we'll surely meet again

[replicannot]

WHO: Luke, Ash, Haru, Jun, Varian
WHERE: Campus
WHEN: Mid-March, before the fae plot
WHAT: Krusnik Kids Meetup
WARNINGS: "Krusnik Kids Meetup" -- So whatever being a Krusnik kid entails. Experimentation, the like.



[It's a normal day on campus.]

[It's a normal day on campus, except there's someone sitting in on one of Luke's lectures. Typically, this wouldn't be a problem. Luke would be distracted anyway! How many times has he slept at his desk? How many times has he smuggled his phone is, confident the professor couldn't see him?]

[But Luke is actually trying to concentrate today, and it isn't working. His eyes keep wandering back to the man with the bandana. Have they met before? Luke doesn't remember him, but---

ẁ̷̨̡̡̻̪̝͐̓͘͝͝e̵͉̪͚̼̫͙̿̆̈́̂̓͜ ̸̨̧̞͚̂͑͆͆̐̚͝͠ͅn̷̨̜̼̖͖͚͒̇̋̏̑̔̏͝e̸͉̙͂͝ę̵̱̲̦̹͙̼̙̞̀͌͂́͛̈́ḑ̵̼̭̓̌͑̒̄̈͋̓̓͛ ̸̫̮̙̤̤͎̜̬̍́̆̀͊̚͜͝t̸̮̼̬̦̦̘͌̓̚͜ō̸̪̻̪̦̣̇̈̃͝ ̵̢̥̟͓̜̼͍̼͊̆͒̊͑͂̈̀͘͘̚s̵̡̛̼̹̥̟̪̣̤͇̦̹͇̃̈́̑̐̈́̌͌̊̍͠͝e̶̥̪͚̥̙͉͌͊̚͠a̴̭̺̰͉̗̭̲̻͛̀ͅl̴̛̗̥͓̺͔̽̉̏́͜ ̵̨̛̗̙͔̩̟͇̥ĥ̷͈͎̎͌̚i̵͕̊̊͛͊̌̓̉̚s̵̢̧̰͚̾͛͘͠ ̴͍̜̟͈̠͉̫͍̓̆ṗ̴̧̝̤̥̘̺͈̓ͅo̵̻̞͎̎̿̅ͅẉ̸̨̼͚͖̮͖̲̂̔́̊͋ȅ̶̞̫̙̻̳͇͖͉̦̼̍̒́r̶̡̲̖͚̩̟̜͎̼̮͊̽͊̀̋̈́̓̒́̋̈ͅ
̸͔̫́́̓̋͐́͊͋̂͠͝
̴̜͕͙͌͋̌̑̎͌̚͠͠p̶̠͊̀͗̑̏̓̊̊û̵̥̺̳̗̮̱̪͖̩̥͖̀̍͛̓̎͌͆̈́̕ŗ̵͙̭̭̖̼̼̟̞̲̙̊͂͝g̵̨͙̖͖̳̳̩͂́͆̆̀̐́̕ẹ̶̗́͂̈́̊͒̆̊̚͜͜͝ ̵̧̧̣̖̳͙̱̯͒̊̊̽̈́͝h̶̢̢͈͚̠̐̕i̷̧͚͔̺͕͇̊̄͜͜s̵͙̳̖̳̣͔̱̼̫̰̘̈́͒ ̷̛̙̗̝̗̱̼͈̭̩̄̒͑͑͛̎͐͜m̶̱̓ḙ̸̛͕͎̝͐̉̍͋͌̍̚̚m̴̛̪̠̙̳͎̯̉͊͋̈͑̚͠͠ȍ̷̰̠̫̺̠́̕͠r̷̼̼̝̪̮͇̐ÿ̸͓͓̯̺̦̩̠̬́̌̽͌́͆̓͛̽͝
̶̡̨̣͍̱̲̖̒͊̉̊̄̄́͘͝
̵̝͔̠̙̼̗̳͔͋̽̈́̎͑t̷̤̦̟̲̠͙̠̔̓̄̀̎̿͆̚͝h̵̪̟̽̓̕e̵̟͚̦̰̲͇̙̖̎̏͘ ̵͈̠͗p̴̧̡̹̲̜͔͚̮̬̳̤̽̋̈́ͅa̶̛̛̘͚͆͑̋͐́̋̒͠͠r̶̡͓͚͇̖̭͎͙̺̲̫̫̽̊́̈́̄͘ê̴̡̹̮̘̟̑ͅn̵̢̗͇͍͉̤̹͍̍̀̈̓̓͆͒͝t̶̡̛͖̼͇̭̼̞͌͊̆̌́͌͗́̇͝͝ͅs̷̗͇̙̮̮̰̗̙̃͗̅͠͝͝͠ ̵̨̢̪̺̙͎̲̅̚č̸̤͕̝͙̿̒́͘ą̴̹͚͇̱͉̳͕̱͌̎͠ņ̷̛̛͙͖̱͇͕̝͍̮̩͌͋̀̽̎̈̓̀̚'̷̨̙̖̮̹̮͚̯̥̈͛́̑̈́͆͒͒̀̒̔͝t̴̯̣͕̬͎̆̇̇̐̏̄̂͊͆̚͜͝͝ ̷̧̡̢͇̺̝͚͎̜͑̄͑̈́̾́̃̍̀͜͝k̸̥̖͔̻̖͉̹̫̩̥̰̃͜n̵̛͔̟̙̘͔̊́͊̀̈́̍̈̎o̸̘̞̹̗̮̍͒̋͌̔̈́́͊̈́w̵̡̾̏́̒͘͜


---Ugh, he's getting a headache. Wait, is the bandana guy coming over here?]

Comments

[life_ethereal]

[Even if Harumasa knew Varian was exceptional at lying, he would never have asked it of him. That being said....]

It's not nice to lie to my face, Varian!

[You never pass up a chance to rag on him for being bad at things, sir (16)!!!

Anyway, he kneels down to Jun's level to pat his head in a placating gesture. His hearing has weirdly improved to the possible misfortune of everyone around him.]

If we don't give him space like he asks, we're not gonna be able to earn his trust. Plus... with how his energy was fluctuating against the Seal as you described, it makes me nervous to do that again when there are a lot of innocent people nearby that could get caught up in it if it breaks free.

[switchaxe]

...do you guys think I should mention this to Hinoki--to Ayato? I don't wanna hurt Luke or anything, but if there ends up being a problem with the faulting Seal the Order will have to step in and help, and I can't do that yet.

[droptheious]

[Varian smiles, raising his hands, palm out. ]

What? Maybe I'm being genuine. You don't know.

[ Yes he does. Haru's got it exactly right. ]

But yeah, we tried opening the door and he's clearly not ready. The last thing we need is to set him off, especially with those energy fluctuations. I don't think we should avoid him entirely, but definitely give him time to adjust - like... baby steps, y'know?

[ Hrm he pulls a face at that. He's not the biggest fan of the Order, but he's trying to not make that a big deal with Ash here and all. ]

Do they have the knowledge to help with a faulting seal? Presumably the old Order would just... well, kill him. Do you think they've worked out a better way with the new management?

[whiteshroud]

[He snorts at Varian, all while he's accepting the head pats from Haru. Excuse him as he turns his head to try to get petted in one of the preferred spots. He's been an animal too many hours today to think to feel embarrassed by this. (9)]

You're not. You always say something just like that as a follow-up when you're full of it.

[He has been arguing with Varian for years, he knows his tells okay]

Fine, fair enough. [He was mostly just griping anyway. As for the order, he definitely has a small concerned face too]

Mm... I'm a little hesitant myself. I'm sure the Order guardians stationed in Kaisou wouldn't actually kill him unless they felt they had no choice, but.... at the moment this is sounding like a socially and emotionally delicate situation, and they're um...

Not.

[Ash you're one of the more tactful on the team and that says... so so much]

[life_ethereal]

[Harumasa is definitely going to do what the cute little brother carbuncle says and pet his head where Jun likes. So adorable!

He falls quiet as they bring up The Black Order. Jun being this close can probably see that it's because Harumasa's thinking seriously about it, weighing pros and cons in his mind and against his heart. The Black Order is building a new identity and has knowledge on the Sealing spell, as well as the means to neutralize powers on the scale Luke has. However, there's still a chance that they might instead take a more heavy-handed approach or might misstep. This is a situation where that threat of a misstep is so scarily easy to do.

If they let POKEGO know, then they run the risk of triggering an even bigger storm of repressed trauma. Their enthusiasm for science might even blind them to the warning signs or, worse, accidentally make them treat Luke like he's a fascinating new species of insect. Even if Harumasa gives them the benefit of the doubt, the risk is too great to accidentally trigger a memory of Krusnik through no fault of their own.

Blade is about the only person on the network he's even willing to consider letting in on this issue. Belle's skills wouldn't be of help here, and Wriothesley's in the same boat. At the same time, if it's just the four of them and they fuck it up, then what are they going to do? The worst case scenario is that Luke takes out the entire city or even just a city block. That's a lot of lives to be taking a gamble on some fucked up young people trying to help an equally fucked up young person.

... He hasn't had reason to use his power on purpose to see the futures of other people, other than what his power warns him about every month. However, this is a circumstance where he thinks it might be warranted.

So Harumasa looks up at them with a deceptively easy smile and lighthearted tone.]

Want me to take a peek?

[For Varian's benefit, he clarifies:]

It's our code phrase for me asking if we wanna use my ability to see into the future. In this case, Luke's future.

[switchaxe]

[Ash doesn't argue with Varian or Jun--they're right--though he does have to bite back laughter at Jun's sniper shot about the lack of delicacy in the Order right now. He's not wrong, and Ash won't deny it.

But then Hazel offers to take a peek.]

...only if you want to, Hazel. It probably wouldn't hurt to know, but I don't wanna put you at risk of somethin' if you do.

[droptheious]

[Varian turns to look at his partner, putting a hand to his chest and fake gasping. ]

How dare you! Those are lies and slander against my good name!

[ They are not. He is absolutely full of shit. He nods at Jun's assessment of the Order though.]

Yeah, subtlety is um... not their strong suit. Sorry Ash. POKEGO probably wouldn't be much better, if it helps.

[They all know it's true! His eyebrows raise as Haru makes the offer, though. He does realise this is... likely something most people are not privy to - so he'll treat it with the respect it deserves, for whatever he's done to deserve to be allowed into this inner circle. ]

I see. That's... useful, but will... will it hurt you? Ash makes it sound like it could hurt you.

[whiteshroud]

Sorry my love, but you know it's true.

[Jun's ears will perk up when Haru offers to take the look in the future. He knows what it means for Haru to offer that, especially in front of Varian. It means he trusts him. Even Jun hadn't told Varian about Haru's power, since he knew the weight of that secret]

Physically he should be alright, but mentally depending on what he sees... [Well, that's another matter] It's up to you, Haru, if you want to take that risk.

[He'll also send a message telepathically to Varian]

Haru's really cautious about telling people about his power, because people would exploit it when he was younger. So if you want proof that he sees you as family, this is it.