[D13, EE] Needling Away (Open)

[Kitsu Sayomi]

It was a rare opportunity to sit in the banquet hall these days without it being fully packed, so Sayomi enjoyed these quiet moments before the evening-rush would start the next hour or so.

Having finished her meal, she was simply just enjoying her tea now as she continued to work on her embroidery. "Should've started on this earlier..." she mumbled to herself, realizing that it had been stupid to hold off doing this project so late in the season as it had always been a possibility she would get married.

[Shiba Ryusei]

Not too far away, a certain Phoenix had likewise grabbed an early dinner... in his case, because having helped Yuna down from her distress at the accident at the Bowman's wager, he was busy making sure NOT to spend every second of every day with her- for the sake of her reputation as much as anything.

He spotted the Kitsu... and cocked his head at the needlework.

"Kitsu-sama, good evening. No fresh mishaps for anyone since we last spoke, i hope?"

[Kitsu Sayomi]

Sayomi looked up from her work, her hands slowing but not stopping.

"Good evening, Shiba-sama," she bowed her head in greeting. "Not as far as I know, fortunately. Perhaps it is waiting for tomorrow?"

[Shiba Ryusei]

"There is always tomorrow, true..."

He nodded at the needlework.

"May I ask what you're working on?"

[Kitsu Sayomi]

"Tomorrow is the Cup of Defeat, so who knows," she nodded with that reply, then looked down at her hands.

"I'm working on some embroidery. It's a tradition for the women in my house to make embroidered pouches, especially for the men. Since I might be betrothed before the winter's end, I figured it was best to get started. Does your house have any such traditions, perhaps?"

[Shiba Ryusei]

Ryusei actually laughed at that, although he got it under control in a hurry.

"My House has a.... decided lack of romance in its recent history. Most of our gestures have to do with the Lord or the Lord's children setting out on sea voyages, and Father has been unable to go to sea for so long I think we'd need to read old accounts to remember even those... but then, House Shigi hasn't been, ah... steered as I would have liked for generations."

He sighed.

"I know we must honor our ancestors, but some of mine... I wish I could ask them what in the name of all of the Fortunes they were thinking."

[Kitsu Sayomi]

"Oh?" the needle paused as she looked at him with some curiosity. "What makes you say that, Shiba-sama?"

[Shiba Ryusei]

"Without boring you the way I bored the court earlier today..."

He sighed.

"House Shigi fell on hard times- that is normal. Every House has its ups and downs. Real boats rock, even if models don't. But.... from the first serious blow we were dealt after the First War, nobody seemed to make any.... daring moves. We were too concerned with holding on to what we had without risk. And it's gotten us... to the point where we have nothing to brag about since the First War."

[Kitsu Sayomi]

"I see," she looked down at the embroidery for a brief moment, then took a pause with the needle. "But... in that time with nothing to brag about, was it simply quiet or was it disastrous?"

[Shiba Ryusei]

"Slow and steady decline. Not a knife to the heart, but a wasting illness."

Ryusei sighed.

"The House's fortunes weren't won through an excess of caution. I won't fault every decision made in the intervening years, and caution absolutely has its place, but... I feel we need to let ourselves dream big again."

He nodded to the embroidery.

"Or even just come up with or rediscover customs that make us feel... alive."

[Kitsu Sayomi]

"Hmmm... but would you say after this season, that things might be looking up for your house?" she asked with genuine interest.

[Shiba Ryusei]

"I would say there's a chance. It'll depend on what we make of it, but... yes. Y- Agasha-sama has ideas and plans, the Crab will be building a port facility- and using it. There's a chance to be more than just a House trading on past glories while we slip into obscurity."

Plus good ties with Yuna's House, and good relations with the Mantis, and access to southern ports, and....

But he'd promised not to bore her.

"In that sense, the easy part ended when I got to Court."

[Kitsu Sayomi]

A thoughtful few nods. "It seems like you and Agasha-sama were lucky to be matched together this season. Seems things have moved fast, no? Meet a new person at winter court, and then make arrangements for marriage so quickly?"

[Shiba Ryusei]

"Ah, well.. That."

He chuckled.

"I, ah.... if I had written down my ideal wife prior to coming to Court... Agasha Yuna-sama would have bettered her. She wrote a very engaging letter prior to Court, so I knew I wanted to meet her, but, uh.... yeah."

[Kitsu Sayomi]

She raised an eyebrow. "So you knew eachother prior to court? Well that explains things. You two made me think you had rushed headlong into things after having only known eachother for a day!"

[Shiba Ryusei]

"Oh, we.... kind of did that, actually. It was just a letter or two before Court."

He chuckled.

"It's... not how I saw my life going, to put it mildly. But now I can't imagine it any other way."

[Kitsu Sayomi]

But you can't marry a man you just met! Truly the standards outside the Lion seem to be so strange, all these samurai making these choices for themselves!

If Sayomi wore a pearl necklace, she might have clutched it. Instead, she pricked her fingertip with the needle. Enough to make her slightly flinch, and put the needlework away.

"Well, as long as you know what is best for your houses. I wish you the best."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"An eldest child who cannot be heir to her house, the heir to another house, shared interests but enough differences to keep things interesting..."

He sighed.

"Were I to cold-bloodedly sit down and describe a wife that best suits the needs of my house, a pious woman who is also a trained karo from a wealthy family would be hard to better."

And his tone warmed up a bit.

"And if I were to selfishly write out the traits I most wanted in a partner before Court... Agasha-sama would exceed my happiest expectations. And as a harmonious house runs better than a disharmonious one..."

[Kitsu Sayomi]

Sayomi smiled politely. "I hope your parents will be satisfied with your choices too. We owe must to our parents, after all."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"I strongly suspect, based upon who we both know and how that first letter chanced to be written, that Mother might have had a hand in engineering it. As for Father... had I wed the Empress, he would have found a way to be displeased, so frankly, I merely hope he'll be polite to her."