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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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 Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:27 pm
Rika listens... then opens her mind slightly to let Hitsuga sense her feelings of acknowledgment and... not much else. No condemnation or pity or deep shock leaks from her (at least not anymore.)
She leans back in her chair, taking off her glass and sticking it down the first layer of her robes for safekeeping, and rubs her eyes. After a moment, she sighs, and regards him again, her emotions still relatively unreadable but her gaze softer somehow. "I will not pry into your heart," she says, "... but that was not what I expected."
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:32 pm
He has inwardly steeled himself, not sure what to expect, hoping for nothing, but preparing to defend himself, or implore her forgiveness, if need be. Most would simply have acknowledged it as being none of Rika's business, and any feelings she may have on the matter, therefore, meaning nothing to them. The same could not be said for Hitsuga, though, as much as he advised himself to no avail that such a mindset would be much healthier for him.
His eyes, at last, dare to meet hers when she speaks again. No...? He inquires tentatively. He projects nothing beyond that, though the curious glint in his gaze invites her to expand.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:38 pm
... Rika eyes him back for a while, as if to give him ample time to retract that invitation, then begins slowly, speaking softly, "After Baikou assured me that she would know if that much-talked about childhood friend, that skilled perfumer she strangely never got around to visiting, was dead, I thought she might have been secretly married to him. But it seems my guess was wrong."
She turns her head slightly away as she strokes her chin, though her eyes remain fixed on Hitsuga.
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:45 pm
Hitsuga blinks, his thoughts momentarily washed away in a white haze of shock, and then closes his eyes, his face burning as he digests this.
Baikou spoke fondly of him....? Really?
As much as he wants to be elated to hear it, he just as much wants to crawl into a hole somewhere for the assumptions he'd long-nurtured about her hatred of him.
He swallows through a throat that feels far too tight and shakes his head faintly.
Not married, he tells Rika. ....not anymore.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:49 pm
Rika now just looks confused, peering at Hitsuga with a twisted mouth and brow, but also a touch of something that could be interpreted as sympathy. She neither speaks nor projects for a long time, though, and when she does it is only to say again, "I will not pry."
But her bafflement by itself probably communicates much about her past conversations and assumptions about this matter.
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:57 pm
He projects a feeble thank-you, which is polite but muddled by the roil of other thoughts that strain against the stone dam of his mind. The need to be by himself is stirring. He wants to think on this new information some more, and react to it fully, away from the eyes or opinions of others.
It is, however, manageable for the moment as he forces himself to straighten up a bit, blinking several times to clear his eyes.
How IS Baikou....? he ventures at last. He has, admittedly, not spoken to her in a long time. Though he reads her publications as he finds them.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:03 pm
Rika now suddenly looks away from him, biting her lip a little... but remains in this state only a moment before she again looks him in the eye and replies evenly:
"She is fine. ... Well, her moods seemed fine, and she is not often ill, though... she has been suffering some discomforts. But to me she has always appeared good-humored and eager to work." She pauses, then smiles slightly, and opening her mind somewhat, assures Hitsuga not to worry; her biggest worry was probably his strange disappearance, and when they return and prove that he is fine, she will no longer be stressed about that.
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:11 pm
Discomforts....?
His eyes, again, look to the tabletop as his hands fold over one another tightly. At length he nods, trying to resummon a smile for Rika that ends up falling pathetically flat instead.
Then....they will do that, he decides. And he will speak to her himself, if need be, if it would ease things.
....and if she would wish to speak to him.
He amends the final projection quickly with an apology that he did not mean to let himself fall to self-pity. And he thanks Lady Rika deeply for what she's told him. He owes her much for her insight. It seems he's drawn incorrect conclusions about a few things over the years.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:18 pm
Rika shrugs away his question, vague thoughts of everyone having her own various aches and pains emanating from her. Likewise, she dismisses his thanks, sending him vague and awkward feelings of not doing any special favors, just reporting what she knew (or thought she knew.)
After a long silence, "... Would you like another cup of tea?" She rises to raise Setsushi's stash -- giving off a quiet little burst of pain as a crick in her back scolds her. Nevertheless, she hobbles to the kitchen cabinets to rifle through the tins and try to find that Whatsit of Gray or some other scented variety.
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:50 pm
He moves to rise as well, to assist if she should want, but then she is at the cupboards, leaving him to sink back into his seat. He feels strangely-heavy at the moment, like he would not be of much use even if she HAD asked his help.
Another twinge of desire to shut himself away makes him withdraw a bit more.
He thanks Lady Rika warmly for the offer, but he is afraid he really should start heading back to Madame Phaerna's. He's not quite sure of the way there, but he imagines it is much easier to find it in the daylight than when dusk starts to roll in.
His projections are the same gentle courtesy he's always offered her in their lighter conversations, though his eyes betray the mess that lays underneath at the moment. One that needs to be sorted out, organized, and put back where it belongs.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 3:44 am
Rika turns partway, regards him... Then instead of preparing tea, she takes one of the tins back with her to the table, placing it on the surface and then gently sliding it towards him with her fingertips. "Take this home, then," she says. "When you are taking a break, perhaps you can enjoy a pot?"
She doesn't insist, but offers the gift without hesitation.
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 3:59 am
He hesitates, tea being the furthest thing from his mind at the moment, but knowing it would be horribly rude to refuse her gift. And touched by the gesture.
Slowly one thin-fingered hand reaches out, placing itself on top of the canister and drawing it to him as he bows his head to her, the corners of his mouth hitching up in what is, if not a smile, at least a softening of the pensive expression he wears.
"Thank you, Lady Rika." he murmurs aloud, for the moment not sure he trusts himself to project clearly. The words hang on the silence and then are gone after a moment as he slowly rises from the table, pushing his chair in after himself.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 4:06 am
Rika nods, stepping back to allow him space.
"Come visit whenever you wish," she adds. "You've already been a great help..."
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 4:17 am
"Hopefully...I will have some-thing to show you next time." he falters out, partially due to his own difficulty with the spoken word, but his ragged nerves certainly not making it any easier at the moment.
His heart begins to pick up a rabbit's pace. All he can think of is getting out. Getting away. Putting himself somewhere out of reach of everybody else. His hands tighten to a white-knuckled grip on the tea canister...
He will see her soon, he assures her hurriedly, now not sure if he trusts his voice....!! And he wishes her a good day as he leaves, taking vested effort to walk, not run, to the door.
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