voidtreckerexpress | A new friend

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A new friend

Who: Taiki and Gyousou
Where: Luggage carriage and then probably moving towards their room
When: Month of Fiddlesticks, day one.
What: Gyousou has a package, oh what oh could it be? Clearly he needs his kirin to advise him on this mysterious package.
Warnings:

Something was going on. Lord Gyousou's name had been on the list of those receiving parcels. Gyousou had claimed to know of nothing it could be but had asked Taiki if he would mind accompanying him to invesigate.

As if Taiki would ever decline an opportunity to be with his king. But he doesn't believe him at all. He is not a child anymore and where once Lord Gyousou could have fooled him about something like this, he is far too obvious in his insistence that he knows nothing about what this could be.

When he tells Taiki they must take some vegetables with them and some bacon it is obvious that he knows more than he is letting on. But Taiki plays along, if it pleases Lord Gyousou to pull the wool over his eyes he will not question him or let it be known that he is aware there is no way something would arrive for him without it being ordered first.

So dutifully carrying a dish of different chopped vegetables he followed Lord Gyousou into the luggage carriage, curious and slightly amused.

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Being one more face in the crowd of voidtreckers had left Gyousou rather at a loss as to how to improve their lots. They had come from a moment of extraordinary chaos, with no way to confirm the state of their kingdom; now once again they had been forced to flee from a place that needed them. Even having been absent he saw how badly Taiki had been affected- but he was a soldier, a ruler, and those who would give him empathetic advice were worlds away, if indeed they still lived.

So it was perhaps understandable that he resorted to an old trick. When he checked his points that morning against the shop list, he had known immediately what he wanted to do with what was essentially the only currency he had in this place. He could only hope that it would give Kouri some measure of comfort; even a moment of happiness would make the expenditure of all of his points worth it.

Ah, no, a second hope - that the creature, the 'random animal', was something suitable to be cared for. The long walk down the train gave him plenty of time to imagine the strange and bizarre creatures that might await them. He distracted himself by continuing the childish pretense at ignorance, playing the fool for Taiki's amusement.

When they arrived, he saw the parcel quickly. There were only a handful of crates with perforated sides, after all.

"How odd," he said, voice bland. "Shall we get a closer look?"

He glanced at Gyousou and then back at the crate. It was obvious that whatever was in that crate was a creature of some kind. Though he had sort of guessed that from the vegetables he held in his hands.

He nodded silently and moved closer, placing the bowl on the ground before crouching in front of the crate.

Ever so carefully he opened the crate, looking inside.

He didn't recognise the creature at all. It was tiny, and looked like some strange mix of a mouse and a kangaroo.

He reached out and caught the creature, holding it gently though it was a little determined to squirm out of his hands.

"What is it?"

Unseen by Taiki, Gyousou's shoulders relaxed a little when he saw the crate's contents, and even more when he scooped the little rodent up without a further thought.

"It looks something like a tiào shǔ, a Yellow Sea mouse."

He knelt down, careful not to move too quickly, and reached for the crate to check the sides, "Ah, a 'jerboa'."

"Tiào shǔ..." It was not a word he knew and he took a moment to break the words apart, think about how it would be written. Jerboa was equally as new but the former gave him more clues.

"To jump and mouse. Jumping mouse?"

That summed up the creature in front of him quite well. He stood up and carefully held the creature out to Lord Gyousou.

"It is a small, pragmatic creature, meriting a small, pragmatic name," he agreed, amiable enough in the face of Taiki's renewed interest. Amiable enough to reach out and inspect the mouse, though it tamped down and hid underneath Taiki's curled fingers when he tried to brush its back with one finger.

He pet it softly, noting how it shied away. Lord Gyousou was a lot larger than Taiki, his presence more dangerous.

He smiled up at lord Gyousou. "You bought this?"

He sounds genuinely confused. He knew that he was fond of animals. But usually large creatures, for riding and hunting. Not small, wary jumping mice.

"It seemed appropriate, although we are only able to purchase small creatures." He hesitated for just a moment, suddenly unsure if mentioning something from home would-- he quashed that thought. If they couldn't mention it, then they might as well be dead. They were still of Tai. "I certainly miss Keito and the others. Don't you?"

"I do." He looked down at the jumpy mouse in his hands, stroking it gently. It was true, that they could only have small creatures here.

"It is probably for the best, I don't think this train is any place for a Suugu." As much as he missed him.

"Lady Risai still has Hi'en, he remembered me when I saw him again in Kei." He smiled. It had been a surprising thing to be remembered by the Tenba after all of those years.

"Agreed, kijuu seldom do well in cramped quarters."

His expression fell a little at the mention of Hi'en, but then... what use would it be to mention the injuries he had seen on the loyal creature's body? He decided to spare Taiki that; it would only cause unnecessary ill luck to think on it. "I'm not surprised he did; you truly have a way with them."

Which, actually, led perfectly to the culmination of his grand scheme. "With that in mind, I don't suppose you would have the time to care for this little one? I'm afraid it is rather an imposition on my part..."

He sees that falling expression and worries, he has no idea what had happened in the time since he last saw Risai. He thinks he saw her in the courtyard but everything happened so fast. He doesn't know but Gyousou does not speak and he takes that that he shouldn't ask.

He is lost in thought but soon focuses as Gyousou continues, he blinks first in confusion. Because why would Lord Gyousou buy a creature he did not have time to look after. But then it dawns on him and his expression turned to one of awe.

He has no words, he just looks down at the tiny creature and back at Gyousou in complete gratitude. He doesn't deserve this. He deserves nothing from Gyousou, after all he had been a complete failure of a kirin. Not one thing he has tried to do to help Gyousou has succeeded, he couldn't even die correctly and now they are stuck on this train far far away from Tai. Yet he still had thought...

He won't cry. But his shoulders tremble as he strokes the small jerboa softly. He doesn't deserve such kindness but Lord Gyousou has always been far too kind to him, even when he had been a child who knew nothing, who had to be taught things that most kirin could do just naturally he had never judged and now, though Taiki was all but useless to him he still did things such as this.

"Thank you, my lord." It's not much than a whisper, his voice choaked.

The surge of triumph is, perhaps, premature. After all, there is still so much they cannot control or do not know. Hasty, also, because while Kouri has been affected, it isn't the simple happiness he was most hoping for.

But then so little of Kouri is simple, now. He decides to be content with this measure of success.

"It is I who should be thanking you," he says, the only reason he doesn't reach for Taiki's hair being his not wanting to spook the small animal now nosing curiously at the kirin's fingers. "Truly, I would be lost without your guidance."

He stared at the Jerboa, looking a little awkward. Because really his guidance had not been that great. He had done his best to help Lord Gyousou with navigating this strange place, but so many things were strange to him too.

Still the idea that he was helpful at all was relieving. "What shall we call it?"

His finger stroked over the jerboa's head again, still overwhelmed.

He considered. In the past, he would have offered something impressive, or perhaps a name that brought to mind a gemstone - those were always popular in Tai. But perhaps it was a time to change certain ways of thinking.

"Kōun," he suggested. "Or Gyōkō. For good luck."

He was quiet for a moment as he visualised those words to understand them. He thought about them both and then smiled.

"I like Gyōkō. Gyōkō the Jerboa."

It suits him. Is it a him? Taiki has no idea.

"Gyōkō it is."

Gyousou also has no idea, from this angle. "I wonder if Lady Wen will be terribly offended if we ask her to examine it."

"Um... Maybe." The idea of asking her is terrifying at least. Even though he has no idea if bouncing mice exist in her world and she might find examining a new creature interesting.

Or frustrating. Either way he can't imagine ever asking her, less her earn one of her glares.

He can't help a laugh at Taiki's expression. Wen Qing has been nothing but helpful and polite, but he supposes that she might be a little severe, too.

Hearing that she spent days playing board games with him until she'd mastered several and still seeing him make that face... Clearly they need to work on it.

"I'll wait until you're out of range before I ask."

But more people are filtering in, looking about for their own parcels. "Come. Let's introduce it to its new home."

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A new friend

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