unknownrival | [RL - Tea with Vanessa after lunch.]

"Well, let's see here..." she trailed, tapping a finger to her chin and thinking. "You're a monk who was wrangled into stealing other people's shit in order to save one of your friends. You're self-aware of your orientation at an age where many people are not. You blush and stammer at most anything I've ever had to say to you. And, even after I physically abused you, you still said I could come stay in your temple for a few days if I needed it. You're a good kid."

Issei raised an eyebrow at her. "Aside from the blushing and stammering thing, I don't even know how most of those are supposed to be considered cute. I won't argue with being a 'good kid', although I think most anyone would have done what I did in order to save a friend."

"It's possible that my idea of cute is different from other people's ideas of cute, now isn't it?" she asked, leaning back and finishing off her tea. She sat still a moment, unsure of where to head the conversation now. "When did you realise you were gay anyway?"

He'd actually been asked this question earlier today, which made it easier to answer. "Technically, I did like one woman once. Briefly. That probably doesn't count enough, though."

Issei shrugged. "I've always interacted more with males than females, even at school. I had a few suspicions in middle school that I wasn't exactly typical in that regard, and confirmed it in high school by falling for my best friend."

She lifted an eyebrow at that. "Did you ever have any conflicting feelings on the matter?" She knew she had, had when she starting obsessing over Kashika, even when she took her home because Zara had won her as a raffle prize and gave her to Vanessa to take home for the night, even when Miss Kyle had to walk her through all the steps...she'd had conflicting feelings on the whole thing ever then. After she'd tried to get Kashika to run to the police and tell them everything since she couldn't do it herself without shocks...

He smiled and shook his head. "I never felt any pressure from my family to actually like girls, so no." He chuckled, remembering another of the strange facts about his religion. "Besides, we're Japanese Buddhist monks. Chigo used to be a fine upstanding tradition, much more than being involved with a woman was. I was lucky in this regard, then."

She lifted another eyebrow at that, pondering his words as he spoke. "You're a lucky bloke, then," she responded, thinking of how she'd cut ties with her family before they could make a huge, dramatic scene about it and disown her completely. "Chigo?"

"Older monks having romantic relationships with younger monks," Issei clarified. "Seen being beneficial to everyone involved. Religious history gets stranger the further you go back."

"How...young were these monks?" she asked, trying to suppress her disbelief at a religion that declared that to be an okay thing to partake in. If it was like the Greeks, underage boys being used by older men who had wives and children, she would be enraged beyond belief. As much as she was for people having sex whenever they were ready, the idea of an underage person of any sex being nearly forced into a sexual relationship—which was what she took the "romantic" part as, an assumption, but she thought it probably hit the mark—with an older person who was more than capable of manipulating someone whose brain wasn't fully formed yet...well. It left her quite predatory and unhappy.

"Late teenagerhood. The youngest monks weren't part of such relationships." Issei was just going by what he'd read, anyway. "Anyway, the practice was abolished before the 1800s. Ancient religions, by today's standards, can have kind of strange beliefs. It's not something I look into much."

Vanessa put the cup back in her hands so she'd have something to grasp. That was...well. She'd have to learn more first before she could just sit there and indulge her own sort of moral high ground. "And the older monks, how old were they?"

This was really starting to sound Greek to her.

"...I don't know. It varied?" Issei offered. "It's not a practice I advocate bringing back, I was just saying that as far as me not being interested in women goes, it's only recently that for monks that would be viewed as a bad thing."

It. VARIED. she thought in her mind, taking in a deep breath of air. No reason to get uppity about other people's sexual desires, was it? No. This wasn't right. This Chigo wasn't beneficial in the least. Harmful to the mind of a teenager, someone whose brain hadn't fully formed yet. At least they weren't young boys, not...

The thought of it led her to grip the cup so hard that it shattered in her hand, one brilliantly sharp part of it slicing right into her palm. She grimaced at the pain but did nothing about the blood coming out, just lifted the cup. "Sorry about that. I just...was shocked."

"V-Vanessa?!" Issei squeaked, jumping in his seat. "You're bleeding! Hold on, I'll go get you some bandages!"

And with that, he raced out of the room. A guest was hurt, there was no time to waste!

"So I am," she murmured before he could run out of the room, holding her hand over the table so the blood wouldn't get on the floor or get on her clothes. She was still shaking from what was probably a mixture of anger, confusion, and even disgust. It wasn't something she felt often unless a certain owner of a certain paper was around. Or when people like Mike tried to destroy Shillers from the inside out. No, it was a feeling she'd mostly lost a long time ago after about halfway through her first month with the company. A wonderful, frightening experience she wouldn't trade for the world.

So she just sat there, blooding pooling beneath her hand.

A little while later Issei returned with a disinfectant and some bandages. "This might sting a little," he warned her before spraying the wound with disinfectant. As he started to treat her wounds, he commented, "I'm sorry for bringing it up. I don't endorse it at all."

She didn't even cringe at the sting. She was used to much worse pain than this, and so it had little effect on her at all. She let him spray and bandage her without a word, thinking over this Chigo thing and being completely and utterly disgusted by it. Religion was sure fucked up, which was the main reason she stayed away from it in the first place. And when it turned out all those priests were touching little boys during confession, well, she wasn't completely surprised but she was angry as hell. Fortunately she was out of her parents' house and in college by then so she didn't have to worry about getting into any fights over it.

"Sorry about that. I got a little too worked up," she remarked after a moment. "That's...it's good you don't endorse it, because I would probably just have to get up and leave if you did."

Issei sighed and shook his head. "If you go back any length in time in history, someone will have practices that are absolutely abhorrent to you. I try not to think about it too much, honestly." He paused, then added guiltily, "You're not going to get angry with me because I like someone who's twenty-eight, are you?"

Vanessa blinked, snapping to and his sudden honesty with her. She looked at him, clearly confused, but said nothing for the moment, just watched him bandage up her hand. There was a puddle of blood on the table, and yet she didn't feel faint in the least. Funny how that works out.

"Twenty-eight?" she asked, blinking twice. "No, I suppose not. You're of age now and can make your own decision. William's...fourteen years my senior, and Albert's about...twenty-six years older, I believe it is. He's old enough to be my father, at least."

Issei went to work wiping up the puddle, since eww, blood. He sighed in relief after hearing her words. "That's good. Nothing would have happened anyway, since he has as much interest in dating me as dating a skunk, but I would be unhappy if you thought that age gap was too much."

He probably wouldn't have let it affect him all that much - he liked him enough to put his life on the line for his welfare, after all - but it was good that she didn't think it was that bad.

"No, I definitely can't say anything about age gaps," she replied after a moment, turning her bandaged hand over and about as she inspected the job he'd done. She'd have to lay low, undoubtedly, until it was healed up fine enough. Otherwise people would assume it was William and she just couldn't have that anymore. He was under enough stress as it was...she'd be his lapdog until she'd wormed her way back into his trust enough and then the real damage could be done. "I've been with clients old enough to be my grandfather."

"Eww," he commented quietly. "I'm sorry about this, I had no intention of injuring you. Are you all right?"

"Not 'eww'," she corrected him gently, watching as he finished cleaning up her own blood. It was...interesting to watch, at least. She wondered who'd cleaned up her own after the post with Albert had happened. William? Probably. It wasn't as though that Tyrant ever did anything for anyone other than himself.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she replied, waving her hand dismissively. "It's only a flesh wound."

Issei's lips curled up a little at that despite himself. "If you say so. But please, let me know if I can get you anything. More tea, perhaps?"

"No thank you; I'm fine."

She looked at the spot where the blood had been before looking at the bandaging over her own palm. There were a few medium-sized blotches of red showing through, but she couldn't see what was underneath. Perhaps she'd call Franken and see if he could stitch it up for her...without the tests on her...sexual state, that is. If that was even possible for when the two of them met up.

"Sorry about that. I can replace the teacup."

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Stealing someone else's computer.

You fiend.

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