James A. Garfield cabin roof; Tuesday night (05.12)

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

Kenshin had had an interesting day. Interesting enough that the relative quiet and darkness of the rooftop was a relief. He sat with his back to the light of the campfires, and stared out into the night, emptying his mind, so that hopefully he could sleep. He wasn't worried about anyone sneaking up behind him; he would hear them before they got close enough to be a threat.

How long his solitude would remain solitude...

Well.

((Open post is open. :D?))

Comments

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

"'Interesting' makes it hard to sleep," he said wryly. "And I was kind of meditating." But only kind of; it was hard to relax enough to even think of being able to actually meditate in this place.

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri laughed, but with little humor in the sound. "I definitely know that feeling. Mind some company for a little while? I'm getting a cramp in my neck from here."

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

"Come up if you want."

Translation: He didn't really mind.

[weetuskenraider]

A quick Force-assisted leap had Tahiri hanging on to the edge of the roof, and she swung herself up to the top easily, then perched on the edge. "So, hi, by the way. You were in Professor Atreides's class on Monday, right?"

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

"I was. You too," he observed. "...Desert, right? Ano... Tahiri?" That part of her name he could pronounce without any difficulty.

[weetuskenraider]

"Tahiri Veila, that's me," she confirmed with a slight smile. "And you're . . . Himura Kenshin? I think you said you like cities? I hope I didn't mangle that too badly."

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

He gave a slight nod in return.

"Yes. No, you did all right."

[weetuskenraider]

"Okay, good," she said, clearly relieved. "How's the island treating you so far?"

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

"All right," he admitted grudgingly. "But it's... very, very different."

Read: Confusing and annoying.

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri pulled her knees up to her chest, rested her arms on them, and propped her chin on her arms as she looked at him. "That doesn't sound like the exciting kind of different. That sounds more like the 'having trouble adjusting' kind."

She was a little nosy sometimes.

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

He scowled, staring off into the night. Normally, he would think there was no way she could understand. But hadn't she said she was a Jedi, like Ben? And she had managed that jump...

"They won't let me carry my sword," he muttered.

[weetuskenraider]

"Oh, yeah, that," Tahiri said with a knowing nod. "I got twitchy for weeks over that when I first got here. It's a hassle having to go down to the weapons locker every time I need my lightsaber, and I'm really not helping much, am I?"

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

"Not really. But at least I'm not the only one."

He felt naked without his sword.

[weetuskenraider]

"Have you seen the number of things in the weapons locker?" Tahiri offered, trying for a joke. "Trust me, you're definitely not the only one."

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

A thought occurred to him.

"Is it only children, or all students who are restricted from weapons?" he asked.

He was, after all, still a month away from coming-of-age.

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri looked a bit apologetic. "All students. So at least it's sort of fair?"

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

His scowl deepened.

"It's not fair to withhold weapons from those responsible enough to use them properly."

[weetuskenraider]

"Well, no," Tahiri had to concede. "But . . . look, how many people have you gotten a chance to meet around here so far?"

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

"Only a few," he admitted.

[weetuskenraider]

She nodded. "You probably got the 'people come from all over' speech from your big sibling, and around here that's really, really true." She was building up momentum now, and from the rapid flow of her speech it might be pretty easy to see how she used to have a reputation for being a nonstop chatterbox. "When they say all over, they really mean all over. It's sort of like that in my galaxy, with all the different cultures that butt heads, only here there's multiple universes and different versions of the same universe on top of that. And not everybody can agree on how to define 'responsible,' or when it is or isn't an appropriate time to get into a fight."

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

"But there are some people who fight best without any weapons at all," he pointed out. "And those who cannot fight without weapons are at a disadvantage, in this situation. In what way is that fair?" He paused a moment. "And they're also implying that we cannot abide by a code of honourable conduct."

[weetuskenraider]

"It's not that," Tahiri said, grimacing slightly; Riina agreed with his assessment, and she was trying to stifle the grumbling going on in her head. "It's a matter of too many people interpreting that code in too many different ways, if that makes sense. And there's plenty of hotheaded idiots around here who have no business touching weapons but would if they could get their hands on them. Don't get me wrong, I don't like it either. I can just understand why they made the rule."

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

"Just because it is a rule, doesn't make it right."

His eyes were cold, hard, yellow-gold that glinted stubbornly as he looked at her.

[weetuskenraider]

"No," Tahiri answered levelly, meeting his gaze. "That doesn't necessarily make it right."

Didn't necessarily make it wrong, either, but . . .

[saikyou-no.livejournal.com]

"Who can I take my... disagreement to?" he asked quietly, looking away.