If you need to fall apart, I can mend a broken heart.

[amberdrake]

Who: Amberdrake and Sanzo
What: Hanging out on the roof at night with good tea and good company.
Where: The old dojo in Howl Barrow
When: Night-time, present-day.
Notes: --
Warnings: Vague discussion of past rape.

It's been a long and somewhat wearying day for Baedal's one and only kestra'chern. He's done with his final client of the day long after sunset, and has cleaned up and then...

Well, he's climbed up onto the roof of the dojo. With a pot of tea, and two cups, and a small box, and a blanket, which he wraps himself up in before sitting down and putting the tea things together.

Then, Amberdrake sits back and watches the sky for a while, letting the stars and the strange three moons make his mind drift. It's rather peaceful.

Comments

[sanzo]

"Yeah. I don't like it when those baldheaded assholes expect me to just regurgitate a few prayers and blessings and then leave, either."

Sanzo understands that, even if Amberdrake's traditional role is not exactly holy, it is in some way sacred. And he can't stand it when hypocrites try to turn such things into something cheap.

He isn't necessarily a devout or a religious man, but some things, just like gifts, are special.

[amberdrake]

"Ah," Drake's response is perhaps unexpected, but heartfelt all the same, "I adore you so, Genjo. You understand."

It's a little amused... but true, too.

"It isn't like it's easy work, of course. I had someone crying in my lap for three hours today while I tried to piece them back together," which was why he had run so late, tonight, "but it's what I'm good at. It's what I was trained for."

And even if he took quite the battering from his clients on a daily basis, Empathically and mentally, at least he was secure in the knowledge that he was doing his job. His real job.

[sanzo]

"...If it were an easy job, then you wouldn't want it. It wouldn't suit you."

Sanzo understands professional pride, even if he considers himself unworthy of his own vocation-- but compared to most people, even he knows he's a better fit.

"...You know, I don't usually take confessions," not that that's stopped people from confiding in him anyway, "But if you need to..."

[amberdrake]

"You don't know the half of it," Drake remarks with dry amusement, and then eyes the monk sidelong. "What, about my clients? You know I can't do that."

If Sanzo means about his own awful shit, he's pretty sure (from previous experience) that the priest will end up knowing about most of it anyway. Two Empaths makes it likely, a lifebond makes it unavoidable, and both...

[sanzo]

Sanzo's reply is just a shrug. He's not going to insist that they all talk about their feels; he's made the offer, and Drake can accept or refuse.

[amberdrake]

"If there's something you want to know, you can just ask me," Amberdrake points out gently, "you're the only person I know who doesn't treat me like I'm a kestra'chern or a leader first and anything else second... including on my own world, my daughter aside."

His expression goes a little flat at that, and he looks at his tea, "And we both know how that relationship is going to end up."