13996/Sunset Melody

Sunset Melody
Date of Scene:	29 January 2023
Location:	Central Park, NYC
Synopsis:	Jogging through the park: Belinda encountered Saeko, and revealed concerned fears. Secrets revealed!
Cast of Characters:	Belinda Gutierrez, Saeko

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Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
A rare day for the Big Apple, a good day-- the clouds that so often darken the sky have finally scattered before a brisk wind, surging from sea to shore and beyond. The sun gleams from the distant horizon, a disc of vibrant orange deepening as it transcends the evening in its final journey towards night. Reasonable folk find their way from the grand park of the City, gathering themselves to get home before traffic conspires; a few remain in the park, attending to one or another in their own affairs. And among them--

Belinda lopes across the park, in casual sweats (and a t-shirt), oblivious to the wind and the cold. Joyful, reverent, moving from the crowds of many to the gatherings of few, to the quiet and contentment of single, solitary one. One earpiece in-- the other chimes its tiny, tiny sounds to the air. Classical music, warm and wistful-- a farewell for the sun as its sinks from the day!.

Saeko has posed:
A patch of sunshine has come along, people are out and about if they could dare deal with the wind and cold they'd at least get to enjoy the sight of the park. Perhaps even they'd wander and find themselves in the soft clearing where a pair of modest benches rested alongside a simple altar well-mantained and donated sometime a decade or so ago.

Certainly, that was where Saeko rested, a little spellcraft disguising her as an incredibly beautiful, but notably lacking the foxy features that announced what she was in truth.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Footsteps along the path. Timed, measured, smooth lopes-- a runner's motion. Brisk air, wonderful wind-- carrying the smell of cars and trucks and too many people away, replacing it all with the scent of the sea and the distant harbor and...

Cherry blossoms?

A thoughtful addition made not-too-long ago, perhaps by someone feeling charitable or wanting to spruce up a 'plain' site, or for any of a hundred different reasons. Near the shrine yet not a part of it, the park authorities managed to transplant one of the younger Yoshino trees from Cherry Park to this place, to add that fragrant, exotic flare. Stolen culture? Perhaps, but still fragrant.

Belinda slows her run as she comes by; to keen senses, the scent of something living, vibrant, new, draws her attention and steps like a lodestone. As the simple rest area, the shrines comes into view--

"Ms. Saeko!" she announces in pleased surprise. "Hello, buen no--er. Good evening!"

Saeko has posed:
Spotted as she was from her little lounging, the young woman whose form was wrapped in what appeared to be a pair of black leggings beneath a deep red sweater dress. The kitsune in disguise, that living being of magic and life personified was currently snacking on a strawberry from a small box. Midway through a little delighted expression the call brings her tilting her head and looking back over her shoulder. "Oh! Welcome!"

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Cheerful delight vibrating from her frame, Belinda drops from jogging run to smoother walk; she reaches upo to mop the sweat from her brow, smiling sheepishly as she waves. "Thank you, very much. I did not know you visited--" Pause, sniff, shiver. Hands folding over her stomach as it snarls in positve protest! Never, ever fed, EVER.

She coughs embarassedly, grin sheepish. "Almost supper time. But! I never expected to see you here, Ms. Saeko. Did Tio Blake come with you? Are you here for the Cherry Blossoms?" She glances top the north, brow furrowed. "I think they come most alive in spring, but the mayor has been saying they wil blossom 'any day now' for weeks. Hmmph!"

Saeko has posed:
"Not quite, I haven't seen him for a little bit after his adventures with his new romantic partner," Saeko offers lightly before coming back to face the other girl lightly and gently offering the box up to the poor tummy-grumbling woman.

"Join me for a snack?" she invites lightly before taking another for herself. "I enjoy them, but I also come to visit this particular space..."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda smiles softly, quick laughter cut short. "Well, I was saving for later..." she begins, hesitating to an almost perceptible count of "One-two-..." before stealing a strawberry from the box. "Gracias! Ah, thank you. And eep!" She cringes briefly, dropping her head. "I am very sorry! I have not seen Tio in a while; I did not know he was seeing someone new. Here, let me--"

Reaching to the small carry satchel (not-a-purse!) at her side, she rummages through, drawing out a small packet, foil-wrapped, crinkling briefly as she draws it from within. "I would be happy to join you," she explains, "If I can share in return. It is an old family recipe; I am sure that they do not have anything like it in Japan." She holds strawberry and package in one hand, unfolding the metallic paper wrap with another. "It is mia abuela's recipe, passed down from madre to-- mother to daughter. Pan de maiz." She uncurls the corners, revealing the faintly warm, golden crust. "Cornbread. Made with jalopeno juice as an ingredient. It is the very best to help the nose stay clear when the city is too much!"

Saeko has posed:
A nod, a shrug of her shoulders before Saeko tilts her head to the side and smiles brightly. "How wonderful!" the fox offers, the traded taste accompanied by a sigh of delight after the bite. "Mmmmn, wonderful! Something like this with such history is truely a wonderful offering." Of course, offering was an interesting choice of words, but Saeko seemed to wave it off. "It is...a vibrant taste, certainly like nothing from home."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda does not squee with happiness, but the smile from ear to ear on her features says it all. "I am very pleased you like it!" she exclaims, nibbling carefully on her strawberry before, sadly, wolfing the remainder of the fruit down in a most unladylike gulp! She gestures to the simple bench nearby, gestures replacing words-- at least until the wonderful fruit is chewed, devoured, swallowed!

"Idiffn'tssk--" she begins, pausing with a grimace, swallowing again to clear her mouth. Words! "When last we spoke, I did not ask what brought you to America." She settles on the bench, exhaling with blissful pleasure as the wind stirs. "Mmmm. Did you come on business? Sightsee--" She pauses, frowning to herself. "No, that would be sily. You have been here for a long time. There is not so much sightseeing to do to fill such time!"

Saeko has posed:
"Experiencing culture," Saeko giggles, the fox shrugging her shoulders. "That is...like extended sight-seeing perhaps? I help where I can and just enjoy learning or seeing what I can see around the city. Meeting people where I can and...enjoying good food too!" she adds before closing the box of the strawberries and setting it aside. "It is nice to take things at your own pace."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda smiles wistfully, nodding. "Eternal siesta," she says, smiling dreamily. Stifling a giggle to herself before she shakes her head. "Ah, Papa would say I am far too young to be thinking of taking it easy, or being content with things as they are! I am young, and should therefore be spiffy, and eager, and hunting everything in sight." She bite her lip at a thoiugh, glancing back with a sheepish expression. "Well, he says such. I came to the city from New Mexico to attend school; my grandmother lives close by, but I managed at least tostay in the dormitory with the other students rather than live with relatives in their home. So-- Independencia!"

Saeko has posed:
"Hunting is no fun without some time to appreciate the prizes, no?" she questions lightly before coming to giggle lightly. "Life is too short for many to not get the most of it after all." Giving a little giggle she finally looks back towards the shrine and stretching her arms over her head. "Have you been here before?"

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
"I have not," the girl admits, looking over at the simple shrine, gazing with appraising, appreciative eye. "I mean-- yes, I have jogged through here many times. When the wind is good, you can barely smell anything from the city." She wrinkles her nose, waving her hand beneath as though to ward off vile smells. "But the cherry tree is new. I knew of the ones at another park, but did not expect to see one here. I thought they only bloomed in springtime, and yet--" She gestures, smiling as she glances towards the tree. "I haven't seen them when they become full before, but if it is more than now--!" She smiles, breathing in with heady bliss. "Mmm! Oh! Are they anything like the trees in Japan? I am told in school that there is a festival there as well-- celebrating the cherry trees flowering, though I do not know the name, and pictures... well, they do not carry scents, obviously. Not the same as being there to experience!"

Saeko has posed:
A little nod before she makes to stand, gesturing for Belinda to follow her as she walks towards the wooden Altar, gesturing to the trees around them. "Many of these trees were imported from Japan from the cultural society here in the city. It is very very close, but this..." she gestures to the small shrine with a grin. "This is a small altar to Inari, allowing people to make offerings and pray to the goddess and their kitsune."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda rises, follows, ears perked as she listens raptly. She smiles at a thought, glancing from the altar to the trees with warm mirth. "I wonder if they came by way of Ellis Island?" she asks wistfully, glancing back with a smile. "Ah.. Ellis Island. If I do remember correctly, it is the place of La Senora Libertad-- the Lady Liberty, the great statue made a long time ago. It has complicated history, especially these days. But.... she means many things, many hopes." She looks back to the shrione, kneeling down in front as she reaches to brush off a stray leaf. "Like an altar, I think."

She gazes for a moment, lost in thought. "I did not know that anyone here was a follower of distant beliefs. Catholics or Presbiterians or..." She giggles, glancing up with a cough. "Asgardianites?"

Saeko has posed:
"I mean...when divine beings go to war in your city it does tend to open one's eyes." Saeko points out, considering for a moment her own memories. Seeing the fox demi-goddess working to protect and defend people did seem to help with recruiting a few more locally faithful, but for Saeko? It was simple, those that asked for help? She would help where she can.

"This city is also full of many cultures, including immigrants who follow shinto beliefs."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Bel smiles wistfully, nodding in return. "It makes anyone reconsider questions and faith," she says, sighing softly, a last brush of her fingers across the shrine's surface before she presses herself upright. "And whether or not your insurance is paid!" she adds, a silly grin at her lips. The wind stirs, a flutter of fallen leaves skittering about in idle whirlwind; Belinda watches the dance of detritus, lost in a moment's thought.

"...Ms. Saeko?" she asks, glancing back with a serious expression. "If someone... did somethiong bad..." She bites her lip, pausing as her brow furrows once more. "...May I tell you a secret? I think I might have hurt someone. I did not mean to, but he was...." She blushes, glancing at the toes of her shoes. "...doing something bad. And might have done worse, and scared me, and I..." The blush grow deeper, warm and fierce. "...I might have hit him too hard. He is in the hospital now."

Saeko has posed:
"It is simply another proof that there is more out there in the universes that we can't quite understand..." she offers lightly. Even with divine knowledge there was still plenty of mystery out there! Still the raven-haired beauty does give a little giggle lightly, as if she found the last comment humorous.

Of course, Saeko does turn back as she's asked, tilting her head to the side and folding her hands. "And why should this be a secret? He sounds a brigand that got what he had instigated..."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda bites her lip, moving back towards one bench as she settles upon it. "I know," she says, grimacing more deeply. "But... it... he...." She waves her hands in circles, struggling to articulate before ending with a low sigh. "Because I might have punched him into a tree," she begins, explaining lamely, blush a deep, dark warmth. "...a few trees," she amends, glancing away. "All my life, I have been taught by bisabuelo-- great grandfather -- to be careful around people. Not to cut them, or bite them, or hit them too hard. That people were not tough, that people like Tio Blake or Superman or Wonder Woman were exceptional, and not rules--

She sighs softly, gaze rising up apologetically. "And now, this man, this stupid man, is in the hospital, and I /put him there/. I did not mean to, but--!"

Saeko has posed:
"But he deserved it," she offers lightly in response, hand coming up to gently brush the other girl's cheek. It was strange, a soft and comforting touch between the pair of them from her rather soft hand. It was almost supernatural, the soft sense of warmth and calm that extended from where her fingertips met skin.

"It is good that you value and honor your family's words, it speaks well of you...but he lives, and if not you...it might have been someone else who could not have defended themself..."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
She sniffles, gently; eyes closed, Belinda leans to the touch with a quiet breth, nodding grudgingly as thoughts swirl in savage tornado. "I know," she says quietly, warmth of touch a gentle tingle as she breathes. "But.." She purses her lip, glancing absently at the foil wrapper still at hand. "...I panicked," she whispers, swallowing thickly. She folds the foil into a square, folding it again and again, tucking it away to her pouch before she continues. "And I was angry," she adds, voice soft. "They were evil people, evil. They were horrible things, wore horrible things, were Nazis... Real, modern Nazis, with guns and threatening and hurting people and I just did not think--" She cuts herself off, glancing gingerly up at Saeko.

"...I am not a person like other people are," she murmurs, voice soft. "I can... change into other thing, other creature. Big, and powerful, and strong, and can't be hurt." She bites her lip, forcing the breath from her lungs. "But he burned me, this... man. This person. He burned me, and it hurt, and I hit him. Once, but... distance. And trees. And breaking."

Saeko has posed:
A little flare of light might be perhaps the first warning that something was going on quite different. Not just a reassuring touch, something actually danced through that touch and into the other girl, a rush of...mildly euphoric energy. After all, unknowingly or not Belinda had given her an offering when she'd shared the cornbread.

To open her eyes would find the source, perhaps startlingly. Saeko's eyes were amber, her pupils ovoid in an animalistic slit while 'whisker marks' decorated her face. Perhaps most striking of all was the furred ears atop her head and the tails behind her.

"You might not be human, but that is not the same as not being a person..."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Warmth tingles in her veins, a different warmth-- the joy of victory, the satisfaction of a long run, the night of the mesa and the weekend alone, so long ago. Tiny triumphs, but great ones to her-- she inhales, exhales, opens her lips to speak... Closing them again, as she draws a shaky breath. Quiet, hesitant, she slips over and off the pouch at her side, letting it settle to the bench. Toes wriggle as she slips her feet from her shoes; another breath stirs deep, pursed and released. A glance around.. A pause as the sun shimmers, a half-disc now, setting at the horizon.

And then the mark, the crackle, the shift. The faint sound of fabric straining, stretching near the breaking point as she trembles from head to foot. Flesh ripples as bone moves, shifts; limbs rework themselves in ways new, different. A careful motion-- she slips from the bench, creaking wood groaning its protest at the sudden release of weight. And on one knee, the wolfbeing kneels, eyes a quiet, gleaming shine.

"But, am... monster?" she asks gruffly, Belinda-wolf pressing the words as her jaw resets into something different, something new. "...am so different."

Saeko has posed:
A soft laugh, the Tenko gives a little shake of her head and leans down to plant a little kiss atop the changed woman's brow, her tails fanning out behind her and revealing her in her full kitsune glory. Saeko's hands come away from the wolf before she bends down, even if her form was still wrapped in the more modern clothing rather than her usual rather revealing yukata.

"Mmmn, no. To be a creature different from a human doesn't make one a monster. Many a moster has been a human."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
The wolf-girl chuffs, a sounds suspiciously halfway between sniffle and giggle and sneeze; she settles to her haunches, another quick glance around before she exhales wearily,curving to rest. Bright eyes return to the kitsune's form, green eyes gleaming as she gazes, surveys. And scents-- nostrils quiver as she listens, draws deep the cool air. The tang of salt from the ocean. The sweetness of cornbread, strawberries, cherry blossoms. The scents of the city, its vehicles and machines and mutltitudes. And the scent of Tenko-- fuller, deeper, something curious and utterly, totally new. "...rice?" she asks, head tilting as she gazes in curiosity, nostrils quivering again.

She shakes with a quiver, rumbling as she nods, eyes closed as focused thought. Careful, tender.... Biting her lip as muscles quiver in underlying ache. "He.... Nazi had flamethrower," she explains, huffing softly. Glancing anew at the altar-- secrets there, too? "Was wolf when he fired. Hurt so much. Not full hit, but..." She grins, sheepishly-- as sheepishly as fangs and muzzle allow! "So... trees," she continues, tail fanning absently. "But no claw. No biting. Much aloe vera."