1/3rd Update

Just broke the 10,000 words mark. I'm about 6,667 words behind by the official reckoning, but considering how I've taken my five rest days already, I'm actually exactly on track, with five days of writing and twenty to go.

It's interesting seeing how the writing evolves as you go through. On my first day, I stopped and started and stumbled, making awkward turns of phrase just about every paragraph and being so used to my normal hummingbird computer habits that I stopped entirely too often to think. Now I'm just barreling through, clocking in at over 900 words an hour, and the turns of phrase are still weird, just a little less awkward and a little more 'textural'. If I didn't have to kick myself in the ass to get started after work, I wonder if I'd be able to try and shoot for a 3500-word day to put a little padding in.

I might try Sunday.

Men gazed at stars, men chatted in groups, men made introductions, men drank wine, men made funny little dances in the cold and sang poorly. There were a few servants, standing awkwardly in the boisterous warrior groups or chatting among themselves, but all in all it was mostly samurai lazing about. We passed by the braziers and the groups that soaked in their warmth called out cheers to Buichi, some even thrusting out groups of hands encircling the bottoms of alabaster drinking cups. To my surprise, Buichi had melted a little. He even took a proffered cup from each of the groups and downed the wine in it in a gulp, making three in all. He didn't stop to chat, simply saying “I've got a duty” or something like it as the Ginga men urged him to stay. As we got past the third set of braziers, I saw some body from out by the entrance heading towards us, having peeled off from another decently-sized group. It was for a few more moments before I realized that it was Mitsube. He was looking at Buichi and I, though I could tell that he was more interested in my charge than in me. I looked at Buichi, and took a bit of a start. He was actually smiling.
“The evening is good, Milord!” Mitsube cried out in his loud laughing voice.
Buichi was quieter, but I could hear the joy in him. “The evening is good, my friend.”
“What are you doing with this jar of vinegar, Kaneru? I'm surprised his vapors haven't made you as sour as him.” Mitsube patted us both on the shoulder as soon as we got within arm's reach.
“Not much. I had to go retrieve him after barreling over his lord.” I brushed the back of my head and tried to put on a jokingly embarrassed voice. Mitsube laughed, and Buichi even cocked an eyebrow and gave off an amused snort.
“Ah, so you got to speak with him? I left before he took the fief, and he was endlessly in the upper floors of the keep. I still haven't spoken with him, and I've been here longer than some of these Ginga fellows. And in any case,” he immediately switched over to Buichi, “you battle-ax, how have you been?”
Buichi nodded once. “The same as usual. Is your family well?”
“I think I heard reports that I'll have a nephew or niece here shortly, though Kimi is on the mainland and I won't see the little bastard for a few years at least. Everybody else is fine. How about old Kolsa? She get over that fever?”
Buichi had stiffened before the question, and it wasn't until he spoke that I realized that he knew it was coming up. “She did not.”
The atmosphere went out from the space between us. The cold, which had not been there in spirit, showed itself, and the brazier to our left now seemed out of place, a truly external source of warmth. The corner of Mitsube's mouth dropped and opened, but after a few awkward moments he tried to put on a wan smile and mostly succeeded. “I see. You doing alright?”
Buichi nodded again, and normality returned. “Yes. I do miss her, but my father sent Saori in her place. She serves me well, and honors her grandmother in doing so.”
Mitsube sighed, but kept the smile up. “You'll have to show me her grave one day.”
On that note, the conversation fell again. Mitsube shrugged and scratched his ear. “You're still probably not unpacked, Shitetsu. I'd probably better let you get Mr. Vinegar over here out to His Majesty so you can get done before the sun breaks.”