2024-09-04: Straightening Out
- Log: 2024-09-04- Straightening Out
- Cast: Rikka Takarada, Akane Shinjo
- Where: NUNE Administrative Region of Dakar
- OOC - IC Date: 0099-09-04
- Summary: Akane and Rikka continue to decompress after the horror of Break The World. They talk about moving forward in spite of the heavy situation.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
It's been another long day of seeing the sights Dakar has to offer - another day of making new memories. In the wake of Break the World, a lot of the entertainment had to be reshuffled and the tone is markedly different. It's not the day they had scheduled what feels like ages ago, now. But they've made the most of it, taking the chance to see what they can see.
...And now, they've settled in for dinner at a fairly nice restaurant, a dish of thieboudienne laid out between them that is, by this point, half-eaten.
Rikka takes a moment to sip at her tea thoughtfully.
"...It's incredible." Rikka says. "I couldn't imagine putting on a performance at a time like this. But... people are still doing what they can."
She looks at the ceiling for a moment. If Sheryl was in good health, she'd probably be doing the same thing. She could see her arranging a relief tour...
"What do you think?" Rikka asks. She'd suddenly changed topics to ask about the food... but she realises, too late to correct herself, that she hadn't actually mentioned this.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
The more somber tone might actually be a bit more Akane's style, even outside of a crisis; in a crisis, it's a bit of a mixed bag. ... Then again, for an event of this scale, 'a few days' is hardly too much time to linger in the worry, the fear, and the grief.
Akane has taken to the thieboudienne fantastically. 'Fish, rice, and tomato sauce' is already a pretty decent chunk of her diet, but the seasoning profile is just different enough to be interesting.
Rikka prompts her on what she thinks -- and naturally, she remains focused on the performance and not the food. "The music's really interesting," Akane starts. "I never really thought about how Dakar would kind of... when you've got a lot of people coming and going, you're going to end up with some pretty wild musical development. I like that even though the drums kinda feel like the star of the show, there's some neat stuff going on in the melodies, too?"
Saudade overtakes her, just for a moment, as she explains, "It's... actually kind of nostalgic for me in a way? It doesn't feel quite the same, but my dad was really big on like, all that old-school festival music stuff when I was little... stuff that's drum-forward without totally lacking a melody line like that still kinda gets me?" One begins to realize why she's such a fan of Obon.
(Having even this degree of terminology to talk about music is something Akane's gained in the relationship, of course. She never quite got to the theory side, even when she was learning piano.)
"And... it's really impressive to just get up and still do it, like that," she reflects, still in that more somber place. "I guess... you never know when something like this is going to happen, so... you gotta try living anyway."
Finally, she gets back to the food, letting Rikka get a word in edgewise.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka realises her mistake, but listening to Akane's answer... she's glad she made it. Her attention leaves the food completely as she takes the time to just watch and listen to Akane's thoughts on the performances. She's always loved listening to Akane really get in to a topic that interests her... and it's not lost on her where she must have learned some of it from. It's interesting to hear her talk about nostalgia, too - that's something she wouldn't have guessed. She's glad to hear her talk about that, too.
"That puts a lot into focus..." Rikka considers thoughtfully, before going quiet to let Akane continue again.
"Yeah." Rikka replies with a nod, agreeing with Akane's conclusion. "I guess... music is their way of helping people move forward. And helping themselves move forward, too."
She takes another sip of her tea for a moment.
"But, yeah... I was really impressed. It's... you could really feel it all come together." Rikka says. "It's incredible."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane continues in on her thieboudienne. She's almost at the point where she could go for another order of it, though it might be better for her to pace herself. On the other hand, this is the most exercise she's gotten outside of a gym day in a while...
"Yeah... that sounds right." 'Music as a way of helping people move forward' draws her thoughts to a different moment with Rikka, at that. Her lips curl up a little. "I should get back to playing again when we get home... I remember really liking having the chance to play for you a few times, but then life stuff just kinda... kept coming up."
After another bite, Akane asks, "What do you think? Should we add this to the rotation when we get home? On the one hand, it's not that different from paella, but on the other..." The part of her that loves cooking starts to turn the wheels, bit by bit by bit. "... I kinda feel like making this, paella, and takikomi gohan might kind of be, like..." Her brow furrows as she tries to find the words.
"... Cooking crosstraining or something," and here she reaches a genuine giggle, even at the heavy topic. Taking her own sip of tea, Akane asks, "Hrrrmmmm... How are you feeling about the tea? The mint kind of keeps throwing me, but it's not bad."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"Yeah..." Rikka says, then offers Akane an encouraging smile. "I would like to hear you play again. I love your music."
She's biased, of course - but she does genuinely think so, even putting the musician aside.
Akane asks her thoughts, and Rikka thoughtfully takes another, considering bite.
"I do really like it. It's a really unique way of using familiar ingredients..." Rikka considers - and then listens as Akane continues, watching the wheels turn in her head. Akane giggles - and that, in response, gets a laugh out of Rikka, too.
"Maybe." She agrees, still smiling. "It should be fine to put on the menu every now and then."
Akane asks about the tea, then.
"It's good. I'm really appreciating the mint right now, actually..." Rikka says.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
That gets Akane to blush a little. ... It's good to feel appreciated as an artist, even if Akane thinks she herself is only strictly okay. (... She does think she's knocked a couple tracks out of the park, though; sometimes, when she wants a quick pick-me-up, she'll play a minute or so of the song they played together at their third-year pageant...)
"I'm really glad we made ourselves do this," she says, as they bat the food around. "I think if we stayed home we'd have been just... lying there feeling bad about it." Her gaze turns up, and then off to the side, a bit, before returning to looking at Rikka.
"... I always kinda find mint weird as an add-on flavor," Akane admits, about the tea. "I guess I don't like toothpaste enough."
... They probably should discuss a few more serious things, though. "... Have you been holding up okay, here? Whenever we're sitting down and doing something you seem fine, but I dunno where your head's at when we're just waiting on the bus or stuff like that..." Here, she looks a little worried.
"... I know Senegal didn't take it too bad, but sometimes seeing the damage from what happened makes my head kinda swimmy. Uh -- that's why I was quiet on the bus ride this morning." She brings a hand back into her dark hair, saying, "Oh, uh -- that reminds me, I was texting her on the bus... Marusan was thinking of canceling but she's still on for Thursday after all." Quietly, she notes, "... half her group for Topics in Health Policy died. She acts like she's not taking it too rough, but she seems pretty out of it."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka blinks, as Akane voices her opinion about mint - and she can't help but laugh a little at that.
"Maybe not." Rikka replies with a small smile. Soon enough, she's finished off her portion of thieboudienne - and Rikka looks toward Akane.
"...Yeah. Me too." Rikka agrees. "I... think you're right. If you hadn't gotten me thinking about the trip again... I'd probably still be just lying in bed."
Akane has a question for her, though. Has she been holding up okay? ...Rikka doesn't answer right away, instead idly tracing a finger across the rim of her glass as she thinks on what to say, listening to Akane's own explanation - and, to the update from Marusan.
...Hearing that - Rikka freezes, for just a moment. Half her class, gone - It's... it's one of her own nightmare scenarios. She hasn't escaped it entirely, herself, but that kind of stark reminder...
"Oh, Marusan..." Rikka murmurs. "...Yeah. I'm glad she can make it. She could probably use the company."
She cycles back around to the question Akane asked her, though.
"I've been... doing better than I was." Rikka says - and even she seems to realise that feels like dodging the question, because she soon elaborates. "Yeah, when- when we're talking, or doing something, or looking at something, I'm fine, but - yeah."
She nods.
"When there's a lull, or when I see signs of what happened... it just... it all hits me again, just the same as before." Rikka replies. "It's still hard to pull myself out of it."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane sees that freeze, and part of her regrets bringing it up -- but they wouldn't be able to talk about it if she hadn't, right? She takes a sip of her tea, looking down into the glass as Rikka traces a finger along her own.
By the time she's talking, Akane's absently playing with the fabric of her own skirt. "... yeah, definitely," she agrees, about the company -- and then Rikka answers the question, proper.
"I get that," Akane replies softly, looking down a bit into the tiny remnants of her own thieboudienne. Pushing them around the plate, she gradually piles them into one last bite. "For me it's... the bus isn't so bad, but when the train is all the way up to speed and we head past some damage... I just kinda get dizzy."
Taking a long breath in through her nose, she says, "So this one works really well for me? If I'm starting to freak out, I try curling my toes as tight as I can for like, one deep breath in, then let go and uncurl them. When stuff is overwhelming that kinda pulls me, like, back into myself a bit... If I do it too long I kinda start spacing out but doing it a few times is usually enough to get my head straight."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka nods, as Akane agrees. It was... difficult to hear, but she is glad that Akane brought it up. She'd rather know what Marusan's going through than not.
Akane understands what she's feeling, though, and Rikka listens. She nods, in understanding. It seems that's something that gets both of them.
Akane has something to suggest, though - so Rikka listens.
"Curl toes, deep breath, exhale, uncurl..." Rikka repeats, nodding along. "...Okay. I'll try that next time."
She smiles.
"Thanks... I'm sure that'll help." She says. It's better than having nothing.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane knows well the value of having a plan in place even if the actual action isn't doing much for you. Just knowing that there's anything you can do is itself something that keeps her...
... well, it's a work in progress, but slightly more together in tense circumstances than she used to be, at any rate. "You're welcome!" she offers, doing her best to stay bright about it.
Akane considers getting a little more tea, but decides, ultimately, that she didn't like it quite enough to go for seconds. The rapidfire heavy topics, though, hit her all at once; suddenly looking nervous, she reaches into her bag and pulls out her phone.
"... I didn't even think of my parents at all until just now," Akane says, a little numbly. She quickly starts tapping at her phone, blinking rapidly and then staring unblinkingly into her phone. "How did I not think of them for days --"
Akane's foot bobs up and down, the heel tap-tap-tapping at the floor repeatedly. ... rather than send a message to her mother first, she's checking her company network site.
There's a post-Break The World statement from Aoi. Akane breathes a sigh of relief as it pulls up.
Then she sends her mother a quick, 'glad you're safe' text, letting the tension out of her body. "... She's safe. And my dad... we would have heard from work if something happened, so..."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka smiles - but then, she catches that nervous look that crosses Akane's face as she reaches into her bag for her phone.
"Is everything alright?" Rikka asks, concerned -
Oh.
Realisation crosses Rikka's face. Akane's parents... She was safe in the knowledge that her own mother was far, far from Earth, but she hadn't thought about them, either.
"There's been... a lot happening. We've had a lot to deal with." Rikka assures - but she watches, a bit nervously, as Akane taps at her phone - and as her heel taps at the floor.
...But, it seems like she's safe, at least.
"That's a relief... I'm glad." Rikka replies.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
... despite how bad their relationship is -- for all Akane resents her mother stopping by unannounced to, what, appraise her girlfriend? -- Aoi Furuya is still Akane Shinjo's mother. A lot of feelings -- good, bad, and mixed -- live there.
Akane just sits there for a few moments, spent. "... okay," she says, to the open air -- before returning her full focus to Rikka. "Do you want to go back to the hotel? I know we were just talking about how much easier it is when we're doing something, but, uhh..." Akane rubs at the back of her head, gazeline slowly tilting downward. "... Once we pay here I think I'm kinda spent. Plus I think we're right about at the end of our daily budget..."
With a nod to Rikka, she says, "... again, I -- I'm glad we came. I just... I'm kind of out of gas," with a small shake of her head.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Akane just sits there for a few minutes - and Rikka stays quiet, giving her all the time she needs to sort through it. And then... 'okay'.
"...Yeah. Yeah, we can do that." Rikka replies with a nod. Forcing it isn't going to make things any better - and she can tell that Akane is, in fact, spent. She can't blame her, for that.
Akane assures her that she's glad they came, and Rikka offers her a small smile.
"...Yeah. I'm glad, too." Rikka replies, reaching over give Akane's hand a gentle squeeze. "Want me to handle paying?"
It's a small thing, but offering to take point on that is something, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane squeezes back -- and indeed, the touch seems to put her back in the world, just a bit. She shakes the cobwebs out of her head, nodding to Rikka, and agrees, "Yeah -- that sounds great. ... Thanks."
She starts to collect her things, and it's not long before she's ready to be off; once they've gotten out of the restaurant and headed toward the bus stop, she puts her arm around Rikka's and then lets her hand slide down, oh-so-gradually, toward hers.
"... the color of the sky is really making your eyes pop today," she murmurs, once they're underway.