Categories > Games > Star Ocean: The Second Story > Senseless Melodrama
Really, Celine Jules didn't get the respect she deserved. She was a Heraldry Master of the first rank- she would have been a Master of her craft back in Mars if they hadn't passed that silly rule about being married. Given the choice between single independence as a glamorous treasure hunter and making boring decisions about teachings while dealing with some man, it was obvious which one she wanted.
Bowman probably did need her help, the poor dear, and just like a man in not admitting it! All men were the same, ashamed to be upstaged by a woman- even a woman of Celine's intellectual caliber.
"Excuse me... I don't mean to be a nuisance, but I still haven't found your friend anywhere."
Celine turned around to see the ship's captain again. She hadn't even bothered learning his name- after all, it had been Ashton's job to deal with him and lower their fare for once, not hers. He was beginning to get annoying, wasn't he? She could see why poor Ashton didn't want to deal with him.
"Really? I haven't, either." Celine frowned artfully, as if Ashton really were simply late to a meeting with her. "I wonder where he's gotten off to now. Sometimes I don't know what to do with that boy, really. I'm so sorry he's been rude to you. He's terribly shy, you see."
"I saw that." Luckily- or unluckily, depending on which point of view one saw this from- the man seemed more bemused than annoyed. "Am I really that intimidating to him?"
"Oh, terribly, dear," Celine said with a sweeping movement of her arms, once again forgetting the presence of her staff. He dodged the weapon with considerably less grace than Ashton had, but seemed unfazed. "It's those dragons possessing him- he thinks that you're making fun of him, the poor dear."
Though it was true that Ashton thought this a great deal, in this case it was a blatant fabrication on Celine's part. In fact, the only thing Ashton had ever said on that note was that he wished this man were merely mocking him.
"Do you think you could talk to him, when you see him next?" He asked, pathetically hopeful. "I'd hate for a misunderstanding to ruin things."
"Of course, darling!" Celine lied brightly. "I think I'll be heading back to where I'm staying now... you know, he's supposed to meet me here. Perhaps if you stay here for a little while, you'll get the chance to talk to him?"
Celine laughed all the way back to Bowman's house.
When she arrived, she didn't bother waiting to be let in- she simply breezed past the unattended counter and up the stairs to where Bowman and Nineh lived above the store. Once up there, she found Bowman looking at the book intently and taking notes off to the side about it. Ashton hovered over him nervously, hair still damp from another abortive attempt to wash off whatever chemical Celine had accidentally cursed him with.
"Mmmhmmm," Bowman said under his breath, pen working furiously, "If this word is encantum, then this one must be the conjugation of... oh, damnit, who am I kidding? I haven't done this much old Lingan since college. Ashton, run next door and get me Keith. Hopefully he'll remember who you are."
"You want me to go outside?" Ashton asked, horrified. "But- what if I see him? I don't want him to start following me around! What if he finds out where I'm staying? He'll try to sneak into your house and-"
"Ashton, darling, stop being hysterical." Celine sighed and stepped up to the table with the air of someone who knew the solution a long time ago. "I'll go and get the professor for you, darlings, and you can sit around and have your boy-talk without little old me interrupting."
"Thank you," Ashton said in a small voice. Bowman just grunted.
Really, that should have been her first clue Ashton was gay- how often were straight men polite like that?
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"What in the name of Tria possessed you to go adventuring with that woman?" Bowman asked when Celine left. "I'm surprised you haven't run into something much worse than a stalker, quite frankly."
"Celine is my friend, Bowman," Ashton said defensively. "And you've seen for yourself how good of a Heraldry Master she is."
"Oh, I won't deny she knows how to start fires, but pyromania isn't everything in a woman. Nineh, now, she doesn't go around doing that. You'll go insane with a woman like that around, kid. She's trouble." Bowman lit a cigarette, having finally found them just before he began the translation.
"No, she really isn't," Ashton insisted. "I'm the one who's possessed and unlucky, and stuff always happens to me. I'm surprised Celine hasn't gotten hurt, traveling with me."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, kid." Bowman put down his pen and leaned back in his chair, exhaling smoke. "If this book is half of what it looks like to someone who hasn't translated in ten years like me, then you won't be possessed anymore. And I think half of your bad luck stems from your choice in friends- you and Celine are too damn alike, so there's no one around to tell you to stand back and consider what you're doing."
"Then who am I supposed to travel with?" Ashton asked, finally sounding frustrated with the entire situation. "Rena doesn't want to leave Arlia- Celine and I asked her to come with us when we started! And Claude's off to whatever world he came from, with Chisato, and Noel's probably wandering the woods somewhere and running into trees! Leon's busy at the university and you've got work and your wife here in Linga, and Precis hurts my ears, and Tria only knows where Dias is-"
"Calm down, kid. I think you're hyperventilating." Bowman laid a hand on Ashton's shoulder and received a glare from one of the dragons for it. "If you can deal with Celine for that long, more power to you. I'm just saying that you shouldn't be surprised when things backfire because both of you want to plunge headlong into some melodramatic cockeyed plan."
"...um, how can a plan be cockeyed?" Ashton asked in a small voice.
"See? You need someone around to tell you two when your plans are cockeyed, so you can get back on the right path!" Bowman said triumphantly.
"Bowman, a plan cannot be cockeyed." Keith stood in the doorway, in front of a smug-looking Celine. "An object can be cockeyed. An idea cannot."
"Yeah, whatever, come and take a look at this." Bowman gestured at the paper in front of him with his cigarette.
"Put that out!" Keith snatched it from between Bowman's fingers and stubbed it out against the table. "Smoke damages old books! You should know that!"
The professor sat down in the chair between Ashton and Bowman, and Celine followed suit in the last empty seat. Keith seemed to be the only one really paying attention to the text; Bowman looked frustrated, Celine looked bored, and Ashton looked nervous. Gyoro and Ururun looked at one another.
"Gyoro! No!" Ashton jumped back from the table, just as the red dragon opened its mouth to breathe fire on the book. It missed and hit Bowman, whose tie caught on fire. He sidestepped the table as well, beating the tie between his hands until it went out.
"I'm, um, going to go and sit in the other room." Ashton looked down at the floor, face hidden behind his long hair. "I guess it's a good sign if they don't want me to know what's in it, though?"
"Are you burned terribly, darling?" Celine asked solicitously as Ashton left the room.
"No." Bowman sat down again, looking at his hands. "I got it out fast enough that it didn't really burn me. Couple of blueberries and I'll be good as new."
"Where did you find this?" Keith asked suddenly, fingers tracing the words and diagrams on the pages almost in wonder. "This is an amazing treatise on human heraldry! Works like this were banned ages ago in Lacour!"
"We found it in Cross." Celine leaned forward, suddenly interested. "Is it very valuable, darling?"
"Actually, possession of this text is technically a capital crime in Linga. It's not really enforced anymore, but the law is still on the books. You'd never find a buyer outside the black market- if you want to get into banned books, I hear Professor Geeste at the university is the person to talk to." Keith looked back down at the text, flipping through the pages almost idly.
"...Leon's dealing in black market books?" Bowman asked, shaking his head. "I really worry about that kid sometimes, without his parents to keep him in line."
"Would he be able to tell us anything about what's in it?" Celine suggested, once again more interested in her fingernails than the translation.
"Giving Leon a book? Celine, we'd never see it again." Bowman slid his chair out from under the table and stood up. "I need a smoke, and I should probably make sure Ashton hasn't killed himself out of humiliation."
Ashton had, in fact, not killed himself out of humiliation. He appeared to be seriously contemplating it, but he hadn't done it yet.
"You okay?" Bowman asked, cigarette lit before he'd even fully emerged from the other room. "Bad news is you guys can't sell your book outside of the illegal market, it's been banned for centuries. Worse news is, Leon's apparently the local black market book liaison. The good news is apparently there may be something to what you guys found. Keith's pretty excited about it."
"...Leon and the black market?" Ashton asked, startled. "I don't even want to know. I really don't."
"You and me both, then. You and me both."
author's notes: The part about Celine having to be married to be a Master in Mars is totally made-up on my part, but it makes sense. After all, Celine's not good at treasure hunting (take a look at her solo ending, heh) and she is good at Heraldry, so why the career choice? And people from Mars are always bugging her to get married.
Bowman probably did need her help, the poor dear, and just like a man in not admitting it! All men were the same, ashamed to be upstaged by a woman- even a woman of Celine's intellectual caliber.
"Excuse me... I don't mean to be a nuisance, but I still haven't found your friend anywhere."
Celine turned around to see the ship's captain again. She hadn't even bothered learning his name- after all, it had been Ashton's job to deal with him and lower their fare for once, not hers. He was beginning to get annoying, wasn't he? She could see why poor Ashton didn't want to deal with him.
"Really? I haven't, either." Celine frowned artfully, as if Ashton really were simply late to a meeting with her. "I wonder where he's gotten off to now. Sometimes I don't know what to do with that boy, really. I'm so sorry he's been rude to you. He's terribly shy, you see."
"I saw that." Luckily- or unluckily, depending on which point of view one saw this from- the man seemed more bemused than annoyed. "Am I really that intimidating to him?"
"Oh, terribly, dear," Celine said with a sweeping movement of her arms, once again forgetting the presence of her staff. He dodged the weapon with considerably less grace than Ashton had, but seemed unfazed. "It's those dragons possessing him- he thinks that you're making fun of him, the poor dear."
Though it was true that Ashton thought this a great deal, in this case it was a blatant fabrication on Celine's part. In fact, the only thing Ashton had ever said on that note was that he wished this man were merely mocking him.
"Do you think you could talk to him, when you see him next?" He asked, pathetically hopeful. "I'd hate for a misunderstanding to ruin things."
"Of course, darling!" Celine lied brightly. "I think I'll be heading back to where I'm staying now... you know, he's supposed to meet me here. Perhaps if you stay here for a little while, you'll get the chance to talk to him?"
Celine laughed all the way back to Bowman's house.
When she arrived, she didn't bother waiting to be let in- she simply breezed past the unattended counter and up the stairs to where Bowman and Nineh lived above the store. Once up there, she found Bowman looking at the book intently and taking notes off to the side about it. Ashton hovered over him nervously, hair still damp from another abortive attempt to wash off whatever chemical Celine had accidentally cursed him with.
"Mmmhmmm," Bowman said under his breath, pen working furiously, "If this word is encantum, then this one must be the conjugation of... oh, damnit, who am I kidding? I haven't done this much old Lingan since college. Ashton, run next door and get me Keith. Hopefully he'll remember who you are."
"You want me to go outside?" Ashton asked, horrified. "But- what if I see him? I don't want him to start following me around! What if he finds out where I'm staying? He'll try to sneak into your house and-"
"Ashton, darling, stop being hysterical." Celine sighed and stepped up to the table with the air of someone who knew the solution a long time ago. "I'll go and get the professor for you, darlings, and you can sit around and have your boy-talk without little old me interrupting."
"Thank you," Ashton said in a small voice. Bowman just grunted.
Really, that should have been her first clue Ashton was gay- how often were straight men polite like that?
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"What in the name of Tria possessed you to go adventuring with that woman?" Bowman asked when Celine left. "I'm surprised you haven't run into something much worse than a stalker, quite frankly."
"Celine is my friend, Bowman," Ashton said defensively. "And you've seen for yourself how good of a Heraldry Master she is."
"Oh, I won't deny she knows how to start fires, but pyromania isn't everything in a woman. Nineh, now, she doesn't go around doing that. You'll go insane with a woman like that around, kid. She's trouble." Bowman lit a cigarette, having finally found them just before he began the translation.
"No, she really isn't," Ashton insisted. "I'm the one who's possessed and unlucky, and stuff always happens to me. I'm surprised Celine hasn't gotten hurt, traveling with me."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, kid." Bowman put down his pen and leaned back in his chair, exhaling smoke. "If this book is half of what it looks like to someone who hasn't translated in ten years like me, then you won't be possessed anymore. And I think half of your bad luck stems from your choice in friends- you and Celine are too damn alike, so there's no one around to tell you to stand back and consider what you're doing."
"Then who am I supposed to travel with?" Ashton asked, finally sounding frustrated with the entire situation. "Rena doesn't want to leave Arlia- Celine and I asked her to come with us when we started! And Claude's off to whatever world he came from, with Chisato, and Noel's probably wandering the woods somewhere and running into trees! Leon's busy at the university and you've got work and your wife here in Linga, and Precis hurts my ears, and Tria only knows where Dias is-"
"Calm down, kid. I think you're hyperventilating." Bowman laid a hand on Ashton's shoulder and received a glare from one of the dragons for it. "If you can deal with Celine for that long, more power to you. I'm just saying that you shouldn't be surprised when things backfire because both of you want to plunge headlong into some melodramatic cockeyed plan."
"...um, how can a plan be cockeyed?" Ashton asked in a small voice.
"See? You need someone around to tell you two when your plans are cockeyed, so you can get back on the right path!" Bowman said triumphantly.
"Bowman, a plan cannot be cockeyed." Keith stood in the doorway, in front of a smug-looking Celine. "An object can be cockeyed. An idea cannot."
"Yeah, whatever, come and take a look at this." Bowman gestured at the paper in front of him with his cigarette.
"Put that out!" Keith snatched it from between Bowman's fingers and stubbed it out against the table. "Smoke damages old books! You should know that!"
The professor sat down in the chair between Ashton and Bowman, and Celine followed suit in the last empty seat. Keith seemed to be the only one really paying attention to the text; Bowman looked frustrated, Celine looked bored, and Ashton looked nervous. Gyoro and Ururun looked at one another.
"Gyoro! No!" Ashton jumped back from the table, just as the red dragon opened its mouth to breathe fire on the book. It missed and hit Bowman, whose tie caught on fire. He sidestepped the table as well, beating the tie between his hands until it went out.
"I'm, um, going to go and sit in the other room." Ashton looked down at the floor, face hidden behind his long hair. "I guess it's a good sign if they don't want me to know what's in it, though?"
"Are you burned terribly, darling?" Celine asked solicitously as Ashton left the room.
"No." Bowman sat down again, looking at his hands. "I got it out fast enough that it didn't really burn me. Couple of blueberries and I'll be good as new."
"Where did you find this?" Keith asked suddenly, fingers tracing the words and diagrams on the pages almost in wonder. "This is an amazing treatise on human heraldry! Works like this were banned ages ago in Lacour!"
"We found it in Cross." Celine leaned forward, suddenly interested. "Is it very valuable, darling?"
"Actually, possession of this text is technically a capital crime in Linga. It's not really enforced anymore, but the law is still on the books. You'd never find a buyer outside the black market- if you want to get into banned books, I hear Professor Geeste at the university is the person to talk to." Keith looked back down at the text, flipping through the pages almost idly.
"...Leon's dealing in black market books?" Bowman asked, shaking his head. "I really worry about that kid sometimes, without his parents to keep him in line."
"Would he be able to tell us anything about what's in it?" Celine suggested, once again more interested in her fingernails than the translation.
"Giving Leon a book? Celine, we'd never see it again." Bowman slid his chair out from under the table and stood up. "I need a smoke, and I should probably make sure Ashton hasn't killed himself out of humiliation."
Ashton had, in fact, not killed himself out of humiliation. He appeared to be seriously contemplating it, but he hadn't done it yet.
"You okay?" Bowman asked, cigarette lit before he'd even fully emerged from the other room. "Bad news is you guys can't sell your book outside of the illegal market, it's been banned for centuries. Worse news is, Leon's apparently the local black market book liaison. The good news is apparently there may be something to what you guys found. Keith's pretty excited about it."
"...Leon and the black market?" Ashton asked, startled. "I don't even want to know. I really don't."
"You and me both, then. You and me both."
author's notes: The part about Celine having to be married to be a Master in Mars is totally made-up on my part, but it makes sense. After all, Celine's not good at treasure hunting (take a look at her solo ending, heh) and she is good at Heraldry, so why the career choice? And people from Mars are always bugging her to get married.
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