[OPEN] Haibara adjusts

[deage]

Who: Haibara & OPEN
Where: Quiet Car, Medical Car, Triage Car, Library Car
When: From just before mission through end of the mission
What: Haibara puts off worrying by making herself busy
Warnings: nah

[ A: Before Mission - Quiet Car ]

Things were unraveling around Haibara. Secrets revealed from all sources, putting everybody in even further danger. But those unraveled threads of secrets and conspiracies were also coming back together, forming a tapestry of new norms and possibility. She was roomed with Mouri, she could mitigate the danger Ran was in while gaining another set of eyes and ears around her. Kudo knew that she had the antidote with her, but... no, honestly that part was bad, he was far too reckless with it. And then there was Masumi Sera, Haibara still didn't know what to make of her.

But the people around her were becoming more aware of and conscious of Haibara's role in the APTX-4869, and Haibara needed to think about how to continue work on the antidote. She couldn't hide from Vermouth forever, not and still pursue any sort of goal... and so she had braved the world outside her cabin.

She was back at the place she had tried to gain access to so long ago, when she had first arrived. A lab space created in the Quiet Car, by one Tony Stark. He had left the train some weeks ago, and so she figured the space would be open for all - assuming people hadn't simply taken the equipment from it. But what she didn't expect was...

"Why is this still locked?" Who would even manage a lab now?

Crud.

[ B: During mission - Medical & Triage Cars ]

Haibara had opted to stay behind again. But something nagged at her in the back of her mind, telling her to get up and stop being a burden, and she couldn't ignore it. In her mind, the best she could do now from the train was simply to make sure things were ready for those who came back.

And with her skills, that meant ensuring that the train was prepared to treat anybody who came back injured.

So she could be found in both the Medical and Triage Cars, organizing the medicines, ensuring the supplies were ready and sanitized properly, and in general doing a lot of things a seven-year-old shouldn't be doing.

Feel free to spot her and give her a talking to. Also if your character DOES come back injured, they might have to deal with the bedside manners of a little girl without manners.

[ C: After mission - Library ]

Haibara does make some trips out of her room. A girl still has to eat and shower, even if hiding for your life. But she might be growing more bold lately, even heading over to the Library Car to find some books to read. When she's sure there will be people around besides Vermouth.

Mostly, she seems to stick to mystery novels or non-fiction. The lengthy, boring kinds of non-fiction. It might deserve some comment...

Or it might just be a good place to run into her, if one is looking.

Comments

C

[tactlesstantei]

[It had taken Masumi some time to track down Haibara, not helped by the fact that the mission had kept her from looking for her at all. But now the mission is over and Masumi finally manages to track Haibara down to the library, giving her the chance to talk to her.]

Hey, I've been meaning to talk to you lately. You have time for that?

[deage]

[ Oh boy, the last of the people Haibara needed to Talk to.

Haibara places the book she was looking at down onto the nearest table. ]

I'm surprised it took you this long. Not that I made myself readily available, I suppose.

[tactlesstantei]

It hasn't been easy finding you. [But now that she has, she can finally get this done. Aside from dealing with Sharon Vermouth and her suspicions of course, but that's not something that can just be talked out.]

Some of what I need to talk about is stuff I don't want random people to overhear, so you want to go to a quiet room?

[Masumi still wants to keep her secrets, and taking the conversation to a quiet room is the best way to make sure those secrets don't get out to others.]

[deage]

[ Haibara mentally weighs the pros and cons. Because, to be perfectly honest, she doesn't trust Sera. Not when she doesn't know any of the details surrounding her.

She doesn't have a way of getting a message to Kudo, either, or to Ran.

Hm. Still, she needs answers. And depending on what they are, Sera might deserve some, too. ]

...All right.

[tactlesstantei]

Let's go, then.

[Masumi leads the way, thinking about how to start this conversation. She's not as familiar with Haibara as she is with Ran or Shinichi, so she's not quite sure how to approach this beyond just jumping into it.

Much like her earlier conversation with Ran, Masumi picks a random quiet room and gives Haibara a chance to sit down before actually saying anything about what she knows or wants to know.]

[deage]

[ Haibara... elects to stand near the door. She doubts she could do much if Sera was actually hostile, but it was her best shot of escaping if she needed to.

Of course, she is also aware that Masumi is likely to realize this. ]

Start with how much you already know, and how.

[ And... to the point. Haibara is trying to take control of the conversation early. ]

[tactlesstantei]

[Masumi’s taken off guard by this, but doesn’t comment on it and instead just does as asked.]

I already know about Conan being Shinichi, and knew for a while. I already talked to him about it after the faire, too. You, I’m not as sure about, but I think you’re in a similar situation.

As for how I found out any of this, someone poisoned my mom with what I assume is the same poison, so I’ve been trying to get help for her.

A....

[luckydragonsfoot]

"Hoh? Locked?"

Now...who's this guy? Maybe Conan's mentioned him. Maybe not. Katsuya however, is sure acting like he at least recognizes her, and that's Probably Not Great.

(Really, blame that island though- he probably doesn't even know for sure, he just knows better than to ask.)

"Huh...wonder 'f I could pick th' lock somehow..." Is it even a key lock?? He'd probably still say 'pick it' even if it wasn't to be fair, but how does this lab work anyway? "...Whatcha need in there anyway?"

[deage]

Kudo's mentioned some people - especially those in on his secret - but not with enough detail that Haibara can place a name to their faces.

"I wanted to have a look around. It's not worth breaking in over, especially when it might be picked clean." Or it might not be. It's hard to tell, since the windows are covered with thick curtains.

Haibara is eying up this guy who would casually suggest that to a little girl, though.

[luckydragonsfoot]

In his perhaps very poor defense:

He would 100% do that around a normal little girl. Truly, he's another Hattori.

Still, he tries peering in vain through the windows, seeing if he can't get a look through a crack in the curtain or something. "Yeah? Th' hell y' need in there, it was some kinda lab wasn' it? Stuff like tha' tends t' be better worked on in there righ'?"

He would also cuss in front of a normal little girl. Katsuya is perhaps not a great role model.

[deage]

"I need a lab," she answers frankly.

Haibara is TERRIBLE at pretending to be a normal kid.

"Do you always curse around children?" But not above pointing it out.

[luckydragonsfoot]

Ew he hates that- "Geeze, yer gonna be like tha'..? I mean y' ask me," Katsuya goes on with a frown, "Th' fact that y' recognize a curse tells me y' heard it somewhere else so..." He shrugs. "Jus' a word, ain't it?"

Also, he's learned to just not trust in the innocence of children. First Mokuba, then Noa, what next?? Maybe there really IS an evil six year old waiting to ruin the world back home.

"Turnin' this around, th' heck y' need a lab for, 'kid who has soft ears apparently'?"

[deage]

"I told Senku I'd help him with science stuff."

Honestly, bonding with Senku and being Gen's roommate was a stroke of luck, insofar as easy excuses went. It was easy to deflect suspicion and keep Kudo-kun uninvolved so long as that science freak was around.

C

[pleple]

Other people around - in this case, another child, although Ple Two is a little more able to defend herself than Haibara. And she's another child picking out very dry works of non-fiction to boot, in her case technical manuals; it seems like that's been a useful thing to know on recent missions, and she's been picking up on it easily enough to want to bolster her knowledge further.

"Looks like some light reading, there."

[deage]

"There's not much variety yet." Haibara has a technical manual herself - Communication Points: A Basic Overview, as well as An Introduction to Liminal Spaces.

At least Ple Two is older than Haibara. In appearance, anyway. It's less weird. Not that Haibara puts much stock in actually appearing like a normal child.

"When I get more points, I'll probably see about bringing in more books."

[pleple]

"I'm not even sure what we should be requesting exactly. I should consult with someone like Senku." Then they can work together on spending points towards a purpose. "There's a lot I could stand to learn."

[deage]

"Ishigami-san is smart, but he's not the only knowledgeable person on the train." Haibara is, of course, referring to herself. And possibly Kudo.

[pleple]

"I've worked more closely with him recently, but if you have any ideas I'll take those into consideration just as strongly." Unless they sound like terrible ideas - she doesn't expect that from Haibara though.

[deage]

...Ugh, okay, fine, she started this conversation, let's see it through.

"What's the goal we'd be aiming for? What are we working towards with our book selection."

A. Lab time.

[hashtagparkerluck]

Peter's adjusting to new life on the train but he still frequents the lab and it just doesn't feel right without Tony Stark there. He's finally found most of his things including important notes but one of the things he was most concerned about was the little Lego Version of Tony's Armor Hall.

He hears commotion outside and gets up to open the door. Did he lock the door behind him? He doesn't remember. "Oh, hey." He greets in his normally cheerful way before backing up from the door and going back to fuss with the lego structure and overthink about where lego Tony should go and if he should have his coffee in hand. He probably should.

[deage]

Oh hey, somebody's actually here. Haibara quickly tries to put on an air of innocent child, but Peter doesn't seem to be making a fuss either way, so she lets herself relax.

She steps inside, trying to look around the lab as she does. Because she's to this date never actually gotten a peek inside, before or after Tony Stark's departure. But to try and not look like a weirdo, she does talk as she does this. "You're Parker... right? I thought this place would be completely locked up."

They've met, some, but most of what she knows actually came from Kudo.

[hashtagparkerluck]

In the end, he does decide that Lego Tony needs his coffee and then looks up at the small strawberry blonde. He only vaguely remembers her but it wasn't like they were that close or he was in a great frame of mind when they met.

"Huh? Yeah. Peter, actually. Peter Parker." He offers, setting lego Tony by his desk. "Nah, it's usually unlocked I think-even if it wasn't that wouldn't really stop me." He could, after all, just yank the lock off. "It's changed a lot though. I hid some notes in here a while back. I'm hoping nobody found them."

[deage]

Haibara hones in on the chemistry set in the lab, casually looking it over as if a curious child... instead of a discerning adult. "Parker, then." She doesn't do first names much, sorry. "What kind of notes would you have hidden?"

[hashtagparkerluck]

"Oh just, you know. Some stuff I was looking into I didn't want everyone to know about." Speaking of that though, he start gets down on his hands and knees and runs his hands over the floorboard, he activates his sticky powers for a moment and pulls the board up before reaching into the crevice pull out a think envelope of a bunch of loose leaf papers.

"Glad to know some things stay the same." He drops the board back where it goes and gets to his feet. "And uh, really Pete or Peter is fine."

[deage]

Haibara pauses. Looks at the notes. Digests what Parker said.

"Are they the notes for Kudo-kun?"