Kyuden Shika

Inoshishi looks a little calmer and a lot less hurt. She stares at Narumi for a long moment, long enough that if her eyes weren’t clearly weighing and considering everything she knew of the Otter, she’d appear to have forgotten the conversation.

She’s kissed her. She’s sat with her. Shared the same love. Sparked together. So fuck it. She can trust her.

“Because if they aren’t married, the Scorpion will tell someone of my role in a long ago affair and I will either be running or tortured.”

Narumi is quiet along with the Dragon-ko, letting her think as long as she needs to.
Then that truth drops... and Narumi laughs incredulously. A sad sound, for sure.
She whispers: "If the Deer don't ally their martial support with the Crane tomorrow, I'll be evicted from the miai without a match, disgraced and shamed or worse, because of who I really am."
She darted forward and kissed the Dragon who had borne her so much strife.

Who she really is? Does that mean she’s…oh. That’s what that felt like. It’s…nice.

Inoshishi melts into the kiss that she’d figured she’d never feel again, pressing back into it, even as her lungs burn from lack of air. When she breaks it, if Narumi didn’t first, she looks smilingly at Narumi.

“Thanks you..” then she remembers what was said by her before the kiss.

“If that happens, come with us. Or take Bo with you and send me a letter when it’s safe. Or go to Koi, apparently she’s got an Imperial friend now. But write a letter.”

She stares at Narumi, sparks in her eyes, wondering what a non-stolen, non-drunk kiss might feel like.

“Could you…maybe do that again?”

She didn't want to talk. For once in her life, Narumi didn't want to make a plan.
She didn't want to think.
On request, their lips met again, soft at first but then the kisses grew deeper.

Inoshishi let’s the kiss grow deeper, her arms wrapping around the Otter with something approaching the opposite of their last meeting. The fire burns low but hot, taking its time. It’s not a chaste loss, by any means, but the intense, ripping desire of the sake mixer isn’t there either. Turns out it’s a very different sort of fun when the person you’re kissing doesn’t halfway hate you, halfway desire you. And that when both people know what they’re doing, it’s a very pleasant experience.

After some time, Inoshishi breaks the kiss. “Yeah…thats….thats what I thought that would feel like. Her doe eyes show her desire, but there are some things that need to bank it.

She leans in, her mouth right next to Narumi’s ear as she whispers her secret.

“Now you know mine.” She bites Narumi’s earlobe gently, waiting for the Otter to make the next move.

She heard the secret, and her eyes closed at the ear-nibble from the Dragon. It's only a moment before tender kisses are returned along Ino's neck, to her jawline, to meet her lips again. Hands move to hold the Dragon's waist gently, none of the angry harshness of their last encounter- all delicate and soft, but confident.

Inoshishi presses into the kisses to her neck, then joining her lips with the Otter’s. Like Narumi, her motions are gentle and confident, pushing when Narumi pulls, leaning back when she leans forward, letting their bodies act in unison as her slim arms wrap around Narumi’s neck.

/ ftb!