isleofavalon | [September Catch-All]

[She does roll her eyes a little when she hears his humour at her misstep, but there's no personal insult taken. Only a mental note to be sure to needle at him if the same thing happens to him. Carefully, of course... He does have that temper.]

I suppose it counts a little. Do you like sweet things?

[If he likes chocolate he might like cake, if he has a sweet tooth.]

Wasn't bad at all. I remember it went real well with sake hehe.

[ that had been his idea. ]

Master said it was traditional to eat chocolate on that day 'cause of the Valentine's festival. Knew that was my birthday too, actually, I was real surprised...

[ jane is not the only person who has made more effort than he'd expected and he didn't understand it any more at the time than he does now. ]

Anyway, we celebrated an' had drinks together. Or... I s'pose I had drinks, and Master had juice, but it's more fun havin' company no matter what.

Oh, your birthday is February fourteenth?

[Sharp as a pin, this one. She shoots a smile Izō's way - yes, she's going to remember that. But then she nods along, because regardless of whether or not one is drinking, she thinks that having company always makes things more fun.]

I'm glad you came along today, you know. I wasn't sure you really wanted to. [Jane hums, looking up at the trees as they walk along. Every now and then she checks for the paper guidemarks and slightly adjusts her path.

A distant, rapid drumming sound catches her attention and she stops, looking around.]

Wait, do you hear that? Sounds like a woodpecker.

Yeah? I know that's s'posed to mean somethin' to Westerners, but I don't really get it.

[ everyone gets older every year no matter what... so what's the big deal? ]

Eh? Why's that matter? I've done plenty of jobs before, even if I didn't want to...

[ which is an understatement with how he's put it. and so far, he doesn't mind this. there's a lot of worse things he could be doing with his time. he's more confused than anything. ]

I just dunno why you'd wanna have somebody like me around when ya probably got better options.

[ when she stops, he's wary for a moment, doing a quick scan himself before he realises what had alerted jane hadn't been something dangerous. well then. he pays more attention to the sound of the woodpecker. ]

Huh. Used t'hear that kinda sound all the time.

[She smiles as she tilts her head towards the sound and listens. It weaves through the trees in a way that makes it difficult to pinpoint, so she doesn't think to go hunting for it.]

Somebody like you?

[Jane says this curiously, slanting her gaze back up at him as she starts to walk again. She hangs back deliberately, making sure that she's walking next to Izō rather than letting him lag behind.]

Just what kind of a person do you believe I think you are?

[ he starts fidgeting with his scarf again, considering her question for a moment or two before he shrugs. ]

I dunno how ya think. I just know me. I ain't that smart, and I only ever been good at one thing, so why's that interestin' to ya at all?

[ a pause. ]

...An' I know I ain't real fun t'be around.

[ that is a choice, to a point. the rest is where izō just isn't good with people and doesn't know any way else. ]

[She lets out a short sigh as she stops walking, and then turns around.]

Now, you listen here, mister.

[Jane steps in front of him and places one hand on each of his arms, half way up between his shoulders and elbows.]

I don't need you to be entertaining for me, you know? I like being around you. [The smile she shoots up at him as she lightly smooths his sleeves, pats his arm and then drops her hands is earnest and genuine.]

You don't need to be anything other than just who you are. I happen to think you're very interesting.

Edited 2021-09-24 13:01 (UTC)

[ he doesn't mind the stopping because they're going at her pace anyway so it's not as if he's in a rush. the gentle reprimand might've even been amusing, but he's far more distracted by the fact that she's touching him. why?? she can probably feel his arms tense, but he's otherwise still. well. mostly. he also seems to visibly fluff up more than usual, which is partly true and partly because there's a pair of ears there where they hadn't been before. it's fine. ]

... Y'know that's weird, right?

[ he folds his arms and makes an effort to look less flustered. ]

Nobody else ever thought so. At least, not for nothin' that wasn't what I can do with a sword...

[ this isn't entirely true, but in his mind it might as well be. ]

[Oh, he has... animal ears? That's... cute.

But Jane does her very best not to draw attention to them besides a quick glance up when she notices. Izō is, she has noticed, incredibly sensitive.]

No one ever has? [She asks him wryly instead, shooting a smile up at him.] Or you've never wanted to hear it?

[Jane shakes her head and gives one of his arms another pat, then turns away with a small tilt of her head for him to follow her again.]

I'm sure I'm not the first person to find you interesting just for being yourself.

Edited 2021-09-27 20:56 (UTC)

[ those ears have the unintended effect of displaying more expression than izō might like, especially when it's so easy to hide his face. they flatten and pin back, and if he's aware of it happening, he doesn't react. there's only so many directions he can be pulled in emotionally at one time. ]

So what if I don't wanna hear it? Maybe I don't wanna bother listenin' to shit that ain't gonna matter.

[ because everyone leaves sooner or later. to him, it's inevitable — not an if, but a when. why does everyone give him a hard time about being smart about this? it's not all in his head! he starts following after her again because standing in one spot getting left behind isn't doing either of them any good. ]

Some people are probably s'posed t'be alone. Ever think of that? Busybodies always tryna fix shit that don't need t'be fixed...

[ he's mostly grumbling now. ~~if he can't be angry, then at least he's going to bitch.~~ it's also not the first time he's reached for that particular word choice for someone, finding it applies well enough to jane too to put her in the busybody category. ]

All right, all right...

[Jane chuckles, smiles kindly, and raises up her hands in surrender.] This is making you uncomfortable. I'll stop.

[For now, anyway. It looks like she's going to keep that as a promise as, even though she clearly doesn't agree with what he said and what he thinks about himself, she retreats from the topic and turns her mind to something else.

Namely, following the paper guides strung between the trees.]

... Those ears are cute on you.

[Out of the frying pan and into the fire, hey, manslayer?]

I ain't uncomfortable!

[ because yelling about it really makes that sound believable. ]

It's just irritatin'...

[ he knows the things he's been through. since he's not sharing, shouldn't that mean he knows best about what's best for him? the worst part is that he doesn't think she's been convinced to drop it permanently.

but at the mention of the ears, he growls a little (he's not helping his own case here) and covers them with his hands. ]

I can't help it! [ he can, but that would require effort. ] It just happens sometimes! I think my familiar likes t'fuck with me for a joke 'cause it knows it pisses me off!

[ the last of his words seem intended not for jane but his familiar. literally no one in this situation will just let him live. ]

[It's perhaps quite telling that she doesn't flinch when he raises his voice. She looks faintly surprised, for a moment, but that fades quickly and she folds her arms loosely while his attention goes to his ears and his ire is diverted to the apparent antics of his familiar.]

Hmm...

[She reaches up to touch his wrist, to see if he'll let her lift up one of his hands.] I don't know if familiars can actually do that, you know... What kind of magic do you have?

[Despite asking, she has a feeling that she knows the answer already.]

Why not? Ain't they the reason it's like this in the first place?

[ standing there with his hands on his head would be kind of pointless and silly, so after the few moments it takes him to realise this, he lowers them. and of course, the ears pop right back up again. ]

I only know I got animal magic.

I don't think so... only if you bought that potion from the traders.

[Had he? Izō doesn't necessarily seem the type but then again, people have surprised her before. She draws the inside of her lower lip in between her teeth to hold back a smile as the ears jump back up again.]

But part of animal magic is transformation, isn't it? Have you been practicing?

I dunno nothin' 'bout magic. That's Caster shit! So… I wouldn’t know about practicin' it neither.

[ he mostly thinks he wouldn’t be very good at it because he assumes he's going to do poorly at things that don’t involve swords. it was different when he was still a servant because he was made of magic. now? it's harder to know what’s what. ]

Wait. Ya sayin' I'm doin' this to myself?!

Mmph. Don't talk to me about Caster.

[That comes out without thought, and she shakes her head quickly to get rid of the brief flash of irritation.

She's still looking at the ears, though with more of an expression of someone trying to observe them from a scientific perspective than of simply... staring because he has dog ears. He's not tall enough for them to be out of her line of sight.]

And... yes. I believe you are. Is there a pattern to when it happens?

Oho?

[ what's this? now he's really interested. congratulations, jane, on getting his full attention and not in a bad way. as an unconscious side effect of this, his dog ears perk up, and if it were more visible, the tail he has would also be wagging. ]

Hehe, see, I meant all of 'em, 'cause Caster is jus' a class. But there's only the one here, right? So, there's somebody y'actually don't like, huh?

[ in exchange for this bit of interesting information, he decides to answer her question with a little less fuss than usual. ]

An' yeah... it happens when it's real fuckin' inconvenient like when somethin' pisses me off. Or somethin' is.. y'know... excitin' or whatever.

[ a shrug. it's still embarrassing! and embarrassment is one of those instances where it happens (and often), but izō chooses to omit it because it's extra embarrassing. but that's one jane can probably guess at given.. how he is. ]

So it's prompted by emotional stress.

[That... makes sense. Jane finds it harder to make her own magic work when she's under stress, so it only stands to reason that he would have the same kind of problem. It's just... unfortunate - if also adorable - that it happens like this.]

And as it happens, there is more than one person I don't like! I'm not some pushover, you know.

[Imagine if she liked everyone. How boring that would be!]

Tch... it ain't like that. [ see: yes it is. ] Dunno who ya think yer talkin' to but I ain't weak!

[ him? manslayer izō? have emotional stress? haha! time for more deflection... ]

Didn't say ya were a pushover either. Only meant 'cause y'say ya like bein' around somebody like me, I jus' assumed ya probably like everybody. I dunno that Caster all that well but there's some things we sorta agree on?

[ they've both been betrayed in the past and they're both still bitter as hell about it now. izō is way less paranoid although that's not saying much at all. so, if anything, they're somewhat alike... ]

This is some kinda woman thing, isn't it?

[ surely this won't get him in any trouble at all. ]

It is not some kinda woman thing.

[In her quick irritation at his assumption she does a passable impersonation of his accent, then slaps one hand over her mouth and turns away from him with her face burning.]

I am so sorry.

[Well. That's one way to make it clear she's annoyed. She clears her throat but keeps her back to him, still blushing furiously.]

If you must know, she threatened to curse me when I declined to discuss with her the details of my relationship with her cousin. Which! I might add! [And she raises a hand here with one finger pointed.]

Was not even a relationship at the time!

[September Catch-All]

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