"Man, this field is huge." Meg said impressed, her arms spreading themselves out as if to contain the massiveness of the land. Jo stooping over the green grass and passing one hand over it, hovering over places where the grass pushed up brown and crisp blades, where the grass was barren and smelled dirt. "I can still smell the blood." Jo said. Meg, who was still blown away by the vast land and air around her--growing up in city would do that to you--turned to Jo with a disgusted expression. "Jo, what are you talking about? I don't smell anything, but grass and the smoke from that barbecue place we passed on the way here," Meg rubbed her stomach, "And the wind sure isn't helping by blowing the smell over here. Man, I'm so hungry." A quiet family with a picnic basket was walking by; they all had their heads bowed and their faces solemn in the afternoon's cloudy skies. Meg and Jo watched them go along and Meg had hoped her stomach wouldn't make any noise and disrupt the family's shared contemplation. Sekigahara was a sacred place after all, many brave soldiers, many brave men had died here and many people had come here to pay respects and homage, even after four centuries. As the couple and their two sons passed, the air was filled with black tension, the type that would collect at funerals and Meg was afraid that she would embarrass herself--and Jo--in front of the procession. Jo nudged her in the arm, and with a deep and quiet voice-- that could be easily lost by the moist wind-- told her to relax. She replied vexingly that she couldn't relax. There was a certain etiquette that was to be abided by when people came to places like this. Jo gave here a strange look for that and Meg feeling herself blush profusely, said that Sei had told her how to behave. Likewise, Jo said because Sei had also stopped her on her way to the door this morning and told her to behave like a...young lady, i.e. do not bring guns or just bring one, and when someone was getting on your case, for the love of God, do not sucker punch that person and then walk away without calling an ambulance. Jo hadn't agreed to any of the status quo expected of her by the older woman. She hadn't even given a terse nod or a simple ok, by way of placation. She had only walked out of the door because Meg had been waiting for her outside. Sei had taken that for an agreement that she would follow all conditions and Jo had let her believe that. Of course, she still brought her guns--yes two of them, no need for restraint--and she still planned to punch or kick or break bones or all of the above if someone was being a royal douche to Meg or her. That was just a gimme, but the date so far hadn't required any of those things from her. It had just been quiet and relaxing and...fun. They'd visited a sword smith on their way to Sekigahara and Jo had finally understood the saying "kid in a candy store" or better translated, "Meg in a candy store." Gifu had once been known for its sword working and Jo, highly interested, thought that it would give her an excuse to buy a new weapon. Sei had never said anything about not buying some souvenirs. So when she asked the old sword smith if he had ever tried to weld one of the small swords onto a...hmm...let's say a semi-automatic, gas operated pistol, and then had pulled out her Desert Eagles from the holsters, and then pointed to where she thought the wakizashi he was currently working on would best fit, she was quite certain that this was the perfect souvenir to take back to Tokyo with her. The sword smith looked like he thought her idea of hybrid sword/gun was a very interesting combination, and they both, for about fifteen minutes talked about the details that would go into making this dream weapon a reality. Meg had pulled her away by the hand, and told her that something like that sounded really, ridiculously expensive, and why the hell do you need more weapons when you have your Desert Eagles, Jango, and yourself. Plus, the money Sei had given her to hold onto--a wise choice now that Meg thought in retrospect--and that if they wanted to eat today, Jo would have to find it within herself to do without her sword/gun combination. Jo shook her head in understanding and then went on to ask her if she could still get the wakizashi, and since it was between a katana and a knife, it wouldn't be cumbersome and hard to carry around. Meg had promptly dragged her out of the store and apologized to the sword smith. Jo made a promise to herself that when this date was over, and Meg was happy with her, and she had secured another of these dates that she would go see Sei about a weapon's modification and get the funds to come back here. They had spent a couple of hours at the Sekigahara battlefield. Visiting the shrines, listening to the stories, walking around the fields and breathing in the air, and finally succumbing to the smells coming from the barbecued pork at the restaurant by the entrance. "Ready to go yet, or do you want to stay for a bit?" "No, let's go. I need to talk to Sei about something?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- They'd reached the small inn that they were staying at by cab and went straight to Sei's and Amy's room. "Oh, you two are back. How was your date?" Amy chiming in from her place on her bed, teddy bear laptop open and buzzing as her fingers sliced over the keyboard, said, trying to sound as obnoxious as possible, "Yeah, how was your dateeeee?" Her smile turned predatory and Meg coming over to the smaller girl bobbed her on the head. "None of your business. I'll tell you when you get older." Amy's eyes widened, and then she was giggling into her palm and winking conspiratorially at Meg, who was winking back as well. Jo didn't understand this kind of behavior and turning to Sei had told her the date was nice and that she wanted some minor modifications on her guns. Sei, looking at Jo questioningly, didn't know if she should ask about what gun modifications and her date had in common, or just slowly back away from the room. "Hey we were just thinking about going to that Onsen town up in the mountains. I mean if you come to Gifu, it's a must." Amy waving her finger in the air suddenly pointed it at Sei. "Let's go now!" She was bouncing on her knees on the bed and Amy who was also sitting next to her, looked excitedly at the older woman. "Can we Sei? Can we? Oh that would be so much fun!" Sei couldn't say no to those faces and in all about a second had told them, "Alright, if you girls go get your bathing suits, then we can go." There was loud clapping and then a mutual shout of ‘yeah' coming up from the two girls on the bed as they scampered off to find their bathing suits. Jo was still standing by the door and seeing the expression of joy on her companion's faces, went to go look for her bathing suit as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Look at how many hot springs there are. Look!" Meg pointed at the many bamboo divisions that circumscribed off the onsens. Tugging on her arm and pulling her along as they walked down corridor, the concrete ground cold under their feet and the air clammy with steam and the freezing winds from the Alps. "They say this is quite the experience, the cold air from the mountains and the hot steam and that there effect relaxes the body even further." Sei pulled the small towel tighter to herself as it began to slip. "Hey Sei, couldn't you get a bigger towel? It's probably the same size as mines." Amy made a lifting motion with her hand in the direction of Sei's chest and the towel, and Sei blushing pink, tried her best to cover herself. Jo had opted to put on her black bathing suit, the hassle of hanging onto a flimsy towel not all that appealing to her. Meg had gone the same route as Sei and Amy and was currently sporting one of hot spring's small towels. It wasn't unusual to see Meg in small bits of clothing, if anything, it would have been weird to see her in something that actually covered her up. That was just how Meg was, that was just how she liked to wear her clothing, and Jo had seen enough midriff, high skirts and cleavage to last her a lifetime. It was normal, but what wasn't normal, Jo decided, was that suddenly the short cut of the towel and the fact that half of Meg's chest was sticking up from her towel was...starting to...distract her. Really distract her. She chalked it up to having nothing better to do. Since there were no bad guys to concentrate on and take out, or her television hadn't been brought with her. Meg oblivious to the state of her dress, bickered back and forth with Amy wildly, the one hand not used to hold up the towel waving around in the air and making her scantily clad state even more apparent, especially with all the movement... Jo had nearly ran into a bamboo poll, luckily for her, Sei had grabbed her arm before any real damage could occur, like for instance, on her pride. "Is something the matter Jo, you seem, out of it?" "Nothing." Jo brushed off the gentle hand on her shoulder and Sei not taking offense--because that was just how Jo was--let the girl go without any further questioning. Jo's stare still focused on Meg tried to figure why she had this uncontrollable fascination with watching the red head. She could admit that Sei was just as anatomically...filled out as Meg was, even more so than Meg and yet, Jo took a sidelong glance at the older woman, Sei didn't hold her fascination one bit. She was pretty, Jo understood the qualifications that determined beauty in this society on a woman, had seen enough of Meg's magazines and seen billboards to know what people found desirable. Sei held all those attributes and then some. Judging her and Meg by unbiased standards, by other opinions and by observations of the two out in the city, Sei was more attractive to men than Meg was. Jo could see that, and she had no problem with admitting that Sei's maturity and elegance were things that seemed to take on tangible substance in the older woman's looks, unlike Meg who was immaturity personified and that most likely turned a lot of people away. Even so, ask her a million times over, and Jo knew her answer would be the same, if someone were to ask her which she preferred, which she thought was beautiful and irresistible and just amazing. Meg was all of those things and Jo was relieved that the people around her weren't privy to the qualities of Meg that made her so special. If that were the case, then there would definitely be stiff competition for the red head and Jo didn't think she would be able to take them out fast enough with just the aid of her guns...though Django would definitely have no problem wiping them out. Jo couldn't help but think that these concerns were somehow a question on her morals system and that she should seriously consider her values if she wanted to continue to stand for justice and the right way as a Cybot pilot. The situation of what if playing through her consciousness--Meg's safety or the safety of random, innocent citizens of Tokyo--Which one was more important? Of course she would choose Meg without a second thought and let the citizens die...which now that she thought about it...seemed a little selfish, but whatever...It was her choice to make and no one else, and she would just have to pray that Sei never asked her this question because she didn't feel like lying and she sure as hell didn't feel like getting Django taken away. Upon reaching the end of the corridor, Sei opened a bamboo gate and walked into the onsen, Amy hot on her heels and already throwing herself into the hot water with a loud splash and a sqee. Amy and her were standing awkwardly by the gate and Sei dipping her legs into the water smiled at them. "You know, there's another empty onsen on the side of us. Why don't you two go make yourselves comfortable over there." Sei knowingly waved them away and smiled that motherly smile that made everything okay. Amy who was now splashing and trying to doggy paddle her way over to the other side of the large hot spring shouted at the pair, "Yeah go over there. There's not enough room here for Meg's fat head and fat butt." She cackled at her words and Jo wondered how a little girl managed to make such a scary sound. Meg face flaming more than her hair, whipped her fists at the smaller girl. "My head is not fat! And my butt"- She turned and looked at the rear end in question- "My butt is not fat! You brat!" She threw up her hands like they were on fire and then said, "C'mon Jo, let's go, before we get Amy's cooties on us." This comment was followed by Meg sticking her tongue out at the younger girl and stomping back down the corridor. Jo followed after her, and heard the call for her and Meg to be careful and to be good. "My butt is not fat." Meg still stuck on this one thought, turned to her and asked, "Jo, do you think my butt's fat." Jo caught off guard by this, stared at the red head for a while. Meg was looking at her as if she really wanted an answer and Jo simple gave her a... "No." Meg watched her like a hawk and when Jo didn't volunteer a further explanation to why she didn't think Meg's posterior was fat; the red head took her reticence as something else. "Jo thinks my butt is fat." Jo didn't get how Meg could come to this conclusion, when she had just not even a second ago had said otherwise. "I don't diet or anything, but maybe..." She looked at Jo with a pleading look, "Would you like me better if I was skinnier Jo? Huh?" Huh? Jo was silent again, because she didn't know how to answer this question without it turning out like the previous one. They were entering into an unused onsen and Meg shutting the tall gate behind her, looked like she was still waiting for an answer. How was she going to answer this? She didn't even think it was a fair question, since it was kind of vague to her. It was an objective question. People had different taste, what one might consider fat, one might consider skinny, or even unhealthy. It was dependent on many factors: height, age, metabolism...and really the only time Jo considered someone had a weight problem was if their body weight kept them from carrying out a gunfight with her. Meg wasn't fat...that was easily seen by the fact that she could keep up with her in a gunfight. "You're not...fat." "Hey, why do you sound so damn hesitant?" Jesus Crap. It was like she couldn't win with her. "I don't understand what you're talking about? What does being fat have to do with anything?" Jo moved to go into the hot spring and Meg still holding onto her towel opened her mouth, only to close it again. Jo continued, "I mean, Amy has called you many names and you have never asked me if you were stupid, or ugly, or have rocks in your head, or needed medical attention, or if there really is a tape worm in your stomach?" Jo finished her sentence as she submerged her whole body into the water and leaning back, she watched Meg who had opened her mouth again to say something. "I...well...it's different." Meg clutched her towel harder and dipping one foot into the water, began to lean her weight on it and enter into the hot spring. She took a seat next to Jo and then stared out at the other side of the onsen, silent as a mouse and still looking like she wanted to say something. She blurted out, "It's different from that stuff. Amy's just being a brat and I know those things aren't true. Or I'm not really...too self conscious about them." Her fingers were now treading through the water, rivulets dripping from her palm as she lifted it and dipped it back into the water. Jo turning her attention to her companion, was about to say something, but got easily sidetracked when she noticed that Meg's towel had slipped down and disappeared. The steamy water was more than covering her in the chest department, but it was still really... "Sorry, I guess I'm not making any sense." ...Distracting. So distracting that she was still looking at Meg's chest, and Meg unaware of where her eyes were looking at, continued to stare forward quietly. Jo gulped, turned away, and then wondered if this had anything to do with the fact that they had shared a kiss two days ago. She'd seen Meg naked before, although this past year, as Meg had started to exchange her adolescent body for something else--as Jo tried not to stare exactly at that...something else--the other girl had stopped changing her clothes around her, and it seemed to Jo, started being more...secretive. She didn't know about what exactly, but it was there and Jo trusted her instincts enough to know secrets existed between them. She could suddenly hear Meg breathing, the sound, even quiet was raspy and... Jo looking up at the sky, like her solution existed somewhere between the clouds, contemplated what all of this might mean for her. She liked Meg...a lot and she cared for her and somewhere underneath her reservations and her quiet; there existed a binding emotion that secured them together, like unwilling participants in the arena of their lives. It was deep, and heavy and moved her inexplicably to actions that she would never have thought herself capable of doing, putting forth effort, or breaking from her accustomed habits. An emotion that coexisted with her twisted view of the world, and yet was not tainted by it, or wasn't that affected that it needed complete sheltering from her. She could have laughed a little at the realization, but it would attract Meg's attention, and then she would find herself attracted by something else, something in Meg's eyes and her body and her voice and her love. It answered her back, like a chorus of angels, and before Jo could stop herself she was reaching her hand out to her, placing it near her collarbone, and sliding it up her neck, where the pulse had quickened and beat against her fingertips. She leaned in and Meg stunned by her actions and mouth open didn't object to her kissing her. Had melted at the first touch of lips and gone perfectly still like a flower after a storm. It took a couple of seconds for Jo to realize that this wasn't going to be anything like their first kiss, and wrapping her arms around the other girl, she crushed her up against her body. Her body was acting on its own, fighting the awkwardness that would come from her, because she wasn't experienced in this sort of thing, not in this type of contact and this kind of overwhelming touch. Meg's mouth was just as soft as she remembered, and the skin of her back, of where her spine dipped down and flared out into her wide hips was tender, supple, and slippery with the water, and Jo was scared that she was being too aggressive. That Meg wouldn't like it this way. Meg made a tiny sound in the back of her throat, passed her hand over her side, where her ribs met her back and held her there. It tickled, felt like the wind was running up her sides, whimsical and lovely, and she made a disgruntled noise at the fact that she couldn't find a way to kiss Meg deeper. She could feel the warmth of Meg's chest through her bathing suit, the press of it as it moved and all that supple skin, especially the flesh on the side of her breast, softer than anything she had ever felt, andrubbing her arm and making her stomach flip and clench. She'd grabbed her then, pulled until Meg was in her lap, and the weight of her was concentrated there. She was heavy, slightly heavier than her, but Jo couldn't say that she minded, not when she had held up weightier people and thrown them across a room, and especially not when Meg deliciously squirmed in her lap, the friction against Meg's chest making her nipples harden and nudge the skin under her collar bone. She'd taken a hold of her then, hadn't considered what would happen if she did, but in the blur of imminent pleasure, it didn't seem important. The breast in her hand was a firm, supple mound and her fingers had squeezed, curiosity and desire caught in a silken web of Meg's long red hair, as she buried her face in his neck and waited for the other girl to stop arching and shaking. Meg was moaning now, loud and unfettered, and the sound of it had Jo moving her mouth on the other girl, until she had her mouth fastened on one of her nipples and was sucking it fiercely. Her hands which were holding up the red head, one on her back, steadily pushing her forward into her mouth, while the other was moving to settle on one of the girl's thighs. To rub it under her palm and feel it quiver under her touch. Meg's moans were getting louder with each flick of her tongue against her nipple, and the tear of nails raking down her back, made her suddenly jump. Meg shrieked as her lips clamped down tighter and it was then that Jo heard it, the sound of feet on the other side of the gate. "Is everything all right in there?" Someone was banging on the gate and trying to get it open. Meg leaning her head back now, as she came back from whatever high she had been on, made a surprised squawk as her arms slipped from Jo's shoulders, slippery from steam and she fell backwards in the water. A man walked in, and Jo sitting there quietly, as Meg was flailing about and trying to right herself, wondered what the hell this bastard wanted that he would interrupt them...like that. "My god, are you two alright? I heard someone scream and I thought that"- He had finally caught the death glare that she was giving him and he on some instinct that was buried within his stupid head, backed away a little. Meg finally up and not choking on water, her face red and her towel lost somewhere blinked at him stupidly. "Oh...ah...that was...you see..." she breathed, "I saw this huge...spider and that's why I...um...yelled." Meg blushed crimson at the mention of her scream and then was looking everywhere except her and the other man. Jo collaborated, "Huge..." she turned to leer at Meg because there was something undeniably funny and sexy about this whole situation, "The spider, that is." Meg blushed and laughed and she'd stupidly snorted some water up her nose. The man, having worked at this place for some months, could never, ever remember having run across a spider. It was always the dead of winter here and a...spider? "Okay, well, I'll leave you two ladies to enjoy your bath, and if...the spider comes back, then call me, and I'll kill it for you." He smiled at the two of them. Jo didn't smile back, just looked bored and narrowed her eyes at him, her voice mocking and biting as if she was taunting some enemy, "Yeah, we'll call you if we see that...spider again." For some reason, he didn't think that they were talking about the spider anymore. "Well if you'll excuse me."
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