(D1, MM) A Prayer for We Who are About to Art - Open

[Horiuchi Sriyani]

She'd been up late, fiddling with her pieces, and expected to need some extra discipline to avoid doing the same tonight, so it was wise to head to the temple early, before she could use the excuse of prayer to keep from the sleep she knew she should have. She wore a simple kimono of deep purple, trimmed in pale grey silk, a gentle clatter and chime of jewelry accompanying her everywhere

The Seven are given their due before she offers a small unicorn, folded from thin cream paper, and a prayer to the fortune of artists (and geisha, but she was sure they offered different prayers), Sadahako.

[Togashi Yoshiaki]

A monk at a shrine was surely nothing to write home about but they usually didn't wear kimono with a mon displayed proudly on the back.

Yoshiaki had arrived saying his daily prayers before he works out for the day.

As he rose he nodded to the Unicorn "May the fortunes bless you." He said simply in a casual greeting.

[Horiuchi Sriyani]

"You as well..." she pauses a moment, trying to place the family of the mon with no luck, "Dragon-sama." She gestures to encompass the temple grounds. "Are you...staying here, or back at the Jinbaori, or...well, someplace else?"

[Togashi Yoshiaki]

He bowed "I am staying at the Jinbaori as all of the competitors for the tournament are."

"I am Togashi Yoshiaki. Well met Unicorn-san." He spoke with a voice that was quiet but it had a smooth richness to it that felt good on the ear "do you often ask people where they sleep upon first meeting them? A more cautious samurai might ponder the intent of such a question." He asked with a small wry smile

[Horiuchi Sriyani]

Mouth already open to offer her own introduction, she blinks and stutters out an awkward, 'uuh...well noooo, but.." Her fingers clasp together with the clicking of small bracelets. "I'm not usually someplace where I don't...ah..already know where everyone's sleeping?" Halfway through, she's realizing this doesn't sound better and keeps on into some kind of explanation, the words rushing over themselves in their hurry to clarify. "Just...you're obviously a monk and maybe you were staying here and I'd be just saying farewell as I left, but if you're with all the competitors I'd maybe be wishing you luck instead, or if you're from the town I could ask what your favorite teahouse is, but...umm...good luck, then, I guess?"

She begins an embarrassed bow before realizing she _still_ hasn't introduced herself. "Oh! And it's Horiuchi Sriyani wishing you luck. I'm...It's good to meet you, Togashi-sama."

[Togashi Yoshiaki]

His silver eyes regard her with a touch of amuesment he could not help but chuckle just a little at her scrambling answer "it is fine Hourichi-san, I was merely curious, I am not such a cautious samurai." His voice was friendly as he spoke.

"But thank you for the luck and I wish you some as well if you are also staying in the Jinbaori." His eyes did drift to the sounds her jewelry made when she moved.

[Horiuchi Sriyani]

“Thank you, and yes, I am. Here for the competition.” An inconsequential, polite question dies on her tongue as she catches the color of his eyes in the morning light. It was easy to hint at blue or green with glass or soft-shaded stone, but how would you capture that without looking hard and unnatural?

It’s not _that_ long, but long enough for her to be aware that she’s staring, and thus rude. Her gaze drops with a small huff of consternation. “Sorry. I’m sure your eyes have drawn comment before, but that’s no excuse to stare.”

After a moment’s pause, she finds a different mild question to offer. “What sort of work are you presenting?”

[Togashi Yoshiaki]

He does not shy away from the topic of his eyes though "Luckily it is natural to stare at one's eyes when talking to them." He certainly did not avoid eye contact with her.

"I have had many comment on the odd color of them, much discussion if it is a sign of blessing or curse, an elemental imbalance, the touch of a spirit realm? The guesses are far and wide but the question has yet to be answered." He shrugs "for my part it just how they are but I understand people being curious." or cautious he added in his head but simply gave her a smile.

"But to answer your question I am a tattoo artist."

[Horiuchi Sriyani]

Her eyes go wide with a small, "oh!" before she shakes her head slightly. "Wasn't even thinking about that, about how they came to be like that, though it would be interesting. More...how hard they'd be to capture. Actual silver is too reflective, and a lot of gray stones are just too hard. Maybe a really tricky enamal inlay..." She lifts her hand to her lips with an apologetic smile and flashes of light from two rings and a half dozen bracelets and their dangling charms. "Sorry, thinking aloud."

Her eyes travel to those parts of tattoos currently visible, growing thoughtful. "I admit, I am curious how those are to be displayed, but I suppose I'll have to wait and see.?" A hint of a question touches her words and makes itself more obvious in the quizzical tilt to her head as she looks up.

[Togashi Yoshiaki]

He didn't step back or look apparently surprised but something in the silence that followed had a off quality. Something unexpected had happened "well, I am flattered my eyes have inspired Horiuchi-san." He said slowly "most find them to be.....off putting." His voice was a touch softer.

He cleared his throat "but yes I have brought brothers and sister of the order that allowed me to tattoo them many moons ago when we first heard the topics and some that were done during the traveling."

"I would be happy to show you mine if you are curious but these were done by my sensei."

[Horiuchi Sriyani]

Another pause, thoughtful, before nodding. "A curse, or the attention of certain realms might be unsettling, unlucky. I see." Another small nod and a shrug lifts her shoulders slightly. "I'll be attentive of the omens then, but luck's been with me since before I can remember."

"And.." she looks around with a lift of one eyebrow. "can they be shown here? Or should we step outside before talking about your sensei's art?"

[Togashi Yoshiaki]

He moved his shoulders in a bit of a shrug "I suppose it is whatever Horiuchi-san is comfortable with. There is nothing about this space that I am aware of that would be offended by my tattoos. Unless me being bare chested in a shrine would offend ones sense of propriety." He added the last as a bit of an after thought, his tone making it difficult to tell if he was serious or joking.

[Horiuchi Sriyani]

She bites her lip, frowning a moment, before leaning in to speak quietly. "Truth is...I'm not sure if it would be against their sense of propriety here, in a Crane temple. It would be in ours, but we also have those who retain certain fashions from the Sands where one is covered, but in material so thin most here wouldn't think it counted as clothing."

Straightening, she hmms a moment, head tilted to look him up and down, then around the quiet, but hardly deserted temple. "Are you returning to Jinbaori? If it's not too cool for you, maybe it's fine while we walk? Maybe some Crane might be a little fussed, but better them than a Fortune."

[Togashi Yoshiaki]

He bows in assent turning toward the entrance to the Shrine "I often am uncovered in the winter at the High House of Light, temperature here will not bother me." He spoke while he walked assuming she would follow.

As they exited he undid a tie on the kimono, which likely by Crane standards was little more than a yukata. Beneath he wore hakama and sandals but not much else. He was lean and broad shouldered with a body that was clearly no stranger to work.

Across his back was a Crane in flight, the depiction detailed and life like, as he moved and the muscles beneath it moved it almost gave the appearance of flying with subtle wing movements.

[Horiuchi Sriyani]

Her steps slow to follow a few paces behind and look at the revealed work. One hand lifts slightly, as if to touch, though she doesn't. The urge to feel, and prove that it's only skin, not feathers, remains as she brings her hands to rest, clasped within embroidered sleeves, at her belly. After a breath she says, "So real, I'd expect it to peck me if I got too close." There's a desire to sketch, to have a proper model for the way ink on skin behaves as one moves, abstracting that to a figure inlaid in wood or stone.

She quickens her pace a bit. "A crane suits you with that hair. How like to your sensei's style is yours then?"

[Togashi Yoshiaki]

As she came around she would see another tattoo across his chest, this one a depiction of the mythical Ki-Rin, imagined light glinting off its pearlescent horn and reflecting in waves over silken fur, a single jade eye peered forward as the beast appeared to be rearing up.

He nodded with a small smile on his lips "perhaps it would were you to touch it." He joked lightly

"My own style is different, though my sensei's influence seeps into it as is true for almost anything taught. My aims for art are to be more representative rather than exact. I aim to capture the essence of a thing rather than making the most correct or life like recreation of it."

[Horiuchi Sriyani]

"Then you're well protected, hmm?" she murmurs with a small smile that pauses for an appreciative whistle at the illusion of reflection on the tattoo...honestly not whistling at the bare-chested monk, though that might be hard to distinguish for anyone watching.

"Capturing the essence...that sounds almost harder than capturing what's there in front of you. Though I suppose they're much the same for a Ki-Rin, as you're unlikely to have one sit before you." She looks up, questioningly. "Or are those as common as snow in your mountains?"

[Togashi Yoshiaki]

He smirks a little "Yes it is a bit more difficult with mystical creatures."

"Capturing the essence of something can be quite challenging, using the shades and colors and tone to not only depict the subject but shine through its qualities can be a daunting task at times."

"And what of your jewelry? Do you have a style or preferred method? I admit my knowledge of such things is lacking."

[Horiuchi Sriyani]

"I can see the skill it must take for that pearly horn to seem to shine on bare skin. I tend to have the opposite problem, making sharp, reflective surfaces look softer for the truly interesting effects." She draws up some small courage to ask, "If you find time through the contest, I'd be grateful if you'd sit for a bit for sketches...not to copy your master's work for myself," she hastens to add. "I just don't see a lot of tattoos to really know how they look in shadow, or if that part of the body is turned a bit...that kind of thing." Unicorn directness, with the underlying nerves of someone given a short primer on proper etiquette in the rest of the Empire and wished good luck.

"My style starts with Meishodo." She holds up her arm, where charms of cast metal, carved stone, and swirled glass dangle from her bracelets. "Each is meant to embody a single kami, a spirit tasked with a particular task when called upon. And so they must be pleasing to them in some way. There are symbols that have their origins in learning that kami inclined to protection like certain stones or shapes, for example."

She smiles softly, looking off to the distance. "But then I just found myself moving farther and winding more symbols into things, needing more room than a charm. I've learned from a few masters." One finger taps an elaborate cuff of wood inlaid with a scene in metal and stone that's clearly radiant people journeying through some sort of landscape. "This is pretty standard for me. Spiritual elements, multiple materials, and a lot of tiny work."

[Togashi Yoshiaki]

Yoshiaki's eyebrow quirks up slightly and a twinkle of mischief shines in his eyes for a second. But he decides she has had enough teasing and instead bows "This one would be honored to be a source of inspiration and example to you Horiuchi-san. I bear my master's work proudly and I am sure he would be happy as well." He gave her a small but genuine smile upon straightening.

He listened attentively as she described her work and process. The silvery gaze unwavering as his eyes held hers unless she pointed to a piece of jewelry for example.

When she talked about the cuff he reached out with an upturned palm "may I? My eyes, while unique, are not the sharpest."