Afterparty 5.0

[forcegalactic]

[There's not much that can be believed about that trial. Or that execution. Still, like before, two hours after everyone leaves, they'll find a note slipped underneath their doors.]

We have to stick together. The dining room is there for anyone that needs a quiet space, and I cooked dinner.

Hibiki made some coffee and dessert for all of us.

-Mordecai Benmont Jiminy and Hibiki Ganaha

[Today's selection includes potato pancakes and a light coffee cake. Hibiki has lit two more candles in the dining hall. It doesn't take long before Mordecai lights a third.]

Comments

[nankurunaisa]

Really?!

[Her face lights up.]

This is going to be fun! I can't wait.

[ninehundredlives]

Sure, it'll be nice.

[Her smile is genuine - not so much because she thinks it'll be nice to art with others, as because she likes to spend time with Hibiki.]

[nankurunaisa]

I'm glad ya think so! I've been wantin' to ask for a while...but it was kinda hard with everythin' going on.

[ninehundredlives]

Yeah...yeah, I know.

[There sure has been a lot of shit going on.]

[nankurunaisa]

We'll get it done this week for sure, and we'll get closer to gettin' home, too! Nankurunaisa!

[If Susan looks confused by that word, she will explain it, I just can't remember if Hibiki explained it to her or not yet.]

[ninehundredlives]

[NO SHE DID NOT what the fuck does that mean]

[nankurunaisa]

Hehe. Sorry, sorry. That means "everything's gonna turn out fine in the end" where I come from, more or less.

[ninehundredlives]

Oh.

...what was it, again?

[nankurunaisa]

Nankurunaisa! Whenever I say it, I know we've still got a fightin' chance!

[ninehundredlives]

Nankurunaisa. [She pronounces it carefully, making sure to get it right. This seems like a good thing to remember.] Got it.

[nankurunaisa]

[Ah. That warms this idol's heart to see someone memorizing her word.]

I'm gonna give you special permission to use it if you ever need it, okay? I taught it to Ashley, too.

[ninehundredlives]

...oh.

[Susan sobers at the reminder of Ashley. That makes it more important, doesn't it?]

I'll remember.

[nankurunaisa]

That makes me really happy! Thanks, Su...Ashworth-san!

[ninehundredlives]

[Ugh you know what she's just gonna ask]

What does that mean? San? You don't use it for everyone. [Enough people here have been using Japanese honorifics that Susan's just been kinda rolling with it.]

[nankurunaisa]

Oh, did I forget to explain that? Hehe.

[She rubs the back of her neck. Sorry, murder!mom, her bad.]

I'm just tryin' to be respectful! "San" is how a kid like me addresses adults. But when I'm talkin' to someone my age, it doesn't really matter.

[ninehundredlives]

I thought it was something like that. [She'd have spoken up sooner if she thought it was anything more significant.] I was only wondering. It's funny that we understand each other at all.

[Susan pauses, as if a sudden thought just occurred to her.]

I wonder if that will still happen when we leave...

[nankurunaisa]

It took me a while to realize that, hehe. But I think that's why some of the things I say sound different to people. There's no real meaning to "nankurunaisa" if you translate it. It just isn't the same, y'know?

[Oh. That's. That's certainly a thought.]

You're right! Maybe I should be studying English...

[ninehundredlives]

I can study Japanese, too...

I wonder what Logan's language even is. [He's the first one to come to mind who's clearly not from an Earth, exactly.]

[nankurunaisa]

Logan-san is from Europe! So he speaks English, too, right?

[...Right?]

If you really wanna learn, I can help teach you some!

[ninehundredlives]

Last I checked, Europe didn't have trolls.

That could be helpful. It's better to do it now while we still can understand each other.

[nankurunaisa]

Trolls? ...Did he really mention trolls? I don't think those exist.

[... ...Right?!]

[ninehundredlives]

Trolls and werewolves. They weren't called that, but that's what they sounded like.

[nankurunaisa]

I've never met a werewolf, either! So...I guess he must be from somewhere else. I fell for it. I thought he was from your neck of the woods the entire time.

[ninehundredlives]

He looks like he could have been a sort of medieval European person...

[nankurunaisa]

Medieval? You mean that's not how a king dresses anymore?