2024-04-15: Things That Only We Can Do
- Log: Things That Only We Can Do
- Cast: Naoko Suzuki, Shari Loom
- Where: Shari's Apartment, Fujinomiya City
- OOC - IC Date: Early April, 0099
- Summary: Having finally completed her secret project, Naoko simply has to tell somebody all about it, and so finally takes Shari up on the invitation to swing by her apartment. Following a quick tour (and some embarrassment), the two Whispered discuss their work, their intentions... and theories regarding the nature of the Void.
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
"It's working... it's working!!"
This may be the closest that Naoko Suzuki ever gets to a Frankenstein moment. But let's not count anything out, considering what she might one day do with her knowledge of AI. This particular moment however is regarding a giant robot, the AI aspects relevant to it fluttering about Naoko's head as she spends the next 30 seconds laughing maniacally. If metal butterfly hairclips could sweat, there would almost certainly be sweatdrops involved. Once the moment passes, however...
>"Are you really sure about this, Nova?"<
"Little late to still ask me that," is Naoko's immediate response to Ariel, though she understands the reason quite well. But when she closes her eyes, and thinks about the possibilities when she deploys the fruit of her labors, she can only smile. "This is... exactly what I wanted."
Reopening her eyes, she provides a finger for the white butterfly to land on. "There's no need to worry. After all, I literally can't do it without the two of you. If anything does go wrong, then I'll be relying on you."
>"As usual,"< Uriel chimes in. >"It's cool, Ariel. We've got this."<
>"I hope you're right..."<
After making her way down from the cockpit, Naoko fishes her phone out of her pocket, swiping to the camera app. Just looking at the pictures she took of her new machine makes her giddy all over again. Ahhh, she can't stand it, she has to share--
"I know, I know," she says before either of her friends can object. "I know better than anyone how insecure it would be to send photos of this over an insecure connection. Honestly, I wouldn't feel entirely comfortable sending this long-distance at all. Here's what I'm thinking instead..."
TWO DAYS LATER...
Shari must have been surprised by Naoko's sudden enthusiasm to come do that apartment visit. It doesn't take a Whispered to reason out that there had to be a special reason for it, and her reluctance to say anything about it over the phone probably would make one suspect that there might be Whispered Stuff involved. Doubly so when she requested to make sure they would be alone. Not that there isn't another obvious reason for that. Naoko is foreign enough to social visits at an unfamiliar location as it is, if she had to meet strangers on top of that...
Well, suffice to say that she's glad to have a convenient excuse, not that she thinks she'd need one with Shari. And so, punctual as always, she arrives within two minutes of the appointed time at the front door of Shari's apartment, holding something rectangular and tin foil-wrapped in both hands. ...It takes her a moment to figure out how she's going to knock, before finally settling on bumping the door with her knee a few times. She looks pretty ill at ease... but that will be visible for only a moment, once the door opens. Seeing her friend is quick to replace that expression with a smile. "Hiii~"
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
It was not that hard to convince Gerardo that he could meet Shari's friend another day, in the end. She'll keep the details of that one to herself, but the point is, he's out at lunch! Their other roommate Cascade is probably at work. And Shari--
Is opening the door.
She opens it and beams as she sees Naoko there. "Hi!" Shari greets her. She's in her usual pink-and-black kind of attire, complete with the dark makeup that she has most of the time. She does not look ill-at-ease. Instead, she looks cheerful. "It's nice to see you!" She looks to the something, curious, and then opens the door more fully, stepping a little behind to let Naoko in. "Like you asked, it's just us," Shari says. "There's a table over that way you can put stuff down on. Want something to drink?"
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Naoko, for her part, is in denim again. Of course she would be, it's been validated by the one she's visiting! Not that she isn't wearing roomy denim basically all the time these days because it's comfy, that's beside the point.
"Nice to see you too!" she greets, with a quick bow of her head. Leaving her shoes at the entrance, of course, even if she's just kind of sloppily kicking off her black and white sneakers. Didn't think to put her stuff down first, typical.
"I appreciate it!" she remarks to the notion of the two of them being alone. Maybe another day, yeah... maybe the day when she can stop her overactive imagination from running away with her and getting embarrassed for no reason. It could be a long time, if we have to wait for that day...
However, "Brought you something," she notes, motioning with what she's holding, before setting it down on the table. "It's for all of you to share. Figured I'd spare you the effort of arranging a meal when you're not feeling it." Removing the tin foil, she proudly displays, "It's my world-famous lasagna bolognese!"
She holds her puffed-out chest pose for a moment before admitting, "Not actually world-famous, but, it should be." She does take pride in her cooking skills, and not without reason. "I figure this should be plenty for three, even if you've got some big eaters. Just gotta heat it up and you're ready to go!"
Finally circling around to the matter of the drink, she thinks about it a moment, before suggesting, "Actually, we'll get to that - how about you give me the tour, first?" If for no other reason than that once she starts talking, she might not be able to stop. She knows how she is.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari should compliment more things about Naoko. Then she might have more options!
Maybe another day she'll get to meet Gerardo. Shari will probably have to Conspire to make that happen, but she's good at conspiring. She is regularly in cahoots. Now, though...
"Oh!" Shari says, and looks very surprised. "Oh wowww that looks super good," she says. It is not actually world-famous, as it happens. Shari still looks delighted. "You're great!" she says. "Thanks. I'll do just that. Should I fridge it til then?" she wonders. "Gerardo is the one who handles most of this between the two of us. I just eat." She laughs at herself a little.
Then, "Hmmm, OK! Then," once they take care of the DELICIOUS FOOD ITEM...
"Sure. So, over here's the entryway and the living area, kinda--back there," where Shari will move to take the lasagna, "Is the kitchen. Then upstairs..."
She will show a closed door, "Cascade's room. No admittance!" And then an open one, showing one large bed and a desktop full of jewelry stuff that Shari was working on, "That's my and Gerardo's room!"
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Compliment Naoko too much, and she'll turn into a puddle! That or get a really swelled head. Both not ideal states of being.
But for the time being, being told she's great is a compliment that she'll accept gracefully. "Hehe... I know, I know." Sort of. Look, there aren't that many things that she's this confident in, let her have this one. With the boost from that, it's also easy to tease, "Ohhh, moocher, eh?" And just as quick to add, "Well, that's fine. Some people like an excuse to cook for other people." People like Naoko, in fact. That wasn't subtle at all.
As for the storage advice, "If you're gonna eat it in the next few days, fridge'll be good enough if you keep it tightly sealed. Otherwise, it's better to keep the foil around it and put in the freezer, that'll keep it good for a couple months." She's basically an expirations-expert. Just something that happens naturally, with a photographic memory and having handled your own food for most of your life.
Following Shari about for the tour, she doesn't comment one way or the other at first, until they go upstairs. "Gotta say, I wasn't expecting an upstairs. Maybe I have too low an impression of what apartments are like." She wouldn't know. She lived in the same house most of her life, and then ended up getting housing handed to her on a ship! This whole apartment-hunting business is perfectly foreign to her.
She doesn't have too much to say about things otherwise, until they end up at that last room, and she sputters, going so far as to turn all the way around to hide her blush. "Y-you only have one bed in there...?" Scandalous!
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Naoko should stay about Naoko-shaped. That is Shari's opinion on the matter.
She laughs back. "Yes," she says proudly of mooching. "He's like that. Cascade likes experimenting too, so that's cool." A beat. "And now I have Naoko-food!"
"Hmmm, OK. Fridge for now, and I'll talk with everybody when they're back to decide after that." That would do it. Shari is impressed; she hasn't seen Naoko this good at... mundane tasks, before. It's different!
"Yeah!" Shari says. "Though some of that's just that it means they can take up more space upways instead of sideways. Packs in more apartments that way."
Shari isn't that used to apartments either; she's more used to dorms. But this is nice! Well, it's nice, but then Naoko sputters, and Shari laughs a little. "Yep," she says. "Just the one bed. We're sleeping together, so..."
She should probably be gentler on Naoko but she's cute when she's flustered. Shari is nice enough to reach in and close the door though, so Naoko doesn't have to witness the den of sin directly.
"I find it gets kind of lonely sleeping alone these days. Even if you're not--you know, it's nice to have somebody nearby. It's too quiet otherwise."
"...But maybe it's just that it's somebody I care a lot about, too. I dunno." A beat, "Anyway, my workshop's at the labs, so I can't show you that, unless you want to head in and see my jewelry. I work on that stuff here, too."
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Naoko quirks a brow at 'Naoko-food'. Unsure if that made it weird. Ah well, one second and she's over it, smiling again. Though she's proud of the things she's good at, at the same time she can't totally feel like it's a big deal. Anybody who's made their own food from a young age would naturally get good at it. You'd get bored eating the same stuff every day, so of course you'd start expanding your repertoire more and more, until here we are at world-famous-- well, surely world-class lasagna.
She definitely enjoys the praise, all the same. It's obvious. If Shari likes to mooch this much, then she may need to deliver a few more cuisine examples down the line.
"Hmmm... makes sense," is all she can say on the matter of apartments. Difficult for her to truly judge how 'good' this would generally be considered. And she is absolutely not saying anything about the house she used to live in. That would be ridiculous to compare anything to. So she doesn't have too much to talk about...
Until, of course, that room. And Shari just has to make it worse by just saying it. "S-S-S--" Naoko sure can't say it. She's wheezing. There's nothing cute about this, it's awful!
Needless to say, she can't identify with any of this. Not even the loneliness - if you're lonely, all you have to do is make some friends you can always talk to in your head. That's the normal thing to do, right?
Only to the matter of the workshop could she possibly have a reply, but well, that's not happening, after that. She has to steady her breathing first, and once she gets that far--
"Illhavethatdrinknow"
Zoom. Downstairs she goes. Straight to the kitchen, straight to the tap. Gulp down all of the water. Give her a few seconds.
When Shari joins her, she's quick to shut off the water, turn back, cough once, before declaring, "I'm fine." She's totally fine. Do not question her fineness.
As if to cut off the possibility of her fineness being questioned, she takes out her phone, rapidly opening up the relevant section, and sticks it out towards Shari. "Here's my work. How do you like it?"
Extremely abrupt and unsubtle subject change aside, Shari is - as Naoko promised - the first to see the completed, new and improved Sukeban. It's difficult to even recognize as such, given that when compared to its previous incarnation... well, if this was a person, one could liken it to having taken off a heavy winter coat, removed a pair of oversized novelty boxing gloves, and put on a horned motorcycle helmet. It sure is a lot sleeker and spikier than before. Oh, and the very amateurish-looking short braids have been replaced with much longer, more stylish ones. That detail was very important.
Naoko doesn't say anything else. It's important not to color Shari's judgement on this.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
It's not weird for Shari! But Shari thinks Naoko could stand to have more confidence in her life. Not just about the miracle worker thing! There'll definitely have to be some more examples.
That room, and Shari says it. She wheezes! It's adorable.
...Shari is less comfortable with talking to friends in her head, but since Naoko doesn't actually say that--
"OK~!" Shari manages to keep a straight face if not a straight voice when Naoko zooms off, and laughs a little once she's out of earshot. She pulls her phone, and texts Gerardo to stay out a while longer.
Shari joins her and of course Naoko is fine. "Ooh, work."
She looks it over and--indeed, it's very different from the one that Shari fought. "Very sleek," she comments, "And I like these stylish braids..."
"These wings, they look like they'd be great for dispersing heat, too. And the armoring looks a lot more effective. Are the horns sensors, or just decorative? I love the patterning...!"
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Dear lord, could you even imagine if Gerardo walked in the door now. She would die. There would be a corpse.
Thankfully that crisis has been averted. Naoko isn't aware of that kindness, but conversely she is also not aware of the willfulness behind the picking on her weak spot. It evens out.
Forcing the subject into her preferred direction, her awkwardness doesn't last long. There's a small smile at sleek, which broadens considerably when the braids are called attention to, and she's positively beaming at all the details Shari picks up on.
"Yes, yes, as expected, you're so right! The horns are sensors, the armor's been treated with something new I came up with, and the heat-dispersing wings are normally folded in, until I activate 'it'!" Shari, of course, already knows the basic idea of what 'it' is, but she clarifies, "I'm calling it the Nova Driver. It can do all the things I wanted - including where it comes to the barrier." She doesn't say it in so many words, but the implication is clear. That she managed to address the concerns she shared with Shari and they discussed together, regarding a possible defense from the Void's corrupting influence. "Obviously I won't know how well it does until I face the real thing, but... I'm feeling confident," she affirms with a nod.
Though comparatively less flashy, though no less something to be proud of, she expounds further, "The armor coating is what I've called Stellar Grace. It's made from Japanium! They let me have some to experiment with and I think I've made the most of it. Just a thin layer is enough for sooo much extra durability." Shari spotted it easily, but most wouldn't think that the Sukeban would actually be more sturdy now than when it had the extra layer of armor. Moreover, "I've treated the internals with it too - that was actually the main goal I had in mind, couldn't have gotten it to work without bringing out the full potential of Japanium's superconductivity."
She lets out a deep sigh, clasping her hands together. "I'm so glad you like it! I mean, of course I knew I was making something cool, but, well. Aside from you, no one else can really understand how cool it is."
She didn't say anything about the piloting interface. But that's fine. It's nothing to worry about.
The next topic is, of course, obvious. "Now, do you have anything you can show me? Your jewelry is great of course, but you know what I mean~"
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Crisis averted! Other, different crisis averted! Shari doesn't want a corpse in her apartment. That'd be messed up.
Shari listens along as Naoko answers. "Ooh, new armor." A pause. 'It'. Yes, she knows what it is. "Perfect," Shari says. "I can't help you test all the aspects, since... I don't have access to that kind of tech anymore," she says. The specifically void mind control magic. "I could probably build something to approximate it, but I don't want to." And that's that. "We'll find out eventually, right?"
Hopefully not, but Shari is not so sure that the Empress will go along with all this peace stuff.
"Ooooh shiny," Shari answers. "Stellar Grace... that's a nice name. I like it."
Then a laugh. "Yeah, I'm special, right?" Shari asks, and smiles back. "I'm surprised, though. With the Driver, you'd expect to have a little more trouble piloting it--anything that can protect you against those things might influence you, too."
She beams, next. "Actually.. Yeah, I kinda do."
"So," she says, "This isn't anything too special, but I designed it to help the Ichinanas out," she says, pulling up on her phone a schematic of--
The Spinatio Army type!
"The exciting part isn't the unit itself, which is fairly conventional. It's the weapons. I've been able to encapsulate Void power in a way that doesn't hurt--well, I mean, it hurts the enemy, but not in an oooh spooky way, just the normal amount of enemy hurt. It bypasses your average kind of beam shields because it's not beam particles at all, it's Void energy. And the best part is, I got it working with Photon power. Not that I can do Photon and Void power sources at the same time yet, but as long as I keep them separate, they can coexist. I want to get better at that..."
"And from its frame I've been working on a unit to really stand up next to the Mazins. I call it the Spinatio Knight-type."
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Naoko lets out a nervous little laugh at the notion of testing that particular aspect of the shielding. "That's alright, I wasn't gonna ask. I'm fine knowing that I prepared as well as I can. I'm super okay if I never have to put it to the test." She'll consider 'never being mind-controlled' as proof of success, whether it ever directly becomes an issue or not.
Her only regret is this not being a shareable technology. Obvious reasons for not sharing Whispered tech aside, putting together another Nova Driver, let alone one that anyone could use rather than being tailored to her specifically, would be a tall order. It feels a bit selfish, having made something that can protect her and only her, but... she won't be able to save anybody if she can't keep herself safe.
She tries not to let that mild regret show on her face too much, which is fairly easy when she's this excited. "Though, I'll be honest. As nice as it would be to have a lasting peace... I just can't wait for somebody to give me an excuse to bring it out." The duality of mecha.
Shari rightfully points out there may be other difficulties considering how the Driver operates, but before Naoko can begin to figure out how she's going to answer that...
>"That's where we come in!"<
With that proud declaration, Uriel detaches from Naoko's hair, fluttering in front of Shari. >"No worries, she won't have to do it alone. We'll be there to help carry some of the load, as it were."<
"...As he says," Naoko adds with a chuckle, beckoning Uriel back to his usual perch. "We're a team, we look out for each other." Considering her expertise in that area, it may not be so hard to believe that's all it takes... she hopes. While none of it is a lie, she really doesn't want to have to go into the finer details. Because it's fine. She'll be fine.
Next up, the Spinatio Army type. It's plain from Naoko's initial "oh hey, that's cool" reaction that while she does like the look of them, she was expecting a little more. She's all about that flashiness, and as Shari is quick to point out, the flashiness levels aren't exactly off the charts with these. She nods in understanding putting them on the Ichinana level, though, and the difference with the Knight-type that Shari alludes to.
"I get it now. This isn't the for real for real thing yet, the super special awesome machine that you mentioned wanting to make." Yes, she really just said 'super special awesome'. "Before that, you focused on making something that anybody could use." Well, not anybody, but you know what she means. "That makes sense. Very thoughtful, and practical. Like you."
Approximately one second later, "--Uh." She blushes, and averts her eyes. Something embarrassing slipped out. "What I mean is... I-I'm talking about your work ethic, you realize." That's all that is. Moving on. Technical details. Yes.
"Weapons, yes!" She starts with way too much enthusiasm. "That sounds great! I've seen what that can do, the Void Energy I mean, the way you're using it. It's fascinating that you managed to make it work with Photon Power, because, it's so different? Not just from Photon Power, but pretty much any energy I've studied. I've been looking into what I researched while I was working on the shielding, and - there's certainly a 'flow' to it, but different from conventional conductivity. Have you ever tried to determine what makes it the way it is? Because - and this is just a theory - but I think it might be a form of gravitational energy, except rather than attract, it repels. Energy derived from a force that pushes away all others... what do you think, is that anything?"
It seems there are only two modes for Naoko when she becomes flustered. Either she shuts down and runs, or she turns into an absolute babbling nerd.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"Yeah. That'd be best," Shari says, of never testing it.
And obviously it would be great to share such shielding... But Shari is working on something for that, herself. She's just not quite ready to share it yet.
"...Heheh," the pink-haired girl answers. "I get that. You want to see your work in action, right? Even if I don't want to fight, there's a part of me that feels that way too."
Uriel is proud to declare it. And Shari is a little concerned, because Naoko isn't answering herself, but... "Then you two'll take good care of her," Shari says, "I know it. I'll try not to worry."
But she is going to worry a bit.
"Exactly," Shari says, it's not the for real for real thing yet. But thoughtful and practical... Shari actually flushes very slightly at the compliment herself. It's so earnest that she can't help but feel it.
"...Heheh," Shari says of Naoko's hedge. "Sure."
But weapons! Shari grins. "Thanks," she says. "And--Yeah actually. I-" Shari looks thoughtful at Naoko. "You know," she says, "That's something." Not necessarily all right--but--
"I haven't been able to delve into the 'whys' a lot, except to isolate what they're not--the Empress isn't actually the source of Void power. She's just... the one who uses it the most and the best."
"I don't know that it pushes away everything, but I think you're right--like... what it it does is kind of... it makes things 'like it'. And likes repel, right?"
"So I think you're onto something."
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
It's a bit of a shift for Naoko's thinking, focusing on shielding over weapons. Not that she doesn't also have great offensive power as part of the package, but it's clear, perhaps, how much more she worries about what could happen to her. 'I probably can't stop acting recklessly, but this may help keep me safe when I inevitably do'. That must have been the thought pattern there.
"Yeah, that's it," she answers casually. "And nobody else can pilot this machine but me, so if I want to see it in action... what choice do I have?" The smile at the end is a knowing one. Shari and herself both know very well that Naoko has absolutely no qualms about fighting for what she believes in. ...Maybe she thinks she's clever, in spinning the rationalization for Shari, should her 'for real' machine just happen to turn out difficult to pilot by anybody but Shari. How unfortunate that would be, but what can you do...
But yes. There's no need to worry, because Naoko is going to be just fine. It's true, because she said it. ...Wait, she never actually said that, did she? Well, she never said anything that wasn't true, and isn't that what really matters?
Slip of the tongue aside - way, WAY aside - Naoko ends up skipping ahead to her theories regarding the nature of the Void. When she started down this path, it led her down a rabbit hole of a truly fascinating possibility... and with Shari affirming that there might be something to the point her reasoning started at, obviously she needs to share the rest of it.
"Haha, wouldn't that be something though, if we could call Void Energy 'Repulsive Gravity'. Works in more ways than one, doesn't it?"
Okay, that wasn't it, but she couldn't not make that joke. And laugh at it herself. More seriously though, once she's recomposed...
"But, that would be really exciting, wouldn't it? Bodies of energy are supposed to mix in a way that trends towards homogeneity, but this doesn't do that at all, it just kind of pushes everything else aside, like a dominant force. And if that's what it is... do you know what that could mean??" She's too excited to even give an opportunity for an answer before continuing.
"This might just be the theoretical 'dark energy', the unknown quintessential substance pushing against our universe that's causing it to expand! If it could be proven that's what it is, can you even imagine? The prestige if that theory was fleshed out into a comprehensive thesis?"
Just like that, the energy flows out of her, and she calmly crosses her arms behind her head. "...Not that I'm planning to do that, mind you. Seems like a big hassle. And dangerous besides, I'd rather not see this become a broad field of study. Sure, it's really fascinating, but... also scary." Her expression gradually darkening with worry, she concludes, "The more I look into it, the more clear it becomes what kind of things could happen through concentrated exposure to it."
A faint smile returns when she refocuses on Shari. "Don't get me wrong, I trust you to be safe with it. But..." She pauses, frowning briefly. "...Huh. Come to think, I guess you're the only one. Wouldn't even trust myself with it. That's new." Normally she'd be the first to jump at chances to experiment, but in this case... big nope.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
It's logical, even. So is Naoko's knowing smile and approach to seeing it in action. It might be clever... Hmm. "Yeah," Shari says. "That makes sense."
But as they discuss the new possibility--Shari is not going to call it Repulsive Gravity. Probably. "That would be nice," she says, but is dubious. Instead--
"Yeah," Shari says. "Publishing anything on the Void would be pretty dangerous. It's... funny to think about, though. How what we have is stuff like that, is stuff that can revolutionize our understanding... That we just know."
"No, funny's the wrong word. It's scary. Especially with this stuff."
A pause. "Just me, huh? ...I feel the same way right now. How many people could end up using stuff like this and make it awful? Is Elisa the only one? Or could there be more?"
"...I do think it's interesting, what it does. I want to study it more. I'm not sure if it is dark energy or not, but..."
"I guess... Whatever it 'is', we need to be ready to use it. Because if we don't, we can't keep up with the people who do."
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Naoko seemed to be be having fun, talking about all of this. Or perhaps just letting her excitement run away with her. Or trying to keep the mood from shifting, even when speaking of serious, dangerous, and frightening matters. But shift the mood does, and Naoko isn't going to persist in flippancy in the face of that. When Shari isn't smiling about it, and doesn't laugh at her little joke, her apparent mirth fades as well.
"...Yeah. There's nothing funny about any of this," she admits in all sincerity. It's not as if she hasn't struggled, in her own way, because of what she knows - what she is. It's only in recent years that she's started to embrace it. Not because she's come to terms with it, but because that's what she can do - the path she can follow in order to truly make a difference.
But Shari knows what that's like. Even if her words didn't already make that clear, Naoko would have trouble seeing anyone in their shared position deciding otherwise.
"...Sorry, if it felt like I wasn't taking this seriously. I am, honest. It just, well... I've heard this from Uriel and Ariel both. 'There's no point in worrying about what you can't change. Focus on what you can improve, and go from there.'" She makes a face. "...I guess since I made them, that might count as giving advice to myself. But I can't change that, so I probably shouldn't worry about how lame that is. Still good advice though."
Even in all sincerity, she couldn't help but still try to keep the mood from becoming too grave. But yes. Straight face, now. "...I hope you'll manage to do the same. I guess there's no guarantees it won't leak out, but I'll do what little I can, giving you my word I won't share my findings with anybody. We're just doing what we can do to help people. And I think handling some of the dangerous stuff by ourselves is part of doing the right thing."
She glances aside. "I have to say though, I'm... glad that it's not just me, who's like this. That I can talk to somebody, who knows what it's like."
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari's still not ready to have fun with it, at the moment--a little, sure. But when she starts thinking about all this... It makes her worry. It makes her quiet. So when Naoko gets sincere...
"No, it's OK. You are taking it seriously. You're just not the sort of person who gets bogged down in all this. ...It's something I like about you."
Shari smiles. "It's good advice, yeah."
"...Thanks," she says. "I'd appreciate the help. We're... yeah."
"It's something only we can do, huh...?"
"...Me too," she says. "I'm glad to have you, Naoko."
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Naoko is of two minds regarding compliments. Regarding her work, she can't get enough. Regarding herself... well, she's quick to blush and rub the back of her head when told there's something to like about her. "It's-- it's no big deal, really. I just make sure to keep busy with things I like so I don't have time to get bogged down by things I don't, that's all it is."
It's simplifying things, but it works well enough as a general philosophy, she finds. Something that helps her through the day can't be a bad thing. And neither can something that helps to make Shari smile.
...That last line is a little too much though, causing Naoko's blush to intensify. "Y-you can't just say it like that, that's embarrassing, aren't you embarrassed!?" If she doesn't embarrass herself, she'll get embarrassed by others... and may get an extra helping of vicarious embarrassment to boot. If that's something she can change, it sure isn't something of which she would know how to go about improving...