2023-02-14: Unending 'Bonds' Of Conflict
- Log: Unending 'Bonds' Of Conflict
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Eight York
- Where: The Nadesico, Side 6
- Date: 2023-02-14
- Summary: Eight and Ruri witness the world's most savage ping-pong match between Erina and Minato... and talk about Ruri's experiences as a child soldier.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
The Nadesico's corporate decadence is state-of-the-art, and that means that its recreation facilities are pretty swank, too. For instance, they have a state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line...
PING-PONG TABLE!!!!
Where Erina Kinjo Won and Minato Haruka, the Nadesico's two helmswomen, are currently engaged in a battle to the death. (The Nadesico is parked, here in Side 6, so they don't have anything to do presently.)
Anyway, seated on one end of a couch, in eyeshot of that foolishness but not directly associated with it, Ruri accepts a can of orange juice. (Eight would know it's her favourite, by now. She's of the age to prefer ultra-processed drinks, so she hasn't yet started drinking coffee, but she considers herself too mature for soda.) "Thank you, Eight-san," she says, and doesn't even refer to her by official title!
Even if she still borrows from Japanese to give herself a little more breathing room.
She is Doing Her Best.
She is also wearing a dusky pink tie, to match the uniform Eight's people get to wear, these days. Most of hers is still the typical Nergal gold, but she's wearing a badge, opposite Nergal's logo.
Black and gold is good, but pink and gold is fine, too.
"... what a bunch of fools," she dismisses a particularly ferocious serve on Erina's part, with all the appropriate hooting and hollering from both women. Just because they're not pilots doesn't mean they can't get hot-blooded about it. And that means Ruri is here to condemn them! ... she does that.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
The Ra Mari II does not have a rec room with ping pong table. Maybe it should! But it does not.
Eight gave Minato a big hug earlier, and never explained why to anyone else. Now, however, there is a Battle occuring... and Eight is not a part of it. She is an observer, a keeper of the peace with Ruri, and while she is not calling them foolish, she is getting a drink or two. Two, in fact. While Eight usually gets canned coffee, for the last couple of weeks she has eschewed it entirely. she also has an orange juice, instead.
"You're welcome, Ruri." Eight does not use the -san to give breathing room. She just calls her Ruri! But at least she doesn't call her Ruriruri?
Eight doesn't mind not having the official title while she's not in uniform. And she isn't, though she has a lovely pink scarf in the 3SA's colors. She's a little chilly today.
Ferocious serve...! Eight laughs. "You think so?" she asks. "I think it's fun. It's important to know how to relax a little. But..." She leans in, "My money's on Minato."
Eight pops open her orange juice, and puts it up to her lips--but then frowns. Her nose wrinkles. "...Ruri," she asks.
"...Does the orange juice smell funny to you?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Minato loves hugs! Eight got a big hug, and zero explanation, but no one really needs an explanation, because Minato really just seems like the sort of person who gives out hugs as needed.
(Unlike Ruri. Ruri is Distinctly Not A Hugger. Subsequently, Minato has never hugged her.)
"Minato-san's not giving up that easily... but Ms. Won's a tough opponent. They're both using dirty tricks, so that's even, too." Ruri doesn't hesitate for a moment to call either of them out. "But in the end, I think Ms. Won cares about winning more than Minato-san does. Well, that just means Minato-san has a richer life, I guess."
Siiiiip.
Ruri blinks, looking over to Eight, as she trails into that next question. She sniffs at her can of orange juice. Sniff, sniff.
"Not really," she says, giving it a sceptical expression, before she trades that scepticism up to Eight, instead. "And it tastes fine, too. Since taste and smell are linked together, I'm sure I'd notice if one of them were different."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight likes that about Minato. She would like to be that kind of person, too, but she thinks that it might impair her image as a Captain. Maybe it's better not to.
She certainly won't hug people who don't want hugs!
Hmmm. Dirty tricks... "I could see that," Eight reflects, and looks over the two of them. "Do you think so, though?" She regards them, and then looks at Ruri. "...Maybe you're right." She smiles, and doesn't explain why.
However... Ruri examines the orange juice. She finds no trouble. "Does it...?" Eight sips at it, thoughtfully. "Blah." Her nose wrinkles again. "Well, so long as yours is fine. Maybe I'll just get something else."
Oh, well.
"...It's nice here, though. I never thought so much about how nice a couch could be until I started furnishing the rooms on my ship..."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Minato and Eight are similar, at least, in that they're both pretty good at figuring out when hugs are welcome. Or unwelcome!
"I think so," Ruri confirms, as Minato sends the ball spinning towards Erina. She doesn't let it get away so easily!!
She gives Eight a quizzical expression, when she rejects the orange juice. "... okay." Something's going on...
But Ruri doesn't ask. "It isn't very ergonomic," she says, instead, of the seating. "... but it's comfy, I guess."
When Erina sends the ball back this time, there's a great, mighty CRACK--!!
And Minato's paddle breaks at the handle, held together by a few strands of wood. "Eeeeh?!" She exclaims, as the ball ping-pongs around the room wildly. Ping? Pong!
"Ha-HA!" Erina crows, hands to her hips. "You'd best remember this the next time you challenge--ghk!!!" That's the sound of Erina doubling over to grab the table, because the ping-pong ball rebounds off of the vending machine and RIGHT into her back.
You know, for once.
"Fool," Ruri deadpans, again, as Minato doubles over laughing.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight obviously has opinions on Minato Haruka. They are all positive and fond.
But that quizzical expression gets Eight to open her mouth and close it again. "...You think it's weird?" she wonders, and regards the orange juice again. Hmm...
But she says the seating is comfy at least. "Yes! I think the couches I got for the quarters on the Ra Mari II aren't quite as nice, but they do okay. Their off-brandedness is their charm point."
Maybe that's a little sentimental.
"...ahahaha," Eight laughs as she realizes what happened, and then sees--pong!!
Eight doubles over, too. "Oh--Ow," she says, as if something hurt while she was at it, but she's still laughing.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"It's not impossible," Ruri says, which isn't entirely an answer to Eight's question.
"Mr. Prospector cares about branding," she adds, "but I don't really understand it. I guess it's because of Nergal-san's corporate partners... well, I like this type of orange juice, anyway." Ruri doesn't actually like fresh orange juice much. Fun fact.
Ruri blinks, turning to Eight, as her laughter is interrupted by that little aside. "Did the ball hit you, too?" She asks, as Erina storms off, declaring that she has WORK TO DO and she's DONE WASTING TIME LIKE THIS. She claims the literal victory; Minato claims the moral victory.
Ruri doesn't laugh about it, but she does think it was kind of funny.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
It's definitely not impossible. Hmm.
"I wonder if we'll have to think about branding now, too," Eight muses on the matter of Mr. Prospector and corporate partners. "I guess we'll see. I'm glad you like it, though! It's nice to like things, isn't it?"
She feels a little flighty. But as Erina storms off, Eight gives her a lopsided look, as if to say 'sorry' for laughing at her. But she beams at Minato. Since the moral victory counts!!
But Ruri's question... "No, no," Eight says. "Just, laughing too hard, reminds me that my chest hurts. But it's not a big deal. Minor aches happen."
"I guess that game's over though, huh?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Fool," Ruri says. "That's why they're 'nice'." Saying it's nice to like things is just redundant!!!
Minato giggles, as Erina storms off, and flashes Eight a victory sign and a wink before she heads off to take care of her broken paddle. She can't just leave it lying around! Someone might get a splinter!
Ruri blinks, owlishly. "Why does your chest hurt?" She asks. "Is your arm numb, Eight-san? Can you breathe? Are you dizzy?"
A beat, and she explains: "I looked up heart attacks," Ruri informs Eight, very seriously. (She was on a hike with someone who was having some trouble, and she realised she should really know more about it than she does. What if Milly was about to have a heart attack? That's a really bad health thing. Ruri is pretty sure that's what she should have been worried about.) "Your chest hurting can be very serious. We can go to the medical facilities. Ms. Fressange can explain everything there."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"...Right." Eight could've expected that one. It does seem nice, though. It's so nice.
A wave to Minato, and then Eight turns to Ruri and--blinks back. "Ah--" Questions. "No, yes, and no," she answers in order. Then Ruri starts to explain. "You do look up a lot of things..." It's absolutely stalling, and Eight knows it. It does however give her a few moments.
"I appreciate her explanations," Eight says quickly, "But it's not that, I'm pretty sure. It could be very serious but I don't think it is. I'll be fine. ...I have an appointment with Dr. Bidan next week, too."
She is being evasive, though.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri looks at Eight for a moment...
And then, "Okay," she goes back to sipping her orange juice.
Just like that!
For being so intuitive, Ruri sure is easy to guide to a conclusion.
(For those of you keeping track at home, that's why Alexis Kerib is a horrible friend for Ruri Hoshino.)
"I haven't gotten to talk to Dr. Bidan personally too much," she says, instead, "since the Explainer Lady handles the medical bay here." That would be Inez! "Is he nice?"
She has surely met him in passing -- they've worked together on the battlefield before, and aside from that, Ruri's not an infrequent visitor to the Ra Mari, first or second -- but that doesn't necessarily mean she's gotten to sit down with him and have a proper conversation.
For some reason, Ruri has a weird relationship with doctors, a lot of the time. That's why Inez is so nice! She doesn't hide it.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Whew. "Thanks," Eight says, for not pressing it, and she doesn't think in the moment to worry about that. But she might later!
The Explainer Lady, Inez Fressange... Eight wonders how she is as a doctor. But she somehow isn't eager to find out. "He's very nice," Eight answers of him.
"He cares a lot about people, and his patients. He's also my friend, I'd like to say. He's... really supportive. And kind. He has a long history, and it's kind of complicated, but he also supported us rebelling against the Federation."
Eight has a relationship with doctors, too. But it's generally better, these days.
"I rely on him a lot."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri tilts her head. She looks... a little confused, but perhaps that was just an illusion, because she blinks her eyes and that shadow of emotion has fled the stony cave wall of her face. "He sounds nice," she says, mildly.
(That's not a comment on anything. Ruri says everything mildly.)
"I think a lot of people are complicated. War's always happening, after all. Older people like Dr. Mass," she's in her thirties, which is ANCIENT!, "were affected by the One Year War... then people like you and the Captain would have been bothered by the Gryps Conflict and the First Neo-Zeon war, instead, I guess. And the war between the Britannian Union and the OCU, too... and then the second Neo-Zeon war... Bloody Valentine, too."
There are a lot of wars.
She looked it up!
"And I mean, I'm here because the Jovians keep attacking Earth, too. So even if it's not war between humans, it still gets complicated."
Sip. "Well, just because that stuff happened, people can end up all sorts of ways."
Ruri, you can just say war's been on your mind ever since you helped blow up the literal doomsday weapon designed to destroy the planet. You can just say that, Ruri.
"Anyway, I'm happy you have someone to rely on, Eight-san."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"...That's true," Eight agrees, on everyone being complicated. There are indeed a lot of wars... "The Gryps Conflict was..." She decides against saying it, after she's already started to. Instead she shakes her head. "It is still complicated," she says instead. "The experiences of being at war are... hard on people. It makes sense that they'll end up in all sorts of ways, as you say." She borrows the phrasing. "...I turned out the way I did because I was protected from war for a while, I think."
It's on her mind...
Eight feels a little maudlin about it. "...Me, too," Eight says. "I've had to rely a lot on doctors," she admits. "So finding one I like and can talk to is important to me."
"...But it's still hard," she admits. "Now that I'm in it again. And I feel like it should be."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Well, it answers what one was personal for Eight, anyway.
"I didn't know about it for ten years," Ruri says. "At least, I don't think I did... well, not that I remember. Since I don't remember, it must not have been that important in my life." Is that how it works? That's the logic Ruri's using. "But now, war's everywhere... it's sad, I think."
Ruri notes, impassive: "I looked it up. It's bad for people to grow up in the middle of conflicts. Their entire brain changes. I don't want that to happen to Miss Igaguri." Leito's daughter! Remember? They met once.
Ruri doesn't talk about how SHE'S growing up in the middle of it, obviously, because she's already very grown up. ... she's already figured out she's a child soldier, anyway, and apparently knowing that is weird.
So she says, instead: "Well, even though it's hard, it's good that you can talk to your doctor. And it's good you can talk to Lavnadim-san, too. And Minae," who doesn't even get the distance of an honourific loanword!, "and the others. We don't really talk about stuff like people on the Ra Mari do, but I guess it works for you, so it's better if you can do that."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight is quiet, on the subject of memory. At first, anyway. But Ruri looked it up, and...
"I think you can have things that are very important that you don't remember very well," she decides to say, and finds herself turning more and more contemplative.
Maybe 'broody' is the right word.
"That's not..." She bites her lip.
"...I think it's good and important to talk about your feelings," she says. "I do it a lot with Lavhi. That's part of why we're so close; we can talk about what we're feeling with one another, even though both of us has a hard time doing that with other people sometimes."
"Minae's great, too. And the others. ...So you're right. It is good that we can do that. It's important."
Eight looks down. "...Is it really so bad?" she wonders, then. "I think you can still be happy that way..."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri is used to people being more emotional than her, so she doesn't immediately think much of it. People insist on having emotions at her constantly. Have you SEEN this boat? It's all emotions, all the time.
She sips at her orange juice, and looks over at the now-abandoned ping-pong table. "I'm not really sure," she says. "I don't feel all that unhappy, but people act like I should be, sometimes. But I guess there's a lot I don't feel, either, since people like Ranka-san feel a lot differently about the fighting. I don't really understand having a big reaction like that. Well, if I got distracted like some people here do, it would be pretty bad, anyway."
Ruri shrugs, lightly. "Anyway, someone like me isn't going to have a normal life. I looked up middle-school classwork, once, since Ranka-san and Alto-san and Ms. Nome all go to school." She still hasn't QUITE gotten to a first-name basis with that last one. Fame... it's scary! "It was so simple, I think a toddler could have done it... actually, a lot of the things they were teaching in maths were just wrong. I guess it was to try and teach principles, but it doesn't make sense to me, since you'd just have to unlearn the wrong things later. Why not just learn how it really is from the start?" That's what makes sense, to Ruri.
Don't think too hard about it.
"Well, the thing is, most young women my age are struggling with that. So even though I try to keep up with Ranka-san and the others, I don't know if I'll ever really be like them. I guess I'm sad about that, but it also means it's different if you ask me whether it's bad, instead of someone else my age. I don't really understand what it means to be young in a war, since there's really not much else I could do well."
It's an honest, raw assessment about herself. Ruri has never held her sharp tongue in check facing a mirror.
"But Omoikane and I are contributing here, and everyone's nice to me. Even Ms. Won, though she's kind of sharp." The ghost of a frown crosses over her face. "I'd resent it if I had to go somewhere safe and just watch... at least I can try and do something, with the Nadesico. Most days are pretty good. I'm happy I'm alive. But sometimes it is very hard. My friends almost die a lot more than most people my age. I do, too. I guess that's scary."
Finally, Ruri looks back to Eight. "I don't entirely know how I feel about it, I guess," she says, honestly. "I guess it isn't really bad or good. It's just what life is like, right now. That's why I want to make life different for people living here. I don't want more people like me to exist... it doesn't feel good not being like other people my age. And I guess this is what I can do because it's what I was trained to do. I don't think that's right, Eight-san."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"How you feel is how you feel," Eight thinks. "Everyone's different, so everyone's feelings are different."
Middle-school classwork... "I think you're better at math than most people your age," Eight reflects about the matter of the toddler work. But for some reason she does fix on that a little.
But what she understands and doesn't understand... Eight looks sad, at that honest asessment.
"Arriety ended up having to come back, too..." She considers. She's happy she's alive. That's nice. But her friends...
"...That's very scary," Eight says quietly.
but her honesty is good. It just is what it is. "I feel exactly the same way," Eight says, of 'more people' like them. And she does htink 'like them', in that respect. "I promise. I'll make sure my children to get really live their lives, not be forced into war themselves. I can't guarantee they'll grow up free of it... but they won't have to fight it."
Eight takes a difficult breath, and moves her hand up to gently dab at her eyes. "I... I'm sorry," she says. "...Maybe I should go, I think I'm... not feeling that well after all..."
"But you're right. You're really right. And I want to make life better for the people on our ships, too. I really do."