[D9, LE, open] Second Chance Mixer

[Agasha Inoshishi]

She looks Inoshishi up and down discreetly. "Ishioka?" she punts back, before her painted lips quirk into something like a smile as well.

Inoshishi giggles. "Of course. You think I have this much...influence?" There's a certain 'you share my pain and know what we can't say' look to her dark eyes as she indicates the richness of this kimono. "I assume he though it brought out my" She VERY pointedly looks down at her own slightly convex chest before meeting the Otter's eyes for a moment. "eyes." The eyeroll after is both carefully focused at only the Otter (and perhaps the Utaku) and is notable both in it's exasperation and it's restraint.

"I, uh.." she tries to start as they begin their walk, "Hai, Asahina Soyokaze-san, he's a um.. project, of Ishioka's," Narumi shrugged lightly, mind racing to catch up. Despite herself, the Dragon-ko is charming as ever. But definitely Up to Something.
"I've been doing some thinking," they arrive at the sake, and Narumi pours a cup for Inoshishi and hands it to her before serving herself.

"Our Ishioka does love his projects." She looks down at her kimono, over to the Otter, then back around the room, fondness warring with exasperation. "I try to avoid that, often. But, since you've taken the risk, what results have you achieved?" She navigates them towards the most comfortable seats, which happen to be in a corner screened slightly from the rest of the going's on.

[Usogawa Narumi]

Okay so she couldn't help but laugh at Ino's exasperation directed at their Matsu.
Narumi himself isn't voluptuous, more on the side of thin, though not to the extent of the Dragon. Clearly, she doesn't get enough exercise. For reasons.
They sit, and the Otter is well aware of the mild seclusion.
"Um."
She's almost speechless. Ino would note this was a rather clear sign her defensive walls were precariously down; she'd knocked them down herself, last time, hadn't she?
"Well. I- I thought one of us should." She regains a bit of footing, and leans in conspiratorially, tracing a fingerpad around the rim of her cup. "We have a shared interest. And he's... fond of you. And I'm fond of him. And I thought to myself, I don't want a quarrel." she quietly echoed the words she'd said at the temple, and her expression softens. "I want to make things right between you and I."

[Agasha Inoshishi]

"Well. I- I thought one of us should." She regains a bit of footing, and leans in conspiratorially, tracing a fingerpad around the rim of her cup. "We have a shared interest. And he's... fond of you. And I'm fond of him. And I thought to myself, I don't want a quarrel." she quietly echoed the words she'd said at the temple, and her expression softens. "I want to make things right between you and I."

Inoshishi laughs quietly to herself. She's a good girl, she really tries to be, especially for Ishioka, for avoiding this fate that she can see barreling towards them. But she couldn't be HER and not say this thing. She lays her hand on the table, open and empty, and looks away, while quietly, so quietly and tenderly, saying, "I seem to recall someone else speaking like that."

She looks back, without a smile, without a frown, just...oddly impassive. Perhaps she's been hanging out with old stoney too much. "The past is behind us. One cannot make it right, one can merely strive to do better in the future. What future do you see laid out for us?" Mechanically, she pops a mushroom in her mouth, then shifts, her many small scrolls and books rustling their secret wisdom to her as she waits to hear the proposal.

[Usogawa Narumi]

Narumi could see how it might look like she'd come crawling back but it couldn't be farther from tbe truth. She'd mulled things over, weighed them over and over. She'd come at the dilemma cerebrally and compromisingly.
And now she felt she'd failed before she'd even begun.

Downing her cup of sake like a Crab, she sets the cup down and gingerly runs fingerpads along Ino's palm.
"We both want to make him happy. I gave a lot of thought to the story you told me, and I apologize to you here for my behaviour in the temple. You caught me off guard and it was only by our conversation that the gravity of my feelings for Ishioka made themselves known to me, so ... I had that going on ... and then ..." she flustered, feeling her cheeks warming and thankful for the makeup that obfuscated her mild blush. Still her painted eyebrow ticked upward.
"Going forward, I'd like to get to know you. In whatever capacity suits you." She tests the waters, searching the Dragon's features.

[Agasha Inoshishi]

"Going forward, I'd like to get to know you. In whatever capacity suits you." She tests the waters, searching the Dragon's features.

Inoshishi closes her eyes for a moment, her eyes darting inside the closed lids. A small smile forms, bigger and bigger.

"Yay! I knew I couldn't get through that on my own. I'm sorry, did I scare you? I wasn't trying to. I just knew the stories said I couldn't do it. I couldn't...there was no part for me in the fixing. And I didn't believe it, so I talked to you and to Ishi-kun and I was so so worried, but I didn't break it. It's okay. It's still there!"

In her sudden fierce joy, she grabs for the Otter's fingers with what would for her be crushing force, but almost certainly actually isn't. The relief and singing joy erase her previous solemnity and mild bitterness entirely.

"Yes, of course, a thousand times yes."

[Usogawa Narumi]

Her brow creased at the shift in Ino's disposition and the crush of her hand in return. Taking a page from their Matsu, Narumi gave a gentle squeeze.
"Never once did the thought cross my mind that I'd have him, without you. You ... said as much to me the other day, and I've taken it deeply to heart." She said with a quiet certainty she'd taken time to come to terms with.

[Utaku Kheree]

.

.

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Ah , kitsu-san ,Kheree, is only somewhat harder to say then my ravens name. But I then, with the exhilaration and distraction of the last few days it is easy to remember some names better then others.

.

She waited a moment until the dragons look returned to her as she moved two fingers in a hook like motion alongside her fan as if she was trying to grip something

[Agasha Inoshishi]

Inoshishi blushes a tomato red at that and is glad she's sitting. She'd lose her step if she were walking, and Kami only knows where that would lead!

I've taken it deeply to heart." She said with a quiet certainty she'd taken time to come to terms with.

Inoshishi nods happily. "Thank you for doing so. I could see that the idea of sharing was difficult. I am excited to get to know you in whatever fashion you choose."

Her happy eyes begin to regain the mischievous spark.

"I confess, I'm not the innocent girl I often seem. I sense that you've begun to see that. I did not sense much of the mirror in you, however. While I certainly don't mind getting to know you in...an astounding amount of detail, I don't wish to push you beyond your comfort zone." A slight flicker of something deeper than mere attraction or interest flares for a moment. "Too much."

Her hands stop digging in as she calms down again, still thrilled that the moment she couldn't influence is past, even if she's the only one to recognize it's importance.

[Moshi Shizuka]

snip

"Oh, sake would be most welcome, Matsu-san."

As Soyo made his introduction and then dipped out, Shizuka looked momentarily confused by the Asahina's rapid departure, then collected herself.

"It would seem that Asahina-san had a pressing engagement, neh? A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kitsu-san. I do so hope you'll stay a while longer?"

[Usogawa Narumi]

While I certainly don't mind getting to know you in...an astounding amount of detail, I don't wish to push you beyond your comfort zone." A slight flicker of something deeper than mere attraction or interest flares for a moment. "Too much."

Narumi laughed a bit incredulously at the Dragon-ko's forwardness, she tilted her head toward her.
"Having few things in common beyond Ishioka, I imagine there will be some fair amount of time getting to know one another," she replied delicately but with an amused smirk.