lumberlady | Prismatica IC Contact

[Hnnngh, the dragon baby is being so cute... Konoha can't help but sway just a little bit as if rocking an infant to sleep, weak to the fact that, if she were a human woman... It would kind of look like she were pregnant. Something she'd longed to be ever since her marriage, eagerly looking for signs of belly rounding or tender flesh for months before she'd been able to fully understand the situation of the Moonblessed.]

Good...

[Well. She can pretend for a second.]

I guess dragons can't do... flying shovel magic, huh?

[Petting along the dragon's back through her kimono with a slow rub of her thumb, she reaches over to pull one of the liquor bottles back over, picking it up to inspect it and try and sniff the stopper.]

Mm, with enough time...

[ Truly nothing says anyone native to this world cannot learn how to cultivate, but the reality is the time needed exceeds the time any one singular Moonblessed has been in residence.

Speaking on that, or on how he felt it was unlikely any of them would be here long enough to make it a moot point, wasn't part of his plan today, so he let it go without comment. ]

Who knows what limitations, if any, each of us face as a whole?

[ Meanwhile, his eyes focus on the bottle she's trying to sniff, and he smiles, a little amused. ]

I found the taste proved different from the scent of it, in a complimentary way.

[Konoha has had to stop thinking about how long she might be in Lunatia. It has already been about a year... and it had started getting painful months ago, when she realized that so many were only there for a few months, when it started to seem like she was one of some... small, select group that just couldn't manage to get home for some reason. (Had she done something wrong? Was she being punished?)

Instead, she just tries to take it day by day and not let the terror creep in over the idea of remaining trapped away from her world forever, in a life of mostly comfort but one that meant she would remain childless, remain severed from her home.]

It's different? Really?

[And here he is with a perfect distraction from that anyway, right here smelling of alcohol! ... Well, it is alcohol. Carefully, she opens the bottle in her hand and prepares to- Oops. Looking down at the comfortable dragon child curled in her clothing, she looks back up to Shen Qingqiu with a little laugh.]

Sorry- Could you grab some cups from the kitchen?

[He'd been here enough that she trusted him to be able to find them... And as much as she was willing to try these new drinks and see how strong they were (a part of her was still curious about what it would be like to feel tipsy)... She wasn't going to drink straight from the bottle!]

Edited 2020-07-05 07:16 (UTC)

Truly.

[ He hums a smiling note, rising with elegance, like he does most things. This is more absurd when you realise it's all out of practice in moving with his robes and not managing to be standing on or otherwise trapping them beneath him as he gains his feet, slipping out of boots to trek inside and ferret out a few cups.

As you do.

He does know where they are, yes, and brings more than the two necessary, just in case. By the time he makes his way back out, the dragonlet may now be quietly snoring, manifesting as a twitch of her tail and a louder sound on inhalation every so often. Taking his seat on the veranda again, he hands two of those cups to Konoha, setting the other two aside. ]

I hope these will do.

[Look, she just thinks Master Shen is naturally graceful and elegant, like a beautiful wind spirit... or a court lady! Er, court noble... man! So she thanks him for taking over the duties she ought to be doing as hostess and turns her attention back to his draconic ward in his absence, cradling it close in the pouch of her kimono where it curls against her belly and lower chest.

... Oh no, even her snores are cute. Like a little steamy snuffle!!!]

Those are good, thanks... Here, I can at least do the pouring...

[A liquor bottle stopper is no match for her muscles! And now that she has cups she pours them both a glass, passing him his with a smile before she lifts her own, her now free hand returning to support the dragonling as if gently cradling a human-style pregnant belly, not even aware of how ironic that would be in, oh, say... two weeks.]

Are the mountains in the dragon lands anything like the mountains Master Shen is used to?

[Because... his world sounded kind of like hers, and if they were kind of like hers... She kind of wanted to get a head start on that whole... becoming a woman of the mountain thing.]

[ two weeks in the future might as well be forever! right now, she's getting to cradle a cute sleeping dragon and being cute in the process. everything about this feels wholesome, and he's taking it, not even equating it to pregnancy like behaviours when he's not been around anyone pregnant before. also, they're drinking. aren't pregnant people not supposed to drink?

(he has no idea, he's just saying...) ]

Mm, they're tall. It may be the extent of their similarities.

[ he smiles, taking a sip and thinking further on this. ]

The feel of them is similar, on the other hand. The height, the thinness of the air, the warmth of the sun, the strength of the winds. The scent of air carrying only the scents of water and living trees. All those are there, like the cliffs and the rock and the plant life clinging to impossible places. It may not be the exact same, but it is nostalgic enough.

[What are Cultivators even doing, how have you never been around anyone pregnant before, Master Shen???]

Just tall!

[She can't help but laugh at his first response, sampling her drink now that he's had his first sip. It's an interesting flavor, definitely different from the sort of sake she's used to but not so far away that it was unpalatable. It was intriguing, actually, she takes another drink as he speaks, swirling it on her tongue thoughtfully. Was that... some kind of fruit? No, maybe not...

But her expression changes from curiosity over the taste to soft nostalgia, listening to his description of the mountains.]

Oh... I really want to go. I told Gonta we should just think of this as a detour on our way to Mt. Tsurugi, so if I have a chance to get a start on learning how to be a woman of the mountains... They said they're working on the road, right?

[She might have managed to ride Shen Qingqiu's shovel, but dragons... ?]

[ Cultivators are largely not getting pregnant?! That's what he's doing?! Hanging around with a bunch of not pregnant people! Also primarily male. This leads to all sorts of, you know, lacks of pregnancy. ]

Mm, please do, once the road's open. There should be a train service similar to what runs out to Amegahara once it's complete. The dragons are brilliant engineers, it shouldn't be long.

[ followed by a pause: ]

What precisely makes one a man or woman of the mountains?

[Do you never meet a village woman??? Do you ever leave that mountain??? Honestly, cultivators are getting weirder and weirder the more she learns...]

Mmm, once the road is open. I don't mind walking, though.

[It still sounds crazy to her to hear such things like "the dragons are brilliant engineers", but then again she is laying on her veranda with a baby dragon curled in her kimono, so... surreal. Let her just have another drink. And try not to remember that she still hasn't managed to ride a train without feeling a bit motion sick.

Also... That's a good question.]

Um. I guess... being really good at living in the mountains? Like... knowing which plants are edible, and how to climb steep rocks, and where to find game, and make your own tools... ? Stuff like that?

[If she seems to be blushing a bit awkwardly, well.]

I guess I didn't actually check before I just kind of... said I would learn to do it if Gonta would take me with him...

[ he smiles; her enthusiasm when it comes to her husband is endearing. ]

I'm sure he was gratified, either way. Then consider my home there open to you when you make the journey over, once the skyway opens. I'd be curious what makes one a mountain individual per Gonta's instruction as well, but don't worry. I wouldn't seek to interrupt your time together.

[ still smiling, he takes a sip of his wine, thank you very much. the dragonlet, for her part, continues her soft snoring. it's hard not to tease when she's blushing like this... she's too sweet and wholesome. ]

["Home".... ? Konoha blinks a moment, connecting that word and Shen Qingqiu with the house she's visited before, the one with the charming garden she has fond memories of introducing him to her husband in, but... Wait-]

Master Shen is going to live there all the time now... ?

[It actually made sense, after what she'd heard about his home in his own world, but it somehow shocks her to hear that he would actually be moving there, enough that it takes her a minute to register the next things he says... and potentially misinterpret what he says, mumbling with a blush down towards her new dragon baby belly and into her drink.]

I- It wouldn't be interrupting, we'd go to the mountains to... learn mountain things not... for privacy...

[LOOK way too many people have cracked jokes at her about "interrupting"... JUST BECAUSE it was easier for jinba to do things outside didn't mean she didn't check if they were alone first???]

Mm, myself and my brother will until the young ones have grown. Parents were lost in recent animal attacks... considering the circumstances, it felt most right to us.

[ He blinks at her when she stutters and trails off and blushes while mumbling, Shen Qingqiu watching with fascination. Konoha can be a one woman play sometimes, and he finds it sweet how open her face is, though he's also lagging one step behind.

His brain catches up before he speaks, and he goes, oh. OH. OH COME ON! He wasn't asking after that kind of alone! That kind of privacy! He just meant couples getting to do couple things! Not having to be hosts! Not having to worry about anyone but each other!!! ]

This one, ah, presumed on the learning. Please don't disturb your peace of mind.

[ Where's the alcohol, he wants another cup-- ]

Master Shen's... brother?

[Hold on, wait. She knew he he had... another Shen Qingqiu, but. Was this an actual blood brother, or one of those like "brothers in spirit" things that men sometimes liked to do with their good friends?

Also wait again, whose peace of mind is disturbed? Konoha's might be, but she's still attentive enough of a host to actually, somewhat automatically, reach out for the bottle and refill his drink.]

It- It just wouldn't be an interruption is what I mean... Even here at the farmstead it wouldn't!

[Sure, during the Sanguis and Iris moons things got quite frisky, and the triple moons hoh boy, but between that it was just... a normal amount of newlyweds intimacy! Nothing to interrupt... mostly!]

[ Now he really does laugh, warm and prolonged, with an elegant shake of his head at the end. ]

I'm not questioning what you've said, Miss Konoha, this Shen believes you. As for my brother--the one also called Shen Qingqiu. For the sake of ease, we've taken to referring to each other as brothers, such as twins might.

[ Hahaha because................................................ what else could they say, really? They live together, too, so. ]

Oh.

[Okay.

That.

Made sense. Which... she should probably say, instead of just staring at him wide-eyed and off guard.]

Oh, that makes sense. Sorry, I just got confused... I guess if there's two Master Shens you have to come up with something... that isn't "other me"? I started thinking "oh, no, how could I miss Master Shen's brother showing up... !"

[ he smiles, shaking his head. ]

It was the easiest thing for us to decide on in the end. Our lives... are not perfect mirrors of each other, that much we know. Siblings is easier to explain to others, as well.

[ Also is weirdly apt for reasons he'll never discuss, but that's neither here nor there. ]

Does the wine suit your tastes?

[ And the sleeping dragonlet suit a certain maternal cuddling? ]

It's probably a good idea... Otherwise people like me will be really confused if Master Shen starts talking about stuff like "parallel worlds" and all that... But I guess maybe not? If Master Shen's other friends are all a bit more like Master Shen...

[Things she'd never considered... Was she the dumb friend?

But also, things that didn't bother her... So what if she was? Someone has to be!]

Mmm, it's really tasty! It's different from the sake I'm used to... I can't tell how, but it feels... lighter? The taste, I mean. But also heavier? On my tongue...

[... She loves food but she might not be suited to food blogging. Definitely not as suited as she is to motherhood, completely taken with the dragonlet snoozing against her stomach and lower chest.]

[ Briefly thinking over some of his other friends, his idle response is: ]

Most would have equal headaches and confusion, so it does make things simpler on us all.

[ There are very few people quite like Master Shen, in this case, and he's aware of it; not for lack of intelligence, but for the chaotic truth largely unknown about his background or why he's genre savvy in stupid ways. ]

Mm, yes, this one believes he understands what you mean. It's refreshing, yet also grounding.

[ With his eyes dipping down briefly to where his dragonlet charge sleeps, he smiles. ]

Even unexpected.

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