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 Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 2:19 pm
He shifted, amber eyes lifting to peer frankly in the haka's direction. His fingers stopped, falling away from his forearm and back to his side, as if he'd realized what he had been doing, and was intent to not betray himself any farther than he had already done.
"Muruyama Amikai. No particular family to speak of," he responded, voice gritty and sandpaper-rough, either from disuse or perhaps some old knock to the throat. One never knew with gehaka... "--Sir." He added, almost as an afterthought.
He was frank, comletely honest with his words. Dancing around was for younger hanze with too much time on their hands. Why beat around the bush when it came to simple speaking?
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 2:23 pm
Muruyama Amikai? No family... some lost, little gehaka then. Well, maybe not little, but one could never tell with the way the dark one crouched. And the sir was added...almost as if he didn't want to add it. That annoyed Shinrei a bit.
"Muruyama Amikai hmmm. What is it you do then? Odd jobs I suppose." What was Shinrei doing? Passing the time til the sun set a bit, leaving the main street a little less warm. Inside certain shops, it could even be warmer...a thought the pale haka did not like. His small nose gathered wrinkles as he thought on it. Disgusting heat.
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 2:33 pm
The gehaka watched him thoughtfully, like an old dog somewhat unused to human contact, but not necessarily scared of it either; collared once and unsure whether he wanted to be leashed and tied a second time. "Yes sir, that is correct. Whatever I can pick up here and there." The unspoken words, working through the slight straightening of the gehaka's shoulders and the fractional upward tilt of the jaw spoke something along the lines of 'I'm more useful than I look,' though perhaps it was simple old pride touching across the male's features. In any case, the slight shift of posture did a decent job of expressing the male's build.
Amikai definitely wasn't either lost or little. While certainly no strong armed giant, he was reasonably broad in the shoulder and chest, arms corded with muscle and little else. Though wiry rather than bulky, it was almost immediately apparent that the gehaka was capable of pulling his own weight, so to speak.
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 2:37 pm
Well then, that was a better view of the gehaka. And a bit of an attitude as well. Unlike mother's drones at his side. Shinrei smirk just twisted a bit more. The raven haired gehaka beside him just stood there, waiting for him to do or say something to them. Nothing but drones. Tch. How he hated that. They would be gone the moment mother died.
Then there was that matter. As soon as mother died, sure, he'd get the house, and the family business...but that was about it. Most of the wealth would be given in sums to the large amount of gehaka he had married. Shinrei in the end, would have enough to scrape by if he didn't work. But what to do? Continue on with the family business? Or start something new? Either way he'd need gehaka to do so.
"And do you have any skills? Other than crouching in alleyways of course." Sure, he was prodding around, trying to figure out if this gehaka was useful to him or not. He wouldn't take in anything just from the street. But the Haka would be needing gehaka sooner rather than later.
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 2:46 pm
"This and that," Amikai murmured back, head cocking slightly in one direction and causing him to watch the haka from a slightly more sideways direction. Slightly more wary then, as if a touch uncertain what to make of the thus far unnamed hanze. Younger, waifish, a touch arrogant -- but many haka were so these days. "I am capable with menial labor, and I do well enough with a sword. Good with my hands, I suppose." At some point, the statement might have ellicted a slightly wry, suggestive half-smile from the gehaka, but that had been some time ago. Instead, he frowned slightly. "Can't cook, and I don't clean. I like making things, though."
He wasn't sure how much more of an answer he could give the haka, nor if he would actually want one, but Amikai clearly didn't mind answering the questions. While he continued to eye the haka slightly sideways, it was more calculating than simple wariness or curiosity.
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 3:00 pm
"Hmmm..." Well cooking and cleaning didn't matter. It was a chore for grunts, like the ones beside him. They did it quiet well, and Shinrei could see hiring them to continue doing so after his mother's death. Menial labor was a normal thing for gehaka, as well as sword play.
"So...in everyway normal, except being older than most unmarried gehaka. Intriuging indeed." Would the sun not stop it's heated misery? Shinrei refused to fan himself, even with a pale hand. It would show his discomfort, and others might find that amusing. He wouldn't.
While this gehaka was interesting...the pale gehaka wanted to go shopping. He just might have to drag Amikai to combine the two.
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 3:18 pm
"I suppose you could say that," Amikai conceded with a slight shrug of one shoulder. He was rubbing his wrists again, as if something the haka had said had spurred on the necessity to do so; as if the gehaka seemed mildly uncomfortable with the idea of marriage bracers, even if the phrase or the possibility hadn't been anything but remotely brushed against. Touched on with a ten-foot pole was more like it. For all he knew, this haka was just overly curious about his surroundings. Maybe he was just trying to find some entertainment in the heat of the day. A slight glance to the male's cronies almost completely cemented the theory into Amikai's thoughts. Just curious. Besides, what half-sane haka would want a no-family, dowry-less haka of questionable age and fitness? Not many, that was for sure.
Perhaps the heat would slacken soon. Amikai was becoming more and more keen on the thought of soaking in the river as the minutes drew out. This was slightly awkward, and his back was starting to ache from sitting crouched so long. At the same time, he didn't really feel like standing up under the haka's nose.
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 3:20 pm
Shinrei couldn't help but let a cold chuckle pass his lips. The gehaka agreed hmm? Or was it just a normal reaction? His cold gaze was still locked on the odd gehaka, and he saw that crouching there for so long must have been uncomfortable.
"Get up."
It wasn't a question or a nice request, but a clear, crip order. Shinrei didn't beat around the bush when he wanted something to be done. The very tone of the haka suggested that.
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 3:29 pm
Amikai silently thanked whoever that the haka was at least somewhat observant, even if the merciful had been just that. An order. With a deliberate motion, Amikai rolled up to his full height and set about quietly stretching himself out without being overly obvious about the matter. A slight flick of each wing, a minute roll of the shoulders; it didn't take much to work out the slight ache in his lower back, or to at least ignore it.
As one might have expected, Amikai wasn't tall by any standard. Average in height, perhaps a few inches taller than the haka himself, if it hadn't been for the gehaka's almost overly-aware demeanor, he wouldn't have looked like much. As it was, he certainly wasn't the most impressive example of the breed.
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 3:32 pm
"Not that tall after all, shame. More height would have suited your personality," Shinrei smirked, eyes narrowing slightly. The sun began to go down, at least enough to begin to walk out in it. The pale haka began to turn, then thought that the entertainment of the odd gehaka should come along with it.
"Walk with me Muruyama Amikai," if he had no family, and was doing no job, there would be no reason for him not to come. It was once again, not a request. The raven haired gehaka on each side turned with him, following the pale haka like the drones they were. Amikai was so much more interesting than them. He would provide decent company for the moment.
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 3:40 pm
Amikai seemed used to being evaluated like a stock animal. In the very least, the haka's comments didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. It was a very poor gehaka indeed that would take offense to such observance on a haka's part, a odd job worker like himself even more so. He was used to be looked over like an ox or horse for sale. People hiring an extra set of hands for a few hours at a time wanted to make sure they got their money's worth.
"Yes sir," he rumbled, falling easily a half step behind the pale haka, taking care to offer the two taller hanze a brief, respectful nod before doing so. Invited or no, it probably wasn't prudent to completely ignore the two. Had he been in their place, Amikai probably would have been a bit annoyed if that was the case.
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 5:25 am
Well, that took care of that. The pale haka began to drift out into the main street, looking around at the shops. Not many enticed him quiet well enough. So, instead, he kept talking and asking questions. Might as well keep it up.
"Just how old are you?"
It was a question Shinrei had had among his cold thoughts. With the silver streaks, the gehaka couldn't be that young. He had to be older. More than likely as old as mother's first coupld of gehaka. That would be interesting to Shinrei indeed. None of them had silver streaks, but maybe they hid it? Or something to that degere....
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 7:57 am
The corner of his lips quirked in some semblance of a smile, apparently mildly amused with the fact that the young haka had taken such interest. "Thirty four," he said, motioning briefly to the greying streaks in his hair. "Stress." A slight edge of bitter amusement touched the word, gracing over to tail end before sliding back under along with the gehaka's voice.
It was odd talking about himself for any length of time. Usually it was answers to questions asked in rapid sucession before someone decided to take him on for the day; the next few hours. Actually carrying on some semblence of a conversation -- even if his social status kept the questioning more than a little one sided -- was something he hadn't done in what felt like years. It was the good sort of strange, he supposed. For now anyway.
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 5:59 pm
"Thirty-four? Stress?" Whatever could have caused it? Shinrei didn't feel like prying that far in, though he doubted he would have gotten a sob story. The gehaka was a seemingly strong willed one, if anything. That was rather nice, once again, compared to the drones.
"And just because you have entertained me thus far...my name is Mibu Shinrei," the Mibu family wasn't one of the bigger ones in the village, but a decently known one. Shinrei didn't know why, most of his cousins claimed their names to higher houses. He was really the only 'heir'. To whatever that amounted to. Bah. Once again, his mother hadn't been strong enough even to have a gehaka the second time around. Well, he was dying for it, and that frankly, was that.
And that thought led back to the fact Shinrei would need gehaka of his own. And he didn't want drones. He didn't look like any of his mother's gehaka, but rather, almost exactly like his mother. Odd indeed. Psh. Whatever. He wouldn't once the haka was dead.
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 7:57 pm
"That is correct," he murmured, probably unnecessarily. From the sound of it, the haka was just repeating the information in order to tuck it more safely back into his thoughts. At the offer of a name, Amikai inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mibu-sama."
He paused for a moment, as if considering something, before continuing to speak. "What brings you here in the heat of the day?" It was a simple question, rather basic and with an obvious answer. Shopping, what else? But the fact that Amikai had even made an attempt to return conversation was...well, it was something. Considering his social status, it was going out on a limb to say much of anything other than responding to the haka's questions.
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