So, here we are again, another weekend and another Bradbury's jar prompt for us all to mull over. So come on folks, you know it makes Common Sense to respond.

[unrecoverable text]

Hmmm ... not sure that just a one-time fling is going to be received any better than an ongoing affair. For some of us, once that trust is betrayed, it's very hard to get back -- good luck to Ken!

"So did you play with a group or did you just do a solo thing?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation light and get it back to the topic at hand. "There were times when I played alone, but there were others too, a group of us that liked to get together every once in a while." "Was Hakase a part of it?" she asked, seizing on the opportunity that presented itself. They had all been curious as to what Nambu's life had been like before -- before them, before the PhDs, before ... well ... basically before he became Nambu Hakase. "Oh, yes," Red Impulse answered with an ease that surprised her. "He was there." "What did he play?" She gave a small laugh. "Somehow, I can't picture him banging on the drums." Red Impulse laughed out loud. "No, not drums, although maybe if he had, he wouldn't act as though he always had a stick up his a ... ah ....," Red Impulse bit off the word and coughed, as though to dislodge the remainder of it stuck in his throat. Jun gave him a saucy smile. "You know, I have heard that word before." "Not from me, you haven't." "That's not true," she countered. "How many times on that island did you and Masaki keep telling us to move our ...," she hesitated, debating if she should say the word to prove her point, but then she decided she would rather keep the conversation going, "butts?" "That was different." "Really, how?" She was intrigued to find out how he could compartmentalize the two. "What is said in training ... or in battle, for that matter ... is different. This is just casual, polite conversation. The same rules don't apply." "So you can say the word in front of me in the one, but not the other?" "Correct." "But what difference does it make?" "One is one and the other is the other. Totally different." Jun shook her head at his logic, such as it was, and returned to the original question. "Okay, so what instrument did Hakase play then, since it definitely wasn't the drums?" "Piano." The instant he said it, Jun could picture Nambu at a small baby grand, its black surface highly polished, the lid open, as he played some complicated piece of classical music that he knew by heart. He would play it technically correct, every note precise, but would there be any shading anything that hinted at mood or feeling? She broke the spell of the mental wanderings when she realized that Red Impulse was still talking. "He's actually pretty good at improv," Red Impulse went on, his left arm casually resting against the door frame, while his right arm rested on his lap. He held the steering wheel loosely between his fingers, his posture that of a man who is relaxed and in control. "Was he? I would have thought him to not want to stray too far from the written music." "Oh, certainly, he could play by sight, but also by ear, too. He could often pick up on certain repetitive chords or a bit phrasing and weave them in." Red Impulse shrugged. "It's probably one of the reasons why he's so good at doing what he does now." It took a moment for his words to sink in. "What do you mean? Why?" Another noncommittal shrug. "Well, think about it. Not only does he need to see repeating themes and pick up on the small details to see the larger picture in his scientific research, he also has to know how to balance the moods and personalities of the powers that be in the ISO to make them understand things as he does -- and get them to do the things he wants done." Jun's brows snapped together. "Is that just a polite way of saying that he plays people as well as the piano?" Red Impulse gave no verbal response, but the look on his face said yes. Jun felt a flurry of anger spark through her, but it quickly vanished when she acknowledged, at least to herself, that Red Impulse was right. In this, he was right. Time and again, Nambu had gone out on a limb for them, to convince the ISO members to let the Science Ninja Team do what they were brought together to do. And every time, they had given in to him. Every. Time. And, she continued with the thought, he didn't reach the position he had within the organization without the common sense of knowing how to negotiate, to navigate the cloudy waters between business and government, and he had done that very well, too. This was an unexpected insight into Nambu that Jun had never before considered and it made her feel slightly uncomfortable. She was glad she was not returning to Crescent Coral any time soon. She wasn't sure if she would be able to face Nambu just yet, thinking of him in this light -- brilliant scientist, yes; ruthless businessman, not so much, and yet, there it was.

I'm enjoying this lighter side of Red Impulse, and now we're shown a hidden side to Nambu too, who would have thought it!

RIgirl: Somehow I think Nambu isn't gonna be pleased about this revelation.

Chris: It's a hard call, really. On one hand, he shouldn't really mind because it's not a big deal that he knows how to play piano. On the other hand, RI just tipped Jun off about a side of Nambu's personality that she may not have suspected existing. It changes things, but only in the same way that children look at their parents as they grow up. Jun isn't a little girl anymore and it always seemed to me that the entire Gatch series as about them growing up as much as it was them fighting bad guys.

True.