Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'... [Murasaki, Himiko]

"H-hey, I can't help it! It's just one of those things I get worried about sometimes."

Laughing it off, though, Murasaki did honestly feel a lot better about the situation, both from Himiko's actual response and from how funny it'd been to see her and her big dog respond at the same time. Yeah, she was right, wasn't she?

"Yeah, he's definitely not a kid, I'm not worried about that. Honestly I think sometimes he might be more mature than me, eheh... Plus, mmm... W-well, you didn't hear it from me or anything, but if we're just, you know, having girl talk and all that, he's..."

Biting her lip a little bit as she thought about it, Murasaki briefly wondered if this was actually something to be talking about. Well, it was girl talk and all that, and besides... A girl should be able to brag!

"H-he's uh, definitely not a kid. It's...wowie."

Smooth.

"Pfft. Don't get to blown up over it. It's just whatever, you enjoy your man you know. No one's got any right to bully you over it. If they do? You tell me and Tenken and I will pay 'em a visit haha."

Himiko took a moment to click on what Murasaki meant. Then it clicked and she opened her mouth in surprise. The fox girl almost fell off her dog in response but she didn't.

"Hey, what? Like how is it? Does he know what he's doing, any secret tricks ya wanna share?"

Pandora's box was opened and Himiko was digging. Then again, she ought to share her own but it wasn't as sweet or cute when it wasn't like, serious serious. Arkin and Kokoro were probably the most exciting thing she'd done in a while and imagine how weird it'd be to say that like uh, weirddddddd.

"Is it a little awkward? You know.. you're pretty big, not many girls I know who are bigger than me except you and Kokocchi but he's a lil' shorter. I bet it's not a problem though, I bet it's kinda cute."

"N-no, not really, there's not like... Special tricks or anything like that. He's kinda just...w-well, he's super sweet, you know? He really makes it feel special, and that's nice!"

Oh, this was definitely super embarrassing, but at the same time, it really was nice to just talk to a friend about all this sort of stuff, you know? It wasn't good to keep all her feelings inside, and even if that was normally something to remember with bad stuff, you had to get the good feelings out too.

"It's not awkward at all, I really like it. I mean, I know I'm big, but he's big too. E-er...well, that's not really what I meant, but, uh, you know... He is pretty big. Heheen~"

"Awww, that's adorbs. How dreamy and romantic!"

Her tail wagged in tandem with Tenken's, for different reasons. He was just happy to stretch his legs and she was just happy to hear about how cute and romantic this whole situation was. Maybe she should get Kokocchi to also tell her about her married life, Himiko couldn't say she got the whole attraction to girls part. It was like super duper fun that time but how do you have kids of your own? Himiko wasn't the type who really thought about adoption, if that wasn't clear already.

"Awwww you're so sly Murasacchi. Big packages for big girls I s'pose. Is it weird being like, his captain though? I mean, you two must see each other all the time while working you know? I don't think I could work in the same division as my partner. I'd be way to distracted haha, couldn't keep my eyes on my work yanno."

"H-hey, it's not just because I'm tall! It's just, you know, it's nice! He knows how to use it!"

It was pretty romantic, huh? Well, she definitely always thought about it that way in the heat of the moment, but it was kinda different when it came up outside all that. Just the two of them like that, a nice dark night in the tent... Agh, she couldn't get all caught up thinking about that when they were out here, that was weird!

"Oh, yeah we do still see each other pretty often for work and all that, but I just sorta don't think about it. Honestly, I don't really think he does either, he's super dutiful about work, ya know? I mean, I kinda just assume he probably looks my way when I go by and stuff, I know I give him a look, but I think we're both doin' okay at keeping focused. Besides, I made sure we put in the paperwork so the whole thing's already on the record, so if I do start slippin' up I'll have the Captain Commander on my case in a heartbeat. She's strict like that."

"I getcha, I getcha."

Himiko tossed some of the firewood into a little hole that Tenken had started digging. Just to make sure it didn't get out of control and then put out her hand. The wild and untamed reiatsu of the fox girl seemingly losing all its volatility when she shot out a small Shakkaho to get the wood to catch fire. Boy, Tenken sure was helpful.

"That sounds pretty easy then. I definitely couldn't do it. Paperwork's already hard enough as is! The patrols are super fun though, I love when I get out for a couple of weeks to just patrol with me and Tenken. You also like it out here huh? So when are you and Ally gonna sneak off together for a patrol, huh? Sure sounds romantic to do, right?"

"Well, I've thought about it once or twice, but I dunno... That kinda feels like I'm taking advantage of being Captain then. Know what I mean? I know it'd be really nice to just go out and spend some time with him under the stars and all that, but I don't wanna be irresponsible."

Sitting down next to the fire as it was lit, Murasaki took a little bit of time to just relax. She'd get to setting up the campsite in a sec, but for now it seemed nice to just hang out.

"I do get whatcha mean about loving it out here, though. I used to do stuff like this all the time before I joined up with the Gotei, just camp wherever the wind took me. It was fun, I liked it. But I'm really glad I joined up, ya know? I wouldn't trade what I've got with all of you guys for anything."

"Haha, yeah. I know what ya mean Murasacchi. It's nice out here, reminds me of when I was younger but I think I've really liked what I've discovered outside of the forest. It's real nice with all these great experiences and small pleasures I've got going for me ehehehe."

She crawled off Tenken and sat by the fire, feeling a couple of his fourteen selves bundle up around her. One behind her to lay on and wrap around her sides while the other made itself comfy laying on her despite the heavy weight it put on her. Ugh, he didn't know his own weight but it's fine. Himiko was tough.

"Hey Murasacchi, why'd you become a captain and you know, join up. You said you got treated bad, so I guess I'm just wond'rin why you wanted to be one. Never told me before, you know."

"Oh. Well, I guess it's not a super exciting reason or anything. I left when I finished the Academy since nobody really treated me too well, but...I've still got family up in Soul Society, ya know? My mom's still up there, so I figured when I heard everything was getting worse I'd probably go back, see if everything'd changed."

Rifling through her bags, Murasaki found the nice, elegant-looking bottle of plum sake she'd brought with her, and pulled it on out with a couple of sakazuki. She didn't actually know for sure if Himiko drank, but she figured it'd be good to offer her one, holding out one of the dishes as she continued to speak.

"I think if Captain Commander Ibiki hadn't been so nice about things when I came back, I might not have actually stayed. Guess a good first impression goes a long way, huh? It just sort of felt like the Soul Society'd finally changed, at least a little."

"No way, that makes sense. Doesn't have to be all exciting or nothin'. If people were dirtbags then it makes sense you'd ditch 'em. That's nice to hear that it changed though. I think I missed the worst of it."

She bit her lip while reaching out to take the drink, yummy. Even though it was hard to get drunk with her size and canine features which gave her a better constitution than most. She sipped it back while laying back and enjoying the warmth and gentle rise and fall of her zanpakuto behind her.

"Yeah, I'm pretty lucky. I heard there was a captain like me a long time ago. He got shamed and covered his face because of it, once upon a time that might've been me except I started to look like this somehow. I don't really know how it happened but here I am because of it. It's nice when life throws you a bone, Murasacchi."

Himiko giggled a bit at Murasaki and sipped away again. It was always weird how that had happened in her head, she had never really figured out the cause of what made her shift without usage of the humanisation technique.