1286/Korma Confessional

Korma Confessional
Date of Scene:	15 March 2024
Location:	Korma Chameleon
Synopsis:	Troubled by her first meeting with her nemesis, Aloisia wanders back into the Korma for dinner... only to learn that not only is one of the waitresses there, the friend of her enemy? But she wants to be *Aloisia's* friend, too, even knowing what having friends on opposite sides will mean. How do you even *begin* to understand that?
Cast of Characters:	Rashmi Terios, Aloisia Stauss

---

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It's a slow day for the Korma Chameleon. The weather is warming, and with the bitter chill leaving the air, those non-regulars mostly interested in warming themselves inside and out find themselves needing a hot, filling curry much less.

Which means there are tables open, and an entering customer need merely find one and sit. One of the waitresses, a dark-skinned redhead with large round glasses over her eyes, even has enough free time to catch up on homework, apparently, because she's *definitely* too young to be a manager doing paperwork.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     Aloisia Stauss had done her first act under Otto's directions. She had expected it would draw the attention of the one she'd wanted to! And it had! And it even somewhat went exactly how she wanted to!

Which is why she is currently going into Korma Chameleon, her expression fairly neutral and moderately sulky. Which is also probably why she didn't really care that much about braving the lessening cold. The jacket she's almost always wearing probably helps.

She would slip into a seat more or less in the back corner of the Korma Chameleon. One of the first places she'd been brought to in this world by Chrono. The food was delicious, though somewhat overwhelming after over a year of the most bland food ever. Her seat was, somewhat coincidentally, near that homework-working waitress that was likely familiar to her, a decision made subconsciously.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The moment someone comes in, the redhead's attention is got; this is a restaurant, after all, and Customer-san is always a VIP until they decide to demote themselves. Already slipping out of her seat by the time Aloisia chooses a table, Rashmi slips off into the kitchen to grab notebook and apron, stops by the counters to grab a menu from the rack, and is standing in front of the new customer's table moments later, a smile on her face like the sun peeking out from behind clouds for the first time today.

"Welcome to the Korma Chameleon, Customer-san! Would you like a drink to start?"

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     "Oh. Hi... Rashmi, was it?" Aloisia responds with a small nod towards her as she reaches to take the menu. "Some tea would be nice. And... I haven't eaten here much, so food recommendations would be nice. Something relatively mild." She says, putting on a mild smile towards Rashmi's. It definitely paled in comparison to that sunny one. She looked tired.

"Friendly company while you have time would be nice, too, but I understand that you're at work so that might not be much of an option."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Green tea, or chai?" is the first thing out of Rashmi's mouth, bobbing her head in confirmation of her name. "Green tea is the local staple, chai's from Mami's home. It's tea and milk and a lot of different spices, and it's great if you just want a nice warm hug of a drink. As for reccomendations... Well, if you don't know what you want, that's usually the perfect time to order the butter-chicken tsukemen?"

It's about that moment that she notices how tired the customer looks... and if she can be counted on anything at all, it's to be a friend to about-her-age people who seem to have wandered in lost. But... sales spiel first.

"It's basically a rearrangement of a really common curry, for Japanese eating styles, you get noodles and chicken bits and a bunch of other things, and a bowl of butter-chicken gravy to dip it all in. It's actually a lot of fun, and I don't really *work* here so much as help out the owners, so sure I can sit with you if you like!"

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     "Uhm. I don't know who Mami is but... Chai sounds... interesting?" Aloisia responds to the tea question. She'd had tea, but bagged tea all tasted, like, well. Yeah. Anyway. The talk of suggestions of butter Chicken Tsukemen is quietly listened to. Hm. "Okay. That sounds like a good option. The butter chicken tsukemen." Aloisia says, giving a small nod as she shifts a bit in her seat to face Rashmi a bit more. "Maybe, uhm. A large size to share? Y'know. For your presence, if you're hungry, that is." She says with a small nod. Once Rashmi had put in the order and such, she shifts one let up so that she could rest her elbow on her knee, resting her cheek on it.

"Have you ever... like... worked something up in your head to be this big... crazy thing... that like... is going to be ... not amazing, but like... I dunno. I guess satisfying at least. And then like, you actually do the thing and it just. Doesn't actually go that way at all? In fact it just. Goes... extremely poorly by comparison. The response was just... I don't know." She mumbles. "A year of travel to here and then... it went. Like... that." Yes she is leaving out details.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The order is scribbled down and with a mumured "one moment..." Rashmi takes it back into the kitchen, coming out a bit later with a drinks tray carrying two thick, tall mugs full of warmly spiced liquid, fragrant and steaming. One is set in front of Aloisia, and one at the seat across from the foreigner, and Rashmi settles in to listen.

And she truly is listening; it's easy to tell when you don't have someone's undivided attention, and Rashmi is displaying precisely none of those signs. "I, um... truthfully can't say I've ever felt that way, but... That's more me than anything else; *my* big crazy plans before last summer were mostly 'I am gonna have *so many friends* someday,' so..." The redhead shrugs helplessly. "But it sounds like you're feeling kinda lost?"

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Aloisia reaches to grab the tea, taking a small sip as she stays in that position. Probably some sort of comfort position for her, maybe. "...I mean. Always, this world is so different than mine, but... that's besides the point, I suppose. Mostly different in pretty good seeming ways." She murmurs thoughtfully. Big crazy plans to have a ton of friends, though. She gives a slight smile, a bit more true than the one she'd given before. "Your plan sounded a lot better than mine." She gives a soft sigh.

"My plan... honestly I don't even know if I had a plan. I was sent here and told just to end the cycle and the way I tried to... I couldn't... really. Follow through on." Hannah laying on the ground below her. "The person I was chasing didn't have the resolve I expected." That look of grim consignment on Hannah's face.

"...And honestly they were... different than I expected. Angry at first but... also reasonable and not at all like I'd been told my entire life that they were like..."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
'Came to this world...'

Internally, Rashmi looses a long, heavy sigh. It really does seem to be true, the longer you spend in the magical world, the more it creeps into your daily life. So she goes through the checklist of known otherworldly magic, to see where she fits in.

...

.....

Wait is this girl on a revenge-quest?!

...That doesn't actually narrow it down much.

"...So when you say resolve... how... do you mean?"

Beat.

"...Also if we're gonna discuss deep philosophical stuff, could I get your name, Customer-san?"

Genius move! If her name is *weirdly* prosaic, she may be from Bow's world!

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     "I... introduced my way in a way that ... makes it... obvious that I'm not on their side and they just." Aloisia shakes her head. "Just. Like... not... how I expected." She pauses as she rests her face more in her hand, quietly thinking of how to say it. What would she do? "...I don't ... really know how to say this without. Making... things... sound really awful. I mean... they are but." Pause. The question of her name. "Aloisia Stauss. I... thought I introduced myself at that... meeting... thing." She says with a small helpless shrug.

"Anyway, yeah, just..." She bites her lip. "...Honestly I don't even know what I should say because I thought that meeting involved a certain type of people and I might have made a huge mistake talking to you about all this and frankly at this point it's just on a growing list of things that I can't take back anymore."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
And now comes the sound of a palm meeting a forehead. "I am *so sorry,* Aloisia-san. Things have been *way* too busy since then, the meeting flew right out of my head. That's never happened before, I can't apologize enough."

Drawing in a slow breath, Rashmi just decides to roll the dice. "...So okay yes we were magic, but we didn't know if you were, but it would have been mean to kick you out, so Luke-san just... sort of... improvised. *Anyway.* It sounds like you're Belkan? And don't worry, with a few *very strange* exceptions people's brains just... slide off of anything to do with magic stuff."

Clearing her throat, she sips at her chai, thinking for a moment. "So... how did Hannah-chan react?"

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     "...I think you arrived late so in your defense you might have missed my introduction but I remembered your introduction. You invited me and even gave me your phone number. It was very kind." Aloisia responds, rubbing her face a bit against that hand. Ugh. She listens to the talk of magica nd the explanation that it just kind of slides off. Sigh.

"...So yeah I was right got it. Uhm. It was a decent improvision considering. I had suspicions that it sounded a bit more personal and ... stuff... than intended but also I was just going along with it because I was hungry to be honest." Yeah she wasn't exactly going with lying right now. There was a pause at that accurate assessment of who she is and the... question.

"She just. Looked... almost..." A flash of Hannah's face in her mind. Then curled up below her. "...Not sad... but just... consigned. Tried to just. Take the blame for the situation... th..." She takes a breath, it's somewhat unstable.

"She just... ... how... how is she just not... how is there a ceasefire... why is it just..." She shakes her head, smacking her forehead a couple times as if trying to organize her thoughts. "I don't... I don't think forgiveness is the right word, but how can she ... even have... like... a false peace... with the man who is the reason she no longer has parents??? I don't understand. I feel so empty and all I can think of half the time is..." She trails off. Hannah curled up below her again. This time more like she'd imagined it. "I lost everything. I lost EVERYTHING. /She/ lost everything... h...how can.. she be so calm?!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Aloisia-chan," Rashmi says gently, reaching across the table to rest a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay... I think I understand. It... my boyfriend says that this entire planet is kind of like a Lost Logia, in some ways. *Everything* is weird if you're coming here from elsewhere... partially because there are a *lot* of elsewheres. Nobody really knows why, or how, but... There's no known way to get anyone back to dimensional space."

Squeezing gently, Rashmi smiles, before removing her hand. "Hannah-chan... she's *not* calm. Not really. She acts like she is, but..." She trails off, shaking her head. "But one thing she *has* done is made connections, here. People she loves, friends who can nudge her when she's tipping too far over... People like me, who really, *really* appreciate you holding back."

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     The hand on her shoulder is... only half-reacted to. Aloisia doesn't pull away, but she does seem to shrink slightly. This person was a good person. This person was giving her friendliness... in SPITE of what she was saying. She knew it was wrong. She wasn't stupid. "...Yeah. ...Though that part... doesn't... I mean... I don't think I could go back even if I *could* go back... I mean... being the daughter of someone who helped in the coup... doesn't... exactly leave much space for you when it fails... heh..." She shifts that one knee closer to that chest, elbow shifting off of knee to be somewhat more of a wrap.

"...I mean... I know she's not really calm but just... that look she gave me... just... she looked... consigned. Like it was just. Something she had to do ... that she didn't want to do it. That she would rather not and just." She bites her lip. "I..." She pauses. "...You shouldn't appreciate me for that..." She squeezes that knee closer to her. "It's... not that I held back. It's that I couldn't follow through. I wanted to. I wanted to so badly but I just... I'm... I'm a defender... I protect people... that's what I've always done... I just... I don't... he was so disappointed..."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"There was a thing you could do... That you *wanted* to do, that you wouldn't be able to take back if you did it," Rashmi says, quietly. "And you didn't do that thing. *That's* what matters, Aloisia-san. To me, to a lot of people... That really, really means something."

Her head perks up, turning toward the order counter, and for half a heartbeat she pauses. Then one hand comes up to her neck, unfastening a sunburst-shaped charm from a cord, and she leaves that on the table. "Your order's up," she says quietly. "I'll be right back."

And as she gets up to fetch the food, the red 'glass' gem at the center of the charm shines briefly... And Aloisia's Device registers a ping. A Mid-Childan Device in proximity, asking for permission to set up communication channels.

    << SENDER DESIGNATION -- Nicomachea >>

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Ping! Ping-ping!
The corner of the room sounds like someone is receiving a lot of messages all at once probably, as Nicomachea immediately gets a dual-ping in response from Unbezwingbare Schwester and Unaufhalsame Schwester. Though there's a final message of.

<< Kommunikation akzeptiert -- Doppelwand >>

"...You're... probably not wrong... I just." She bites her lip. "The other thing is I just... she just..." She takes a deep breath. "I don't know how... she just... crumpled like that. She's a royal... with a royal device... and royal training... do they just... not teach them to expect counterattacks that might pierce their own attack? She had no defenses up, it was all-in like... is that just a thing on this world???" She frowns a bit. Is there mild concern? Yeah there's mild concern. "My device was in non-lethal mode... if it wasn't..." She bites her lip again.

She falls silent as Rashmi goes to get the order, quietly sipping at her tea. She's saying too much, isn't she? She's saying way too much. She shouldn't give this much information to someone who is clearly on the side of her enemy but something about her is just. Easy to talk to??? And maybe just... no it's fine. It's fine. Everything is fine. She's not doing anything wrong in talking to this girl.

Right?

Rashmi Terios has posed:
When Rashmi comes back, it's with a *surprisingly* large array of food. A pair of empty bowls, a sizable bowl of sauce... Then a bowl each of noodles, marinated softboiled eggs, slices of grill-charred chicken, some kind of spicy-minty little leaves on long stems, and more.

It's food for two, if those two were legendarily big eaters. Or your average mahou.

"...I'm guessing you don't do chopsticks where you're from, so..." By way of instruction, she picks up one of the empty bowls, picks up a clump of noodles, and just dunks them into the buttery fragrant orange gravy, then uses her bowl as a drip-catch while she eats. "You can use the fork there, it's okay. So... Hannah-chan just doesn't *do* defense very well, as far as I know. She's one of those 'the best defense is a good offense' type of people. Also... like I said, she's not calm. She's *angry,* Aloisia-san. Because as far as she knows, she's the last of her family. That... doesn't... really make for a good defensive mindset, y'know?"

And Nicomachea is retrieved and replaced around her neck, with all the unthinking ease of something who did *not* just place their only defense, in its most fragile state, within reach of an enemy.

As if she wasn't sitting across from an enemy at all.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     Considering that Aloisia is a Belkan, it's likely a relatively reasonable assumption that she's a big eater! ... Aloisia is kind of staring at the food as it arrives like 'how on earth are we going to eat all of this??' though. Comes from the whole 'year in space surviving off of compressed food bars' probably. She does, however, not let that look remain long as she focuses on mimicing Rashmi's movements. She's. Not terrible with it. Like someone who has seen and possibly even used a chopstick before.

She has been in Japan for upwards of a couple weeks now, after all.

...She's probably about elementary school kid level though. But at least she's not making a /huge/ mess.

"Mm..." She taps her lip thoughtfully. "That... concerns me. Many of my attacks are explicitly defense piercing. Someone who does not put up defenses..." She shakes her head a bit at that thought. She's concerned for her enemy. "...It's weird to be concerned for her but I'm going to shunt that into a 'I don't want her to die before I can kill her' mindset because frankly that is less mentally taxing right now." She rubs the bridge of her nose, that leg still on the chair, though she's got less of a curled up into a ball stance. "Perhaps it comes from the fact she largely engaged in duels rather than true combat before coming here, too. Such things are likely considered ignoble, whereas for someone like me, part of an extension of the army more or less, cares less about such things..." She muses out loud.

She's disregarding the comments of family. Well, no, she's not, she's clearly hurting from the mention of family, but she's pushing it down almost immediately to focus on other, less unpleasant things. Like trying to figure out how to keep her enemy alive.

...

"I see how this hasn't ended over the time I was stuck in space now. She just naturally makes people want to help her, doesn't she."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"She's got a good heart under all the hurt," Rashmi says, shrugging. "And she cares about people. That goes a long way, when things like jurisdiction and foreign social status don't mean anything. Here, both of you are just people. ...When you're not magic-powered supersoldiers, I mean. So... You're primarily a defensive fighter? That... huh. I'd like to see that in action, sometime. ...And... Okay I'm going to level with you," Rashmi says, dipping a slice of chicken. "If you're here because Hannah-chan's here, you're... *probably* going to fall in, probably spend some time around, people who tend to cause a lot of problems for a lot of innocent people. You'll have resources, access to backup, and an actual organization to work for. And that means we'll probably end up fighting too."

Looking up, and directly at Aloisia, Rashmi smiles. "But that doesn't mean we can't be friends. It wouldn't even be the first time I've said that; a lot of people from both sides of the battle come through this place, and that's okay. So if we *do* have to fight? I can promise you I won't hold that against you. I mean I *might* even pay for snacks afterward, if I can still move."

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
"Yeah. That's how I ended up interacting with Hannah. I mean it was more or less setting up a trap with bait of our shared sky but it also gathered energy -- Not enough to harm anyone -- so you know. ...I made sure it was a reasonable trade though. A nice lightshow for a little energy, not that bad, right?" Aloisia says with a soft chuckle. That nobody could /consent/ to it is a different matter, but that's beside the point. Resources. Access to backup. It's somewhat like her old life, but also... yeah. She takes another bite of the food, listening to Rashmi as she talks of possibly fighting each other.

"...I will do at least this courtesy." She taps one of her earrings, the gemstones of Doppelwand glittering slightly. "...They default to nonlethal mode, as while they are technically ancient belkan devices, they have been. Modernized. I do not intend to change that. So nobody should get too serious of wounds... assuming nothing changes. I will not promise it will always stay that way."

"...It's just... constant... devouring." She mumbles, taking another bite, always making sure each bite is relatively high in the protiens. "...I probably shouldn't be telling you this. ...I... can't really... this is my place... I was trained for this..."

A part of her knows she's wrong.

"Honestly, one of these days, I hope I utterly fail."

She shakes her head. And then mostly just. Falls silent. In that 'I shouldn't have said that' kind of way. She might be considering leaving. But also she has to pay her bill that's important.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi falls silent, considering this. All of this, which, frankly, is A Lot to someone who this time last year thought 'making a friend' would be the best thing to happen to her life.

Food is consumed, but Rashmi is very visibly not silent because of upset; she seems to be the kind of person who considers the impact of what she says and does, and pays attention to what people say and do. Finally...

"The thing to remember about being here?" she says finally. "You're gonna have a life outside of what you've been trained for. And I *get* that it'll be difficult -- I mean I'm dating a TSAB agent, believe me I get it -- but you're not in your hierarchy anymore. You're in the school, so you've got classes. Maybe clubs, later. Which means probably you'll have friends, before long. And you're in the middle of one of the most densely-populated cities on the planet; people *do* things, just to enjoy doing them."

As if sharing with a friend, she skillfully picks up a slice of grilled onion, dunks it, and deposits it in Aloisia's bowl with a smile.

"If you don't know how long you're going to be here, you may as well see what the city has to offer. Odds are you'll discover something you like."

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     Even after Rashmi stops talking, dunks that onion and sets it in her bowl, Aloisia is still quiet for a while, though she does move to take the onion and eat it, along with a few other little bites of food. She's clearly thinking, not really being quiet to be rude, but it might be a bit awkward for a while.

"...I've. Somewhat already started doing that. Just. Exploring the campus." She finally says quietly. "This planet is too nice." For someone like her. "I mean... you're... literally... potentially my enemy... and yet here you are... listening to me and..." She shakes her head, before pulling out some money. A little more than it probably costs for that meal. Probably in a 'I don't care to do math right now' kind of way.

"I should probably go. You've got homework to work on and probably other customers." Also she was pretty full already. Yeah she definitely doesn't eat nearly as much as many other Mahou do.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I understand," Rashmi says, and her tone makes it clear that those two words carry many layers of meaning. "But you paid for it, so let me box this stuff up for you to take back."

And she does, quietly clearing away the table with the skill born of long practice, gathering up the money and disappearing back into the kitchen. When she comes out, only a couple minutes later, she's bearing a paper bag of takeout boxes, a cup for the gravy, and Aloisia's change in the other hand.

"You're welcome to come back whenever you like; 'Mami' is what I call my mother, this is a family-owned restaurant. Everyone's welcome, to me, until they cause problems *here.* Mami and Papi don't know anything about magic, so... I like to protect them the best way I can think to."

Finally, *finally,* Aloisia is let go with a smile and a wave, and when she sorts through the takeout, back at her room? There appear to have been extras. One of them being, a box of cookies that taste so strongly of almond there might be no flour to speak of.

Then, three paperback books, old but well-cared for; the kind of books one might own, if one had little money to speak of and wanted to keep around as long as possible -- Titled in Japanese: 'The Lord Of The Rings'

Finally, a note.

    If you can't understand why I'm so kind to you, the books might help. It was my favorite story ever, growing up, and it'll probably help you read Japanese more naturally. Also; what we need isn't always what we want. Or what we expect. Maybe you need a friend too?
        -- Rashmi

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     "...Right." Aloisia says, shifting a bit, her foot finally slipping down to the floor as she rests her hands on her knees, quietly staring at the table while Rashmi gets that boxed meal. Mm. She could just get up and leave. It would be easier. But also she /did/ pay for this. ... ... Oh gosh this food might be enough to last her a week unless she eats it for every meal.

She does wait though, reaching to take the bag of takeout boxes and gravy, as well as the change. Probably after a brief back and forth of trying to get Rashmi to keep the change but also it's japan, tips aren't really a thing.

"...Right. ...And honestly I like to eat here, so causing problems here would be stupid... don't, y'know... do bad things where you eat." She says with a small nod. And then when she's let go, she goes back to her room.

... And there's extras in there. She was about to text Rashmi to let her know she accidentally put something extra in there before she found that note.

"..." She looked at the books. The kind of well loved book.

"...I don't deserve to be friends with someone like her." She mutters to herself.

But she reads the books anyway.