View source for 3347/Don't Talk to Ghosts!

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/08/26
|Location=Plot Room #2
|Synopsis=Rei and Saburo touch on his troubled attitude during their walk home.
|Cast of Characters=64,112
|pretty=yes
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{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rei and Saburo escorted each other away from Icela at the fastest speed politely possible. Not because she was bad company! It's just she was, y'know.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dead.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or so Rei assumes, as she heaves a giant sigh walking down the sidewalk next to Saburo as the sun continues to lazily set behind them. Still holding a hand over her heart, she just flatly says, "That was a ghost. Did you notice that was a ghost?"

:'''{{#var:112|Saburo Yukimura| (112)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>They're away from the park by now, though the retreat had taken a moment of pause so that Saburo could run back to the groceries he had almost abandoned. It had been a moment of lightheartedness that has now mostly dissipated, and he's been silent as they walk. <br /><br /> At the question, which is not entirely unexpected, he merely shrugs. "After she told me she was in the tree I did. I could see her hair and clothes sort of, disappearing at the edges, and figured it out." A pause, and then he continues, "I think she prefers being called a spirit to a ghost."

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Rei promptly pokes Jadeite's temple like a chastising parent, "And I think you should avoid talking to spirits when you don't know what they want." She sighs and crosses her arms. "You can't always tell at a glance if they're benign, or if they're out to possess you, or even..." she gesticulates wildly, "even a *Grudge*! I'm gonna have to sanctify that tree. Maybe the *park*. For *free*."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She's mostly just musing to herself at this point. It IS remarkably difficult to get the public works committee to recognize a haunting and order an exorcism, in fairness, and running a Shrine isn't cheap! She lets a few moments pass in silence, crossing her arms again, before inclining her head towards Saburo slightly. "Are you all right? You look kind of..." bad, exhausted, worse for the wear, all valid terms that she might use if she felt like being a little less polite.

:'''{{#var:112|Saburo Yukimura| (112)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Usually, that kind of chastisement would be greeted with an exaggerated sense of remorse, all laughing apologies and pouts. Or maybe, if he felt like deflecting, some gentle teasing and poking fun at that exasperated desire to sanctify the park that had been unfortunate enough to house a spirit while a miko was visiting. Usually. <br /><br /> Today he just grimaces, gesturing as if he wanted to bat her hand away. "If she had been dangerous, being impolite would have hardly helped my case. She was just drawing, and wanting to have a little conversation. Nothing happened, so don't worry about it." <br /><br /> Shortly after the words are out of his mouth he realizes she's in her own world, or at least thinking about other things, and he wonders if she even heard him. It doesn't really matter - he'd rather drop it altogether, really. And then she's looking at him again, and never mind, he'd actually love to talk about her concerns about spirits and the perils of talking to them, because that's a much better topic of conversation. <br /><br /> "I'm fine. A little tired maybe - I got distracted on the way home, went on a walk. Nothing to it," the words are capped off with a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes, a smiling mask to try and dissuade worry. "What were you saying about a grudge? I don't think we talked long enough for her to develop one of those."

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rei waves her hand around, "Not a *personal* grudge, a... a bold font Grudge. A curse borne of terror and resentment or..." she sighs, "Bad stuff." They might have made a movie about that! "There's a million little ways for a spirit to get its hooks in, and-..." she grunts, "Nnn, just trust me, I'm an expert."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Well, a journeyman.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"... We're... really far away from your place." She notes at your response, and peers at you curiously. "And the grocery store." Another moment. Her gaze gets more intense, and the feel the vaguest tickle at the back of your brain, enough to realize what she's trying to do an instant before she looks away again, "... Annnd you've closed yourself off with *magic*, so..." She smiles a little, oddly, "I don't believe you."

:'''{{#var:112|Saburo Yukimura| (112)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Before he can even attempt carrying on the more ''spiritual'' conversation, which is at least somewhat interesting and not at all about him, Rei's pointing out all the little details he'd rather she politely pretended not to notice, the little holes in his story that weren't so much about developing a cover as trying to avoid well - this. <br /><br /> And then there's that faint tickle at the back of his consciousness, a vague sensation entirely too familiar after all the time he's spent with psychics of varying sorts. He glowers at her, unhappy with the almost-intrusion. "That's good for you. My answer's still the same."

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Rei's eyes blaze wide open for a moment, and she takes a few quick steps forward to get in front of you before turning around to face Saburo and jab a finger upwards towards the nose of the much taller man. "*You* do not get to *talk* to me like that. Not *ever*." From the look in her eyes, you can practically hear the kettle boiling. Rei takes great pains to keep her composure, but... well. There's a fire burning in there. And she's had a frazzling day.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Also when she 'first' met you, you kidnapped her. And she tried to immolate you. So that was a thing.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Her hand pulls back with that deliberate coiled slowness of a snake about to strike, and then she SWIPES one of the plastic bags out of your hands, causing the contents to rattle against each other as she turns around and starts walking again, saying - with greater control - "You should be used to meddlers by now, anyway."

:'''{{#var:112|Saburo Yukimura| (112)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>He doesn't quite flinch back from her, but the thought is there, and so is the tiny, aborted motion. Her temper, he's familiar with - far more than she is with his, because he doesn't usually show it, prefers to pretend he doesn't have one. He's been on the other end of that temper, before. An attempt at kidnapping, an answering burst of fire that could have killed him. These days, he would admit he would have deserved it. <br /><br /> He's still angry and his own eyes, hard as ice and just as frigid, narrow as that hand sweeps back - but when she only tears one of the bags from his hand, he lets it go rather than try and fight and lose the bag ''and'' his hand. He does not apologize. <br /><br /> He does follow after her, just a few feet of distance between them. A hand goes to his head and he sweeps the wavy edge of his bangs back. "Just because I'm used to it, doesn't mean I have to like it."

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Maybe not." Rei says from a few paces ahead of you, not turning back, her voice still a bit cold. "But it *does* mean you have to take it. Whatever's gotten into you... you're surrounded by empaths. You're not going to outlast them."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She slows down a little so that you're closer to being side by side again, and she actually looks a little disappointed rather than angry. Though she does try to smile a little. "My grandfather always says-" she clears her throat a little for proper voice affectation, "'You're not gonna keep anyone out buildin' walls across the dinner table.'"<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Come to think of it, why DOES he say that?<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Anyway.

:'''{{#var:112|Saburo Yukimura| (112)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>''You're telling me,'' Saburo thinks but does not say, because that is the entire reason he's been out all day instead of going anywhere close to home. His face is still that same calm, polite blank, but the look in his eyes is less cold, more - tired. "It's not about outlasting anyone, it's about having a day with my own thoughts and wanting to make my own decision about something. <br /><br /> Disappointment, which is - he hates disappointing people. He likes to live up to expectations, to make people smile, has an unfortunate love of being praised. It's familiar though, being on the other end of someone's disappointed look, as familiar as the tween girl he'd left crying with Kazuo and Mamoru earlier in the day. He looks away, doesn't meet her gaze for a long moment, and then asks, quiet, "Did he ever say what happens if you don't go back to the dinner table?"

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Rei's first answer is, simply, "You can just *say* that." spoken with a tired frankness. Not that she has any moral high-ground about lashing out with her temper, but... still.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On hearing his question, though, she stops and looks at him with a sad sort of smile; picking up on a hint of worry whether it was actually there or not. "... Then dinner gets cold. And you can't see if your family's still waiting for you... or if they've left." She tilts her head a little and admits. "... The ending changes a little depending on how much he's had to drink."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With that, she reaches out to hand the stolen grocery bag back to you, and somehow manages to look a bit majestic doing it in the setting sunlight because she's Rei Hino. "... Have a good evening, Saburo-san."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A quick look around will reveal she's lead you back to your home.

:'''{{#var:112|Saburo Yukimura| (112)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>A quiet sort of mumble, partially an acknowledgement that maybe she has a point, and partially a muffled complaint that he 'did' say that, sort of, in a way, kind of. When she stops, he stops, and meets her gaze only when he doesn't feel like it will be disappointment looking back at him. He isn't worried. Or maybe he is, even with Mamoru's reassurances, because even if he's angry - annoyed - frustrated - all of that - he still, loves him and whatever and doesn't want to lose that. So the ending is a little reassuring, even if he doesn't really want to admit it. And the admission that drinks change the endings makes him smile a little, the first real one he's offered. "Thanks, Rei-san." <br /><br /> He takes the grocery bag back, and admires her a little, because she really does look majestic and pretty in the fading sunlight. Then he realizes he's back home and the majesty of it all goes away. He does not say thanks Rei-san again, but if he did it would be in the tone of 'Thanks Obama.'

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Rei manages not to laugh when he realizes where he is, but only barely. A wry, slightly-too-tight smile is the main giveaway on the break in her 'cool' as she responds to that look with a little fingerwave, and walks away. In the *opposite* direction you were traveling up until now, because that's where home is.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's always nice when people put extra effort into you~
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