D9EN, It's the Pits (Expecting, but Open)

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue Apr 21, 2020 3:50 pm

Seitouna has been finding himself out of his element recently. Clearly. And the cure is to go back into his element. Fortunately, Yogo Aya is not the only one to have found the Peach Pit, and Seitouna relaxes into familiar surroundings.

There's always a place like this, he thinks, no matter where you go.

He finds a spot, orders a drink, puts a hand where it might get cut off in other circumstances, and idly and unconvincingly asks if anyone has had word about Kasuga Saito before settling in.

Bayushi Degarashi · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:02 pm **Posts:** 1027

"Searching for somebody?" Degarashi asked as he slunk out of the shadows. Normally it was hard to do, slinking, but a location such as this one made the task much, much easier. There needed to be a term for such a slink worthy locale. The Peach Pit was very...

... slinky.

"I hope you don't mind a surprise guest, I've been meaning to speak with you, when I had the time." He shook his head. "Not used to being this busy all the time."

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:05 pm

Seitouna does not start.

He truly doesn't.

What he does do is smile and gesture to a seat, waving over a server for another bottle. And he says "For you, my armorer friend, I have time. But you seem to have benefited from the play in the other place"--a wave of the hand--"and being busy seems to suit you."

Bayushi Degarashi · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:02 pm **Posts:** 1027

Degarashi bowed low to the Tortoise and took the offered seat. "I can't say that it's the sole reason for my sudden schedule, but it may have influenced it in some manner. What brings an armorer like yourself to a place like this, if I may ask?" To say nothing of why the Scorpion was here as well.

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:26 pm

After the requested bottle arrives, Seitouna makes to pour for them both, and says "Can't patch holes without materials, my friend, and can't get the materials without going out to the mines and such. Hence I find myself in dark places, digging. And I have sometimes struck ore, even if tonight hasn't been the best for my pick.

"But you seem to have news."

Bayushi Degarashi · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:02 pm **Posts:** 1027

Degarashi listened to the summary of the Tortoise's activities with a mild sense of dread. He wasn't certain precisely how hot was the hammer that was about to strike his friend.

"Hai, I have news."

Reaching into his sleeve, Degarashi produced four sake cups. Though fairly ordinary, they were of moderately higher quality than everage, and clearly never used. As Seitouna offered to pour the drinks, he set each one on the table carefully. Within the bowl of each cup was a name, painted there with delicate brushstrokes. Each name was revealed as the cups were arrayed before him.

Ikoma Sugimoto.

Bayushi Norikami.

Bayushi Yukinaga.

Ryuuta Kin.

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:35 pm

Seitouna does start this time, and his face stills as he reads the names. He takes the point, even if he did not know all of those listed, and he fills all four cups before filling Degarashi's and his own.

Lifting his, he says "To the valiant dead," and knocks it back.

When the cup is empty, he adds, "Swift sailing to better shores for you."

Bayushi Degarashi · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:02 pm **Posts:** 1027

Degarashi lifts his cup and drinks, then sighs softly. "I had hoped for better news regarding the Ryuuta, but my first knowledge of it was to hear a first hand account of his end." He idly rotated his cup between his fingers. "Norikami was a hunter of fantastical beasts. His partner, Yogo Aya, was the sole survivor of that terrible mission. I spent most of yesterday ensuring that she was all right, and and trying to forget my own loss."

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:48 pm

Seitouna refills the cups.

"Ryuuta-bugyo was a good man. I knew him not long, but I was glad to have assisted him."

He drains his cup again.

"And my condolences, for what they are worth in this time. Do we know what steel needs to be taken to the anvil for it?"

Bayushi Degarashi · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:02 pm **Posts:** 1027

Degarashi paused mid sip, a blush on his cheeks not wholly created by the spirits he was imbibing. "I've found myself... rather unexpectedly... mended." He drank, then placed the cup down and folded his hands into his sleeves. "The survivor, Yogo Aya... something unexpected occurred as I tried to assist her through her grief yesterday."

Though not directly visible, Degarashi was twiddling his fingers within his sleeves. "I grieve still, I hurt still, but I feel almost no weight borne by it. Aya and I," no honorific, "spent most of yesterday deep in spirits, seeking to forget our woes. Then we spent," a cough, "some time forgetting much beyond our own names." Now he blushed. "I'd scarcely met her before that, walked beside her on our march to Nikesake. I saw pain in her, and tried to make her laugh. I thought it fruitless. But then she smiled and laughed with a beauty so deep it makes me want to prance about the streets like a doe eyed Crane."

Now he met Seitouna's eyes. "I'm doomed, my friend. Doomed in so many ways it can only be a setup for a rakugo meant for the fortunes themselves."

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue Apr 21, 2020 5:28 pm

Seitouna raises an eyebrow, gives a small but wily smile.

"Enjoy what you can, my friend, while you can. And if you are happy, then I exult in your joy! Too, though I am not a playwright, still do I know that some stories do have happy endings, and I can wish for more such for you."

In another land, another port, he would clap the man on the shoulder. This being Rokugan, even a seedier part of it, though, he does not.

He does top off cups though, and raises his "To happy endings."

Bayushi Degarashi · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:02 pm **Posts:** 1027

Degarashi shook his head. Years of superstition and evidentiary burden meant that he knew better than to expect a happy ending. "How about we drink to that other part. The punchline might strike low, but I'll drink to enjoying the journey that brings me to it." And drink he did.

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue Apr 21, 2020 5:49 pm

Seitouna laughs at the jest.

"Truly, my friend, I think a biography of yours would be enjoyed by many."

Another refill, another bottle.

"I have, much to my chagrin, not been so fortunate in finding a welcoming port into which to sail as you, though you seem to have paid much in finding passage. I do not envy you the harbor fees.

"But that does not mean I have not marked lighthouses' beams. Tell me, friend, of Shosuro Sara? I had chance to encounter her this morning, and I had trouble sounding out that sea."

Bayushi Degarashi · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:02 pm **Posts:** 1027

Degarashi raised an eyebrow at Seitouna. "Sara-sama? Perhaps decorate your hakama as an exclusive Doji theater wherein she has sole billing and she might grace you with a visit. Short of that, be wary the ticket price of her performances."

Though another drink passed his lips, he was being far more controlled in his behavior this night. One drunken soiree was enough for the time being. "I can't say I've seen much else in the way of open harbors. Perhaps if you didn't look, one might open up by surprise. I certainly wasn't seeking refuge where I found it, but the waters are far calmer than those more obvious ports of entry."

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue Apr 21, 2020 6:17 pm

"Thank you for the word, friend. I shall remember it."

He takes another pull.

"I do think I should note to you that I found a...somewhat hidden gap in the armor here. It's the kind of thing where a single cord might be pulled through unobserved, were such a thing needed."

Bayushi Degarashi · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:02 pm **Posts:** 1027

"That so? I shall bear the information in mind. It seems such a thing could prove quite useful in the coming days, but so much new information has come to light..." Degarashi shook his head slowly. "It shall take some time for me to get a proper read on the situation."

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue Apr 21, 2020 6:32 pm

"Oh? I fear I've had my head in my shell too much these past few days."

Another pull at the drink.

"Maybe we could compare notes?"

Bayushi Degarashi · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:02 pm **Posts:** 1027

Degarashi drummed his fingers on the table quietly, glancing around himself. "That would be quite agreeable. I fear there are more players than pieces available to the game. Knowing more of the board would set my mind at ease."

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue Apr 21, 2020 7:08 pm

Seitouna follows Degarashi's eyes, looking to notice if any attend too closely to them (Investigation [Notice] 30). "And knowing what players are in play might help, as well."

He leans in just a bit.

"So, what do you know?"

Bayushi Degarashi · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:02 pm **Posts:** 1027

Degarashi leans in close, voice low.

"As of today a number of Lion ancestors are speaking to their descendants attempting to push for the Steel Chrysanthemum to take the throne. We have no idea how extensive this influence is yet or what it might result in, but it is exclusively affecting those with Lion ancestry, or seems to be. That the empress is a Lion is likely no coincidence to this."

"Seppun Kato is making his bid for the throne as well. He's cast down the air as illegitimate, a matter which would take months of resolution under the most benign conditions. I'm certain he understands this, and will push to become a third option among those present. The current denka of the Scorpion within the city is his sister. There's already division amongst our number over it, furthered by the dissolution of his prior engagement in favor of taking the hand of our Clan champion."

"I've also run across one who expresses dissent against the wheel of heaven, and the management of our lives and destinies here in Ningen-do. I'm not yet certain what it means, but keep an ear to the ground for speech against the rule of heaven. Ones such as those might be inclined to support Kato-sama."

D9EN, It's the Pits (Expecting, but Open)

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