[Completed Thread]

[roman_tragedy]

WHO: Lucretia Crescent and Yamazaki Susumu.
WHAT: Meeting for a walk and talk, away from the crowds.
WHERE: Around the eastern gardens and labyrinth.
WHEN: After night begins to fall on the night of the ball.

Comments

[roman_tragedy]

Even though the nights were warm, she was so accustomed to the cold that wearing a coat was a matter of habit. And that coat in particular was a bit more. She tried to remember the rest of her lines and verses, all the while with half a mind to be vigilant and note the presence of another. In the end neither were actually grasped until the voice tugged at her attention. Her head perked upward, away from the arrangement of petals before turning towards him. Given his clothing and how quiet he had been, she was the one who found herself hoping he had not been kept waiting.

"I am." She nodded with a small smile. "Am I what you expected?" It was an interesting presumption, what it was like after meeting people through the journals. But he didn't have to humor her. "You must be the mysterious young man from the book." She greeted him in return, as well as she knew how, at least.

She was just about his height, give or take a few tenths of an inch. It helped her to meet him at eye level as she took as few steps to approach. In addition, like her, it was difficult to tell his exact age. They were likely very different people, but starting with a few commonalities was always a good start.

"You look a bit like what I might have guessed," Lucretia provided first given she had asked the question. A small tilt of her head as if to view his face from a different angle. "Very serious and young. But also much older than I had imagined, too. It's strange how those two can come together."

[kocho_blade]

He hadn't expected anything, really. He had known Lucretia would be a woman, and she had sounded young. But not too young- perhaps in her early twenties. He supposed her face looked like it suited the way she wrote. Kind, with a subtle sort of prettiness. She wasn't wearing any makeup that he could detect, and her form of dress was very modest. She certainly wasn't from his time or place, that was obvious.

She seemed to like to talk. That was okay. Susumu didn't mind listening. After the past day or so have emotional highs and lows- just listening to someone talk about something mundane was.. relaxing. The Ninja had a very sharp face, his dark eyes were narrow and cheekbones high. However there was something delicate about his face, if you saw him long enough to take in all of the features together. It was an asset when it came to disguising himself, the basis behind his ability to pull off the role of Osei- a traditionally beautiful Japanese woman.

"I guess." Susumu felt slight discomfort at his lack of socialization skills, when it came to being himself. The most he interacted with strangers when not in a lady's kimono was when he was killing them. Lucretia would be the second person he had revealed himself to, physically at least. His shoulder still burned from the deep gash that had broken part of his collar-bone. Has last interaction hadn't been very friendly. In a street near the Crimson Dragon inn- there was a mysteriously large blood stain on the cobblestones due to his own lack of judgement. A gust of wind pulled at the cut flap in his uniform shirt, the crudely stitched gash was angry and red at the seam.

"My name.. Is Susumu. Yamazaki Susumu." It sounded strange on his tongue, and he couldn't remember the last time he had said it aloud. Lucretia was the only living person to know it, who wasn't in the Shinsengumi and aware of his covert operations.

[roman_tragedy]

It was as good an answer to any, especially if it had only been in rhetoric. She wouldn't have even minded if he had disregarded it completely. The fact that he even seemed to be trying was flattering. She was sure that, had her company been completely jaded to begin with, he would not have come to meet her at all. Or in fact, implied to ask her. He was quiet, but she didn't mind. She could carry on a wonderful conversation with the quietest with just a bit of patience and curiousity.

"Yamazaki Susumu..." Lucretia repeated, the words rolling easily off her tongue. She was glad to learn it, and so soon. She had quite a bit of practice with foreign names since her arrival, all of which seemed to share a similar origin. If anything, she even suspected the formalities to be the same now. Which is why she thought it polite to ask, "Is it all right to call you Susumu? In private, if I'm not supposed to use it anywhere else. Maybe we can even use a nickname." Before she could run along that tangent, she stopped herself and put out her hand.

"And again, my name is Lucretia Crescent. It's a bit different when people meet in person, isn't it?" She reintroduced herself. If there was anything that wasn't as convenient in writing, it was seeing people again.

[kocho_blade]

She could say his name rather well, for a foreigner. Lucretia. He rolled the 'r' sound a bit strongly, but other than that he was sure he had it down quite well. Susumu had learned english from a young age, it was essential for a spy to be versed in many languages. She acted quite differently then the women he was used to seeing, and pretending to be. More forward, with more visible personality. Foreign women seemed to be a lot more open.
He liked it better that way. He didn't like having to second-guess and try to decipher the underhanded treachery and backhanded politeness in which Japanese spoke.

"Written words can be taken in a variety of ways. They lack sincerity, and it's easy to write a lie." He licked his chapped lips, coughing lightly. His throat hurt like hell, ever since sprinting in the pouring rain to catch Asch. "In person, it's harder for people to fake who they are and undertones are more obvious." Was this a conversation? Susumu scratched idly at the wound on his shoulder, looking a bit less uncomfortable. "Yamazaki Susumu. That's my real name. Don't abuse it."

[roman_tragedy]

he clasped her hands at the small of her back, walking only a few paces to go toward the edge of the pale peach bricks surrounding each bed of flora. She listened intently to the few words that he did have to share, nodding with a few hums of acknowledgment, or encouragement to go on with her attention. She spun once when she reached the makeshift bench, sitting just in time to note the flaw in his clothing where he brushed it. It seemed that he had not yet been able to replace them, either. And that there was more to it than what met the eye.

"Yamazaki Susumu it is then. I'll take care of it," She agreed, and reminded him, even if it would be a bit long to say and write each turn. Sometimes she even enjoyed a bit of meticulousness. There was a certain sense of accomplishment after writing out Pseudomonas aeruginosa, among others, during a Parasitology exam.

"Written words can be taken in many ways," She couldn't help but to comment. "It takes more time and thought to sit and write a letter than say something out loud, sometimes. But I do suppose most sincerity, or lack thereof, lies between the lines."

[kocho_blade]

Susumu nodded. The Ninja had never written a letter to anyone. He had stolen letter, copied what someone had written to show his superiors- but there had never been a reason for him to write to anyone. The diary was his first experience writing as himself, and it was strange- How familiar it had become. At first it had made him angry, he had felt it was foolish. Now? he was meeting a woman from it's pages in a garden. If anything was foolish, it was him.
Why did he suddenly have this desire to see people- to speak to people? He had always been fine on his own before. He had gone for days not speaking to anyone as Susumu, and that had been fine.

Perhaps he was being too formal, what place did Japanese customs have in this place? Maybe because there were only two people who had ever really called him just Susumu. Ayumu, his newly dead sister- and that brat Tetsu. "You can just call me Susumu." In response to her earlier question. He was calling her 'Lucretia' so he supposed it was only fair.

"I haven't seen many of these flowers before." He went to hold a rose with a gloved hand. A sting of a small thorn, and he drew it back with a look of confusion. A small droplet of blood had beaded on the tip of his finger, and he almost childishly put it to his lips. He decided he didn't much like foreign flowers, even if they were pretty.

[roman_tragedy]

Lucretia smiled broadly, accompanied by an enthusiastic nod of confirmation when the final agreement was made. They would address one another on a first name basis. The formality, or lack thereof, was something that she had taken for granted before. It was quite remarkable: the limitlessness of new things that could be realized and learned in such a place. Even something as common or conventional as naming. And flowers.

"Careful," Lucretia started slightly when his actions conveyed being stung, even if he had not jerked back or cried out any sort of surprise. The furrow over his dark brow was enough. "Roses, and certain other flora, have their thorns for protection. But they're harmless if you're gentle." It was not unlike the roses that she had been looking at before, if not the same ones. "See?" She carefully untangled the blossom from its shrub where he had taken hold of it in order to show him the sparsely serrated stem. "Other varieties have been bred to lack thorns completely."

"Are you all right? Sit down," Lucretia asked, holding a hand out in case he needed the additional encouragement for her to tug him downward. It wasn't just the pinprick that she had taken note of.

[kocho_blade]

Was he so awkward he couldn't even touch a flower properly?
He was rough with people, rough with objects. He knew that his tongue tended to be scathing and his words sharp enough to cut. He wasn't used to putting any softness into his actual person, when he exuded it as Osei. How many times had he slapped Tetsu, made him angry and cry? The boy had done nothing but been a boy, and Susumu had called him weak and told him he wasn't worth the air he wasted breathing. He wondered how Tetsu was right now, and if he even noticed that Susumu was gone.

This woman, she seemed so.. He couldn't find a word for it. The way she touched things, spoke- moved. It was all so.... Susumu had never quite seen it before, so he didn't know how to explain it. It was calming, whatever it was. If Lucretia had been anyone else, he would of slapped her hand away. Yelled at her for even daring to think he could need her help.
Instead, the Ninja took her hand, and sat down beside her on the bricks.

"I'm fine. It was just a flower." It still bothered him that he had been caught unaware by a tiny thorn. A reminder that one always had to be careful, no matter how beautiful or delicate someone or something may seem.

He was reminded of the God-general, Asch. He supposed the young man was his enemy- when he wasn't disguised as Osei. He had been stupid to think it could be any other way, and his shoulder panged in agreement. His split collarbone and difficulty of movement in his left arm reminded him just how rash he had been. The blade had bitten to the bone, in a diagonal slash from the joint of his arm to almost below mid-collar. There was a dividing line, though the deep gash had been closed crudely with raw hand stitching. His clothing still had the tangy smell of blood, though most of it had been washed away in the rain. Susumu hadn't noticed it.

[roman_tragedy]

He was almost like a black kitten, learning about something like thorns on a rose. Quiet and almost meek. But certainly with something very cautious and almost feral behind his dark eyes. He was strong, had that look of skill or expert lithe to his body. But as they were now, she hardly felt fearful or in any sort of danger. She couldn't expect anyone else to trust her if she was guarded herself. Not that she even trusted herself for certain things anymore, but slowly, things were changing. They always would be.

"Right, flowers won't hurt you. That will heal before you know it," Lucretia agreed, glancing past his fingertips where the prick could hardly be traced anymore. The movement in his arm was stiff, if it had moved at all since he had come. She barely moved it either, though she did slowly reach for the tattered cloth to gain a better glance at it. "This will, too. But you should take better care of it so that can do so properly. Why haven't you gone to the clinic yet? It could get infected. And you might even have a light fever."

She wasn't trying to scold him, one look at the evidence having been enough to make closer assumptions and lead to the next. She wasn't a doctor who saw patients, either. It might have been obvious the way she crudely took his temperature by touching his forehead with one hand, the other at her own.

"You must be here alone, aren't you?" Lucretia couldn't help but to suggest softly. If there was someone, anyone, he might have been convinced to have it taken care of already. But instead he had chosen to meet with her.

[kocho_blade]

Susumu felt himself stiffen as the woman inspected him. If the Ninja ever had any physical contact, it was on the receiving end of an attack or a punishing slap. It was hard not to jerk his arm away, though he doubted he could anyway. Her fingers were gentle and warm, whereas his were cold and calloused.

He knew he hadn't done the best job at patching himself up, but it had been quick. He had no place to live, no allies. Asch had been merciful enough to leave him in an abandoned house out of the rain- where he at least had some chance of survival. He was alive, he had came out of the ordeal with an irritating cough and a sore shoulder- that was more than he had expected.

The Ninja's forehead was warm, though his face held a rather ghostly pallor. In all likelihood he was sick, but Susumu had felt overall like shit since he had arrived- and hadn't slept either (unless you counted being unconscious a few hours), so he hadn't noticed.

"I came alone, no one I know is here. There is one person, lying about his identity. He keeps trying to get my name, I don't trust him." Susumu's lips were pressed into a thin, strained line. The man had proclaimed to be one of his commanding officers, but hadn't sounded at all like Okita- and his information was all wrong. "If he was my superior, he would know that I am under orders to never reveal myself." A light cough, his throat was sore and hoarse.

[roman_tragedy]

He certainly wasn't used to being touched, that much could be communicated from the way he held himself rigid and at a fixed position. Lucretia tried not to touch him anymore than necessary or make him uncomfortable, though trying to see exactly what was wrong when the other was not particularly forthcoming with his condition, or anything else for that matter, was difficult without some extent of investigation. The more she looked over him and the closer she was able to note the details in the dim garden path lights, the more serious his condition became. It wasn't anything extremely urgent. But it could have been, and it was something. Especially for how he didn't seem to notice it himself.

"Hmm, I see," Lucretia responded. "I thought I was alone, too, at first. There are perhaps two people from my world. But, not people that I've ever met or known before. Maybe not even from the same time period. Maybe it's the same with this other person that thinks you're familiar." It was all very confusing sometimes. But from everything she had been able to read and piece together, it was the closest she could come. "I'm working on a theory of alternate dimensions and parallel universes. Maybe nothing will come of it, but, we'll see." Failures and false alarms were no new phenomenon in her line of work.

"Since everyone is likely at the ball," Lucretia finally began, her idle chatter having allowed her time to plan on another subject of importance altogether, "We can go to the Inn and you can rest there until the clinic opens tomorrow morning. I'll see what the apothecary has on hand to help your other symptoms. Walk with me for just a little longer?" She invited. They had hardly done so for most of their outing, but she hoped he would be able to now, just until the Inn. He shouldn't have been outside, no matter how warm. Much less at the ball.

[kocho_blade]

It was hard to wrap his mind around the ideas of alternate dimensions and universes. He had never left Japan, he didn't know what else was in his own world. He had seen some strange things in his time though, things he couldn't explain. Being transported to another place and time was a bit excessive though, the occasional spirit was a bit easier on the brain.

The Inn. Susumu didn't want to go back there. That annoying Emperor and the looked-like-Asch-but-wasn't boy had been there. A building that was busy and full of people was not a place Susumu wanted to be. The Ninja nearly wrinkled his nose at the suggestion, sharp brows knitting together. "I don't want to go to the Inn. It's too loud. I hate loud."

The clinic was another story altogether. He hated it when people touched him, looked at him- He didn't want a doctor pressing at his shoulder and trying to shove a powder down his throat. Ayumu had been the closest thing to a doctor he had ever experienced, and his sister hadn't made it a very enjoyable experience. However, his shoulder was nagging at him- a constant pain, and even moving his arm was beginning to become quite difficult... And maybe getting a night of sleep would make him feel less.. whatever he was feeling. He couldn't keep running on no sleep or food, even he wasn't that stubborn.

"I don't like it when people touch me. I only let you because.." The young man stood, rubbing at his eyes. "I'll go to the clinic. But I don't want them in my face. And I don't want them trying to make me eat things unless I know what it is. I can go another night without sleep, let's just..keep walking."

[roman_tragedy]

True, the Inn was loud. Sometimes it was nice, helping to distract her from the quiet and the stray thoughts that had a tendency to run rampant when left alone. Other times it could be a bit tiresome. She had suggested it because there were a number of foreigners there. So that their presence would almost be expected and not at all unusual. But if it was because of the noise, and possibly any other factors, then going somewhere he did not want to be in the first place was not at all appealing. Something, or someone, must have hurt his shoulder. It did not appear as if a simple accident had done the damage. It wasn't the natives of Rivelata that were hostile.

"The people at the clinic seem quite nice and knowledgeable, from what I've seen," Lucretia eventually offered him. She had watched him expectantly at first, when he had been about to give her a reason for accepting her actions. Just because it was glanced over or passed didn't mean that she would stop wondering, though. If anything, she was content that he let her despite his obvious stoicism. She always did like contact, in some way. Nothing had ever been harder than holding people she cared about at arm's length.

"Let's go somewhere else altogether," Lucretia suddenly suggested cheerfully as if it were a surprise, veering in the direction they went. They were walking towards the residential area. "It's quiet and safe. A bit too big. But for tonight, it should be just right."

[kocho_blade]

"Somewhere else?" Anywhere else but the Inn sounded good to him. He could handle the clinic if he didn't have to deal with the Inn. He trusted Lucretia, if she said that the people at the clinic were nice.. A small voice in the back of his head told him he was a fool for trusting her, that he didn't know her. He had given her his name, let her touch him- and he was a a fool. She would hurt and leave him like Asch.
Susumu rubbed at his face with a hand, as if a headache was tormenting him. He pushed the voice out of his mind, despite the fact he knew that he was acting strangely. Incautiously. He had been the one to offer to meet her. Something in this place brought out something in him he was unsure of- some need he had previously kept at bay. Maybe it was just the time things were happening, maybe these needs had always been there and he had just reached a boiling point.

He was too tired to think about it. It was too complicated, and sometimes it was better to not think of anything at all. More simple, less likely to make him nervous or paranoid or angry.
"Quiet and safe sounds ..good. I haven't been able to rest, no where I can go that I trust to fall asleep in." He answered her gruffly, trying his best to not be..boring.

[roman_tragedy]

"Mmhm." It was all she had hummed in return when he echoed the vague change of destinations. It might have been peculiar to throw caution to the wind when it came to suddenly following a strange woman in a strange place. But when she thought about it that way, it made quite a bit of sense. She also threw caution away in the past, just so she would not have that hindrance when plunging forward with a new research proposal or presentation. Sometimes the wind threw it back. But not always. She felt that the weather was too perfect to do anything too adverse with this particular endeavor anyway.

"It sounds like you've had quite the busy life, where you come from." She remarked to the notion of no sleep. She couldn't even begin to imagine how many days it had been, and was somewhat afraid to ask. At least until she was sure that he had at least one decent night. "Whenever I would lose sleep, it was because there was an important upcoming exam. Or I had to finish a certain procedure immediately after each step was done, in consecutive order." She told him as they went. She tried to keep her pace even, as with her words. In part, she spoke so much now so that he wouldn't have to exert the additional energy to humor her. Just his company was enough, silent or no. Not that the silences with Susumu would be awkward to begin with.

"Since coming here, there have been days when I've fallen asleep in the evenings and awaken far into the afternoon." She admittedly, almost sheepishly. It sounded slothful, with no responsibilities, and completely carefree. While that might have been true, in part, she was sure that it had to do with the vestiges of her own, permanent, dormancy before arriving.

"We're almost there." She announced when the buildings became more evenly spaced, sparring large glossy windows with assorted wares for verandas. Awnings for slanted rooftops. "It's very unconventional, but many of these homes are unoccupied and open for people like us to inhabit. I've been looking for something to stay in, apart from the Inn." Eventually, she stopped in the middle of the road. "There's this one," she indicated a shapely wooden Victorian cottage to her left with one hand, "And this." She finished by extending her right toward a building of slate colored stones. Turning back to him, she crossed her arms, at a loss. "Which one do you prefer?"

[kocho_blade]

Susumu had walked beside her in almost total silence, simply listening. He had to admit he enjoyed her voice, there was a soothing tone to it that was gentle on the ears. A drawback to his hypersensitive hearing from training was that a lot of noise was overly loud and abrasive- annoying. He often got headaches from the raucous shinsengumi practices, there was so much shouting and steel clashing. Lucretia wasn't loud, she didn't try and get his attention by raising her voice or grating on his nerves.

When they reached the houses, Susumu was silently grateful that rest was near. He had been able to stay alert simply by having no place to sleep, there was no point in wanting something he couldn't have. The fact that he would be able to temporarily relax his body in the future seemed to feed his exhaustion.

He could see Lucretia's dilemna. Both of the houses were equally interesting to look at, and had advantages and disadvantages. He was slowly becoming used to the foreign architecture, and found himself drawn to the strong lines and unfamiliar usage of stone and wood. As she folded her arms over his chest, Susumu did the same. It was a habit. He had drove his sister crazy at times by following her around and copying her body language, storing it in mind for later use as Osei.

"I like the wooden one." He didn't offer a reason. The stone, there was something about it that he didn't like as much as the wood. There was a gate, and the garden around it was nice as well. Not that Susumu usually picked his dwellings based on looks, but he had been asked to choose.

"Do you like the wooden one?" He raised a brow. They were an odd shape, small and sharp. In Japan, they were often called dragon-brows, and were said to show an intelligent but temperamental personality.