[D6LM] Long Long Drake

[Usagi Rei]

Rei scratched his head. "I suppose it must be. There's not many trees here, and this is a park. Maybe it does have a name." Rei glanced around, but there were no plaques or anything similar nearby. Perhaps only the Scorpion knew.

Airi tilted her head in response, falling silent, her golden eyes staring at Hinata.

"Are you from Harusame, then?" Rei asked. "I've actually been there a few times. Didn't really see anything, though. Touched down, and left again within a day." Rei mimed a transport landing and taking off with his hand.

[Asahina Hinata]

Hinata hadn't thought of looking for a plaque or anything, still staring up at Airi.

"Oh you have? It's a lovely planet. I was there right up until I joined Usagi Drop! after my gempukku."

He bit his bottom lip, a sure sign of deep thought.

"I wonder why she won't come down? If only we could ask her . . . . . OH!!!!"

[Usagi Rei]

Rei watched as Hinata had some sort of realization. He had absolutely no idea what to expect. For all he knew, Hinata had suddenly come up with the perfect name for the tree.

"What?" He asked, eyes a little wide.

[Asahina Hinata]

Unaware of the Hare's alarm, Hinata was already pulling his densai out of his backpack and finding the right page to begin singing a soft prayer to the air kami. Air kami which decided this might be funny, so they played along.

Soon after, Hinata . . . hissed . . . up the tree to Airi.

"Hi Airi-samaaaa!!! I'm Hinata! Rei and I were wondering why you don't want to come out of the tree???"

--
D6 LM Casting Nature's Touch | 7k4 ⇒ 39 (TN: 10)

[Thimacek]

After a while and some confused looks from Airi, a hissing sound answered from up in the tree.

"... you can speak to me???" She seems to crease her brows, or the equivalent of that for a Drake, but that is quickly replaced by curiosity. "Oh... that's so nice! So... can Rei-rei-dad speak my way too?". She widens her eyes. "AND HE NEVER DID?? I'm so mad at him now!"

[Asahina Hinata]

Snip the adorable lil drake speech.

Hinata covered his mouth to suppress a giggle before hissing back up the tree at some length.

"Oh Airi-samaaaa! Don't get angry. Rei-Rei-dad can't talk to like this I'm afraid. He can't hear the air spirits to let him do that like I can! Are you going to come down now? Or is there something really cool about this tree? I mean, it's a lovely tree and I'd like to sit in it as well, but Rei-Rei-dad would like you come down now."

He puzzled for a moment and then hissed something extra.

"You wouldn't know if the tree has a name?"

[Usagi Rei]

Wide-eyed, Rei looked back and forth between the drake and the pop-star. Totally unaware of what was happening, of course.

[Thimacek]

Hinata covered his mouth to suppress a giggle before hissing back up the tree at some length.

"Oh Airi-samaaaa! Don't get angry. Rei-Rei-dad can't talk to like this I'm afraid. He can't hear the air spirits to let him do that like I can! Are you going to come down now? Or is there something really cool about this tree? I mean, it's a lovely tree and I'd like to sit in it as well, but Rei-Rei-dad would like you come down now."

He puzzled for a moment and then hissed something extra.

"You wouldn't know if the tree has a name?"

More hissing from up there

"Oh... so you need to speak with air to talk to me. But Rei-rei-dad can blow air out!" She seems suspicious. "You aren't lying to me to protect Rei-rei-dad, are you? I hope not!"

She then moves a bit in the branch she's in, coming closer to its end, which makes the branch bend downwards a bit.
"It is a lovely tree, isn't it?? Its name... I never thought to ask!" The Drake seems to hiss excitedly at the tree, then. "Perch-perch leafy, is your name perch-perch-leafy? Or are you... there's no fruit, so not fruit-fruit! What's your name, leafy-leafy?"

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the tree doesn't hiss back.

"Ah... I guess she's sleeping! See, I played a bit with purple plum-plum earlier this morning in a tree, but it wasn't this nice! And Rei-rei-dad hadn't taken me out to play for a while, so... I decided I wanted to play a bit on my own, since he wasn't coming with me!"

She walks closer and closer to the end of the branch, slowly... the branch looks as if it could break at any moment.

"Oh, you could come up here and sit and play with me? With Rei-rei-dad??" She moves about in the branch, making it wiggle and wiggle...

[Asahina Hinata]

snip

Now Hinata tilted his head to one side, listening intently to the hissing only he could fully understand right now.

"Air spirits! Not the regular old air we breathe-breathe! We can call the tree Leafy-leafy until she wakes up then."

Still focused on the drake, he distractedly talked at where he thought Rei was.

"Oh she wants to play on her own for a bit because Rei-Rei-Daddy hasn't taken her out for a while . . . "

Then back to hissing, not really realising what he just said.

"Oh who is Purple-plum-plum? Another drake like you or another tree? I think we're too big for this tree. Leafy-leafy might break if we climbed up there with you!"

[Usagi Rei]

"She... what?" Rei asked, blinking. He looked up at Airi, his mouth agape. Then back to Hinata. "You can talk to her?"

There was a beat.

"Rei-Rei-Daddy?" Rei asked incredulously. "Is... is that what she calls me?" Actually, that made a lot more sense than something Hinata came up with on his own...

[Thimacek]

Snip

"Purple-plum-plum? Not a tree, no! Although plum-plum-trees are lovely - and tasty! But she's a drake - friends with a friend of Rei-Rei-daddy, I think!" She seems thoughtful for a moment. "Was she a she? I think she was! Not so sure now! Rei's friend... I think she was a she as well. Was way different from you friend-friend, that I can tell!"

Human-human talky-talk

She looks at the tree, then down at Hinata and Rei. "Rei-rei-daddy, you sure you can't talk to me??", she hisses loudly. "Ugh... I wish I could use the air... things to talk to him!". She moves about in the branch a bit again.

wiggle, wiggle

"Leafy-leafy is strong, see?!".

wiggle, wiggle... crack!

She suddenly falls down as the branch cracks, but quickly regains her balance and flies in circles, perching in another branch some feet down. "Ah... maybe not that branch, but leafy-leafy has plenty of stronger branches! Can you ask Rei-rei-daddy to come up? Let's play together!"

[Asahina Hinata]

Hissy-hissy-drake-drake

"Oh she's a bit frustrated that you can't understand her or she can't understand you . . . one of those. And she errrrr . . . "

He sidestepped the falling branch.

" . . . errr would really like it if you climbed up leafy-leafy to play with her . . . "

"I asked Rei-rei-daddy to climb up with you . . . I don't know of he will. You like playing with Purple-plum-plum? Should I ask for her to visit again?"

[Usagi Rei]

"Oh." Rei frowned, his pale eyes a little wide. "Um... could you tell her..." Rei bit his lip, "-I care for her." Samurai stoicism wouldn't allow him to be more direct than that.

Rei looked up at the tree... up up up. At the thin branches. He might be able to climb, but he doubted he could play. "Airi, can't you come down here?" He asked, forgetting he couldn't talk directly to her. "I can play in the bushes with you, or throw your ball. How does that sound?"

[Thimacek]

Talky-talk to Rei-rei-daddy... then

"I asked Rei-rei-daddy to climb up with you . . . I don't know of he will. You like playing with Purple-plum-plum? Should I ask for her to visit again?"

Why can't Rei-rei-daddy talk using wind-wind

Airi bends her head, then her whole body down, as if trying to pay attention to what Rei-rei-dad is saying... but try as she might, she can't seem to understand him as she does happy-happy friend.

She lets out a puff in frustration, which sends one or two leaves from the not-fruity-fruit tree tumbling down.

"Oh, I really hope you convince him to come up!" She looks around, then down, as if trying to find a branch that could hold the larger humie-humans. "Those thicker branches down there! I think happy-happy-you and Rei-rei could perch there! Come, it will be fun!"

Then, looking directly to Rei-rei again, her eyes locked onto his. "Rei-rei Daddy-dad, come!", she hissess happily, then dives down to reach the tip of one of the lower hanging, thicker branches.

[Asahina Hinata]

"She really wants you to climb up, Rei-re . . . . . Usagi-samaaa!!!"

Covering his mouth again to stop from laughing at what he'd almost called the Hare, he hissed up again.

"Rei-rei-daddy says he really loves you and he'll play with you in the . . . . round-ground-bushes and with your ball if you come down.
Oh . . . the lower branches? They do look a bit thicker . . . "

Without a further word, or hiss . . . Hinata dropped his backpack and clambered up the tree trunk to the lowest branch and looked at Airi.

"Hi, hi!!"

--
D6 LM Climb Leafy-Leafy-Branch. Ath/Str TN 15 I guess? | 3k2 ⇒ 15 (TN: 15)

[Usagi Rei]

Rei watched as Hinata scrambled up the tree. Was there any chance that this was just some sort of elaborate private joke? He considered Hinata for a moment. That seemed really, really unlikely.

Well... there really only seemed to be one thing to do. "I guess this is what I'm doing this morning." Rei muttered. And then he, too, pulled himself up into the lower branches, coming to sit next to Hinata.

D6LM, climb for Airi, Ath/Str | 5k2 ⇒ 17 (TN: 15)

[Thimacek]

"Rei-rei-daddy says he really loves you and he'll play with you in the . . . . round-ground-bushes and with your ball if you come down.
Oh . . . the lower branches? They do look a bit thicker . . . "

Without a further word, or hiss . . . Hinata dropped his backpack and clambered up the tree trunk to the lowest branch and looked at Airi.

"Hi, hi!!"

"I guess this is what I'm doing this morning."

Seeing happy-happy-friend and Daddy-dad climb up made Airi as happy-happy as Rei probably hadn't seen her in days.

For good or bad, that also meant she was livelier than she was in days...

"Wheeeeeee", she scream-hissed out loud as she took off from the branch and started a series of high-speed pirouettes around both of them. The sound of the hiss was 'whee'-ish enough that even Rei could probably understand that one.

"Hi happy-happy-friend!, she would then say, flying close to Hinata for a moment, then darting to where Rei was. "Rei-rei dad, I'm so happy you came up! Come, let's play ball here! Or... can you hang from the branches?"

Her happy-go-lucky attitude was quite obvious to him, even if her words were not - and she started flying close to where he kept her ball, then flying down then up around the branches. It was a bit frustrating to her now she was convinced Rei might be able to just talk to her if he tried hard enough... but it was their usual communication, she was used to it, and...

"Wheeee, I'm so happy! Thanks, Rei-rei-dad! I love you so much!"

[Usagi Rei]

Well, even if he couldn't talk to her, that much was clear. "Okay, okay. I get it. Here I am." Rei-rei-daddy... or rather, Rei, said, grinning.

Holding onto a branch with one hand, he fished around until he came up with the ball. "Okay, ready?" He said, giving it a little shake to make sure she spotted it. And then he tossed it in a slow, high arc, the sort that gave her plenty of time to track it and intercept its path.

[Asahina Hinata]

Hinata grinned happily at Airi as she flew around them.

"So fast! Go grab it!"

There was a pretty good view from up here as well, so he looked across the gardens while swinging his legs . . . . . and his attention wavered.

"Oh no!"

[Usagi Rei]

Rei was definitely intent on Airi, smiling as he watched her enjoy herself. He always did, but there was something extra special about it after having indirect communication with her.

Still, Rei's senses were always alert, and he could feel the Crane's weight begin to shift, could see out of the corner of his eye. Without even considering, Rei reached out, grabbing Hinata with a firm hand. "Asahina-san! Careful!" Rei did his best to steady the pop-star. "If I let a member of Usagi Drop! get hurt, my cousins would never let me hear the end of it.