true words [flashback/r]

[tamara]

behind the war machine turns the gears of human will

she seems to be everywhere these days, making her presence known not only in sinnoh, but throughout the regions. tamara doesn't mind, because isn't that what she wanted when she first started on her journey -- to be known? but her travels have taken her to boure, and cianwood, and now, she's not quite sure if she regrets the choice to attend this request for a status update from the various regions. the meeting drones on, and tamara resists the urge to sigh. she manages to keep it to rubbing the bridge of her nose instead with her fingers in an attempt to stave off a headache that she can feel building. normally she has much more patience with the intricacies of war and boure's cause than this, but being thrown into a two-hour meeting straight after a day-long flight and her arrival at the island has done her no favors. "this is taking longer than i honestly expected," she says under her breath, and leans back into her chair. it's a sturdy thing, padded firmly with comfortable material. it's probably a bribe for people to stay the entire the meeting, if she's honest. but it's worked, and here tamara is staying at this long excuse of a meeting, staring off at the wall on the other side of the room. there are no windows, since this gathering has some of boure's most important people in attendance. but she is honestly considering interrupting the current speaker -- a man who is so obviously attempting to win the audience over to his side in a mere political spat -- to call for a break, or even leave the meeting entirely herself. she could do that; being the military leader of boure's operations in a region comes with certain privileges. but she is representing sinnoh here, and tamara sighs and settles down to wait out the speaker. hopefully he'd either run out of steam or someone else with more weight in the field of public speaking would interrupt and change the subject. LEAF kinda left this open, but if you want me to change things just let me know <3

[LEAF]

While she'd never been an especially patient girl, Leaf could suffer through a lot of things in the name of progress. This was especially true lately for things involving Boure. While not yet the publisher she would become in the near future, Leaf was a a quickly rising speaker and without a doubt the authority on knowledge in the Kanto region. As a result her presence had been requested at the meeting she was currently sitting through. Throughout the day a lot people had talked about the status of their regions. It was natural that these people didn't have purely good things to say, or purely interesting things to say, and Leaf was willing to sit quietly and politely as they explained their woes and victories. However small either may be. But this man from Hoenn was insufferable. Instead of expanding on anything genuinely important to his region, the man had taken his chance to speak as an invitation to espouse his own personal belief of how Boure should move forward. It had little to do with Hoenn, and stunk heavily of propaganda. And Leaf knew propaganda. It had begun to grate on her almost as soon as the man had started speaking, but as time had dragged on and he hadn't stopped talking it became almost painful to hold her tongue. Finally the man had been flourishing and story telling for around half an hour when Leaf had enough. No one was speaking up or stopping him, but she was sick of it. Not only was he dragging the meeting out, but he was delaying her own status report and derailing the very meaning for their gathering. It pissed her off watching someone try to steal the spotlight in a situation like this. "Would you just shut up?" Leaf's voice came out more harsh and blunt than she'd meant it to, but it earned the silence she requested, "We didn't come here to discuss your political ideals or what you think we should be doing. You're here to represent your region and tell us what you've done and what you need. Instead what I've heard for the last half hour is you explaining to us how important it is that we start funneling troops and supplies to places outside of your jurisdiction. How is Hoenn? Does anyone in this room know from what he's said?" For a moment Leaf paused, raising an eyebrow in question as she glanced around the room. The man seemed irritated. He'd obviously become comfortable in the silence of the room. He'd probably thought things were going just as he needed them too. Too bad. "If you've got an agenda you want to push talk to the higher ups. Go to an Officer, hell talk to a Crusader, but don't waste our time here. Frankly, I find it disgusting that you'd come here and push your own ideals rather than try to help the area you've been sent here to support," And with that Leaf let out a sharp breath and leaned back into her own plush chair. Surely the room had gone silent, and already she was worrying about what her outburst may have done for her reputation. Still, what she said needed to be said. Hopefully most of the people in the room agreed with her. tamara

LAIKA OF GAGNAM STYLE

[tamara]

behind the war machine turns the gears of human will

it's when her patience has almost snapped and leaving her headache to become a roar between her temples that someone speaks up, harsh and blunt in a way that is satisfying, and tamara almost blesses her out loud for that, horribly grateful for the interruption. it's obvious that she's had at the very least some experience in speaking, because even in her words she makes concise points and sharp questions that leave the hoenn man at a loss for answers. tamara experiences a quiet sense of vindictive satisfaction as the woman lays out her statements, point by point, and watch the man grow more and more irritated. it's when she has taken a seat and the room is quiet in for a few moments that tamara straightens and speaks herself. "i agree," tamara says, and smiles at the man. it's not a kind smile, too sharp by a long shot. "she makes a good point," and here tamara nods at the kanto speaker with a more kind edge to the tilt of her lips. "this is a status update on the state of the war, not a true political meeting. either report as you've been requested to, or get out of the room." perhaps the last part hadn't exactly been needed, but tamara reckons that most, if not all, of the tempers in the room have been frayed and worn by the hoenn representative's spiel. and she herself is in no mood to mince words; not anymore. she turns away from the man to ignore him completely -- either he will sit down, humiliated by a public dressing-down by his fellow representatives, or he will leave. she doesn't quite care at the moment. "does anyone else know hoenn's current status?" slowly, a volunteer starts to speak -- the man from johto, close enough to hoenn to know. tamara would know herself, if she'd been briefed on the subject before hand, but she doesn't, so they will have to make do. in the slowly increasing murmurings of statistics and lists of needed supplies, tamara sinks back into her seat, and gives the woman a grateful smile, this time more open and genuine than the one she'd displayed while speaking. LEAF ...idek you can go wherever you'd like with this <3

[LEAF]

Honestly Leaf couldn't have asked for a better outcome. The whole room, with the exception of the man from Hoenn of course, seemed in agreement. They didn't object to her words, even when the accused grit his teeth and essentially glared at what Leaf could only assume were his friends. Everyone was silent. Well, maybe not everyone. When the other girl spoke up it was a bit of a surprise. A pleasant one, but a surprise nonetheless. She really hadn't expected someone to agree with her enough to speak up in her support. Needless to say, when the girl finished speaking and looked back at Leaf she earned a smile of her own. When another speaker from Johto stands she's more than happy to listen. The rest of the meeting was fairly simple, as it should have been. When the man from Johto finished speaking Leaf was happy to provide her own status report, and then to listen to everyone else. And then the meeting was over, and Leaf would have been lying if she said she wasn't happy to see it end. She was one of the first to rise, but found herself shaking many hands before she could get to preparing to leave. After exchanging words with many of the speakers, and holding a mutual glare with the man from Hoenn she did her best to get her stuff together. Files into folders, folders into bag, pink sweater straightened over her striped top, and finally bag over her shoulder. After freeing a bit of her hair from her bag she was ready to head out. Still, before leaving she took a second to scan the room, just to make sure everyone was getting out okay and nothing had been forgotten. tamara

LAIKA OF GAGNAM STYLE

[tamara]

behind the war machine turns the gears of human will

she'd already reported on sinnoh beforehand, so tamara leans back to hear the rest of the reports. the woman who had snapped at the hoenn man before she had is among them, giving her own report on kanto and moving on with the rest of the meeting. the faster pace is a nice change from the first headache-inducing half, and though tamara would really like to leave and return to her own troops with their own set of unique headaches, she finds the other generals in the room pulling her into a conversation about their preparations for the war. all in all, it means that she does not actually move from her seat until that particularly harrowing discussion is over, and by that time most everyone has already left. she waves the others on in the quiet, gathering what few materials she'd brought to the inter-region meeting. other than a folder with its contents written in cipher, there's not much else she needs to bring. still, she finds herself one of the last to leave, and stands up with more than a little caution in deference to her asleep feet. tamara winces at the sensation of pins and needles, before placing her folder under her arm and her hands in her pockets. the woman from before is still lingering, doing a last check of the room, it seems. tamara smiles at her again and walks towards her and beyond her, the door. "i'm tamara," she says, and offers her a handshake. "it was an impressive tirade you fired at the hoenn man earlier. i'm guessing you do public speaking often?" because this meeting had been springed on her by one of her staff, who had only sent her out with a briefing of the purpose of the meeting and a sheepish smile, and so tamara only knows who she is by bits and bobs of rumors. still, it doesn't mean that she can't be polite, so she waits with her handshake and her question. LEAF wow this is late and awkward gomen for both ;-;

[LEAF]

There were few people Leaf would have been okay waiting for after that meeting. She felt increasingly tired as the weight of seconds and minutes bore down on her more and more heavily. Still, she felt an obligation to exchange niceties with the young woman left over after the meeting. She had, after all, supported her in her short spat. After responding to her smile Leaf worked to finish straightening her clothing and belongings, just so that when she did leave there was no way anything would be out of place. Recently she'd taken to double and triple checking things as a rule. The name the girl offers upon approaching is pleasant to hear. A nice name, pretty even. Tamara. "Nice to meet you, my name's Leaf," The words come out somewhat canned. Not by any kind of intentional thought, but as a result of the repeated introductions and handshaking she'd just gone through. Of course, this means she accepts Tamara's hand out of more or less reflex, shaking it firmly and shortly before letting it drop. "Yeah, I work in propaganda for Kanto. I'm used to speeches," Her answer was short, and this time it was intentional. It only took a moment for her mind to go through the situation. Alone, talking with someone in a friendly manner. Nonthreatening enough but certainly not her element. An always ironic thought. The woman who can speak to hundreds gets cold feet in casual conversation. "Uh, so what do you do in Sinnoh again? I can't remember if you mentioned it," Leaf's mind jogged itself out of its stalled state in a hurry as soon as it realized dead air was floating. Her question came out rushed, almost apologetic. God she hated small talk. tamara

LAIKA OF GAGNAM STYLE

[tamara]

behind the war machine turns the gears of human will

leaf's words feel repeated, like an old piece of cloth used over and over again, washed over and over again, but tamara smiles anyway. a public speaker must be used to repeating their name and introducing themselves repetitively, she muses, and lets the thought go. kanto. a region that is not, honestly, that far away from her own, and perhaps that is why tamara had felt as if she knew small pieces of the woman in front of her. those in the spotlight tend to be famous all over the regions, not just their own. it's honestly more puzzling to her that she hasn't heard of the woman in more concrete terms. tamara isn't exactly surprised that leaf doesn't know her position in kopec and in sinnoh; not many have asked, and if they do, they are not likely to spread her name around. the military arm works better in the dark than in the light, as they leave that spot for propagandists and the like. it is safer for them that way, this far into the war. zemina has no qualms about hunting down boure in their own homes. "i didn't mention it, don't worry. i work as a general in sinnoh." perhaps the only current general, to be honest, but she doesn't mention that. "your home isn't that far from here, then? are you leaving soon?" she firmly tells herself that she doesn't envy leaf of her shorter flight home (liar, she can hear theia's voice snicker at her in her mind). LEAF im sorry this is so short /hides

[LEAF]

Leaf tried not to dwell on the past. No, that was a dirty lie. She was building her career off of dwelling on the past. Rather she tried to keep herself from letting it hold her back. It was a platform for her to launch off of. But, her time as the invisible girl was something she could never quite get over, and it made her awkward. For much of her childhood people either didn't acknowledge her, or did so with apprehension or -- sometimes -- even dislike or hate. Disappointment was the one she got most when she gave her age and place of origin. The girl who shared a generation with powerhouses? Was born in the same place as legends? Leaf never heard the end of it. As a result she had very few long and pleasant conversations. Hell, she had few short and pleasant conversations. So, when they started -- or tried to -- she wasn't sure how to act. This conversation with Tamara was clearly going to be no exception. Leaf listened to the other girl with a careful, attentive gaze. It was more or less manufactured. She wasn't sure what was supposed to interest her, but in her defense she was genuinely curious. Generals were a different category from her aspirations. Troops that fought toe to toe with Zemina. Of course she'd been part of a couple battles, but really she was too cemented in the old ways of the League to do well in a full on war zone. It was too chaotic. Again her attention snaps to what she's supposed to say when a question is posed. "Oh yeah! Pallet is just kind of a hoppip and -- sorry. Hop, skip, and a jump away," The unintentional pun was a bit distressing. Words had just kind of slid together in her anxiety, and she couldn't help but redden a bit at the situation. Almost forgetting the conversation entirely Leaf let out an exasperated breath, just a short exhale off to the side.  "Sinnoh's not that far away too, yeah?" Again an awkward prod at the conversation. Pleasant questioning based off of what the person had brought up. Kind of like a debate without the conflict and with the urge of reciprocating ideas instead of arguing them. So, not like a debate at all in hindsight. tamara

LAIKA OF GAGNAM STYLE

[tamara]

behind the war machine turns the gears of human will

if any think to ask her people, tamara is not as bad a conversationalist as she thinks she is. but that may be because they are hers -- entirely hers, and hers to treat as she thinks right. with them, she knows how she must speak, how she must act. speaking with strangers is another sort of thing entirely, though tamara knows how to make small talk well enough to slip by without large comment. in the light of that, speaking with leaf is... fairly pleasant, after a sense. they are not discussing war; no heavy subjects, no topics that will weigh upon the shoulders. after a conversation filled with war, it is refreshing. tamara manages a small smile -- a mere quirk of the lips, really -- at the hoppip comment, as bad as it is. that leaf doesn't seem to have meant it to be intentional is simply a bonus. "sinnoh is close by, yes," she says, and ignores the slight stiltedness that she thinks she hears in the propagandist's voice, because she does like to give people the benefit of the doubt with things like making small talk. "though not as close as kanto is to johto. we had to fly here, since none of the psychics knew where the meeting was going to be held, exactly." and, though she tries to contain it at first, a yawn rises to tamara's lips, one that she covers in the hand that isn't clutching at her folder. when it passes she gives leaf a sheepish smile. "i apologize; i didn't manage to get any decent coffee before we left. you'd think they'd at least provide some here." LEAF this is so late gomen /hides