Sanae leaned a bit forward, watching Raven closely while she herself enjoyed another sip of her drink. People turning against her, Sanae had to admit to herself that she never considered this an issue. Her friends left, often without a word, and the one friend she expected to turn against her, surprisingly joined her instead. That was when a thought came across Sanae's mind, what if Raven was using her? No, that was silly. She slightly shook her head unconsciously and rested her arms on the table, staring at Raven, then her glass, as if she had trouble figuring out what to say.
Naturally during this observation, she noticed Raven growing tense.. then she heard the name "Hunt" and recalled. Cambridge. That was where she first met him, years ago. In the safe house.. Didn't she even get the key to it? - She decided to keep this in mind while observing Raven quietly for a few more moments, sensing her regret and seeing the pain in her eyes.
Still, she remained awfully quiet until Raven set down her glass and rested her hand on the table. "Sooner or later.. we.. well, we find out who our true friends are and who just wanted to gain something from us. I guess, I am just lucky so far, nobody turned on me yet.
She took a deep breath and tried to smile. "About Hunt.."
She fell quiet again and just carefully reached out for Raven's hand, gently placing her own over her friends. "I'm sorry for bringing back memories, Sapphire."
Now her own voice was filled with a degree of regret; perhaps she should have tried to stay in more frequent contact after all? What would have been then.. would her old friend still be in this state then?!
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A prolonged blink was held, reminiscing over what times she had remembered with Hunt. All those regrets, accomplishments and desires. All of it gone, faded away. Despite the luggage of such emotional attachments, there was a sense of inevitability to her, the sensation to thrive and survive. Moving on, is an eventuality to all those she came across. And it seemed to be a repeating theme that her closest would eventually drift away.
Despite Sanae's physical reassurance, she was distant for that moment, re-opening her eye to slowly gaze at her displayed care.
"... What has happened... has happened. There is nothing more I can do now, other than to pick up the remains and continue... Of course, I... still... pay my respects. "
Her palm under her care scrunched up, balling for a moment, then releasing out - letting go of the thought. Her palm flipped, holding Sanae's palm in return. She glared up into her eye, noting a subtle uncertainty within Sanae's face.
"You need not to worry. But... I appreciate the concern. It's always good to be mindful of those around you, but don't live in paranoia. Opportunity will not provide if it is not taken. "
She released her palm carefully, moving it to gently clasp her wine glass with both palms, creaking out a small smile. Afterall, she knew she could not do anything to bring back Hunt or the past. Time moves on.
Sanae fell into an awkward silence soon after Raven moved her hand away. She barely knew Hunt after all, she knew little about the true depth of their relation in the end. But she knew what it meant to see a loved one pass away...
She quietly grabbed her glass and took a sip, prolonging the already long-lasting silence by an additional minute or two.
Over the course of this timeframe, by spinning around with some somewhat silly ideas, Sanae's mood brightened up again and she actually smiled when she finally picked up their conversation again. "I'm.. I'm proud of you for taking the opportunity you have. I would worry.. if you weren't trying to move forward anymore. All the obstacles, yet you keep trying. Not many could do this."
She sighed lightly, another sip and a broader smile. "Enough of the past though, you'll be a more regular sight here in Kusari and I think we should make good use of this. It.. this might sound.. stupid.. but I think we should use the little time we both can spare to distract ourselves, at least.. from time to time."
Sapphire was right, time moves on. Who knew how much time they had? Sanae was just glad to have an old friend around, she was still worried of course, but would not show it anymore. Not this day. A change of pace and topic felt like the best approach, Sapphire deserved some time to relax after all. "I mean.. you've never really been to Kusari. We have many wonderful places..
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Puckering a smile, she perked up slightly, trying to move on, disregarding the previous thoughts. Her tone was attired with the usual regality.
"I have been to Kusari, several times previously. Primarily upon business. It had mostly been with the Core when I was a Guildkeeper. Did you know I had to... "
She took a pause, taking a sip from the glass.
"...The Core attempted diplomacy with the Chrysanthemums within interests of undermining the Order's reach... Though such relations had fell apart. "
A light chuckle was had, dismissing the past,
"The past was always unusual with the Core. Now, erm... you mentioned distractions. What does that entail? "
Sanae chuckled at hearing this tale. The Core had been an oddity in her live, always. Usually due to the individuals who worked for them, less so due to the organization - yet it made 'sense' in a way to hear about such attempts by them. "I could never get behind the Core and their understanding of logic. Undermining the Order's influence while risking total fallout with a house? Weird. But they're a shadow of the past, quite literally, so who cares."
She emptied her glass and decided not to refill hers for the time being. She was already feeling a little tipsy, having always been a lightweight when it comes to booze. "Oh, distractions-distractions, I don't know? I've thought about.. just normal things, day trips to a beautiful island, sightseeing, a shopping tour? Tourist stuff, but not the usual tourist spots. Unless you have.. other ideas?! I mean, you've never been to my mansion too, right?"
She sounded amused, a sly smirk on full display - though she noticed someone she knew entered the bar. The owner. She did not feel like talking with him this day, but he was usually reserved when Sanae was in here with guests and did not meddle into her conversations then. Yet the owner being here meant it was well possible other political figures could follow.
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Her glass now emptied, the red poison was taking an affect upon her mind, easing some tension as well as the passive pain of their affliction, able to loosen their mental guard for a time being.
"Being a tourist sounds drab... Walking around? Staring at things? How painfully boring. I've seen enough sights... volcanic landscapes, pearlescent beaches, still dunes, frozen spires... Hrm-hmm... But, h-huh... A mansion, you say? Are you certain you're not royalty? Neheh."
As Sanae was catching her eye, she could not help but slowly gaze over her shoulder, noticing the new arrival. She snapped back to Sanae, seemingly not too bothered.
Sanae briefly made eye contact with Raven, smiled and settled on refilling both their glasses. "Figured as much.. so something more exciting! I can think of something.. and hai, a mansion."
She returned Raven her glass and continued on. "You really forgot I'm part of the higher nobility.. of course our family has a mansion. Silly, it's settled then, you got to pay a visit some day. As for more casual spare time activities, anything.. you always wanted to but never managed to find time to do?"
Sanae bit her upper lip to suppress a giggle, further suppressing it by taking a sip of her just refilled glass.
The owner actually noticed her presence but made no intentions to disrupt them for the time being, rather he disappeared into the staff rooms.
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Taking the glass as it was slid over, she took a moment of silence, drinking some of it casually.
"Exciting, hm... What is your definition of exciting? And... for what I want to do? I am ... not entirely sure.
True, I wanted to try out diving as I previously mentioned, but... I cannot think of anything else. I have always felt that hobbies, in some way, just distract yourself from reality. Perhaps I have always been what those Libertonians say, 'workaholics' - I cannot help it. Something about it just ... makes me feel fulfilled. "
Sanae looked a little surprised at first, then her expression turned into sheer amusement. "My.. definition of exciting? There's maaaany different kinds of exciting, you know."
She couldn't keep herself from giggling this time. Needing a little to calm down proper to continue. "See, diving is something we could do.. I know a place, actually wanted to always go there myself. Entirely untouched by our fish industry.. not quite cheap to go there but that's not an issue for us. Then a visit to my place, maybe.. wait, I actually forgot, are you a cat person? There's two beautiful remote islands in Kusari, both only have feline occupants and I could organize us access to the non-tourist one."
She took a small sip again, contemplating a whole bunch of activities in her head now.
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Half drunkening peering up at the mention of an island inhabited by felines.
"A cat island...? Whaa...? Is there other islands that inhabit only one species? Bird island? Dog island? Reptile island...? Fish island...? "
Going through the mental list of common pets, she realised the error a bit late, having already spilled out the mention. The drinking took a mild toll, suddenly letting loose a soft hearty chuckling for a moment.
