D14LM (Ishi's rm) Second Impressions (closed)

[Usogawa Narumi]

With the morning winding down, there's a scritch on Ishioka's doorframe.
Narumi waits patiently on the other side, idly running a fingerpad over her lower lip, nearly healed now.
There's little things about her appearance that set her off from the Otter he had fallen in love with, he'll notice: while she wears the fine and elegant blue and brown kimono she'd arrived in, her hair- usually perfectly put together and braided back from her face is instead in a simple knot at the base of her neck, wisps falling forward to frame her features. Makeup bolder, intriguing, enticing. Even her stance has changed from being rigidly held into something more comfortable. A noticeable weight taken off her shoulders.

[Matsu Ishioka]

When the Lion opens the door, he smiles at the pleasant surprise. His eyes flicker, appreciating that something is different though not immediately sure exactly what or why.

"Ah, Narumi-san, come in please," he says quickly, warmly, moving aside to let her in and then closing the door after she's in. "I, um, don't have tea ready, but there is cold water... Um, shall we sit?" He gestures toward the cushions in their usual places beside the table, but doesn't move right away, waiting to see her preference.

[Usogawa Narumi]

She ducks into his room, and when he suggests the cushions, that's where she goes. "Water is just fine, thank you."
A moment is taken to look around. "It's Inoshishi-san?" The question is simple, and a thoughtful smile sits on her lips, tinged with a hint of sadness as well.

[Matsu Ishioka]

The Lion pauses a moment, thinking she's asking if Inoshishi is there, then realizes he'd misheard.

"Hai. The Deer matched me with Ino--shishi-san," he says, adjusting to not use the very informal name. He looks like he might ask the next obvious question immediately, but he pours cups of water first and then sits.Trying to hide it, he takes a deep breath before asking, "And it's... Asahina-san?"

[Usogawa Narumi]

She watches him intently.
"Um. Hai." A manicured eyebrow ticks upward, wanting to say more but holding it back for the moment at least. She lifts the cup to her lips, considering, before taking a sip. "You're relieved?" It's less a question and more an observation.
Small things about her seem.. off. The way she holds the cup is more informal than she has in the past. The way she sits, more relaxed than she'd been at the tea house the other day. Even her expressions seem more animated, less careful thought put behind them.

[Matsu Ishioka]

The answer is what he'd expected, and that provides some relief. Relief that helps him notice that Narumi seems different. His eyes narrow slightly, as she's used to seeing when he focuses on something. In this case, it's looking at her.

"Hai, relieved is a good word. I had... I had begun to worry that even what seemed so obvious might mean nothing in the Deer's calculations." He seems uncomfortable, but perhaps less so than could be expected for this conversation. "And you... are... too," he says, not posing it as a question, given her more relaxed behavior. "Uh, noticeably," he says, trying to make it sound joking in case he's mistaken.

[Usogawa Narumi]

"Relieved is very far away from the word I'd choose," she sets the cup down, lowering her gaze with it and tucks a lock of hair behind one ear.
When she raises her eyes again there's an unfamiliar spark to them. "Or maybe it is. It's... unclear just yet. Relieved that this trial is over. Relieved that you're not unhappy, and neither am I... Relieved that certain paths have ended for me, at least. Terrified of what that means. Terrified of starting a new path, but a good one; when it's the end of everything I've been up to this point. Terrified of finding out who I am without all the pretending to be who I'm not. Terrified that every moment from this morning on out is my last, and I'll lose everything all over again." Narumi gives a slight shrug of slender shoulders, suddenly very serious.

"Remorseful of what's been lost. But thankful that when you loved me, you didn't know where I come from. And that's all the better, because I meant what I said about wanting to protect you, Ishioka. You just never put together that it was protecting you from me."

[Matsu Ishioka]

As the Otter continues, the Lion looks more and more perplexed, his eyes narrowing until they seem almost slivers.

"Narumi-san," he says, disbelieving, "what... What in all the realms are you talking about? I was..." He scoffs a little, ignorant beyond his own imagining. "I was never in any danger from you," he says, incredulous. He shakes his head. "And I still..." Those words slip out before he can stop himself, but he does bite his lip before it gets worse, and apologetic eyes flash up at Narumi.

[Usogawa Narumi]

What he almost says earns him a small, pleased smile.
But it's momentary, fleeting.

"This morning I awoke expecting not an announcement of my betrothal but.. a summons. I expected to be called in before the Emerald Magistrate and evicted from the miai in shame and disgrace at best, or arrested. I was not expecting to see Bo's name next to mine, and so I went to see him."
She takes a breath.
"Turns out a gift had been given to him: a box containing interviews.. transcripts of interrogations conducted that all name me.. As a smuggler, a thief, a fence, and everything in between. Nothing in those papers was untrue, and now he knows who I am. And so do you.
They put it on Bo to decide what to do with me." Narumi shakes her head slowly.

[Matsu Ishioka]

The Lion's heart falls from his chest, and his mouth even hangs open for a time. The usual control of the Stone Matsu slides off as his mind flails as it goes over a cliff.

"That's... But, no, you... You wouldn't..." There are long moments of his attempts at denial, but all fail as the realization builds that he doesn't know this woman like he thought. Finally his eyes close, his head bows and his hands move to grip the sides of the table. "But you help people," he says quietly, defeated but still stubborn.