peace, love, and sail boats [OPEN]

[manyminds]

CHARACTERS: Keya & YOU
WHERE: The Red Coast
WHEN: DAY :028 - :036
SUMMARY: A catch-all for whatever fun romps you wanna involve Keya in.
WARNINGS: None, yet. Cuteness from a very moe alien, perhaps.


DAYS :028 - :034 MEET CUTES OR MEETS CUTE ((note: if you want to have interactions with Keya between days :024 and :027, you can wildcard off of this post))

[It seems that, after the first few days at the Red Coast, the timid young farana who swore her service to the Carbauschians is finding more courage and confidence to speak. Not just with hosts, but with other envoys, much to the chagrin of her kin.]

I just don’t understand why nobody will even consider it-- [she can be overheard saying, to whomever she’s selected for the time being. It seems a fairly arbitrary selection process; really, just anyone who won’t walk away while she’s talking. Sometimes, even those unfriendly few.] --Who knows when the next time such a meeting might happen?

[Inevitably, anyone of consequence she might entreat will eject from the conversation, leaving her discouraged and frustrated.]

DAYS :035 and :036 SHIP SHAPE

[With the ships complete and the training underway, Keya can be found trying to learn to sail.

Oh sure, she hopped aboard gung-ho and ready to harpoon a big beastie, but as soon as a fisherman puts one into her hands, she becomes stricken with an uneasy pallor and pleads for it to be taken back. She’s not quite ready to be pitted against another behemoth, armed only with a spear by a different name.

So, she sticks to learning her way around the boat. Pulling on ropes, tying knots, rushing hither and thither and following instructions as best she can.

Over the course of training, on a handful of occasions, you’ll hear her yell “HEADS UP!” as something falls from above--a tool, a rope, what-have-you--and she lunges after it, trying to catch it without falling herself.

Sometimes, she actually succeeds.]

WILDCARD

[You know the drill.]

Comments

[wille]

[ How familiar the sentiment, the sense of mission and the requisite powerlessness. She responds likewise, with a bow, loosening her grip to but a weight against the farana's arm before letting go entirely. ]

Well, those above your standing think they have more to lose.

[ She softens her words with sympathy, see, she isn't entirely incapable of it. ]

What were you saying to them?

[manyminds]

That we could be utilizing our time on the Pilgrimage to broker peace, instead of choosing either side.

[ She looks over at a cluster of envoys, walking and talking, headed for some activity or another. Or, maybe just walking. She doesn't know. ]

This is the first time in a long time that so many of us have convened without there being some sort of...war crime tribunal to handle or sabotage involved. Until the Hyrypians form an alliance with one of the factions, this is neutral ground; the only place anyone might actually listen to the possibility of armistice.

[wille]

[ Misato could laugh. She, who has made war her entire business, could scarcely picture a world without it. Carnage can be set aside of course, exiled to a late night segment on the television, a tiny corner at the back of the newspaper, but it has never really gone away. Not even in the face of greater enemies could humans unite, and it takes such leaps of the imagination to picture how it might be for Rabadoceans, who seem to her the same.

She offers her what she would have wanted offered to her own equally insane ideas: benefit of the doubt. ]

That would mean convincing all sides that peace benefits them more than the possibility of winning the war. Have you thought about that?

[manyminds]

[Keya knows the next words out of her mouth are likely to be met with a skeptical scoff, regardless of who she says it to, but for some reason she can't help herself. ]

Isn't the establishment of peace kind of a win for everyone? [ Yep. That was pretty bad. The expression on her face reflects that she knows exactly how that sounded, too. She shrugs, helplessly. ]

Surely any course of action that prevents the deaths of more people, be they soldiers or civilians, should matter more than anything...shouldn't it?

[wille]

[ Her response, first, is an extended silence. A member of the Nest might have been able to sense the activity on her mind, the concentration and due consideration given, rather than boredom or ridicule. But she gives away little to Keya from behind the veil, until she speaks a few beats later. ]

Not if it means the deaths of people on the other side, the ones who aren't theirs. Not if it means losing out on what they thought they could win by coming here.

[ That is the no, but here is the yes. ]

How far are you willing to go for brokered peace?

[manyminds]

As far as I can--

[ No, further than that, even. She stands a little straighter. ]

As far as it takes.

[wille]

[ She doesn't quite believe Keya's conviction, because the farana is naive, she doesn't yet know. Still, the declaration matters. ]

It's gonna be hard work. It's gonna be frustrating. [ It doesn't occur to her: it may be fatal. ] Here's what I think we should do: find out what each faction wants and what they're willing to concede on. That way we'll know what's on the table, then we'll figure out how to make an offer they can accept.

[ Then, as importantly, whether or not it's a lie. ]

I'll help you. I'm with you.

[manyminds]

[ As soon as Misato's words sink in--which takes a moment, unexpected as they are--Keya's face lights up. What an amazing group of people she found in the Carbauschians!

She grasps both of Misato's hands and holds them, then bows over them at least twice. ]

Oh, thank you! I cannot begin to tell you what your support means-- [ Keya doesn't actually have a name to finish out that sentence, so she comes out of the bow and looks to her new friend inquisitively. ] What should I call you?

[wille]

[ After a beat of consideration: ] Katsuragi.

[ Is it friendship if built upon a bed of manipulation? And why not. She squeezes the farana's hands back, having played this role many times before, only the script has slightly changed. She assumes the figure of the wise guardian, the farthest thing from the truth. ]

I'm not doing this for you. It's for all us, right? Peace is better than senseless fighting.

[manyminds]

Yes, yes of course! [ All that matters is that they're working toward peace; it shouldn't be for Keya herself. Who is she, anyway? Nobody of any real importance, but one the war has affected nonetheless.

So her agreement is genuine. The peace they are striving for isn't for any one person, but for the betterment of all. ]