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Post by Sophie on May 19, 2022 21:49:40 GMT -5
Atsuko enjoyed the delightful shift in Apollo's eyes. She knew very little of festrian biology so to see such an amazing shift firsthand fascinated her. "I'm happy that's the way you feel." She couldn't help but giggle like a schoolgirl with how she was feeling. "I'd still like to at least let Dr. Takemi know about you. Get you an appointment time for the future. That way it won't linger in the back of my mind." She spoke a bit awkwardly and lightly squeezed Apollo's hand.
"Maybe I can take you sightseeing after the doctor then? There's a beautiful shrine not far from where I live." She thought of the Kumano shrine. Though it was a few hours' hike from her home, it held several fond memories from her past. Its beauty was completely unrivaled in her mind and was definitely something she wanted to share with someone special.
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Post by VoxApocrypha on May 19, 2022 22:00:49 GMT -5
"I'm fine with just going to the doctor tomorrow if that's doable, after we shop and get some proper sleep. Perhaps even if I can, a bath. Otherwise I'll smell like salted strawberry forever."
H
"I'd love to go to the shrine after the clinic if you want to do that. Sounds like a nice way to spend some time with you and get acquanted with the landscape."
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Post by Sophie on May 19, 2022 22:17:07 GMT -5
"It's a date then." She stuttered out reasonably awkwardly. "I don't have a bath, but there's a public bath in town I can take you to." She responded innocuously before coming to a realization. "Wait, that sweet strawberry smell is you?"
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Post by VoxApocrypha on May 19, 2022 22:22:53 GMT -5
"It's a date." He'd say with a smile, leaning in and then lifting his hand from hers. He'd give her a brief but tight one-armed hug, and then loosen up on it as he'd nod. "Yeah, it's me. My kind emit it innately. Only stops during rut season." He'd say. "If I had a suppressant I could make it unnoticeable but I lost them all when I ended up floating in the ocean."
He'd not make a comment about the public bath - he'd been on warships for a long time, so sharing a shower was a relatively normal thing to him. Admittedly though, it'd been with mostly men.
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Post by Sophie on May 19, 2022 22:37:22 GMT -5
As Apollo hugged her, she leaned into him, angling her body very awkwardly to place her head on his shoulder. Despite the blush and anxiousness she felt from the phrase 'rut season,' she smiled and stated, "I like how you smell. For some reason, it makes me feel like home." She let herself enjoy being so close to another living being for a few moments before lifting her head back up.
She sighed softly, "Though if we want to get back to shore in one piece, I should probably get back to work." Pulling herself back up onto all eight legs, she offered a hand to Apollo. "Care to help me?"
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Post by VoxApocrypha on May 19, 2022 22:43:23 GMT -5
As she'd pull herself up and offer him her hand to help him up, he'd nod his head and take her hand. Once he was on his feet, he'd stretch, and while he might have been briefly disappointed by the end of such a moment he made it difficult to notice, and the soft glow to his eyes remained unchanged. "Of course. What would you have me do?"
He hadn't figured he'd suddenly feel such a level of.. adoration, for someone, but he had. He would happily lend her his aid.
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Post by Sophie on May 19, 2022 23:46:39 GMT -5
Though Atsuko didn't notice his disappointment, she certainly shared the feeling. Despite wishing that moment could last forever, she knew this rust bucket couldn't continue at full speed without relatively constant maintenance. She took Apollo across the vessel, showing him the various inner workings and how they could quickly repair them. It quickly became clear that the ship was almost entirely held together by her webbing. After about a dozen hours of periods of hard labor, rest, and education, Atsuko felt more and more attached to the man she had only just met. And even more so, she felt his adoration in her; it filled her heart with joy and energy.
Atsuko could see the failed night's rest as well as being lost at sea, weighing fatigue on him. Apollo did his best to hide it and protest against resting, but Atsuko eventually forced him into bed. She sat with him for a while at softly patted his head until she knew he was asleep. At this point, Atsuko had been up for almost thirty hours, but she was ready to power through the rest of the few long hours ahead to get Apollo to shore.
All eight of Atsuko's eyelids weighed heavily on her but the sight of shore invigorated her to continue the work. The engine's roar turned into a hum as she changed the speed of the vessel to ahead slow to follow the 'No wake' rule of the small harbor. Her small morse code radio began transmitting, asking who was approaching the dock. Atsuko responded identifying herself and her vessel. She was assigned a dock space and she slowly trawled into it.
As soon as she dropped anchor and tied her boat to the shore she climbed back below deck and lightly shook Apollo. "Hey," she was struggling to keep her own eyes open but her heart filled with energy and excitement at the prospect of spending time with her crush.
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Post by VoxApocrypha on May 20, 2022 1:14:59 GMT -5
Apollo had gone to bed, but not because he had wanted to - he hated to sleep. He never wanted to sleep anymore with what waited to greet him in that deep void. But yet he was so tired that when he would be made to fall into a sleep by the gentle attentions of his crush. When he fell into the void, he wasn't greeted by the murky void and its baleful colors flashing at him through the smoky shadows.. only a restful, but dreamless sleep.
He remained deep in his slumber for the next few hours, his body laying on the bed and shuffling a little as his body adjusted itself to try to radiate away some of the excess heat his body was generating. When he would open his eyes again, it'd be to the gentle shaking.. his eyes snapping his eyes open and looking around before his eyes settled on the hand, and then on her. His expression softened and his eyelids drooped a little as he looked up at her.
"Y-Yeah..?" They'd ask, still tired but not able to pass back out again - already going upright.
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Post by Sophie on May 20, 2022 1:21:35 GMT -5
Her heart fluttered at his words and she couldn't help but smile at the cute curled-up Festrian before her. "We've made it to shore." Her voice was light and calming, yet obviously tired. "Come on and get up, after I deal with the dockworkers you and I can go and get something to eat." She cooed lightly brushing the disheveled hair on his head.
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Post by VoxApocrypha on May 20, 2022 1:23:51 GMT -5
Apollo nods his head and then slowly, he would push himself to his feet, and stretch as he stood up, grabbing a pipe above his head but not pulling as he let out a long yawn. His tail would reach out, stretching with his legs and arms before he'd finally settle and sigh.
"Alright, I'm ready." He'd say.
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Post by Sophie on May 20, 2022 2:12:45 GMT -5
Atsuko couldn't help but giggle at Apollo's 'morning routine.' "I think we may want to stop by Yamaoka's tailoring too. If you wear those clothes for another day they're going to dissolve off your body." She teased and turned around to head for the exit. Once Apollo was on the deck he could see almost the entirety of Utoro. It was a small town as advertised. There were only enough docks for four ships of Atsuko's size and only one unloading dock. The unimpressive crane overhead was already attached to the net of fish in the trawler's cargo.
"Welcome to Utoro!" She spoke with genuine pride as she turned around and smiled at Apollo. As he looked around he'd only see a few dozen buildings, most of which were clearly homes. They were all made of wood and most followed a red and silver theme. Just off the docks was the town's square and it was bustling with activity. It was about noon so several Kumo were taking advantage of the cool winter weather and were enjoying time outside with their friends and family. Several kids were running about playing with brand new toys they had bought at a dagashi shop. Their parents weren't far behind calling out for them to be careful. Fathers were chatting together about nothing in particular while mothers debated what to make for dinner.
Atsuko turned back around and smiled at the town she had grown to love so much. The bridge that linked the boat to the dock was fairly steep and so she held Apollo's hand on the way down. Once on the rather aged wooden dock, a male Kumo greeted them both. "Welcome home, Atsuko! And uh, who's this?"
"Thank you Ishida-kan. This is my new friend Apollo. I found him lost at sea so I made way for home a little early." She explained.
"A little early? Didn't you only leave a week ago? You're usually gone at least a month." Ishida responded.
"Getting him back to shore kinda became my top priority. I want Takemi-kan to take a look at him, make sure nothing's seriously wrong with him. Is she in town? Or is she up in the clinic today?" Atsuko posed the question with a bit more severity than she intended.
The dockworker took a moment to think before answering. "I think she's in town. I saw her son running by the docks earlier today."
As he finished talking, another dockworker approached the trio. "Good afternoon Atsuko! Is that all snapper you've got in there?" Atsuko nodded a quick yes in return. "Wow, someone got lucky. Alright well, they're weighing in at about two and a half tons. So your cut will be one-hundred thousand Yairen."
Atsuko's reaction was visceral, she knew she'd take a hit delivering straight to home but not that big of a hit. "One-hundred? Sada-kan surely you're joking. My cut would be double that in Komorro. And that's just a few days' sail north of here."
"Yeah but you know as well as I do that Komorro is better equipped to handle this much snapper in one day. I've got to pay our truck drivers overtime to get all this on the train before nightfall." Sada answered somewhat waving her off.
"One-hundred fifty or I'm hopping back on that boat and going to Komorro." Atsuko pouted, even though she considered herself to be one of the more open-minded and accepting Kumo, she felt a primal ire at a man treating her with this much dismissiveness.
Sada sighed "I can do one-twenty."
"One-thirty."
The dockworker desperately tried to hold back from rolling his eyes, "Fine, but you owe me one of those paintings I've seen you drawin' of the dock."
Atsuko smiled happily and reached out her hand to shake his hand. "Deal."
Sada pulled out a wad of bills and handed thirteen of them to Atsuko. "Thank you, Sada-kan. See ya around town." She smiled and waved him off as she put the money into her satchel. She took Apollo's hand and began walking off towards town. "Sorry about that, but now you know how to deal with Sada-kan. He's a bit stubborn but he'll give you a fair price if you know how to ask for it."
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Post by VoxApocrypha on May 20, 2022 2:28:18 GMT -5
He would chuckle. "If the moth's don't get to them first."
Apollo would give her a quiet 'Thank you' as she helped him down the steep ramp off of the ship, finally stepping onto the wood of the stock. He'd seem to be visibly releaved to be off of the boat, and close to real land again. He had as well spotted just how different his new surroundings were though, and he was examining them from his spot on the dock, next to Atsuko. He listened to the conversation on and off, but he would have his attention consistently taken away until he heard the noticeable shift in her tone, causing him to immediately refocus on her, and then on Sada.
The conversation was kept up with until the end, and he would blink as she took his hand and began to walk, the Festria coming along with her and falling into something resembling 'step' with the Kumo.
"I'll keep that in mind if I have to go out and do some fishing." He'd reply. "Where to first?" He'd ask her.
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Post by Sophie on May 20, 2022 2:48:13 GMT -5
Atsuko quickly realized that her average walking pace was much too fast for a Festrian to keep up. She slowed down her pace to be more reasonable for him and squeezed his hand softly. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Would you like to join me for lunch?"
She offered before being interrupted, "Atsuko! You're back!" A very young brown widow Kumo ran up and hugged Atsuko's legs
"Koda! It's so good to see you!" She softly patted the head of the child with a very bright smile on her face.
"Sona-sen!" A much more mature voice boomed from an older brown widow Kumo. "I am so sorry, Atsuko-kensi. Sona. That's not how you greet your teacher."
The young child let go of Atsuko and was very embarrassed. She backed up and bowed way too deeply. "Good afternoon Atsuko-kensi. I em happy to see you."
Atsuko returned the bow to both of them and shook her head. "It's completely fine, don't worry about it. I'm delighted to see you too. I see you've been working on your common lessons."
"Uh-huh! I wanted to take a break cuz school's out, but mom made me do all my workbooks." She pouted, looking up at her mother.
"Then it sounds like you have a very good mother." Atsuko winked at her mom and smiled. "I'll see you at school soon, okay? Enjoy the rest of your time off with your mom."
"Kaaaaay!" The young one belted out and began running off
"Oh, spirits. What am I going to do with her?" The mother shook her head and called after her daughter as she ran off.
"I'm sorry about that. Like I was saying, would you like to join me for lunch? Hayakawa-kama makes an amazing curry." She smiled, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.
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Post by VoxApocrypha on May 20, 2022 2:53:13 GMT -5
Apollo wouldn't be able to keep up despite his size giving him a naturally rather large stride compared to the average human or Karrashi - whom he'd normally be able to run circles around. He'd thank her softly as she slowed down, though before he'd be able to respond, Koda had come up to Atsuko and the Festria would wait, simply observing the interaction. He mentally pondered when the last time he had even seen so many Kumo was and released it'd been at the world culinary fair a decade ago, if that was correct anyway - he hadn't been keeping good track of time.
He smiled as the child ran off, chuckling softly before then his attention is drawn back to his crush, or rather really at that point, date he figured.
"I'd like that, yes. Haven't had curry before. Is it good?" He'd ask as they began to walk again, smiling up at her.
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Post by Sophie on May 20, 2022 3:01:22 GMT -5
"It's the pinnacle of Kumo cuisine!" Atsuko exclaimed excitedly. "And Hayakawa-kama's is the second-best I've ever had! She's been making it for over sixty years and claims that her family recipe is over a millennium in age." Atsuko giggled since everyone laughed at the idea of a thousand-year-old recipe, but Hayakawa stuck to the story every time she told it. "It can be a little spicy, though. You can ask for it to be less so, but she can be a bit judgy about it."
She took a few steps forward and smiled. She held her hand out for Apollo to hold once more. "I'll protect you from her spiteful gaze though, I promise." She winked quickly and couldn't help but giggle as the giddiness of her emotions spilled out.
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