Little Lords and Ladies [Open/Muji]

[Honma Kotone]

A world full of promise, happiness and enchantment awaited those who were not sullied by the utter grappling reality of life. A strong standing man, broad shouldered, and quite handsome had found himself aimlessly wondering around the village that he would now call 'home'. A place where he had resented somewhat, although he couldn't be quite angry with the village for all its worth - it did offer up his son into the man's arms. This village, Sunagakure, gave a lonely heart a young child to love, to protect and to become a father to. But the world had taken away that love, it had taken away his dignity and devotion to the Crown. Once the highest member of the King's Guard, a personal friend of the throne, was now but a common soldier among the ranks of shinobi - creatures that he once fought off from his gracious, fruitful land.

He was sad, alone and in a state of depression. An honorable man who bore nothing but the weight of those he let down. The world was surely a cruel and unforgiving place, even dreams tormented him with the vivid manifestation of his son, Hatteken, being gingerly swayed from left to right as the noose choked the life out of him. His son's empty face, white as a ghost, just didn't... do anything. And not only did he let down his child, the one thing he valued more than the King, Queen and his Princess but even those three were plucked from his life - his personal friends. His comrades, the Royal Guard, struck off Amori as a traitor when he abandoned his post to search for his child.

Amori was split between oath and love. However, it was his majesty that made the choice easier; "Go find him," he said with a fatherly tone. What more was a man to do? His King had ordered him to search for his son, which he was going to do anyway, but he was still torn about leaving his post. And even after finding the corpse of Hatteken, the Gods added insult to injury, and tossed the Royal Family from the great spire. Their bodies fell so desperately, the Princess clawing to her mother, the King flapping his arms and choking on disbelief. His crown had fallen from his head, but nobody would know what hit the ground first.

Finding himself in a pub, Amori sat down at the bar with his chest plate on display, the sheer beauty of its design caught the eye of some petty thieves. But he would never stop wearing the garment, the armour, because that was his King's gift. It would serve as a constant reminder, a self-inflicted reminder, that he failed the ones he was entrusted to protect. The world was ripe with injustices, and filled with the hearts of those caught in the middle. "One ale, sir." he would raise his head and offer the scruffy man a smile, his pleasantries knew no bounds, and his manners were undeniable even to those rotten with ignorance.

[MFT: 512]

 

[Onamuji]

Days had passed, yet his hands still trembled. Nights had come and gone, yet he would find no sleep.

His killing - his murder - of Koho still weighed heavily upon him. He had killed countless times before and felt nothing, yet this was different. It was inevitable, perhaps, but that didn't change what it was. She intended to murder three others, and to prevent this, the man became a murderer himself. Hypocritical...was he really the man to change the world? He wanted balance and justice, yet trembled when he followed through with what he perceived to be just. Onamuji struggled with these thoughts in the days that followed that fateful battle.

Yet still, he couldn't hole up in his house any longer. It was becoming more of a tomb than anything. Almost subconsciously, the long-haired sage walked into the nearby tavern. His feet guided him in, and brought him to sit.

"One ale, sir."

This struck Muji as odd. Not the drink choice, per se, but...the man. Not many people still wore armor in Sunagakure. Clearly, this man was born elsewhere. The armor had to be some tradition or heirloom...

"Forgive a stranger for saying so, but wearing armor like that might make you a target in places like this," the sage warned nonchalantly. It was rather out of character for the man to speak without cause, and probably more strange that he didn't seem intent on ordering anything himself.

 

[Honma Kotone]

A cup of honey-yellow arrived, it's colour was so appealing; it yearned to be drank. However, the taste of such a potion was something that one could never really adjust too. Amori never drank, it was part of his oath, the one he broke in half. But what was the harm in having one little drink, he needed it? The body, his temple, could survive it - it had endured worse like the countless tea parties called on by his Princess. At that moment, the memory of that beautiful little child caused his hand to go numb, his body to feel hollow, and for his eyes to swell. Choke it down, Amori said to himself cupping the drink and chugging it back a few large gulps at a time. "Thank you." He would address the scruffy looking bartender, a man who let his belly grow large and dangerous to the world, and more importantly to his health - how many children had he bounced out of the way with that thing?

A voice beckoned out from behind the former bodyguard, it addressed the disgraced man with kindness yet intrigue. Amori arched his body around, the muscles visible on his arms evident and proud, "A target on my back is one less target on another." He would gracefully bow his head in respect for the simplest form of concern for a stranger. "Does this stranger care for a drink, or perhaps something to eat?" Generally, if you seen an armored man with adamant muscles and a matching face, you would come to the most certain conclusion that he may just be an oaf. Although, Amori didn't really come across as a stagnant idiot - quite the opposite. It didn't mean he wasn't privy to those immature mishaps that he would often find himself with with Hatteken and the Princess.

Lifting his head, Amori's left-arched smile and saddened eyes would meet Onamuji's. "Do you often worry about a stranger?" He would raise he rest of his smile, charmingly, before turning around and ordering another drink for this stranger's belly. "Come," Amori asked, "Sit with me." He turned his figure to twirl around, facing the menacing wall of spirits, liqueurs and anything in between. "My name is Enomoto Amori, and to what do I owe the pleasure..." He fished for the stranger's name with that line.

 

[Toraono Michino]

“Your concern is really unbiased, sir,” came the voice of a young man who was two seats down from the conversing men.

It was such an odd thing for Tama to be down here. Drinking was one of those things that he had abhorred most of his life due to the fact that his mother was a serious alcoholic. Yet now that he was older, or at least his brain was, he was starting to grasp an understanding behind why mortals would regularly consume poison. It was something they did to forget about the harshness of the real world and spend some time enjoying it in a blissful stupor.
He was dressed in a nice button down shirt that was tucked into a pair of flare jeans colored black. Over his upper body hung what appeared to be a lab coat but it was cleaner than what he normally wore out into public. Tama was a blonde with two different colored eyes with glasses resting on the end of his nose to use for reading as he tried to keep himself from being distracted by his little first world problems.
It was the only way Tama could control his confused sexuality given that he had literally skipped past puberty when he suddenly aged a few years ago and keep his mind from wondering when he was trying to focus on his inventions. In fact there was a yellow note pad with a pen sitting next to it containing all kinds of scribbles on it, one of them including a device that could be attached to armor to send a shock of sharp chakra up through it to detach the chest plate away from the body completely. It would leave the strong…muscular flesh…exposed.
The shinobi scientist shook his head from looking at the paper and took another long swallow of the port wine he had in front of him. The bitter burn of old fruit hit him hard but he shook it down as he turned his head to look back up at the large attractive man and continue on his point that was directed at the both of them,
“Not too many thieves beyond those who might be in the Bingo Book would even dare to attack someone with a large stature and physique to match. Still, I doubt even someone was ballsy enough to try, they wouldn’t get too far. Interesting note that you would be concerned either way, not too many people come into a bar offering advice to strangers.”

The scientist only decided to speak up because he had become something of a regular in the past month. His thoughts kept turning to be more and more distracted since his meeting with Sousuke and finding a mind that was similar to his. The experience from meeting him in person and not as a teacher instantly turned him onto an attraction for men, which confused the hell out of him. He couldn’t understand why he had an attraction to the male form but he had narrowed it down to the fact that most of his studies of the chakra coil had been on the male specimen and that females quite literally terrified him. It had been like that ever since he had met the assassin Kitanai and realized how crazy flippant their moods were in comparison to men, as well as how easily they were able to kill things without remorse. Still his scientific mind just wouldn’t accept it as a relationship with a male wouldn’t bring anything productive besides a much needed (though he didn’t know he needed it), sexual partnership. No children could be brought from that union, no legacy could be left, and it seemed to stunt development as far as he could see; hence why he was confused.
Perhaps if had aged like the rest of his classmates and actually went through puberty he’d have a better understanding of why he felt this way. As it was he was a twenty-four year old just starting to understand attractions to anything that wasn’t inanimate.

Tama reached into the lab coat that hung off his shoulders of a medium build and pulled out a small box that held his little pen set. He pulled it out and pulled out an inkwell that he used to refill the pen that had been laying on the yellow notepad. He began to try and jot down notes again as the wine began to give him a heady feeling. Without even glancing back up at either patrons or the bartender he tapped his wine glass twice for a refill as he tried to focus himself back on his work.

 

[Onamuji]

Muji accepted the drink, but eyed it warily. He didn't intend to drink, but...it was rude to refuse.

"Onamuji," the auburn-haired sage replied, "And on occasion, I suppose I do give advice to complete strangers. I know the darker aspects of this village well enough to know that..."

He paused a moment, glancing at the man nearby who had spoken. This one wasn't incorrect, of course, but the sage had seen first-hand how desperate and suicidal some of the less-acceptable elements of Sunan society could be. The slums of the Grand Palais were practically a free-for-all.

"...there are those who aren't daring or 'ballsy', but stupid and desperate enough to try anything to make a quick pile of yen. We live underground. It only stands to reason that our 'shady' aspects are even shadier. I apologize if I speak out of turn. It wasn't my intention to tell you your business or speak rashly," Muji concluded with a slight bow of his head to show an apology.

Why did he speak up, anyway? It wasn't characteristic of him. Normally, he'd ignore everyone else entirely...but then, normally, he wouldn't be in a tavern with 'everyone else' in the first place...

[OOC: Sorry if it's short and rushed. Trying to at least give you guys something while I'm able, since I'll be busy until tomorrow afternoon! ]

 

[Honma Kotone]

The stranger had a name; Onamuji. The gentle giant would nod as a retort and then went on to talk about the 'darker aspects' of the village. It was true, this place was full of Shinobi, and they were always so tedious, so cold and calculating in their harmful methods of life. Hatteken, who originated from this village, wasn't anything like the men who attempted to break through the borders of his valley. They were uncaring, so willing to die, and yet Amori had now found himself in the centerfold around two of these same people. Well, Onamuji looked more like a shinobi than what the other guy did, who had yet to announce his name. "Every home has a few cracks, sir Onamuji." He would raise his quarter-empty glass and nod his head at the new found companion. "You just have to seal them up."

The second fellow, a quite devilishly handsome, but probably too young, man spoke up. "I'm not really one for fighting too much, little sir." Amori would smile, his words gentle and friendly, which all seemed rather complicated given that his stature and look might not scream out 'I'm the B.F.G' but the opposite. Who was this little fellow? He looked curious with his yellow note pad and pen to match. "Where I'm from, it's only customary to offer advice to those who might need it." Still, he would smile even as his mind wandered back to his home and to the dead; gingering swaying back and forth as the noose constrained and dismayed.

Onamuji did make a point though, after he had spoken to the smaller man, Amori had turned his attention back upon the auburn man. "Sir, you have no reason to apologize." Amori would come to push himself from his stool and, with a rather commanding stature, place one hand upon the man's shoulder. He would smile and try to meet Onamuji eye-to-eye. "Does the sun apologize to the crops, or the farmer to the cow?" He would smile, removing his hand and then looking elsewhere. The clunk of his chestplate comforting him in such a foreign setting.

 

[Toraono Michino]

Tama was trying so hard to focus on his pen…it was backfiring.

The knight decided, for whatever reason, to stand up and instantly it caught the blonde’s peripheral vision. He turned his head away from the pen to stare at Amori’s back for just a moment, drinking in those delicious shoulders before letting out a heavy sigh, turning his whole body away, and chugging the damn wine that the bartender had refilled.
Seriously he came here to work!

Yet it did not seem like there was going to be little to any work that was going to be got done for when he looked down at the notes he had been scribbling all he could see were new armor specs – and he wasn’t even a blacksmith.
It happened every time he ran into a handsome man that had something prominent about them. With Amori it was the chest plate that seemed old, out of place, and adventurous. He seemed like a man from the outside world and that excited Tama to no ends simply because he was so tired of the damn cave.
Always being cooped up inside a large dome tends to drive the intelligent to a special state of madness where all they can do is dream of finding a way to break free of the shadow chains that hold them to this bleak rock. The blonde was coming up with, or at least trying, different parts that were going to be needed to create an ‘airship’ that would be capable of handling the storm and moving them about the ancient lands.
Of course now that Amori had sat down with his ale every time the scientist went to continue trying to write on gravity crystal engines his mind would inevitably wonder off towards he muscular man near him.

With a well timed sigh the young man gave up and flipped the yellow notepad closed before placing it and his pen back into the lab coat and finishing up the red wine. The bitter headiness to it made his mind swim a little, as he had never before had this much, as he tapped the rim for a refill. Whatever happened to him liking girls? At least that was explainable by the simple known laws of mankind. He remembered ever so briefly when Okibi was a major factor in his life back when they were thirteen. She was so cute and destructive he wanted to romance her away; especially after he accidentally turned her hair purple.
Yet it wasn’t meant to be apparently as she disappeared on the surface during a mission. The scientist had tried to set up probes and sensory equipment that would specifically tell him that her chakra had passed it up, but after nearly two years going on three he had given up on ever seeing her again. It was around that time his studies became ever so much more focused and he became a bit boxed up.

A small sigh left his lips as Tama leaned his chin down on the wooden counter, feeling the rough grain brush against the 2-o’clock shadow of his unshaven face. It had been a long night the last time he was here when his dreams had been haunted by that of a handsome man, and now here again he was being distracted once more by a different guy.
Perhaps it was the curse of being so dammed smart; you got to be really confused about one thing.

 

[Onamuji]

"I seal them where I can," the auburn-haired sage replied grimly, his moonlit eyes gazing down at his drink. After a moment of hesitation, he swirled the liquid in the glass and lifted it to his lips. With a quick sip, he allowed the fire to slide down into his stomach. As he wasn't much of a drinker, it was tough to swallow, but he was able to manage it without making a face.

He pondered his own words a moment, considering them more than one would imagine. Every home has some cracks, the man had told him. But what if one considered the entire world their home? Muji couldn't handle that many cracks, despite his best efforts, and he knew it. It was part of what vexed him most in life. To have the makings of a grand destiny, yet no way to achieve it. He took another burning sip from his glass at the thought.

Without a word or an obvious glance, the long-haired man took note of the stranger who had spoken up earlier. He seemed a bit out of place, scribbling in his books more than anything. A few random gazes were thrown, but nothing concerning. If anything, the sage was curious about the odd stranger.

"Well then," he began, "Is there a particular occasion for you gentlemen to be having drinks, or is this a typical weeknight for you both?"

Not the most subtle way to begin an open discussion, but it kept him from singling either one out or making any greater missteps.

 

[Toraono Michino]

[Topic Left/Void due to PC going Inactive. ]