Scene #3400: The Star and Standard

Owner	Pose
Hoshi Amakasu	Close to winter as it was by now, the sky is already quickly starting to dim by the time Hoshi sent out her invitation and coordinates. The northeastern half of the city was still bright and loud, given that was where all of the city's major business was going down. People were jamming into the mall and the various restaurants, trying to celebrate the Sunday before going back to do whatever their business was in the morning. The other half of the town was much darker, the cottages and smaller buildings barely getting much light from their streetlights. Hoshi's neighborhood was a pretty rich one caught off-center to the both of them, stuck between two extremes. Hoshi's house proper was a fairly simple two-storey home, though judging from the glass walls surrounding the dining room and the impressive appointments within, this house wasn't particularly poor, either. When Jeanne arrives and hopefully knocks, the door would be opened by the slightly chubby but happily smiling mother that Hoshi's spoken about. "Ah, you must be Hoshi's friend. My name is Amakasu Keiko, dear. Please, come in." She shuffles to the side a bit to let her pass. "Please take off your shoes before you enter, please."
Jeanne d'Arc	Jeanne shows up at Hoshi's front door in a pair of black flats, red tights, and a black dress with a violet ribbon that matches the color of her eyes and the ribbon in her hair. Upon entering the house, she bows politely in thanks to the woman, slipping out of her shoes without a question. She's been living with Shizune after all, who is Japanese. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Jeanne Nakamura." Let's keep things simple for right now, eh? She is overall pleasant but cautious. She does not have many people she visits, it seems.
Hoshi Amakasu	Keiko lets out a pleased little chuckle at Jeanne's manners--and her name! "Ah! I'm glad to see more people from our home here, Ms. Nakamura. And such well-behaved girls, too. I'm so glad Hoshi has managed to find some friends here." She shuts the door quickly and makes her way to the kitchen, from which steam is already starting to rise. "I'll have some hot chocolate ready for you and Hoshi soon. Would you be staying for dinner, as well?" Having heard her mother blabbing away from her room, it doesn't take long for Hoshi to come dashing down the stairs behind the kitchen. "Ah--Hello, Ms. Jeanne. Welcome to my house." She bows quickly and scrubs the bangs out of her eyes. "Thank you for opening the door, mom. We'll be up in my room studying. Good thing is, I managed to find some primers for you to use, Ms. Jeanne."
Jeanne d'Arc	"If you do not mind the intrusion, I would gladly stay for dinner. Thank you for your kindness." Jeanne was raised politely in a God-fearing household. She turns to bow to Hoshi, smiling at the other girl. "Thank you! My friend, Shizune, has been trying to teach me, but Japanese is a very complex language. To try to learn it on top of Welsh, too, I'm not sure what I was thinking!" The Servant gives a soft laugh. "Thank you, by the by, for your kindness."
Hoshi Amakasu	Keiko nods and begins humming happily as she goes about prepping for dinner. "It's a good thing you came when you did. Hoshi's father called not long ago and said that he'd be working late tonight. Now we have an even number of settings again." Hoshi is left standing here a bit awkwardly, her hands reaching up to rub at her earlobe idly as she hums before jerking it away. "You're welcome, Ms. Jeanne. You are right about it being pretty hard at first, though. C'mon, follow me." She leads Jeanne up the stairs to a hallway that split into several rooms, most of them with the doors closed. Hoshi's room is open and lit--an average size for a teenager's room. A desk stood along the far wall, and a small table sat in the center of the room. The walls near her bed are covered with posters and pictures, the most prominent one above her headboard boldly declaring something in bright red hiryagana over a gruff-looking bandit's face. A free-standing mirror wasn't far from her bed, but Hoshi had apparently covered it with a blanket. While Jeanne gets the time to look around, Hoshi goes for an open package on the table and starts lifting out what looks like the primers Japanese children used to learn to read and write. "I figured if you're going to learn Japanese, it'd be best if you knew how to read and write a little, too. Is that going to be okay?"
Jeanne d'Arc	Jeanne bows again before trailing after Hoshi up to her room. She looks mostly startled by the pictures on the wall, and Jeanne does take a moment to consider them carefully. She turns to join Hoshi at the table, however, nodding her head enthusiastically. "Oh, yes, that is fine. My Master is Japanese, so I live there, so this is actually extremely useful to me. I do not mind my learning Welsh from Sir Bedivere, as it were, but this is... probably a little better for me to start with? I just... I know a bit about hira... hiragana and katakana, I think it is, but it's just..." "Japanese is confusing." Now that is a giant understatement. "I, ah, before we continue, though, I just... I really do thank you. I feel like we did not start off well and I would like to apologize if I have slighted you or made you uncomfortable. I have meant you no harm with my words or my actions and if I have distressed you, then you have gone out of your way to accomodate me in my path for learning, and that's... that's very noble of you. You are a knight in your own right."
Hoshi Amakasu	Hoshi coughs a bit as she keeps on laying out primers. Six in total. "Yeah, about that. You might want to consider learning one at a time. I'm not sure about Welsh, but Japanese has a lot of particular conventions and speach patterns that are unqiue to it." She snickers. "I'd say it's not weird, but it totally is. Even I get the two forms of writing mixed at times. At least you don't have to learn kanji. Take it from me, it's a pain." When she hears the seriousness in Jeanne's voice, Hoshi immediately glances up with wide eyes, but she works to keep her expression still. It's an effort that has her legs shaking slightly. When she finishes, Hoshi is left staring at her with her mouth slightly agape. Suddenly all the tension she'd been holding passes, and she's left giggling for a few seconds. "I-I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you at all, Ms. Jeanne. You came to help. You helped us save Alexis. I think you're amazing." She coughs. "Though... Full disclosure? I'm an atheist. Or, at least, I was. Now I don't know /what/ to believe. So... I must have said some rude things out of ignorance. If anything, I should be apologizing to you."
Jeanne d'Arc	"Also... I understand." Jeanne says, patiently, softly. "You should ask Psyber about my reaction to him when I first joined the Union." The blonde flushe saround the edges. "That he was a half-angel... the multiverse forced me to look at things sideways I didn't have too before. Then again, it also brought... it also brought the truth that there were people that believed in me strongly, that weren't going to try to burn me at the stake again." She keeps her voice low in case of accidental Mom. "I promise that even if you do not believe in Him, He believes in you, and that you will be watched over, even if it is not in the way I have with my God. This is my faith, and he is my protection; you just look at it... another way." That's actually rather religiously forward, but this is the girl that trumped her own questioners at her trial. "... did I tell you that I also cannot do math?" She queries, in a sudden attempt to change the subject.
Hoshi Amakasu	Hoshi couldn't help but wince at the mention of Jeanne's demise. She'd looked into quite a few things after joining the Union--one of them had been the French saint. She'd read about the things that had happened to her. A dry account of historical facts, of course. Yet here was the woman who had suffered all of those things and remembered them vividly. For a moment, Hoshi has to look away and brush at her eyes, forcing her voice to stay level. "Y-yeah. I hear you. I don't even have it as bad as you, but every now and then I start wondering if I'm going crazy..." The strength of Jeanne's belief was clear and bright, and for a moment Hoshi was taken back. She's not really used to seeing this type of devotion. "I... Thank you. It sounds nice... Nicer than stuff in Japan would say about Christianity. Thank you." Ergh, this was awkward... the change of subject isn't exactly one that Hoshi was expecting, but she takes on it quickly. "No offense, but I thought that'd be the case. Good thing is, basic math isn't so bad. ... Unless you want me to teach you stuff like Trig, in which case, you're out of luck." There's a soft knocking at Hoshi's door. "C'mon in, mom," Hoshi calls out, and Keiko slips in with two mugs of hot chocolate. "I wasn't sure if you wanted tea or hot chocolate, but Ms. Auttenberg said this is some of the best local stuff. Please enjoy." Hoshi takes an appreciative sip and nods gratefully. "Ahh... thanks mom!"
Jeanne d'Arc	Jeanne shakes her head gently at Hoshi, but says nothing. "Oh, yes, I've got the basic maths down, but... I could use some drilling on them so when I decide if I want to go up to higher maths I'll be better situated. Ah. Tea or hot chocolate... on these cold nights, tea is wonderful, but hot chocolate really sets the tone, I think." She bows pretty much in her seat before taking the cup and sipping from it, humming in delight. "Thank you!"
Hoshi Amakasu	Keiko seems a little confused as she sees all of the children's primers laid out on the table. A quick, curious glance was sent to Jeanne, but she smiles nevertheless. "You're welcome, Ms. Nakamura. We'll be having dinner in a couple hours, so make sure that you study hard until then, hm? Don't be afraid to tell Hoshi if she's rushing you." With a smile, she removes herself from the room again and shuts the door behind her. Hoshi takes another sip of her hot chocolate while she grabs two of the primers and offers them to Jeanne. "First level stuff for both hiragana and katakana. I'll warn you, I'm used to teaching people kendo, not a language. So... You're my first test run on this! I hope I can help you out."
Jeanne d'Arc	Jeanne returns the curious look with polite ambivalence. "Also, I... forgot to mention. You don't have to use a title with me. I don't mind, I promise. Especially not anything like... Most Holy or anything... just Jeanne is fine." She sips her hot chocolate again before putting the cup down carefully and pulling the primer towards her. her fingers slips along the curve of the various bits and pieces, and Jeanne looks practically enthalled. "It's okay, I promise to do my best!"
Hoshi Amakasu	A small blush comes to Hoshi's face, and she slowly nods her assent. "If you like, uh... Jeanne." She watches as the other girl runs her fingers along the primer with such a happy expression... She's staring. Why is she staring? Immediately, Hoshi snaps her eyes shut and takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. "Y'know, Jeanne... I just wanted to say, it's really cool that you're doing this. Trying to learn all this stuff, I mean. I get that it has a practical use, too, but..." She wasn't sure where she was going with this. "I-I just think... You're pretty awesome. And... I'm really grateful that you're willing to let me try to help out, even if I'm not that smart." When she realizes what she said, she coughs and quickly leans over the table, looking down at the primer. "Sorry. That was weird. Uh--the first thing you need to understand when it comes to writing in Japanese, is that you have to be precise with your marks. There are a lot of words that are written very similarly to each other, and can be changed by a single mark. Understand?"
Jeanne d'Arc	Jeanne is too engrossed to notice the staring, so there's that, at least. When Hoshi does start to speak, Jeanne looks over at her, her violet eyes widening a little bit, and she also goes red around the edges. Then she drops her gaze back to the primer. "Oh. So it's like learning how to read people's faces and emotions." Long pause. "Why did they make a language like that?!"