2198/Pizza and Paranoia

Pizza and Paranoia
Date of Scene:	07 December 2016
Location:	Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - King Penguin Park
Synopsis:	Kazuo bribes Lacrima for a favor. Namely, to ask Lacrima to ... watch out for ... Riventon's interests? This is one of the weirder configurations lately.
Cast of Characters:	Kunzite, Norie Okana

---

Kunzite has posed:
Sometimes unexpected text messages lead to stranger things than others.

There is a particular grove in Penguin Park that is more shielded than others from outside observation, even when winter robs trees of their leaves. (Kunzite spends a good amount of time, when he's there, trying not to think about why he knows that.) In this particular instance, he's waiting there for a meeting in his civilian guise, black-coated and white-haired. He's claimed a bench, and dusted it free of snow. There is also, with him, an insulated pack that is the right side to hold two pizza boxes, and also a couple of bottles of vending-machine tea.

He is reasonably aware of the possibility of being flattened by a bolt of dark energy, but Lacrima hasn't done that to him so far without an immediate cause.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima gets a text. She texts back mostly promptly. Kunzite may get the impression that she was doing nothing particular of note. Maybe lounging on some couch in the conservatory room of the manor.

When the time comes later- she sort of steps out from a shroud of darkness at the edge of the clearing, so she doesn't need to walk here in what is an overtly fancy dress.

It is not a magical henshin dress- though- she's clearly not hiding behind a disguise either. Pale skin. Long purple hair. Yup.

Her eyes trace along Kunzite as she purses her lips and takes a seat gingerly. Nope. No bolt of dark energy.

"Hello." she says quietly.

She wonders if this is about what she spoke to Ariel about. She doesn't know. SHe hasn't bothered to ask.

Maybe it's about something else.

Maybe Kunzite has figured out something to help her.

Her eyes look down the pizza boxes. No smile. or hint of one. But that is literarly nothing new. She can smell it.

"Is that...."

"Chocolate? I smell?" she asks.

Kunzite has posed:
"One of them is," Kunzite agrees, straightforward. He rises and turns to meet her, bowing gravely. "The other one is something involving abalone and crayfish. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me; I thought the least I could do was offer you a choice of distraction." He considered a third potential choice, but the seaweed one that actually looked as if it might be about to crawl off the crust and consume a small dog or two seemed as if it might be taking Lacrima's request for weird pizza a little too far.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima purses her lips. "Seafood sounds more appetizing right now." she says. "I see you took the request for 'weird pizza' good." she insists.

She head tilts. "Why did you want to meet with me?" she asks. She looks at Kunzite's coat. Does the cold bother him?

She's hardly dressed for the weather. There are no sleeves on that elegant dress of hers. It's not exactly winter clothing.

But she's always... just cold. This feels no different to her than it did in the summer.

She's not making audible guesses at Kunzite's reasoning for being here it seems- but she does ask. "Is Naru-chan okay?" she asks. "I. Visited. recently. To see if some sort of external force was affecting her. I didn't detect anything. I told her she should have someone she trusts check her at night while she's sleeping- see if anything 'wakes up' then." she says.

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo inclines his head to Lacrima gravely, and bends down to slide the top box out of its pack. When opened, the pizza it reveals looks like seafood, all right. In that it bears a somewhat uncanny resemblance to something that might have crawled out of the Dusk Zone's seas: it has a creepy fourfold symmetry, eight pieces of something white and probably meat laid out like the spokes of a wheel above green-grey -- mushrooms? maybe? -- and lumps of reassuringly normal chicken alternating with something that was probably also something's meat but looks more like a thick red cylinder stuffed with white. The whole thing is covered in a spiraling pattern of an orange dressing that might be designed as a hypnotist's nightmare image; that goes from the center all the way out to the crust, which is itself studded in a regular sequence, three or four per slice, of bone-yellow cylinders -- presumably edible -- standing straight upright and occasionally bubbling over with something pale.

Once that's settled, Kazuo offers Lacrima a black ceramic plate, perfectly grave.

"Naru-chan appeared to be all right when I spoke with her yesterday," he says. "Which may always be deceiving. Still, she's mentioned sleeping better lately. I recall that Akashimaru set -- something -- to watch her dreams; when I see Akashimaru next, I'll ask if it's still doing so. If it's not ... you're entirely correct. We'll find a way to follow up."

He isn't commenting on her lack of sleeves. As if he'd expected that, matter-of-fact as so many other things; or as if any surprise is not enough to overcome some concern for her privacy. There is another question she's asked, though, and that's due answer.

"I wanted to meet with you because I'm concerned about Riventon." He pauses for a moment, gray eyes studying her face, her hands. Never quite finding her necklace. "Do I presume correctly that you are aware of his present location?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima eyes the pizza. She does not make a face of disgust. Nope. She nods a bit. "Thank you." she says as she takes the offered plate and puts exactly two pieces onto said plate. She begins to eat. Because eating makes her feel better- somewhat. For terms and definitions of 'better'.

Yes, that's about perfect. Fishy. Seafood. Mmmmph.

She swallows when Kunzite reveals the reason he's here to talk to her. Riven-sama.

She purses her lips. "Yes, I know he's away on bussiness in South America." is all she says. "Why are you. Concerned?" she asks curiously.

Kunzite has posed:
Definitely seafood. Even the creepy orange spiral is seafood, crayfish and crab roe. The cheese is sharper-tasting than usual, able to hold its own against the marine onslaught. Kazuo takes a piece as well, and takes a bite before answering: here, have at least a little reassurance that he didn't spike it with anything he isn't willing to consume.

"Because I'd considered earlier the possibility that the thing he's doing was meant to manipulate him," he says, "and decided that certain influences he took with him would be a safeguard against that. But I hadn't considered earlier the possibility that it might be meant merely to distract him -- to keep him from noticing something. Corporate maneuvering he could watch from where he is, or you or Ms. White might notice; it's unlikely that. But arcane maneuvering ... he has systems to watch for that. But they may not be actively monitored in his absence. May I inquire whether that is something you know is already covered?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima is eating fishy pizza. She is apparently enjoying in so far much as she appears to enjoy things. She still has taste buds. Things still taste the same as when she was human. It's the small things she keeps close like that.

Basically, when all you have is taste, you give it a ride once in a while.

She swallows gingerly and listens to what Kunzite says as she seems to consider this for a long moment.

"I'm under the impression Riventon-sama discovered what he did on his own and went on his own accord?" she says. "Rather than being ordered so. Is this not the case?" she asks.

Riventon doesn't share everything with her, afterall. She does not blame him. She knows of Ayana. and Fate.

"Riventon-san has left me in charge of things like that. Checking. Basics. While he's away." there are not that many 'live people' in UMBRA anymore. It's all. Youma robots and things like that- almost.

Almost.

"Do you have a-- specific. Worry?" she asks.

"Or just a vauge worry, like that?" she asks.

"If you are looking for a specific, it would be better to just ask me." she says.

Kunzite has posed:
"Riventon believes that to be the case, yes, so far as I know," Kunzite says. "He may be correct. Or some third party within Eclipse may have been arranged that Riventon find something that would tempt him into moving very quickly. I did not suggest my concern about that to Riventon directly; it's not something that he would be pleased to hear speculation about." And when Riventon is displeased, things tend to go very bad very quickly. "But it's something that I've been keeping in mind, in case."
en Lacrima says that Riventon left her in charge of those things, he relaxes a little, and nods to her. "Good. I'm pleased that you're watching."

(That someone's watching at all? Or that she, specifically, is?)

"I don't have a specific worry; I don't know enough about Eclipse to be able to see how specific individuals would play the game, or which specific individuals should be considered. Nor do I expect you to give me any information on that front. I suspect you're already checking the security to make sure that neither it nor its diagnostic and reporting systems have been tampered with -- that would be the most obvious internal target. External, though ... that's more of a trick. Perhaps small long-term shifts of energy flows or quality in places that he has interest in. Something that, by the time he returned, would look like a simple and established fact, and draw no attention."

Kazuo shrugs. "I don't know. I don't know enough to make proper guesses. And I may be worried about nothing. I only wanted to make certain that someone was watching, while he was gone. We disagree on methods. But I don't want to see him drawn into a trap, either."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima purses her lips. Yeah she'll be. Checking for things now. Around UMBRA. See if anything is out of place. Or if anyone's been through the door that doesn't usually come. Expected or unexpected. She of course, thinks of this as she's eating pizza that looks like someone just fished it out of the ocean maybe twelve minutes ago.

She's still enjoying it and is in fact, on piece number three now.

"I'll. Doublecheck. Things." she says. "I don't think there's anything like a--- play. Being made." she says.

"Yes. I will not tell you everything." she says. "Except that it is a very...competitive work enviroment." she insists.

"So I will look and make sure no one's trying to. Move in. On Riven-sama." she says.

She looks down at the braclet on her left wrist and frowns a bit softly. Tha braclet has been doing it's job fairly well. It's at least kept her from bleeding dark energy at an alarming rate.

"I am reminded that Riventon needs to give my braclet another go over soon." she says.

She looks back up. "I don't.. think. Anything untoward is happening." she says.

"But if there is. I will find out." she says.

"And handle it."

Kunzite has posed:
"I hope there's nothing for you to find," Kunzite says, quiet and straightforward. "But I suspect we'd both rather make sure when it's not necessary, than miss something if there is something to find. And if you do find anything ... if it's internal, I presume I won't know. If it's external, and we can be of assistance, please consider talking to me to be an option."

Not quite 'please tell me,' but -- well. There's a very careful set of lines being drawn, around Eclipse's business, around Lacrima's volition and intent, and he's trying to keep the lines he's delineating from crossing hers any more than they have to.

He follows her glance to her bracelet, and says nothing for a moment. Then: "I hope he'll be back in plenty of time."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima mmmphhhs. "The braclet isn't important that he gets to it ASAP. It helps. It's no different than... a wrist brace. Or a cane. A medical device to help me better." she says. "It keeps.. the 'flow' of energy in me down to something manageable. Sort of turning a wide river into a smaller creek." she says.

"A dam of sorts."

"It helps me think better. Be more rational-- I mean. Then I was. At the begining." she says. "Help. Not. Stop. of course." she says. "Obviously."

"He's trying to improve it when he can. Every few months."

She then continues. "I don't think I'll find anything. Someone would have to be an idiot to try to take the carpet out from under Riven-sama. Do you know what he'll do if he finds out? He'll get... angry."

We all know what happens then.

"I will...talk. To you. if I find anything in my audit that I need help with." she says.

She is now on slice five. She is happily eating this pizza that looks like an Old One ordered it and then went 'eeeeeewww, I /hate/...... chicken.'.

Ariel must had not have spoken to Kunzite yet, since- he didn't bring anything up that she talked with Ariel about. That's alright. She doesn't expect much from her 'friends' anyways at this point.

Something does pass by her mind.

"Alexis-kun." she says. "Feels..."

"Overwhelmed. About things." she says. "I am not..much.... help. With that?" she asks.

"I think he's starting to feel. That."

"He can't. Make a difference?... or. Something. Like that."

"I can only. Base it off. My. Observation. He doesn't. Hide his feelings very well. He. Got kicked out of school it looks like. For fighting someone that seemed to have deserved it." she says.

"I guess you might be able to help him better?...." she says.

"....or find someone who can." she says.

Kunzite has posed:
He's trying to improve the bracelet. "Good. But I'd still prefer it if he were back in plenty of time to confirm that it's still functioning well, and do any maintenance. For his sake as well as for your consistent rationality."

Kunzite has eaten most of one slice. This is the normal and expected ratio, really. When confronted with the Elder Pizza, only horrors comfortable with the realm of horrors can consume without concern for consequence. Her statement about the audit gets her a nod; that's an excellent way to put it, really --

Ah.

"Alexis-kun," Kunzite repeats, and it's thoughtful, not dubious. "I think you're right. That's something I've been considering. He and I have similar personality flaws; there are some ways in which that helps me to understand him a little, and some ways in which it means we get nowhere when we talk. Naru-chan is in a better place to help him in the long run, in several ways. And he tells you more than he tells me, I think. But I'll see what I can do."

... he tells Lacrima more than he tells someone else?

Norie Okana has posed:
She head tilts a little. Yeah she's finishing the rest of this pizza. She purses her lips.

"Yes." she says in agreement.

"Naru can help him better." she says softly.

She politly holds the plate to the side, behind her and gently brushes it off. Before she helpfully offers it back to Kunzite. She seems done with Pizza. There is about two slices left. Yup. Allll Kunzites. How lucky he is to have it!

She purses her lips a bit. "I can't think of many ways to help him that wouldn't involve... tugging him into. Where I am and. I'd prefer. He not need to make that choice. Just because he wants to help very bad." she says.

"I'm sure that. He'll figure something out." she says. "For better or worse, that he's happy with at least." she says.

"I don't know what that's like. Honestly. So I can't say that I know how he feels. But. It must not be very pleasent." she admits.

Kunzite has posed:
Kunzite accepts the plate, and stacks it under his own. "We'll do what we can," he repeats. "He doesn't tell us that much. But there are a couple of people I know who use tactics similar to his, and I've already spoken to them about taking him in hand. And we can try to give him experience outside of actual combat, so that he has a better idea of what might and might not help at any given time. I've been trying to avoid organizing too much in the way of training; my brothers and I aren't soldiers any longer, and hold no authority in this life, and I don't want to risk them falling into old habits. But that's less important than keeping the boy alive."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima head tilts softly. "Anything is better than nothing." she says dryly. "...aren't soldiers any longer? You were?" she asks confusedly. "What would change that wouldn't make you soldiers any longer?" she asks. "That doesn't sound like something you just stop being. Unless you. Mind wiped all you learned or something." she says with a soft series of blinks.

"I am just. Worried." she says. "It is easy. For me to be worried for someone, but.. it's always in a selfish way? Never altruisitc. If that makes sense. It's weird. How close I come to positive---but it isn't." she mutters a little.

She frowns. "Has... Jiaying. Spoken to you yet?" she asks.

"She observed something about me. But won't tell me in too much detail what." she says with a frown.

"Something about... being split..." she says tapping her bottom lip.

Kunzite has posed:
"It doesn't change what we were. It changes what options we have now. As yourself - you're no longer attending school; that doesn't mean you stop learning, but it means you don't need to learn on the school's schedule, or be there to help take attendance. Or limit yourself to the subjects taught there."

He inclines his head to her statements about worry. "It makes sense," he says. "But concern over others for fear of being hurt yourself remains valid, both the concern and the fear. It's a gray area. An overlap, perhaps." Like Mercury's fog -

There's a thought that concerns him more than a little.

No time for that now, though. "I haven't been able to catch her yet. It's a busy time of year." He examines Lacrima with a brief, critical frown. "You don't look split. Physically, at least."

(The useful thing about habitual nonexpression is that an adrenaline flood only shows around the pupils.)

a

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima head tilts. "I don't know. I was.... trying to. Learn to control things better. A month or so back--- And I.. accidently let some sort of big youma out?" she asks. "And it ran amok and I chased after it." she says.

"And... I mean. We defeated it. Or rather. The others did. I..."

"It's very hazy. Because two sets of memories exist at the same time?" she asks. "I clearly remember... fighting Ayana who was dead set on wanting to kill me in some sort of dark place..." she says. "But I was also on the ground feeling scared and other things I don't normally feel." she says. "At the same time."

"Jiaying says that. I was acting like she might imagine How I might had acted, when I was not this thing?" she asks. "I'm not sure." she says.

"I just know I haven't sorted out the memory issue. I can't remember either events that happened at the same time clearly." she says.

"If that makes sense." she says.

She frowns at Kunzite. "I guess that makes sense about worrying about others..." she says quietly.

Kunzite has posed:
"Ayana doesn't generally seem dead set on wanting to kill anything bigger than a few noodle bowls," Kazuo says slowly. "I'd say that seems very strange, but we're already talking about your consciousness having been split temporarily somehow."

(Is she still alive in there after all? Still ensouled? Her curse's primary victim, trying to draw enough identity and connection from other people to keep it from starving her?)

(And if she can't remember clearly - can she be released, or is the curse replacing some consumed part of her necessary to her functioning?)

"Have there been any lingering effects from this? Any further trouble with your memory?" Speaking of worrying about others. That, at least, he can do aloud.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima head tilts. "Jiaying spoke to Ayana about it, and Ayana confirmed what happened and her intentions." she says flatly. "I imagine she'll try-- and fail-- eventually." she says.

"I am not overtly worried." she says.

She head tilts. "I don't think so?" she says quietly. "No more. Messed up than usual." she says. "Still have the same naggings. Though." she says.

"Weird. No sense... naggings... like."

"A newer friend gave me a parasol to try and I immeditaly felt like I was missing something and it was odd- and then I realized it was a fan I was missing. A spanish one. and I wondered how I knew that and then I realized it's no different from me just knowing spanish suddenly... and a little german. When I heard Alexis speak some. I dunno what that's about. But..."

"Something about it is both... anxiety inducing. But. comforting." she says as she bites her bottom lip a little.

Kunzite has posed:
    "Accessing another set of memories. Of familiar habits. Comforting, because they feel familiar. Anxiety-inducing, because they are not a familiarity you know, and because you don't know whether they will be added to what you know or come to replace it. Or that's how it was for me, but our situations are not entirely parallel." Kunzite's scowl is very slight, and directed away from Lacrima. "It's become easier for some of us to deal with, but not all. I hope it goes well for you."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima frowns. "I am not sure of the specifics of why I feel those. Most likely I'll have dreams that tell me why- eventually." she says. "Like always." she says grumpily.

She sighs a bit. "Well. I've still retained my ability to speak Japanese and English. And the vampire who had this power before me knew neither of those things." she says. "But I also magically know Spanish. And some Spanish Custom. And Style. And a little German now." she says quietly.

"I'm not afraid of things being replaced." she says.

"I'm more worried about. Getting. Things like. Bursts of irrationality fixed. Beofre I do something stupid again. I'd say. Do something I can't take back. But we're already well past that point." she says quietly.

Kunzite has posed:
"If we can't repair what we've done, then we do our best the next time, all the same." It ought to be a platitude. In practice, it's just resigned. Kazuo shakes his head, gray eyes going distant for a moment, and looks out toward the trees. "Were you able to understand the troubles you had with the crystal I saw you using recently?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima just purses her lips and sours a little at that. 'Next time'. Ugh.

She most certainly hopes there isn't a 'next time' for 'sending someone into a coma'.

She head tilts. "Oh. The. Crystal. Um. It was. a Proof of concept. Of.. a convertor. Taking in.. my dark energy and expelling. Something elemental out. Not dark." she says. "So now I can... help Natsum-chan. When she needs it. Since. I can throw something that isn't just feeding those things." she says. "She fights."

She frowns. "I was. Hoping. To--- try to make a convertor. To convert other energy into what I need. But. As I expected. You just can't...."

"Make that." she says quietly.

"But it does help me. In a way. Still. As I said." she says.

Kunzite has posed:
"Part of what you need is mind, not precisely energy," Kunzite says quietly. "Even Riventon can't manufacture that, not in a reliable or stable form. But I'm glad it's helping you." He considers for a moment, whether to say something or let it lie. Then says after a moment, "The internal structures of the crystals you use do make a difference. But I suspect you've worked that out."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima frowns. "I'm...working on that. The proof of concept. Kind of. Started cracking. So I just. Threw it at her." she says. "I just need to work more on that. Make them less fragile. I'm kind of. trying to..."

"Debate the ethics of an idea." she says.

"Make a.. draining crystal. Of sorts. But one that just steals in a trickle and stops. And putting a few in a high trafficied space. It just takes a little from every passerby." she says.

"--and I can just go out and night and harvest them."

"I guess it might upset some people. But. It's also potentially a few steps down from. Attack people in alleys?" she asks.

Kunzite has posed:
"I used an effect like that, when I needed to feed from humans," Kunzite says, with no emotional overtones at all. "In a similar interest - minimizing the harm to any given individual. Melanite was working along similar lines, too - crystals that would drain for her. But she was still prototyping; she didn't have in enough safeguards or failsafes. They drained too much, too fast, and broke. Drained her, too, so she was caught in her own trap. Be careful of that, if you're following her notes."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima frowns. "I am using her notes guidelines, not blueprints. Riven-sama is also checking my work occasionally. I'm confident that Riven-sama is better than this Melanite ever was." she insists.

She purses her lips.

"Speaking of. I should. Get back, and begin to look into our....mutual? Concerns. Yes. That." she says quietly. She means try to find out if someone is making a move on Riventon somehow- or UMBRA.

And maybe confront people ina spooky show of power if she finds anything out.

"Is that fine?" she asks.

Kunzite has posed:
"Not impossible," Kunzite says quietly. "Particularly outside her specialty area. Given what I've seen of Riventon's work. She was good, but Riventon has had much better opportunities to learn."

He rises as well; draws out the unopened pizza box as if to offer it to her, with a brief cock of his head. Chocolate may not be her thing today, though.

"That is. I hope there's nothing for you to find. But it's best to be certain. Good luck to you." Because 'evil luck' is not a thing.