Celadine Hills (Farmland)

Though not quite fully awake, Naoki seems to be conscious enough to adjust herself in the bed to nuzzle up into the hand at her ear.

“Myyyuuuh,” vocalises Naoki, stretching slightly before curling back up. Despite how tired she had been at the conclusion of last night’s activities, the quality of the sleeping arrangements, and of course the comfort of present company, she hasn’t slept well and is decidedly less than fully rested. So much is apparent in the manner in which she tossed and turned all night, and the apparent drowsiness.

“Alright,” she mumbles, eyes still shut, “If you say so.”

However, having said this, Naoki doesn’t seem to be moving. Sliding one hand just barely out from under the covers, she raises a single finger in the air in a manner that she intends to come off as assertive, and continues sleepily, “However, I am going to sit you down to talk about things today.”

Withdrawing her hand, Naoki uses it to slide the blanket up further, to cover her neck.

After allowing a few moment to pass in silence, “... I’ve got bad news,” she states quietly, with no hints of drowsiness.

"Oh." Kate gives no further comment to this information or follows it with the no, although she'd very much like to. Any sort of talk that's going to be framed as such won't be too gleeful. Still, it might be better to not postpone this. Aaaaaaaaagh.

"W- Well, I'm going to have breakfast now. So... You can still sleep for a while if you're not hungry. Or if you're not, you can. Well, then." Kate wasn't making sense to herself either, so she took off before embarrassing herself further.

---

Arriving at the kitchen was a simple task, made easier by the delicious smells fashioned by the lovely cooks, all of whom Kate greeted amiably. She took notice of Jun, sipping a drink in the corner. Kate responds to her energyless greeting with a smile and a nod. Honestly, she felt a bit queasy in the crossfire of a history she had no part in or knowledge of. Yet it wasn't something she could let get to her, and it wasn't something that couldn't be fixed either.

Kate joins Jun at her table after making a trip to the porridge cauldron, picking a round shaped fruit from the basket at random while she was at it. As she seated across from her, peeling the said fruit, she makes an effort to have eye contact with her. From the looks of her, she might have had no sleep. The unease was amplifying.

"Hey..." She began. "You know, Naoki felt really bad about what happened last night, and I kind of feel responsible as well. If there's something we can do to say we're sorry just tell us, okay." Kate slid her hand forwards and eyed Jun for reaction of any kind.

Jun's eyes came to life. "What? Really? You mean... she's not mad?"

As if her stomach suddenly started to function a little better, Jun drank her tea with more gusto. But she wasn't quite ready to attempt solid food yet.

"Kate, I don't know about this. I've never... Look, I was mad. I know Naoki has her way of... doing things. And I know sexuality isn't supposed to be that big a deal but... Look I shouldn't need a reason to say no. And I shouldn't feel, well, scared to say no. But she's the High Lady. Saying no is like jumping through a flaming hoop. And well, I don't like not feeling in control. I hate it. Maybe it's a character flaw I don't know but I just hate it."

Jun finally took a bite out of a slice of fruit. "So I did what I did because I just wanted to feel like I was in control again. I wanted to feel less afraid. Uh, heh." A trace of a salacious grin surfaced on her still somewhat cold face. "When me and Vaelar, um, did our thing, I was used to being on top. Light construct handcuffs you know. I used to sometimes grab him by the- I'm just gonna stop there." Jun chuckled a bit.

"Kate-" She looked her in the eye. "I do wanna apologize to her. But I want her to know how I feel too. Just because she's a political powerhouse doesn't mean she can have whoever she wants in bed. And her power does make it hard to say no. She needs to be more responsible with that power-" Jun's monologue was interrupted by a hearty yawn. "I'm really starting to regret not sleeping last night. Heh."

Naoki manages to offer a weak imitation of a smile in greeting as Kate reenters the room, but it can’t quite mask her underlying state of distress. Though she wasn’t entirely prepared to have fruit thrown at her so early in the morning, Naoki, after only a bit of fumbling, catches the thing. For a moment, Naoki looks at it, unfamiliar with what exactly it is and unsure what she’s expected to do with it. Looking over, it seems like Kate is peeling hers, so Naoki opts to follow suit, and begins talking as she does so, “Mmmh. … That’s good. Later today, I guess. … You’ll recall that yesterday, I mentioned that Artemis was having some indigestion, and would be staying in the carriage.”

“That was entirely correct, but not the entirety of the truth. As you’ll further recall, she isn’t quite as... natural as most people tend to be. Though it pains me to say this, she could be likened as just easily to a wizard’s golem as she could to a someone such as yourself, if one is speaking in a purely physiological sense. And while this does grant her the superhuman abilities and such, the other side of that coin is that her body does not... it doesn’t last, as it were.”

The manner in which Naoki is peeling the fruit is slow, precise, and methodical, removing equally sized portions of the fruit’s skin and stacking them up nearly on the arm of the chair. She seems to be devoting a relatively large portion of her attention to the activity, given that she’s ostensibly maintaining a conversation.

“To be more specific, it - her body - it ages quickly, some parts of it, and the parts that can heal, and regrow themselves don’t do so quite correctly. Hasdrubal used to do what he would call ‘maintenance,' and Artemis insisted that it helped. Her ability to heal wounds is extraordinary but won’t work on small cuts and the like. One one occasion, she was able to regrow her whole arm past the elbow, but lately, she’s been having vision problems, stomach issues, and awful headaches. … I’m not explaining this clearly, am I. … I never looked too far into the matter, so I don’t quite know what all is going on - and I regret that now, I thought we had more time - but the point that I’m getting at here is that the effective lifespan of Artemis’ body has turned out to be about ten years.”

At this point, Naoki stops both speaking and peeling the fruit. Speaking, mostly because she hasn’t figured out any more words to use, and peeling because there isn’t any more skin on the fruit to peel off. Now she sits quietly, peeled fruit held awkwardly in one hand, with a somewhat strained expression and her tongue between her teeth, looking in Kate’s general direction.

Today Doobie had wandered from Silver Mountain to spread pictures of his lost son Wah. He had perfectly copied sketches of Wah onto some paper that said who Wah was and where Doobie lives. He worried for his youngest child, he knew Wah is very naive, timid, and was slow in the head. "*sigh* I hope the world has had mercy on him."

Silently, with her eyes held shut and her lips clamped together, Naoki shakes her head.

“We’ve tried.”

Nothing to do, nothing to be done, not in the last few months leading up to today, or now, after the fact. It was a case of all the king’s horses and all the king’s men being inadequate. Or, a case of all the top medical and magical minds of the world being unable to understand and repair the creation of a dead man, depending on how literal one would like to be.

“I hope you don’t mind if I omit the details…" Naoki begins, "She was not feeling well yesterday. When we were exiting the carriage, she was not in a state to follow. She suggested that you and I go ahead, and we did. In the past, her problems have been mostly episodic, and not lasting for very long. She would have them and get over them over the course of an hour or two, and then be more or less alright for the rest of the day, at least.”

Pulling her legs up onto the seat, Naoki wraps the tip of her tail around her feet and folds her arms atop her knees, doing what she can to seem small.

“She fell unconscious, and I sent her back to Isra by griffin. As we were eating dinner, she was under the care of every single individual I thought may have been able to help. … An awful lot of gold changed hands yesterday. But none of them were able to stabilize her in the… traditional sort of manner that would have her conscious, back on her feet. … I settled for what amounts to a spell of deep sleep. Though she isn’t getting any better, Artemis also isn’t getting any worse. She just… sleeps. As if frozen. ... There’s apparently some time magic involved. In the night, I had her moved to The Chalet, and the man responsible for the spell is now excessively contracted, so events have stopped transpiring, at least...”

“But that doesn’t change the fact that when I reach out...”

Naoki extends one hand out into the open air as if reaching for someone else’s hand. Simultaneously, her earring begins to glow, before abruptly fading out as her her arm collapses against the side of the chair.

“...she’s not there,” Naoki finishes weakly.

Naoki inhales sharply. Loved. The word seems to reverberate, the past tense stings. This time only yesterday, all was well. Artemis was just departing to pick up the birthday bracelet from Dawnfire Forges. Now, here we are, using words like “loved.” It was only yesterday! Using the past tense, with its “loved,” its “was,” and its “used to be”s, so soon is far too much, far too quickly, Naoki finds; and is enough to inspire her to plant her face down into the blanket covering her knees and sob silently into it.

Even so, Kate’s point regarding holing up in the room is a valid one, and for as easy is it is to drown in misery, there are more productive things to do. That's what she tells herself, at least. As such, Naoki does what she can to sequester those past tense thoughts away with all of the rest. It's beginning to get crowded over there, where she keeps the bad feelings, but this is just another handful for the pile. After taking a few moments to wipe at her face and take a few shaky breaths, Naoki rises unsteadily to her feet.

“Alright,” Naoki offers, though it comes out as more of a croak than anything else. It’s clear that she’s going to need a few moments at least to dress, so without anything further beyond clearing her throat, Naoki presses per lips very tightly together and turns to enter the bedroom behind them, to set about getting ready.

As she does, Naoki opts to occupy her mind by considering the rest of Kate's statement, about "everybody who still remains." She considers just who all is relying on her, and what mechanisms are in place to take over should she fail. And then she consider who she needs to keep going. And what a terribly, terribly fragile structure that is. Her conclusion is that fear is awfully effective when it comes to overcoming grief, and she damn well better stay strong because the backup plans are awful. 

The process takes only a few minutes and includes a particular set of stretches that Naoki last employed under very similar circumstances in the past. By the time she’s finished, Naoki is presentable and has schooled her facial expression appropriately. Among the clothing she opted to pack, Naoki has chosen to dress in a dark gray sweater and one of her many dark-colored, tightly fitted trousers. It is admittedly somewhat warm to be wearing a sweater, but such trivialities have not bothered Naoki in the past.

“If anyone asks,” Naoki begins, “She is unwell.”

Judging by the tone used, this seems to be a declaration as well as a way of indicating that she isn’t going to be speaking about the lack of Artemis’ presence with others, full stop.

Dropping that tone entirely for a softer one, Naoki continues, “With that said, I’m about as ready as I will be.” Though she isn't able to feign enthusiasm, Naoki seems willing enough to go speak with Jun, and would follow Kate if lead.

The door swung open.

While the dark circles under her eyes had not completely dissipated, Jun's demeanor at the very least seemed much more refreshed. A simple nap and a bit of mental rehearsal had done her wonders. "Kate, Madam Naoki, hi." Her voice was soft but optimistic. She didn't smile, but she didn't frown either. Her expression, like her mood, was tentative, perhaps a bit fearful. As if physically enervated her frame leaned on the door as it swung slightly, and seemed to rely on the doorknob for stability as she back up and tried to welcome the pair into her home.

"Please, come in, come in."

The room was not all that different from Naoki and Kate's guest room, the same basic trappings: tapestries, candles, organic, nature-revering artwork, all very primitive. But there were some notable exceptions. Jun's room also had a number of low key magic artifacts, potion brews, and notes scattered in key places, like her desk and couch, and her bed should the pair venture into her bedroom. Towards the rear of the room was Blackbean, sitting on the window sill, in his miniature form of course. He observed the trio, his head cocking to get a better look at them with his ears.

The odor was a bit different too, much more human, though not necessarily offensive to the olfactory senses; there was simply no attempt at hiding the scents with lavender or jasmine. Jun herself remained in unremarkable beige robes.

"Here, let me just clear a spot for you guys to sit and... uh..." Her lithe hands reached down to scoop up any papers that remained on any cushions. She searched the room for somewhere more viable and settled on dumping everything onto the desk. "Uh... so yah..."

Assuming the two sat down, Jun cleared her throat, though did this little to change her tone. She looked to Naoki. "Uh... one of us will have to go first so... me, you... I guess those are our only two options... hehe." She smiled nervously.

Naoki would actually be able to see the color rushing back into Jun's face, a barely perceptible shade with every sentence. When Naoki was done she steeled herself to prepare a similar response.

Despite her rehearsing, she took a few beats of her own to reply. "I'm sorry too." She inhaled a fair bit. "Maybe you did overreact. Maybe things could have been settled another way. But it doesn't change the fact that the way I handled the situation was wrong too. I, I was uncomfortable. I was scared. And the truth is I handled it in a way which reflects one of my character flaws, something that I haven't quite been able to get over, holy mage or not."

She raised her hands a bit, as if trying to hold the words together with her will. "Lady Naoki, even since I was little, I've had a certain flaw. I can't stand giving up control of a situation. My lust for power was driven by my competitive nature. But my competitive nature comes down to control, my need to not lose control. It's something I've only started to meditate on recently. The knowledge there are forces in this world that can control my destiny, well it bothers me. I don't like being at the mercy of other things, or other people. Power is one way to avoid this, although it isn't always the right way."

A bit too much color entered her face this time. "When it comes to sex... Giving up control is hard for me. When it comes to dating, being vulnerable is hard for me. The truth is, I've just, never been interested in pursuing that avenue with you. But I was afraid to outright resist because you're the high lady and are arguably the most powerful woman in the world right now. The truth is, I'm afraid of you. And deep down inside, that angers me... That anger came to a head last night."

Jun paused, seeing if either Kate or Naoki would have anything to say before she continued.