(Day 7 Early Afternoon) Ugh Dirty Gaijin Magic!

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

Qian-Fan shivered as he shed his clothing. Perhaps not as unpleasant as he had expected but the gaijin magic he had observed still made him feel physically unclean and he hadn't even wanted to stay at the Embassy one moment longer even if they did have baths. He considered summoning warm water for a moment, sure that the edict on casting didn't apply onboard, but then thought of the situation. His priestly power was a commodity even scarcer than the water at present, better to conserve it for when it would be needed. So, room temperature water it would be.



/ooc Open, but expecting someone, so I'd appreciate a PM before you join please.

[Isawa O-Washi]

His return had not gone unnoticed because O-washi had been waiting for it.

One advantage of having been a career drunk, when the opportunity arose, was an increased ability to deal with the side effects. One of the first O-washi had mastered was what he called 'caged awareness', wherein a part of his brain was kept locked up sober and watched, all too often with chagrin, as his drunken self did foolish things. It helped him apologize approprietly later and had proved invaluable on many other occassions as well.

He well remembered the shocked expression the Agasha had worn and was determined to know the cause and deal with it as best he could now, no excuses. The easiest way to force a confrontation, he had found, was to catch someone while they were naked and therefor couldn't just storm off.

So it was that the gunso, immediately following the bow of greeting, stole his fellow Phoenix's change of clothes and stashed them out of the smaller man's reach.

"Agasha-san. I've been wondering when you'd come back aboard."

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

Qian-fan flinched. Well he thought he had flinched, any other observer would have said he jumped a foot in the air. That was just the voice he had not wanted to hear. Not now.

"Isawa-sama. Good afternoon."

Quiet as the Mouse generally was, he turned and reached for his clothes and came up empty. Huh? But I put them right there. Fighting a general rising of panic, Qian-Fan completed the turn to the gunso dreading what would come next.

[Isawa O-Washi]

O-washi was, quite calmly, untying the strings that kept his hakama on. No sense not using the other tub while he was here, after all.

"As I was lying about waiting for the herbs to take down the headache I gave myself yesterday, I did a bit of thinking on the activities that lead me to that sorry state. It occurred to me that you might yet be offended, or disturbed, or whatever it was that you were that sent you bolting like a flushed rabbit yesterday. That sort of thing leads to awkwardness and that's death on a ship in a fight, which I imagine we'll have, one way or another, before we get home."

Fabric dropped away and the big man bent to colleck the soft red fabric, folding it neatly as he continued.

"So. Let's have it out, then. What's the trouble, and what do we do about it?"

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

Well that neatly removed the problems of dwelling on gaijin magics from his mind and refocused him on his other problem. His cheeks did a good job of trying to match the colour of the clothing O-Washi had just removed.

"Isawa-sama! It was just . . . I . . . err . . . no . . . but . . . "

He bit his bottom lip as words failed him. At least this time he had kept his eyes on O-Washi.

[Isawa O-Washi]

"Phoenix, for all our friendship with the Crane, don't have the same sense of...openmindedness...on certain topics. If that's the problem here, well then, I apologize most profusely for subjecting you to a visible spectacle which you may disapprove of."

Setting his clothes on a shelf, he moved to the other tub and, like his kin, filled it the usual way.

"I should warn you that, for whatever reason, enjoying that sort of companionship is not uncommon among sailors."

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

Qian-Fan went even redder and for some reason suddenly decided he needed to sit in the tub rather than stand. He also found his voice again.

"I can assure you, Isawa-sama, that is not the reason for my . . . hasty exit."

[Isawa O-Washi]

Keen of eye as O-washi was, he was about as good at perceiving hidden meanings as he was at flying. As he began to scrub his upper body in preparation for soaking, he gave Qian-Fan a confused look. "Is it the public nature of the thing then? Behaving badly while drunk is, I am afraid, something I'm well known for, and I'm not exactly a paragon of social virtue at the best of times."

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

Qian-Fan bit his bottom lip. He really didn't want to have to spell this out, not to O-Washi. The Crab the night before had been bad enough.

"I have been in army camps before, Isawa-sama. Although the Shiba are quite well behaved, the ronin and ashigaru not so much."

He took a deep breath.

"How would you expect someone to react when one they have begun to care for is in the arms of another in front of them?"

[Isawa O-Washi]

"Ah."

O-washi, at once, grimaced and ran his free hand through his hair in chagrin, ignoring the suds sliding down his chest as guilt distracted him from his bathing.

"Merciful Fortunes', I didn't realize I was poaching...next time, try throwing the cup at me instead of just dropping it, that'd be a much better way to encourage me to step down."

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

Qian-Fan closed his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He was going to have to spell this out and suffer the embarrassment after all. He wasn't escaping here in a hurry . . . well not until he found where the gunso had put his clothes.

"My apologies Isawa-sama. I was not clear enough. Pretty as the Crane may be, that is too like myself. I prefer men to be . . . . well men."

[Isawa O-Washi]

"Oh."

The big man blinked bemusedly at his companion for a few moments, then went back to scrubbing. He took his time considering just how to repsond to that, his actions no slower or faster than they had been before. Finally, he said, "Well, you're good at discretion, I'll give you full credit there. To be frank with you, this puts me in a bind. I haven't the slightest clue the nature of my relationship, if it is one, with Fuichi-san. I hope to discuss it with him today, if the chance comes up, but it would be wrong of me to speak further about what you just said without speakng with him first. "

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

Well the point had gotten through but Qian-Fan certainly didn't feel any better for it. In fact he was blushing just as furiously as he had at any point in the conversation.

"i should not have . . . there are strictures against such things and . . . i have caused problems here."

He tailed off before he began rambling into true gibberish.

[Isawa O-Washi]

"Certainly you should have. Better to get what bothers you in the open instead of stewing on it. As to the second point, you're right, there's a rule against fraternization on the ship."

A wry smile raised the corners of the man's lips. "Shore leave is a notable exception and, frankly, the prohibition is mostly to prevent pregnancy...not exactly a concern. I'm half convinced that's why the predilection I mentioned before exists, actually."

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

His mouth formed the perfect o of sudden realisation.

"It seems I have made many false assumptions on this voyage. It must be luck alone that has prevented a mistake of the proportions of Junpei-san's on my part."

[Isawa O-Washi]

"You see, this is why I try to be the approachable one." The gunso's face grew mock-mournful, even as his blue eyes glittered in amusement. "Better questions plague me than for my crewmates to labor under incorrect assumptions."

Rinsing the suds from his upper half, the Isawa started on the lower, sitting on a convenient barrel to attack his feet with a very sturdy looking sponge.

"Commeraderie is expected, encouraged even, on a ship. Admittedly training vessels such as this one where the crew changes often have less of an issue but there are many instances of romance born on the sea. It is just that there is no chance for stolen privacy as there is at, say, a Winter Court. Thus, shore leave, to keep everyone from running mad with restrained urges, fair or foul."

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

Another water shugenja stumbled to the cargo hold, dressed only in his legion issue pants, carrying a small towel with him. Nothing that the space was occupied, he nodded his greeting to the other two present. "Good day, Isawa-gunso, Agasha-san."

Without much same, he made his way to the water, undressing himself in the process.

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

Qian-Fan nodded to the gunso, let out a long sigh.

"it is much simpler in my books. The dashing yojimbo alwasy wins the courtier or shugenja despite his protests at first. Then again, none of them have been set at sea. Probably a good thing, we Phoenix have a habit of believing written word over what is in front of us too much and the World of Pillow Books is far divorced from reality."

And then Xiao Hua entered. Qian-Fan quietened and made a show of washing his hair. No, no talk of such things around the Unicorn, but Qian-fan had heard some very bizarre stories of the utaku and their horses . . . .

"Iuchi-sama, good afternoon."

He hazarded a smile and a nodded bow between rinses.

[Isawa O-Washi]

There was more yet to say, much more, but the arrival of the other man stopped the words before they left O-washi's lips. Instead, he bent them into a welcoming smile. "Iuchi-san, how've you enjoyed the chance for the exotic?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

Washing himself, the Unicorn turned to regard his superior. "Ah, nice. Very nice. New, strange interesting place. Food's good too. Would love to stay here longer, really. Barring the weather. And the crazy cult..." he chuckled dryly.