2014-06-23 - Westar Can't Have Nice Things (Part Two Of Infinity)
| Title: Westar Can't Have Nice Things (Part Two Of Infinity) | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Eas has returned from a battle with Cure Peach! Westar has helpful insight. Pity him. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Desolate Mansion | |
| OOC - IC Date: 2 February 2014 - 6/23/2014 | |
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
The mansion used by Labyrinth is grand, aged, and nearly empty. A low groan echoes through the halls as the house settles - wooden doors resting unopened in their frames, furniture gathering dust one mote at a time. The building, overall, is quiet and desolate. There is life, but not much - only one room is anything approaching 'occupied'.
The sitting room, filled with empty chairs and clean tables, has but two corners occupied. From one of these, there is a steady, simple noise - a clank of metal, a heavy bar rattling against the heavier metal discs mounted on either end. Westar, executive of Labyrinth, is prone on a long bench, lifting a massive set of weights without a spotter. Muscles surge, but the effort does not seem to tire him - this is not a challenge, simply something to do.
He might have tried speaking, but silence is currently the order of the hour. Lift, lower, clank. Lift, lower, clank.
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
There is, technically, one person here who could act as spotter. He just has zero interest in doing any such thing for Westar.
Soular sits nearby on the wall-hugging green couch, reading a book on child-rearing and child psychology, legs crossed, similarly silent. He has eyes only for what it is he's reading, but the noises of Westar's physical activity are not beyond his notice. ...Soular just actively chooses to ignore them, not least because what he's currently reading has such /potential/, and even now is giving him a solid idea on how to introduce himself to the people of this pathetic world.
A page turns.
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
Someone acting as Westar's spotter would be just as strange as Westar suddenly packing away the weights. That is to say, unless they had orders to do those things, Eas, at least, would never expect them. ...But what Eas would or would not expect is irrelevant, because she isn't there, of course. She has been out a great deal lately from the mansion, leaving early and returning late. She has been out for a while today.
The huge front doors creak open suddenly, and slam shut with a noise that rattles teacups. Hard 'clicks' of heel against wooden floor stomp their echoes through the entire entryway, all the way into this particular room.
Eas, denizen of Labyrinth, storms through the doors into the monitor room, and her fury is somewhat... obvious.
If looks could kill, the wall before her would be bursting into flames.
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
There's a loud crash, interrupting Westar's routine - but his grip is solid, and does not falter. He pauses, with the weight lowered nearly to his chest, then lifts once more. With that final raising, he sets the heavy bar carefully on a rack meant to hold it.
Then, the mint-haired executive sits up, clearly pleased to see his fellow denizen of Labyrinth. "Eas, welcome back! How did things go?"
As obvious as Eas's fury might be, Westar has failed to notice it. He sees only that Eas has returned, so all is well.
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
Given the way Westar returned when /his/ Nakewameke was defeated, Soular has a pretty good idea, even without looking up at her, what Eas is so upset about. And she *is* upset, make no mistake, or she wouldn't be stomping around so loudly. She, like him, prizes her haughty, untouchable image--though of course, Soular tells himself, she's not nearly so good at maintaining it. He doesn't openly acknowledge her, and he doesn't even flick his eyes towards her, but he does observe her in his peripheral vision and what he sees is... incandescent.
"Poorly, I take it," is his (helpful) addition to the conversation.
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
Eas actually stops, as Westar greets her. Otherwise, she may well have quickly resumed stomping through to her own living area rather than sticking around as usual, though even then there's no real guarantee. That question is left to sink into irrelevance as, instead, Eas's eyes snap to Westar, though she remains silent.
Then, to Soular, where her glare intensifies further.
Crossing her arms, Eas steps purposefully towards her usual chair, and turns around to sit in it without ceremony, practically falling into the seat because she isn't wasting time with lookin around right now.
"Hmph," she answers, and continues to glare at the wall in front of her.
"She seems to have a talent for convincing the uninvolved to keep at foolish things."
Eas doesn't bother to specify who 'she' is.
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
Westar's good cheer, left over from his trip to Beryl's realm, is sufficient to keep Eas's anger from completely cowing him. He does, however, take the opportunity to look over to Soular when the bookworm speaks. "Well, the Sorrow Gauge was filled, right? That's at least some success!"
The question of 'how much' success doesn't get spoken. Westar turns to Eas's chair, picking up one of his smaller handheld dumbbells to work with. "Cure Peach, right? Did she have any new allies we have to worry about - oh, how many did you get to fight, Eas?" His voice is positively eager, for a member of Labyrinth. "Were there any of those, uh, Midchildan mages?"
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
"Hmmm," Soular murmurs, and while he doesn't smirk, there is a certain suggestion of a smirk in his tone when Eas grumbles about 'she.' Even Westar figures it out right away. ...Eas is getting rather transparent. Wisely, he opts not to say this. Right now is a bad time, anyway; he has more important things, literally right in front of his eyes, than to needle Eas.
Besides. As Westar says, she had *some* success. Soular would be saying that with considerably more smarm, though.
For now, though, Westar asks the pertinent questions, so Soular devotes an ear to listening in on the conversation while formulating his plan based on his reading material.
Another page flips. "What makes you ask that, Westar-kun?" he does at least add, since it seems a remarkably specific thing to inquire after.
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
From Westar, that helpful, kind statement comes off as a distinct jab. Eas's expression has reached peak anger and sullenness, however, and so he is not rewarded with anything more than a flash of her red eyes for it. "Hmph," she says again, for good measure.
...She didn't specify, but even she seemed to think the one she was talking about was obvious, though if she's aware that she's doing anything unusual she doesn't show it. "None we need to concern ourselves with," Eas speaks about answers. "Besides, it's not as if I've engaged them personally. Still, there were only seven, including her." ...She stops.
Soular asks the question that comes to min for her, too.
But of course she can't /agree/ with something Soular said right now, so she simply replies, "None."
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
Eas's glare, this time, is enough to make Westar twitch backward a fraction. Okay, maybe she's a bit sore? It is frustrating, having a plot ruined by the Pretty Cure. "Seven? No wonder, you and your Nakewameke were outnumbered more than...three to one!" There was a pause there, while Westar checked something by counting fingers. Still, he goes on. "And if the Nakewameke was on its own... It sounds like Cure Peach is making sure we have plenty of opposition. You'd better be careful whenever you go out, Soular."
Was that a jab, or earnest advice? Who can tell, from the one known as Westar.
Soular's question gets Westar's attention, though, and he actually seems cheerful to explain. Today, Westar is the one to know something! "A couple of allies in the Dark Kingdom warned me about them - mages with intelligent weapons, who do...what was it...interdimensional law enforcement. They sounded like they might be enemies of Mobius-sama, and I've already encountered one - that girl I mentioned who wasn't Cure Black."
Westar turns back to Eas, his expression hard to read. Serious? Enthused? Concerned? "But wow, seven. I think that's the most we've had to deal with at once - if this keeps up, we really are going to get outnumbered."
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
'Only' seven, Eas says, something that Westar's quick to go 'wait but that's messed up' at, a variation of which he then directs towards the eldest executive. "Save your advice for someone who needs it, Westar-kun," Soular replies with cool indifference. "I don't anticipate such impediments when I gather Misery Energy."
So says someone who hasn't even fielded a Nakewameke yet... but that's only a matter of time. He turns another page, listening to Westar's response. Intelligent weapons... That girl, Fate, possessed something like that, if the eye that showed up on that staff's yellow jewel was any indication. As far as Soular knows, she was going to stick around in the Dark Kingdom until she managed to get an audience with Queen Beryl, too--an admirable amount of dedication to her mission. Westar didn't end up talking to the same girl, did he?
Aloud, all he says is, "Hmm, so you did manage to find out something useful? Congratulations."
The continued talk of getting outnumbered finally gets a smirk out of the silver-haired man--but he leaves it as just a smirk.
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
"Mobius-sama won't accept excuses about being outnumbered," Eas snaps back, though not as loudly or as forcefully as she might otherwise. Still, it seems being reminded of the matter of numbers is doing little for her mood. The problem to solve, for her, is clear, and it isn't just numbers. "...Hmph," Eas adds again at Soular's confidence. A part of her, briefly, begins to look forward to 'her' ruining his plan, whatever it is.
She frowns harder. It doesn't get mentioned.
"Intelligent weapons? Sounds like a liability. Who wants their weapon to start questioning its orders while you're swinging it?"
'Something useful.' Well, Eas isn't in any mood to compliment Westar on his intelligence gathering. Instead, arms still crossed, she looks flatly back at Westar. "It doesn't matter. ...I have a plan, to get them out of our way. I'll have to move up my timetable."
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
And just as quickly as Westar gave his advice, the other two shot it down. He folds his arms and huffs. "It's not an excuse, it's simple fact! There's a lot of enemies of Mobius-sama in Tokyo, we're going to have to deal with a bunch of people meddling whenever we go out! That's why I wanted to figure out who we're facing - they have the numbers, so we need something to match that or we'll just keep losing Nakewameke!"
Belatedly, he remembers the dumbbell he was holding - was it lightweight enough that he actually forgot he was holding it? Westar's arms unfold, and he puts the weight down with a heavy clunk. "Well, our Nakewameke can talk too, and we use them. And that one Midchild girl I fought - I think her sword was watching for attacks, and warning her so she could dodge. That would be useful, right? Hm, if one of them shows up, should we count them as two for the number of enemies we're facing?"
Westar's philosophical distraction is cut off by a flat stare from Eas. "Oh, great - what have you got in mind, is there anything I can do to help?" Fate's words come to mind, belatedly, how some people want the credit, and Westar backtreads. "If it works, then you can be the first one to actually get one of our enemies out of the way!"
Eas can't get mad about words like that, right?
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
In all fairness to Westar, he's not completely wrong; the magical girls in general and Pretty Cures in specific will no doubt continue to get in their way. Soular had had a conversation about this not too long ago with an agent from the Dusk Zone. It resulted in his deep irritation, so he most certainly doesn't bring that up here--especially since Eas *also* has a point. "What matters are the results. Anything that prevents results is just an excuse, whether it's 'simple fact' or not," Soular remarks in light of that. "It must be frustrating for the two of you, having to fall back on those."
That is a point. Nakewameke are tools, but for the purposes of a battle, they count as a second combatant--not that any of them really does much more than command them when in battle. The question itself, though, goes completely ignored... particularly as Westar foolishly offers Eas his help. Soular chuckles at what he knows to be futility.
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
On the one hand, Westar actually displays some amount of strategy in his response. On the other, Soular's barb definitely gets Eas's attention. "Hmph. Well, as long as you're actually /thinking/ about it," she allows Westar, probably the closest thing to actual support he's going to get. Her hand has, however, curled into a tight fist. "Even if you're already behind. Try to keep up, Westar, I've been working on a solution to their numbers for some time already."
"And you," she says to Soular, glaring his way with an only slightly muted unpleasantness. "Exactly when do you plan to /do/ something?"
The talk about the Nakewameke and the tools, but, "It doesn't matter. Count them as one unless the weapon starts fighting on its own."
The offer of /help/ does away with the rest of Eas's brief goodwill towards Westar's sense. "You think because I had one setback I'm going to rely on you? Hmph. Exactly how weak do you think I am?"
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
Westar does think about these things! His schemes haven't been going well, though. "I'm trying! I even have a couple of plans to gather Misery Energy without those enemies interfering!" He's stubborn and proud for a moment before diminishing under withering glares. "Okay, it was an idea from one of our Dark Fall allies, but I think it might be worth a shot!"
Soular's going to try something? It's probably going to be clever, and beyond Westar's understanding. Eas's judgement of the Intelligent Devices' status earns a moment's hesitation, but a nod. "Right. I think they bear watching, though, they might actually be able to see behind them-"
And now Eas is angry, and Westar backpedals right to the wall. "Nothing like that, I know you're not weak! It's just - we have numbers of our own, we should use them. Imagine if Cure Peach showed up to fight you, but we were there too and outnumbered her for a change..."
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
"'And you--exactly when do you plan to do something?'
The book in Soular's hands snaps shut, and the executive unfolds his legs as he stands up, smirking. "I suppose I *should* do something, shouldn't I? Since you two have been having so much trouble. It'll do me some good to get some exercise, too."
Not to mention, if Westar continues on this track, there's probably going to be a bloodbath in the next minute. Leaving behind the book, How To Raise A Happy, Healthy Child, on the couch, Soular crosses the room, clapping Westar's shoulder as he goes. Not hard, since Westar backed way up to the wall next to him.
"So as *fascinating* as this discussion is," he concludes, turning the smarm up to 11, "I'll bid you both good-night." And with a laugh, he moves to walk out the way Eas stormed in.
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
Plans? ...The glare keeps up, perhaps predictably, until Westar mentions that it's just one idea, from someone else, and Eas in turn contemptuously rolls her eyes at him in return, looking back Soular's way finally at the matter of... Soular replying. Even the note about weapons seeing behind them isn't enough for that, as he quite neatly turns the statement right back around.
Eas does not understand the concept of unkind language well enough to truly vocalize, or even put into words mentally, the things she would like to say to Soular at the moment. Her eyes follow him only for a moment as he leaves.
Because Westar, too, is speaking, even against the wall by now. Her head turns slowly, her eyes wide and open as if she cannot believe what she is hearing, red and intent. ...Well, everything about her is intent at the moment; it's like she's gone completely still, not even moving visibly to breathe.
"..."
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
"Watch out for Pretty Cure!" Westar calls after Soular as the man departs. Whatever plan he has - and Soular comes up with some great plans - there's going to be opposition. But maybe everyone needs to learn by doing, by experiencing that kind of fight for themselves-
...Eas has gone very, very still. And is staring. And not even insulting him. This is bad. This is life-threatening levels of bad. Slowly, because movement attracts death, Westar starts to slide towards the door. "Um. Is there something I-"
Maybe she twitched, maybe he just imagined it, but self-preservation is kicking in. "Never mind I'm off to scout Tokyo bye!" In one fell swoop, Westar opens the nearest door and bolts through it. Whether he grabbed handles or hinges is kind of irrelevant, all things considered, he said the wrong thing and he needs to get out of here.
Maybe he should stop asking about Eas's day.
...but she is his teammate.
