godbent | 48th: The Officiousness of Haruhi Suzumiya

Entry tags:

48th: The Officiousness of Haruhi Suzumiya

[Action ]

[ Kyon went home. Kyon went home and the world didn't even notice. Which in some ways is not surprising - he went home just as they were going to Malnosso World. Oh sure the Brigade in Luceti probably noticed as the (increasingly infrequent or at least shorter due to the small size) meetings had him absent where he never really was before but for the most part? Who cared?

Well, Haruhi did.

And because of Haruhi caring around that, she threw herself hard into studying again. In Malnosso World she could work on making progress with her Extended Brigade but in the first week back she signed up for all sorts of missions to not get accepted to any. And so... she studied. Magic, technology, history, cryptoids, anything she could do apart from people because she didn't want to deal with people. Which is why apart from jogging in the morning, going to the Brigade HQ for meetings, and going home at night (maybe a snack between) much of Haruhi's time was in the library and she looks increasingly frumpy. As in she hasn't slept great and her hair has been better. You can encounter her doing this, or you might encounter her practicing some sigils, or meditating for spirits as the weeks drag on... but eventually:]

[ Voice ]

A lot of people have shown themselves to be sort of stupid here before now, but does anyone have some interesting facts or stories to tell me? I want to know more about whatever you want to tell me about. And if you don't, someone come to the HQ and help me test out some things. I've been working on some spells or ways to work with the Filial Spirits. So come on, Luceti.

[ She may or may not be a little distant sounding, but she is interested ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

[And she steps back to the table only to see her drumming, again.]

... It doesn't seem that dragging you out here has helped much either.

[a beat and then Haruhi looks back up at Raine, catching herself ]

No, it's for the best. I could use a better snack, at least.

It should be ready shortly, anyway. [She pulls her chair back out again, and sits. How to do this without prying, exactly?] You've seemed... very invested in research lately. More than usual.

Yeah, I guess I have been. [ She ends up rubbing one of her arms. And then sighs. At least she stopped drumming ] Everything been just a little more curious since we got back from the moon.

Hm... I know there's been a fear shift of sorts affecting a few residents, but this is the first I've heard of curiosity being a part of it. Unless you're just trying to distract yourself.

... Jeez.

[ You know what she is leaning her face into her palm here. There we go ] Yeah, maybe a little. The Brigade's so small it's not like there's much to do with meetings.

That's fair enough... but it seemed like you were going overboard.

Mmm - like I said, maybe.

[ Realistically, she knows it's a bit like when Winry broke up with her-- no it's worse, this time, because that time she at least had a goal. This time she's just been aimlessly asking question after question.]

How far do you think you could keep up with yourself, going on like that? You're in pain from your friends going home.

[ . . . ]

Who isn't, these days?

[ She deflected ]

It's a good thing to find distractions from it - but ... you don't want that to turn into neglect.

[ ... Well that just got... okay no it's fair. But she also doesn't particularly want to discuss that, at least before she can down some tea, so instead-]

It's sort of weird people get so messed up about it, you know.

Well, it's... the personal connection. The part of you that should be just as glad that they're free from the cycle can't help but miss them, or wonder how long they'll be gone, or that they'll lose their memories of you if they do return. It's difficult to be logical in the face of something like that, don't you think?

Not to mention that "they" will be back but not "them" Even if you're not around to see it or they're in some other enclosure.

Indeed. Until something is resolved about this world... that feeling of loss and uncertainty will persist.

Exactly. And that's why I can't afford to go back to North High until then...

Even so... we know we don't have any control over that either. Even though we'd rather find the resolution ourselves...

[No, she has to believe. Which is why while she does briefly frown, she also inhales before slamming a palm down on the table]

No! Come on, we've made some progress in changing up the status quo already! How many times have the Organization and Third Party both underestimated Luceti? I'm confident that we can settle things with this stupid planet within five more years, tops.

[ Sure, it might be 45% bluster on her part, but she knows that her bluster can be more... probably. If she can believe? ]

[And maybe, in the beginning, when she thought that all of her studying towards learning more about the world, about examining the barrier, keeping track of every single experiment and kidnapping, looking for patterns...

And she couldn't live like that, it had worn her down, but she didn't really stop believing, either. Just... accepting that there was only so much they could do from within their bubble. But real, definitive changes? Perhaps that was lurking underneath Luceti itself, as Carol had hinted...]

I'm not saying that there hasn't been some progress. We just have to keep it in perspective that our pool of knowledge is still limited - we're not in the dark, but we're not exactly movers unless someone deliberately puts us in a position to be. We take actions that we feel are logical only to discover that - well, it's the action that we were expected to take all along. So we do what we can.

I don't agree. I think the only reason Luceti isn't a "mover" is because it's been denied that position by our current limitations. And those'll be done away with too.

Eventually, yes. Although eventually Luceti as we know it may not even exist as well.

Exactly. And by then it'll be about time.

[She gives a half smile, and it's around then that their tea arrives, green as requested. It's hard to know what to say after that; Raine knows that change can only happen if enough people work together towards it, and why should fixing things in this world be as impossible as changing their own home? But ... the differences are there.]

... Hm. Our meal should be here shortly.

Oh? What did you order.

[ And she takes her tea. She looks at the glass, and lets it sit for a moment before taking the first sip ]

Curry, and salad. But we can have these rolls [She gestures to where the hot buttered rolls had been brought out-] while we wait. Is that all right?

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]