2010-05-30 - To Love and be Loved, So Precious, So Cheap

SOME TIME AGO

Johnny Domino's specially issued A-LAWS aPhone begins ringing. The ringtone is a synthesized rendition of the theme song from the hit show 'It's Always Sunny In Neo Philadelphia'.

Unless C.C. changed it

C.C. did indeed change it. It is now a MIDI of bits from Sibelius' 7th Symphony. This ringtone change cost Johnny Domino four Macross dollars, since it just gets automatically billed to his account. The phone rings and rings, and eventually goes to voicemail, which C.C. has changed the message of as well.

"You've reached the phone of John Domino. I'm sure he'd love to speak to you, if he's not in one of his bizarre little moods. Leave a message and I'll try to remember to pass it along to him, provided it sounds important enough." BEEP

And then a message informing Johnny that the voice mailbox is full and no longer accepting new messages.

The second time the phone goes off, it goes and goes and goes and then there's an answer. A loud television set is playing in the background. C.C. sounds groggy, but still manages, in her pseudo-Teutonic accent, "Ahoy, ahoy."

Johnny Domino, very very upset, very very frustrated, and very very worried, foregoes the pleasantries. In a voice that is both extremely dry and extremely restrained, he blurts out almost immediately upon hearing the second ahoy:

"Please stop using my phone."

It takes about two minutes before Johnny Domino's phone begins ringing again. The caller ID is the same as before - an A-LAWS public access hub number.

It's rather impressive, all things considered, how Domino managed to hold out for two whole minutes. That, or he was taking two whole minutes to reach critical boil, either or.

Four rings pass before C.C. answers again. "Ahoy, ahoy," she says again, nearly being drowned out by the noise of the television.

An astute listener might recognize the theme song of Dancing With the Gundam Fighters. C.C. doesn't give Johnny a chance to speak, though, because immediately after her greeting, she says, calmly and boredly, "Before you go off on some irritable tangent or another, John, you should really decide what it is you want, for me to use your phone or not. Is 'John' short for 'Johnathan?' Or is it just 'John?'"

Johnny Domino WAS about to snap at C.C. and say something along the lines of 'Don't hang up on me', or 'Don't do that again', or 'That's not what I meant', or 'FUCK YOU'... but the girl on the other side of the line doesn't give him the opportunity to. The world will never know what the Agent planned to say.

Instead, the young man snaps something completely different: "It's Johnny!"

"Not 'John', or 'Johnathan', just Johnny! Nothing short about it -- and don't shorten it even more."

Unlike in C.C.'s case, there are no background noises on Domino's end of the line. The A-LAWS public access hub is much akin to the library as far as respect for silence and professional work ethics go. Which might explain why Johnny doesn't continue snapping at the girl by raising his voice, and instead tries to calm down.

"What I want you," he says, slowly and through gnashed teeth, "Is to pleeeeeeaaaaaaase give me my phone back."

C.C. is quiet for a long moment; this 'quiet' is relative, considering the TV is still blaring. She audibly flips through a couple channels. "All right," C.C. says. "I don't know why you don't simply just get another, but your decisions never seem to make much sense anyway. Really, a girl named 'Rocbell?' Can you imagine whispering sweet nothings, interrupted every so often by what sounds like some sort of half-hearted clearing of one's throat?"

C.C. doesn't give Johnny a chance to explode about that. Not immediately, anyway. "Certainly not a proper name, like 'John.' Incidentally, you should start using 'John.' 'Johnny' is the name of a little boy, and you look at /least/ thirty. Do you really want to be treated like a child your whole life?" C.C. looks and sounds maybe fifteen or sixteen, tops.

There's a long silence on the other end of the line. Johnny Domino may be trying to keep from yelling, or he may be clutching at his phone and glaring at the wall trying to make it explode, or he may be biting down on the earpiece and pulling on his hair. There's really no way to tell.

Eventually, after C.C. flips through a few more channels, Domino speaks up again.

"I've been Johnny my whole life and I don't plan on changing that now. I also don't see how someone named C.C. has any right to criticize the name Rocbell. Now tell me, how do you propose to return the phone to me?"

Johnny neglects to mention that he didn't get a new phone because the goddamned form he filled in the event of stolen military accessories hasn't been processed yet.

"Oh, you /silly/ boy," C.C. says. One can almost hear the roll of her eyes. "Did you honestly believe 'C.C.' is my /real/ name?"

C.C. sighs, loudly, as if Johnny were stupid and she were talking to a stupid person. She can be heard shifting position on the couch, flopping onto her side with a 'whump.' "I'm a bit surprised, though. I mean, really, John, you get so /sensitive/ when girls come up. I had you pegged for a deeply closeted homosexual." This isn't a teasing declaration -- C.C. says it so matter-of-factly, as if it were completely within the realm of possibility. "I mean, there were other signs -- your hair, for one. But we can get into /that/ later. Your friend Shylock was right, though, you do seem rather clueless."

As C.C. keeps going and going and going, eventually there comes a muffled 'thud' from Domino's side. Echoing in the wake of C.C.'s own 'whump', the thud so happens to be the sound produced when Johnny's forehead hits the desk he sits at, phone still held to his ear.

Then comes an opening in the girls monologue, and Johnny takes it, edging his own words in. His voice is so exhausted.

"I don't have a friend named Shylock," he drones. "I am not clueless. I am not gay. There is nothing wrong with my hair. So... for the love of god, I'll listen to whatever you have to say, just /please/, all I want is the phone."

"Excuse me, John, I've /seen/ your hair," C.C. snorts, as if Johnny doesn't know what he's talking about and she finds it rather funny.

"But if your phone is so desperately important to you, how about /you/ tell /me/ how to give it back to you? After all, John, you're so /awfully/ fussy about /every little thing/. So this time, I think I'll let you decide, and maybe /that/ will be up to your oh-so-exacting standards." C.C. doesn't sound actively sarcastic -- more just weary with the whole 'phone' business, as if she'd rather talk about something, anything else.

"..."

Johnny Domino remains silent -- although it's rather obvious that he is still there, as his breathing against the mouthpiece can be heard every few seconds. Then there's a quiet, "Fine," followed by a louder and more energetic, "FINE!"

And then-- *click*

Johnny Domino hangs up on C.C..

About a minute later the phone will notify the girl that she has one (1) new message, this one containing rendezvous coordinates.

NOW

Johnny Domino stand at the very top of the Eiffel Tower. Oh-so-exacting standards? He'll SHOW her oh-so-exacting standards! Decked in his A-LAWS uniform (entry to the Eiffel Tower is 10% off for soldiers), Domino stands close to the edge, dispirited blue eyes glaring off at the French horizon.

Did Laura ever deliver Johnny's message to C.C.? Domino hopes so, because /god/.

SOME TIME AGO

"Ow!"

NOW

C.C. arrives at the top of the Eiffel Tower, dressed in an enormous white fur coat that makes her look like she's being attacked by an extremely expensive bear. A white fur beret sits atop her head, because she makes baffling fashion choices. This will be the /in/ look in about a year; C.C. can't wait that long.

"Hello, John," she says with a lazy wave as she wanders up next to him, leaning against the railing so that she, too, can stare off at the horizon. "An awfully romantic meeting point, but I should let you know well ahead of time that I'm far, far too old to take an interest in boys like yourself."

Still, the green-haired witch hums a contented noise. "Extraordinary view, though. By the way, if you so much as think of touching Laura like that again... consider how far down it is, John, and know that there are truly awful ways to cover that distance."

Mrf, so she finally arrived. Johnny Domino slowly turns to regard C.C. with a sidelong glance -- a sidelong glance that turns into a sidelong stare. What the hell is she wearing? /Why/ the hell is she wearing?

At the girl's remark about age, the Agent continues staring at her, this time a bit more openly than a mere 'sidelong'. Then he blurts, "You're barely in your twenties, aren't you?"

Ah, but then the comment about Laura. Johnny Domino's face twists somewhat, an odd combination between a satisfied smirk and an uncomfortable grimace. The fact that Domino got the moral victory over Laura -- and had it reach C.C. -- is quite gratifying. That, however, does not detract from the fact that Domino isn't sure how seriously he should take C.C.'s threat.

In the end, he chooses to simply ignore that last remark. Instead, he holds up his open hand, waiting for C.C. to put something in it.

There should really be no mistake about what the Agent is seeking.

C.C. takes her sweet time responding to Johnny's neediness. She looks down at his hand, then up at him, yellow eyes fixing in a stare -- and then she laughs, good-naturedly and gregariously. "In my early /twenties/? Oh, John, if you only /knew/."

Reaching into the inside of her coat, C.C. produces the aPhone. Except -- it might not be Johnny's. She seems to have replaced the case. It's white now. Leaning on the railing with one elbow so that she can lean her head against her fist, C.C. waggles it tauntingly. "Go on, then. If it's that important to you. But tell me, John, what would you have done if I'd borrowed something remotely /important/?"

If he only knew? BAH! Domino doesn't want to know a goddamned thing about C.C.!

Except yes he does. This is so disgustingly aggravating.

And then comes the phone. The Agent's eyes nearly fall out when he sees the color. White? WHITE? That's not his phone!! ..or.. oh dear god, /is that his phone/?!

Following the item around with his oh-so-wide eyes as C.C. waggles it about, Johnny almost appears to be performing a comedy routine with the girl. Unable to take it any longer, the Agent moves. Quick as lightning, his arm darts forward, snatching the phone away. Almost hugging it to his bosom, the young man looks down, hastily tapping at a few buttons.

Oh god, it IS his phone! For a moment, indignation and relief do battle inside Domino -- indignation at whatever the girl did to the thing -- relief at the fact that he finally got it back. Relief ultimately wins. Johnny looks up at C.C., his eyes no longer as wide.

"If you 'borrowed' something remotely important," and yes, the quotes around 'borrowed' are audible, "then I would have tracked you down to the ends of the earth and killed you."

...

"..maybe not killed you. But.."

The Agent trails off. Blinking at C.C. once, Domino eventually reaches under his A-LAWS greatcoat. No doubt he is moving to pull out his gun and do what he should have done all along - shoot C.C. fucking dead.

Either that, or he is pulling out a gaudy cardboard card that bears the official seal of Pizza Hut (!), and which proclaims that the owner of that very card is entitled to supersized orders with no additional costs for three full months, and thank you for choosing Pizza Hut!

"That would seem to be your problem," C.C. says, raising a single green brow, still resting lazily (and somewhat dangerously) on the railing. C.C. has also changed Johnny's phone's wallpaper; it is now a photo of the ruins of some old Bavarian-looking castle.

C.C.'s demeanor remains bored, and she looks at her fingernails. "You make a perfectly fine proclamation, and then you go back on it instantly. Do you even know what you want out of life? You can't even make up your mind on little things like whether or not you'd kill me. Admittedly, it might be amusing for a few minutes to see you /try/." C.C. frowns, apparently displeased with the state of her nails.

Her eyes tick upward, and she observes the Pizza Hut promotional card. "I see," she murmurs, as if Johnny had just taken out some sort of item of absolute strategic importance, like an envelope full of powdered uranium or something.

"So, you think you've gained the upper hand, then?" C.C. asks coolly. This can't be a normal reaction to just an ordinary Pizza Hut reward card. There must be something special about it and the fact that Johnny has it. Right?

Johnny narrows his eyes some at C.C.'s reaction to the card.

When he first got it, delivered to him in /person/ by some Pizza Hut crony, the Agent had no bloody clue what hit him. Only after the Pizza Hut crony recited how Domino was a 'valued customer' and made sure his phone number matched the number of over ONE HUNDRED pizza orders within the past ten days did Domino start putting two and two together.

And indeed, checking his phone records, Johnny discovered countless calls to Pizza Hut. Naturally the young man was pissed off. He thought his form would have been processed days ago, resulting in his stolen phone's disconnection from the grid, swiftly followed by a new phone being issued to him.

True, it was sort of weird that no new phone was reissued after a while, but hey, it's not as if A-LAWS aPhones grew on trees. Domino was content to wait. And waiting was, apparently, a mistake.

The young man invested quite a bit of time and resources in trying to divine the secrets of this Pizza Hut card. Time and resources he could have otherwise spent trying to cover more grounds in relation to Rei Ayanami. And in the end, his conclusion was undeniable: it was a fucking promotional card from Pizza fucking Hut.

And so, does Johnny Domino really think he gained the upper hand?

"No," says the Agent. "I'm simply giving you what is, I am assuming, rightfully yours."

And then he hands the card to C.C., just like that.

"I may not know what I want out of life," he continues, the card extended. "But if all you want out of life is pizza, I have no clue how you stay so thin."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," C.C. says, taking the card between two fingers and looking it over. She glances down at it, suddenly unimpressed, and then tucks it into a coat pocket.

C.C. turns her head, resting her chin on her fist and staring out at the sights of Paris. "When a baby like you says 'life,' you barely even know the meaning of the word. That you'd fritter it away without goals... oh, /John/. You need so much work done, you truly do." C.C. glances back over her shoulder at Johnny, and shakes her head, as if she were looking at someone wearing a clown suit to a funeral.

"Pizza," C.C. notes, "is just a way of marking time."

Despite Domino's apparent act of kindness, his expression as he watches C.C. remains one of resentment. Perhaps even resentful distrust.

With the card whisked away to parts unknown within the girl's garb, Johnny similarly tucks his phone away. He is going to spend hours later inspecting the thing and making a list of everything C.C. did to it. Ringtone, background and case aside, it would be rather disastrous if the girl somehow bugged it.

As C.C. continues talking, leaning so carelessly on the rail, the Agent listens, standing a safe distance away from what is no doubt a lethal drop to the earth below. There's something about the air C.C. tries to put around herself that really rubs Domino the wrong way.

"You sound like you're centuries old," the young man suddenly grumbles, managing to put his finger on what irritates him in that very instant. She's so condescending, so bored -- trying to make herself appear so much wiser and more mature than she really is.

And then, less of a grumble, but still pretty annoyed, "Why do you like the name 'John' so much?"

C.C. turns her body to lean her back against the railing. Underneath the coat, she's wearing a white dress. It's actually pretty smart-looking. But clearly, Johnny Domino wouldn't be interested in something like /that/, and the breeze keeps her coat from drifting too far from her form anyway.

All she did with the phone, though, was add a few numbers and take a ton of pictures, absolutely none of which seem to have any strategic importance -- they are, in fact, standard tourist fare, mostly taken in China.

"Centuries?" C.C. mulls that one over, as if Johnny had stumbled into saying something thought-provoking. After a few moments, she glances back over at him. "John. Stop thinking so /small/."

And then the witch lets one corner of her mouth raise into a smirk.

She waits a beat, and then continues. C.C. answers Johnny's second question with a gentle tilt of her head, as if she were looking him up and down. "Because I don't think I have much use for a 'Johnny.' I told you. Johnny is a little boy's name. If I call you 'Johnny,' then I'm just reinforcing your pigheaded childishness. 'John' is a man's name, and a man is what I'll come to need. And if you're that man, then 'John' you shall be."

Johnny already got an eyeful of C.C. in nothing but her shirt and underwear, sleeping on a train. Seeing her in the white dress does little to tickle Domino's sensibilities beyond 'okay, she is quite a developed young woman'.

God, and there comes another one of those childishly absurd declarations, 'stop thinking so small'. And to think she's the one who keeps calling Johnny childish. Except...

Lamia is a biological robot.

Rocbell is an alien.

Rei is an Angel.

Cinco is Amuro.

What if C.C...?

These are the thoughts that flash in the back of the Agent's head, still not ripe enough to be seriously considered by his conscious mind. But the seeds are there. Seeds that are all too quickly forgotten when C.C. provides her answer to his other question.

"..."

Domino slowly raises his hand, shutting his eyes tight and pinching the bridge of his nose. What... the... fuck.

"Okay," he says after a moment. Then he opens his eyes and looks at C.C., repeating, "Okay."

"You have made it quite clear in the past that you do not need me for anything sexual in nature." Presumably because she already has Laura, speaking of homosexuality. "And you claim you are not seeking to recruit me into Katharon." The Agent takes a deep breath, speaking in a deliberate manner. "I am, quite frankly, rapidly running out of logical assumptions to make based on your behavior and words. Please enlighten me, what would you need a 'John' for? What would you need ME for?"

C.C. remains leaned against the railing. She looks up, rather than down, letting her yellow eyes scan the sky above. Johnny's asked quite an important question, and the young man has probably spent enough time around Rei Ayanami the past couple months to recognize when someone's thinking about how best to answer.

C.C. frowns, pursing her lips and considering things. Eventually, she regards Johnny again, and the little smile is gone. This is Gravely Serious Time, and it comes across in both expression and voice.

"John," C.C. says, voice nearly a whisper, "what would you do with power enough that you could turn the tide of humankind?"

It is, as far as can be determined, a life or death sort of question, in terms of level of importance.

Johnny half-expects C.C. to try and avoid the question. And in a sense, she does. The only difference between the Agent's expectations and what really happens is that instead of making a vague and unhelpful remark, the girl answers Domino's question with a question of her own.

"..what?"

The Agent is caught off guard. Mouth open in an attempt to formulate words, shoulders rising ever-so-slowly in the form of a helpless shrug, Johnny honestly has no clue how to tackle this. And something about C.C.'s expression and tone of voice make Domino feel that he can't simply disregard this as a crazy whim of a bored girl.

"I don't know," he admits. "Do you mean like the Ruler of All Known Space? I don't really like politics. Saw enough of it during the last Gundam Fight... made me sick."

If C.C. is trying to install someone in a position of political power, not only has she got the wrong guy, but this guy in question is also utterly baffled -- even moreso than usual.

C.C. sighs again. She tends to do that when Johnny says something that she deems to be dumb, or at least failing to grasp the point. The green-haired sorceress-of-sorts watches him with the sort of minor embarrassment that might accompany seeing someone try to take a sip of soda and instead pouring it down their chest.

"What did I just tell you about thinking small?" C.C. groans. "You keep acting like all there is to the world is what you /know/. John. Show some imagination." C.C. rolls her eyes.

"But no. It's nothing like that. It's nothing political -- or, rather, /everything/ is political, especially if we're in France. But this is different. The... /Gundam/ Fight is nothing." C.C. says the G-word as if it were a horrible racial slur.

"I'm talking about what you would do if you had the power, within yourself, to directly affect the world around you." C.C. turns, looking out at Paris again. She waves a hand out at the city. "To make people love. Or to make people hate. To start wars. Or to end them. To crush the people you hate."

"Or to save the ones you love."

C.C. is quiet for a long moment again, and then sighs, even though Johnny hasn't /said/ anything this time. "Please tell me you understand, John, because I'm growing rather sick of you not getting it. But I want to know what you would do all the same."

This is fast going from vexing to baffling to creepy.

Oh sure, C.C.'s attitude is still an irritant -- each one of her sighs sounds like it is an attempt to put Johnny down. But Johnny has grown tired of verbally sparring with the girl, and his curiosity has reached a point where Domino no longer defaults to resisting C.C.'s words, but actually attempts to listen and comprehend... and as the discussion shifts into what seems to be extremely serious territory, the more the green-haired girl says, the more uncomfortable Domino becomes.

But as uncomfortable as the young man may feel, he bravely considers C.C.'s question. Staring at the girl's back, a concentrated frown develops on Domino's face, disparate from his earlier, distrusting scowl.

There's silence for a while.

Finally...

"Saving the ones I love sounds... it sounds good," the Agent says in a low voice. "I'm-- it's what I'm doing, or did, or will do... with my Chimera..."

Does C.C. even know what the Chimera is? The thought doesn't cross Domino's head. He is too engrossed in his own little world by now, trying to use his imagination like the girl said. Does she mean powers that are magical by nature? Something like La Gias? If he had a power like that...

Domino's eyes begin wandering away from C.C., drifting across the landscape in a blind sweep. The young man's gaze is focused inwardly, seeking something -- something important.

Memories of people surface in Johnny's mind. Memories of Excellen, Rei, Rocbell... all of them are now close to Domino. He has people he loves and wants to protect. And having people be so close to him, and accept him and love him - that is a wonderful sensation. But it took so long for them to grow closer. Such a long time, and so full of turmoil.

If only it were easier.

"..but I think.."

Johnny wets his lips absent-mindedly.

"Making people love... could be just as good..."

C.C. /really/ sighs now. She stands up and adjusts her coat, gripping the lapels and shrugging its heavy mass to sit on her shoulders more comfortably. "Well. Now I know you're not ready."

Granted, C.C. hadn't let on that this was an audition. "Take it from personal experience, John. When you don't have to work to make someone love you, love is cheap. And when love is cheap, what point is there to life?" C.C. adjusts her beret. "When you have a bit more experience with love, call me."

C.C. holds up her own phone. It...

...is much, much nicer than the aPhone.

"You have my number." C.C. pockets her phone again, and begins toward the elevator. "Enjoy your little toy, John."

Johnny's eyes dart back to C.C., shaken out of his deep reverie.

Not ready? What does she mean not ready? Was she actually offering him this so-called power she was talking about? Domino feels like he should be agitated at this point. Not only revealing such a personal side of himself to this... this /girl/, and not only having C.C. deride his personal thoughts in that same apathetic style, but also the fact she seems to have judged him unworthy overall. Just...

Johnny Domino should feel livid. He DOES feel livid! But it isn't a heated feeling at all. It's a cold, muted, restless sensation.

Domino wants to crawl out of his own skin and throwing a tantrum on the floor. Or possibly curl up somewhere and sulk.

When C.C. says Johnny has her number, the young man eloquently says, "Buh?"

Fumbling at his greatcoat, the Agent produces the aPhone, flicking through it. He sees an unfamiliar number in his contact list. And then another unfamiliar one, and another, and another.

"Wha..? What are? ... which one is you--"

By the time Johnny looks up from his phone, C.C. is gone.