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[kisha]

username: QUICKFISH

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ACTION.

[trueborn]

[ -- shortly after this whole conversation goes down, and he seeks Hayame. There is gratitude in the way he holds himself, because she listened to him and came to him when he asked -- despite that he asked her to set aside her wounded pride and bear the burden of a maligned honor, something he hated himself for.

When he sees her, though, he draws a breath and tries not to rush to her. Relief. Happiness? ]

Thank you, Hayame. I am sorry I asked this of you, when seeking remuneration is an apt proposal.

[kisha]

[He had requested her presence, and rage aside at seeing her name associated with foul strangers who suggested she might wish to mate with the human, she had abandoned her cause and come. Obedience to one's lord was absolute, until death, and despite the circumstances of her swearing...

She had known that. Wished for it almost all her life.

She couldn't throw it away now on a foolhardy boy.

And the run at least had allowed her time to clear her head, so that when she arrives at his side, (the "magiteck" was good for tracking people at least), she is more composed looking, if not still rigid with offense as she drops a knee for a bow.]

My lord.

[The words she'd dreamed of.]

You need not apologize. It was I who should not have let such a thing tarnish your reputation- should you punishment, I will accept it.

[Because a lord was only as good as his vassals, and now the only public record of her on this Audentes forum are ponderings of her sexual proclivities and nature.]

[trueborn]

[ She is --

the first warrior that he has ever known as his own. Among the rank and file of Merkava's best and brightest, he had aspired to be viewed with pride and satisfaction by - his father. He wanted to be everything for that man, and to know that he had earned his acknowledgement and his acceptance. It's with this in mind, that he looks upon Hayame the way he was never seen. ]

I would be insensible and cruel, if I punished you for the mistake of another. You did nothing wrong, Hayame.

[ He's so sorry that she was treated this way, though. And before he loses his nerve, he speaks: ]

I owe you my apology, however. I looked in on conversations where I should not have, and fear I have committed the most grave betrayal of your privacy.

[ The one between a lord and one he trusts. ]

[kisha]

[He says she has done nothing wrong and it is like a gentle knife in her heart. Oh, she has done... so much. A single act that she had carried out to cleanse her sins, the disgrace of defeat and capture, hoping beyond hope that it would at least clear her shame and elevate her brother free from the blame of her failures... and yet she regretted now what it became so very much.

Yet that is her world, and as painful as it is, it is practically another life now.

But he says he has breached her privacy, and try as she might to be composed she looks up somewhat sharply in alarm, off guard, frantically thinking back to try and recall if she had said anything untoward. Those conversations were public, that was right- She wasn't blind to her own capacity for temper, and what can be said in the midst of a rage.]

I... I am afraid that I also saw some of your own, my lord. I only hope that nothing I said was displeasing to you?

[Had she?

She feels that same surge of embarrassment as out on the ice. Warring with the surge of pride she'd felt when she saw his words of praise and quickly looked away.]

backdated to before leaving oska: a delivery

[respired]

[ As promised, Koltira delivers the weapon and arrows before they're due to ship out to Leramzen. He leaves them, wrapped in a bundle of oilcloth and string, outside wherever Hayame's staying in the castle. The sword is a katana as she knows it, though with an elvish influence--its blade is carved with a looping filigree of ivy and leaves, and its slender handle is tooled black leather with a silver braid, its collar inlaid with tiny sapphires. ]

May it be of use.

--K.D.

( text ) un: wtfwhocares

[sadgay]

[It is only after a bit of asking around that he figures out what her name is, so that he can contact her. The message comes a few days after Audentes' not-so-valiant return, once he has attained some distance from his harrowing first mission. (But not nearly enough distance - he can still remember the odor of the desiccated bones behind which he had crouched, the crumpled shape of George's dead body.)]

Hey. This is Connor. The guy who threw up on you? I just thought I'd say thanks for helping me out back there even though I was being a little bitch.

And I'm sorry for throwing up on you. At least I can promise it won't happen again.

( text ) un: quickfish

[kisha]

[Oh. Him. Hayame will give the man credit- she didn't think he would have the balls to approach her again, even at a text distance.]

Your gratitude has been received.

[His apology, however...]

[sadgay]

But not the apology.

[He hears that omission loud and clear, in the way that one can't help but notice a gaping hole in the earth. But she is not someone whose ire he wants to bear for the rest of his tenure here, so he tries again.]

Look, is there anything I can do to make it up to you?

voice; un: white_lotus

[pummelling]

[there is no way in hell he is going to ask her any of this publicly, so he's just... gonna reach out to her in private instead.]

So, Hayame.

You seem... especially attuned to this mission, don't you.

[kisha]

Kung Jin.

[Acknowledgements before business.]

With the exception of fact that it seems women are the ones in power here, it seems much like my own world. Yes.

[pummelling]

[sigh.]

I was wondering if...
I might use you as a resource? Culturally, I mean.

un: sharpshooter

[ceruleo]

Uh, hi.

I was told you were offering archery lessons?

Voice

[kisha]

[... even his username was “sharpshooter”. Time to switch over to her second descriptor for him.]

If you are the annoying companion of the boy named Keith, yes.

[ceruleo]

[ ??????? THIS RUDENESS ]

Annoying?!

action

[justbeingknife]

[ There was a small, neatly wrapped cloth package outside of Hayame's assigned housing.

No note, nothing to identify the sender -- but when she opened it, she'd find a carefully-collected bundle of sea eagle feathers from Hanabira. ]

[kisha]

[She hates space. Hates Headquarters. Hates that she has come here only to find that the one person who helped her forget all of that had vanished. Hates the view from the windows, hates leaving behind the one world that has reminded her of her own, hates... everything, right now. But she was stronger than to act on it, she was, too strong to whine or cry, she would bear it like she has borne everything up until now.

Then there is a package at her door.

She bends to pick it up, unwraps it... only to be confronted with sea eagle feathers. The perfect size for fletching. Beautiful, healthy pinions. The sort her brother would have loved to get his hands on. The type she might have smiled, to show him.

Her hand finds the doorframe as her vision begins to blur, eyes burning with the threat of tears, sharp teeth digging in to her bottom lip.

What is she supposed to do?

All she can is clutch the feathers to her chest and retreat back into the room she's been given before anyone anyone sees.]

text; un: kyouken

[justbeingknife]

I know you said ya didn't want a bunch of us to spend time gettin' you out.

But ya know it's gonna happen anyway, right?

un: quickfish

[kisha]

[gdit Majima]

...Spend your time and resources on better objectives. The mission is not yet over.

[justbeingknife]

[ look Hayame

you brought this on yourself by acting so suspicious ]

I get what you're sayin'. All I'm sayin' is if one of the mission objectives should just so happen to involve beating up some officers and springing ya loose in the bargain, well...

Sometimes these things just happen.

text; @simonprime

[theseuschip]

[ so, Hayame is kind of a loose cannon who talks about killing people and herself a lot, on top of being stuck in the wrong body in prison. Simon has no way of knowing if her feelings on her body situation have improved any since she was #relatable muttering to herself in her room, but.

It made him want to check in, at least. so... surprise ]

Hey. How're you holding up?

[kisha]

[not so great.

it had taken an impressive beating to take her down- and the pain is... greater than she has ever experienced. she wants to rip the ring from her broken fingers. wants to at least die on four legs. but-]

I yet live.

- if you want answers about this place, I cannot tell you. I was not awake when we were brought.

[theseuschip]

[ that’s multiple layers of depressing as her instinctual answer to that question but ok, moving on ]

I’m not looking for intel, just wondering how you’re doing in there. It sounds... really bad.

back aboard HQ

[forcevisions]

I should have said something sooner, but ... I wanted to thank you for your help before.

[ And it's been busy + her being in recovery since then, so she hasn't gotten to it. ]

[kisha]

[her first instinct is to say that she does not need nor deserve such gratitude... but.]

If it was a help, then that is thanks enough.

[forcevisions]

It was.

Were you alright during the truth wave?