While everyone else was busy going shopping down on the planet, Setsuna had more important things to do. Namely, take his Gundam out for a test run
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As usual now, Haro bounded ahead of his owner, ears flapping and chirping happily. Lockon didn't mind. The hangar was safe and more than likely Feldt was there anyway. He vaguely remembered a request from Duo to retrieve some tool from Setsuna; he wondered where Setsuna hid the things he took as the spoils of poorly thought out plans.
Normally, Tieria wouldn't have bothered to look up (he stood by the edge of the walkway, hands loosely gripping the safety rail), but the familiarity of Haro's robotic chatter was entirely too much to ignore. While there were bound to be hundreds, if not thousands, of occupants aboard Stacy, surely Haros weren't commonplace.
He found himself (guiltily) wishing he hadn't.
"Lockon... Stratos-?"
Of course Feldt and Setsuna hadn't any reason to lie, not about something like this; they hadn't anything to gain. And now- there wasn't any room left for disbelief.
He blanches. He feels chest tighten and his stomach drop, and he's sure his hands would be shaking if they weren't already too busy squeezing the life out of catwalk's railing.
"How long have you been here?" he asked, as though nothing were wrong. He still had no other good way of coping with the fact that in some future he died.
"I... can't say for certain, I wasn't... after I..." Suddenly, something as mundane as forming complete sentences had become a monumental task. Especially when all these words (all the things he'd wanted to say and couldn't) were swarming and frothing in the back of his mind, fighting for his attention.
Lockon had, since he'd arrived, sensed that there was much he had missed. His arrival had triggered something in Feldt, Setsuna, and Tieria that he couldn't quite identify - and he was relatively certain they couldn't either.
He falls silent, swallowing even though his mouth is already dry. He redirects his line of sight to the brightly color AI at Lockon's feet before he tries again.
"I'm... it's unlikely that I am the Tieria Erde that was here previously."
He was beginning to wish he was. Then there'd be no reason for re-explanations (though it'd be the first time he'd heard any of it), no reason to be so bothered by a chance meeting with a colleague. He should be able to do this! They were only talking.
... Oh, who was he kidding. He was having a conversation with a dead man.
"I don't have any prior knowledge of this ship." He's continues to address Haro, "As far as I am aware, this is the first time I have ever been onboard."
"I see." He nearly seeks refuge in the comfort of Haro's blank expression again, but he stops himself. He was going to have to look Lockon in the eyes again someday, and they say there's no time like the present.
"... But you are aware of what-" He hesitates. Had Setsuna told him? The youngest Meister was rather tactless, would he even go so far as to inform someone of their untimely death? One they had yet to experience?
There were, Lockon imagined, a whole number of "buts" that Tieria could be referring to. He just didn't know which one Tieria was referring to. It was even hard to distinguish between what Tieria had looked like and whether he had changed.
"I'm sure the damage to Dynames was extensive, but nothing that is not repairable, as evidenced by the fact that it was fixed when I arrived. Anything after that, I cannot verify for myself."
How could he explain that that was the last thing he remembered? And how to explain without saying it outright - that he did not necessarily believe that he was dead?
"To the best of my knowledge, you also were not injured."
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He found himself (guiltily) wishing he hadn't.
"Lockon... Stratos-?"
Of course Feldt and Setsuna hadn't any reason to lie, not about something like this; they hadn't anything to gain. And now- there wasn't any room left for disbelief.
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Nothing could've prepared him for this.
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"Hey, Tieria."
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"I'm... it's unlikely that I am the Tieria Erde that was here previously."
He was beginning to wish he was. Then there'd be no reason for re-explanations (though it'd be the first time he'd heard any of it), no reason to be so bothered by a chance meeting with a colleague. He should be able to do this! They were only talking.
... Oh, who was he kidding. He was having a conversation with a dead man.
"I don't have any prior knowledge of this ship." He's continues to address Haro, "As far as I am aware, this is the first time I have ever been onboard."
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"... But you are aware of what-" He hesitates. Had Setsuna told him? The youngest Meister was rather tactless, would he even go so far as to inform someone of their untimely death? One they had yet to experience?
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"I'm sure the damage to Dynames was extensive, but nothing that is not repairable, as evidenced by the fact that it was fixed when I arrived. Anything after that, I cannot verify for myself."
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"That is not what I was referring to." And for a moment, Tieria almost looks wounded.
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"To the best of my knowledge, you also were not injured."
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