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[HE CAN and somehow that makes it even worse... Because now he knows. Now he knows what she wants to say isn't polite!!

Though honestly, that's not far from what he's expecting to hear. All of the swords pretty much get that at some point... The whole "ARE YOU FIVE OR FIVE HUNDRED" talk. They're a bunch of dumb babies in the end, it's a tragedy.]

What, like some bearded old guy sitting up on a mountain? [Truly, a wise old sage.] Not even our oldest sword is like that! He's over a thousand but you'd never be able to tell by looking at him or talking to him.

[And that manages to alarm her --]

O-Over a thousand....?!

[How does that even happen?! She clutches the clothes a little tighter to her - and will she ever get around to changing into them - as she is far more distracted by this line of questioning.]

But you all would've managed to see so much! Such history....!

[GOSH, LILI!! He's itching to jump into training but she's more interested in the daily conversational state of quasi-immortals...!

Which, you know, fair. And he knows to expect it, even though she's actually the first person to phrase it like that. One hand flits through the air with a flick of his wrist, but the gesture isn't hostile so much as simply dismissive.]

Yep! But that doesn't mean we're just gonna sit around talking about this or that from hundreds and hundreds of years ago.

[It's because they've seen so much that they are the way they are - or so he figures, anyway. Dwelling on the cyclical nature of humanity and civilization will give anyone grey hair.]

But -- why not?

[That might perplex her even more. She narrows her eyes vaguely at that -- not in a hostile way, but almost rather frustrated at the thought that people who are so old don't sit around and talk about humanity? Are they not interested because they're not human...?!]

Wars could be prevented if you could come up with ideas you know -- people would listen to you! You could have so much sway....!

[Does Lili really want to open this can of worms... this can of Weird Sword Issues worms... SHE ALREADY HAS SO IT'S TOO LATE, but hopefully she won't look back on this moment someday and be like dammit.]

Well, I mean— we don't really have the chance to talk to people outside of the citadel, you know? We weren't called back here to do that sort of thing. [More or less... They were called to fight a war, but he understands it's different than the notion Lili's trying to get across. BUT, equally important--]

And even if we could go into the cities or whatever, we're still swords. Other people wield us and tell us where to go and what to do. It'd be weird for one of us to guide humans instead.

[ . . . . . in all honesty:]

It's hard to imagine you just following orders....

[Though she just shakes her head after that, stubborn as she is. She doesn't understand what this 'citadel' is or what they were called back for... but she has a point to make! So she'll try to make that point first before she asks those questions.]

I think that you should be listened to! I didn't think of it but.... if you all have spirits and souls and opinions - isn't it important to heed what you would think? You're important as you are!

[Lili An: only saying nice things when she doesn't notice that she is....]

[That's quite a skill to have... But what was with that punkass first comment, GEEZ.]

Hey! I'm a good sword! I follow orders perfectly.

[In... in some situations... In others he sure the heck doesn't, but he apparently counts that as something separate or he doesn't actually notice the discrepancy here. It's hard to tell which it is...]

Mm- [But this is all stumbling into the Tricky Situations field that Kashuu tries to ignore most days, since it just gives him a headache trying to puzzle it out. Instead:] -You sound like Haruji. I guess there are a few things we can contribute! But it's kinda like, most of that stuff should probably be left up to humans anyway, right?

But you're partly human too, right? Following orders all the time when you have a body of your own just sounds foolish when you obviously have a personality and judgment of your own....

[LISTEN.... LILI'S AS REBELLIOUS AS THEY GET.

Sorry about bringing up your Tricky Situation though, Kashuu. Lili has a tendency to simplify things... and in this case, she's doing so without even noticing.]

Maybe most things.... but sometimes humans make poor mistakes too. People will think that they're too wise and refuse to realize that things are getting bad... [Her own father comes to mind and that gives her pause for a moment, before she goes on.] But if they had advisors that have seen all the times that things have spiraled out of control.... wouldn't that be better for everyone?

It could save so many people...!

[2REBELLIOUS, HONESTLY. His nose wrinkles a little because even though he's heard this more times than he ever thought he would by now, it's still pretty impossible for him to wrap his mind around.]

I dunno. That's never happened before, so I dunno if it'd be any better or worse. ...Anyway- [HOLDING UP SOME FINGERS AS HE GOES.] -First, most people where I come from don't believe in spirits or things like that, so they'd prooobably just think we're crazy. Second, it's not like we'd be telling them stuff they can't see in history books. Like, it'd be a first-hand account, but remember that it'd just be a first-hand account from the only experiences we had before we had our human bodies. What kind of thing d'you think a sword will be able to bring to the table?

And like I said, we don't leave the citadel. There's a bigger war we're fighting, so... [So Lili's not wrong, exactly, but she's not right either. HE'S GOT MORE REASONS, HE COULD GO ON.]

[ . . . hm. She still shakes her head at that.]

You've gotten people here to believe you, right? And even things that should be of legend... if you speak to the right people, the ones who matter, then you'll be able to succeed! [Just like Yona and her dragons, she thinks. They're fearsome warriors, after all.] I'm still sure that you could bring plenty.... More voices should be a part of decision-making anyway, especially in things as momentous as wars and violence.

[But . . . she sighs a little bit at the end, her wind apparently leaving her sails.]

.... That's a shame, though. You could do so much....

[More than even she could ever dream of doing.]

[He looks a little discomforted now, if only because this makes him feel like he's not being as good a sword as he could be, somehow. He knows he's doing a lot - and he still feels like his sole purpose is to follow the primary orders he's given, that much hasn't changed even if it's something he's starting to question bit by tiny bit... But still.

If he could do more, he would. He's fairly certain of that much.]

...Sorry. [But he isn't doing more, so he feels like he needs to apologize for that for some reason. Maybe it's the levity that this topic holds when it's in Lili's hands? The way she's talking certainly makes it seem like she has more than a passing interest in what people can do to help each other out.

Still, "sorry" seems flimsy and he's not sure where else to go from there so BACK TO HIS FAVORITE THING, dodging uncomfortable shit.]

You should probably go get changed while the dressing room's empty.

[The apology startles her -- and it shows. At first she moves immediately to do what he says then, because he probably doesn't like talking about this then....

But she pauses first before turning back to him and saying first:]

You don't have to be sorry.... That's not what I meant to imply. [An awkward, uncomfortable fidget as she tries to find her words....] .... You're already doing so much. I just -- [she gets ahead of herself, like her father always said. somehow never manages to say the right thing]

..... Please don't think that I don't appreciate -- [you for who you are] -- what you're already doing.

[That's all!! And she turns then and runs into the dressing room, okay okay. TIME FOR HER TO DODGE HER UNCOMFORTABLE TOPICS NOW TOO aka trying to find nice words and still falling short of what she actually means.

Embarrassing.]

[Embarrassing.

But you know, Kashuu is very easily moved by displays of genuine feeling, and that's exactly what he can sense from Lili. That's what he's picked up from the very start, honestly, even when she stumbles around her words or intentionally says things that put something of a gap between herself and him when they talk. It's that sincerity that earns her a brief smile before she darts away to hide...]

Thanks. You really are nice, aren't you? [Kashuu: calling tsuns out until the very end.]

Anyway! You can appreciate me after you're so sick of this dojo that you never wanna come back.

[Why. Well, he did say she'd better be prepared to give it her all...]

[ . . . . HE'S THE WORST.

Even from the dressing room she just snaps back --]

Who said anything about appreciating you?! Don't be so arrogant! You think too highly of yourself!!

[ . . . no, that's exactly what she was saying. And before she changes she's just going to stand there for a second and reflect that she's glad that he was able to understand. Even if she goes against her own words right now (why does she do that?!) she really is glad that he knows that she.... does appreciate him.

But then it's time to figure out how to change into these clothes.... Please hold....

She's going to take a while because she can't figure out the ties.

?????

Some minor grumbling-]

... This shouldn't be that hard.

Geez, don't take your words back so fast. You said so!

[Kind of. The words were all there, anyway; Kashuu just had to rearrange them so they weren't just a chorus of tsuntsun...

That said, he'll just be waiting outside as she finishes! ...Any minute now. Aaany minute now... ...

...]

Hey, you didn't get lost in there or something, did you?

[It doesn't yet occur to him that he just shoved her into a room with some foreign clothing and was like "GOOD LUCK".]

[SHE DIDN'T SAY SO.

. . . . . and she's still fussing with the clothes. She figured out the yukata okay enough - though that's rather incorrectly tied. The hakama are up but... everything is a little lopsided and even she knows that there's no way that she can walk out like this.]

-- It's not my fault that there are so many different ties on these...!!

[IMMEDIATELY ON THE DEFENSIVE.]

[He'll remember it... Lili's hidden kind words......

But oh-- right. He actually struggled a little putting a hakama on for the first time too?! But he still forgot. Good work, Kashuu.]

Eh... Have you figured it out yet?

[Considering she's still in there, he's guessing that's probably gonna be a "nope".]

[It's a pretty intense "nope".

There's also a noise of aggravation coming from the dressing room. #ladylike]

Shut up, just shut up!

[Well now she's grouchy.]

[When is she not grouchy though, honestly. Anyway, after SIGHING GREATLY, he'll attempt to be helpful:]

D'you need help or something? You've been in there for a thousand years.

[He's not getting any younger out here, Lili!!]

[WHAT.

She might protest even more to that. Yes she desperately needs help but--]

What kind of offer is that?! You're still a boy, you know!!

[A sword boy and she's not sure if you qualify for a Man or anything but THAT'S STILL TOO EMBARRASSING TO EVEN CONTEMPLATE.]

Does it really make a difference?

[YES IT DOES, KASHUU. He knows that well enough to stay out of the girl's side of the bath in spas, but apparently that logic doesn't apply inside the dojo...]

Hurry up and get out here if you're not gonna need any help, then!

Of course it does!!

[But here she is, stuck between a rock and hard place. She knows that even though she's all covered, she looks like an idiot because the ties on the hakama are most certainly incorrect. The weighing her hands in between asking Kashuu for help and then her pride being entirely tarnished.....

It probably takes another couple minutes, honestly.

Except she just huffs out.]

.... Just instruct me once and then never again!! And don't breathe a word of this to anyone!

[sweet precious tsun]

[Ah, the sound of Lili's tsun is going to become familiar so quickly...

To his credit, he waits patiently the entire time she's having her small crisis in there (or at least quietly - "patient" is probably being too generous). When she finally does say something, there's an audible sigh from this punk.]

Pro-mise! If you're super embarrassed or whatever, I can just show you how I do it and you can try again after you watch. Does that sound better?

[ . . . . and Lili just grumbles. She hates this. She hates the fact that she's not even sure how these clothes work -- she really should be better about learning how to take care of herself, she thinks.

So she just huffs once more.]

Fine.

[That's... as close to a willing agreement as we're going to get, folks.]

[Close enough for Kashuu...]

O-kay! Open the door if you're covered. [As he undoes the ties on his own hakama, GOD. At least he's had a year of daily practice so he can zip in and out of the ties at light speeds now and doesn't have to worry about anything unseemly showing because he always chooses to wear a long yukata. Of course he does. It makes him feel more elegant as he's... tilling the fields and grooming horses...]

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