If it's too much trouble, I understand. But I realized that we've had more encounters in dire straits or ominous investigations than anything else, and it doesn't sit well with me. I don't want our acquaintance to be defined by how many dangerous scrapes we've survived. What do you think?
I mean no insult or disrespect for you, Lucina. It's not about you troubling me. It's only that, I'm not an easy person to get along with, or go out with, or be with, most of the time. I don't want disappointment to take you by surprise.
I see. I can temper my expectations...whatever those were. I'm not actually sure. I had hoped to talk to you a bit more while not under duress or in noisy parties.
once the time's drawn near and details delivered, Lucina waits under the colorful awning of her favorite cafe -- the one she met Hearthstone at, the one she celebrated her birthday in, spent pleasant time with her friends...she hopes that can be somewhat the same today. not just for her sake, but Ruka, who seems rather...hm. prickly, maybe? it's hard to truly know for sure, given how limited their interactions are. and text can be read so many different ways...
it's easy to spot her -- that hair, the gloves, the eyepatch. Lucina pushes up off the window, smiling, holding up a hand in greeting.]
[ it's navigating the unfamiliar neighborhood that takes the most time, but eventually, there she is, in all her usual, colorful glory. lucina gets identified first by motion and then by the spark of recognition emanating from her earnest heart; ruka's return greeting comes most in a scrunch around her visible eye, a smile without her lips. ]
It went, I suppose. [ nothing worth declaring, at least. ] I hope I didn't keep you waiting long.
[there's a little of anxiousness in her, toeing that line between keeping things casual and the performance anxiety brought on by not wanting to be a disappointment herself. silly, of course. she knows! and her answer to that is to just keep moving forward.
forward, inside, here in this comforting and familiar place. it puts her back at ease right away, seeing the familiar face behind the counter. she moves over to the display case, smiling Ruka's way.]
Everything here is really good! I think I've tried it all at least once by now. So you can be confident whatever you pick should be delicious.
[ just from the way she speaks, and the way she seems to flutter from tile to tile in the cafe, and how her smiles sit on her face — there's no guile to lucina, or any committed attempt to hide the way she's feeling. ruka wouldn't need empathy to pick up on the girl's anxious manner, on her need to make a good impression. then again, ruka has an eye for it, even if she were lacking the sense; maybe it wouldn't be so obvious to anyone else.
she's still not exactly sure what lucina thinks she'll get out of this — what it is she's hoping for — but ruka can be patient. ]
Is the selection so small, or do you come here so frequently? [ she doesn't say it disparagingly, but it would not be difficult to read it as insult. ] I suppose I haven't asked, have I? How long have you been trapped in this world?
[with a little laugh:] Probably the latter! It's become a bit of a habit since I first found it.
[she glances back down at the stuff thoughtfully. how long?]
...Well. Nearing a year, it seems. Though-- [squinting at the distorted reflection she sees of herself in the glass:] It doesn't seem as much. Or--it seems more than that, sometimes. [she looks back Ruka's way.] With the speed at which things can change here, it's easy for me to lose track.
[ then again, ruka knows she's kept a keener eye on the dates than other people, anniversaries and holidays and calamities, so perhaps it's unfair to assume that as the reason for lucina's uncertainty. ]
It's easy to lose track of things, in a place like this.
[she nods. it's probably true; there wasn't a lot of time to count days and months during the war and impending apocalypse, but for how different Ylisse was to here, she doesn't doubt there were some differences in a calendar's regard.
she does a bit of a sidestep, giving Ruka more space to scan the offerings in the glass while she takes a moment to request a cruller. her favorite.]
Is it always? [she glances Ruka's way.] You've had lots of experience here and in other harrowing, chaotic places, right?
Mmm. [ a light hum of agreement, a dragging pause for thought. ] I suppose you could say that. The place I'm from originally, it wasn't, but the other world made up for it.
[ after some debate, she settles on a piece of tiramisu, indicated with a twisting gesture and a light, yes, that one, before giving her attention back to her companion. ] I'm sure you've heard about it. Yes?
I have. Ah--thank you! [she takes her change and the treats in-hand, leading the way to a table by the window.
after arranging food and napkins:] Father Maxwell told me of it. The world that...sort of...precedes this one? In terms of...having such a similar situation.
[she frowns.]
No, but...can that be right? If this world's had its share of heroes for such a time...
[ Gone, now; erased and rewritten, like so many others. It's stupid to keep getting attached, when they leap forward like that. It's too easy to fall backwards into the gap between the old end and the new beginning, isn't it?
Ruka's expression is dour, but in her usual way; the only betrayal is a quirk at the corner of her mouth, and a slower blink, as she pushes those thoughts away. ]
The world he told you about is the one I knew, but he didn't know it as well as he might have acted.
Is there... something that confuses you? [ From the expression on Lucina's face, at least, it certainly seems so. ]
[it's pretty plain, too, by how she rubs at her temple.]
I vaguely remember some talk of heroes in the world long before us. Was that here? Or maybe that was more of what Father Maxwell spoke of in the other world?
[she plops her chin into said hand and sighs.]
I really am a terrible study...Kaneki goes to so much trouble, documenting so much, and every time I try to read it all my eyes glaze...
Sometimes it's hard to understand anything, when you're given too much at once; academics tend to write for academics. Maybe it'd be easier if I showed you.
[ She moves her plate to the side, digging into her purse for a small sketchpad and a pen. Open to a blank page, she sets the notebook on the table, and quickly draws a diagram.
At the top of the page, she draws two circles. In one, she puts a letter A. In the other, a letter B. As she talks, she draws a vertical line beneath each, stopping halfway down the page. ]
We can divide "our" imPort history across two worlds. The one where Lachesis came from, the one where she first "brought" us— [ Her pen taps the A-planet. ] —and the world where Lachesis "took" us, once that one was destroyed. [ Here, the B-planet. ]
For us, Lachesis's imPorts, our history started about ten years ago. We existed in that world for five years, and then it was destroyed. When it was destroyed, Lachesis opened a gateway, and she and the remaining imPorts of that first world crossed over— [ From the bottom of A's vertical line, she draws a sharp slash horizontal across the paper, creating an arrow, connecting it to the line beneath B. Her pen darkens the intersection point, and from there continues drawing the vertical line down the page. ] —to this world. ImPorts like me, and Senator Hundred, and Doctor Chilton, we arrived here almost five years ago. The rest of you joined us after that.
[ Her pen traces over the journey, darkening the line — half on A's line, then crossing to B's side, and then half on B's line, and back again. It looks a bit like a lightning bolt. The first half of B's line remains pale, untouched. ]
According to the history here, imPorts existed in this world before we did, and they were gone before we arrived. But they weren't Lachesis's imPorts, like we are.
[ The pen set aside, Ruka glances up to read the reaction on Lucina's face. ]
[when Ruka starts to draw, Lucina scoots her seat over so she's more at her side of the table to peer and watch, all while tearing a piece of her donut and popping it into her mouth, chewing behind her hand.
thank goodness she thought to explain with pictures; Lucina's a dreadful book-study, hence why all the pages upon pages Kaneki may have written still haven't sunken in when read alone.
her brow knits as she puts this information away in her mind.]
Then... [but why male models] Whose imPorts...were they? Or is that still a mystery?
[ Ruka shakes her head, trading her pen for her fork. ]
I couldn't tell you. It wasn't anything I was ever interested in. None of them had names I recognized, so it didn't seem likely any of them would come back.
[she makes a thoughtful, drawn-out sound, ending in a sigh as her chin comes to rest in her hand.]
And with the Outrealm gate positioned on my very own world...these sorts of things, these chances of passing realm to realm...it's far more likely than anyone would've thought. [tired jock-in-class sigh.]
Maybe that's just the natural order of some things. Whatever the case, it's clear it's high over my head.
It's complicated stuff. Even those genius-types that have had years to study this don't have a lot of answers, and those are the guys from worlds where skipping across dimensions is ordinary.
[ She means Stark. Seriously, fuck that guy in particular. ]
But that place... you're right, it was... very chaotic, most of the time. Things were rarely as steady there as they are here. It wasn't an easily acclimation.
[her mouth twitches a half-second smirk regarding the genius folks.]
If that's the case, then I'll certainly count this as much more of a blessing than I already do. More chaotic than this? I don't know how anyone could keep up...
... When we first arrived in that world, we were all concentrated in one city — a major city, with a civilian population in the millions. We all were assigned to live in one apartment building. There was no police force.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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But I realized that we've had more encounters in dire straits or ominous investigations than anything else, and it doesn't sit well with me.
I don't want our acquaintance to be defined by how many dangerous scrapes we've survived.
What do you think?
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It's only that, I'm not an easy person to get along with, or go out with, or be with, most of the time.
I don't want disappointment to take you by surprise.
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I see.
I can temper my expectations...whatever those were. I'm not actually sure. I had hoped to talk to you a bit more while not under duress or in noisy parties.
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ARE WE DOING A REAL LOG OR IS IT JUST GOING HERE
saves u from cut text
once the time's drawn near and details delivered, Lucina waits under the colorful awning of her favorite cafe -- the one she met Hearthstone at, the one she celebrated her birthday in, spent pleasant time with her friends...she hopes that can be somewhat the same today. not just for her sake, but Ruka, who seems rather...hm. prickly, maybe? it's hard to truly know for sure, given how limited their interactions are. and text can be read so many different ways...
it's easy to spot her -- that hair, the gloves, the eyepatch. Lucina pushes up off the window, smiling, holding up a hand in greeting.]
Hello, Ruka. How did the journey here go?
crawls in twenty years late with Starbucks
It went, I suppose. [ nothing worth declaring, at least. ] I hope I didn't keep you waiting long.
[ UNLIKE YOURS TRULY, REPLYING TO THIS TAG. ]
where's my cookie
[there's a little of anxiousness in her, toeing that line between keeping things casual and the performance anxiety brought on by not wanting to be a disappointment herself. silly, of course. she knows! and her answer to that is to just keep moving forward.
forward, inside, here in this comforting and familiar place. it puts her back at ease right away, seeing the familiar face behind the counter. she moves over to the display case, smiling Ruka's way.]
Everything here is really good! I think I've tried it all at least once by now. So you can be confident whatever you pick should be delicious.
why not cake pop. here's fifty.
she's still not exactly sure what lucina thinks she'll get out of this — what it is she's hoping for — but ruka can be patient. ]
Is the selection so small, or do you come here so frequently? [ she doesn't say it disparagingly, but it would not be difficult to read it as insult. ] I suppose I haven't asked, have I? How long have you been trapped in this world?
i'll TAKE 'EM
[she glances back down at the stuff thoughtfully. how long?]
...Well. Nearing a year, it seems. Though-- [squinting at the distorted reflection she sees of herself in the glass:] It doesn't seem as much. Or--it seems more than that, sometimes. [she looks back Ruka's way.] With the speed at which things can change here, it's easy for me to lose track.
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[ then again, ruka knows she's kept a keener eye on the dates than other people, anniversaries and holidays and calamities, so perhaps it's unfair to assume that as the reason for lucina's uncertainty. ]
It's easy to lose track of things, in a place like this.
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she does a bit of a sidestep, giving Ruka more space to scan the offerings in the glass while she takes a moment to request a cruller. her favorite.]
Is it always? [she glances Ruka's way.] You've had lots of experience here and in other harrowing, chaotic places, right?
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[ after some debate, she settles on a piece of tiramisu, indicated with a twisting gesture and a light, yes, that one, before giving her attention back to her companion. ] I'm sure you've heard about it. Yes?
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after arranging food and napkins:] Father Maxwell told me of it. The world that...sort of...precedes this one? In terms of...having such a similar situation.
[she frowns.]
No, but...can that be right? If this world's had its share of heroes for such a time...
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[ Gone, now; erased and rewritten, like so many others. It's stupid to keep getting attached, when they leap forward like that. It's too easy to fall backwards into the gap between the old end and the new beginning, isn't it?
Ruka's expression is dour, but in her usual way; the only betrayal is a quirk at the corner of her mouth, and a slower blink, as she pushes those thoughts away. ]
The world he told you about is the one I knew, but he didn't know it as well as he might have acted.
Is there... something that confuses you? [ From the expression on Lucina's face, at least, it certainly seems so. ]
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I vaguely remember some talk of heroes in the world long before us. Was that here? Or maybe that was more of what Father Maxwell spoke of in the other world?
[she plops her chin into said hand and sighs.]
I really am a terrible study...Kaneki goes to so much trouble, documenting so much, and every time I try to read it all my eyes glaze...
[the curse of being a goth jock.]
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[ She moves her plate to the side, digging into her purse for a small sketchpad and a pen. Open to a blank page, she sets the notebook on the table, and quickly draws a diagram.
At the top of the page, she draws two circles. In one, she puts a letter A. In the other, a letter B. As she talks, she draws a vertical line beneath each, stopping halfway down the page. ]
We can divide "our" imPort history across two worlds. The one where Lachesis came from, the one where she first "brought" us— [ Her pen taps the A-planet. ] —and the world where Lachesis "took" us, once that one was destroyed. [ Here, the B-planet. ]
For us, Lachesis's imPorts, our history started about ten years ago. We existed in that world for five years, and then it was destroyed. When it was destroyed, Lachesis opened a gateway, and she and the remaining imPorts of that first world crossed over— [ From the bottom of A's vertical line, she draws a sharp slash horizontal across the paper, creating an arrow, connecting it to the line beneath B. Her pen darkens the intersection point, and from there continues drawing the vertical line down the page. ] —to this world. ImPorts like me, and Senator Hundred, and Doctor Chilton, we arrived here almost five years ago. The rest of you joined us after that.
[ Her pen traces over the journey, darkening the line — half on A's line, then crossing to B's side, and then half on B's line, and back again. It looks a bit like a lightning bolt. The first half of B's line remains pale, untouched. ]
According to the history here, imPorts existed in this world before we did, and they were gone before we arrived. But they weren't Lachesis's imPorts, like we are.
[ The pen set aside, Ruka glances up to read the reaction on Lucina's face. ]
Does this make sense?
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thank goodness she thought to explain with pictures; Lucina's a dreadful book-study, hence why all the pages upon pages Kaneki may have written still haven't sunken in when read alone.
her brow knits as she puts this information away in her mind.]
Then... [but why male models] Whose imPorts...were they? Or is that still a mystery?
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I couldn't tell you. It wasn't anything I was ever interested in. None of them had names I recognized, so it didn't seem likely any of them would come back.
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And with the Outrealm gate positioned on my very own world...these sorts of things, these chances of passing realm to realm...it's far more likely than anyone would've thought. [tired jock-in-class sigh.]
Maybe that's just the natural order of some things. Whatever the case, it's clear it's high over my head.
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[ She means Stark. Seriously, fuck that guy in particular. ]
But that place... you're right, it was... very chaotic, most of the time. Things were rarely as steady there as they are here. It wasn't an easily acclimation.
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If that's the case, then I'll certainly count this as much more of a blessing than I already do. More chaotic than this? I don't know how anyone could keep up...
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At all.
[ she is still so tired. ]
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