Sapphire Ambassadors

Following a conversation with a tanuki and its pet Minor Clanner, on top of everything else in his life, he needed to unwind.

He'd heard there was some sort of business with the local tea houses, and, after asking around, he had settled on the one most in keeping with his own sensibilities.

Cherry blossoms, ornamental koi, sand gardens... all of those were fine, so far as it went. Nice, really.

But they were of secondary importance to the menu.

The man who had found the time to turn the Crazy Hare from a completely wretched dive into one of the most successful eateries in Naishou, Choudai valued a kitchen in a tea house, and he entered the Sunset Leaves Tea Room with hopeful expectations in mind.

Sweet cinnamon spice tea... oh, and look, they actually have things that complement it, my, my, my...

His time masquerading as a Yasuki had robbed him of some of the appropriate disdain for economics expected of a proper bushi, and while he didn't exactly haggle over his "sampler plate" of everything the staff recommended to go with the sweet cinnamon spice plus one or two more idiosyncratic choices, the fact that he actually noticed the price was something of an amusing paradox, given how much the Tortoise Clan had paid him for the Crazy Hare.

Now, let's see...

He approached the snacks with a mixture of businesslike clinical interest, artistic curiosity, and an effort at simple appreciation.

I wonder if this is a good idea Inori thought to herself as she dithered on the doorstep of the tea house she had been told would have good food. Or really, food that wasn't barley gruel with a few sides...she was not that picky, in all honesty. Still, she was supposed to be this sophisticated, adult Samurai, too, so...the good stuff it was.

Inori squared her shoulders and detached from the right wall of the entrance, walked in like she meant to do it right away. Confidently. Mistress of all she perceived.

......right.

Still, what she did perceive was awe-inspiring. Not so much the patrons, but the increasing, almost excessive feast that was being stacked up in front of one of the patrons. She might have stared open-mouthed for a moment. Might have. Inori was pretty sure that she had not started drooling. Some face saved.
The Matsu shook her head. So much food. This would be...and this...Calculated. Weighed the purse at her belt. Calculated again. Stared down in defeat.

"Good evening. I'll have the Sanzai and a grilled fish bowl" was what she eventually managed to say to one of the servers.

Then she turned to the recipient of near mind-boggling opulence. "I'm sorry Samurai-san, I didn't mean to stare"

Choudai honestly hadn't noticed the attention until she'd spoken, being occupied in a very detached sort of approval of both the variety on offer and of the evident quality.

A lioness barely more than a kitten.

But she is a Lioness, and therefore potentially... volatile.

"You have caused no offense, Matsu-san." He cocked his head at her. "I am embarked upon something of a study, and may perhaps be making a spectacle of myself. This one is Bayushi Choudai. Would Matsu-san care to join me in an appraisal of the bill of fare?"

He gestured to the spread in front of him.

Words. So many words, and I'm not even sure what to make of any of them.

There was no mockery in that thought, rather confusion and mild panic.

"What? Appraisal?" she looked at the other Samurai. "Appraisal? Sure, I'd be delighted to" she said, bowing hastily before she sat down, looking back and forth between the food and the....Bayushi. Delayed realization struck her.

Too late to back out now... she thought, and swallowed.

"This one is called Matsu Inori. I just wanted to visit what I was told is the best place to eat in town"

"Ah, in that, then, we are united."

He started adjusting the arrangements, seeming to be ordering them from most to least spicy.

"In an entire town dedicated to sight and sound, there is something to be said for the simple dedication to honest culinary excellence... oh, do help yourself to anything you fancy, Matsu-san. I would be interested to get a second opinion on any dishes you take an interest in..."

He selected a couple of choice morsels himself, working from the milder end of the spectrum to begin.

"After all, while clan cuisine can vary somewhat, and individual tastes even more-so, it's always good to get some perspective."

He glanced at the young Matsu... and winked.

"And besides, it will give you a chance to relax for a moment."

"Hmmm. Sight...sound. I just find this place strange."

Much like that other Crane place, really.

"Things have a place where I'm from, and a clear purpose, and you know what you're dealing with. Here, well..."

She looked over the sumptuous feast. Inori did not even recognize some of the dishes, nor had she any familiarity with the spices. An appetite she had, alright - she suspected the order the Scorpion was putting the dishes in, and had picked out at least two of the things at the end he had started at. Was about to reach for her chopsticks, then hesitated.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Why, Matsu-san, are you implying that a samurai would make an insincere offer to a fellow samurai? You wound me!"

He grinned, and gestured to something from the middle of the line. Gyoza, with an aroma hinting at both garlic and curry.

"Not used to courtly fencing, are you? Try these- a little zest, unless my nose much deceives me..."

Used to courtly fencing? No, no I am really not. And given how that went so far I am really not sure I want to.

Inori bowed her head hastily...then made another bow, chopsticks in hand. "Thank you for this meal" she intoned to spirits in general and no one in particular, then extended the chopsticks towards the pieces the Scorpion had indicated. Gyoza, so far so good. So innocuous.

Confusion played over her face. That one tastes weird. Not even sure if it's good or bad, but...strange

"This is not an ordinary Gyoza" Inori said, deadpan.

"Ah, but what is an ordinary gyoza? What are you accustomed to having in one, Matsu-san? And in what sense does this one differ?"

He popped one into his own mouth and chewed thoughtfully, as if devoting his full attention to the experience.

"Is it the garlic, the curry, or the faint and dare I say delightful dash of ponzu within the dumpling itself? Or is it something more?"

"I don't even know what most of these spices do" she replied frankly. "Or what this curry thing even is. Sometimes we'd get some Gyoza with meat in them, some soy sauce..."

She leaned back and went through her internal catalogue of culinary experience

"I suppose I can tell you all about barley gruel"

Ah, the Lion, such refreshingly honest people about how boring they are.

"Has any gruel in Matsu-san's experience ever stood out, for good or ill?"

"It's better sometimes if we managed to grab herbs or wild vegetables to add to it. When being out and about that is. Some seasons have better barley, too. But if not...we'd be eating it for months on end anyway"

Inori shrugged.

"I ate mostly for fuel, not enjoyment until recently. The idea wouldn't have occurred to me until I actually got some nice food during my first journey outside my family's province"

She frowned, picked another offering, tried it. It looked like a disc-like vegetable with holes in it, steeped in some broth. It was...mostly bland, but assumed the taste of the broth with its most peculiar but good seasoning.

"It seems to me Bayushi-san is more of an expert"

"My grandmother was a passionate devotee to the culinary arts."

Mostly so she could trust what she ate, but let that pass.

"And I, as an... over-indulged grandchild, shall we say, learned a great deal from her."

He picked out a simple senbei and gave it a nibble.

"Including an appreciation for the nuances of flavor. There's a very simple seasoning on these, meant to complement the cinnamon tea, and it manages admirably..."

Inori followed suit, and contemplated for a second. It was firm, and nice and crunchy, but just as the Scorpion had stated, the seasoning was simple and to the point.

There is such a thing as...too much. Not here.

"This one is pretty good. And so...Bayushi-san's knowledge is basically a gift from your honoured ancestors. Is this what got you to this...event?"

There were, after all, supposedly all kinds of different arts. Not that she had given that particular matter much thought until very recently.

"Just so. Mind you, the dishes I intend to prepare may, at times, be difficult to make... viable for an eatery like this one. A bit more involved. But it's an area with considerable scope."

He cocked his head to the side as he tried a sort of ginger-glazed rice candy.

"And Matsu-san is also an artist?"

Heaven knows, I can't imagine what else you'd be doing here.

Inori nodded. She trusted the Scorpion to have a plan and to be competent as a cook, to be able to do something noteworthy in that way - well, trusted his ability. Not much else - he was a Scorpion after all.

"No, not really. Others think I am..."

she fidgeted with her chopsticks and thought how to best put it into words. That was not easy for her.

"I paint. But it's not really about art, it's more...a tool"

He quirked a bit of a smile at that.

"Art as a tool, hm? And yet it has to be art to do the job, one thinks."

He gestured to the spread- and speared a small piece of dried fish with his chopsticks in the process.

"Cooking, after all, is, as Matsu-san has noted, a utilitarian pursuit at heart. The goal is edible food to sustain life. Nothing of art about it. And yet, done properly, it is elevated."

He took a nibble and mused aloud.

"Perhaps Matsu-san will elevate her tool by making expression of it."

"Perhaps" Inori said, considering. He might have a point. Might.

"I have never considered if there is something beautiful or special to the paintings I do. I just paint the things I see. Helps me make a little sense of things, helps me focus."

She took another slice of the disk-shaped bland vegetable in broth, then continued

"I've studied some works by other painters, even a book about painting, and experiment with technique. Sometimes I come back to the same place or the same viewing, concept, to try again, to get closer. It's difficult to show and doesn't always make sense to me, but better technique helps. Somehow. The paintings get more useful"

"Whereas any paintings I might make would be of use mostly for wrapping fish."

A thought struck him, and his mind wandered to custom-painted cloth wrapping for sushi, weighing and then discarding the idea.

"In any event, diligent practice is to be commended."

Wrapping fish? Inori visible shuddered at just the mention of the idea. That was just so...more shuddering.

"Have you ever...done such a thing, Bayushi-san? Wrapped fish in the results of your dilligent practice? I cannot imagine you'd go to those lengths."

I actually halfway can, and I wish I did not.