2022-12-26: Where You 'Originated'
- Log: Where You 'Originated'
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Eight York
- Where: Londenion, Side 1
- Date: 2022-12-26
- Summary: The Ra Mari and the Nadesico are in port together, so Eight and Ruri steal a moment to catch up. Eight tells Ruri about her secret past -- and, thanks to her curiosity, about having two partners too.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
The Nadesico has come to dock in Londenian, to deliver some package or another. And Ruri called ahead, to ask whether the Ra Mari was also at port presently.
For this reason, the vast warships are docked beside each other -- and with the Nadesico due to be in port for a few hours while the adults have important conversations, Ruri has arranged for the Break Tanuki to sit at her post (Omoikane is helping him!) so that she can leave the Nadesico and go next door.
"Hello," she greets Lahvi's engineers, entirely proper and serious, as she makes her way inside. "I'm here to see Captain York." Ruri knows the Ra Mari pretty well by now, though, so she doesn't get lost as she makes her way down the hall to Eight's domain.
(She still thinks the rails are an interesting novelty.)
Knock, knock, she knocks on the door. "Captain York," Ruri calls out, "it's Ruri Hoshino, from the Nadesico." Her stoicism is audible.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
The Ra Mari is at port, and is currently undergoing a little routine maintenance. It's especially necessary with their cannons. So Break Tanuki has a heavy responsibility, and--
The engineers greet Ruri back, cheerfully. A new one double-takes at the kid in an officer' uniform just walking around, but a more experienced one says, "Hi, Ruri. She's down at the auxillary office, since they're working on the bridge."
They let her go!
The rails are fun, when there's no gravity!
But knock, knock, knock.
Someone radio'd ahead, of course.
"Enter," Eight invites Ruri, and the door will open!! She's at a desk working on a tablet and some paperwork at the moment, but she sets it aside.
"Welcome aboard. It's nice to see you."
...she does have rather a lot to catch up on, but it's fine.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Thank you for having me, Captain York," Ruri greets her, with a formal little nod of her head. She closes the door behind her, and slips into an empty chair, folding her hands neatly on her lap.
She actually is glad to see Eight, of course, but she keeps that eagerness off her face and far from her tone. She is an iceberg in the ocean, and what is visible is far from the whole of her.
"Have you been well?" Ruri asks, a moment later, legs swinging back and forth just so. "We haven't gotten to speak face to face for a while..." She has, of course, been keeping touch via radio channels, but it's not really the same.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
She already said Ruri was welcome, so Eight smiles at her instead, and gestures towards the chair to invite her to sit in it. Then, she waits. Ruri is an iceberg... and Eight doesn't try to read her. Instead, she waits for the question, and folds her hands too. They have been keeping in touch, but that's not ideal for everything, either.
"I just had some nice time off," she says, "And I'm planning to meet some of my friends for the holiday soon, too. I had a lot built up, with everything... and I figure it's better to take it now while I still can." She knows a lot is coming. She can tell.
"It's been very... eventful, though, I can say for sure. Since the Denver Colony incident," which she mentioned, "Among a few other things. I actually... learned a few important things, too. I'll tell you about them, if you're up for it."
"But first, how are you? Have you been well? It has been a while."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri nods. "We all celebrated Christmas on the ship," she says, quite serious. "Minato-san gave me a headband with antlers on it. Now I'm a reindeer, too." She delivers this with her typical seriousness, and it's difficult to tell how much of it is someone of her age treating lighthearted things with deep gravitas.
(That's definitely part of it. She's still only thirteen.)
"So... I've been okay," she decides, glancing down at her hands as she re-folds them on her lap. "Well, not that it's all been easy... I think I almost die more than a lot of girls my age. But I didn't even have to fire a gun since Asuka and the others were looking out for me, so it wasn't so bad." She doesn't think it's so bad, either. "And Archimedes is really having fun with the holiday menu, too," she adds, with a gentle expression. "She's been getting pretty curious about it..."
She pauses, and tilts her head, just so. "What did you learn, Captain York?" Ruri asks. (No emotional descriptors.)
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"Oh, that's nice," Eight replies about Christmas. "Reindeer are very important. I was an elf, myself. Back on Winter Wonderland. I had the ears and everything."
Okay is a good start. Eight listens, as Ruri mentions some things that are very alarming in a very calm kind of tone. Eight is pretty sure Ruri does almost die a lot more than most girls her age. "I'm glad they were looking out for you," she says. "And oh! Is she?" She smiles. "That sounds fun."
Eight then considers. It might be strange to tell this, but... She's her friend.
"I discovered some information about my birth family," she says. "You might remember that I didn't know who they were. ...Well, now I know. And I met my grandmother."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"That makes sense," Ruri nods, on Eight being an elf. She just accepts it!
Ruri is very calm about an awful lot of alarming things -- and surprising things, because she doesn't look shocked at all to hear Eight's revelations. (This does not mean she isn't surprised.) Her gold, gold eyes focus on her, and don't look away.
"I see," she nods, after a moment. "I'm happy for you, since you were able to learn things you'd forgotten." Ruri has her own forgotten past, of course -- she's asked about it a great many times. Omoikane keeps count.
"Do you like your grandmother?" She asks the important question, first.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
It's very acceptable!
As is Ruri's calm. Frankly, Eight would be surprised to see Ruri openly surprised about most things, even most surprising things. Like this, for instance. She also notices the way Ruri's attention stays on her, and she keeps hers on Ruri in turn. They are talking.
"I never thought I would," she says. "Thank you." But Ruri asks an important, insightful question, and Eight smiles as she thinks about it. "I think I do," she says. "We're still getting to know each other; I spent part of the holiday with her, but that's still only been a little while now. Still, I like that she's sharp. She cut through a lot of the awkwardness by being kind of blunt. That's not always the best, but it was good in this case."
"She seems to be pretty interested in me, and while she wants me to learn about the family, she isn't demanding I change my way of life or anything like that."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
They're talking! The words are cordial! This is how friendship works, Ruri's pretty sure.
"So she isn't someone who approves of the military?" Ruri's analysis of the situation spits out, first. Eight wouldn't mention her not being demanding unless it were a possibility, she thinks. "I don't think being blunt is bad, anyway."
(Of course Ruri wouldn't think that. She's Ruri Hoshino.)
Ruri's legs go kick, kick, kick, under her chair. "Do you think you'll stay with her?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Ruri's pretty sharp! Eight nods. "She's not opposed in philosophy I guess, but in practice; my father, my aunt, and my uncle all died in military things, apparently. ...And, well." Eight considers whether to mention this part, and goes with, "She's from Zeon, too." A smile. "Nah, I don't think it's bad either."
Stay with her...
"...Hmm." She hadn't thought of it in quite those terms. "I'm..."
She glances past Ruri for a moment, and then looks back at her again. "I mean, in terms of day to day... I'm usually away with work, on on the ship or otherwise. And then I've got Lavhi and Rena, and..." She trails off. "But I think I'm going to keep having a relationship with her, even if I don't go live with her."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Oh," Ruri blinks, and she doesn't look terribly bothered. "Did they send you to fight without asking you what you wanted?" That's a very insensitive question, Ruri.
"Though I guess if they did, you wouldn't want to get to know them now..."
Ruri tilts her head the other way.
"That means you're dating Ms. Lancaster and Mr. Orlodhari, right?" She presses on the most important detail. "But if you're dating two people, who are you going to marry, Captain York?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"They didn't," Eight answers. "They didn't even know I was alive. It's a long story, but I was apparently taken from somewhere else, and they only knew about me now that I've looked into them. But it all added up once we put the pieces together."
True, Eight seems to think when Ruri suggests that about not wanting to get to know them now. "Yeah."
Then Ruri asks a very difficult question and Eight blinks immediately, opening her mouth and closing it again. "Uh."
"I mean, yes, I am," she starts, stalling for time as she tries to figure it out first. "Since, you know, I am dating both of them! Rena more recently, though I've known her longer..."
Who is she going to marry???
"That is, I." Pause. She glances to the side, awkwardly. "...I don't know," the Captain admits. "I'm not sure yet. Rena probably doesn't want to anytime soon, but I don't want to have an uneven relationship with her... And Lavhi, I mean, I've defintely thought about it, of course. It would be..."
"Ah, I mean. I don't know. Right now I live with both of them on the Ra Mari, but..."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Oh," Ruri nods. "Okay. That makes sense. I was worried about it," she says how she feels, helpfully, given she doesn't look very worried. (Or much of anything at all.)
If she tells Eight how she feels about it, Eight won't have to investigate, after all!
She blinks, though, when Eight swallows an entire dinner plate about her very pertinent question. She looks, if anything, a shade confused.
"Is it an awkward question?" She asks. "I didn't realise it was so unexpected. I mean, marriage is a ceremony like a funeral is, so I guess that means it's more for the people who know you than for you. But I don't really understand how that works when there's more than one person."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight appreciates the specific information on Ruri's feelings here. She can guess, but it's nice not to have to guess, and definitely nice not to have to try to puzzle her out on intuition when she tries not to do that with her.
But... yes, an entire dinner plate. And Ruri looks confused, which makes Eight feel a little foolish for being so awkward about it. She pauses, at that, and sighs, before straightening up and composing herself.
"...It's a very fair question," she says instead. "I never thought much about funerals being like marriages, but... Hmm. Well, when I do get married, I guess it is a lot for our friends. But I want it to be for me, too. Hopefully more than the funeral." Pause.
"To tell you the truth, I don't understand how it works with more than one person either. It's one thing to be in two relationships; it's another entirely to decide who you're going to marry. ...I wouldn't want to marry him and make her feel that she was secondary, but Rena's not really ready for that kind of step, either..."
She gestures, as if she can explain the difficulty. "...But it's embarrassing, because I really care about both of them, so I have a lot of feelings about it."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Both funerals and marriages are presided over by the Captain," Ruri explains, quite logically, "so I guess they seem pretty similar to me." She pauses, and adds: "Though, the person who wants to get married most is our Captain... can you officiate your own marriage? I thought someone else had to do it."
Ruri asks the important questions.
She's thoughtful, though, considering Eight's lack of answers. "Why don't you all marry each other?" She asks, finally. "I don't think it's standard in the Earth Sphere, but I bet some places do things that way. I can ask Omoikane."
Ruri looks up at the ceiling, and says: "I wonder if Mr. Uribatake would be happier if he could do that..."
(Seiya Uribatake, the Nadesico's head engineer, is infamously unhappily married -- unlike their other prominent married man, Leito Igaguri.)
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"That's true," Eight says. "And there's a lot of different traditions." Pause. "You do need someone else to officiate. Maybe her XO can do it for her?" If she gets to get married when she wants to, anyway. It's possible!
But why...? "Hmmm. That's a thought. It's definitely not standard, but there might be places that do. I don't think I'd want us all to get married three ways though; Rena and Lavhi don't have that kind of relationship between one another, and..." She hesitates, "I'm not sure I'd want them to. I'm not sure that would make sense if you aren't in it, though."
Mr. Uribatake... Hmm. "I dunno. Adding another relationship to one that isn't working seems like a recipe for disaster... Though I guess a lot of people do it anyway."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Does it?" Ruri wonders, when Eight finishes talking. "I wouldn't know, since I'm just a young lady... really, it all seems very complicated and emotional, to me. So I don't really understand why you'd want to date two people, either. It's very strange. But it's interesting that you'd do that, anyway."
Ruri, who is Officially Thirteen Years Old, has come to the terrible realisation that Romance Exists. (Blame Yurika.) She's not nearly foolish enough to engage in anything like that personally, but that doesn't save everyone around her from her scathing curiosity.
"Does your grandmother know you're dating two people?" Ruri asks, legs swinging back and forth. "And does Mr. Noa know you're dating your subordinates? I think there are rules for that."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
It is all very complicated and emotional! Eight agrees! But...
"I really like both of them," Eight says. "...Well, that understates it. I love them. And I get different things out of each relationship. I think I like having a couple serious relationships better than a lot of more casual ones."
Interesting! Apparently Ruri finds it interesting! ...Eight wonders if that's such a good idea...
"She... does not," Eight says. "I haven't mentioned it yet. I wasn't sure if she'd have a problem with me seeing a Zentradi, or seeing two people. But I plan to tell her eventually." Pause. Eight makes a face.
"Of course!!" she answers, "Well, when I started dating Lavhi he wasn't my subordinate. Rena, though..." Hm. She doesn't have that excuse with Rena. "The rules are mostly that you have to tell your commanding officer about it. There's some others, but that's also why I usually call him 'Mr. Orlodhari' to most people and I don't do a lot of public affection with him. I try to stay professional at work."
...Rena she gets away with leaning on 'old friends' a little though.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri is learning a lot of things! This is probably fine. It's all academic curiosity.
... well, it should be fine for a couple more years, anyway. Eight might need to worry when she's ready to start dating. But hey, Ruri might be dead before then! She's in the right occupation.
Why isn't that reassuring? It's very reasonable logic.
"I guess I can understand why dating two people might be hard to bring up, but do people have a problem with humans dating Zentradi?" Ruri asks, with the ghost of a frown. "I don't know why. The Zentradi on Mr. Uribatake's team are nice people. So is Mr. Orlodhari. Omoikane's data files say that Zentradi integrated with the Earth Sphere after the war, too."
Her shadow-on-the-wall of a frown deepens to something which can just about be called an expression on her face. "If your grandmother is prejudiced, I think you should learn about that now instead of putting it off. Because it will hurt Mr. Orlodhari if your family can't accept him. I think he's the kind of person who wouldn't say much about it, but that just means it's more important to make sure he won't get hurt."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight looks forward to worrying about it because Ruri ISN'T DEAD at that point!!! That logic is not reassuring at all!
Luckily nobody says the quiet part out loud today. At least, not yet.
Regardless, Eight notices that frown, and nods. That frown that might even be a real frown...
"Hmm," Eight says. "You have a good point," she says. "He's very important to me. Someone who can't live with him... is a problem for me." A pause. "But I don't think that'll happen. She might want me to carry on the 'family line', since they're aristocrats, but... It's like you say. Zentradi are integrated with us. And she's not a Blue Cosmos type for sure..."
She smiles. "I'm happy to hear that you're thinking of his feelings, though. You're very right. I'll make sure to clear it up as soon as I can. ...He's like that. He doesn't talk that much about the things that bother him. But you can tell, if you know what to look for." She sighs, but it's a dreamy sigh instead of a sad sigh. "...It's the sort of thing where it's precious, because he doesn't tell many people how he feels... but he can tell me. That makes me happy. He's really..." She smiles--and then flushes a little, realizing what she's doing. "Ah, I mean."
"Yes. I'll be sure not to let him get hurt."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri makes a note to look up Blue Cosmos, later.
(Later: Minato Briefly Has A Heart Attack Wandering Into Ruri's Midnight Encyclopedia Walks.)
She nods, instead, and the light frown on her face fades with Eight's reassurance. "Since I'm like that, too, I don't want him to be forgotten," Ruri explains. "Not that I think you would, since you really care about him... but I think it could be easy to put difficult conversations off if you've just found your family again. Especially if your grandmother has a forceful personality." Like Ruri! Again!
"So, I'm glad you'll look out for him, Captain York."
She's quiet, for a moment; the kicking of her legs slow, as she looks over to Eight. "... even if you wanted to get closer to Zeon, it doesn't bother me," Ruri says, after a moment. "Well, it might get complicated, since the Federation doesn't like Zeon, but I think we're all people. That doesn't change because some people live far out in space."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight is rambling a little. ...But then, she knew about people like that at her age...
She smiles back when Ruri explains. It's really nice to see Ruri displaying such obvious empathy, especially for someone Eight herself cares about. "Yes," Eight says. "It would be really easy to put those off... but I'll be sure not to."
Eight inclines her head about looking out for him. "I promise that I will." But it's not the sort of promise she makes that feels difficult or daunting; it's one she's happy to be able to say.
But Ruri... Hmm. What she says, what bothers her...
"I think so too," Eight answers of people. "But... You're right that it could get complicated. Zeon's complicated for me already. I have a lot of bad memories associated with it, and I'm committed to making sure the things they did aren't repeated. ...But now I have another perspective; someone who opposes those things too, but still cares about her home."
"I'm glad, though. That it doesn't bother you. It's..." She looks down, "I didn't realize how important it would be to me. But it really is."
Then she looks back to Ruri again. "You let me worry about the Federation though, OK?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri has feelings! She just doesn't show them. No wonder she feels a kinship with Lahvi.
(Of course, at thirteen years old, she is intuitively convinced that she alone has thought of these things, even though Eight seems to understand too. It's a good thing no one's done something like put her in charge of operating an entire battleship, so she doesn't try to take on too much responsibility too quickly. ... huh? You mean they did that?!)
She doesn't call Eight a fool for tittering about him, at least. It is the ultimate kindness.
And as it happens, Eight, also, has feelings. "I heard what people were saying about you," Ruri says, frowning again. "I didn't like it. I don't think many people on the Nadesico did. If someone tries to tell me you're a bad person because you have family in Zeon, they're just a fool." Now she breaks out the baka. Scathing!
"Anyway, being angry at people for living somewhere... is just prejudice too, I think. I know that people from Zeon have done a lot of bad things, but it's also true that people from Earth have done bad things, too. When the Nadesico left, its mission was to help the people from Mars. Well, we weren't really able to do that, but it's still Ms. Azul's home, and Ms. Fressange's, too." Ruri thinks of Inez as having less ties to the place, strangely. (It isn't that strange.)
"I know there are bad people in the world," Ruri insists, scowling. "I'm not a child. But I don't accept that entire groups are bad, just because some people did unforgivable things. I don't like the people who forced you to fight, but I don't think everyone in Zeon was involved in that decision, either. A lot of people are just people. And they're trying their best, I think."
Ruri looks down at her clasped hands, and adds, a shade petulant: "None of this is very fair. Not what Zeon did, but not what we're doing to Zeon, either. It's foolish..."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight is a little surprised not to be called foolish for it. ...But that's nice, too.
"Ah," Eight answers, when Ruri mentions that she heard about it, and the Nadesico too. It's nice, to be defended--but it's a little sobering that it's spread so far, too. She gives Ruri a grateful look but doesn't comment at first because Ruri is still talking!
She has a lot to say, actually. Ruri, of course, is prone to insist that she's not a child. And yet, she says things that so many would call naive. ...Eight wouldn't, though.
And doesn't.
"...Yes," Eight says after Ruri finishes. "You're right. Everybody has to live somewhere, after all."
Zeon...
"...I really think so too," Eight says, of people trying their best. "...And I have to admit it's not very fair. A lot isn't. I'm not sure, yet, what to do about it all." She finds herself strangely emotional, but tries to keep a good lid on it. She is mostly successful.
"But I won't accept those ideas, either. ...Thanks, Ruri."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Eight told Ruri to let her worry about the Federation, but Ruri is the sort of girl who worries about a lot of things.
Just, you know.
Quietly.
"I don't think you have to figure out what to do alone," Ruri points out. Perhaps she has some sense that Eight's feeling a lot of emotions right now. Perhaps it's just logical. "Since the Nadesico's mission is to help people, too. You're... you're my friend," Ruri says, quietly, glancing away. It's kind of embarrassing... "so I'll help you, too, you know."
There's a beat, and Ruri adds, looking back to Eight's face again: "Oh, and I'm sure Captain wouldn't just abandon you, either. So it's not just me." See! The thirteen year old isn't trying to solve everything on her own! She has trusted adults she can drag into the firing range with her!
That's... probably how that works?
That's probably how that works.