Otono-Tachibana Makie (
therewerefifty) wrote2013-11-21 02:43 pm
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[Makie has been feeling restless lately. Usually content to live her days out in obscurity, she finds herself going out of her way to sit and people-watch more and more. It's still much the same thing. She's just...being obscure in company that doesn't notice. Yes. Or something.
If she were honest with herself, she'd know she was looking for someone in particular. She's been thinking of similarities lately. It's a nostalgia and a hurt, deep inside, knowing she will never go back to the person she truly loves. If this is her life now, here in Luceti...surely it's all right to move on and consider another? Even if the similarities she noted are stretched thin by further meetings...
But Makie is rarely honest. So she fidgets and is restless, and today after work at the restaurant, she breaks from usual routine to go shopping. The clothing store, trying on different outfits that aren't as traditional as her normal kimono. She remembers wearing jeans fondly in her other life. She ends up going home with a pair today. (She may never wear them, but hey. You never know.)
She goes to the item store for a more serious look at any hair ornaments she can find, and finds herself faintly regretting she ever cut her hair short. That one last memory, of fingers gently letting her hair down in the moonlight on the bridge. Only the more she thinks about it, the more the faintly disapproving face of her memories is replaced by another.
She goes to the teahouse to try and calm the unsettled feeling to her nerves, and ends up staring into space for a long time, unless interrupted by passers by.
She doesn't visit the battle dome at all, for once. Instead, once she's done at the tea house, she explores the village, hoping for a glimpse of someone in particular. It's...not unusual. She just enjoys the company of someone so intelligent. That's all it is.
There is nothing wrong here whatsoever.]
If she were honest with herself, she'd know she was looking for someone in particular. She's been thinking of similarities lately. It's a nostalgia and a hurt, deep inside, knowing she will never go back to the person she truly loves. If this is her life now, here in Luceti...surely it's all right to move on and consider another? Even if the similarities she noted are stretched thin by further meetings...
But Makie is rarely honest. So she fidgets and is restless, and today after work at the restaurant, she breaks from usual routine to go shopping. The clothing store, trying on different outfits that aren't as traditional as her normal kimono. She remembers wearing jeans fondly in her other life. She ends up going home with a pair today. (She may never wear them, but hey. You never know.)
She goes to the item store for a more serious look at any hair ornaments she can find, and finds herself faintly regretting she ever cut her hair short. That one last memory, of fingers gently letting her hair down in the moonlight on the bridge. Only the more she thinks about it, the more the faintly disapproving face of her memories is replaced by another.
She goes to the teahouse to try and calm the unsettled feeling to her nerves, and ends up staring into space for a long time, unless interrupted by passers by.
She doesn't visit the battle dome at all, for once. Instead, once she's done at the tea house, she explores the village, hoping for a glimpse of someone in particular. It's...not unusual. She just enjoys the company of someone so intelligent. That's all it is.
There is nothing wrong here whatsoever.]
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ILU gore
She crosses from the other side of the plaza before she thinks it through, and before he can leave.]
Colonel Curtiss?
[She hasn't... really thought about this at all. But it's just a talk between friends. Right?]
You are loved more!
But he's been practicing, improving. Enduring this should not be impossible.
He smiles lightly at her.]
Why yes, you've gotten my name down correctly. Well done, Miss Tachibana.
|D <3
It seems you have yet to master mine.
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How have I been mistaken? Or... Ah. Otono-Tachibana must be a contracted surname. [Or insert whatever the correct term is for that kind of name.] Is that correct?
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Are you...busy?
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[...
...yep, that's it. She stands there as if she's thinking of how to say something, but dead silence. Great conversational partner.]
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Well, what is it?
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Of course, Makie has met Jade enough that she's seen vast lack of common ground as well, but that attitude and that crispness...
Dammit.]
Would you mind some company?
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I suppose that I wouldn't be opposed. If an old man such as myself could be considered 'company'.
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Oh, it's just some usual business. I have to conduct some research at the library, and I've been intended to do some training at the Battle Dome.
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What manner of thing are you researching?
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Do you... often conduct such research? It seems very serious.
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[So cautious.]
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You can be quite cruel at times, Colonel Curtiss. I wonder why you feel the need to be.
I do not feel the need to prove anything. Sometimes an offer is made for precisely the reason that is given. If you do not wish any assistance, you need only say as much.
[Offering to help has nothing to do with proving anything, no matter how dryly the help was offered. Jerk.]
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[He shrugs. And only makes a fleeting glance at her.]
I do appreciate any assistance. One's motives don't matter in the past. [He then lays on the light-heartedness.] Even if one was doing such just for an opportunity to stab me in the back, I imagine that it would be a very interesting exercise.
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...ah. What was he saying. Something about opportunities--]
Are there many that want to do such a thing? [She sounds a little unsteady. Like she's taking him seriously, or is actually worried. Imagine.]
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Only my friends. [He says with some sarcasm laid on.] My enemies prefer to try for the front, you see.
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Your enemies are all so honourable? [Now she sounds more like herself, though.]
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Have any such followed you to Luceti?
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There's a few. But it's not worth mentioning. [He doesn't see the local God Generals as threats - partly because they're not active in that capacity and also largely because he's sure that they could defeat them again, even while missing Luke and a good portion of their party.]
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A few ...jealous people?
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[Raine had only been giving her a friendly greeting at the tea shop, but there was something odd about that distracted look. It's strange, as it strikes her as almost similar to the expression that had been in Haruhi's eyes a few days ago...]
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...I'm sorry. Did you say something? I'm afraid I didn't hear.
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[It's unlike her. That thought surfaces briefly, but in the end maybe it's just a mark of the change Luceti has wrought.] I'm sorry. I suppose I have been deep in thought to the point I've lost track of my surroundings. It's very rude of me.
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[Though she wants to, strangely. It would be nice to talk about it and it's only long held habits of propriety that keep her silent now. But a flush graces her cheeks just the same.] It's complicated, I suppose.
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...it would be okay if she just didn't bring his name into it, wouldn't it?]
I... I've been thinking a lot about someone of late.
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[He's only interested in my talent. No, that's not how it goes. That's... someone else. She blinks, and then frowns.] I think it's very confusing.
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[But now she's doubtful. Raine has a point.]
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[She stares down at her tea.]
Perhaps I shall seek him out and be honest.
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[Her brow furrows. Made an impression. Well, there was that familiarity, but...]
He reminds me of someone from home. But...I think it's more than that now.
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[She smiles tiredly.] I sound like a flustered girl. I'm sorry.
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[And it can't be love, can it? Some sort of passing interest in a reminder of Kagehisa. She's in love with someone else.
But she can tell herself that. She's already thinking of another far more clearly.]
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[And yet the moment she says that, she doubts. Makie shakes her head.] It's rather sudden. I suppose I just need to get my thoughts on the matter clear.
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[...but she wants to get off this subject.]
How have you been, Raine?
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...do you think that could possibly be what's happened to me?
[Writing a crush off as a fear of some kind. Makes perfect sense.]
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[Konan is in the teahouse to pick up some tea for home. She plans on enjoying a cup here - it's a pleasant way to warm herself amongst the colder weather. Ultimately, though, she just wants some for home, to either enjoy alone or with the occasional guest that stops by.
Which reminds her. She wants to reach out more to others. If there's one thing she learned from that fake reality that she's willing to acknowledge, it's that she likes being surrounded by people she cares about. She likes that, and here, she has a chance to have the peaceful life that she never could back home. All she needs to do is remember not to take that for granted, and to actively seek out the company of others.
When she spots Makie at the tea house, she gestures to the seat across from her.]
Hello again, Makie. Is this seat taken?
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Not at all. Please, sit.
How have you been, Konan?
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[Which reminds her. She really should introduce Nagato to more of the friends she's made here.]
I spent some time at Casino Land, though. How about you?
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I did attend the celebration, though. Did you go? [She wasn't there for very long.]
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[In part because he's her best friend, and in part because she was concerned over his Malnosso-inflicted phobia of the colour red. She'd found him blue-tinted glasses to negate some of the effects, but still watched over him.]
I was surprised to see so many people there, even knowing about the existence of the other enclosures.
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Nagato is... a friend from your world?
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Nagato and I grew up together and we've fought side by side many times over the years.
[There's no one she trusts more than him. There are plenty of people she likes well enough, and some she trusts to an extent, but he's the one who knows her thoroughly.]
...in that strange alternate reality, he and I were married.
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That must have been very awkward after the fact. At least... I didn't know the person I was supposed to be married to in that reality.
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[There was only one detail that really upset her. She'd been pregnant and just freshly on maternity leave in that reality...and then found out it was all a lie.]
It...was interesting to see how things could have turned out.
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Strangely, in that world I had nothing but a succession of men I used to love. But I had a loving family, and a son I cherished.
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I'm glad. We had an adopted daughter and a baby on the way.
[She's glad that she ran into Elie for a while at Malnosso World. Her not!daughter still wanted to associate with her. Although she would have understood if she didn't...it was nice.]
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[Complete with all the false memories of what morning sickness and other pregnancy related discomforts feel like.]
Even as my memories started coming back, I was reluctant to fight just in case I actually was pregnant.
[It rankles that she'd been taken in so thoroughly by what was essentially just elaborate genjutsu, even knowing that so many others had been as well.]
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They made me believe I was dying. But when the illusion wore off... the fact that I wasn't just made me happier. {Well, wasn't anymore. An illusion of what could have been.] But giving you that added life, only to take it away...
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[She does regret that she wasn't actually pregnant with the child, even now, but experiencing the symptoms of a terminal disease sounds far worse than experiencing the symptoms of pregnancy.]
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I suppose it is, but... it's a disease that I did have, and would kill me in my own world. The fact that it can't here... it showed me I had a better chance of a good life.
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Ah, I see. I'm glad, then, that you have that chance. This place has been somewhat of a second chance for me, too.
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I see.
[Her voice is soft.] I suppose the two of us are... some of the few that might consider Luceti somewhat of a blessing.
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[The next time she encounters the cultists, she's got a number of plans for taking them out. Some of those plans involve small, well-placed explosives.]
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...unlikable. [Perhaps that's the best word. A few months ago, she would have said it's all she deserved. But now...]
I prefer Luceti. The Third Party is... a threat that can be dealt with.
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[Konan's tone is resolute. There are enough people who she's grown to care about here that she's willing to strategize and fight for everyone's benefit.]
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She hesitates only a moment.]
Yes. By any means necessary.
[If she can find her place here, she doesn't mind at all killing monsters in the name of protection.]
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It's at least who she'll run into as she comes outside the clothing shop with her pair of jeans. He waves excitedly as he approaches. Happy to see her even though he had seen her at work earlier.]
Hey! Makie! Trying out something new today?
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Not today. I thought...perhaps later. I probably need to find warmer clothes soon.
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Of course, if you were ever trapped at home and needed someone to bring you a warm blanket and cup of hot chocolate all you'd have to do is ask a heroic gunman and he'd weather any kind of weather to bring it to you!
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I'll be sure to keep that in mind.
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[Vash may get the impression she didn't really hear him. She's brushing past with a distant and distracted look on her face.]
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...forgive me. That was rude.
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[He continues to follow a few strides behind Makie. Just like a lost puppy.]
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[What is she up to? Her distraction over trying to work that out means she doesn't give Vash any grief for the moment.] I'm not sure I'm up to building snowmen today, Mr Vash. Perhaps I should just go home and sleep.
[The world might stop feeling so strange.]
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Yeah, sure. Of course. Are you feeling alright? [He generally tries not to ask Makie all the time how she's feeling, but it has been cold so when she adds wanting to rest he can't help but to be sure.]
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I'll just put snowmen building on that list of things we need to do together sometime! Like with the picnic! So don't you worry! We'll get around to it eventually! [Because clearly she was.]
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[She inclines her head.] I will likely see you at work tomorrow, then.
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A small, black and white sugar glider-like creature with yellow accents comes sailing in, apparently too distracted by her own endless mid-air posturing and primping to look which way she's going and—
Crash-into meeting imminent?]
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Ah--?
[That was unexpected.]
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[The creature (surprisingly bigger than the average squirrel, more the size of a small cat, perhaps) looks up at her, half-confused, half-upset.] Eeee~mon! [After that baleful sound, she hangs backwards, swooning almost out of Makie's grasp, with a paw pressed to her forehead like a fainting lady in pictures. Quite theatrical, seemingly searching for pity despite being the one to fly so carelessly.]
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--wow creature, are you serious? She can't help but smile a little at that unmistakable gesture.]
A little overly dramatic, don't you think? You didn't get hurt.
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[Drat, this lady is too ssmart! She stops her dramatics, sitting upright and waving a paw dismissively.] Eh-mon!
[Now, she smiles cheekily up at Makie, pointing at her own open mouth.
What, now she wants her to feed her? Overly dramatic and a glutton.]
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I've no food. But I'm sure if you tried to faint at the door to the restaurant, they'd feel sorry enough for you they would feed you.
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[She strokes her chin thoughtfully, before nodding her round head confidently, seemingly liking that idea!
After that, she looks around them, then back at Makie in a questioning way.]
Emon-mon-mon? [It's a shame Pokemon can't normally speak human languages, it's going to be a bit of a guessing game 'til she gets used to it.]
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The restaurant isn't far from here. Shall I take you there?
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Mon-mon!
[Let's dine together~!]
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Come on, then. [She starts heading in that direction.] Although I hope you haven't run away from an owner. They might be worried.
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[She happily clambers onto her shoulder to rest there. Hope you don't mind affectionate nuzzling~!]
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She's remembering a conversation she had with Ikki a while ago. About electrical mice.]
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The scritching is quite welcome and she makes a few, small happy sounds on the way there. Oh, she likes you, Makie~!]
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What sort of things do you eat, then? Meat?
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Tucking her other wing-arm over her ear, she used the other to hold the leaf a bit high over her head.
Her now strangely squashed shape and the leaf sticking out to the side over her head gives the impression of a fruit, probably an apple?]
Eh-mon!
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Apples. I think apples are very easy to do.
[She will ask the nice staff for two, then. And offer one to Emolga.] Here you are.
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Emooolga? Are you in here? Sheesh, running off like that...!
[Emolga's ears prick at the sound.]
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I assume she's looking for you.
[Without waiting for a response, Makie moves in the young girl's direction. Hopefully it's okay she got the apples.]
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[She sighs and smiles apologetically.] Sorry if she was a handful...
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[She holds out her arms so Emolga can go back to her rightful owner. If 'owner' is the right word.]
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Mm? Oh, sure! They're her favourite.
Thank you for treating her kindly!
[Iris bows, briefly, in gratitude. Despite her appearance, she seems to have been raised with similar cultural practices. What's even odder (but also cute) is that Emolga follows her lead by kneelinb into something approaching a dogeza position in her trainer's arms and bows deeply, probably in apology, as she remains in that position even after her trainer rises.
It seemed more like a mother prompting her misbehaving child to apologize, rather than an owner and pet-like relationship.]
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You're most welcome. I quite like her.
My name is Makie Otono-Tachibana. May I... ask what your names are?
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E~monmon-ga, Monmon-gamonga-mon! [She's matching the syllables of her language to human words again, copying the intonation.]
My name is Iris!
And this is Emolga! [Emolga waves brightly.] Emonga!
If you want, we could visit you again sometime. I think I'd like to get to know you better too.
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Once he's done, he'll wander over towards where Makie is sitting.]
Something tells me it's not the wall that's so fascinating.
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Ah...no, I suppose not.
{Still a little dazed. She tries to focus more.] Hello again.
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[The smile he gives is small, but coming from him, it's about the best one can expect.]
You might want to try some coffee instead of the tea. I hear it's much better at helping clear your head.
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[Now he smirks a little.]
Most people find that one out the hard way.
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[Nevertheless, she orders a straight black-- but gets sugar brought to the table with it. She'll stir in maybe half a teaspoon for now.]
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I've seen enough people try coffee for the first time to have a decent sense of the average reaction by now.
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[She takes a small taste. Ugh, he's right. And that's after the sugar. She adds half a teaspoon more.]
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[... yeah, that was about the reaction he was expecting.]
I think you see why now. That stuff's about as pleasant-tasting as your average medicine until you get used to it.
[And, since it seems a bit awkward for him to just be standing around, he'll take a seat at the table across the aisle from hers. Even he isn't so rude as to just presume to sit down at the same table with her.]
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I'm sorry, I was being rude. [Her eyes flick to the other chair at her table.] Please, feel free.
[Half a teaspoon more makes it bearable. It's still a strange and acrid taste, but she'll at least drink the mug before she judges it.]
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[With the invitation, he will get up and relocate himself to that other chair, his single eye still watching her sip at the coffee with some amusement.]
Didn't sleep well last night?
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I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's the weather.
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[His gaze shifts for a moment to look out the window at the grey sky outside.]
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[She would have thought everyone does, but then she met Vash.]
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[The Kuba desert, for one... he'd only spent a short time there himself, but that was enough for him. He couldn't imagine how Gale had lived there for years.]
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[She wonders what Jade's world is like.]
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[Yeah, that does sound a bit strange to him.]
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Don't think I would either. Change is what keeps things interesting, after all. Having the weather be exactly the same all the time would be incredibly dull.
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[And here they are talking about the weather. Heh. She peers down at coffee.]
What is this made of, do you know?
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[Shuda blinks for a moment, actually having to stop to consider this.]
I think it's some kind of bean. I tend not to ask too many questions about where my food came from myself.
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[Maybe it's a western thing. Ah, well. She does feel a little more clearheaded.]
...where is it you are from, Mr Shuda? Do you mind my asking?
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[Then, by way of explanation, he adds:]
I used to be a bounty hunter when I was younger. And more full of myself.
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What was it like? Bounty hunting.
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I had quite a reputation back in the day. [He smirks, looking more than a little proud of himself.] Best bounty hunter on the continent.
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[She can think of a couple of people he'd get along with.]
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[Everyone always underestimates Makie. But then again, it also means she's capable of just passing as a normal woman. That's kind of nice.]
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[Because, frankly, Shuda is the sort of person who is perfectly content to be left alone most of the time. He doesn't mesh well with most people and he knows that.]
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[For a moment, his expression grows distant, as if he's remembering something. It doesn't last long, though.]
What about you? What did you do in your world?
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Many things, actually. My mother died in a lot of debt, so I was attempting to pay it off. Do you have...geisha in your world?
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[Honestly, even if she were to tell him that, he wouldn't judge. How could he? It would be hypocritical.]
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[Well. She'd also quit and was heading home to commit patricide, but let's leave that out...]
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[Which fits with the image she gives off, he realizes. She seems very composed and refined, even sitting and spacing out over a cup of coffee as she is.]
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[The men were pigs, but this is a universal thing in such places.]
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[Not that he would really be interested, but other people might.]
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I don't miss it. It was merely a means to an end.
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[He'd had two objectives: to earn money and to become stronger. Bounty hunting had been an excellent way to achieve both of those things.]
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...so I suppose Luceti is rather quiet for both of us.
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I don't mind it. I'm finding the quiet isn't as bad as I'd thought.
... when it is quiet. Living with two teenagers means there isn't much of that.
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