2014-07-21 - Westar Can't Have Nice Things (Part Three Of Infinity)
| Title: Westar Can't Have Nice Things (Part Three Of Infinity) | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Soular has a scheme, and is very confident of its chances of success. Westar has a new garbage can. Eas is content to alternately support and mock. Labyrinth appears to have standards for smell. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Abandoned Mansion | |
| OOC - IC Date: 13 February 2014 - 7/21/2014 (Backdated) | |
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
Evening on Thursday the 13th, Soular returns to the Fortune-Telling Mansion. His expression is as aloof and uncaring as ever, gloved hands folded behind his back, and if it's still perturbed about how Queen Beryl invaded his personal space earlier, there's no sign of that. For those looking on, it's as if he's just returned from an hours-long outing, which, technically speaking, is precisely what happened.
Soular can be surprised, shocked, and put off balance, but give him time to compose himself and it's as though nothing ever happened. Such is the strength of his self-assurance.
The door into the common area opens, and he shuts it behind him. He barely even acknowledges anyone's presence, if anyone is already here; he only beelines towards several books that he'd left on the table, plucks out one from the middle of the stack, seats himself with legs folded, and flips through the pages to a certain area. There was something in here that he'd dismissed at first that might be useful after all...
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
A rhythmic clank can be heard from Westar's corner. He has the full weight set out, cables and all, and is training his legs today. With each exertion, pulleys transmit his effort to lift a large number of weighted metal slabs, and steadily lower them. Each metallic thunk heralds the completed journey of scores, even hundreds of kilograms of metal - it's enough that Westar is actually breaking a sweat.
The opening of the door, however, breaks his concentration; lowering the weights one last time, he sits off, grabbing a towel. "Soular, you're back! What were you doing today?"
Also, for some reason, there's a garbage can near Westar's weight equipment. A large one. Why did he bring it inside?
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
Evening on Thursday the 13th, Eas is already here in the mansion; she has had a lot to keep her busy, of course. Research, for one thing, though conducted largely on her own, without bothering to share what it was for--as is normal for her. Papers, interviews...
The clank of Westar's weights doesn't seem to stop her reading of various articles about mysterious happenings. She is dressed as if she may leave the mansion again, in civilian clothes without bothering to expend the magic for battle-readiness at the moment. Red and white, as usual, though she does have a new addition that's perhaps surprisingly consistent: a green, glass clover necklace.
She throws an empty coffee can into Westar's trashcan without looking up.
"You're intent tonight, Soular," she comments. She also doesn't look up for this.
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
It has to be a hell of a lot of weight to make /Westar/ break into a sweat. Soular smells him before he sees him, and so he doesn't comment on the set, nor does he answer the question posed; he instead gives the trash can that's sitting next to him a cool look from down the bridge of his nose.
"You haven't gotten rid of that yet?" he asks. "You do realize those are meant to be kept outside, don't you?" He seats himself then returning to the passage that he'd written off earlier. It had come back to him while he'd been in the Dark Kingdom, connecting to a germinating idea. Right now, he wants to double-check his research to make sure that the idea is solid.
It's Eas' comment on the matter that brings him back, and while he doesn't look up, he does take it as the metaphorical yellow light that it is. As such, his tone is noncommittal when he replies, "Am I?"
The phenomenon of invasive thoughts... That's what he'd been looking for. He'd dismissed it earlier since it seemed to cause such extreme reactions, things that would certainly cause misery but also be more destructive than would be useful to their cause. But if that can be turned around in other ways...
A faint smile creases his lips as he re-reads. Yes, this *does* give him a good idea now.
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
Irritation crosses Westar's face, and he chugs from a water bottle before replying. Sure, the trash can is meant to be an outside one, apparently - but this one served him as a Nakewameke! It fought valiantly, and endured what was thrown its way. Truly, it deserves a place of honour!
Or...something like that anyway. Finishing the bottle, he tosses it to land in the trash can. "It's a convenient location! Besides, this is the western side of the room. It's my territory!"
Westar doesn't comment on the fact that Soular only answered when Eas asked, not when he did - because honestly, that happens a lot. Still, he can always try again. And again. "So what kind of thing is in your book today, anyway? Some long plan for gathering Misery instead of just going out and doing it immediately?"
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
Eas's nose twitches, slightly. But she doesn't comment.
Instead, "It's at least moderately useful." Finally, she glances up, looking over Soular for a moment as he's slowing down a moment in turn. Though before she says any more to him, she glances Westar's way.
"Hm," she says.
Her attention moves back to Soular in the moment, "You are."
She reaches to the table before her, and opens her second can of coffee while still looking at the magazine in her hand. Westar's actually asking the question of the moment, and supporting him would just /encourage/ him, so she sticks to drinking her coffee.
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
If Westar is irritated, that's his problem, not Soular's. Soular didn't say anything that wasn't untrue--and in his view, getting so attached to something like that, Nakewameke or no, is simply unsightly. They're tools to be used, nothing more. Why honor them further than that?
Soular has never considered the implications of that on a Labyrinth-wide scale. He cannot.
"Perhaps so, but the smell crosses all boundaries," he points out. "Though in that way, it suits you." Eas' remark on its usefulness goes ignored, because that is true enough, but not especially relevant in Soular's view. He does, however, glance up at her briefly when she affirms her opinion.
The glint of green at her throat draws his eyes for the briefest of seconds. She's been wearing that trinket she received from Pretty Cure a lot lately. Soular opts not to remark on it... for now. Instead, he chuckles and waves the book up casually before setting it down on top of the stack. "Something like that," he replies. "Did you know that sometimes, humans come to wish to destroy what they claim to love?"
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
Exercise involves an innate cooling process called sweat. This is a fact Mobius-sama saw fit to leave unchanged. Scowling, Westar mops at his forehead with the towel, then tosses it to the bench next to him. There are dumbbells to work with, after all, and he's only halfway through his routine. Eas's comment earns a relieved glance as he starts lifting - she agrees, the trash can is useful! And handy. And he'll be emptying it out later, honest.
The weight is enough to be a good workout, but not as much exertion as the machine required. So Westar's face is free to show his incredulity. "Huh? That doesn't make a lot of sense. I thought that's the stuff they were supposed to be upset about it getting ruined, or something."
He's been trying to pay attention, honest...
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
If anything, the sound of exercise, the clanking of the machine, makes a nice, steady rhythm. ...Again, not that Eas will acknowledge this, of course. Instead...
"Crosses all boundaries because it ca't seem to remember where it's supposed to be going, maybe," Eas points out about Soular's assessment after all.
She doesn't seem to notice any scrutiny on her necklace.
"That's just because humans are fickle," she remarks dismissively. "They claim something is important, but they drop it as soon as it gets too hard to keep up with. It's not as if humans being weak is new."
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
Eas makes her own assessment on the smell, and her reward is a faint 'heh' from the older executive. As the other two react to his news, Soular runs his finger down the spines of the stack, then pulls out a magazine. It's decorated in lots of hearts. Soular flips through it, that faint smirk not budging, and stops on a particular article.
"It is a fascinating contradiction, isn't it?" he says to Westar; to Eas, he shakes his head slightly. "This goes beyond that. You've of course noticed that the humans play-act at a proper society." One of rules and obedience, of doing what you're told because that's what you've been told. "This is more the ultimate expression of their chaotic nature. It isn't getting bored of something and abandoning it; it's taking a crystallization of effort and smashing it on the ground." Well, that's one form that invasive thoughts can take--there are others--but this is the form that is relevant to Soular's idea. "Generally, humans don't act on these urges, which are termed 'invasive thoughts.' They don't even like to admit that they have them."
He sets down the magazine, which talks about the best and most popular chocolates and chocolate-making methods for one's friends and loved ones on Valentine's Day. Fingers criss-cross together, and Soular smiles unpleasantly at his two compatriots. "They're such fools, aren't they?"
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
In spite of the commentary on smell, Westar continues his weight training - should some member of Pretty Cure challenge him directly, they'll be in for a rude surprise. The insults grate, but he's used to them. It's annoying, though - because he thought Eas had his back for once. Why is it that the only time either of them seem to want to work together is to make fun of him?
He puts up with it, though - because if he can figure out what Eas and Soular know about gathering Misery Energy that he doesn't, he can actually contribute and stop being the least productive member of the trio! Of course, what Soular's actually saying is making no sense. "They get ideas they don't act on? Ideas that go outside what's expected?" Incredulous, nearly sneering at the idea, Westar continues his lifting. "That's just plain bizarre."
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
Eas is prepared to check out of the matter entirely; sitting up, she leans into the back of her chair, one hand holding her canned drink up to her lips. She takes a sip, tilting the can upward slightly, but her eyes never leave Soular for the moment, half-open, one eyebrow raised in skepticism.
Siiiip.
The notion of humans play-acting gets nothing, the ultimate expression gets nothing; smashing on the ground even seems surprising... until Soular mentions that humans don't always act on these urges.
She takes another sip. Her eyes harden slightly.
"Ridiculous," she insists, and when Westar chimes in too, she sets down her can with a loud noise, making as if to stand at any moment as her feet touch the ground and her magazine is carelessly left on the table. "They're just making excuses for what they want, obviously. Nobody could think that way."
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
"Isn't it, though?" Soular remarks, a chuckle in his voice, to Westar. His eyes flick towards Eas' own magazine, but his tone remains the same as he points out, "Excuse or not, it doesn't change the fact that it causes the humans who experience them a great deal of distress."
That may well key his companions in to why they're discussing this right now. It's not as thought he disagrees with them, though he won't say as much directly. "I personally can't imagine ever destroying the results of my efforts," the executive continues, "but we don't really need to *understand* them, do we?"
It's enough to be able to figure out what makes them happy, and how to crush that happiness--to figure out what best draws them into the depths of despair. The /whys/ are unimportant, so long as they can get results... which is precisely what Soular is going to achieve. At least, that smug half-smile of his reflects his confidence that he will.
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
Right. It doesn't make sense. Earth doesn't make sense. Well...parts of it are starting to make sense for Westar, and there has to be some reason the food is so much better than Labyrinth. The bulk of Soular's explanation goes over his head completely - but Westar nods emphatically at the last point.
"Right! We don't need to understand what's going on to gather Misery Energy - we can just go out and do it!" At last, his methods have been validated - Westar's face breaks into a broad grin to match Soular's half-smile.
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
Bizarre. Oh, certainly. Soular's glance wins that she's actually looking into local news magazines; what, specifically, has caught her eye is harder to say. The magazine is folded over already.
We don't really need to understand them, do we?
Well... He doesn't. Eas, of course, is taking a different approach.
"Hmph. We'll see how well it works," she says, and picks up her drink again once she's standing, her head turning to view the currently-off monitor on one of the walls.
"And you!" she calls to Westar, suddenly turning to face him, "What's that can still doing in here?" The metal bends in her hand as she tightens her grip and, turning on her heel, storms right back further into the mansion.
<Pose Tracker> Soular [None] has posed.
Soular is curious as to what's caught Eas' eye, given that it seems to be in regards to recent events, but there's no way to find that out without drawing attention to his curiosity. Ah, well. He has other things with which to concern himself. Tomorrow will be busy, after all.
"Yes, you will see," Soular tells Eas pleasantly(?). His smile fades into a frown when Westar takes away justification for his bull-headed approaches from his words. He opens his mouth as if to try to say, no, that's not it--but he just sighs faintly instead.
When Eas storms off, Soular gets up as well. "Well then, I believe I shall take a bath," he announces airily, "before this smell begins to linger." He then heads in another direction, for the hallway leading to the stairwell upstairs.
The sound of running water in the bathroom in the southern upstairs wing will sound not too long after.
<Pose Tracker> Westar [None] has posed.
"Wh-" She said it was moderately useful and everything! Westar slams down the weights in fury - the heavy metal equipment trembling from the impact, and stands up to have a word, because this is just too much! What's her issue, where's she going, why can't she just be consistent and straightforward for once-
And then Soular excuses himself as well, blaming the smell, and Westar finds himself alone with his weight equipment and the garbage can. Just that one parting insult, heaped atop everything else...
Westar runs his hands through his hair, and yells in frustration - and without another word, picks up the garbage can, and storms outside. Fine. He'll take out the trash, and find the can a nice spot outside so Soular and Eas have less excuse to complain, and then he'll go into town, and find something delicious to try -
- and not share any!
