It took him a long moment to realize that something was off, and a little bit more to recognize what it was. "They ain't fightin'...."
"What was that, boy?" his father grumbled.
"Usually they'd at least be glarin' at each other. Now, they're just...."
"Moving as if they were soldiers trained to march to their commander...."
"'Xactly. Makes me kinda wonder what's goin' on 'round here. And what they're thinkin' of right now."
"That neither one of them will get anywhere if they don't stop fighting," the official overseeing the return of the slaves told him.
"Eh?"
"It's really quite simple. They both desire to serve you, but their rivalry was getting in the way of that. If they are to do what you want them to, which would raise their status, then they have to at least tolerate each other. A simple idea, really."
"Oh," Ranma grunted, sensing that there was a barb hidden somewhere in those words, but not wanting to search for it, he left it alone. Instead, he merely looked over the official, and wondered how he'd gotten this one for his 'case'. A good many men went into working with slaves, especially eunuchs, but there weren't quite the same number of women working in the field, and not a lot of them would be wearing business suits complete with skirt, hose and heels.
Not that he was particularly bothered by any of that. "So.... They ain't 'bout to jump ta bash each other?"
"Pretty much. We had to focus on the ninja's duty to serve her Master, namely you, and make it so that they would realize that it would be detrimental for them to be focused on trying to cause each other bodily harm instead of their duties."
"It's doin' that good?"
"Well, they aren't about to break out into a musical number at a moment's notice," she dryly commented.
"Oh."
"Still, you're going to have to keep an eye on them."
"I thought that this was going to help them get a handle on stayin' in control."
"Yes, but training in one sort of direction may cause problems in another."
"Ah, I see," the pigtailed boy murmured, recognizing the difficulties in keeping training balanced. Sure, he only knew it in terms regarding the Art, but that was enough for him. As it was, he was pleased that they seemed to want to cooperate, for the time being, at least. He just hoped that the dedication would work out, as they seemed to like how this was coming along for them too. In fact, he could swear that he could already see them looking to act as one in something, given the chance.
He just had to figure out where that odd, and rather ominous, chill was coming from.
Frowning slightly in confusion, he tried to take in the situation, while:
(Posted Sun, 18 Mar 2007 05:22)
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