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Rei normally liked spring. It allowed her to stay away from home a little bit longer during the daytime, something she felt she sorely needed these days. Her father's engagement meant he was actually home a little more, and Rei could only spend so much time in the same house as her father before she either lost her temper, or threw something at him -- which probably constituted the same thing. In her mind, losing her temper was merely her yelling at him -- throwing things... well, that was something else altogether. Rei had only done that once before, so it wasn't as though it was a normal occurrence. But, it did make it better for the teen to stay out of the house to calm down, or check her temper so as not to do anything stupid. She didn't need to be grounded, or worse, sent off to boarding school somewhere. Her father had threatened that once before, and Rei had a feeling it was one of those long standing threats that he would make good on if she pushed him too far. So for now, Rei was playing nice -- at least until she could sort out a way to get the engagement to end, and for her life to go back to semi-normalcy.
<p>
So, for today, the teen had opted on taking a walk through the park with Momo -- which was mostly her carrying Momo. The puppy tired easily, and when he wasn't tired, he was trying to scamper off despite the new leash Rei had bought him. Since she didn't really feel like running after a small puppy dog, the teen had decided it would be easier to just carry him around like some sort of stuffed animal. It was only slightly embarrassing. Rei had never really wanted a pet before -- she had always thought girls with pets, the ones toting their pets (cat, dog, rabbit or whatever) around in their arms were silly. But now she was one of those said girls. It wasn't necessarily by choice. It was because her father had thought to buy her a puppy. She felt he had done that in order to soften the news of his engagement. It hadn't worked. Rei was still pretty livid about that. Her grandfather had tried pointing out the good news that went along with her father's engagement -- he had actually told her about it rather than just eloping and bringing his new wife home later. Rei supposed that was good news, although personally, she would have rather he just not get married or engaged at all. What made him think he'd be any good at being a husband when he was hardly qualified to be a father?
<p>
"Men are stupid," muttered Rei aloud, deciding that if anyone heard or saw her, she was really talking to Momo. "What does a criminal need to get married for? It's not as though he doesn't have any clout without a wife -- even the cops tend to leave him alone." She didn't understand a damn thing about the engagement, or her father. She had tried to understand him a long time ago -- back when the departure of her mother was still fresh and Rei had blamed her father for everything. She still blamed him for everything, but her mother's departure wasn't even a sting now. It was just like her father's lack of attention -- none of it really bothered Rei on the outside. If she allowed herself to think about it, then sure, it bothered her still. It probably always would. After all, being ignored by a parent, and abandoned by another, didn't exactly make for happy thoughts. Rei was doing the best she could to simply ignore those aspects of her life -- but the fact that her father was now getting married sort of brought it back to the front of Rei's mind. She didn't like that one bit. She was better off pretending as though nothing bothered her, or mattered, at all. If she let things like that get to her, then she wasn't nearly as strong as she had been trying to make herself be.
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Sighing, Rei shifted Momo from one arm to the other, glancing at his furry head. He seemed to have calmed down from the first time she had tried letting him down, so perhaps he would remain that way if she let him down now. Keeping a tight hold of his leash, Rei knelt down and deposited the puppy on the ground. He seemed confused at first, then yapped and began sniffing the ground. Rei was satisfied with this. So long as he didn't start trying to run after things, or just run in general, she would rather he stay on the ground than in her arms. Small as he was, he felt like dead weight after awhile. Plus, Rei felt rather silly carrying a puppy on a leash in a park. It was hard to really admire the Cherry blossoms when he was busy dealing with a squirming animal in her arms. Standing back up, Rei allowed Momo to roam, following behind him with his leash wrapped firmly around her wrist. She had finally gotten over the annoyance of growing attached to the darn thing -- something she also blamed her father for. It was too late to change that now; if anything happened to the puppy, she would probably have a fit.
<p>
"Momo, don't inhale Cherry blossom petals -- they're not good for you!" scolded Rei as she noticed the puppy trying to sniff some fallen petals on the ground. That was all she needed -- a vet emergency. She hadn't even picked out a vet yet. Whether or not Momo was listening, Rei was relieved when he abandoned the petal on the ground and kept walking, his little nose obviously doing all the leading. Rei was caught up in watching her puppy, that she didn't notice the person on the path until Momo was sniffing the person's foot. "Momo!"

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[dohtml]<center><div style="text-align:justify; width: 400px;">Amara was in the park for part of the afternoon. There were families having picnics along with groups of friends enjoying the good weather. There were several cherry blossoms and everything was blooming in a wave of pink beauty. Beautiful to most people, setting off allergies for others. She was not one of the people with allergies. No, she had seen the beauty of the park and everything in it. It was the same as it was every spring. The only way the park changed was the seasons and the people in it. Right now, that was the problem- the people. Amara didn’t mind large crowds filling in that much. She lived in one of the most densely populated cities on earth, so at one point in her life she had gotten used to it. However the park was always a peaceful getaway for her. Racing got her adrenaline going and helped vent out some of the pent up energy she gained every day. The parks she went to, but mainly here, was where she was able to calm down and relax, soothe her nerves more than exercising them. That meant the park was sacred ground for her. She liked it to be as deserted and quiet as possible. The more people and noise the less peaceful it was for her. She wanted the people to go so she could enjoy the day out in peace.
<p>
The day didn’t start out with her planning to go to the celebration of pink petals. She gotten up this morning, looked at the date and outside to the weather. She decided than that the last thing she was going to do today. Instead she took a long refreshing shower and afterward spent an hour to be a coach potato. The TV was still a brainless mechanism as far as she was concerned. One of maybe twenty shows turned out to be decent and one out of a hundred turned out to be good. She had to admit that there was something for everybody and jumping from the different channels she concluded that none of the current entertainment and documentary shows was meant for her. That had left her taking care of her car and fixing the engine. It turned out nothing was really wrong. A part of her doubted that was the case and she was easily wasting her time on it. She could never be sure and after wiping down, Amara was happy she done it. That together had added up to a few hours in the day and she had gotten up early. The nice weather screamed at her to get out and enjoy it. Fifteen minutes of contemplating boredom she complied and returned to her room to throw on a fresh pair of clothes.
<p>
That left her at the park, still bored and wondering why there had to be so many people at the park. She sighed, digging into her jeans pocket for her phone. Everybody she had tried to call while coming here had a busy line. Out of her small contact list, most people on it didn’t talk on the phone that much. The chances of everybody being in another conversation while she tried to call were slim. The fates where against her on this one, a time when she actually wanted some sort of company there was none. A prickle of curiosity in her mind asked her why she wanted someone’s company in the first place. She was independent 99% of the time. The nagging question bugged her for a few minutes until she decided with all the groups here she looked out of place being alone. Somebody would come to her to keep her company, an outgoing stranger most likely, and then she would be stuck with unwanted company instead of company she may actually enjoy. It didn’t take that long for someone to do that, or something. She looked down, staring at a fluffy mass at her feet. It was a puppy, happily sniffing away at her feet. She doubted the lingering smell of oil would be attractive to a dog but apparently she was wrong. She was about to kick the thing away when she heard the pet’s owner call out to it. It would be a bad idea to kick a dog in the presence of its owner. She looked up to tell her to keep hold of the leash only to see that the young woman had it firmly in her hand. Amara cleared her throat, looking back at the dog bending down to push it gently away. Maybe it wasn’t that gently. “Hyper dog,” she said simply, standing up again and hoping it would go back to its owner. She noticed the younger woman was also alone and she raised her eyebrows in surprise. “May I ask what you are doing alone? Everybody else here seems to have somebody with them?” She ignored that it was none of her business to ask and that she didn’t have much right to ask the question since she was also alone.</div></center>[/dohtml]

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Rei felt herself scowl a little as she watched the person -- slightly older than herself, it seemed -- push Momo away. There was a reason for that. Momo was being slightly obnoxious by sniffing at the woman's feet, but at the same time, it also rankled with Rei that anyone would dare push her puppy away in a less than gentle manner. Obviously Momo wasn't hurt, but it would have been nice, and polite, had the person not touched the dog at all. What if Momo had decided to bite the woman? That would have been even worse than a trip to the vet -- for it would be both a trip to the vet for a rabies shot, and the hospital for another rabies shot. Rei felt they were both lucky Momo hadn't quite entered the biting stage yet. He had barely entered the walk-on-his-own stage. The damn puppy was beginning to think being carried around was the only way to go, and Rei was often too impatient to train him to know otherwise. Tugging at his leash, the teen tried to lure her puppy back to her, but he seemed to think being pushed away was a game -- he simply moved forward again to sniff at the woman's shoes. Obviously there was a scent on them that he found exciting.
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"He's a puppy," stated Rei simply. "From what I've learned, all puppies are hyper. They start out in the sleeping and eating stage, and then move into the unable-to-stop-for-a-single-moment stage." She felt a little silly trying to defend Momo's actions. Rei was no expert on dogs, so she really didn't know if puppies had stages like children, or if her puppy was just the oddball of the bunch. After all, this was her first puppy. She wouldn't even have it if her father hadn't been smart enough to dash off after giving it to her, making it impossible for the teen to give it back and dash off first. She would give him credit for that, as well as all the blame. It was his fault she was learning to actually care for Momo. And right now, she was even willing to blame him for the fact that she was acting slightly childish and trying to stand up for said puppy. It seemed kind of strange to do that for anyone , let alone a dog. "He's simply curious about everything here -- the flower petals, the smells, the people. There's a lot going on for his little mind to process. He's on a leash, at least."
<p>
If that didn't make her sound even more like a child, Rei wasn't sure what else would. She cursed inwardly, but tried to keep herself calm on the outside. There was no reason to get upset and lose her temper here, especially with a person she didn't know. Besides, what harm would Momo cause? Tripping someone? That might do a few people she had seen here some good. Such were her thoughts, that Rei almost missed the next words spoken to her. Even after they were spoken the teen wasn't sure what to make of them. After all, she didn't know who the other person was -- what gave her the right to ask what Rei was doing here all alone? And what did it matter that she was alone? Was there some sort of rule that she didn't know about? A rule that said people taking part in hanami had to be with someone else? She really wasn't alone alone. She had Momo, and she was fairly sure if she looked hard enough she would see a man or two that worked with her father; they were never very good about acting unobtrusive, so it was pretty easy to pick them out of the crowd. "First of all, I don't know that it's really any of your business why I'm here alone. And secondly, I don't think there's any rules about being here alone. Just because everyone else decided to come here with someone doesn't mean that's how it has to be. Whoever decided this was some sort of family event obviously didn't come from a modern family of today. And what about you? You're not exactly here with someone either. Shouldn't you be asking yourself why you're here in the first place as well?"

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[dohtml]<center><div style="text-align:justify; width: 400px;">Amara didn’t know why she was talking to the other woman because it was obviously a waste of her time. Yet she had started the confrontation and she wasn’t just going to walk away. She didn’t really care about being rude at this point. Even if she did, the late-teen in front of her (from what she could guess) looked like she didn’t want to be in this conversation either. So it wouldn’t be that painful for her if she turned and walked away. Maybe the other’s annoyance was one of the reasons she stayed in the first place. Amara wouldn’t stay in a conversation just for the hell of it. If she saw something profitable in it, she would stay until she felt satisfied. Right now the twenty-three year old was bored. She still couldn’t remember why she came here. Now that she thought about she had a feeling something interesting would come along. Why would she come here if there was nothing worthwhile about it? Something in her subconscious mind must have seen gain in coming here. She wasn’t an idiot, which she guessed most people in this park were. She would like to make a show but even she could tell that with so many people it would be a problem. Crowds were evil and the deserved it but well… the gain wasn’t that big when it equaled trouble for her. Crowds could cause more trouble than they were worth.
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So that left the young woman in front of her. And. The. Annoying. Dog. She looked back down at it, once again having the urge just to kick the damn thing. The little part of her brain, what was left of it, called common sense told her not to. It would obviously come back for more or more of whatever attracted it to her and she’ll kick it again and so on and so on. That would lead to an emergency trip to the vet for the idiot thing and again more trouble than Amara needed. Why would she cause trouble for a dog and get arrested for animal abuse? That would be a big crime for a little reward. She could do better than that. So she let the dog alone. If it continued to annoy her- high chance of that- she will give it a –small- kick. Just to get it to stop. Instead she turned its attention back to the owner, who was still holding the leash. ‘Not that it was helping much,’ she thought absently. She thought that all animals needed to be on a short leash. And that included humans. She looked nonchalantly at the girl and shrugged. “That is the problem with puppies. They’re stupid. They would probably be better to stay in the sleepy stage until they are mature enough to handle themselves.” ‘Or they could go extinct…’ but she decided not to add that side comment. She looked back down to the topic of conversation and saw that it was sniffing her feet again. Wouldn’t oil residue by intoxicating for dogs? She didn’t really care but it would explain a lot. “I guess for that reason I could tell it was a puppy. It also is pint-sized.”
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She was glad the conversation switched from the dog. It wasn’t worth the time talking about it. Plus if her attention was focused on it anymore she would have gotten more annoyed by it and kicked it. She decided that was a bad plan of action already so she wouldn’t tempt that idea any longer. Talking about it wouldn’t help that resolve. Amara was happy to forget that the dog was there and bugging her at the moment. So her comments were slightly calmer on the satisfaction of a change of conversation. “I would love to disagree with you but you’re right. Family is a strained term for most today.” Not that it reminded her of her family. She wouldn’t say it was a model family but she was dealing with it. She was doing that by ignoring her family more. She would still like to punch her brother in the face, but that was beside the point. She crossed her arms, staring across the park. “Do I look blind? I know I’m here alone. I know the graciousness of not having to deal with other people. I just don’t think people are smart enough to realize that.” She looked back at Rei, her eyes narrowed. “So I really don’t need to be asking myself that because I’m content enough being on my own.”</div>[/dohtml]

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Rei made a face, feeling quite defensive on behalf of Momo. "He's also a puppy. Puppies don't know better -- kind of like babies. And, because they're real, and not dolls, they do have stages outside the sleepy one -- you know, the hungry stage, the playful stage, the upset stage -- you can't really make them do just one thing. They have minds of their own. Crazy concept, I'm sure." Perhaps if she hadn't added that last bit, Rei might have come off as something other than a bitch. But she couldn't help herself. The other girl was insulting her dog, and while Rei could understand the short haired woman's anger, it didn't give her the right to be mad at Momo for being a dog. He couldn't help it. He was still learning. It didn't matter that Rei was often exasperated by his actions. She felt she had a right to be exasperated by him. After all, he was her puppy. But when it came to other people being annoyed with the tiny thing, Rei took offense. It was like saying she was a bad pet owner or something -- she hadn't wanted a puppy in the first place, but she was more or less stuck with him now. And if she was going to be stuck with him, she was going to stick up for him.
<p>
"His kind don't get very big," replied Rei in regard to the next comment. "So I wouldn't go around basing a dog's age on their size. He's not going to get much bigger than this. Rounder, perhaps, and a tiny bit taller and longer, but after a few months he shouldn't get much bigger at all." Rei wasn't entirely certain about this seeing as how this was her first dog, but she assumed Momo was a small dog. She certainly hoped he would remain a small dog. A large one would be rather inconvenient for everyday living, although it would certainly come in handy when people Rei didn't like came knocking on her door... She shook the mental image from her mind, knowing that she couldn't get ahead of herself quite yet. She might have the dog now, but goodness only knew what the future would hold. Rei would prefer that her future not be terribly different -- as in her father was single, her mother was not a part of her life, and she did as she please. She also wouldn't mind being half a world away, with Momo, and starting completely over. She wasn't sure how possible such a thing would be for her, but a girl had to have some dreams, didn't she?
<p>
The frown already on her face deepened as the woman seemed to bite Rei's head off, responding to her own comment about the woman being alone. Honestly, the way people went about things sometimes astounded her. "Ah, a touchy subject, I see. You're only making it painfully obvious that you're here on your own, slightly bitter about it, and unhappy that I turned the question back around on you. I wasn't the one that insisted on bringing up being here alone. You did. You asked me, and I took offense. I won't apologize for that, of course. It's no one's business what I do, where I go, and whom I don't do it with. You, on the other hand, shouldn't be upset that I'm upset since it seems you're in the same boat as I am. Should I tell you what your life is like too, so we can pretend to be alike for another moment?" Now she was being downright bitchy, but the other woman seemed to bring out the absolute worst in Rei. She was annoyed that she had lost her cool, and even more annoyed that the woman seemed to think Rei was at fault for, well, everything. At least that was how it seemed to Rei.
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The teen added, "So just as you say you're content to be alone, so am I." It helped that she was mostly used to being on her own, and having a family that didn't quite fit the definition of the word family. "You really ought to work on your people skills. If you're trying to avoid them, you don't go around insulting little dogs and telling their owners that. Avoiding people usually involves staying away from them -- perhaps that's a foreign concept for you? I mean, rather than stay home, here you are. Wandering through the park, and biting people's heads off for no good reason. Oh! Maybe it's your time of the month... That's it, isn't it?"

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[dohtml]<center><div style="text-align:justify; width: 400px;">Amara bit back a sigh. She really did not want to get in an argument. It wasn’t here fault. OK, maybe it was. Her words weren’t the most polite ones one the block. If others didn’t know how to deal with it then that was there problem. She didn’t go looking for biting comments and arguments. Most of the time she didn’t, at least. Once she was put in a situation where the person had any power to argue back she would jump on it. The twenty-three year old enjoyed it to an extent. It was something different and proved this damn world wasn’t perfect. So if an argument came up, as much as she would say otherwise, she was going to follow up. More than any other reason, she didn’t back down. That was losing and she hated losing.
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She took on a neutral expression, staring down at the other woman. What she said made sense. Everybody had stages, more than just babies and puppies and the premature idiots of the world. Someone could say Amara was in an evil bitchy stage currently. To her though, she was being normal. The point of the comment was it didn’t make a difference. Even if puppies had stages, they were still idiots. They were still stupid, annoying idiots. There was a chance that they would grow up and become smarter but that wasn’t likely. “Yeah, either way, babies and puppies are still stupid. They have to depend on someone else and they don’t know how to deal with life. So they go off and do stupid things.” She poked ‘Momo’ or whatever the hell the dog’s name was with her foot. “Case in point,” she summed up her explanation. The world was filled with stupid creatures. Most of them were on the young side of the spectrum. Unfortunately, in her mind at least, nobody but a select few grew out of it.
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She looked down at the puppy once more. If he didn’t get that much bigger, he would be a runt. Did she say rounder as well? Oh dear, a fat runt. There couldn’t be that much worse than that. A lazy fat runt. Amara doubted the dog would be lazy though. His idiot personality didn’t scream laziness. There was one good thing at least. “The size reflect the brain size, I guess.” She shrugged, returning the attention back to the dog’s owner. She didn’t get her name but at this point she wasn’t that worried about it. She only got people’s names when she cared about knowing the person. The blonde didn’t care if she didn’t see the fiery brunette again. She was just someone she could argue with to pass some time. That was what this was. It wasn’t productive. It wasn’t the politest of actions. It would have to do though. Nobody bothered to take her calls or invitations so that frustration would have to go to some innocent bystander.
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She kept a cool face while the other woman started to rant on her comment about being alone. What she said was true. Amara didn’t like having things getting turned back on her. It was hypocritical, because that’s what she did with people. There was more satisfaction on turning around someone’s words instead of coming up with a new comeback. It was effective but that didn’t give anybody else the right to use it on her. “Fine,” she said sharply. The twenty-three year old did not like admitting someone was right. It wasn’t that she was admitting defeat though. “But if you think about it, which I hope wouldn’t be that hard to do, you following up the subject are admitting that you are also finding it touchy to be alone and that fact thrown in your face. If you didn’t care on it, you would have dropped it and then we won’t have to bother having this conversation.” She smirked, casually fitting her hands in her pocket. So that may not have made any sense. It made sense in her mind though and that was all that mattered. If the other woman couldn’t comprehend her words, that was her problem. “Even if you tried you wouldn’t be able to get my life. I’ll do you a favor and try not to do the same.” Her voice managed to stay calm, which she believed was giving her an advantage in this arguing. There was some annoyance there though. She wouldn’t call the brunette an idiot. It was easy to argue with idiots. A challenge was a good thing. This day wouldn’t be entertaining if she didn’t have a challenge.
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Her smile turned sour, her eyes narrowed slightly. “Actually, I think my people skills suit me fine. I don’t know what your definition is but if I have something to say I would say it. If the person takes offense and continues an argument that is their problem. Just because I don’t want to talk to anybody doesn’t mean I would hold back an honest opinion. That happened to be a comment toward your dog. I said it- it was you who responded to it. And if you have to know, I did not come here to be alone. It was idiots fault if they didn’t show up when I told them to.” The one day she wanted company, nobody bothered, and she was stuck with shitty company plus dog. Figures. “This is one of my good days actually. I would make it obvious if it wasn’t otherwise.” That was a lie. She was in a sour mood when mentioned idiots didn’t show up. She wouldn’t say that. That would be agreeing with the statement and she was not in the agreeing mood.</div>[/dohtml]

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Under normal circumstances Rei might have actually agreed with the other girl. After all, she wasn't always comfortable around children either. But, because she had Momo, and because she was growing fonder of the puppy with each passing day, it was hard for Rei to just let the comment slide without saying something back. "Yes, but they all start somewhere, don't they? You're not honestly going to tell me that you sprang out of your father's forehead or something, like a Greek god, are you? Because unless you make that entirely plausible claim, you should remember that you were a kid once, too. All kids are the same. Small, don't know any better, and in need of being taught right from wrong. Usually one keeps that in mind when thinking of children. You were probably no better as a child than anyone else. Momo will learn better in time. You can't expect her to be a perfect angel without practice, can you?"
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What on earth was the other woman's problem? She seemed displeased with Momo and children in general now. Did she just dislike them that much? Was she unhappy with her life, and therefore had nothing better to do than sit around and insult others, and develop high expectations for society in general? The longer Rei stood here, however, the angrier she found herself getting. If the woman kept it up, Rei would have a hard time controlling herself -- what she really wanted to do was punch the other girl square in the face. It would probably do them both some good.
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Biting down on her tongue, Rei only barely avoid lashing out at the woman with all the worst words she had in her vocabulary. "Just because he's small doesn't mean he's stupid. Are you sure you have much of a brain in your own head? It sounds to me as though your head might be full of air more than brains. Do you have a problem or something? Is this what you do for fun? Go around mocking others, animal or human? Because you're starting to sound as though that's the only thing you do, or that it's the one thing that makes you feel better about yourself. Trying to make up for some poor quality you possess? Let's see, bad manners, bad attitude -- should I add more? Bad style of clothing, bad facial features -- all that frowning just makes you worse." She ticked off each thing on her fingers, not caring that she was now losing her cool with the other woman. She had tried keeping her temper in check, but it was just too hard. At least she wasn't cursing every other word, although she could if she didn't manage to keep the last shred of control she had on her temper.
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Of course, that last shred of control was dwindling quickly. She had already decided that she disliked this woman, perhaps even loathed her a tad, and by the end of their "conversation" she was probably going to hate her. It wasn't all that unusual for Rei to feel this way about a person. She disliked a lot of people, loathed a few more, but hating someone... Well, perhaps that was a bit rare, even for her. She only hated Mina right now, and that was for a series of complicated reasons that she felt made hating Mina worthwhile. But this woman... she didn't really know her, didn't know her name, had never met her before now -- but she was coming to hate her just a tad bit more than she thought she hated Mina. What was it about her that was irking Rei all the wrong ways? Everything about her was simply grating on Rei's nerves... it was like something inside Rei had to hate her. Like she was made up of dark, unpleasant things...
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Rei wasn't sure she would go as far as to say that the woman was evil... but it came awfully close to that. There was just something about the blonde woman that Rei felt herself wanting to stand up against. Maybe it was just a clash of strong wills or something, but it had been a long time since she had felt this way toward anyone. And it certainly didn't help that the woman was dissing Momo every chance she got.
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"You call this a conversation?" Rei scoffed. "You must not have a lot of friends. I can't imagine a lot of people being able to stand you for very long. Maybe that's why those idiots stood you up? Perhaps they feel by doing so, they'll be teaching you a lesson. I wouldn't think twice about standing you up for the day if this is the kind of attitude I'm to expect from you on a regular basis. Maybe you should rethink your people skills... They can't be as good as you claim if you're standing here arguing with me because the people you were meeting didn't even bother to show up." It was a low blow, but one Rei felt justified in taking. The woman had sort of walked right into it, admitting that she was here alone because others hadn't shown up like planned. Rei didn't even mind all that had been said of her; she was alone by choice, not because someone had stood her up. She wasn't the sort of person that would go out of her way to invite others to meet with her anywhere. So, really, her being alone wasn't a problem -- it was the other woman that had been stood up.


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[dohtml]<center><div style="text-align:justify; width: 400px;">Amara scowled when the other woman talked back. She knew she was looking for a confrontation when this started. She could have easily walked away. Walking away now would be stupid so she decided to listen to what was being spoken. Listen didn’t necessary mean agree. She admitted that what she was saying made sense. Being imperfect and learning was just a part of being a kid and not a fault. That proved her point that being young and childish was a fault. The reasoning wouldn’t make much sense to anybody but it did to her so that was their problem. She bit her tongue in frustration using the patience she had- which wasn’t much- to wait until the other woman had a pause between speeches. “The fact that kids are immature and a pain on a default, doesn’t give much excuse that they are those qualities. If it is a part of being a child or puppy then it may not be their fault but they’re still under quality of what an adult is. And I’m not saying I was any different from that. I know that I wasn’t a perfect child. That is oxymoronic in itself.” If she was being completely honest with herself, Amara was a little devil-child when she was a kid. She did what she was told and dealt with everything her parents pushed on her- like piano lessons. That was a good accomplishment on being at least an obedient child. It was enough for anybody to ask for. “This isn’t a statement on an individual ability as a child but an overall assessment. Most people fall under that.” She looked down at the puppy. Dogs weren’t smart creatures in her book. But she decided not to point this out any more than she had. “Yeah, I’m sure Momo or whatever you call it would grow out of it,” if it lives through it, “it doesn’t mean that it would happen overnight.”
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Biting her tongue failed in the long run as it always did for her. It would be good if she learned to keep her mouth shut but that lesson never seemed to get into her. Maybe she would set off a better opinion others would see her as if she learned to control the impulses. No such luck. She couldn’t stand being plainly insulted. Ignore the fact that was what she did normally on purpose or not. Call her a hypocrite- that was how she was. “Excuse me? I don’t know how you could be idiotic enough to judge on a small experience in a span of a few minutes. It’s your fault if you see a problem with me saying what’s on my mind without caring for what any other damn person thinks. I don’t see a problem with that. If you can’t stand a little honesty on another person’s opinion that’s your problem.” Amara didn’t like to raise her voice that often. It showed some immature and lack of control on the situation. She couldn’t help it though. People easily got on her nerves and she managed to keep control most of the time. Luckily, there weren’t that many people around- or people were too busy- to witness what was a few strokes away from a shouting argument here. She didn’t take lightly to be so openly insulted by someone she hardly knew. Other people who knew her she got used to because they had some basis. She was still a hypocrite in it but she didn’t count a few minutes long enough judgment on being able to insult someone. She gave shallow jabs and insults but unless she was in a really bad mood or knew the person well enough she didn’t throw any serious insults.
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She gritted her teeth, anger starting to roll off her. The twenty-three year old wanted to be in control though it was obvious with two tempers on the brink that wasn’t going to be possible for anybody. She tried to lower her voice again and succeeded mildly even if it was shaking out of anger. “Yes, I consider this a conversation. It may not be a manageable conversation but we are both getting our word in and speaking back and forth. I don’t know or care what your definition is but this loosely fits it.” She wouldn’t say it was talking back and forth as it could be put on harsher terms but speaking fit. It wasn’t at the point of shouting though. “And you don’t know what you’re fucking talking about on my friends!” She wasn’t so upset on what the younger woman may be true but the fact that she dared bring it up. Her hands were balled in fists and she was close to physically harming the brunette in front of her. The only thing that was stopping her was that she didn’t want to cause a scene today. She liked to cause a scene normally but that wasn’t a goal today. That wouldn’t hold out for much longer. “And I don’t need to be told on how to handle people. I’ll treat people who actually matter more respect. That just shows how narrow minded you are on judging how I act with everybody with how I’m talking to you this one time. Not that I would show anything different if I run into you again. Plus at least there are some people I could call, not that you would know what that’s like, but as it was pointed out and you’re proving that being alone isn’t a problem.” Amara felt like she was on the defense now and not the offense. She hated it. She did like her solitude though it just didn’t help when someone pointed that out so harshly like that.</div>[/dohtml]

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Rei wasn't sure what to make of the other woman now. She was agreeing that Momo wouldn't change overnight -- but that had been Rei's point. Growing up took time, and with time, Momo would act like something more than a puppy. Hadn't the woman just been complaining about the fact that Momo didn't seem to know any better right now? Honestly! This was why Rei disliked engaging in general conversations. Those that hated being wrong, herself included (although she refused to admit such a thing), often ended up making very little sense when they contradicted themselves. She wasn't even sure what she should say. Agree or disagree? Point out that the woman was proving her point? It just seemed like a waste of time at this point, so Rei didn't say anything at all.
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Of course, it was hard to really care about such things when the woman was just proving to be ignorant, rude, and uncivilized. Yes, Rei didn't always take criticism well, but it didn't seem as though the other woman did either. Pointing out such a thing would be pointless, too. Obviously the woman seemed to think she was immune to everything she said in regard to Rei, so why try and throw it back in her face? The whole argument was proving to be rather roundabout and silly. It was still frustrating, of course. Rei's patience had vanished long ago, not that she had had much patience to begin with. But what could she say in retort to the woman? It wasn't that she was worried about losing any shred of dignity by arguing on the same level as the woman -- Rei didn't really care what people thought of her, at least not people she didn't know. And how many people did she know that she really cared for their opinions?
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"This, a conversation?" Rei snorted. "Maybe in your world it's one, but in mine, it's not. It's a disagreement, and that's putting it nicely. Conversations are between friends, and you and I aren't friends. We're not even acquaintances. A conversation is pleasant, and if you think this is pleasant, then you're on your own. I find this neither pleasant, nor much of a point." It was really just time for Rei to walk away. What did it matter what this woman thought of her? Or what Rei thought of her? They had no reason to talk to one another again, so it would be perfectly fine for Rei to leave and not issue an apology -- an apology she would never have given anyway. She wasn't one to say sorry to anyone, if her lack of a friendship with Mina was any indication. Why waste her breath apologizing when she honestly didn't feel sorry about a single thing she had said thus far? And who was the woman to even deserve such an apology? No, there would be no apologizing by Rei today.
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Rei was slightly taken aback by the woman's anger about her friends. It surprised her that she had been spot on -- obviously friends were something of a touchy subject with the woman. Of course, the threat couldn't really be taken lightly -- even if Rei said nothing about it to anyone, her father would hear about it at some point. He always did, and he would feel some silly need to warn Rei to keep her mouth shut, to avoid confrontations that had no real meaning, and not to do anything that would bring attention to him. As much as she hated him for it, she also knew she couldn't do anything that would earn his anger toward her.
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Pressing her lips together, Rei studied the woman before speaking again. "Apparently I've hit a nerve. You're right, I know nothing of you, but you know nothing of me, either, and you would do well not to do anything you'll come to regret later." Part of this was said in order to warn the woman to keep her cool -- not because Rei would do something, because she really did have her hands full at the moment, but because there was always the chance one of her father's men would suddenly appear, and that would be tedious. As much as Rei liked to keep people away from her, and pretend not to care, she did have a conscience -- and seeing people harmed because her father deemed them a threat of some sort, didn't sit well with her conscience. "I can assure you, we won't be running into one another again. I wouldn't stoop as low as to acknowledge that I've seen you before, let alone that I've run into you. Think what you want about me. It's not as though that'll be anything new. As for me, I'm done here. A simple walk in the park has turned into the worst possible idea, and I'd rather spend my time somewhere a little more enjoyable. You might want to take your time before going back into civilization -- you could use some work with your manners, among other things."
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Still scowling, Rei moved Momo around in her arms, and turned to leave. She wasn't sure where she would go, because she also need to cool down, but standing around with the woman was the last place she wanted to be right now.

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[dohtml]<center><div style="text-align:justify; width: 400px;">She wasn’t a big fan of this conversation. For one thing, it was going around in circles. Neither of them were getting anywhere in it and it just showed stupidity. Amara hoped it was more on the other woman than her. She liked a good argument and jabs. It was a way to blow off extra steam and she enjoyed that aspect of it. Any pointless arguments were idiotic and she was starting to feel this one was turning into that. It was a dumb confrontation that she shouldn’t be bothered with. It was her fault the whole thing started but in her defense she didn’t except it to go in this roundabout direction. The final thing why she disliked this conversation was that it became slightly personal. It had become like that with someone she didn’t even know. This, of course, was blamed on the fiery brunette in front of her. There wasn’t any way that put the blame on her for this situation. The only blame that seemed reasonable was that she didn’t just walk away when it started. Since she was short tempered and in an annoyed mood before this started that was impossible for her.
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She scowled, “Yes, I would call this a conversation. A conversation is just when two or more people are talking. Your definition of a disagreement falls under that. Conversation is a big umbrella where other conversing categories and types are under it.” The umbrella thing was something that she had learned in school for different categories. It made sense to her and know seemed like a good time to point that out. Her goal wasn’t to make the high school student to feel stupid though she wouldn’t mind if it did. Her explanation sounded like common sense to her. It was one of her better comebacks she thought for this conversation especially when she was seething right now. This had to go her way. It would be pathetic if it didn’t. That was another reason why she didn’t like this particular argument. She realized that ‘talking’ wasn’t exactly what they were doing. It was a broad word and definition on its own so she wouldn’t put it out there. “And I wouldn’t call this pleasant either.” She was frustrated and annoyed. The fact was true before this happened and that was the problem. She was supposed to feel better after an argument. Knowing that she succeeded in making someone feel like an idiot.
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“I doubt there is anything you could do to make me regret something later. And that you’re even saying that for a five minute ‘disagreement’ shows that you have less tolerance to an irrational level.” Amara didn’t feel threatened at all but she was really too irritated to think of what may be implied. Plus she knew enough about the brunette in the last few minutes to tell that saying a warning wasn’t her style. So she took it as an empty threat and didn’t really care for it. There were several things lately that she would regret though she wasn’t in the right mind to think about it. She was the one who could hold grudges rather easily, despite the fact it was stressful disliking someone for no apparent reason. She tried to avoid it but she doubted that she could go back to neutral if she ran into the teenager again. She completely ignored the comment on hitting a nerve which should be obvious in itself. Plus, she wasn’t going to admit the fact for whatever reason. That would be like losing and admitting defeat.
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She listened as the younger woman said her farewell. She would have said something equally rude but at this point Amara just wanted to be done with the whole thing. She wasn’t someone who turned away from a fight- physical or not- once it started. The fact that she stayed longer without just walking away was a win for her. It wasn’t a sweet win but her pride could shove that aside and take it. She did want to call something afterward. The fear of being and idiot when she just felt she somewhat winning the argument she held back. Angry thoughts were going through her head as she checked the time. She’ll leave soon. It wasn’t that she was taking the others advice. The park and outdoors was a place for her to calm down. It wouldn’t be an easy task but it would be easier here than anywhere else.</div>[/dohtml]