Celebration

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

Most don't know the significance of the day - and of the few that do, fewer still see it as cause for celebration.

Shiva Wusan's birthday.

Richard Dragon's a little different than most people in that regard. There's an ornately carved wooden case tucked under his arm as he knocks on the door of the apartment that she sometimes occupies.

Comments

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

"I haven't had time to study it thoroughly.." but he's committed it to memory, of course, so he can do that later.

"The sect who developed the strike ceased to exist almost two hundred years ago. Thoughtfully, they preserved a few pieces of their knowledge for others."

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

Shiva spends time, minutes, looking at the scroll in silence.

Delicately, she rolls it back up and tucks it away.

"Thank you."

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

As hard to read as ever. "I also bought you a pony."

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

The corners of her eyes crinkle up a bit at that.

"Did you? I shall have to find a place to keep it."

The one day a year she allows herself the luxury of feeling and she cannot allow herself to be truly unguarded. Not around this man.

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

"Don't worry, it's small." He sets an origami horse on the counter.

"So what're your plans for the day?"

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

Carefully, the origami horse is picked up and inspected. The emotions are kept inside but the ripples are noticable even still.

"I was going to have a pot of tea to start."

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like a good idea. May I join you?"

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"It would be difficult to deny you such a request."

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes you enjoy your solitude. Though not usually on your birthday, as I recall."

Dragon moves towards the kitchen, intending to prepare the tea if it hasn't been brewed already.

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"No. Not normally."

She is not a woman taken to melancholy or nostalgia very often but there are some good memories worth visiting. The tea has not been prepared yet, though the water is heating.

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

"Already in progress, I see. Well, we'll let that finish heating up.."

He takes a seat on the counter-top, looking thoughtful for a moment. "So what kind of progress are you making with Canary?"

Hopefully, he can clear up once and for all that he has no intention of stealing a student..

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

Shiva looks toward him and then begins the process of arranging cups and settings - pulling things out of cabinets carefully and almost overly precise.

"She will not allow herself to officialy be my student." There is a pause, the soft clink of cermaic against ceramic. "Still, she soaks in all of the knowledge I offer."

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

"That's the most important part, isn't it? Making sure the knowledge isn't lost. Whether or not she labels herself as your student isn't a concern."

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"Yes."

A pause. "Though she will not be my student she thinks of me as a teacher."

Another pause, longer. One of the ones that would become silence if allowed.

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

And that just doesn't happen very often around Richard Dragon.

"She recognizes your skills, but questions your ethics. You can't be surprised that she maintains some distance."

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"No."

Shiva is not surprised by it. She does, however, wonder at it from time to time. Morality has never truly held her. Honor is something else which she has a lot of, even if it is not so easily codified.

"I place no requirements on how the knowledge is used."

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

"Her concerns are probably twofold. One, she's concerned that if she learns a deadly maneuver from you, she will be tempted to use it as an easy out when less lethal techniques would do."

"Secondly, some part of her likely wonders if you're grooming her to be a challenger, rather than an inheritor. There's a lack of trust."

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

There is nothing but silence from Shiva, though she does turn to look at him.

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

"She doesn't understand your ethics, fully. You've got a bushido-like code of honor. To her, lying is a much smaller offense than killing. For you, it's the reverse."

He shrugs. "She's smart enough to grasp it, but she hasn't known you long enough to fully believe it. I think it will improve with time."

His tone is a comforting one.

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

The tone would usually rankle but today she's different. Today she....

Today is different. All of the usually well contained emotion is closer to the surface and the still water runs very, very deep.

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, even Lady Shiva needs a hug. Maybe.

In any case, he's off the counter quickly, moving to hold the world's deadliest assassin.

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

Before she submits herself to the embrace there is a look to him that is very familiar. It is that 'this didn't happen' look. It was, when they were both younger a look more likely to be accompanied with laughter or at least amusement.

There are very few times she allows herself to even acknowledge how much some things in her life feel jagged and broken, full of sharp edges like a bag of broken glass. Most of the time when she does, she realizes that she prefers it that way - keeping her focused and nimble. Certainly there is no regret in the choices made to bring her to where she is. From time to time, however, the pain of choices made makes itself known.

Especially when Dragon is in the room.

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

Nobody likes to be backed into a corner, even if it is the natural result of their choices. Some individuals can do nothing but chafe at the perceived entrapment.

"Would you change anything if you could?"

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

The silence is not a long one but a difficult one.

"Perhaps."

[uncommon-sensei.livejournal.com]

"It's not too late to try and change direction, you know. You'd have any help I could offer - and you don't have to answer now, just consider it."

When the river sweeps you downstream, sometimes its best to climb onto dry land.