text; transport service announcement

[encourage]

Happy New Year, according to the calendar in use in Exsilium. May the next year bring glad tidings.

To anyone interested in learning basic self defense, I've spoken with Police Commissioner Sorenstam and will be starting classes through the station for any willing to attend. It's open to everyone, which means rubbing elbows with the exiles who live here, and provided cost free.

Classes will be running Mondays and Wednesdays at 0800, 1000, and 1600, starting the 21st.

- Haruno S.

Comments

[encourage]

( She's amused in a darker way; time travel technology like what the Initiative does is responsible to an extent for her own existence. She wonders if they'll ever turn it to the ends used by Station Alpha-Omega. )

It wouldn't be terribly different from most outside opinions on our own homes, I suspect, but yes.

[futurarex]

Careful. My father certainly doesn't run Camelot in such a stupid way, and I don't intend to, either, when I take the throne.

[but the smile he gives her is still sort of amused, which is better than most people get when they disdain authority!!]

But at least we know for certain what sort of minds we're dealing with. Have you had many volunteers for your lessons?

[encourage]

( She smiles in return. It's the outside perspective. Different cultures have different expectations.

No reason to irritate him by pointing out intentions and reality don't always coincide. )

A handful among the Transports. The people who live here, the honest exiles, seem more interested. It's something new to them.

[futurarex]

[a short nod, then. good. any response is better than none.]

I have a few other obligations, but I still find myself bored. Should you have need of my help, I would offer it gladly.

[encourage]

Thank you. The offer is greatly appreciated. May I have a proper name to go along with it?

( She's -- aware, and knows also what the tagline reads. It's still meant more to her in the long run to ask. )

[futurarex]

Prince Arthur Pendragon of Camelot.

[he says it somewhat more formally than he's been conversing otherwise.]

And you are called... Har-uno? [he hesitates a bit on that one. it's not a Camelot-ian name, okay.]

[encourage]

Ha-ru-no. Haruno is my family name. Sa-ku-ra Ha-ru-no.

( She takes care pronouncing the emphasis, though his "r" is different by merit of their assorted accents. )

It's good to meet you, Prince Arthur Pendragon of Camelot.

( Forgive the slight mispronunciation of that title in whole -- she's better with English names, but the particulars still slip by when it comes to clear differences in r's and l's. )

[futurarex]

[it's clearly an accent and not a mockery--and anyway his own pronunciation of her name is slightly thick and lacking--and anyway he finds that he doesn't mind the clumsiness at all, really. probably because this is one of the better conversations he's head, which disposes him more kindly toward Sakura Haruno, lady of the backwards name.]

Prince Arthur will suffice. [a beat, and he adds:] If I may ask--why do you say your surname first?

[encourage]

( She doesn't remember if anyone's ever asked her that question before. She's not sure she even knows. It's just how it's always been! )

I don't actually know. It's always been that way where I'm from, so to me, I don't understand why your family name comes second. Do you know the reasoning?

[futurarex]

Something to do with when a child's first name is actually given, I think, but I couldn't say for certain.

Anyway. It hardly matters, it was only a point of curiosity. What is your country called?

[encourage]

Ah, it's called the Land of Fire.

( She's concentrating on having this be a translated statement. Kohonagakure was more correct, but it was lost in a jumble of unrecognizable sounds to most. )

Most of the countries where I'm from have similar names after elements of nature.

[futurarex]

Hopefully not named for elements that are common in each countries.

[encourage]

We do have fairly impressive cooking fires...

( Though she smiles. )

The Land of Rain is known for rain. The Land of Earth is on as much earth as the other lands. There's not always a correlation, but it's not beyond reason to assume there is. In this case, the idea of fire is more a lifestyle and belief than a literal reality.

[futurarex]

[he actually smiles slightly at that cooking fires joke (if you can call it a joke, but it mostly is).]

And how is fire a lifestyle if it's only used to cook with?

[encourage]

We're chefs by profession.

( In her mind, she's clearly not serious, bowing her head at the end and laughing, soft and breathy. )

The idea of being both a force of destruction and rebirth is fairly common across cultures. If you did want to discuss what the will of fire means to me, I'd be glad to, sometime away from this.

( She taps on the screen. )

It's a bit more personal than this allows it to be.