RP LOG: A Meeting on the Dock

[humaninnovator]

Who: Setsuna, Tieria
When: Today
Where: Dock
Rating: PG?
Warnings: 00 spoilers... kind of important ones
Notes: None
Summary: Setsuna finds Tieria in his new thinking spot... the dock. Deciding they need to talk anyway, he goes over to see him.

Tieria was once again sitting at the end of the dock looking over the water. It was easier to just isolate himself sometimes, let his thoughts wander a bit. He found he needed to do it more without Veda. Still, he needed to consider what it meant for things now that Setsuna had arrived. He'd seen 00 Gundam in the hangar, knew the other Meister was here. He hadn't spoken with him, yet, but he didn't need to right away. He knew he'd need time to adjust anyway.

Setsuna had finally come to terms with the fact that yes, this was an island, no, it was not controlled or even monitored or known to the A-Laws, and that, by a twist of fate or whatever controlled such things, Neil Dylandy was alive. It all still swam in an uncomfortable jumble in his head, but he was at least coming to terms with it enough to believe that it was all real. And later he'd solve the riddle of why the thought Neil had a girlfriend bothered him, but for now he stuck with the things that he could work through. He'd taken to walking on the beach when he wasn't working on 00 or Exia, and in that way no one can understand, he looked up, eyes landing on a familiar body out on the docks. He had known Tieria was here, had seen his Gundam, just not seen him. Sooner or later he would have had to face him, and Setsuna was not in the habit of avoiding problems. So he mounted the dock and walked to him, standing a few feet off, waiting.

The Innovator Meister's thoughts were somewhat interrupted by the sound of steps on the dock planking. He shifted, glancing back over his shoulder to see who it was. Odd coincidences tended to happen a lot in this place, and it seemed this case was no different as the very person on his mind was now standing behind him. He gave Setsuna a small nod, indicating he could join him if he wanted to.

Setsuna debated briefly, not naive enough to believe that the animosity Tieria had shown him over the years would dissipate in his absence or his return. But finally he took a seat next to the other Meister, looking down at the waters beneath their feet. "Tieria," he finally said in way of greeting.

Tieria had more than enough going on in his head that he didn't even need to be thinking about what the latest mistake Setsuna might have pulled was. Still, he was learning to lighten up a bit on the scolding and blaming of others, so, even if any mistakes the youngest pilot in the team were worth worrying about, he might not have been so hard on him this time around. "How are you adjusting?" he asked, still concerned for Setsuna's well-being, even if he didn't always outwardly show it.

The first question shocked Setsuna, to some extent, but he was still numb enough from everything else that it didn't register on his face. He shrugged. "Well enough. There is... much to take in." Short, brief, to the point. Very Setsuna.

Tieria nodded. He certainly understood that. "Have you seen who else is here?" he then asked. Might as well get the awkward part that was bound to come up over with... the case of Neil Dylandy...

"I've met Lockon," he chose to use Neil's codename, for that was what he had been to Setsuna for so long.

Tieria almost reminded Setsuna that Lyle was technically Lockon now, but he held it back. He was still thinking of Neil as Lockon himself. He couldn't very well get annoyed at anyone for that. He nodded, having a feeling that it was Neil whom Setsuna was talking about. "He knows what happened to him," he said.

Setsuna nodded. He had figured that much out for himself, even though Neil never said it. He shifted, curling his legs up and wrapping his arms around them. "It's strange," he said in his usual quiet voice.

"Hm." Tieria flattened his look for a second, since Setsuna was apparently still the master of understating the obvious. He nodded slightly, working his way into his next question carefully. "Are you okay?" he said, his tone unusually quiet.

Now that Setsuna was surprised at. Never, in all his years working with Tieria, had he heard the other ask about his well being, or at least that he could remember. He blinked those big eyes at Tieria, taken aback. Then he shrugged once more. "My ankle is healing."

Tieria was learning, and the hard way, that he probably should be concerned about the welfare of those around him. He turned, looking at Setsuna for a moment. "That's not exactly what I meant," he said, though, it was still good news at least.

And that was even more of a shock. Setsuna didn't know what to say at first, how to articulate what he felt when he wasn't even sure what it was he felt. "I'm confused," he said at last, like that explained it all.

Well, that he could understand. He'd been awfully confused at first, too... still was at times. This place had a way of doing that to someone. "The differences in time bother me," he admitted with one of his trademark frowns.

Time. Yes, Neil had mentioned that and was in fact a living testament to it. "I'm twenty-one," he finally stated, knowing that last time Tieria had seen him he'd been sixteen.

Tieria nodded. "I know," he said. "For me, we've been working back with Celestial Being for a little while now."

"So you are from my time," he phrased it as best he could, having never been one for words in the first place.

"It appears so," Tieria said. Close enough anyway. "There was a banquet with the Federation leaders... I arrived here right after that."

"The one where you dressed in a dress?" Setsuna hazarded.

Tieria couldn't hold back the slight flinch at the reminder before nodding. "Yes... the undercover mission." He really was beginning to regret agreeing to Sumeragi's disguise idea, even if it had seemed logical at the time.

"I remember," Setsuna murmured, and perhaps the faintest hint of a smile crossed his lips, but it vanished almost as soon as it appeared.

Tieria nodded, not really willing to relive that one. And, oddly enough, the damn dress hadn't been the worst part of the night. He sighed slightly.

Setsuna lapsed into silence, looking back out into the water. It looked cool, inviting. More than that, it looked silent. Without preamble he stripped off his shirt, exposing the dusty skin in a ripple of muscles. His shoes went next, anchoring his shirt, and his pants followed, leaving him in a pair of boxer-brief spandex underwear. Clearly his time with Ali Al-Saachez and in Celestial Being had taught him nothing of common decencies, but it hardly mattered since as soon as he was undressed he slid down into the water, letting out a soft sigh and looking back at Tieria.

Tieria quirked an eyebrow, wondering slightly at the sudden decision, but left it alone. It wasn't like this was home. And, even there, they'd occasionally had time to indulge in some things. However, if there was one thing Tieria wasn't a fan of, it was being on Earth. And, maybe this wasn't Earth, but it wasn't outerspace, and he was mildly put off by the idea of removing anything to dump himself into the water. Instead, he gave Setsuna one of his rather flat, almost condecending looks to let him know he didn't approve

Setsuna knew that Tieria did not like Earth. More than once the other made that clear, both through action and word. "It's like being weightless," he said, treading water to keep Tieria in sight and ear.

He frowned, peering down at the water. There was more to it than that. Though, part of Tieria's mind was beginning to wonder how much of his dislike for Earth was because he was an Innovator. That bothered him as well. The little revelation of his origins had really thrown him, leaving his whole identity as a person hanging in the balance. Still... it wasn't like Anew and Regene were having too much difficulty with being on the island in respect to enjoying what was around. He hadn't seen much of Ribbons, and that had been mostly on purpose on Tieria's part, but he was fairly sure the lead Innovator wasn't letting what was here go to waste. Maybe it wasn't just because of what he was. Noticing he hadn't yet answered, he gave a slight shrug. "I know," he said. After all, water produced bouyancy... and there was a training mission at the island base on Earth that, afterwards, Neil had played a nasty prank and tossed him into the ocean. It really hadn't been fair... the Irish Meister was bigger.

Setsuna watched the other, understanding on a basic level that the other was... troubled. How to address that was beyond him. Nothing in his childhood had prepared him emotionally for such a thing as empathy with another, and neither had his time in Celestial Being. Quite frankly, his young childhood had burned much of his humanity away in gun smoke and blood, but it was not something he thought to much on. Perhaps a defense mechanism, or a very glaring result of that burning out. He kept his eyes on Tieria, as if pondering the other in ways he had neither the time nor inclination to do so during Celestial Being. "Are you okay?" he tuned Tieria's question on him.

Now it was Tieria's turn to be surprised by Setsuna. He blinked, giving him a somewhat wide-eyed look from behind his glasses. "I..." Well, there was no point in lying about it. "I've been better," he admittd.

"How?" Setsuna asked automatically, the only way he knew how to respond to the question at all, really.

And that brought back the frown. "It's complicated," he said. So far, the only people that knew were the other Innovators, MOMO, Neil, and Allelujah. And Allelujah only knew because he walked in on the conversation with Neil where Tieria tried to explain why Regene looked pretty much exactly like him. MOMO knew because she'd sensed it, her own origins of being an artifically created being having similar echoes of his own.

"Nothing is complicated." For Setsuna, it simply wasn't. People only made it sound complicated. If you looked at it the right way, everything was simple.

Tieria gave Setsuna a somewhat dubious look. Even after everything they'd gone through, he still felt that way?

He did. True he was confused, but in the face of Lockon's death a lot of things had become clear. He realized he'd made things complicated, just like the people around him. Granted, this new situation was equally confusing, but soon enough it would be simple. In fact it was. People were here. He was here. Simple. "Explain," he said in something between demand and encouragement.

For a moment, Tieria looked almost annoyed. Setsuna had definitely gotten more demanding in the four years Celestial Being hadn't been in operation. Gripping the edge of the dock to curb his frustration, he almost rebelled and just said no. Then again, remembering the issue with timelines, for all he knew, Setsuna already knew what he was... He frowned a bit at that possibility, that he was making the effort of keeping a secret that wasn't really secret. "What do you know about the Innovators?" he asked, deciding to go from there. After all, if Setsuna already knew what Tieria knew, but hadn't revealed, then it was a possibility that Tieria might have told him later on down the line anyway.

The word did not ring a bell, and at first Setsuna actually thought about lying and saying he did know. But Tieria had a nasty habit of ferreting out lies sooner or later, he knew, and anyways Setsuna was not the habit of lying - merely omitting truths at times. "No, I do not," Setsuna admitted.

So he hadn't found out. Tieria nodded. "I see," he said. He still wasn't sure why he was so reluctant to say anything. However, if Setsuna really pushed, he just might end up finding out somewhere along the line. He wasn't sure if he could trust Ribbons to keep quiet much longer, and, while Allelujah and Neil weren't the type to go blabbing, it was possible something might slip in conversation if they didn't realize Setsuna didn't know. "The Innovators are behind the A-Laws," he said. "Through them, they're controlling the Federation and attempting to take control of the new government." Of course, that wasn't the hard part. "They were originally created by Aeolia Schoenberg to carry out the Plan... we're only a part of it. They're in control of Veda." At this, the purple-haired Meister shifted his dark red eyes towards the young man in the water. He hesitated for a second, then added in a much quieter tone, "I'm an Innovator, too." Now... to wait for the fallout.

Well, it was a lot to sort through at first. Setting aside outside influences, it came down to the Innovators, for lack of a better word, being traitors to Veda. Despite Tieria saying that they controlled Veda, Setsuna would always refuse to believe that no matter what anyone else said their Veda was wrong. So, simply put, traitors. He could have gone with misguided, but he somehow doubted that if they were anything like Tieria. As for Tieria being one... "They are traitors," he voiced his conclusion. "You are not."

Tieria felt a wave of relief that Setsuna accepted that the way he had. Maybe it was dumb to be so worried that the others would reject him, but they were really all he had. There was nothing for him outside Celestial Being, that original plan being his only purpose... his only reason to exist. Perhaps that was why he clung to it so tightly now, had worked so hard in rebuilding over those four years, but it was important. It was home. He nodded slightly.

Setsuna knew the nod for what it was, however small the motion be. He took a moment to dunk beneath the wave, to let himself be swallowed by the sea's deep and utter silence. He popped back up, slicking his shaggy hair back. "Where do you sleep?" he chose an innocent question.

"I was assigned to hut nine," Tieria told him.

"Is that the one Neil sleeps in?" He'd forgotten which one Neil had let him borrow till he was 'assigned' his own hut. As far as he knew he might as well remain in Neil's hut.

Tieria shook his head. "The Dylandy's are together." That was something Tieria thought was an odd coincidence, but he didn't voice it.

"I know," Setsuna replied, seeing as how he slept in their hut for the moment. "Who are your roommates?"

"Several other Gundam pilots," Tieria said. "Kamile Bidan, Quatre Winner, and Trowa Barton."

Setsuna gave him one of his own dubious looks, not familiar with the names. "They are not Meisters."

"No," he said, continuing with an explanation. "They are apparently from other worlds similar to ours that have Gundams. Celestial Being does not exist for them."

The thought mere idea Celestial Being could not exist was alien to Setsuna, all the more so for its revival when he thought it dead for five years. He blinked slowly, digesting that, then nodded. "I wonder if some will be in my hut."

"I don't know," Tieria said. "It's a little less secret around here as to who has a mech." He couldn't say Gundam, because not all of them were. And there were two in the hangar that weren't even mobile suits.

Setsuna figured as much, having seen the hangar himself and deducing it would be very hard to hide who rode what suit. He came back over to the dock, reaching up, and hauled himself out to sit next to Tieria again, heedless of the fact he was soaking wet. "What do we do here?" he asked after a time, voicing the question that gnawed at him, it seemed endlessly.

And that was the question of the day, it seemed. "I don't know," Tieria admitted. "We get assigned jobs... apparently by the same force in charge that assigns what buildings we live in. Beyond that and attempting to find a way home, there's nothing." Well, not counting the troublemakers that had followed them from home... namely Ribbons Almark and Regene Regetta.

"That is not the answer," Setsuna asserted, confident there was more to this than just 'working' and simply being on the island. What point was there to all that?

"That's all I have right now," Tieria said. And that wasn't for lack of looking, either. "We've been looking for anything else, but there just hasn't been anything else."

Water dribbled off the edges of his hair and he shook his head, shaking water off slightly akin to a dog. "I wonder what job it will give me." He assumed it was common knowledge he had no other skills beside fighting.

Skills other than something involving battle were scarce to come by among the ranks of Celestial Being... whether it was treating war wounds, building war machines, creating battle strategies, or actually doing the fighting. "I'm in the... health and beauty store," he said quietly.

Tieria's only response to that would be a prolonged - very prolonged - stare. And then, finally. "You did do well with the dress disguise."

That earned Setsuna a nice glare in response. "Only because Miss Sumeragi told me what to do," he reminded the other Meister.

"But you still did well," Setsuna reiterated, looking down at the waters again and the ripples that form as water dripped off his toes.

"It was uncomfortable," Tieria said.

A snort greeted that statement, and Setsuna reached back to use his shirt as a make-shift towel. "Do you do well at the store?"

"It's quiet," he said. Tieria didn't mind. He really didn't want to have to do all that much with it. He felt it was a waste of time. The main reason he went was to break the monotony now that he'd effectively hit a brick wall on trying to find a way home.

Inwardly, Setsuna cringed at that. To be honest, he hated the quiet. He'd spent so much of his life fighting, with war singing around his ears, that quiet seemed... strange. Sinful, almost. Perhaps another reason the island left him unnerved. "We should take the Gundams out soon," he changed tracks.

"We'll need to be careful," Tieria said. "There's two Innovators here." He decided to leave Anew out of it for now. It was easier to acknowledge her as Celestial Being crew than as an Innovator. "The GN particles may give their quantum brainwaves more strength."

"And that's bad?" the young man didn't quite cock a brow, but his eyes took on that liquid-hard look that meant he didn't understand.

"It might be." Anew had told him that Ribbons had managed to use the quantum brainwaves to basically hijack her body and force her to attack Lyle, the man she loved. If he had the ability to do that to other Innovators, Tieria didn't want him to be able to do it to Regene or himself. As it was, things were tense between him and his twin. He still didn't know where Regene's loyalties were. But, he most definitely didn't want Ribbons taking him over and having access to Seravee.

The vague answer didn't upset Setsuna, he merely accepted it. He nodded his 'understanding' and looked over his shoulder back at the beach and the huts in the distance framed by the edges of the wood. "How much of the island have you explored?"

"Mostly the area surrounding the village," Tieria said. "I've heard it's dangerous to wander too deeply into the surrounding jungle alone." While he was dubious on the idea of polar bears being resident, the oversized wolves sounded dangerous enough on their own.

"Maybe we should explore sometime," Setsuna suggested - something to break the monotony.

Tieria nodded. It would give them something to do, that was for certain. At this point, the purple-haired Meister would be willing to tolerate the idea of having to backpack through a jungle, something he had pointedly disliked doing during their time on the island base during the training period.

"We should do it tomorrow. Orient ourselves," Setsuna decided, seeing as he had nothing better to do .

"Tomorrow?" Not like Tieria really had anything better to do, either, but... well, that cat had followed him home not that long ago. He supposed he should find someone to look after her. He could do that first thing in the morning. Though, he was sure Trowa wouldn't have an issue. Between him and Quatre, they had the two wolves, two cats, and a rabbit in the hut other than Tieria's own new little friend... and the purple Haro that had been hanging around Seravee shortly after his arrival... and Kamile's green Haro. Maybe he could just let them know... He nodded. "We could do that. We'll need to gather supplies."

"I can do that," Setsuna offered. Again, something for him to do. "What time should I meet you?"

"Eleven o'clock," Tieria said. That would give him time to get things together from the hut and arrange for Trowa to keep an eye on the cat. It would also give them enough time to get any other supplies they might need from the shops in the village before leaving.

Once more Setsuna nodded and started gathering his clothing. "Eleven o'clock," he repeated.

Tieria nodded in return.

He stood, holding his clothes close. "I'll see you then," he murmured, turning to go.

"Mm." Tieria nodded, already thinking of anything they might need to bring with them.

A final nod, and Setsuna padded away, as silently as he had first approached.