IC INBOX

[willing_sheath]

[A standard pre-recorded message starts:]

Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. [There are a few long moments of dead silence before someone draws a breath speaks in a stiff, uncomfortable tone:] Himura Tomoe... [and another long few seconds of silence where she apparently didn't realize how to stop the recording.] is not available. At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up or press one for more options. To leave a callback number, press five.

[BEEP]



[ooc; for action spam to be counted as log activity feel free to comment to my annual log under the appropriate month]

Comments

CITATION

[willing_sheath]

❝

DUPLICITY CITATION No. 05039 May 27, 2019 Violation: Inappropriate and inflammatory statements made in public. Fine: 20 hours community service in the Up Payments must be received within 30 calendar days, or debts will be handed over to the Remittance Facility.

❞

[text] handle: DonutDevourer

[goldenglasses]

[The same day that new arrivals start showing up in the city Tomoe will be getting a text message FROM Vash.]

there is a man here and he looks just like me except his hair is short and nearly all black do not talk to him you should avoid him if you can and if you can't don't let him know that we are friends and known each other if possible

his name is knives and he is dangerous

[willing_sheath]

[W.H.E.L.P.]

Read at XX:XX

[S-should she tell him? Or shouldn't she tell him?]

text; un: dango.lover

[embracethewind]

( gods, this is so hard. when was the last time he apologized to someone? ah, yes... kamiya. )

Tomoe-san...


Please, forgive me. 🥀

text: UN: Himura.Tomoe

[willing_sheath]

[What... what is this...? She sees the message and just stares at it for the longest time, immediately flushing because she knew what it was about. It hadn't taken long to realize something wasn't right, one look on the network was all that was really necessary. Shared dreaming...]

[At the very least... the one Okita had been in had not been terrible... Embarrassing now... but considering the sorts of damning things that usually haunted her dreams she had dodged the proverbial bullet...]

It was a dream, Okita-san. There is nothing to forgive. This place was using us as playthings again.

I am not like that. No matter how much this place may try to make me one, I am not a whore.

Christmas Day 2019

[goldenglasses]

[When Tomoe goes to collect her mail she'll find there is a package with her name on it. Wrapped in paper with little cartoon cats and dogs wearing Christmas sweaters on it.

Inside is a box of home-made sugar cookies. In the shape of trees, stars, and gingerbread men. Plus a hair comb that the clerk her bought it from swears is something a proper Japanese woman would like.

It shouldn't be too hard to figure out who this box of treats came from. Along with the gifts is a Christmas card.]

Hope today brings you a bit of joy and happy new year!

Merry Christmas,
Vash the Stampede

[willing_sheath]

[Tomoe collects everything and moves into the flat, still alone. She looks at the package a little suspiciously at first simply because she has come not to trust random packages, though the paper doesn't seem quite Duplicity-themed...]

[She finds the card first and her tired expression warms a bit with her typical 'laugh' through her nose, though the mention of the new year cuts just a bit... but it isn't as though he knows.]

[She freezes when she sees the comb, her already volatile emotions moving through her in another wave. She lifts the comb up and holds it in her hands, running her thumbs across the flowers before lifting it up and holding it to her chest. It's not the same shape or material, but it's still a hair ornament... He doesn't know the significance to her and she knows that... still.]

[God... how much more of this can her heart take?]



[Eventually he will get a simple text:]

Thank you.

video; un: little wolf

[brooder]

[ He had seen her on the network but he did not want to reply there because it seemed she had more than enough to deal with after being put on display. ]

I... have been meaning to contact you. I wanted to apologize for my behavior to you last month, it was very... [ he paused, then cleared his throat. his cheeks were hot and eyes averted from the camera. ]

Rough. I should have asked permission before doing such things to you. I was not in my right mind.

Text un: Himura.Tomoe

[willing_sheath]

[Guess who missed the memo on his illiteracy? THIS GIRL!]

[When she gets the message she almost expects it to be another attack like the Steele woman. She stares wide-eyed for the duration of the message, flushing from her hairline all the way down to her chest. She had made it through the month mostly "terrorizing" people she already knew...]

[What had happened with him, that had been the most extreme of anything and recalling it and how her body reacted to everything he'd done had her simultaneously mortified... and aroused. It couldn't really be helped, all things considered, she wasn't about to forget climaxing so hard that she was knocked out of her own body.]

[And this is exactly why she relies on text for these things--she can hide behind text.]

Neither was I. I cannot fault you for it, I was similar under the effects of the red. As I was I welcomed everything you did and even though you were rough you did not hurt me. [not completely true, but being sore wasn't the end of the world]

voice

[arkfall]

I thought you should know that I've finally made up my mind that I do not want to kill you.

You were safe before thanks to the contract with my brother but even if the contract ended, I would have no desire to hunt you down.

1/2

[willing_sheath]

[W-where does she find these people...?]

a couple days after her meeting with azwel;

[embracethewind]

( on her bed, tomoe will find a nicely wrapped gift box. inside the box she will find thin lights, another small box with a ring and a framed photograph of souji seated in his usual bushi attire with the asagi haori of the shinsengumi, a hand on top of the back of the other resting on the handle of his sheathed sword, standing at the front of his hakama. the smile on his face is the same as his other photograph with kamiya, only the gleam on his eyes seemed different... more loving. attached to the photograph, there's a small, handwritten note: )

If I leave for good, I hope you remember me with these gifts.

I love you.

[willing_sheath]

[She had survived New Year's Eve to see New Year's Day in no small part thanks to Azwel. She would not have thrown herself off the building. She had sunken very deep into that place but there had been just enough there to keep her from something so foolish. That didn't mean, however, that she hadn't been so drunk that she might have fallen off the roof or at least passed out on it to die from exposure.

Although she had been drinking heavily for a week straight she had gone above and beyond that night and had spent the first day of the new year sick as a dog because of it. There was something about that degree of hangover that steered one away from a repeat performance anytime soon.

Even so, the evidence of her week long binge wasn't completely gone. While there weren't bottles all over the flat anymore there were still several in the kitchen on both the counter and in the trash... but aside from that everything else seemed to be in place.

Tomoe is returning from a shopping trip to purchase sustenance of the non-liquid variety, heart sinking just a bit with there being no sign of Okita yet again when she returns. After this long... she was almost positive that he wouldn't come back... She moves to the kitchen and puts the groceries away, eventually making her way to her room--

--where she stops in the doorway, seeing the package on her bed. She is suspicious at first, because anything appearing out of the blue in this place is suspect... but it just... doesn't look like something Duplicity was behind.

She moves forward, lifting the package, running her fingers over the curious wrapping and the decoration atop it, somewhat amazed that the kitten hadn't been at it (where was Kaki? She hadn't been hampering Tomoe in the kitchen...). She is careful as she unwraps it, not wanting to ruin the tiny wreath in the process. Inside it takes her a moment to even realize what the wire with the strange teardrops on it is before her mind is taken back to that garden of lights from that party, the one that had kicked off the week of shared dreaming. There is a tiny battery pack attached to the strand and she flips the switch, her breath catching as the teardrops light up. She finds the small box containing the ring--a small dainty little thing.

And then the photograph.

It makes her heart flip in her chest as she lifts it from the box, setting her fingers to the glass. When had he been there? While she was gone, of course it was while she was gone. She sees the note then and reads it, feeling her heart tighten all over again. If I leave for good.]

Souji...

Text; un: DonutDevourer

[goldenglasses]

[Very shortly after this thread there will be a message left for Tomoe.]

Can we talk sometime soon?

[willing_sheath]

[The reply doesn't come until morning... It was a rough night... And she has a sinking feeling about this...]

About what?

[How much more could she destroy in the span of two days?]

text: un; apparition (backdated to before the event)

[unphase]

HELP.

un: Himura.Tomoe

[willing_sheath]

Tinya-san? What's wrong? Are you alright?

Cordispondence Delivery

[lovingvambrace]

[The box arrives mid-afternoon, wrapped in pretty red paper with a silver bow. Inside is a box of assorted chocolates and a smaller box wrapped in silver with a red bow. It contains a somewhat suggestive necklace meant to encircle not just the neck but emphasize the underbust.

The note in the bottom of the box reads:]

"I hope to see you in this soon.

XXOO Cullen"

[willing_sheath]

[At first Tomoe thinks it's a gift from Okita... though she isn't sure why it would be delivered rather than him simply giving it to her in person. The chocolates fall right in line with that thought again with how much the man loved anything sweet. It's the chain that makes her pause, in part because it takes her a solid minute to figure out what it even is, finally laying it out flat on the kitchen counter in order to make out the design and how it's a meant to be worn. It's only then, after glancing back to the box, that she sees the note and nearly double-takes at the name.]

C-Cullen-san..!?

[She flushes dark once she realizes who it's from, looking back at the chain again and wondering what on earth had prompted this. Their first meeting possibly suggested an action like this--but they hadn't been themselves. The conversations she'd had with him later (as well as his initial reaction when the effect they'd been under ceased) painted the picture of a man who... frankly would not be sending suggestive gifts to a woman he barely knew.]

[She waits at least an hour before sending him a message, wracking her brain over why he would have sent it, trying to remember if there was anything that she had done to invite it and coming up with absolutely nothing. She couldn't even think of the last time she's spoken with him for sure. It had been over a month at least, possibly even longer!]


I received your gifts, Cullen-san. The gesture is appreciated, though I do not know what has prompted it. I apologize if I have lead you on in some way, but I cannot agree to meet with the apparent intent of this gift.

Written - Couple weeks after the frozen heart event

[goldenglasses]

[They had texted shortly after Vash's attack on Tomoe and attempt on Okita's life. Only then he had been under his brother's watchful eye and reeling from being made a prisoner in his own home that he didn't really say all that he wanted to.

Now that things have settled down, he's had time to reflex and breath, he wants to do better. She had said she didn't blame him, but he still felt better stating what he felt in a letter then allowing it to get muddled with words in the heat of the moment.

Which is why one day she'll find a hand written letter addressed to her in her mail box. It's written in neat cursive writing.]

Tomoe,

I know you said that I shouldn't blame myself for how this city changed me and my way of thinking which led me to attack you. I'll try not to if not for my sake then for you. I may not have been in my right mind but my actions still hurt you and for that I am sorry. I attacked you in your own home in a place you should feel safe. I hope I have not ruined that space for you as you deserve a place where you can relax and be safe.

You are very forgiving of everyone but I still wear the face of a man who attacked you and assaulted you in a way no woman should be. I will completely understand if you ever wish to distance yourself from me even if it is later on. I promise to understand. I am sorry that I betrayed your trust in me and for anything that I've destroyed that can not be replaced or repaired. I hope you can feel safe again.

I am sorry. I won't mention it again as I doubt either of us really want to dwell on it unless you wish to talk about it. Even if it was this city I was a very poor friend and I'm sorry. So sorry.

Yours,
Vash

text; un: dango.lover (before the party)

[embracethewind]

( the days in what were going to be the last in their home soon have passed by since she was gone. in a way... it had been relieving, on the other hand... he had come to terms into the realization that tomoe would probably never come back. the nights after she decided to stay at tinya's house, where he found himself in the arms of a girl that reminded him of the certain type where he couldn't care to understand since sae's incident and the other girl who... reminded him of a love that would stay in deadlock back home without knowing if it could have developed more than what it transpired since they met, had taught him fullest what tinya was trying to tell him, because in the end, girls understand each other better, right?

leaving the mist of jealousy and confusion behind a bit more, while packing his stuff (that isn't much to begin with) to move into the new house, souji recalled the words he had forgotten and once told kamiya when he assisted yamanami on his seppuku. in a single text that he doesn't expect an answer back, mostly a reaffirmation, he conveys his own feelings of memories that seemed like yesterday but somehow he took for granted thanks to his selfish thoughts. )

I had a friend that was dear to me, one I couldn't save from the fate he had decided to welcome because he was loyal to his code.

When he died, my underling, Kamiya-san, berated me that if my friend's emotions for the girl he abandoned never took physical form it's like they didn't exist. It's now when I realized my own answer... and my own mistakes, possibly because at that time I wasn't in love it never occurred to me that I would understand what I was even saying.

"Must something have form for you to believe in it?"

Finally... I have come to understand what you told me, what Tinya-san told me. I cannot make your emotions, your feelings, take a shape for me to see them. I know they exist, they existed before you regained your memories of Kiyosato-san. When we first made love to each other before the truth of everything.

I don't want you to change for my sake, for anyone's sake. You don't have to smile for my sake either. I promised you, remember? that I would do so for both of us. I didn't see it because I took my anger and jealousy for granted, but now... I cannot see a life here where you're not in it.

You are my one true love. You are perfect to me, the light in my darkness. Even if you don't smile because I wish for it, I will do everything in my power for one day see a smile that is only meant for me.

And because I am a man, and bushi, I know this for sure: even if Kiyosato-san wanted to prove better for you, he died loving Tomoe, doing what he felt was the best way to show his love. My dear friend, Keisuke Yamanami-san wished he would have died as his lover's husband and instead died as bushi. O-Sato-san could have wanted to take her own life but the memories of Yamanami-san and their adopted child Mabo gave her reason to move on. I wish to be the reason for you to move on in this caotic place, for your friends and partners to be the reason. Whatever you believe it was your fault, it never will be.

I hope you're eating well, because I want to see you again as beautiful as when I first met you.

[willing_sheath]

[Several days later Okita will receive a letter several pages long written in meticulously neat Japanese calligraphy.]


Souji,

I apologize that I did not reply sooner, but I can't bear the informality of such words cast across those devices, and yet to speak in person my words too often fail me. Even now I am uncertain in what to say in return as most anything somehow seems cheap in reply to such heartfelt sentiment.

I love you--and what's more, I can see having a life with you, even here. It is the few connections that I have made here that have helped me survive this place. But I am tired of just surviving... I have just been surviving for over a decade. I want to find a way to live, to not just survive. In order to do that I think I do need to change, but ultimately that change must be for myself, not for anyone else. At least, I think that is what you mean by "moving on"? I want to be happy. I want to be able to smile. I want... to actually want to be alive. I don't want to be lost in the darkness anymore.

Back in December someone suggested that I get help when that darkness became visible. I finally sought out a doctor in January, one who specializes in "mental health". I did not tell you because I was uncertain of what it entailed or if it was anything of substance... and perhaps I was ashamed as well. As many times as I have said that there is something wrong with me, to actually take action in regard to it makes it real. At times I am still unsure, but I think it is a step forward at least. It is helping me to understand what that darkness is, and in turn helping me find a way out of it.

You say that I am the light in your darkness--and I can say the same for you. Every person I have become close to is. As you said, my reasons to continue on. But you shine brighter now, because you've become so close... But that is a double edged blade as well--because when your light is there I can see the way out. I've felt the beginning of all those things... and twice now that light has been abruptly taken away from me... and when that has happened I've been swallowed so quickly and so completely that I almost drowned.

Souji, what I am about to write is difficult for me. I have spent years hiding my pain to project a strength that isn't really here. I don't want to be seen as weak, but if we are to have any sort of chance together then I can't continue to do that. I'm not well, and it goes back long before Duplicity or even Kyoto. Probably back to my mother's death.

In December, when you left I lost myself. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so severe if Vash hadn't withdrawn from me at the same time, or maybe I purposefully pushed him away just as much as he did me. Maybe if it hadn't been December... but the combination... was... almost fatal for me. Between getting my memory of Kiyosatto back, and then having not one but both people I loved turn away from me... all culminating just before the first anniversary of my death... I honestly believe the only reason I'm still here is the simple impermanence of death in this place... Suicide is pointless here because they will simply bring us back... over and over. It didn't stop me from contemplating it though. I can't remember that night very well. I can't remember any of it very well, I spent almost the entire time you were gone so drunk I could barely stand.

I died on the eve of the new year in our world, and almost again here. I was ready to throw myself off the roof of the Dominant building. I thought maybe if the damage was too great maybe they wouldn't be able to piece me back together again. All I could think was how I destroyed everything I touched. Kiyosatto. Kenshin. You. And anger over the fact that it had finally been over... that I had died happy, and LIEs had stolen that from me. That I was tired... and just wanted it to be over again. Azwel-san was the one who got me off the roof. I remember calling him while standing up there on the rail, because I knew he would understand in a way that... living wouldn't. I don't know if I would have jumped if he didn't come for me or not. I blacked out entirely after he got me back inside the building. You would need to ask him if anything else happened that night. I made the decision to contact Doctor Lector the next day.

In March... it was much the same. I blamed myself for everything. Saw myself as the problem. I didn't drown myself in alcohol, but I stopped eating without realizing it. I never actively tried to harm myself, but the thoughts were there everyday. I couldn't bring myself to seek someone out to fill quota... I couldn't bring myself to sleep with someone I didn't have feelings for. It was what lead to my first SLUT treatment. I think you have wondered about my partners and this is the truth of it: outside of the city's meddling I have only willingly slept with three people in my life: my husband, Vash, and you. You are the only ones I have made love to--who I have actually wanted. I just... couldn't bring myself to simply whore myself out...

Or maybe I subconsciously wanted to be harmed...

Sometimes I think the SLUT treatments are designed to amplify the reason we've failed quota... to distort it to the point that we will not do it again. I've only seen three... my two... and one of Vash's... The first time I failed because I refused to approach anyone... and they forced me to seek out two partners at once. This time... this time they made me seek punishment... It was so much worse this time... Before they just drugged me and released me again. This time... they gave me to someone first... I can't... I still can't bring myself to repeat the things he did to me...

I didn't intend to write about this, and a part of me wants to rip up these pages and start again, but I'm not going to. As much as this rift was caused by your insecurity it's also been caused by how closed off I am. I can't expect you to understand something if I don't speak of it.

This is what I meant when I said I need to know that I can lean on you. I need to know that you will not abandon me again, physically or emotionally. I need you to believe in me--to believe in that love that has no form for you to see... I want to get better, and I need stable support to do that.

I love you, Souji. Nothing will change that. Even if you decide that all of this is too much I will understand. It isn't easy loving someone who doesn't love herself.

I hope we will talk in person again soon. I miss you.
~Tomoe

voice; un: dango.lover (immediately after the truth meme) // as super private as it can be

[embracethewind]

( again, that old wound of insecurity is hitting him once more. this time it wasn't tomoe's fault (or ever) but his own, although he needed to know more about what she could have seen in him if not for the ghost of her dead fiancé. )

You know I love you more than anything, with every passing day?

Voice

[willing_sheath]

Souji...?

[w-where is this coming from...?]

I know...

...

Are you alright...?

TRUTH MEME OVERFLOW

[willing_sheath]

[from here]

« « « TOMOE HIMURA

---

« Canon: Rurouni Kenshin « Designation: Submissive « Partnered: Contracted « Preferences: Here 1. I caused my husband to kill me while trying to save his life. 2. I am convinced Kenshin's soul has been reincarnated in someone here. 3. I don't think I define love in the same way others do. 4. I am angry that LIEs brought me back and I resent being told to appreciate a second chance when it is in this hell. 5. Text her.

1

[bright_moon]

[ How painfully familiar that sounds... ]

I am sorry.

audio: un; preserves

[aprettysight]

[the voice that comes over the line is small and hesitant]

...Tomoe? I. I reached out to someone who said he needed a contract. I explained it would have to be both of us and he...wasn't opposed?

audio: un; Himura.Tomoe

[willing_sheath]

The man on the network? I sent a message to him and he said he had already spoken with you.

[Also: she is still impressed that you did it!]

What did he say?

Shortly after Okita's return

[goldenglasses]

[As soon as Vash sees a certain post he immediately reaches out towards his new sister. Looking for her and speaking over their connection.]

Where are you? [Had she seen?]

[willing_sheath]

[ It's odd, having Vash's voice suddenly in her mind probably should have startled her more than it did. Instead she only inhales briefly in surprise before responding. ]

Just finishing up at work. [She can't help a note of concern over him contacting her like this rather than a simple text.] Is everything alright?

[Nope. She hasn't seen shit.]

audio: un; apparition

[unphase]

[Tinya's voice sounds uncharacteristically small and watery, as though she'd just finished a very long crying jag]

...Tomoe? Jo's gone.

[willing_sheath]

Oh... Oh Tinya... [Her own voice sounds immediately full with empathy, considering she had just gone through this--except that Tinya and Jo had been on good terms.] I'm so sorry...

I'm coming. Are you at home? [There isn't even any thought to it, she just goes straight to preparing to go out.]

audio: un; apparition

[unphase]

[the quaver in her voice should be familiar to Tomoe in the wake of Jo's leaving, but now things have gotten even worse. it's quavery and she sounds a little drunk, slurring her words a bit]

...Tomoe. Hunk's gone, too.

audio:

[willing_sheath]

[She is struck dumb for a moment, the familiar ache she'd felt at the news of so many others rising in her chest before her empathy for Tinya won out.]

No... Tinya... I'm so... so sorry... [Her voice is small and a little hollow.] I'll come to you--as soon as I can...

[First Clark. Then Jo. Then Azwel. Now Hunk. How many more would there be...?]

Christmas Day

[aprettysight]

[Tomoe will find a box of beautifully preserved red roses and a heart-shaped locket with a note from Constance, "Tomoe, I hope you enjoy the holiday season and that you like this. From, Constance.]

[willing_sheath]

[Tomoe finds the gift far more apt than Constance could know. Something beautiful... something dead. Something frozen in time... God but she was morbid--but she couldn't help it. The anniversary was coming up and it was the state of her mind. Nothing like the prior year... but still there.]

[She displays the arrangement on her night stand and includes a picture when she messages Constance.]

Thank you for the gifts, Constance-san. They are lovely.

Backdated to the Winter Solstice

[unphase]

[Tomoe will find a large box with a blue dress in that's just Tomoe's size exactly and a box of assorted macarons along with a note: Best wishes for the Winter Solstice! Love, Tinya."]

[willing_sheath]

Thank you for the dress, Tinya. It is beautiful.

christmas presentooo

[embracethewind]

[ if tomoe's not in brooding mode, she will get a medium-sized, simple neat box with a small iridescent tea set for whenever constance or anyone else goes to visit her. with a small note attached: 'for new, friendly beginnings! have a happy winter solstice. okita :D' ]

[willing_sheath]

[She is no where near where she was last year at this time. The time and surroundings were getting to her, but there were no flashbacks this year, at least not as bad as the previous year. She could feel the anxiety and general discomfort brought on by the weather and the anniversary approaching, but it was manageable.]

[She knew to expect gifts and deliveries this year--had sent out a few of her own--but she didn't expect many--so when one more package than expected arrived she was a little dubious. In the Down she would expect to have fewer because something had been stolen rather to have spares.]

[Her insides twist a little, seeing who it is from and immediately thinking of the last time she had received such a package from him. It takes her a while to open it. She feels a strange mix of emotions over the memories the gift brings back. It is not the torrid she so often felt, but a simple pull in multiple directions--enough that she couldn't identify what she was feeling, held almost static in the middle--until finally one pulled slightly stronger than the others.]

[Relief.]

[She does not contact him with her phone, instead returning her own note, written with the ink and brush set she had been graced with by Duplicity. Her writing is careful and neat and she has drawn a simple sakura blossom below her answering words.]

Thank you for the gift.

For new, friendly beginnings.

~Tomoe

Christmas Gift

[goldenglasses]

[This year Vash tried to find something to remind Tomoe of home again. He also may really love Tomoe's hair as he's gotten her something for her hair once again. This time a hair brush and once again listening to the sales person who helped him to pick it out. If she doesn't like the brush she may like the bottle of sake that comes with it. He remembers the style she had been so excited for when she found it that one time. It had taken so much effort, but in the end he found a bottle for her.

Of course the home baked sugar cookies are included with the gifts. He hopes that she enjoys them!]

Merry Christmas,

Thank you for being one of my best friends here. You are a wonderful soul and I hope you never forget that.

Vash

[willing_sheath]

[Tomoe is in much better spirits than she was the previous year, even with the anniversary approaching. She had weathered losses, but she had not dealt with several soul-crushing blows in the span of a week as she had last year. She is expecting gifts this time, and is paying close attention being back in the Down, expecting anything that appears of value to be stolen quickly. Inside her room she opens the package carefully and can't help her hesitating awe in seeing the comb--the familiar shape of it and the artwork etched and painted on it. All things considered the crane couldn't be more fitting given what she had become. The brothers were over 150 years old, after all. Without interference perhaps they would reach 1,000 just like the crane...]

[As meaningful as the comb is, she is utterly gob-smacked by the sake. She had only been searching for it going on two years, her results all being piss-poor imitations that taste more like warmed rice water than anything. Just a smell of the contents tells her that this is the real deal--maybe not the highest quality, but certainly something she would have at least found in Japan to begin with. Something that could actually be served chilled the way she liked it. She grabs her phone and sends him a message--a small part of her a little worried over exactly what he did to get it.]

Vash, where on earth did you find this???

Gift

[cygnetsignet]

[ On New Year's Eve, Tomoe will find a neatly wrapped bottle of wine accompanied by a card with a note inside. ]

Tomoe,

It appears that my concerns should have taken a different direction. I hope you are doing well. For reasons that I don't understand, my own circumstances have changed, leaving me a Dominant now.

If there is anything I can do to aid you from that position, you need only ask.

All the best,
Diane, the Duchess Tremontaine

[willing_sheath]

[Tomoe is probably lucky that the bottle wasn't stolen considering the crime rate in the Down and the simple fact that she hadn't been expecting any more packages. It's good timing. There was little she wanted more than getting shit faced on this particular day. It was too bad the change in her metabolism probably wasn't going to let that happen.]

[She reads the note over several times. A designation change... like Link the previous year... Had she put her request in a sock as well? She couldn't help but laugh at that notion. She sends the other woman a text message.]

Thank you for the wine, Diane-san.

As for your designation change, I have no insight either, but I do know it has happened before. I am glad for you and I appreciate the offer. I may call on you at some point.

[And that brings the total current number of Dominants she knows to six... Still, she knew none of them well enough to wish to contract with them... and desperation wasn't driving her to rush into something as it had before with Constance.]

[willing_sheath]

[from here]

Ah... [That hope was short lived... She lowers her eyes again.] ... what of new injuries...?

[arkfall]

Those would likely scar as well...

Why? Has Vash been injured recently?

delivery~

[embracethewind]

[ sob. it's true. he has started to care for her as something more than a dominant would. she's reaching that level in his heart in how he feels for constance, almost impossible to deny with every passing day. he's promised to constance, and he doesn't want to see tomoe as a sort of mistress of any kind. if only... both could be with him without his fiancée feeling unworthy or that she's expecting him to betray her or his platonic love to be seen as another option or as a replacement. they are equal in his heart, how to let them know?

well, this is how: a kimono he has been wanting tomoe to be admired with. in an elongated, big, white packaged box with a paper bag that comes from a bakery in the up. again, that messy handwriting in a small card. ]

I bet you would look much more beautiful with this on. Oh! And some sweet company too!

Okita~ (〃＾▽＾〃)

[willing_sheath]

[She can't help but feel a little dubious when the box comes--especially considering Christmas was nearly a month ago now, and it was fairly rare that random boxes in Duplicity could be trusted...]

[Still, she takes the box and the bag into the apartment and sits on her bed to examine it and the bag, finding the note before she's opened anything. She feels a simultaneous wave of relief and anxiety seeing who it is from. Oh dear god, there had better not be lingerie in that box...]

[After glancing at the cupcakes she opens the box--before nearly dropping it at the sight of what was inside. She gasped, setting her fingers over her mouth in shock before lifting the obi from the box and then running her hand over the kimono beneath it... The colors and design were almost identical to the kimono she had always worn... How did he know...?]


It's beautiful, Okita-san. Wherever did you find it?


[If kimono had been available they had not been anywhere she had access to. She had considered making her own, but by then she had become accustomed to the western clothes she had accumulated.]