"Tan'bay!" Ananias called out after he had just spotted the prince of Chon'sin. Once he had caught up with him, Ananias took a moment to catch his breath and say, "You remember the whole reconsider-being-a-samurai thing?"

Tan'bay's eyes darted nervously and awkwardly to the side for a second before giving Ananias a small nod and saying, "Yes, of course I do." He folded his arms awkwardly and added, "How could I possibly forget my friend expressing his doubts over a title that I myself had so generously bestowed unto him?"

Ananias cringed at the prince's strong, insinuating words. At that very moment, he considered backing out on what he had been planning to do, but upon realizing how unbeneficial it would've been for him and how disrespectful it would've been to Tan'bay in the long run, Ananias took a deep breath, recomposed himself, strengthened his resolve, and slowly said, "Yeah, about that." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he averted his eyes away from Tan'bay's gaze and toward the ground. "I know this whole giving-me-the-title-of-samurai thing was important to you and all, but, I'm afraid I'm going to have to politely turn that position down. It's just that… spending time with you on this whole samurai thing, well, it's just made me realize how unfit I was for the whole thing, you know?"

Tan'bay slowly nodded as he attempted to bite his own tongue with limited success. "Yes, I suppose that was certainly a recurring problem about the whole ordeal," he said in a strangely high-pitched, squeaky voice.

Despite how strange Tan'bay was acting (Ananias simply assumed that this was just more of Tan'bay's usual dramatic mannerisms), Ananias continued on by saying, "So, as much as an honor as it was, I figured it wouldn't be very respectful of me to continue participating in these lessons with that type of attitude. It just… wouldn't be fair to either of us if we had kept going on in those conditions, you know?"

Tan'bay seemed to take particular exception to those last few words. "If you say so," he muttered after letting out a few unsettling chuckles.

Confused at Tan'bay's current attitude towards the whole thing, Ananias nervously darted his eyes from side to side before cautiously offering his hand out to the prince and asking, "So… no hard feelings, right?"

Much to his surprise, Tan'bay quickly slapped Ananias' hand away and said, through gritted teeth, "Oh, I take offense my friend, I take great offense from what you are doing to me right now!"

Ananias let out an exasperated sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Tan'bay…."

"Cease your tongue you ungrateful peasant!" Tan'bay spat. "I, the prince of Chon'sin, go out of his way to better your life, and this is the thanks you give me?! By returning the gold I have offered you and saying as politely as possible that you do not wish to have it?!"

Ananias considered Tan'bay's words for a moment before giving his friend an acknowledging nod and saying, "Well, yeah, I guess it could've made my life a little better, but," he shook his head, "I'm sorry man, but I don't feel like I need or want it, you know?"

Tan'bay let out a crazed laugh. "Don't need or want it he says!" He then pointed an accusing finger at the red clad man. "What do you take me for, a fool?!" he demanded, much to Ananias' surprise. "This position was everything you've ever wanted! And I was offering it to you on a silver platter! In fact, even better than a silver platter, because, one, it would've been a silver platter from me, the prince of Chon'sin, and two, it would've been a plate specifically offered from Chon'sin itself!"

Despite the sudden and surprising outburst, Ananias quickly regained whatever little composure he could muster and calmly asked, "Since when? Since when was this position everything I had ever wanted? And since when do you know what I want? I don't exactly remember telling anyone that, or, at least, not you."

"Oh, don't give me that!" Tan'bay cried. "I know your past, and I know exactly why you perform as many unrelated favors as you do! It's because of your misplaced feelings of loneliness!"

Ananias' jaw dropped upon hearing this particular accusation. "What?!"

Tan'bay pointed an accusing finger at the trickster. "Don't you dare 'what' me! Why else would you always fill that schedule of yours with all of those completely unrelated chores, favors, and errands that you run your body ragged over to complete?! You hope that if you perform enough of them, then you can make up for your shortcomings and 'truly become a part of the group'!" Tan'bay had put extra emphasis on that last part. "Despite the fact that no one feels that you AERN'T a part of whatever 'group' we're talking about, whether it be the group that went back in time or the Shepherds! So since I was worried for your well being and that fragile self-esteem of yours, out of the kindness of my own heart, and realizing that trying to convince you otherwise of your beliefs would've been a breath wasted, I had decided to bestow upon you an honor that very few men could ever dream of acquiring! And what do you do?! You spit at my kindness with your warped sense of honor!" He then turned his back to Ananias and said with an angry huff, "Well, I suppose I should take my leave before you dishonor yourself any further, now, shouldn't I?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Ananias said, catching Tan'bay by the shoulder before he could get too far. "So let me get this straight. You did all of that… for me?"

Tan'bay gave Ananias an incredulous look. "Yes, that's what I just said you imbecile! My gods, have you gone deaf?!" He then pried Ananias' hand off of his shoulder, fixed his garments a bit to rid it of the creases Ananias' hand had given it, and said, "Now if you will excuse me, I will be taking my leave now -"

"No, wait!" Ananias pleaded. When Tan'bay grudgingly relented, Ananias said, "For you to do all of that for me," he folded his arms and shook his head incredulously, "thanks man."

After a brief moment of silence, Tan'bay let out a weary sigh before saying, "Despite the lack of formality behind that particular thanks, I will accept it nonetheless."

"No, seriously man, thank you," Ananias said. "I never realized that I was worth that much to anyone."

Tan'bay made a sound of disapproval before flicking Ananias on his forehead and saying, "You fool! Having a friend of your caliber is worth more than any title that could possibly be given from any country!" He then hesitated before lightly blushing and adding, "Even Chon'sin."

Ananias raised both his eyebrows in surprise. "Even more than Chon'sin, huh?" he murmured to himself. He then let out a rare chuckle and said, "I'm honored."

Tan'bay, after trying to recompose himself from the blush that had appeared on his face, played with his collar a bit before nodding his head and replying, "You should be. Not many things are better than Chon'sin."

Ananias lightly chuckled and gave Tan'bay a small, rare smile. "Maybe, but give me some credit," he then gave Tan'bay a small nudge with his fist, "I can at least think of one."

Tan'bay sincerely smiled back before folding his arms smugly and clarifying, "I mean besides the obvious, obviously."

Ananias chuckled. "Of course. What was I thinking?" A long moment of silence came between the two, as neither of them knew how to continue the conversation at that point for a while. Ananias, anxious from all of the awkward silence, sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and asked, "So… about the whole samurai thing then…."

Tan'bay let out an exasperated sigh before saying, "Don't worry, you won't be obligated to commit anymore."

Ananias raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Really?" he asked incredulously.

Tan'bay blushed as he averted his eyes to the side and answered, "Yes, well, in hindsight, my plan was a bit rash, wasn't it? And you raised a lot of good points on how unfit you were for the role, once you had been exposed to it enough that is." He turned back to his friend. "It would not be fitting of a prince to force his friend into taking an ill thought out position that he was not fit for, would it?"

Ananias simply shrugged. "I guess not."

Tan'bay let out a weary sigh at his friend's unfortunately grating neutral speech pattern. "I'll simply take that as a yes," he said as he gave one of Ananias' shoulders a reassuring pat. "But if you do ever express interest in genuinely taking up the position," he smiled, "then it will most definitely be open for you when you do."

Ananias smiled. "You've got yourself a deal." He offered his hand out. "No hard feelings?"

This time around, Tan'bay gladly took it, and they shook. "No hard feelings."


Author's Note #1: What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than by being thankful for having such great friends in your life... even when, you know, some of those friends are hard to put up with... especially the rich, foreign one. Consider this my Thanksgiving present to you guys, because dang it, we need to do SOMETHING on Thanksgiving holiday.

Author's Note #2: I hope that you all enjoyed Tan'bay's supports. I hope by the end of these supports you've grown to like him in your own little way like how Ananias (and the rest of the future kids) do(es). Next up will be Lucina. Please wait patiently for those supports!