(D14 LE-expecting) A Prayer and Some Wings

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Hoshiko prays before the shrine to Emma-O once again, asking for the steadiness needed for a large and untested ritual. Several small papers burn, bearing requests to the court that she hopes to check in on at a later time. Her satchel is packed with things she expects to need tonight. Warm clothing for the travel there in this chill is ready.

All that's left is to focus and ready mind and soul, watching the small flame and curling smoke.


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ooc space to toss the meditation roll in a bit.
D14: LE Meditation: | 6k3 ⇒ 22 (TN: 20)

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu was quiet. But perhaps Hoshiko was becoming more used to that.

At some point, while she was performing her prayers, Ryu appeared in the doorway. The smallest of smiles touched his lips as he stood there, arms casually crossed, quietly watching.

It would be a little longer before he stepped forward, coming to join Hoshiko, standing beside her. He still didn't speak; it didn't feel right to be the one to break the silence, not when Hoshiko was praying.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Nor does she pause her prayer, though there's a subtle shift--perhaps standing a bit straighter, chin dipped a hair in unconscious greeting. When the words cease, she claps and bows to the shrine, looking over to her companion. "Almost time." She looks back at the shrine. "I so seldom pray to him directly, usually to the clerks, the aides who are assisting him. But for this...I asked that he offer what assistance this escaped soul needed to find their proper judgement and place."

Turning more fully toward Ryu, solemnity shifting to a nervous smile, she asks, "It's been busy today. How have you fared since I saw you last?" A quirk to her smile says something about that parting.

[Daidoji Ryu]

A solemn nod acknowledged the time. "How curious." Ryu said, his voice as soft as ever. "I've put such effort into mastering the politics of the Empire. I sometimes forget that there's whole existences outside of it, with their own sets of rules." One of those gentle smiles touched his lips.

He knelt down, truly joining Hoshiko, rather than looming over her. "That makes me feel better." He said, still smiling. "Knowing that you're covering my blind spot. Hmmmm." He did not elaborate on that hmmm, instead turning his gaze to the shrine.

But as she smiled at him, Ryu looked back to her. "Well enough, I suppose. Busy. And yet, with all that's been happening lately, I've found it hard to focus. My mind keeps wandering." He tilted his head, giving her one of those secret smiles that, so far as Hoshiko knew, he only gave her.

"And you, Hoshiko-san?" Ryu asked, his voice low.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"I appreciate that there are friends watching my own blind spots. It lets me be far bolder than I might if I had to worry about the dangers I have so little knowledge of." That hmm, one of many small hints at all that was going on behind the usually quiet outer appearance. "There are elements anyone may learn about such things as the other realms. If you ever want a bit more information about that blind spot."

It's a moment, but she catches the smile, her own lips tipping up before she ducks her in a futile attempt to hide her slight flush. "I don't regret the wandering when the topics are so pleasant, Ryu-san." She looks up, "I do regret this spirit business means I've neglected my responsibility to add some careful courtship poems to the flow of letters, something full of allusions to morning larks and winter's eyes."

She looks back up with a small sigh, and gentle smile. "Alas, it's been a long day of one sort of work or another and no time to enjoy setting thoughts to ink. I hope we'll have a chance to share them later, even if they never make it to paper."

[Daidoji Ryu]

Again, Ryu slowly nodded. "I may." He sighed gently. "But at some point, I need to accept that one person cannot do it all. That's something I should already know. That's the basis of the assistance I provide to my cousin." His lips quirked wryly. "But I feel I may have been slow to learn it for myself."

As they spoke, Ryu's grey eyes were alert, studying Hoshiko's features. His smile grew as he spotted that blush. In his role as adviser, he always watched for signs of weakness. Now he was watching for signs of delight.

"I very much hope so, too." Ryu said, leaning a little closer, pitching his voice a little lower. "In fact... there was a poem I'd begun working on, beneath the branches of a tree. I feel the beginning was good, but it didn't reach a proper conclusion." He paused a moment, regarding her. "Perhaps we might collaborate on that? Once all this business is done, of course." The reminder of what was to come stole a little intensity from Ryu's grey eyes, but only a little.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"Hah, that seems always a difficult lesson," Hoshiko says with some humor. "I suppose with the actually invisible, you have no choice but to learn it?" Her tone is somewhat teasing, but sobers a bit, "My job is to be a bridge for others to that unseen world. I hope you'll let me be of service when that is what you need, Ryu-san. We're a bit rare, but not inaccessible," she smiles a bit at the ways the word may be taken, "as I hope you know by now."

She continues, her own voice low as they converse before the shrine. "It would be a shame to leave a poem half written, particularly when those beginning lines held such promise." Her grey-blue eyes shine with mirth and memory, "I've a few books of poetry with me this winter, and some small knowledge of the forms. I think a collaboration would be an excellent way to celebrate." At least she very much hopes they'll be celebrating.

That reminder sets her shoulders a bit more square, her spine a bit straighter where she'd begun to lean toward him. "It may be dangerous tonight. If the spirit escapes our work and tries to take over one of those in the ritual...they may be dangerous." She's not quite sure what she wants to tell him to *do* in that case, but a small inspiration strikes. From her obi, she pulls the somewhat worn ofuda Kitsu Shintaro had given her and holds it out in her left hand. "I'd like you to take this. I'll have the entire circle of folks casting, but...would feel better if you had even the thin protection of a bit of sacred paper."

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Truly." Ryu said. There was a wry twist to his smile, but much of it was honest. For a few moments, his grey eyes were distant, and then they focused on her. "Thank you, Hoshiko-san." His smile grew entirely genuine. "That is perhaps chief among the things I've learned this season."

As Hoshiko's eyes lit so did Ryu's. Mirth, but also excitement. "I see." He said, his soft voice grown just a touch throaty. "We shall have to compare what we know. Between the two of us, I expect we might have quite the composition." Down at his side, his hand briefly clenched, then relaxed. It was hard not to reach out to her... "More than one over the course of the season, I dare to hope."

But he also caught that bit of worry. "We will. I promise." His tone was firm, there. It was not within Ryu's power to promise... at least, not so far as he knew. But he didn't know these rules, either. Perhaps he spoke prophecy without realizing it.

Ryu's lips parted, and be blinked as Hoshiko bought out the ofuda. He was silent a moment as he took it. "Thank you." He finally said. "Ah... how do I...?" Smiling slightly, he held it up. "Do I hold it? Carry it? Wear it, perhaps?"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

She laughs a bit, reaching to thread the cord at the top of the ofuda beneath his obi and tying a large knot to keep it from slipping through without a netsuke to secure it. The movement is automatic and professional. She's offered and occasionally secured such things in her role as priestess before. But halfway through the knotwork, some reminder of the closeness this entails seeps through and her hands slow a bit before the knot is done, her breath catching a moment. "Ah...like this. It can even just tuck within the obi, but it's...hmmm...better if the spirit might see the writing here, telling it to stay away." The gentle pat, as if telling it to stay in place is perhaps less professional.

Sitting back, perhaps a bit abruptly, eyes perhaps a little bright, she nods, "Oh, certainly. It's terribly hard to just write *one* poem, isn't it? Becomes a habit. You're just having some tea in the evening and there's this bit of moonlight across the floor," presumably because a door is open to one's room. "And you start thinking about how someone else is seeing the same light," sometimes because they are right there looking at it with you, "and perhaps they might see it and think of you doing the same and perhaps you'll both begin to compose something memorable."

That wavery, trying-not-to-grin-insanely smile is back, "when every little thing makes you think of a poem, well...you just keep writing them."

[Daidoji Ryu]

In fact, Ryu very much held his breath while Hoshiko threaded the ofuda. He continued holding it until she sat back, then he finally let it out slowly. "Thank you," he breathed, "Hoshiko-san."

As Hoshiko went on... delightfully on, Ryu found himself grinning. She'd won a grin from him! "You paint a vivid picture with your words." He said. "It's almost as if I could see such a scene right now. Very inspirational. I could almost begin composing this minute." He wanted to, he really did. A little shift let his knee press against hers, just for a moment. It was like an appetizer before a very fine meal.

His expression softened as he looked at her, fond but thoughtful. This night would end, hopefully well. And then hopefully many others would end even better. But after that...

"And once this season is over..." Ryu began, smiling gently once more. "What does the future hold for you?"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

She does chuckle then, quick and low. "While Benten's shrine is right there, there's composing--which is perfectly acceptable as an offering---and *composing* which may create far too much scandal." She tilts her head a bit, considering, with a small gleam in her eye.

After a moment she rises, to step past Ryu toward Benten's shrine, saying. "The future for me is stewarding my House, performing my duties, deepening understanding of the court of Emma-O." She looks over her shoulder before kneeling before the shrine. "I'll need help if I can find someone with political skill, hopefully the knowledge to improve our defenses, which are rather small for our status, and willing to join a more spiritual House than many."

She claps twice and bows, taking a moment to light a small piece of incense.

"Before Benten I
Offer this poem, composed
Beneath a bare tree"

She remains with her head bowed slightly, taking a deep breath, then releasing it and the poem to the Fortune as she waits to hear what might answer.

[Daidoji Ryu]

Another grin, ever so brief, flashed across Ryu's face. "I wonder if Benten might not might either way." He said excited amusement in his voice. "But I suppose she wouldn't be the one gossiping, either." He briefly bowed his head, apology at the slightly irreverent joke.

Still kneeling, he shifted as Hoshiko rose, turning on his knees to face her. To face the shrine. He did not smile as she spoke, but neither did he frown. His grey eyes seemed thoughtful, even more than his usual. As she finished speaking, looking back to the shrine, his lips parted.

But then she knelt in prayer. And even as Hoshiko bowed, Ryu bowed as well. It was her prayer, her offering, but Ryu felt like he was offering it as well. He wanted to, surely.

He straightened slowly after, respectfully silent for a few moments. Then he spoke. "I don't know what my future looks like. But perhaps that means it's mine to choose, to a degree. Flexible." He smiled. "Open to discussion. Maybe that's the best way to describe it."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

There's an amused huff at the thought of Benten presiding over that sort of composing. She listens quietly, with that thoughtful attention she brings to the task. That sounded like a very solid 'maybe'

She turns to look over her shoulder with a smile. "Open to discussion?" Patting the space beside her in invitation, she notes, "well this is Benten's shrine, not Musubi's so you needn't worry she's tying knots for you yet."

"Though...I suppose that is as likely to spark gossip as anything. Praying together before Benten." She thinks for a moment, then faces the shrine to offer another poem.

"A teacup slides
A quiet conversation
Overheard through a wall"

[Daidoji Ryu]

A smile came to Ryu's lips, and he shifted forward to kneel next to Hoshiko; even as he did so, his gaze lingered on her face, on her smile, for some moments.

"Hmph. I suppose it is." He said, looking casually away. "And yet, sometimes two people visit a shrine together. Or share a cup of tea. Or exchange a few words before bed. People may jump to wrong conclusions all the time." Or away from right ones.

He listened to her poem; again, it brought a smile to his lips. Hoshiko seemed to be getting better at that; like a practiced skill, each smile came more readily than the last. And then Ryu shared a poem of his own:

"Bird sings to her mate
Nearby a peasant chops wood
Thinking of supper"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"True, true. It is a shrine in the heart of a clan that shows a great deal of devotion to the Fortune. I was here just the other day to pray and was joined by Asahina Etsuko-san hoping for the Fortune's blessing on her arranged match. I trust there are no rumors surround that chance meeting." She remains facing the shrine, though she glances sideways to catch Ryu's expressions more often than might be strictly polite, but she suspects Benten has seen such a dynamic more than a few times in the Fortunes long years. Hoshiko's own smile is warm, and certainly meant more for those sideways glances than for the Fortune.

With another bow to the shrine, Hoshiko finishes the poem as another offering.

"Sawing wood, dreaming of feasts
Are we also in Yume-do?"

"With a future so open, what might a rising young bushi hope from it? After a successful winter court," for surely it would be successful, "there are many posts he might aspire to."

[Daidoji Ryu]

"Not that I've heard." Ryu said, deadpan. Indeed, with the way that Hoshiko looked at him, and he looked at her, onlookers might mistake them for offering poems to each other instead of to Benten. But of course such interpretation was in the eye of the beholder, and there were no other humans to behold them. Occasionally the creak of a floorboard or a murmur would remind them that they were not alone in the house, but they were alone enough.

As always, Ryu considered a moment before answering. "I have aspirations. I would not have come so far if I had not." A faint smile. "And yet, I feel like one who has climbed to the top of a mountain, and sees that it is only one of several. Which one next?" He chuckled softly, shaking his head.

"First, I mean to see my cousin married." He went on. "Then... I have thought of turning to the Magistrate's office, one or the other of them. Or to Lady Doji; she's expressed interest in my skills." A sidelong glance. "I think, no matter what, I may wish to develop my spiritual side."

It was his turn. For his prayers/poems, Ryu simply bowed, as though supplementing Hoshiko's prayers rather than adding his own.

"In a dream, I seek
Yume whispers in my ear
I awake, restored"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"I'll see you at the wedding then?" The question is conversational, hopeful. She reaches to nudge the incense so ash falls to the bowl instead of the floor as it was threatening to do. "Magistrates travel quite a bit. An advisor may more readily lead a house. But there are endless mountains to climb."

"I think all the Empire would benefit from greater devotion to the spiritual," she says earnestly. But with amusement lacing her voice, she adds, "but I can only personally assist so many. I'd be pleased if you were among them."

Incense settled, Hoshiko offers another completion verse to the Fortune.

"Dreams from memories are born
Sipping tea, composing poems"

[Daidoji Ryu]

The corners of Ryu's lips curled up, and he glanced at Hoshiko. "You will." He said. Two words, but it was a promise.

The smile faded, and he nodded. "Yes. And in climbing, the first decision is where to begin." He gave her a direct look, his grey eyes serious. "But I will be considering all angles. You may be sure of that." For instance, if Winter Court ended, and they didn't want to stop seeing each other, that would certainly be something he'd consider.

Ryu paused, taking a deep breath, letting the scent of the incense tease his nose. He leaned a little closer, letting his shoulder gently bump hers. "I would like that very much, Hoshiko-san." Ryu whispered, his breath just brushing her ear. "I hoped you would."

Then he straightened, bowing, to give another poem

"Time steals memories
but each day we meet again,
to make them anew"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

There's that warmth again, of turning toward the sun, of finding a safe space in a busy world, along with a reminder of the happy event to come. "I look forward to introducing you to my cousins as you support yours through the wedding. I hope Nahomi may also look for your support as she begins her new life with the Miyahara. I certainly have reason to recommend you to her."

Her course was somewhat fixed. It was a comfort to know that his was a bit more flexible. "I'll look forward to learning what paths you've started down by then as well." Months apart would show whether attraction waxed or waned with absence, time as well to consider all the other factors that went into such things. "As I offer spiritual guidance, perhaps we'll decide what shrine or shrines to pray before by this time next winter," whether that would be together, or apart would be decided then too.

They were near enough in height for that whisper to brush her ear almost just by turning his head. Hoshiko drew in her breath at the tickling touch of it, eyes going a bit distant as she listened to his offering.

"Reading poems, while the ice thins
Keeps us well warmed until spring

In spring coastal winds,
I remember a warm smile
and tea at my lips"

[Daidoji Ryu]

Ryu nodded, his grey eyes meeting Hoshiko's. "Of course. Please let her know that she can count on me." He let that eye contact linger, his meaning clear.

He looked back to the shrine to Benten. When he'd arranged for it to be set up, he'd been somewhat humoring the more pious of the company. Now he was thankful it was there. "Time goes both quickly and slowly." He said. "We'll see where both our paths have taken us, when they loop about to join again." His voice was soft, thoughtful, and his eyes still on the shrine. Time would provide answers, or so he felt, as memories either faded away or wonderfully crystallized.

As Hoshiko began her poem, Ryu glanced at her, and then back to the shrine. Of all the poems shared, it was this one that most made his heart seem to swell with emotion in his chest. His eyes drifted closed, a smile on his lips. Yes.

Once she'd finished, Ryu turned to look at her, smiling, his eyes open once more. "I don't think we'll be able to top that poem." He said. "We should stop there. For now." His smile grew, just a little. "Until we are next able to compose poetry together, at least."