godbent | 48th: The Officiousness of Haruhi Suzumiya

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48th: The Officiousness of Haruhi Suzumiya

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[ 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 ]

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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?

Oh, no, that's fine.

[ ... ] That Asbel guy likes curry.

Oh... I see. [Another reminder from... that time. She didn't know Asbel well, only enough that she could place him, that he was foolish about getting his injuries healed, and that he had an interest in a certain flower that had yet to show up.] ... Funny thing to remember, right?

Yeah. I didn't really remember from that time though, I just knew because of asking to meet up with him later.

[She nods, lifting up her teacup.] That's a better way to find out.

I don't think I was good at cooking in that world, anyway.

Oh...? How is your skill with it ordinarily?

Well it's excellent, of course. Cooking's pretty easy as long as you have a recipe and some common sense.

But do you get tired of the same old recipes?

Well obviously. That's why you get new ones, or work out a better way to do them.

And how well do those twists to recipes usually turn out for you?

Uh, pretty well. [ To boast or not to boast... boast, a little ] I've got pretty good intuition about these things.

Oh? Tell me about some of them!

[ Whoa she did not see that coming but-! ]

Well, okay! Well like obviously a really basic one is that parmesan or pineapple can both add a lot to a pretty wide variety of things. Or cornmeal, but that's usually only with baking.

[ But no she feels awkward saying it here in a tea shop ]

[She nods thoughtfully at that.] Sheena tends to use pineapple a lot in her dishes. [In fact, when the curry arrives, Haruhi will notice that it also has pineapple in it.] It doesn't quite turn out the same when I try it...

You have trouble working with pineapple?

Well - a bit. [Like the time she once tried to boil them to see if that would make the insides juicier... or chopping it up but leaving the core in, and other little mishaps that were luckily far and in between given how rarely she used that fruit.] I have a feeling I'm still slicing them incorrectly. [But she's never asked for help because... that's embarrassing. Even admitting as such is, and she tries to shrug it off.] I mean, I know there's some trick to it.

Oh, that's possible. After all, I guess it would be tricky if you didn't know anything about it. [ She could explain it but it's really much better to just... show her. Which she decides she'll do sometime in the future and will take a long sip from her tea, shrugging a little ]

I see. What else do you usually try?

Substituting oils. Olive, Sesame, Peanut, Vegetable... really, the sort you're using can drastically change the taste in subtle ways ]

Oils... hm. I haven't used much of them in cooking before, but that's a fascinating suggestion.

Admittedly, I guess that's more with frying than anything. But a lot of Japanese food ends up with some frying.

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