2023-12-29: Where Do You Draw the Line?
- Log: 2023-12-29
- Cast: Leina Ashta, Kikka Kobayashi
- Where: Magallanica
- OOC - IC Date: 0097-12-29
- Summary: Leina and Kikka meet for a relaxed lunch in the heart of the fledgling new colony, Magallanica. Kikka reveals that her next interview target is none other than Char Aznable himself, but when it comes to Banagher taking on the Vist family name, they have to ask where the line is drawn.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Life on Magallanica was still in an unusual phase in any new Colony. It wasn't officially recognized after all, so immigration came primarily from refugees, and was dependent upon repairing domiciles from Industrial 7 to be livable.
The slow trickle of progress could not be stopped, however, and people were taking to their new circumstances well. Vital services were up and running, small businesses were flourishing on impromptu market streets.
Certainly they had to be careful about security, certainly so, and each day new protocols were being put into place in that regard, as Magallanica set up their own internal and external intelligence initiatives.
Kikka would feel perhaps, refreshed by the local free press that isn't beholden to some big corporation, is only running local ads, and finds it's information mostly uncensored by the Colony authorities, save when it is something of vital security importance.
Leina finds this place a breath of fresh air whenever she is here, visiting Mineva - or just... walking around. Reminding herself that this place can exist this way, in part due to the choices she made.
Going forward? It's up to them to keep it this way.
She knows of Kikka's presence, not because she's kept informed about Shuffle happenings anymore - but because Mineva told her.
And thus she arranged for the most casual kind of meet ups - Lunch!
She had been graciously offered Mineva's domicile, private chefs, etc etc due to Security Concerns but decided instead on a small local cafe.
A hole in the wall place that served authentic African Cuisine from a pair of deported OAC refugees.
Right now she's giving the beef Banga Soup a shot, while waiting on Kikka, pairing it with an Espresso.
"Pretty incredible recommendation~" Leina notes after her third spoonful, to an older woman off to the side, "You're in danger of me passing it on to everyone."
Her Cathedra security is 'around' but by around, they're out on the street, rather than in the place because she refuses to have all conversations with friends listened in on.
Right now Leina's wearing a pink sweater, a pair of jeans, and some worn in sneakers, sporting a bow on the left side of her hair.
She looks pretty normal for a Colony Girl at lunch... save you know, for the obvious security standing out on the street, keeping an eye on her, and anyone passing by.
<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.
To celebrate the holiday season, and that the city is no longer being assailed by legions of Dr. Hell's kikaiju, Kikka spent the last week back home in Fujinomiya. She's always happy to see them again, particularly the surprise of how much her little sister's grown every time she sees her.
By now, though, she's back in Magallanica. There's a lot of work to be done in regards to the development of the fledgling new colony... and she's been happy to be a part of that, too. Indeed, the local free press is a positive - it was impossible to get anywhere in Von Braun without seeing some kind of Anaheim promotion.
Today, Kikka is not out on any kind of intelligence business... it's nice to be a part of the community you're helping to build, after all. And she's got an invite for lunch with Leina!
In terms of cuisine, she's enjoyed the food on the Ra Mari II, and the rest of the Three Ships... enough to compliment Shinji, at least. But you can't go wrong with the smaller, locally-run cafes and shops, either. "The banga soup, huh?" She considers, as Leina starts on hers, giving her shining opinion. "If it's really so good.. guess I need to give it a shot, too." She decides, going for a matching order.
Kikka is dressed pretty casually, too, with a green jacket that definitely vibes closer to 'college student' than 'intelligence agent'. She tries not to let the presence of Cathedra security bother her.
"Thanks for making time," Kikka says, as they sit down in one of the cafe's little booths. "Bet it's been really busy over at Cathedra after everything that's happened. And that's not everything either..." And while Leina does look so much like an ordinary Colony Girl, she knows there's a delicate balance. "How's school? You guys must be doing the... U-FITS stuff now, right? You got anywhere in mind?"
Having started on the more casual talk, she gets started on her banga soup. Leina was right... it really is incredible.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina raises her espresso to Kikka as she comes in, taking a sip of it on the descent, before remarking, "I'm a fan. Had it before doing Yumi work in the OAC, but there's so many regional variants... that this one tastes entirely unique."
A smile alights her features, because indeed things have calmed down, and she's glad to catch up. "Always. It's just good to see you, Kikka."
Before she laughs, a hand threading through the side of her hair, "Given the deal we made... that's mostly a self-inflicted thing." She remarks upon Cathedra being 'busy.' "Besides I bet I'm nowhere near as busy as you. Setting up a network here comes with it's own challenges, I can imagine."
She takes a spoonful of her soup, again, before, "Mmm it's been..." She raises a hand, wobbling it as if to say 'So-So', "..Ni fu ni fa...? I was out so long and, footage of my little 'speech' in Dakar leaked."
She winces, shaking her head, choosing to use that moment for another sip of coffee. "Luckily everyone's so busy with U-FITS... and yeah."
She decides to keep her admissions problem under her hat, because well- she hasn't told Sayla, because the chances of Sayla simply 'making the problem go away' are high.
"A few close to home, but I was looking spacewards too." Leina smiles her way, "If I picked somewhere on the Moon, it'd be nice to come here on weekends."
For perhaps obvious reasons, given that one of her significant others dwells up here. "You? How's juggling course work with-" Another gesture, "-all this, working out for you?"
<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.
"There's a pretty huge variety. And usually, the chef puts their own personal spin on it." Kikka nods, about the cuisine from the OAC. "Which just means I'll have to stop by again sometime." The cozy atmosphere definitely helps.
"Busy? Little bit... but having the holidays off certainly doesn't hurt." She smiles, taking a sip of her own coffee order.
"The Sleeves remnants have been pretty quiet. I don't know if it means they've stopped fighting, or they're planning something... but I'm hoping it's the former." It's not as if Mineva's efforts were for nothing - a sizeable amount of them have followed her and laid down their arms.
Kikka's smile fades when Leina answers with her experiences at school, though. "Ugh... they should know better than to hang that over your head, honestly." Kikka shakes her head. "Hope not everyone's been giving you such a hard time about it. Or... yeah, at least minding their business to focus on their own education." To someone without the context behind Dakar, it might look a certain way... but it doesn't take a Newtype to show a little understanding.
She takes a sip, and her expression brightens when it turns back to school-searching. "Yeah, I can see wanting to stay close to the Villa... but Von Braun to here isn't a bad commute at all." Kikka nods. "Especially if you want to take things a little less long distance." Yeah, she saw right through that. "Either way... good luck! I'm pretty confident you'll find the right place." She wishes, without the context of Leina's issues with admissions..
But then the conversation turns to her... juggling course work and her work with Shuffle here. "The Shuffle side of things isn't the problem... it's a lot of work, but it's well-coordinated. I'd like to think I've gotten used to the arrangement, but well..." She pauses, taking a couple more spoons of soup. "Yeah, my final project's been going way slower than I was hoping. The Invisible Burst made getting in touch with the right people hard enough, not to mention how busy everyone's been." She doesn't look like she feels like it's hopeless, though.
"But I do have another lead... from your mom, actually. She suggested that I talk to him. Char Aznable." Hearing that from Sayla of all people was a surprise, but... "I'm honestly hesitant. He's still one of recent history's greatest war criminals. But I think it's true that few people would know Amuro more intimately."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"God, can imagine. Though I did finally get take a break myself uh-" This sorta sheepish grin breaks on her face, "-forcing Tessa to take a break, it was a whole thing."
The Sleeves remnants being quiet causes Leina to nod, and consider, fingertips tapping along the side of her cup in consideration.
"Unfortunately it's probably a... regrouping of sorts. The former seems... too much to hope for, given Bakaharov's ambition." Leina grimaces, "Make no mistake, he wants this place. He wants Mineva. He'd probably have already tried something if the Unicorn didn't complicate the position of anyone trying to take Magallanica."
Thankfully the proprietors have, gone to the back, in part thanks to Leina buying their time for a private conversation in exchange for the lost business caused by her security not letting anyone in.
"They should." She answers, of school, with a sigh, "But our school has a faction of kids whose politics are just - same as their parents. You know the type, NIA, never even met a Spacenoid."
She gives her a lopsided smile, "Except me, that is." And therein lies the true issue, that is? "God, all those years of being - behind on school, should already be two years into undergrad. Looking forward to being in a place where noone cares about petty high school drama."
There's a chuckle there, and a shake of her head, "Well until recently I was pretty... uncompromising on, closest school to the Villa. Was... pretty sure without me around that Mom would just, fall apart."
Something of a sigh there, before she perks up back into a smile, "But, things have changed, for the better. So- I don't intend to rule out other options abroad. ... Anyhow, thanks! I'm sure I will."
Leina does scrutinize Kikka as she speaks of Shuffle, after all she worked in Shuffle intelligence, choosing to focus in on the soup for a while, "I tended to think of it as working... high stakes dispatch for a bunch of professional firefighters." She tries to hide a grin, "But I have no doubt your project will work out. Like come on, you've got this. The only reason it's taking so long is because you're..." That tone takes on a faint tease, "... so particular, about it being done the right way, which is your way."
She has no room to talk in that arena, but-! She takes any excuse to tease her there.
For a time, Leina's spoon freezes when she invokes Char, then... she dips her spoon in her bowl, leaving it there.
"... Certainly I think he'd give your project a unique perspective, even if you might have trouble... citing him."
She takes a breath, closing her eyes, and...
"I think it's a good idea." She tells her, after a time, quietly, "I don't think I ever could... or should... forgive him, but he wants to be a part of Mom... and Mineva's lives again, and I don't want... to deny them."
Two fingers rub her face, "I don't know where my line is there. It's such... unfamiliar territory And it'll be the same way for you. Like-"
Her eyes look back up at Kikka, "-you probably almost died several times because of him." Before she then repeats it, "Where's... the line."
Before she murmurs so faintly that Kikka might strain to hear it.
"God... Banagher Vist-Links."
It probably doesn't take much to understand why that's an adjacent subject in her eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.
Kikka grins herself, as Leina mentions she was able to force Tessa to take a break. She doesn't know Tessa personally - different branch, but she does know how unrelenting she is towards her work. "Colour me impressed you were able to pull that one off," Kikka sips her coffee.
But in worse news... Kikka nods grimly about Bakaharov's ambitions. "Yeah, you have a point there... he's not going to give up just because he lost Frontal and a lot of his loyalits." She admits. "I think the best we can do in terms of intelligence is just to keep him on the back foot for now. But there's no doubt he's watching the changing winds across the Federation closely..."
And just as quickly, the conversation shifts back to school. "Yeah... I guess there are people like that." Kikka nods slowly. "Just have to hope they'll mature past that once they graduate." Even if it feels... unlikely for some people already set in their ways so young
"But university is definitely a... different experience, I think. Most people are there because they want to be." She explains. "Not that there aren't gonna be rich people who think it's just High School 2 because their parents sent them. But they're easier to avoid."
Kikka considers the idea that Sayla might just fall apart if Leina moved away with a heavy expression. "Yeah, I might've agreed with that, a while ago... but at this point, I think you should trust your mom." She smiles, lightly. "And still keep in contact! Even if it's embarrassing to pick up a call from your mom in the middle of campus commute." Is she speaking from experience? Oh no.
"Oh yeah, that totally tracks." She chuckles, about the comparison to high-quality firefighters. "And the Earth Sphere definitely catches fire very often."
As for the project... she takes Leina's teasing by burying her face into her soup bowl. "Well... that's the way it has to be, right? I don't just want to rush it with the surface level facts. You can read that anywhere."
She frowns a little sharply when Leina visibly freezes at the mention of Char... but she ends up encouraging her to go for it. "Yeah... everyone knows about the rivalry between the White Devil and the Red Comet, but I feel like Char always hid his true feelings on the matter. If I could get those out of him... well, it's his story to tell too." She agrees, a little shakily.
But she also considers Leina's feelings on the matter. "I don't think you need to forgive him. Or even trust him, at that. But if Sayla, and Mineva do... nothing wrong with watching out for them with a skeptical eye. Without overriding their own feelings."
As for her own interview with Char, that skepticism is just as important. "I'm going to be careful. Thanks to Shuffle, I have certain... protection available even if it's just for an interview. But I can't draw that line if I never heard a word from his mouth."
Another name, that Kikka marginally picks up. "Vist-Links..." she repeats quietly, emphasizing the first of those two surnames. "It's almost like he's taking on sins of his entire family." She guesses. "But... I don't know if that legacy can bring anything but suffering." She considers, as regards to Leina's feelings. Where is that line drawn?
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"Wellllllll..." Leina's eyes trail towards the ceiling, "... we had to take pretty extreme measures, but Shuffle Command backed it."
Which... shows how serious a circumstance it must have been if they brought Leina in, despite being indefinitely suspended.
"But Seolla- me and her spent a few days just, enjoying the Holidays along the Valencian coast, and in Paris so- worth it."
Again, a nod, and- a sigh, "Sadly I think... A Baoa Qu was... the worst day of his life. He's such a Warhawk he can't move past that." A weak gesture, "Yeah. Best one can do right now, he just holds too many hidden cards. We still have no idea how he made two Neo-Zeongs for example, even though everyone knows he did it."
But on the subject of school, and the idiots thereof, Leina smiles and shakes her head, "Some of them will, but my school is relatively privileged which... means, most of the morons stand to inherit something and... will go on to protecting their own selfish bottom line."
Still, she met enough people willing to change their mind on meeting her that it gave her hope. "Thank God." Is Leina's simple idea to most people being like that. "Thoroughly looking forward to none of my classmates knowing who my Mom is - or that I'm some cop on call, or looking up videos of me online giving some big awful speech saying-"
Leina raises a hand as of to gesticulate, "'Blah blah blah I'm thoroughly brainwashed - nothing will ever change, everything is bad forever - I'm the worst person in the history of humanity. Yes the actual worst. Gihren has nothing on me.'." She drops her hand, "'Because trauma.'"
Well at least she's come far enough along to have a sense of humor on it the matter?
"She made it really hard to trust that after Axis." Leina seems faintly amused at the idea of 'just trust her Mom'. "But yeah, I have a plan. Call at least twice a week. Keep in touch by text message otherwise. Have our housemates keep her in line."
Oh no. She's completely UNEMBARRASSED by that idea. Then again, Kikka has a very different relationship with Fraw than Leina does with Sayla.
Leina smiles at Kikka's embarrassment at her tease, "And yet it's not just that isn't it? You could publish something far deeper than surface level already, couldn't you?" As she presses lightly, "But it's too personal to you, to settle for anything less than some impossible journalistic ideal."
Certainly hearing KIKKA talk about going to Char is surprising, when Leina herself is grappling with the idea of letting him into her daily life.
Hid his true feelings? Leina snorts lightly on the subject, "I'm not sure the man knows what his true feelings are to this day." As she offers her own opinion on the matter...
But... as she offers, that...
Leina takes a breath and... "I tried to kill him you know. To get him out of their lives." There is something, ashamed? But not too ashamed in that. "Back when it was... when it was bad for me. Almost succeeded even. Still not sure how to feel about that." How easily she can invoke it as a joke one minute and then... be unable to say 'Puru-1' the next.
"Okay." Leina tells her, "But first time he acts manipulative, put me on speaker." As she adds a touch airily, "I already promised I'd shoot him, if he tried."
So then what's the speaker phone for!?
Indeed, she nods faintly at Kikka's statement, of him taking on the sins of the entire family.
"He, says he wants to redeem it. And you know... I try to be supportive..." She says quietly, seriously, "... I try... but... sometimes I wonder if trying to redeem that name after what they did to me..."
Her eyes stare down at her soup, at the murky depths of it, "... if he's already crossed my line, and I'm just in denial."
<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.
Christmas in Paris? Well, that is definitely something Kikka can get behind Leina returning from forever-suspension to do. "Totally worth," Kikka agrees.
"Sounds like the story of Neo-Zeon in general," Kikka nods, with a bit of a sombre look. Three Neo-Zeon movements... it keeps happening. "Whatever he's planning... we won't let him use Mineva as a pawn." She concludes.
"God," Kikka just vocalizes, as Leina talks about some of the things her classmates say with a hint of humour. "That's dire. I have no idea how you can just put up with all that, Leina." Surely the sense of humour helps, but...
She's a little more wide-eyed surprised when Leina reveals her she a plan when it comes to Sayla... but maybe she shouldn't be. "Oh, geez, okay... yeah. I can see why you'd want to nip any problem in the bud before it happens." Really different from with Fraw.
It's embarrassing for sure that Leina can see right through Kikka's 'journalistic intentions'... but maybe it's not a bad thing to be honest about, either. "Yeah, I guess that's it... I want to know exactly the kind of person Amuro really is, too. And unless I dig as deep as I can... I don't think I'll ever fully understand him." She nods, slowly. "I mean, I told Kai... it's always been about following his footsteps without ever moving a mobile suit." It's something she's had to think through herself, as mobile suits and other weapons inevitably dominate change more than anything. That showed no signs of stopping since the Axis Shock, but she still deemed it worth trying.
Even if 'trying' means stepping into the den of lions that is going face-to-face with Char Aznable himself. "If even he's not aware of them... then there's only one way I know how to bring them to the forefront. Everyone's least favourite... open-ended questions." She grins.
Leina tried to kill him, though... when she was Puru-1. Kikka frowns. "I'm not going to say if you were right or wrong with that." Kikka says, a touch heavy. "...Just that I'm glad you can think about it on your own terms now."
As for her offer to go on speaker the second he acts manipulative... "Oh, I'll gladly count on you for that-" She starts. To shoot him? "Wait, what??" Leina, at this point, he might not die even if you shot him point blank.
She also has to consider Banagher and the Vist family situation seriously, though. "I think he has the right intentions at heart, but..." Kikka starts, before finishing her own soup. But that isn't the whole story, because the Vist family hurt one of the girls he's dating in so many ways that the pain is still felt. "If it really is your line, Leina... then I don't think you should keep it to yourself." Kikka suggests. "If it's something you absolutely can't accept, then you deserve to have it heard. That's boundaries, right?"