2022-05-27: We're safe in our hotel! Wait, could I make my own kaiju?
- Log: We're safe in our hotel! Wait, could I make my own kaiju?
- Cast: Yuliana Dispersal, Elisa Kafim
- Where: Sri Lanka
- Date: 2022-05-27
- Summary: Elisa was never in any real danger. They discuss Alexis, and Yuliana invites her to do something even worse.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
There's a ring of candles on the table, wick burned to ashes; a tablet, laid in the middle, as if it were summoned.
The blinds are drawn, of course.
They're in a Sri Lankan hotel room -- lavish and comfortable, and entirely distanced from the violence being visited up at the Lagranges. One of the attackers of Junius Four was in no danger at all. This is, after all, a safe haven to recover in; and someone, at least, is recovering.
Yuliana has been sleeping for much of the past two days; sleep is a proven method to heal the body, after all. Her hair's looking much better, now she's managed to take care of it properly. (So is the rest of her.) She's in a comfortable, stylish green nightgown rather than a suit, at the moment, because she was sleeping through that ritual just the same.
But when she smells the smoke of dead candles, her nose twitches, followed by her brow; her hand grasps at the space beside her, and finds one of those fancy pillows, instead.
Jealousy-green eyes blink open, and Yuliana reaches out a hand, to the living-space of the hotel room. "Elya," she croons, gesturing with open palm, "come back to bed..!" It's only after she manages to focus on her that she sees precisely what ritual she's been up to, and Yuliana pushes a hand under herself, to pull her torso upright. "... what are you up to over there, darling?" She probes, without any particular concern.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa Kafim was in no particular danger in the battle, no. Her connection was however a little distant, a little ad hoc, which was not ideal for the kaiju. ...Pretty much nothing about that was ideal for the kaiju, though. But here and now that's terribly distant, miles and miles and miles away.
Elisa is attired in a black dress, seated at her tablet and her table. The television is, naturally, off. "I should work on my scrying," she reflects, and lets the tablet go dark as instead she turns Yuliana's way. "Yuliana, darling..."
She smiles at her like a cat who's brought in a canary. "A bit of work. I had a favor to do for a colleague. But that's all down now. And just in time, it would seem... You're awake."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Scrying... well, naturally. She is a witch. Yuliana might have been sceptial about such things once upon a time -- but she's known Elisa for long enough to believe that magic and miracles really exist.
Yuliana streeetches, once her knees are under her, arms up over her head. "A favour, mm..?" One hand comes to rest on her cheek, as she tilts her head, considering the work Elisa describes. "For our mutual friends, or..?"
With a yawn, she adds: "Seems I am! Goodness, how long was I out?" Since the last time she asked? She does like that question, but then, she doesn't exactly have a watch on hand.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
A pair of kaiju appearing in a colony is a miracle.
The flame that smites the enemy general is a miracle. Even if you're the enemy.
"Indeed not," Elisa answers breezily, not particularly inclined to hide it it from Yuliana in this case. "At least, not to my knowledge. I'm helping a growing boy understand the nature of promises," she says. "But that's done with."
She blows out the remaining candles, breaks the magic of the circle, and rises to her feet, leisurely walking towards the bedroom instead. "About fourteen hours," Elisa declares. She does have a watch on-hand, so to speak. And a number of clocks. She doesn't forestall further questioning about these other friends, but she does come to a stop at the doorway. "How are you feeling?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"How very motherly of you," Yuliana says, with a sly smile. "I never knew you had a soft spot for children. Or is that why you've adopted little Sharochka, hmm..?"
A hand comes to rest on her forehead, with a sigh. "That long..? And here I am, still tired!" That might not be entirely her fault. Bodies need sleep to heal, after all. But her hand drops back down to the bed, to smile to Elisa.
"I am... feeling rather much better than I was, though." Which has been a consistent response, every time Yuliana has roused enough to be good for conversation instead of necessary little things like taking more meds. She's improving! "My, were you taking care of your business in such a manner just to keep an eye on me..? How fortunate I am to have someone so diligent..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Ah, well." A laugh, at the idea of having a soft spot there. "I suppose I do appreciate their potential. So much ahead!" A smile, as she turns to look over at Yuliana, as she says that she is still tired. "Your body needs rest!" she says, saying the quiet part out loud. "But perhaps not too much more time, yes?"
Feeling much better... Yes, good. Improvement! "Excellent. And of course I will see you to feeling your best."
A beat. Yuliana makes an assertion! Elisa smiles more widely. "It did make my reaction times a little slower," she admits, "But that was no impediment to gathering the data I required. Though my, some people are awfully unhappy with me... It's terribly interesting."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"Potential? Well, you're hardly the first one to notice." How many child soldier experiments has Yuliana pretended not to see over the course of her military career? Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to.
But Elisa said the quiet part out loud, and so Yuliana sighs, her hand dropping back to the blanket. "I should hope not," she says. "I shudder to think of the paperwork that awaits me." As it happens, command ranks of the military do involve an awful lot of paperwork. It's not all giving children guns and letting them sort themselves out.
Her hands fold by her knees, as she smiles to Elisa, in turn. "Even so, you stayed with me..." There's fondness, in her trailing words, before she lifts her fingers to her lips to chuckle behind them. "Someone's unhappy with you? Perish the thought! You've done nothing wrong in your life!" It's a very funny joke.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Of course, for people of use I prefer adults. Much less unpredictable, and that potential is already realized. ...But now and then, the youth do have their advantages. Gymnasts start young. Researchers, often." Like Shari.
"Ahaha," Elisa laughs at the matter of paperwork. "Yes, there will be a great deal of that, I'm sure. They will be glad to see you, I think. But we will not see a repeat of this incident." Not at all.
The guns are the fun part, though.
Fondness--Yes. There is fondness in Elisa's voice, as well, though it may require a little work to tease out of her relentlessly pleasant demeanor. But she laughs harder at the matter of her life's work. "Ahahahah. It is true, I am only ever thinking of others."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"Quite so," Yuliana agrees, and whether she's agreeing with adults being more useful tools or certain talents starting young is hard to say.
And it's an interesting fact about Elisa, implicitly. Even outside the interesting fact of how confident she is, about whether this incident will repeat. Yuliana hums, though smiling lips. "You were quite convincing, I'm sure." There are a certain amount of assumptions, speaking like that, but -- even so, Yuliana is fond of her.
"You are so thoughtful," she purrs.
Now she's activated, Yuliana stretches out a well-defined leg, to find the floor, untangling herself from the sheets in the process. She's steady on her feet again, now she's on her pills, and she pads over to the doorway, to slip a hand around Elisa's waist. Apparently, if she can't coax her to bed, she'll just come to her!
"Now," she presses, softly, "who are these fellows who are disparaging you..?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Either's fine!
There is much about Elisa that is implicit. She's just like that. "Oh, yes." She was quite convincing! And Elisa is content to let Yuliana make her assumptions, for the moment; she has not explained all the details, and she does not intend to do so. But it's not like that makes them secret. They are simply... not relevant.
It's fine.
Elisa makes a pleased sound as Yuliana stretches out to find her, and indeed she might've gone in a minute, but this is good too. "Ahahah... I don't actually know most of their names," she says. "But I was informed by one of Zeon's best that I am a 'horrible person'. How quaint!"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
If Yuliana didn't trust Elisa, she'd surely press for all the details. But... doesn't her dramatic rescue prove she is trustworthy?
(That's one way to look at it, certainly.)
She insists! And tilts her head, looking up at Elisa, with a sly smile. "Surely that's a tremendous vote of confidence," she points out, amused. Her speech hasn't entirely levelled out, yet -- but it's much more normal than it was yesterday, even. "If Zeon has a problem with you, you must be doing something right." Yuliana's own feelings about spacenoids are -- no secret, really.
It might not even be too hard to figure out why, given she's mentioned being an islander in her youth. Colony drops do terrible things to the ocean.
"Making trouble in space, then, were you..? What data were you after in place like that, mm?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
That's definitely how it works.
"Oh, yes. Poor girl was terribly confused. Another of their experiments, I suspect." A light tone, "Her superior was much grumpier. And there were some Federation pilots there helping too, if I don't miss my mark." Yuliana's feelings are indeed no secret. Elisa even knows why. She is a smart cookie, after all. And she doesn't press the matter for now. Instead, she moves to answer her next question!
"Data on something called the 'Vessels of Light'," Elisa relates placidly. "Apparently they appear when humanity cries out in fear or pain or dismay. And it's true! One did! A Giant of Light."
"They could stand to interfere in our plans," she explains. "So I thought it best to be... proactive, in understanding them."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Her superior, again... Elisa has such an interesting way of framing the relationships between experiments and their handlers. "Federation forces, helping out there? Ugh! No wonder we make no progress, down here."
She's distracted from her pique, though, when Elisa relates what she's found. Her gaze lids, with an amused smile, as her other hand reaches up to cup Elisa's cheek.
"Darling," she purrs, "you've been talking to that Alexis, haven't you? My, my, my," she clicks her tongue, still with that affection in her tone. "Surely you recognise his thirst to direct everyone to assault his nemeses of choice, Elya. He's hardly subtle about it. Do you truly think they'll harangue us?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
All it takes is the profound secret of not really caring. Oh, not that it extends to Yuliana, of course. Of course! "Mm, yes. It was a motley crew."
But Elisa has found this, and Elisa turns into Yuliana's hand with a grin. "I have," she answers. "Ah, but he's so charming, isn't he? Especially when he gets nervous."
"But of course I do! And well, if they don't, then they're rather dumber than I imagine. Sadly, the one I faced didn't seem particularly talkative. I was hoping to learn a bit more."
"Regardless, their 'light' could make a valuable power source, if we find the need..."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Oh, Yuliana is quite sure Elisa cares about her. She might not even be wrong.
It would be impossible to open the gate without her, after all.
There's something soft in her green eyes, feeling Elisa's cheek in her palm. She smiles wider, as she goes on about Alexis and the Vessels of Light.
"What they don't know won't hurt them," she supposes, first, on the Vessels. "They already have a fated enemy to address... I don't see a need to inform them they've another. The most effective action is an action no one realises you've taken, after all." No wonder she'd say that -- she's one of the REA's special operatives.
"As for Alexis, oh, he's such a sweetheart," she agrees, smile turning to a grin. "The sort of fellow who can't comprehend direct action in the slightest. Why, I could just rip his presumptuous little head off!"
That's an interesting juxtaposition of friendliness and violence, particularly with the way her fingers twitch, as if she could imagine the movement entirely vividly.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Indeed!!!
"True enough," Elisa says of informing them. "But they do exist in direct opposition to what I'm planning. I can't help but be curious." The REA would say as much. And it's not a lesson that should be ignored, either. "Ahahah. Yes. He asked me if skipping to the second coeur was my habit or yours, you know. But I thought the book was very charming, myself."
She grins at Yuliana. "Please leave his head attached for now, though, even if it would be fun to watch him squirm a bit without it. He's very useful to me! He's provided me with a wealth of contacts, and you know how I appreciate kaiju..."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"The book. That book!" Yuliana starts, only for --
She siiighs, smoothing her fingers over Elisa's cheek. "Oh, very well, if you're set on asking so nicely I shan't beleaguer him too much," she agrees, with a shade of reluctance. "Though he's rather set on destroying me, so I may need to discipline him a little. He'll be fine!" Yuliana assures Elisa, with all the breeziness of someone who has a wide and wicked definition of 'fine'.
"After all, I would hate for you to have to find a new source of your favourite little pets, dear." Kaiju, presumably.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
The book! It could be a problem if she let Yuliana worry about that, wouldn't it?
"Lovely," Elisa says, though she 'hmmms' for a moment. "I don't imagine him bold enough to really hurt you, but if it does come down to it, darling--obviously destroy him utterly." A smile. "In the meantime a little discipline surely isn't a problem. I'm sure he won't even mind, knowing it's for a greater purpose."
"It would be a pity, wouldn't it?" she says of her pets. "Though I've been considering branching out into making my own... it can't be too hard."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
It could.
"Why, at this point, it's a game!" Yuliana agrees, cheerfully. "But I'll be sure to make sure he minds his manners." She's not talking about anything kind, so how can she make it sound so sweet?
"Making your own, mm? Well, I suppose your talents have a remarkable spread of applications. Surely the life force of men can serve for more than a revitalising snack!" Yuliana refers to Elisa's powers, here, and not her own, and perhaps that's for the best.
Is the world really ready for emotional void kaiju?
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"And we do so like our games. Good, good. I'd hate to think he got rude with you." How does she make it sound so sweet? Why, because of the company she's in, of course. That must surely be it.
"Indeed! I've been stretching my powers, lately. Monitoring business at a distance, for instance. Empowering kaiju. If I could figure out the knack of doing it, I could possibly make some better suited to our needs..."
The world is definitely not ready for emotional void kaiju. Which means Elisa will surely do it as soon as she can figure it out.
"But... I could certainly be persuaded to be done with work for a while."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Persuasion, is it? Yuliana's hand drops to Elisa's shoulder -- so she can lean up to press her lips against hers. "You oughtn't stretch yourself so thin," she purrs, low. "You work far too hard, darling. Are you not trying to set a good example for my recovery?"
Yuliana slips her arm around Elisa's back, to lead her over to the comfortable couch which their hotel room is no doubt furnished with. "Come, come," she directs her -- initiating action, as she does. "I insist you sit down a while..."
With her, obviously.