15655/Fox in the Park

Fox in the Park
Date of Scene:	19 August 2023
Location:	Central Park
Synopsis:	A strange meeting at an inari shrine!
Cast of Characters:	Saeko, Jane Roe

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Saeko has posed:
The city of New York had been through a lot, and indeed it likely would for many years, from monsters to alien invasions to the 'war of angels and devils' many had faced much...but it was the last perhaps that had more out there in the city aware of the 'divine' out there. Moreover, the stories of the fox-tailed figure that had shielded survivors, rescued the faithful and offered blessing had meant that even in peace the modest little wooden shrine that had been erected in central park with its small pair of benches watching over it was something known to those aware of the shinto faith and the curious alike.

That perhaps, was why the small wooden display with its carving of the wooden fox was well looked after.

Jane Roe has posed:
To Jane, most of the past was a story told to her. Actually, that was the most apt description of it, because all she could remember was waking up one day and nothing before that. But the shrine still made the young woman stop as she paced through the Central Park, tilting the head a moment or two, before she searched the pocket of her jacket for some loose change. If anything, it couldn't hurt.

Approaching, she knelt in front of that offering box, clapped the hands twice and dropped the handfull of quarters into the recepticle, closing the eyes as she mulled over her past. Not a proper prayer, but... enough to possibly clount?

Saeko has posed:
Truth be told, money was an offering Inari accepted...but it wasn't Saeko's favorite. A personal bias of the tenko perhaps, but maybe that was simply because she had such a love of the artistry she'd found since coming to walk the mortal world again expressed so wonderfully in food.

Even so, those claps, that best attempt...it was closer than most for the fox who'd already played the 'game' on technicality. After all, someone calling out for 'anyone' to help them surely counted as someone who might need Inari (and thus Saeko's) protection.

Of course, Jane might think herself alone in her prayer...and yet she was not. To turn would find another, a young woman in red casually sitting atop one of the benches, a small strawberry in her hand she was in the process of taking a bite of.

Jane Roe has posed:
After having knelt a couple moments, Jane even remembered to bow to the shrine before getting up and turning, the suzuki jacket opening some as she slipped the hands into the pockets. Then she stopped, eying the slightly shorter woman eat strawberries.

"Were you listening to me, Neo? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?" Yep, Jane was quoting Matrix.

Saeko has posed:
If ever there was proof that Saeko wasn't from around here? It was probably that she looked confused by the reference. Still, the young woman does give a light one-shoulder shrug as she finished her bite, swallowing the mouthful of the sweet berry and tilting her head to the side.

"Do you think anyone was listening to your prayer? What blessing might you seek?"

Jane Roe has posed:
"If anything, it's a moment to sort your thoughts and if anyone is listening... I dunno?" Jane shrugged, searching in the pocket a few more seconds, then slipping the hand free empty again.

"Really, you don't know Matrix? That was like one of the most iconic quotes. Well, besides the 'Guns. Lots of Guns.' one."

Saeko has posed:
"I did not get to see many films growing up..." Saeko muses lightly, gently licking her own fingertip clean before folding her hands in her lap. "I am doing my best to make up for it while I am here in this country."

Jane Roe has posed:
"I dunno if I saw it when growing up. It was in my movie rotation though, because of its impact on society. Between Terminator and Odyssee 2001."

"Here in the country? Sounds like you come from abroad... where if I may ask?"

Saeko has posed:
If only one could know the truth, they might understand why Saeko was made to grin at that, the unnaturally attractive but still apparently human girl shrugging her shoulders. "I suppose you could say that this?" Saeko offers, pointing towards the shrine. "It offers me a delightful touch of home."

Jane Roe has posed:
"Uh, I guess you mean... Japan?" Jane inqures, as she glances just a tad over the shoulder, but switching to a very fluent japanese, even though it had a heavy okinawan accent. "So you're here to do what... Watch films and study? Japan has a lot of good films on its own. I mean, Kurosawa, or the Taiga dramas by NHK."

Saeko has posed:
"It is a cultural exchange, certainly," she begins, a light and flawless switch to the language born of the homeland of her faith. "And yet, it seems that you yourself have undertaken such learning yourself, though I admit my tastes have been far more classical till late."

Jane Roe has posed:
"Can't say I can remember it." is all Jane comments about her own prowess of the japanese language, shrugging a moment.

"Cultural exchange? So you're at the Uni of sorts? Anyway, classical taste... in movies?""

Saeko has posed:
Saeko laughs softly at that, a shake of her head from the raven-haired beauty with the berry she'd been eating before she folds her hands. "More like a traveller appreciating all the new things out there to be discovered." A beat, she tilts her head to the side. "You do not remember how you learned a language?"

Jane Roe has posed:
"I don't remember learning how to dislodge an arm from its socket, how to drive stick or how to code either." There's a shrug from Jane as she moves to a park bench, settling down.

"There's nothing before a certain day. Like I popped into existance right inside an airport."

Saeko has posed:
"Curious..." Saeko muses, gently leaning forwards, a hand lazily reaching up as if the idea of personal space didn't really seem to bother her. "You have skills, complex ones that require recollection more than simply muscle, but your past is blocked to you?'

Jane Roe has posed:
"Kinda like that. Like, I know how to do it, but not how I leaned it. Like, it's kinda muscle memory for some sort of stuff... though I guess I'm used to left-side driving." Jane remarks, shrugging a moment, not really caring for the hand that injected into her personal space.

Saeko has posed:
The hand comes up, a little gentle 'brush' of Jane's brow with her finger that might seem strange as gestures go, yet beneath the surface there was more to it: a touch of magic, a brush of her nature, a test perhaps, to see if the cause of such mystery was mystical or something more of mortal means.

Jane Roe has posed:
Jane Roe blinks as the fingers brush her forehead. There's nothing *magical* about her, but something strange nontheless. Like her brain isn't quite human, altered.

"Pardon?" Those brown eyes almosr cross as they eye the fingertip against the forehead, the young woman sitting almost stoicly.

Saeko has posed:
"Curious," the Tenko in disguise offers, as if that were explination enough. "And noone has come looking for you? Seeking to answer your questions about who you were? No mother, father, lover, children?"

Saeko shakes her head lightly, leaning back. "How strange."

Jane Roe has posed:
"Nope. Like I don't exist. And believe me, I have looked." Jane shrugs slowly, then brushes throught those short hairs. "But then again, maybe knowing who I was isn't good for me, so..."

Saeko has posed:
A soft chuckle at that and Saeko nods, the woman making to stand as she moves towards the shrine now, tracing a fingertip across it's wooden surface. "Perhaps a little mystery helps make existance more interesting, no?"

A shrug of her partially bare shoulders and she grins, looking back at Jane. "It was a pleasure to meet you, and i do wish you luck with your fortunes...perhaps I will see you again..."

With that there was a little grin, a faint light to her eyes as she stepped around that shrine...

And was seemingly, impossibly gone.

Jane Roe has posed:
"Mystery is part of the second-best selling genre of audiobooks, Crime is the best selling one." Jane remarked, her eyes following the tracing of the shrine's frame.

"Likewise..." Jane started to say, just as the woman stepped behind the shrine to turn... into nothing? Blinking, she followed along a moment as the beauty did not emerge on the other side, scratching the head.