[D13 EE] One More for the Road

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

This time it was the Kasuga who got the invitation. Mari had had a pleasant experience with the man in the few times that they spoke, and ... well, she felt like at least sharing one last meal before they very likely parted ways. There was an excellent chance that she needed to be miles away from Nikesake sometime in the near future, and she was not going to take any chances of the maho scrolls she'd left buried getting traced back to her when the crap hit the fan in this town.

No, she wanted to be provinces away when that shit went down, thank you very much. Maybe use her last scroll as kindling in the evening's fire now that she was memorizing it. So, she waited in the same back room they'd met for dinner before. This time, she was paying, damnit. She'd gotten two koku staying around this town for kami's sake.

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Mon May 04, 2020 8:18 pm

Seitouna is able to find the place without any trouble, having been there before. And he smiles as he waits to be admitted, a fairly well composed vignette written in a passable hand tucked under his arm and ready to offer at the appropriate time.

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

When he was admitted, she bowed to him and grinned a little cheekily. "Kasuga-sama. Good to see a friendly face while I haven't quite worn out my welcome among the Lion just yet," she said with a bit of a wry twist to the grin. Honestly, she hadn't really worn that welcome out at all much to her surprise, though she wasn't keen on staying here in their lands much longer.

"How are you this evening?"

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Mon May 04, 2020 8:28 pm

Seitouna returns the bow and the smile.

"Mari-san, I can't envision you wearing out a welcome, but I'm still glad to see you, certainly. So glad, in fact, that I have something for you," and he offers the little sheaf of papers, ready either to play through or to handwave the proprieties of gifting.

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"Oh you'd be surprised. Lion lands don't really like ronin unless they need them, and then they like them less but keep them around."

She was bemused when she saw it, and in that moment figured 'why not?' She'd gone through the motions with an Asako. She could do it for him as well. The wry grin still plastered on her face, she chuckled. "Here I am treating you for you being a good host the other day, and you come bearing gifts. I can't possibly accept that. I'm the host am I not?" she said, a little chuckle. There was some definite irony in her tone as she said it.

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Mon May 04, 2020 8:50 pm

"If you are, then I'm the guest, but even were I not, I'd offer this to a friend, briefly acquainted and well."

He extends the papers again.

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"Come now, you shouldn't have had to take the time for a humble one such as myself," she said, looking back at him and shaking her head, trying not to laugh a little. Honestly, this ceremony sometimes... "You needn't think so much of a lowly wolf like myself."

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Mon May 04, 2020 9:19 pm

"You're right. I didn't, and I needn't. But I did, because I do not disdain my friends, whatever their station."

He offers again. If she reads it, she will find it a sound vignette fictionalizing their earlier meeting.

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"Well, then, how can I resist a friend's offer?" she said, taking and opening it, getting a little smirk on her face. "You realize that I'm going to start shifting this up a little and telling it as a story one of these days, Kasaga-sama. Ah, but that's half of the joy is it not? Thank you. How have you been faring in this madness? Clearly you've stayed properly secured."

Not that she'd expected him to wade into the fighting. Didn't seem like his style.

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue May 05, 2020 3:54 am

"I've taken care of what I've needed to do here. Helped a few monks get clear of some of the...less fortunate circumstances outside, which seemed to help. And I've been able to get some writing done, as you see."

He sighs. "And more work has come up, of course, but that's only to be expected. Whether what happens will keep me here or send me back to Toshi no Omoidasu or what, I am unsure. Maybe I'll ship out again." He shrugs. "But that's another opportunity in itself, to be sure.

"And you look like you've been prospering here, as well, Mari-san. I am glad to see it happen; I joy in the success of my friends."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"Thank you for helping those monks, incidentally. I appreciate the effort that you went to there. None of them deserved what was happening there." For whatever she was, she saw little purpose in the desecration of those temples. It wasn't even a proper demoralizing technique. Kassenko was simply a butcher who had once been a lion.

Now? She wouldn't dignify her by calling her that, not unless she was in front of some very traditional Lion. Then she just wouldn't say anything.

She let out a bark of a laugh. "I earned almost two koku here. That'll keep me fed and geared for a while, yes. I have to admit that I hadn't thought I would come that far ahead, but it gives me enough that I my travel Dragon or Phoenix lands. Away from the harm here. Healers will be wanted at Kyuden Asako after all, in the rebuilding effort." Her tone said she hadn't settled on the location. In reality, she'd been telling people a few stories. She didn't want to leave a clear trail behind when she departed, in case the scrolls she'd buried were traced back to her somehow, however unlikely that was.

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue May 05, 2020 7:23 pm

Seitouna nods.

"I've heard there's work to do there, yes. A friend of mine was also going to be heading up to Dragon lands, I think. Evidently, there's call for acting up there, which I suppose could be expected."

He chuckles.

"Though I cannot commend the coasts enough, of course. I find them much more congenial, and I confess I'd be happy to see you, now and again."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"There are many things I intend to see before I pass from this life. One of the little things I cherish about this pilgrimage is that I can be 'just' irresponsible enough to go wherever I please, for the most part." She chuckled and smirked over at him. "I intend to see the sea one day. Perhaps even from the docks of Otosan Uchi. It would be a sight."

Though... maybe a hub village. She had enough trouble without being tempted to cause trouble in that city.

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue May 05, 2020 7:50 pm

"I hope to see you there!"

He smiles, nods.

"So, what's dinner?"

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"I thought a good, sturdy udon might be right up your alley along with some river sashimi. there's only so much left, but it'll be good and filling one way or another." It certainly suited her tastes to have a solid, hearty meal before getting ready for the road. "It should be along in just a moment."

And, as she said it, there was a knock at the door.

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Tue May 05, 2020 10:04 pm

"I'm not about to turn up my nose at hearty fare," replies the Tortoise as the knock comes. "I'm not some delicate flower, waiting to be plucked, after all!"

And he gives a snort of laughter.

Too, as she is hosting, he stays seated, letting her attend to the service and such.

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"Come in," she said, and the heimin drew in with the food for the two of them. She chuckled back at him. "Neither of us is much of a rose for plucking, I fear. I'm a bit more like a thistle in the field, one with plenty of nettles even if some like the blossom. There's a beauty there, but my kin have always been... rustic."

She offered a blessing after thanking them and breathed in the heady aroma for a moment. "Quite a few blossoms trapped in this town for the last week, though. Did you manage to pluck any?" she said when the door was closed. "Assuming you don't mind engaging in a little gossip that is."

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Wed May 06, 2020 12:17 am

"I don't mind at all," Seitouna says after the servants file out. "But, alas, I am not in position to do any ikebana arranging, for all that it has been clear to me that many others have bouquets available to them."

He looks a bit wistful at that, then grins.

"Then again, this is hardly a port, and I know what is said of sailors such as me!" And he laughs a bit before adding "Too, nettles are more useful than flowers alone, or so I am told, making for a healthful tea if treated right."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

She gestured towards him and winked. "Clever. Yes. Thistle's good for a tea in a pinch, if you know how to work with it," she said, laughing some. "I fear we both have had cold nights in being here, but I am... less inclined to actually hunt seriously. I find it's more likely to cause problems than it is good, though who can say down the road one day. I might settle down." The way she chuckled as she said it, though, definitely said she had no real plans to do so.

"I must say, though. Quite a few seem to have spent their times among miai. So many married quite young, quite recently. Are the clans trying to reforge alliances the old fashioned way or something?"

Kasuga Seitouna · **Posted:** Wed May 06, 2020 1:31 pm

"I'll take clever," Seitouna replies with another grin.

"But as to the weddings--yes, I think that was something of it. There was that sudden appearance of people who needed to be brought into society not too long ago, after all. Or so I am told; I was...away...when it happened."

He shrugs.

"I think more wed young than do not, though. Which makes sense, truly, given how like so many are to find an ending swiftly."

[D13 EE] One More for the Road

Who is online