D7 LE Seeking Ripples on Unseen Ponds

[Asahina Hoshiko]

snip

"Hmm, yes, I suppose it's a bit easier not understanding war, since at least it's all very visible, and thus a bit easier to avoid if you want to." She sets aside thoughts of how one made the invisible more 'visible' or at least understandable. Most were content to follow traditions and ritual laid out well in the past for keeping the unseen in a manageable-to-mortals state.

That did leave things quiet as everything was set in place. Thankful for Ryu's greater reach for the high places, Hoshiko finishes setting charms to either side of the shrines. "Wearing that costume armor and watching you, I wondered, well I assume you've actually worn real armor though I've never seen it here at court?" she asks, with an open curiosity apparent in voice and direct gaze.

She brushes her hands along her robes to smooth any dishevelment, the difference between them more apparent when displayed in such unison. "I modeled my bearing on yours, figuring that you'd have the right of it. Does anyone actually sleep in armor like we did there? Seemed awfully uncomfortable, even as flimsy that costume version was."

[Daidoji Ryu]

snip

There was a slightly conspicuous pause after the assertion that war was very visible. Ryu didn't stiffen, but he was still. "... sort of." He said. "Except there is almost always a delay in information. Scouts spot an enemy, but it's hours before they can report. Where are they now? Where are their friends? You know they must have them." He shook his head. "In some ways, it's more confusing than seeing nothing."

Ryu had accepted his role as tall person who's not an Emerald Magistrate, so he was perfectly willing to place the high up charms, stretching ably to reach them. As she Hoshiko asked her question, he stopped, turning to face her, a smile just touching his lips. "I have, yes. It's here with me. Just in case." In case of what wasn't expanded upon. "But I was in the war with the Lion. I wore it all the time, then."

His grey eyes narrowed as she smoothed her robes, always alert. "Did you?" Again, he smiled, just a little. "Well. I hope I made a good model." He shook his head. "If you're grabbing a quick nap, maybe. No one would try to get a good night's sleep in armor. It's part of what makes night attacks so dangerous."

At the front door, he gave Hoshiko a little wave, gesturing her over. "Would you like to do this part?" He murmured. "I like to place it near the base, so the chimes rattle against the floor when it moves."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

snip

Hoshiko notices the pause, but hasn't the context to consider it more than mildly curious. "Hmm..that makes sense. No surprise that I don't have a strong sense of how things actually work in war. For all that my most basic lessons taught us how to offer support to our bushi, I rather quickly moved to the artisan branch of the school and have never seen a battlefield."

As she joins him at the door, she adds, "that confusion seems terrible. Paintings and tales are all about the moments of battle. Skill, certainty, and honor all over the place. Not...wondering how to find the people you're meant to be having that battle with!." She grins at him, "you were an excellent model. I feel very confident if I ever have to wear fake armor again," then crouches to look at the base of the door.

"hah, thinking them chimes, I expected they'd go up top!" She takes a moment and considers the shape of the little metal bits and points to the wood at the door's base closest to the wall. "They'd go...here then?"

[Daidoji Ryu]

"I would be fine not seeing a battlefield again." Ryu said quietly. "Some bushi crave it. I do not." He looked away.

But he looked back as she joined him at the door. "Oh, well, that's good then." He chuckled softly, the corners of his lips turning up. "Perhaps I should watch you, in case I next get cast in a roll as a priest. Although I enjoyed playing the hero, actually."

Following her gesture, Ryu nodded evenly. "Yes. They'll make sound, but they won't catch the eye. If our imagined intruder spots them, they can circumvent them. We don't want that."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Looking away, he won't see her understanding gaze and soft nod. The sincerity of her voice will be heard though. "A world where we don't need blades to settle things is one the Asahina pray for."

"I may be a less iconic priest than you are a hero, Miyahara-san, but watch away," she returns with a similar bit of a smile. "I'll be even more careful not to slip up knowing I need to set a good example for you."

"But I'm not usually setting up little anti-intrusion thingies, so this might be clumsy" she says while trying to figure out quite how they attach. It looks intuitive...until it doesn't. "It does occur to me that most people don't really watch the ground that well do they? I don't know that they look up all that much either, but it's closer to catching the eyes. And some are as tall as your cousin. She'd certainly spot something odd at the top of the door."

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Mmmm." Acknowledgement came in the form of a murmur. It was hard to tell whether it was positive or merely neutral. In truth, Ryu wasn't sure either.

Tilting his head, Ryu regarded Hoshiko with narrowed eyes, although the corners of his lips were curled up. "Oh, I don't know about that." He said. "My cousin is the iconic hero. And you..." The slight smile turned into a thoughtful frown. "People aren't archetypes, really." He said. Never mind what he'd just said about his cousin. "I think you'll do just fine."

The little chimes had a sort of hook on the end. It had a point, not sharp enough to easily pierce wood or skin, but the hook was pliable enough it could attach in crevasses and stay there. "Exactly." Ryu agreed. "People have a range of vision. Most doors aren't high enough to be out of my cousin's. Of course, when she comes through a door, everyone knows it." His tone was a bit wry, but definitely fond as he discussed his cousin.

He shifted a little. "Here." He said, one finger touching a join on the sliding door. "See if you can get it in here."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

At his 'and you...' she turns to look over her shoulder, an expectant half smile and lifted eyebrow clearly telegraphing 'yes?'

A moment that resolves in a small, amused huff through her nose as he continues. "Just fine, eh?" Well that was better than some of the opinions that had dogged her childhood and early training, certainly. She turns back to the door with a smile, trying to press the wee hook in..which it wasn't designed for.

But following the new instructions, she reaches across, sleeve draping across Ryu's to place the device. It slipped in with a satisfying little 'snick'. Sitting back, she sighs. "It really does feel better having done something, even if it's futile against spirits." Continuing to look down at their handiwork, with that small smile crinkling the corners of her eyes, she muses, "your cousin is the iconic magistrate-type hero. Bold and resolute. Perhaps on stage you were following that model, but I think you're actually a different sort of icon. The quieter hero in those tales where that sort is always there, always has a key bit of help or advice, but not noticed until the desperate moment at the climax of the tale."

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Hmmm." Ryu chuckled softly. "That was meant to be reassuring. I'll have to do better, I think." He only seemed to ever do half-smiles at best, but amusement did seem to make his grey eyes light up a bit.

Close as they were, Ryu heard the click just as clearly as Hoshiko did. He gave her a nod, precise and approving. "Right. Just like that. Spirits we shall leave to your work." Pushing off the ground with his knuckles, he shifted, facing Hoshiko directly. Still sitting close.

Again, a smile touched his lips. "Indeed, she is. Always has been, too. I don't think I was emulating her, but perhaps I was. Just not consciously..." That thought made his gaze go distant.

It came back as she went on. "I think that role would suit me well. And what about your role Yamada-san?" He asked, quiet and curious. "What role best suits you... or what role would you choose?"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Hoshiko taps the chimes, eyes still on their work. “Do better with your reassurance? Rest assured that seeing what was invisible here has reassured me greatly.” There’s an exaggerated solemnity to her words that seems at odds her amused tone. Obviously he meant a different sort of reassurance, but this sounds like a purposeful ‘misunderstanding,’ and possibly another layer as well. Courtiers!

She too sits up, and there they are not quite knee to knee before the door. It’s well that traffic through the house is light at this hour or someone hurrying in would likely stumble over them. Well the guards outside would likely pause them a moment first, offering time to be less in the way. There’s an amused set to her grey-blue eyes as they meet his. An amusement which fades as she gives his question some thought.

Her eyes don’t drop though, as she considers, seeming only a bit unfocused as she looks within for an answer. “In plays, the priests may be those bringing wisdom or needed protection. I think those roles suit me well enough. Sometimes they offer that quiet hero, or the main character, something to let them see through a disguised villain.” Her gaze shifts, but very little, as if examining the face that has done such a good job of fading into the background of recent days.

It’s certainly no more time than a long breath, in and out that she looks, before a small sound…someone moving in their paper-lined room perhaps… draws her back, spine straightening. She hadn’t really been aware that she’d leaned in quite so much as they kept their voices low.

A small almost-smile appears before she ducks her head. “Hmm…so let me know if you find any villains that need unmasking, or think you could use a bit of wisdom.” She tilts her head a bit, looking aside. “Though I don’t know that I’m all that wise yet, but maybe I’ll find what’s needed if you’re asking for it.”

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Has it?" Ryu said, his tone desert-dry, as bland as could be. "Very perceptive of you, Yamada-san, to see what is unseen."
He did his best to match her, layer for layer. His lips didn't move, but smile lines around his eyes suggested that they wanted to.

As seemed to be his habit, Ryu watched as Hoshiko thought, as though by studying her face, he might see what she was thinking. Did her eyes hold secrets? He could see the sparkle of amusement in them. She could see the same in his, at least for a moment. He continued to watch as she worked through her thoughts, speaking aloud. "A very necessary role." Ryu murmured. He didn't want to interrupt, either her words or his study. Perhaps it was because he found only mysteries in her eyes, but his gaze traced over her cheekbones. Down to her lips.

He was suddenly aware of how close they were sitting, leaning forward...

Ryu didn't startle at the sound from the room, but he did straighten, just as she did. When Hoshiko looked back at him, she'd see a wry twist on his lips, that same sparkle of amusement in his grey eyes. It was rather like sharing a joke, what had just happened. A joke just for the two of them.

"I may very well need all that and more." Ryu said, his voice scarcely above a whisper. "If I do, I shall certainly come to you." He closed his eyes a moment, then opened them again. "It's late." He said. "Good night, Yamada-san."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

She smooths her robes, with a wry half grin that says she share the joke, after a moment, she rises gracefully and offers a small bow. "It is. May the fortunes bless your sleep and guard your dreams, Miyahara-san." She wasn't sure her own sleep would be particularly peaceful, but at least, after this interlude, it was unlikely that the frightful visitation would breed nightmares.

With quiet steps, she retrieves her satchel and notes before padding down the paper-lined 'hallway' toward her room. There's one pause to her footsteps...as of someone looking back perhaps?...and then the footsteps patter on to her room.

/exit
/scene? (thank you for dropping in!)