Kyuden Shika

The day was a mixed bag so far the event this morning went surprisingly well for the subject matter but was also incredibly stressful. So the Otter was slightly tense his smile a little less bright and some stiffness in his shoulders but he had sent word to Yasu to meet him at the geisha house for some tea and relaxation.

He arranged for a private room and a musician, reflecting her original choices he had asked for one familiar with songs played in the Crab lands. A pretty geisha was in the room with short black hair who said she knew a number of songs from the Crab lands. Tanabe had also asked for tea to be made when Yasu arrived.

For now Tanabe sat chatting with the geisha woman, the Otter was extremely comfortable around geisha being his clan is made up of many of them. They chatted and exchanged stories of the work laughing at funny anecdotes until his date for the evening showed up.

Yasu came, casually dressed, hair gathered loosely with a tie at the nape of her neck and still damp between bathing and rain. She let the servant lead her up to the room, pausing a moment outside just to listen to the cheerful conversation within. That warm voice eases her heart, just hearing it through the door.

With a nod, she lets the servant slide the door aside, then pauses to bow in greeting once she steps through it. "So good to see you, Tanabe-kun," her painted smile far warmer than the middling-formal greeting as she moves toward the table. With visible restraint, she pauses with a glance toward the geisha, since an introduction and greeting would be appropriate where conversation is happening.

Tanabe stands up and throws his arms wide "Su-chan!" There is nothing formal about his bearing or address as he approaches her and wraps his arms around her in a full bodied hug "just the one I need to see to settle storm's of my mind." He says in a lower but no less excited voice as he embraces her.

As he let's go he indicates the geisha "This is Hana she's actually used Otter boats a time or two and spent some time in Crab lands." He turns to Hana "see Hana I told you she was the prettiest Crab you'll see." He said with some mirth. Hana giggled a little and nodded with an amused look as she pulls up her koto and begins playing softly. It was a common enough Crab song modified some for the instrument.

Tanabe turned back to Yasu with a smile on his lips "How are you my love?" He motions to the cushions "should we sit? Tea should be here soon."

Yasu returns the hug with only enough restraint to avoid cracking ribs and a radiant smile, nodding to Hana as they separate. "I'm the only Crab they'll meet at this miai, so it's easy to be the prettiest," she teases, smiling appreciatively at the Crab tune as she moves to find a seat.

"I'm well, even if I still worry a bit about where the spirit bothering Utaku-san came from. It seemed more important last night to simply get rid of it so it could stop harming her. But it could well come back if we haven't cleared the underlying problem."

Tanabe just smiled as they sat and nodded listening as tea was brought in for them the first cups poured by the servant. It was a lighter blend made for night time drinking to not keep someone up all night.

He shook his head a little "I'm still shocked she was being haunted by a spirit. Like that stuff can't happen all the time right? Has to be pretty rare I imagine."