[WPG - RP] Learning To Talk - Marie and Tsubasa

Tsubasa had an stablishied routine for this day of the week. He knew who was coming and was diligently working on making sure his office looked perfect for his next patient. He took great care in making sure it was a space where they where comfortable, relaxed, open. A space where they could feel safe, that reflected that he heard them when they talked, payed attention to their needs and wants, their likes and fears. It was a lot of extra work but with a little bit of magic and ingenuity he made it possible. And to him, it was something that was absolutely worth the extra time and effort. So far, it seemed like it was also worth it to his patients.

With the last touches just in time, and a kettle ready in case he needed tea Tsubasa looked at the watch on his wrist and new his next patient would probably knock on the front door at any moment. He was ready for her.

Breathe. Just take a breath and go in the door! It'll be fine. Despite the normal, relaxed look she had on the outside, her mental state was turning wheels REAL hard. Marie hung outside a moment, trying to figure out how this session was going to go. Therapy would be good, right? Maybe then she could be better at communicating, one way or ano—

Her thought process was quickly interrupted with a sudden thwack to the back of her head. Quickly adjusted her hat back where it was meant to be, Marie glared at the perpetrator: Echo, her familiar, being the emotive sass that he was. The glare quickly softened into a sigh, as she knew he was, once again, correct. It was time to just go and stop thinking about it!

With a soft knock and brief pause once more, she twisted the knob and silently let herself in...

He turned around and walked out of his office at the sound of the door. "Marie, Echo. Come on in. It's good to see you." Tsubasa took a quick loom at them, assessing their presence, did Marie looked nervous? Was she good at hiding her emotions? Was her connection to her familiar strong? The sort of thing he'd look for. The silent note of all this things happened on the back of his mind while he gestured to the office to let Marie walk in before him to close the door, effectively giving them privacy for this.

"How's been your day? Did you have work today?" a couple of simple questions to break the ice and try to ease the tension Marie could be feeling. Meanwhile his own familiar was looking at Echo and Marie trying to determine if he could get attention from them.

"... it's been ok. Just got off work." She didn't seem to fidget, but her voice came out a bit forced--getting to know new people was always the hardest part for her, especially those who had to dig into her life as their profession.

Echo, however, was quite relaxed and normal. If anything, he was the driving force for a lot of this. Staying perched on her shoulder, his head swiveled towards her, then Tsubasa, then back to her, ruffling his feathers and nudging the back of his partner's head. Marie, in return, gave a very subtle sigh and continued.

"Oh...uh, yes nice to see you too, by the way." Echo seemed to approve.

Tsubasa took notice of the exchange. So Marie is nervous and shy but Echo drives her forward. Like an extrovert friend would to with an introvert one helping them get out of their shell, or at least interact with others. Tsubasa gestures to a couple of armchairs in the middle of the room, a small coffee table separating both. "Would you like some coffee or tea? Perhaps you are tired after work."

He takes a seat on his usual chair, feeling that in this case, him being lower first would probably help Marie be more comfortable as he took the lead and she could follow the social cue. He smiles softly and waits. He does not want to overwhelm Marie with questions at first.

And took to the social cue she did! Marie mulled the options over while she took a seat, Echo perching on the arm rest next to her.

".... I guess, tea?" Having a preference was hard, and she wasn't picky.

"Not tired, really. Just getting the ropes..."

Tsubasa stands up from his chair, grabs a kettle, two tea cups and two teabags and puts them on a tray and on the coffee table. He makes the executive decision of choosing the tea this time around. Chamomile and lavender, the kind of tea that is good for relaxing, to ease a little bit the anxiety. But as always, "if you don't like it, or prefer a different one let me know. I have a big collection of teas."

He grabbed his own cup, gently holding it on his hands. "Have you had anyone taught you the job yet? Someone more experienced you can ask questions?" The words superior, or supervisor seem a little too big for what Tsubasa was asking, unless that was the person's actual title. But it was all he could think in English. Right now, he wanted to establiesh if Marie had had the chance to speak with someone at work, a rather neutral environment.

"... Thanks." holding the cup close, she stares at the liquid in silence while he speaks. It did smell nice, and it was something to focus on for the time being.

"...Yeah. Quest. They seem nice..."she gave a shrug though, as if she didn't have much to report on this half. It was still a bit early in this process for her all around: getting use to the town, her new job, all that bit.

"Sorry—Getting use to Walpurgis, I guess."

He tried to remember the faces and names of people he knew. Quest did not sound particular familiar besides maybe a mention here and there. He probably knew of them but not actually knew them. "I Haven't had the pleassure of meeting Quest yet... "

"Getting uses takes time. I've been here eight months and I'm still meeting new people every day." A soft tone when he speaks, not low, just soothing. He takes one sip of his tea while he thinks of a new thing to ask. "Sometimes I'm even meeting new neighbours, and they live just two houses over. Have you met some of your neighbours yet?"

"Hm... sort of. Not many live in the fields near by--it's cozy. Echo made me talk to Verna. She seems nice... and the mail delivery, pixie named Mathieu... he's cool." Her tone lay flat and descriptions short, but she was amused by the few people she had interacted with so far.

"....you're new, too?" Her focus pivoted, seemingly interested in this information about him.

"Oh yes I know Verna, she is very sweet. The tea we are drinking comes from her garden. I've seen Mathieu around but I haven't had the chance to talk much to him. I'm glad you were able to talk to them though." Two neighbours, one coworker and as far as he's seen, a few interactions online. He was forming a picture.

"Ah yes, my sister and I got here eight months ago from Japan. Its been quite different from our previous home... Is Walpurgis different from your previous home?"

She had to admit, he was good. It wasn't that she didn't necessarily want to talk... just not a whole lot. Even more so with people she's unfamiliar with. Him being able to just speak casually and bring in his own life references to compare was making her feel a little less tense.

"...thats pretty awesome." She nodded slowly, taking her large brimmed hat off to set it next to Echo.

"Yeah. From the south-west. Desert. I loved it a lot, but the forest is beautiful here, though."

Tsubasa will take that Marie takes off her hat as a sign of being slightly less tense than she was before. For some people clothes were like armor and shield, keeping others away, giving the impression of being unavailable. Use a hat to cover your eyes so you don't have to make contact with other, use a coat to cover your hands so no one see you fidget... Those sort of things. He takes a sip of his tea and nods.

"Hmm, it was quite a trip but Ruriko took it like a champ. I'm afraid I've never been well... Anywhere on the US other than Walpurgis so I don't know how the south-west is. But I can asume the desert is quite beautiful" The only thing he had to compare them was the TV and that wasn't much. "The forest is pretty lovely, that's true. I am quite impressed with the variety of plants you can find here."

"Was your previous home as... Varied as walpurgis?"

"...in what terms? The fauna is incredibly different, but for magic folk...." she tapers off a moment, finally taking a small sip of her tea. Huh, not bad--she'll have to thank Verna later.

"....not even close. Was a small coven, not much out there, or was extremely spread out. Will be interesting to learn what Walpurgis has to offer."

Looking at Echo, Marie gives him a gentle pat on his head before continuing. "Doesn't... uh, doesn't Japan have a lot? Like.. magic flora and folk?"

"Well, I meant in terms of magic folk yes." He had no experience with desert fauna to compare to the current forest one. "Ah I see. Well, from my limited experience Walpurgis is indeed pretty interesting. I doubt you'll get bored here." That was on itself something interesting. For a small town it was pretty lively. In this case, it didn't matter if the town was big or small, as long the folks living here where interesting, there would always be something to do.

"For being an island Japan does have quite the diversity. But I come from Kyoto. We lived on the outskirt of a big city, on a big complex of homes. A coven made of one family. Some members have left to live elsewhere and some have married outside of witches but in general I've never lived in a place that gathered so many different kinds of magic in one place."

He takes a sip of his tea, remembering home for a moment, but quickly pushing it down to a different part of his brain. "Besides, I had lived mostly among humans for the past ten years. University." a quick shrug like if that explained it. You need to study to get a licence after all.

"huh.... neat. Me neither..." Again, her tone came across flat and completely uninterested, but all this was actually somewhat amusing to her.

"I... like that Walpurgis is still so spread out. So much here, but still... I can... uh—mmmmh..." Her nose wrinkled as she tried to talk, seeming to have a hard time with the words to express. Eventually, to pad the awkward drop in her structure, she took another sip of tea before finding her footing.. "... it's peaceful."

It may have seemed fairly natural, but Marie turned her head to break any sort of eye contact, feeling a bit reserved in her recent stutter.

"It is quite interesting. Walpurgis is the first place I've ever interacted with demons for example. Now I wonder how different are the Onis from back from, let's say, Dave." A lot maybe? Or not that much? Hard to tell having never seen an oni in his life, but it was something curious to think about.

"Ah I think I know what you mean. You can have your space here, spread your wings without touching anyone if you wish," A nod at Ecco , a bir annalogy, "but you could still reach out and get in contact with someone if you wanted to. It's a good balance."

If she could chuckle, she would. Instead, a very, very subtle smile cracked at Tsubasa's bird pun—mostly because Echo seemed to puff up in a hilarious way at the mention. It was quick, but it was there! She quickly hid it behind taking another sip of the tea.

"...yeah. Trying to... Figure it out. It's nice." She nodded along slightly. "Get to learn a lot, too. Do what I love."

Tsubasa smiled and nod, acknowledging Echo. Small progress was progress. Tsubasa always told his patients that baby steps were indeed steps. Just because they were small it didn't mean they weren't important. Without them, no one would learn how to walk after all. So seeing Marie even a little bit more comfortable made him happy. They were going through a good path.

"Trying is good, we all have to start somewhere. There's a lot walpurgis offers to its citizens to learn and grow and also do what we love. I'm glad you are liking the town Marie."

"How do you feel about attending the founding festival this year?"

This question made her perk up a little. It was a simple, quick response, but much faster than she had responded through their conversation so far!

"Good. Gonna perform with my poi."

Tsubasa quickly noticed this. It seems like he had hit a good conversation point.

"I don't think I've ever seen a Poi performance, I'd be very excited to see you."

"You should also sign up for some of the events, I bed you could win some"

"...can try, maybe."

Echo made a chirp of protest—which she rolled her eyes to again.

"Fine, maybe a few. Echo wants to."

Tsubasa chuckles. The interactions between Echo and Marie reminded him of his own familiar that was somewhere on the room playing with a ball, not worried about anything. But he also did that sometimes, the pointing things out.

"I think it would be interesting. There are events you do solo and some against others, like arm wrestling. Or the duck game could be fun for Echo to help"

Echo, the ever sassy that he was, perked up quite a lot at the sound of a duck game. He squaked, which Marie quickly shot him another wordless glance. The two really did know how to speak without words! He did not recoil, in fact, his little cheeks widened with delight in the face of her criticism. So what if we were indoors! DUCK! POND! GAME!

After a moment of reluctance, she finally relaxed into her chair again. "Yes... we will go. I'll perform, he can blindly fish for plastic ducks." A coy remark, but it was out of love and playfulness with her familiar.

"Do come. It's... I feel most comfortable then...." she shrugged. "Will you play games, too...?"

Tsubasa looks at the exchange with a smile and a soft chuckle. It was quite a cute thing to see. He was always happy to see people have this kind of exchange with their familiars. There was such a unique bond between them that also let him see a different side of his patients sometimes.

"Of course. I am not very good at games or... Almost any physical task. But I would like to win something for Ruriko. And also participate in some of the festivities"

"I will be helping a face paint and hair dye booth the first few days. I will be magically changing people's hair colors. The spell lasts for about 12 hours so I think kids will have fun"

"oh?" she seems interested in the idea, curious if it might be close to illusion-like spells. Some magic tends to flow between professions quite a lot!

"That's kind of you......cute." Marie nodded slowly. Again, her shoulders relaxed a bit more. Perhaps this place really could warm up to her more! The community seemed kind enough, interesting, and diverse... and much of her skills were utilized here, both as a hobby and a job. It was still a long way to go, and maybe she'd express deeper concerns to him later.

"It's a very simple transfiguration spell but it usually resonates well with children and teens. They like the idea of changing their hair color without being in trouble for dying it, or damaging it." It was something Ruri liked from time to time. Change the color, add stripes, crazy patterns. They simply puffed when time was up.

"Thank you. I'm really looking foward to it. Ruri seems very excited and I always like that. I think she will love your performance." It sounded exactly like the kind of thing Ruri would look with big eyes and wonder. There are more things Tsubasa would like to ask more directly, but he simply doesn't. For now, Marie is making some progress, she seems more relaxed than what she was when they started and Tsubasa is in no hurry to preassure her now. They have time.

"I'll try to wave, after." Dull as ever, but she did mean it. As much as she was poor at her words and emotions, kids were highly impressionable and she understood that. It was good to try to be kind to them, even if it made her uncomfortable.

Looking at the time, she took a final sip of her tea and stood. "Guess... I should get going. Long day tomorrow." pausing, she looked blankly to the side while searching for words.

"Thanks.... See you... uh, I'll schedule next appointment. Until then.... see you and Ruri at the festival... yeah?"

"That would be nice of you, thank you." Tsubasa simply put down his cup of tea and looked at Marie for a moment. Their time was coming up. He stood up with Marie and walked with her to the door.

"You are welcome Marie. Just tell me when you can come again and I'll be here for you. I'll see you at the festival. Echo.." a nod of acknowledgement to Marie's familiar. This session had been light, next time they will do more talking.