The Midnight Prince

[GamesMaster]

"Excellent. This will be posted by dawn tomorrow." The woman -- whose name Rokag still hasn't received -- packs up the scroll, taking it with her as she bows and departs. 

And that's... that.

Rokag is shown back to her temporary quarters, with Indou tossing out something about them moving her on the morrow. Giving her plenty of time to sit alone and wonder what the fuck she's gotten herself into.

[GamesMaster]

The next morning, when she wakes, she's fed and shown to new quarters: a whole bedroom all to herself, with a sitting room on top of it. The closet is full of robes like the one she's wearing, ranging from a light summer yukata to a formal silk kimono to the multi-layered monstrosity she wore to the engagement. There's even some human garments: long skirts and silk blouses. She's been provided with jewlery, mostly hair ornaments but also a few necklaces, and shoes, both the sandals that are traditional and hard-soled shoes for when real work has to be done. The bed is softer than anything she's felt, and the blankets are wool and cotton, warm and soft in layers. 

No sooner has she finished examining the bedroom than there's a knock on the sitting room door. Before she can answer, it's pushed open, and two young ladies tumble inside. Seiya, the redhead, wears her hair loose, with a crown of false flowers worked in, and her white yukata has embroidered pink flowers; Tsukikage, the brunette, wears her black hair braided, and a dark plum yukata with bruise-colored stripes. 

"So you're the new girl," says Tsuki, eyeing her critically.

"Welcome! We brought brownies," adds Seiya, thrusting a wrapped parcel at Rokag.

[Rokag]

Okay....so this isn't entirely a mess. Rokag was still NOT a fan of all the clothing options, but there were options! She had been worried about the tears that had been showing up in her working clothes that she wasn't quite skilled enough to mend and now she didn't have to wear the same thing? AND she could sleep on her own?!

Yesterday's weirdness was still...weird, but maybe this wasn't the huge mistake that part of her was dreading...and that was when she was suddenly thrust into having visitors. Tsuki could tell that Rokag got a little guarded at the analysis, but less so at the parcel. "Um...thank you?" ...The fuck is a brownie? "And I guess so...uh miss." There was a second pause before manners kicked in since she recognized them as the girls from yesterday. The bow brought some of Rokag's long hair into her face. "I..um.. should...seats?" She also, obviously, had some idea of who they were, but that was probably due to yesterday.

[GamesMaster]

Seiya makes a sympathetic noise. "You poor dear, you're all addled. Here, let's have a seat," she says, taking Rokag's hands to tug her over to sit down on the loveseat. She, at least, seems to have no trouble moving in her fancy robes.

Tsuki frowns, walking a bit behind the pair. "Is it true you're a commoner?"

"Tsuki!" gasps Seiya. "You can't just ask someone if they're a commoner!"

[Rokag]

Rokag was not accustomed at all, but at least managed to be tugged without falling over. This...is probably going to- and then Tsuki decided to talk.

"It's true I wasn't born on any of the islands." That was something that wouldn't help to lie about, and even if it DID, she wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of finding that out. "I figured everyone already knew that." As she sat, glad to not have to deal with these sandals for a moment, she took a peek at the parcel. "Or was that not what you meant?"

[GamesMaster]

The parcel, it seems, is full of baked goods: chocolate baked goods, if she's not mistaken. 

"So you don't belong to a Clan?" asks Tsuki, to confirm.

"Tsukikage!" snaps Seiya. "Be nice. I'm so sorry about her."

[Rokag]

Huh...I think Hinata had something like this, once. Wouldn't share it, tho. Rokag shook her head. "Hey, it's better than people acting like it ISN'T what they're thinking, but no, I don't. At least not till all this happened." Rokag tried not to look like she was gritting her teeth.

"So, how about you just ask if I was always this color, then." And that was probably too far. It was tinged in anger and a bit of pain and in this shit happening the INSTANT she thought it might not be bad. To her credit, Rokag wasn't crying and she WAS looking at Tsuki directly and was already sure that since Tsuki WAS supposed to be here that this was a bad thing to do, but damned if she wasn't STILL tired of this kinda crap.

[GamesMaster]

"That.... color?" Tsuki asks, taken aback.

"I'm really sorry about my sister," adds Seiya, jumping in again. "She lost her manners somewhere and forgot to go looking. Please, there's no need to fight. We want you to feel welcome in this family."

"As long as your intentions toward our brother remain--"

"Tsuki, enough!"

[Rokag]

Rokag took a moment. "So...your brother? So coming here and asking where I was from and if I belong here was because of him?" Her voice was skeptical at best. "Because you're not the first person to ever ask me that and it's better than saying it was 'to make sure they were safe' or 'We weren't sure if you could read this, not being from here' and everything else people don't think I catch."

[GamesMaster]

Tsuki stands, narrowing her eyes as she regards Rokag. "I don't think you understand just how far I'm prepared to go to protect my brother," she says, her voice cold, imperious. "If you have ideas in your pretty little head about how you're going to run roughshod over him just because he's quiet and stutters, you can think again. If I catch so much as a peep out of him that you're mistreating him, you'll be gone. I don't care if my stepfather likes you, I don't care if the Lord Cicada likes you -- I care about Shisou's opinion and his alone. Understand?"

[Rokag]

Oh what THE FUCK?! Rokag stood, wobbling a little as she did. "Okay, look. I don't know if you know what happened, but I had some THING try to choke the life out of me, suddenly felt like I was about to die, wake up with people saying -I- drove whatever that was off. I don't know your brother well enough to HAVE intentions, and I'm not going to be threatened for something I haven't done."

Somewhere in there she went from being somewhat flippant to having to wring her hands in her robes. "Is that everything you wanted, miss?"

[GamesMaster]

There's something bestial in Tsuki's voice when she replies, something more growl than speech: "What does that even mean," she begins, but Seiya thrusts herself between the two.

"Calm! Everyone calm! Take deep breaths!"

[Rokag]

Rokag wanted to respond. She wanted to react to that growl by not shrinking back. To something ready to pounce on her and atta-. The fuck is wrong with me? She took a breath. And then another. She let go of the fabric of her robes, which crinkled as she let go. She could NOT attack them. Neither of them had attacked her no matter WHAT Tsuki's voice had done. Stay calm...keep your fucking head, Rokag. There was the faint scent of fresh, running water that dispersed quickly.

"I'm not going to hurt him." She wasn't going to say WHY, because that was more than she ever wanted to share, but she can say that much.

[GamesMaster]

"Then I won't have to hurt you." The growl is gone from Tsuki's voice, as she takes a few more deep breaths. "My apologies. My actions have been unbecoming of my ancestors."

[Rokag]

Some small part of Rokag wanted to see her try. She'd survived this long and she wasn't some weak princess that needed servant to...well, sure as fuck not to fight for her. And good for you for knowing them. Pretty sure they wouldn't want me just being scared of you..

And Rokag gives another breath. Even IF she was being a- "It's fine. I'm used to that kind of thing." Another breath. "And I could have...taken that better." Slow relaxation of her hands. "