(D7, LM) It's not *always* sake o'clock

[Kuni Yasu]

(expecting)

Sometimes you really should have tea. Like when you can still feel the edges of last night's sake. So black tea...Natsumi sounded about right. Yasu settled with her pot on a bench where she can stare out at the gardens, finally touched with sun again.

[Matsu Ishioka]

Finding his friend with a view of the gardens - now blessedly not under pouring rain - the Stone Matsu didn't hesitate to head over to join her.

"Kuni Yasu-san," he says gently, formal only to be less startling if her mind is out in the gardens. "Good morning, Yasu-san," he says, bowing his head briefly and then sitting. "And congratulations on your fine performance," he adds with a friendly smile.

[Kuni Yasu]

Her attention was, at least visibly, on the gardens. She sat very still watching bees and dragonflies make the most of their sunny day.

But she looks up easily at her name, painted lips lifting in a pleased smile. "Ishioka-san! Well thanks. I was pretty inspired. I mean, you got to hear him too, right? Hard not to do well, following that lead." The faint blush painted along her cheeks seemed to fit her expression as her eyes go distant for just a moment.

"But you and your Dragon did pretty well too! And..." She places a hand over her heart in mock surprise, a teasing tone entering her voice. "You're smiling...just right out in the open without the excuse of a good draw lot!"

[Matsu Ishioka]

The Lion notices her dreaminess about Tanabe and shakes his head, still smiling. Kami, do I look like that too?

"Hey, I also smile a lot once the sake gets flowing," he says in faux defensiveness. "Which, uh, I think it did last night..." He's got a bit of a silly smile on his face now, seeming about as jovial to Yasu as she's ever seen him - especially for not being drunk.

[Kuni Yasu]

"It definitely did. Last night. Today." She lifts her little pot. "There is tea. And I must have anticipated your coming, because I have to cups even." Actually, the server made assumptions that were entirely appropriate to a miai and left the extra for her probable, eventual, date. And here he was, as far as the servers were concerned.

"I've got so many questions, you may as well sit for them." She pours both cups, dark and steaming, scented with chestnut.

[Matsu Ishioka]

"Many questions? I'll try to think of many answers then..." he tries a lame joke. Kami, what is wrong with me?

After a shake of his head to help clear his thoughts. "I have no secrets, Yasu-san, so loose your first volley." He takes a small sip of tea while she begins.

[Kuni Yasu]

She laughs. "I'm sure you have some, but not many" She pauses a moment, letting him lift the tea to his lips. "Did you know Usogawa-san's room is right next to her clanmate, Tanabe's?" she says casually, with a grin that's anything but. A good deal more quietly, she adds, "given her heart, I'd have been expecting *her* to call on Bishamon not you. But these days are _full_ of surprises."

Lifting her own cup, she takes a gentle sip, eyes filled with merriment.

[Matsu Ishioka]

"That is not..." He hesitates, face serious but also realistic about how much sake there had been. "No, no, It wasn't like that... I mean... I wanted it to be," the Lion turns sheepish, but keeps talking because it's Yasu. "But she..." Ishioka huffs and his broad shoulders drop heavily. He speaks in a very low, grinding whisper: "She worries about my honor like a Kitsu grandmother." He takes a breath. "I... I'm not doing anything dis-- and, and you're not doing anything dis... It's just the miai, right? It's..." He's sunk in his seat a little, looking at Yasu to tell him he's not crazy or dishonoring his family. He looks, quite clearly, like a man who needs a big sister right now.

[Kuni Yasu]

She shoves the other cup over to him, as the teasing leaves her tone, though the smile's still there. "Tch. This is getting to you if I can throw you with that. Don't worry, I just saw you head back together. Had enough to occupy my attention without listening to you two."

"A Lion asking a Crab for advice about honor though?" She lifts her tea in a mock toast. "Well, the Shika sure gain some kind of bragging rights for that."

Quieter, she says, "and your Dragon? How are you running with both of those right now?" There's a small worried crease between her eyes. "I feel like I hurt Kitsu-san a fair bit because I just couldn't think of how to juggle two without hurting everyone worse that way. But...do you think it helps everyone's decisions? Knowing more?"

[Matsu Ishioka]

She shoves the other cup over to him, as the teasing leaves her tone, though the smile's still there. "Tch. This is getting to you if I can throw you with that. Don't worry, I just saw you head back together. Had enough to occupy my attention without listening to you two."

"A Lion asking a Crab for advice about honor though?" She lifts her tea in a mock toast. "Well, the Shika sure gain some kind of bragging rights for that."

"Kampai," he says with a defeated tone, draining the innocent looking tea cup in one go.

Quieter, she says, "and your Dragon? How are you running with both of those right now?" There's a small worried crease between her eyes. "I feel like I hurt Kitsu-san a fair bit because I just couldn't think of how to juggle two without hurting everyone worse that way. But...do you think it helps everyone's decisions? Knowing more?"

Ishioka looks at the table. Slowly, voice barely looks enough for the Crab to hear clearly, he says, "I... I will admit to you that I have no idea what I am doing. When I'm with Inoshishi-san, I am riding a wave of passionate energy that... It is not anything I've experienced before. I can't even describe it, really. And with Narumi-san..." He pauses, taking a breath. "She is like me. Hidden layers of hurt that others do not get to see, but longing, I think, for someone to share that pain and in sharing, both be unburdened."

He looks up at the Crab again. "You said that you felt sure that your Otter is the one. And there are those who wish they could be that one for you. I am... I have been as honest as I can, that I do not know where all this will lead. But I will tell you, Yasu-san, if I had to pick one of them just now, it would be like asking me which half of my heart I would like cut from my chest."