[b][color=f7976a]LE BANG KIEU[/color] | JEANNE DU BORDEAUX[/b] Collab with [@ERode][hr] [hider=Starfire] He had half a mind to forgo his cane. What was the bigger priority here, his image or his enrolment? Making sure another building didn't go up in flames before he located his ward? In the end he decided to keep it. As far as he knew, Jeanne had not caused another structural disaster yet, which meant he still had some decorum to maintain. The cane stayed in his false hand. He saw her on the shore, and approached with his loafers hooked on his fingers, socks tucked into the shoes. Noted the sun's descent. On his right foot, the stumps where his last three toes should have been were plain to see. [b]"It's time."[/b] [color=f7976a]"...Time to head in before it gets chilly?"[/color] Bang's smile was amiable as ever, perhaps softer even. He took a sandy step forward. [color=f7976a]"Had your fun for the day?"[/color] [b]"Fun?"[/b] Jeanne's eyes flicked downwards towards the imperfection that marred Bang's form still, then strode towards him, past him. There was no particular malice or accusation in her tone, but the question was posed nonetheless. [b]"What kept you?"[/b] [color=f7976a]"Wanted to make sure Miss Whitehall was properly settled."[/color] He turned on his heels to follow her. [color=f7976a]"That, and I thought you wanted some space. Since you were, uh, speaking to James. And all. Did it go well?"[/color] Jeanne ignored that question. [b]"Your thoughts on what happened?"[/b] Bang winced. [color=f7976a]"I'd surmised that she was the reckless type. It was a moment of poor judgment. She's almost certain to be sneaking out again tonight too. And the creatures themselves... There's no way the administration are unaware of their presence."[/color] A chuckle. [color=f7976a]"Call me crazy but I'm starting to believe they might have an ulterior motive to gathering so many international geniuses on this island."[/color] [b]"Though nothing is done to keep them there."[/b] With an easy grace, Jeanne leapt up onto the grassy ledge separating beach and forest, hues of afterglow mingling with the deeper shadows of the tropical canopy. She looked down upon Bang, or perhaps upon the rising tide. [b]"Do you,"[/b] she said, [b]"believe in God, Bang?"[/b] [color=f7976a]"If a God truly does exist, it is a cruel and unwise thing."[/color] [b]"Because of what happened to you?"[/b] His eyebrows raised in bemusement. [color=f7976a]"Do I seem that bitter of a gentleman?"[/color] Jeanne's own expression didn't change. [b]"Yes."[/b] He exhaled sharply from his nose, planting a smile in place. [color=f7976a]"And you? Do you believe in one?"[/color] [b]"Only He could craft a world so unbound by reason."[/b] Jeanne smiled. [b]"That is a yes, if you were wondering. But I've yet to hear your answer."[/b] [color=f7976a]"I'll settle on a 'no'. I simply don't [i]want[/i] to believe such an uncaring deity exists."[/color] Jeanne laughed, peals of arid bemusement rolling out of her mouth. "The Occidental answer," she said, as if that explained everything. But she offered her hand nonetheless, to pull him up into the forest as well. The two came in close for a brief moment, just enough for Bang's senses to catch the smell of a flower garden upon his companion, before Jeanne separated again, striding down the well-marked forest path. Striding down, deeper into the foliage, into the humid heat of the rainforest. Bang hopped his way back into his shoes, one then the other, stuffing his socks into his pockets and ignoring the feeling of sand between his toes. He had to hurry to catch up once more. [color=f7976a]"Are the beaches here like the ones in France?"[/color] [b]"Small talk so soon?"[/b] Jeanne didn't turn back. [b]"They're nothing alike."[/b] A hint of wistfulness. [b]"They're adequate, for one."[/b] [color=f7976a]"Did you reside near one back home?"[/color] He paused. [color=f7976a]"It's not the beaches I want to know more about, you know."[/color] [b]"A gentleman would take the lead."[/b] The Egoist blinked. Pondered the consequences. He surged further and took her hand in his. A regulated heartbeat passed, his brown eyes on the girl, before he lifted her hand to place a kiss on her knuckle. [color=f7976a]"By order of elimination, I believe I'll be on guard duty once more tonight."[/color] [b][i]"Merde."[/i][/b] Jeanne looked more exasperated than either charmed or disgusted. But she didn't snatch her hand back, nor reduce her 'gentlemanly' companion to cinders either. [b]"Latin is truly an archaic language. I meant for you to speak of your life, if you wish to learn of mine."[/b] Ah. He assumed this would be the part where one would have blood rising to their cheeks. Their ears too, if he recalled correctly. He allowed the pressure to build, for warmth to grow in his face and chest. Ran some further measurements to keep it regulated. Warmer, longer. Then he laughed. That part wasn't calculated. [color=f7976a]"I... haha, I'm sorry."[/color] He grinned uncontrollably. Dear, he really should have just stayed at the hospital for good if this was how he was going to behave on his own. He shook his head. [color=f7976a]"Perhaps I should start off with a list of all my public humiliations. That would certainly fit the mood now, huh?"[/color] He scrunched his eyes shut out of embarrassment, still laughing to himself. [b]"This is the age of embarrassments, as the philosophers oft decry."[/b] She extracted her hand from his, then turned the palm towards Bang. [b]"But if self-denigration is the way of your Egoism, then by all means."[/b] [color=f7976a]"From the denigrated form comes rebirth. Regeneration."[/color] Bang placed his newly abandoned hand on his false ribs. [color=f7976a]"Though I don't believe the old masters pictured it as figuratively as this current situation."[/color] [b]"The mind is as substantial as the flesh, so your humiliations are undoubtedly just as solid."[/b] Jeanne flashed a smile that was all teeth. [b]"Those who espoused the strength of the soul have yet to persist after the removal of their brain, after all."[/b] Her eyes danced skywards, towards cobalt skies turning darker, specks of the Creator's Formulae emerging with the death of the Sun and the rise of the Moon. Bermuda was a poor place to be an astrologer, but in twilight, at least, such things could still be enjoyed. [b]"But that is beside the point. Was this path of...ascension, as the ascetics are fond of claiming, the one you chose? I understand that your circumstances were unique."[/b] While Jeanne's gaze was cast upwards, Bang's own were fixed foward. Somewhere even further away. [color=f7976a]"I suppose... there was a chance I could have lived without it. Received however many donated organs however many anonymous donors. Had the same pieces of metal nailed to my skeleton. Attached an unmoving tool to my forearm rather than the appendage I have currently. I would be alive, sure. Maybe not as long as I would have wished, but how many people would, in that situation?"[/color] He pursed his lips. [color=f7976a]"Before the incident I was fully prepared to live an incurious life, free of Formulae. As a scientist yourself, that's likely not something you care to hear, is it?"[/color] Stars above, and beyond, the shadow of the firmament, gleaming ever dark, fathomless yet forever close. She turned her gaze towards the one before her though, the one enamoured by what was ahead, even though he would turn back with every word uttered. [b]"I am not a scientist, Bang. I am a Technologist. What is the difference?"[/b] [color=f7976a]"You get results?"[/color] Jeanne suppressed the urge to groan, muttering something unladylike under her breath. Bang hummed. [color=f7976a]"From the paths this conversation has previously taken, I wonder if you're going to make some point about channeling His divine will."[/color] [b]"Fifty years of ceasefire, and the East still see Technologists through the lens of the German death-machines? Preposterous. Disgusting."[/b] She spat, releasing a single, undiluted drop of venom, before her mien smoothed over to the uncaring irritation that Jeanne carried more naturally. [b]"There are capitalists of course. Opportunists chasing wealth and prestige. Sycophants and diviners, bending the knee for the privilege of the crown's patronage. But blast 'em."[/b] Starfire burned in her eyes, fervent and devouring. The Witch [i]was[/i] mad, driven by passions that would make devils quake, an audacity unfettered. [b]"Scientists seek logic. Technologists seek dreams. What's life, without romance?"[/b] Her lips quirked into a smirk, the fire shuttered within the furnace again. [b]"And by that, Bang, I mean not the romance that occupies the minds of smitten juveniles drawn to depravity by the shadow of a petticoat."[/b] [color=f7976a]"It's easier to aim for the skies when you're not chained to a malfunctioning form. To dream of the beyond when you're not in the confines of a hospital bed. For all that you disparage those sycophants and opportunists, there are plenty out there that don't have the option to just ignore them."[/color] If he didn't have an image to protect, if he didn't have someone he cared about in the arms of a beast, would he not also go around parading his Formulae like some crazed outcast? [color=f7976a]"Romance is only for those that don't have anything tethering them to what's happening on the ground."[/color] Something in his jaw clenched. [color=f7976a]"So it's perhaps not for that as to why I'm drawn to you, but something else."[/color] His cheeks were still burning. He turned away with the admission his voice more quiet now. [color=f7976a]"Jealousy, maybe. Not a quality befitting of a gentleman."[/color] [b]"A malfunctioning form,"[/b] Jeanne repeated as Bang spoke, slowing to a stop as words continued to tumble. It took two steps to close the distance, and hardly half a second for her gloved hands to press against his red cheeks. Warmth could not transmit so easily through black leather, nor was there any relief from the heat in her touch either. There was simply force, force enough to turn his face towards her again. [b]"You misunderstand, once more. So I will make it clear, once more. I am a vile woman, Bang. I will burn away my bonds without a thought because I know I will never be left alone. I disparage the idle happiness of others because they only regard present pleasures, and I burned down that library because that devil though I had not the guts to do so.”[/b] Her words were cold, exacting. Prideful despite the subject. [b]“If you had lived an incurious life, away from this star-studded world, I would not care to remember your name, and I would sneer at you as I do all others. But I would not fault what you dream of, so long as it is your own. Whether it be to write a story, birth a son, captain an airship, or kill a king, it matters not. Only [i]my[/i] eyes need burn for the heavens. I care not what your eyes burn for, so long as they do.”[/b] She was looking up even now, the darkness of the canopy only brightening her cerulean eyes. [b]“If that fuels your jealousy. I welcome it, [i]mon petit galopin.[/i]”[/b] Jeanne pushed him away, clenching her fists. [b]“And if you will exchange fisticuffs instead, I welcome that too.”[/b] [color=f7976a]"I don't consider either of us brutes,"[/color] he said with a reflexive amiability. [color=f7976a]"Though I wouldn't blame you for hitting me for my earlier transgression."[/color] The feeling he dubbed jealousy swirled into something more unpleasant, distasteful. Dreams? What a joke. All he had in this moment is a mission he'd clearly been too distracted for. He broke their gaze once more, consciously not addressing her challenge. [color=f7976a]"We should pick up the pace. It's getting dark."[/color] [b]"But of course."[/b] Jeanne dropped her fists, letting them hang and swing as she strode ahead. [b]"The fog must be feared, no?"[/b] [/hider]