Practice Log

[isnotagiraffe]

Taiki was sat in the corner of the eating hall. His knees brought up to his chest as he looked around. This place was still frightening, they had no idea where he was. Some floors made him feel ill and even Keiki and Enki didn't know what was going on and they were much older and knew so much more than Taiki

Comments

[choseanidiot]

"Hey, kid," Enki called as he came ambling up to where Taiki was curled in his seat, patting the younger kirin fleetingly on the shoulder in an attempt to distract him from whatever had him down.

Not that they didn't have reason to be depressed about this place, but Taiki was so... open, all the time. Technically, they all were, but Taiki seemed to have taken it to an extreme.

"Sit up, okay? We can go to someplace later where Sanshi can come out," he said, even as he plopped down... on the edge of the table, instead of in the nearest chair.

[isnotagiraffe]

"En Taiho!" Taiki smiled as the Kirin came towards him, he felt better almost at once. At least Enki understood how he was feeling, and felt the same Taiki thought.

"Could we? I mean... I don't want to scare anyone."

[choseanidiot]

"Sure." In Enki's opinion, the animals wandering the forest were more liable to scare someone, but then, if Gouran ever had to attack and changed from his shiba inu guise... Yeah, that would probably be pretty scary.

"You eaten anything?" he said, frowning down at Taiki as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs and his chin in his hands.

[needsmoartact]

"They must grow accustomed to our shirei," was Keiki's form of greeting for the day. He would have seemed fine as he came to sit in the seat Enki had spurned, except that his skin had that certain pallor only extended exposure to blood could bring out.

It seemed they were, indeed, limited to the lifts if they wished to move between floors. He arranged his robes more carefully before speaking further. It was a kind of meditation, perhaps, or maybe just fastidiousness.

"Should your shirei need to defend you, hesitation on your part could lead to..." A hesitation of his own, "To problems."

[isnotagiraffe]

"Kei Taiho!" Taiki's smile got larger as the other kirin turned up. Enki was nice but Taiki had met Keiki first and considered him a friend. "I'm sorry, I didn't think of that."

He shook his head, "No, En Taiho I'm not sure there's anything we can eat." They had hoped the food would change daily, but it was still the same. Ice cream every single day, even in the drinks.

[choseanidiot]

"What?" Enki groaned and dragged a hand through his hair, long practice making the huge avoidance of even remotely touching his own forehead when completing this motion unconcious.

"I suppose we will have to eat the same thing this week out..." Enki was used to this, but it had been a long, long time ago, and frankly... eating the same food day in and day out was certainly not something he missed from his time in Japan.

"There's apples in apple pie. We should get those-- Hey, Keiki. Don't tell me you tried to take th stairs the whole way?" Enki turned slightly in his seat to frown at the tallest of the three, because that seemed something like he'd do, not Keiki.

[needsmoartact]

Which was precisely why Keiki had decided to try it first. Enki was older and more experienced by far: if the attempt had been too much, Keiki would rather it be him out of commission and unable to protect Taiki than the En Taiho. As it was, he was only feeling weak and ill. Nothing to be concerned about any further.

"Gouran's usual form should cause little alarm," he reassured Taiki, avoiding Enki's accusation. He got a slight nod, nothing more. "Sanshi might seem more fearsome, but from my experience, humans from other worlds adjust quickly."

He was going on Youko, of course, so that didn't really mean anything. His monarch seemed determined to be the exception to every rule, but he could hope.

[isnotagiraffe]

"Gouran! Sanshi!" Within moments there was a small dog in the middle of the circle of Kirin and Sanshi had gathered Taiki in her arms. He might be considered an adult now but this place was something else, somewhere strange. Both of them moved so that Taiki was sat next Keiki. Sat leant against Keiki and in Sanshi's arms Taiki felt a lot calmer.

"Did you really take the stairs Kei Taiho?"

[choseanidiot]

Enki just shrugged as Taiki called on his nyokai and shirei; he wasn't sure he agreed with Keiki's assessment of the adaptability in general, but at the same time...

Their shirei were, technically, harmless as long as they weren't threatened. There was no harm in calling them up, and doing so would get the others here used to them.

"Did you have anyone with you?" Enki leaned back on his hands, kicking his feet out with a frown. Of course... Keiki had probably not asked anyone, being Keiki. Enki stifled a sigh and instead tilted his head to smile at Taiki, who was obviously a lot more relaxed in Sanshi's lap.

[needsmoartact]

It took some adjusting to allow for the toutetsu in their midst, shirei or no. Keiki hadn't spent his 'childhood' avoiding their lairs for nothing. Taiki's presence against his side was calming, in any case. He allowed himself a small smile, which rapidly disappeared as Enki followed Taiki's question with his own.

"I did, and I did not." He shifted his head as he answered each of them in turn. "I have not yet met someone of whom I could ask such a thing."

[isnotagiraffe]

"That could have been dangerous Kei Taiho," Taiki's voice was soft and worried. He leant back into Sanshi's arms and looked up at Keiki in surprise, he could only go so far up or down the tower without feeling sick he was surprised the other kirin wasn't very dizy right now.

Or maybe he was, after all it was Keiki he wouldn't say if he was feeling bad.

[choseanidiot]

Enki didn't bother with calling it dangerous or anything, just groaned slightly with a shake of his head, pulling his feet up on the table and grabbing his ankles.

"Could just have grabbed the closest person on the way down," Enki finally said with a tilt of his head, then looked over at the other people sitting around and eating, neatly skipping over a contentedly curled-up Gouran.

It may look like a small shiba inu, but that was still a toutestu, and that was... unsettling.

"You'd think they'd still have fruit, at least, available."

[needsmoartact]

Taiki's answer - both for his chiding and his understanding - was Keiki's hand resting on his hair. Whilst they had agreed not to mention his disappearance, it was difficult to ignore it when the tiny kirin was with them again.

"My apologies," because the En Taiho was correct, Keiki's inability to approach people or no. He shook his head slightly, and began to consider the problem of food. "We could request that a number of apples be set aside for us, and for any others with similar problems."

[isnotagiraffe]

"No... I... I was just worried," Taiki floundered, finding it difficult as usual to accept an apology without assuming he was ultimately at fault.

"Do you think they would let us?"

[choseanidiot]

"Taiki, it's okay. He should apologize," Enki said with a shrug, tossing a smile at Taiki jsut to stop the stammering.

"There's enough problems with the people 'round here that stink of blood, no need to add to it by deciding it's smart to walk downstairs without help." With that though, he decdied it was enough; he was hardly the responsible one around here, so that he was the one who had to admonish Keiki... was strange.

But well. They were all self-sacrificing. Maybe this was why kings were needed, too.

"An' they better let us. I mean, besides the first meal no one's restricted to only one thing for a whole week; there's choices." Enki shook his head and hoped they wouldn't be punished just because they couldn't eat any of the other things.