aerialassault | Appointments

[He laughed as he settled back into the water, bringing the wooden bucket and its sake bottle with it. With the water up to his shoulders, he relaxes back and balances the bucket so it doesn't go under.]

Something from a book, hm? And what sort of books were you thinking of then?

Fairy tales.

[He chuckled, and winked at Souji in his teasing.]

It seems almost like the perfect set up for one. In this weather it's almost unreal.

And what sort of fairy tale would you write with us being the stars?

I'm not sure either of us qualifies to be the 'damsel in distress.' [he laughed a little and then tested the sake bottle, noting how warm it was getting.] That's a thing in those stories, yes? At least, western ones?

[East. West. The distinction didn't matter to a man who hailed from a different planet entirely. While he learned the basics during his days in school, it was still all part of a separate category for him. The details from days long past weren't nearly as important to him as the people he met in the present, after all.]

Nah, we don't need any 'damsels in distress' for this. [He said, thoughtfully.] It can just be about a couple'a warriors who find themselves in a strange land and get to know eachother. These two people might be very different, and they probly would never have met otherwise, but...somehow, they come to rely on eachother while they're trying to figure out the place.

They don't all need to be about princesses and rescuing them from very old and very jealous dragons.

[Souji smiled and poured a small cup of sake for Cliff, handing it over to him. His story sounded like less of a fairy tale as he had come to know them during his time in Luceti and more like just their story, straightforward as it was. Once Cliff took his cup, Souji's smile quirked a little at the corner.]

Can't we have at least one very jealous dragon? They make for such exciting villains.

They do...

[The hot sake was a much appreciated gesture for Cliff to keep from analyzing the memories too hard. That same straightforward little tale was a summation of his experiences, and a little jab at how even stories that were ancient in his time reflected the realities of how people were. Little things stayed the same throughout different eras and different worlds.

Even Souji's Japan, in effect, was a different world.]

Yeah, we can totally toss a dragon in. [Cliff smiled and mulled over the sake, trying to figure out who the dragon would be in this fairy tale.] I already told you I'm not much a writer, but there's no rule saying it has to be a solo project.

[With the dragon set to appear in the story, Souji smiled and leaned back, pouring himself a cup of sake, too. While the taste wasn't exactly his favorite, it was rude to make someone drink by themselves and this was sort of like their first...date-thing.

Souji lifted the cup to his lips and took a small sip as he thought over Cliff's proposal.]

There's always your angry skirt friend. He has that claw and he hates me, so that's a start?

[He laughed at that and set his free hand down, being careful to place it just close enough to Cliff's hand that their fingers barely touched.]

[Cliff watched Souji get himself comfortable with the sake, a little surprised that he was going to join him in partaking of the drink. He was under the impression that Souji didn't drink...

But, he felt the fingers brush his and he smiled, curling his fingers gently around Souji's. In a weird way, it was sort of like a date.

Cliff lifted his little cup in a salute before taking a small sip himself, simply enjoying just how right it felt.]

Who, Albel? [He laughed a little.] S'pose he is sorta like a dragon. He acts like that to everyone.

Then he's perfect for the role. [The hand taking his was welcome, but he had to look away for a moment to hide the faint flush on his face. He wasn't accustomed to affection, besides when he was teasing someone, and knowing that Cliff actually felt something for him was still a foreign and almost inconceivable idea. It would take him some time to wrap his mind around the concept of him being worthy of such things. When the immediate reactive blush was mostly gone, he turned back.

Then he laughed and raised his cup to Cliff as well even if he didn't take an immediate drink.]

I think our story is forming up quite nicely now.

[He had to laugh a little himself when Souji turned away for the barest of moments to hide his reddening cheeks. Such relations were strange for him as well, if for very different reasons.

This time, it seemed like those reasons weren't even valid.]

Ya think so? I was just pullin' stuff from off the top of my head.

['Write what you know,' was the old adage. Cliff was merely drawing from experience.]

That's how all stories start.

[Souji turned his hand slightly, taking hold of Cliff's fingers beneath the water. Rather than look at him, he stared up at the sky, a faint smile on his face.]

And how they all work themselves out, I think - spontaneously.

Yeah, they really do.

[He didn't know whether Souji was speaking about literature any longer, or about life itself...but, the question didn't matter as those fingers returned the silent, unseen gesture of affection and loyalty.]

[He stayed that way for a bit, relaxing into the hot water and the company and the strange but welcome sensation of a hand holding his. He still wasn't sure if this was how people were supposed to do things. He rarely even knew how people lived day to day without patrols and training and killing at least one rebel samurai, so this was uncharted territory for him. All he knew of affection came from teasing and watching people go to Shimabara - and knowing of Akesato and her relationship with Yamanami. But those were all bought women, certainly Akesato and Yamanami were in love, but they were women of the redlight district. It wasn't how...relationships worked.

And at that moment, Souji realized he had no idea how relationships worked. Was this normal? Was he being strange? What if he was moving too quickly, already willing to touch Cliff? What if it was too slowly and it was unsatisfactory? What was supposed to happen in relationships that weren't one-sided semi-dysfunctional co-dependence? He'd been following after Hijikata for so long, that he'd never really learned what to do if he'd ever found anyone else.

The realization punched him in the gut and Souji loosened his grip, not sure if he should have even come here in the first place. Baths were normal, yes, but holding hands in one? Definitely not. He panicked and tried to swallow it down, succeeding only by sheer willpower as he asked Cliff what he hoped sounded like an innocent question.]

...Is this normal? For your world, I mean.

[The question was loaded with as many meanings as there were definitions of 'world' as it was in this land. The sheer gap in time frame, culture, and experience that existed between them became startlingly vast questions arose, and once more Cliff found himself wondering about how Souji's own definitions of these compared to his.

In truth, in many ways he wasn't sure either.]

I don't think what either of us sees as 'normal' can compare with anything at this point, [He said after a moment, reassuringly squeezing Souji's hand,] because this place we're in isn't normal. You and I wouldn't have met if it was.

[Instead they would both be in more of a standard time frame, and odds were that he would be trying to get in contact with Mirage or the Diplo for an assist if the circumstances were similar.]

I think the more important thing here is whether everyone's comfortable or not. Respect matters more than whatever is 'normal'.

Edited 2014-01-26 05:24 (UTC)

[Whether everyone was comfortable or not, hm? Souji considered that - already knowing that he respected Cliff a great deal - and was stuck wondering what made Cliff comfortable. Obviously holding hands was no big deal to him, even if it was for Souji. Physical contact of any kind was something he still would need time to get used to, but he couldn't really put things off forever either.

He'd gone and kissed Cliff when he'd never really kissed anyone before, half jokingly and half in seriousness, and that's how they'd ended up here. As for normal in his world, Souji knew that samurai often took gay lovers - but he was far above and beyond that age by now, so it seemed...strange. He looked down at their hands and then turned, shifting in the water to face Cliff. Honesty wasn't his strong suit, but he knew that Cliff appreciated it and it was a small concession to try a relationship with someone who was hundreds of years from his future and an entire galaxy away.]

I've never been with anyone before. They were always too afraid of me or I was too busy with the war - so I don't know what is supposed to happen. The only example I had was of Kondou-san, and he was married with children. I never really understood what it meant to see someone.

[Somehow, those words made sense. For all of Souji's jokes and affections, he always had seemed to be from the outside and acting in a role once the walls came down and the fragments of truth came out. In some ways Souji was terrifying; in others, he was innocent.

It was a conundrum, just like that playful smile of his, but it was one that they would figure out.

Together.]

I see. To tell the truth, it's been a long time since I've seen someone myself-- and that was a long time ago, way before Quark was even something I'd imagined. I was a different kind of guy then too. I wasn't worried about the people I care about getting hurt just because they knew me. But, isn't that just how war goes?

[Souji let out a sigh of relief and turned back, sinking down into the water. For whatever reason, knowing that Cliff understood that Souji had no clue what to do - and that he, himself, hadn't been involved with anyone in awhile - was enough to ease his tension.]

It is - although some of the men found time with the women in the redlight areas, some in the nicer places. It just... [He thought of all the dirt, the germs, the incessant knowledge that whoever you chose for the night had likely seen a hundred other men before you and nearly shuddered.] --not my sort of place.

...Do you miss it? Being the person you were before Quark and the war?

Redlight districts are their own thing, [Cliff said, recalling the neon lights and the glamorous girls of the various ones that he had passed through over his travels with some distaste. It was popular opinion that people should enjoy themselves at these places, and there was an unspoken promise that the personal details of one's life would be kept discreet.

He didn't buy it.]

...they never really were my style either. Not now, and not back then.

[He leaned back and looked at the stars, searching the false constellations for the distant light that his own world circled around.]

Life may have been simpler then...but, nah. I don't really miss it. I know too much now to ever really get that life back back.

["I know too much now." The words reverberated with Souji in a deeper way than Cliff likely meant as he recalled his weekly book burnings. Even with none of the other Shinsengumi here, and none of them likely to ever come again, Souji still continued burning the books. Whether it was habit or something else, he wasn't sure anymore. He just knew he couldn't leave those things lying around for anyone to find.]

I suppose you're right.

[He noticed Cliff's gaze and looked up at the stars above them - none of them familiar, none of them real. It had to be hard for someone used to space travel to look up and see an unfamiliar sky. It was hard enough for Souji and he hadn't even known space travel was a thing.]

What is your home like? Mine is rather boring - it's just Fayt's world, but old. But yours - I've never really asked what it was like.

[More than just the knowledge of how people were like across the galaxy was also the true nature of his galaxy itself. Beyond chilling, beyond unnerving, it was a rock that stuck in his craw and he knew that he wouldn't be able to continue about his days as if nothing happened once he returned back to his home.]

...I'd say it's pretty normal, [Cliff replied, on the subject of the world he called his home.] The climate's more stable, the gravity's rougher, but people are always the same. [He glanced down, with a lazy smile.]

We just were always told that it's best to think for ourselves and be independent, and I think that's a big part of why we never joined up with the Federation. They're too big, and they want too much control.

Is your planet far from the Federation's base camp? We had similar problems with the outlying provinces away from Edo, the capital of my country. It was difficult to get them to understand and accept Edo's rule.

That's part of what I was fighting against - ronin from the outlying provinces like Satsuma and Tosa were causing problems after the Westerners came.

[He laughed a bit, reaching up to smooth a fallen piece of hair behind his ear. He dropped his head as he did so, setting his cup down in the wooden bucket still floating atop the water.]

I guess we would have been on opposite sides of the war, had we been in the same one.

The distance isn't so bad when your ship's packing a gravitic warp engine. It takes ya faster than the speed of light, so a trip that would have taken years can be made in a few days. Something like that really changes the landscape of these wars.

[Contemplatively, he took a sip of his sake and enjoyed it's warmth.]

...We probably would have ended up on opposite sides if we were in the same one, and I'd probably have been killed years ago because I just don't like watching things go down that I don't like. It really sticks in my craw, that's all.

Mmm, a lot can still happen in a few days. [It had taken them over two weeks to arrive in Kyoto from Edo on foot - the idea of making the trip in days was fascinating. Could it even be done with that engine thing Cliff talked about? How could something be faster than light? He wasn't even aware that light travelled. Souji tilted his head back and let his neck rest against a cool rock, dissipating some of the heat from the bath. He closed his eyes as he brought back the memories of the war he'd been fighting four years ago - so distant now that it almost seemed imaginary.]

No, I think you would have survived. The leaders of the rebellion are smart - they'd have wanted to keep men like you alive and well even if you went after a fight where you didn't need to. So long as you never came up against the captains directly, I'm sure you would have survived.

[He would at least have out-lived Souji, that was for certain.]

We never tried to pick fights with the ronin who came to the capital. It wasn't our job. We just watched and managed, kept tabs on them and eliminated the ones who posed immediate threats.

Oh, trust me. I know.

[While he insisted on face-to-face meetings like an old fashioned fool, it still took time to get the people together in the right place. Anything could go down in the interrim, but the possibility of future agreement was worth the risk. There was no way that anyone could trust another in war if they didn't expose themselves first; an act of faith was necessary to stop anymore lives from being ruined.

He glanced down at Souji, studying that peaceful, relaxed expression he wore in that moment, and wondered what sort of battles he was imagining.]

Not picking fights is a good policy to have, but not everyone follows that. Someone tried doing that with me, once...

[He remembered that trap, and a certain young woman's refusal to cave, and smiled a little.]

Let's just say it's a miracle I cam out of it alive. Annoy the wrong person enough, and anything's liable to happen.

No, not everyone does - but I'm glad you lived through it. [He opened one eye and smiled.]

And by the wrong person - are you referring to the grumpy bears in skirts and spiky hair I was teasing the other day? Or to someone else?

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