12919/Foxes and Birds

Foxes and Birds
Date of Scene:	29 September 2022
Location:	North Woods
Synopsis:	Harper meets Cecily and Saeko, getting to know the nature of both science and magic foxes!
Cast of Characters:	Harper Row, Saeko, Cecily Winters

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Harper Row has posed:
    Harper is staring upwards a lot. The big apple smells a lot sweeter than Gotham in a place like this. It may as well be another dimension. The train to the city was a good experience, but now it's time for feet to get her where she needs go. Before she gets wrapped up in a Lab, or pesters a resource to tap for knowledge, she's going to darn well stretch her legs and get her head on straight. It's been a few weeks since the incident with Gotham's power grid where she got a lesson in hubris. A shadow follows her, and its name is uncertainty.

    Headphones dangling rather than deployed in her ears, and oddly, her phone is in her pocket. A hoodie over a t-shirt of her current favourite band, it's not zipped up. Jeans with some tears at the knees and boots down below to take on the worst urban terrain that Manhattan can offer. She's passing by others here and there, but her stranger-danger instincts are heightened and she tries to give them a wide berth. She feels like running, she feels uncomfortable, and so starts to jog. And her shadow of anxiety keeps pace with her and whispers things in her ear in a place that's a little far from home. Her expression is set like someone trying to prepare for a boxing match, or outrun a bad memory.

Saeko has posed:
Years ago, before the battles of gods in New York city that forced an evactuation, barely a footnote in the last half a decade, a small shrine was dedicated by a local Cultural group into the Park. With the small altar offering to Inari, the whole shrine was little more than a garden in the woods with a small bench and an altar barely more in size than a voting desk. Modest as it was, it could so easily be forgotten...yet there were more and more people who'd seemed to venture to it in recent times, little stories of the divine Tenko that had supposedly appeared to them offering blessings and protections for the right offering.

Superstition and folk tales or truth, the small wooden shrine awaited...

Harper Row has posed:
    The young Gotham girl should have had her phone out if she didn't want to get turned around. Her pace quickened, and an urgency built in the back of her head like an itch that needed to be scritched. The faces she passed didn't look right, and so she's stopped looking, trying to concentrate on where this trail leads her. In shape, it's still an effort, and she'd be in the zone if not for her own thoughts messing with her. Her heart sounds loud, and her breath laboured.

    When she comes around a curve she spots the garden. It almost makes her lose step, possessing a unique quality to her, and she starts to bleed off speed. The bench looks more inviting, and the altar a curiosity. "O-okay..." Panting, Harper puts her hands on her knees and bends over to try and catch her breath. It could appear to be a bow or supplication to the shrine, considering her proximity. "What's wrong...What's wrong with you. Ovary up, damn-it." Her faux-hawk is mussed up as her hood tries to swallow her bent head. "...you screw-up."

Saeko has posed:
Lost? Lead? Hard to know, but still things were there to be found none the less. Of course, the wooden carving of that fox was beautiful craftsmanship...but it seemed relatively mundane. And yet, there was a little feeling of...something. Like that bat-trained instinct was warning her that she was being watched, yet there was no apparent threat. Strange enough, but there was no obvious sign.

At least, not until Harper stood up and lifted her head.

The neckline might be eyecatching, the pose almost provocative with the incredibly beautiful woman leaning over the alter...yet even that or her red yukata was probably going to be less striking than those furred points of fox-like ears atop her head, or the fanning out of no less than nine silken tails behind her.

"Poor thing...you seem in distress."

Harper Row has posed:
    Harper's raised gaze and straightened posture goes rigid as she stares at the woman at the altar. Her mouth doesn't gape, but it opens just enough to allow the candy she's tucked into her cheek to slip free. Her lips try and catch the strawberry vanilla swirl and she succeeds in gobbling it, and swallowing the darn thing. She croaks a little and licks her lips. "W-what...What the heck..."

    Time doesn't slow, but vertigo threatens to crash the party. Those ears, those tails, that voice that carries to her ears. The Gotham Girl takes a few steps towards the woman leaning upon the altar on instinct. "I'm fine." she manages with a jaw that's full of tension. Her fingers ache and she wrings them, punishing them as she slaps them back-handed against her thighs. Not now, not in front her. Bandages gone, her fingers still bear old burns, singed. "I'm perfectly fine." she adds, as if to convince herself. There's a spike of shame at her abrasive responses, and she frowns. "I help people in distress, I don't get into it."

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Unlike the Bluebird accidentally running into the fox, a certain other kitsune seems to be out 'looking'. She has her usual accoutrements: The bookbag, the professional attire, the shoulder holster and handgun. Today, though, she's carrying a small paper bag, too. Could it be an offering to the shrine of Inari? Perhaps it is! Though as she finds her way close to the small clearing, she pauses, ears pricking up to the sound of a very familiar voice. A -very- familiar voice.

    Two, really. But one she had expected, the other not so much. Her tails curl and so do her lips into that of a smile, and slowly, slowly, does she make her approach towards Harper from behind as quietly as she can. Whether or not Saeko gives her away is another matter entirely, as she's coming towards the shrine--and the true kitsune--head on.

Saeko has posed:
Well, at least Harper seemed to take it well, but even if the 'accidental supplication' had seemed just that? Saeko knew the difference between a devout prayer or offering and someone simply in need who'd come to the shrine. Those tails wavering behind her made the tenko oh-so-obviously supernatural, yet the Kitsune actually giggles a little at the comment and a little tilt of her head comes.

"I see...so warriors do not tire, suffer injury or stress anymore? This is remarkable," A little shift to walk around, her fingertips caress the wooden carving of the fox on her alter as her ears give a twitch. Oh she'd noticed Cecily, but she wasn't going to give her away deliberately. "It doesn't take divine knowledge to know you juuuust might be fooling yourself."

Harper Row has posed:
    Harper is unaware of Cecily's approach, fixated on the lovely woman and her striking attributes. It's a shame, if she does have a Bat-sense by gadget or instinct, it is subsumed. If only she had heightened senses, but frig knows if she'd have enough Copium to handle that sort of blessing. Harper watches and listen, and the words have a visible effect, making her brows furrow in something like defensivenss.

    Harper walks up towards the shrine slowly and clenches and unclenches her fists. Sullenly, her bottom lip threatening to pout. The candy she swallowed traces thick lines of flavour down her throat, making her eyes water. The tails beckon her and the voice requires an answer, such as she can provide. Harper tosses her head as she see's those ears twitch. "I didn't say..." she starts and blows out her cheeks. She drops her gaze to the carving and stares at the details that Saeko's fingers bless. "I can't tell any of my friends. They'll kick me off the te-...out of the club I'm in. When they need me, they need me at my best, and no excuses. My brother needs me to protect him. I can't find comfort, except those times in dreams, and once...when I was awake. But that feels like it was a dream too." Harper has a thought and swallows. She furtively looks up to Saeko, "I'm not really religious. Mom was. Divine?...can you...grant wishes?" There's a hopeful look that is summoned and she fidgets before Saeko and the shrine, unbeknowst of another divine-like creature so close.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Maybe Cecily shares a brief 'look' with Saeko as she approaches, listening to the exchange. She approaches slowly, but steadily, until she's just behind Harper. Not close enough for the girl to feel the breath on her neck, or the brush of her tails. Not yet, anyway. Not -yet-. But the businessfox gives a gentle smile to Saeko, and slowly nods to her. The faint scent of breakfast burritos sort of drifts around her, proof of the offering she carries in her bag. She did promise Saeko a meal from the best taco cart in town, after all! For now, however, she listens to Harper's worries,not wanting to interrupt her request, her wish.

Saeko has posed:
Now -that- was an offering. Those animal-like senses could indeed pick up on the scent and she was happy for it...but well, 'first come, first serve,' right? Smiling a little, one of those tails reaches out, a little comforting brush echoed by a lift of Saeko's hand to the mortal woman's cheek. "You carry such a burden Harper Row..." she offers, seemingly simply -knowing- the girl's name. Perhaps Inari's divine Tenko really was omnipotent...or she could simply 'know' those who asked for her aid. "Wishes," she repeats, a shrug of those partially bare shoulders. "Blessings, in exchange for offerings. I am not a Djinn, but a Tenko of Inari...a Kitsune."

Harper Row has posed:
    The Bluebird feels the softness like a blessing and she closes her eyes briefly. She takes in a deep breath and lets it out as slowly as she can. "I used to pray things wouldn't get busted and bruised as a kid. Prayed power wouldn't go out in the apartment, and once I learned how to handle those myself...I believed in myself. I didn't need a crutch then." she murmers.

    Her eyes flash open. She knows my name. Her mouth opens to ask, and then her stomach gurgles. Stupid, stupid, let them dissolve don't swallow candy like a dumb kid. Harper takes in another deep breath, and twitches, feeling like there's something she should be picking up on, but she's too flustered to laser-focus on it. "Well, for what it's worth...I'm glad you're not a Djinn. You and my guardian angel." She gazes at Saeko and raises a hand to touch one of the tails, but stops short of rudely making contact. And she stops short of asking for a wish, and runs her hands down her stomach and thighs, trying to smooth out imaginary wrinkles. "I might be going mad, obsessing about needing to see Kitsune everywhere. Needing to..." She pauses and hangs her head.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    "Wishes come with costs and consequences, little bird," Cecily finally speaks up, sounding like she's mere inches behind Harper. And it turns out, by now, she is. While the other girl is grappling with the desire to touch Saeko's tails, the other fox's own slowly curl their way around Harper's legs. "Being honest with your desires is something different," she adds, one arm sliding around the girl's waist, her chest pressing into her back, the brush of a warm cheek against her hair.
    Then she smiles at Saeko, her other arm reaching past Harper, holding up the brown paper bag. "I brought you breakfast, dear," she says quite simply. "I didn't wish to interrupt, but, I know this little bird... seems she has an affinity for... foxes."

Saeko has posed:
"Needing to?" she questions lightly, seemingly unbothered by the contact on one of those nine tails before tilting her head to the side as Cecily finally makes herself known. "She's right you know, you do not have to hide such things from me."

Stepping around the hugged daughter of the bat-family, a little giggle given at Cecily's apology. "So it would seem...and you are forgiven, since you offer breakfast."

Apparently divine beings can be bribed with food. Or at least Saeko can!

Harper Row has posed:
    Harper gasps and peers down her chest to see it wrapped by more tails. But from behind? If she were at her peak, it's possible she still wouldn't have been able to avoid being warmly restraint so fast and so effectively. But Cecily has an altogether additional advantage that's as effective a stun gun and far less damaging. Blinking rapidly, she sees that arm extend the offering to the Altar's Divinty. It's a little ludicrious in a way, that a mundane paper bag is a sacrifice. It makes Harper feel like laughing in a bit of an unsettled manner. A slightly hysterial titter, before she bites her lip hard. "Madame Winters?" she whispers. It's a bit of a goof, not saying Miss.

    The warmth and security of being held is something that Harper temporarily shivers within, before the quakes die down and work themselves out. "I'm sorry...I didn't bring anything." Harper offers by way of apology. "My needs aren't important, and they're selfish. Batman probably doesn't go begging. I should be forcing myself to go wheel-kick some goons and put a railgun pellet in their asses. Not wring my hands like some Princess Polly Pocket."

Cecily Winters has posed:
    The businessfox gives Saeko a wry grin, "I did promise, didn't I?" she asks sweetly. The bag contains one heavy breakfast burrito. Steak and eggs and potatoes. California style. No additional sauces on it but plenty in the bag proper. From the scent, Cecily has some in her bag, too. Maybe for herself. Maybe for Harper. Maybe both? It's likely. "Yes, dear," Cecily seems to accept 'Madame Winters' just fine, both hands free now, wrapped warmly around the girl to embrace her firmly.
    "Nonsense. Nobody is Batman but Batman. Your needs are important. Especially to you," she tsks. "Speak your mind, or your heart, or both. It's why you're here, isn't it, little bird?" she asks in a sweet sing-song voice, kind and gentle. She doesn't leave Harper standing alone, either, perhaps her embrace is simply to help her steady herself so she can speak to the true kitsune standing before them both.

Saeko has posed:
"You did!" Saeko grins, making a little beckoning gesture with her fingers as the bag opens itself while her eyes do not move from the pair. Instead she leans in now, leaning forward enough to look up at Harper, her ears giving a little twitch. Her pupils, her 'whisker marks' made her look just that little bit -more- fox than Cecily, but the pair formed a little sandwich of moving tails as she laughs softly.

"Would you believe I have encountered your Batman, though it was only in passing. He is...intense, but yes, his needs are unknown, but they almost certainly exist. You are here, with me...with my friend here. Tell me..."

Harper Row has posed:
    Harper finds it difficult to get out the words. She's certainly absorbing what is said by Cecily and Saeko though. There's no shrinking away when she's held before the shrine. Affinity for foxes seems to be on the twitchy nose, as the Gotham Girl is sandwiched between two impressive and persuasive Kitsune. A faint memory tries to bubble up to help reason it out, but it's lost in a flash of violence that makes it scamper back safe and sound. "Yeah." she agrees and her stubborn streak is blanketed by the gentle handling of her psyche and person. She raises her hands to gently place them atop Cecily's arm to give small squeezes. Yep, she's real.

    "I want to feel confident about myself again. And, ugh, I want to matter to someone that will miss me when I'm not around. I have friends, I have colleages, and I have Cullen to be responsible for until he's old enough to be on his own. What does that say if I want more? I don't trust myself as well as I used to since the accident. So that's ~not~ fair to inflict on anyone. It used to all be enough, but..." She grits her teeth and winces. She can barely get it out. It's hardly punk or hard core. "Damn it, I think I almost understand how someone wants to ~belong~ to someone, that wants to take care of them?" Her stomach does a few flips and she feels like slinking under that nearby bench. "Where are jumper cables when you need 'em..."

Cecily Winters has posed:
    The silence reigns, at least from Cecily, as she listens to Harper and lets the girl speak her piece. Her ears slowly fold against her head as she holds, hugs, and snuggles the poor conflicted girl. She doesn't have an answer, at least, nothing mystical, or special, or perhaps even thought-provoking. What she does have, though, are those arms around her, the soft breath against her neck, and a sweet whisper. "I can only speak for myself," she states quietly, "...but I would miss you when you're not around, little bird." Her words are warm and sincere, the press of a smile in the form of a kiss against the back of Harper's head. Even if she can't help with the rest, she has that, at least. Talk of food would have to come later.

Saeko has posed:
There was no offering from Harper, thus no magic that would be offered, but perhaps there didn't need to be. Instead? The tenko moves lightly, making to settle lightly on the bench and gently patting it for the pair to join her before the burrito floats from the packet and comes to her hand, a smile on her lips. "It seems company is what you need in this moment, at least as a start, no?"

Harper Row has posed:
    The close embrace means a lot. Harper would never have dragged out even half as much without it. Bluebird raises her eyes to the bench and tries to avoid being quite so tense. To let herself melt. "I think you're right." It's an admission that takes a few bricks off her shoulders and weakens the mortar of some others. "Thank you, I'd like that."

    Harper doesn't want to disengage from Cecily, not after allowing a bit of vulnerability out like that. "You'd miss me?" Harper considers this, and feels a flood of gratitude towards her. "I feel the same." PDA's are hard, and she turns her head back to give Cecily a look that's more than a little flushed in the cheeks. She doesn't look at someone like this, ever. It's funny how being called Little bird has such an effect. "Shall we?" Indicating the chance to have a seat with the Kitsune.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    "I brought enough food for all of us. I have yet to eat, myself," Cecily states with a smile towards Saeko. Then she nods at the question posed by Harper. "I would," she confirms, then slowly disentagles herself enough for both of them to move. She approaches the bench, sitting down with a space for Harper to be put between both foxes. A fox-bread sandwich as it were. "You will have to bring something for the kitsune next time, if you wish for a blessing. Me, I am just happy to bring something to share with a friend. Making good on a promise," she extends, getting as comfortable as it looks like she can really get. She does seem relaxed around these two, however, despite her 'always on the clock' status she proclaims.

Saeko has posed:
A little chuckle, the burrito comes to her lips and a hungry, joyful bite was taken as she listens. Cecily sitting? Well, there was a tangle of tails in fond greeting and comfort. A Kitsune cuddle perhaps? Who knows. Still, she was quite happy nomming away at the gift even then. "It is rare for kitsune to walk this side of the world," she speaks after a moment of delighted noise at her mouthful. "Some of my sisters are...stricter than I am in who we help, but I have found this place to be wonderful. The people, the chance to see and to do things...and the food of course."

Harper Row has posed:
Harper sits between both Cecily and Saeko and feels the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Real or imagined by her recently fertile imagination, it feels like being between dynamic aura. And with her in the center, what manner of phenomena must be rubbing and crackling unseen againt each other. Or perhaps there is no conflict, and it's actually a cohesive kind of mingling, and she should stop her mind from spiralling. Maybe she should be a good guest and let it wash over her, and she'll be better for it. "I promise I will bring something if given the chance. I promise." she utters like an oath. "This place feels good. Like an oasis." She turns to regard Cecily and then Saeko. "I'm, actually, very lucky then." Just how many tails are behind her right now. She suddenly wishes she lived a little closer. She reaches for some napkins. She looks down at the small collection and holds them in her lap in case they're needed. A quirky expression as she looks to see if both women are in need of anything. "Helping people and doing good, and food, yeah, all things I can get behind 110 percent." She offers a grin. "Cecily? Are you and Saeko part of a sisterhood then?"

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Those soft white tails happily entwine with Saeko's, even if Cecily's face is a perfect picture of warm serenity. "We only met just the other day," the businessfox states, carefully opening her messenger bag. Within, another pair of brown paper bags. She hands one to Harper, and inside is much the same as what she gave to Saeko: California burrito with sauces on the side for additional desires. "Helping people and doing good is what we have in common, aside from being foxes," she states. The mass of warm, fluffy tails seems to be undulating a little, snuggled and curled together right up against Harper's back. All eighteen of them.

Saeko has posed:
Science and magic, known and unknown, certainty and mystic chance...Cecily and Saeko were foxes from literal opposite sides of reality. Yet they seemed to be getting along quite well. Still Saeko continues to feast down on her treat before the Tenko giggles lightly, nodding to Cecily's praise and then smiling to Harper. "Things given as offering are for Inari, even if they are 'collected' through me, but through that there is greater blessings that can be offered...and I still get to taste it!"

A beat, she exhales a breath. "You are both welcome here to enjoy the space for as long and often as you like."

Harper Row has posed:
    Harper accepts a brown paper bag herself, and her fingers work and slipping inside to acquire the nosh. "Thank you, I owe you one aga-" The feels of the tails all doing their thing in concert behind her, make her temperature rise. The dressing of her burrito is a hurried affair, drizzling and squeezing it all on before rolling that sucker shut and hooking her heels beneath the bench. "-gain."
    She turns to Saeko and takes a bite, chewing and listening curiously. The taste of the breakfast is pretty fantastic, and since she hasn't eaten since the train, she's getting nourishment not just for her head now. She licks her lips and tries not to oogle at at Saeko quite so fixedly, as she's a habit of doing for Kitsune it seems. "Saeko, I'm in Manhattan a few days pecking brains and geeking around some labs, but I will find the opportunity to bring something to taste. Is there anything I can do for you? I want to do something for you, for your kindness shown. Please." She tennis-match, swivels back to Cecily and gives her a shy look, "I know we're literally hanging out right now, but if there's a hole in your schedule, I'd like to fill it with a welcomed distraction while I'm in the city." She takes another bite. "Gawd these are bloody heavenly."

Cecily Winters has posed:
    "It is a pleasant place," Cecily states quietly, taking her time to unwrap her burrito and carefully apply a surprising array of spicy-smelling sauces to it before wrapping it back up. Her tails slowly stroke along Saeko's as well as Harper's back all at the same time. Slow, gentle, and all in all, relaxing. "It is a beautiful shrine, dear, and I will be sure to stop by whenever I can. If not leaving food, then at least a coin or three..." she states with a warm smile.
    Then she looks down at Harper, leaning against her a little bit, "I did tell you that this place makes the best Mexican food in the city... Uncle Ramon is a superhero in his own right..." she laughs. "Though I suppose now I've fulfilled my promise to both of you, letting you have a taste of El Supernatural Mexicano, hmm?" she offers. Then a soft laugh at Harper's suggestion of hanging out. "...just let me know when you're in town. I'm always about."

Saeko has posed:
"I do venture from here too, though this is a good spot to...call me from," Saeko explains, another bite taken before the fox gives another big groan of delight at her breakfast, the dual-tail comfort against Harper's back continues before she shrugs her shoulders lightly. After a moment to swallow her mouthfull, the Tenko lazily leans her side against the mortal woman. "I am a Tenko of Inari, a kitsune that has lived for over one-thousand years...if you need me, you can simply call for me...and I will find you."

Of course, that didn't mean they couldn't visit the shrine, but it did explain why she'd appeared in that restaurant at her meeting with Cecily.

Harper Row has posed:
    Harper uses one hand to struggle her hand into and out of her pocket. Getting some good back swishes in against those tails as she leans forward and back. Her heart is beating a bit too fast. Must be the carbs, yeah, that's it. Revealing her phone in one hand, keeping the sumptuous roll in the other, she brings up her contact information. She leans against Cecily, licking her lips to show her calender and mentioning her number. It's a bit of a new thing for her to reveal her doings for the day. "I mean, if no one decides to drop a building or derail a train...I could meet you anywhere the subway or bus reaches. Maybe someplace with good music and drinks." She feels the pressure of Saeko against her other side, and that make her feel like humming inside. She blinks and mouths her name. "Tenko." Harper rather likes saying the word. "I'm so glad I got to meet you today, Saeko of the Inari." She fidgets with her phone and shifts her butt on the bench. "Do you like to dance?" Tails on the dance floor. Tails on the dance floor! Okay, now she thinks she can pray properly. "We could have a girls night out. But it's okay if you're both busy! A-ha ha."