azume | Second.

ENCOUNTER 2.

Saturday evening arrives, and with it the time to follow through on that invitation.

Upon entering the resort area, the group will be greeted - inasmuch as the emotionless can properly greet anyone - by staff that evidently works there. They don't appear to be affiliated with Team Galactic, at least not outwardly; they're all dressed similarly, but not in Galactic uniforms, and their hair is down and noticeably not covered in identical wigs. They seem to have retained some aspect of individuality, in other words, as opposed to being absorbed into what appears to be the Team Galactic hivemind, and while they don't seem genuinely pleased to see the lot of you, they'll smile politely as they usher you in, albeit in an odd, uncanny-valley sort of way that doesn't reach their eyes. A purely mechanical reaction, their bodies smile while they do not.

It's probably a little difficult to say whether that's preferable or not to the usual blankness you may be getting accustomed to.

However, they seem cordial enough as they escort all of you further into the resort proper, past several bungalows that likely contain a few rooms apiece for people to reside in for the duration of their stay. The walk will take you up a few sets of stairs built into the rock formation the resort is built upon, leading eventually to a restaurant that likely overlooks Lake Valor from the north side of the building - it certainly seems elevated enough, and the positioning is right. The seating area itself seems to have been prepared in advance for your arrival; rather than several separated tables, there's one long arrangement draped in white, with twelve chairs arranged down each side - twenty-four total - and one at the head of the table. That one appears to already be occupied with your host for the evening; the smile Saturn is offering is soft but it isn't nice, disingenuous in a way that's only slightly less unsettling than the mechanical expressions of the staff.

"It's good of you to join me." His voice is likewise soft but it isn't nice; just the same, he'll gesture at the rest of the table easily. "Feel free to have a seat, and keep your Pokémon out if it pleases you; this used to be a battling establishment, so the staff is more than accustomed to things like that."

Food will be brought out shortly after people are seated; there are no arranged seats, so you're free to sit wherever suits you along the table. It's likely noticeable once things are laid out that either the people here don't hunt or Saturn is aggressively vegan; either way, there's no meat involved and nothing that would insinuate that Pokémon were harmed in any way to obtain what's in front of you, though the food is still decidedly nicer and more substantial than anything you've had for the past week - high-class and freshly-prepared, and not...you know, relying on berries and nonperishable stuff from a department store shelf.

"Enjoy yourselves." Saturn's voice is still even, still calm to perhaps infuriating levels regardless of whatever the atmosphere in the room may happen to be, "since I did say that this was intended at least partially to apologize for the incident at the lakefront. And of course, you're welcome to ask whatever you like, seeing as you did have questions and I'm no longer strictly on company time. After all, a peaceful solution to this entire...situation is what we're all striving toward, isn't it?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

To his, yes. And you had said that you believed in his goals, in his ideology. ... I do not question your loyalty. [ She pauses here, and then looks at he Lickitung who is... trying to eat a plate now? ... That's sure a thing and she admonishes it to try to get the plate out of it's mouth. ]

However... Cynthia told us to look upon these creatures as partners, and all of the books we found imply they are a central feature to the lives of the people of this region. I can only assume that would include you. And to have such little motivations in the eyes of Miphanus [ A glance at her beldum ] is painful to me. As long as you remain "imperfect," I can only imagine the pain of seeing one's ... longtime companions and friends look the same.

It isn't-

[...Mnnngh.]

It's fine.

[ She holds her hands up to her heart, now with the smeared plate put back on the table. ]

It does not seem so to my eyes. Nor, I think, entirely to your own.

What it seems like is none of your concern!

[and that's incredibly agitated, and it takes him a moment to just. stop. and settle back in his chair and breathe because no, no, let's not get worked up now.]

I... My apologies. It's...yes. It's fine.

[Bucky's gaze snaps very suddenly to Saturn.

Huh.]

[ It's not fine, it's clearly not fine. But seeing that outburst, she blinks in surprise, her green eyes focused on his own for a long moment before she bows her head and says ]

I apologize as well, I did not mean to anger you.

[ But she is reassured. She smiles a little, softly, not in a smug way so much as a gentle one and says, ]

... Saturn, if I may ask, if Saturn is as much a title as those numbers are for us, do you have a name you prefer?

[...Okay, that's. Better.

...THE FACT THAT Y'ALL JUMPED TO WANTING TO STAB HIM WITH FORKS SAYS MORE ABOUT YOU THAN HIM, IN HIS OPINION, BUT THINGS ARE FINE, THIS TOPIC IS BETTER. Thank you for being sane, Zelda.]

No, the title is fine. I gave the rest up a long time ago, and I'm content with it.

[ She nods ]

Alright, though I do insist on my own name for me.

[ She pauses and... ]

Your goal here was to find our intentions, wasn't it?

I was never told your name, you know.

[just. saying.]

But that was a good part of it, yes.

Oh, I apologize - I... it slipped my mind. [ A part of her made her think she had on Tuesday but no, guess not ]

My name is Zelda.

[...A little unusual but nothing he can't remember, got it.]

Zelda, then.

[ Well then, here's a moment. She smiles a little. She thinks about what everyone else has been saying, about how Saturn's been responding to things. He's not been forward with everything, of course not. But she is going to... ]

I believe I speak for everyone here when I say that the most important of our goals is to return to our homes. [ But she does look around at everyone is anyone wants to contradict that. Ignis is doing the whole diplomacy thing after all? And everyone here is an individual. ]

And so we want to discover the best way to accomplish that.

Unfortunately, that isn't something I can do anything about. The means that brought you here are entirely under Master Cyrus' control; I don't have access to them.

[ . . . ]

Then our journey shall have to continue. To find the lake guardians, or beseech other gods or spirits of this world. Or find our own means of doing so.

[...Yeah, it's taking all of Camilla's restraint to not yell--they're here for peace, this isn't supposed to escalate, but he's getting a glare shot his way for that.

You watch your tone over there young man.]

[caaaaasually drinking coffee over here]

[definitely not planning to stab you with a fork if you start shit. that wouldn't be very diplomatic.]

Second.

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