[The Fleeting Comet] An Unsolvable Puzzle (Tao)

[Jiina]

oocSorry for the delay. Been a little out of sorts lately! Jiina blushed bright red as he pointed out the obvious, looking everywhere but him. She had to refrain herself from snapping at him in an attempt to save face. It was embarrassing to be given a lesson on how to speak Common by a man who could barely speak Lhavitian. She sat there, thinking of all the things she would normally do to him for showing her up like that, without actually doing them. A deep breath in sought to calm her anger. She smiled at him, tautly, looking at what he had written. A lot of her irritation seeped away when she saw just how much he had accomplished already. So far, he had filled in six letters. It was impressive. "You are rather good at this," she murmured, but she clamped her mouth shut when she realised what she had just said. She had inadvertently complimented Tao. She hadn't meant to, but she couldn't retrieve it now. She glared at him for a moment, as if it was all Tao's fault that she had slipped, but she sighed, banging her head on the table. She always intimidated those who she needed help from. "Petching shyke," she murmured into the table cloth. Taeto would have her hide if she knew she said that. She turned her head to look at him, still resting her head on the table. "Cannot believe I'm about to say this," she muttered. Then she raised her voice. "I'm sorry." An involuntary spasm ran through her at the words. She sat bolt upright again, focusing her eyes on the pages, tilting her face down so Tao could not see the embarrassment. She had apologised, but that part of the conversation was over. She watched him fill in the gaps, slowly, but she didn't say anything, not yet. She was still feeling much too awkward. She just rested her head on her hands and watched him scrawl the letters. She looked at Tao as he did so, though for once she was not glaring - merely considering. He was rather good looking, with soft features and kind eyes. He was helpful, and evidently caring (though not to Jiina - Jiina would likely hit him if he tried to help her without her express permission). All in all, he seemed like a lovely man. Much like her brother Meino probably was. But she was torn from her introspection when he said something else. She felt a little bad he was doing all the work, but to be honest, she had nothing to offer. She just wasn't that booksmart. It seemed Tao was. A part of her respected that. Her voice had gotten calmer, nicer, more thankful, while her gaze had softened. She did not realise it. "A word?" she murmured, thinking. "I honestly have no idea. Taeto likes to challenge me, and I know it's probably something obscure and random. Typical of him to do this on my birthday." She smiled, kindly, realising Taeto would be seriously unhappy if he knew she was getting help and liking someone of a lower class. Oh well. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

[Tao]

Jiina was a confusing person. Her emotions shifted much faster than he thought was healthy, going from embarrassment and anger to what was almost a grudging admiration before snarling in frustration and slamming her head back down on the table. He found himself keeping one eye on her as he substituted letters, just in case she suddenly went completely mad. It didn’t make much sense to him. Why was she so upset over a simple mistake, or that her little offhanded compliment? Was it so very important to appear cold and perfect at all times? She was human, same as he and most everyone in the restaurant, and they would make mistakes, or slip up here and there. Tao couldn’t bring himself to say anything in reply to her various comments; the situation was too unpredictable, and he didn’t know how she would react. There was only one thing forcing that apology from her lips, and that was the code in front of him. He kept his attention on that as best he could. After a few moments, as they sat in silence while he scrawled out letters across the page, he realised that she was now watching him, much like the couple sitting nearby. Her gaze did not seem angry, and that was not as reassuring as he first would have thought. If she wasn’t angry, what was she? Why was he suddenly so interesting? He looked up at her when he had finished fidgeting with the pencil. She seemed to be calmer, at first glance, considering his question. If it wasn’t another facade, he hoped she would remain that way. When her face wasn’t scowling with rage, she looked like a nice person, the person he had wanted to help when he had sat down. He wasn’t so afraid of her when she smiled. With that thought, and the word that slipped from her lips, he knew that he had solved the code. “Birthday.” He repeated, softly. “Eight letters, begins with b, ends with y.” A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z B I R T H D A Y C ? ? O ? ? L ? ? ? ? Q ? ? ? ? ? ? “That’s it, Jiina.” He confirmed, scribbling the letters in quickly. “Birthday fits perfectly, and the rest of the alphabet should just be in order after we remove those letters.” A smile struck him unbidden as he felt a rush of exhilaration. All the pieces of the puzzle fell neatly into place from there. His hand flashed across the page, filling in the letters, until finally, everything was in place. He took a deep breath and exhaled, pleased with his work, and pushed the paper over to Jiina so that she could read the words. He couldn’t help but have read them given that he had translated them over, but he wisely decided not to comment. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z B I R T H D A Y C E F G J K L M N O P Q S U V W X Z My daughter Jiina, Happy twenty first birthday, my love. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be your 'father' these past years. I love you as my only child, Jiina dear, and more besides. If only you knew. This is a test of skill and of brainpower, my dear. I know that you can do it. If you cannot ... you know the usual consequences. But I know you love them. Undying care, devotion and love, Your father Taeto Relieved that he had finished the problem, he waited for Jiina to excuse him from the table so that she could go celebrate her birthday with her father.

[Jiina]

Jiina felt awkward as she was caught staring at him so openly, him looking up at her while she fidgeted. She was not usually so introspective, so quiet, so kind. Not that normal people would consider her being 'kind' right now but it was a big step for her. She felt awkward and a tad uncomfortable as he looked right back at her, but she could not bring herself to really look away or anything. She kind of liked Tao. He was sweet. She just seriously doubted he liked her. It was evident in the discomfort of his stare. But after he had spoken, a soft word escaped his lips and the moment was over. She strained to hear what he had said, but understood that he had just realised something. The evident working of his mind was good, it meant that the awkwardness of the last chime was over. But she was interested to see what it was he had to show. She watched as he scribbled, and she began to smile. The sight of seeing all those letters filled in was so satisfying. She laughed, just as he grinned, and began to speak breathlessly as he began to decode the message. "Of course! Birthday!" She felt rather silly now that she thought about it. It was annoyingly obvious, and Taeto knew she wasn't very smart. She wished that she had figured it out herself. It was rather embarrassing to have not guessed that. But at least it was done now. "How did I not see that? Thank you, Tao Kuroya..." Her voice trailed off as she realised she had just thanked him. A pretty blush crept up onto her cheeks but she did not retract it. She had said it and she had meant it. She only hoped he did not spread it around that Jiina Xi did in fact have emotions. Jiina took the sheet from Tao, her face still hot. But the flush only deepened and she felt more and more embarrassed as she read what Taeto had written. Her heart soared though, at the knowledge. She felt ... she knew ... but it would not do to think on such things in public. She should talk to Taeto about it. She looked up at Tao under her eyelashes, not quite looking him in the eye. It was mortifying another human being had to see that. She did not think it would be very well recieved. "Errr..." she mumbled, trying to scramble to salvage the last vestiges of respect he might have for her. "Taeto... my father... he likes to joke a lot?" A weak grin made it's way onto her face as she stuffed the paper away, not really wanting him to see it in public anymore. "What are you going to do now, Tao?" It was with genuine interest that she asked, grateful for the help he had given, but she was not too sure she would recognise it. She wouldn't blame him, either.

[Tao]

It had been a long time since someone had thanked him. Thanked him of all people, because he had been helpful and useful and he had made a difference. To hear it from someone like Jiina, who seemed so cold and critical, made the feeling all the more...wonderful. If Jiina was embarrassed for letting a sincere thank you slip, then he was all the more embarrassed to be the one receiving it. He felt a surge of elation, like there was a little bird fluttering excitedly in his chest, and smiled back at her, finally feeling relaxed in her presence. Her eyes flitted over the paper, growing wider with each line that she took in, her expression nearly unreadable but for the fact that she was happy. Unconsciously, he put a hand to his chest, where a small locket was well hidden under his shirt and kept well out of sight. He almost wished he hadn't read the letter; it was something private, between a father and his child, and he didn't like that he had inadvertently invaded Jiina's privacy like that. He knew he would hate for some stranger to have read some of the letters his father had written to him. She made a hasty excuse for the contents of the letter and stuffed it out of sight, no doubt embarrassed by the contents (or the fact that he had read them). He almost wanted to say something reassuring to ease her guilt. “I... ah... it's okay.” He said finally, figuring that maybe a small lie wouldn't hurt if it would protect the girl's pride and keep her almost approachable and nice. “When you decode a message, you only really focus on the letters, not the words. So I didn't really read it.” She asked him a question, asking him what his plans were for the evening. He studied her a moment, more out of habit over the evening rather than actual concern (though there was always the chance she was going to ambush and kill him later so that no one would know he helped her, he supposed), and was surprised to feel that the question wasn't laced with barbs of insults or sarcasm. Was she genuinely grateful and interested in him? “Well... I'm afraid my life is not as exciting as yours must be.” He answered honestly, inclining his head in thought. “I have to buy dinner on my way home... then give up my dinner to my cat. After that, I'm not sure.” He shrugged and smiled. “And I suppose that you will be going to celebrate your birthday?”

[Jiina]

She scrutinised him, though the glare was not hard or even cold. It was simply thoughtful. His stutter at the beginning of his sentence gave him away. She knew he was lying. She dealt in lies everyday, she lied to people's faces and she encouraged people to lie to each other (it was fun to watch them squirm). She knew he was lying, and suprisingly, it did not matter. But she tried to assuage him nonetheless. "Well, I'm grateful that you didn't read it," she murmured, though there was a mocking smirk on her lips as she spoke. She shook her head at that, indicating that that part of the conversation was over. Though she was remarkably comfortable around Tao, Jiina didn't really feel like discussing the intricacies of her and Taeto's relationship. She wasn't even sure herself what those intricacies were; she didn't need poor little Tao knowing too. There was something about Tao's attitude that made her feel ... off. She couldn't quite describe it. Usually, someone as physically and mentally weak as Tao would irritate her. He had no strength, no backbone. She supposed that when they had met, perhaps she had been a little too hard on him, and that would have influenced how he acted now... but now, she couldn't quite find that same irritation, pity that she had had for him. Tao was simply weak. There was nothing to be done about that. She was dominating, he was submissive. She couldn't change that, just as she couldn't change the heights of the peaks. Then there was the fact that he seemed to be Meino in another body... She shrugged herself out of her contemplation as he directed a question at her. She couldn't really comment on what he had said; she hadn't been listening. "Yes, Taeto and I are ... celebrating ..." The last birthdays with Taeto she hadn't celebrated. To be honest, all she had done with Taeto was train. But she had never ever gotten a letter like the one he gave her today. She flushed, just thinking about it, and where it lay on her body seemed hot. Would they speak about it, or would they dance around the issue some more? Certainly she had felt this since he had chosen her to be his daughter. It gave her hope to know that he too, felt something. Perhaps, even, she would incite the consequences - for she loved any that were dealt out by him. With that thought, she stood up abruptly. Tao reminded her of Meino, and it was something she would have to peruse at a later date. Certainly she wanted to follow this enigma further. This would not be the last she saw of Tao. But right now, Taeto and his strong body, and his calculating face, were all that was on Jiina's mind. She was eager to get to him. She was about to turn and dash straight back home to the Tower before she realised she needed to say something to Tao. She cleared her throat awkwardly, looking down at him. Taeto and his sudden presence in her mind had brought back a lot of the cold front she put on, the front that Tao seemed to have broken. "Well..." she muttered, awkwardly. "Thank--" She broke off her own sentence, nodded once, and twirled on her foot out of the Fleeting Comet. Taeto was waiting. End.

[Kelpie]

Tao: +5 Cryptography Lore: Dealing with tense situations, Decoding simple letters Jiina: +2 Acting, +1 Cryptography, +4 Observation Lore: Trying to be nice is a pain in the ass, Asking for help without asking for helping Mod Note: Tao and Jiina are so darling and awkward and cute, I loved it. Keep writing!