Fuyumi blinked at Tenzin's bow then hurried to return the gesture. He'd surprised her, bowing like that. He was older than her and clearly someone of authority like a teacher or a monk. His robes reminded her a little of pictures she'd seen of the Dalai Lama. Was he bowing because she was a ghost? That was odd, too. At least odd given her experience in Makai, the Demon World. There, everyone was, well, alarmingly informal. Bad kids, as Staz-san would say. Respect and the hierarchy in Makai seemed, in Fuyumi's limited experience, to be based on magical or physical strength, on who could dominate and usurp territory. With all the vampires and lycanthropes and sorcerers, a little ghost like Fuyumi was rarely noticed. Yet, this man called it a privilege to meet her. Fuyumi felt herself blush.
It felt good to return a bow, she realized. It was like a little taste of home.
"No...no, that wouldn't make you a lemur," Fuyumi replied. She smiled down at her feet. The image of this man perched in a tree, nibbling bugs (maybe wearing a paper set of lemur ears) was silly. She had a sudden flash herself wearing a white kimono, waving a lantern, and trying to float through walls. Okay. Yes. Silly.
"I think I understand your point, sir," she said, "But... I'm not one thing trying to behave like another thing. At least I don't think I am."
Fuyumi furrowed her brow. She spoke carefully, like a person feeling her way over a row of slippery rocks to cross a fast moving river.
"I feel more like a lemur... a baby lemur, I guess -- I just recently became a ghost -- who doesn't have any other lemurs, older... um, more experienced lemurs, around to teach it what it needs to know to live as a lemur."
Fuyumi mentally reviewed what she'd just said. She really hoped it made sense.
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