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Sniffling quietly, half from the cold and half from a reason she was hiding very poorly, Han-hui walked aimlessly down to the end of a sidewalk in Cyrus City. She wasn't sure what she wanted. She wanted to forget, and yet she wanted to remember; she wanted to feel numb, and yet she was afraid of never feeling again. No matter how she felt, however, life would inevitably, inexorably go on.

Her breath came in little puffs of steam as she shivered against the cold and against her troubled soul, and she stared around as if deciding where to walk next, looking but not seeing.

Jolted out of her melancholy, Han-hui looked up and faced a bit of a shock. The voice which had posed the question belonged to a being she didn't recall ever seeing before, and she took a moment to recover while performing a muddled cursory sweep of its appearance.

She sniffled once and blinked back the tears stinging her eyes, attempting a smile. "I um..." she replied a bit breathlessly, "I don't think so, but thanks for asking." Her eyes passed over the other's figure again, this time with a growing curiosity, and moved on and upwards to the building behind. "Actually," she cleared her throat a bit sheepishly. "Could you tell me where I am now?"

She matched the chuckle, surprising herself, and nodded in response to the bow. It was difficult to resist the draw of a friendly aura, even if Han-hui was feeling dismal.

"Not the best for peace and quiet, huh?" She rubbed at the tingle of tears behind her nose, disguising it as an attempt to warm herself. "Nice to meet you, Poi... my name is Han-hui Xu, but you can call me Hanna if you like." She watched Poi's tail sway out of the corner of her eye, trying not to be rude by staring directly. "So do you get many visitors, or is it a private shrine?"

She started a bit at the unexpected comment, blushing a bit at the thought that her divided attention had been less than discreet. At the same time, Han-hui felt put at ease, and she smiled just a little awkwardly. "Magic? So... that's not... I mean, you haven't always..." She gestured timidly over her own head and across her own torso meaningfully.

Han-hui couldn't keep from raising her eyebrows. She supposed it wasn't so hard to believe after all that Poi had once been just like her. Odd occurrences like magical transfigurations weren't all that uncommon in a place like Midori. She giggled airily and rubbed at her own hornless head. "I suppose it's nice to know that good things can come out of accidents, after all." Her eyes began to mist over again, and she rubbed at her nose and sniffled self-consciously.

"I'm sorry," she began to apologize at once. "I don't mean to make things awkward... I'm... I've just been through a rough patch recently and..." She paused and sighed as if remembering something she'd rather not have. "This probably sounds really trite, but... I've been feeling lately that my whole life's been an accident."

Nodding in appreciation since the tightness in her throat would allow her to do nothing else, Han-hui sniffled again and gave a shaky smile. Poi's advice was such that Han-hui might have told anyone else who came to her in a situation like hers, but now that she was in it herself, she realized it really did help a little just to hear a few caring words.

She also recognized just how hard it was to organize her emotions again. The biggest thing she felt was fear, and though she knew Poi's advice was sound, she was still too scared to take it. "Thanks, Poi," she murmured softly, feeling the tickle of a tear in the corner of her eye. "I guess the really hard part is doing both at once."

Her heart was apparently still open, since it still stung, and it felt jarringly wrong to try to be happy when she hurt so much, like soap and water over a cut. She knew, however, if she closed her heart, she risked not feeling at all. Her eyes also could barely see ten steps ahead of her, much less opportunities for the future. The past had felt like a whirlwind of a mad, ecstatic dream, and the future...? What Han-hui could see of it looked much like the cold, dreary world in which she was standing now.

Han-hui laughed out loud and promptly coughed from the swallowed tears. When she managed to recover from her brief fit, she wiped her eyes, saying, "Well, it has been ages since I've tried to ride a bike." Her own smile warmed a bit, and she shuffled forward a little to place a gloved hand gratefully on Poi's arm. "I really do appreciate it. A person doesn't meet someone as kind as you every day."