The Writer and the Director

Meeting

A month.

That's how long Yumi was missing.

Now, Asuka was used to her going missing for a few days, only to show back up with a new gadget or item that she would immediately show off in order not to get yelled at. But a whole month? That was something that Yumi never did, especially without calling to say anything.

And, to be frank, they had begun to lose hope that they would ever see their daughter again.

But then...

"Mx. Satou? Your daughter is here to see you."

Asuka's hands slammed down on their keyboard, staring stupefied at their assistant, Quinn, who looked both concerned and relieved, as everyone had found out about how Asuka's daughter was missing quickly after she had disappeared. Asuka cleared their throat, backspaced the keyboard smashed letters from the article they were working on, and then got up, straightening out their suit. They then followed Quinn to the lobby where, sure enough, Yumi was talking with... something.

However, Asuka ignored the person in favour of going up to Yumi and hugging her tight. When they pulled away, Yumi looked extremely upset as her lower lip quivered.

"I'm so sorry, oya! Me and Guān lost all our time spheres and we had to get them back and we sold our souls and we had to get them back!" She blurted out, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Yu-chan, it's fine. As long as you're okay, I'm fine." Asuka said with a small smile as they wiped the tears from her eyes.

She sniffled before she widely beamed at her parent and gestured at the crew behind her and Guān, starting to ramble about each person, though, admittedly, Asuka did zone out a bit about what exactly she was saying. Asuka raised up an eyebrow in surprise at the randomness of who exactly there was and how many there were. However, their eyes zeroed in on the person that Yumi had been talking to before she started crying.

They were short and stout, with a rectangular body, golden fluffy fur—at least, Asuka thought it was fur—, a hooked mouth—or was it a beak?—with sharp teeth, and long ears. They wore a pale pink button up shirt, a purple tie, long black captain's coat that went down to their knees, black slacks, and black dress shoes.

When Asuka glanced over at Yumi, she seemed to be thinking about something as she glanced from them to the small golden bird(?). However, a mischievous grin crossed her face as she turned toward the golden bird.

"Hey, Conductor! Meet my oya! Oya, meet the Conductor! I'm going to go hang out with Guān and Algernon! Have fun!" Yumi introduced in a rush before running over to Guān, who gave her an obvious high five.

Asuka nervously looked down at—what did Yumi call him? The Conductor?—the yellow bird, who seemed a mix of annoyed and amused, he then turned to look at them. Or, they assumed so, as he seemed to have no visible eyes. His head tilted up and down ever so slightly, giving the impression of him looking Asuka up and down.

"So, are ye the little lassie's parent?" he asked, a Scottish accent clinging strongly to his words.

"Yes, I am." Asuka then held out a polite hand out for him to shake. "My name is Asuka Satou, though you can just call me Asuka." they said, a small smile on their face.

"Well, I'm Cornelias Doherty, though most people, like yer daughter, call me The Conductor." Conductor replied with a proud grin as he shook their hand firmly.

"The Conductor? What are you the conductor of?" they asked with a curious and amused look.

If Conductor had visible eyes, Asuka could have sworn that they would have been glittering excitedly as he grinned widely. His chest puffed up as he put his hands on his hips, obviously proud of whatever he was going to say.

"I am the director my own movies as well as the conductor of the Owl Express." he said happily.

"Oh really? What kind of movies?" Asuka asked, excited by the idea of meeting another creative person.

The two seemed to talk for hours, eventually moving their conversation outside, as not to disturb anyone inside the building. The only reason why the two stopped talking was that Asuka glanced down at the watch and noticed that it was 9:30 PM. Looking over at where Yumi, Guān, and Algernon were sitting, they noticed that they were dozing asleep, as they were extremely young.

"Oh dear! I better get these three home. Would you mind helping me to get them into my car?" Asuka said, getting up and brushing off his suit.

"Of course." Conductor replied with a gentle smile.

He then picked up Guān and Algernon as Asuka picked up Yumi. They opened the backseat door and buckled in the three children. Asuka gave Conductor a shy smile as they closed the car door.

"It was very nice talking to you. Do you have a number that I can contact you with?" they asked as they took out their phone and went to contacts.

"Ah, yes! Let me get it for you!" he said, nodding eagerly.

He took the phone from them, visibly blushing when their hand brushed against his. After a few seconds, Conductor handed back the phone, which now had him in it as "The Conductor". They chuckled and put the phone in their pocket as they opened the driver's side door. They paused as they turned toward him.

"Do you have a ride home?" Asuka asked, concerned.

Conductor tensed as he shook his head, causing them to frown a little.

"Why don't I give you a ride home? It's better than waiting for one." they said, concerned.

His shoulders visibly relaxed, as he was obviously relieved by that.

"That would be so nice. Thank you so much." Conductor said with a crooked smile.

He then climbed into the car, as did Asuka, and the two started to drive to where Conductor was staying, though they spoke in hushed tones so that they wouldn't wake the children.