A weird man arrived in Kyoto...

@peacemaking-gunslinger

Souji normally does sleep through the night, but the lack of warmth next to him roused him, and then the soft swishing of wood in the air.

Outside, in the moonlight, he saw the figure of Ryoma practicing, and suddenly, he was not even close to sleepy, fully awake and lying down, watching his husband practice.

"Ah... no... Father said it would breed betrayal among the soldiers... but as you have seen... they are more loyal than ever... " He sighed softly. "Then again... they are not dealing with my father as their king... They have you."

"So it's no wonder they are so loyal!"

Ryoma changed the topic as he looked to Souji, smiling widely as he pushed off the fence.

"A-ah..." Souji stood there, just a little flushed as the other walked away to check on the wounded, and he followed, forcing his face to cool down as he walked up to Rhoam and held out a hand to lift him up. "Next time, eh??"

"Rhoam, headshots don't normally get up, BUUUUUT I will let it slide because it's his Majesty helping you up."

Ryoma teased the warrior from near the medic bay, looking over the people and medics as they worked. He nodded at the work done before snorting at the pile of 'the dead' who clearly thought they were hilarious as they lay on top of one another. "Well, let's hear the numbers with the injured and casualties. Which squad came out on top when it comes to numbers?"

"Thank you kind words. As for why I started so late, I didn't want them to overthink their roles. And the groups currently live in the same compounds. Thank you again for letting me use the old servant villages. It took a bit of fixing, but the boys now have their three areas and the commons area. They were a bit confused about it when I said they would be staying together, but it's the best way for them to form bonds."

Ryoma rambled slightly about the off-field strategy he used to help the 'boys', as he called them, work together. He continued to ramble about how the three groups rotated between food duty, cleaning duty, and rest duty. It was similar to how they set up their battle as well. He could have continued, but paused as he heard a drum sound off and watched as Nathan's team —the defenders —suddenly changed formation without a single word, forming a wedge and soon piercing through to Rhoam. If the Staff Saregeant fell, the team lost as per the rules. There was silence before laughter erupted from both sides. Rhoam was trying to seem upset, but as his squad separated, he had the paint in the lower center of his face, and it almost looked like lipstick.

But the drums sounded, and they both turned toward the field, seeing Nathan's group change formation with impressive speed and precision, and like that, the battle was ended, both sides erupting into laughter.

"Ah... no... Father said it would breed betrayal among the soldiers... but as you have seen... they are more loyal than ever... " He sighed softly. "Then again... they are not dealing with my father as their king... They have you."

"So it's no wonder they are so loyal!"

Ryoma changed the topic as he looked to Souji, smiling widely as he pushed off the fence.

"Ehehehe, no, not really. You just kinda appeared, nodded your head at me, and then hyperfocused on the men. I was worried I had upset you or something." He said with soft, nervous chuckles.

"Thank you kind words. As for why I started so late, I didn't want them to overthink their roles. And the groups currently live in the same compounds. Thank you again for letting me use the old servant villages. It took a bit of fixing, but the boys now have their three areas and the commons area. They were a bit confused about it when I said they would be staying together, but it's the best way for them to form bonds."

Ryoma rambled slightly about the off-field strategy he used to help the 'boys', as he called them, work together. He continued to ramble about how the three groups rotated between food duty, cleaning duty, and rest duty. It was similar to how they set up their battle as well. He could have continued, but paused as he heard a drum sound off and watched as Nathan's team —the defenders —suddenly changed formation without a single word, forming a wedge and soon piercing through to Rhoam. If the Staff Saregeant fell, the team lost as per the rules. There was silence before laughter erupted from both sides. Rhoam was trying to seem upset, but as his squad separated, he had the paint in the lower center of his face, and it almost looked like lipstick.

"Seven to fifteen the battle is won... I've been running battles in my head and Logan waves the flag in seven to fifteen." He was still scouring the battlefield until he blinked, as if realizing what the other said.

"Ehehehe, no, not really. You just kinda appeared, nodded your head at me, and then hyperfocused on the men. I was worried I had upset you or something." He said with soft, nervous chuckles.

Another moment of thinking...

@peacemaking-gunslinger

Now this was interesting....

Perched next to Ryoma, he watched the training with interest, taking in how they worked and the tactics as a whole. He had to admit... it was a smart strategy, and perfect for the small regiments he had sectioned off.

"Ah... Is that... bad? I mean... I wanted to let you have them with you in your little... chamber..."

"Oh... like companions..." so the soil would give them a place to thrive outside the garden. The pots had a feeling of the earth as well, and the soil felt lovely. He looked up, and gave a smile.

O-oh... ok, he had just been confused. Ryoma was worried he had offended the Fae... and while the Scientists before him wouldn't have cared, he did. He was fairly certain he had been able to gather more information with kindness than any scientist had with... their methods...

"Ahahah, I am glad that I didn't do something wrong. I was worried I offended you with the pots... cuz they are containers... but ok. And if any get too big for their pots, we can move them to the Organic garden so they can have more room. As for the soil, I am sorry if there are some chemicals in it... It's meant to help stabilize their growth in the beginning. I tried to order the one with the fewest additives."

Happily, he placed the seeds into the soil, and started to wave his hands... but then blinked. Again, he waved his fingers, and nothing happened. What was--

Ryoma had calmed his mind a bit before worry took over as he noticed the other seemed to wilt after he wiggled his fingers... was he trying to make them grow? He was gonna assume and hope he wasn't being racist... speciesist? He didn't know, but he had to do something.

He knelt down and tilted his head to look at the Fae, looking slightly up now from how he tilted his head.

"Ah... Is that... bad? I mean... I wanted to let you have them with you in your little... chamber..."

"Oh... like companions..." so the soil would give them a place to thrive outside the garden. The pots had a feeling of the earth as well, and the soil felt lovely. He looked up, and gave a smile.

O-oh... ok, he had just been confused. Ryoma was worried he had offended the Fae... and while the Scientists before him wouldn't have cared, he did. He was fairly certain he had been able to gather more information with kindness than any scientist had with... their methods...

"Ahahah, I am glad that I didn't do something wrong. I was worried I offended you with the pots... cuz they are containers... but ok. And if any get too big for their pots, we can move them to the Organic garden so they can have more room. As for the soil, I am sorry if there are some chemicals in it... It's meant to help stabilize their growth in the beginning. I tried to order the one with the fewest additives."

@peacemaking-gunslinger

The imprisoned fae tilted their head, soft chiming heard as he saw the pots and the seeds. "You are... wanting me to put them in the pots? Not in the garden?"

"Ah... Is that... bad? I mean... I wanted to let you have them with you in your little... chamber..."

Ryoma let out a loud, happy laugh as he clapped both Nathan and Timothy on the shoulders and nodded.

"Good, good! We have the first two of a team set up. We want teams of 15 men and 5 medics, with at least a few drummers sprinkled among you. Each team will have at least 3 drummers that are part of their team, but I need to be able to have all the Drummers know the same cues so that everyone understands the beat."

Ryoma looked to the rest of the men, eyes shining as he chuckled a bit.

"Now I picked Nathan... I will let the rest of you pick the other two Staff Sergeants. After all, you will be fighting by each other's side, so I want you to trust each other, be it the head or the tail of the dragon."

Ryoma stood to the side, pride on his face as he watched his group figure out the leaders. No one picked themselves, and that was good; that meant ego didn't blind them to their faults. No one was perfect, no battle went perfectly to plan. That was why you had to trust everyone around you... one brick doesn't make a wall... it only holds when several are placed together. "Ok, so Nathan, Rhoam, and Liam. These are the three Staff Sergeants."

He said their names without even asking, having remembered from earlier when they spoke. He dug into one of his pockets before pulling out three Staff Sergeant insignias and handing one to each of them.

"Of course they are for you, Cherrii~! I had to bring back something other than sweets... I thought this might be simple yet elegant enough for you to be able to wear during work if you wanted to."

Ryoma knew the other was just shocked as he pulled back, chuckling softly as he pulled the hairpins out of the box, then blinked and smiled widely as he gently took them and looked at Souji again.

Ryoma chuckled softly before kissing Souji's forehead softly before holding him closer, one hand playing with pitch colored hair, the other rubbing small circles on the pale skin of Souji's lower back.

He loved Ryoma's sleepy Tosa-ben.

"Haaaa? Partols? Okii... patrols are normally aaaaa-"

He chuckled a bit as he patted the other's shoulder firmly, amused at the confusion he had caused. They may not understand, but Ryoma did have a method to his madness. Now that was one of the leaders... he had to scope out a few more, but first.

"Timmothy, would you like to be Nathan's core drummer? With your 'heavy hands, ' your drum beats could be heard over the entire field."

Said drummer jumped and looked around before pointing back at himself, before looking at Nathan and then back to the Prince's Consort. "I-I mean, if Nate, I mean Staff Sergeant Nathan, would allow me, then I would be honored to do so."

Several of the men were looking around and a few back at Souji, who shook his head and directed them back to Ryoma. Something was happening between them and while they were still unsure of how far it would go and just what would happen.

Nathan smiled and nodded. "No one I'd want more, Tim..." he assured. "I've heard your drumming, they'll hear you across the town," he grinned, which caused a few of the other men to chuckle.

The confused air was lightening, and Souji's own aura started to soften. He saw it coming together, and Ryoma's unorthodox methods were starting to make sense. Logan would have a troop of elites, but Ryoma would have a band of brothers...

Ryoma let out a loud, happy laugh as he clapped both Nathan and Timothy on the shoulders and nodded.

"Good, good! We have the first two of a team set up. We want teams of 15 men and 5 medics, with at least a few drummers sprinkled among you. Each team will have at least 3 drummers that are part of their team, but I need to be able to have all the Drummers know the same cues so that everyone understands the beat."

Ryoma looked to the rest of the men, eyes shining as he chuckled a bit.

"Now I picked Nathan... I will let the rest of you pick the other two Staff Sergeants. After all, you will be fighting by each other's side, so I want you to trust each other, be it the head or the tail of the dragon."