Hoshi found it rather hard to walk, made even more difficult by the less than balanced floor of the ship. Perhaps only for this moment only, she found something strange in knowing the ground was actually moving under her feet. Her journey to the crew quarters took a break when she slumped down in an informal seiza by one of the ship's corners, pulling the blanket she was wearing on her shoulders like a cloak in a comforting gesture, banking on the fact that nobody would bother her in the middle of the night. Sigh...I could stay like this forever...

Climbing back from the mainmast, Xiao Hua made his way towards the crew quarters, yawning as he did so. The watch had been long, and uneventful. He had also got rained upon, while on the crows nest, an experience he didn't particularly enjoy, despite the water being fresh.

The deck lit by the pale moon, the man made his way in, only to spot a forlorn shape, huddling in a corner. Approaching the cloth covered... pile, he recognized the form as human.

"Erm... are you all right?"

The cloth covered pile shifted slightly to tilt her head at the likely unrecognized form address to her. "...Asako-san?"

When her eyes just barely focused, she realized it was otherwise. "...Oh..gomen. I'm just fine...thank you." She managed to breath out as her face brightened.

"Erm.. actually Iuchi." Do we even have an Asako aboard...?

Tilting his head, the man regarded the... what sounded like a miserable woman. "Are you in pain?" Xiao Hua, had always been pain in the ass, most of the time too curious for his own good.

Hoshi mustered the strength to raise a hand up in an apologetic motion at the mistake. "Gomenasai Iuchi-san, it's late...and dark. I've mistaken you for somebody else for just a moment..." She breathed out a stunted chuckle at the question, placing her left hand on her opposite shoulder. "Iie, hardly at all. Quite the opposite really..."

Her hair was down and spilled to one side of her face, this pile of blankets might have looked more eerie than she intended. "...I hope you're not in pain?" She brought forward with the barest of caution.

"You look like you were... cold or suffering, Bayushi-san." he replied to the woman, finally recognizing her. He leaned a bit closer, hoovering a hand above her, yet not touching.

"What... has happened to you?" he asked with some worry in his voice. Her symptoms suggested an unbalanced mind... or a head injury.

-ah kuso kuso kuso... Even though she thought of the curses, it was very hard for her to even be irritated at the moment. She let out a small breath and melted into a proud smirk. "...Mm, I suppose I do...It was no intentional deception of mine Iuchi-san. I am glad that you suddenly care about me a lot...Restlessness is what happened to me, doing my best to rest..."

"Erm.." Xiao Hua didn't quite know what to make out of her. She obviously wasn't fine, yet she claimed to be. Some diseases did that... as did some drugs, an idea he discarded almost immediately.

"I think... Bayushi-san seems awfully calm for being restless..." The man added, sighing. She also seemed to have misunderstood him, a fact he credited to her semi-comatose state. "Have you struck your head, fallen from the rigging?"

"'Was..." Hoshi breathed out with a lazy breath. She then placed rested her forehead on her palm, let out a low moan. It was out of frustration than anything and she would allow him to take it as is, telling him wasn't an option at the moment.

"Bayushi-san?" he exclaimed. "Should I call one of the healers?" he scanned her up and down, trying to see any possible physical signs that could have hinted what was wrong with her.

From the looks of it, at least from what she was wearing in form of a blanket and an evening yukata, there wasn't evidence that she suffered any sort of fall or injuries that looked obvious. With her hand, she pushed her unbound hair over head. "Mm-mm." She murmured in disagreement. "I don't wish to trouble the healers over something trivial really. Save their attention for someone else...It's something I usually just sleep off."

She gave a glance at the direction of the stairs down, they seemed so far away.

"Just tell me what's wrong with you..." He was annoyed by her sluggish responses, wanting to shake her, but not daring to touch. "If you do not, I will ask the kami.. I can't leave you here if you are ill..."

Her glance he missed.

Hoshi took a few small breaths in, it was what her body could afford at the moment. She tried to look up as the Unicorn but felt more comfortable having her gaze drift about. "Iuchi-san, I don't mind the company so much but to...think there's something wrong is something else...You're assuming..."

Her cheek laid against a hand now, nearly purring as she talked. "You needn't be so chivalrous with my well-being Iuchi-san. No point...Should you even drag me down to the sick bay and get me on my back, you are likely to find me to be poor...sport." She struggled with a giggle. "...Unless that's actually your thing."

Who's wrong? He was asked her, annoyed. Her state was most unnerving, with her unfocusing eyes and the feeling that she wasn't quite there.

The he blushed furiously. Luckily for the man, the darkness hid it. "I'm not like that..." he muttered silently. "You must be hallucinating... " the man noted, forgetting all the propriety, taking hold oh her hand, trying to feel her pulse while moving his other towards her forehead. He really, really hoped that she wouldn't be in any shape to stab him.

"Good." She said softly in approval with a glance to notice the blush she may have caused. "Maybe we can get along tonight after all."

"Tch." Was all she sounded for annoyance when she was surprised with Xiau Hua's touch. She kept her left hand to her opposite shoulder as a token defense should someone wish to slash her throat, or suddenly kiss her. The other hand was taken by Xiao Hau though as she could do little to keep a grip on him when she involuntarily surrendered to reading. As fevered as the Scorpion was, she wasn't suffering from any conventional illnesses.

"At least you don't seem to be dying..." he sighed. "What the hell is wrong with you?" The man asked himself as much as he asked her. Her pulse was weak, as befitted her comatose state. The limpness of her body was worrying him

Poison?

Sighing deeply, he let go of her, and started to mutter the simplest of prayers.


/OOC
GM dice by Elonweis, 4k2 picking the bold dice = 16 8, 8, 4, 8. Communing with air, TN = 10. Question to the Kami 'what is wrong with her' Will wait for Hoshi to post once before making the question. She could in theory interrupt the spell.

...Uh, am I talking to myself here? Hoshi tried hard to care yet it was so very hard to be angry at the moment, she did manage to form something of a frown in the darkness. "I know I'm not dying Iuchi-san...I feel insulted by your questions now..." She said in a dry tone as she mustered enough strength to return to her feet, suddenly the trip to the stairs felt shorter.

A puff of wind blew the hair out of the Iuchi's face. It was quickly followed by an unheard giggle as the air kami flitted around the man. It listens and in reply to his question, cheerfully communicates Hoshi's lethargy and dizziness straight into the Iuchi's head.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong! Oh look! A birdie!

The air kami swirls away, tugging at the Scorpion's clothes with curiosity.

Having been effectively barred from his normal routine tonight Kichirou found himself on the deck after dinner. He hadn't been in any particular rush and was more or less wandering along the ship staying out the way of the crew and listening to the sounds of the ship and the ocean.

It was his cousin's movement that drew Kichirou's attention to the couple further towards the aft of the ship and with some concern but more curiosity he made his way nearer. Looking from Hoshi to the Unicorn and noting his clanmate's general state he stops an appropriate distance away, "Everything alright cousin?" he asks offering a bow to the two samurai though it was more perfunctory than sincere.

"Ngh." Hoshi breathed out and dropped her arms to hug her favourite blanket when she felt the wind pick up strangely around her. "It's windy..." She murmured.

She waved off a lazy hand when Kichirou approached with now concerns of his own. "Oh, you too Bayushi-san? Mm...hai...Iuchi-san here was just feeling...very friendly."