2024-01-29: Code 'Breaks'
- Log: Code 'Breaks'
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Eight Orlodhari
- Where: The Nadesico / Magallanica
- Date: 2024-01-29 (ICly May 0098)
- Summary: Eight collects herself to try talking to Ruri again, but Ruri stubbornly refuses to talk about her feelings, preoccupied with the complicated situation the Nadesico is in. Eight insists she take a walk with her, though, and after puzzling through some pretzels (which are BREAD in a KNOT), Ruri finally opens up. Most of the Nadesico were recruited -- but one girl was trained for this purpose, and it bothers her, now.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
The Nadesico is currently parked in Magallanica, unloading supplies from the Orb Union for the Colonists who can't leave themselves. And naturally, the littlest stocktaker, Ruri Hoshino, is in the cargo bay with a tablet ticking off the deliveries as they leave.
"All the medicine in Crate #23 has been sighted and confirmed patent by Dr. Inez," she informs one man, as his people come to collect the shipping crates bound for the hospital. "Crate #24 contains the sterile dressings and equipment you requested, and Crate #25 has been packed with personal protective equipment and sanitary equipment. Please sign here," she says, stretching the tablet out and up towards him.
"Sure thing, kid," he says, as he scrawls out his signature on the tablet's surface before handing it back. "Are you helping your mom out today?"
"I'm an officer, sir," Ruri tells him, stoic. "I'm almost fifteen."
"Oh, uh --" he laughs, nervously, as he backs up. "Well, thanks for all your help!"
Ruri watches him go, and checks over her list. More crates accounted for...
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Shore leave! And shore leave for Lavnadim Orlodhari means shore leave for his family, too. The Ra Mari II is also docked at Magallanica, and Eight and Lavhi are on a walk with the twins. Were on a walk with the twins, will be again in a few minutes; Eight spotted the Nadesico still unloading and decided to take a moment to Visit.
Alone. She's making a point of doing that more now and then, especially since they don't need the kids getting in the way of unloading.
So Eight, in her usual civilian attire, walks up onto the platform, showing some ID to the attending shipman as a matter of formality more than not being recognized.
"Ruri," Eight says warmly. She's in red again; she likes red. "You're hard at work, I see."
She nods to the man going as she walks, and makes her way up to Ruri. "Supplies for the hospital, it looks like?"
Eight is favorably disposed towards that hospital. Things went well there.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
At least Eight isn't some kind of red meteor coming down. That would just be silly. The Nadesicrew recognises her even when she's out of uniform, though, and a few men call out jovially: "Eyyyy, Orlodhari!!!"
One of them might yell something more bawdy, but luckily, he's drowned out by heavy machinery creaking to life.
Ruri turns to her, as well, noticing the uniform she's not wearing. (Ruri is, obviously, in her uniform.) "Eight-san," she says, mild-mannered but not particularly cold. "You're not working today... is something wrong?"
She look down at the manifest, and says: "It isn't just the hospital. It can be difficult for people to get supplies out here sometimes, so we brought a lot from Orb." Not that it's all smooth sailing for the Orb Union, either, with how fractured Earth is becoming -- but it's much smoother down there than it is up here.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Definitely just as well. Eight doesn't catch it, herself; instead she smiles and waves at the people who call out to her. By this point, everybody's gotten used to her change of name, it seems.
"Not at all," Eight says. "I decided I'd come check things out with the Nadesico. I like to stay informed." This is true, though she can get reports on this kind of thing without much trouble; she didn't really have to come in person.
"Besides, it's nice to visit."
She looks at Ruri, and nods. "Yes, that's good. Magallanica's grown a lot since it started, but it still has the same problems as any colony on top of its own."
She eyes the stock, judging how much longer Ruri's likely to be here. "How are you doing?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Most of the manifest has already been ticked off; everyone is eager to come fetch their supplies, whether it's sports equipment for the school to keep the children active or fuel for the fuel stations keeping the colony's vehicles running.
"We're in-between missions right now," Ruri explains. "The Captain can tell you more... but it's hard to access all the Chulips on Earth with NUNE establishing itself. Since the borders are all closing, no one wants a mobile battleship like the Nadesico coming in to visit. It's intimidating."
She looks out at Magallanica, and adds: "... not that it's any easier out here, though."
Another person walks in, looking vaguely baffled, and Ruri says, "excuse me." Then, a second time -- raising her voice, because she's not talking to Eight -- "Excuse me."
"Oh!" They exclaim, as they turn towards her. "Sorry, we had a shipment coming in...? Salt and spices?"
"That's right," Ruri confirms, looking down at her manifest again. "Ms. Howmei has confirmed for me that there are 33 regional areas represented in this shipment. Please sign here," she says, lifting the tablet up to them.
"Sure thing," they say, as they scribble out a name and hand it back. "Thanks, Nadesico -- we're gonna make a lot of kitchens way happier."
"You're welcome," Ruri says, still quite mild.
She was so busy working, she didn't even tell Eight how she was...
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"Right," Eight says, of the Captain and of the poor welcome the Nadesico is receiving in various places. "That would make sense. Especially given the nature of the Alliance, NUNE doesn't want the kind of trouble that we and the Nadesico offer, even if we are at peace now."
Out here...
"It's a real problem," Eight admits.
But another person walks in, and Ruri handles that. Eight smiles pleasantly but stays out of the way of the work. 33 regional areas...
"That's good," Eight says as the person starts to leave, looking at Ruri. "So," she says, "Have you been thinking about what I said? About taking more personal time?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Unfortunately, we can't respond to Chulips like this," Ruri says, and her annoyance doesn't much bleed through into her tone or expression. Eight might be able to tell, though; she's not totally emotionless. "By the time they ask for help, the infestation's gotten bad... but a lot of the time, suspicious people won't let us get close before that, either."
Who would ever be suspicious of Ruri! She's completely non-suspicious! Like the way she sends that cook on their way with all those spices, things they struggled to import with their restrictions on travel. The Nadesico can move much more freely than most of Magallanica, and that's why they have an obligation to bring all these things back.
With those crates ticked off, Ruri looks back up to Eight. "Yes," she says, "but there's a lot of work to do, so I should take care of that, first." This isn't really work which needs Ruri's unique talents, though...
... is she just working to cover up her problems?!
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Eight can indeed tell; she knows Ruri well at this point. "The same independence that lets you solve those problems is the independence that worries them now," Eight reflects. It is indeed a problem. It reminds her...
But, well. Ruri is very suspicious. Very, very suspicious.
"There's always more work to do if you're looking for it," Eight says. "But this is not Operator work. Any of these gentlemen," Eight gestures to the people who greeted her earlier, "Could be handling inventory like this."
Eight does not cross her arms, but it's that kind of look.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"It's not good to be arrogant about work," Ruri says, a proper little capitalist. "It needs to be done, and it would be bad if it wasn't filed properly. Since I don't have anything to do now we're docked, I thought I had better help here."
So yes, she's definitely just working to cover up her problems.
One of the maintenance guys looks over, though, and says: "Eh? Ruri-ruri, didn't you say you had nothing to do?"
"Because it's true," Ruri informs him, still quite proper.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Eight lifts an eyebrow. It does not take a nuanced understanding of body language to suggest she might be skeptical. "I see."
"I wouldn't call that arrogance; we all have different roles, and each of them is important."
A pause, "Well, you have something to do now," she says. "Excuse me! I'm going to borrow Ruri here for a little while. You can take over, can't you?"
Eight puts her hands on her hips. "If you're not going to make time to rest on your own, then someone's going to have to do it for you."
Eight may be off-duty, but she still isn't taking 'no' for an answer.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri, who has never had a stern figure in her life in her LIFE*, just kind of blinks and stares at Eight as she forcefully borrows her.
(*Erina excepted, because she's thrilled at Ruri putting in all this unpaid overtime.)
"Oh, sure thing," the maintenance guy says, betraying Ruri instantly as he ambles over to take the manifest tablet. "Looks like you're most of the way done, anyway! Thanks for your help, Ruri-Ruri!"
"You're welcome," Ruri says, and if she MUTTERS a little, surely it's just a trick of the acoustics. Ruri would never pout. Even if she is almost fifteen, she's already going on thirty! She's way too mature to sulk!
And so, notably not sulking, she unsulkingly resigns herself to tromping after Eight.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Eight is going to have a talk with someone about 'unpaid overtime'.
Eight is immune to the stare, though. She's entirely impassive about it, smiling at the maintenance guy. "Keep up the good work, guys."
Ruri, who would never sulk, is now obligated to follow after Eight, who steps out of the cargo bay and into the colony as a whole. Various buildings stretch out before them, tall and short and everything in-between making up the area right around this dock.
"There. I was taking a walk," she explains. "Lavnadim isn't too far, with the twins. But we're not going back to them just yet."
She peers over at Ruri. "Now, you're not too busy anymore to tell me what's been on your mind. And if you've eaten yet."
Tromp tromp. Eight is merciless.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Tall and short and all of them distinctly not the Nadesico, and honestly, it makes Ruri kind of nervous. She's not really the kind of person who goes for a stroll outside of her ship; once they're far enough away, she can't even feel the Nadesico properly, any more. One minute, she could ask Omoikane what was going on anywhere in the ship, and now --
Well, it's not just the height of the buildings that makes her feel smaller.
Ruri frowns, lightly, which is a much more impressive statement coming from Ruri. "It would just upset you," she insists, and let the record show she still isn't sulking. No one on the Colony is sulking less than Ruri Hoshino is right now. "Besides, I already had lunch two hours ago."
Which means she hasn't eaten anything since then, presumably, with how much she's burying herself in her work.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Maybe that's more reason, not less, to come out here. Ruri can't be cooped up on the ship all the time; Eight is sure Omoikane wouldn't want that, either, for all that he likes to be around Ruri.
It is impressive. And Ruri says it would upset her but, "That's fine," Eight says. "You let me worry about what's going to upset me."
So she already had lunch... But no snacks since then.
"This way," Eight says. "There's this stand that has these big pretzels. It's an Earth tradition, but they can make them just fine up here, too."
"So, what's troubling you? ...I've pulled the same trick, you know. Burying myself in work so as not to think about things."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri somehow restrains herself from saying, 'well, I WARNED you'. That would be a terribly undignified thing to say, and Ruri is a very dignified young lady.
Instead, she says: "Oh. I've never had pretzels." Because of course someone who has never wandered around the streets for the hell of it has never encountered street food.
She keeps frowning, though. It's not much of a frown, but it's not nothing, either. "I told you," she says. "I noticed I was part of the Nadesico. Well, I tried goofing off like the Captain, but it just meant I got pulled into another of Dr. Inez's explainer videos." Because of course Get To Know The Nadesico is still running. "It was annoying... but Erina-san said that if I was restless, I shouldn't sit around like everyone else." So she's the one behind all this overpaid overtime!
It was nice knowing you, Erina Kinjo Won.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Street food! There is a short line, so they do have some time to talk before having to deal with people. "Then here's your chance."
But she did tell her. Eight wanted to hear it today though. And, well, "I see. Yes."
She frowns, at the explanation. But Get To Know The Nadesico, that's fine. "That woman is more concerned with balancing the books than with your well-being," Eight says bluntly. "And I may have to talk to her about that. I don't expect Nergal to neglect its bottom line, but even so."
Scamming unpaid overtime out of the child they bought is definitely not within best practices.
"...That aside," Eight says, "I think you'd have more luck finding activities that suit you. Resting doesn't have to mean time completely idle. While sometimes you need that, sometimes it's restful to do light activity that's something you actually enjoy. Lavhi finds working on our Haro restful, for instance."
They reach the place! Eight pauses a moment to order two big pretzels, and in a moment has handed one to Ruri.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"She can be cruel, but I don't think it's because she's a bad person," Ruri observes Erina, stoic. "I just wonder who she's trying to prove herself to." And lo, from the mouths of babes --
Ruri is already distracted from the assessments she's done of everyone aboard the Nadesico by Eight talking about what resting means. "I see. But how is that different to when I play video games on the bridge? The Nadesico is the Nadesico." It doesn't feel different to her.
She observes the pretzel as they walk away from the stand, turning it upside-down in front of her.
"Eight-san," she says, atonal, "my bread is in a knot."
So does she undo it, or...
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"That's a good question," Eight reflects of Erina. But she doesn't dwell on her further. Ruri of course is not inclined to think of people as bad in the first place, but--
"Being ready to go back to work at a moment's notice is inherently unrestful. You're using a good bit of your energy maintaining readiness, and so you can't replenish it that way. That's why they call it a 'relief' shift, to have someone else ready to take over your duties for a while."
The pretzel...
"It's supposed to be," Eight says. "The knot is part of the charm. But if it seems fun, you can undo the knot, and eat it that way. Personally, I just take a bite from the side." She steps out of the way of others in line, and--
Nom. Pretzel.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri, famous good judge of character, has made friends with such trustworthy figures as Dr. Spartura, Alexis Kerib, Gary Biaggi, and Inez Fressange. She's obviously the person you want to ask about whether someone is a good or a bad person!
"But it doesn't bother me," Ruri protests, mildly. "Maybe it's that way for most people, but I was trained for the Nadesico specifically." Which might, more to the point, mean she doesn't know not to be bothered.
She tilts her head to the side as she tries to figure out this new problem, though: knotted bread. "I don't see how I can undo it without tearing it," she says, "since it's baked in." She does try to figure out how she'd pull it off, but since the secret of bread is so much more than spatial reasoning, she doesn't have a chance.
Eventually, she just holds in in both hands and takes a big bite.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"You were," Eight agrees. "But it's not about whether it bothers you; it's about whether it's restful. In fact, I think resting properly is more likely to bother you at first than not, because it's not what you're used to."
Ruri is in many ways the perfect employee. It's a real problem!
But, the new problem... "True," Eight says of undoing it. But the point is to enjoy the pretzel! Eight models this by enjoying the warm bread, the salt, and the little bit of bite that it has to it, a real chew.
"Mm," Eight says. "Haven't had one of these in a while. What do you think?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Fun fact: Ruri has been Employee of the Month a distressing number of times.
"But I don't want to do bothersome things," Ruri says, pouting-- that is to say, not pouting. She would never pout. Any hint of a pout is just the light shining off the buildings. "It's foolish."
Also foolish: bread in a knot. Ruri turns it into bread in a knom, munching on the pretzel until it's all devoured. "It's salty," she says, at length. "And soft, but it doesn't break down like white bread does. And it was tied in a knot." She's really hung up about the knot thing.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"Plenty of bothersome things are important. You just don't have to do a lot of them, because you're young and on a ship. Laundry for instance."
Of course she wouldn't pout. Eight is thus smiling without any particular reason.
Knom...
"It's something I like a lot," Eight says. "The knot is traditional at this point, but I think it's also a way for the baker to show off their artistry; it's less fun if it's just an ordinary circle. ...It might affect the texture, too--that I'm not so sure of."
"I just like to eat them."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Laundry?" Ruri blinks, because she's SO unused to a normal life that she doesn't even immediately connect the word for the room with, "... oh, you mean cleaning our uniforms." Pause, "I knew that."
Ruri tilts her head, again, as if she's REMEMBERING the knot and STILL BAFFLED. "I guess so," she says, at length. "But it's still strange." And not just strange --
"Since you're a fool, of course you like foolish bread."
RUDE.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"Yes," Eight answers. "Cleaning our uniforms, cleaning our quarters..." Eight's grandmother has maids, but Eight does not.
She tilts her head at Ruri as she remembers the knot, calling it strange, and--
Eight laughs faintly. "Yes," she says. "I like a lot of foolish foods. You saw that while I was pregnant."
She looks out to the city. "But I do want you to think about it. It's important to care for yourself; if you don't, you'll suffer for it later."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I keep my quarters clean," Ruri insists, but there's definitely someone who comes by and does it properly while she's on duty.
And, with a beat of thought, she says: "That's true. You do have terrible taste." Pickles. On a sandwich. That's a war crime, Eight.
But as Eight looks out over the city, Ruri goes to a park bench -- because surely Magallanica's architecture isn't so hostile as to not have seating -- and sits down. She's not really used to walking around like this; she's more fragile than she looks.
"... I eat when I'm hungry," she says, at length. "And I sleep when I'm tired. When I don't know something, I look it up... and I brush my hair every day. Isn't that, caring for yourself? When I came to the Nadesico, I learned a lot of things... but when I was growing up, they always said I didn't have to worry about this kind of thing. The people who raised me took care of all my distractions so I could focus on my studies. But now you're telling me that isn't right... I'm doing something wrong."
She folds her hands in her lap, and hooks one pale ankle around the other. "The Nadesico took six years to complete," she says. "The first thing they developed was Omoikane's computer core. Ever since then, Omoikane and I trained together to work on the Nadesico. Well, it took six years, and I don't know what happened before that... so the Nadesico is everything to me. I thought I was impressive, since I could operate it all on my own... if I take a break, I wonder if Nergal-san will scold me for being lazy." Her fingers curl into herself, as she insists: "I care about the mission... the Nadesico's mission. Isn't that important, too? Everyone here is so carefree, but our enemies would never goof off like the Captain does." The Jovians, she thinks, are both implacable and inhuman.
The alternative would be worse.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
It illustrates a lot for Eight, the way Ruri explains how it's always been. She takes a seat, too--smiles at the matter of her terrible taste. She won't make Ruri stand longer than she needs to. A little sitting down is good.
"It's part of it," Eight says. Then, more gently, "Yes. Those 'distractions' are part of life, too. Not preparing you for them, only preparing you for your work, is doing you a disservice."
The Nadesico... Hm. They trained together, and Ruri doesn't know what happened before that...
"You are impressive," Eight says. "But not only because of your capabilities and your expertise."
She watches Ruri, and there is some concern on her face; she doesn't try to hide it. The enemy... Well.
"There's a balance," Eight says. "The mission is important. And probably, some of your crewmates could stand to take it a bit more seriously, you're right. But to be fair to them, I'm military; I have a different perspective."
"But you're important, too. You're not just a tool to be used to accomplish the mission. That's why we all work together, so that we can accomplish our mission and take care of one another properly. Both of those things matter."
"It's hard, because they're both important. And they don't have too be at odds; it's not one or the other."
"It's all right if it seems strange or unintuitive," Eight tells Ruri. "But I want you to think about it, instead of dismissing it out of hand."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri will sit with Eight! Just, you know, a little apart from her, because she's always struggled with that distance. Even after Chaos Jirak...
She might be more open, now, but it's hard to say she's not still guarded.
"They said I was special," Ruri says, when Eight affirms how impressive she is. It's a neutral statement, but somehow, it still manages to sound a little... sad. "I guess they'd agree with you that everything about me is wonderful, but..."
It's annoying.
It always felt so... fake.
At least when she came to the Nadesico, all their flaws and foibles were real.
She wonders what it says about her -- that her perspective agrees more with a soldier than her civilian boat. It's uncomfortable, so she doesn't wonder for too long.
"I work together with Omoikane," she says, frowning down at her hands, "but I guess I never worked with other humans that much. The people who raised me didn't send me to school, since I was too advanced for normal classes... and they didn't want me to get hurt, so I didn't go outside and meet people either. It was only when the Nadesico was finished that I met a lot of people..."
Her frown deepens. "It's not that I dislike the Captain or anyone else. But I thought I could support them like this, since they're always so distracted. It's hard for me to think I need support, because..." Her knees pull in, and her hands tuck tighter against herself. "I don't like being supported," she says, quietly. "It feels bad."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Everything about Ruri is wonderful? Eight notices the way that Ruri says that, and she frowns a little. On the one hand, a little confidence is a good thing... but she sounds sad, when she says it.
"Nobody's perfect," she says gently. "We all have our own things to work on. It's like that for everyone."
A little apart. That's fine. Ruri can be guarded. It's important for her to protect herself.
"That makes sense," Eight says. "I didn't deal with a lot of people until after my recovery started. It was too overwhelming at first."
Support...
"...That's understandable," Eight says. "You don't have to do it now, but I want you to think sometime about why it feels bad to be supported. It's something everyone needs sometimes. And if you want to talk about that with me, good. But you should talk about it with someone."
"...You helped me face something I didn't want to think about, recently. I appreciate that. I think that's something friends can do for each other."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"People are very flawed," Ruri agrees. "Perfection is fake." And there are things she can know without remembering; before she was orphaned, or so the story goes, she must have already been very smart, because she was able to attend to her advanced studies right away.
She does wonder what kind of person she was, before she was adopted into a lab. She's sure she did have friends, back then, but she can't exactly say why.
Maybe she was a normal girl, too.
(She doesn't know.)
"It wasn't that kind of laboratory, Eight-san," Ruri says, shaking her head. "It was a computing research laboratory. Not that they didn't measure my neural output or anything, but it isn't something I have to recover from. Omoikane was their subject... I was just learning to interface with him. It's simply the case that the people who raised me were computer scientists."
She frowns, and keeps looking down at her hands. "I thought that's what I'm doing," she says, speaking of talking to someone. "It's kind of hard, since we don't really talk about serious things on the Nadesico. But I looked it up, and I guess I'm basically a child soldier, even though I'm not a military person like you. Well, I tried looking up what it was like when you grow up, since you're grown up, but it just made you sad... I guess if you're talking about it like that, you figured something out, though."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"We are," Eight agrees, easily including herself in 'people'. She doesn't get into the philosophical underpinnings of 'perfection'. It's ultimately a tangent.
...But Eight is skeptical that it wasn't that kind of laboratory, admittedly--something she doesn't have to recover from. "Hmm."
Eight would continue on that line of questioning... But instead, Ruri mentions something interesting. Something that Eight remembers her bringing up. "Right. It's hard to talk about these sorts of things for anyone." A pause. "...You did. And I took it poorly. That's a flaw I have, too; I was afraid of what it might mean. But I'm supposed to be able to look out for my own feelings, as an adult. And that's what I'm doing now. I've started taking steps to address that fear."
Eight cnsiders how to say it, "...I figured out that I can't run away from the idea that I might have difficulties with this; I'm not some perfect, idyllic mother who will never have trouble. But I'm going to do my best. And that, that alone, is a lot more than I got. A lot more than a lot of people get."
"So please," Eight says, "Don't feel afraid to ask me about it. I'm sorry that I reacted badly before. But I do think I can share some things that might help you."
"In my experience," Eight says finally, looking up to the skyline, "It's a lot of work. It's a lot of looking your fears in the eye. And it's a lot of giving yourself room to make mistakes."
She looks down at Ruri again. "...When I was younger than you, I was really quiet. It might be hard to believe, given how loud I am these days. But I was."
She continues, "But above all: it gets better. You learn to deal with the things you didn't get, and the things you got instead."
"If you've got any more specific questions though, I can help. I am a primary source."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I wouldn't want to have a perfect mother," Ruri says, frankly. "If my mother was flawless and constantly good... it's just foolish." Quieter, and more vehemently, she adds: "Foolish."
And it might not be entirely about Eight, either. Was it really not that kind of lab?
"So it's better if you do something wrong and make up for it the right way. Well, that's what I think." She's distant, saying that, but she does call herself back to herself to look over to Eight when she says: "It's okay. A lot happened, so I suppose it would be hard to deal with sometimes. Most of the time, you're very even-tempered, Eight-san. So it makes sense it might be harder one day. I was very stubborn today, but you talked to me anyway... I'm happy about that."
She looks up at the sky, too, as she listens; it takes her a few beats longer, to realise Eight's looking at her again, instead. "Okay," she nods, at length. "I believe you. I read about it, so I know it must be better for you now." Ruri sure does read the encylopedia to understand the world around her a lot!
... but at least she has an idea that Eight's speaking from experience, too.
She pauses, her legs swinging under the bench.
"Um..." She starts, looking around.
"I don't know how to get back to the Nadesico," she says, quite practically. "Do you know where we landed?"
It IS a specific question.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Foolish, Ruri says, and she means it very emphatically. No, it's not entirely about Eight. Eight will remember that.
"Hmmm..." Eight listens to Ruri's perspective, and while it's a distant kind of statement, it seems very 'Ruri'. "Well, I hope the twins feel the same," she decides. "Because they're getting me." She smiles. It's hard--admitting to flaws there, accepting flaws there, but...
There isn't much alternative.
"Thank you," Eight says. "And you're welcome."
She was stubborn, too.
Ruri reads! It's a good thing to be doing. "It is, much. I have different issues now, than back then." Eight is not... entirely good at 'accept your flaws' yet, let alone showing people hers, but with Ruri she made the determination a long time ago to be more honest with her, more direct.
So it is what it is.
As for her question--Eight smiles. "I do," she says. "I'll take you back. It's about time, in any case. I've left Lavhi be long enough."