Trying to have a conversation with Etsu--one that didn't involve Reapers or the like, anyway--was always difficult, because she tended to only answer questions, making it tough to tell what she actually liked to talk about. Fortunately, Eld spent enough time around her to have a few ideas.

"We're already into fall, the leaves are turning colors..." he mused, mostly to get Etsu's attention and so his question wouldn't be so abrupt: "What's fall like in Cizok?"

Etsu was still chewing when Eld directed a question to her. She took a moment to chew her food down properly and swallowed, before even considering her response. Indeed, the chicken was a little chewy, but that was okay. It may have been tough, but it still tasted good. She'd just have to be mindful of when Eld was talking to her, to make sure to just eat the rice-curry sauce mixture, if she were going to take a bite of food at all.

"It is ve-ry much r-rike here," she replied, "The r-reaves ar-rr turn red and brown and gor-rd, but there are many more of them-- and some do not turn cor-ror at ar-rr, but they stir-rr drop many r-reaves."

That wasn't all, though. There was an enormous difference between Algeroth and Cizok, namely the collections of people. In Algeroth, if one were to take a path for so long, one would come across scattered homes. It was populated in a scattered sort of way outside of towns, which excepting a few, weren't all that huge. Cizok, however, had huge cities, scattered towns, and rarely did anyone live in-between.

"Where I come from, there are no oth-er peopr-re. Onr-ry famur-ry and me for ve-ry r-rong distance. It is ve-ry pretty."

"I'd really like to see it someday," Eld remarked wistfully. Hillcrest was a small town, but stationed along a major trade route it was plenty busy. He wondered what it would be like to live in a small house in the woods, with no one else around for many miles. It sounded peaceful...

He spent the next few minutes concentrating on eating, and let Etsu do the same, before he spoke again.

"I was wondering...I know curry is your favorite dish, and you like fish, but...is there anything you've tried recently that you like?" he asked. She had a preference for food from her homeland, naturally, but he was curious to see if there was anything new she'd had since arriving in Hillcrest she really liked.

Etsu was content to be in silence, but it was still a little awkward. She just ate quietly, saying nothing at all until Eld spoke to her first--and it was just the same as it always seemed to be. However, she couldn't shake the awkwardness of her feelings. Eld had deceived her and really made her feel horrible. How was she supposed to talk to him after that?

And how was she supposed to mix this with it, the meal he made specifically to suit her tastes? Was she supposed to be outwardly kind to him in thanks . . . or what?

But nonetheless, Etsu swallowed her last bite, and thought for a moment. Were there any other dishes she'd eaten here in Hillcrest that were better than what she ate at home? No--there weren't too many. She was somewhat spoiled by the food from home, and preferred it over all else. But there were a few things that stuck out. Two in particular:

"Ice c-ream," Etsu replied with a nod, "And choco-r-rate."

"You like sweets, huh? Well, that's okay, so long as you don't have them too often." Though Etsu was active enough that she didn't need to worry too much, unlike how he used to be; until the bandits came, he only exercised enough to stay healthy--it wasn't until recently he'd really gotten into shape.

Again, he fell into silence for awhile after that; he needed to think of a question Etsu could respond to with more than a few word answers, on something she'd be interested in, but he couldn't think of anything that didn't involve their current predicament or Reapers in some way, and those were rarely a pleasant talk of conversation.

But he did think of something that only skirted the subject: "You know how you could sense what was going on earlier? Do you think...you might be getting your powers back?" In the short term, it wasn't a terrible subject, but if that was the case it meant Etsu's stay in Hillcrest would likely be over soon...

Truth be told, Etsu didn't eat sweets nearly as much as she would have liked. They weren't kept around in the Tsukimono house, apparently. They were in Mayako's house, though. That's where she first had them, in fact.

Etsu thought for a moment. It was a possibility--but one she highly doubted. It was likely that Eld experienced something similar to this after he lost his powers, after all, during which he might have thought he was getting them back, too. The situation was probably vastly different, or perhaps he didn't even notice, but . . .

"Iie," Etsu shook her head, "I ber-rieve it is what is r-reft coming out. I think it wir-rr go a-way soon, as r-rast of power."

Etsu was silent again, but only for a moment. It wasn't nearly as long of a silence as before--before she stood from the table.

"Thank you for dinner," Etsu remarked with a low bow, before standing up straight. The next bit was likely to be far from relevant to Eld's interests, but it was unlikely that he could convinced Etsu to act otherwise. "Good-night."

And with that, she turned towards the couches which comprised the living, with every intentions of laying down upon the longest of the couches, one that could easily sit about three people comfortably, and using it for a bed. It was easier than trying to get access to one of the clinic rooms, and the couches were probably more comfortable than the clinic beds, anyways.

"Oh..." Eld didn't know that could or would happen. Nothing like that happened to him, or if it did he didn't notice: despite (or maybe because of) the overwhelming strength of his Qi, his senses were quite weak with it.

But right after that, Etsu left the table, startling him a bit; he hadn't expected her to be so...abrupt. He hurriedly rushed to clean up the table before heading back out to the living room, and seeing that she was perched on the couch. Still, he was determined to keep trying to make it up to her, even if she still mad at him.

"Umm...Etsu?" he asked hesitantly; he'd thought things were going well, but her sudden leaving of the dinner table suggested otherwise. While he was more social than her by miles, he still wasn't very social compared to most people. And things between them were still kind of...awkward, even if they it was a kind of comfortable awkwardness, if that made sense.

"It was a pretty tense day, so...um...I was wondering if you'd like to have your shoulders massaged," he offered. Etsu was different from Sarah and Mayako; with either of those two, he'd probably have offered a full body massage to make up for it, but Etsu was a little more sensitive about things like close contact, and might be more put off than flattered, he figured. But she probably was a bit sore--he was himself, even. It was the first time in awhile either of them had a serious fight.

A backrub? She didn't know about that. Sleeping kind of sounded like a good idea, now that she used it as an excuse to adjourn from the dinner table. But . . .

"I . . ." Etsu started, but trailed off.

Truth be told, Etsu had rarely gotten backrubs or body massages or anything like that from Eld, even during the brief period in which they officially dated. Unlike Sarah and Mayako, she didn't really consider them all that important. Sure, they might help after a long day, but so could a nice mug of hot cocoa and a good man to cuddle with. In any case, apparently things happened when Eld gave massages. Things Etsu wasn't too comfortable with. Really, she didn't want to know what those things were; all she knew was that they were embarrassing things that no one wanted to own up to. Etsu much preferred to remain ignorant to those sorts of things.

And believe it or not, she wasn't stupid. Watching, observing, and interpreting were, in actuality, Etsu's strongest points . . .

But it was only a backrub, though. That couldn't hurt anything, could it?

And so, without a word, Etsu nodded her head, and turned to sit upon one end of the couch with her back facing the middle cushion, for easier access for Eld.

Eld held his breath for a few moments while he awaited Etsu's answer. While his nerves regarding battle had gotten much better than they started out, with him having to forcibly suppress his fear in order to fight, his nerves with girls hadn't improved much. In a way, they may have gotten worse: while he was more comfortable in day-to-day situations, he was much more aware than he used to be about just how what he said and did could affect a girl--not enough to avoid screwing up, clearly, but enough to be nervous about dealing with serious matters.

Fortunately, Etsu assented, for which he was very grateful; even if she still ended up sleeping separately from him tonight, if he could make it up to her at least a little bit, it would be worth it.

Silently, he sat down on his knees behind her and began to work. Contrary to...well, past experiences, he didn't intend for anything to happen when he did massages; Etsu probably hadn't seen that it was something he used to practice at the clinic, for medical purposes. She wouldn't find his hands straying or doing anything else out of the ordinary; just loosening her tense muscles.

And tense she was. Very, very tense. Etsu didn't get back rubs or anything like that much at all. It wasn't so much that she didn't take care of herself, either. She did. It was very clear, in fact. Excepting a few sweets, she liked to maintain a particular diet. Fish was her favorite food, which was amongst the few meats that one could eat every single day and rarely ever have to worry about health consequences.

Unconsciously, she preferred a diet that kept her thin and healthy, which was something of a cultural aspect which she was born into. Those sorts of diets were fairly common in Cizok. And last but not least, she exercised regularly. She didn't have a spartan regiment or anything, but she practiced with spears and made sure her joints were functioning well and all the like.

Which was something Eld would notice, when he started to rub her back. Her back had a lot of kinks and knots in it, yes, but a lot of her bones were locked up and could use a good cracking to loosen them up. Usually, that was something reserved for stretches, but she hadn't gotten the opportunity to exercise much recently. And really, it hadn't crossed her mind that she might need it.

Nonetheless, over time, she'd start to relax noticeably. She'd loosen up in her sleep; that wasn't a big concern. In fact, that would pail in comparison to the results of cracking her back for her. That . . . that was really all she needed to relax. It felt good instantly if done properly, and was guaranteed to make her feel good about the bones in her back over the next week.

In fact, were Eld to specifically crack her back for her, he'd likely notice that she'd actually verbally react to it, with very soft sighs of relief and a very soft moan of relief (and pleasure, as it did, after all, feel good to have one's joints cracked!) if he managed to get a good one on her neck or the middle of her back.

Eld was always a bit surprised when he got to feel Etsu's body, which wasn't often. Despite her petite stature, she was actually in very good shape, and unlike Sarah she took good care of her joints and muscles...a regular massage would feel nice, but wasn't going to do as much good as he imagined.

So he started to work a little more firmly; more than anything, the biggest issue was with some of her bones, which were locked up in spots. Nothing serious, but she'd definitely feel better (and avoid being too sore the next day) if they were cracked, and the joints in her back she'd never be able to do herself, so he needed to.

Not that he thought it was all that big of a deal, as it wasn't anything he hadn't done a hundred times before, but Etsu's reaction was...well, it reminded him very much of Sarah's reactions to foot massages. He tried not to think much of it, but his imagination couldn't help but toy with what other circumstances she might make such sounds in...

Of course, it wasn't a sexual moan or anything like that! There were just certain parts of her body that were hard to crack, and it felt good to have them cracked for her. It was much like a moan of relief and pleasure that someone let out when they had eaten a delicious and filling meal, when a delicious and filling meal was exactly what they wanted and needed at the time. Sarah's reactions to a good footrub may have been a little sexual, but Etsu's reactions to getting her back cracked were just innocent little barely audible moans.

Even if it was slight, any sort of chiropractic treatment just felt good for her. Physically, the girl was in great shape-- but that was sort of required of her, and instilled over time, at her own volition. Fighting a current to hunt fish with a spear day in and day out could only become bearable if her body was well taken care of.

Etsu leaned forward a bit, pulling away from Eld-- though not rudely, and pushed her shoulderblades back as she stretched her back out. That really did the trick.

She then turned only a bit to look back at him, albeit with her profile facing him. She bowed her head slightly and whispered, "Arigatou gozaimasu."

But she still intended on sleeping out in the living room tonight.

"You're welcome..." Eld was glad that she seemed to enjoy it, but...well, even if she seemed to be in a better mood, something told him she wasn't going to be returning to his room tonight. Not with him at least.

I guess what I did isn't something that can be forgotten so quickly, he thought sadly. Still, there was one last thing he had to do...it was actually something he tried shortly after she started staying here, but failed with--she hadn't been comfortable enough with her surroundings then.

"I understand," he said, though he left it up to her to interpret exactly what he understood. He stretched and yawned. "I'll sleep out here tonight. You can take my room, alright?"

He went over to the nearby closet and began to gather blankets; it was a bit earlier than he was used to, but with all that had happened today he was exhausted enough to go to sleep right now.

This prompted Etsu to turn around completely. She still sat on the couch, now facing the opposite direction as before, focusing upon Eld. Why was he doing that? His bed was perfectly comfortable. He could have easily gone in and slept there. He didn't need to be chivalrous right now, and offer his bed out to her like that.

But was he even going to take no for an answer? Etsu had it in her right mind to protest and declare that the couch was very comfortable, and worth sleeping upon just as much as his bed, but then he'd probably just say something like . . . something like well, that's why I'm going to sleep on it! It was kind of an unnerving thought, even. Oh well. It was no big loss. It was just a bed.

Quietly, Etsu nodded, before getting up from the couch. Slowly, she'd proceed towards Eld's room, whispering only a quiet "good night" before heading down the hall, to his room, and closing the door behind her.

"Good night," Eld whispered in reply, though perhaps too late for her to hear. Once she was in his room, he let out a small sigh, the forced smile he'd been wearing during that last exchange falling off of his face.

There was a pit in his stomach that wasn't going away, even though Etsu seemed less upset with him than he'd started out. But there wasn't anything he could do about it now; or rather, he'd done all he could. Even in this kind of situation, he didn't like feeling helpless...

Ugh, when Mother and Father see me out here, they're going to tease me about fighting with her, he thought morosely.

But he had more important concerns weighing on his mind. He needed to figure out a way to get the villagers--and if he could, the merchants in Galaens--back to normal. And there was no telling how long before that group figured out they had a fake. He did tell the one that he was probably the only one who could use it...perhaps that would make them assume they had the right one, and just couldn't use it.

Pulling the blankets onto himself, he curled up to get warm. The couch was fairly comfy, but nothing ever beat sleeping in your own bed, especially with someone who you loved next to or on top of you...

He sighed again, but despite everything weighing on his mind, he was very tired, and soon fell fast asleep...