[ camille can find him relaxing by the pyre today! he's in his normal clothes by now, with a naginata leaning against his shoulder. he offers her a peaceful smile. ]
Did you come to rest, too? This is a good place for it.
[ he'll be wandering restlessly in the void of the village tonight, grip tight on his weapon as ink winds around his arms, reading failing to protect those who matter. sometimes it flickers between other words, sometimes a very large number, but always seems to settle back into that. ]
Camille-dono. [ the customary greeting. ] Would you like to walk with me?
[Hey, make that two of them buddy. She's got Right under your nose skittering under her collar, joined by a the teeth were in the floor at her thigh. The latter is in smaller script, an after thought for the night.]
Yeah, sure. Why not. [Better than sleeping. Better than thinking about those barrels of wine, the knives kicking around. The hand, Boothill, Aventurine, and a nameless, faceless fuck who slipped their fingers.
Her eyes skate over his tell-tale secrets, and her expression softens. She says nothing for the moment.]
[ moving is better than staying still, even if you're doing nothing. moving means that endless, restless energy is going somewhere, even if it's aimless.
black ink seeps out from under one of his gloves as they walk - history repeats - but he doesn't seem to notice as the sleeves of his robes flow over it. ]
We touken danshi sleep, yes. [ the idea that he wouldn't does bring a faint, amused smile to his face, though. ] We are, for the most part, just as human as you or anyone. We eat, sleep, dream, and feel all the things that any human can.
[ ... ]
I think. I struggle, sometimes, to understand how the heart works.
Iwatooshi is entering just as Camille is preparing to leave. Her clothes are fresh, her hair is drying off and smelling freshly shampoo'd. There is a reusable bag of loot on the kitchen counter.]
[ entering his crime sword era! he's also freshly cleaned, wearing a purple kimono instead of his usual warrior monk garb, and his naginata appears to be missing as he enters. ]
[ oofa doofa. iwatooshi can be found trudging back from the island, grip tight on his naginata. but he will pause when he spots camille to offer a nod. ]
Camille-dono. Did you find anything today? I was just at the ranch.
Iwatooshi is a good candidate for this work though. He's not a high schooler for one. He's got an even keel for another. Jovial outbursts aside, the man's been steady when the push comes shoving.]
I'll be alright. I was more concerned about the others... The animals there were upset, and kept running into us. Erin-dono was accosted by sheep, and Asa-dono and I were both hit by a cow.
[ shakes his head. ]
More importantly, that's where we found Ichiban-dono. His body was in the vegetable garden.
[Camille is just meandering. She doesn't care to sleep. Doesn't know where she would, if she had the choice. She hasn't got the energy to do anything. She simply drifts, wandering in a fog both literal and metaphorical. The goliath on the path ahead spooks her some, but as she approaches—]
[ iwatooshi, by contrast, has far too much energy and nothing to do with it. so he paces, naginata tucked under his arm, as if an enemy might appear somewhere for him to cut down and relieve the anxiety of the day.
as he pauses to look up at the crescent moon, it's camille that appears instead, so he dips his head in the customary greeting. ]
Camille-dono. [ he'll wait for her to join him, if she likes. ] I was just looking for any evidence we might have missed.
[ he knows, logically, that it's already gone. but admitting that he's bothered by the days events... that isn't the way to help anyone, is it? ]
[ he’ll be outside the gas station today, easily offering camille a smile. ]
Camille-dono! I have a question. [ gestures up at one of the cameras. ] Those black boxes. They’re much smaller, but look similar to the ones I’ve seen during performances. Are there people on the side, somewhere far away, watching us? Even though we aren’t performing?
[ it’s a camera. but she won’t have long to answer before they’re pulled into the darkness and a memory spills forth:
the heike and genji armies have come to a stalemate, kogitsunemaru announces. it's a needless conversation - you both have working eyes. so you shift the naginata under your arm to move away, planning to occupy yourself elsewhere, away from the distraction, only for your comrade to call out after you, "Iwatooshi, what are you thinking about?"
you look back on reflex, but turn away without answering.
"Is it Imanotsurugi? Are you worried about him?"
of course you are. how could you not be? but you simply breathe out a sigh and rest your free arm on the wrist of the hand holding the naginata before you, standing tall. dutiful, as you should be. you're on a mission, after all.
"If something is bother you, please tell me," kogitsunemaru pleads, stepping closer. "It could help to ease your mind."
you glance over at him, but quickly turn away. tempting as it is to ask for guidance, you've already spent too much time thinking about it. it's better to focus, you think, so you remain silent.
"...I see. You don't trust me," he says with a sniff. alarmed, you immediately turn to deny it - he's your comrade, why wouldn't you trust him?
"That's not--"
"Found your tongue at last?" he turns to you with that sly smile that says you've been played for a fool. but... you weren't hiding your thoughts well in the first place, were you? he's won this round, so you relent. and maybe he's right. maybe it will help you feel better, even if it hurts to acknowledge the problem at all.
"Kogitsunemaru. Have you ever thought about your existence?"
"My existence?"
am important clarification: "Have you ever questioned your own existence?" when he doesn't have an immediate answer, you continue on, letting out the things you've been trying to ignore - the worry, confusion... even a bit of anger. "Why did Master send us here? Why did they let those two near him?"
"You mean Higekiri and Hizamaru?" kogitsunemaru asks.
frustrated and ashamed for being found so easily, you turn away without answering. higekiri and hizamaru: the genji swords, claiming to be the treasured swords of imanotsurugi's former master, yoshitsune, and his elder brother. but in all your time of serving at musashibou benkei's side as he supported yoshitsune, you hadn't met either of them even once. you and imanotsurugi remember them if you'd met before - of this, you have no doubt.
but if that were really true, then why wasn't your former master using you when you'd met him on your last mission? if you really weren't there when you were supposed to be, then... were you ever? was imanotsurugi?
"I'm afraid I don't have the answers you're looking for, Iwatooshi," kogitsunemaru continues, interrupting your thoughts. "But I'm sure Master had their reasons."
you cut him off with a snarl. "So I just have to watch him get hurt?"
"That's right," he answers, and your heart sinks, knowing what comes next. because it's true, because you agree, even if, right now, it's the worst thing you could hear. "That's our duty. We are..."
"...Touken danshi," you finish after a second, thoroughly defeated. "It appears I need more practice."
you walk away quickly, before kogitsunemaru can call you out again. best to busy yourself with training while you wait for history to move along, instead of wasting more time on things you can't change.
once the memory plays out, iwatooshi looks away from camille quickly, taking a step back to try to sort out his own thoughts. ]
[It's a hard one to sort. His existence in the space between living being and inert weapon will never make sense to her, and the names stick well enough while she's in his head but muddy once she's out of it. Trying to repeat them is a fool's errand, but she knows which impression goes with which.
"Touken danshi". That one comes along with. The weight of the words makes her want to sweat. Too much responsibility.]
Did he make it? [She looks to him, curious. A little tenderly. Standing on the sidelines during a war can't sit easy in your gut. Sure didn't in his.] Were those other ones able to help?
They do! Caelus has been teaching some of us about them so we can send "texts" to each other in case of emergencies. Like when Pickles-dono was leashed yesterday!
I find it a bit hard to use, though, so I prefer to leave that to all of you.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
weekend 0 saturday
Did you come to rest, too? This is a good place for it.
no subject
Watch him say something insane and prove her wrong.]
It's this or the coffins, and I'm hoping to hold off on those for another sixty years.
no subject
[ he gestures for her to sit! there is plenty of space here. ]
The fire is quite comforting.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
week 0, saturday
Camille-dono. [ the customary greeting. ] Would you like to walk with me?
no subject
Yeah, sure. Why not. [Better than sleeping. Better than thinking about those barrels of wine, the knives kicking around. The hand, Boothill, Aventurine, and a nameless, faceless fuck who slipped their fingers.
Her eyes skate over his tell-tale secrets, and her expression softens. She says nothing for the moment.]
Does a guy like you even need to sleep?
no subject
black ink seeps out from under one of his gloves as they walk - history repeats - but he doesn't seem to notice as the sleeves of his robes flow over it. ]
We touken danshi sleep, yes. [ the idea that he wouldn't does bring a faint, amused smile to his face, though. ] We are, for the most part, just as human as you or anyone. We eat, sleep, dream, and feel all the things that any human can.
[ ... ]
I think. I struggle, sometimes, to understand how the heart works.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
WEEK 1: Monday
Iwatooshi is entering just as Camille is preparing to leave. Her clothes are fresh, her hair is drying off and smelling freshly shampoo'd. There is a reusable bag of loot on the kitchen counter.]
Oh. Hey, Iwa.
no subject
Oh, Camille-dono! Was I interrupting?
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
week 1, friday
Camille-dono. Did you find anything today? I was just at the ranch.
no subject
[Not after the FIRE AND LEECHES.
Iwatooshi is a good candidate for this work though. He's not a high schooler for one. He's got an even keel for another. Jovial outbursts aside, the man's been steady when the push comes shoving.]
What about you? You okay? You find something?
no subject
[ shakes his head. ]
More importantly, that's where we found Ichiban-dono. His body was in the vegetable garden.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
WEEK 1: Saturday
Iwatooshi?
no subject
as he pauses to look up at the crescent moon, it's camille that appears instead, so he dips his head in the customary greeting. ]
Camille-dono. [ he'll wait for her to join him, if she likes. ] I was just looking for any evidence we might have missed.
[ he knows, logically, that it's already gone. but admitting that he's bothered by the days events... that isn't the way to help anyone, is it? ]
no subject
[Would that he could find it.]
I haven't seen much sign of the crime scene myself. Seems like the cleaning committee works faster than our makeshift jury.
...I wish we could find more, though. Pickles is still missing.
(no subject)
week 2, monday
Camille-dono! I have a question. [ gestures up at one of the cameras. ] Those black boxes. They’re much smaller, but look similar to the ones I’ve seen during performances. Are there people on the side, somewhere far away, watching us? Even though we aren’t performing?
[ it’s a camera. but she won’t have long to answer before they’re pulled into the darkness and a memory spills forth:once the memory plays out, iwatooshi looks away from camille quickly, taking a step back to try to sort out his own thoughts. ]
Re: week 2, monday
"Touken danshi". That one comes along with. The weight of the words makes her want to sweat. Too much responsibility.]
Did he make it? [She looks to him, curious. A little tenderly. Standing on the sidelines during a war can't sit easy in your gut. Sure didn't in his.] Were those other ones able to help?
no subject
[ what a question. he's not completely sure how to answer. ]
He... is alright, physically. But the truth was hard on him, and I... don't know how he's doing right now. All I can do is wait for him to come home.
(no subject)
(no subject)
WEEK 6: Wednesday
You can't even eat the cake, huh? [Looks down at it.] Not like you're missing much.
no subject
watches his hand go straight through the entire table ]
...I can't! How strange! Gahahahaha!
[ can anything get this guy down? besides existentialism. ]
no subject
[She'll take a fork herself and dish up an edge piece. Takes a bite.]
Oh. It's really not that special. You're missing nothing.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
WEEK 7: Wednesday
Do these actually work?
[THEY'VE BEEN BETRAYED SO OFTEN.]
no subject
I find it a bit hard to use, though, so I prefer to leave that to all of you.
[ with your small fingies ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
w7 saturday
[ trots up!! he's been healed, he's changed clothes into a black yukata with light pink and purple accents, all seems well. ]
How are you feeling? You've done a lot of work today, so I wonder if you'd like to rest and have a drink with me before we leave.
no subject
Ah — don't know how much was work so much as running for my little life, but sure. Drinks, absolutely.
That a thing for you swords? Congratulatory libations?
(no subject)