Sapphire Ambassadors

Hatsuki didn't move with haste as she cleansed her hands and mouth, nor with the offering, bows, or clapping. The calm belied her excitement at what she was praying about, something she had mostly kept internalized during her work for the rest of the day. Finally, though.

Thank you! Thank you Benten, thank you, Fortune of Pregnancy, Bayushi-kami. Twins! If he's right, exactly what I hoped for. Not just one but two children between us. The way things are, I couldn't ask for a greater gift.

She squeezed her hands together, smiling to herself.

There is one last thing to complete for tonight's presentation, but it's best left till the last minute. So Sriyani visits the shrine to keep from fussing with the work as much as to find a breath of calm and offer prayers before this final presentation.

The movements are practiced and efficient after so many years. Her socks and hems are damp with the intermittent rain, and nose reddened with the shill in the air. There's an impulse to rub her hands together after clapping, which is resisted long enough to make her prayers, leaving a small, enameled tulip charm at the shrine to Sadahako.

She notes Hatsuki after that task is done, offering a bit of a bow. "Bayushi-san. I hope the day finds you well," She glances toward the door, "if a bit damp."

Hatsuki glanced behind her at first to see if perhaps Choudai had shown up behind her. Unlikely, as this was a shrine, but nonetheless...

Nope, no Choudai. She must be addressing Hatsuki.

"Ah, well enough. I appreciate the rain... It reminds me of my childhood home," she replied with a slight, curious tilt of her head. "I've seen you during the competition, but I don't believe we have formally met. I'm Shosuro Hatsuki. Pleased to meet you."

(derp...late night posting there, Shosuro-san. Sorry! I think my fingers remembered they screw up 'Shosuro' constantly and just went *nope* at that hour)

Embarrassment flushes her cheeks as she bows an apology. "Ah, sorry...Shosuro-san. I really did know that after this many days of seeing everyone's name in the gallery. And with your face so often the art, I ought to have name and face solidly together now. Alas, the fortunes of memory are reminding me to sleep more, no doubt."

"But, thank you for the formal introduction to clear up all of that. I'm Horiuchi Sriyani, of Small Creek Village. Honored to meet you." A small pause as words catch up past the fluster of the small flub. "Where did you grow up then? I'm guessing it's not your current home for you to welcome the reminder."

She shook her head, clearing the way in front of the shrine with a smile. "Of course. Please, think nothing of it, Horiuchi-san. I think nearly at the end of this, we could all use the extra sleep." She brushed a hand over the slight prominence of her belly. "I'm sure these two would thank me for it."

"Small Creek Village, hmm? What is it like?" She paused. "As for mine, I originally grew up near Tsuma before I married into the Scorpion."

"Tsuma? Then you're used to competitions like this, I'd guess, with folks from everywhere coming through. And...Crane then, originally?" It wasn't entirely a given. Most clans had holdings and families scattered through other clans' lands. "And the village is actually about as big as it can get before it ought to be called a town, just the creek that's smaller than Big Creek that it runs into a about a day's ride away. Hmmm...mostly there for the grain and clays. But it's on a trade route as well, so it stays busy."

Her smile at the Shosuro's gesture is, appropriately, sincere. "Oh? Twins? And before the winter, I'd guess, yes? How lucky! Do you have others already, or are they the first?"

"We went to the village proper to attend some of the Topaz Championships, yes. At least the stakes here are somewhat lower," she said with a shake of her head. "I always admired those who went, but never envied them."

"Hmm... Sounds like it's the sort of place that's busier than someone from outside might expect." she glanced down with a smile. "I got an unexpected divination that it would be twins... As to when... Ah, they should be born late in the month of Shinjo. Ideally, anyway. They are my first. I can't wait to meet them."

"Most places nobody's heard of are busier than folks expect," she says with wry smile. "Out of sight, out of mind and all that."

"We'd think it lucky to be born in the Lady's month, as it's said She's more likely to notice and bless such children. Good to have that divination, though! Two instead of one seems like it could be tricky if that wasn't expected." She doesn't question the truth of the divination, though certainly there are false fortune-tellers here and there, pretending to gifts they don't have to acquire coin they also don't have.

"I admit, hard for me to see this as lower stakes though. If you're good enough to be invited to the Topaz, you're already honored. But you're also just starting out. Nobody will remember that you embarrassed yourself with a snapped bowstring or something." She gestures out at the damp town. "But here? A poor showing for an established, or just beginning to be established, artisan...seems that might nip a career in the bud, or at least blemish one with the way people talk in the courts. Likely to be on the mind of nakodo too...for those here as aren't married already."

"Possibly. This is an extra honor, though, not something you're expected to necessarily succeed in, even for someone reasonably well-established. I don't think it's necessarily going to have as much weight as that," she replied with a shrug. "Especially since it's a new thing. It might get people talking, though, it's true."

"Well, in the end, we've all done our best. I think that will be enough."

"Our Clan regards twins as lucky, so perhaps they might be fortunate indeed. Lady Doji and Lady Shinjo were close, after all."

She nods. "I suppose. This is all new enough that it's hard to tell how important it will ever be. It doesn't offer a magistrate's power. But I'd guess courts will vie to invite us for the novelty alone this winter."

There's a small, amused huff through her nose and brief nod toward Hatsuki's belly. "But you may be busy enough at homethis winter to ignore them all."

"Speaking of, where is home now? Big or small after living near Tsuma?"

"Indeed... I suppose that's true... That will likely be where we will primarily be called," she agreed, giving a thoughtful nod. "Well, unfortunately, duty waits for no one. Hopefully I might be able to bring them and some help. It would be a little embarrassing to be selected for an honor and not be able to act on it."

"Oh, Shiro no Shosuro. It's an interesting place."

She nods along. “It would be inconvenient, but manageable.” Hearing the name of her new home, she adds, “or let the court at home claim you this season. At least… I’d imagine the Shiro to have a decent sized winter court, yes?” Family seat and all that.

But that was all conjecture and forecasting, in the here and now, the competition was a chance to talk to all these other artists. Even if she wasn’t fond of the Idea of the Scorpion getting to host this whole thing next.

“I’ve wanted to ask, but understand if it’s not something you want to talk about…how’d you focus in on makeup as an art form? That is… I think I’d understand if it stemmed from theater, but that didn’t _seem_to be the case with yours.”

"Hmm... that is a possibility."

A unique question. How interesting. Few people asked her why makeup.

"There's a lot of pressure for perfection in the Kakita Artisan School. I actually started in music and painting, but there were a lot of artists around me who were getting worn down and thinking they were failures. I wanted them to be able to see themselves more positively, so I started trying to figure out how to bring that out where they could see it," she explained with a small smile. Before all the headbutting between her and the rest of the Clan that had driven her deep into cynicism, it had been about compassion.

“I hadn’t thought much of the pressures in those schools. I remember some techniques that seemed mostly impossible when I began to learn them. But I was a priestess first. Has to be much harder when your whole path forward is as an artisan.” Her hands clasp before her as she nods some understanding.

“With the Scorpion so well known for their theater arts, was it your unusual choice that brought you to someone’s attention to set up a match to pull you to them?”

"I don't know if it's harder... I'm sure you dealt with your own share of hardships. Art is very... subjective, often, though," she replied, considering. "So some sensei or critic may never be satisfied, or just not like your style, or something else. All you have is their word to go on about whether your work is good or what you need to specifically change. I am curious how things were for you?"

"I don't know the details. My input on the match was deemed... unnecessary."

"Ah...unnecessary. That's familiar." She says with a small grimace that shifts to something softer. "But my first critics were the kami, as I learned to make charms to house them. Very different audience, neh? After that?" She shrugs. "It doesn't matter so much if mere mortals like the work. There's frustration..getting materials to do what you want them to, not getting the things in my head to take the right shape outside of it. My hardships weren't wound up with my art all that much. That sounds like it would make it all harder...having all those other expectations heaped on top of it."

She gestures toward the outside, and the competition. "This is the most work I think I've done with human expectations kind of driving the whole thing. I hope the ideas came across, but...it's hard to tell."

"Ah, yes... I suppose you could say that prayers are an art we've refined for a very specific audience, in a sense," she mused. "Everything I've seen of your work makes me think it has."

She nods. "It's easier with kami, they don't really have seasonal fads. I didn't worry too much about what was in fashion before, either...just made things that people ended up liking. I guess with all this...maybe I have to pay more attention. I imagine that's always been a lot closer to your mind when you work. That seems more demanding."

"It sounds like your...well the match you've made has been hard too, without being consulted, you said." There's a tentative quality to the words, uncertain if she's crossing bounds of propriety to ask. "Will the blessing of twins help? Is there at least some contentment to find there?"

She smiled at Sriyani. "Make the art you want to make, and it will become a fad soon enough, I think. But then, I am rather well known for being ridiculously stubborn on the subject, so take any advice I offer with a grain of salt."

"As to the match..." she shrugged a little. "It hasn't been an unhappy one. We're friends. It's really not so bad, even if it's not the choice I might have made on my own. I like my husband."

Even if it will never be love.

"Hmm, well if mine trends in some court, I guess at least that'll mean a bit more attention to the fortunes, even if I doubt it means any great increase in piety." She smiles a bit at the thought, considering the value of introducing some of the more obscure fortunes in her pieces.

"That sounds not so bad. Liking one another at least." There's a wistfulness to the observation. "I'm afraid my time with my betrothed last winter made it clear we wouldn't be..." she pauses, considering what to call their opinions of one another. "Well, I suppose I don't actually hate him, so that's a start. But not a pleasant one."