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 Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:28 pm
Setsushi returns home at a brisk clip, walking quickly to keep warm in the air, the weather getting colder and colder every day. He carries his usual supplies for the shop as well as some extra ingredients for making a hearty beginning-of-winter stew. whee
He skips up the steps of his shop, then -- stops, sensing someone sobbing within. He almost panics, dumping his bags just inside the doorway and darting behind the screen, quickly kneeling next to where Kouyo has collapsed in a crumple of red.
"Kouyo!?" What's wrong!?
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 3:46 pm
The High Priest does not respond right away when Setsushi calls his name, but eventually glances over at him from where he is lying on the floor. After a moment, he pushes himself up to a seated position again and combs his fingers through his hair, trying to straighten it out a little. He was still crying, but for the most part had run out of tears. For now, though, Kouyo seems entirely unsure of what to actually tell Setsushi.
Perhaps... perhaps when Kouyo fell from the top of his tower, planning to die, he should have done so much earlier. He glances for a second at his old friend, then looks away, hugging his knees to his chest.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 3:53 pm
Setsushi wishes Kouyo would not think such things, as they cause Setsushi great anguish...
He gently puts his hands on Kouyo's shoulders. Kouyo doesn't need to tell Setsushi anything... just if he would like something to eat, or maybe something warm to drink, so that he will feel better.
There's no need to be a High Priest right now.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:01 pm
Kouyo dearly wishes there was someway to remove himself without hurting his friend.
... But sure, he would like something warm to drink. The Porcelain shifts a little bit to sit more comfortably on the floor, his hand brushing against one of Setsushi's swords where it is propped up by the bed. He does his best to give no indication of having found the weapon, though, and keeps his attention on Setsushi, even if he feels he cannot look at him.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:10 pm
Setsushi does, however, notice the touch. He eyes Kouyo a moment, and, while concealing any thoughts he may have behind a Lucid wall and, as he stands to go make some tea, he casually flips the sword display so the hilts face the left.
He patters to the kitchen to start making some tea -- maybe an herbal tisane instead of tea, though, as Kouyo probably doesn't need to be any more jittery than he is now.
... Was it because Kouyo prayed that he is upset again?
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:49 pm
As soon as Setsushi is on the other side of the screen, Kouyo picks up the sword as quietly as possible, and settles back down on the floor again, hugging the sheathed blade to his chest. Though the darker corners of his mind urge him to hurry up and be done with it (crazed priest must do the world a single favor and DIE already), Kouyo finds himself unwilling to disrespect his dear friend by doing himself harm with one of the Knight's own blades.
The High Priest did his duty as Setsushi requested, but the answering visions were... not what he was expecting. He has not puzzled through them fully yet, but he is fairly certain that the meaning he got from the most obvious layers of the vision would carry through no matter how he eventually decides to pick them apart.
Kouyo... cannot share precisely what transpired, but he can tell Setsushi that he thinks that their arrival in Gaia is somehow his own fault. The statement is very plain, making it fairly obvious that Kouyo has a considerable weight of emotion behind it that he is hiding. ... Setsushi probably hates him now.
The half of Kouyo that he knows is crazy nags at him to just slaughter himself like the dog he is, before the Dragon Knight can do a thing to stop him. Kouyo remains still, though, holding the sheathed weapon close but making no move to draw it.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:56 pm
Setsushi would not hate Kouyo even if he personally opened the portals and sent them through... even if he sealed the Golden World to them forever... even if he killed Rika and Tenryuu and all Setsushi's other friends -- because Setsushi knows he would not do so intentionally. It would be because of his duties as High Priest or because of the pain that Kouyo has suffered, not because of malice, and so Setsushi would be sad, but he would never hate Kouyo.
... Long before the tea is ready, he hops back over to the screen -- it's a very small distance -- and pokes his head around, to see what Kouyo is doing.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:23 pm
Kouyo closes his eyes, comforted by his friend's words. And, for perhaps the thousandth time, he wondered if he should tell Setsushi everything about the beautiful, beautiful woman who had drawn him in and tempted him, then left him burnt and hollow on the inside. Setsushi had promised to walk beside him all the way, had he not?
But... no, Kouyo could not possibly breathe a word of it to anyone, perhaps Setsushi least of all. He had given himself to her intentionally, and he so badly wished to do so again. Like a child wishing to touch the stove a second time? Even with the politics aside - and those were certainly the bigger half of the problem - how could a true maiden like Setsushi possibly understand?
The High Priest mulls over this in his mind, the only outward feeling he gives off something like pacing. After a few moments, he stands slowly, using Setsushi's blade for support, and only then notices his friend watching him. Kouyo swears he will not harm himself by Setsushi's blade.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:30 pm
Setsushi bends over and quietly, gently takes the sword from Kouyo's hands.
Will Kouyo swear it on their friendship?
But rather than wearing the weapon, as one who did not trust Kouyo might, he puts it back on the rack, the hilt still facing left.
He puts no pressure on Kouyo to tell him anything, even about the prayer -- which is the only reason Setsushi could probably think of for Kouyo acting depressed and jittery again. Instead, he takes Kouyo's sleeve and leads him over to the shop side of the room, so he can sit down to have tea.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:02 pm
Kouyo swears it, and offers the sword back to Setsushi when he comes to take it from him.
He then allows his friend to lead him out to the other side of the room. The High Priest slumps into the chair offered to him, and rests his elbows on the table and his face in his hands, falling completely silent.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:05 pm
When it's ready, Setsushi sets a hot herbal tisane in front of Kouyo, with a cup of cheap grocery store green tea for himself.
He sits down across from Kouyo, looking at his friend worriedly. They are both silent for a time before Setsushi raises his cup, takes a long sip, and then sets it down -- and leans forward to touch Kouyo's arm gently.
Kouyo is suffering, and Setsushi is not helping... What can he do for him...?
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:27 pm
After ignoring the tea for a few long minutes, Kouyo finally looks up when Setsushi touches him. He sighs a little and lowers his eyes, then takes the cup of tea in both hands, blowing on it lightly before taking a long sip.
Setsushi helps by being Kouyo's only friend. He is the only one Kouyo can talk to about so many things. So he helps just by being around, even if Setsushi feels like he is doing nothing. Like the lesson Kouyo took from Setsushi just a few moments ago - not everything can be solved by the edge of a blade.
He takes another drink of tea and tries to summon up a very tiny smile, though his heart still remains heavy.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:45 pm
Setsushi is sincerely touched and glad, but he's still troubled. But surely he can do something, anything besides merely giving his friendship? Is there some other way that Setsushi could express his brotherly affection for Kouyo? Some small thing he could investigate, some secret he could keep, something he could go out in search of and bring back...?
... Because, well... Does Kouyo remember the boy Jilan, who claimed he visited the Silver World? ... Well, it seems that the child was not mad. Or else, Setsushi is mad, too, because he crossed over into that realm as well.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:58 pm
... Well, there is one thing that Kouyo has not told anyone for a very long time, yet it appeared in his visions earlier. The High Priest is still not sure he is ready to tell anyone, though. The crazy half of Kouyo wonders if knowing would bring Setsushi to do him a favor and kill him, and save him the trouble of suicide - the tea cup slips from Kouyo's hand, falling an inch or so to the table and spilling a bit of tea as the High Priest puts his hands to the sides of his head, shutting his eyes for a moment. This is why he awoke so troubled, screaming even as he dreamed.
Kouyo gives off a feeling of distinct relief as Setsushi changes the subject. What has his friend seen of the Silver World? And where is this Jilan now? Kouyo thinks he has seen a boy visit the wagon in the corner sometimes while he is sleeping, but he has never gotten a good look at the child.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:12 pm
Setsushi's brow furrows a bit in worry as he retrieves a handtowel to clean up the spilt tea. Kouyo knows he can tell Setsushi when he wishes -- and also that he can keep the secret forever, and Setsushi will not be angry...
Setsushi is not sure where Jilan is. sweatdrop He would rather like to find him, as the Silver World... well, it is strange. It looks like the Empire -- the landscape, even the buildings are the same. But the people act a little different, a little strangely, and they claim the year is Toutei 1002. In fact, in the little time since Tsubei has left, nearly a year passed on her side...! ... And they say that their Empress is the Silver Empress herself.
It feels very similar, yet... different, strange, eerie... But. If the Empire has survived, somehow, two more centuries, that is a good thing, isn't it...?
Even if he may never see Rika again, or Tenryuu...
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