(D11 MA-expecting) Down by the Riverside

[Asahina Hoshiko]

With the contest today, there's a lot of traffic between the court and the river, despite the overcast and occasional spatter of rain. It's colder today, as well, so Hoshiko's dark traveling coat serves as protection from cold and rain. She can see the targets being set up, seats for the watchers, some kind of little building, but she's not here to get in everyone's way this far ahead of the contest.

She's following the water, brushing aside the dead grasses with some attention for wildlife, but anything that hasn't run off with all the noise nearby is probably winter slow and napping under stone, earth, or water.

[Daidoji Ryu]

Was it chance or planning that brought Ryu across Hoshiko's path? Perhaps a little of each. He hadn't actually spotted her going this way. He had, however, noted her absence, and while doing some wandering himself, he decided to wander where he thought she might wander.

He was pleased to see that he was right.

Ryu's own coat was dark, and the umbrella he carried simple brown, made for function rather than appearance (and therefore, not a handiwork of their umbrella artisan).

"Yamada-san." When he'd spotted her, Ryu had smiled to himself, just a little. Now, he smiled just a little bit more for her. "What brings you out here this afternoon?"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

He'd see her pause midstep as she's picking her way across solid spots toward the river's edge. As she turns, she reaches up to tuck back her unbound hair, in a futile effort at tidying it, then brushes her hakama a bit smoother before she bows a greeting across the scruffy grasses. "Miyahara-san!" There's a smile in her voice that plays gently on her lips as she rises, hair tucking undone entirely by the bow.

She gestures back toward the river, where a heron has decided that the noisy interlopers are apparently sticking around, so it isn't, heavy wings beating the air as it leaves. "Following the water a ways." She pauses as the thought of why he's out here occurs to here. "Why? Are we supposed to stick closer to things after that mess last night?"

[Daidoji Ryu]

Well, that made Ryu smile again, honest fondness rather than playful semi-artifice. For his part, Ryu always tended to look a bit on the done-up side of things, a sign of his habitual meticulousness.

A brief start at the heron, and then Ryu decided that it was not some sort of waterborne ninja making an attack; he turned back to Hoshiko, frowning thoughtfully. "I've heard no orders for such. Although it may be prudent."

He gave a brief bow. "With that in mind, may I escort you on your walk?"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

She can hear the distant hammering as stands are put together downriver. "Would you? I'd appreciate extra eyes." She glances upward, "and the umbrella." She stands on her dry hummock, hands clasped before her. The heavy coat's edge shows the mud of travel, not just todays walk, while the damp along her hakama hems seems fresh.

"Careful, it's getting a bit muddy this close to the water. Or would you rather walk where it's drier?" The question sounds forthright, with really no preference for one or the other on her part. But seeing that fond smile lights up her own.

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu tilted his head, considering. "Why don't we walk by the river for a bit? If it becomes too muddy, we can adapt." He was silent for a moment. "But I like the sound of the running water. It reminds me of home."

Smiling just a little, he held out his arm, extending the umbrella. "If you walk beside me, we can share the cover of the umbrella." Again, a bit of a playful twist to his lips, and in the glint in his eye, back to that shared secret of theirs.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"Perfect." She takes a step to share the umbrella, watching the mud, though her socks were already stained enough that it was a bit pointless to worry about them. "I wanted a chance to listen to the water here, and the wind." The words are entirely appropriate. The space beneath the umbrella was a bit close, particularly with thick coats that were going to unavoidable brush against each other while walking. But that was understandable with the gusty little showers. Hoshiko's own smile acknowledged a shared understanding.

"Home is someplace with a river then? Large or small?" She continues to walk as they talk, splitting her visual attention between the footing, the river, and her companion. That small charge that seemed to settle between them once again, however, spoke to some level of attention that never wavered, entirely aware of the space between them. "I had the ocean, and smaller streams within our lands, but the tower is near the sea."

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu was, of course, entirely aware of the amount of space between the two of them. And if they should sometimes brush together, just a little, just enough to be a suggestion of the other's touch, well, such was the nature of river walks at Winter Court.

"Large. Very large." Ryu said as the two began slowly walking along. Sound of river mingled with sound of rain pattering the umbrella overhead, both distinct from the distant hammering. "House Miyahara is fortunate to be a river port. When I was young, sometimes I would go out and watch the ships. I sometimes wondered if I'd be stationed on one." He sighed, but that smile touched his lips. "Another life, perhaps."

Still walking, Ryu glanced at Hoshiko, watching her. "Was the ocean like that for you?"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"More like this one then." She gestures out to the broad water, ripple-speckled by the rain. "Ours was an uncomfortable jump across at the widest" The sigh warrants a glance, able to catch that smile. "Perhaps you were, in a previous life already."

"It's different, I think, when you can hear the wind and waves in a different way as they dance together." The shugenja says with a faroff look to her eyes, perhaps feeling a saltier wind as the gusty breeze tosses her short hair. " We aren't really a port, so the ships are well out from the land and it's the endless depth and unceasing movement that I would watch for long hours. And with the ships so far off, I didn't imagine myself there, so much as make up stories of where they were from and might be going. I'd ask the wind what they could tell me of them." She brings her attention to the present, dodging a puddle, shoulder bumping lightly against Ryu's extended arm with a apologetic murmur, and a flash of half-cocked grin that had no apology to it.

"What do you imagine stationing on one of those riverboats would be like? Would you have still seen the sort of fighting you did in this life?"

[Daidoji Ryu]

snip

"Perhaps I was." Ryu agreed softly.

"That sounds pleasant." Ryu's own gaze went distant, as though Hoshiko's words brought him to the same place in his mind. "I enjoy the sea, too. I still watch the water sometimes, like this, but the ships, less often. They come and go, and bring news and goods, but..." Ryu's brow creased as he thought, "-they've lost some of their mystery, somehow. Water still has it."

At their little collision, Ryu likewise murmured apologies. And, likewise, he couldn't help but meet her smile with one of his own, lips curling up with that hint of playfulness.

"Mmm..." The question made Ryu's gaze go distant again. "It was a child's sort of imagining. Sailing to places I'd never been. Bravely fighting off pirates. Maybe becoming captain, or even admiral." He was silent a few moments, walking slowly and carefully, both to keep out of mud, and to keep close enough for those occasional touches.

"I imagined war in much the same way." Ryu went on. "Promoted for bravery in the field, leading a company by twenty-five. Possibly dead in some sort of heroic last stand, or something." He chuckled, shaking his head. "I still think about that sometimes. Very differently, of course."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

snip

Reaching one hand out to catch a shiver of rain from the edge of the umbrella, she notes, "Water will always be mysterious. It has the greatest reach of the elements, from up in the sky to fall on us, to the depths of the ocean we never see, and seeping into all the cracks of the earth.The only thing it can't know is fire. I think it catches our minds, even those of us who cannot hear the kami, with a hint of the secrets it could tell us."

Turning back to less esoteric subjects with interest, she says,"sounds like even then you knew your path was the sword and not the fan." Reaching up to, somewhat futilely, tuck her hair back again catches sleeve on sleeve a moment, a small pull of rough fabric shifting against the skin beneath. Even that minute reminder of touches that *could* be sparks warmth in her eyes. "I do imagine actually growing into the role has to change how you see those imaginings. Happens to all of us."

She reaches to brush a sapling out of the way, to avoid it catching on the umbrella. "Would it be inappropriate to ask how it changed that thought of dying in a heroic last stand?"

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Hmmm." Ryu's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Do air and earth fail to know each other in the same way?" He took a deep breath, as though drinking in air. "I've sometimes wondered what it would be like to feel such things."

Indeed, the little touches, the tugging against cloth, was all they could do. The limits of etiquette made even little pushing of boundaries more exciting, and the little touch likewise more thrilling. But while he smiled a that, his smile faded soon after. "You're quite right." He said. "Both with my path, and in growing into it. I view all of that differently now. Especially war."

He smiled. "And that includes dying in heroic last stands. Hmmm." He paused a moment. "I suppose it's my view on glory that's actually changed the most. It's not something I seek anymore."

Ryu gently nudged Hoshiko, steering them around a more muddy spot, taking them a bit farther from the river. "What do you imagine for your future, Yamada-san?" He asked, giving her one of his curious sidelong looks.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

She accepts the bit of steering, catching his sleeve with her fingertips for balance. "Not quite the same, in that one does not negate the other in the way that fire and water may simply not share space. But they *are* opposites. Flighty and always moving," her hands lift to flutter up in some imitation of leaves tossed by the wind, "enduring and still," she stamps upon the slightly squelchy ground. "Well, mostly still," she amends, thinking of the earthquake. "I'd show you if I could, but the closest I can offer is the wide genre of poetry written by those with some sense of the kami. Isawa Reiko is a particular favorite a few generations back."

"I think you may find glory anyway, seeking or not. At least it seems that winter court leads to quite a lot more recognition of that sort than might otherwise be the case." She freezes a moment as they startle a pheasant from a low shrub. It's colors bright on a grey day as it arrows to the open air. Her own small startlement, moving her instinctively closer and a bit behind Ryu. "I'm glad you didn't find a heroic death last night. It was...a relief to see you checking on us when those first few moments were so chaotic."

"My future?" She catches his gaze, glances to her feet though the ground is dryer here, then back with some humor flashing in her eyes, though her voice remains rather matter-of-fact. "well, I've a bit of the afternoon to spend with a handsome hero. One with a sword, I think, though these coats make that a little bit of a question. I'm not sure how far that will take me along this river, or if anything unexpected will occur. The future is always a bit hard to divine. I'm not sure I ever believed some of the wilder of Miya Kiku's tales, but I begin to see how they might be imagined, even if they never actually happened."

Then she grins, "but if you meant, oh...the more usual thing about after this court. Well, I'm the heir of my House, so there's duties there. More study. So many new connections to assess going forward. Your cousin's wedding to be on the periphery of, and some need to find a match myself if we don't want to pass the House to my aunt's line. How about your future, Miyahara-san?"

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Mmmm." It was more of a hum than a chuckle, but it had the same sort of energy. "Perhaps later, but I would like that. I'm not familiar with Isawa Reiko, but I've developed a fondness for poetry."

Frowning, Ryu's lips parted to answer when a second feathered would-be assassin made its appearance. Ryu shifted, one hand going towards his katana, the other coming to pull Hoshiko behind him. Realization set in before his right hand did more than dip under his coat, his left lightly touching Hoshiko's arm for a moment.

Clearing his throat, Ryu flicked a smile at her, half-apologetic, half-amused at their shared startlement. "Um. Right. Well, maybe. Advisors don't often win much glory. Influence, yes. I've chosen to be happy with that." And indeed, his expression seemed satisfied, at least; perhaps Hoshiko was getting better at reading him.

The amused smile turned gentle, fond even, as talk turned to battle. "I expect you haven't been in that sort of situation often." Ryu said, his voice as gentle as his smile. "You did well. Quite well. Although... I was also quite relieved, after." A shadow seemed to pass over his face.

It seemed that Ryu's face was growing more used to smiling, or perhaps Hoshiko was also getting good at drawing them out of him. He smiled again at that now familiar description. "I do indeed have one..." he leaned a bit closer, "-pretty priestess." A pause, to let that stand on its own.

Then he went on. "And I shall tell you about my future, but first, what does happen in Miya Kiku's tales? You've gotten me curious. I really must know." Ryu glanced at her, lips quirking in obvious amusement.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Hoshiko makes a mental note to see if the library had any or Reiko's work to copy out, though whether the note would be remembered is questionable, as she looks at Ryu's hand, just touching her sleeve with that instinct to move her as she'd already begun. "Often? Never, actually." Her nose wrinkles at the memory of bare feet stepping in still warm blood. "I've trained in the techniques of my school to protect those who may be fighting near us, but that was all in the dojo. Not nearly so chaotic!"

She bends to retrieve the dropped umbrella to pass back, her own smile returning after memories of the night. As she holds the wet leaf-bedecked umbrella and Ryu leans in, she holds very still, in something like shock, but also with a small indrawn breath of anticipation. At his words, she blinks, and her lips crumple on suppressed laughter before she ducks her head, feeling her cheeks heat despite the cold.

"Um...Kiku." Hoshiko finds it a bit hard to regain composure while awkwardly holding out an umbrella, but training for the courts does provide some experience in regaining ones footing. "Pillow books hiding adventure tales inside, really. Miya KIku, Imperial Cartographer traveling the empire, gets into adventures, and romances." She babbles on a bit. "So the river put me in mind of one where she fell into this mountain stream, but was scooped out before drowning, or following the water right off the mountain, by this ronin...and at first you think well that's worse, because he seems like a bandit, but turns out to just look pretty rough and..." She stops there. "Well I mentioned it was a pillowbook?"

The umbrella remains held out, and is shaken once in a gentle mute plea for rescue for words running well ahead of her brain.

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu had started to reach out for the umbrella, ready to take it back from Hoshiko. He paused, though, as she launched into explanation of Miya Kiku...

It wasn't true that Ryu didn't have an expressive face. He just had an exceptionally good On. And so, at a time like this, where he wasn't enforcing it quite as much as usual, Hoshiko would be treated to a wide variety of expressions. He blinked. He raised his eyebrows. And he definitely smiled. He did that most of all.

"You did mention that." Again, Ryu stepped a little closer; not close enough to be improper, but perhaps enough to raise an eyebrow. "I've read a pillow book or two in my time. They're strangely compelling. Perhaps not the highest form of literature, but.." Ryu smiled, "-I find myself wanting to know what happens next in your story." His hand came up, taking the umbrella, taking Hoshiko's hand at the same time. His fingers were warm despite the cold, lightly calloused.

"Perhaps we'd best seek further shelter. I'm not sure this umbrella will protect both of us. Slowly, almost gently, he reclaimed the umbrella from her hand. And with that, he nodded towards a stout maple nearby, leading the way nearby.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Hoshiko warms at that smile, and warm was an understatement for the bright heat in her eyes as he steps close and wraps his hand around hers. The umbrella too, of course. Every touch over teacup had been too light to notice things like calluses, but they're noticed now. Her own hand is soft and a bit cool.

"They're definitely meant to keep you reading," she manages to say. "Ah...in that one, well there's a fire, and a need to..." she trails off a moment, looking toward the bare maple, whose shelter was mostly in that stout trunk.

"Out of the wind, would be nice," she agrees, letting go of the the umbrella and following Ryu's lead. "Shelter was what came next in the story too. Kiku half-drowned, and Taro...that's the ronin...carrying her to his little mountain hut to get a fire going." She pushes aside a twiggy shrub as they go. "I don't think we'll be starting a fire in the Lord Ikoma's woods." Just the one she sensed between them.

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu chuckled, soft but warm. "Of course. Circumstance contrives to bring two samurai together so that something might bloom between them. It's a common trope, although I haven't heard that particular one."

Saying that, Ryu led them beneath the branches of the maple. It was a larger example of the species, the main trunk rising up about the height of a man, with a number of branches going out from there, twisting and winding. In truth, it would provide only a bit more cover. But perhaps it would be enough.

Once they were fully beneath, Ryu reached out once more. Beneath the cover of the maple, and his umbrella, he took Hoshiko's hand again, this time without pretense. Like the lead in a dance, he guided her further under the branches, closer to him. And then, once more, he leaned in.

He kissed her then, his lips soft, but a confidence that gave them a sort of firmness, and with a passion that bore her gently back against the solidness of the trunk.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Even now, she's careful to offer up her left hand, the right held loose at her side, bending to pass beneath the lowest branches. It felt right, her hand in his, and it let her follow his lead as if moving through some courtly dance...which it was, if you get right down to it. She's intensely aware of that circuit closing and lighting her skin to a prickling awareness, feeling the brush of his coat, the careful pull of those warm fingers, her heel just catching the trunk as she steps...and thus stops.

There's only a few moments to process what's happening, and it's somehow both surprising and expected, with a moment of realization that passes across her face as wide-eyed shock, shifting to excitement, chin lifting to meet him in that kiss. Her hand shifts from his to settle behind his shoulder, urging one kiss to become two and maybe remain for a third. When there's a moment to breathe, she murmurs, "yes..there was definitely kissing after that rescue, and more." A shiver runs through her, readily felt. "Is this why you came looking for me, R..Miyahara-san?" Her voice is nearly a whisper, and anything but accusatory.

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu was an assistant to powerful people; his cousin, and more recently, Lady Doji. And being an assist involved a certain amount of watching, and trying to anticipate what his charge wanted. Sometimes this required very close and careful observation.

Fortunately, a hand behind his shoulder, urging him to stay close, was not easy to miss. Ryu was happy to let one kiss flow into another, and then other after that. Each was just a little deeper, a little firmer than the last.

He finally parted, taking a deep breath. He wasn't sure when his hand had found her waist, but it felt nice there. "Yes and no." He breathed, his voice just above a whisper. "To see you, yes. Kissing you wasn't part of the plan..." his fingers tightened in the cloth of her outer layer, "-but once I saw you, that changed. Yamada-san..." He leaned in, lips moving against hers again, pressing her form against that solid trunk, his mind teasing at that and more she mentioned.