Saiunkoku: The Age of Silver: The Color of the Phoenix's Tail - Part Three

[branchandroot]

Fic post from my archive.

The Color of the Phoenix's Tail: Part Three

Shuurei likes her life but wants it to be something more. Drama, I-3

"Shuurei?" Seiran came to stand beside her, leaving his own scrolls. "Is anything wrong?"

She mustered a smile for him; Seiran always worried so much when she was upset. "No, it's all right. I was just..." her voice wavered a little, despite everything she could do, "wishing I could be an official and do something good with all this."

Comments

[branchandroot]

You and me both! I suppose it makes a small amount of sense that she was in shock from his strong come-ons. Saku is a whole lot less ingenuous than Ryuuki. And I /know/ there are all sorts of cultural issues at work. But... argh!

[grey-damaskena.livejournal.com]

::sighs:: It's true, of course. Ryuuki tends to behave more childishly . . . more than that, I think, Shuurei feels safe around him, she doesn't have to worry about what he's going to do. Ryuuki will allow himself to be hit and yelled at and won't do a thing about it. Whereas with Sakujun there's no way Shuurei would feel comfortable doing that, even when he so richly deserves it. He wouldn't accept being hit or yelled at, and Shuurei is definately not comfortable around him.

And as Shuurei herself notes, Sakujun pushes. Ryuuki's always willing to give her a way out or back off when she's really uncomfortable, but Sakujun seems to delight in embarassing her and making her uncomfortable.

Shuurei says that the two are quite similar: I would agree, but rather say that they're opposite sides of the same thing.

. . . I'm rambling again, forgive me. ::sheepish:: As much as I dislike Sakujun and bristle like a cat every time he makes one of his smug appearances, I still find him very interesting. The thought of what it would be like if he and Ryuuki met is something I often think about (well, it kinda happens in the sidestory, but not exactly) . . .