Heavenfall

Huh. She'd never seen her blush before. It wasn't unattractive, but it was strange on her. Phi opted not to pry into it, since it could have several meanings, most of them innocent. "It's not exactly a romantic location," she laughed it off, ignoring the fact that she would quite possibly be sharing someone's tent tonight. "But I get it. You're used to working alone. That doesn't work here, though, not at all. The things we're fighting... do not play fair."

"Yeah, well, not like I've never worked with others before. Just usually not very dependable people, don't work how I work." She frowned a bit. "Still getting used to the way everyone here works too. Didn't trust most for at least a few days. Talkin' with you, Kinsen an' Shinsei's got me more at peace of mind about everyone, even if the situation's shit."

"From what you've told me... You'd do well with Sora. The old buzzard's still pretty stealthy when he wants to be, and he's cutthroat enough that the things here won't know what hit them from either of you." A quick nod. "But some of these folks are more ... how to put it? Straightforward? Up in your face? And I get the feeling you're not. But good. Glad you've been getting your feet under you." You know, before they actually crossed into the shadowlands.

Umeno raised an eyebrow. "And here is thought I'd been nothing but straight forward with you so far. Guess I just have that sorta attitude. Was true in Kuwagaya lands too, always seemed suspicious to everyone."

"I'm just teasin' of course. I understand what you meant. Actually already met the old man once, back when we were still in civilized lands. Seems a decent sort I suppose, him and that other Jiyo." She smiled faintly at the memory. "There are certainly some I'd rather avoid, so that much y' got me on."

"Oh, I'd prefer to call it practical." Of course she would. She got the same 'suspicious' routine every once in a long time, though far less anymore, given how the Hikaru had shifted in the last few years. "Though I might be making a few assumptions, given what they say about Bayushi and working alone."

"Mmmm? Oh, the talkative one, Ayumu? We've met a couple times. Decent sort. Chattier than me." Like calling water wet, this one.

"Mm, excitable at least. Though it was before bed, so there was only so much talking." It'd been over a week ago at that, and seemed far longer.

She almost raised an eyebrow. Phrasing? No, no after what they'd just said she probably meant that they had to get to bed soon, not... that. Phi mentally chastised herself. Her mind was in the gutter, and she blamed several things, not the least was this was the last day she was sure that she was safe to...

She was going to stop thinking about that right now. It was making her own cheeks heat up. "Yes. Excitable is definitely something I would use to describe him. Doesn't seem a bad sort, though. Sora vouches for him too, which goes a long way with me."

Umeno gave a small smirk. "It was back in Crab lands, when they had the expedition sharing rooms. Your skin tone makes every flush pretty apparent you know."

"Oh right. Hah. I didn't stay in the rooms there. Too much a death trap." And then the other comment made her reach up and scratch the back of her head, laughing a little. "You don't say... I wonder if maybe that was part of why I covered half my face with a black veil. It was handy."

"You know better than I do, so no point in my guessing." She paused. "Just like I can't say why you took it off. I know that whole deal about apologizing to Bayushi for y', but I also know it's more than that. Still, not my place to pry. Fact is, rather not know. You have your own reasons, and you'll say if you need to, but I doubt I'd be able to change or help anything anyway."

"Ah... hehe... It's both complicated and not," she admitted and shrugged. "But thank you for offering that. I don't know if I follow after Shinsei as I intend when I would have the chance. As for the rest, I don't entirely know what I'm doing. I just know that I'm doing it is all. Like feeling around when you're blind. Don't worry about it. You will find your own path." she was fairly sure of that.

"I believe I already do. Everything's a path if you're willing to take it though." Umeno paused, then gave a slight grin. "So then, that answers a bit of it. Following the Little Teacher, eh? He DID mention you bugging him when we talked..."

She laughed. "We've... spoken several times, yes. I hadn't expected what I found in him. He's a fascinating man." It was impossible to miss that when she said that, she wasn't simply talking about his wisdom. There was definitely something else there in her eyes. "I don't truly understand the path that he walks, but ... I suppose that's part of the point of learning a new way, isn't it?"

"I suppose," Umeno said nonchalantly. "We'll both have to learn new paths once this is all over then. I'll have to listen to Bayushi more and get some manners and politeness to me, and you can learn... how to speak in riddles or whatever. Though, I just tease; he was pretty clear with me when I was blunt with him."

"Fortunes preserve you. Why in the bleeding hell would you actually need to learn all of..." She paused and frowned and then held up a forestalling. "Right, because once we leave the lip of hell, people like Nanzi are in charge in the big cities, and we all have to be careful what we say and how we say it, yes?" Did her tone say her opinions on that? Oh yes, yes it did.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, that caused more of a flush in Umeno than anything previous. She looked away and murmured. "I... I made a promise, that's why. Because I can't live selfishly forever."

She could see the flush in the girl's cheeks and she didn't pry directly. Oh no. Umeno was being pointedly circumspect in avoiding saying what that promise was or who it was with. But it seemed... important. "I hope that, if we survive the mouth of hell, I get the chance to see this promise of yours, little miss selfless," she teased her a little, settling some. "A promise is a thing meant to be kept. I confess that I do not envy you having to learn the courtly ways. The little of this 'etiquette' I know, the happier I am."

Despite appearances? She knew quite a bit. She just actively chose not to engage it unless she really needed to. It was annoying to her.

"W-well, it's hardly like I'll become a courtier. I'm a warrior, and I'll stay a warrior. I still plan on using my weapon, training to get better with it, making myself stronger, tougher, faster." Her blush slowly faded as she got back to normal. "Just have to learn all the san's, sama's, and dono's, and how to drink tea properly, stuff like that."

She grunted. "I'm not calling you Bayushi-san unless you tell me to," she muttered, shaking her head and laughing. "I don't see the point in all the formality, if you ask me. Gets in the way. What do you do if you have twelve members of the same family. Hello, bayushi-san, and bayushi-san, and bayushi-san, and ... uh, Bayushi-sama! Oh, and Bayushi-chan... uuuuuugh. I know the words. A merchant taught me them in passing, but nooo, Shinsei preserve me I don't want to."

"Yeah, I get you, but them's the breaks. Progress sucks sometimes." Umeno grinned. "Though you can still call me whatever you want as long as I'm the only Scorpion around."