you very much have your hands full, don't you? Ah-ah-ah," Sashenka wags her finger, when Yuliana goes to speak up. "Even we know about your lack of self-preservation, dear. Coupled with the world's desire to bring you to another man's justice, it's rather a full time job, isn't it?" Keeping her safe, that is.
"Yeah..." Yuliana grumbles, into her cup of tea.
"Even so, our Elyushka does seem to have laid out some impressive measures. Though of course you would," she adds, looking to Elisa again, "for if our dear Yulya starves or freezes in her bed, she is not safe, is she?" Sashenka is making a lot of assumptions about what Elisa burns in their Castle, but one would assume it's firewood.
Certainly Elisa isn't going to keep her warm. And that is still quite strange!
"But if you cannot solve all these issues yourself," Sashenka sighs, "perhaps it would be for the best for us to join you. I'm quite adept at supply chains myself, you know. You would not believe how much diplomacy is occupied with such a thing!" It's eminently believable, of course, because she has a lot of stories. "You have the capacity to support electronics, at least, I trust? Connectivity to communications networks? The boys will need to continue their education." They're already being schooled by distance, given how far it is to the nearest city.
"Naturally!" Yuliana smiles, brightening. "We're not connected to Area 9's grids, as you can understand, but we have our own self-sustaining infrastructure. We can get the boys their own computers. Not that every room necessarily has power outlets, of course, but that's the point of batteries!"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa is estranged from her own parents, but not from Yuliana's. She is, of course, thinking ahead.
Because Sashenka is right about Yuliana.
"It is," Elisa agrees, though she has not gone into detail at what plans for now are necessary. That can come later.
"Quite," Elisa agrees about Yuliana's safety. It is necessary to ensure Yuliana is safe from a variety of threats. ...Herself sometimes included.
Elisa smiles faintly and very briefly, at Sashenka's conclusion. "That would be most welcome," Elisa says, and if she's allowing the idea that Sashenka is doing them a favor, then neither of them needs to acknowledge that. They are on the same page.
"As she says," Elisa agrees. "I will not be lax in my commitments. And that will include to their education. If they will be in our home, I will contribute."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana is a threat to humanity, and she is, as it happens, also human. Funny how that works. But Elisa married into a mortal family, and so she gets to experience all the wonderful foibles of being a mortal person through exposure.
Sashenka offers to do them a favour, and Elisa accepts, and it's all just understood, really. "Good," she smiles, when Elisa commits to supporting the boys' education. "It is important young boys receive a proper education, even on a farmstead." Pause, "... or in a Castle, as it were." She even emphasises the proper noun! She's talking about their specific Castle!
"It will be good for you, in any case, to be closer to the children," Sashenka goes on, looking to Yuliana, now. "Given your unfortunate condition. I've broken the news to your father -- it's all right, dear. He's not upset with you." Which is to say: he's upset at someone. For all the blood, sweat and tears the Dians have offered the Republic, they just keep getting spurned by their country, don't they?
Yuliana sighs, tension leaking from her shoulders. (Elisa can, naturally, feel it, because she's still leaning against her.) "That's a relief," she says, though she hardly needed to say it out loud. "I was worried," and that goes without saying, too. "But... mamulya, if you're to return with us..."
She frowns, looking to her wife and patting her arm with her free hand, before she looks back to her mother. "There's something we should tell you," she says, heavily. "About the Empress -- and us. You remember Her, yes?"
"You've told me," Sashenka sighs, "about the creature from beyond who pressures you so. Dochura, is this really the sort of conversation to have over tea?" Their mother doesn't approve of God.
Which is about to be really awkward, because she does approve of Elisa. Yuliana still weighs up, briefly, whether she could just lie about it. ... unfortunately, her wife isn't a liar. "Well -- you see, mamulya, we learned something... not too long ago. About the Empress, and our Elya. It's..." She sighs, and looks back to her wife. "Perhaps you had better say it," she asks for her help, having done her level best to break the news herself.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Everything is understood. Until it isn't. Elisa inclines her head, at the matter of the capitalized Castle. "Indeed it is vital."
Yuliana... yes. Elisa agrees, from her expression, that it will be good for Yuliana. But she does not weigh in where her father is not upset at her. There is no need to interject there, so she doesn't.
Instead, Yuliana brings up a different matter, and Sashenka does not approve. But they do need to have this conversation. And Elisa, indeed, is not a liar.
"The Empress's pressures are many, but rest assured that I will apply pressure to ensure that Yuliana is kept safe."
"For we have learned of my origins. While I have a mortal mother and father, my nature comes from beyond, as well. I am a part of the Empress, we have learned. That part which can interact with the mortal realm."
"...It has led to some disagreements between the Empress and my Self," she says, "Learning this, and knowing the pressures upon our Yuliana."
"But I am working on a plan for this, as well."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Elisa wishes to support Yuliana's happiness -- it is clear from her expression, when they discuss the children moving closer to her wife. And this is why Sashenka approves of her, in the end.
She may be a horror witch who definitely eats people (if not children), but she's a horror witch who loves her wife.
When Yuliana moves to an uncomfortable subject, Sashenka hears, first, the way Elisa pairs the concept of pressure. She applies it; the Empress applies it. She jumps to no conclusions, but she gathers the data. And...
"Hmm," that wizened matriarch hums, leaning back in her rocker and tapping her fingers on her coffee-cup. "You 'learned'... so, you did not know?"
"We didn't," Yuliana says, reaching over to take Elisa's free hand with her free hand as she says it. "It took a long time for us to realise the truth. Our darling Elya doesn't remember being the Empress, and the Empress... elected not to tell us." She closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath, squeezing Elisa's hand. "I know you don't approve of Her because She can be -- cruel, mamulya, but -- She carved away all those pieces closer to humanity to send them back here, to become Elisa."
Yuliana pauses, and explains: "For we believe the Empress was once a resident of this Earth, as well, before She left ascended," and the words cluster over each other, as if she's trying to say two things at once. "She has been changed by Her timeless existence, but when She fell in love with me, She sent Elisa to walk amongst us and learn of our ways again."
And it's been a while, since Yuliana last clustered her words together, like that, but she doesn't stop to linger on it.
"But how could this Empress have done that," Sashenka frowns, "when our Elyushka is younger than you?" Not by much, but Yuliana is, barely, the older one of the pair... going purely by an Earth calendar.
"We suppose She must have had to send those parts of Herself to a mortal host, to grow as mortals do," Yuliana explains, with another little squeeze of Elisa's hand. "Which is why Elya has parents of her own -- and why she's always found it difficult to stay in touch, I suppose." Yuliana knows that Sashenka is constantly reminding Elisa to ring her mother, after all.
"That would explain it," Sashenka sighs, lowering her coffee cup down to the table. That she's doing so to avoid dropping it is something surely none of them will comment on. "This is... quite a lot to take in, docheri. But there's no denying our Elyushka have powers no mortal woman commands... so I would not call it unbelievable, either."
Sashenka settles back in her rocker, drumming her fingers on the armrest. "But you disagree on the matter of tearing our Yuliana to pieces, of course," she says, looking Elisa dead in the eyes. "And you'll say it." Because she knows Elisa is allergic to lying.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Indeed. Elisa is a horror witch who loves her wife.
"I did not," Elisa confirms when Yuliana states it. And then the natural question of youth, "I believe that the Empress is not entirely moored to time as we are. This is the same reason that, when I do not focus on it, I have difficulty with the passage of time as well."
'Stay in touch'. Yes, that is true. Both with her parents, and with the world itself.
Sashenka settles in, and Elisa stares right back into her eyes. "I state freely and without duress that Yuliana's well-being and happiness are my highest priority. I would not see her rent asunder for anything; if necessary, I will rend the world itself to accommodate her before I will see her harmed."
"...Yes, I disagree on the matter of 'tearing her to pieces'. And if necessary, I will defy my own greater Self in order to ensure her safety. This, I believe, is my divine mission... and more than that, it is my oath, as our Yuliana's wife."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Sashenka evaluates Elisa's oath, gravely. "You continue to ask us to accept the most unusual things," she says, gesturing to Elisa and Yuliana. (Both of them. Together!) "First you wished to marry a Meltrandi woman, Yulya, and now you tell me she is a fragment of a God? No -- not only that -- the very same God who has been tormenting your dreams and perverting your flesh?! And you come before me, and you say that this God disagrees with herself, and that she's my zhena docha?" And this translation of daughter-in-law, specifically, names Elisa as her daughter's wife.
She gets a little worked up, leaning forward in her chair -- but of course she would, where her only daughter's welfare is concerned, and she does calm down after she lays it all out.
Sashenka sighs, deeply, sinking back in her chair again. "You could not have found a normal man, I suppose," she supposes, bemoaning a future which couldn't be. "Haa... you always were a strange little child, Yulya. Perhaps it's no wonder you decided to marry a God..."
"I decided to marry Elya," Yuliana says, impassioned, "because I love her, mamulya. That hasn't changed now we know where she came from. She's done everything she can to protect me! Look -- just look at her ears," she says, and she looks to them, too. "You see the feathering, there? It is from when the Empress wished to change me in a way which would do me harm, and Elya volunteered for those gifts, instead. She put herself in danger just to save me from harm!"
"I... did notice that," Sashenkha sighs, again, before she looks to Elisa. "And I don't think you would lie to me now, either. No -- I suppose it is entirely likely you cannot, at least in this direct sort of way." She pauses, for a long moment, looking between them. "All right... I'll accept it."
"Really?!" Yuliana brightens, smiling again. "I'm so happy!"
And by the way Sashenka smiles, seeing that, she can't very well deny Yuliana her happiness either.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"This is true," Elisa acknowledges. They do ask unusual things. And she does not blink under Sashenka's outrage. This could be because she trusts her to understand; it could be because that is Elisa's nature, not to blink in the face of strong feeling.
"Indeed. Knowing the context, some things have changed... but my oaths have not. Nor has my love for your daughter."
Sahshenka doesn't think she would lie--in fact, suspects she cannot lie in this way. Elisa smiles, at that, and does not specify.
"Thank you," Elisa says, for this is not something that she could have forced. "...I will continue to make her as happy as I can, Mother."
Sashenka, daring to stand up against an incarnate god...
Yes. A worthy mother for Elisa's wife. Elisa may never say it, but the respect in her voice is not feigned.