[She doesn't need to apologize necessarily, but she can't stop herself. At least, it gives her something to do while trying to catch her rabbit-fast heartbeat and breathing, shoulders hunched up to her ears as her cheek rests against fine scales. The feeling of him patting her back is grounding, soothing.
With their combined efforts, she calms down enough to open her screwed shut eyes and pick her chin up. She meets Calhir's gaze with an embarrassed smile and a shaky laugh, the flush on her face a mixture of how rattled she was by the maneuver and the effects of the white liquor in her belly.]
[ He strokes her gently as he can while she calms, though the need to keep a hold on her makes the gesture a little more forceful than might be ideal. She feels small - or maybe it would be more accurate to say 'her real size', without the magnification of personality or title - like this.
He smiles back when she looks up, a slightly apologetic cast to his brow. And tamps down the little voice that says 'do it again' when he sees how flushed she is. ]
I will.
...this is what I love about them though. How quickly you can move when you catch the air. The ones who just float around like your servants may have most of the uses for it but they haven't half the joy.
[Though she feels a little like a house cat being pet too strongly, the feel of him stroking her back does help plenty. Her shoulders relax and Youko gently loosens her excessive hold on Calhir, apologizing as her fingers release the downy feeling feathers at the back of his neck, hoping she didn't dislodge any by the fistful.
She can only sort of imagine what he means as he talking about catching the air. She finds herself thinking of a lost feather drifting on the breeze, and how quickly it could shift directions when he makes his jab at Keiki's shirei. It startles her again, but pleasantly, making her laugh, and turns her smile a much less strained. That said —]
You didn't bring me up here just to show them up did you?
Abduct the empress just to start a race I know I'd win? Hardly.
[ For the first time he flashes real grin at her. The arrogance of youth, which he'd once had such a surfeit of, and now mostly shows itself for this topic alone. Nor does the flippant denial sound completely sincere. He would enjoy showing them up a little...
But he's here to show her a good time, honest, so no race is in the offing. ]
I did offer to take you for a swim in the sea of clouds, didn't I? Up for it?
[The grin is unexpected, cavalier and bright, an expression that she could never have imagined was in the offing. Youko finds herself looking at a Calhir she hasn't seen before, one she likes being shown up here where the only real witness to it at all can be her.
At the mention of a swim, she cranes her head to look down at the blue-black water of the sea and the dwindling village firelight. She finds herself glad to not be looking directly at her friend for a moment, a sentiment — and a warmth stretching out along her cheeks all the way to her ears — she'll blame on their drinking. She seems to be seriously considering the offer, but —]
[ He turns back over at last - a relief - as he dives for the water, a rushing fall on closed wings until they snap back open and fill with the air, bringing them into a skimming flight over the surface. He dips a claw in, raising a spray, and looks down at her. ]
It gives Youko the time she needs to ground herself before they dive down, and keep from getting alarmed by the feeling of her stomach plummeting out from under her. No silent screams this time, though her arms do tighten briefly at his neck.
She laughs as the cold spray he raises drifts in the wind, crashing against her alcohol-warm skin and making her flinch at the pinpricks of chill, a ticklish feeling. She lets go of him, trusting that he has a hold of her, lean towards the water, tipsily determined not to leave him with the impression she is afraid of flying.]
[ His voice is light, amusement reflecting her own laughter, and he makes to fulfill her request with a hint of that same boyish eagerness that's run through the flight. His arms hold her tight, read for her to shift her weight, as his wings cant and take them lower, lower until Youko is only a foot or so above the surface of the water, its darkness bright-edged in the moonlight as it flashes by beneath. ]
[And she wouldn't give the spendthrifts in her court the satisfaction of never seeing her well-worn travel shoes again plus fitting her for new, fancier shoes. No, it has to be the hands.
She lowers herself, letting her core help out with balancing and allowing her hands to fan through the water, setting off decently impressive splashes, some of her hair trailing after through the spray and the sea itself. She'll come away wet, but what does it matter when she is laughing so weightlessly, like she was sixteen again and had never killed anyone, anything?]
[ He smiles above, where she can't see. This is what he'd hoped for when he'd brought her up here, after all; to see the humor and sense of freedom that had shown in her scorn for the rules of the court, without the weight of that scorn, or of the greater impositions of her place that she couldn't dismiss. For her sake, but, he must admit now, also for his. There is joy in watching another be free, too. ]
Not if I slow down. Easy if you want to take a dip together, after...
[For a few moments, she is content to just hang back with her eyes shut and that grin on her face, content to let the water pull through her fingers like silk and feel the night's breeze on her face. It would be unfair to expect Calhir to sustain flight and her hanging off him, so she does come up before long.
Though, when Youko pulls herself back upright she comes with water cupped in her palms and a not remotely innocent grin on her face as she splashes it up over Calhir's head so they're both equally caught by the spray. The dangers of indulging a tipsy empress usually trapped with stodgy bureaucrats.]
[ A little spray is part of the fun of ocean flying, and he laughs, more at the surprise of it than anything. ]
Think you're safe just because my hands are full? Don't be so sure...
[ His wings beat, picking up a little altitude but mostly speed, and then he leans back to almost upright and stretches his long legs out to the surface, feet kicking up a spray in front of them that they then of course fly straight through. ]
[That maneuver gets a properly delighted squeal of "What? Nooo!" out her, Youko laughing with her hands thrown up in front of her face to try to block as much spray from her eyes as she can. It isn't particularly successful, but her forearms in their thick sleeves work better.]
[The corners of her grin had been slowly relaxing into the quiet, contemplative expression she normally wears as the empress, but they tick back up. She leans back, arms securing her again, hanging onto his shoulders, smile warm and tone playful. Like a child who swears to never go to sleep.]
If we were to land on the roof in the rokushin, you could stargaze and when I get tired, I'd only be a few steps from my bed?
[ Calhir's smile back is a little rueful, as he contemplates the feeling of being invited almost-to-bed. Too excited for a 'we' that turned into an 'I'. But her tone comes off just a little too innocent for him to turn the exchange into a game of insinuation. ]
Rooftops are a fine place for it. Above the bustle, but not so lonely as the high mountains.
[It takes Youko, the definitive mistress of Kinpa Palace, more than a few minutes to find the rokushin and her own personal garden amongst all the buildings on the mountain. It would frustrate her normally — the empty waste of her home, and how little she truly knows it — but she is comfortable in the breeze, content to be held.
She does eventually spot it. Luckily, the pavilion is still lit by the lanterns she hung, and softly lighting up the rooftop she was looking for. Youko hangs a little off to point it out for Calhir.]
[She settles down on the tile of the roof carefully, making sure not to slip right down and cause her returned shadows more stress, knees drawn up to her chin. The rattle of roof tile when Calhir returns pulls her back from slipping over the edge into warm, wine-drunk sleep, and Youko smiles up at him, clearly content curled up as she is.]
I hope you didn't want an astronomy lesson. I don't know these constellations yet.
[ Calhir shares the smile and sets down next to her, crossing his legs for the sake if having somewhere to put the bottle that's slightly less likely to see it roll off the roof. ]
That would have been nice, but... no, I just wanted to close out the day seeing something beautiful with someone beside me.
[ He pours two cups from the last bottle of wine and, at last, sips at his instead of downing them in one gulp the way he had been earlier. ]
[She takes the offered cup with both hands, sipping at it without sitting up at all, too relaxed to bother being proper now. She tilts her head at him, eyes green eyes dark, heavily lidded by the wine and the hour.]
Like the skies you fly through aren't beautiful enough?
They are. But flight makes you very aware of yourself. Like this time drifts by as quickly or as slowly as it wants, and the world is what you're seeing. Or who you're with.
[ His gaze settles on her eyes; relaxed but in an entirely different way from that sparkling joy before. Attractive in its own way too. ]
[The smile she gives him is gentle (or maybe just tired), though accompanied by the slightest something, a bittersweetness.
Then she drinks down the rest of her drink, setting the cup upside down next to her. No more for her. She settles back on the tile between two ridges on the roof, a Youko-shaped puddle of grey linens and red curls looking up at the starry expanse.]
[ He would lie down too, but her comment makes him feel like he should stay sitting where he can keep an eye on her, and any sudden progress towards the ground, over the ridge. ]
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[She doesn't need to apologize necessarily, but she can't stop herself. At least, it gives her something to do while trying to catch her rabbit-fast heartbeat and breathing, shoulders hunched up to her ears as her cheek rests against fine scales. The feeling of him patting her back is grounding, soothing.
With their combined efforts, she calms down enough to open her screwed shut eyes and pick her chin up. She meets Calhir's gaze with an embarrassed smile and a shaky laugh, the flush on her face a mixture of how rattled she was by the maneuver and the effects of the white liquor in her belly.]
Warn me. Please. I really don't have wings.
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[ He strokes her gently as he can while she calms, though the need to keep a hold on her makes the gesture a little more forceful than might be ideal. She feels small - or maybe it would be more accurate to say 'her real size', without the magnification of personality or title - like this.
He smiles back when she looks up, a slightly apologetic cast to his brow. And tamps down the little voice that says 'do it again' when he sees how flushed she is. ]
I will.
...this is what I love about them though. How quickly you can move when you catch the air. The ones who just float around like your servants may have most of the uses for it but they haven't half the joy.
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She can only sort of imagine what he means as he talking about catching the air. She finds herself thinking of a lost feather drifting on the breeze, and how quickly it could shift directions when he makes his jab at Keiki's shirei. It startles her again, but pleasantly, making her laugh, and turns her smile a much less strained. That said —]
You didn't bring me up here just to show them up did you?
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[ For the first time he flashes real grin at her. The arrogance of youth, which he'd once had such a surfeit of, and now mostly shows itself for this topic alone. Nor does the flippant denial sound completely sincere. He would enjoy showing them up a little...
But he's here to show her a good time, honest, so no race is in the offing. ]
I did offer to take you for a swim in the sea of clouds, didn't I? Up for it?
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At the mention of a swim, she cranes her head to look down at the blue-black water of the sea and the dwindling village firelight. She finds herself glad to not be looking directly at her friend for a moment, a sentiment — and a warmth stretching out along her cheeks all the way to her ears — she'll blame on their drinking. She seems to be seriously considering the offer, but —]
Won't it hurt your wings?
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Let's go.
[ He turns back over at last - a relief - as he dives for the water, a rushing fall on closed wings until they snap back open and fill with the air, bringing them into a skimming flight over the surface. He dips a claw in, raising a spray, and looks down at her. ]
Want to dip a toe in?
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It gives Youko the time she needs to ground herself before they dive down, and keep from getting alarmed by the feeling of her stomach plummeting out from under her. No silent screams this time, though her arms do tighten briefly at his neck.
She laughs as the cold spray he raises drifts in the wind, crashing against her alcohol-warm skin and making her flinch at the pinpricks of chill, a ticklish feeling. She lets go of him, trusting that he has a hold of her, lean towards the water, tipsily determined not to leave him with the impression she is afraid of flying.]
I'd rather my hands, if you please?
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[ His voice is light, amusement reflecting her own laughter, and he makes to fulfill her request with a hint of that same boyish eagerness that's run through the flight. His arms hold her tight, read for her to shift her weight, as his wings cant and take them lower, lower until Youko is only a foot or so above the surface of the water, its darkness bright-edged in the moonlight as it flashes by beneath. ]
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[And she wouldn't give the spendthrifts in her court the satisfaction of never seeing her well-worn travel shoes again plus fitting her for new, fancier shoes. No, it has to be the hands.
She lowers herself, letting her core help out with balancing and allowing her hands to fan through the water, setting off decently impressive splashes, some of her hair trailing after through the spray and the sea itself. She'll come away wet, but what does it matter when she is laughing so weightlessly, like she was sixteen again and had never killed anyone, anything?]
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Not if I slow down. Easy if you want to take a dip together, after...
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Though, when Youko pulls herself back upright she comes with water cupped in her palms and a not remotely innocent grin on her face as she splashes it up over Calhir's head so they're both equally caught by the spray. The dangers of indulging a tipsy empress usually trapped with stodgy bureaucrats.]
Maybe not? I'm fine with just this.
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Think you're safe just because my hands are full? Don't be so sure...
[ His wings beat, picking up a little altitude but mostly speed, and then he leans back to almost upright and stretches his long legs out to the surface, feet kicking up a spray in front of them that they then of course fly straight through. ]
How's that?
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Fine, fine, I concede!
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[ He preens a little - figuratively! - and climbs again, beginning to circle back to the lights on the mountain. ]
You're ready to go back? I did want to stargaze. But I don't want to keep you from your bed too long.
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[The corners of her grin had been slowly relaxing into the quiet, contemplative expression she normally wears as the empress, but they tick back up. She leans back, arms securing her again, hanging onto his shoulders, smile warm and tone playful. Like a child who swears to never go to sleep.]
If we were to land on the roof in the rokushin, you could stargaze and when I get tired, I'd only be a few steps from my bed?
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Rooftops are a fine place for it. Above the bustle, but not so lonely as the high mountains.
Point me to where.
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[It takes Youko, the definitive mistress of Kinpa Palace, more than a few minutes to find the rokushin and her own personal garden amongst all the buildings on the mountain. It would frustrate her normally — the empty waste of her home, and how little she truly knows it — but she is comfortable in the breeze, content to be held.
She does eventually spot it. Luckily, the pavilion is still lit by the lanterns she hung, and softly lighting up the rooftop she was looking for. Youko hangs a little off to point it out for Calhir.]
There, see it?
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[ He angles towards the lit garden, following her finger to the right roof where he lets her down. ]
I'll go grab the wine.
[ So saying, he steps off the roof and drops down, leaving her to her devices for a few minutes before he returns with the refreshments in hand. ]
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I hope you didn't want an astronomy lesson. I don't know these constellations yet.
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That would have been nice, but... no, I just wanted to close out the day seeing something beautiful with someone beside me.
[ He pours two cups from the last bottle of wine and, at last, sips at his instead of downing them in one gulp the way he had been earlier. ]
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Like the skies you fly through aren't beautiful enough?
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[ His gaze settles on her eyes; relaxed but in an entirely different way from that sparkling joy before. Attractive in its own way too. ]
Waxing and waning...
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[The smile she gives him is gentle (or maybe just tired), though accompanied by the slightest something, a bittersweetness.
Then she drinks down the rest of her drink, setting the cup upside down next to her. No more for her. She settles back on the tile between two ridges on the roof, a Youko-shaped puddle of grey linens and red curls looking up at the starry expanse.]
If I slide off the roof, remember me better.
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[ He would lie down too, but her comment makes him feel like he should stay sitting where he can keep an eye on her, and any sudden progress towards the ground, over the ridge. ]
If you fall asleep out here I'm taking the bed.
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I don't know if you'd fit in my bed.
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