Don't even worry about it. Really. There's been plenty we've had to adapt to, right? This is just another hurdle of living in a place so foreign.
( the question about his health...
is a bit annoying. whether she knows or doesn't know, there've been too many inquiring, or implying, like he's about to keel over this very second. )
I'm fine. ( he says, like a LYING LIAR. ) Though on the food front, things could definitely use some improvement in general. They stopped serving eggs in the Valentia. Eggs, of all things. You might as well tell me to starve.
Aha, yeah... I've never met so many people who can read and write before...
[And do magic... and transform into monsters... and go to different worlds... and look very unlike all the humans she has ever met before... and all... the rest...
Thankfully(?) their timeline different means she doesn't Know, but. You should just ask after others' health... and unless they give you reason to believe otherwise, you also believe them when they say they're fine. So Takasugi is fine. That's good.]
Do you really like eggs, Master Takasugi? I kind of miss them, too... Maybe we can go out to the farmlands and trade for some? Some people there are willing to barter for work.
I’m a lumber yard foreman, back home, see, so, I have lots of experience felling and hauling… and I’m strong, so, I can do most anything needs doing. Plowing or harvesting, too.
Your typical workhorse, then. Well. I don't have much to my name besides my blade or my shamisen right now, but I'm not too keen on the idea of performing for food. That's a little too basic for my liking.
( hmm. )
Have you met with any of them on your own? These supposed farmhands, I mean.
[She almost just stays quiet, getting used to being called things in this world that offended her, knowing it was best not to make waves in a place where gods knew what could happen but.
Even though it’s simultaneously scarier because he’s from a similar world… it’s precisely because he is that she doesn’t want to hear him say,]
- Not like a typical workhorse.
Horses are animals that need to be told and shown what to do. I know how to think just as good as any person.
[The answer to the question is held hostage, for a moment.]
[She had tried to keep her voice even, but there was no hiding the hints of emotion. Sullen, with having heard such things about her or her race many times before. Tense, with hoping that the correction would go well but knowing it might not.
There's a moment when it seems she might not reply, but then-]
Really? A whole extra egg? I've never even had beef before, that would be impressive enough. I'll get spoiled...
[It's forgiven. So she releases the "hostage", too.]
Thank you, Takasugi-dono. I'll take it! ... If I can find a farmer willing to barter for eggs. But I think I can! I've worked with a few now!
Now you're talking. Get in touch with them for me, and I'll see if I can't try this bartering. It can't be too hard to bend an ar—... err, trade a few things with the locals. I've always been a great negotiator.
( hah. hahah. )
And of course, we'll get you your egg. And beef, too, if I can manage it. You've seriously never had any? I've got a couple extra mouths to feed that might appreciate a treat like that too.
Tons of them. You could even say my reputation travels beyond Choshu, what with how people are practically lining up to depend on me.
( ... well. anyway— )
Hmmm. I suppose I could check out anything they have broken and see if it's worth fixing, especially if it's mechanical. I've got a bit of know-how in that regard.
( or a way to cheat himself into that know-how, at least. )
Master Takasugi, you sort of reminded me of my boss back home a little, just then...
[He was physically extremely not anything like the self-styled Lord Sha, and okay, maybe not in other ways, too, but... that line sounded exactly like something that person would say. It's almost nice. A little more familiar.]
Choshu must be much more different than what I was imagining... you have "machines" there? Someone asked me how "advanced my Japan was", and the fanciest thing I could come up with was the loom and woodblock prints and stuff.
[Haha...]
... They said that wasn't that advanced, apparently...
[That’s hard. Just one wish? Even though he said it could be anything it feels impossible still somehow that she could say something like “no more wars“ or “no more famine”. And as happy as she would be to wish just for the happiness of her own family, it felt so selfish to waste the hypothetical wish when there were so many other people who needed help…
It actually takes for a while to think about it, before,]
I guess… I would wish that jinba would be equal with humans. That no one would enslave them again, or ride them, or treat them badly because they’re different.
Something like that… ?
[(Might explain her displeasure at being compared to a workhorse.)]
a far cry from what he did with his, albeit still in the name of change.
he smiles on the other end, unseen. )
Anyhow, I had such a device at some point, if you can believe it. Past my death, I ended up using it to alter the course of history, and gained a wealth of knowledge beyond things like the loom, and paper maps, and whatever else might've been brewing in Choshu at the time. So. These new-age "machines" are definitely something I can fangle with.
[Mmm. It would be... And she hopes it will, even without magical hypothetical wishing systems. She wants to believe it will. Twenty years have seen jinba change from actual chattel to a free species, even if there was still discrimination, people who took advantage, even worse things, too... But it's still progress, isn't it? If it keeps progressing, maybe... her children's time? Her children's children's time? If it was at least sometime--
But she bites all that down because,]
Y- You actually had one? A magic wish?
[And wait-]
What do you mean "past your death"? You were alive last time we talked?? Aren't you alive right now???
[Wow! Wow! You offer a man your farmer contacts and he offers you a beef bowl and then hangs up the phone???]
🍊🤼♂️🌊🏯👨🏻🦰 🌳🍃 😫 ！！
❌☎️ 🔜 ❌🥚 ！！
[... Okay that might be a bluff, but. She sends it anyway. HOW IS SHE SUPPOSED TO RECOMMEND HIM TO POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS IF HE MIGHT HANG UP ON THEM IF THEY ASK A SENSIBLE QUESTION...]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2025-06-02 04:06 am (UTC)( the question about his health...
is a bit annoying. whether she knows or doesn't know, there've been too many inquiring, or implying, like he's about to keel over this very second. )
I'm fine. ( he says, like a LYING LIAR. ) Though on the food front, things could definitely use some improvement in general. They stopped serving eggs in the Valentia. Eggs, of all things. You might as well tell me to starve.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-02 04:27 am (UTC)Aha, yeah... I've never met so many people who can read and write before...
[And do magic... and transform into monsters... and go to different worlds... and look very unlike all the humans she has ever met before... and all... the rest...
Thankfully(?) their timeline different means she doesn't Know, but. You should just ask after others' health... and unless they give you reason to believe otherwise, you also believe them when they say they're fine. So Takasugi is fine. That's good.]
Do you really like eggs, Master Takasugi? I kind of miss them, too... Maybe we can go out to the farmlands and trade for some? Some people there are willing to barter for work.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-02 06:04 pm (UTC)( not so much the work part. )
What've you got for trade?
no subject
Date: 2025-06-02 06:11 pm (UTC)[Aha… sorry, Takasugi, it’s the work part…]
I’m a-
[… No, she doesn’t want to make it past tense-]
I’m a lumber yard foreman, back home, see, so, I have lots of experience felling and hauling… and I’m strong, so, I can do most anything needs doing. Plowing or harvesting, too.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-02 09:46 pm (UTC)( hmm. )
Have you met with any of them on your own? These supposed farmhands, I mean.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-02 11:46 pm (UTC)Even though it’s simultaneously scarier because he’s from a similar world… it’s precisely because he is that she doesn’t want to hear him say,]
- Not like a typical workhorse.
Horses are animals that need to be told and shown what to do. I know how to think just as good as any person.
[The answer to the question is held hostage, for a moment.]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-03 12:06 am (UTC)he can't tell if there's palpable tension or any frigidity there, but her tone is firm. convinced of her truth.
and it's a response like this that can make a man as casually obnoxious as takasugi bring a hand to his chin. )
Of course, of course. I've seen you up close and personal. You're worlds more clever and interesting than some mere animal.
( time to try and smooth things over before he loses this opportunity entirely. )
My mistake, Konoha-kun. I'll make it up to you. An extra egg in your gyuudon or something. Well. If we had that sort of cuisine here.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-03 01:04 pm (UTC)There's a moment when it seems she might not reply, but then-]
Really? A whole extra egg? I've never even had beef before, that would be impressive enough. I'll get spoiled...
[It's forgiven. So she releases the "hostage", too.]
Thank you, Takasugi-dono. I'll take it! ... If I can find a farmer willing to barter for eggs. But I think I can! I've worked with a few now!
no subject
Date: 2025-06-03 08:48 pm (UTC)( hah. hahah. )
And of course, we'll get you your egg. And beef, too, if I can manage it. You've seriously never had any? I've got a couple extra mouths to feed that might appreciate a treat like that too.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-04 03:50 am (UTC)What should I tell them you’re good at? If you don’t want to play music.
[Will he play for her if she asks??? She kind of wants to… she hasn't heard anything good since the last festival…]
No, never! My parents are farmers, we’re happy enough with river fish and chicken… oh, and I buy game for us sometimes! I make enough for that.
[But that’s boar money not beef money… gosh… the dream… wait, other mouths? The phrasing sounds like kids, but… they were all taken, it can’t be-]
You have… lots of friends, then?
no subject
Date: 2025-06-05 03:39 am (UTC)( ... well. anyway— )
Hmmm. I suppose I could check out anything they have broken and see if it's worth fixing, especially if it's mechanical. I've got a bit of know-how in that regard.
( or a way to cheat himself into that know-how, at least. )
no subject
Date: 2025-06-05 11:02 am (UTC)[He was physically extremely not anything like the self-styled Lord Sha, and okay, maybe not in other ways, too, but... that line sounded exactly like something that person would say. It's almost nice. A little more familiar.]
Choshu must be much more different than what I was imagining... you have "machines" there? Someone asked me how "advanced my Japan was", and the fanciest thing I could come up with was the loom and woodblock prints and stuff.
[Haha...]
... They said that wasn't that advanced, apparently...
no subject
Date: 2025-06-05 10:46 pm (UTC)( the loom... hmm. how to explain this. )
Not exactly. It's a little complicated, but... well.
Let's say you were granted a sort of wish device, that would give you whatever you desired. What would you ask for?
no subject
Date: 2025-06-05 11:03 pm (UTC)[It’s admiration in her voice, not resentment. And then… confusion.]
Whatever I desired? Like… anything in the whole world? Or something just for me?
no subject
Date: 2025-06-05 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-06-05 11:30 pm (UTC)[That’s hard. Just one wish? Even though he said it could be anything it feels impossible still somehow that she could say something like “no more wars“ or “no more famine”. And as happy as she would be to wish just for the happiness of her own family, it felt so selfish to waste the hypothetical wish when there were so many other people who needed help…
It actually takes for a while to think about it, before,]
I guess… I would wish that jinba would be equal with humans. That no one would enslave them again, or ride them, or treat them badly because they’re different.
Something like that… ?
[(Might explain her displeasure at being compared to a workhorse.)]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-06 12:45 pm (UTC)( it's a sincere hope from a farmer's daughter.
a far cry from what he did with his, albeit still in the name of change.
he smiles on the other end, unseen. )
Anyhow, I had such a device at some point, if you can believe it. Past my death, I ended up using it to alter the course of history, and gained a wealth of knowledge beyond things like the loom, and paper maps, and whatever else might've been brewing in Choshu at the time. So. These new-age "machines" are definitely something I can fangle with.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-06 01:06 pm (UTC)But she bites all that down because,]
Y- You actually had one? A magic wish?
[And wait-]
What do you mean "past your death"? You were alive last time we talked?? Aren't you alive right now???
no subject
Date: 2025-06-06 03:20 pm (UTC)Wow. Look at the time. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to meeting these farmer friends of yours.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-06 03:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-06-06 03:42 pm (UTC)it's just way more entertaining to listen to her fret over it. but soon. )
no subject
Date: 2025-06-06 05:58 pm (UTC)🍊🤼♂️🌊🏯👨🏻🦰
🌳🍃 😫 ！！
❌☎️ 🔜 ❌🥚 ！！
[... Okay that might be a bluff, but. She sends it anyway. HOW IS SHE SUPPOSED TO RECOMMEND HIM TO POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS IF HE MIGHT HANG UP ON THEM IF THEY ASK A SENSIBLE QUESTION...]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-06 06:09 pm (UTC)there are some things better spent explaining in person, and it's not his fault her immediate panic is a little funny.
still, he can send a final text. just to reassure her. he isn't totally heartless. )
🩹🤞
I'll tell you more on that face-to-face
no subject
Date: 2025-06-18 08:37 pm (UTC)🤞👀
[She'll see about that!!! But. Fine. It's a response.]