Trying Empathy (Part 1)

“Slave bracelets.”

Jing’s cup stilled at her lips.

“...My, you don’t waste any time.”

Nikiru smiled with pensive amusement, scanning the tearoom as her hand left the gems slid across the table. There was no concern of being overheard, the scholars and the bureaucrats were too busy tutting over temperatures for that, but that didn’t mean they weren’t going to draw attention for other reasons.

Jing leant forward, those ‘other reasons’ pressing together as she pinched one of the sapphires between her fingers, holding it up to the lamplight.

“Well, best to get business out of the way first,” Nikiru offered, feeling unseen rings tighten as she shifted in her seat, “Yue cut them for me from a larger sympathy. I’d like them embedded, ring and wrist.”

“I thought I recognized this kind of cut,” She touched it to painted lips, becoming intimate with the etchings, “Hmm. Sympathy? A curious gift for your girlfriend.”

“They’re for me.”

“My my, and here I thought you did everything for her,” Jing smiled, earning a couple of admirers from a far-off table, “How selfish, Nik.”

Nikiru gave a conspiratorial huff of amusement, eyebrows acceding the point as she breathed her own tea.

“Well,” Her mercantile friend offered, sweeping up the rest to stow in a pocket, “I still have your measurements from previous rings, so I’ll just pass these on to my associates...you could always just go yourself though, y’know? I’m flattered to still be the go-between but at this point it feels like you’ve got a hang of the local ‘scene’, so to speak.”

Nikiru didn’t need to see Jing’s catjade eyes to know what kind of glint they held now, she remembered it well enough from the first time she gave her a tour of the local leather and chain boutiques in the city; Nikiru’s younger cheeks blushing at the exposed underbelly of a noblity she thought so different from herself.

Of course, they still were. As inspirational as she’d found those forays into the more clandestine, exotic areas of the captial, there was nothing there which Nikiru found commonality with. Everyone trying in their own desperate way to find some scrap of sincerity in themselves. And Jing, good friend though she was, open-minded though she proved to be, was still surprisingly limited in her understanding of intimacy. Give and take. Whip or whipped. Relations as maths.

“You are invaluable.”

A compliment so sincere that it was a provocation; so much so Nikiru felt guilty observing Jing’s bland acceptance of it, a lifetime of praise enuring her friend against truly believing those words. It was a limit Nikiru knew she alone couldn’t break; as far as Jing was concerned they were too much alike for her to believe it- just a pair of lost souls searching for that special connection through special means. The bracelets she asked for were not just a choice of style, they were a statement of how Yi Lin and her related to each other. Top to bottom. Dom to sub.

This was something to be corrected. But though she considered herself to have a clever tongue, there was no way to articulate it. She couldn’t even articulate it to herself; language made too small a frame to fit what she and Yi Lin were within it.

The best she could do, then, was show Jing the frame.

Assured of the angle they were sat at, she nudged a bare foot it against her friend’s ankle; an accident with purpose.

Jing took it as conspiracy, smile turning a little more savage as she played along. Too easy.

“You know...Yi Lin’s been making quite a bit of grist lately,” Jing transitioned, “Nothing too out there, but, well, she’s getting a reputation for being charming.”

“She’s a very charming person.” Nikiru agreed, toe-ring travelling up Jing’s calf.

“Mmm. So I hear. Not too worried someone will catch her attention?”

Nikiru could see the interest there. She kept her touches light.

“Well. I think we have an understanding on that.”

A lie, but not untrue either.

“Interesting,” Jing allowed, raising her heel a little, “Sounds risky though. I mean, I know you’ve had to work overtime since the whole banquet incident…”

She rested her own foot atop Jing’s, letting it sweep down on its own.

“Yes, it’s been rather trying lately, I admit. But I believe I’ve a handle on it.Though the affair is still rather...open-ended.”

They enjoyed a silence for a few seconds, digesting each other. Considering the possibilities. Confident the invitation had been advanced enough, Nikiru withdrew first, returning foot to slipper. There was no rush; Jing was not one to appreciate a pursuit. She needed to come to them. And then she would see.

A server came to clear the bowls away, bringing some sweetbuns to share. They took a moment enjoying the textures and the mid-afternoon balm; Nikiru flexing a little in her seat- Jing knowing what she was flexing against. She’d been there when they were fitted, afterall.

She’d understand why they were soon enough.

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And here we go! Nikiru and Jing are good friends, and she's sent quite a few items and things her way to be polished and attuned...Nikiru is rather big on equipment and items, if you've noticed. One day we may do a run-down.

No choices for this installment- I'll be making them as-is appropriate. However, some soon-to-come news may well satisfy that 'making choices' itch in a more elaborate manner...

Enjoy, speculate, comment, but above all...enjoy!