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 Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:52 pm
Tenkyuu sits at the table inside of Setsushi's home, her mind currently engrossed in an activity that is taking all the skills she has acquired for nearly 50 years. A bead of sweat drips down the Dragon Knight's forehead as she takes in a breath and then holds it, attempting to slow the quick beat of her heart. Her fingers reach for a piece of porcelain as she bites her lip, her arthritis-plagued fingers beginning to shake ever-so-slightly as she lowers the material forward...
... and places it in a glue-covered opening. Tenkyuu releases her breath as she finished putting back together an ugly (now uglier) tea cup that suffered a chance encounter with the floor. She leans back against her chair, her head rolling back to watch the ceiling.
Success.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:59 pm
It is fortunate, then, that the door slams violently open after Tenkyuu has successfully put the shard in place. In storms Setsushi, already unlacing the ties of his white apron with quick, angry movements.
... He pauses when he sees Tenkyuu, though, and then exhales, his body relaxing as he sends her an apologetic and lethargic greeting.
"Better day than mine, I hope," he grumbles as he goes to fetch his house-clothes from the chest of drawers.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:06 pm
And Tenkyuu watches Setsushi with evident surprise, having rarely seen her former pupil so frustrated. Tenkyuu rises slowly from her seat, her face slightly contorting in pain as she leaves the tea cup for the moment. In moments the woman invades the kitchen, moving to assemble water, black tea leaves, and a kettle.
Tenkyuu has amused herself with arts and crafts today; while it is an ignoble pastime, it releases one from the stresses of the day.
"What happened today?" asks Tenkyuu softly as she moves the kettle to the stove to begin boiling.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:09 pm
Nothing happened today actually -- but something did happen the previous night, when Tenkyuu was out, and Setsushi hasn't been able to really sleep or concentrate since.
... He stops just short of the bathroom, holding his robes in his arms, and slowly leans against the wall, finally releasing and wallowing in that feeling of profound, well, frustration. A frustration so deep and enraging and enervating it pervades his very bones.
... Setsushi is getting soft here.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:16 pm
How deliciously vague.
Tenkyuu emerges from the kitchen, letting the kettle tend to itself after she feels the frustration roll off of the Dragon Knight. The elder walks towards the youth, a faint smile on her face as she leans along the opposite side of the door frame.
Has Setsushi truly become soft? Or was he always soft?
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:25 pm
... Setsushi doesn't deny that he's always been soft in some ways, in those certain spots that Tenkyuu always knows how to find and jab.
But his mind, his good feminine mind, has become soft and sluggish, as has his warrior form. This peaceful, propriety-lacking land has afforded him an excuse to indulge all his repressed cowardice, to be a sweet and irresponsible maiden, and as a result he is weak and useless when the moment that requires the strength of a Knight arrives...
He rolls towards the wall, pressing his forehead into it. ... Or maybe not? Maybe Setsushi is just grasping for something, anything to blame in the face of utter helplessness?
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:34 pm
And worry trickles faintly from Tenkyuu. Rarely does the Heavenly Bow let down her barriers to allow another to feel her thoughts, but she pointedly lets Setsushi partake in her emotions.
Then Setsushi must strike a balance between the cold strength of a woman and the warm weakness of a man. As she watches the delicate, beautiful giant struggle with himself, she feels a familiar pang of pain and loneliness in her heart, one that she does not display openly. Her hand moves to her heart, gently settling against it as she closes her eyes.
Tenkyuu would change little about the maiden before her, however. She is happy that he can indulge in wonderful weakness. She has seen him struggle against his nature for many years.
She knows that strength, the strength to do what is right, still inhabits his heart, however.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:41 pm
Tenkyuu's confidence is a great comfort, Setsushi tells her, and the suffering in his heart seems to have been somewhat soothed. But as he pushes away from the wall, his face is still full of worry.
But sometimes Setsushi cannot determine what is the right course of action -- indeed, sometimes Setsushi is not even sure that a 'right' course even exists. If he were cleverer, of if he had the firm, enlightened guidance of Chiyo or even little Rika, he would feel much better, but to be lost in this strange land without any certainty of which way he should go...
... Setsushi apologizes with deep sadness and sincerity to Tenkyuu. He can only gripe and complain like this to her; he would so much like to share the details of what is troubling him with her, but he has been sworn to secrecy. He yearns for her advice as well, to describe the problem in rational terms and work with her to find the most logical solution to it, as she has always taught him to do, but he cannot...
So he should probably just stop talking, he suggests, smiling sadly and rubbing his face with the back of his hand.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:49 pm
Then Tenkyuu will be the ears and mind that will hear Setsushi's complaints. Tenkyuu must ask something of Setsushi in return, however.
The elder pushes away from the wall and moves slowly up to Dragon Knight that has grown so gracefully before her. Her fingers gingerly settle at the cloth surrounding Setsushi's arms as she cranes her neck to look up at the Porcelain.
Setsushi might be surprised to find that Tenkyuu's eyes are partially lidded with loneliness and sadness.
"I am afraid that tonight is hard on me as well," remarks the elder faintly as her fingers trace the creases of the bottom of his sleeves.
Tenkyuu would, most ignobly, desire a hug from Setsushi.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:56 pm
Setsushi's exhausted eyes suddenly open wide at this request, and he blinks at Tenkyuu for a few moments in astonishment.
... For, he finally admits, he had been planning to make the same, improprietous, childish request of her.
And so, lightly and gently, he encloses the much-shorter Knight in his arms. The way he folds his arms -- and the vast height difference between them -- prevents any skin contact, but the embrace is still warm, soft, and accompanied by a kind and filial, affectionate feeling.
"... Sorry for making you into Chiyo," he mumbles after a moment.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:06 pm
And her arms faintly wrap around his waist, returning the warmth and softness that he sees so kindly to give to her.
At his words, she pauses for a split-second, her eyes widened as she lets her head lean against Setsushi's chest. Tenkyuu quickly paints over her own discomfort, a faint smile replacing her look of dismay as she pulls back to again look at Setsushi. A faint warmth floats from her as she shakes her head.
Tenkyuu is glad to be whatever brings Setsushi comfort.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:13 pm
Setsushi smiles bashfully down at her, apologizing again -- it really isn't fair to Tenkyuu, to have another son foist himself on her like this. He's been burdening her like this ever since they met, just after Chiyo had died...
... Setsushi had better finish changing out of his café uniform, he suddenly realizes, and ducks into the bathroom.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:17 pm
And as Setsushi disappears into the bathroom, Tenkyuu moves a hand again to her heart as she slumps weakly against the wall. The elder Ten shudders faintly before her eyes close, the woman straining to keep her emotions contained in the frail jar that is her body.
The shrill whistle of the kettle snaps her out of her stupor and her eyes open yet again. With some difficulty, she pushes herself from the wall and begins making a trek to the kitchen so she can make legendarily strong tea for Setsushi.
Like Chiyo she will be.
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:03 am
After a few moments of seclusion, Setsushi re-emerges, dressed in the fashion of Toukoku again, and now carrying a pair of gleaming scissors.
... Setsushi has another request to make of Tenkyuu, if it isn't too much trouble?
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 4:09 pm
And as Setsushi emerges from the bathroom, Tenkyuu appears from the kitchen. Having been able to compose herself further in the brief span of time, she smiles as she carries two tea cups filled with steaming water and a teabag each. The elder raises her eyebrows faintly when she spots the scissors and her head cranes up to look at her former pupil.
What is it that Setsushi needs?
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