(D9 ME-expecting) A Bird...by a Bush?

[Asahina Hoshiko]

A dark bird perches at one of the forecourt tables, tucked among the gardens. A lantern brightens in the dimming light of a winter evening, but the bird is reasonably well-fluffed against the mild chill in her heavy coat. Sheets of paper, the instruments of writing, and a scroll are scattered about, along with a heavy tetsubin keeping its contents warm for a bit longer, and a tiny cup so it can be poured and sipped quickly.

[Daidoji Ryu]

Of course, what did birds of a feather do, whether that feather was dark or light? Why, they flocked together, of course.

Ryu's naturally cautious step didn't make much noise as he walked along, and lanternlight sometimes cast more shadows than it dispelled. It would be easy to startle an unwary scholar, especially if she were engrossed in what she was doing.

Fortunately, Ryu was a solicitous young man, As he stepped into the circle of light, he cleared his throat with a quiet hmmm, announcing his presence in a hopefully not too startling way. "Good evening, Yamada-san." He greeted her with a bow, as careful and precise as always.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Focused indeed. The throat clearing didn't get a reaction, but it was warning enough not to startle at the sound of her name. Blinking, she looks up to see the bow, out past the small glow of the lantern. "Miyahara-san," she says with a bit of surprise, though it sounds like pleased surprise vs. the 'why are you interrupting me?' variety.

"I hope the evening sees you well." She lays a hand on the teapot. "There's tea, though only one cup. We can find a servant for another or...I guess take turns sharing it. It's small enough to be a few sips at a time anyway."

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Well enough." Ryu said. There was a brief pause as a line came to mind, was discarded. "And you?"

There was another brief pause as he considered the invitation, but then a smile just touched his lips. "Tea sounds very nice." He said, moving to sit across from her. "And I see no need to trouble a servant. Or any reason why we shouldn't share a single small cup."

He shifted, sitting much as they had the other night. "I hope I'm not disturbing your work." Ryu glanced at... whatever it was she was working on, his grey eyes unpressingly curious.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

As he sits, she pours the tiny cup and slides it past the centerline between them, the scent of jasmine wafting up. "Good, with two drinking, the pot won't have a chance to get cold."

Since the questions about how she's been and what she's doing can readily be answered together, she does so. "I've been well. Busy but well." She waves to the scrolls and a half-finished origami experiment that's all odd angles and complicated squash fold with no end figure in sight yet. The cheer that had lighted her face was more apparent in the fading to somber worry. "I think...it's not disturbing the work if I could use someone to talk a few ideas out with, is it?"

"It's even an appropriate delegation project. I'm trying to create enough of a thesis to convince Lady Seppun that closing the Crane out of the business, particularly the ties of marriage, has been a spiritually destructive thing. The more I look, the more I think that, while that's true, its only the latest in a long line of issues."

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Thank you." Ryu said, giving her a quick smile before he looked at the tiny cup. He picked it up, letting the hot tea warm his hands before drinking.

As he watched her expression turn somber (and he did watch, of course), Ryu's expression softened slightly. "Mmm. Goodness." He murmured, grey eyes glinting at the clutter. "Your thought process seems fascinating. I think I'd like to see it in action." He looked back to her, nodding gently. "Alright. I'm listening."

Lifting the tiny cup then, he brought it to his lips, drinking carefully, but not slowly; he didn't want to hog the tea after all. "I see. Hmmm." He murmured thoughtfully. "That's not a line of argumentation I would have considered. It may be a good one. It's always a challenge finding the right one..."

Another gentle smile, and Ryu refilled the little cup, then slid it back across the table to Hoshiko. "Please, go on. You have my attention." Indeed, his eyes seemed to glint with interest, now.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

The worry fades a bit, perhaps just by the act of sharing it, perhaps the company. She takes the cup with an automatic nod of thanks, and then a distracted sip as she considers how to begin. There's an automatic turning of the cup, as when passing hand to hand in a proper ceremony, so that one drinks from a different edge than everyone else.

"So I began with the Gozoku...the obvious bit of imbalance. And at first I worked forward from bit to bit, but then it seemed to me that there was more, and I've been jumping backwards to the beginning." Another sip and the cup is half gone as she pulls a sheet of paper, criss-crossed with notes, toward her. "Of Lady Sun and Lord Moon, it is the Sun we revere as the highest in heaven. Now those divinities aren't like us, but they lay out the model we believe to be harmonious and best to follow."

A long sip and she holds the empty cup. "So you can see how Hantei taking up arms against his father would create a karmic stain, right? That he might certainly carry with him as he fell and then founded the Empire." Blinking , she notices the cup and sets it to refill, her earnest gaze dropping to the tea to avoid spilling it. It's slid across in the silence after the question with a slight scrape, her dark eyes seeking signs of understanding in his.

[Daidoji Ryu]

It was a sort of shared ritual as they passed the cup back and forth. As with most rituals, the sharing made it more enjoyable.

Eyebrows first went up and then drew back down as Ryu listened to Hoshiko. "So I understand it, yes. Our society is modeled after their example. At least, as best as we're capable of recreating it here." Ryu frowned thoughtfully. "I wonder if heaven trades favors as we do?" There was real curiosity in his soft voice.

The swerve, though, caught Ryu off guard. He blinked in surprise before his eyes narrowed. Then, wordlessly, he reached out, taking the little cup into his hand. When her eyes met his, she would see concern in them. "That would be troubling." Ryu murmured. "What could be done about that? Rather, could something be done about that?"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"You see the problem there!" she says with both some frustration at the issue but also eagerness at being so readily understood. "For individuals, usually that debt is managed by life after life...or harsher judgements. A rare few carry on through descendants." She taps a note on the paper. "But when the individual is also...the Empire in a sense?" She reaches absently for the cup, finds it already claimed for the moment. Eyes crinkle in amusement as she redirects to pick up a stick of blue chalk instead.

"We could ease our worry, perhaps, thinking that they are all divine and the rules flow from them...perhaps it is our mortal soft-heartedness that has solidified the horror of kin fighting kin into spiritual and legal laws...particularly rebelling against one's parents. But I think there are signs that this is not the case."

"So if that accrues, how do you address and balance it?"

[Daidoji Ryu]

The little gesture made Ryu smile, especially when he saw Hoshiko's reaction. "Sorry. I tend to linger over tea. It gives me time to think." On the other hand, it wasn't hard to drain the little cup. He did so, setting it down carefully, and then sliding it back to her, the little scrape a signal of their transaction.

"But yes, I see the problem." He said, his expression turning more serious again. "Although it is not of the sort I usually solve... well. That's fine." Ryu nodded. "I can listen."

And so he did. Ryu's brow creased as he tried to keep up. This was not his area of study. "Perhaps... but as you say, it seems that it is not. Ummm. I'm surprised that a new Emperor doesn't release some of it. It does feel a bit like moving from parent to child." Or would, once they had a new Emperor...

He continued to watch as Hoshiko worked through the problem. "How would an individual address and balance it?" He put in gently.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

She shakes her head slightly with a soft smile. "No apology necessary for my lack of attention, Miyahara-san. I do get distracted, no fault of yours." Well, the distraction wasn't his fault this time, at least.

The cup sits for a moment as she circles that point on her notes and sets the chalk down. "I'm not sure how one remediates things on that level. I hadn't come to this question yet when I was in the library today. I will need to address it later. Individually...well, this is why one tries to retire and move to a life of contemplation and prayer, it can make it easier to find ways to balance things out. It's hard to entirely erase the stain of things like killing another, for example. You can't make recompense to them, can't make it right again. Smaller sins are easier to manage."

"This is why bushi receive purification rites after battle. It clears some of the impurity involved in killing, but can't entirely strip it from the soul. Offering all the proper rites to the slain makes some recompense, making sure those souls are not further harmed. Other works in accordance with compassion and the Celestial Order offer balance." The tea is sipped thoughtfully, as she watches him, gray eyes troubled.

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Everyone gets distracted. From time to time." Ryu softly smiled back.

Then, back to listening. And occasionally offering input. "The Empire can't very well retire." He murmured, mostly to help direct her thoughts.

When Hoshiko looked at him, Ryu gave a little nod, his own grey eyes untroubled. "That sounds more possible." He said, gently encouraging. "Rites and recompense. Some sort of festival day, perhaps? I know there's the Festival of the Moon's Wrath." Ryu chuckled softly. "If there was a Festival of Miyahara Ryu's Wrath, I might ask if anyone could come up with something else."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"Hmm, that's a worthwhile idea. I think the Gozoku problems destabilized things further, and Empress Yugozohime had to kill her brother, which is worse and...so on to today. I think getting back to spiritual basics, and considering new rituals to address the Empires's karma might be worthwhile."

Her lips twist in amusement and she pours the next round of tea to slide over in the lantern glow. "So you are saying such a title might not help much with your wrath? Whatever would get Miyahar Ryu so wrathful that we would need an entire festival to appease him, hmm?"

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Mmmm." Ryu murmured. "Unfortunately, life is messy. I suppose that's why people retire to monasteries, to lessen the day to day stain. Generally." He grimaced. The incident with the tea had shown otherwise. He gestured with his right hand. "And, as we agreed, an Empire cannot retire."

He sighed. "But, well. This is your expertise. It's not quite the same as being gifted a magic sword," he gave her the smallest of smiles, "-but it's perhaps even more important. There's only so much a magic sword can do."

"What, me?" That got an actual warm chuckle from the normally dry-witted Ryu. He smiled across at her as he accepted the latest offering of tea. "I'm certainly not there yet, although I wouldn't turn down a Ryu appreciation day. I expect it would have to be something pretty bad." His brow creased. "Or, perhaps, a lot of small grievances, over a long time. A thousand cuts." He paused. "I don't suppose that helps your studies at all?"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Her face darkens with mention of the tea incident. "Indeed. I'm not so naive as to think monasteries are outside of politics, but that was..." she shakes her head. It was certainly something. "And an Empire may indeed not retire. It can devote more energy to its spiritual health though." She writes in notes for ritual? Holiday? The oni chase that would round out the court season was one symbolic bit of attention paid to such overall spiritual needs. But it seemed apparent that there should be more.

Thankfully, her good humor returns with mention of the play's solutions to thing. "We could use a few magic swords, if you know any mountain spirits with extras. Kitsu-sama indicated that such might be of use against our angry spirit visitor. I think we've handsome warriors to spare this winter to wield any we might get."

She gathers the notes together in a tidier pile to look at, tapping the chalk against the sheets. "Hmm. That depends," she says, fighting a smile. "My studies into the karmic state of the Empire?" she taps her notes, "Or into the mind of one Miyahara Ryu? Because I do think it helps with one of those." Her lips are tight with suppressed mirth that her eyes don't hide at all.

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Hmmm." Ryu tilted his head, not exactly trying to get a better look at Hoshiko's notes, but perhaps getting a better look at her writing them. As though that would give him greater insights into her mind...

The reminder of the play, and his part in it, made Ryu smile again. "Too bad there's just the one. And it lost it's magic when the play ended." He gave a little tilt of his head, more a suggestion of a shrug than an actual shrug. "Still, I suppose handsome warriors and pretty priestesses alike will have their work cut out for them." He covered a playful smile with a sip of tea; very much just a sip, since he'd already had some, and it could scarcely hold more.

The ritual repeated: Ryu set down the cup, poured into it, and slid it back to Hoshiko. "Oh?" Ryu's eyes narrowed, clearly surpressing the same urge to smile. "I didn't realize that was something you were studying." He nodded towards her papers. "If I looked over those notes, would I read about myself? 'Handsome swordsman, doesn't smile, hangs chimes on doors'?" He looked back to her, eyebrows going up.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

She straightens, blinking a bit in surprise at 'pretty priestesses' before looking down at her notes and shuffling them more to cover her fluster. "Hmm...actually Dojo-sama bears one of Yasarugi's blades that likely holds some, um...power."

She hears the cup slide, eyes lifting to it, then up through her lashes to see Ryu's expression, which she studies through that slight veil as she takes the cup. What she makes of the raised eyebrows, the obvious tension of smiles withheld, is hidden as her gaze drops to look into the pale tea. She stares into it, swirling once to make the tiny escaped bits of leaf dance in the bottom of the cup, maybe reading portents there.

One breath, another, and just one more...is it unlucky to decide in the fourth breath?

Her eyes are clear as she looks up and holds Ryu's gaze while bringing the cup to her lips and draining it in one long, slow sip. It's as well that she always takes up the cup in her left hand, so she can pick up the chalk in her right to tap at her notes. There's a slight tilt to her lips, a hint of smile before she bends to those notes, cup held aloft. "Let's see...hmm. Handsome swordsman, check. Fights those smiles that light up deep in his eyes...not quite a match. Diligently guards those he's entrusted with, down to reassuring their nighttime frets over their own competence... Ok, I'll count that as the shorter version of my notes." The cup is set down and filled to slide across as she looks up and teases. "Miyahara Ryu, have you been spying on me?"

[Daidoji Ryu]

"If there's anyone who I would trust with a magic sword, it's Doji-sama." Ryu said. "It's been an honor to work with her." And thankfully, he wasn't a Scorpion.

As Hoshiko's eyes shifted, Ryu watched, grey eyes alert to every change of expression, every little detail. He himself was mostly still; had he trained himself into underreacting, or was he naturally like that? It was hard to say.

Ryu finally reacted as her eyes met his, and she drained the cup. His lips parted, just a little, shifting through a few configurations before settling on one of his barely-there smiles. They quirked a little more as she gave her assessment. Grey eyes danced, eyebrows rose and fell. For the normally neutral-faced Ryu, it was a veritable bounty of expression.

"Spying? Me?" Ryu's soft voice was obviously amused as he reached out to take the cup. And, just as back in Crane house, he is a little early, fingers brushing against hers. This time, though, they lingered a bit longer, thumb tracing her palm as he took the teacup. "No. But I'll admit to keeping an eye on you sometime. As I do for all of Crane house." He paused briefly. "If pressed, I might admit to watching you just a little bit more. Perhaps."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

She freezes a moment at the touch, with a small indrawn breath. Her fingers curl lightly across her palm as she withdraws that hand, once the cup is released, settling it in her lap. "Even so?" Her lips twitch with the urge to smile, and the sense that, if allowed, it would be an entirely unseemly smile, nervous and much too wide. The flush spreading to her cheeks may not be entirely visible in just the lantern's light, unless one is fairly perceptive. "For..security, of course. Wouldn't want an imposter to fool you, trying to sneak in, hmm?"

She taps against the pages of her own notes. "And if I read your own notes? Something like...hrm..pretty priestess," she squirms a bit to say that one, "disturbingly close to death, gets other people to hang omamori?" the grin breaks confinement for a moment at that last one, before she presses her lips together to trap it.

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Mmm. That may be part of it." Ryu said, his tone soft. But there was an underlying energy there that Hoshiko would not have heard before; not much, but a little. An honest enjoyment of the game the two of them seemed to be playing with each other. "I'll certainly say that unless truly pressed."

It was his turn for the ritual. Grey eyes narrowed as he slowly drank, his gaze on Hoshiko's face. It dropped to the teacup as he poured again, sliding it across to her. "Your connection to death is unusual. I do not know that I'd call it disturbing. It caught my attention." He said. "I often find myself pursuing mysteries."

His eyes went back up to her face. "The other parts, though, yes. Although I don't know that you've gotten anyone besides me to hang omamori. Pretty priestess, though..." Again, lips pressed together to keep a smile mostly contained.