practicality

[Just... ink dripping slowly onto the page for a minute. He's torn between 'oh thank goodness' and 'you are in so much trouble mister.']

...I need to speak with you.

[Unfortunately, samurai would probably get all of thirty feet before collapsing. So he just looks down instead, not meeting Tian's eyes]

I know... I'm sorry.

[If you thought you've seen Tian angry before, it's nothing compared to this. Right now, it is undeniable that he is a dragon and not a man.]

Apologies? You dare to presume an apology is good enough for your actions?

[Growwwwwl.]

You have already wasted your life once. I do not bed fools, Souji.

[Drops!]

Get out of my sight. Your services are no longer needed.

Pull yourself together, ronin.

You have gone against your lord, and you've betrayed me as a friend and lover.

I'm very glad to see you again, Souji-san.

[Yes, you get the proper Japanese suffix now. Don't ask. It stuck.]

[He really is here. Alive. Standing right here, talking, smiling a smile that doesn't fool Rain for a second... he's alive. For a few brief moments Rain does nothing more than look at Okita - perhaps it's childish, but something in him wants this reassurance. Reading the man's writing in the journal isn't the same as actually seeing him in the flesh.

But he hasn't just come here to see Okita, but to speak with him. And he wasn't kidding when he said that he needed to. Rain closes his eyes with a slow sigh, and when he opens them again he fixes Okita with a hard gaze.]

...What were you thinking? [There's an unmistakable hint of anger in his tone, to be sure, but it's not so much that as it is plaintive. Losing someone like that... Rain wasn't prepared for it to hurt as much as it did, but... it hurt a lot.]

You too, Kagerou-san.

Protecting- [Rain cuts himself off abruptly. He is not going to lose his composure now, not when he's clung to it for this long. He takes a breath and lowers his voice a bit, though his words are no less pointed.]

Knowledge is the most dangerous thing here. Handing it out puts people at risk. Especially when you call such a meeting over the journals. If I'd seen it-

[Again Rain cuts himself off, and his gaze drops to a spot on the ground beside his feet. His voice grows slightly more subdued, his expression melancholy.] ...If I'd seen it in time, you wouldn't have died. I'd have stopped you.

How are you? Not too much worse for wear?