part 333 wild ponies running free across the plain

[aphanon_meme]

Hi meme! How was your week? Mine was interesting. I just made pad thai noodles (this wasn't the interesting part) but the noodles came out too rubbery/chewy and I am disappointed. I'm also on an Izumi Yukimura kick today! Are you on any particular music kicks? (Also, man I wish you could embed videos on Dreamwidth! A gal can dream, I guess.)

Enjoy part 333!

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Comments

[jipangu]

Ah, that's understandable --


[ wait a minute ]

...Quite understandable...

[ he says, while looking rather shocked, now. ]

[ assassination attempt?! ]

[lefteria]

[Oh, wait. She skipped something there, didn't she.] It was.

Amalia survived it, if you're worried. [Just in case Japan thinks the attack was on Greece herself. The monarchy and Western impositions could be thought of as attacks, maybe...] Some of us were quite relieved about it, even if we had her leave in the end.

[jipangu]

It does sound like a relief in that case, anyhow.

[ sighing, now, the shocked look fading back into neutral calmness. ]

...Peace is a preferable thing, I believe.

[lefteria]

In certain circumstances. Rulers chosen from your own country, too. [Even if she ended up picking a Danish king right after the Bavarian... but that was her choice, and he was less pretentious and sometimes more competent, so he was a little better.]

Some things one just can't put up with.

[jipangu]

[ he does nod at that... ]

I can agree with that sentiment...

[lefteria]

But you're less comfortable with it in practice. [Don't make this all about her, Japan.]

[jipangu]

...Ah?

I am uncertain on what you mean.

[ what exactly is she implying? ]

There are many things I'd rather not put up with...

[lefteria]

[Greece isn't really sure either, to be honest. This Japan is a little uncanny, since he's so familiar but so... well, not. It makes her curious, so she'd like to indirectly poke around how he thinks versus how he acts.

Resting her chin on her hand, she doesn't seem particularly accusatory.] I imagine you still have a tolerance for most of them.

[jipangu]

[ oh, that... ]

I do admit it is rather hard for me to become angered these days, so...

But... is it not a good thing to be tolerant--?

[ and then, a sudden flashback to when Greece tried to make him angry. ]

Ah, but I suppose I rather dislike it when --

-- the price on eggs rises. [ that's fine to use as an example, right? Since the Greece he knows already... knows.... ]

[lefteria]

You aren't sure already?

[She was going to play at ambiguity (when does she not?), but then he surprises a laugh out of her. Eggs... It takes a brief moment for her to recover, though that doesn't include suppressing the lingering smile.]

Yet somehow I don't believe you follow France's example and strike over it.

[jipangu]

[ Japan opens his mouth, about to answer that he simply prefers tolerance himself, but -- ]

[ the laugh makes him pause and... ]

[ if he allowed himself to, he'd probably be pouting right about now. Instead, he gives a small sigh and a slight shake of the head. ]

There is no need to.

[ he's also quite lazy, yes... ]

[lefteria]

Finding a better market is a neater way to get over the indignity of overpriced eggs, it's true...

[Short of buying the chicken yourself. Greece doesn't bother finishing that thought, instead glancing away, still smiling to herself. She knows that look very well, and she likes Japan better already.]

[jipangu]

[ Japan tilts his head just slightly in curiosity, now, when he sees her glance away; now staring more directly at her, himself. ]

Perhaps that is so.

[ but effort.... ]

Though sometimes, I wonder if the price might simply lower again first.

[ though... that doesn't always happen, no. ]

[lefteria]

[She can feel that, you know. Letting him stare for a few moments to get his guard down, she looks at him out of the corner of her eye, then turns back just enough that their eyes meet directly.]

You can wonder all you like, it's not likely...

[jipangu]

[ In this moment, Japan's holding her gaze, but for how long... ]

Though I know that, regardless, I still wonder.

[ he might be thinking -- ...this Greece-san's eyes look different. Or -- similar, yet different? ]

[lefteria]

[Greece turns a little more so that she can see him better, but otherwise doesn't say a word, just watching him watching her. She can't pretend that she knows her Japan's mind very well, and she understands even less about this one except that he's... unexpected, is all she wants to say about it.

But she likes looking at him, and wondering how he thinks, or how long he can keep her gaze. Little moments like these are what she's always enjoyed with the Japan she knows. She likes that she gets this from him, too.]

[jipangu]

[ Though he does curiously and with subtlety (or so he thinks) study her gaze for a few moments, after so long, his own gaze does shift to the side again. ]

A-Ah, please do not mind that...

[lefteria]

[Ah. Back to this again. She likes being looked at, so she'll be kind.]

I don't mind. Do you always stare at him, too?

[The male Greece. Does she really want to know, or is she just teasing him?]

[jipangu]

[ his gaze snaps back, but this time, as he stares more blankly now -- ]

I -- do not "always" stare at Greece-san...!!

[ though if she listens closely she might pick up on him not sounding entirely truthful. ]

[ he does often deny things even when they are true, after all. ]

[lefteria]

[She won't laugh at you this time, Japan. She'll just lift her eyebrows... and privately note that yes, he does stare, and that's all she wants to know. Though she doesn't care enough to form an opinion either way, she'll keep it in mind.]

Do you know what he thinks?

[jipangu]

[ he blinks quickly in slight bemusement, his gaze becoming more focused again. ]

I cannot say I always know or understand what Greece-san thinks...

[ Greece's mind is a complicated thing. At least, to Japan. ]

[lefteria]

[That makes two of them. Although in her case, she hasn't met this particular Greece, so she has no impression to work from.

As to her own mind... well, never mind that. She lets the silence stretch out, watching Japan with a calm look on her face. It's her turn to wait for some insight.]

[jipangu]

[ Japan almost stubbornly holds her gaze now, before eventually dropping it with another sigh after a long minute, looking downwards. He can't keep up staring contests long. Unless they're with China, but as Greece is not China... ]

I... do not believe that he believes I always stare at him.

[ ...That's right, right? ] Because --

[ but then he quickly shakes his head. He will not think back to that "dream". He will not! And he tries to quickly change that train of thought, now. ]

-- Rather, I cannot say I always know or understand what he thinks, because...

We often have conversations about the strangest things... like "moussaka".

[ Well, that's true, too. ]

[lefteria]

[Hah, she wins again.

And even if he were bold enough to ask if there were "dreams" between her and the female Japan, she would only tell him that he would be better off taking that up with Japan herself. She likes leaving things open-ended, so it would be the closest semblance of an answer he would get.]

I hadn't thought you would find food so confusing.

[...she also likes being really unhelpful.]

[jipangu]

[ She'd probably win every time by default, though! ]

[ And fortunately or unfortunately, Japan is nowhere near bold enough to ask about that "dream" in the current moment. He'll have to accept it as it even possibly being a true event before he ever brings it up. Which... probably won't happen for quite a while. ]

[ If he were to have been honest, however, he'd explain it was because Greece knows he denies what they did as "a dream". So why would Greece believe Japan always stares at him? Japan doesn't like him "that way". He wouldn't "always" stare at him in "that way". (Or so he thinks.) ]

It is not really the dish specifically, but his odd thoughts surrounding it... [ and he goes with that, now. ]