Naoki's Estate: Naoki's Room

A pair of hands rest themselves on Saxi's shoulder. This would be one of Saxi's first diplomatic missions, and a rather important one. So important, the queen of the Pchelinaya has made the long journey to ensure the success of this mission.

"Saxi, you will injure yourself if you continue this way." This sorcery Queen Qathreen had observed before. She considers herself well-versed in the making of the larger world. "I have lost good people to the likes of this sorcery. The large people call these windows. They provide optical information about what's on the other side. I suspect it is solid to keep out unwanted company and protect the interior from weather."

"This window will not be damaged or cracked by beings our size." The queen buzzes up to inspect the window. She peers inside. "This room does not seem to be the main entrance." The bedroom of the Pchelinaya did not differ so much from those of the large people. It has a bed, somewhere to store your items and even a way to light the room. She doubts that this bedroom is as sticky from the honey though. She has gone to visit these large beings a few times in her lifespan, the biggest trouble is alerting them of her presence. These things called doors have proved to be quite troublesome when your knocks go unanswered. Some doors have the luxuries of a knocker, but those have gotten quite heavy to lift. Knocking on doors is much easier in the hive.

"I suspect this house must have a main door. I say we search for that but the problem comes in whether the being inside will hear our knocks. I think it would be uncouth of us to enter a house without being invited in."

The queen out of all the bee fae is the most to resemble the insect. Her eye round black orbs without the presence of whites, she dresses in a regal style ballgown that covers a bulbous abdomen sporting six fuzzy legs. A crown sits on her head, she may be small but she is still a ruler.

Lady Naoki, who was — until a moment ago, enjoying a precious moment of downtime, arrives at the window half covered in a negligee. A bolt of fire flickers in her hand, ready to repel a would-be assassin or send some little rapscallion packing with a third-degree burn for his impertinence.

But what she sees in the window gives her pause. It's two… bees? One is visibly armed, but the sword is only a few inches long, and it doesn't seem as though they've figured out the window. Naoki blinks.

Standing up a bit straighter, Lady Naoki adjusts the hair from her eyes and stands up a bit straighter, regarding her… visitors?

“Can I help you?” she asks, looking between the pair of them. She doesn’t move as if to open the window, but the fire has left her hand as she crosses her arms over her chest.

Saxi placed her fuzzy fist over her thorax and bowed.

"Pleaaaasure." Her common speech still had an insectoid trill, like an accent she couldn't quite get rid of. She so wished she had the queen's beelingual talent. But then again maybe simply needed more practice.

The gigantic woman seemed to have a bit of big people magic prowess. Though, at the very least she wasn't particularly... well-armored.

It occurred to her that the human queen must have guards around, so Saxi kept her peripheral awareness up. Then again, the giant's room seemed strangely sparse, silent. Surely swarms of such massive creatures would make quite a buzz, would they not? The room would also be a lot mustier. But instead it smelled devoid of activity.

This was all very odd. Saxi's antennae wiggled nervously towards the back of her head, though she tried to keep them under control. Big people might consider it rude to sniff their abodes so brazenly, but they also knew nothing of antenna, so maybe the human queen would just think it was breezy outside.

The queen will buzz herself in and take a delicate seat on the table. She has folded her legs underneath herself and allowed the dress to fan out around her.

"I do not require any refreshments, thank you for your generosity. I once again humbly apologize for our intrusion." She bows her head to Ladi Naoki and gestures for Saxi to follow suit. "Our hive is located in south southwest region of these lands. To garner our longevity, I find it is best to acquaint ourselves with others in this land. We are a peaceful species. I should let my diplomat Saxi speak with you more. Depending on the outcome today, she will be how you remain in contact. I rarely venture out of the hive these days." Queen Qathreen finishes her introduction and allows Saxi to begin her work. She will help Saxi if she ever feels stuck, but this will ultimately be her mission to succeed.

Queen Qathreen has great hope and pride for Saxi. All she will do now is watch the product of her teachings.

Once her guests are inside, Lady Naoki shuts the window but doesn’t lock it. (There are flies and things, you know.) And once her guests are settled, Naoki seats herself in turn, in a chair next to the table.

Lady Naoki listens politely, ears forward, hands folded, as Queen Qathreen introduces her people and explains their mission. This is far from Naoki’s first diplomatic meeting, so she nods and murmurs assent as appropriate, mostly out of habit.

Then the diplomat Saxi begins to speak. Her command of the common tongue isn’t as strong, but admirable, considering, and quite cute, besides. Naoki listens as Saxi details her ideas. She’s had these in mind for a while, it’s clear.

After she’s finished speaking, Naoki nods. “Certainly. All of that sounds quite doable, I’m sure we can come to an agreement on all those points.”

Naoki briefly glances over the second scroll before standing and crossing over to her nightstand. “It’s admirable you would speak of rights,” she says, taking the water pitcher back to the table. For lack of something better, she pulls a wine glass from a cabinet and pours Saxi a wine glass of water.

It’s a bit tall for Saxi, so Naoki places it adjacent to a ledger that should provide the missing inches. Lady Naoki offers with this an apology and states that she’ll have more fitting amenities for their next visit before returning to her seat, and to business.

“Before you knocked on my window, the most I knew of your people were a few reports of largish bees to the south. You could have, rather easily, kept your distance and your peace. But you’ve gone out of your way not just to seek me out in pursuit of friendly relations, but to draft up this document…”

Naoki would, if permitted, take the scroll and look over it now in more detail.

“This document,” she continues, squinting slightly to read the writing, “Bandying around concepts like ‘slavery’ and ‘bodily autonomy.’”

Lady Naoki is quiet for a few moments more as she reads the document.

“-- Which is very much overkill,” she eventually declares. “You could have approached, introduced yourself, and said ‘We desire friendly relations, if you leave the wildflowers alone we’ll occasionally provide you with honey and mead,’ and that would have been sufficient to ensure that my people would never bother yours.”

“What you have here…” Returning the scroll to the table, Naoki considers how which words to use.

“Documents like these,” she begins, “Are best suited for presenting to more complex decision-making bodies than a single individual like myself, or in situations where there has been some hostility in the past, where you need this level of specificity. I didn’t know who you were five minutes ago. In personal negotiations like these, it’s most important, first, to establish tone and rapport. You were right to first suggest a mutually beneficial arrangement,” Naoki continues. “But going right from that to asking me to agree not to enslave you comes across as a bit strange.”

“Not only that,” Naoki adds, gently, “But it leads me to think that you fear being enslaved. Regardless of if that’s true or not, it’s not what you want to convey in a negotiation like this one.”

“Pray forgive my words,” Naoki is quick to add, realizing that she’s lecturing a visiting emissary. “You’ve done very well, I like you, and all of this will work out,” she assures Saxi.

“It’s just that… Years ago, I was once a fledgling diplomat like yourself, and I made the very same misstep. I walked in with a scroll of my own, and lofty ideas of what the partnership between our nations should look like. It worked out in the end, but I felt foolish when the King suggested I stop talking and join them for a meal.” Thinking back to those times, Naoki chuckles, amused in her reminiscence.

“That’s the other important thing,” Lady Naoki adds. “People feel good when they eat and drink. If the intention is friendly relations, it has long been tradition to break bread. You mentioned honey and mead? It might be prudent to bring some of each with you if you ever have need to meet a leader like this again. It could serve triple duty: as a sample of your product, to get them wanting more, as a gift to establish rapport, and as something for them to eat, so they associate the good feeling of eating with you.”

“And I’m not merely suggesting that because I enjoy honey and mead,” Naoki further adds, smirking at her new bee-friends.

“But before we get to the details, allow me to ask this: As I mentioned, you could have left well enough alone, but you’ve clearly gone to some lengths to approach me with this proposal. Why?”

“Why do you believe this is worth doing?” A deeply personal question for Saxi, as it seems this whole arrangement is born of her passion.

Listening, ears forward, Naoki nods, slowly.

“You think diplomacy and peaceful relations with us tall folk the best way to protect your hive.” This, Naoki can relate to. She was digging for a deeper reason, perhaps some event that inspired Saxi to feel the way she does, but perhaps another time.

In the meantime, Naoki is being offered a sword. Taking the miniature blade between thumb and forefinger, she’s careful not to drop it as she holds it up for a better look.

“A beautiful weapon,” Naoki eventually says, turning it around in her hand. There’s something peculiar about it, but she doesn’t have her glasses close at hand.

“Ah.” A thought occurs to her. “Do you know what may be fitting?”

Gingerly, Lady Naoki returns Saxi’s sword before standing, gesturing for her guests to wait a moment. Crossing over to a cabinet, Naoki opens a drawer and begins to rummage. It’s a fairly impressive cabinet, intricately carved and inlaid with gold leaf. Having been brought her from her quarters aboard The Depravity, it should contain…

“Aha!” Having found what she was looking for, Naoki produces a quill. Returning to the table, she places it down before Saxi.

“It’s a quill,” she explains. “Taken from an owl or somesuch by the look of it, but enchanted. Watch.”

Reaching out, Naoki touches her hand to the quill where it sits on the table. The quill reacts, sparkling slightly as it rises into the air, assuming a writing posture. At some unseen signal from her, it moves through the air of its own accord, tracing letters in the air. If one were to follow, it’s Naoki’s signature, complete with a few of her lesser-known ancillary honors. After it’s done, Naoki plucks it from the air and returns it to the table, where it lies inanimate.

“I’m glad it still works,” Naoki says. “It takes a bit of practice, but by thinking about the words, the quill will write them. For you,” she offers.