Scene #3061: Understanding and Training

Owner	Pose
Yunomi Stadler	THE CITY OF RAVNICA -- THE NAMAMURA DISTRICT -- THE SHRINE PARK An open area, grassy and kept meticulously clean was home to the Shrine-Away-From Home to the refugees from Namamura. Set way in the back, with a cobblestone and brick pad, the shrine itself was small, with just a little statue of a woman wearing a blue kimono and holding a crow in her hands, the guardians were frogs -- one with a mouth open, the other with the mouth closed -- in place of the leonine protectors of other shrines. It wasn't busy here today, no one was going to petition an absent kami, but it did present Yunomi with a soft, padded place to make some preparations. There is a large circle, maybe twenty feet across, marked out in red cones. There's a couble of chairs and a first-aid kit. And Yunomi herself was setting down a bag of goodies. Buzzing around her was an Izzet security drone, giving a periodic worried-sounding 'beep!'. She was wearing just cargo shorts and a T-shirt today, bare feet tucked into the grass as she hums lightly.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr arrives by her usual method, flying in and landing near the marked circle with a thud of boots on ground. "Hey Yunomi!" she calls as her Barrier Jacket and Device fade, leaving the TSAB mage in her uniform instead. She then takes a stroll over to the shrine, looking it over curiously for a few moments.
Eve	Despite relative unfamiliarity with the Multiverse at large, Eve is able to navigate the directions given as if she were a veteran. She's been trained after all, and she's a fast learner. And of course, she doesn't have map allergies. Good thing too... because she's reluctant to look odd by doing something so strange as ask for directions. She shows up dressed for the occasion. That is, she's wearing an outfit suitable for the sweet-loli description that isn't exactly fight-worthy. It isn't exactly terrible either. She's got freedom to move and the clothes aren't binding, and neither are the skirts so long as to risk tripping her up. She follows Zephyr in mostly by nature of showing up roughly at the same time, though she doesn't fly. She just spots the wind-mage, and picks up her pace somewhat so as not to be TOO badly outshone. Approaching the circle, she stops to examine the shrine briefly before bowing slightly and removing her little shoes. "Ah, hello!" she greets, with a very faint smile crossing her features when she glances at Zephyr.
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi doesn't look intimidating. She's short for an adult, only five feet tall. She has a tail, that's mostly brown with dark fur at the ends, and a pair of brown-and-dark-brown, rounded ears at the top of her head. Other than that, she looks like a typical Japanese college student. She gives a smile, giving a wave to Zephyr as she arrives. "Hey!" she greets the other mage, and then she turns to Eve. She ovvers the newcomer a grin. "Nice to meet your aquaintence in person, Eve. I'm Yunomi, Izzet League Mage and pretty much the best gardener ever." she introduces herself simply, and gives the flurish of a playful bow.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr wanders over to Eve after the girl arrives, she reaches out, and playfully ruffles the long, blonde hair with a grin. "Hey kiddo." she says, then lazy-salutes to Yunomi. "I'll just be watchin', mostly. I kinda wanna see how Eve's progressed."
Eve	Eve tolerates the headruffling with an expression that might suggest she finds it horribly demeaning but isn't worth protesting. Yunomi's got most of her attention, since she's new. "Nice to meet you." she says, greeting the 'college student', her attention mostly on Yunomi's expression with only occasional half-hidden peeks at those ears and that tail. Particularly when something twitches. "I'm not really sure what I am yet. But I guess I'm trying to be a warrior." she says. "I've been practicing what you showed me, Zephyr." she promises solemnly.
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi gives a grin. "Well then, we'll be sure to do our best to be entertaining, Zephyr. Right, Eve?" she offers as a joke, and s he scoots down a bit to look Eve in the eye. Her ears flick forward, giving the younger girl all of her attention as she studies her expression a moment. "I started out in the Multiverse as a homeless bum and a student. I became a warrior because I fought to protect what was important to me. I became a mage to better myself and learn more about my powers. You have all the time to learn who and what you are, Eve." she gives a grin, and she offers a hand to shake. "If you need any help, don't be a stranger, ne?" She offers a wink.
Eve	Eve looks suddenly apprehensive when Yunomi promises they'll be amusing. She's not good at being amusing! Her eyes flick upwards when the tanuki ears twitch, then they quickly return to her face. She's too polite to stare, but she can't help but peek. She nods solemnly at Yunomi's advice, and after a moment reaches out to take her hand. "That's almost the same as what that woman I fought said." she claims. "Yari. She told me to find my way of life. That to live is to fight for something you love."
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr grins at Eve, then just plunks herself down in the grass somewhere nearby, groaning a little from her aching body. "I'd offer to help out, but that WMAT match took a lot outta me. Satsuki hits like about fifty trucks taped together." she grouses, leaning back on her hands after the two finish talking.
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi clasps that hand momentarily, and she gives Eve a warm smile. "And everyone's fight is different. Keep that one in mind, too." she straightens and gives a glance to Zephyr, and gives a point with her chin over to the paper sack. "I've brought some refreshments for afterwards. Gotta keep up the carb intake, right?" she asks, "Help yourself if you'd like any, Zephyr. Now," she turns back to Eve, "as for weapons..." Yunomi releases Eve's hand, and steps over to the circle of cones. "I'm trained in swordplay, and staves were my first weapon. There are over a thousand ways to use a staff, ne? Even peaceful ones. A walking stick, a carrying yoke, to test for traps or lose branches or snakes or badgers in holes. To test how deep water beneath an ice cap might be -- and see if the ice is thick enough to walk on. It's a blunt weapon, but with enough force it can open wounds... and let's not forget." she finds a staff in the grass inside the circle, and looping a bare toe around it, she kicks it up to her hand, "being hit with a stick frickin' /hurts/."
Eve	"Who would tape fifty trucks together?" Eve mutters with a glance at Zephyr, having trouble with the metaphor. She shakes her head, then pays attention to Yunomi's lesson. The words are good, but they're also just words. Eve likes words, but she's also a fan of actions too. She stretches one arm out at shoulder-height, fist clenched. With a whisper of focussed will, she causes that hand to run with dripping quicksilver. The motion is practiced and dramatic. Unnecessarily dramatic. Her weapons can form in simple manners, but she's aware of the value of drama... at least, she's aware of it on a visceral level. The quicksilver runs and drips quickly down to the ground, then expands outwards into a silvery metal staff. Thinner than Yunomi's staff, and no taller than Eve herself, it probably masses only a little less if it's solid. "I've trained with a staff." she claims. "But all my weapons are one weapon." she explains carefully.
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi is watching Eve, her lips pursing a moment as she was about to continue talking... and then she watches that quicksilver. Out of habit, Yunomi feels a little surge of red mana come into her palm -- but she lets it dissipate. Eve was an ally -- and hell. Attacking Yunomi if Ravnica? Bad idea unless you got an army. Butwhen the quicksilver bo forms itself, Yunomi's lips stay pursed, but her eyebrows rise up, and her eyes light up. "OH! oh my gosh!" she states, and she nearly drops her own staff. "That... is pretty neat. How's that happen? Magically summoned mutable material affected by will? Is that metallic? Does it respond to magnets? Oh man, what is that stuff?" she questions, and almost reaches for the goggles on her forehead to analyze it... before she coughs. "You don't have to explain, if you don't want to... but that's pretty damn cool."
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr watches, and smirks at Eve's flare for the dramatic. "One weapon, many forms. Kinda like the Sixth Saint from back home. Gralith. His Daemon form was a many-headed snake that ate the winds that blew from the south and brought warmth after winter." she offers casually, but doesn't offer more, so as to not interrupt the training session.
Eve	The weapon is part of Eve, but distinct. She makes a few motions with it, simple and slow training passes, but it shows that the metal is no longer joined with her flesh. She nods slightly at Zephyr's explanation. It's not wholly accurate... there is only one weapon, and that weapon is Eve. More fully, that weapon is Eve's mind. But for her, for now, Eve considers Zephyr's explanation the correct one. "Living metal." Eve explains. Then, when Yunomi seems interested in details, she shrugs. She looks slightly uncomfortable, but she certainly understands the need to know! "It's not magic, it's science. Nanomachines. I've had them as far back as I can remember. I learned to shape them before I learned to walk." she claims. And if she can remember that... well, that's rather unique. Maybe that's something she was merely told and accepts on faith. Who knows? As for the composition... Eve doesn't really know. But whatever it is, it's a flexible and extremely strong alloy.
Yunomi Stadler	"That... is pretty awesome." Yunomi replies, impressed. And so curious... but she saw Eve's reluctance. the little ways her body changed. Her own ears flick backwards, her tail drooping a moment, apologetic, but she keeps a kind smile on her face. "Be careful. I know a dragon who is /driven/ to know, and he'd have all sorts of questions to ask." she replies, and she gives ber bostaff a spin, and puts it to the ready, and she gives a stiff step to the side, and a bow to Eve. "I used to have a weapon that could change its form too, though it was magical. It was made out of sunlight, and tempered in the winds of my homeworld."
Eve	"That sounds very..." Eve says, pausing to consider. "Light." she finishes. Could be she's trying to joke. Could be she's dead serious. Hard to tell. "And mythic." Not mythical though. That's not what Eve's getting at. Eve bows and takes up a stance. It's a decent stance, and Zephyr should be able to tell that Eve's learned those lessons she's taught. Likely she's been practicing until she could do it right. She's balanced, light on her feet, and she's presenting her body in a way that keeps her protected while maximizing her chance to use her admittedly slight mass to enhance a strike. Her style is probably a bit less flashy than Yunomi's, a bit more practical, but then it was taught to her as a foundation to help build her skill with other weapon forms, not to master the staff itself.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr nods. Good form, she's learning quickly. She muses silently, mismatched eyes watching the pair square off. Yunomi's one she isn't really familiar with in combat, so this should be enlightening as well.
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi gives a nod. She breathes out. She shakes out a bit, going from a rigid form to a casual stance, giving the bow a quick spin over her hand, and she goes in. Yunomi is also light on her feet, built small and athletic, but she's got muscles on her tight form. Though she appears to take a cheapshot -- trying to sweep Eve's legs from under her with a first blow, her method moves as smoothly as water, moves practiced thousands of times and used easily. She might as well be thinking about where to go for lunch. The little security drone comes down, and hovers around Zephyr, giving a little beep in curiosity.
Eve	This is the point where Eve's lack of experience shows. She's learned a few things, but mostly she's inexperienced with dealing with someone outright trying to hit her. Still she's quick, and she wields her weapon quite literally as if it were a part of her. Not that she's sensitive to its impacts; in fact she seems eager to smack her metal staff into Yunomi's wooden one. More eager to strike the weapon than to actually take a poke at Yunomi herself. She doesn't quite fall for the leg sweep, but her parry was late. Almost too late. She does better with other more conventional attacks, moving and parrying with an effortless ease that seems well beyond her years. Still her style and training has pretty huge weaknesses, and those should be easy enough for a skilled and thoughtful opponent to exploit.
Yunomi Stadler	TYunomi backs up a few steps, leaning back to let Eve hit at air. "C'mon Eve." she encourages, "the wood doesn't have a 'hit me' bar on it! /I/ do!" Yunomi gives a smile, but she feels the whacks off the staff right through her palms and wrists. She braces herself for the salvo to come back against a light tease "Stop trying to hit the wood and start trying to hit me! Or I'll eat /all/ the bagels!" Pidge gives a panicked beep, adn goes to check inside of the paper bag. No, there were over a dozen bagels in there. Yunomi can't eat /all/ of them.
Eve	That brings on a scowl. Eve doesn't really WANT to hit Yunomi. If she could beat an opponent without ever hitting them, she'd be pretty happy. There's an old saying to wound not when talking will do, which ends by claiming that the best warrior is one who need never kill, but to fight without doing harm isn't exactly easy. Fortunately for her, Eve IS naturally quite competitive and barely needs the incentive of bagels to make her try harder. Just the taunt is enough. She lays in to Yunomi, tentatively at first, making sure that even should one of her swings actually manage to get through it won't be something that lands hard. She's swinging metal after all! And like Yunomi said, being hit with a stick hurts.
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi gives a grin as Eve presses in. The tanuki brings her wooden staff up to deflect one, two, three, blows, and she makes a mis-step. WHACK! Against her side. It doesn't hurt, might sting a bit, but Yunomi gives encouragement. "Good!" she beams, proudly looking over to Eve. "Sometimes you gotta hit people who aren't going to perish of exhaustion, kid. They're going to be out to hurt you. And those you care about." Yunomi gives a small smile. "If I could have defeated some of my enemies with card tricks, it would have been the /best/ fight I've ever fought, because no one had to get hurt." Yunomi Replies, with a grin, and then she presses forward. She brings her hands from the bo staff's middle to the end of the staff, holding it like a longsword as she tries to drop it down, and gently tap Eve's shoulder. "It would have been a fight that made me happy."
Eve	Eve's eyes go wide as she lands a blow, looking rather panicky until she realizes she didn't hurt Yunomi. She was pulling her hits, but probably not that much. Not with Yunomi egging her on and proving up to the challenge of defending against her earlier strikes. "I'm not going to mind beating up people trying to hurt me or people I care about!" Eve protests hotly. She just... doesn't want to hurt friends or innocents, that's all. She sighs, checking her stance, only to see Yunomi shift to use her weapon like a greatsword. Eve moves to counter, but it becomes obvious Yunomi's not trying to strike her. The 'attack' is too slow, too careful and gentle. Eve's quick-witted, and both her greatest strength and weakness is her ability to think in mid-battle. Deciding quickly, she shifts her staff to the vertical, no longer in path to intercept Yunomi's weapon. She allows the tap, though she flinches as it's about to tap down.
Yunomi Stadler	That's all it is, a little tap. Like a poking finger. Yunomi has excellent control. She breathes out, and gives a wry grin. "I used to hang around a guy who piloted a giant mech with his dad. We'd do this /all day/ until one of us got worn out." she states, and she nimbly steps back, and uses the pole as a vault to flip backwards, and she makes a three point landing in the grass, bare feet digging lin lightly as she studies eve a moment. "I was always a little faster, but he was a lot stronger. We both were competitive." she explains, and she rushes forward, low, zigging at the last minute and trying to get within Eve's defensive range to bring the staff around and try to take Eve's mid with a little tap.
Eve	Eve is always studying, always analyzing. When Yunomi polevaults, a part of her mind files the move away for later use. She doesn't bother thinking 'I should learn how to do that, practice it until I can use it without falling over, then make use of it.' No, she just files the movements in her mind so she can simply DO that sort of move. Her body, not just her nanomachines, is a weapon. She's learning, though she's still vulnerable to tricks. A little startled that the training match is continuing, she still manages to react quickly. She moves to counter Yunomi's charge by dropping her weapon from its defensive vertical into an overhead strike. Holding back, softening the force to be sure the metal weapon does crack Yunomi's skull, she isn't in the right mental frame to adjust to the shifting attack. Her adjustment would have been to pull the weapon up, not to bring it around to counter the swerve. She just begins to correct, and then to correct again, when she's struck. She looks down, chagrined and somewhat annoyed at herself for being tricked.
Yunomi Stadler	"Hey." Yunomi pauses, catching Eve looking down. She reaches, slowly, for Eve's chin, to lift it with a glove-clad finger. "In my dojo, there's no looking down. Your feet aren't going to leap up and attack you, ne?" Yunomi gives a smile, trying to be encouraging to Eve as she gives a smile. "Spend all your time lookin' down, and someone's bound to turn your hair purple or something." Yunomi comments, and with that, the mage's hair turns purple, rippling in effect to prove a point -- and to try and distract Eve.
Eve	Eve looks up again quickly at the prompting, a bit of red beginning to heat her cheeks. Eve doesn't like looking like a fool, even when it's a lesson for her own good. She frowns, focussing, only to become distracted by Yunomi's actions. Startled by the mage's hair turning purple, Eve's own perfectly natural assumption is that Yunomi did what she said she would. Distressed, and yes distracted, she reaches up to her own locks, pulling some forward to see that indeed it's still its typical pale blonde, not purple. Not that she has anything against the color purple or anything! It's just if anyone's going to mess with her body it'll be HER!
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi sees that panic, and she bakes off. "Hey. Hey, it's all right. I only turned my hair purple, see?" she states, and she lets her pole fall. Not only can't she defend her homeland, and her adoptive home, now she can't even give a training lesson without it going to pot. Yunomi feels her own confidence leave her as herhair returns to normal. "I'm a shapeshifter. I can change pretty much every part of my body and do weird things like chang emy hair and eye color. I don't do it on other people though, not like that. And I've give you warning if I was going to change your hair."
Eve	"Oh." Eve says. She wasn't exactly panicking, but she was startled. It makes sense though, that she wouldn't do such a thing to someone else. Not if she's a shapeshifter anyways, though if she's a mage... well, who knows. Still, Eve's willing to take Yunomi at her word. She also notices Yunomi's sudden change of mood. She doesn't understand it, not at all, but she certainly suspects something's wrong and automatically moves to try to do something to help. "I... can make my skin metallic?" she offers uncertainly. Well, maybe not ALL of her skin, not at once. She hasn't really pushed the limits of her own shapeshifting, and probably lacks the mass of nanometal within her to make usefully-thick armor everywhere on her body at once. Tin-foil armor, sure. But the problem with shiny tin foil is it's really not very good at stopping weapons. In any event she's not actually GOOD at giving sympathy and reassurance, but Eve IS trying.
Yunomi Stadler	And then it clicks with Yunomi. She blinks. "... you're still learning about how to react to things, aren't you?" she asks, very softly. Yunomi remembers those days. Youkai were very, very different than Humans. Being a Yokai kid in a completely normal, human class. Not knowing how these kids think a spelling bee was /The end of the world/. Yunomi gives a slight smile, and she closes her eyes, bowing her head slightly. "Ahn. I apologize. I thought I had you figured out, but I was very wrong." she quietly states to the girl, trying to be quiet enough that not even Pidge could hear her talk.
Eve	That's exactly right. It's not just fight experience that Eve lacks, it's all kinds of experience. She's still feeling her way, trying to learn how normal people do things, all while carefully treading the line between trying to be normal and also trying to be useful to those who have quickly become dear to her. Eve may be incredibly smart, but she's also led a very sheltered existence until now. She merely blinks at Yunomi's question though. "I... have very little training for a fight. Not for a real fight." she says, though she sounds a bit uncertain. She doesn't think that's what Yunomi meant, but she's not sure what else she could mean... and doesn't want to come right out and admit it if it's what she does think it is. The tanuki's quiet words make Eve even more uncertain. What had Yunomi figured out, and how does she know that she was wrong? Confusion is an uncomfortable state, and Eve reacts by narrowing her eyes and looking annoyed. Easier and safer to be annoyed than confused and uncomfortable!
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi gives a small laugh, and she flops down into the grass. She lays there for a moment, and then motions to Eve to join her. "Not for a fight. Just, in this case, in general." she replies after a moment. Her ears wiggle. "If you want to join us, Zephyr, feel free. I'm going to take a breather to rethink my paradigm regarding training, and in the meantime? I'm going to tell a story."
Eve	Still confused, still scowling, Eve picks up her staff in both hands and collapses it by pushing one hand towards the other. The metal breaks, shifts, and disappears. Some of it's directly absorbed through her skin, but most of it breaks down into fragments that dissociate into microscopic dust that invisibly returns to her. Once the nanometal is nothing more than faint glowing motes that quickly fade, Eve joins Yunomi on the grass, flopping artlessly in the boneless fashion of a child with no fear of joint problems. "I like stories." Eve says cautiously.
Yunomi Stadler	"Once upon a time, there was a tanuki -- which is a magical dog-like animal from my homeland, Japan. This tanuki, incidentally, is also named Yunomi. Mostly because she's me." Yunomi states, setting it very clear that this is in her past. "About seven years ago, she washed up from the ocean on a beach, and met some very strange people. Now, being a young tanuki, they wanted to put her in school -- but what she learned in Japan, /four hundred/ years ago in their time, was very different. She couldn't speak Japanese in school because it sounded funny, so she struggled to learn English -- which is a ridiculous language. Did you know you can make a sentence out of just the word 'buffalo'? Buffalo buffallo buffallo Buffallo. Ridiculous language, right?" she inquires, motioning uselessly up to the sky above. "Well, she had to learn how to be a human. So she studied them. And sometimes she tried things and they failed /spetacularly/. My hair was pink, once, Bright, ridiculous, radioactive bubblegum pink. And the kids in my classmade fun of me, so I turned it a more normal color. Brrrooown. Which most of it is still."
Eve	Give Eve a bit of time to understand metaphor and allegory more clearly, and she'll more easily understand Yunomi's first bit. She does understand, though it takes her some mental replay. Fortunately, mental replay is another thing Eve's quite good at. She scowls pretty hard at the Buffalo thing. Language shouldn't be tortured like that, really. But she continues to listen, and consider, and draw conclusions. The story, in fact, isn't super-different from her own. Only with her own story it's an oni rather than a tanuki... only she's not really an oni. She's just told she was one. To show that she's paying attention, Eve speaks up at the end. "And did y... did she learn to be human?" she asks carefully. "Or did she find out that she's a tanuki? Or was she? It wasn't just a thing she'd been told she was and she found out she was human all along, was it?" Eve asks, the question seeming casual except for the unblinking intensity of the small girl's eyes.
Yunomi Stadler	"I never did learn how to be exactly human, because there wasn't anything wrong with me being a tanuki. I had to adapt to their reactions, though." she replies. "No, I've always known I was a tanuki. I tried to be human to please other people, but also because I guess I felt left out and lonely. To my knowledge, there's only ever been one other tanuki in the Union." Yunomi's voice flattens "and she was a prat."
Eve	Okay which is it? You or she? Eve gets somewhat frustrated at Yunomi's shift from third person to first. Sloppy story technique. She can certainly follow, but it's not consistent. It does, however, make the story more personal. Eve is quick to understand and personalize the story, considering how it relates to her own tale. Not that she's really the sort to tell her own story... she's not proud of it. But it's not exactly something that she hides, she just has no reason to bring it up until it's relevant. "I was told I was an oni." she explains, keeping it simple. If Yunomi knows the legends about oni, their behaviors and their games, she'll understand. If she doesn't, well, then she doesn't need to. "Now I know I'm supposed to be human." Eve claims. "Only, humans don't do this." she says, opening her hand palm-up, and rapidly extending her fingernails into six-inch silver needles. She brings her fingers together, causing the narrow needles to chime against one another. She immediately causes them to vanish once again, the whole action far faster than when she'd manifested the staff. Far more familiar a weapon to her in fact. "And I suppose... if I had a choice, I wouldn't want to be just a human. I'd want to be with my friends." she finishes.
Yunomi Stadler	That stung. Yunomi's been called a lot of things. She's been called a demon. She's been called a failure. She's been called a lot of things that she wasn't, but different when someone calls a kid like Eve an /oni/. She tilts her head, her ears pricking and turning back to Eve. She watches as the silvery fingernails appear, and vanish again. And she clicks her fingers, and gives a point. "That is also cool. And don't let anyone tell you different." she states, and then leans back in the grass again, looking up at the blue skies over Ravnica. "For what it's worth, you don't look like an Oni. And you smell a lot better too. That one's a joke, you can laugh at that one." And she reflects a moment. "I don't think anyone in the Union is a 'normal' human. Except perhaps for General Hall." Yunomi considers a moment. "Everyone's shaped by their experiences. My boyfriend Chuck was closed off for a while. You wouldn't find him in this condition, trying to be understanding becuase that wasn't what he was. My Guildmaster wouldn't try to be a teacher, because that's not what she is. And hey, you're you. The Youest, Truest You. And you'll find your way, kid." she gives a smile. "And we'll help if you want us to."
Eve	More than one person has called Eve's metal powers 'cool'. If she were inclined to doubt that or to feel shame, the support would certainly help convince her otherwise. She smiles, just a little, feeling good about a lot of things. Bagels. Grass and wind. Cool abilities. She freezes up when Yunomi tells the oni joke. Not because she thought Yunomi was serious, but because she was told it was a joke. It makes her face freeze. She tries to process the comment. If it's a joke, she's meant to smile and laugh. She tries to smile at least, but it ends up just plain looking wierd. Someone smiling because they were told to, not because of actually getting the joke. Still, Yunomi passes by the moment, and Eve's once again able to relax. Eve nods, assured. She'll find her way. She doesn't understand Yunomi half the time, but that's okay. The tanuki seems a good person to her even if she's confusing.
Yunomi Stadler	"OH! Also, one thing that I learned from a good friend, and fellow long-lived nonhuman: If someone says something you don't understand, ask them for explaination. People love to talk." Yunomi strikes the air, remembering. "And most people will happily explain things out of courtesy or because they're really, really vain, and sometimes idioms don't match up. It took me forever to figure out /why/ Apple Pie was so /American/, for instance, because to me, America was just like.... this big mass of land that kept fighting itself and freezing and being desert."