932/Comparing Notes on Foxes & Gulls

Comparing Notes on Foxes & Gulls
Date of Scene:	27 January 2016
Location:	Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - King Penguin Park
Synopsis:	Ikiko and Corvus talk about her bond with Ayana and some of the aftermath of it.
Cast of Characters:	Haruna Kurosawa, Ikiko Hisakata, Ayana

---

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Life with a fox wasn't something Ikiko had been expecting -- at least, not quite like this -- but she's been adapting to it: keeping the little fox fed, taking it outside every so often, and going for the occasional walk.

(The nighttime snuggles are a nice bonus, though.)

With things having adapted to the new routine, it's time for her to talk to some people that she needs to discuss things with. The first one on her list is someone that might help straighten a few things out with someone she was once a friend of -- and in the process, possibly make it safer for her to get nighttime burgers from one particualr stand...

Ikiko walks over to a bench along one of the less-travelled paths, a pair of bags in one hand and the fox's leash in the other. She sits down, taking a pair of bowls from one bag and placing them on the ground, then filling one with water and placing a 'Carnivore Special' sandwich in the other.

"Something for you to eat while a bird friend of mine comes over to talk," she smiles to the fox. She pulls out another pair of wrapped sandwiches and checks the time on her cellphone. "He should be here shortly," Ikiko remarks to herself. "There's still a couple of minutes before the agreed meeting time."

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
"I'm going to go do bird stuff noooooow!" says Corvus. Haruna answers and rolls her eyes. "Sure. Don't bet all your allowance!~" Corvus is not going to play mascot poker today so that isn't an allowance but he gives Haruna the expectant look anyways.

NOW up in the air, Corvus arrives over the park and puts a wing up as he scans. He comes spiraling down from the sky and lands on Ikiko's shoulder.

"Hey." says Corvus with a wing wave. He's a relativly normal seagull, only he talks and is smary. "Thanks for agreeing to talk! So---"

He reaches behind himself and puts on a tiny pair of reading glasses. He then pulls out a notebook and a pencil and opens the notebook.

"So-- tell me. In detail. What's exactly happened." he looks down at the fox and gives it narrowed eyes. He's quick, he's not worried about being eaten. "I have a feeling there's some crossed wires /somewhere/ but--" he says and shrugs.

"I know you don't read as a mind controlly dark thing to me."

Ayana has posed:
Life with a human wsn't something this little fox had expected -- at least, not quite like this -- but she's been adapting to it: keeping the human smelling right, taking it on adventures every so often, and going for the occasional walk.

(The nighttime snuggles are a nice bonus, though.)

With each passing day, the little fox has seemed less and less like a wild creature. Those pair of boots sitting in the entryway get frequent visits, when the fox is allowed to roam the house, as do the pajamas that a certain black-haired shapeshifter once wore. It's as if the little fox is trying desperately to remember something about those items, and just can't quite seem to put its nose on it.

At the very least, the little fox doesn't wake up screaming in the mornings, anymore. But whether it's a sign of sapience, or merely a sign of domestication is a matter for debate.

The little fox trots along ahppily at Ikiko's side as she escorts it to a bench. Despite the chill winter air, the fox's warm auburn coat has no trouble keeping it warm. As soon as the bowls come out--even before food is placed--the little fox's tail begins to wag excitedly, and she expresses that excitement with a verbal, "Kon-kon!"

Of course, for Ikiko that simple noise bears so much meaning. "Oh my gosh I'm so hungry I could eat a whole whale and a half" the little fox expresses happily. Not that it has any reason to know what a whale is. But as soon as the food is placed in its bowl, the fox begins to chow down.

The sandwich is half eaten (bread and all) before Corvus akes it from spiraling to landing. The little fox looks up and licks at its nose--there's a ton of mustard there--then eyes the little bird speculatively.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata nods to Corvus, balancing one of the wrapped sandwiches (tuna on sourdough) on one of the broader parts of the back of the bench. "Mascots are not for eating," she says to the fox. "Especially when they're friends."

She then faces Corvus as best she can. "Okay. Back in mid-November, Ayana went on a bit of a rampage due to some sort of parasite that was controlling her," she explains. "After rescuing her with the help of some other magical folk, she asked to stay the night at my place. I agreed, and on the way home we picked up some snacks for her to eat."

A thoughtful expression crosses Ikiko's face. "That night, she tried to remove my Lycan Locket. The feeling woke me from my dreams, and I grabbed it by reflex. We wound up in a tug-of-war over it, so I tried to henshin to give me an advantage and to try to get away."

She touches a hand to the locket in recollection. "The usual aura tried to surround me, but a dark aura surrounded Ayana at the same time. There looked like some sort of distortion where the two auras met, and when I looked at Ayana it felt like I fell into her eyes. In a moment that felt like the full length of Ayana's life, I basically relived all of the emotions of her life, and from what she said afterwards, she relived all of the emotions of my life as well."

Ikiko gazes at the little fox with a gentle smile. "After that, I could pick up on her emotions like I was feeling my own, and vice versa," she says softly. "At least when we weren't too far apart, anyway. I could tell that she wanted to keep me safe, that she tried to take my locket so that I couldn't be a magical girl, all in order to keep me safe by keeping me out of the fighting."

A slight frown crosses her face. "That lasted about two weeks. There was a spike of despair that I could feel from across town, then a feeling like having our hearts caught in a landslide of darkness, and then I couldn't really feel her anymore."

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Corvus takes some notes, he seems to be writing what Ikiko says as he taps his beak a bit....

His look softens a bit when she talks about an emotional bond. "Did you tell that to Gull?...." he asks softly. "....she should had been more open to that- if you did... considering....." he trails off a bit. He shakes his head and continues.

"Okay. So. You two we're friends. She was trying to protect you from --- something... and--- then you two shared a bond due to an accident. How were things after that?...."

He writes down. "And after the darkness landslide?..." he asks.

He turns a few pages.

"Gull's story is that...."

"...Ayana came into her girlfriend's apartment when she was there- worried about a trip she was on. She was hurt. She did her best to help- and- the two talked. She found out you'd 'done something to her' and she was upset at it. This made Gull angry. Anyways. She let herself get drained so Ayana could heal. She woke up the next day. There was some talk but it doesn't seem related to the issue- Ayana being upset about something unrelated..."

He flips back to the notes he's taking.

"Gull has--- good reason to be upset at--- issues like this. It's my fault-- but..." he says.

"It was an unexpected emotional bond that let her see into my memories when I was not... myself." he says.

"This is why it worries me she didn't 'get it'--- if you told her." he says.

"It's possible she still may be more angry than understanding."

Ayana has posed:
The little fox lets out a whimpering noise of disappointment, although whether it's because it wanted to eat Corvus or because it mislikes being scolded for thoughts it never expressed is unclear. Instead, the little fox goes right back to its bowl, and resumes eating its mustardy-many-meaty meal (mmmm).

With its sandwich finished, the fox moves to its water and laps at it for a few moments, then steps away and leaps up into Ikiko's lap. There, it sits, mustardy maw pointed straight at Corvus as the little canid contemplates the bird some more.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata idly pets the fox in her lap. "Well, Gull wasn't in the mood for listening," she notes, wincing slightly at the recollection. "I swear she took everything I said in the worst possible way. Although..."

She looks thoughtful for a moment. "That happened about a week and a half after the landslide of darkness," she muses. "Early December, instead of the end of November. Given how... evil Ayana was being when I next saw her, that might have had an influence on how she was viewing things."

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Corvus nods. "I'll have a talk with her, regardless." he says.

He takes a few notes. "...see. Gull. Has odd friends, due to her experiences. She expects these friends to act a certain way. It's possible, this behavior for Ayana was 'normal' to her or 'expected'..." he ponders.

"How did she act before?" he asks.

He glances down at the fox again. Okay she's not lept and tried to eat him yet. Good!

He scratches his head.

"Sorry if I'm asking silly questions. But. The more I know the better." he says.

"I should have enough after this question...." he mutters.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Well, when I first met her, she seemed to enjoy being a magical girl," Ikiko recalls. "But after a while, she started being sadder, and she kept trying to convince me and a mutual friend of ours to stop being magical girls, because she was afraid of what Riventon would do to us."

She gives the fox some skritchies. "But overall, she was kind, caring, and seemingly more concerned about others than she was about herself. Even when she drained my energy so that she could help heal Riventon, she didn't like the fact that she had to hurt me in order to help him."

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Corvus nods a bit as he closes his notebook and puts it away- behind himself, along with the pencil, and his adorable reading glasses. He taps a wing a bit to his far one as he thinks a bit.

"I'm going to talk with Gull then. I'm going to need to be round about, about this- but..."

"I'm going to do my best to convience her that you weren't out to--- 'control her' at least." he says softly. "or 'use her' or things like that." he says.

"I'm going to have to be unfair with her and bring up some stuff I know she won't enjoy remmebering, but..."

"I think it's best if she's not disliking people who are doing 'nothing wrong' or misunderstanding a situation." he says with a sigh.

"Just. It sounds like crossed wires." he says.

"If she approaches you to 'talk', a you going to let her?" he asks curiously.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"As long as she doesn't start off by delivering a Justice Speech, we should be okay," Ikiko giggles ruefully. "But seriously, if she wants to talk, I'll hear her out, although I'll probably be wary at first. If she doesn't want to talk, well..."

A small shrug. "As long as I can evade her, I'll be fine; I just won't bother trying to talk my way out of it this time in that case. As long as I don't feel cornered, I shouldn't have to fight." Because cornering a frightened animal is a good way to get bitten and clawed -- or in Tsukiko's case, kicked.

She picks up the tuna sandwich and offers it to Corvus. "It's not a burger, but the sandwich shop it's from is a good one," Ikiko notes.

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Corvus reaches out and takes the sandwhich pleasently. He takes a bite as he nods. Tuna is good. He's a seagull. Fish is a thing with seagulls. He swallows.

"Ugh-- did she....? /ugh/. Yeah. She's probably just... upset and doesn't understand. I think when she sees how silly she is, she'll probably wanna apologize a lot."

"'Cuz she used the words... 'kicked ya across the harbor like a football with a fuzzy tail'." he says recollecting.

"Yeah. If she won't talk. Run. But---"

"I think I can get through to her. She'll just be mopey for a bit if I go the route I'm thinking I'm gonna need to go." he says.

"Anyways...."

"I should get back soon. Thanks for the sandwhich." he says with a smile.

"--if I can change her mind, I'll text. If I can't... I'll still text. Okay?" he asks.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"'Across the harbor'? It was only a couple of blocks!" Ikiko snorts indignantly. "No more than a dozen!" But a smile creeps across her face as she realizes how silly she sounds. "Yeah, sounds good," she nods. "I'll at least steer clear of the burger joint until after I hear back from you."

She unwraps her own sandwich and takes a bite of it. "Oh, that reminds me -- the tuna on sourdough was mostly just an educated guess; if you'd like more toppings or different bread, just let me know, okay?"

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Corvus says. "Nah, this is fine. Though I like a little pickle. It's a crunch, ya know? But this is fine." he winks. "I'll keep in touch!" he says as he lifts off back into the sky- and back towards the direction of Infinity.

This is probably not going to be a pleasent conversation he has to have with Haruna coming up. The sandwhich is indeed helping his mood though. Nom.

Hopefully he doesn't drop it into the city below as he heads back!