(D5MA) Important Introductions

[Usagi Rei]

She took the arm, seeing it as a small gesture. “I would say it is likely so. But I don’t want to pin myself down totally yet.” As Airi shakes the bush, she listens intently.

“Have you considered that perhaps….part of why you wander is that you have not been…forthright with yourself about what you need?Merely an idle thought, but one that has come into my head many times when I speak to others on this topic.”

"Good." Rei said, flashing her a smile. "I think you're still a little young for that, Ide-san." His tone was playful again. It seemed to be a state he could return to pretty easily.

But her next question made him give her a sudden sharp look. After a moment, he smiled. "You ask very good questions. Hmmm." For a few moments, he looked very thoughtful indeed, his handsome features almost clouded, but then he smiled and shook his head.

"In all honesty, I'm not sure. I like the life here. I like to go out drinking, and the nightlife. I like to flirt." He gave her another wry smile. "You might have noticed that. But what do I need?"

Rei looked away. "I... can't say." It wasn't clear, including to him, which way he meant that.

[Ide Yamako]

She smiled up at him. “Why yes, I did in fact wake up this morning, I had noticed you were a flirt.”

Her gaze turns inward for a brief moment. “It is very easy to chase a thing without ever knowing if it is what one wants or needs. Sometimes just for the chase, the thrill. But then when it is caught, what do we do?”

She shakes her head. “Pardon my meandering. Perhaps I need more tea.”

[Usagi Rei]

Rei laughed at that. "Well then, let me just add that you look lovely in a dress." Obliquely referring to her outfit from last night. "But I'll keep it to a respectful level, I promise." He gave a tiny bow.

Once more, Yamako's words turned Rei's expression thoughtful. "That... is something that I have sometimes wondered. If I... I'm not sure." There were definitely gaps in what he was saying.

Smiling, Rei gently shook his head. "No, no pardon necessary. You seem wise and kind. Perhaps that's an auntie thing." He chewed his lower lip a few moments, clearly considering.

Finally, he cleared his throat. "I feel I should mention... I'm actually technically married. I just haven't seen my wife since the day of our marriage. She left, so far as anyone can tell." He gave her a sidelong look, trying to gauge her reaction.

[Ide Yamako]

Rei laughed at that. "Well then, let me just add that you look lovely in a dress." Obliquely referring to her outfit from last night. "But I'll keep it to a respectful level, I promise." He gave a tiny bow.

Once more, Yamako's words turned Rei's expression thoughtful. "That... is something that I have sometimes wondered. If I... I'm not sure." There were definitely gaps in what he was saying.

Smiling, Rei gently shook his head. "No, no pardon necessary. You seem wise and kind. Perhaps that's an auntie thing." He chewed his lower lip a few moments, clearly considering.

Finally, he cleared his throat. "I feel I should mention... I'm actually technically married. I just haven't seen my wife since the day of our marriage. She left, so far as anyone can tell." He gave her a sidelong look, trying to gauge her reaction.

She chuckled at his flirting, but said nothing, not wanting to think of her failure last night.

But when he clears his throat, her attention is absolute. She knows this moment. It is the moment when someone chooses honesty and it is powerful every time she witnessed it.

“That…is complicated. Has no one attempted to find her?”

[Usagi Rei]

She chuckled at his flirting, but said nothing, not wanting to think of her failure last night.

But when he clears his throat, her attention is absolute. She knows this moment. It is the moment when someone chooses honesty and it is powerful every time she witnessed it.

“That…is complicated. Has no one attempted to find her?”

"Sure. Lots of people. Myself included." Rei couldn't quite meet her eyes, but he still smiled wryly at her. "And I'm pretty good at that sort of thing. I was trained for it. I guess her training was better."

He did look at her then. Lines of tension were visible in his even jawline, and there was an intensity in his eyes. "It was nothing I did, I swear it. I've thought about it again and again, but no. I didn't. I couldn't have." There was the slightest tinge of doubt in his words, because how could there not be? He doubted everything regarding her.

[Ide Yamako]

She placed a hand over his arm, trying to stop the spiral she heard starting. “Sometimes, people do things that seem inexplicable to us. Against their duty, their honor, themselves and their vows. We cannot blame ourselves for the actions of others.”

She removes her hand and looks down at the ground. “One can do everything right and still fail.”

[Usagi Rei]

Yamako could feel the tension in Rei's form, even through the layers he wore. "Yeah, I know... I know." Rei swallowed, then offered her a weak smile. "I don't blame myself. But sometimes..." He shook his head. "I don't know."

He followed her gaze downward. "Yeah... is that you speaking from personal experience, Ide-san?" Rei asked.

[Ide Yamako]

She looks back up at him. “Only a fool thinks they are perfect. But I have looked down the well I think has caught you a time or two.”

She pauses, taking a deep breath before shaking her head. “Regret is a sin but it is one that many make I think, particularly if their heart is involved.”

[Usagi Rei]

"I see." Rei said. After a moment, he smiled gently at her. "Well. There's nothing that you have to tell me if you don't want to."

He took another deep breath, seemingly steadying himself. "I hope you don't mind me telling you this all of a sudden. It just... I felt like it might help you understand. And that you would understand." He grimaced again. "I'm not sure I'm explaining it well. But... there it is."

[Ide Yamako]

She pauses. “It is not that I would not share. It is more that…it is not solely my story. And part of that story was also learning a great deal of my own…vulnerabilities if you will. My caution is not a reflection of you Usagi-san but rather the effects of a rather hard lesson.”

She shakes her head. “I am speaking in riddles like a Dragon. Let me put it this way. I know what it is like to see your life flowing forward, to see it all working as you hoped…and then to have it dashed out from beneath your feet. It is difficult to pick oneself up from that. That you are here and speaking…it is significant.”

[Usagi Rei]

"I see." As they did sometime, Rei's pale eyes narrowed, studying Yamako. There was nothing flirty about it; indeed, his gaze was rather piercing. "I also received a hard lesson. I'm just not sure what it taught me." What did it teach her, he wondered? Could he see the flaws if he studied close enough, glued back together like an antique teapot that had been dropped? Not that he was comparing a woman to a teapot, mind.

Rei closed his eyes, shaking his head. "It doesn't feel like an achievement." He said. Opening his eyes, he looked at her. "But it feels different, knowing you've been there too. Although I fancy not quite the same." Rei smiled without humor. "I'm not so vain as to think my case is unique, but I'd wager it's at least quite rare. Wife vanishing the day after the wedding..."

[Ide Yamako]

"I see." As they did sometime, Rei's pale eyes narrowed, studying Yamako. There was nothing flirty about it; indeed, his gaze was rather piercing. "I also received a hard lesson. I'm just not sure what it taught me." What did it teach her, he wondered? Could he see the flaws if he studied close enough, glued back together like an antique teapot that had been dropped? Not that he was comparing a woman to a teapot, mind.

Rei closed his eyes, shaking his head. "It doesn't feel like an achievement." He said. Opening his eyes, he looked at her. "But it feels different, knowing you've been there too. Although I fancy not quite the same." Rei smiled without humor. "I'm not so vain as to think my case is unique, but I'd wager it's at least quite rare. Wife vanishing the day after the wedding..."

“I have distinctly never heard of another outside of a vid serial and I have watched a great deal of those.” She said with a smile. “It is difficult to have a pain that one cannot share. I am glad you chose to share it with me and I will honor that confidence.”

[Usagi Rei]

A moment, and then Rei nodded. "Thank you, Ide-san." He said simply.

He smiled. "So, I hope this makes some of my peculiar silences less peculiar." He tilted his head as he looked at her. "You're not a spy, are you?" He said, mostly joking. "If not, maybe you should be one. I don't usually give information out quite so easily."

Then his lips quirked. "To be clear, I mean that as a compliment. I've been on World of Dreams too long now..."

[Ide Yamako]

She raises an eyebrow at him, auntie like in its accuracy. "I'll ignore that spy comment for now." Somewhere on Kuwagata, a courting pair looks around worriedly for prying eyes.

With a small shrug, she says, "I have been told...that I can be easy to talk to sometimes. It has its pluses and minuses for all. But unless it is a need of my clan or duty, I keep those confidences to myself. Matters of the heart should be as private as can be."

[Usagi Rei]

Rei ducked his head. "Yes ma'am." It was both joking and not. She did have some authority...

"Hmmm." Rei's gaze went briefly distant, his smile gentle. "Maybe that's it." He sighed. "On the World of Dreams, integrity isn't always what it should be. Nor honor." Lips twisting, he looked back at her. "But I think your integrity is almost a tangible thing, if it makes sense. I can feel it, talking to you, even just looking at you. I think perhaps that's why it's so easy to share stuff like that with you."

[Ide Yamako]

She looked at him again, her face serious. "I will take that compliment any day over any you have said about my face." Pausing to determine if she should proceed, she decided that that sort of trust deserved a return. "I think perhaps Usagi-san, you might thrive better in a place with less shadows. You are like a plant that seeks light and air but is stuck inside a small room, I think. You will not be content without some measure of freedom."

[Usagi Rei]

Rei crossed his arms over his chest, his own expression turning at least a bit more serious. "I meant those, too. But not as much as I meant this." Rei said, inclining his head to her.

He looked over at Airi, still doing battle with something in the bush. Or perhaps just the bush. "I see..." He said, frowning thoughtfully. After a few moments, he looked back at her with a sigh. "You might be right. And yet, I wonder. If you take a bonsai and plant it outdoors, will it grow?" Actually, he didn't know that. Trees weren't really his thing.

Shaking his head, he went on. "What I mean... I wonder if I've gotten too comfortable in my little room, and my little... tree-bowl." Seriously, he grew up on a spaceship, what even were trees? "I don't know how I'd do anywhere else, now."

[Ide Yamako]

She smiled. "I know, but the way they are valued does not change their sincerity." She listens closely to his concerns, clearly knowing this was difficult for him.

"And yet, a plant that has grown too large for its pot will struggle and perish, its roots bound and hard. Indeed, I have seen one or two where the roots have grown into such a mass that the dirt had to be struck away in order to free it and make it possible to breathe." She paused, knowing this was sensitive.

"I am not saying you are such a plant Usagi-san. We are only growing to know each other. But I wonder if you are not the clearest viewer of yourself, with all the shadows you live in. Perhaps some sunlight would help chase them away a bit."

[Usagi Rei]

Rei looked at her, chewing his lip thoughtfully. Down at his side, his fingers drummed rhythmically on his leg.

Finally, he spoke. "I think you're right. I don't have the clearest view of myself. Or, at least, that would explain some things." He smiled. "I think I don't always... make the best decisions for myself. I did well enough in training, and in my early assignments, that I had some leeway in choosing where to go. I chose here."

He was silent a moment, then shrugged. "It's hard to second-guess the decisions that led here. I suppose I can't have known that I shouldn't have married my wife."

[Ide Yamako]

She shakes her head. "One cannot regret what did not know. But one can find a way to the future. Or a place where one might thrive."

She paused for a second. "You should come visit my clan..On Kuwagata. The fresh air might do you good, if nothing else."