Day 127 | Open | Enjoy the Gardens!

[yinyangfox]

Who: Seimei and everyone/anyone
Open: Open
When: Day 127
Where: The new and improved Hitachiin-Abe Estate
What: Kaoru wanted Seimei to have a house-warming party ages ago and he declined. Now he intends to because its not just his home anymore.
Format: Prose
Warnings: SHOULD be safe...


Yesterday the southern Bastion was suddenly dominated by the rise of a beautiful, elegant Japanese estate. Trees, two ponds, a deck reaching out and resting atop the river; a work of historical art nestled away from the noise and bustle.

Having sent Kaoru out for food and to talk with people about the home being open to others for use of the garden, Seimei himself was reclining on the deck over the river, stretched out and dozing while Taisan sat nearby, eyes closed as his hands moved fluidly over the strings of a plain koto, the music rising and falling in harmony with the rush of water beneath the deck.

The doors in the home were open, front and back, leaving a clear line from the entrance to the gardens where the music drifted on the breeze. At Seimei's request, there was a little sign at the door illustrating taking off one's shoes. Not a demand, simply a request. It was a garish thing he didn't want to keep, but he wanted to at least initially indicate it was polite to do, for those without knowledge of the preference.

The home was now open, and Seimei himself was open as well. He had brooded and been bitetr long enough. With recent revelations between himself and Kaoru, and the sudden influx of newcomers, it was simply unreasonable to remain a hermit.

The onmyoji was back in service, socially and professionally.

Comments

[individuates]

He was startled into silence and unable to do much more than stare wide-eyed at Seimei for a few moments before catching himself, ducking his head slightly. Not that it would hide his blush much. Ugh, screw the hiding. He had confiscated Seimei's fan for this very purpose - if Seimei didn't get to hide, neither did Kaoru.

Breathing a sigh, he shifted a little again, this time so they could sit face to face, so that he could reach for Seimei's hands instead of twisting his own into impossible knots.

"…you know, I wouldn't say I need much thanks. Not for something that comes naturally." He gently closed his hands around Seimei's. "I won't lie; I won't say it doesn't make me a little sad to think that you never thought that happiness was something you could have - or would ever have, because people saw you that way. Because it does.

Am I allowed to say that I'm here now? Am I allowed to act like my being here makes all that doubt go away, or is that horribly self-centred of me?"

[yinyangfox]

When his hands were taken, Kaoru could feel the nervous heat in them, though Seimei conducted himself well, even chancing to rub his thumbs gently against the boy's fingers while he spoke.

"You are allowed to say whatever it pleases you to say, Kaoru. Between us I would rather no silence or deception, however kindly it may be meant. Silence and deceit is what robbed me of my family. It was never meant as a cruelty but in the end it took everything away from me. I would not have that happen again, even out of fear of the unknown. I do not imagine that can be self-centered at all," he remarked with an uncertain smile.

"Even I, who has lived a life of silence and secrets, know there is no foundation there upon which to build a life. I am opening my world to you, Kaoru. If you feel so inclined to explore it, I will never close doors to you nor veil my words. It will always be honesty, however afraid of it I may be. No more paper fans," he added the last with a short chuckle.

[individuates]

"…though it's not about pleasing me and me alone anymore, is it?" Of course, he knew that Seimei would never want him to hold himself back - there was no question about that. A soft hum, and Kaoru closed his eyes at the gentle pressure of Seimei's hands on his. "And… you know, I can be stubborn. I can be tough, despite appearances."

…was he being too presumptuous? The last thing he wanted to was to make himself out to be stronger - braver - than he actually was. Then again, he knew how he could be when it came to people he cared about. He glanced down at their hands little shyly.

"If you ever need space, of course I'll give it to you. You only have to say. But I won't allow anything else to be stolen from you - not without a fight."

[yinyangfox]

"I will rarely need space, but I think you will know when I need silence. You are neither a child, nor a fool, and you are clever even beyond your years. If you cannot tell when someone simply needs silence for thought, there is no hope for the world," he drawled with a touch of sarcasm, shaking his head and chancing to move his hands, turning them over palms up to hold the red-head's palms open.

"This is my life for you, now. Open hands, empty but for what you want to see in them as offering. Sometimes strength, sometimes my heart or tears or words. All I ask in return is trust and love. And patience, perhaps. I fear I will require a great deal of patience from anyone close to me."

Taisan snorted at that and Kaoru could just see a flicker of annoyance in a twitch at the corner of Seimei's eye. Even so, he managed to keep a peaceful smile.

"You know he's proposing to you, right kid?"

Seimei's face turned a shade red so fast he looked faint.

"I am not," Seimei replied, his voice as cool and composed as possible, though it was obvious enough Taisan's word had thrown his entire mind off track. The shikigami stifled a chuckle and ducked his head to curtail any full-blown laughter as the onmyoji stared blankly at Kaoru for help.

[individuates]

"Shut it, Taisan." He had been quite content to pretend the shikigami wasn't even there. Alas that Taisan wasn't so content to be ignored, but perhaps he would take the hint? Or was that just wishful thinking on Kaoru's part? His words made Kaoru lean a little closer, looking into Seimei's eyes. No more paper fans, right?

"Seimei, I will always accept anything you offer me. I will always accept you. I can be childish - and I can be clumsy sometimes, but I will never deny you anything. And I'd like to think I have infinite patience for those I love."

He smiled down at their hands and spoke a little softer, trying to keep the words between the two of them. " 'I will love you when you are a still day. I will love you when you are a hurricane.' "

[yinyangfox]

While not entirely certain what a hurricane was, as he'd never heard the word before, he assumed it was the opposite of a still day. He appreciated the words and had a moment for himself to cast a smug look Taisan's way. Childish of him, certainly, but the shikigami was fairly good about bringing out the worst in people. Or maybe he was trying to push the two together in his own backwards manner. Either way, Kaoru and Seimei were perfectly capable of continuing in their own little moment.

One that the onmyoji was unfortunately about to break.

"I need to tell you, I am leaving soon. For a week, possibly less, certainly no more. I want to take an excursion into the wilderness and...I am not taking you with me."

Bomb dropped. Now just to prepare for the fallout. At least he didn't pull away. In fact, he only clasped Kaoru's hands more firmly, forcing the boy to continue eye to eye.

[individuates]

Kaoru's body gave an involuntary sort of jerk - like it wanted to give several reactions at once but couldn't prioritise any of them. His mouth had opened to speak, but he ended up leaning forward and chuckling dryly instead.

"Your timing is awful, you know that?"

…how else would he have wanted it to be timed, though? Wasn't it better this way? Yes, Seimei had sprung this on him, but surely better now than later.

He sighed, staring down at their twined hands and returning the squeeze. Had it been up to him, he would have wanted a little time just to enjoy the house. A little time to make it a home - to enjoy being around each other for a while, before Seimei up and wandered off somewhere. Even though he knew Seimei had meant no harm, he couldn't help but feel like he was having something snatched away from him; something that he had barely managed to wrap his hands around.

"But what if you get hurt out there?"

Kaoru was under no illusions that he could protect Seimei on his own, but there were plenty of other people that Seimei could take along. Why did he have a niggling feeling that this wouldn't be the case?

[yinyangfox]

He smiled slowly at the comment on timing, amused. He thought he really couldn't have timed it better, considering everything going on and how they were steadily progressing.

"I must confess, that is precisely why I am telling you this now. I want to go before there is too much to risk and I am held back further by fear of loss. The swamp showed me precisely how reliant I am becoming on this. On us. If something happens, Gods forbid, we have not..." he sighed, pursing his lips before pushing forward, "...committed to anything that may further impede recovering from the loss. You have a home, you have people around you. If something happens I know I have given you what I can and leave you behind in comfort."

He waited a moment, watching Kaoru in though, dark eyes still before he added with a touch of humor, "I do not intend to be hurt or even risk myself unnecessarily. I am only trying to communicate with the creatures on the Skyway. If I fail to do so, I will simply return home and continue my work from here."

[individuates]

The timing was the best it could have been, but that didn't necessarily make it good timing. His hands closed around Seimei's at the purse of his lips, as if to help pull the words out of him.

"Still, though. It would have been nice to enjoy this just for a little bit longer." He wasn't going to try to talk Seimei out of it, as much as he wanted to - he knew he wasn't the only one of them who could be stubborn - nor was he going to dig his heels in and flat out tell him not to go, because that wouldn't be fair. Yes, he would be restless and nervous until Seimei came back but… there had to be some give and take on both sides, if they were going to last.

"…you have to promise me you'll do everything in your power to stay safe." Offering a small smile. "And of course you're going to have to make it up to me, you realise..."

[yinyangfox]

"Any longer and my resolve would begin to falter even more. This is something I have to do, Kaoru. When you have the power to do something, you have a responsibility to do it. I can speak to these creatures and I have a duty to do so. If they cannot or will not hear me, then so be it, I return home defeated, but with my honor satisfied."

He sighed, chuckling softly and raising one of the red-head's hands to his cheek, pressing it there gently.

"Whatever you demand of me, of course."

[individuates]

"I know. I mean, I understand." He ducked his head slightly. "Less would be better but... not a day more. All right? Promise?"

It wasn't the end of the world - for that, he managed to hitch up a smile. It wasn't as though Seimei couldn't handle himself out there. Kaoru just wished he wasn't going alone, because shikigami didn't quite count. His thumb gently stroked Seimei's cheek.

"'My command is your wish', that sort of thing? Then I'll have to try to come up with some good ideas."

[yinyangfox]

"I promise. No more time than one week. Allowing for a few days should I be held up by circumstances outside of my control. Barring any unpleasantness I have to take a long way around or any people that need my help out there, I will walk out three days, and spend the next three days walking back, giving a day of room to explore outside of linear travel. Hopefully this will satisfy everyone."

He chuckled again, tilting his head into Kaoru's touch, curious at his own interest in the physical connection, when usually so prone to avoiding it.

"I imagine you will not disappoint."

[individuates]

"Hmm~? " Unable to resist laughing as Seimei did, he lightly squeezed the hand he was still holding with a teasing grin, "Now I'm going to have to think of something good. Wouldn't want to waste the opportunity."

He hesitated before briefly removing his hand, only to lay the back of it against Seimei's cheek, asking the question but a little nervous of the answer.

"...when will you leave?"

[yinyangfox]

"One week," he answered honestly, not making any effort to hide his intentions. "I felt that should be long enough to sort out any additional issues with the home, gather a few more shards to fully round out the powers available to me after what I spent on the home and then set out. After that I will be in the Skyway for one week, or until I successfully communicate with some of the native creatures, whichever comes first."

He tilts his head into the touch once more before taking both of Kaoru's hands, gripping them gently and lowering them to his lap.

"I promise, if it looks too dangerous or anything happens that might impede me, I will return home even if I have failed. I want to see what is out there beyond where we have gone so far. I want to know if they can understand me, and I want to understand more of it myself. Most excursions have been to distract myself and salvage things, or the hunt for cores. We need to know just as much about this place as we need to know about what happened and why. If we cannot fix things, then we should have complete knowledge of our new world and its people, don't you think?"

[individuates]

"All right." Better a week in advance than a day. He nodded, just holding onto Seimei's hands and staring down at them as he listened. It wasn't that he didn't think Seimei had the sense not to rush headlong into danger. He was just scared of danger finding Seimei. And Seimei not being able to escape it.

"Just... please be safe out there?" He bit his lip for a moment, then raised his head, offering a smile, "And come back to me, when you're done."

[yinyangfox]

"I will, I promise. No silly wastes of energy, no stupid mistakes and no unnecessary risks. Beyond the entire trip itself, of course," he remarked, smiling slowly and reaching out to run Kaoru's hair through his fingers, always marveling at the color.

"For now, why not just enjoy the home? Don't think about the matters presented to us in the future, just concern yourself with what we have now."

[individuates]

"I'll be waiting. " A soft sigh, leaning into the touch. "…and no more running into suspicious plants, okay? If you see any of that Lungblossom again I want you to get as far away from it as possible."

It was the entire trip that concerned him, but Kaoru was pretty sure Seimei knew that already - or else he wouldn't have broken the news so carefully in the first place.

After a moment he moved to tug the tray over, making up for it with an apologetic kiss to Seimei's hand.

"…hungry?"

[yinyangfox]

"I will be most careful, and give all suspicious plants a wide berth, you have my word," he replied seriously, though smiling as he did.

Watching Kaoru move the tray, he nodded, folding his hands in his lap once more.

"Famished, in fact. Dealing with visitors after so long purposely avoiding it has been extraordinarily taxing. Will you stay to eat with me?"

[individuates]

All right. Enough worrying. He was bound to have his fill of that while Seimei was away.

He refilled the cups as he listened, a sly sort of grin crossing his face as he chuckled.

"Well, I'm quite sure I don't have any other pressing dinner engagements to attend this evening, and as it happens, I live quite close by. So I'd be delighted." Handing Seimei his cup, he tried to tone down his smile. "As long as you don't find me extraordinarily taxing, too."

[yinyangfox]

"Quite close indeed," the onmyoji practically purred, without really intending to be as smooth as he was, lifting his cup up to drink. Even Taisan stifled a chuckle.

"I would be terribly disappointed if you had made plans without me. Here I was, looking forward to a quiet evening alone with the object of my affection. It would be quite a tragedy if I were abandoned now."

[individuates]

Well, damn if that didn't trigger another blush - Kaoru wasn't sure if it was the tone or the words themselves that set him off. Probably both. He glanced down into his cup a little shyly.

"...I would never abandon you, Seimei." He always felt a little nervous saying these things - they still felt so big sometimes.

"I have bad news, though. I only brought sweets along with me. Hardly the makings of an opulent dinner."

[yinyangfox]

"Only sweets? How tragic," he drawled, expression mild and amused. "Though I suppose the reward in itself will by candied kisses when you've sated yourself on delicious morsels, hm?" he asked, smiling slyly behind his cup before setting it aside. Had he one, his tail would have been flicking playfully side to side by now with his deliberate teasing.

"Wouldn't you though? Shall I expect you by my side every hour of every day, hm? I think not. If so, I imagine we will get very little done in the course of an afternoon. Ah, dependign on the day's intent."

[individuates]

A soft chuckle behind his hand. Were his ears deceiving him? Was Seimei actually flirting with him?

"Hmm...?" He composed himself, tilting his head to the side, "We may get very little done in an afternoon, but I'm sure we will be able to find productive ways of spending the time nevertheless. But how can I be sure you wouldn't run away from my candied kisses?

[yinyangfox]

Perhaps he was, though he didn't seem entirely aware of it himself. Playful mischief was more his tack.

"Running in these clothes can be quite difficult when someone is being particularly persuasive about wanting you to stay," he remarked, arching a brow, lips curling broadly, warming the smile already there.

"Candied kisses from my sun-kissed object of affection? One would be a fool to flee from something so auspicious!"

[individuates]

"Would you care to test that idea? Or would my kisses as they are be unpalatable to you?" Pulling back a little, head still cocked quizically. "Perhaps I should sate my appetite forsweet things before moving onto other appetites..."