[ 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.
[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. ]
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... !"
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. ]
no subject
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?
no subject
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...
no subject
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. ]
no subject
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???]
no subject
[ 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-- ]
no subject
[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!]
no subject
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. ]
no subject
[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... !"
no subject
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? ]
no subject
[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.]
no subject
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.