A Researcher's Interlude IV

A Researcher's Interlude IV
Date of Scene:	20 February 2014
Location:	Goug - ShinRa HQ - Reception Area
Synopsis:	The next day, after resting from the trip back, Rhia entertains some discussion with Chita. Certain facts are revealed and decisions are made.
Cast of Characters:	Rhiannon Zellen, Chita
Tinyplot:	A Researcher's Inquiry

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Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
That previous day had passed, Rhia getting more sleep than she'd anticipated getting. But nonetheless, what's done is done. Choosing not to leave her bed, feeling unwilling to do much of anything just yet, she remained. Sitting up with her back against a few pillows and blanket drawn up around her lap, she casually thumbed through a book, eyes slowly moving from left to right, reading the pages observantly.

She'd told Chita that she expected him to show himself out once he was finished resting, and thus, paid no attention to him at all. Her eyes were focused solely on the contents of the book in her hands, turning a page delicately once neccesary. It was a novel. Certainly a change of pace from the research notes, and journals, and other work related things she'd usually pored over.

Suppose this was the closest thing to a break for now. ...For now.

Chita has posed:
Chita, himself, had slept much in an uncharacteristic way. If Rhia had ever paid attention to such before, he was the type who slept on his side, enjoyed hugging something(Pillow, or her, during those time or two when she was being a bit more sociable about such). During this period of sleep, however, he was practically dead on his back. Little to no movement at all as if he really was just that exhausted. Even when she woke up he didn't show signs of stirring and it wasn't until a good hour after that before he finally let out a confused sound and went to push himself further upright. Not even having used the blankets or any such, he was dressed without the exception of his shirt.

"Mmph..."

He wasn't even sure how long he'd slept, or what time of day it was, or for that matter if Rhiannon had already left. Then he heard the page of a book turn. "...how long did I sleep?" came the rather tired question as he felt around beside him for the shirt he'd taken of only to realize it likely fell onto the floor. He hadn't quite came to the realization that anything that had happened the previous day was anything other than a strange dream.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Longer than predicted." Was her short answer. A subtle smirk made it's way onto her face at that as she read the next passage. Something about a band of travelers fallen under a dark curse in an unfamiliar land. It was an entertaining read. "I imagine you will spend a bit longer recalibrating your senses."

It was left at that and silence fell in again. She had nothing to ask him, nothing to say, and no conversations to start. If any of that was going to be had, then it would fall on him to do it.

And she turned another page in her book.

Chita has posed:
Listening and trying to make sense of everything that was going on, chita started to speak, then stopped, then started to speak again before just shaking his head and saying nothing. What could he even say about that? He barely any idea what was going on. Slowly standing and carefully making his way towards the other side of the room he then walked towards the bathroom that also had the shower in it. "I am going to clean up." he said rather matter of factly and took it upon himself to step into the shower. If she really didn't want him there she'd say so after all.

Inside he goes, the door doesn't even close behind him because he doesn't care enough to bother with that, and after the water comes on and the sound of him stepping under it can be heard - he asks, "Are you... truly with child, or did I just have some odd dream where I was locked in some strange room and you said such after?"

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Rhia continued to read, not looking at what Chita was doing. He could handle himself. Chuckling faintly to herself at the next passage, she took a deep breath and then exhaled. "Hm?" Finally looking away from her book, she turned her gaze to the direction of the bathroom, whose door was still open. Not that it mattered.

"No, that was not a dream. And yes. I was feeling odd some months ago, which is strange considering my body being what it is." That being heavily self experimented on. Her attention returned to the book at that point, another page turning. "So I tested myself to be sure. And it turned out that indeed, that is the case." The scientist rolled her eyes at that. "An unexpected development. ...However, what is done is done."

And then a shrug followed that statement. "Come what may, I shall see where this goes."

Chita has posed:
The sound of the water running and a bit of steam was all the response she got for several minutes before a faint laugh could be heard. It was more a laugh of resignation than amusement, as if he had just finally accepted that it was all actually happening. "I see... I see. And as much as I like to pretend otherwise that you are ... a better being than you are at times, is there any proof of this? How can you even..." then he grumbled out something about 'probably some strange science thing' and saying, "...no, nevermind. I suppose, then, the question remains."

He doesn't fill in what question that was, though, perhaps leaving that up to her to fill in the blanks of. Or maybe not knowing what the question is.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Rhia giggled to herself at Chita's question, barring the long stretch of silence. "Do I need to explain the birds and the bees to you?" She asked, mostly in jest. "Regardless of what you might think of me, you are the only male I have engaged in intimate activity with in the past year." Setting her book in her lap, she rested her chin in her palm and stared off towards the bathroom again. "In your world, you may not be able to verify a pregnancy with any great accuracy. But in my world, the technology exists."

But this was ridiculous. In all her life, she never thought she would need to prove the vailidty of a pregnancy to someone. Let alone her own. Life was funny like that. All of that said however, the woman looked off towards her room's window, gazing at what little of the city she could see through the curtains. "If you're trembling in your mind, afraid that I will tell you to take responsibility, then lay your fears to rest. I am not interested in that."

Chita has posed:
And such was answered. The water turned off and after a few moments a half-wet Viera stood in the doorway with a towel being used to wring out his hair bit by bit. "No, you do not need to explain it to me. But I had to ask, Rhiannon. None can truly know another, ever, and if it turns out otherwise I would at least like the comfort of knowing I did ask. And.. no, I am not trembling in my mind. At least, not for that reason." He didn't quite care about his own lack of clothing and conveniently a dresser blocked his lower half from sight from the bed as it was.

"I am more than willing to... do everything I can to take care of the child, and you, now and as for as long as I need to. As long as I can. I simply do not know what to do with you since you have gone and, yet again, unleashed the weapon on a city. You have yet again done something that makes everyone else want to kill you, and me... want to see you locked up. What am I going to do with you, Rhia... why can you not just be..." and then he mumbled something like 'less crazy' before he brought the towel from his head down to start drying the rest of his body.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Please, save the speech." Rhia said, after the fact, which kind of made it pointless. "I just got done saying that I was not interested. You should walk the other way while you still can, lest I drain you for every useful function you might contain." The woman smiled mischievously at that. "As for what happened. What's done is done." A nonchalant shrug. "Let those righteous heroes stew in their indignation." She waved a hand dismissively, also uninterested in the Viera's current state of dress. Or lack thereof.

"You have nothing to do with me. You can go about your merry little life any time you please. You choose to keep coming back. Not once have I told you what to do in relation to the choice of your continued involvement." Chuckling then, she turned her attention back to her book, resuming reading. "As it stands now, they have no way of bringing me to harm anyhow."

That smug look returned to her face as she said that. "For one, they have had trouble killing me in the past. Secondly, an unrelated life now stands between them and me. And thirdly...You won't let them, will you?" That last question was posed to Chita as Rhia looked back to him, looking all sorts of entertained with the situation.

Chita has posed:
"I never knew my parents, Rhiannon. I was taken from them when I was young to live in a village with the other menfolk of my kind, protected and kept away from the outside world. If all of this is real... I do not want the same for this child. Nor do I want them to turn out like you." A bit blunt, but they both knew what he meant. "You are a brilliant woman... more intelligent than most could ever hope for. But you are like you are now for some reason or another and nothing can change that. Most of them I freely believe would not harm you as you are now, because of this. Because... it would harm another too. But there is one who would harm even so. A crazed animal we both know who was there the other night. Until he has been executed by Archades for his crimes, or he is dead by some other means, I will not give him the slightest chance to harm you or that child."

Despite his tone, or anything about the 'speech' of it... something about him seemed a bit different. It didn't seem to be the 'heroic' aspect of it that he was protecting her, or trying to be a good guy by doing it. His tone and demeanor were almost personal with such. Pulling the pair of pants he had on earlier from the rack nearby he slipped them on before making his way to the bed and taking a seat on the end of it near Rhia's feet. "You surely can understand my... concern."

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
And She listened. Listened as Chita explained his lack of presence from his real parents, how he was raised away from others because of who he was. All while periodically turning pages and reading. It almost seemed like she was ignoring him, but she was listening. "This child will have a family." She stated plainly. "And I hardly see the need for you to be present."

Another page turn.

"The way I turned out...that is not something that just happens." Indeed, her current state as a person...wasn't run of the mill. Hardly anyone could become like she did. And she did by choice. ...Why was she debating this anyhow? "Do you fear I might use my own son or daughter as a test subject for any random number of experiments I might think up?" That question was posed with a smirk.

All that said though, she set her book down, this time closing it, with a light sigh. "You sure do love to speak about that man though..." Rhia commented casually, resting her hands in her lap with her fingers steepled. "Have you not realized that he is currently attached to that girl? Would you really think him such a hypocrite that he would turn his blade on a pregnant woman while courting another?"

She wasn't defending Angantyr. She was just speaking logically.

Chita has posed:
The first part of her responses didn't go answered. He wasn't sure how to respond to that anyways. What part of that did he fear the most? She had no morality and he knew that, so he didn't put anything past her. Yet, as she spoke about Angantyr, he shook his head. "Girl? What girl? No, is the answer, and... no, I do not love talking about him, he terrifies me. His madness, his insanity... he is a rabid dog with a weapon that could in theory save us all from the Heartless, as far as I can tell. Somehow, despite him being a rabid dog... despite attacking anything that gets in his way... despite having trying to murder me more than twice in cold blood with the only reasons being my occupation or respect for another... people still treat him as if nothing he does is wrong. They treat him like a hero. They... justify all of his madness, including his murderous intentions. He has friends, respect... love..."

And at that Chita trailed off, quiet. At least for a moment. "As much as others call you evil, and while I agree with them that your actions are just that... you can be reasoned with. He is blind in his madness, and unreasonable. Yes... he would hurt you. He would maim you and laugh while doing it, all because he can. He revels in causing others pain and gets away with it for some reason I cannot fathom. Seemingly good people allow him to go unchecked."

Turning towards Rhiannon, Chita reaches out a hand to rest on her foot. "I am not certain I can protect you from that. Monsters, heartless... yes, but..."

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Of course he didn't respond. She'd expected that much for her first statement. It was left aside. "What girl? That girly little blonde in the red that is constantly wrapped around his arm. What was her name? .....Miara? Cairo? Merideth? Murgleberstein? I cannot remember." As usual of her, inimportant people's names were purged from her mind without care or a second thought.

His talk of Angantyr caused the woman to arch a brow. "Really now." It was curious that somehow, he, such a violent and dark man, obtained a weapon of what was supposedly pure light and justice, and so forth. Who in the keyblade granting chain of command was fired for that mishap, she wondered.

"I noticed how that man is treated. Hardly my business or concern though." But it was bordering on hypocracy, not that she cared what people thought of her in the end. All that mattered were the results. Expected and unexpected. "...Well now, you will be quite interested to know that I have already scheduled a conference, inviting those so called righteous heroes here to discuss things in a civil, mature manner." Indeed. That invitation was done on the way back to Goug at some point. And evenn with this knowledge, she wouldn't change the plan.

"Whether or not people are hypocrites, whether they kill and destroy others, and get away with it, is not my concern." She moved her leg away then, moving to get out of bed. "In any case, I have business to attend to." She didn't say where or what and just proceeded to get dressed instead.

Chita has posed:
"...are you really that suicidal, Rhiannon? Or do you just want to see me killed trying to keep you and our future child safe? Because, as it stands... that is how it will turn out if such happens." What a woman... what an idiot. Chita is truly going to have to do everything in his power to convince Shinsec to lend a large group of security to keep potential 'heroes' from trying to murder Rhiannon in her own lab, or wherever it was she intended to have them come. Sure, if it was Fluorgis he may be able to wrangle the Judges into enforcing a no-fighting area, but... not here. Not unless... someone with a law card.

No, no, he couldn't possibly. That would be a far abuse of his power and he would never. He really should check in with the Judges, though, now that he thought about it.

As he felt Rhiannon pull her foot away and turn to stand he faced her and listened idly as she went about her business before saying, "Unless your business is private, I wuold come along. I have no intention of interfering in any such, but until I can be assured you are not going to invite unstable idiots to come and try to murder you, I feel the need to make sure you remain as safe as possible." And with that, he, too, stand and made his way to the other side of the bed to find the rest of his clothing and shoes and socks and such.

"By the way... what ever did you do with that bear I gave you? Hopefully not a trash can?"

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Are you really that afraid of one man? Child or no, I am not going to be killed by a single man." It might have sounded like blind confidence, but it was at least partly true. "There will be security and countermeasures in place. That aside, I have no intention of blowing up any towns or stealing any hearts. Unless your so called heroes are so mad and rabid, that they would attack on sight with no provocation?"

She didn't wait for that question to be answer and slipped on her lab coat and heels. "Don't fancy yourself my protector now. I am just going to survey the after effects of the other day's experiment." She didn't wait for a reply to that either, and once she deemed herself ready, stepped out the door of her room and proceeded along down the hallway, whether Chita was ready to go or not.

The bear question went sorely unanswered. But alas, if only the poor sod could see. He'd notice it sitting atop her windowsill, coincidentally staring right at him.