D24 EM - Call me a Lowlander, I dare you (Wide Open)

[Nozomi]

Phi slid into the bathhouse proper after they had finally reached the city once more. They were across the Seidou. The blackened gook had been wiped away from a partially degraded jade bracelet and she had finally had a real, hot meal on her way back. For once in her life she was ready to admit that she was a damned lowlander and these creature comforts had a certain point.

A bit of scrobbing and rinsing to get the worse off of her, and she had slipped into the bath, plunging in to her head and rising up, drenched and sighing to herself. "Why... did I ever bitch about this?" she breathed out, arms resting on the sides of the bath.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

Ayumu entered the baths, being his usual happy self with a small coat of journey fatigue atop of it.

It's only after washing himself meticulously, exposing a body that wasn't made any prettier by acid exposure and claw marks, and sitting in the bath proper he realized the anonymous ball of hair also occupying it wasn't that anonymous.

"Phi?"

[Nozomi]

"Mmmm? Ayumu is that you?" She pulled her hair out of her face and barked out a laugh, looking at him with her red eyes and leaning back again. She got a bit of a look at the scars, but she didn't wince. "Well now, you've got quite the grizzled look to you. I imagine you'll be the talk of the town in the capitol after all that, heh. And... it's Phi for a few hours yet. I'll be taking a vow later today. But for now, Phi is going to enjoy her bath. Ahhhh, why did I ever argue with these things?"

[Jiyo Ayumu]

Ayumu smirked at the mention of his appearance, then went on:

"As for you, you've changed so much since the last time we've seen each other in similar circumstances I almost didn't recognize you. Was it really less than one month ago?"

[Nozomi]

"We walked into hell together, and walked out alive. I think a month in that place is a lifetime for most," she chuckled out dryly, shaking her head. "But you're right. I came down from the mountains, stubborn, sure of myself, glaring at all of you from behind a mask and thinking so many fools. It's been... so very eye opening. But with what we've been given, there's work to do isn't there?"

Another laugh. "But I am absolutely taking the day off today. We can save the world tomorrow."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"A wise choice I would say. We're but humans in the end, and I think even the gods are tired after such a trip.

I also hope we did create a world that requires a bit less of saving even if there's still a lot to do."

He reminisced:

"The first time we talked, I told you were kinder than you think you were. How wrong was I?"

[Nozomi]

She breathed a sigh while she looked up towards the ceiling. "You ... were pretty wrong, Ayumu. But the woman who walked across the Seidou is not the woman who crossed it a month ago. I was... and still am someone with a lot of blood on my hands. But maybe I'm taking a page from Sora. Maybe from Shinsei. I don't think... I don't think I need to be, even if I can fight when I must still. So, maybe I have opened to that thought since I met you and others."

She'd give him that much at the very least. They'd had a bit of an effect on her collectively. Not just Shinsei. "I'm glad you got out of there more or less intact. Scars are good for stories. You should embellish them."

[Shinjo Miuna]

Miuna and her sister joined the others in the bath. To finally have regular hot meals and access to a hot bath made Miuna happier than she could express, evident from the huge grin she wore. She sank down into the waters with an audible sigh.

"Good morning, Phi, Ayumu. Does the day find you well? I am so happy to have the bath back. I may simply stay here all day."

Aono translated for Phi's sake. Miuna smiled warmly, trying not to appear as if she were staring at Ayumu, sinking under the water until it touched her ears. She gently worked on cleansing her hair. Maybe she would shorten it later. If there was one thing she'd learned on the expedition, it's that long hair was not very conducive to battle.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

She breathed a sigh while she looked up towards the ceiling. "You ... were pretty wrong, Ayumu. But the woman who walked across the Seidou is not the woman who crossed it a month ago. I was... and still am someone with a lot of blood on my hands. But maybe I'm taking a page from Sora. Maybe from Shinsei. I don't think... I don't think I need to be, even if I can fight when I must still. So, maybe I have opened to that thought since I met you and others."

She'd give him that much at the very least. They'd had a bit of an effect on her collectively. Not just Shinsei. "I'm glad you got out of there more or less intact. Scars are good for stories. You should embellish them."

"Like a tattoo? Would need to put up a bit of fat for that. And I'm not sure I'm physically capable of it. Don't think even a trip from hell and back has changed my constitution.

I think I'll keep telling my stories through spoken words and paper instead. And there is definitely a lot to tell. Your own tale by itself could fill a volume or two, though if I was to write, it would be full of mysterious blanks."

Miuna and her sister joined the others in the bath. To finally have regular hot meals and access to a hot bath made Miuna happier than she could express, evident from the huge grin she wore. She sank down into the waters with an audible sigh.

"Good morning, Phi, Ayumu. Does the day find you well? I am so happy to have the bath back. I may simply stay here all day."

Aono translated for Phi's sake. Miuna smiled warmly, trying not to appear as if she were staring at Ayumu, sinking under the water until it touched her ears. She gently worked on cleansing her hair. Maybe she would shorten it later. If there was one thing she'd learned on the expedition, it's that long hair was not very conducive to battle.

"Hi Aono, Miuna. We had already started to ramble about the trip like old geezers."

His hands signed: Hello, Aono, Miuna. We were talking about what happened like old people repeating the same thing again and again.

[Nozomi]

"Like a tattoo? Would need to put up a bit of fat for that. And I'm not sure I'm physically capable of it. Don't think even a trip from hell and back has changed my constitution.

I think I'll keep telling my stories through spoken words and paper instead. And there is definitely a lot to tell. Your own tale by itself could fill a volume or two, though if I was to write, it would be full of mysterious blanks."

"I'm a woman who still likes her mysteries, even if I've taken off my masks. There's bound to be a few things that they never get quite right about me, but I'm... ok with that. I think I'm starting to appreciate Taochusu's attitude. Just embellish a little. As long as nobody's getting hurt." And those little white lies might paper over the things that she absolutely needed to keep secret.

Things like the faceless ones... like the child coming into her life.

Miuna and her sister joined the others in the bath. To finally have regular hot meals and access to a hot bath made Miuna happier than she could express, evident from the huge grin she wore. She sank down into the waters with an audible sigh.

"Good morning, Phi, Ayumu. Does the day find you well? I am so happy to have the bath back. I may simply stay here all day."

Aono translated for Phi's sake. Miuna smiled warmly, trying not to appear as if she were staring at Ayumu, sinking under the water until it touched her ears. She gently worked on cleansing her hair. Maybe she would shorten it later. If there was one thing she'd learned on the expedition, it's that long hair was not very conducive to battle.

She smiled over at Miuna, grateful that the girl was smiling and free of that awful place. She might never quite be the same from her ordeals, but she'd gotten out alive, and that was important. "The day... finds me wonderful, and admitting that only two months from the mountains and I'm enough of a softy that I may get quite used to these baths," she admitted to Miuna, winking. "The two of you are looking well, though I think all of us are. We're past the river, back in the regular world again, the world we know."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"I'm a woman who still likes her mysteries, even if I've taken off my masks. There's bound to be a few things that they never get quite right about me, but I'm... ok with that. I think I'm starting to appreciate Taochusu's attitude. Just embellish a little. As long as nobody's getting hurt." And those little white lies might paper over the things that she absolutely needed to keep secret.

"Taochusu... We talked, he was infinitely nice, and yet I don't think we ever managed to truly connect. Maybe something about his life having been one of hardships, and mine relatively easy in comparison, made it so we couldn't understand each other on a deeper level. But I know he was selflessness made flesh, as he proved even at the very end."

After a pause, trying to not sound as somber:

"You should ask Saruko or Miyako for a story one day. They're quite good at this embellish stuff."

He tried to keep translating into signs everything he was saying, but missed quite a few words, especially on the Taochusu's part, his mind not focused properly.

[Nozomi]

"We didn't talk as much as I would have liked... but yeah. I think that's a good way to describe him. He thought of other folks a lot more than he ever thought of himself. I think he'd be happier among us, but I hope in Meido he gets the peace of knowing that he was one of only two to go on ahead, and that the gate is closed. Nobody else has to suffer from that place again. The battle might not be done... but we did a heck of a blow, I hope." A sigh.

"And maybe the memories will fade a little. There are things I don't want to forget, but plenty I do."

[Shinjo Miuna]

Miuna watched as they spoke about their fallen friend. She nodded.

"I miss him."

It hurt to think that no one would hear his mother's music again. He looked enraptured when he played. He came with us because he wanted to help protect people, and he did...

She tried not to feel guilt that she had survived while others didn't. There was nothing that could be done now, but to rebuild on the sacrifices made that day. She looked at Phi. She wasn't sure what it was, but the father they traveled from the pit, the more the other woman seemed to glow.

[Nozomi]

Survivor's guilt... was something that Phi knew all too well. It was almost a blanket she'd embraced and wrapped around herself since the age of eight. Surving when a friend had not? It was almost normal, but in the first week without his boisterous manner and music, it was harder to miss that loss, and she'd been doing what she could to remember his story, the way he'd remember it.

"I don't think that big oaf would want us sad and weeping. He'd want us remembering the good times," she said, trying to laugh a bit and managing decently. She did have a little of that radiance, though it wasn't going to shine through fully for a little while longer. Part of it was just the ease of feeling relaxed finally and having managed to endure and survive. "I'm glad that Miyako kept that instrument of his, though. Maybe she'l figure out how to play it one of these days."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"I think you're right.

One day we'll beat the dust too, hopefully of old age, and I would love for those I've left behind not to remember me with tears, but with smiles."

He smiled and turned to Miuna:

"Is that the point I'm supposed to tease you about your upcoming wedding to lighten the mood?"

His hands dance: Marriage between you and bat boy, when and where?

[Shinjo Miuna]

Miuna made an almost inaudible squeak and clapped her hands to her cheeks. She could not sink any lower in the bath or risk drowning herself, so instead she simply turned a lovely shade of crimson.

"Ayumu!" She said, with mock indignation.

They hadn't even given the subject much thought. Definitely something to file away for later.

"Maybe next spring? You should come. The ceremony for Reiko was inspiring, maybe we'll do something like it."

All she had to do now was actually discuss it with Hanzou. It was clear they wanted to stay near each other, but the details still needed to be fleshed out.

"What about you, Ayumu?" she asked, deflecting. "Will you find someone and settle down?"

Aono closed her eyes, tippng her head back to rest.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"I cannot see the future, so I cannot answer that. Guess it'll happen when it'll happen if it's bound to happen. Some in my family might bother me about that, but I intend to ignore them until the right person and the right moment."

[Nozomi]

She made a mental note to mark the general date and nodded. "I'll be traveling with the teacher. When you two know a date, please send word. I suspect... saru lands or the capitol will get to us the fastest, but it's hard to say with him. He does like to flit from place to place I've been told." It could be really hard to predict where she was going to end up under the circumstances. "But I imagine there will be a few weddings that are coming in the spring of this year. Peace... makes that easier."

Hers would not be on that list, but she didn't say anything about that. She was at peace with all of that.

...

Ok, mostly at peace.