In the Town of the Rising Sun [Cecil]

Nadia hadn't even realized, with savoring her own small sip of tea, the antics that had preceded her apologetic statement. It brought a smile to her face to see he'd already helped himself to Onigiri, and that he'd done so with so much gusto.

"An awful friend wouldn't have done what you just did. An awful friend would have not cared and left me to hang. But you helped me out. You cared. You tried. Are trying. You've got no idea how much that's worth."

Any further down the self-deprecating road served neither of them, and while she was still sure she'd had some awful role to play in his near-breakdown, it wouldn't do to bring that up and risk spiraling him back into it. Instead, she went with an honest, heart-felt "Thank you, Cecil." And the smile she gave him was slight, but filled with all the thankfulness she could muster. You've got no idea how much that's worth. He'd said. She hoped that the good it had done was as fathomless as he'd made it sound. For all her trying to understand his misery, maybe she could also help pull him out of it. How beautiful it would be to see him crest that vast ocean, rise from the depths into something new and vibrant, and even more beautiful.

But for now, these little things would do. And she was feeling very hungry herself now that her heart rate had returned to normal. So she helped herself to one of the balls of rice as well, albeit taking smaller bites than Cecil had. She wanted to keep looking at him. Not at him really, but in his direction. But for some reason she felt a little awkward doing so. Why was that? Instead, she stole a glace in the direction of the rock garden. "Your friend, the one you met here...I'd love to meet him too, some day." She asserted in between bites, when she finally felt she could return her eyes to him.

Nadia watched him as he spoke to her, very intently. Trying to figure out what it was that caused her to feel excited as she did so. By the time he was finished speaking, she had finished her rice ball, and had started on her second. She had become hungry at some point. They might need to visit some place to eat real food while they were here in Little Tokyo, she thought.

But you're both good people. If you ever came across him yourself, I'm sure you'll be just fine."

Good people? He thought she was a good person? She had never really given much thought to whether or not she was a good or bad person. Was she? She remembered her conversation with the girl with the mechanical arm, the one Nadia had called a good person. Someone who fought for a good reason, someone with conviction. Did Nadia really have qualities that made her a good person as well? If so...what were they? She contemplated it, lost in thought as she ate for a moment, probably looking completely spaced-out. Then her eyes focused and she smiled at him. "You're a good person, too, Cecil." She said finitely. No room for error or question.

With that quite necessary piece of flattery out of the way, she shifted the topic almost immediately so that he wouldn't have time to argue the point. "What sorts of shops should we look into? I had been wandering around and thinking...maybe I should buy a Kimono? I have a little extra money, and I've never really bought anything for myself other than what is absolutely necessary."

Her deflection seemed to work, and she contented herself with having forced him to accept a compliment. The amusing way he stumbled around to answering her question brought another small smile to her face, and assuaged any remaining axiety she may have had from their minor breakdown. She was still fascinated with that panic of his, but she wouldn't force it upon him again if she could help it.

He asked her why a Kimono and she had to think about it for a moment. It had sort of just been the first thing she'd thought of. Now she had to wonder why herself. "Because I have been told my Wardrobe is lacking. And because...when I think of souvenirs from Japan, I think of Kimonos, I suppose." she replied, tapping her chin. "What about you? What comes to mind first when you think of Japanese souvenirs? Don't over think it, just answer."

He didn't know what he would want for a souvenir, even after thinking about it for a moment, which she had expressly told him not to do. Just as she thought. He seemed to be the type of person who overthought things. She was guilty of that herself, sometimes, though she was trying to discipline herself to be more decisive by jumping at things, like what she'd been doing with Cecil here today. So far it seemed to be working. And it had made her some irreplaceable memories along the way.

When he mentioned that a Kimono wasn't exactly what someone would wear on a daily basis, she had to agree that it wouldn't really solve the problem of wardrobe, she just like the idea of having one. "You're right, I probably wouldn't wear it very often. I mostly just want to know what it's like to wear one, since they're so exotic, if you know what I mean?" She explained, reaching forward to snag a riceball with slender fingers. "I don't know what else to get though. We'll just have to do some looking around."

Listening to him talk in his reactionary way, she had a sudden thought, and debated about asking it. The last time she asked him a personal question, it had backfired quite spectacularly. But, she had been able to talk him down, and he seemed better for it. Onward and upward, as they say. "Cecil...do you ever buy anything just for yourself - because you want it?"

Nadia chewed idly as Cecil thought out loud, explaining how he didn't really buy stuff for himself either. As he spoke, she nudged the plate with the one remaining Onigiri in his direction. His headphones made her think about her own cassette player that she'd found and appropriated for her own use, picking up different cassettes at old second hand stores. Though she was rarely seen in public with the antique, she played music for herself all the time in her room at the Inn. It was one of her few precious possessions.

"We'll find something for you too, then. Someone told me buying things for yourself is important." Nadia commented, taking a sip of tea. "What kind of music do you like?" This was a good topic. Talking about himself was bound to loosen that self-imposed noose around his neck...so to speak.

Nadia put the headphones on with one hand, holding the Onigiri away from them as she did so, and listened to the entire song as it played in her head. These headphones were really nice...she might even get a pair for herself for when she was alone in her room and didn't want to disturb any of the guests late at night. The music was...interesting, to say the least. She enjoyed the solemn, dissonant sound of it. The 8-bit quality was not something she was used to, but once she accepted it as part of the sound, it seemed natural enough. She finished her Onigiri as the song ended, taking a sip of tea to wash the last of it down.

This thing he was flipping through was much smaller than her cassette player, though. It has a screen like a phone. She'd never seen one like that before, but then she'd never really looked. "I like it. What band is this? Does that play small cassettes? Or tiny CDs maybe?" She asked curiously, wide eyes watching his hand on the device. It was fascinating.

Nadia had heard people talk about these devices once or twice, but had never really looked into it. She had was she needed, after all. Seeing it up close...she wanted one. The sound really was a great deal clearer than her cassette player. Though, she did like the old scratchy sound it made. You could tell how old it was. Like the lives of the people who had touched it. But his was... "I use cassettes." She asserted simply, taking the device from him and fiddling with the display gently.

She looked through some of the songs before asking "Do you have any Moody Blues?" It was unlikely that her old music had been added to these new devices, but it was possible. If she were to acquire one, she'd have to figure out how to do just that. "I'm afraid I don't do much with technology. I spend most of my time outside. Mother and father didn't care much for frivolous things unless it impressed their guests, so I didn't have anything like this growing up either." it was the first time she'd mentioned her past since leaving home, and it had just slipped out without her really meaning to. After she said it, she looked at Cecil suddenly like she'd said something wrong, and handed the device, and then the headphones, back to him. "Thank you for letting me listen to it."