soul_logs | moonlight party

Entry tags:

moonlight party

Characters: Date Masamune, The Moon and you!
Location: The Park
Rating: PG
Time: March 26, Evening
Description: Date Masamune has a stareoff with the moon. That's right, a stareoff with the moon. Because it's looking at him. Stragglers, insomniacs or those who just want a walk in the park - you're invited to watch.

Masamune knew the sun had a face. That was one of the first thing he noticed when he first arrived in Death City - the creepy sun. Mouri Motonari, Sundouche Extraordinaire would probably like it because of his shouting about how he was the child of the sun, but it didn't sit too well with him that the sun was actually watching everything. He liked the sun, he liked standing under it but watching it was a whole new level.

Okay. Nothing big. Just the sun then.

He never actually bothered looking up in the evenings, because lord knows the moon was like. Granted it was a little unfounded assumption that the moon would have the same kind of creepy face but then again, he never bothered to find out.

Until tonight.

Masamune was strolling in the park to clear his head after a shift in the Entertainment District as part of his duty to The Watch. Nothing big, just his way to unwind. His helmet glinted in the evening light and he, absentmindedly glanced up at the sky as if he were back in Oshu.

What he saw made him step back in alarm. He knew very well the moon had a face, but he didn't expect it to be THAT kind of face. The face unpleasant people like Ishida Mitsunari had.

So he recoiled, but he didn't stop looking. Masamune crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. No, he was still staring at the moon as if it had personally offended him (and in a way, it did.)

There you have it, Death City. There's a warlord having a stareoff with the moon.

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Come on Mr. Moon, do your worst. Masamune's ready.

[Feels like staring down at an insect.]

[God you're creepy. Do you look at everyone that way?]

['S what happens when you have a nose that gets in the way of everything...]

[Must not lose. Must not lose. Must not let the moon win. The moon is such a butt.]

[First one who looks away is a booger.

Incidentally, the moon has boogers the size of boulders.]

[That's kinda TMI, bro. Does the sun have boogers too or is it just the Moon because he's gross?]

[When you have nasal passages the size of massive cave systems, bro, anything is possible.]

[Ewwwww. Ewww. You can kill people with your boogers. Have you ever considered that? Have you ever considered how bad that would be?]

[Well, sure, but what's the moon going to use to pick them out? Its pointy chin?]

[He did not think that far. Whoops.

Oh crap the moon is winning.]

Maybe you've stumbled into this midstare off. Or you may have stumbled upon Masamune as he's walking around. Or maybe you wanna get involved in the stareoff too, who knows? But if you're a spectator, this is the place for you.

After patrols, he does like taking to the air for a more casual sort of flying instead of actively looking for people that might be committing crimes or anything of the sort.

So it was with a bit of interest on his part when he saw that his partner was looking up at the moon, arms over his chest.

He backwinged it to make a full circuit around the park, before coming in for a landing a small distance from Masamune.

He did not want to interrupt him as he did this, for only Masamune knew why he was looking so intently at the moon - perhaps he was in a pensive mood...

So all he did, was just walk up next to him, and lay down on the ground there, looking up at the moon as well.

It took Masamune a while to notice that his partner had landed beside him but he almost gave a little sigh of relief when he felt the flaps of wings and the little currents of air. Company was good. Company was always good and he'd never turn it down. He always took Tem to be the pensive, quiet sort and it was completely like him to look at the moon too.

"The moon look like this where you come from?"

He shook his head, even though he knew that his partner was probably not looking directly at him.

"Not at all. I am quite sure that you and I would look upon the same sort of moon, which would always look very nice once the sun has set."

He was silent as he looked up at the face of the moon with that odd grin of his.

"If there were any difference between our worlds, I would think, is that it is just in my world where my kind exists. That would be all, otherwise I have been told that people have existed just the same, all without dragons."

"Huh."

He tilted his head to the side and kept looking at the moon. Tem had given him something to chew over.

"You had allegiances back at home, right? Everyone has some kind. Dragons are untamed things. But you're pretty... human like for a dragon."

And he finally looks over at his partner.

"Not that makes you any less dragon like but it makes it easier to talk to you."

"We work together alongside humans. I chose a human as a companion with whom I would fight, and which whom I would share my free time, for the rest of my life, or so I thought. More or less like with you, except that we were fighting for our nation. That is the allegiance that I think you would be referring toward."

He turned to look at Masamune.

"It would probably be a lot to discuss how things work in my world, but we dragons learn language from within the shell. Afterwards, our Captains or companions care for us, give us our first meal and we come to care for them as dragonets. We learn from them, are sociable with them and all the other humans after a while, and even work with other dragons as we start to train together. Perhaps that is the reason why you might think me a bit more human-like? We are all raised this way, back home in England."

His case was peculiar, even he learned of that after speaking with the other dragons, for they had not really gone out to sea, or had a Captain that used to be a part of the Navy. What they did share was that first meal... and the care and affection that they gave their respective Captains.

"But in China, they do it a different way. Dragons still come to choose companions after they are one and a half years old, or two, and there are special ceremonies observed, from what I know."

Yet, he knows only so much from his short stay there. If Date would like an explanation, he would only be able to do what his limited amount of resources would allow him, especially since he's drawing all of this from memory.

Masamune digests this information, making mental notes on what Tem told him. It's really all useful stuff but at the same time --

"Nah, I just meant... you were really polite for a beast, that's all."

Oh, that takes him aback a little.

He's quiet for a minute or two, trying to figure out how to exactly say it...

"It is probably because of my Captain who helped raise me."

Of course it had to do with a lot of his own brand of personality because the others were rather informal in Britain...

"Or perhaps it can also be attributed by my breed. Celestials like myself are expected to be scholars, not fighters."

If it were anyone other than Date, he would probably have made a comment about how he is not a mere beast as he had once told Ishida Mitsunari. However, Date recognized him as a real dragon, and even amongst the corps, they were called 'beasts' at times. Not from his own Captain, of course, but amongst some of the crew, and even they knew to cow themselves when dealing with him, in a way.

The person who raised you often left a deep impact on your life, Masamune knew this. He learned a lot from Kojuro and it was only now that he was moving to take steps away from that, now that they couldn't be together anymore. His back felt vulnerable, but that was why he was working harder to cover up his weaknesses. So he got it. He really did.

"And here we are, fighting a war. Weird, huh?"

"Oh, I was fighting a great war between my country and another which tried to invade ours, so I am no stranger to that."

He mused a little, wondering what the young man here was thinking. A fighting one that had a lot of courage and strength to do what he does best, yes, just like himself. He was born in an age where war was ravaging Europe with the ascension of Napoleon as Emperor. He knew not what Date had lived through, but to be a warrior himself he knew he must have gone through something equally as great.

"But the people around us do help shape us as we are. I should think that our partnership should see something of that as time goes on, Masamune."

"Yeah, something like that."

He's affecting a cool front here, not really wanting to seem like he was getting too emotionally touched by this conversation.

"I dunno, when I was looking for a partner I was looking for someone who was full of hot blood but you were probably what I needed. You're cool. You need someone who has a cool head in your life, especially in a war."

Whoa this is getting way too sentimental.

"Uh. Yeah."

Masamune coughs.

"If I've learnt anything, Masamune, is that one can be both. There is that element of Yin and Yang in all of us in certain ways, I am quite sure you should know about that."

There was some silence for a moment, before he continued on.

"You see, when I am not in battle I am rather calm and have no real reason to be otherwise. I am as you say, cool. Yet when there is a battle to be waged, I get serious about it, keep a level head, but I do fight viciously if need be."

At least, in wars with other dragons he did not mind having to kill them if it meant the difference between living, getting injured, or dying.

"Still, I think we shall do well in our endeavours together."

With this, he lightly nudges Masamune's shoulder with his snout, to sort of show his affection for the young man.

He stays silent, sighing quietly to himself. Masamune's grateful for the affection, grateful for the dragon's understanding. Clearly there's still a lot on his mind so this gazing at the moon is no mere play, it's really an attempt for him to clear his thoughts.

And with Temeraire's help, he may have accomplished it.

"Do you want to go back?"

He is a little confused, as he had originally been here staring up at the moon in the first place.

However, he was not one to make people do whatever it is that he personally wanted to do without thinking. Unless it was Laurence, perhaps, and even then he's seen what that can lead to, and it was not all that good. That's why he's now learned to try to think rationally on his decisions, or at least he tries to. This is one of those times when he does so.

"If you would prefer to do so, then we can. Perhaps we can have some tea after we get there?"

Best thing to calm anyone, or so he thinks. Better to have some and have a good night's rest. They both will need it.

[she was gliding through the air, taking a night stroll.

And then this.

Why would you even-

Ugh, Humans.]

[Masamune literally gives no fucks except he blinks when he sees something... flying across his vision.

And he blinked.

Damn.]

[she lands on a tree branch, watching.

really, what are you doing, exactly?]

[Staring at the moon. What's your problem?

It takes Masamune a minute to realise that someone's watching him but out of the corner of his eye, he's watching them.]

[after watching the scene for a little while longer, she finally speaks] What are you doing, human?

Looking at the moon.

[Duh.]

You?

Looking at [an idiot] you and wondering what is so interesting about the moon.

It's got a face.

[Seriously woman have you never seen it creeping on you as you flew around the sky?]

I'm quite sure everyone has noticed that. [linefacing]

Lily had stayed late at work today, finishing the repairs that were needed to the park’s grounds after the antics of those alien frogs and their friends from the other day. It was already dark by the time she finished but she still had one more task to get ready for tomorrow...

The witch grabbed the basket she had brought from home and the small gardening sickle that served as a makeshift boline and walked towards one of the quieter areas of the park. Along the way, she noticed a man with a strange helmet wandering the grounds. …What in tarnation? But he just seemed to be out for a walk so she shrugged and continued on her way. This city seemed to have even more crazy characters than San Francisco.

She was surprised to see the man still there and staring up at the sky when she returned an hour later, the basket dangling from her arm filled with cuttings of various herbs and medicinal plants. Her curiosity got the better of her and she went to stand next to him. Was there something of interest up in the sky that she was missing?

“You’ve been here a long time. What are you looking at?” There’s still a twang to her voice even after years away from Texas.

Masamune wasn't totally expecting someone to notice him, let alone talk to him. He didn't even expect someone to notice how long he'd been there, because he barely noticed himself. But now someone was talking to him and the moon had stopped being entertaining.

"... The moon."

Wasn't it obvious? Though he does turn his head to look at whoever it is had addressed him.

She blinked. "But why would you want to do that? It's as ugly as homemade soap." Like all the natural witches of her world, Lily had drawn strength from the moon back home. But the moon here had no appeal and only succeeded in giving her the creeps, especially when it was dripping blood from its toothy grin.

When he turned, Lily noted that he looked to be about a decade younger than her and—"Your eye!" She's a bit startled to see the eye patch and exclaims without thinking. Probably not the most tactful thing to say. "Um, sorry."

She awkwardly shifted the basket on her arm and wondered what had happened to him that he wore an eye patch...

He shrugged.

"I've got nothing better to do."

The thing he wasn't expecting was her was to comment on his eyepatch. Mainly because most people just took it to be part of him that they never really questioned it. It applied back at home and it applied here too, most people either knowing the story behind it or taking it to be part of Masamune's inherent bravery. Either way, it never really bothered him but it was always a surprise to see who would break convention.

"Eh, it's been gone a while. You never met someone with one eye before?"

Before he could let Lily respond, he's extending a hand towards her in a handshake.

"Let me be your first. Date Masamune, one eyed dragon of Oshu."

She shook her head. "It's not exactly common where I'm from." Had she ever even seen anyone wearing an eye patch in real life other than Halloween pirates? Not that she could recall.

Being originally from a small Texas town and having been kicked out of high school there to boot, Lily was rather clueless about Japanese history. So, there's no flicker of recognition at the name.

With a small smile, she returned his handshake. "Lily Ivory, um, gardener of this park."

"Nice to meet you, Date. There's a story behind that nickname, I reckon..."

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moonlight party

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