RP: YSS Miharu Mission 5, Aftermath (4th day)

Contours of a grin formed behind the fabric of the striped panties on Rolf's face. It drug along the surface of the glass as he slowly brought his weight back to it's maximum, bringing him back to the floor. He arched a brow, and leaned back, arms crossed. His eye swere studying, but the counters of his grin were still there, his spike goatee poking through the panties.

"Whass' s'funny, Melibutt?" asked Rolf, tilting his head in an owl-like fashion. "I got somethin' on my face?"

@Rolf:

"Your clowning around makes for a very sharp contrast to my previous visitor," Melisson said through her giggling. "Though all things considered, Nyton might be more of a clown than you are. Ignorance is bliss, and I'm letting him enjoy it for now."

She subdued her laughter and then looked at him with interest. "I'm not feeling very tolerant anymore, though, so I suggest you make your point."

@Tom:

"Dying is easy," Kotori retorted. "It is those whom survive the dead whom have it less so."

"You speak of ideals, but I speak of human fantasy. The human fantasy nekovalkyrja romanticize because it appears so much better than what we start with. You've already bound her to it using the love band, using that symbolism to leash her to you. I-"

Nekovalkyrja hands fisted the bedcovers.

"I am a bitter hypocrite whom told her I did not love her so she would not be bound to me. I did not mind her happiness, and I did not mind yours, but I resented the loneliness that came from it. That resentment was only sharpened by your possessiveness and your inclination to drag her - willing or not - into commitments I increasingly feel are not made for nekovalkyrja."

"Maybe I am just being disillusioned because I see less charm in something I can no longer have. Maybe I am just being petty," Kotori allowed.

"I've let you, my rival, win. I do not want your pity or your sympathy for it - accepting it would only exacerbate my forlorn hypocrisy. I will assume my choice and grow beyond this." By that point Kotori's ears were flattened back. "What I will count on you to do is to make it worth all that hurt. Do that, and I can at least respect you."

A set of fingers went up to pull the panties off Rolf's face, leaning to the left, so he could stuff the panties in his pocket.

"I cn'imagine Nyton's a bit a'stiff, but y'know, y'did pretty much kill a buncha' people 'dat meant a lot t'him." shrugged the Malifarian, letting the statement roll off as casually any other string of words. He scooted a little closer to the glass, the shins of his crossed legs comfortably wrapping around the chamber. "But yeah, I ain't 'ere t'remind ya a'tha obvious shit, or dig intel outta' ya. I figga'd I'd come t'meet my enemy since I didn' get tha' honor a'killin' ya m'self. Y'know, warrior' t'warrior. Or god t'warrior. Or bug-colony thing t'warrior, whateva' y'callin' y'self."

He bounced in his place, cycling his hands over one another, to illustrate he was going to move on.

"First, less' get some things outta' tha' way. One, name's Rolf Eastwood now." He held up one finger, and then stared at her rather plainly. "An thass' it."

That wild mop of hair bobbed and weaved as he shook his head up and done, in firm belief he had settled out the necessarily details.

"Aw'right, since y'askin' s'nicely, I'll lay down tha' important details, in orda' of importance." he declared raising three fingers, before pressing his index finger against the glass.

"First! Do y'got workin' girly parts unda' 'dat dress?"

His hand came back, his middle finger replace the position of the index.

"Second! Does Elysian taste like chicken?"

Next his ring finger came forth, signifying number three.

"Third! How many secrets about tha' crew wouldja' be willin' t'spill? What wit' y'mind readin' powers, and stuff."

Then finally, he reved back his fist and pressed his pinkey finger against the thick glass.

"Fourth! What did you mean by a beautiful mind?"

Tom crossed his arms and looked away from Kotori, his eyes focusing on a spot on the wall. He sighed.

Inside of him, he felt new wounds opening, but it was for the best. This was important.

"We... we cannot continue to treat Yukari like this," he finally said. "We're doing her wrong negotiating over her happiness like divorced parents over the custody of a child. She has a right to know what was spoken of in this room."

When his vision returned to Kotori, there was a pained look in the Raltean's eyes.

"She will be here any minute now," he said. "I'd rather... not have to put on a happy charade. She is likely to hate us both for it when she eventually finds out."

@Rolf:

Melisson closed her eyes and recited her answers as if she had already know about Rolf's questions and prepared a reply for him ahead of time: "I am not anatomically correct in the sense you mean. I have never tasted chicken so I cannot make a accurate verdict on that account - but referencing to tasting like chicken often is twisted into the meaning of 'acceptably edible' in your culture. Secrets are mine to share if I so choose but I prefer discussing them with the people holding them rather than otherwise. Your mind is beautiful akin to a clear-faceted gemstone."

@Tom:

"It is your interpretation to treat her such, not mine, and I will not have you shove that on me as well," Kotori scathingly returned to Tom. "I wish for her happiness but I do not decide for her - I decide for myself and I will do as I see fit in this instance. Yukari and you can just figure this out on your own time, not mine."

"This is between you and I," the Princess then asserted. "I've no intention of putting effort into any charade - I will simply move on and I suggest you do the same because I refuse to be further implicated in that relationship. I have been bottling this up silently for the last four years - you can now sample a taste of what it feels like."

The Raltean had mentally braced himself against Kotori's verbal lashings, but the ferocity of her emotion threatened to pull him into darker places as well.

That side of him wanted to lash out as well, to retaliate, to hurt Kotori on a level so primal as to leave her wallowing in self-inflicted misery for the next four, five, ten years.

But then he remembered Yukari and her smile. How many times had Kotori needed that smile he had gobbled up so greedily?

So, he braced himself once more for lashings from the psychic goddess despite the wounds it would continue to inflict on his psyche.

"No." he said simply.

"It's easy to hide, it's easy to hate, it's easy to call self-inflicted loneliness moving on. I refuse to be part of any of these with either you or Yukari."

"We saw into each other's minds, touched each other's souls. Surely you must remember?"

Yukari was not anyone's possession. She was a person, a wonderful person Kotori had once enjoyed being closer to. Being with Tom was a dream fulfilled for Yukari - and Kotori had ambivalently let Yukari go to Tom, even going so far as clumsily helping it along. She loved Yukari enough to let her go, trusted that Tom would make her happy despite the price of her loneliness. Kotori had few friends - and Yukari was amongst those.

Kotori wanted to grow. She was young, and there were things she wanted to have. Her ambition was nothing malicious: she had always merely wanted to ensure she had a safe place - a good place! - to live in and then surround herself with a family of her own. What ambition to reach the pinnacle of rulership in the Empire had ever been only to achieve that. She never even wanted to keep it overlong so much as just achieve it to make the difference.

The wolf understood the danger and tried to shy back, but he no longer could shake her hold.

Tom had told her he believed in her. She brought them into hell, with the promise that she would get them out of it. So far, Kotori had done everything in her power to uphold that promise.

Click to expand...

"I do want you to grow. I believe in you. These are not pities or sympathies. They are facts I have come to incorporate into myself, aspects of my character I owe to you."

"Without closure, the term 'moving on' is simply a veneer to whitewash bitter feelings, and you will not convince me otherwise. I will not lay blame on you, but the final act of this silly drama will end here."

A single finger pointed to the ground, emphasizing Tom's statement.

"Even if you have no faith in me at all, I beg you to at least trust Yukari."

"Silly drama?!" Kotori spat through bared teeth, her iridescent eyes wide with outrage, with her ears flaring more out to the sides. Her canines flashed as she added: "I am far more capable of dealing with my own suffering than you have ever been, human! You will not preach to me about how to deal with it and I hardly care about what you think anymore!"

"GET OUT!" the dark-haired nekovalkyrja then shouted, her body shifting to what felt more like the ideal starting point of a pounce.

So it has come to this...

The engineer took a small jump back, raising his arms in a defensive stance. He had hit the point of no return, dredging up torrents of rage that knew only one avenue of release.

He had seen glimpses of the internal struggle from Yukari just days ago. And, as he saw Kotori position herself for a lunge, the pieces started to fall together.

The battle maiden. Nekovalkyrja. Not human, but full of emotion. Born for war yet envying the peace of others. Created for one purpose, whether sprite or Taisho, molded to that purpose and forced to discard their dreams in service of the empire.

Yuzuki. Rin. Hinoto. Nimura. Masako. Kyou. Nao. Yoroko. All the sprites.

Yukari. Kotori.

Sisters-in-arms, born into a world that he only caught glimpses into. Kotori was right, Tom would never know just how acute their suffering was, but he felt for them.

He wanted them to be happy.

If that made him abhorrent to them, so be it.

"To live is to fight," he recited, with an air of finality. "If that is what it takes to end this, then come at me!"

Kotori's rage-mad eyes fixated on the Raltean, the nekovalkyrja breaths coming out in angry rasps.

"Be strong, your Highness." A memory, not associated with the moment, but one remembered from another time when she had felt in emotional distress.

Another memory, that of the Lorath scientist Cole, his head exploding under the discharge of Rufus Sydney's pistol.

Grace under pressure. Miharu's motto. One she gave her ship for a reason.

She panted and deliberately smoothed her face, lips sliding back over her teeth. Swallowing anger at the cusp of attacking Tom had not looked easy. Rage still simmered, begging for release.

"Tom," his name came out in a growl. "Challenging this Ketsurui Princess to a fight to settle matters does not solve problems. It simply begs for death." Another deeper breath and she lifted her chin. "Get out of my sight, Juni. That is an order, and if you give me insubordination, I will have security remove you. As I said, I am done with you."

Rolf crossed his arms at that, staring somewhat indignantly at Melisson, seeming as if he had not gotten the answers he wanted. The childish man leaned forward, pressing his face against the transparent barrier between them. Those blood-red eyes looked upon her carefully before leaning back again, rubbing his nose a bit before straightening the spike on his goatee.

"If y'so sharp on answerin' my questions, then y'know I don' even get 'dis beautiful mind, clear-cut gem crap." said the Malifarian somewhat off-hand, before pressing his face back against the glass. "Is it juss' somethin' t'fuck wit' me? Eh? Or does it mean somethin' where you come from or shit like that? 'Cause I been thinkin' about it, and it makes no sense t'me. Or..."

The sharp-chinned Rolf leaned back, giving her sly grin, but hiding it behind the back of his hand.

"... have y'fallen f'my cross-species charm? Eh heh heh heh. Y'don' gotta' beat around tha' bush, Melibutt."

@Rolf:

Now Melisson looked annoyed. "If you had already decided ahead of time that my answer would not suit you, why did you even waste your breath asking the question?"

"What really brought you here, Asher Orkin Westwood?" The interpreter raised an eyebrow. "Curiosity? Denial? Why is it so important that I speak falsehoods you do not wish to believe, rather than believe that I might actually have more insights in you than any other person has ever had? Being a crass nonconformist does not make you stupid, even if you do hate dwelling on things overmuch."

"Rolf. Rooooooolf. R. O. L. F." responded Rolf with an stern stare, before raising a finger in the air. "Tha' real Asha' Orkin Westwood iss' M.I.A., 'cordin' t'Koto-boss."

The Malifarian leaned back, propping himself on his hands as he splayed out comfortably. He seemed to be considering something quietly before turning his attention back to Melisson.

"Anyway. Not like I really need a reason t'speak t'folks, y'know." he revealed, shrugging his shoulders rather plaintively, "But! I figga'd I'd ask some questions, and I got tha' answers I expected not tha' answers I wanted. So don' get pissy wit' me 'cause you gave me an answer I don't unda'stand." His eyes squared up again, losing the playful little glint they had. He then droned on with a sigh.

"Maybe I wanted hear why you said it, not what it meant. This week's been tha' most fucked up in my life, so I'm graspin' 'ere, awright? I usually don' mind a little chaos here an'dere, but I'm still Yamataian. I ain't no ancient bein' who's got their brain figga'd out. So, I guess... maybe tha' question wass juss'a way of smoothin' out tha' wrinkles in m'head. But hey." He held up his hand, "We can always talk 'bout somethin' else. Or I could leave. No offense, but y'face makes me wanna' kill somethin'."

He held up his rough hands, the tough fingers wriggling like tendrils.

"Wit' m'bare hands."

Fred said:

"Tom," his name came out in a growl. "Challenging this Ketsurui Princess to a fight to settle matters does not solve problems. It simply begs for death." Another deeper breath and she lifted her chin. "Get out of my sight, Juni. That is an order, and if you give me insubordination, I will have security remove you. As I said, I am done with you."

Click to expand...

The door to Kotori's room slid open.

Yukari stood beyond the frame, looking. At Kotori. At Tom.

Her arms rested at her sides at first, but after a few pulses of blood through her system, she held them in front of her white-robed lap.

She saw her lover's arms still up, ready for blows. She saw her sister's face, forcibly controlled despite bared fangs.

She frowned at them both. There was no surprise in her body language, but no disappointment, either.

It had to be, she thought. It had to be this. The absence of a common enemy allows them to aim for each other.

"Do I interrupt?" she said, legs spread to her shoulders, her nose pointed just slightly down toward Kotori's bed. "I believe I do. That is no matter.

"Koto-san," she said, her frown flattening on her face. "I am marrying Tom. I want you as my maid of honor, a right of Raltean custom. If you have finished baring hatchets at one another, I would like to speak of details of the event.

"Unless you wish to continue with violence. Kasami-Chujo has guaranteed our privacy, I understand. Thoughtful of her, yes?"

@Yukari & Tom:

Kotori's eyes shifted to Yukari, glowing orange from that angle.

"Feel free to pursue marriage with the human if you feel it is what will make you happy, Yukari," Kotori slowly, deliberately answered, still keeping her anger in check. "But I am not interested in either promoting or attending it. Those shackles are yours to wear if you want them this badly, but I'm not having any part in it."

"Your fiancee has come to me to extend his thanks. I have returned it for his service. He has asked for my forgiveness, which I am not willing to grant. From there, he has insisted to get his way, and I still refuse. I have demanded that he leave my presence and he has not granted me that."

"So, you will both remove yourselves from my presence," Kotori demanded. "Now."

@Rolf:

"I see an impediment between you and the prospect of a Melisson face-sandwich," Melisson blandly commented, circling a finger around to signify her confinement.

Tom backed away from Kotori slowly, moving to where Yukari was. His face had become ashen and the hurt in his eyes was apparent.

He looked silently at Yukari for what to do, unable to muster anything at the moment other than a whispered "I'm sorry..."

"Melisson face-sandwich?" repeated Rolf quizzically, pulling at both his cheeks with gloved hands, stretching them out. He stared at her under an arched brow, and continued his next string of words without the slightest disgust, "'Dat when y'take all tha' face parts off a person and put'm between two slabs a'bread? Don't sound all 'dat appetizin'."

@Rolf:

Melisson huffed. "Oh, come now. It's a nepleslian thing, and if I know about a nepleslian thing, the odds are of you knowing about it should be much greater - unless you've been living under a rock all your life."

"It is, you know, synonymous to a high-speed fist-meets-face encounter?"

Yukari just sighed.

"As you demand." She waited as Tom shuffled out by her, eyes following him without malice, before she turned back to Kotori. "You are not the bitter soul Melisson showed me, Koto-san. Please do not act like it for long."

She bowed, rose, turned and left in one fluid series of motions, joining Tom's side when they were out of view of the door's portal.

"Those who do not seek help cannot see it when it is presented to them," she sent to him. "You tried. She did, too."

Snerk was the sound from Rolf as he hunched over in an effort to restrain the laughter. His face went over into his lap, his body heaving in little bounces as the mirth slowly forced it's way through. Then he found it was too much, as he leaned back up, putting a hand on the glass to support the howling laughter. He didn't know why it was so funny, but it just was.

"I'm think-- Ha ha! Heh! I'm think-- Heh!" Rolf breathed, stabilizing himself a bit, before finding it in himself to respond, "I'm thinkin' you're talkin' 'bout a knuckle-sandwich. A five-finga' snack plate. A high-five from hell." He snerked again, "But, a... a face-sandwich?" Then, the laughter came forth, "Holy shit, I gotta' remembah' that one! Oh man! I woulda' paid t'see ya use that one on some big-shot politician or diplomat!"

Tom walked by Yukari's side with heavy steps, as if the process of walking itself was draining him of some final reserve of energy.

"Kotori is right," he whispered. "I ruined her life... these last four years have been hell for her... I did this to her."

He was hunched over, staring at his feet, but slowly, he turned his neck until he was looking at some invisible point on his lover's chest. His eyes were blank, as if he was staring through her.

"Did... you know... how much hurt she felt?"