[ooc | for my records, this is continued from here.]
It isn't that the security of Kinpa Palace is lax or neglectful by any stretch of the imagination, but the Daiboku — that is, the Captain of the Palace Guard — has a good grasp of just how Youko's acquaintances tend to turn up. Official visits from the Emperor and Taiho of En are stuffy and can be unpleasant; not the atmosphere for drinking in the garden, playing games, and talking into the small hours of the night. At some point, it just became common practice to open the forbidden gate for them when they decided to show up.
That said, she did warn the servants as best she could for Calhir's unusual appearance. No need for them to get confused and sound the alarm, thinking a youma had snuck in. But there are so many buildings on the mountain that houses the imperial palace of Kei — thirty-two alone for Youko to sleep in — that there was high possibility the word didn't spread far enough fast enough.
She has done what she can on her end to make sure her guest finds the right one, having extra lanterns lit around the pillars and paths of the garden pavillion off the rokushin, her personal quarters. It lacks a clear view of the Sea of Clouds, which she favors, but it has the least obstructed view of the moon short of riding out over the sea itself. Her guest seemed interested in drinking under the stars, so that may as well be the order of things.
Youko herself is dressed down in the sort of clothes she calls comfortable and her chief lady-in-waiting would struggle to say anything positive about. This being an off-the-books meeting, and one she dressed for without help, means she doesn't have to give a fig about her dignity as an empress. She's seated at the table under the pavilion with the bottles, cups, and a sufficient number of snacks (she maybe extorted the kirin of En to get her from Hourai), waiting in the night breeze.
[ Youko has to wait a little longer; his fault for ever preferring the highest seat in - or, usually, on - the house. He pokes around a few more open windows before, finally, the lights in the garden draw his attention and he glides down for a look. He's no owl, but for his size his arrival is whisper-quiet. ]
Hello, Youko. I didn't think you'd be waiting for me out here. I may have scared one of your servants...
[ Calhir's courtesy may be very distant indeed from that which is in theory owed to an empress, but he isn't entirely immune to the feeling that her time is more valuable than his, so the comment comes across as slightly chastened, for underestimating her hospitality and for the delay it caused.
He's dressed perhaps a little more richly than her, but his 'caste' favors light clothing to begin with - his laced knee-length pants and apron-like top are typical. So there isn't really much of a difference there. ]
[For as quietly as he arrived, Youko is getting up from her chair just a beat before he says hello. A perk of her kirin's shirei sticking to her shadows. She smiles warmly up at Calhir, hands coming to rest on her hips with a soft chuckle about him frightening a servant.]
I'll have someone deliver rice cakes and wine to the staff. I'd do it myself, but that might frighten them more. [She huffs a little at that, it clearly something she struggles with. Then, she starts a little, remembering herself, gesturing to the chair across from her.] Sit down, please. I owe you a drink.
[There are ceramic bottles lined up nicely on the table accompanied by matching ceramic cups, and low ceramic dishes of snacks — round fried flatbreads filled with mince, sweet small diamond-shaped rice cakes, fresh cut peaches and pears, peanuts mixed with spicy rice cracker shards. She wasn't sure what he'd like, but if none of her choices suit him, they can always go on an adventure to the kitchens.]
I'll admit there's only so much I can set up myself, but I hope you'll find it satisfactory.
An ruler isn't too different from a monster when you don't know its moods. I'm sure they'll warm to you in time.
[ In her staff she has people who are too frightened... and here, on the other hand, someone who could perhaps stand to be just a little less blunt with his phrasing, even if his intention was to sympathize. But he's not trying to be standoffish - if anything he finds that sunny disposition she's showing to be charming - and he sits with her easily at the invitation. ]
When you say it like that I want to press my claim again. [ An amused twist crosses his lips. ] To that mystery bottle you've hidden away. But I did relinquish that, didn't I? So tell me what we are drinking. Or who recommended it, or where you found it.
[ Since he can hardly expect her to necessarily know the provenance of every bottle in her stores. ]
Well, it's more that — [She sighs, one that comes with soul-deep exhaustion, before changing her demeanor. She does her best impression of a cold, stoic individual giving a lecture.] — "the servants won't know what to make of you speaking to them casually, your majesty. It isn't done, it diminishes the dignity of the throne".
[She relaxes into her seat, the tension inherent in her mimicry dissipating.]
But I catch your warning. I never want to be someone my people are afraid of anyways.
[He gets a smile for turning the conversation to the volume of liquor she's unearthed.]
You're never seeing that bottle, but you're welcome to these. We have white liquor, yellow wine, wolfberry wine, and cassia wine.
[ Calhir nods. He was a smaller fish in a much smaller pond, but still... prized enough that he knows what it's like to have an image you were given to uphold. ]
I'll take the white. What about you?
[ He's assuming they're pouring for each other here. ]
I wonder, should I be flattered or insulted that you doff the cloak of dignity so quickly with me?
[ That bare hint of a smile again. He's teasing. ]
[He assumes wrong. It would just be plain bad manners to not let her pour for her guest; higher station be damned, she was taught to pour for the older party and that is what she'll do. She deftly picks up a ceramic bottle of baijiu and offers him one of the cups.]
I prefer the white myself, but I wasn't going to skimp on what was on offer.
[She laughs wryly at his teasing, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she pours neatly into his cup.]
I think you should be honored — there are, as we speak, 500-year-old emperors who haven't gotten the privilege.
[That toast gets another laugh out her, a longer one that has her shoulders quaking. She hopes that emperor sneezes right about now — let him wonder who is talking about him tonight. Youko would usually sip her drinks, but if she is keeping pace with a vigorous drinker, well. She throws her own cup back with clear practice, enjoying the faint, sweet flavor as it slides down her throat for a moment before refilling both their cups.]
Well, I can't possibly serve guests bad food or drinks. Think of the imperial dignity, how it would suffer.
[Youko assumes he means the gardens. She was weened on Shouryuu making passes just to fluster her and he practically lives in the brothels of En, so anything short of what she finds egregious slips beneath her notice these days. Glancing around the garden — perhaps a little lacking on a traditional garden, more rock than manicured plants — she smiles, softly.]
I'm glad it passes muster, but I should take you down to the shore before you go.
[The Sea of Clouds is a literal title, after all. Where they sit above the cloud line exists another ocean, casting its own tides of rain water and unshed storms against the side of the mountain. It is her favorite part of living here, so much so that if it wouldn't have resulted in giving her staff more work, she might have moved the rokushin to another building, nearer a view of it. It reminds her of home — her old home.]
You want the provenance of the snacks?
[She laughs against the rim of her cup, and takes a sip before answering.]
My kitchen staff made the flatbreads and cakes, they know I like them so there are always plenty kept on hand in case of something like this. The rice cracker-peanut thing was something I asked En Taiho to get from Hourai — [She adds on a quick clarification.] — from the place I was born. I cut all the fruit, and filled all the flasks.
[ Since she'd said she'd prepared them. Of course most people of importance considered the work of their staffs to be their own, but when Youko flaunted such expectations from the start he'd considered that she might be speaking literally.
Now he turned a slice of peach over in his hand. Cut by an empress. That made it a rather rare thing, if you thought about it... but it was cut by an empress to be eaten, so there's really nothing else to do with it, is there? Down it goes, followed by another full cup. ]
If you take me to the shore I might just take you swimming.
[ He laughs and flexes his wings slightly; he knows perfectly well what she means. They use a similar naming convention where he's from. ]
I think if I had used the kitchen to actually cook, I would have really gotten in trouble.
[Youko gives him an apologetic smile while refilling his cup. The truth was, she wasn't half bad at cooking. She had grown up learning how to from her mother, one of the humble tasks of a girl, but she hadn't cooked anything much harder than boiled water for tea since ascending. (And even doing that got her disapproving looks.) Messing with the imperial kitchen stores was a surefire way to be found out, and the ovens were a little more difficult than what she was used to.]
You'll have to settle for the spread being heavy on good drinks and light on the 'homemade' snacks.
[She downs her cup to keep up before refilling both their cups. She laughs, just the slightest edge of a giggle creeping in as he flexes his wings.]
I think the only way my shadows listening in don't rat me out for accepting that offer is if we let them come with us.
I wasn't expecting it. Mostly wanted to know how far you'd pushed things with the court. I know how they react to... sullying your hands.
[ He just keeps putting them down as fast as she pours for him. Whether its the alcohol or just him slowly unwinding from his less-than-relaxed everyday state as they talk, he is wearing a smile when he puts the cup down again.]
Your shadows? Is that why you have this... leeway with your guests you were telling me about?
It's not like they disguise that I'm not their favorite ruler, though I am slowly ousting the loudest, entrenched of the bunch.
[She is lockstep with him on drinks, her smile loosening up just a bit the only real indication that she's had as much as she has. She refills their cups from the next flask.]
No, not really. The last little stunt — [A little bit of code for 'assassination attempt'.] — had Keiki adamant that I be more careful. Two of his servants — oh, no, three of them are keeping an eye on us as we speak. That bit of leeway is really just because my regular guests are of high status. I've sort of asked for a wait-and-see policy if at all possible.
Like pulling teeth, I'm sure. [ Not that he can say much. It had been beyond his imagination, to try to change how things were done, back when he was in the middle of it. ]
You're a lot stronger than you look, aren't you?
[ He means in terms of will... though it could probably be taken as a comment on her drinking too. Keeping up with someone who outweighs her a few times over even for this long. ]
And do his servants have their own wings? Carrying four would be awkward. And if I was up to anything nefarious I'd just drop them anyway...
I think what makes it hard is that they can live forever. They get so set in the formalities and processes from a hundred years ago, two hundred years ago—
[It is like pulling teeth. She is more than happy to keep the civil servants who are passionate about their roles, who want Kei to thrive. It is the ones clinging to status even after she ordered kowtowing minimized, the ones angry she puts official they deem lesser in high positions that are the headache. She needs an effectual court to do her best for Kei and has been fighting to put that in order since she took the throne.
Maybe one day she'll have it.
Youko downs her cup with those thoughts swirling around in her head, laughter brittle while she pours a new drink.]
I don't think so. I'm just hanging on by my fingernails most of the time.
[Whether she understood him and meant her will or believed the question to be about her drinking is left for Calhir to guess at.
She reclines in her seat, letting her head loll to the side, hair cushioning her cheek on against shoulder.]
[ He can't answer that with much but a sympathetic nod. His species is long-lived but his homeland was too small to have much in the way of middlemen and functionaries; immortal bureaucrats are well outside his experience. And even if they were...
He does, though, take her second answer for being addressed to the more serious topic. ]
Hanging on by your fingers is where you need the strength.
[ He clicks his claws together, contemplating them. Easier than looking someone in the eye when he's confessing. ]
[Youko listens to him with a distant look in her eyes, swishing her cup, watching the how the liquor churns and ripples the reflection on the surface. Watches him clack his claws in miniature, eyes rolling up to look at the real deal. She lowers her voice, not wanting to be heard beyond their table, truly only wanting him to hear this. No one in Kinpa Palace needs to know her drunken anxieties. Her words are cautious, deliberate, not a single syllable meant to diminish his words. Just her drawing the line between their different circumstances.]
But you have wings, Calhir.
[Failure is the destruction of the land. Failure is Keiki sickening. Failure is abdication because she couldn't cut it, and abdication is her death. Just like the last empress.]
Back then it didn't feel like it. It felt like I was tearing them off.
[ His response is the same; there's no argument in the words. The distinction she draws is correct in many ways, including the most literal: the abilities he was born with, the strength of his body, are enough to allow him to survive almost anywhere. He lost many important things when he ran, but the risk to his life itself was far less than it would be for most people, let alone Youko.
And yet. He understands that feeling of responsibility. His was not so all-consuming, but he was still raised to believe he was the favor of their god for his chosen people given form. ]
[It is a kind offer, one she won't turn down, and the atmosphere was getting too heavy. What better time to share his wings? She starts to set her full cup down before thinking better of it and downing the sweet baijiu in one shot, a satisfied smile on her slightly heated face, then placing down the empty cup and getting to her feet with a slight sway.]
How? You'll have to tell me what to do.
[They'll have to go to the eastern side of the palace, where there is false shoreline made out of a ridge on the mountain. She often takes Keikei down there to play. She puts a hand out to Calhir, and grins expectantly at him, waiting for him to take her up on the offer.]
Riding astride is for horses and consorts, your majesty.
[ His tone is determinedly neutral. He probably shouldn't have said anything at all, since it seems far more likely she'd made an empty tipsy comment than an insinuation. But the way she's grinning does make him want to joke. And maybe push his luck, which here is a word standing in for those unseen boundaries of comfort. ]
Carrying you in my arms is most comfortable. If you'll put your arms around my neck...
[ He kneels down. The intimacy of the position isn't entirely lost on him, but he's been doing this for a long time, since he was young, usually for quite pragmatic reasons, so... it's mostly lost on him. And the alternatives are all awful. He could just carry her in those big ol' bird feet but it would be incredibly undignified and uncomfortable by comparison. Under her arms doesn't look as bad but it's still pretty awkward and less secure. On his shoulders forces him into some really inefficient and difficult forms of flight... and so on. ]
[Youko had meant it as innocently as could be, not an insinuation to be found in her head, so his reply does make her blink up at him wide eyed and flushed. Her grin doesn't drop off, so much as soften with the warmth overtaking her face.
It is hardly the first time she's been caught out by a joke like that, just the first time around Calhir. At least, she thinks that was a joke. The neutral tone is one she struggles with even sober. It takes her and her floating mind a moment to manage to tack on any comment at all.]
And— and kijuu —
[He doesn't take her offered hand, so she retracts it just in time to watch him kneel down. Even if he says it is the most comfortable, that is certainly not a position she's used to being in, and she feels awkward stepping into his personal space, carefully looping her arms up around his neck.]
I'm not going to be pulling on anything like this, am I?
[ He wraps his arms around her, one supporting her body and the other her legs as he picks her up-
-and then the earth recedes, as his crouch becomes an inhumanly high leap becomes the first and second beats of his great wings, a furious first second of ascent that carries them far above stone shore and most of the roofs of the palace. He spends another few seconds in a gentler climb, then banks so that she's facing the mountain, the now-shrunken cliffs and buildings and points of lamplight. ]
Can you see it?
[ He's never gotten an exact grasp on how good - or from his perspective, bad - human night vision is. ]
[Incorrect, but she only realizes that as the speed of their ascent makes her lose her breath, a lightheadedness joining the warm haze of alcohol in her bloodstream. Youko clings on tighter, idly hoping she isn't pulling at any plumage with her hands by mistake while trying to refill her lungs with steady breaths.
The first thing her eyes see, adjusting to the dark void his wings are keeping them hung in, are the fast moving figures of Hyouki and Hankyo chasing up from the palace, her poor shadows as disarmed by Calhir's speed as she was. She tries to turn into the wind, angling her head so her hair on the breeze doesn't whip them both blind. Then the night on a wider stage becomes shades of blues and blacks she can parse, and she can see Mount Gyouten, smaller, dotted in miniature by pinpricks of lanterns and rooftops catching moonlight. It is something she may have seen when they first marched on the capital, not that she remembers much beyond the fighting. It is so small and fragile looking to her.]
That— yes, I can see it.
[She doesn't feel brave enough to lean back, but she relaxes her grip just a little.]
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It isn't that the security of Kinpa Palace is lax or neglectful by any stretch of the imagination, but the Daiboku — that is, the Captain of the Palace Guard — has a good grasp of just how Youko's acquaintances tend to turn up. Official visits from the Emperor and Taiho of En are stuffy and can be unpleasant; not the atmosphere for drinking in the garden, playing games, and talking into the small hours of the night. At some point, it just became common practice to open the forbidden gate for them when they decided to show up.
That said, she did warn the servants as best she could for Calhir's unusual appearance. No need for them to get confused and sound the alarm, thinking a youma had snuck in. But there are so many buildings on the mountain that houses the imperial palace of Kei — thirty-two alone for Youko to sleep in — that there was high possibility the word didn't spread far enough fast enough.
She has done what she can on her end to make sure her guest finds the right one, having extra lanterns lit around the pillars and paths of the garden pavillion off the rokushin, her personal quarters. It lacks a clear view of the Sea of Clouds, which she favors, but it has the least obstructed view of the moon short of riding out over the sea itself. Her guest seemed interested in drinking under the stars, so that may as well be the order of things.
Youko herself is dressed down in the sort of clothes she calls comfortable and her chief lady-in-waiting would struggle to say anything positive about. This being an off-the-books meeting, and one she dressed for without help, means she doesn't have to give a fig about her dignity as an empress. She's seated at the table under the pavilion with the bottles, cups, and a sufficient number of snacks (she maybe extorted the kirin of En to get her from Hourai), waiting in the night breeze.
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Hello, Youko. I didn't think you'd be waiting for me out here. I may have scared one of your servants...
[ Calhir's courtesy may be very distant indeed from that which is in theory owed to an empress, but he isn't entirely immune to the feeling that her time is more valuable than his, so the comment comes across as slightly chastened, for underestimating her hospitality and for the delay it caused.
He's dressed perhaps a little more richly than her, but his 'caste' favors light clothing to begin with - his laced knee-length pants and apron-like top are typical. So there isn't really much of a difference there. ]
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I'll have someone deliver rice cakes and wine to the staff. I'd do it myself, but that might frighten them more. [She huffs a little at that, it clearly something she struggles with. Then, she starts a little, remembering herself, gesturing to the chair across from her.] Sit down, please. I owe you a drink.
[There are ceramic bottles lined up nicely on the table accompanied by matching ceramic cups, and low ceramic dishes of snacks — round fried flatbreads filled with mince, sweet small diamond-shaped rice cakes, fresh cut peaches and pears, peanuts mixed with spicy rice cracker shards. She wasn't sure what he'd like, but if none of her choices suit him, they can always go on an adventure to the kitchens.]
I'll admit there's only so much I can set up myself, but I hope you'll find it satisfactory.
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[ In her staff she has people who are too frightened... and here, on the other hand, someone who could perhaps stand to be just a little less blunt with his phrasing, even if his intention was to sympathize. But he's not trying to be standoffish - if anything he finds that sunny disposition she's showing to be charming - and he sits with her easily at the invitation. ]
When you say it like that I want to press my claim again. [ An amused twist crosses his lips. ] To that mystery bottle you've hidden away. But I did relinquish that, didn't I? So tell me what we are drinking. Or who recommended it, or where you found it.
[ Since he can hardly expect her to necessarily know the provenance of every bottle in her stores. ]
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[She relaxes into her seat, the tension inherent in her mimicry dissipating.]
But I catch your warning. I never want to be someone my people are afraid of anyways.
[He gets a smile for turning the conversation to the volume of liquor she's unearthed.]
You're never seeing that bottle, but you're welcome to these. We have white liquor, yellow wine, wolfberry wine, and cassia wine.
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I'll take the white. What about you?
[ He's assuming they're pouring for each other here. ]
I wonder, should I be flattered or insulted that you doff the cloak of dignity so quickly with me?
[ That bare hint of a smile again. He's teasing. ]
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I prefer the white myself, but I wasn't going to skimp on what was on offer.
[She laughs wryly at his teasing, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she pours neatly into his cup.]
I think you should be honored — there are, as we speak, 500-year-old emperors who haven't gotten the privilege.
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[ When she's poured for them both, he raises his cup in a toast. ]
To youth and indistinction.
[ He quaffs the cup in one gulp. He has been dropping hints he's a strong drinker up 'til now, so probably no surprise. ]
See, I knew it would be good...
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[That toast gets another laugh out her, a longer one that has her shoulders quaking. She hopes that emperor sneezes right about now — let him wonder who is talking about him tonight. Youko would usually sip her drinks, but if she is keeping pace with a vigorous drinker, well. She throws her own cup back with clear practice, enjoying the faint, sweet flavor as it slides down her throat for a moment before refilling both their cups.]
Well, I can't possibly serve guests bad food or drinks. Think of the imperial dignity, how it would suffer.
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[ He means the gardens, but that could pretty easily come off as flirting. He has been paying more attention to her hair than the landscaping.
He pushes the cup out for another fill, sampling the fruit she's laid out as he waits. ]
When you said you prepared this yourself...
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I'm glad it passes muster, but I should take you down to the shore before you go.
[The Sea of Clouds is a literal title, after all. Where they sit above the cloud line exists another ocean, casting its own tides of rain water and unshed storms against the side of the mountain. It is her favorite part of living here, so much so that if it wouldn't have resulted in giving her staff more work, she might have moved the rokushin to another building, nearer a view of it. It reminds her of home — her old home.]
You want the provenance of the snacks?
[She laughs against the rim of her cup, and takes a sip before answering.]
My kitchen staff made the flatbreads and cakes, they know I like them so there are always plenty kept on hand in case of something like this. The rice cracker-peanut thing was something I asked En Taiho to get from Hourai — [She adds on a quick clarification.] — from the place I was born. I cut all the fruit, and filled all the flasks.
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[ Since she'd said she'd prepared them. Of course most people of importance considered the work of their staffs to be their own, but when Youko flaunted such expectations from the start he'd considered that she might be speaking literally.
Now he turned a slice of peach over in his hand. Cut by an empress. That made it a rather rare thing, if you thought about it... but it was cut by an empress to be eaten, so there's really nothing else to do with it, is there? Down it goes, followed by another full cup. ]
If you take me to the shore I might just take you swimming.
[ He laughs and flexes his wings slightly; he knows perfectly well what she means. They use a similar naming convention where he's from. ]
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[Youko gives him an apologetic smile while refilling his cup. The truth was, she wasn't half bad at cooking. She had grown up learning how to from her mother, one of the humble tasks of a girl, but she hadn't cooked anything much harder than boiled water for tea since ascending. (And even doing that got her disapproving looks.) Messing with the imperial kitchen stores was a surefire way to be found out, and the ovens were a little more difficult than what she was used to.]
You'll have to settle for the spread being heavy on good drinks and light on the 'homemade' snacks.
[She downs her cup to keep up before refilling both their cups. She laughs, just the slightest edge of a giggle creeping in as he flexes his wings.]
I think the only way my shadows listening in don't rat me out for accepting that offer is if we let them come with us.
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[ He just keeps putting them down as fast as she pours for him. Whether its the alcohol or just him slowly unwinding from his less-than-relaxed everyday state as they talk, he is wearing a smile when he puts the cup down again.]
Your shadows? Is that why you have this... leeway with your guests you were telling me about?
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[She is lockstep with him on drinks, her smile loosening up just a bit the only real indication that she's had as much as she has. She refills their cups from the next flask.]
No, not really. The last little stunt — [A little bit of code for 'assassination attempt'.] — had Keiki adamant that I be more careful. Two of his servants — oh, no, three of them are keeping an eye on us as we speak. That bit of leeway is really just because my regular guests are of high status. I've sort of asked for a wait-and-see policy if at all possible.
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You're a lot stronger than you look, aren't you?
[ He means in terms of will... though it could probably be taken as a comment on her drinking too. Keeping up with someone who outweighs her a few times over even for this long. ]
And do his servants have their own wings? Carrying four would be awkward. And if I was up to anything nefarious I'd just drop them anyway...
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[It is like pulling teeth. She is more than happy to keep the civil servants who are passionate about their roles, who want Kei to thrive. It is the ones clinging to status even after she ordered kowtowing minimized, the ones angry she puts official they deem lesser in high positions that are the headache. She needs an effectual court to do her best for Kei and has been fighting to put that in order since she took the throne.
Maybe one day she'll have it.
Youko downs her cup with those thoughts swirling around in her head, laughter brittle while she pours a new drink.]
I don't think so. I'm just hanging on by my fingernails most of the time.
[Whether she understood him and meant her will or believed the question to be about her drinking is left for Calhir to guess at.
She reclines in her seat, letting her head loll to the side, hair cushioning her cheek on against shoulder.]
No wings, but they fly all the same.
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He does, though, take her second answer for being addressed to the more serious topic. ]
Hanging on by your fingers is where you need the strength.
[ He clicks his claws together, contemplating them. Easier than looking someone in the eye when he's confessing. ]
I didn't have it. I let go.
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But you have wings, Calhir.
[Failure is the destruction of the land. Failure is Keiki sickening. Failure is abdication because she couldn't cut it, and abdication is her death. Just like the last empress.]
If I let go, there is only the fall.
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[ His response is the same; there's no argument in the words. The distinction she draws is correct in many ways, including the most literal: the abilities he was born with, the strength of his body, are enough to allow him to survive almost anywhere. He lost many important things when he ran, but the risk to his life itself was far less than it would be for most people, let alone Youko.
And yet. He understands that feeling of responsibility. His was not so all-consuming, but he was still raised to believe he was the favor of their god for his chosen people given form. ]
Will you share my wings for a night, then?
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[It is a kind offer, one she won't turn down, and the atmosphere was getting too heavy. What better time to share his wings? She starts to set her full cup down before thinking better of it and downing the sweet baijiu in one shot, a satisfied smile on her slightly heated face, then placing down the empty cup and getting to her feet with a slight sway.]
How? You'll have to tell me what to do.
[They'll have to go to the eastern side of the palace, where there is false shoreline made out of a ridge on the mountain. She often takes Keikei down there to play. She puts a hand out to Calhir, and grins expectantly at him, waiting for him to take her up on the offer.]
I only know how to ride astride.
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[ His tone is determinedly neutral. He probably shouldn't have said anything at all, since it seems far more likely she'd made an empty tipsy comment than an insinuation. But the way she's grinning does make him want to joke. And maybe push his luck, which here is a word standing in for those unseen boundaries of comfort. ]
Carrying you in my arms is most comfortable. If you'll put your arms around my neck...
[ He kneels down. The intimacy of the position isn't entirely lost on him, but he's been doing this for a long time, since he was young, usually for quite pragmatic reasons, so... it's mostly lost on him. And the alternatives are all awful. He could just carry her in those big ol' bird feet but it would be incredibly undignified and uncomfortable by comparison. Under her arms doesn't look as bad but it's still pretty awkward and less secure. On his shoulders forces him into some really inefficient and difficult forms of flight... and so on. ]
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It is hardly the first time she's been caught out by a joke like that, just the first time around Calhir. At least, she thinks that was a joke. The neutral tone is one she struggles with even sober. It takes her and her floating mind a moment to manage to tack on any comment at all.]
And— and kijuu —
[He doesn't take her offered hand, so she retracts it just in time to watch him kneel down. Even if he says it is the most comfortable, that is certainly not a position she's used to being in, and she feels awkward stepping into his personal space, carefully looping her arms up around his neck.]
I'm not going to be pulling on anything like this, am I?
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[ He wraps his arms around her, one supporting her body and the other her legs as he picks her up-
-and then the earth recedes, as his crouch becomes an inhumanly high leap becomes the first and second beats of his great wings, a furious first second of ascent that carries them far above stone shore and most of the roofs of the palace. He spends another few seconds in a gentler climb, then banks so that she's facing the mountain, the now-shrunken cliffs and buildings and points of lamplight. ]
Can you see it?
[ He's never gotten an exact grasp on how good - or from his perspective, bad - human night vision is. ]
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[Incorrect, but she only realizes that as the speed of their ascent makes her lose her breath, a lightheadedness joining the warm haze of alcohol in her bloodstream. Youko clings on tighter, idly hoping she isn't pulling at any plumage with her hands by mistake while trying to refill her lungs with steady breaths.
The first thing her eyes see, adjusting to the dark void his wings are keeping them hung in, are the fast moving figures of Hyouki and Hankyo chasing up from the palace, her poor shadows as disarmed by Calhir's speed as she was. She tries to turn into the wind, angling her head so her hair on the breeze doesn't whip them both blind. Then the night on a wider stage becomes shades of blues and blacks she can parse, and she can see Mount Gyouten, smaller, dotted in miniature by pinpricks of lanterns and rooftops catching moonlight. It is something she may have seen when they first marched on the capital, not that she remembers much beyond the fighting. It is so small and fragile looking to her.]
That— yes, I can see it.
[She doesn't feel brave enough to lean back, but she relaxes her grip just a little.]
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