[Day 5, Late Afternoon] Bend Like The Willow (Open)

[Jiyo Sora]

"Hm. That's as may be, but it would be an awful lot to ask of someone."

[Otomo Gusai]

"It would, yes," Gusai says. "But it'd be more to ask of a person to stand idly by while the predator stalks others perhaps less able to defend themselves."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Fair enough. But the question is... defend themselves from what?"

Sora had some idea,s of course, but he wasn't about to float them around willy-nilly.

[Otomo Gusai]

Recalling an earlier conversation, Gusai remarks that "There're an awful lot of birds circling, and some big, fancy ones."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Perhaps, perhaps... of course, those birds hardly flock alone."

Doji and Hantei probably still think about each other when they want to get hot and bothered.

[Otomo Gusai]

"Where one flies, the others are like to follow," Gusai notes, not reading the full import of Sora's thought. "And if they do, well, it can hardly not be seen."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Hm. So were you an impatient man... where would you direct your attention?"

[Otomo Gusai]

"I'd look mostly at some long-legged birds," Gusai replies without hesitation. "And where they've been perching most."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Even if you knew that the troublesome ones also know the virtue of patience?"

[Otomo Gusai]

"After some earlier birdsong," Gusai says, "I'd not thought that. Presumptuous, I know. Apologies."

He lapses into quiet for a time.

"Had I two eyes, I'd still keep one there, though. As to the other...who's flown alongside those birds?"

He blinks suddenly, as if an idea hits him squarely in the forehead.

"Or where they focus their attentions. And there's been scuttlebutt about that kind of thing, I think."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Very interesting there, isn't it? The frantic fluttering wings to deny that anything untoward has happened... when had they not fluttered at all, it's doubtful anyone would have thought much of the situation."

[Otomo Gusai]

Gusai nods.

"It's an old story, told again and again in port town after port town."

He grins.

"Many say much about others when they are the ones who act."

[Jiyo Sora]

"It does seem that way. Part of why I never took to it."

He winked.

[Otomo Gusai]

Gusai shrugs.

"It's a strange story being told, though. Must be a lot of confidence that things will fall out one way--which tells me there's something going on to make 'em do so. And I've seen many smiling faces that sat in front of plotting minds."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Yes, well. Even if some of them know patience, it's clear that by no means all of them do... otherwise they might have taken time to read the situation."

[Otomo Gusai]

"The impatient ones, then, should be pressed," Gusai says. "They'll either act out, disrupting things, or they'll run home, leading a patient man where he needs to go."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Or maybe their flustered fluttering will serve to cover a smoother operator."

[Otomo Gusai]

"Conundrums present themselves to no end. Acting and not acting both carry risks. And I remember your words about the small changes. But what to do, whether simply to watch or to intervene, or where to look if only watching," Gusai sighs, shakes his head. "I've only the one eye; there's much I miss."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Just so you use the thing behind it, you shouldn't be too far wrong."

[Otomo Gusai]

"I've heard that that's quite the commendation from you," Gusai says and sketches a bow. "I'll see what all I can do."