Pieces Part Twenty-Two
May. 15th, 2006 12:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
measured_wordsBack on track! Wow, I'm officially caught up for real now! Lets see if I can kep it up, what with the defense on Thursday and all... This didn't go quite how I was expecting it to, but I think it works, and I know exactly what to do next secfion, which is always good.
Other Pieces
It doesn't take long for him to seek me out among the crowd. I haven't made this difficult – if I wanted to avoid him I could have left. I don't doubt that Portland has other Mages as well, but I haven't encountered any. This is my second run in with Oyama. I wondered if he learned anything about me from Anna. I haven't asked her – I don't like discussing that day. I am still uncomfortable with my reaction. I am not entirely comfortable with him having first seen me at such a weak moment, but today I am in much better control, and am also curious to see what he has to say.
Oyama leaves his headgear in the care of his female friend and the injured blonde over with the EMTs and weaves his way towards me. The crowd that had gathered to watch the more violent sparring matches has thinned, but he is still stopped several times by people with questions and congratulations. It is nearly noon now, and the size of the crowd overall has swelled despite the number of spectators and exhibitors who have left or stepped out for lunch.
I wait for him near a booth advertising Portland's Judo Association on the fringe of Area D. At the moment, there is only one woman here and she is busy answering questions from a middle aged mother and her two sons. No one is paying me much attention. Eventually Oyama manages to cross the floor and make his way over to me. He nods in greeting as he approaches, and I return the gesture.
"Hello. I am glad to have a chance to speak with you. I'm Ikkei Oyama." He is curious, and somewhat guarded. I am sure that he finds it as strange as I do that we should run into each other like this.
"Daniel Graves." He extends his hand and we shake. His grip is firm, but not overly so. He is polite, not challenging.
"What brings you to the expo today?"
"I came with a friend." More or less true. I'm not sure I would really qualify Alita as a friend, but it will do for an explanation.
"Anna?"
"No." I suppose it would have been natural enough for them to make introductions on the walk back to the tea pagoda. What else did they talk about? "Just a neighbor."
"I see. I am here with my club, of course." He pauses, considering. "Are you new to Portland?"
"Relatively – I have been here before." I wonder how tightly connected the community of Mages, and of other supernaturals here, is. In Seattle the different groups of Magi were apparently at least aware of each other, and some had closer ties to each other or Deviant groups. My impression is that this is fairly common. Like attracts like. I probably stand out as a newcomer and an unknown. "And yourself?"
"I spit my time between here and Matsumoto." I've heard that place name before, but I can't recall the specific association. I will look it up later. His English is unaccented, but he also pronounces the Japanese like a native speaker – he is probably fluently bilingual, then.
"Are you affiliated with the university?" He seems too old to be a student, unless he is pursuing an advanced course of study.
"No." He shakes his head, slightly amused. "I work for my grandfather. I just help with the club when I am here. What about yourself?"
That should be a fair, reasonable question, if I only had an answer for it, and if this were a conversation between two more normal strangers. "I am working on several local projects." An evasive answer, but again one with a kernel of truth. He doesn't seem to quite buy it and while he doesn't press the issue, it puts him back on guard. He doesn't seem overtly suspicious of me but may just be concealing it well. Oyama is very calm and controlled – polite and somewhat stoic. Based on what I know of him so far, he is most likely a member of the group that calls themselves the Akashic Brotherhood. Even if he is as familiar with the different Traditions as I am, he probably finds it difficult to place me as easily.
"Do you know Alan Tanaka?"
"No, I've never heard of him." The name is completely unfamiliar to me. Oyama is thoughtful.
"He volunteers at the gardens, and knows your friend Anna. He mentioned me that they have some mutual friends." He means he asked about her, hoping to learn who I was. But who and what is Tanaka? I will have to ask Anna. Is that why she asked to meet me at the gardens – because she would have a friend there in case something went wrong? This troubles me, and apparently I am not able to completely conceal it. Oyama furrows his brow slightly. "Has she never told you of her associations?"
"I know of them," I reply, with a slight stress on 'of.' I'm sure he must mean her family – the lycanthropes, but I couldn't say why this interests or concerns him, unless, again, he is simply hoping to learn more about me indirectly. He nods, accepting my answer. I wonder how much he knows about them – perhaps this is just another case of interconnected supernatural communities. For all I know, the Japanese gardens could be some kind of shared space. I know that the sense of otherness I felt there, that their space and power belonged to someone else, was something I had not noticed there before, and Oyama was not the source of that power.
Complications everywhere intensify. I still primarily want to be left alone, but it is becoming clear that this will simply never be an option. Even without Xi and Brown watching after me for their own reasons, there will always be someone like Oyama. There will always be Anna's family. These are warring factions and even if I try to stay out of their conflicts, I can't keep them away from each other. The best I can do is try to minimize my involvement until I can figure out some better solution. Maybe I should warn him off for now, as well.
"Are you alright, Mr. Graves? I don't want to make you ill at ease."
"I'm fine." I'm slipping again. I can't decide if this inability to mask myself better is failure or success. I smile, somewhat grimly. "It's just a complicated situation."
"So it appears."
"It is. There is more to it." He nods, waiting for me to go on. "I also have the unwanted attention of certain official organizations." I hope he understands. A look of concern or puzzlement flashes firefly across his face.
"You mean …government organizations?"
"Yes."
"I see. That is unfortunate." I nod, though it could be worse though. At least I know them. I know what they are capable of and I know how Xi's mind works. "I appreciate your candor."
"I don't want anyone to be unnecessarily involved." I don't want anyone to be involved at all, but it is too late.
"Sometimes these things are beyond our control." He is reserved and centered again. "But I understand. Perhaps I should go and check on my friends." He looks over his shoulder back towards the EMT station. The blonde is sitting with the other girl, holding an ice pack to her face while they shine a light in her eyes. I nod.
"It was good to speak with you, Mr. Oyama." And this is true, even if it has raised more questions for me, they are things that are important to know.
"And you, Mr. Graves." He nods, and heads off across the convention room floor. I turn to look for Alita or Trina, to let them know that I will be leaving.
Other Pieces
It doesn't take long for him to seek me out among the crowd. I haven't made this difficult – if I wanted to avoid him I could have left. I don't doubt that Portland has other Mages as well, but I haven't encountered any. This is my second run in with Oyama. I wondered if he learned anything about me from Anna. I haven't asked her – I don't like discussing that day. I am still uncomfortable with my reaction. I am not entirely comfortable with him having first seen me at such a weak moment, but today I am in much better control, and am also curious to see what he has to say.
Oyama leaves his headgear in the care of his female friend and the injured blonde over with the EMTs and weaves his way towards me. The crowd that had gathered to watch the more violent sparring matches has thinned, but he is still stopped several times by people with questions and congratulations. It is nearly noon now, and the size of the crowd overall has swelled despite the number of spectators and exhibitors who have left or stepped out for lunch.
I wait for him near a booth advertising Portland's Judo Association on the fringe of Area D. At the moment, there is only one woman here and she is busy answering questions from a middle aged mother and her two sons. No one is paying me much attention. Eventually Oyama manages to cross the floor and make his way over to me. He nods in greeting as he approaches, and I return the gesture.
"Hello. I am glad to have a chance to speak with you. I'm Ikkei Oyama." He is curious, and somewhat guarded. I am sure that he finds it as strange as I do that we should run into each other like this.
"Daniel Graves." He extends his hand and we shake. His grip is firm, but not overly so. He is polite, not challenging.
"What brings you to the expo today?"
"I came with a friend." More or less true. I'm not sure I would really qualify Alita as a friend, but it will do for an explanation.
"Anna?"
"No." I suppose it would have been natural enough for them to make introductions on the walk back to the tea pagoda. What else did they talk about? "Just a neighbor."
"I see. I am here with my club, of course." He pauses, considering. "Are you new to Portland?"
"Relatively – I have been here before." I wonder how tightly connected the community of Mages, and of other supernaturals here, is. In Seattle the different groups of Magi were apparently at least aware of each other, and some had closer ties to each other or Deviant groups. My impression is that this is fairly common. Like attracts like. I probably stand out as a newcomer and an unknown. "And yourself?"
"I spit my time between here and Matsumoto." I've heard that place name before, but I can't recall the specific association. I will look it up later. His English is unaccented, but he also pronounces the Japanese like a native speaker – he is probably fluently bilingual, then.
"Are you affiliated with the university?" He seems too old to be a student, unless he is pursuing an advanced course of study.
"No." He shakes his head, slightly amused. "I work for my grandfather. I just help with the club when I am here. What about yourself?"
That should be a fair, reasonable question, if I only had an answer for it, and if this were a conversation between two more normal strangers. "I am working on several local projects." An evasive answer, but again one with a kernel of truth. He doesn't seem to quite buy it and while he doesn't press the issue, it puts him back on guard. He doesn't seem overtly suspicious of me but may just be concealing it well. Oyama is very calm and controlled – polite and somewhat stoic. Based on what I know of him so far, he is most likely a member of the group that calls themselves the Akashic Brotherhood. Even if he is as familiar with the different Traditions as I am, he probably finds it difficult to place me as easily.
"Do you know Alan Tanaka?"
"No, I've never heard of him." The name is completely unfamiliar to me. Oyama is thoughtful.
"He volunteers at the gardens, and knows your friend Anna. He mentioned me that they have some mutual friends." He means he asked about her, hoping to learn who I was. But who and what is Tanaka? I will have to ask Anna. Is that why she asked to meet me at the gardens – because she would have a friend there in case something went wrong? This troubles me, and apparently I am not able to completely conceal it. Oyama furrows his brow slightly. "Has she never told you of her associations?"
"I know of them," I reply, with a slight stress on 'of.' I'm sure he must mean her family – the lycanthropes, but I couldn't say why this interests or concerns him, unless, again, he is simply hoping to learn more about me indirectly. He nods, accepting my answer. I wonder how much he knows about them – perhaps this is just another case of interconnected supernatural communities. For all I know, the Japanese gardens could be some kind of shared space. I know that the sense of otherness I felt there, that their space and power belonged to someone else, was something I had not noticed there before, and Oyama was not the source of that power.
Complications everywhere intensify. I still primarily want to be left alone, but it is becoming clear that this will simply never be an option. Even without Xi and Brown watching after me for their own reasons, there will always be someone like Oyama. There will always be Anna's family. These are warring factions and even if I try to stay out of their conflicts, I can't keep them away from each other. The best I can do is try to minimize my involvement until I can figure out some better solution. Maybe I should warn him off for now, as well.
"Are you alright, Mr. Graves? I don't want to make you ill at ease."
"I'm fine." I'm slipping again. I can't decide if this inability to mask myself better is failure or success. I smile, somewhat grimly. "It's just a complicated situation."
"So it appears."
"It is. There is more to it." He nods, waiting for me to go on. "I also have the unwanted attention of certain official organizations." I hope he understands. A look of concern or puzzlement flashes firefly across his face.
"You mean …government organizations?"
"Yes."
"I see. That is unfortunate." I nod, though it could be worse though. At least I know them. I know what they are capable of and I know how Xi's mind works. "I appreciate your candor."
"I don't want anyone to be unnecessarily involved." I don't want anyone to be involved at all, but it is too late.
"Sometimes these things are beyond our control." He is reserved and centered again. "But I understand. Perhaps I should go and check on my friends." He looks over his shoulder back towards the EMT station. The blonde is sitting with the other girl, holding an ice pack to her face while they shine a light in her eyes. I nod.
"It was good to speak with you, Mr. Oyama." And this is true, even if it has raised more questions for me, they are things that are important to know.
"And you, Mr. Graves." He nods, and heads off across the convention room floor. I turn to look for Alita or Trina, to let them know that I will be leaving.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-05-15 03:33 pm (UTC)"I nod, though could be worse though." - maybe 'it could be worse'?
"He nods, and head off across the convention room floor." - heads off
For some reason I was envisioning this Oyama guy as fairly old - middle-aged, at least - so to hear him refer to his grandfather was a surprise.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-15 04:31 pm (UTC)As for Ikkei, Daniel says that he is slightly younger than him when he first meets him - I am thinking late late twenties. So his grandfather would be really old, but could certainly be alive. Those crary long lived Asians!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-15 07:52 pm (UTC)That said, I obviously missed the part where dude's age was mentioned, so we're even ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-05-15 07:55 pm (UTC)