Sapphire Ambassadors

(expecting, but public teahouse)

Walking in, Sriyani knew she needed to visit again in daylight, when the grasses and the pond might enjoy the flattering light of Lady Sun, but seeing the silver of a nearly full moon shimmer along the pond as the koi moved slowly within was an introduction worth waiting for.

Before asking for a seat, she looked around to see if her expected tea partner had preceded her.

It seemed he in fact had. His snow white hair stuck out a little but they were in Crane lands so he was not the only one, though there was something different about his compared to the grey of age or bleach white quality of the Crane.

It doesn't seem as if he has seen her yet as he sits with silver eyes regarding the cup in front of him steam gently curling into the air.

She watches him for a long moment before heading over. Silver on silver was striking, not quite a colorless ghost, but close. It made the colorful tattoos stand out even more...when they were visible. Stopping beside his seat, she pauses to tuck her almost extended hand firmly to her side and bows. "Togashi-san. Good evening."

She glances to the moonlit pond and back to his silver hair. He could hardly have chosen a better spot to show off the unusual coloring to somewhat otherworldly effect. She sticks with a simple, "the moonlight suits you," as she glanced to see if there were two cups or she should wave someone over to place an order.

He had looked up toward her as she approached at her words he smiled "From my experience most lightings seem to suit you Horiuchi-san." He replied just a s simply.

There was a cup sitting across from him, he motioned to the seat "Good evening, please join me." His voice was soft but not quite a whisper as he reached for the tea pot between the two cups and filled hers.

“You flatter me, Togashi-san,” she murmurs as she sits with more efficiency than grace, a slight flush darkening her cheeks. Encircling the warm cup with both hands, she asks, “So what am I joining you for?” Her thumbs tap the lip of her cup, making her meaning as clear as he cares to see.

He picked up his own cup and took a small sip "Presently? A drink, a chance to get to know each other. Maybe discuss what sort of art you might like to have on you." He spoke casually.

"From there? we'll see where the night takes us." He says taking another sip.

Togashi Yoshiaki wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 14, 2022 4:52 am

He picked up his own cup and took a small sip "Presently? A drink, a chance to get to know each other. Maybe discuss what sort of art you might like to have on you." He spoke casually.

"From there? we'll see where the night takes us." He says taking another sip.

Ducking her head with a smile, she says, “that is both more and less information than I expected, but that seems to be how it goes talking to you.’ Her eyes are merry as she looks up, still cradling her tea. ‘I suppose I should have just asked which tea you’d ordered.’

Hus lips upturned at the corners gently "Well a question can be read many ways."

"I orded their flower bouquet blend. Something green since it is late and floral notes to the smell sounded pleasant." He explained taking another sip

"How have you faired since our last meeting Horiuchi-san?"

She lifts the cup to inhale the steam appreciatively. "A thoughtful choice."

"Things have been well," she says as the cup lowers with a small rattle of bracelets and small thump to the table. "The first presentation worked as I thought it should, though it's hard to tell overall what people thought." With a smile, she adds, "I did see yours. The crab as protector is a symbol most will understand readily."

"I hope the fortunes have also found you well since our conversation."

As they often did his eyes tracked the rattling sound her jewelry made when she moved but with a vaguely positive expression rather than one of annoyance.

"I enjoyed you work Horiuchi-san. The pieces worked together well together each one a well crafted individual and together, with a great model, created a stunning display. Your use of light was also ambitious." He supplied his thoughts on her own display.

"I have been well, mostly living a similar life as I do at home just a little later." He says with a small smile "I have been enjoying sleeping in a bit."

"You are very kind to say so." She looks up into his odd silver eyes, then away with a teasing smile. "Though I can't help wondering if it was mostly the color scheme you liked. Gold might not draw your eye so well."

"Can't argue with you on the pleasures of sleeping in though. Getting up and moving along with the dawn isn't something I missed at court either." With honest curiosity, she asks, "What's your life at home like then? Since I imagine you aren't tattooing all day long?"

"There were many things I like about it." He said with an almost pointed vagueness as he took another sip of his tea.

As he set his cup down he looked thoughtful for a moment "I assume it is much like other samurai's lives. I wake up early to train, I consult my sensei on things, I do leisure activities, work on sketches for tattoos or do tattoos. If I have tattoos to do in a day that will eat up much of the day as the sessions can be many hours long."

"How do you fill your days Horiuchi-san?"

While she listens, she watches him through the steam of her tea as she drinks. Questions crowd along the edges of her mind as he speaks, each tidbit calling up further interest in the specifics of those daily activities. But his question stills them.

She takes a moment to settle her cup, and consider her answer. "In the village I tend our small shrine and train shrine keepers to share the work; monitor the spirits in the area and try to settle imbalances. I am not well-trained as a healer, though I can assess some things to help the one we have." Holding up a hand so her charms catch the lanternlight a bit, she adds, "The making of Meishodo charms and the binding of spirits to them takes time, and sometimes study. And lately, jewelry design and crafting has taken more of my time so I spend less at the forge with our blacksmith. Those times are honestly a bit of a break now...just hammering out some horseshoes is good for clearing the head."

"And...then it all changes up when I travel with those moving herds from winter to summer pastures. Or...this winter at court. Or...now." She gestures toward the tearoom door before looking back to her cup, clasping it between her hands once again. "but I guess this doesn't count as usual days."

"Oh, and writing. There's always letters to do. My own and on account of the shrine sometimes." After a pause, her hand lifts, "and the fields to bless, and babies...and..." She stops, fingers just touching her lips as her lips press together to dam the flood and her eyes flit to look at his a moment in consternation.

"I'll stop there. You don't need the moment by moment accounting of rising and dressing and each dish I'd be eating, and on and on." A small, jingling shake of her head precedes a centering breath, circling back to at least one question that runs up alongside the reasons for this meeting. "How many tattoos have you done before all of those for this competition?"

When she found his eyes she'd find them tracking those fingers and lingering on her lips before moving up to meet her own. Hos expression radiated a calm interest "Seems as our lives are different but also the same." He comments with a small smile.

At her question he seems to pause counting in his head "I don't believe I have an exact number. Most likely a couple hundred. I passed my gempukku three years ago and had done a few before then in training. I showed much promise and after my gempukku piece many of the monks came to me to have their work done. The more work I did the more word of it spread, these days I do nearly as many as my sensei, probably two or three a week."

The cup is turned back and forth between her palms, a gentle fidgeting as she listens. “So many! But then I suppose it’s more…central to your duties.” Her eyes rest on his fingers. “Steady hands needed for that.” It’s statement more than question and almost seems like thinking aloud.

“How do…” she pauses, shifting from that thought, “that is, you mentioned leisure activities. What sort of things do you do for fun, then?”

He shrugged a little "I suppose similar to other people in that regard as well. I read, I go for hikes, the mountain can be harsh but also beautiful if you know the right vistas. I practice some other arts for enjoyment, share meals with friends or just spend time conversing with them."

He took a sip of his tea and set down the cup as he regarded her "and what of you Horiuchi-san, you mentioned many activities but what do you do that is just for you?"

She nods with a Unicorn's understanding of the beauty of wild places to walk in. "I can understand the beauty of mountains. Last winter was spent in an Asako court, a small one," certainly nothing so grand as Kyuden Asako. "The mountains were beautiful. Ancient stone under old wood." Her gaze drops back to her tea, lifting it with those ever-present small sounds. "I can at least look forward to seeing those again," she says before sipping at the perfumed tea, eyes closed.

They pop open at his question though, a bit surprised, more by the wording than the basic return of her own question. "I too walk the wild places. Fish and hunt a bit. Not so well as those tasked to it, but nobody ever minds extra at the table. Seek out those places where a kami has grown...larger...not the best word, but settled, and try to learn its name." Perhaps oddly, this Unicorn doesn't mention riding.

He nods "I have seen a little of the Phoenix lands, they are indeed beautiful, some can rival the Dragon."

A sip "It is good to meet someone so enamored with the wild places, hardly surprising given your clan but still."

Yoshiaki may not have have sharp eyes but he does have good ears and a keen mind. He pulls at a little thread of feeling hidden "you said "at least" you can look forward to seeing them again. Usually this is reserved for when someone is looking for the brightside of an unpleasant task." He comments, those pale silver eyes searching for the truth on her features.

Lips quirk in a rueful smile, dark brown eyes meeting his silver as she hmmms a quiet assent. "You're not wrong. Seeing clearly, weak eyes or no." Her cup is left alone on the table as her hands rest, right fingers over the left, on the table before her.

"My art caught some eyes, and that was my first journey from Unicorn lands. I thought, I was to support our delegation with spiritual and artistic skills...and I did a bit. But mostly it was to determine which of Asako Aramoto's sons I was to be betrothed to." There is a steadiness to her words, though her expression betrays the wound of it. "Sometimes our duty is to be a dutiful piece on a board we didn't see. I won't mind, but it was made clear I'm not a welcome duty for him." She blinks back the ache that still sits in her heart. "I'll miss my home dearly."

"But I will have the mountains, and my art." She swallows, chin taking on a determined set, echoed in the narrowing of her eyes. "So I asked to be a canvas for something to keep and remind me of where I'm from." Looking aside, her next words are honest, but have an edge of shame and defiance to them. "Also, I suspect that he will hate it."

His lips turn down in a slight frown. Likely the first face of real displeasure she had seen him make since they met. It was subtle, like most of his expressions tended to be, but it was significant that he showed it, Yoriaki was not a man who wore his emotions openly.

He was quiet for a moment and nodded "A creation made out of love for one's home and a hope to remember is good but one made from resentment is more troubling." A fan produced in a quick movement shielded their lips and the soft sound of his voice as he leaned closer to her so the light sound would carry "I think it something we should discuss in a more private setting, discussing in depth the dislike of your match in such a public place is typically...unwise." his eyes held sympathy for her all the more plain to see with how close they were.