Private Roleplay 〔❁〕Drown it out,

Yukimi hadn’t come to visit her dreams as of late, and Izumi wonders why. Maybe the girl was merely something brought on by the incessant loneliness she felt while recovering in that pack. The desperate need for her samurai to be by her side — a need so severe that the crane ended up dreaming up a child with him. This wasn’t the first time it happened; it also happened back when she was kidnapped under that dingy mountain and barely clinging to life.

Or perhaps it was the woman’s strange new obsession with wishing to start a family of her own. Ever since taking the initiative to inherit her parent’s crown, the woman had never so much as thought of the warmth of family life nor kids. Perhaps she’d be betrothed during her reign to a foreign royal to strengthen the bloodline and nothing more. Never once had she thought that she’d open her heart again and fall in love in a way that made her vulnerable. It was a weakness that she still feared to this day, yet…wasn’t exactly upset about.

Would she even make a good mother if the time came, though? Raise a heir strong and worthy enough to replace her when her mind became too frail to balance the crown?

Izumi had stayed on the sidelines once again and watched as the others mingled, getting lost in her own thoughts as she stared at the samurai’s form from afar. A warmth lingered within her chest at the thought of it all, but so did the notes of fear and doubt of anything that could go wrong…

SKILL: DIPLOMAT (1/5)

Festivity had a way of multiplying beneath Ravorn’s sky. Laughter rose and broke like sparks from a fire, voices weaving between music, movement, and the scents of food carried upon the evening air. Shēnléi remained near the celebration’s edge, near enough to participate without surrendering himself entirely to its revelry. Bronze eyes moved with habitual vigilance between the three women who held the greatest share of his attention— Ye Lanyi amid unfamiliar company, Mei somewhere within the gathering’s warmth, and Yuè, whom his gaze returned to with quiet regularity.

It was during one such sweep that he noticed another woman lingering apart from the festivities.

She did not appear abandoned so much as withdrawn by choice, her attention fixed somewhere beyond the gathering and upon a man Shēnléi recognized as one of the many dignitaries samurai. There was something softened in the manner of her watching, though a shadow of thought rested heavily upon it. Curiosity drew him closer, his approach unhurried and deliberately visible so as not to startle her. He stopped at a courteous distance, inclining his head in greeting.

You observe the celebration as though it is a performance meant for others, he remarked, the faintest sound of amusement warming his otherwise measured cadence. His gaze briefly followed hers toward the samurai before returning to her face, politely leaving whatever conclusion he had drawn unspoken. I confess that I have done much the same this evening. It is difficult to surrender oneself wholly to merriment when there are so many worth keeping within one’s sight.

His tail settled neatly behind him as he turned slightly, allowing her the choice of meeting his attention or continuing to watch the festivities. I am Emperor Shēnléi of Tianlong, he introduced. And you appear to have found one of the few peaceful corners Ravorn’s celebrations have spared. Would you object if I shared it for a time?

At the corner of her eye, the cranebird saw the figure of someone tread closer. Though she could’ve just been imagining things at first. Within all the masses of lingering bodies that swam through the festival, it was a bit tricky to tell. Yet once the emptied space in which she occupied was no longer vacant, her head would turn in the direction of whoever approached.It was a tall man of unknown origin. Saddled in ebony, cloaked in earth, and masked with white — where two bronze eyes are met with frosted lilacs that regarded him from the side of her eye with guarded curiosity. Oh? Who’s this?

She turned to face him, inclining her head in time with his own dip of the crown. The nose at the tip of her muzzle twitched as Izumi regarded him, and she smelled Tianlong upon his fur. Mostly Yue — and the cranebird quietly wondered an assumption of her own in the comforts of her mind. One she’d wait for him to confirm. So you understand then, the cranebird responds, turning her gaze back amongst the crowd where her own clan mates lingered. A lith of amusement noted in her voice. —there is no true rest, not even during the joyous comforts of celebration. The empress’s eyes closed momentarily while a faint smile graced her lips. As if admitting defeat. Yet sometimes, I can never tell if it is simply anxiousness that I mask behind the veil of duty.

Izumi noted how his gaze followed hers towards Osamu, and mentally scolded herself for it. It was not like her to be so obvious — and yet, it had been that way since their relationship had changed. As much as she attempted to veil it…

On the contrary, two watching parties is better than one. Feel free to join me. She says with a nod of approval. He reveals himself, finally, as Tianlong’s Emperor. It would explain why he carried himself in such a way, or why he smelled so strongly of their Empress — body language and scent never lied. I will admit, you and Yuè complement each other’s cadence well — It is like a refined dance between the sun and its moon. The sun was within Shenlei, who carried himself with an unfiltered strength and pride — and within Yue was the moon, a glittering radiance with equal strength of a leader.

I am Empress Izumi of the Fujiwara Dynasty. It is well met, Emperor Shenlei.