2011-05-25 - Two Siblings Strong

It's fairly early in the morning. Early enough that most of the base isn't active, but late enough that the morning watches have already performed changeover. As a result of this, with the night watches having already eaten and gone to bed, the mess hall is almost completely empty. A handful of overnighters, lacking any shifts for a few days, play some racing game on the mess hall TV. They're noisy, but keep to themselves.

A ways away from these fun-havers is someone who isn't having any fun at all. For the past several days now, Seril has been lurking around the mess hall in what is either a daze or depression. She's fairly easy to miss in that corner, seated and sprawled over the tabletop with her hands folded under one cheek.

'You need me', it had said. Those three words repeat over and over in her mind. Could that be why she can't do anything else? Is that horrible creature the only destiny she has? It doesn't help that Ascian has been busy. Shifting herself, the girl lifts her head and turns it, then just rests her other cheek on her arms, staring bleakly across the mess hall in that 'not really there' way. Quietly, she mutters, "...I wish I knew what to do..."

Indeed, Ascian had been quite busy. Between overseeing more repairs to Amenthes, checkups on the A.I. system - and its twice increased buffer, constant travel between Mars and Earth to advance comeraderie between BAHRAM and the DC proper, and god knows what else - every night he'd returned to a lonely and empty room, and just fallen asleep. If Seril had ever visitted his room during that time, it's very possible he'd never have noticed, because of just how deep his sleep had been each time. But the malpresence of Seril in his life /is/ something the framerunner will notice after a while. And the first chance he got - a time where he'd gotten no missions - he'd tried to find her.

That time is now, and he'd already dropped by her room. Of course, she hadn't answered the door to his calls, so he'd presumed that she wasn't there. A fairly good presumption, for that has him wandering the many large halls of the Earth Cradle trying to find her. He remembered a time where he'd found her near the mess hall, and that's exactly what's gotten him coming into this rather large area. It may be somewhat hard to see the blue haired young man. He's clothed in his rather tight framerunner suit - a new one however, this one mostly black, with a bit of red on it - and the lights of the messhall having been dimmed during this evening makes it that much more difficult.

Yet, perhaps Seril would recognize the manner in which Ascian walked, and would catch the sound of his feet against the messhall's floor. His eyes scan the place quickly, before spotting Seril and wanders over towards it. To him, it'd looked like she was asleep, the way she was laying, so he was being quiet. Under his right arm is a small blanket, since he'd actually figured he'd find her asleep somewhere. And when he stands over her, he gently puts the warm wool black fabric across the girl and looks over the table, to see if she'd been writing anything, before he leans down next to her, pondering lifting her up and carrying her to her room.

Seril isn't asleep, but she's certainly not 'there' in the traditional sense. She barely registers the person approaching, and the different suit throws off her brother-sense. Just when she about decides to just ignore the person's presence entirely and return to her thoughts, though, something warm and wooly suddenly drapes across her shoulders. Gradually, the emptiness in her eyes dissipates, as she comes to her senses. With a little 'mmf', Seril reaches up and rubs her eyes, sitting up. Blinking blearily up at the young man, it takes her a minute to recognize him. "Ahh, big brother~.."

Quite suddenly, she closes her eyes and rewards the framerunner with a yawn of truly enormous fang-baring proportions. Rubbing at her eyes again, she peeks up at him, "You finally got some time away from work?" It does seem like she just woke up from a powernap, even though she was never actually asleep. With her eyes tended to, the girl rests both hands on the blanket about her shoulders, hugging it to herself as if she really was quite cold, all while peeking up at Ascian, "Did..everything go well, then?"

Ascian can't help but smile a little when he hears that little indignant sound of hers, and then finds himself staring at her mouth opening, showing off her fangs. 'Did they get bigger?' - he wonders, before getting himself seated besides her. With her awake, the plans to move her elsewhere get shoved to the side. "Heya cute-stuff." Ascian replies lovingly, reaching a hand out towards her to pat her on the head. That smile doesn't disappear, neither does the kindness of his general visage. "Yeah. I finally got some time off. Sorry to leave you all alone like that." Sometimes he pondered getting Seril some friends here, so that she had others to properly talk to if she had trouble and he wasn't around.

Having settled in a bit better, he turns about so that his legs and chest are facing her - and is supporting his body by leaning his right arm on the table. His left arm remains somewhat slack along his side. "And things went well. I don't know how long I have off though. I'm being asked to do some recon on one of the nearby colonies. An old German-like place." He'd been there once before, and met a 'set' of girls who'd looked almost the exact same. The young man tries to recall their name, but comes up short for the moment. "Maybe I ought to drag you with me. I don't think you've ever been in space, have you?"

Seril's fangs have not in fact grown larger, though perhaps time away from her has skewed the memory a little. She shifts herself in her seat a little, then lowers her hands and fidgets lightly on the tabletop as she listens, "It's okay, I know you have a lot of responsibilities since you got promoted. I got a chance to do some thinking, and got to talk to Yatagarasu." Recalling it sends a chill up her spine, and the girl visibly shivers despite her unnatural body heat and the wool blanket resting across her back.

"German?" She looks up again, bewildered. The countries on Earth's surface are still something of a mystery to the La Gian girl. She's only just starting to get down the continents, and the big nations like Russia and America memorized. "Is it a nice colony?" The prospect of going along causes her to perk up noticably, "Ahh? You mean it? I've never been in space before!" She catches herself, then looks down with an anxious blush, "Ahh.. You go in space all the time, I must seem silly..."

"Hrrm..." Ascian's expression shifts a little when Seril claims she got to talk to Yatagarasu. He was always worried about this girl, whenever that sun god came up. "I trust you, Seril. But be careful about Yatagarasu. Remember at all times, it needs you - but you don't need it." At times he'd wondered what it would be like, if he told Seril to stop being a soldier. To just live with him as his little sister, and not go out in that horrible machine. It's not like he wouldn't be able to support her. But at the same time, she enjoyed going out with him on missions - or so it seemed. And he knows that there is an undeniable connection between her and that machine. To tear her entirely away from it might seem... like something that simply should not be done. Or might just lead to a much worse case scenario.

That shudder through her seems to tip Ascian off that something is wrong however, and he moves his left hand up to her back and rubs slightly against her lower back - avoiding the spot of her wings. "There there. Remember, you can always talk to me about it. I will listen. You know I won't ever think less of you." He sighs for a moment, then smiles a bit more when she suddenly starts blushing and gets excited. The subject of Yatagarasu gets dropped for a moment for a much more amiable subject. "Oh yes, it's a very nice colony, with nice people in it. As for taking you to space, sure. I'd love to."

The framerunner tips his head a tad to the right as he says this, chuckling as she gets all flustered. "Oh, don't worry about it Seril. I was somewhat excited when I actually got to go to Earth." Though also very much sad, because he'd lost his sister in transit. But he hides his sad thought... but perhaps Seril could see in his eyes that there was something behind those words he wasn't saying. "They even turn off all the lights after a certain point. So in some places, you can go and watch the stars, without the clouds being in the way. It's quite pretty."

Describing what it's like on a colony does little to curb Seril's enthusiasm about it. She clasps her hands in front of herself, eyes sparkling, "Oh, that sounds so pretty~! I can't wait, I can't wait!" It's almost possible to *hear* the record scratch when the subject returns to Yatagarasu. The girl hesitates, the joy going out of her eyes instantly. She looks down and away, shifting her seat and resting her hands on the tabletop. She does, at least, lean a little in Ascian's direction.

"..Yeah. I got to talk to him. And..I..don't want to have to say this.." Her fingers tighten up into little fists, "..But you're wrong." Shaking her head, Seril closes her eyes and rests a hand on her collarbone, "I...do need it. I can feel its heartbeat, even now. Its heart beats the same as mine." That hand lowers, her eyes cracking open with tears forming in the corners. When next she speaks, her voice isn't sad, but filled with that same anger she brims with when she pilots the godmachine.

"...And I hate it."

In the back of the mess hall, a commander smacks a young man who has been trying to get an old LP to play on a record player. "Be careful with that record! It's worth more than you are!"

In the meantime, Ascian's smile has once again faltered as the girl starts to cry. He feels as if someone had just grabbed onto his heart and started squeezing down on it, as she says those words. He was wrong. She needed Yatagarasu. And he couldn't understand why. The young man bites his lower lip, looking at her, his eyes shaking slightly in his sockets. It wasn't fear, but more... confusion. Wishing he knew what to say. But first he'd have to get over this shock. The anger in her voice, the fact that she'd lean in towards him. Normally, he'd be hugging her now, but he just... doesn't know what to do. At least, for a moment.

Then finally, his shoulders move down a bit, and the tenseness disappears from him. "Seril." He whispers, pushing himself up a bit and moving the hand he'd left on the table towards one of her hands, and pulls her closer by putting his other hand on her back. "Your big brother doesn't understand. Can you explain this to me? I know you hate it... but please, how is this possible? Do you mean that you must pilot it, or you will die, or what kind of reason is there you need Yatagarasu?" The framerunner sounds honestly worried.

Ascian's hand rests on hers, and a moment later, Seril places her other hand on top of his, sandwiching the framerunner's hand between her own. She closes her eyes tightly, biting back the anger building up inside her again. Anger at her situation, at feeling so powerless, so *used*. When she speaks again, she sounds calmer, though a bit quiet, "I..don't really understand myself.. It told me...No." She shakes her head a few times, then turns so she can look Ascian directly in the face with those violet eyes of hers.

"It *showed* me. I'm connected to it. I hadn't thought much about it before... but if I don't use it for a while, I start to go crazy, all I can do is think about using it again." Once again, she rests a hand over her heart, "I feel like..I've become a part of it. And there's nothing I can do about it."

Tearing her gaze away, the girl bangs a fist on the table in front of her. Anger creeps into her voice again, though it's restrained, "I feel like.. like I've been following a hallway in the dark..and when I finally find light, it's something terrible. And when I turn around to run away, the hallway behind me isn't there." Leaning forward, she cradles her head in her hands, a classic sign of frustration...or a headache, "I feel so helpless, big brother. I don't know what to do at all. It's like I'm trapped, and the only way to go is deeper into the trap."

The closest thing Ascian can even possibly come to equating this to is an addiction. But he knows it isn't like that. There is magic at work here. He knows it. There are no other ways to explain the wings, fangs, the change of color, the change of inner temperature, and god knows what else was changed about this girl. But to hear these words... hurts, because it very much reminds him of himself, and even his sister. And when she looks at him, he cannot help but look away from her for a moment. Ashamed. Ashamed that he cannot help his little sister. "So... you are like me." He whispers to her. That scared him. Although his connection with Amenthes was not at a point of no return - where he could step away from it - he knew he didn't have the mental capability to do that. He sighs a long sigh, and his shoulders go down.

"If that is the way it is... if you can truly not get away from it. Then there is but one dangerous option. And it is the same that I've been forced to take. And that is to steel your mind." In that aspect, Ascian and his sister were unique. As much as their Orbital Frames could pressure them at times, there was no way for them to take total control. Something had happened between those two that had set them apart from all those others amongst the I.D.O. mindflow experiments. They'd created a barrier of sorts, that even NewTypes had trouble reading through if the Luddite twins concentrated.

His head jolts up a tad when she slams her fist down on the table, and it actually has a few people in the mess hall looking up. "Seril. You may be following a hallway in the dark, but you are not alone in that hallway. I am there, right besides you. You may not be able to see me at times, but I will always be walking aloong with you on that hallway." If only he knew just how wrong he was. Seril would, certainly, outlive her older brother. Who knows what would happen, in so many years after now, when he would die of old age, and she'd still look as beautiful as when he'd met her? "If it must be like that, let us venture into that trap together."

The young man leans in towards Seril's face, and tries to place his forehead against hers - even with her cradling her head in her hands out of frustration. He reaches out both of his hands to take her smaller ones and pull them away from her forehead, so he could perhaps convince her to look into his blue, calm, and trusting eyes. "If you need something from me, I will be there, Seril. I will help you through this, every step of the way. Just keep strong."

It's somewhat tragic, the position this girl has found herself pushed into. It's such a profound dead end that she's still having trouble coming to grips with just how deep she's gotten. She certainly has no idea just how sad her later life is going to be, if she doesn't get herself killed by an enemy or consumed by the mad god possessing her terrifying machine. The girl doesn't cry, but still shakes - with anger - as she listens. "But..*how*..?" She doesn't know how to steel her mind. She barely even knows how to work the television remote. "I don't know how to do that, big brother. I'm not as strong as you..!"

He starts casting his lot in with her, and Seril just shakes her head slowly. Her hands don't take much prying, she just lowers them and looks up, bumping her forehead lightly against his with her eyes closed, "I'm just scared you might get hurt. I don't think I could stand it if that happened and it was my fault." Her eyes open at last, meeting blue with rich royal purple. She steels her nerves like that, though eventually breaks contact, just so she can wrap her arms around Ascian's shoulders and neck, awarding the framerunner with a tight hug. Her eyes squeeze shut, failing to hold back the tears, even if she's not sure what's causing them, "Thank you..! Just...don't get hurt, I'd never be able to forgive myself if you got hurt because of me!"

"I'll teach you." Ascian whispers to the girl, "I'll find some way to teach you how to steel your mind against that damned sun god." With her suddenly jumping up at his neck, he catches her with the hand at her back and pulls her further along, so she ends up sitting with her legs around his waist, on his lap. That way, she's high up enough that she can comfortably lay her head against his chest. He can feel those tears dropping down onto his chest as she still has her head against his. "It's okay, Seril. As you said, I am strong. And you can become just as strong - if not stronger - than your big brother. Even if I get a bit hurt, I'll be fine. I trust you, Seril. You will never truly hurt me." The hand not on her back moves to the back of her head and gently strokes through her hair.

He'd continued to look at those pretty purple eyes of hers, looking at her with those kind blue eyes of his own, and smiled lightly. But when she'd squeezed then closed and started thanking him, that smile faltered again. Not that it disappeared, but more that he didn't really know what expression to put up at the moment. Ascian had to remain strong for this girl, no matter what she would go through. "But I promise you, I won't get hurt because of things you do. Okay?" He nudges his nose against hers, and for a moment, lets his lips linger near hers. There's a sudden quickened beat in his heart, and he quickly turns his eyes away from her. "So... just trust your big brother. And things will be okay... okay?"

Seril considers this, resting against Ascian with her eyes closed. Thankfully, she misses that sudden awkwardness due to such an oblivious expression. She seems to be gathering confidence just from his presence. When those violet eyes of hers open again, peering into Ascian's pretty blues, they're filled with fire and courage, "I'll be strong with your help, big brother. I may have no choice but to pilot Yatagarasu... But I won't allow it to control me anymore!"

We'll see how long that aspiration lasts.

Closing her eyes again, Seril moves so she can rest her head comfortably on the framerunner's shoulder with a little 'hmm' sound, "I'll be okay." She seems to be reassuring herself this time, rather than talking to Ascian. Though, after a moment or so like that, she tilts her head a bit, "What's space like?"

Here's to Ascian hoping that aspiration will last for a while. Especially as he'd probably soon be starting to go out of his way to teach Seril how to block her mind against outside influences. Something that... likely... would not really work well - as his own ability at this is something that had been created through an enormous amount of stress, luck, and support from his sister. But he'd certainly try. Perhaps he'd be able to help the girl in some manner.

When the girl opens her eyes, he's turned his own gaze back to her, no longer as bashful as he's drawn his head slightly back - so that the little 'spark' he'd felt near his lips for that moment has properly gone away. "Just be strong, Seril. It will probably be a long road, and you will probably feel terrible a few times, or cry. But my shoulder will always be there to cry on." The framerunner continues to stroke his fingers through the 'princess'' hair, whilst she rests her head against his shoulder. "I know you'll be okay. And I'll make sure you will be okay too." Ascian whispers.

As for what space is like? When she tilts her head back up, he makes some distance again. There's that slight blush on his face that doesn't quite go away, feeling a tad guilty about that urge to kiss the girl in his arms. So he's keeping a bit more distance than he normally would. "Space is like... an unending stretch of night, with so many stars, you could never count them all. And there's other worlds, like Earth, out there. I personally am from Mars. You might know it as the Red Moon." That's how some of those from La Gias would call it. Just like Earth was the Mystic Moon. "I'll be sure to bring you there too one day."

So it's settled! Between the two of them, perhaps the bond of brother and sister (unofficial) can defeat the overwhelming power of a sealed god! In the same way that friendship is the ultimate weapon against evil. Maybe. Across the Earth Cradle, the Yatagarasu itself shows neither concern nor anger at this. In fact, it's just as dormant as it always was. Biding its time.

Seril nods twice, leaning back. She feels better, so she doesn't feel she needs to occupy Ascian's arms any longer, especially when she notices he seems uncomfortable suddenly. The girl re-takes her own seat, looking to be in much better condition now than when the framerunner first showed up. With a little smile, she rests her chin on one hand, staring off into space, "An endless night sky~... Oh, that sounds so pretty. I can't wait to see it for myself." Especially in Yatagarasu's panoramic 'You are right there' cockpit, it'd be such an amazing sensation of immersion. Though, the fluid-filled bubble would make the lack of gravity into something she wouldn't even notice. Moving around might be tricky, though. Tilting her head away from Ascian, her eyes otherwise settle on him, "Mars.. Ah, the red star that goes backwards sometimes?" With her other hand, she uses a finger to trace the odd 'backwards orbit' that Mars is known for when viewed from Earth, "I didn't know that was another world! You'll have to take me some time."

"It's quite pretty." Ascian replies, smiling and letting the girl get back to her spot to sit on. "Just be careful, because there is no air in the endless night sky. Only a few worlds out there have breathable air." The young man continues to explain. "But I would first take you up to one of the colonies, just you, me, and Amenthes." Pause. Beat. "That reminds me, you've never flown we me and Amenthes, have you?" The young man asks, whilst he sits back a bit more and turns about so he's sitting towards the table as well.

"And yes, Mars does indeed go backwards. When looked at from here anyhow. But yes, there's other worlds out there. Even more than just Earth and Mars and the moon." He moves his palm up and looks at it for a moment. His body, in the end, is just slightly different than that of a regular human's. It's almost impossible to tell now though, since he's so well trained as an Orbital Frame pilot. Weaker bones, weaker muscles - that used to be things he had in common will all Martians. But it was still somewhat noticable.

Seril closes her eyes, bobbing her head from side to side as she considers those words, "No air..So I'll need a spacesuit." Opening an eye, she points with her empty hand, "I could get fitted for a suit like yours!" which is probably not a mental image Ascian needed. Seril opens her other eye, considering the implications with a flat expression. Eventually, she just looks down, "Ah..or maybe not, on account of my..." she tries to find the right word that doesn't give it away in such a public place, "Um..Condition."

Those things certainly are starting to become a bother, aren't they? "Other worlds..that's really neat. I want to see them all!" Hesitating, Seril closes her eyes with a smile, "Ah, but I guess I should explore the galaxy one step at a time~." It's true that Seril is at least visibly identical to an earthnoid, but the differences under the hood are pretty substantial. Improved. Inhuman. She really is day-and-night when compared to her big brother, isn't she? Leaning forward a bit in her seat, the girl asks, "About when will we go, big brother? Will we have to take your robot? I don't want to make her jealous or anything."

No, that really is not the mental image Ascian needs at this point in time. Sure, he was used to seeing framerunners other than himself, and females at that. So it wasn't like such a thing really did much for him anymore. Yet still, he cannot help but get a bit red in the face and look away from her. "Ah... m..maybe." He stammers in response to this suggestion. A hand goes up to his nose, but luckily, he's not that kind of anime character who starts getting nosebleeds about such images. When she then starts stammering all of the sudden, Ascian chuckles. "We can just give you one of those backpack units to wear on your back, you can hide your wings in there." Wait, why is he suggesting they do this!?

He quickly stammers his way out onto the other subject. "Well, I'll be sure to shown them all to you then. Indeed, one step at a time." He turns towards her again, the blush on his face still slightly there, and his arms over his chest. He's kind of fiddling with the fabric at his sides with his hands, feeling a tad uncomfortable all of the sudden. Curses. Cute girls surrounding him all over the place. When she then leans forwards, he doesn't back off this time however. "Ehhh, we can go tomorrow. And Amenthes will be fine... Why would she get jealous?" Oblivious Ascian.

Seril is blissfully unaware of just how much stress she put on Ascian with such an innocent comment about the tight-fitting spacesuits commonly worn by frame runners such as himself. She's busily daydreaming about how great space must be, up until he whispers that sentence to her. Her face reddens rapidly, and she shoots looks around to make sure nobody actually heard it. Even though his voice was so low, she's still panicking about it. Once she's confirmed nobody else picked up on it, the girl leans towards Ascian with a mildly scolding tone, "Please don't talk about it so casually..! What if someone heard you?"

She's not angry, but visibly upset in the more comical 'about to cry' fashion that's so adorably melodramatic. Not like the other times when she had a real reason to be upset, and the expression was more genuine. Hands balled up near her face, eyes big and round, mouth turned up in a little frown. It doesn't last long, and she lets out a soft sigh when the tension passes.

"Okay. I'll pack some extra clothes and my toothbrush and we can go tomorrow!" She pauses, though. "..I don't actually know~... Didn't you say she was really possessive of you? Will she be okay with a girl in the cockpit with you?"

"Nobody heard me." Ascian whispers in reply, smiling at her. He had a good sense of who was nearby, and how high his voice's volume was. He was a trained soldier - and more importantly, trained in infiltration and sabotage. He knew how to get a good feeling of his surroundings without having to look around himself all the time. "You're fine." He can tell that she is trying to be mock-upset, and just puts a hand on her head and pats her there. "Stop being silly. You know perfectly well that your big brother is more careful than that."

He then sighs and leans his head on his hand - elbow against the table. "As for Amenthes. If she gets possessive of me, well, I'll just tell her to buzz off." He tries to put up a strong look for her, to show that he could control his 'god in the machine'. But in his case, things were different. Where-as Seril and Yatagarasu conversed between eachother, Amenthes was more like... another side of him. "Anyhow." He wags his other hand a bit in the air to dismiss that topic. "Sure, go pack some extra clothing. But ehh... do you /want/ me to see if I can get you one of those suits? I hear that they are greatly durable under great pressure and heat too."

The fact that she knew nobody had heard is precisely why Seril put on such a show. She's trying to lighten the mood a bit after her outburst when Ascian first found her. When patted, she bows her head forward, eyes closing in a pleased fashion, and the girl lets out a little laugh. Opening an eye, she smiles lopsidedly, showing just one fang, "I know! I was just playing around a little. I trust you, big brother, you wouldn't betray me like that."

Seril leans back, folding her hands primly, "She listens to you when you do that?" Pursing her lips, she taps them with a finger as she says, "When I tell Yatagarasu to shut up, it just gets angrier and I have to try and tune it out." Anyhow! Seril pushes her chair out and stands up, bowing a little, "I'll go pack some things now, so I don't forget! And..." Hesitating for a moment, the girl leans forward and gives Ascian another hug, "...Thank you, big brother. I feel a lot better now."

"Of course I wouldn't betray you." Ascian chuckles, smiling at the girl and chuckling as she is showing that she was just playing around. And he was aware of this at the time. It's why he'd patted her on the head, and smiled at her when she'd shown him that fanged smile of hers that makes the young man feel a bit warm to the chest. He reaches his head a bit fowards towards the girl, and then halts as she taps her lips with her finger. He bites his upper lip for a moment, and then shyly looks away again.

Darnit feelings, go away. That's something along the lines of what Ascian is thinking a tthe time. And this only gets worse when the girl hesitates, and then leans forwards towards him. His cheeks turn redder and redder, until she finally just gives him another hug. Of course, his arms automatically reach out towards her, and he gives her a hug in reply. "You're welcome, Seril." The young man comments, and decides to set his heart at ease by just kissing the girl's head - on top of her hair. "Now run off and get your clothes together. We'll be leaving in about ten hours, okay?"

Silly Ascian. It seems those feelings are only one-way! At least currently. Seril straightens, resting her hands on the edges of her coat and adjusting it a bit as she thinks. "If you did want to get me a space suit, though.. I think that would be great! Though I'm not sure how much I'd be able to use it." She smiles a bit, "I like red and white and surprises!"

Innocently, she raises a finger and points, "Your face is all red, though. You should see your physician before we go, okay? If you're sick we can always go another time." She bows a bit, then, "I'll pack for two days. I can always do laundry if we stay longer. I'll see you later!" And off she goes. She's so oblivious, it's almost adorable.