Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Owner Pose
Nozomi Houken     Deep in the Millennium Capital, in the upper reaches of Tamamo's Palace, the entrance to My Room lies open. Within stands a girl, and beside her a robot.

    Nozomi Houken stands with her back to the door, head lowered slightly, arms crossed over her chest, almost as if hugging herself. She's never felt quite so... so furious. Even when people hurt Captain Janeway, when she was livid at them, that was... that was the enemy. That was expected. She wasn't expecting Tamamo to do something like robbing a bank.

    Beside her, Taiga faces the doorway, seated as calmly as ever... or, at least, at first glance he seems that way. But now and then his ears twitch, this way and that - a sure sign that he's sweeping the area with his magical sensor equipment.
Tamamo no Mae     Outside the Millennium Capital

    Tamamo stands, looking at her Palace... there's an odd feeling sitting in the back of Tamamo's head. She sighs, her ears flat against her head and her tail drooping. "Mikon... I have never seen the mouse so... so feirce." she whispers to herself, taking a few steps forward. She reaches forward, as if to summon her door to My Room, but she hesitates. She senses her Master's energy from the Palace... and with the way she sounded on the faction band... and in the public band...

    She sighs slightly, looking at the small bag in her hand, full of chocolate. "Okay." she takes another step forward and Taiga's magical sensors should go off... as the door slides open, showing off the fox. "M...master." she comments, her voice is timid this time, eyes not looking at Nozomi. She crosses the threshold and the door closes automatically and soon... she's bowing in front of her with the bag open.

    "Master, I'm here... I brought you chocolate as an apology!"
Nozomi Houken     When Tamamo speaks, Nozomi... twitches. Almost as if startled, but more like... after being tense about Tamamo's arrival for so long, just hearing that voice sets off a bit of that tension. Taiga remains as calm as ever, but Nozomi... well.

    After she releases herself and lowers her arms to her side, it becomes clear that she's quaking slightly.

    "I... I can't... believe you. I-I thought... I thought I said... we weren't bullies." Her voice comes out even more halting than normal; it's not something Tamamo would remember, but she hasn't had this much trouble getting a sentence out since she first arrived in the Multiverse. Taiga's tail twitches once, but for the moment he is remaining calmly by her side.
Tamamo no Mae     Tamamo looks up, to see the quaking Nozomi and her ears pin even more to her head. "M...master?" she whispers, dropping the bag of chocolate. She doesn't dare approach, this wasn't her Master's normal, mousey self... "But... But Master. I even went in asking... I didn't even perform any bad things until that Master and his Caster came into play! I was only defending myself!" she pouts a bit, her voice pleading... "Master? I did it for you, I want my Husband to not want, I want my Husband to be taken care of."

    She sighs slightly, taking a couple steps forward, an eye on Taiga. "I am not a good fox, it's in my history... it's been repeated to me so many times. I do try to be good, but I'm an anti-hero servant, Master... something I'm proud of. I can do things you won't think of or do. And I do it all out of my love for you." her ears perk up, "I still cook for you... and take care of your sentient cat... when he is cooperative." she coughs.

    "Tamamo... is sorry."
Nozomi Houken     "For... for me...? Y... you... for... f-for... /me/?" The tone of her voice does not suggest that she's happy about this. Quite the opposite, in fact. Her fingers slowly curl upward, balling into fists that quake faintly at her side. She still hasn't turned around. For a few more seconds, she's quiet, not even responding to the apology. Then, there's a simple, whisper-soft, "Taiga."

    The mechatiger starts to rise to his feet, but freezes entirely at her next words.

    "Leave the room."

    He turns his head up to look at her in clear surprise. "...Nozomi? I don't think-" Her response is immediate. "/Go/. A-and... Tamamo. Close the... the door. Behind him." Well, at least she's sending away the killbot? Taiga is clearly rather hesitant about this, but he's been given an order; so he goes ambling out, turning around to sit just outside the threshold.
Tamamo no Mae     "Y...yes! For you. You know I'm not a good fox... I know I'm not a good fox, I'll never be this... good fox." she blinks a moment. She hears Taiga's name and she freezes, is she going to take suffering from the most loyal thing of all, the robocat? THe next words out of Nozomi's lips cause her to perk her ears up in concern... she /never/ sends Taiga away if she could help it...

    "Master?" she questions curiously, looking towards Taiga, "I promise I won't do anything to Master, Taiga. For all my words will convince you." she tries to give /some/ comfort to someone who knows her better than she does. The door opens to allow Taiga out... Tamamo turns around and gives a bit of a bow towards him before shutting the door. Taiga would find himself just outside the main hallway to My Room.

    "Master! You ... you never send him away!" she looks a bit concerned, even more so than normal. She steps closer and moves to place a hand upon Nozomi's shoulder, "Master? Please, what's gotten into you?"
Nozomi Houken     "If you do," Taiga replies, "No amount of enchantments will keep me from breaking this door down. So that is good."

    The door shuts. Nozomi stands quietly, at least until that hand settles on Nozomi's shoulder. The very instant it makes contact, she jerks. She shies away. It's only a step or two, but it probably speaks volumes. She does, however, finally turn around... and her eyes are red, as if she's been holding back tears. It's not surprising - someone like her doesn't have the faintest clue what to do with this kind of anger.

    "I'm... I... I-I'm completely... completely at your mercy now. I... I don't know magic. I don't have any guns. I-I'm weak even by human standards. I... I don't think I could even use a command spell. Not before you got to me. Th-that's... there's nothing I could do. You could do anything. I wouldn't... wouldn't be able to stop you. I'm... I'm exactly the same. The same, as the people you stole from. Are you going to steal from me too?"
Tamamo no Mae     The sudden shying away does speak volumes to the fox. She pulls her hand away and lets it drop, and when the little mouse turns around, she looks at her face and she breaks. There's a tear that drops from her eye as she drops to her knees in front of the mouse. "Master..." she whispers, "N... Nozomi." she speaks her name. She listens to her, there's a frown upon the fox's face and she can barely even look at Nozomi right now.

    "Mas.... my darling Husband." she starts, "Is that why you sent Taiga away? To see if I would take advantage of this?" Tamamo continues to look at the ground, to the futon, to the small desk and the kotatsu. "If you have a command spell... you do, you have three as is standard for all Masters." she whispers. "You're not the same as everyone else, Nozomi. You're not a weak little human, you're my mouse... my husband and a Master of a Caster-Class Servant. Sure, my stats and attributes aren't the best, but I try... it's all for you."

    She looks back at the door, "My darling husband, I can't... I /won't/ do anything to you. Taiga would be upset, you would be upset... I would be upset. You have my command seals.. and without those, without /you/, I can't survive much outside." there's a pause, "I... I guess you can call me existing with you, stealing from you, but... so do other Servants and Masters..."
Nozomi Houken     "No... n-no, these... these don't put me above anyone." She holds her hand up, looking at the three-part sigil on the back of it. "I... I-I sent him away to make a point. I'm no different. No... no different than any of them. I've... I've been like this most of my life. My parents died, my aunt and uncle barely tolerate me... I couldn't bring myself to talk with other kids, to play, to... /anything/. And... they started whispering. Talking about me. Started... started calling me 'Gloomy Houken'. And I was an easy target."

    She lowers her hand again, biting her lip. "...'make Houken do it, she won't care.' 'Houken, I need lunch money, you don't eat anyway, right?' It's... it's all the same." Her voice quavers a little... but then, surprisingly, hardens. "...if you do it to someone else, you might as well be doing it to me. And then... then you tell me, you did it /for/ me? Do you... do you even understand, how much that hurts? Saying it's my fault you made people afraid for their life?"

    At long last, Nozomi raises her head properly - and gives it a vehement shake. "Never again. Never, ever again. I-I don't care if you can't be good, but don't be /bad/. Don't be a bully. Fight with Saber if you have to, conquer her territory, help the Concord do things, do... do what you have to. But no committing crimes just because you can. No taking from people because they can't stop you. I don't want to be part of doing the same thing to someone else that people did to me! You... you don't have to be good, just... be... be better than that."

    Even that much vehemence is more than Nozomi is really equipped to handle; after a second or two, she just drops to her knees, right there on the floor.
Tamamo no Mae     Tamamo doesn't say a word while Nozomi's spilling her life story, she looks back up, to watch her, to listen to her, to understand. She watches the hand with the three part sigil, the sigil that proved bond between Master and Servant. "Nozomi..." she whispers, then she pauses... and remembers something. How she got Nozomi to be her Master. Something sinks in her throat... she looks to Nozomi, she listens to the voice. Bullied all her life... that's why she was mentioning bullying.

    "And... I added to that. I sort of forced you to become mine." her tail droops, her ears droop... she just droops. "No... no going after the normal humans, is this what you ask of your wife? Of your Servant?" she questions, she lets out a soft little sigh, watching the tiny mouse drop. She doesn't even make it to her knees, Tamamo is right there, catching her, tugging her to her chest. "Master... I upset you so much, I hurt you." there's a feel of a tear dropping from the Caster's eyes down onto the Master's shoulder.

    There's another drop... and another. "Tamamo is right here, I'm sorry, I .. I didn't know about this. Tamamo is really... really sorry!" she hugs Nozomi tighter, "I.. I'll not bully the little people, the humans... the ones without the ability to defend themselves. I ... I can... put that bad part away. Or at least try. Tamamo may slip... I am not.. perfect, but..> Tamamo doesn't want to lose my Husband.. My Nozomi."
Nozomi Houken     This time, there's no flinch, there's no shying away. Nozomi just sinks into Tamamo's arms, leaning into the Servant - leaning into arms far stronger than her own. There's no response immediately; she's just listening silently, recovering from the mental effort that so much anger brings with it. But then, there's just the faintest nod. A quiet reassurance, an acceptance without words. She seems content to just lean there against Tamamo for a short while... but she does eventually speak up, turning her head slightly. "...if... if you slip... that's what I'm here for. I... I didn't have to accept. I had Taiga with me. But... I /chose/ to. And... that's why."

    "...and I still... still draw a salary, from the JSDF. So... s-so don't worry about money, for me, anyway."
Tamamo no Mae     Tamamo nods, keeping her Husband close, her tail wrapping around, the fluffy appendage trying to keep comfort. "You surprise me, my little mouse." she whispers, "Tamamo will always be here for you. Tamamo will always be your loving wife for anything you need." she gives a slight smile, though the foxes tears still drip slowly down onto the mouse. She moves to rest her head upon Nozomi's head. "Master." she whispers, leaning in a bit close, her head moving down to Nozomi's shoulder.

    And... she gives a tiny peck on the cheek. "You mean so much to me, Master. I'm sorry I wounded you so." she gives a light smile. "I'll not worry about money then for you. I'll find things I can shower you with, like my love and attention."