June 2007, Meiji Shrine

[ellectrical]

Mid-June at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo means the tail end of the seasonal bloom of irises in shrine's gardens – bright blue-purple blossoms still remain throughout the complex, though the crowds that come to view them have thinned out since the height of the season. The shrine is tucked into a forest that remains apart from the otherwise urban Shibuya ward, the entrance of the path through the trees marked by a high arch that visitors are meant to bow beneath before continuing onward toward the shrine.

It's quiet – quieter than anywhere else Elle has been in the city so far. She hadn't wanted to visit a museum, and the weather today was amenable; sunny, but not too hot. Enough wind that the leaves rustle in the tall trees that shade that path, but not so much that one would need a jacket. There are still enough visitors for voices to be heard throughout the woods, especially as they reach the main yard of the shrine, and there's an occasional buzzing or flurry of wings above them, but still – it's quieter.

Elle figured X would prefer that.

The main yard opens onto the shrine complex, paved by rectangular stones, the large building of cypress pillars and copper gabled roofs spread over the square beneath the camphor trees. To the side there are desks where visitors can write prayers on small pieces of paper to be left in the walls and shelves set up around the shrine.

Now, with no definite path to follow, Elle hesitates as they reach the open space of the square.

Comments

[cutting_edgex23]

X comes to a stop as well, chin lifting a little as she looks out over the crowd.

The wariness never quite leaves. That would be stupid.

But just for a second --

"I like it."

Beat.

"Here."

Even with all the people.

[ellectrical]

It's possible that Elle is more than a little relieved. But this is only betrayed slightly in the way she answers, "Yeah."

She doesn't move again quite yet, and give herself to assess the (other) tourists, but after that moment she adds -

"The trees are - nice."

Different from everything she's seen so far in Tokyo, anyway.

[cutting_edgex23]

"Yes," X says.

Quietly.

"I have not been here before."

In case that is relevant.

[ellectrical]

Elle nods. "I didn't have a job here."

It means the same thing. She straightens the strap of black purse over her shoulder a little awkwardly. "I read about it."

Then, tentatively, she takes a step forward, in the direction of the shrine, her eyes glancing back to X to see if the other woman will follow.

[cutting_edgex23]

X does not hesitate before matching Elle step for step.

"It was a guide book?"

She pronounces that last bit carefully -- largely because it is not a phrase she uses often.

"People use them. A lot."

Or so she has heard.

[ellectrical]

With that, Elle takes the cue to keep walking, the path she chooses eventually leading to a pair of large trees near the entrance of the shrine, a white rope hung with thin slips of paper tied between them.

"They had them in the first place I stayed."

With a small shrug, "I never - I was always here on jobs. Before."

[cutting_edgex23]

X just nods. Once.

It is the same for her.

"I have not left the States."

Beat.

"Since the Facility."

[ellectrical]

"Do you want to?"

A question more along the lines of can you also pops up in her mind, but Elle dismisses it.

[cutting_edgex23]

"Now that it is quiet. At home."

X thinks about it for a few seconds.

"Maybe."

Beat.

"But I do not want to travel alone."

She does not quite ask Elle to come with her.

But --

[ellectrical]

"You don't have to," she says quietly, as they reach the trees.

It's also not quite asking to come. But.

[cutting_edgex23]

X slows her pace just a little, studying Elle.

Then --

"There are places you would like to see?"

Beat.

"In my world."

It would give X an idea of where to start.

[ellectrical]

Elle's steps stop for a moment, and she looks up at the trees.

"Your world's like mine."

It's mostly thinking aloud. She looks back to X.

"Maybe - not someplace where it rains a lot."

[cutting_edgex23]

"There are deserts," X offers.

Even if she is pretty sure that is not what Elle means.

"We would not get lost."

[ellectrical]

It actually gets something of a half-smile. Elle wouldn't be complaining.

"If you want to."

She turns slightly, looking back at the square, her eyes catching on a couple of tourists.

"There're places in deserts, too."

[cutting_edgex23]

X follows Elle's gaze, then flicks a sideways glance at her friend.

"You have read about them?"

Her question is in earnest. She wants to know.

[ellectrical]

"I had a job in Egypt."

She looks at X, and then at the ground as she thinks about it. "And Yemen."


"And Arizona."

That she's thinking of right now, anyway.

[cutting_edgex23]

"Oh."

X thinks about that.

"Arizona is in the States."

Beat.

"We could go to Egypt."

It is a little familiar.

(X worked there, too. Briefly. Twice.)

[ellectrical]

"It's near Mexico."

But X has a point. And she agrees, turning back slightly to the trees, "There's a lot of stuff in Egypt."


After another moment, she slides her purse slightly down her arm, and unzips it. A little bit of shuffling produces the small camera she'd bought before going to London.

"I took everything off it," she tells X, pulling her purse back over her shoulder.

But then she stands there, looking at X, and then the tree.

Without invisible people to track, she seems a lot less certain about how to use it.

[cutting_edgex23]

"That is good," X says.

She looks at Elle.

Then, after a long few moments, she half-turns to look back at the tree.

She looks back at Elle.

Then --

"Oh."

Beat.

"I am supposed to move back?"

Is that -- how this works?

X is not even sure if Elle wants to take a picture. Of her.

And the tree.

But.

[ellectrical]

Elle continues to look uncertain for a moment, before taking a step back, away from the tree, and X. When people do this, it must be for things they'd actually want to have a photo of.

Her stance is still more than a little awkward when she holds up the camera, and attempts to get X and the tree in the frame.

"Maybe a little," she suggests, watching X through the tiny screen on the back of the camera.

[cutting_edgex23]

X pauses a moment, flicking another glance from Elle (and her camera) to the tree, gauging the distance between them.

Then she takes three long, slow steps back.

"It is enough."

It's almost not a question -- but only almost.

[ellectrical]

She fiddles with the zoom button for no real reason for a minute, then settles the image.

"Yeah," she agrees.




There's no flash, and the camera doesn't even make a noise when she presses the button on top. She may have cleared the photos from London, but the settings are still as they were when she wanted to be as unnoticed as possible.

Once she's done, she lowers the camera, and approaches X, holding it out so X can see the picture on its back screen.

[cutting_edgex23]

If X were a fidgeter, the picture might have caught her with one hand raised, brushing her hair back from her face, or twisting a strand around her fingers.

Or maybe she would have been blinking.

But since it is X --

She's just standing, hands at her sides. Waiting.

It makes her look relaxed.

"You like taking pictures?"

Beat.

"When they are not for work."

[ellectrical]

Elle looks back down at the photo on the screen.

"I don't remember everything."



It's another oddly awkward moment when she adds, "I won't forget but -"

Her left shoulder sets into something like a shrug. "Not like you."

[cutting_edgex23]

"I do not know if it is better," X offers.

Awkwardly.

"I like photographs, too."

Even if she is not great at taking them.

More practice might help.