[D7 EE] Spring Chicken

[Doji Shinnosuke]

(expecting)

"Thank you so much for joining me, ma'am." Shinnosuke smiles as he bows his guest toward their table. "I have so anticipated this moment."

He's still riding high from his theater performance this afternoon, gray-blue eyes positively sparkling in his handsome face. Even if she wants to, it may not be in Otomo Mariko's power to bring his mood low this evening. But maybe she won't want to? Hope springs eternal.

[Otomo Mariko]

Mariko's smile is tight as she makes her bow and reply.

"What young woman could resist an invitation from so skilled an actor as Doji-san?" she says.

The servants are already scrambling to lay out service. Several bottles are already staged for easy access.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"I may flatter myself to some extent, but I know Otomo-sama's time is in great demand," Shinnosuke chuckles. "Even the most youthful energy is much taxed by the demands of this season. The Heavens know mine is! So I really do appreciate it."

As befits the difference in their status (age notwithstanding), he will wait for Mariko to sit before taking his own seat, and show deference by pouring the tea and sake for her. "Especially since I know my Clan has added to your work an additional piece of duty you haven't had to worry about so much in the last few years." His musical voice resonates with sympathy and appreciation.

One heard a lot of nasty talk about the Imperial Matchmaker back in Crane lands, but Shin (known at the Academy for his contrary opinions), always felt that seemed sort of unfair. There's nothing wrong with being tough, following orders, and doing it all with style--right? And orders can change.

[Otomo Mariko]

"Thank you," Mariko says, not so ungracious despite her often stated youth to refuse an elegant pour of good tea. "Purple Needle does agree with me, I find."

She sips at her tea.

"And I must say that your people have made substantial efforts this season amid tempers running quite high."

Another sip.

"One wonders what wonders tomorrow will show."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"Happy ones, from our side, I hope." Shin holds up his sleeve and turns his head slightly to drink his own tea, Crane etiquette predictably unimpeachable. "Enough troubling things happen in this world without our help, and partings can be so sadly final."

He sighs, but then brightens somewhat. "Which is why your office is so important. And why my clanmates have worked so hard to make more happy meetings possible for us under your auspices."

[Otomo Mariko]

"Mhm."

Mariko sets her cup down.

"I understand that the Crane must see to the Crane," she says. "It is only right and proper, of course. But I must see to more than they, especially in such unsettled times."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"Of course." Shinnosuke nods. "Oh! Which reminds me."

He produces an elegantly lacquered box of about the right size to hold a bottle. Or something else bottle-sized. "Since I am seeking guidance from your experience--and also since my clanmates and I feel quite deeply how unfortunate it is that circumstances have sometimes placed us at odds with Otomo-sama. A very small gift to begin to even the scales." He makes a seated bow.

[Otomo Mariko]

Mariko's eyes widen for just a heartbeat.

"Oh, Doji-san," she says. "It would hardly do for a young woman to have an actor of your skill wooing her. I couldn't accept such a thing."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"Dear lady," Shin replies, placing his hand over his heart, "if it puts you more at ease, consider it simply a winter diplomatic gift from an ordinary Crane of no particular rank. I am, on the scale of this court, most insignificant, and my little gift likewise."

[Otomo Mariko]

"Far be it from me to argue with such a man," Mariko says, her tight smile once again upon her lips. "But to have received another performance from you in such short succession, that is a gift, indeed. I could not accept more from you than that."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Shin picks up his teacup and smiles from behind the rim. "Otomo-sama overstates my talents."

He sips his tea and sets the cup down again, explaining, "It takes me a good deal of time and preparation to perform a character, you know. Rehearsals, songs to learn, a whole different way to move! And after all that, come the day, one has to sit before the mirror, put on the mask, invite the spirit to come down, and hope it answers. It's not a matter for a moment! No, ma'am, like it or not, the Doji Shinnosuke presenting this humble offering is just a man, not a character in a play."

[Otomo Mariko]

"But one worth the talking to, at any rate," Mariko replies. "And so I thank you for the gift of...?"

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"It's Lonely Coast umeshu. A particular favorite of my lady cousins." A very good grade of plum wine, in a very nice lacquer box, appropriately VIP-level. "Sweets for the sweet, isn't that how the saying goes?"

[Otomo Mariko]

"Doji-san is a studied man," Mariko says. "I shall look forward to drinking it and thinking of him."

She hands it to her servant. Bad form to drink someone else's brew in an establishment that serves its own.

"So, marriages. Does Doji-san have an eye for someone? I would imagine many must have theirs set on him."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"For marriage? For myself?" Shin actually seems a little surprised at the question, not having rated himself a priority in this conversation. Shortsighted of him, doubtless. "I, well, I haven't exchanged that sort of promises myself, no," he admits. "More of the, hmm, butterflies than mandarin ducks in my story so far. I know that may change, though. To be honest, my aunt--who is the lady of my House--has been more occupied with finding spouses for my fair cousins, so I think I've been rather forgotten, off away in Kyuden Doji."

His lips quirk. "Cousin Kinuyo is on the lists of eligible Crane delivered to this Court. I've wondered if my lady Aunt contrived my invitation here mostly to look after her prospects--oh, she is the person I mentioned when I first addressed myself to you," he adds as an aside. "By now I daresay I feel a sort of cousinly concern for all the other Crane on the list too, though. By analogy, maybe."

[Otomo Mariko]

"Talk to me about your Kinuyo," Mariko says. "And maybe we can find someone of interest for you, as well."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

This is when it occurs to Shin how difficult it is to describe someone you've known your entire life, briefly, to a stranger they've never met. What would a matchmaker consider important? It's precisely because he doesn't really know the answer to this question that he'd been bold (or at wits' end) enough to approach Mariko in the way he had.

"Well, hmm. On the practical side, she is my aunt's second daughter. A little bit older than me, not too much." Enough to count when they were small, certainly. "My older cousin Sumiha is my aunt's heir. Kinuyo-neesama is an officer in the Crane legions, a very brave and talented bushi. She was decorated in the, er, conflict with the Matsu family last year, and she's a gunso now. We hear her men all love her. Aunt has great hopes for her career. "

He bites his lower lip, thinking. What else is important?

"Kinuyo-neesama is quite spiritual, and she loves nature, especially the woods. She's always been really fascinated by stories about wood spirits and Kitsune, and the Fox Clan..." he hesitates. "I was thinking about asking Lady Kitsune Aiko whether she knows of anyone in the Fox who would be suitable to marry into our Doji family. But perhaps Otomo-sama will think that is a very naive way of approaching this question."

[Otomo Mariko]

"What if Kitsune-san offers to take your cousin into the Fox?" Mariko asks.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Shin swirls the tea in his cup with an abstracted expression, unsure. "My cousin is a ranking officer [Status 5] at twenty-four, with a good expectation of more promotion. For her to marry out, I suppose the Fox would have to request her hand for someone quite important, by Minor Clan standards."

[Otomo Mariko]

"Someone at [Status 6] is important even by Great Clan standards," Mariko replies. "But Doji-san has made his meaning clear. And his thinking."