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[ Whoever thought going to the beach would be fun was, for the most part, correct.

It was an enjoyable experience. After all his travels with Sinbad, the rolling waves had become something of a comfort. Sinbad’s unending fervor for adventure was contagious and it had forever made Ja’far appreciate the sands meeting the sea. Ja’far had rather enjoyed himself until some idiot decided it would be great to steal his shirts and run off with them. In the amount of time it took to knock Sharrkan down into the sand and put him into a chokehold, pale shoulders were already freckling and turning an unfortunate shade of red in the heat of the summer sun.

And so he had returned once more to work, because there was always work to be done no matter the time of day. And in his office he could be found, chipping away at the piles of paperwork at his desk.

Shirtless. ]

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[How did this happen?

Mamushi had already finished her duties at the shrine, only to return to her home and be confronted with... tax documents. What in the hells were those? (This is what you get living in a country where temples and shrines are exempt completely from taxation.) She'd looked them over crossways and sideways but they didn't make a lick of sense.

Which is when she goes to consult her device and remembers... him.

Lips pursed, she pulls up his information, and she's definitely not red in the face remembering one particular encounter they'd had. She's a mature adult woman and she can face a man she once... had relations with. ... Especially if they work as an accountant.

So she busies herself getting presentable, changes out of her priestess' garb and in to a simple kimono, and takes herself over to his office, the tax papers held up to her face in case she was still looking awkward...]

Ja'far-

[Only to be confronted by his naked back!?]

[ At the sound of his name, the man turns, pale eyebrows lifting. He hadn’t been expecting a visitor. However, people often came and went as they pleased. Mamushi was one of the more welcome people to his office.

He had tried putting back on some sort of covering, but every fabric seemed to rub his skin the wrong way. It was unfortunate that he wasn’t in proper attire to work, but then again, the world of Zodion didn’t have a formal dress code. There were people who found the chance to run around in less.

Having his shirt off was the only way he found relief. After having settled on that reasoning, he didn't mind being less clothed than was normal.

Pen still in hand, poised to get back to work, he cants his head to the side. ]

Lady Mamushi, what brings you here?

[She almost moves to cover her eyes, but sheer stubborness manages to win out in the end and she keeps her hands clutched tight around the documents she's holding instead. She's- she's seen him in less before! Technically he was in his sickbed and nearly crazed with fever but. It counted. Let alone the other technicality that they'd been intimate once but they had been mercifully full clothed at that point in time!

His calm demeanor makes it a little easier to keel a lid on her reactions, couching in to the papers to clear her throat.

Sunburn.

She noticed it now, it was just a sunburn.

A pretty awful sunburn.]

I... received these documents in the mail and thought you perhaps could... take a look at them.

[She would have to hand them over... her shield. But first-]

However, if you... need to apply something first, I will wait.

[Cause she's looking and she certainly doesn't see any shimmering evidence of creams or unguents.

She'll wait.]

Edited 2013-10-17 17:49 (UTC)

[ He extends a hand, waiting for her to put the sheaf of papers in his hands so he could go through them. Ja’far could already guess what they were from the amount and the familiar pattern of instructions and empty boxes that he could see peeping from her hands.

Working on taxes would be a pleasant break from writing letters of apology to the numerous dames his king had accosted within the past week. ]

Apply something…?

[ It takes him a moment to understand, his mind still wrapped around apologetic flourishes to women he had never met. It clicks soon enough and he offers a soft smile. It was kind of her to try and accommodate him. He unconsciously leans back to better address her, only to flinch as his reddened skin made contact with the rough fabric backing of his chair. ]

Tch—It’s fine, I would, however it would be time consuming and cause quite a mess so I have yet to apply anything. Plus, it is difficult to see where to apply the salve. I can try and do so later when I retire for the night.

[Ah- it looked painful. Not that she felt sorry for him or anything, just... Observing. As someone also quite fair, her white hair and pale skin, she was a great fan of SPF 50 and above. She may not freckle but she did peel like the snakes her family raised when she did burn, and that was more than unpleasant. She just understands that's all.

As it is, she does step forward to extend the documents to him, lips pursed a bit, her no nonsense tone quite similar to the one she used when nursing him in sickbed before. She did her share of medical shifts, she knows this game and she knows stubborn patients.]

It would be best not to wait- even something like aloe vera...

[ Documents now in hand, Ja'far quickly thumbs through the papers, clicking his tongue. It was just as he had thought. He smiles, pleased with this distraction. ]

Thank you, I can certainly assist you with these forms.

[ Ja'far couldn't remember much from his sick day, but her tone catches his attention, turning his thoughts back to the throbbing of his upper back. There were worse pains, but she seemed particularly stern on this matter. Plus, he realizes, if the situation had been in the reverse, he would have likewise nagged her until she was treated. However, from their meetings, he had come to believe that that would never be an issue. Mamushi was a responsible, young woman. ]

If I must. A salve made of aloe is in the cabinet beside you.

[ He turns back to his desk, rearranging the half-written letters and drafts so that he could turn his attention to the new paperwork. Why, yes, Ja'far was planning on multi-tasking. Surely he could manage to apply the salve on his shoulders and complete her tax forms at the same time. ]

I would appreciate such.

[She is nagged with the idea that she should learn how to do them herself, as independent as she likes to be, and with the idea that... once she marries, she doesn't belong to the True Cross order anymore. She ought to learn how to file taxes...

But that makes her think of Juuzou, that idiot, who still hasn't come for her in this place, and she pushes it from her mind.

Instead, she fetches the aloe.

And turns back to him, tugging a braided rope from her obi and beginning to tie up her kimono sleeves.]

If you would adjust how you sit-

[She can't believe she's doing this.]

[ Her words confuse him for a bit, causing him to glance her way for a moment. He hadn’t thought that she would assist, so the gesture surprises him. However, her help would be most welcome. He needed the help and then he wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally smearing salve over her paperwork. The surrounding letters would have also been in danger—although, he wasn’t certain he cared enough to protect them from a droplet of goop or two.

He straightens a bit, scooting forward to make his back more readily accessible. ]

I apologize for the trouble.

[ Well, completing her tax forms would be a decent compensation. ]

Nonsense, you needn't apologize. I volunteered.

[She's quick to point that out- that she was doing this because she wanted to and not for any other particularly strange or debt inducing reason. Or to have him to her taxes for her for free. Her motives were pure!

But her thoughts aren't he purest as she finishes tying her sleeves and squirts a bit of aloe in to her palms, cool and soothing to the touch even on unburnt skin. It was not that she meant to- but she had been together with this man in less than pure situations in the past and so-

She shoved those impure recollections from her mind and lay hands on his back, first at his shoulders, gently as she can be, slipping aloe-covered palms across where his skin looks most tender. She didn't realize she was whispering but-]

Tell me should something pain you.

[ It would have been a good way to incur a debt, however, as it stands with her taxes in hand, it would seem they were on even ground.

He back straightens slightly at the touch, shoulders tensing momentarily before relaxing once more with a shaky exhale. Ja’far was normally adverse to touch. Zodion didn’t quite help with that, but he reluctantly admits that he needed the balm. Plus, Mamushi had already gone through the trouble of retrieving the medicine so it was too late to turn away from the treatment.

The salve is cold against his pale skin and it’s a momentary distraction from the papers at hand. His own voice is hushed as he answers with furrowed eyebrows. ]

I’ll be fine. [ At least, he should be—as he let’s out a hiss as hands come across a particularly sensitive patch. ]

I need your full name.

[ For the paperwork. ]

[Mamushi had always craved touch- to be accepted. But she craved it too much to let it show, so she bristled and stiffened to it as if she disliked it, when really, she just disliked her inability to have faith in people around her, to trust.

So she settled for taking care of her family's snakes, and became more accustomed to the touch of their smooth, cool scales than the warmth of fellow humans.]

My family name is Houjou.

[Lightened her touch when he hissed, the very tips of her fingers spreading the aloe with the briefest of touches in those places that seemed redder than the rest. Bit her lip softly, (no impure thoughts, no impure thoughts), as she stopped moving, a brief stutter of motion indicative of the slight stab of pain she felt before she resumed.]

But I... Have been asked to wed in to the Shima family. However, this place... Interrupted such plans. I'm not sure if... That matters.

[For the paperwork.

... What she didn't say, "I'm not sure if it will happen anymore." If Juuzo would still accept her as a bride, after this place and what it had made her do. If she could accept herself as his bride.]

[ He simply nods. Transcribing the name onto the paper in his precise hand and then placing a mark in a box labeled ‘single’. ]

It should be fine. The papers ask for your present state of affairs so, as it has not happened yet, we’ll leave it as Houjou. The gods are very good at interrupting plans, it seems. [ Although, there was something in her words, in the slight pause. ] You say you had been asked…Were you taken before you could accept his hand? Or was it an arrangement?

Also, do you have any dependents? Ah—and what is your current income? An average number is all I need.

[ It’s beginning to get a bit difficult to ignore her administrations. The process revived the prickling pain that ran across his shoulders. It didn’t help that the knots in his back from all the stress of his work had started to join in with a chorus of twinges.

His shifts slightly beneath her hands, unconsciously shaking his head.

Stop it, Ja’far. You need to stay still. ]

I had accepted, and my father as well- [Which to some people might find out that her father's permission was needed, but from what she understood of Ja'far's own world, perhaps that was a normal thing for him as well.] Though it had not been co- [AHEM] co- [shiiiiii what other words started with "co" besides CONSUMMATED?] correctly... submitted in to record.

[Smooth, Mamushi. (No.) But she manages to focus far too intently on his back, cocking her head this way and that as she nibbled anxiously on her bottom lip, face red as a beet, using the various angles to look for places she's missed based on the slight shimmering of the aloe.]

I have no dependents- and though the shrine survives primarily off donations, but I receive what I understand to be minimum wage...

[ He understood well enough that it was the norm in some places. People had various customs and he did not have anything to say on how they differed. There were certainly some where a father’s acceptance was necessary. This was also often the case with royalty. He simply nods. ]

Are you alright? If you need some water, you could have my glass or I could pour you another.[ He wonders if she might have a summer cold. That would explain why she stumbled with her words. Hiccups?

He finishes scribbling in the boxes. He fills other empty boxes with small ticks. The rest of the form was simple and there was no need for further questions. ]

Thank you, that’s all I need. They shouldn’t be much in terms of taxes since you work for the shrine. It would be different if you worked for a store.

[ Just as he finishes, he habitually leans back, the back of the chair rubbing into the mess of salve and peeled skin. He grimaces, muscles tenses, as he quickly curls forward. ]

I shouldn’t have done that…[ Nrgh. ] I hope I haven’t made a mess of your hardwork.

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