2015-04-27 - Westar Can't Have Nice Things (Part Five Of Infinity)
| Title: Westar Can't Have Nice Things (Part Five Of Infinity) | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Westar has returned to the mansion triumphant, and bearing donuts. Neither of these things can last long in face of Eas's foul mood, paired with Soular throwing fuel on the fire. So in short, it's a lazy afternoon with Labyrinth. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Desolate Manor | |
| OOC - IC Date: 29 June 2014 - 04/27/2015 | |
<Pose Tracker> Westar [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
In the woods, there is a mansion where none seem to dwell - how run-down it seems! How abandoned, how terribly creepy! And yet - more ominous even than a strange silence, there are people living here. For certain definitions of 'people', and certain definitions of 'living'.
For all the mansion's size, few rooms see active use. The denizens of the ominous mansion - and of Labyrinth as well - spend their spare time in this sitting room, often taking time to carefully ignore each other. Almost always at least one, usually at least two, and often all three. Sitting in silence, pursuing their individual interests.
Today, the room has been short one denizen for several hours - but some time after a brief and distant thunderstorm, the door to the sitting room swings open. Westar - the thickest by far in both skull and muscle. He has Switched Over, and is in his official uniform of black trimmed with yellow...though it's looking surprisingly battered. Scorched, torn, overall roughed-up...
But he's not slinking in. He's walking in without fear, carrying a large box of donuts under one arm. The other hand holds up one of those donuts, as he peers through its heart-shaped aperture on his way into the room - and the central table is where he sets the box of fried dough.
"That went well!" That's all he has to say on the matter at this instant - he makes his way over to the weight-training equipment in one corner, picking up a dumbbell.
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
More and more often, one in particular--the youngest of the denizens of Labyrinth making use of this mansion--is absent, away either out on mission or even simply in other rooms. It's become prevalent enough that it's perfectly normal for her to not show up some days. ...But even then, more often than not, she returns here, to the place of habit, to ignore the other two as fiercely as possible.
Today is one of the days that she's here.
Black, trimmed in red with frills and ribbons that provide all the delicacy her personality does not. She sits in the corner, flipping through a magazine with a frown, looking, if anything, bored.
She doesn't look up when Westar enters the room.
She does glance up, finally, when she hears the box set down.
She begins to glare at the box before rolling her eyes, setting the magazine down on her knee. "Hmph," she says, and looks back away.
<Pose Tracker> Soular [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
The gates have been closed to fortune-seeking visitors for today, and so Soular too is Switched Over. There's no reason, to his eyes, for him to remain in his human disguise when they have privacy for the rest of the day. He himself is seated in the south corner of the sitting room, near the door, reading a physics textbook (the next on his reading list, judging by his pile, is a children's novel). At his side, on the end table, is a teapot and an oversugared cup of mostly undrunk tea.
He feels Westar's footfalls before he hears them, and he hears them before the executive ever enters the room, so when Westar actually arrives ragged but not defeated, cheerfully declaring victory and toting delicious-smelling donuts, Soular's only reaction is to turn the page.
This might appear to be because he's still on bad terms with Westar. That's not actually true. Though it took literally months, Soular has finally cooled down enough that he's decided that incident was a trifle beneath his notice and has summarily forgiven Westar his transgression. Inwardly. Outwardly, he hasn't bothered to make that announcement yet.
"Did you defeat Pretty Cure?" he asks lightly, more to irritate Eas than anything else. He's been ignoring her too, but not because he's angry with her--quite the opposite. This is just how their relationship most of the time when it's just the two of them in this room. The fact that she's here for once is worth noting, but... as a master of douchebaggery, one must patiently wait for an opening. How kind of Westar to provide.
<Pose Tracker> Westar [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
In spite of having picked up his usual dumbbells, the rhythmic clank of Westar picking heavy things up and then setting them down...has yet to commence. In spite of his usual energy, he actually seems a little worn-out. Instead, he keeps peering through that donut lens, looking from Eas to Soular, back and forth a couple of times.
And then he takes a bite out of it, chews, and swallows before responding. He only made that particular mistake around Eas thrice. "Hm? No, no, they didn't show up. Gathered some Misery energy, mostly did a favour for Testarossa." He tosses the rest of the donut into his mouth, and takes a moment to just savour that crisp, sweet deliciousness.
Maybe he should take a page out of Eas's book, and recruit someone for Labyrinth? Kaoru would make a great candidate!
He had a grudge against Soular for the longest while - but the cultural festival went well, and Soular kind of helped with that, and they had something almost like a civil conversation...so sure, bygones being bygones and all that. He starts doing arm curls, wincing just a little - okay, he's a bit more sore than expected.
"Long story short, she wanted to do something, and figured her rivals might show up to get in her way - so I lended her a hand, and took on three of them. Great fight! Kind of wrecked the playground, not that that's hard." He grins, setting the dumbbell down with a loud clank. "Should really do that more often..."
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
The crumple of this magazine's corner leaves a wrinkle on the page that will never be repaired. Eas doesn't so much as look down at it, of course.
Instead she closes it and proceeds to lay it down once again, resting a hand 'casually' on it that is about as casual as a potential punch to the face.
Perhaps most alarmingly, she doesn't even snap at anyone over the comment yet.
She certainly hasn't tried to repair the rift between her two comrades, of course.
"Don't play with your food," she finally snaps, and one could /pretend/ it had nothing to do with what came before. "It makes you look ridiculous."
"How nice for her that she can count on you to step aside from what you're doing and do her 'favors'. Maybe next time you'll buy her sweets."
<Pose Tracker> Soular [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
The Misery Energy goes without saying. It is, after all, their mission, and if Westar's come back looking that beat up, one would *hope* that he'd collected at least some. Soular assumed as much from the get-go, even if perhaps Westar's track record isn't the best. Despite that though, even when he's angry with him, Soular tends to assume the best of a given Westar action.
One wonders why. Soular certainly hasn't.
That being said, being an asshole is all but second nature to the silver-haired man. 'He always looks ridiculous,' is what he *could* say to Eas--if he were inclined to back her up. Today, though, Soular flicks a look over towards the red-eyed executive, who might claim otherwise but has seemed *particularly* short-tempered of late. When Westar said that Pretty Cure hadn't even shown up, Soular thought that Eas wouldn't be baited--but here she is, being baited anyway.
"Testarossa, hm," he remarks, and otherwise remains silent. He'll let Westar field Eas's temper on his own for now, and choose a side later. /Let's see how they handle one another right now,/ he thinks.
<Pose Tracker> Westar [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
Westar's track record is not the best. It is, in fact, something approaching the worst. It's possible that other Executives have gathered less Misery Energy than him - for instance, the ones who have never been to Earth. Certainly a chance.
Eas, unfortunately, is not in a good mood today - the only saving grace is that Soular isn't joining in on the mockery yet. He glances to Soular for aid for just a moment - the fact that there's still hope in those eyes shows his ability to learn from experience. But - Eas is glowering. Best explain.
"H-hey! It's not that ridiculous, some of Kaoru's other customers do it all the time!" Like that one blond-haired girl who's there a lot - and yet, some buried survival instinct orders him not to mention her. "And it's an alliance! She's helped me with filling the Sorrow Gauge - she does good frightening lightning storms - and all I had to do was get in a fight with a few people!"
He still inches back, and there's a brief groan as the heavy weight-lifting bench slides long the floor. Westar, in the end, folds his arms. "Anyway, I didn't even waste a Nakewameke on it, so what's the problem?"
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
As far as Eas is concerned, the contributions of the others don't matter; whether they do great or poorly, it makes no difference. Either way, she still has to be the best.
...But then she's not Soular when it coes to Westar, either.
So she gets her wish and gets the chance to go 'alone' on this one--when Soular glances her way, Eas looks straight back, an obvious challenge. ...She /has/ been particularly short-tempered for a little while now. And she is in a very, very bad mood.
"So you're taking behavior tips from Earth humans, now? I knew you liked to get stupid but this is ipressive even for you." She lifts a hand only to flick it dismissively of his explanation. "Whatever. You making nice with your 'allies' isn't my problem. Just don't forget whose side you're on when the time comes, Westar."
Of course. Those /weights/.
'What's the problem?'
"If you can't even figure /that/ out then I'm definitely not going to bother telling you."
<Pose Tracker> Soular [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
Really, when is Eas ever in a good mood? If you asked Soular, he'd be hard-pressed to think of a time. She may well have never been in a good mood, though perhaps a lack of a bad mood is good enough for her.
When Westar looks to Soular for help, Soular has already ticked his eyes back down to his book. By all appearances, he seems totally unconcerned with the brewing argument; from Eas's perspective, he may have ceded this challenge to her, or more likely, he decided he didn't care. Strictly speaking, this isn't untrue. However, he *is* paying attention--watching with his peripheral vision, listening to what the two of them say.
When all is said and done... Soular must admit, Westar's argument is more solid. Fate is, after all, a member of Dark Fall, and so long as Labyrinth is allied with them, they're supposed to at least appear to cooperate with them. While Westar might not have collected as much Misery Energy as the rest of them, even Soular must admit (internally, where no one will ever know) that he's made the most progress at improving their standing within the greater organization. The way Eas talks, it's like she's not even aware of who Testarossa is.
Which, upon reflection, is really rather likely. What's *more* concerning is the way Eas tells Westar not to forget whose side he's on.
Of course he knows whose side he's truly on. How could he even forget? How could any of them? That Eas seems to think otherwise is... worrisome.
Soular turns another page and continues to not get involved, to see if by Westar's response that Eas's apparent concerns have a base to them.
<Pose Tracker> Westar [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
Eas...is in a terrible mood today. Yesterday's Westar would have gone into a donut-eating sulk, and even today's Westar is tempted. But...he's got a bit of confidence. He fought the heroes today, and didn't lose horribly - did rather well, even. And...
He stands up. Storms over to the donut box without a word, takes one out, and heads back to his corner. Like a big dog, guarding its little doghouse. "It's orders, Eas - we're supposed to act like Earth humans while we're here! That's why Soular and I are stuck going to that big school every other day - so yeah, I'm paying attention to what they do! You really think that's dumb?"
He doesn't use the donut as a lens this time - instead, he eats the whole thing in one bite. Chewing for a nearly obnoxiously long time before swallowing, and then crossing his arms in irritation. "And you always say that! Even though we're both servants of Lord Mobius - if I do something dumb, or don't get enough Misery energy, you never bother telling me anything!"
Soular might have concerns about Eas's loyalty, but that's the furthest thing from Westar's mind. Of course Eas is loyal to Labyrinth, they're comrades, she just leaves him to figure things out all the freaking time...!
Well, to be fair, both of them do. Hmph.
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
Eas has never been in a good mood even once.
And anyone who says otherwise can say it to her face.
As far as she's concerned, Soular certainly isn't staying out of it for anything like support--that would obviously never be the case. "We're supposed to blend in. But even humans think playing with donuts is childish." ...And Eas would certainly never let something like Westar having a point stop her.
It is a bit strange, though, that she'd even think to be concerned of that--particularly of Westar, of all people. Especially because, "We're both servants of Mobius-sama. Why should that ean I'd tell you anything? If you can't grasp things this obvious, it's not worth the trouble to give you advice you won't be able to figure out anyway."
Beat.
"And you chew like you're some kind of animal! You're going to get donut crumbs all over the place!"
<Pose Tracker> Soular [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
'Even humans think playing with donuts is childish.'
"Did you hear that from Cure Peach?" Soular wonders, tone as light and noncommittal as always, as he turns another page. Oil on the fire, he expects. As for telling Westar things--well. There, Soular has to agree with Eas. One completes one's tasks by onself. That's the way things are in Labyrinth. The fact that Westar keeps trying to rely on others is... embarrassing.
Nonetheless, he *is* getting results... /some/ results... so Soular holds his peace there too. After all, Westar is correct; they have their orders.
<Pose Tracker> Westar [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
Urk. Eas...has a point there. Not to mention those kids at the playground laughing at the fact that he was on the jungle gym...he doesn't quite get humans, even after all these months, and can only do his best to try to fit in. And fail, fairly often.
Though at least he tries! "Well - what about advice I could figure out! Can't you come up with something like that?"
There's an awkward silence. One that Soular fills with a carefully chosen comment. On one hand - great! Finally, he's stepping in to...kind of help? On the other...he just brought up Cure Peach. To Eas.
Westar sidesteps over to the corner to grab a broom. Maybe he should sweep up donut crumbs, that would help, right?
(No it won't, this room is carpeted.)
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
"Maybe, if I used pictures and small words. Even then, I doubt it." Eas, of course, counts herself an expert at dealing with humans and blending in among the people of Earth. Regardless of whether this is entirely true, she would obviously think she's the best in the room. But...
That issue is sudenly left entirely aside.
'Did you hear about that from Cure Peach?'
"Yes, she sat down and gave me a lesson in the stupid things humans do," Eas throws back, the sarcasm so thick in her tone that it could drown a fairy. "I didn't need to /hear/ it, I /saw/ it! It's exactly the sort of naive, frivolous stupid thing she'd do already."
The magazine crumples once more. This time the wrinkles crunch through the whole thing. It's not going to recover. ...But this only happens /after/ she speaks up, and start staring down at nothing in particular, her glower only intensifying in response to...
Well, she already reacted to the comment; it can't be /that/.
Her eyes snap up. "Why do we even /keep/ a broom in that corner?"
<Pose Tracker> Soular [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
"So you're saying that even humans know playing with donuts is childish, never mind that there are teenage Earth humans who are likely to do such a thing," Soular translates. The implication is, or at least in Soular's mind should be, obvious. After all, they're ALL teenagers. "Of course. How could I not have seen it before?"
He smiles insincerely. "Do forgive the interruption, Eas. Please, continue your charming conversation with Westar."
Westar might want to start searching a little further abroad for cleaning tools.
<Pose Tracker> Westar [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
Westar doesn't get furious at Eas's dismissal. He's disappointed and eager, all at once. "Could you really?!...oh." He respects his fellow executives' skills - especially since they seem to get more Misery than him every time they go out.
And none of them have been defeated by heartfelt dancing, which is a secret he might just have to take straight to the Delete Hole.
"Oh, Cure Peach is...uh..." Clutching the broom, Westar starts edging towards the door. Being compared to her is a bad thing. A very bad thing. Avoid that comparison at all costs.
And Soular is...not helping after all, he's just egging Eas on, and things are getting really tense in here. "No, Soular, go ahead! I've got to, uh...." Eas snaps at him, and Westar actually jumps. "Get something that isn't a broom! Right, I know someone who has a vacuum, I'll be back to clean up!"
Further abroad? Well, among the denizens of the Dark Realms was one of the Dark Five - Poisony had picked up quite the snazzy vacuum a while back, right? It's worth a shot, and it's getting him out of the line of fire which is way more important. The donuts...well, he had a few on the way over, the rest are the sacrifice.
One box, two executives.
<Pose Tracker> Eas [None] has posed.
She /could/. She totally could. She even said that she could.
But she won't.
...And she's certainly the last to talk about even beginning to care about heartfelt dancing.
'Cure Peach' is spoken, and Eas just for a moment exists in a state of throwing something at Westar and also not throwing something at Westar. In the second moment she is stuck dealing with that /girl/ being mentioned again, even here, of all places.
"That's because here on Earth you can be older and still be childish!" Eas shouts back at Soular. "/You/ continue talking, I'm--"
Westar goes. ...To get a vaccuum. ...Away.
"I don't have time for this," the white-haired girl huffs, and hurls the magazine hard enough at the wall that it bounces into the trash can and knocks it over completely. Standing up, starts to storm out... and sees the donut box.
She picks it up on her way out of spite.
Her heels click against the wood in the other room right up until she Switches Over to leave the mansion.
<Pose Tracker> Soular [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
Westar flees the room, and Eas all but screams at Soular. Soular meets her shouting with slightly raised eyebrows and a faint smirk, like he finds the whole display amusing.
And he does. But he also finds it concerning.
"Of course," Soular replies--to what, to which, who knows? Perhaps it's just an empty remark. (It's probably not an empty remark.) Either way, he does nothing to stop either of his compatriots. By the time Eas storms out with the donuts in hand, Soular has gone back to his studying. Soon, he is alone.
And once he is, all semblance of smirking superiority are gone.
