2010-04-05 - Parallels

The Shirogane may be large for a capital ship - even if it's no Exelion - but it is still more or less a closed environment. News travels fast... especially when that news involves the dead coming back to life, and the repercussions of such 'miracles.' No matter how good Excellen Browning might be at hiding how much Lamia Loveless's return has shaken her, no matter how good /anyone/ might be, there's always ways to tell.

Leo Stenbuck knows a few of those ways himself; he's already gone through - and in most cases is still going through - the emotions that he's sure Excellen is. And although he and Assault-2 might not be terribly close... well, since he's the CAG on the Shirogane, technically she's still one of his men, even if she's not GNX Team.

And it isn't like he can count on Stoic McPokerface over there to handle anything involving expressing emotions.

Leo slows to a halt outside of Excellen's quarters and bangs his fist a few times on the door. "Lieutenant Browning?" he calls, doing his best to speak gently despite the necessity of raising his voice. It is a difficult combination, and he doesn't really nail it. "It's Captain Stenbuck. Can we talk?"

The past 48 hours have not exactly been what Excellen would consider the most fun and games happiest-days-of-our-lives. Just as gossip regarding the 'break up' of the GNX team has spread like wildfire in whisper (and let's face it, Stenbuck and Halvey aren't the best kept secret ever EITHER), everyone know's who's being held below decks.

The loss was bad, but getting her back? ..Never mind Linjun's smug i-told-you-sos regarding their Runaway Traitor.

It's unexpected, that Leo would show up at her door, though. A door that remains closed to him for a good few minutes and several door slammings. The reason for the lack of response isn't long in arriving, however, as heels click along the paved flooring of the residential deck. Pair of beer cans held in one hand and a small datapad in the other, Excellen pauses mid-stride as she notices the younger figure outside her door, fine brows arching slightly.

She isn't entirely sure why he's here. It isn't like Leo doesn't have his own baggage trailing after and attempting to trip him up lately. "Heeeeey," she calls from behind, waving said beer cans in a cheery manner. It's about 3 watts less bright than usual; only Bullet and Kyosuke would really notice that sort of fine detail, though. "Fancy seeing you here~! What can I do ya for, Leo?"

Yeah, about that lack of formality thing..

Leo is nothing if not stubborn, and he's more than willing to wait. In fact, he's in the middle of another series of knocks when Excellen calls out to him; he stops his fist mid-swing and glances over his shoulder, only barely managing to hide his surprise.

SOME TIME AGO

Leo Stenbuck sticks his head in the Shirogane's central security station, where Second Lieutenant Brough Grabbs is currently on shift watching the cameras. Grabbs is wearing a pair of wireless earphones, and totally wailing on some air drums.

Leo asks, shouting to be heard over the Lieutenant's music, "IS BROWNING IN HER ROOM?"

Grabbs, whose music is so loud he still has no idea what Leo just asked, shouts back, "YEAH, TOTALLY!"

"THANKS!" Leo flashes Grabbs a thumbs-up and ducks back out of the security room.

NOW

Leo doesn't really mind Excellen's lack of unprofessionalism - at least off the record. During operations and briefings, of course, is another matter, but off duty, hey, whatever. He prefers 'Leo' to 'Captain Stenbuck', anyways, and honestly he was expecting it from Excellen.

What he wasn't expecting was her clothes. The A-LAWS Uniform Browning Custom totally derails the young man's train of thought, and he fixes his eyes on Excellen's breasts and eloquently responds to her question with, "Uh..."

He repeats the 'Uh...' a few more times before he shakes his head vigorously, and actually manages a sentence. Even wnen he does, though, he's still talking to her chest. "We need to talk," he blurts out. "About Lamia."

The A-LAWS Uniform (Browning Custom) has an added +100 to Stun. It's Super Effective against most people, regardless of 'type' -- save one, but she's still working on that. For this reason, she doesn't look remotely surprised by Leo's derailment from his intended visit, nor the focus of his dazed gaze being fixed below her collar bone.

Still once he does manage to form a coherent sentance, the smile that was freezes abruptly; if he glances up a fraction, he might not the lines of her throat grow tense, and a small swallow to follow.

"I see," she manages, false cheer in place, before she sways on up to her door. If he thought the cut of the coat and the micro-skirt was bad on /Rei/.. "Well. Guess ya better come in then." That name, and topic, isn't one she's comfortable banding about in an unsecured corridor after all.

The advantage of being the first assigned is, more or less, first pick of the decent living quarters on deck - the ATX Team might not have the best of the best, but they're decently sized. Excellen's is remarkably tidy for someone noted for her bubbly personality and eccentric behaviour; no stray laundry, no uniforms or towels left dumped on the floor, no tacky posters.. The only thing that might be considered messy is the desk on the left when you immediately enter her living space, covered in paperwork, repair manuals, gespenst maintanence guides and several gun catalogues.

Beside the PC monitor is a smiling photo of a much younger Browning in graduation dress and a taller, greying older gentleman with an arm slung over her shoulder, both grinning at the camera with matching expressions. It's not an expression she's wearing right now. Gesturing at the chair by her desk, she sets the beer cans on a small side table. "What's there to talk about."

Leo does catch a glimpse of Excellen's sudden tension, because when it strikes, he detects the slight change in air, figures she's mad at him for staring at her chest, jerks his eyes sharply upwards to her face.

He simply nods a response to the sideways invitation into her quarters, and steps aside to let Excellen past; once she's in, he follows, his eyes dropping automatically to her butt while her back is turned. He forces his eyes away again to close the door and look around the room.

He's... surprised by how clean it is, he has to admit to himself. He expected... well, frankly, as much non-regulation decoration as she could jam into her quarters, not to mention dirty laundry. She seems the type to just leave her dirty clothes lying around.

But, well, maybe that's just wishful thinking that he'd get a glimpse of thong.

Leo lowers himself into the offered seat before he settles his eyes on Excellen - on her face, even, with great difficulty - and speaks again. "I wanted to make sure you were doing okay," he explains to Excellen, folding his arms across his chest. "A little bird told me you were..." Unsure of how to finish the sentence, he lets it trail off, and briefly unfolds his arms to gesture vaguely.

If this had been her quarters back at Langley....Maybe. But not so much when away from 'home'.

Being stared at is nothing new to Excellen, and it's hardly as though the blonde is noted for being shy of that sort of attention. It keeps people on guard and off their mark, just how she likes it. Settling herself directly opposite, butt resting on the small table and legs crossing in a decidely lady-like manner, arms stretch back and balance her weight on the heel of her palms.

"Really." She watches the gesture with faint amusement, though it doesn't linger long, or meet her eyes. Head cants very slightly, turning attention away from her guest and fixing on a point over her desk, along the shadows on the wall. "Not 'tirely sure which birdy beeped, but.."

"That's super thoughtful of ya, Leo. I didn' realise I'd made folks worry about me." Much. Gold ponytail swishes against her shoulders as she shakes her head. "Mind you, I'm pretty sure we're all a bit surprised by..." Her.

"Someone coming back from the dead loses its impact the second time," Leo assures Excellen, his voice grim. His eyes flit down to her body, and the interesting ways it elongates with her posed like that, and the fact that he has a pretty clear view to her thighs, even if her legs /are/ crossed. Why does that uniform - 'uniform' - look so familiar?

-- it's because R- because /she/ was wearing one, in La Gias. He doesn't know how that happened, and really, he doesn't care. The memory of Rei Ayanami's second 4 AM visit to him hits him like a brick, and Leo suddenly sags backwards in his seat, transforming from 'concerned and distracted superior officer' to 'exhausted teenager' in the blink of an eye.

She doesn't seem terribly upset, either. It figures. He's just wasting his time, after all... not to mention Excellen's. And she's sure keeping her distance... she's probably afraid he'll hit her, too. Fantastic.

With a tired sigh, Leo unfolds his arms again and reaches up to scrub at his face with both hands. "You don't sound very upset," he points out bluntly, his voice muffled by his hands. "I can just leave, if you don't want to talk to someone. I don't want to waste your time."

There's an odd grin in answer to Leo's statement. "Of course I'm upset," she replies, Excellen's voice gratingly cheerful, the smile strangely bright. "People just aren't very good at recognising it. It's easier that way, when they don't understand." ..Easier for who, though. That's the question.

Hit her? He'd have to catch her to land it first. Still.. They aren't close, and they're not even what anyone would call friends, either. But Leo came to check on her anyway. Gaze regains its focus, coinciding with the sudden slump of the younger guy in his chair, his words ticking slowly over in her head, turned over slowly for consideration.

There's a short, sharp inhalation. "You're not wasting my time," she says softly, watching him. The weird tone having faded like mist. Though it sounds less like you want me to talk to you, and more like..

She hedges a bet, taking a leaf from Kyosuke's stock in trade -- not that they have much to gamble here. "It's..a shock. To the system. Like time rewound without warnin' on ya."

Leo grunts, and lowers his hands back into his lap. "Something like that," he agrees, dropping his gaze to the floor. He doubt Excellen has had to deal with the same sorts of things he has, of course. Part of that is just teenager selfishness, typical 'no one can understand what I'm going through, I am unique in my suffering' bullshit. On the other hand...

... well, no one's insisted that Lamia was merely 'severely wounded' yet. ... have they?

"Have you talked to her about what happened?" Leo asks, without looking up. He hadn't really thought about it, until now; all he had heard was that she was back, and he'd been too busy to spend time wondering how or why. "To Lamia, I mean."

She's not really sure who had it worst, in that respect - both watched someone close to them die in sudden, unexpected, horrific ways.. Both of them grieved..

There was a hole there.

And then they came back. Though it didn't take Rei a month to return to 'life', medical 'miracle' or otherwise.

"Lamia died."

It's such a brutally blunt statement, it hangs heavy in the air for a moment between them. Taking a deep breath, Excellen crosses her arms over her chest, under her bust - likely in a distracting manner, were Leo actually looking at her - it's a good thing that he's not. "The person held in the cells down below.."

'Lamia was in the cockpit at the time of the fire.'

"I am Lamia Loveless."

'..she would have been burning from the inside as well as blast damage..'

'My creator coded me "W-17," if you prefer that.'

Her remnants were not human..

"I'm sorry, Miss Excell."

She looks like her, speaks (sort of) like her, acts like her. Excellen's head bows slightly, then looks to the floor. Her voice full of uncertainty. "..I don't know who they are."

About the same time that Excellen's gaze drops the floor, Leo's lifts back up to the woman. It's comforting, in a way, as she becomes more obviously upset. It's not that he likes seeing her unhappy, of course; it's just a side of her he's never seen before, and it does a little to remind him that he's not the only one suffering.

And the more he can focus on other peoples problems, the farther away he can get from his own.

Leo takes a deep, even breath, and crosses his arms over his chest again... and just like that, he's back to being Captain Stenbuck. "So you think she's... what, an impostor? Why? What did she say?"

The question is posed bluntly, as most of Leo's are lately, but he doesn't sound demanding or accusatory. In fact, he sounds sincerely curious.

An imposter? "...We're dealing with a Shadow Mirror operative, former or otherwise," there's a careful neutrality to her voice as blue eyes regard her boots - not scuffed, but could use a wipe down, she'll have to remember that for later - "part of an organisation from another place that has joined with the Divine Crusaders, and who made a concerted effort to detain or recapture her...or give the appearance of such. We can't rule out anything."

On the one hand, what better way to deliver strife directly into the heart of the newer taskforce. And yet, on the other.. So much effort, over one person? Such a reaction to a defection seemed excessive, even for their forces. What did they have to hide..?

These are questions that have run laps around her head, made futile and illogical and fruitless with only her own counsel. Made worse by facts delivered in an email replying to an emotional request, after an audience at gun point. As Excellen has learned in short order: be careful what you wish for - you might just get it.

In truth, there's only one person she really, truly wishes to speak with about this right now -- but she doesn't know where he is. And Leo certainly isn't it.

But he does, in his own way, from his own experience, /understand/. ..Or, at least, she hopes he does.

The blue eyes that meet his hold unexpected strength, shadowed heavily by sorrow. And answers his question with one of her own. "What makes you doubt Ayanami's claims of who she is?"

Leo listens quietly to Excellen's reasoning, his expression that of a man doing his best to look neutral instead of miserable... and only making it to grim. He can empathize, really; he felt something resembling that way about Fiona Gureden for a long time; they couldn't trust her, they don't even know where she's from, et cetera, et cetera.

That was before they knew about Shadow Mirror, of course, but if anything - at least in theory - the knowledge of the extradimensional threat makes them... well, less threatening than Fiona was, at first. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't, right?

Personally, Leo isn't so sure. The more he thinks about it, the more knowing the devils seems vastly unimportant compared to knowing your friends. After all, the biggest dangers always come from within.

Yazan Gable taught him that.

Leo tilts his head to the side when Excellen asks her question about Rei, and spends a few moments in obvious contemplation. Eventually, he says, entirely seriously, "If I told you, I'd probably have to kill you."

He holds up a hand to quiet the indignant response he expects, and continues apologetically, "Sorry. I know it's hypocritical of me, to ask you about Lamia and then give you... that. But it's the honest truth... and I didn't come here to talk about R-" His voice falters, damaging his attempt at 'mysterious badass', and he swallows roughly. "... about her."

"But you didn't answer my question," he forges onwards, rising out of his seat to take a step towards Excellen. "According to regulations, you're right. We shouldn't trust her. But you've never been one for regulations," he notes, his eyes scanning down over the woman's uniform again.

"So please," Leo asks, his voice softening. "Tell me why you think she's not really Lamia. I don't care if you just can't believe that she's back. I need to know."

He stands. He moves. He speaks. She doesn't look remotely impressed, or threatened. Whatever indignation he expects does not come, before or after he raises his hand. All there is, for a brief moment, is a surge of disappointment, and unexpected sympathy, each emotion passing one quickly, unable to linger in this atmosphere.

Unlike Leo, Excellen has never been afraid to extend her hand, to allow some measure of trust in another person no matter who they were. Like Fiona -- she sought her out as much to learn about the girl herself as it was to gently probe further into details that did not add up, to ask questions that shed light on..details..That the ATX Team have kept to themselves.

After all, who else but them care that Axel Almer wants to turn Kyosuke into a fine red mist whenever the pair step onto the same battlefield? And for a young girl to react in such a manner to one name alone..

It also says a lot that she doesn't seem to find Stenbuck's death threat a laughing matter. But then again, she was trained by one of the most serious and direct men alive. "I believe you," she shrugs. It's what you *don't* say about Rei that tells her, at least a little, what you don't want to admit outloud. The heart is funny like that, sometimes.

..Ah, if only she really knew.

"No, I didn't. Nor am I going to." After all, they are both off-duty, and while he is a commanding officer in terms of rank, he is not her direct superior -- and as he himself pointed out, she's never been one for following or obeying regulations. Excellen owes Leo nothing, has no obligation to tell him *anything*... "Not right now, anyway."

"But when I next speak to..her, I'll know." Know if I do. Know if I don't. The tone of her words hovers on the edge of uncertainty, though do her doubts lie in the nature of the question, or the reply she's expecting to hear once it's asked?

Two dozen red roses, left waiting in an emptied room.

"And when I know, I'll tell you."

She can't really promise him more than that. But there has probably been more honesty /here/, in this conversation, than Leo's likely had in a while. Heaving a sigh, she stands up. One hand reaches behind her and the second beer can is picked up. Considered for a moment. Then tossed directly at the Captain. Heads up! "Have a feelin' we both might be needin' one of these at some point today." Juuuust a feeling. That Excellen's offering it is as much a gesture of...something, anyway. It's not even particularly strong beer, but it was all they had in Stores.

Excellen isn't the only one to end up disappointed; Leo doesn't bother to hide his frown when she straight-up refuses to answer his question. But he doesn't interrupt to complain, or even just huff impotently. He just looks sad.

When Excellen tosses the beer his way, he unfolds his arms and snatches it out of the air in one fluid motion before dropping his arms to his sides. "Probably," he agrees... and then, without preamble, he turns and heads for the door.

He only stops after he's reached it, his hand hovering over the control to open the door. "Excellen," he says, without looking back over his shoulder. "I'm sorry I can't answer your question. When I finally can... I hope you'll understand why."

He hesitates, and then continues, "And I hope the fact that I can't... doesn't factor into why you won't answer my question. And that I haven't done anything to make you think you can't trust me."

"If you decide you need to talk about it, my door is always open. Please tell me as soon as you can answer my question." Leo finally moves again, opening the door to allow him exit. "Thank you for your time."

"You don't need to explain. Or apologise," Excellen replies, shaking her own head slightly. "You have your reasons, an' you haven't done anythin' to make me doubt your sincerity." She might think you're slightly cracked in the head and should probably seek professional counseling at some point...but she doesn't think Leo's a liar.

Not in regards to this, anyway. "When I know, I'll tell you," she reiterates a second time, "And don't think that I don' appreciate why you came, either. If you need to talk.." there's a pause, before Leo offering a lopsided smile - at his back, though its audible in her voice. "Make sure to call ahead, or you'll end up knockin' all night with no one home."

To be fair, Leo /is/ slightly cracked and /should/ probably seek professional counseling.

To be double fair, he's also a liar. Just... not right now.

Leo pauses for another few seconds at Excellen's offer. When he eventually responds, it almost sounds like he's smiling, too... but if he is, it isn't anything even resembling a happy one. "So it seems," he agrees, sadly.

And then he steps out of Excellen's room, and turns to head down the hall.

The door closes behind him.