[PRP] The ice is getting thinner (Bastion/Yuzhi)

[Nio Love]

Today was a day for beginnings. Bastion had slunk back to his old shrub for a day, desiring nothing more than the comfort and solitude it brought him. His cousin's residence was comfortable enough, and her presence was a balm on his lonely soul, but he was falling back into old habits, and they were hard to break. So he'd returned to his former residence, just to feel safe again.

Nothing felt safe, anymore. He knew it was his fault; he'd strayed out of his boundaries, pushed his limits, and found enjoyment in the presence of a caring soul. But that did nothing to still his painfully wounded heart, and for all he knew, he was simply wounding others further with his attempts to stop being a hermit.

So he returned, but at the moment he sat outside, pressed against a tree, and tried something he'd never done before. So used to the hard, unforgiving feel of gems, his hands often pressed too hard on the little pieces of wood he was trying to whittle. There were dozens of broken pieces beside him, a testament to how he underestimated his strength. But he'd found the knack of it, and now he was whittling away at a crude little thing. He wanted to believe it was a deer, but it was yet too formless to tell.  

[Pales]

Yuzhi had been wandering. Listless and quiet.

She watched others but hadn't found it in her to interact with anyone as of late, the small framed horsewoman had come to realize things about herself. Things that both disturbed her and made her strangely content. She would have friends. She would have her scholar's work. She would have everything except what she wanted and had to make due with that.

Opportunities passed by her as she struggled with herself. Other horsemen progressed but she seemed at a standstill. Shuffling forward she came to pause near where she spied someone she didn't quite know sitting under a tree and carving. Yuzhi made a small curious sound as she wandered closer and then crouched just watching.

Like a damned creeper.  

[Nio Love]

If Yuzhi was a creeper, she wasn't a very good one. Bastion knew no one should have been this deep in his woods, but there she was, crouched down a ways and watching him whittle. He'd stopped for a moment, waiting for her to say something, but when it seemed as though she was just going to sit there and watch, his hands continued to cut the wood in tiny slices.

And this was how several minutes, at least six or seven, went by. Yuzhi might have been watching him, but he almost forgot about her, easily lost in his own thoughts. The eyes that looked his way, and the eyes that never did. They haunted his thoughts, and made him accidentally crack the head off of his formless deerlike creature. He grunted and threw the piece he was working on away, holding the head of the creature in his hands and glaring at it with disdain.

His eyes refocused, away from the little head in his hands and to the mare watching him instead. He put the head down, and his eyebrow quirked up high.

"Ho there, miss." He called out. "If you're so interested, perhaps a closer look is in order? Even a few words of friendly banter?" His comfortable solitude had already been destroyed by her presence.. the only thing left to do was try to make the best of it.  

[Pales]

Yuzhi was content just watching for the moment, right where she was. She'd read about the act of whittling in books and it looked like an interesting in books. Her mind started going into tangents on it's own about cultures where the ability to whittle wood into shapes was considered a valuable art form and how many civilizations have bits of wood to represent Gods and Goddesses and...

He spoke at her and it made her startle with a bit of a blush coming across her face. Yuzhi forgot that she'd been watching him while she was doing it.

She stood up straight and dusted off her clothing before she wandered closer to him and then crouched down, "Is this better?" Her voice was blunt and quiet.  

[Nio Love]

Bastion just stared for a moment, before shrugging and turning back to the tree. "I suppose. If you can hear me, and I can hear you. Why are you out here in the middle of the woods, anyway? It's dangerous."

He dug his knife into the tree, and carved out another chunk of wood. The tree he'd been working with looked absolutely distraught, with holes all over its trunk. He hadn't meant it to seem threatening, but the tree certainly looked threatened.

He paused and gave her another look, before carving out a second chunk and throwing it at her. A moment later, a closed pocket knife followed. "What is your name, young sprite?"  

[Pales]

She puffed her cheek out some making an expression of disapproval, "I can look after myself. I don't need someone hovering over me..." There was a snap of twigs somewhere in the brush and she sucked in a startled breath to keep from helping. The act of him digging out another chunk of wood didn't unnerve her much. If he had wanted to harm her he would have done so from the start, she figured.

Plus a spear to the gut would probably convince him that she wasn't worth the problem...

Yuzhi's expression lightened a little bit, except to only narrow her eyes slightly at being called a sprite.

"...Jiang. Yuzhi Jiang. I am a Scholar of the Conquest clan," she relented after considering not telling him a damn thing.
 

[Nio Love]

He caught the way that sound startled her, and chuckled under his breath, trying not to be too noticeable. His whittling slowed to a stop when she introduced herself as a scholar, however, and his amusement melted into an expression of stone at the mention of the Conquest clan.

Conquest. Stuck up, holier than thou, uptight.. it all made sense now. Still, he had a strong sense of respect for the clan, and for those who achieved rank within it. Certainly a rank that would be considered higher than his. He reacted appropriately, putting down his tools and settling his hand on his stomach. His upper body bowed as best as it could in respect.

"My apologies then, my lady. I'm sure you're tired of people mistaking you for a filly. I regret my folly and am subject to your disdain if you so wish." It was a genuine sounding apology, at least.  

[Pales]

Yuzhi watched him and then just ...

Felt disappointment.

Disappointment that he was treating her like everyone else did. Her expression showed it for a brief second as she just tilted her head away and started to pull herself back onto her feet, "Whatever. If you are going to be an a** about this then I can go seek someone else for company," her tone was flat and quiet. She was not at all impressed with his display or apology for that matter.
 

[Nio Love]

He lifted his head up just in time to see her get up to walk away. This upset him more than it should, and his brows drew down in dismay, before he stood as well. "Excuse me?" He murmured, attempting to curb his temper. "I don't appreciate being called an a** for honoring you with the proper respect befitting your stature. I assumed you had some manners, all things considered. Would you rather I had not given you the proper respect? Perhaps you'd hoped that I would have said something foul and loathing at you? Would that make me less of an a**?"

He walked forward, and stood in front of her. He'd left his knife at the tree - he wasn't trying to threaten. Just receive his due.

"Apologize, my lady." He demanded, his voice a low growl. "I deserve very little in this world, but I deserve that."  

[Pales]

Yuzhi came to a stop when he appeared in front of her. Her jaw tightened and she just stared up at him, but her expression didn't come to a demure smile of apologies. Nor did it have a giddy giggle of a lady about to suddenly collapse from the vapors at how this male was treating her. Hands on her hips she just stared up at him.

"Then don't grovel at me. I, for one, did not ask you to grovel at me." Yuzhi let out a small grunt as she tilted her head to stare off at the side for a long moment.

"I get enough problems from everyone else. I didn't need it from yet another stranger. It felt as if you were mocking me," It was as if it would explain her actions. "If your apology is sincere then I accept it on the condition that you call me Yuzhi. I apologize in return."  

[Nio Love]

"Groveling is not the same as apologizing." He growled down at her with a frown. "And of course my apology is sincere. Whether or not you accept it is none of my concern, as long as you do not insult me for it. I need no conditions for your acceptance, my lady."

He looked as though he would turn to walk away, but hesitated. "And I will not be told how to address a young woman. I have been brought up with manners, and will use such manners as I dictate, not as you wish it." The mere thought of calling her Yuzhi now upset him. If they had spoken more, and become familiar with one another, he would have easily been comfortable enough to call her by her name.

But now, he would keep honorifics out of spite.  

[Pales]

It seemed they were now going to go back and forth and have tizzy fits at each other.

Yuzhi threw up her hands a bit, "I am not a lady. I am just a damned scholar. I sit in a corner and read books all day and observe people. It is a station that simply exists to record the greatness of others if anything," this came from a mare that was proud of her station in life for the most part.

Still, she didn't enjoy the fact that he treated her as a higher rank than she felt she was worth.

She huffed a little bit and wasn't sure what to make out of this exchange at all. This was supposed to be friendly.

Yuzhi felt the beginnings of knots forming in her throat.

"I just wanted a friend...Is that so wrong?" And suddenly tears.  

[Nio Love]

"Not a lady?!" For a split second, Bastion had feared that he'd mistaken the young mare for a gentle looking male. If it was true, he would have crumbled with embarrassment and left her alone that very moment. But as she explained, his anger returned, somewhat tempered by his patience. Unfortunately, even those dying embers could not stoke themselves back into a fire when a lady cried in his presence. His face fell in dismay, and he turned back to her, bending to put his hands on her face. "No, no, oh, now stop that. I wasn't saying.. oh, why are you women all so complicated."

If he wasn't already so sure of how he felt, he'd almost consider dating stallions instead just to get away from all of the conflict.

"Come now, Yuzhi. You see? I call you by your name, my friend. Please, I meant no wrong." He was such a bleeding heart for a crying femme, it tore at his tender soul and made him an easy target. "I call you lady because it is what I have been raised to call a young woman. Who has turned your heart so cold to the phrase?" His thumbs brushed her tears away. "Who calls you a lady and means ill of it?"  

[Pales]

Oh right. Upbringing. Yuzhi forgot about the fundamental step of one's surrounding within a culture. He was raised to be kind to females and to call them ladies and the like but still. That just didn't make her feel any better.

She didn't want to be nobility. Yuzhi was not born with the right upbringing for it.

"B-B-But I'm not nobility a-a-and.." More crying though she didn't push him away and she just let him fuss at her probably because she was too busy trying to state her case on the matter even if she was being childish. "If everyone heard you call me 'My Lady' then they might mock me ah-ahnd...Think I am trying to be all high and mighty and above my stat-sta-station.."

On one hand she didn't care what others thought but on the other hand she just really didn't want to deal with phantom individuals talking badly about her either.
 

[Nio Love]

In truth, Bastion had never met a Conquest mare who didn't want to be called a lady. It astounded him, though the explanations that she blubbered through her tears made more sense than he'd like to admit. He really did think most Conquest horsemen thought they were high and mighty, but apparently this little one did not enjoy the stereotype. He regretted that it had been the first thing he'd thought of, and promised himself not to be so quick to judge next time.

But first, the mare needed to stop crying.

"Hush, now. No one is around to mock you. And I certainly will not. Come." He put his arms around the poor femme, hugging her tight. "If you wish it, I will no longer call you my lady. But you must realize that you don't need to be nobility, or any station, for the phrase to be accurate. A lady is not measured by her station, but by the pureness of her heart. I pity those who have been using it wrong; especially around you."

Her insecurities made perfect sense to him. So he just hugged her, until she felt comforted. "I will promise you this. Should any foul and loathsome creature ever speak to you as though to mock you for being a lady, I will slay them where they stand. Is this a sufficient promise to ease your worry?"