[INEVITABLE ENCOUNTER a billion edits]icequeen_aranAugust 26 2010, 14:08:15 UTC
After last night's SPACE ENCOUNTER WITH AN OLD FRIEND, Samus was tired, irritable, broody and trying her best not to show it. Despite all that, she still decided to be AN AVID LURKER OF PHYSICS as usual and Ionia's absence was noted. Especially after hearing from Dougie Dearest she was NOT PLEASED WITH HIM. And such, Samus set forth to do what she does best and hunt the target down. If she could find Ionia, it would be the perfect opportunity to talk to her while Falcon was busy teaching. NO BOYS ALLOWED OKAY.
She did not expect to find Ionia with significantly less hair.
Ionia loved school; she was hardly the type to ever consider ditching any of her classes. Her absence was an open act of rebellion, a blunt declaration of her independence, an exciting and anxious--
...Oh. She was caught.
There was absolutely no doubt in Ionia's childish mind that Samus would be very firmly on Falcon's side; she was quite sure that she was about to receive a lecture about how bad she was being and how Falcon was totally in the right by lying to her. And then she'd probably get dragged back to Physics.
So when Ionia turned around, it was with a look of obstinate rebellion stamped on her face. "Gra..." No, wait. Could she still use Grandma if Samus was apparently Papa's special person? She would not use Mama. Absolutely not. That would imply some level of acceptance toward this situation. So after a moment's doubt, she settled for just a blunt "Ms. Aran."
Not quite the first thing she'd expected to hear. Not only because it wasn't a reprimand, but because the idea of Samus with short hair had never even occurred to Ionia. It must have taken years to grow it that long; she'd always kind of figured that Samus had simply been growing it forever.
Even though she had made up her mind to be angry and distant, curiosity always had a way of getting the best of Ionia; her expression softened a little. "When did you have short hair...?"
"When I was younger." Young and naive. It was of course a vague answer and she knew Ionia had heard enough of those recently. "And a part of the Galactic Federation Police Force." The blonde started to slowly walk and hoped Ionia would follow, in a subtle effort to help keep the conversation between them. Talking about her past was not something she frequently did, or with many people. Samus still kept a lot of secrets to herself.
"About this short." She gestured with her hand. "How does it feel?"
Sure enough, Ionia fell into step next to Samus. Following was a pikmin instinct. "It feels very light. Right after I cut it, I was very sad, but now I think that I like it." She decided to forget to mention the crying. Nobody needed to know about that. "It will be strange to not have a ponytail anymore, but I am glad that I changed it."
She paused for a moment, as if trying to make up her mind whether to keep talking or not. Letting Samus know she was interested seemed counterproductive to letting Samus know that she was too mad to talk, and she had a feeling that asking would probably just leave her unsatisfied until she could Google it up for herself, but...
"...What is the Galactic Federation Police Force?" Some kind of cops, obviously, but Galactic Federation...? Was that in space? Which planets were part of that? Every planet? This one? Why didn't anyone teach the students that there were space police?
"They're a division of the Galactic Federation Army. They strive to keep peace in the galaxy... but they're not perfect." That last sentence was said with little emotion, as the Federation certainly had it's extremely hypocritical moments to that purpose... not that Ionia knew.
Speaking of that, it felt like a good lead-in for Samus to get to her point.
"...Assuming Falcon told you that." Samus fixed her gaze on the student. There would be no escape from that.
Ha. Ha. The look on Ionia's face made it very clear that she felt it was a waste of time to assume Falcon had told her anything. She shook her head.
"Galactic Federation... they catch bad guys? Is that what Papa does?" If it was, then maybe Grandma and Papa had worked together at some point. She had no idea that Samus had something like that in her past... but what else was new? Not having any idea about her loved ones was kind of a running theme in her life. That realization brought up another flare of annoyance, and she quickly moved to drive the subject away from Falcon. "Why did you quit?"
That looked to hit her mark. Samus duly noted Ionia was utilizing tactics she often used--subject diversion. "Yes. We're both good at what we do." Oh, was that The Most Subtle Compliment Ever? Naaaah.
I quit because of a certain incident. But there were other reasons too. "I liked my freedom too much."
"Grandma... no, Ms. Aran. I am very happy that I was never alone. Because I was loved, I was always safe." Except for when she ramped exploding cars with Nancy and threw grenades at bears and fought wars and crawled through vents during zombie invasions and... you get the idea. She'd always had people looking out for her, though. A luxury her brothers and sisters maybe never got to quite the same degree. "But because I was loved, I do not think I had freedom either." The other side of the coin. She'd always resented being told "no", but being told it when the friends who didn't have parents did whatever they felt like doing had always left her more than a little jealous.
"I want to try freedom too." It would probably sting a lot less than all the secrets and not-quite-truths, she figured.
"Freedom always comes at a price." If that was not the most cryptic opinion ever, it was at least one of the most honest ones Samus could give. To Samus, it sounded like Ionia was confusing that protective love with the word 'no', though explaining why there were reasons for 'no', whether she agreed with them or, not would be impossible to explain.
"Something like your hair won't grow back in a day. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing."
A pause, though she did not relent her stare. "It looks nice."
"If that is true, then I want to learn that price for myself."
Ionia, of course, had lived a very coddled, spoiled life. She didn't understand sacrifice or loss the way most people did. The idea that freedom could possibly come with any sort of downside simply failed to hit her entirely. How bad could it possibly be, right?
Either way, she was content to let the subject shift. She'd been hearing a lot about her hair lately... and she was kind of enjoying all the attention. "Nancy fixed it for me. I tried to cut it myself first but I do not think I did a very good job."
"..." Samus was not sure if it would be wise to let the subject go, even if just momentarily... but that thought in of itself reminded her she was sure she could easily bring it back at any moment if she wanted to make her point crystal clear;
Don't grow up too fast.
"It's difficult to do yourself." Samus admitted. She had a hard time imagining how Nancy was even able to hold a pair of scissors, let alone cut hair with them. "Have you gone to sleep with wet hair yet?"
She did not expect to find Ionia with significantly less hair.
"...Ionia?"
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...Oh. She was caught.
There was absolutely no doubt in Ionia's childish mind that Samus would be very firmly on Falcon's side; she was quite sure that she was about to receive a lecture about how bad she was being and how Falcon was totally in the right by lying to her. And then she'd probably get dragged back to Physics.
So when Ionia turned around, it was with a look of obstinate rebellion stamped on her face. "Gra..." No, wait. Could she still use Grandma if Samus was apparently Papa's special person? She would not use Mama. Absolutely not. That would imply some level of acceptance toward this situation. So after a moment's doubt, she settled for just a blunt "Ms. Aran."
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"...Your hair..." Samus had no intentions of dragging Ionia back to Physics and was doubly resolved not to now.
"I think my hair was about as long as yours was when I last cut it that short."
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Even though she had made up her mind to be angry and distant, curiosity always had a way of getting the best of Ionia; her expression softened a little. "When did you have short hair...?"
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"About this short." She gestured with her hand. "How does it feel?"
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She paused for a moment, as if trying to make up her mind whether to keep talking or not. Letting Samus know she was interested seemed counterproductive to letting Samus know that she was too mad to talk, and she had a feeling that asking would probably just leave her unsatisfied until she could Google it up for herself, but...
"...What is the Galactic Federation Police Force?" Some kind of cops, obviously, but Galactic Federation...? Was that in space? Which planets were part of that? Every planet? This one? Why didn't anyone teach the students that there were space police?
Reply
Speaking of that, it felt like a good lead-in for Samus to get to her point.
"...Assuming Falcon told you that." Samus fixed her gaze on the student. There would be no escape from that.
Reply
"Galactic Federation... they catch bad guys? Is that what Papa does?" If it was, then maybe Grandma and Papa had worked together at some point. She had no idea that Samus had something like that in her past... but what else was new? Not having any idea about her loved ones was kind of a running theme in her life. That realization brought up another flare of annoyance, and she quickly moved to drive the subject away from Falcon. "Why did you quit?"
Reply
I quit because of a certain incident. But there were other reasons too. "I liked my freedom too much."
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"Grandma... no, Ms. Aran. I am very happy that I was never alone. Because I was loved, I was always safe." Except for when she ramped exploding cars with Nancy and threw grenades at bears and fought wars and crawled through vents during zombie invasions and... you get the idea. She'd always had people looking out for her, though. A luxury her brothers and sisters maybe never got to quite the same degree. "But because I was loved, I do not think I had freedom either." The other side of the coin. She'd always resented being told "no", but being told it when the friends who didn't have parents did whatever they felt like doing had always left her more than a little jealous.
"I want to try freedom too." It would probably sting a lot less than all the secrets and not-quite-truths, she figured.
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"Something like your hair won't grow back in a day. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing."
A pause, though she did not relent her stare. "It looks nice."
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Ionia, of course, had lived a very coddled, spoiled life. She didn't understand sacrifice or loss the way most people did. The idea that freedom could possibly come with any sort of downside simply failed to hit her entirely. How bad could it possibly be, right?
Either way, she was content to let the subject shift. She'd been hearing a lot about her hair lately... and she was kind of enjoying all the attention. "Nancy fixed it for me. I tried to cut it myself first but I do not think I did a very good job."
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Don't grow up too fast.
"It's difficult to do yourself." Samus admitted. She had a hard time imagining how Nancy was even able to hold a pair of scissors, let alone cut hair with them. "Have you gone to sleep with wet hair yet?"
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