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 Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:32 am
A monochromatic garden; one which suggests mountains and water using only stones and gravel. The way the large stones jutting from the ground are arranged suggests mountains, and dry waterfalls, while the manner in which the gravel is raked emulates streams. The area is the perfect place for contemplation.
In the garden stood a lavishly robed man. He was no doubt a noble of high standing, although he wasn't garbed in the traditional robes of the emperor. Reizei had yet again abandoned his post for the day; he didn't feel like being kowtowed to time and time again and he certainly didn't feel like sitting through audiences.
His dark eyes darted around perceptively as he explored the small rock garden sheltered within the palace compound. If his main attendant, Mikado, caught him he was sure he'd never hear the end of it. After all, he did make good use of the servant's name. Kurodo no Mikado was as good a name as any, and certainly unrecognizable. It served the emperor well as a pseudonym and he'd had chance to use it on more than one occasion.
Whatever his reasons, it wasn't that he didn't enjoy being emperor. That wasn't the problem. It was purely that when you were the emperor, fantastically fictitious lies were much preferred to the raw and unforgiving truths that usually occured. Therefore Reizei was usually stuck with everyone around him spewing the former. It could get quite disconcerting after a while, although he'd learned to deal with it as best he could.
Reizei circled the garden, kicking idly at the raked gravel which was hypnotic in its ever-winding patterns. The emperor didn't stop to consider that he was partly defiling the fresh beauty of the place; even a disguise couldn't stop his naturally selfish thoughts or wishes. Someone could come and rake again later.
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:28 pm
This day was not among one of Ayame's favorites. How could it be when she'd been assigned one petty, repetitive task after the other? She was not lacking in attractive clothing--including her favored blue garments--but only a fool would wear them doing slave labor.
Alright, maybe 'slave labor' was somewhat over dramatic. Truth be told it wasn't so much the work itself that she sneered at, but rather the effects of it. If she could have stayed dressed prim and proper, somehow lacked the need to sweat and had a magical hair pin that would have kept it from falling in her face, she'd have had no complaints.
As it was she nearly cried out in joy when the second last thing on her mental checklist marked itself off. The rest of the day was hers, however much of it was even left. All she had to do was gather the tools she'd been using together and put them away. After that, first thing she would do was bathe, then return to the kind of wardrobe women like her were supposed to wear.
That muted sound of happiness was overcome by a very high volume gasp of horror. Ayame had a very pleasent voice, but...
When it was screeching at you, who could tell?
"Excuse me! Are you insane?! Don't kick those!"
The ranking of this man was not lost on her, and although a voice in the back of her head desperately pleaded with her to at the least be polite and at the best say nothing, she ignored it all too easily in favor of submitting to the sudden onslaught of rage. She wasn't shy about her outburst, nor about marching up to him and throwing her arms up in an animated (almost comical) display.
So much for leisure time.
"Do you have any idea how long I've been working?! Why would you do something like that?! Don't you know some of us have to work for a living?!"
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:36 pm
The emperor was startled out of his reverie by a very out-of-place screeching noise. His dark eyes flicked up and on his face was an expression of shock as he assessed the girl screaming at him. After all, the only person who'd ever screamed at him was Atsuko and she only did that because she was a poor, filthy little depraved urchin starved for attention. Oh, the dear child! Bless her.
Reizei's lips curved into a small smile as he mused, but he was quickly wrenched back to reality.
"I'm not insane." Reizei defended himself, although he was more or less stating a fact he had a feeling was true.
He watched, interested as the girl came right up to him and threw her arms up, wincing as she started yelling again. It wasn't the most pleasant sound in the world, although he found this situation faintly amusing. People didn't usually scream at the emperor, so Reizei was finding this all quite novel.
"I'm merely enjoying the garden." He replied with what he hoped was a disarming smile. He'd never done a day of work in his life and he didn't understand the true concept the way most other people would have seen it.
"You can just rake it again, when I'm finished." He explained, looking for all the world like he really thought it was a good idea.
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 7:22 pm
Merely enjoying the garden.
Merely enjoying the garden?!
"That's wonderful, truly it is," Ayame huffed, her voice dripping with sarcasm so thick one might wonder if her canines had the venom of a snake. "I am so happy that you, your greatness, are enjoying the scenery that us lesser beings spent all day working on. If I may, might I suggest not defiling a day's worth of work?!"
That should have been that, but it wasn't.
Rake it again, he said.
Rake. It. Again.
Ayame made the strangest of noises. It wasn't quite a squeak, quite a growl or a whine. Some hybrid of the three had somehow formed together and the end result was near ear-piercing. Her hands shot up again, this time to tug at her beloved hair. The alternative was to strike him, and she wasn't that stupid.
"Look," she demanded, waving her hands (now untangled from her hair), in front of his face. She pointed to her eyes, then his, not feeling the least bit bashful at the direct contact between them. Had she been less completely and utterly furious she might have noted him to be a good looking man.
"Are you listening to me?" A silly question when she didn't even give him time to answer. "I have been working all day, and now, I have to redo this because you can't stop to consider someone else! If it's so easy then you rake it!"
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 7:20 am
Reizei smiled benignly at the angered girl, nodding, really not noticing her sarcasm. He nodded agreeably, finding all of this perfectly plausible. The truth was that the emperor was really just deeply unused to sarcasm; all he could really think to do was agree. In his mind, deluded by years of spoiling, coddling, and lying, he saw that Ayame must be a very kind, caring and humble girl.
"Yes, yes. The scenery is very nice." The man enthused, his dark eyes sweeping the length of the garden.
He looked up, alarmed at the strange noise Ayame was now making. "Why, I've never heard anything like that in my life! How odd!" He now observed her as if she were some strange and exotic animal; his eyes were lively with a characteristic curiosity.
Reizei's jaw dropped at her next statement, and after she had finished yelling at him he began to laugh. Him? The emperor rake the gravel in the rock garden? It was such an unusual notion he was finding it amusing.
"Oh, no, I could never lower myself to that." He managed in between sporadic bouts of laughter.
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