The Midnight Prince

[GamesMaster]

"Yes," she says quietly. "But... it's unlikely we'll both find matches among the Tigers. We will probably be split up."

[Rokag]

"That..." was likely? Rokag didn't know for sure, but why wouldn't it work like that. They would go off and be brides in other homes and Shisou would remain here with her. And Indou...This is a stupid idea. Why the fuck did I agree to this?! She was aware that there was little choice. If she hadn't passed out after the demon attacked. If she'd run after waking up rather than trying to piece things together, then maybe she wouldn't be here right now. But Rokag WAS here, and this all WAS happening.

"Not for a while, I hope." She definitely didn't want one of the few people that maybe it wouldn't be a terrible idea to trust. "At least not before I figure out how you make those little cakes with the sweet paste in them." Rokag remembered trying to figure it out, but she wasn't....baking was something she had to concentrate on, or she'd decide that one thing was as good as another and try to improvise. Which worked well when you didn't have a lot to eat, but was terrible when you were trying for something in particular. And hopefully not before I can get Shisou to tell me what happened.

[GamesMaster]

Seiya smiles. "Here, let me show you how to shape this," she says, folding her dough again to remove evidence of their lesson. 

[Shisou]

Some nights, Soushi-Hime goes out early, does the rounds alone before coming to Rokag; those nights are nice, because often Shisou spends the whole night in Rokag's arms. More and more, however, Soushi-hime comes home injured, not inclined at all toward lovemaking, and their relations are difficult, with Shisou struggling to maintain focus long enough to perform his duties. 

Tonight, when Rokag really wants to talk to her fiance, Soushi-hime goes out early, stays out late. When she finally staggers into Rokag's rooms, she's limping, clutching at her side a bit, Carbonne making worried noises from the top of her head. 

"Hey," she groans, her voice raspy. 

[Rokag]

Rokag had been understanding. For one, she was slightly lackluster on the 'duties' but that wasn't Shisou's fault. Plus she'd been getting used to him some nights, where she'd have a nightmare or her head wouldn't stop trying to figure out if they were in danger. But she still found herself noticing the lack of....something as the nights wore on.

Tonight was different. She'd gone over exactly what she wanted to talk about and why. There was a plan to try and get some answers and maybe stop.feeling so damned exposed here.

Tonight...all those plans were swept away by the very real memory of patching up a pretty woman in weird clothes.

"Shit! Are you okay?" It didn't take her long to make her way over to Soushi-hime, stopping short of touching anything.

[Shisou]

"Yeah," she croaks. "fine. Just need to sit a spell. How are you?"

"Took another bad blow to the ribs, and one to the head that has me worried. Fell on her ankle wrong too, when she collapsed," says Carbonne, the normal gruffness muted with worry. 

[Rokag]

"...Right then." Rokag moved to the side that she wasn't cradling and proceeded to sweep he up into her arms in a bridal carry and head back for the bed. "Why in the fuck are you walking on that?! And I'm not stupid, I can tell you aren't fucking okay." She was already trying to figure out how she was going to handle the questions of her wandering around at night to find bandages. maybe I can sneak into the kitchens? There's probably not anyone using them right now.

[Shisou]

"Medkit under my bed," she gasps, wincing. "I'm fine."

[Rokag]

"Fuck if your fine. You got beat in the head and at least it's the OTHER rib this time." Rokag lays her down on the bed carefully. "Where is it under your bed. I'll get it. Also, if you try to get up I'm going to knock you fucking out myself, alright?" Wow...that's...a bit sterner than Rokag usually sounds. Either she's very pissed or very scared.

[Shisou]

"By the wall," she manages, laying back against the pillow. "Thanks."

[Rokag]

Rokag nodded and quickly went to get the medkit. The hells fucking HAPPENED to her! She wasn't usually this beat up... She quickly finds the medkit and heads back into the room, giving a quick look to make sure no one noticed her passing by again. And she doesn't usually sound like that...maybe she's more bad off than she looks? Rokag headed back to the bed, looking stern. "Where does it hurt. Don't move till I'm sure you're not going to make yourself cough up blood."

[Shisou]

"Um... i'm a bit d-dizzy," she says with a small smile. "My ribs hurt, too."

[Rokag]

Rokag curses under her breath. "And you got hit in the head, so that's not a good fucking sign." Rokag sighs a little. "Look, just...stay still." She opened the kit, getting out some bandages. "I'm gonna need to see your ribs."

[Shisou]

She lifts her shirt, wincing, and lets Rokag see the bruising. Thankfully it's not as bad as last time, but it's got some gnarly deep bruises.  She submits to their being treated with balm and wrapped, and reports being somewhat less dizzy once Rokag is done; her ankle is sprained, not broken. Seems she got off lucky... this time.

[Rokag]

Rokag took a breath, glad that things weren't nearly as bad as she was worried about. "Good...so....WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!" Rokag looked furious. "Why were you that beat up?! Did you run into another demon?!" Her voice took on a less furious tone with the last question.