.o22 ☈ behind me, behind you;

[sting_to_death]

For the record, not one of the words that appeared over my head these last few days was true. I would have thought everyone knew better than to trust the Tree's jokes, but apparently I was overestimating all of you

Comments

[notpissedoff]

[...Huh. To answer or not to answer... what the heck, he's got a good thing going here. Writing's disguised, of course.]

I'm alive... is this Lin?

action; ;)

[sting_to_death]

[ Lin reached out to touch her to tell her to turn to her right, changed her mind halfway through and took her hand back. ]

On the right, here.

[ It took her a moment to decide how to explain, and whether it was really necessary. Did she trust this woman? No. Did she want to talk to her anyway?

...Yes, for some reason. ]

Oh, I have to take advantage of the rare times I see you. [ The sarcasm was evident in her voice, maybe to hide that it wasn't a joke, Lin actually thought that. But that didn't matter, if Sen couldn't see the bubble over her head. ]

It says stupid things. That's all you need to know.

action;

[3inchesofmakeup]

[Rain turned to the right when instructed to. He didn't like keeping his back to Lin like this, but for the time being it couldn't be helped. At least he was reasonably confident that she wouldn't try anything against 'Sen'.

But since Lin couldn't see his face, he didn't have to mask his smirk at her sarcastic remark. He didn't respond to it, simply lowered his head as if ashamed or embarrassed. The smirk widened as she attempted to downplay the thought bubble, but he kept his voice light and friendly.]

You mean it... shows messages above your head? How strange! I didn't have anything at all like that happen to me. [For which Rain was extremely grateful.] Do you think they mean anything?

action;

[sting_to_death]

[ Lin stared at Sen's back as she walked. There was something about this woman. She had this-- mysterious aura about her? And this time, unlike with other people, Lin found herself interested in finding out what she was hiding. Interested in her.

Which was probably already obvious by her behaviour. How often did she go out of her way to meet up with someone? And this was the second time, already. ]

Nothing important. You won't see them, so it doesn't matter.

[ She led her quietly to her house, stopping once they were there but making no move to let her in. ]

The door is open.

[ She couldn't keep standing behind Sen forever, she knew it. But as long as it was possible, she was going to. ]

action;

[3inchesofmakeup]

[Rain couldn't help but feel a bit proud of himself; Lin was letting him enter her house, of all places. She really had no clue who he was. It was strange though, to see her acting so... well, friendly still wasn't the right word. Accommodating, maybe. He had to wonder just what she was hiding by acting the way she did to most other people, his not-Sen self included.

He opened the door, slipped off his shoes, and stepped inside.]

You have a very nice home.

[He paused just inside, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear and glancing down. His next words were spoken more softly.] I'm sorry... I'm being very nosy, aren't I? Asking you so many questions... and after you've been so kind to me...

action;

[sting_to_death]

You-- [ She saw Castor come to greet them and half-expected him to come rub against Sen's legs, but the cat did none of that. He walked in, examined the stranger, and didn't get any closer. Which was weird, that cat seemed to adore women (enough that Lin was bothered by it and could get somewhat jealous, too), it was only with men that it took some convincing, usually after being scratched behind the ears or petted appropriately he'd give in.

But Lin didn't give it much thought, so few people had been in her house that she couldn't say for sure there was something weird with Castor's behaviour. ]

Tea?

[ Well. She didn't feel like being a bad host, but most of all she needed something to do with her hands if they were to sit down and talk. And Lin hoped they would, because there were a lot of things she wanted to know about Sen. ]

action;

[3inchesofmakeup]

[Rain was perfectly content to have the cat keep its distance - he wasn't much of an animal person - but figured he should probably feign at least a little bit of interest in it. He crouched down, smiling, but didn't try to reach out towards it.]

Oh! What a beautiful cat! What's its name? [He brought his fingers up to cover his lips abruptly.] Oh my, there I go again with more questions...

[He nodded at Lin's offer of tea. The more settled they got, the sooner she'd start to let her guard down.] If it's no trouble... I'd really like to have tea with you.

action;

[sting_to_death]

[ Lin quickly poured water into a pot and set it on the burner, wishing it'd boil immediately so she'd soon have something to do. She hadn't thought this through, quite obviously. When she thought about inviting Sen over to ask her questions somewhere private she hadn't foreseen it'd be awkward. ]

It doesn't matter, it doesn't have a name. Just call it 'cat'. [ Close enough. But, now that she thought about it-- ]

You should get one, if you like them this much. You said you miss the spirit that's been following you, didn't you?

action;

[3inchesofmakeup]

[Rain made a show of almost looking at Lin in surprise, then seemingly catching himself just in time and looking back down at 'Cat' before speaking excitedly.]

Spirit? Is that what it was? It seemed... well, just like a real cat, except it spoke. Its voice was familiar, somehow... oh! Do you think, maybe, it was the spirit of someone I knew?

[It was easy enough to invent information about this imaginary cat, just by applying what he'd observed about the ferret that was - hopefully - still trapped in his dresser. It was going to be pissed when he got back, he mused. As if it hadn't already bitten him enough in the few days it had been around.

Standing straight again and smoothing his kimono, he turned slightly more towards Lin, although not quite enough to be looking right at her.] Is there anything I can help with?

action;

[sting_to_death]

I heard it's happened before, although not to me. So I don't know, it might be.

[ Don't look at me appeared quickly over her head when she caught Sen almost turning around. Then Lin took a deep breath and decided to try and relax. Being that nervous was not good. Why could she keep completely calm during a battle but get anxious if she was alone with another person? ]

I'd rather you keep not looking at me.

[ Realizing it was sort of ridiculous, Soi Fong handed Sen her cup when the tea was ready standing behind her and reaching around her with her arm, always keeping a certain physical distance, however small. ]

Feel free to sit down.

[ As for herself, she'd lean with her back against a wall, finally not behind Sen, but on her side, so that Lin could check whether the woman looked at her and Sen could only see her in the corner of her eye, probably not enough to make out the words in her bubble. ]

Did it sound like someone you know?

action; when should ninja!ferret show up, anyway?

[3inchesofmakeup]

[Rain accepted the tea with a soft thank you, and nodded when Lin reiterated that she didn't want him looking at her.] Yes. I'm sorry.

[He sat, keeping his head lowered, and blew on his tea before sipping it. With Lin beside him, he could see her, but she was correct - he couldn't see enough to make out the words above her head. She just wasn't going to relax, was she? Well, he could be patient. He'd just have to keep up the idle chatter for now.]

I really don't know. I haven't recovered any of my memories yet, so... I just feel like I'd heard its voice before, somewhere. Is that normal, do you think?

action; anytime! lin's just going to ask a couple of questions but nothing important <3

[sting_to_death]

Yes, yes it is. Many things feel familiar to me too, even though I do not know why.

[ But there was something weird, and Lin couldn't help but notice-- how long had Sen been in the Tree by now? A lot, too much not to have received any memories. Of course, one could be incredibly unlucky, but...

It was worth asking. ]

You haven't? How long have you been here? [ She thought about it a few more seconds before asking, ] And why do you never write on the journal? What have you been doing all this time?

[ The questions were shot one after the other, giving the impression Lin was conducting an interrogation rather than making idle chat, but her voice was calm and clear. ]

action; okay, have a ferret! <3

[3inchesofmakeup]

[Rain quickly thought back. Had he ever made up an amount of time that Sen had been here? Their first meeting had been in... June, if he recalled correctly. He'd have to start keeping notes about what he told her - he couldn't have her getting suspicious if his story became inconsistent. He tapped his chin, pretending to think for a little longer than he'd actually needed to.]

Let me see now... it was late spring when we first met, right? Or was it early summer? Well, in either case... it must be close to ten months now, I think. Is that -

"Yes, what have you been doing all this time, boy?"

[...That voice. No... Rain froze, cutting himself off mid-sentence, his gaze snapping to the floor. There, crouching next to his feet, was the ferret, shooting him the nastiest grin that a ferret was capable of.

How...? No, that doesn't matter right now. Stay calm. Think. I can't let it spoil this... If it became apparent that this was the talking animal that was following him around, Lin would know he'd been lying. But no one

action; :D

[sting_to_death]

[ Lin had been about to tell Sen that yes, yes it was weird that in ten months she hadn't got a memory yet-- but then the weird animal had appeared out of nowhere.

Lin raised both eyebrows, vaguely thinking all the tricks of the tree were somewhat weird, but this beat them all. So Sen got a cat, and then a ferret with her? Because Lin was completely sure it did not belong to her, and it seemed more interested in Sen. ]

That thing does not belong to me. Have you never seen it before? [ She narrowed her eyes, staring without blinking at what she could see of the woman's face. ]

action;

[3inchesofmakeup]

[Rain shook his head and answered without hesitation. He couldn't afford to appear unsure about this.]

No, I haven't. Where could it have come from?

"Ha." [If a ferret was capable of sneering, it was doing so now.] "You think that because she can't hear me, you're in the clear? You'll have to do much better than that."

[With that, the creature scampered over to Lin. Looking up at her from the floor, it motioned towards Rain with a tilt of its chin, then shook its head.

...Oh hell.]

action;

[sting_to_death]

[ Lin crouched to look at the ferret more closely.

Something is wrong here. Something...

Immediately remembering she didn't want Sen to look at her, she raised a hand and gestured at her to keep looking the other way.

It's trying to tell me something. ]

Are you completely sure?