[D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

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Nozomi
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[D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Nozomi » Tue Jun 16, 2020 10:38 am

Nozomi relaxed in a seat on the floor of the room that had been given to her among the guest rooms. However ... intimate she and Shinsei were, it was best not to be TOO open right now. They could go back to normal once they were back on the road tomorrow. In fact, they could go back to more than normal, but that didn't really matter to her right now. She was simply marveling at this 'death trap' and imagining what a fire would do here.

No... bath houses were one thing, but she was still getting used to these castles. Hearing a knock at the door, she looked up. "Come in."
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Ninube » Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:12 am

Ninube came in. "Hey, how's it going?"
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Nozomi » Tue Jun 16, 2020 10:04 pm

Nozomi looked up at her and smiled, motioning to one of the cushions and then the door. "It's... going pretty good actually. I've had a hot bath. Food that wasn't trail rations I was worried might be tainted. I haven't had a nightmare that couldn't be explained by bad food in three nights, and now I'm just worried about sleeping in a death trap waiting for an errant spark." A barked laugh. "I'd say all in all, life is looking up, Ninube. Come in. Sit down."

A pause. "Oh... and it's Nozomi now. I've taken a vow like Shinsei's. I'll uh, be traveling with him very soon as a student."
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Ninube » Wed Jun 17, 2020 9:35 am

Ninube smiled, happy for her friend. "I'm glad to here it. I really am."

Then she laughed. "I wish I could go back to when we first met and tell the us then this is where we would be." She chuckled again. "I am happy for you. So, Shinsei, eh?" A slightly devious look certainly implied what she thought. She was there when they got back and all.
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Nozomi » Wed Jun 17, 2020 9:59 am

She snorted and shook her head. "I would have laughed in your face if you'd told me I'd be changing my name a second time from when I was a kid and following some guy in a hood on a journey of personal discovery." A shake of her head and she just had to chuckle. "Yep. Shinsei. Don't give me that sneaky look, you. I'm his student." Who was sharing his tent the whole way back. No, they were keeping quiet, but no matter how she snuck in at times, it probably wasn't unheard of.

"Just so you know, yes. And... uh, he wasn't the only one I had an eye on. I might have spent some time with one of the wagon guards we had, Taka. A fair bit. Before the skin riders got to him. Shinsei helped me after that happened. Was a little bit of a wreck." She'd been working on the story for the last week. Keep it simple. Keep it uncomplicated. She didn't like lying to Ninube, or to any of them. She wanted to crow that she was going to have a child with Shinsei, but... it would be dangerous. For Ninube. For the child. For all of them. So she'd been rehearsing it. "Shinsei's a good man."
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Ninube » Wed Jun 17, 2020 10:49 am

"Oh?" Ninube cocked an eyebrow. It was a little suspicious she is bringing this up now and never before. They talked about the guard after it happened. But Phi... Nozomi was a friend. If she wanted Ninube to know about this Taka guy.... Well, Ninube will accept it as truth. Maybe she would put her suspicions in what will be come the Spider's secret cache of knowledge. And maybe not. It's not like she understood why P-Nozomi would feel the need to lie or particularly cared. So, maybe she did sleep with this Taka guy?

But before Phi could go on trying to convince her further. "Well, I am sorry I did not know that before. I will make sure his name lives on in the Spider histories if you wish along with anything you wish known about him." Well, the official ones at least. Ninube figured if she was telling the truth, Nozomi would be happy to have him remembered. And if she was lying, Nozomi would be happy to have him remembered.

"I am sure we will also be happy to have the story of Shinsei and his student." Whether or not Ninube ever saw her sneak into Shinsei's tent, she knew what she saw when they got back. But she would make sure the story Nozomi wanted would be the one recorded by the histories. What are friends for if not manipulating historical records for future generations?
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Nozomi » Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:31 pm

She pondered that for a moment. she couldn't be sure if Ninube truly believed, but she also knew there were a few here who had more reason to guess. And Sora's vision about the child's death and her and Shinsei's... well, it had never said 'nobody can ever figure out.' After all, Sora himself knew. It was more a matter of minimizing how many knew this kid was his, not publicly marrying him, publicly acknowledging they were of his bloodline.

"Yes. I think I would like it if you remembered Taka in the histories like that," she said, nodding. "He doesn't have any family, from what I've been told. We... eheh. That wasn't what we were talking about. So, someone remembering him would be ... nice." There was a moment, a brief thought and she fidgeted before adding something more considering that they were discussing a history, and he had died two weeks before.

"I'm late, Ninube. Shinsei knows... and he's a good man. He's not putting me out as his student just because of that. So... I would like it, when it becomes known, if people could know a little about the person who helped to bring my child into this world. I want them to know about Taka. I want their child to know about him. And... I appreciate you doing that for me, because it's important." She looked at her more fully, hoping the meaning was either clear, or that she believed the lie. The child was going to be known as Taka's, not Shinsei's. "And... if anyone should ask, anyone, I want it known that it was his, ok?"
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Ninube » Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:51 pm

Ninube was still unsure about the Nozomi's honesty, but she started understand the implications somewhat if it wasn't Taka's. And, as a friend, if wouldn't it be Ninube's duty to protect her friend's child?

Or she could just being paranoid after the little girl turned out to be a spider monster and think everyone is lying to her. Nozomi could just be awkward that she was having a baby in such circumstances.

She smiled. "Ph- Nozomi. You are my friend. If I can bring you a little piece of mind, I would be happy to let to include the tale of Taka and Phi." And she gave Nozomi a meaningful look. She wanted her to know if she was lying, Ninube didn't care. And if she wasn't, well Ninube would be there for her. "And of the child they brought into this world. Tell me what you wish your child, and everyone else, to know of their father, and I'll make sure if you ever come to Spider lands, that is what they will read." She smiled. "If you want, I could tell the tale to storytellers. I am sure they will jump at the tale of a lost romance and you getting vengeance on the creature. The child he left behind. Throw in you riding Shinjo and following Shinsei, as his student, and.... are you a character of a story? Have I just been a side character in your story all along?" Ninube gave Nozomi a smile. She was amused by the idea.

A few years later, Ninube will have a moral crisis of whether she should put her suspicions in the secret histories. Duty to her Clan? Duty to her friend who if lying certainly had a good reason? She will take a middle route and just kind of vaguely hint at it though still leave it in question.
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Nozomi » Wed Jun 17, 2020 10:38 pm

Anyone would be. Whether or not she realized it, interestingly enough, 'I am late' was a lie. She wouldn't be late for another week and a half or so. But by claiming to be late now, she was setting up that the father was almost certainly Taka, not Shinsei. Of course, it was a nuance that was easy to miss, particularly if one didn't know a whole lot about the topic or spend time with the local midwives once in a while as a kid.

"He had a nice ass," she mused, coughing into her hand and going a small shade of red. "No, please. Fortunes, don't actually write that down. He did, and maybe that's why... look, don't judge me, but Taka was hardly my first. I've had a few tumbles when out in the marshes back home. Men and women. When you're out for long forages, it gets really boring, so... things happen. That's all. Taka, I'd like him to be remembered as a good man. He liked music and he really had a thing for that cheap swill they drink here in Seidou lands. He had a few ambitions too. I think he figured he'd get a promotion from what he was doing here, that they all would. And he probably would have too. He was... I'm not sure what tribe he came from originally. He was an Imperial though. so, I think he'd put the tribal past behind him."

Over time, she'd eventually rattle off a few details. In reality, she'd picked most of them up over the last two weeks out of an intention to memorialize all of the fallen guards. It had simply become important to memorize some pieces of Taka's life for her own purposes since that time.

As to that middle route? That was, honestly, what she expected. Kinsen despite her memory issues, Ninube, Umeno, Saruko, Sora, Koyama, Haka the kami and apparently a nosey Isawa with good ears had reason to suspect that there might be more going on here, so even if her pregnancy was kept very quiet there would be questions. Only resolute refusal to say it was Shinsei's would work, and there'd always be wondering. That was unavoidable now, but Sora's vision had been of publicly acknowledging the heir of shinsei and their marriage. She suspected questions would be unavoidable. And in time? the bloodline would become forgotten, impossible to follow.
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Ninube » Thu Jun 18, 2020 9:24 am

Ninube nods. "I will make sure to write that down when I get back to my room."

After a hesitant pause, "Speaking of nice asses, I invited Reo to my room a little later." Ninube blushes a little. "So, um, uh, any advice?"
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Nozomi » Thu Jun 18, 2020 9:45 am

"Thank you, I..."

Pause.

Frown.

She blinked and looked at Ninube with the look of a deer caught in the flame of a torch for a moment. Nobody had ever asked her for advice on that before in her life. Was Ninube still a ... uh... craaaaaaaaap. What kind of man was Reo? Her mind was roiling and she reached up to rub her forehead. Ok, she could do this. She could do this. It wasn't that embarrassing.

"So... with his limp, if you two are going to, ya know, actually do it, you're going to want to be careful that he's comfortable and you're comfortable. I think that will be the biggest thing. Everything's better if you're both... are we seriously having this conversation, Ninube? I mean, I'm not saying no to helping, but I just want to make sure. Are we? Do people talk about this sort of thing?" Because... uh... Nozomi honestly didn't get out of the mountains much.
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Ninube » Thu Jun 18, 2020 9:58 am

"We can talk about something else. I just... I just want things to go right. I don't know if people talk about this sort of thing. I tended to be loner." Ninube shrugs. "This whole not be on the fringes is still new to me. Well, we could talk about your plans for the future. Or mine if you prefer." Ninube didn't mean to embarrass the woman. She had no idea how this sort of thing worked.
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Nozomi » Thu Jun 18, 2020 10:04 am

She laughed and nodded. "No... I get it... I get it. I mean, I think I'm just about "plans for the future'd" out for the night. I've done a lot of that already, and we all know that I have no clue and I'm following him, learning from him and figuring it out a step at a time. No... seriously, I'm a loner too, Ninube. Hah." She shook her head and sighed. "So, first. Stop worrying about it. If he's in for this, touch each other. Figure out what feels good and don't worry about the details other than making sure that leg of his doesn't get twisted or something. It's never going to be perfect, truuuuust me."

Well, ok, Shinsei was ... enlightening but that wasn't a fair comparison. She knew what was hiding under the hood there.
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Ninube » Fri Jun 19, 2020 9:53 am

Ninube blushes a little. "I was talking more about how to get him into bed, but, um, your advice is appreciated."

After an awkward moment of silence, "So, why did you choose Nozomi?" Yes. Change the subject.
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Nozomi » Fri Jun 19, 2020 7:59 pm

"Oh! That... uh, I usually just get a feel for if they're interested and then just ask when there's nobody else around. I don't generally make that big a deal out of it... eheh." Given that her prior escapades in reality had been with fellow hunters out of sheer boredom and hormones... it really hadn't been that complicated.

"It means a wishful hope, so I thought it was... appropriate. Phi meant ghost in my old dialect, so I decided to go for something a little more positive in tone, if that makes sense."
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Ninube » Sat Jun 20, 2020 10:11 am

Ninube nods. "Wishful hope. I like that. I think it suits you now." Nozomi was different than Phi. She hasn't even called herself a killer once yet.
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Re: [D24 LE] Relaxing with Friends (Expecting)

Post by Nozomi » Sat Jun 20, 2020 11:37 am

she still was... or at least she was still capable of it if she needed to be, but it was something that she was starting the process of putting aside. A choice that was perhaps two weeks old now, it was going to take time to really sink in. There was a time and a place, but ... she was no longer called to just be that person.

"I like it too. I think what I like most is finally feeling like I have found where I belong."
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