View source for 1282/Talking About Flowers

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/03/27
|Location=Pikarigaoka - Seiyou Public School
|Synopsis=Amu and Tadase talk about Blue Lotus. Amu has some serious concerns.
|Cast of Characters=85,62
|pretty=yes
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{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Easter Sunday. The irony of a day about 'eggs' named for an evil corporation trying to steal it is not lost on Amu Hinamori. Dressed in a short black dress with a studded pink belt and a pink half-sweater, Amu leans out over her balcony, letting the wind whip her hair as she stares off towards Easter tower. After a few minutes, she sighs and pulls out her cell phone.<br /><br />"Amu-chan?" asks Ran, as the little cheerleader flits out to hover near her friend and bearer.<br /><br />"I know, Ran," Amu says quietly. "I need to tell him. It's not right," she notes. "And someone's going to get hurt."<br /><br />Miki appears, struggling to carry Amu's phone. But she offers it, and Amu smiles to the little blue chara. "Fine, fine," she says, then starts sending a text.<br /><br />TXT to Tadata: Can I meet you at the garden? There's a Virtue issue. Also, need to talk about Yoru.<br /><br />She really should be using her rainbow-hued phone for this, but Reiko has that, now. Ugh, why is everything so complicated?

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase has spent most of his Easter morning up at the Royal Garden, doing... well, paperwork. And thinking. Maybe more thinking, or the thinking is what's making the paperwork take so long. Regardless, it seems like this is a Sunday where he's not getting much done in the Garden.<br /><br />And that's why, as worried as Amu's text is, there's no problem for him - it's something that is far more interesting and important. Also, it's whatever she wants to talk about, too.<br /><br />TXT Amu=I'm already here, please come by. I'll be here all day.

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>With Ran's help, it doesn't really take Amu long to hop, skip, and jump her way from her home to the school campus. She alights on the walk just in front of the garden, then pushes open the door and makes her way inside.<br /><br />"Tadata," she calls happily, bounding the last few steps to greet the boy with a hug that nestles her nose down against his neck.<br /><br />Ran, Miki, and Su chase her in, all equally excited to see Kiseki and Tadase today.

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase reaches out and grabs her, and spins her a little bit in her hug. Yeah, this beats the hell out of paperwork and business. "Hey, beautiful." he says with a smile as he pulls apart.<br /><br />He pretty much instantly walks over and starts stacking the papers up and putting them far away. Out of sight, out of mind, for the moment. "So what's going on, Amu? Since you mentioned Yoru, lets get that out of the way. I don't see him here..."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"He said he needed to know how Ikuto's doing," Amu says with a sigh, "and I don't think keeping him locked up is having the effect I'd hoped. So ... I let him go," she admits. There's a frown on her face as she says it, but what else can she do? "I hope he'll be alright."

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase smiles and looks at her. "Hey, you did what you thought was right. And maybe Yoru's time with us will mean he speaks to Ikuto in ways we just can't." he says, hugging her again. "Not everything ends up neat and clean immediately, but it doesn't mean that we're not making progress."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Amu finally drifts out of the hug and drops down onto a chair. She adjusts her skirt so it isn't actually giving Tadase the full view, then sighs and shrugs. "Right, which brings us to the real reason I wanted to talk to you."<br /><br />"How much have you been keeping up with this Blue Lotus chick?" Amu asks quietly. "She's got access to the Virtue network, but ... she's worrying me. Her objectives seem to be way more personal than I'd expect, and she's taking steps I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with to achieve them."

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase nods. "I've been busy, but I've heard the rumors, and the messages over the comms network. Lindy-san's a lot more worried than I am... and Tsukasa's been hard to get ahold of lately..." Tadase says, quietly.<br /><br />"I think we should keep an eye on her. I know that feels wierd, but without Tsukasa around, I'm tense about letting someone maybe use Virtue for thier own ends rather than the good of everyone around them."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Well, it's mostly just to contact people, so far," Amu notes to Tadase with a frown. "And so far none of our heavy hitters have turned up. Just me, Kukai, and Reiko-chan. Runealy-hime has been helping, as well, but she's not a member of Virtue. Ah, but she probably ''could'' be. You should talk to her."<br /><br />But that is an aside from what she really wanted to say. "The problem, though, is her methods. This book of hers? THe one she stole from Eclipse? She opened it up and tore a rend in reality, and some really ... nasty looking claw-thing came out and attacked that guy in the bird mask from the concert. It gave me the heebie-geebies, Tadata. I think she may be digging into dangerous magic."

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase nods. "Well, the rumors I'm getting don't make me feel any better. Oh, and I should really talk to Runealy-san, yes." he says with a smile, and then goes back to the talk at hand.<br /><br />"Well, historically, books that cause black evil claws to rise up out of them and attack enemies are not... really the kind of magic we should be dealing in." Tadase says, calmly. "But I'm going to try to speak with her first. That being said, it's unsurprising a book stolen from Eclipse is a dangerous artifact. If it spread joy and happiness I don't think they'd be so aggressively tryingh to get it back. Says a lot about them, doesn't it..."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Yeah," Amu replies with a sigh. "And look, she's got the right motivations," Amu notes. "They took her brother. She thinks this book can help save him. So like, I'm all for helping her. But she's being stupidly aggressive and impulsive. She isn't organizing, she's just ''reacting'' or ''acting''. It's dangerous. Who's Lindy, anyways? I don't think you've told me about her."

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase looks down. "Yeah... but I'm also aware that... some of the worst tragedies happen because someone was trying to do the right thing, but they were so desperate to do it, they went about it the wrong way. That's what I need to be careful about." he says, quietly, before looking up. "I still think I need to talk to her."<br /><br />"Lindy heads up a group within Virtue. She came from that big magic-ship that crashed, used to run that too." he says. "But her folks keep her kinda isolated."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"See?" Amu says to Tadase, before leaning forward to grab one of his hands with both of her own. "You see exactly what I'm worried about. I'm all for dealing harsher with villains, but what this one's doing is ... it's making me uncomfortable," she says. "So I'd really like it if you'd talk to her."<br /><br />Then she smiles and squeezes his hand. "I didn't even know Virtue had subgroups. Why do they keep her isolated?"

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase nods. "We'll see if talking to her has any effect. If she's doing what she thinks is right, it might be more difficult than you'd think, though." Tadase says, looking into Amu's eyes. "But I will talk to her, that's a promise."<br /><br />"I'm not sure. For a while they went around solo, but they decided to come under their wing. They still keep pretty much to themselves. I think they're protecting her because if they can ever communicate with where they came from, she's the ranking officer."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Amu tilts her head at that idea, thoughtfully. "I guess that makes snese," she mumbles thoughtfully. "What makes them different from the rest of Virtue?" she asks curiously. "Are there ''other'' sub-organizations within Virtue? I thought we were just one big contact network with a fancy message board."

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase looks away. "Well, they have a different sort of... idea about how to deal with problems." he says, obviously dancing around the issue. "They come from a very..." he stops, and tries again. "They have a much more defined structure. We're just a group that works as a contact network, but Lindy-san's people all came from a miliaristic-kind of background. And they're a little bit more... focused, because of that. They used to work alone, and called themselves Justice."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Ah," Amu replies thoughtfully. "And they don't follow your leadership," Amu surmises, not as an insult, just an observation. "I can see why that would make you uncomfortable. Still .." she trails off, frowning. "Do you think you could introduce me to this Lindy? I'm still hoping there's something I can offer Virtue. I don't ''want'' to leave it. I just ..." she trails off, then sighs. "Nevermind. I shouldn't make you do that."

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase visibly squirms a bit... the talk of Lindy and her group making him a little uncomfortable. "I could try to set something up though." he says, finally. "I wasn't onboard with taking them in, and maybe if you talk to them, they can see things closer to your way, and maybe a little bit less hostile than they do now."<br /><br />Tadase shakes his head, his hand still in her grasp. "I don't know if it'd help, but I also don't think it can hurt. If it's something you want to do I'll make it happen."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Amu sighs and squeezes Tadase's hand, then raises it to her lips to kiss him on the knuckles. "The alternative is I just give up on Virtue altogether," she points out quietly. "Maybe something a little more militaristic would do me good. I don't know. I don't want to give up on your dreams, Tadata. I want to support you. I just ... I can't do it the way you do."

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase thinks about a whole lot of things in that little moment, and his gaze lingers a little long on her face. "I don't think they've got the right of it. But maybe I'm the one who's wrong. And if you think it's worth a look, maybe it's worth a look." he says. "I can't promise anything, all I can do is let you all meet."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Amu sighs and pulls herself forward off of the chair she's on. But she doesn't stand; she just slides over to put herself on his lap, and once more adjusts the fall of her short skirt for modesty as she puts her arms around his neck. "Tadata," she sing-songs his name quietly, then presses her lips briefly to his. "You are not wrong. Please, don't allow yourself to think those thoughts. But ... maybe there's more than one way to be right."

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase blinks for a moment - because he's still not entirely sure how to react to Sudden Acts of Amu without taking a moment - but then he looks at her. "Well, Amu... if doing things entirely different than how Virtue does them, than how I do them... if it's not the best way to handle problems, then we're wrong. At least some of the time." he says, though he's rather calm about it.<br /><br />"I mean... the sort of thing you're talking about - the way Lindy-san talks - is very different from the way I try to help people with problems."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Amu sighs and puts her head on his shoulder. "You're not wrong," she mumbles quietly. "You're just ... too willing to give chances. I don't know. This is becoming a very depressing conversation," she tells him. "I'd like to meet her," she says softly. "I don't want to argue with you about who's right. Okay?"

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase nods a bit - or as much as he can with her head on his shoulder. "I agree. Depressing." he says, quietly. "It might be a little while before I can get her to agree, but I'll do my best. I'm not trying to argue with you, Amu." he continues, a hand wraping around her and squeezing her tight. "I'd rather not spend our time arguing, anyways."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Thanks," Amu says quietly as she smiles at him, then kisses his neck again. "And thank you for talking to this Blue Lotus. I want to have her back. I just ... need to know it's the right thing. And I trust your judgement," she promises him. "So if you think it's okay for me to keep helping her, I will."

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase sighs. But it's not a sad sigh, just one like you might hear when a child is assigned homework over Spring Break. Because in a way, he somewhat has been. "I'll check on both, Amu." he says, kissing her back on the cheek. "I don't know what to think about either, right now. All I know is..." he says with a smile.<br /><br />"I'm really sick of doing all this paperwork."

:'''{{#var:85|Amu Hinamori| (85)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Mmmm," Amu considers that for a few moments, then smiles. "I can think of better ways to spend a nice sunday afternoon." She grins at him, then offers, "Would you like a little distraction for a while? I can help you with the paperwork after ..."

:'''{{#var:62|Platinum Royale| (62)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tadase smiles, and that smile breaks into a grin. "I think I would like that very much, Amu." he says, perhaps a bit more proper than he should be, but with that smile still on his face, it's obvious that's just for effect.
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