wipesfaith | ( appointments )

[He was listening...! And rolling his eyes, back then. But he had started to listen more carefully before he was dragged here.]

...I guess so. [Slurping down some of the soup.] Who knows, maybe I'll find out for myself someday. [He...kinda doubts he'll stay alive long enough to reach that point, though. Hahaha...ha...ha. Let's change the topic. He throws Haruka a look again.]

Hey, what do you even do, back where you're from? [He's known the guy since day one, but he still knows almost nothing about him.]

[Hm... Wouldn't it be something if Jean could see the ocean along with the rest of the Survey Corps? And lands of ice, lakes of boiling water, and anything else Armin told them about. The chances of it are incredibly slim, Marco knows that just as well as anyone else, but that'd just make their possible success that much sweeter.

As Jean turns his attention to Haruka again, Marco reaches across the table to get some more food of his own. He's not taking any mackerel, because Haruka seems to really want it all, but he's fine with everything else that's on the table.]

[Haruka pauses when the spotlight suddenly turns to him, mackerel halfway to his mouth. His chopsticks hover for a moment, stuck between going to his mouth or placing his food back in his bowl. In the end, he isn't Nagisa, so his chopsticks lower momentarily.]

I went to school.

[U guys better not drag him into Luceti school--]

We were preparing for a swimming tournament before I arrived.

[Dragging people to school is Marco's job.]

You mean like a contest?

[A beat.] What, so you go to school just to learn how to swim? [That's...oddly specific. Okay.]

[School? But Haruka doesn't attend school in Luceti. Is it because there's no swimming classes or contests for swimming? They could always suggest that to Professor Raine.

His gaze is on Haruka as he waits for an answer to Jean's question.]

[Haruka's never been particularly motivated about school, so because it's not mandatory in Luceti, he doesn't go. Considering he kind of skips class even when it is, Haruka's attachment to his schooling has been fairly low in recent years.]

No.

[I already know how to swim. Haruka's voice stays dispassionate.]

Swim club is extra. But we represent the school in "contests".

[Not that Haruka cares too deeply about that part. As long as he can swim, it doesn't matter. He's only really bothering with some effort because of his deal with Rin.]

[He's spooning more soup into his mouth as he listens. Then...what does Haruka go to school for? The idea of going to school for the sake of obtaining a general education is distant to him. That sort of thing was for people with enough money to live comfortably within the innermost wall, while anybody else scraped together whatever education they could at home. Then you went to school to learn a trade, and you wouldn't waste time on anything extra.]

Oh, is it like the school here? Reading, writing, science and all that? [It makes sense to him in the context of Luceti, because what else is there to do? But apparently there's time for all that wherever this guy's from.]

[Swim club is "extra"... Haruka attends school and there's still plenty of time to go swimming on the side? That must take up a lot of his time. What if his family needs him home to do chores or something? Maybe school is similar to joining the military in Haruka's world; you get sent to a special location and you don't get to see your family unless there's some special circumstances. Hm...]

[Ha ha ha what family.]

I guess. I haven't been.

[Except that one time he got teleported into it on his first day. And honestly, he has absolutely no intention of attending Luceti school.]

Yeah, I noticed.

[...He's gonna snag what just might be the last piece of mackerel while he can. Deal with it, Haruka.]

[Ahhh, now it's Marco's turn to be the enabler. He's pretty sure Jean doesn't have any regrets about attending classes, so maybe Haruka will benefit from going to school too. He'll just ignore his food in favor of giving Haruka an excited little speech.]

You should come too! Professor Sage is a really good teacher. We've been learning loads of interesting stuff. All our classmates are really nice too.

[Argh, dammit Jean! Dirty mackerel snatcher! ...Oh well, there's always mackerel tomorrow.

Haruka's attention fixes on Marco as he speaks. Honestly, he doesn't have much interest in attending school. And as for classmates? He couldn't care less. Haruka's response is firm.]

I'm only interested in swimming.

[It seems unlikely there will be anything that will actually interest him there that he can't do himself. Sorry, Marco.

Since he'd pretty much been eating while the two had been talking earlier, he's almost eaten his fill, having only the last of his soup to go.]

Guess that answers that. [He says through a mouthful of mackerel, hardly sounding put out.]

You tried, Marco. [Reaching out to give him a consoling pat on the shoulder...but as soon as his hand lands, he feels awkward about touching him in any capacity (even if they'd agreed that nothing happened) and he quickly recoils.]

[Marco wouldn't have regarded the shoulder pat as anything odd if Jean hadn't acted as if he'd been burned on contact. As it is, he looks up at his fiend with a confused expression. Is he still frustrated about the mistletoe incident, or was it because of something else?

He'll just... uh... try not to draw attention to how awkward that shoulder pat was and focus on the subject at hand. Right. He was talking to Haruka.]

But... even if swimming is the thing that you love most, that doesn't mean you can't have other interests. You love cooking too, right?

[Haruka's gaze flickers between the two, but doesn't comment on the strange behaviour. As long as whatever it is that's going on between them doesn't interfere with Haruka's life, he doesn't care.

He pauses, bowl halfway to his mouth, looking aside.]

It's just something my late grandmother taught me.

[His voice is flat, as if he doesn't have much attachment to it, really. Nevermind that he actually makes an effort beyond standard recipes for all his dishes.]

[He ignores the looks from both of them, stuffing the last bite of mackerel into his mouth.]

I dunno, it's hard to tell when he just looks like he doesn't give a shit all of the time.

[That comment catches Marco off guard so badly the mix of vegetables he was raising to his mouth slips right off his fork again. Leave it to Jean to throw a blunt comment like that into a perfectly civil conversation. Sure, he kinda has a point, but...]

J-Jean...!

[I'm right here. Haruka's brows crease in irritation, but he doesn't say anything. Instead, with his soup finished, Haruka silently pushes back his chair and stands. He doesn't see enough reason to continue this conversation, so he turns and takes his dishes to the kitchen sink and leaves them there.

Someone else can wash them.

With that, he'll be exiting stage left if unbothered.]

[Swallowing the large bite he had taken.] What? It's true, isn't it?

[He's not particularly bothered by the fact that Haruka has stood up so abruptly, and so shortly after he dropped that comment. See, he's just finished eating is all.]

You're being rude! [That's about all he snaps at Jean before he pushes himself to his feet to chase after Haruka, abandoning the rest of his dinner for now. His friend may have less common courtesy than a dog, but Marco doesn't.]

Haruka, wait!

[Unfortunately, Haruka is not the best at waiting when called. But he does pause, hand on the handle of the door to his apartment.

His response is flat.]

It's fine.

[Jean can do what he wants.]

[He watches Marco leave with something of a scowl - why bother? - before turning back to the end of his meal. Looks like they're keeping the leftovers, then.]

[Pausing is good enough. It allows Marco to catch up to Haruka in the privacy of the hallway.]

It's not fine. I mean... I know Jean doesn't mean any harm by it, but he still shouldn't have said that.

[Haruka's gaze lifts from the doorknob to Marco's face.]

Jean can say what he wants.

[It doesn't bother me. In a way, he actually doesn't mind Jean's directness, even if half of what he says is dumb in Haruka's opinion; he'd rather honest words than words that hide their true intent.]

It's better that way.

[If this were a slice-of-life anime, this is where Jean would be sneezing. But it isn't, so he's not.]

( appointments )

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