[D11, EM] Flying the Nest

Kakita Masahiko · **Joined:** Sun Apr 19, 2020 5:04 am **Posts:** 272

"Hai, just so." Masahiko grinned. "I thought we might just get along."

Akodo Touki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 8:17 pm **Posts:** 628

Smiling gently, Touki slowly inclined his head. "Very well, then. I shall speak to my superiors. And then, soon, we must have a game of Go."

He carefully slurped some more noodles. "These noodles are very good. It speaks well of the recommendations that you make." His lips quirked. "I am afraid that you may have to take my recommendations on faith; I haven't sufficiently explored the local cuisine to suggest anything."

Kakita Masahiko · **Joined:** Sun Apr 19, 2020 5:04 am **Posts:** 272

"Kuro-san is the connoisseur. I find that I enjoy pretty nearly everything food-related. Of course, it's the atmosphere that's the real attractor. The people and the stories. The Green Dragon, for instance. There are a million stories in that place alone."

Akodo Touki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 8:17 pm **Posts:** 628

"Is he?" Touki's eyebrows went up. "Perhaps I should have been speaking more to Kuro-san."

He sat back a little, relaxing, much less stiff than when they'd first met. "I'm not familiar with the Green Dragon. Tell me about it, if you would, Kakita-sama." He gave the large Crane an encouraging nod.

Kakita Masahiko · **Joined:** Sun Apr 19, 2020 5:04 am **Posts:** 272

Masahiko leaned forward.

"Well, it's a hole in the wall. A smoke-filled place with a real mah-jongg parlor in the back, where wizened crones and desperate men battle for Daikoku's favor. In the front, rough-shouldered laborers share drinks with the no-necked toughs that collect debts for the sharks of the lower orders."

He chuckled "It is a pit; Kuro won't go near the place. But it is also a good way to see the mess at the bottom of the celestial order. And the story of Lady Doji and the Snowflake does not suggest she only remember the loveliest or most symmetrical ones."

Apparently, he had had to defend the questionable virtue of this den of the heimin class, probably from Kuro or some other upstanding samurai. If Masahiko was aware of the dangers of inherent in such a place, his manner suggested that he wasn't too terribly worried about them.

Akodo Touki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 8:17 pm **Posts:** 628

Touki listened, his expression neutral. Finally, clearing his throat, he spoke.

"When I was younger, I think I would have avoided the place. Thought it a low place, or something like that. Now, I do not know. I don't feel that way about as many things as I once did." Touki shook his head. "I cannot say those things interest me, but the way you describe it does. Perhaps I should visit it sometime." His monotone was soft, perhaps a touch strange.

Kakita Masahiko · **Joined:** Sun Apr 19, 2020 5:04 am **Posts:** 272

Masahiko smiled. "Not alone, of course. I couldn't recommend that."

Then he paused, perhaps catching the shift in Touki's tone. "I say, Akodo-sama, is something troubling you?"

Masahiko might be rather perceptive, but tact was not something that he had quite mastered.

[D11, EM] Flying the Nest

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