InsaneJournal

Current mood:	energetic
Entry tags:	:action, neil dylandy, tieria erde

[Log] Back-Dated
Who: Neil Dylandy (Lockon Stratos), and Tieria Erde
When: Noon, Day 65 (after soccer practice)
Where: Sector 5, Pizza Shop
Warnings: None! (Unless there is a rating for "Cute".)



        Lockon was kind of amazed that he didn't have to drag Tieria to the pizza shop. Then again, it's not like he was trying to bring him there for breakfast. (Not that there's anything wrong with pizza for breakfast!) "I hope you have a big appetite, because the menu's just huge!"
        Yes, someone was very hungry and very eager to dig into just about anything.
        "Big appetite?" Tieria looked a little concerned for a moment. After all, he'd never been a huge eater, especially not with heavier foods. "How big can a menu get for pizza?" he asked. It's not like they could make all that many varieties, right?
        He just grinned. "Oh, you'll see."
        And, sure enough, once they were inside and at a table, Lockon plopped his bag onto the spare chair at their table and unfolded the rather detailed totally not Pizza Hut from Japan menu out in front of Tieria, as if to say: behold!
        "This isn't all pizza," he said, looking it over after he'd sat down as well. He reached foward and pulled it towards him. "What were you thinking of getting?" He hadn't even eaten half of this stuff before. Ration selections on the Ptolomaios were limited, after all. Even with someone cooking once in a while when they were docked or on Earth, Tieria's tastes tended to be limited.
        "No," he said, letting Tieria take that menu and grabbing one for himself. "But why come to a pizza shop and not get pizza?" After some perusing, and some protest from his stomach, he had a decision. Mostly. "Maybe something with a lot of vegetables." Lockon doesn't even want to think about salad-pastes right now.
        Vegetables were fine. Tieria nodded. He tended to eat more in the way of fruits and vegetables than anything else anyway. "That sounds alright," he said. Still, he looked over the rest of the menu anyway... mostly out of curiosity.
        "Hmm... Here's an interesting one. Mushrooms, corn, tomatoes, onions, etc." Lockon looked up at Tieria for approval, or some kind of sign.
        Tieria looked back over, spotting the one Neil was talking about. He nodded a bit. "That's not too much, though?" It seemed like a flavor overdose or something.
        He shook his head. "Hmm, maybe we'll go light on the onions. Corn on pizza's new to me, too." Lockon shut his menu, and got up to go to the robot at the counter. "What about a drink?"
        "Nothing alcoholic," Tieria said quickly, knowing that the older crew had a tendancy to drink at times... though Sumeragi was, by far, the worst of them.
        "You can't get that outside of the club, sadly." Lockon laughed a little, placing an order for some iced teas and the pizza in question and leaned over the counter to watch the robots go to work a bit.
        Well, that was a relief. He finished looking over the menu, then glanced over, wondering what Neil was watching. Curious, he carefully refolded the menu exactly and put it back before getting up to join him. "What is it?" he asked, looking around him into the back.
        "Hm?" For a second, he wasn't aware of what Tieria had done, so when he turns around there's a brief look of surprise. Then he registers the question and looks back. "Oh, just watching them work. Strange how much of this place waits on us practically hand-and-foot, isn't it?"
        "Oh." He watched them for a moment, too, then nodded. "It is a little," he agreed. "You wouldn't expect this in a prison." He folded his arms on the counter, leaning on it a little as he watched.
        "Not one bit." The kinds of prisons they belonged in, they'd probably be fed slop from a tray kicked in from a slot below a dirty cell door. But that was far from his mind. "I don't really mind, though."
        "Mn." Tieria couldn't really argue with the benefits of being here as opposed to a prison back home. Of course, there were some downsides, too... like the whole, being in another dimension thing. Still, it was a lot nicer of an environment than he would have gotten back home. He knew what the HRL had done with Allelujah during his internment.
        That was a bit of information Lockon had, thankfully, never been made fully aware of. Just hearing about the restraints Alle arrived with was enough to anger him; but not today.
        "...do you miss Earth?"
        "No," he said rather quickly and firmly. He didn't, really. He'd never liked being on the surface. "I do miss home, though," he then admitted shortly after. After all, the Ptolomaios was his home. He missed the real stars. He missed the crew that was still there. He had thought being inside Veda was lonely enough with only Regene around to keep him company, but being here was even more wrong. His only consolation was that he had this time, a second chance, with Neil.
        Lockon made a thoughtful noise. "Home...?" After a beat, it clicked in his mind. "Ah, okay." Fair enough, as far as he saw it. Lockon slid into one of the high stools against the counter, and rested his elbows on it. "As long as there's something."
        Something? Tieria blinked, a little confused. He looked at Neil with a questioning expression. "What do you mean?" he asked. Was it really that surprising for him to refer to some place as 'home'?
        Turning his head to watch Tieria's face, he chuckled a little, one hand running at his own neck. "I mean, It's a little odd to hear you attached to something... Someplace." Lockon had only seen that side of Tieria for a short while, before things went down...
        At this, he seemed almost reluctant, turning away to watch the bots again with their meal. Just before it looked like he wasn't going to answer at all, he finally speaks. "I wasn't allowed to be," he said, his voice turning a little flat and cold... methodical. "It was my job to remain impartial in case the rules were violated or the Plan was abandoned... in case I had to eliminate a problem."
        That should not have been such a big surprise; after all, Lockon had his own theories about everyone's role, whether they were obvious or not, but he'd never had anyone to talk it over with. Hearing it directly from Tieria was the part that struck him as strange. "I... see."
        And that actually kind of hurt a little. Tieria would have almost preferred Neil to get angry or upset. He looked down at the counter. "It's not so much of an issue now," he said quietly.
        On any other day, Lockon might have leaned on toward those reactions, but in this moment, he just wasn't in that mood. "No, not really."
        Then, oddly enough, he chuckles a little. "You were basically our enforcer. Keeping us in line and in step."
        Tieria nodded. "That's why I had the Trial system," he said. He shook his head a little, turning back around to look over the rest of the small building. He couldn't help but look at Haro, sitting diligently at their table and waiting for their return. At that, he smiled just a little. "Either way, I've learned some things since then."
        Lockon stopped his chuckling and looked up at the ceiling, as if at the light-bulb that just flickered to life in his head. "Of course, Trial system... that makes sense!" A short laugh. He can't believe that had not dawned on him before.
        That last bit got Tieria a headtilt. "Oh yeah?"
        So Aeolia had a sense of puns... Tieria just shook his head a little at Neil's reaction. He glanced over at the question, though, nodding a bit.
        "It's not so bad to get attached," he said. "A little harder, but not so bad."
        Lockon didn't laugh for too long, but still. It now made him wonder what the rest of the various system names could possibly mean... maybe he should look that up next time he's at the library.
        "Mm." Now there was a true sentiment, if ever there was one. "You're right." And then, with more curiosity. "How does that make you feel?"
        That was hard to say at the moment, considering everything was a little... lighter than usual anyway. However, he did know some basics without the influence of whatever it was making him feel less troubled.
"That depends on the context," he said quietly. "Sometimes I'm sad or angry. Sometimes it's good. If I can help them or protect them, I'm... glad."
        Whatever was in the air or the water or who-knows-what might have been directing this line of questioning, but it was hard to tell. Lockon might have been trying to find a good opportunity for this for some time.
        Hearing Tieria actually talk about feelings -- real human emotions -- made him smile. "I'm glad to hear that."
        Tieria looked at Neil for a moment and then smiled a little in return. And he wouldn't normally talk like this, himself, though he had admitted to Setsuna that he had been glad his abilities as an Innovade had been useful to save the Ptolomy crew. Still, he felt okay talking about it now. Whether it was the company or something else, he wasn't quite sure. Maybe he'd been wanting to tell someone all along. Either way, it didn't feel bad. He nodded a little. "I learned it from you," he admitted.
        Now that brought a little shock to his face. Perhaps even a little embarrassment to go along with it. "Oy, since when have you ever listened to me?" Smaaaall smirk.
        Here, he got a little embarassed. "Later than I should have," he said, rubbing his forehead slightly.
        That little smirk faded into a sad smile, his brows upturned in the middle. He felt a little bad for what he'd just said, so he added, quietly: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to sound like that, I just... I didn't know, you know?"
        Tieria nodded. "It's okay," he said. "I'm not angry at you." At least, not anymore. He'd gone through a few different targets for his anger over what happened until he finally realized that none of it really made any sense except being angry at a certain mercenary.
        "Good," and boy was he ever relieved. Lockon wasn't sure if he could have lived with that kind of guilt for much longer. He rubbed at the side of his neck a bit. "I guess I'm just a little... touched. I can't be the only one responsible for that change in you." He took a breath, and then smiled up at Tieria. "But if I helped at all, I guess everything wasn't completely in vain."
        No, Neil wasn't the only one, but, in Tieria's mind, he'd been the catalyst, the one that got it all started. Once he'd started down that road, the others were nothing but supportive, helping him deal with things. Mainly, Tieria had Feldt, Lasse, and Ian with his family to really thank when all was said and done. They were the ones that had put up with his depression after he'd been released from the regeneration chamber. Tieria gave Neil a small smile in return, nodding a little. "Not the only one, but it did help."
        Again, he was pleased that things had turned out that way. It almost made what happened to him worth it, and the memory of it just a little less painful. Yes, he had left behind unfinished business, and some bad memories, but at least he had an impact on people's lives; that was his legacy.
        It... almost made him tear up a little, actually.
        And, with an odd sense of timing, the bots were finished with their lunch. Tieria turned back around, looking it over. It still looked a little odd... all that melted cheese, but he supposed it wouldn't be too bad. He took the two glasses of iced tea.
        Lockon took in big whiff of the pizza, and grinned. "Ah, finally!" He thanked the bot, and grabbed a few paper plates and napkins, along with some plasticware, before following Tieria to the table and setting everything up. "I can hardly wait..."
        "It looks... interesting," he said. He put a cup near each seat before sitting down. He'd let Neil go first.
        "Mmhmm..." Two large slices were cut away and plated, and Lockon spared no time in picking his up, grinning big at Tieria. "Dig in!"
        There was a bit of a dubious look, but Tieria picked his up as well. He studied it a little before it started to get a little too hot to the touch, so it was now or never. He took a bite... only to end up with one of those long pieces of cheese that doesn't want to break.
        The scene was too much, and Lockon didn't even get the first bite halfway chewed before he had to cover his face up to keep from laughing. This was going to be an entertaining lunch, he just knew it....