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Post by Furuhata Motoki on Jun 19, 2009 20:03:23 GMT -5
Evening of 1/4
With the text message sent and Reika well out the door, Motoki rose from the couch. He was still wearing his suit from work, but he had no desire to change his clothing. Keys, wallet, all were still nicely inside his pocket, so with zero prep, he simply walked out the door, pausing only to lock the door behind him.
He blocked out thoughts of Reika from his mind. The last thing he wanted to do was dwell on what just happened, especially because he'd stupidly invited Lucan along tonight and the man had told him to be honest in the first place. Not that Lucan struck Motoki as a rub thing in your face type of guy, but he'd been warned and that was enough. Even so, Motoki had enjoyed talking with Lucan, and talking to someone other than Reika was exactly what he needed.
The sushi bar he'd picked was only a few stops on the train away. Motoki pulled out his train pass, swiped himself through the turnstile and got on the appropriate train. Time seemed to pass in enough of a blur as, like or not, the entire fight replayed in his mind over and over like a bad movie playing on every channel of the television. He almost missed his stop, but managed to hold the doors open long enough to slide through and land on the platform.
The walk to the bar was short and he was there in no time. He didn't expect Mamoru or Lucan any time soon, given the short notice, so he found himself a place at the bar. Actually, he thought, he'd be lucky if they showed up at all, not that he hadn't been able to enjoy himself with sushi and beer and whiskey many times alone in the past. He ordered a few plates of sushi to go along with the beer, and busied himself by watching the wipe out show playing on the TV while he waited for company to arrive.
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Post by Chiba Mamoru on Jun 19, 2009 21:14:38 GMT -5
Mamoru had gone back to work the day before. As Usagi had suggested it hadn’t been as bad as he had been expecting. There were one or two people that whispered when they thought his back was turned, but for the most part his coworkers were genuinely glad to see him or at least too polite to act any other way. Yesterday had been a little tense and uncomfortable for him, but today he had managed to throw himself into his work and really enjoy himself.
He had been heading home when he received Motoki’s text message. He was a little tired due to his long work day and briefly thought about ignoring Motoki’s message and continuing on home. However, he’d have to eat dinner anyway and relaxing with a friend after work was a pleasant way to spend the evening as well. Decision made, Mamoru headed toward the sushi bar on 8th as requested.
After arriving at the bar, Mamoru made his way inside. He glanced around for a moment until he spotted Motoki and made his way over. “Evening Motoki ...”
He looked his friend over for a moment before adding, “You don’t look so well, tough day at work?”
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Post by Furuhata Motoki on Jun 20, 2009 8:58:58 GMT -5
Motoki turned at the sound of Mamoru's voice, followed closing by Lucan's. That they'd both come and come at nearly the same time surprised him, but worse, they read his mood like he was the front page of the newspaper. He hadn't intended to be so obvious, and in response sat up a little straighter and pushed his shoulders back. A smile, forced but there, appeared on his face. "Just need some time with the guys," he responded, although he made little attempt to adjust his tone in a convincing manner. "Have a seat and join me. The sushi here is pretty good and I already ordered a few plates."
He had blown past their real questions, and while he didn't really have an issue telling them what had happened, he wasn't quite ready to bring it all up again, when he'd finally managed to dull the emotions. Their concerns alone brought his thoughts too close to the matter, and he knew if he dwelt on his conversation with Reika, he'd begin to regret the words he'd said to her.
"Tell me about your day." Motoki suggested to one or the other or both. He didn't care, as long as someone other than himself took over the speaking podium.
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Post by Chiba Mamoru on Jun 20, 2009 14:29:45 GMT -5
Mamoru nodded politely in Lucan’s direction when the other man walked up. “Evening.” Before he could say more however, Motoki was speaking up.
He watched Motoki for just a moment before nodding and taking a seat. He wasn’t particularly fooled by the smile, there was something bothering his friend. However, Mamoru knew well that there were some things you just didn’t want to talk about or at least things that you needed time before you were willing to share. Motoki would talk only when he was ready to do so and not a moment before. It wasn’t Mamoru’s place to pry for information, he would respect his friend’s privacy.
Mamoru shrugged at Motoki’s question. His day hadn’t really been anything special, certainly nothing to talk about. However, he dutifully replied, “My day was nothing special. Things are going along just fine at work and settling down into normality, or at least as normal as things can get right now.”
He glanced over at Lucan to ask, “What you about you Lucan? Anything of interest happen to you?”
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Post by Furuhata Motoki on Jun 20, 2009 21:46:32 GMT -5
"You can't knock what you don't try," Motoki responded half-heartedly after listening to both Mamoru and Lucan say relatively little about their day. He'd hoped for something more drawn out, to avoid having to speak or think about his own. He was sure he could get by without saying anything, and while both might suspect something strange had happened, neither would ask. But then, he'd bothered to bring them both out in the first place.
And perhaps they'd give him the advice he needed. Of course, he was smart enough to know the right thing to do. Reika was his wife, and he loved her, and he should have never let her go. Why that was so obvious now when a few hours ago he'd have done anything to get rid of her before she poured another of his beers down the drain...
No it was more than that. It wasn't the alcohol that was the problem as much as the fact that he didn't want to admit he'd been far too attached to it while she was gone. He'd never desired to drink so much when she was with him, and he didn't feel like that aspect of him had changed much. The days she'd been back he'd hardly picked up a bottle, but for some reason her accusations had led him to want to be what she'd called him, even in her presence.
He took another bite of sushi, then another sip of his beer. Then he finally, softly, while his eyes were still fixed on the television, he said, "Reika and I had a fight."
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Post by Chiba Mamoru on Jun 21, 2009 1:22:04 GMT -5
Mamoru ordered himself a drink, following Lucan’s example and keeping to a nonalcoholic one. He was working now and he couldn’t afford to have to deal with a hangover in the morning. He shrugged when Lucan mentioned that normal days is probably a good thing. “I agree. They certainly are a lot easier to deal with then the days that aren’t normal.”
He grinned at Lucan’s reluctance to try the sushi and nodded in agreement with Motoki’s words. “Go ahead and try it Lucan. You’ll like it just fine.”
Mamoru turned his complete attention to his friend when Motoki finally spoke up about what was bothering him. A fight with Reika. What had happened ...
He briefly wondered if their short time in jail had caused this. The media had made much of that night and it might have come between Reika and Motoki. He really hoped not. Mamoru nodded understandingly and asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Motoki had been there for him when Usagi had sent him packing. Mamoru was determined to be there for Motoki now.
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Post by Furuhata Motoki on Jun 21, 2009 9:39:28 GMT -5
Motoki lifted his beer and drained it down. He set the bottle on the bartop, absentmindedly picking at the label. "I knew she'd find out about the jail time..." he started off. In reality, he probably should have told her, because it hadn't been that bad. Charges hadn't even been filed against them, and the whole thing was chalked up as a misunderstanding as far as the books were concerned. His co-workers had ribbed him for a few days, but with no formal paperwork filed against him, his employer hadn't batted an eye and his work life had gone on as normal.
So why couldn't his home life?
"But her reaction was just," he shook his head. He hadn't fathomed she'd react the way she had, nor had he expected himself to respond so venomously. They'd been together for years, but never had they fought with such nastiness. Briefly, Motoki wondered if there wasn't some underlaying issue, but then the thought was gone and his mind was back to wondering why he'd even let her actions of pouring beer down the drain bother him. Or if it really had, why he'd shown it.
"I think she thought I was cheating on her." he finally said, although that was only a small part of the entire story. "The paper apparently thought to post a picture of myself and that girl crashed out on the floor."
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Post by Chiba Mamoru on Jun 21, 2009 14:30:56 GMT -5
Mamoru inwardly cringed, realizing that the fight was definitely over what had happened at the bar. He had sincerely hoped that it had not been that. Realistically he did realize that he hadn’t prevented Motoki from telling Reika about the incident in the first place, but that didn’t prevent him from feeling guilty about it. Motoki wouldn’t have been in that situation if he hadn’t have been there for him.
He almost asked Motoki why he had kept it away from Reika, but then he really couldn’t take the moral high ground here. He was guilty of keeping his own secrets and losing out because of it. In any case, he understood why Motoki had probably done it. There were some things that you simply didn’t want to talk about for whatever reason.
Deciding to leave the subject about not telling Reika alone for the moment, Mamoru took a sip of his drink when it was brought over to him and simply said, “Reika should know better then to believe everything she reads in the paper, at least until she gets the full story. Did you tell her what really happened?”
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Post by Furuhata Motoki on Jun 23, 2009 22:09:57 GMT -5
Motoki turned to look at Mamoru. "I pointed that out. I pointed out that the paper was trying to make money, that the story was only exciting because you were in it and no one really cared about me, that what the paper said happened wasn't what really happened...." He trailed off. He didn't mention all the other rather nasty things he'd said to Reika, or how he'd blamed the entire incident on the fact that her job took her far and away all the time.
"She's mad that I didn't tell her at all. And that was enough for her to believe whatever she wanted. I don't think it mattered what I said, she was going to be angry and that was that." The bartender set another beer in front of him, and picked it up to take a drink. "I guess," he said softly, "That things between us weren't as perfect as I originally believed." Words spoken, he lifted his beer and took another long drink. At least the bottle never betrayed him.
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Post by Chiba Mamoru on Jun 23, 2009 22:55:14 GMT -5
Mamoru shook his head in sympathy, though he wasn’t sure what to say. He finally just said, “I guess a picture is hard to ignore even if you do know what the papers are like. Especially if you are angry and it’s something that deals closely with you. It was probably a shock to her, maybe she’ll calm down and see things more clearly.”
He sighed at Motoki’s next words and muttered, “I know all about people getting angry when you keep things from them.” Mamoru hesitated a moment before adding, “I also know all about saying things you don’t mean just because you get angry back.” He fell silent while Motoki received another beer before saying, “Relationships have a way of seeming perfect sometimes and then falling apart before you know it.”
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Post by Furuhata Motoki on Jun 26, 2009 18:24:17 GMT -5
Motoki glanced at Mamoru as his friend spoke. He could tell Mamoru was speaking from experience and recalled their conversation in his apartment about keeping secrets. Mamoru hadn't shared much information at the time about what he and Usagi had fought about, but Motoki had the feeling the circumstances weren't all too far off from what he was experiencing. Apparently Lucan's opinion of not keeping secrets was more than correct.
Lucan seemed distracted, and far less eloquent than normal. Had Motoki been less self absorbed, he might have asked, but instead, he just continued to ramble on. "Yeah, I probably said a lot of things wrong. Alright, I did say a lot of things wrong. But I don't really know how to say them right now that I've said them wrong. Me, a man who thrives on words, but quoting a court case or twisting contract wording is a whole lot different then trying to explain to your wife you really meant no harm by omitting a few facts about where you'd been while she was gone.."
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Post by Chiba Mamoru on Jun 27, 2009 16:54:32 GMT -5
Mamoru glanced at Lucan curiously for a moment when the other man spoke up. He remembered Lucan saying something about a failed relationship, but at the time he had been too angry and caught up in his own troubles to care much. He could ask now, but then he was here for Motoki. He couldn’t turn the conversation over to Lucan now without bailing out on his friend.
He turned his attention back to Motoki and sighed at his words. “I don’t know what to say to you there Motoki. I’m not sure you can say them right once you’ve already said the wrong thing or maybe you can depending on what you said.”
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Post by Furuhata Motoki on Jun 28, 2009 12:10:18 GMT -5
Well Mamoru was certainly being a downer. Motoki ignored his comment and instead focused on Lucan's more palatable advice.
"You sound like you speak from experience," Motoki pointed out to Lucan. The man had offered advice, but Motoki realized that he had no knowledge of Lucan's own relationships. He wasn't even sure of Lucan would share that information, but Motoki would certainly feel better knowing the advice had worked.
"Care to share with a down and out man a story of how one can redeem themselves?" Motoki asked, as he reached for another drink. He looked at the beer and then set it back down. Despite his want for the beverage, he didn't want to end up shit-faced in front of a sober Lucan for a second time in less than two weeks.
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Post by Chiba Mamoru on Jun 30, 2009 22:19:47 GMT -5
Mamoru inwardly sighed to himself before trying to throw off his own sense of gloom. He was here to cheer up Motoki, not bring the man down further. It was just that sitting here dealing with Motoki’s relationship troubles was making him think about his more and that brought his mood down.
He sipped at his own drink as he watched Lucan quietly, wondering if the other man would reveal some of his experiences as Motoki had asked him to. For a moment he wondered if Lucan’s advice would help him with his own troubles, but then he still wasn’t certain he had done anything wrong. Well that wasn’t true at all, he had handled things wrong for sure and he had certainly said some wrong things. However, he wasn’t certain telling Usagi that he was wrong to say whatever it was he had said would really work with her. He had tried apologizing to her hadn’t he? Well no actually he had apologized with a lot of excuses for his behavior so maybe he had been wasting his breath with that. Perhaps he should think on that a little more.
Mamoru took another sip of his drink before saying, “If you wouldn’t mind sharing Lucan, Motoki isn’t the only one that could use a story like that.”
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Post by Furuhata Motoki on Jul 3, 2009 9:18:31 GMT -5
"So the long and the short is to throw pride out the window, get on the hands and knees, and tell her that everything she felt was right and everything I felt was wrong?" Motoki questioned, certain he was taking Lucan's words to the extreme. He couldn't imagine Lucan ever on hands and knees, but Motoki still felt a touch of anger toward Reika that he hadn't gotten over. Or more than a touch. There was definitely part of him that felt she could have started the entire conversation off with a different attitude and they wouldn't be split apart in anger.
"I can sacrifice a lot of pride, but not that much," he muttered, reaching for the beer and deciding that one more wasn't going to hurt him all that much. Worst case, Lucan would probably see that he got home safe, even if Motoki had no desire to depend on anyone for an escort. He looked up at Lucan, and shook his head. "I know that's not really what you meant, I'm just in a bad mood is all. I still think she blew things way out of proportion..."
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