2412/Interlude: Stauss

Interlude: Stauss
Date of Scene:	17 March 2025
Location:	Administrative Office
Synopsis:	Zephyr and Rashmi come to visit Aloisia in the nurse's office. They have a conversation with the exhausted knight.
Cast of Characters:	Aloisia Stauss, Zephyr Windstar, Rashmi Terios

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Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Aloisia Stauss has been mostly resting in the nurse's office following being recovered from Konigsend, for a mix of monitoring, recovery, and likely therapy as well. The official story is that she'd been kidnapped, not that it mattered since there wasn't much family to really keep up to date with what was going on in her life.

She was responsive to people asking her to eat, and things like that, but had otherwise been fairly quiet and staying in bed except when prompted to get up and take a walk/do some exercise/etc. When people come to visit today, she can be found sitting on the side of the bed, quietly taking little bites of food that had been offered to her by someone from staff. That lingering silver hair hanging loosely down her shoulders and back, not pulled up into its usual tidy braid bun at the moment.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Negotiations are still ongoing, Windstar-san." is the response the tall foreigner gets.

    "Of course, I'm here both to enquire about that, and to see a friend. I heard she was brought here to recover." replies the young woman as she bows formally.

    That exchange leads Zephyr into the room where Aloisia's currently eating. She peeks around the doorway after opening it, mismatched eyes sweeping for a moment, before she scoots inside... "Hey Aloe-chan... how're you holding up?" she asks, adjusting a squirming, slightly lumpy backpack as it emits a few muffled whimpers.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It has been... a *rough* while for Aloisia. Of this much, Rashmi can be certain. But she's back now, and if she's back she can start towards the process of being mostly okay.

Recent events have forced her to understand that there is no *true* okay, but there is, at least, a 'better than before, enough.'

Upon learning from Setsuchan that Alo-chan is, at least, awake enough to be helping with her own recovery, Rashmi made her excuses and blew off Debate Club to visit, stopping off at her dorm to grab hold of anything she thinks might be pertinent and/or helpful, then quite literally flew to the administrative building.

But she doesn't *enter* in a rush, simply gently opens the door, knocks on the doorway, and smiles gently. "Heeeey, Alo-chan," she says, slipping into the office and shutting the door behind her. "Oh hi, Zephyr-chan! Good to see you too!"

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
When the door to her room opens, Aloe's gaze shifts to those coming in to visit. "...Hello, Windstar-san." She says quietly. She shifts slightly, turning more towards Zephyr, absently taking another bite of her food. Relatively simple food, but seemingly not particularly complaining about it. She's somewhat hesitant in her response to how she's holding up.

"I'm... Alright, I guess."

She gives a very slight shrug. "...A part of me is still waiting for that wave of darkness and the next dream." She takes another bite as her gaze shifts towards the squirming backpack. "...I thought that animals were allowed on campus, why are those not simply on a leash?" She asks curiously.

Another person enters, which Aloe's purple eyes turn towards. Rashmi. "..." Her gaze turns away from her almost immediate. Just a bit of shame on that face. "Hi." It might technically not have been her fault, but it was her fault for kicking this all off.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr glances back at Rashmi, smiling softly at the younger mage... she then blushes at the accusation. "I've been watching slice of life shows, and this is how people always sneak pets into school... so I wanted to do it for real." she admits, kneeling down, doffing the backpack then opening it. A trio of mongrel puppies spill out, giving off little yaps before each stooping to pick up their own leashes and offering them up. "Good girls."

    Zephyr stands, grasping the leashes and introduces the puppies who all turn in almost eerie sync toward Aloisia and Rashmi. "These are my cuties, I adopted them officially after one of those incidents." she give Rashmi a pointed look, and Tenraikaze pings a simple << Jewel Seed >> to Nicomachea to clarify. "Rex, Fido and Buster." she says, gesturing to each in turn, earning a yip from each at their names.

    Her face falls a little at the expression on Aloisia's face though, and she eases in closer. "Hey... Aloe-san, I think I can talk for all of us when I say we don't blame you for any of this."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Oh there are puppies.

Oh noooooo there are puppies.

Rashmi tries very, very hard to keep the teakettle noises back, resulting in them just being very, very quiet, as she crosses the room to approach Alo-chan's bed. And the puppies. Which she crouches down in front of, holding out her hands to say hello, and nodding as she gets the ping as to their provenance.

"Zephyr-chan's right, Alo-chan," she says after a moment. "You had *no idea* what would happen, and I can't even really blame you for doing it, after everything that happened before. And all that matters is you've got you back. *We've* got you back. The rest, we can figure out what needs figuring out later."

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
As the trio of puppies are freed from the backpack, Aloisia watches them quietly. "...I see." She hesitates. "The animals of this world are so... soft." She mumbles quietly, reaching her left hand down towards one of the puppies, offering it to let them sniff and get acquainted to her before she attempts to gently pet them. "... The only thing keeping me sure this isn't just another dream is that it's been in this world and consistent. All of the dreams had been of ..." She hesitates. Can she even really consider Tungeturm home at this point? That place she grew up, where she'd been manipulated, forged into a weapon.

The words affirming none of this was her fault gets a slight shudder. "If I'd ... if I'd thought more on it... or ... or anything... I could have just..." She pauses. No, if it had been anyone else, if they'd been the victims of that thing, then she wouldn't have been able to forgive herself. "..."

"...Right... we can figure out ... everything else later." She decides to agree on. She takes another bite of that food as she falls quiet, seeming to be thinking on one thing or another. "...I'm not sure if I've even got me back. Everything I thought I knew before was a lie." She says quietly.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Rex seems to be the most 'together' of the trio. Lifting a paw to shake when Rashmi extends her hand. Fido's a bit slower on the pickup, and sniffs the hand first, before resting her chin in it for scritches. Buster is a big derp, and rears back at the hand, lifts onto her hind legs and topples over with a yip, before righting herself, and headbutting the hand for its impertinence.

    Aloisia's hand gets a cold nose... then another, and finally a third stuffed into it, the trio of puppies sensing the hurt in the belkan. They snuffle, and gently whine before giving licks and then tug to huddle around Aloe's legs.

    "I don't know the answers.
    Tomorrow's still unknown.
    But I can make this promise.
    You won't be alone."

    That's Zephyr singing softly, on key, if not exactly virtuoso. "A song I've heard... it's lyrics are oddly fitting, I feel... We're here for you, Aloe-san... I said it at the start and I feel the same way now. Together we can figure this out, we are stronger together." Zephyr moves to sit next to the belkan, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're home now... and before you argue, home doesn't need four walls... sometimes, all it needs is two eyes and a heartbeat."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Every single one of those puppies gets a burst of cuddles and fusses for their greeting -- even Buster, who is so adorably empty-headed -- but Rashmi doesn't show any disappointment when they react to Aloisia's distress, and huddle up around her.

"Nobody knows *what* would have happened if things didn't go the way they did, Alo-chan," Rashmi says gently. "Maybe it would have gone easier... but probably it wouldn't. And one thing I can *definitely* say for certain is, even when you were pushed under... Nobody was in danger unless they *put* themselves in danger. And I'm pretty sure that's mostly because that's *who you are,* so deep that it's in your *bones.*"

Tapping her charm, she comes away with a simple hairbrush and elastic ties, which she holds up and raises her eyebrows in silent question. 'Shall I?'

"As to having you back... You've got it wrong, Alo-chan. The only thing that's changed between then and now is you know stuff you didn't before. The feelings, the people, the things you learned? All of that is real, and all of that happened to make you who you are *now.*"

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Puppies huddled around her legs, Aloe is holding still. Not that it was a huge change, as she lightly continues one-handed pettings of the puppies, half-bent over but still taking little bites of food. "...I can't recommend getting possessed by world-destruction programs for long periods of time, they don't expect to survive so don't worry about things like food." She says, her tone ever so slightly joking.

She falls quiet at the singing and continued talk. Talk of figuring things out and being stronger together. And that she's home now. "..." There's no argument, though there are definitely thoughts that cross the girl's mind, doubt crossing her face as she takes another bite of her food. Though not necessarily at Zephyr's words directly, that slight pause before that doubt more betraying the underlying unsurity of if she actually knows what home /is/, if the thing she had growing up was even remotely real.

"...A defender of a world doesn't bring its shield against the people it defends... even if it's not the original world." She mumbles quietly. Not that her memory of that past was particularly well put together at the moment. The offer to do her hair gets a hesitant response, now that her hair was down she had a /lot/ of hair, likely rivaling the like of Usagi. "...It's a lot..." She mumbles, somewhat at both the comment after and the offer of doing her hair.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "The important thing now, Aloe-san, is what you do going forward." replies Zephyr, giving the Belkan's shoulder a light squeeze, before standing to give Rashmi space to work. Zephyr crouches near her puppies, the little fuzzballs basking in all the attention, then nuzzling against Aloe's legs again. "Has the nurse said when you'll be able to leave, or are they keeping you for extended observation?" she asks casually, giving Buster some scritches just above her tail, making her little butt lift and eventually topple over with a wuff, and a yip of protest.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
By way of answer, Rashmi tilts her head to one side, setting her knee-length plait to swinging for a moment, then simply moves around to start to work on Aloisia's hair. And from the very beginning, it's clear that brushing long hair is well within her wheelhouse. "Getting my hair brushed always helped me relax a bit more," she says, to explain the reasoning behind the offer in the first place, and nods at Zephyr's words.

Though a strange look passes over her face when Alo jokes about her possession, it does get a quiet laugh... if a touch forced. "Well... if that's what you were taught, then it's no wonder. You never stopped being a defender even then." At the question of now long she has left in here, Rashmi nods, still not breaking the rhythm of brush to hair. "When you feel up to it, I have some questions too... but they can *definitely* wait until you're out of here."

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
"I ... am technically physically fine." Aloe responds quietly. "Beyond needing to recover to eating something other than pure spite." She pulls a bit of a face at that. "... I probably need to visit a purifier at some point as well, just to be extra sure." She quietly adds.

She quietly sits there as Rashmi brushes at her hair, finishing off the bowl of food and giving /two/ hands to giving slow affection to the puppies now, as her shoulder is squeezed. "I... uhm. Will probably be at least no longer here all the time after tomorrow." She says quietly. "So we could probably, uh." She pauses. "... Oh dear lord my dorm is probably horrific if it hasn't been touched since I disappeared."

She might be considering purging it with fire right now.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "When you get the all clear, I'll take you out to a ramen place I know." remarks Zephyr, offering a smile. "Can't really help with the dorm room though... not a student." she adds with a little chuckle.

    Rex and Fido lap up the attention, the former stoically, the latter more literally, little happy yips joining in. Buster sits and just casually headbutts Zephyr's shin for her affront, then topples over and pretends to go all limp and weak. "Drama queen." admonishes the Enforcer, scooping up the pup and pretending to 'eat' it, with lots of exaggerated growls, 'bites' at the pups sides and tickling fingers.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"That's what friends are for," Rashmi chuckles, working at Aloisia's hair with the easy patience of long familiarity. "Once you're out, let me know and I'll hel--"

She pauses, head tilting to one side, then the color drains out of her face. "...I'm *so sorry* Alo-chan but I need to go," She says hurriedly. "I'll give you the story tonight... it's a *long* story, and you're gonna hate it, so enjoy the puppies as much as you possibly can.

Setting the brush down in reach of Zephyr and Aloisia, she gives the puppies a fond fuzzling, before heading toward the door.

<< Stay with her, >> she sends to Tenraikaze. << She needs all the friends she possibly can have. >>

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
"...Yeah, that sounds good. Ramen should be fine, too... can get it made relatively simply." Even if it'd be less good then. Aloisia gives a small smile towards the puppies and Zephyr, and then Rashmi continues to talk. "...Okay. I will let you know." She murmurs quietly. Rashmi hurries off to deal with something. She doesn't really ask questions, simply nodding in understanding as Rashmi takes her leave. "...I know that look. ...Other things happened while I was ... gone ... unsurprisingly." She glances at the month. "Half a year is a long time." She murmurs quietly. She lifts her hand to rub her face.

"...I should probably go on a walk or something, as tempting as it is to just lay back down. If you want to come with me."

She pushes herself to stand. She wasn't planning on going far, just around the building, really, just something to keep her body moving and not let it start atrophying or something.

...Also work out her left hand a bit. It still tingled.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr doesn't react to what Rashmi sends to her Device, but she stands when Aloisia does and gently tugs the leashes to get the girls in line. "I'll come with you, yeah... the girls need some exercise anyway." offers Zephyr. "I mean it too, when I say we're in this together. You may not feel like it, but you do have friends and people who care deeply about you." she adds. The tall foreigner falls into step with the Belkan, a pair of giants just taking a casual stroll.