Xenomuck - Kaori - Monday, February 18, 2002, 7:06 PM<br>
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  The young priest Gabriel Taisen sits on the stone path of the Cathedral, focused intently on an equally young woman; she is a warrior and ambassador from a faraway land, but, as recently proven, she also has human frailties and problems, just like all people do.  While it is difficult for her to speak of some things, he listens with an open mind and heart-- also, for the first time, seeing her not as an opponent, but as a fellow human being...
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  Her hands remain lightly wrapped around her knees, looking rather complacent.  Indeed, it was good to get the problems off her shoulders, to find someone that could listen to her rant for just awhile... not something you can easily do when you grow up in a more militaristic setting.  At least her attitude's taken a major turn for the better in the last few years...  Kaori's gaze varies in placement-- sometimes toward the horizon, sometimes at the tips of her thickly-soled boots.  The leather of her jacket creaks a bit as her shoulders rise, and briefly fall in a sigh.  Certainly not the way she was back a few months ago... cold, silent... rarely ever speaking unless it was to her commanding officers.  How the times change...
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  He cocks his head to the side a bit, "Miss Scivenhein... forgive me if I'm being so bold, but if Bart has not been found yet, there are only two possibilities... one is that he actually went to town (unlikely), and the other is that he is already inside... if he is already inside, we cannot do anything.  The LEAST we can do in town is sit down and have a cup of coffee, ne?"
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  Blinking a bit, her eyes shift back to Gabriel with a ... well, a certain degree of realization.  He /did/ have a point... hell, she was really lying about her inability to enter-- it just saved face, and made things sound much more clean, more cut-and-dried, and ... well, in a certain way, fair.  "... Yeah... you're right."  Rising to her full height, she dusts her pants off and peers over her shoulder.  A bit of a grin on her face, she asks, "I bet I'll get my sandwich now, eh?"
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  Gabriel smirks, standing as well.  "I never was good at taking orders-- this way, you'll get exactly what you ask."  He dusts off his slacks, his angel necklace dangling from his chest, "You'll forgive me if we take my route back... I need to collect my robes again..."
Her eye catches the necklace with some interest-- not always does one find one like that... "Your ... rou... Oh!  Okay!  Yeah, sure..."  Kaori briefly turns and looks about the path, her hands dipping into her coat pockets again.  "Over there?" she asks, blinking curiously.  Hey, not like she knew really, which direction he came from... though him in full robes, trying to sneak around...?  It would've been interesting.
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  "Yeah, just follow me..." He stands again, turning and striding off down the path, his whole posture becoming more relaxed.  'I might as well get to know her,' he thinks, 'we may be here for awhile...'  "Have you been to Nisan before, and we unaware?"
Following with a rather mild, casual gait, Kaori scratches her cheek and sits in a mild bout of thought... "... Well, not really.  I've flown nearby before on manuvers, but never got close 'til now."  Her toe taps against the ground amidst her walk as she continues, "I spent some vacation time down in Aquavy, though.  I like the ocean."  And water is really the only time she can take off her gloves without running the risk of setting something... or some/one/ on fire...
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  "Really?!" Gabriel says, excited.  He picks up his robe and begins to don it again, "I was born and raised in Aquavy!  Have you ever been to the Tower of Babel?"
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  Irony in it's greatest form?  Kaori can't help but crack a faint grin to /that/ particular question, scratching behind her ear.  "Ah, well... I've... passed by it a few times."  She was also trained for awhile near there... and informed that if she's ever detached from her unit, make way there and call for assistance...  "I try to find somewhere quaint, out of the way... camp out for awhile."
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  "Ah!  The reason I ask is that I was born and raised in its shadow, as a boy... my parents were Aveh expatriates, and sort of exiled themselves there... they made a deal with the Ethos that they could stay there, so long as they stopped any intruders..."  He had to stop himself from saying what the other part of the bargain was.  He finishes putting on his red robes and dusts them off, making sure that each little cross emblem is looking fine and centered on his body...
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  Pausing and blinking, it leads Kaori to another bout of curiousness.  "If... you worked for the Ethos, then how exactly did you end up in Nisan...?  And as Holy Mother Margurite's guardian, no less!"  Remembering her manners, one hand frees itself from her pocket to waver a little.  "If... you don't mind me asking, I mean..."
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  "Not at all..." He begins to lead her down the path again, "Another part of the bargain my parents made was that I was to be raised in Ethos schools... this was fine with my father, for that meant that I got a good education and a chance at becoming an Etone-- which would vindicate our family name.  The Ethos were happy to get a child as young as I was to mould to their own... my mother, though, was unhappy.  She was a follower of Nisan in secret, and she was the one who gave me this necklace..."  He holds it in his hand fondly.  "She told me to follow my heart... and to always trust in love.  To that end, as soon as I was done with my training, and the day I was "ordained" an Etone, I defected to Nisan to become a preacher here... I resisted the Ethos dogma and came here, where peace and freedom reigned."
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  She listens intently-- it's an interesting story... nothing like her own, at all... though it seems most people she knows are ... well, rather extrordinary, while ... in a way... seeming so ordinary.  "I see... and you met Mother Margurite, and became her guard?"  Or, well... something to that effect.  Her foot shuffles a bit on the path, walking about even-keel with the priest.  "Well... it's... certainly the interesting life, I bet." Kaori says, offering a bit of a grin again.
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  Gabriel smiles right back, "I should say so.  Traveling with the Holy Mother has given me some unforgettable experiences... I dare say that I wouldn't trade them in for anything, save her of course."  He glances away from her, thinking that the last statement may imply more than he'd hoped... but no matter.  "... Shall we to the town?"
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  "A good way to look at it."  Cherishing one's memories in such a dear, close way...  And... well, it's hard for her to choose a way to interpret his words.  In one way, it would mean that he's so devoted toward her saftey that he would...  And in another, could there be something else?  Odd, for a priest... "Yeah, let's."  This time, Kaori is the one taking the first steps, heading along the path toward the town.
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<switch to Nisan cafe>