-120 °C / 2500 °F

[coronatius]

kovyou

        The song of the crickets fill the autumn air as the onmyoji slides open the door, exiting his room of sigils and paper talismans to step out onto the engawa. The moon shines ominously bright tonight, illuminating the roads of the palace grounds a light shade of blue-grey. The man cannot recall when the light began to feel somewhat uncomfortable to him, but he also doesn't want to find out how long it would take for him to go crazy working in that stuffy room. The night air felt nice against his cheeks, at least.

        Two of his subordinates walk down the road in front of his library, their white robes in stark contrast to the dark surroundings. As they draw closer to the buildling, their eyes meet the white-haired man's, dark browns against bright gold.

        "..."

        No words are exchanged as he and the onmyoji stare at each other in an eerie silence. Yet it only lasts for a moment—a moment as brief as the blink of an eye, for eventually the pair bow solemnly in respect to him and he, in turn, gives them a nod of acknowledgement. The pair then continues walking and pass the library, picking back up their conversation as if it never ended.

        Soon the onmyoji raises his hands above his head, letting out a yawn as he stretches his arms out. After a brief glance up towards the stars twinkling in the night sky, he turns back around and heads back into the library, murmuring under his breath about how he was going to get it if he didn't clean up the place before she came back.

        "Oh, you're back already?" Maru exclaims when he hears the door to the room he is in slide open, turning his head to greet his exalted visitor. He shoots her a smile bright enough to light up the room, if there weren't already candles and lanterns scattered here and there. Though the rooms on the way here had been cleaned up, there is evidently still much more work to be done.

        "Ahh, I was wondering how long you'd be stuck with that diplomat." he teases as he straightens a pile of unused talismans, waiting to be put to use. "I've heard sooo many nasty things about that guy from the nobles... or maybe it's because it's coming from the nobles, that what I've heard has been nasty?"

        "But enough about that." he says, waving his hand as if brushing off all his previous words. The onmyoji approaches the empress, closing the physical distance between the two of them. His hand reaches for hers, and he lowers himself into a bow before bringing her hand towards his lips, planting a chaste kiss on the back of her hand as he gazes up towards her with a smile.

        "Welcome back. My dear, dear Kaede."

[coronatius]

( mikazuki )

–〖月 〗–

    “Oh?  Can worms live in water?”  His reply is nonchalant as he walks over to the other tachi, peering inside the cup that was held out.  Like he said, there was a few noodle-like things in the cup to which he laugh as he takes the cup into his own hand.  He moves the cup gently, the water sloshing around and sees the worms move in response.

   “Were you surprised, Tsurumaru? Hahaha!”  The tachi looks back towards the other, amusement plain on his face.  “I shall return our friends to their place, and apologize.  Next time I will take a closer look.”

—「 日 」—

        "All those years under your sash and you don't know if worms can live in water?" Tsurumaru retorts with a teasing smirk. He lets out a laugh as he watched the other observe the wriggling animals, just as amused.

        "I was definitely surprised this time around," he admits, scratching his chin as he begins to think. A mischievous glint begins to shine in his golden eyes. "I wonder how Hase-chan would react to some worms in his water..."

[coronatius]

kovyou

—「 日 」—

        "..."

        He stares at her sleeping figure, still aside from the rising and falling of her bandaged chest. Their white color is a stark contrast to her dark torn robes, yet only serve to make the stains of dried blood stand out even more.

        He closes his eyes and breathes out through his nose. With a casual wave of his hand, the perpetual fog that hangs over the forest immediately dissipates. The moonlight shines through the crisp clear air and the crevices of the cave, brighter than ever before. His powers weren't suited for things like healing—especially when immortality had no need for such things—but he, at the very least, could manage first aid.

        "Kae."

        The name is enough to make his chest tighten. He can't remember the last time it escaped his lips. It might have been all those centuries ago, on that fateful night. That ominous night of the new moon. The last time she smiled at him.

        The yokai bites his lip as he removes his pipe from his side, inhaling deeply from it as his half-lidded eyes glance once again upon her sleeping figure. He catches the faint scent of a dream from her, but for the first time in many decades, he isn't in the mood to eat.

        Instead he settles for another breath from his pipe, his troubled sighs disappearing into the night like the white smoke from his frail lips.

[kovyou]

✐ + scars

〘楓〙

     She’d like to say she’s doesn’t care too much about her body–appearances didn’t matter when she was on the run as a fugitive. Head hunters had take hits at her when she least expected it, while the hive mind and inability to think for one’s self grows and ingrains itself into the soldiers that followed orders.  Mercenaries with orders to kill, not capture the run-away princess who tried to claim the throne attacked her with sharpened blades and arrows.  

     No matter how skilled Miyuki and Kaede was, getting injured was always apart of the plan.  The main goal was to stay alive, and avoid the fatal hits that came their way.

Keep reading

[coronatius]

kopiuchigatana·:

“Tsurumaru-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! Where are you?” Sometimes these pranks were a bit much, even if they were meant to surprise others. “Right now isn’t the time to play. You have chores!”

“And I have paperwork! Come on!” Keeping tabs on the touken danshi was like herding cats sometimes.

—「 日 」—

        Chores shmores.

        Out of all the things he wants to be doing right now, chores is not one of them. A part of him still wants to get revenge on Mitsutada for practically smothering him in the scent of his "organic fertilizer" a few days ago. In his crouched position hidden near the fields, the crane notices a familiar filled bucket when an idea pops into his head...

        "I'm right heerree, Dai-chan~" he exclaims as he enters the citadel and towards the voice of his saniwa. Nothing appeared to be off about the tachi, other than the smell of horse manure that quickly fills the air around him. How exactly did Namazuo deal with this smell? Tsurumaru would have to get some tips from him eventually.

        But for now, it was time to get out of chores.

        "Were ya lookin' for me?"

[coronatius]

☽ a wild sandman™

☽ = wandering alone at night .

—「 日 」—

        A figure cloaked in white darts throughout the dark forest, golden eyes glancing around for any signs of unnatural movement. His clothes are probably the least fitting for what he was doing, but Tsurumaru didn't think it would really be that much of an issue—Detiree was a small island where few would dare venture into the forest at these hours. At thef very least, anyone who saw him would probably think he was a ghost... and he isn't entirely against the idea of being turned into a urban myth.

        Plus, Tsurumaru had no fear of being found. No one knew or needed to know he was a primal. At least, not yet. The time simply wasn't right for any of the crew to know of his true origins, and he planned to keep it that way until they were rea-.

        Holy shit! Tsurumaru almost falls face flat into a bush when he notices one of the figures he had been searching for in the distance, outside of the forest. He swears that if he had been a second later to notice, he might have given himself away. The primal notes that he isn't doing anything in particular, however, except staring up at the moon with a thoughtful gaze.

        The other is a primarch—that much, Tsurumaru could tell. But that only made his concern for Kaede grow. Why were he and the other one hanging around Kaede so much? What did they want with her? The questions roll around in the crane's head, and staring at the motionless angel didn't make things any easier for him.

        The coffee-haired angel stays like that for several long minutes before heading back in the direction of Kaede's home. Tsurumaru considers following him, but decides that he would lose his cover the moment he left the safety of the trees. Sighing silently, the primal disappears back into the shadows of the forest until another night.

[coronatius]

▤

▤ = falling asleep on them .

—「 日 」—

        Tsurumaru feels as if he's floating on a cloud. He feels peaceful, like he is drifting along a soft and gentle breeze. But there is something squeezing him around the chest. In fact, it is making it kind of hard to breathe...

        By the time Tsurumaru fully opens his eyes, he does not expect to see Mitsutada's figure wrapped around him and his haori like a clingy tantou. The other is fast asleep, but he is holding onto the crane so tightly that he thinks the other is faking it. Attempts at nuding the other awake are in complete vain

        "Mitsu-bou... are you drunk?" he asks incredulously. The crane is still somewhat groggy from his nap, but he can't think moreso because of how tightly the tachi is holding onto him. There is a very faint smell of alcohol that wafts into his nose. Suddenly, the tachi wonders where Ookurikara was when you needed him to keep Mitsutada in check.

        "Mm... Kae-chan... yer so soff... Mitsutada murmurs as he snuggles closer into Tsuru's haori.

        Tsurumaru isn't even sure what he's supposed to say in this situation. A part of him wants to pretend to be Kaede just to see how Mitsutada will react, but not even years of voice training could ever allow him to sound like his saniwa. Though he knows it is futile, the crane begins to struggle against Mitsutada's solid grasp vehemently.

        "G-Get off of me...! I'm not your body pillow!!"

[coronatius]

♡

♡ = complimenting them .

—「 日 」—

        "..."

        Striking red eyes glance back towards the god, his suspicion glimmering in the moonlight. Tsuru's eyes are narrowed in both surprise and caution—he didn't even hear him approach. And did he really just compliment him?

        "I don't think I should consider being called 'pretty,' a compliment if it's from you." he muses. The baku hesitates to take his gaze off from the other, wary of his intentions. Yet eventually the yokai returns to looking below at the town bathed in moonlight, streets as barren as a dry river.

        "I only look like this because I haven't had any proper nightmares in a while." he states as he fiddles around with the pipe hanging from his waist. There were no scents of a plea or dream tonight as well. "I'm hungry. It's nothing to admire."

[coronatius]

▓ say good bye to your slippers

▓ = caught stealing their belongings .

—「 日 」—

        "Oohh, cold, cold..." The crane quickly shuffles in through the doors of the citadel, a bag of fresh produce from the market dangling from his elbow. The winter chill outside stung his skin despite all his layers of clothing, so the tachi is eager to drop off the food in the kitchen before returning to huddle under the kotatsu.

        "Hn?" Where were his slippers? Tsurumaru looks up and down the entrance hall, but they are nowhere to be seen. Though he is hesitant to walk around the citadel in his socks, Tsuru is left with no other choice as he begins to scour the area for his indoor slippers.

        Yet they were truly nowhere to be found. None of the tantous frolicking in the snow, the yaris napping in a kotatsu, the uchigatanas in the sparring dojo—no one had seen a trace of his slippers. His room came empty, along with all of the other spots that he often frequented. Where in the world could they have gone?

        It is when the tachi steps out onto the engawa that he notices something strange. There is something out in the middle of the large iced-over pond, something that doesn't quite look like an animal and is the color of his slippers. Tsurumaru is about to investigate when he sees Mitsutada's familiar head of hair in the distance.

        The two are too far from one another to actually talk to one another, but they are clearly in each other's view. When their golden eyes meet each other, Mitsutada immediately gives him an immediate apologetic look. The crane didn't have to hear it from him in words to know what he wants to say:

        'Sorry, I couldn't do anything about it.'

        In that very instant, Tsurumaru understood. And so he throws back his head as he whines loudly in utter defeat.

        "KAEE-CHAAANNN!!!"

[coronatius]

💐 its dango that definitely was not dipped in soy sauce

💐; give a gift

—「 日 」—

        "Ohhh? Ohh, ohh, ohhh, what's this?" Tsurumaru enters the infirmary uninvited, the automatic doors sliding closed behind him as he makes his way straight over to Mikazuki sitting at his desk. Sitting atop a few scattered papers is a single plate of three sticks of a delicacy once known in the country as dango. Nowadays rarely made and hard to find, it was a miracle for anyone to get their hands on some.

        "Did you really think you could keep this rare good stuff from me?" he asks the doctor with a proud grin, nudging the other's arm gently. "Don't keep it all for yourself, Jiji!"

        The operator was seriously considering just taking a bite (or two)—Mikazuki and him went way back, after all. Surely some food-sharing between them was allowed? But when the older male offers him a brown-tinted stick of dango towards him, Tsuru could barely believe it.

        "Really? You're giving this to me? You're the best, old man!" he laughs. Eagerly taking a bite out of the snack, he is unaware of the unexpected perils until it is too late.

        "Ack!" he coughs, covering his mouth as he almost doubles over from the unexpected taste. "S-Salty!"

[coronatius]

🍫

🍫; quietly hand over a treat/food item

—「 日 」—

        Sparkling golden eyes peer curiously at the bar of chocolate that is extended towards him. His saniwa's face is completely hidden from view behind her soft hair, hiding her expression from him like a opaque curtain. He is tempted to steal a peek at what lies behind, but he instead settles for taking the sweet treat into his fingers.

        "Is this for that thing you call Valentine's Day?" he asks in an innocent manner as he looks upon the chocolate.

        She doesn't respond with words. Instead, her shoulders tense as if she had just been caught doing something she shouldn't have. He raises an eyebrow in interest, for the small motion catches his eye.

        He murmurs a few quiet words to himself, golden orbs twinkling in the sunlight that streams into the room. He looks down at the sugary food with a thoughtful expression on his features.

        "Kae-chan, what's this?" he asks.

        Kaede turns to face him at his earnest question. In that moment, the crane takes the opportunity to close the distance between them. Th tachi completely catches her off guard, stealing a light kiss from the corner of her lips.

        "Thanks for the choco, Kae-chan. Consider this as me returning the favor." he says as a vague smirk pulling at his lips, giving away his satisfaction at the successful trick. He is entirely pleased with the way the situation has turned out.

        Even if it was only the end of November.

[veilled-deactivated20160315]

send one for my muse’s reaction to your muse ---

[antigxn-blog]

violacexus :

florror:

alternatively send ‘ + ‘ after the symbol for the roles to be reversed where possible !

✘ = hugging them . Δ = playing with their hair .  ❤ = kissing them .  ₪ =  asking them out for dinner . ☀ = giving them a gift of ___ ( asker’s choice ) . ♘ = stabbing them . ♕ = bowing down before them . ♒ = lying to them .   ✿ = buying them flowers . ☾ = being found shirtless . ♢ = reading them a story . ☂ = giving them their jumper to keep warm . ✎ = speaking in a different language . ✏ = teaching them a different language . ▄ = telling them a joke . ♬ = singing to them . ☹ = insulting a loved one . ஐ = slapping them . ✂ = threatening them . ❃ = dancing with them . ▤ = falling asleep on them . ☮ = waking them up after a nightmare .  ♣ = discovering them crying .  回 = patching a wound .  ✮ = stargazing . ▓ = caught stealing their belongings . ☽ = wandering alone at night . ♡ = complimenting them . ≡ = offering a place to stay overnight . ☢ = falling over . ✦ = being well-dressed . ❂ = wiping blood off their face . ◎ = taking care of them while ill . ☁ = being caught in the middle a storm with them . ⇕ = holding their hand . ↱ = being lost with them . ☠ = pushing them against a wall .

[memeasaurus-promptus]

Soft Affection

Send in an icon for my muse to: 

🎀 Play with your muse’s hair

✋ brush fingers/hold hands

👉 Gently poke or prod yours

💐 give a gift

🎎 sit close enough to brush knees/lean against yours

🛌 take a nap with yours

🖐 tracing fingers against your muse’ skin or over a scar/other

🍫 quietly hand over a treat/food item

☺ stroke your muse’s cheek/face

🧥 be found wearing your muse’s sweater/coat/article of clothing

✨+ add your own

🐱 to reverse

[coronatius]

kodaitsvki

—「 日 」—

        "See you guys later!" Tsurumaru waves goodbye to the group of swords that depart from the engawa, leaving only the crane and Mikazuki behind. The other tachi sits next to him with a teacup in hand, in a seemingly relaxed pose.

        Yet Tsurumaru can sense that something is off. He never had a particularly deep relationship with any sword prior to arrving at this citadel—being brought to different places at different times for so long, the thought of a companion that wasn't his master never really occurred to him. The tachi did not have a relationship akin to that of Izuminokami and Horikawa, nor one that Mitsutada could share with his fellow Osafune swords. There was never really a place where he truly belonged, instead solitarily drifting along with winds that fickle Fate had in store for him.

        So when he was finally given a human body—finally able to interact with the world around him—and put in a citadel of many others just like him, it's new. But it is also strange, unfamiliar. He doesn't know what he would do if his saniwa sage were to be a different kind of person, if Mikazuki were not here to keep him company during idle times. Their presence, once foreign, are now something that feels strange to be without.

        A sinking feeling emerges from within the crane's gut as he glances at the tachi besides him. One had to be blind to be unable to recognize the signs. A faraway distant look, lack of insight to matters at hand... and gone is his ability to lighten up any situation, no matter how deep or uncomfortable they were to get. It is almost as if he is preoccupied with an ordeal of a higher order, one that couldn't even be fathomed by an unrelated party. It makes Tsuru uncomfortable.

        He feels as if he's alone again.

        "Hey old man, you alright?" His brows furrow as he looks at the elder tachi with worried eyes, a look unfitting for his usual demeanor. "Is it something that Ko-chan said earlier?"

[coronatius]

( kae-chan )

〘楓〙

    She wonders for a moment, if they sulked enough would it bring him back?  It’s a nice thought, even if it vanishes a few seconds later. It’s nothing but ridiculous and childish wishing that manages to still rear it head to mock her.  Her eyes seem to threaten to water again, and she’s almost impressed by how much she could cry.  It never really stopped, she was just too tried to form more.  

   He sounded so hollow, and she isn’t quite sure how to reply.  She doesn’t know how to make him feel better–it wasn’t a simple task of sending him to repairs, or talking about loss.  The swords, everyone in the citadel experienced some sort of loss, whether it be their owners or memories.  The past is the past, but she wishes they wouldn’t need to experience anything like that while under her care.  

   Haven’t they all been through enough in their lives?  Why did misery seem to follow swords like a curse?  Couldn’t she have done anything at all?  The answers she gets from herself weigh her done, threatening to pull  her under, and never let her return to the surface.  Her chest hurts, a coil squeezing around it, making cuts deeper and deeper into her flesh.  The coil stretches, squeezing her throat next preventing her from making any noise– 

   So she shifts her shoulders suddenly, letting the other’s head fall into her lap.  

      A hand comes to stroke the other’s head gently, as she tries to find her voice.  

      “Probably.”  Her voice cracks, and she feels like she’s swallowed a rock, but she takes in a shaky breath to continue.  “But, we’re allowed to grieve, and feel sad.  At least…”  Her voice stops working again, and it causes her to take in another breathe. 

     “Shouldn’t we?”

—「 日 」—

        Tsurumaru's head shifts heavily from his saniwa's shoulders to her lap as she moves herself. He shows no visible signs of surprise, other than briefly adjusting his weight so that his fall does not injure her. When he feels her delicate fingers begin to weave through the strands of his white hair, he closes his eyes for a second time.

        The sword takes in his master's words as they slip out from between the cracks in her heart. Humans often preached to move on from sadness quickly, for their time was limited. A time that was better spent in happiness. Yet if he did not know when his end was coming, do such words not apply to him? He could break tomorrow, or he could break for another few milennia from now. Was he to grieve for all those he had lost in that time? In fact, had he truly ever recovered from all the masters that he had lost? Long silent moments pass by before he speaks.

        "Is that how it is?" the crane murmurs under his breath, the question more for himself to ponder than for Kaede to answer. He feels more like a cat than a bird now, with the gentle waves of serenity that wash over him as his head is stroked. Tsurumaru feels as if he might fall asleep and render Kaede incapable of movement if he's not careful.

        "Have we done enough yet? Or is there still more to come?"

[coronatius]

( kae-chan )

〘楓〙

    A leader needed to be strong.  In that case, the only one who seemed to be functioning normally was Mitsutada and Hasebe.  They both came, picked up the orders and left.  The tachi however sometimes hovered near her room, bringing her meals while making sure the orders were done–at least he didn’t need to worry about the forge, since she ordered it to be put out and stopped.  She had dumped the water on the flames herself, eyes glowering at it with disdain.

   She couldn’t bear the thought of replacing someone.  She wouldn’t even acknowledge it.  Her superiors could say whatever they wanted, and she’d bite back with her own retort.  There was nothing they could do that would surpass this punishment.  

   For being weak.  

   Her fingers uncurl as the other’s chilled fingers wrap around her fist.  Palms up now, she tries to warm his hand with her own body heat, offering the blade’s hand a squeeze in return.  Her eye catch sight of the small birds finally taking the hint, leaving them to wallow in silence.  

   “…Supposedly it gets better with time.”  She replies with a shrug.  However, that was if there was some closure but there as none–no body to bury, no blade left to mourn.  Just the hearsay of someone’s words that may as well be garbled.  “We all just….need a break.”

—「 日 」—

        "I should be glad about not having to do fieldwork, huh?" he chuckles at her words. Yet even his laugh, too, is hollow, for his usual mirth and frivolity are nowhere to be found.

        Eyelids part as he feels his saniwa's warm fingers wrap themselves around his frigid hand. She is his very opposite now; her, a deep pit of raging fire and emotions that couldn't be quelled with time. Him, a barren winter wasteland, with neither life nor solace in sight. He wants to do something—anything—about the gap within their chests that threatens to swallow them whole.

        Tsuru never believed the fate of a blade to have been this mournful. Masters came to wield him, and just as many left him. If this were the fate of humans, then it is what separated him from masters. For he could not leave, only shatter.

        And yet the world had a funny way of surprising him when he least expected it. He, who was just like him in age and form. He, who disappeared from his life just as the rest of his masters had. It wasn't supposed to be this way. It feels like a part of his centuries-old soul had disappeared along with him, too. He wants to do something about it, search for the missing pieces and put his fragile self back together again.

        But he knows he can't do that.

        "I think he'd reprimand us. If he saw us like this." His voice is shaking, so hushed that even the silence threatens to overpower his whisper.

        He never even got to say goodbye.

[coronatius]

( kae-chan )

〘楓〙

     He looked unwell and tired–she could relate.  While she wants to scold him for not taking care of himself, but she’s the same.  She tilts her head to lean on the others as she feels the weight on her shoulder, choosing not to comment on it.  The sage can only hope it helped provide him some comfort as they both swim while trying not to drown.  

    “……If it didn’t, then there would be something wrong with us.”  Her voice is quiet, almost losing to the annoying chirping of the birds.  Maybe she could borrow one of the catapults and throw some rocks to scare them away permanently.  She wanted silence and solace, not her ears assaulted with the sound of high pitched ringings.  

       “People say there’s stages of grief.  How arrogant do you have to be to think there’s a guide?”  She continues muttering, unsure of whether the other heard her.  Her legs swing idly off the engawa, as her fingers dig into the palms of her hands.  It keeps her grounded at least instead of letting her mind wander. “There’s 5 or something but to be honest, it sounds like a load of bullshit.”       

—「 日 」—

        "Stages, huh..." His ears perk up at her uncharacteristic choice of language, but he doesn't react. He isn't sure whether it's because he doesn't have the energy to or because he's not surprised, but it didn't matter. It wasn't just the both of them that weren't acting like themselves, but the whole citadel is also submerged in dark waters. An unfortunate aftermath of what had transpired earlier.

        He feels her shoulder tense as she digs her nails into her palms. In a weak form of comfort, he puts a cold hand over her fist and wraps his fingers around it gently. The tachi can sense her emotions swirling underneath the surface, all hidden beneath a thin lid, ready to swell over again any given moment. Emotions were never his forte, but he hopes maybe this, at the very least, would provide some comfort for his suffering saniwa.

        "Humans sure are something." he comments softly in response to her words. Somewhere in the distance, a flock of birds fly off from the trees in the garden. "Are all the stages supposed to be this intense too?"