(D0 ME) To New Strangers

[Kitsu Murato]

"Tragedy often carries with it an appreciation for beauty in stories and poetry about such things. It makes the fate of those that are doomed all the more sad, even when they have the chance to share their insights about how wondrous the world can appear in such a state. Though I tend to prefer more upbeat and pleasant forms of entertainment, those can be just as lovely at times," he says with a nod.

[Kuni Yasu]

Yasu nods. "I think we might have less of that than other clans...the upbeat pleasant arts. Maybe the Yasuki do? The rest of the Crab find beauty where they can, often in dark places." Setting her cup on the table, she taps it, trying to find words amid the fumes in her head. "It doesn't make their fate more sad, least for most of us. Once doomed, you're doomed..It's...they're spitting in the eye of that fate when they share beauty anyway and it gives some of us...something. Not hope. Maybe...strength? Determination?"

"Anyway, da likes haiku, so he kind of got me started and we leave notes for each other like that. I'd still rather sit through a draw lot than a recital most days."

[Kitsu Murato]

Murato drinks and refills both cups, listening to Yasu's explanation of Crab connection to the arts. It was definitely a dark take, but even less somber clans had somber traditions as well.

"I've seen and done a couple draw lots. They can be really fun, even when they are disastrous," he confirms with a smile. "It's definitely a good time."

"Draw lots of pictures,
Draw lots of water from well,
Draw lots all the time."

He takes another sip and smiles. "I'll need better poetry than that, I think, to impress anyone."

[Kuni Yasu]

Yasu's laugh is perhaps a little louder than it would normally be, fueled by the pleasant warmth of sake, but she's a big woman and it suits her, though the face paint could makes it all a bit garish.

"No, no...there's whole contests of ridiculous poetry. You won't see anyone printing up collections of 'em, but they're great fun. That'd fit just fine." She hums a few notes of a possibly recognizable tune. 'Think it'd work as a song, even. Could be kinda catchy."

Still smiling broadly, she finishes her cup. "Though if you're taking that poem list to the grave, you might want it to be a little better, in case any of your lovers hear bits of it someday, or you find yourself sharing it with your Ikoma ancestors around a table in Yomi."

She waves to the server. "Am I getting one for the road while I walk you back to your room? Or you walk me...don't know who's room is farther along in the inn, really."

[Kitsu Murato]

"Well, if we're lucky, they are close to each other," he says with a smirk.

"Well, maybe I'd be lucky. Don't know if you would be able to hear me snoring through the walls," he jokes. "Or the ghosts wailing at me to wake up because they need an ear to bend."

"Either way, I am glad to walk back with you. I'm much less likely to get distracted and wake up somewhere strange if I have someone so lovely as Kuni-san to talk to on the way back."

[Kuni Yasu]

"We can offer a chorus of snores through the walls then, after a journey of singing bad poetry to the moon." There's a pause before she looks into his eyes, curiously. "Do Kitsu eyes shine in the dark like a cats?"

Regardless of the answer, she snags the bottle as the server brings it by. "Don't think they want us taking their cups, so...uncivilized drinking from the bottle on the way, yes?" She lets the compliment pass by, not accustomed to such a reaction when in full face paint. But, as she rises, she offers a steadying arm if wants it, regardless of whether either of them actually need the support.

[Kitsu Murato]

"I don't know," he says. "You may have to find a way to get a really close look in the dark." There's a mischievous look when he says that.

He does take a hand up, but doesn't seem to need continued support. "From the bottle then."

[Kuni Yasu]

Yasu laughs, taking the first drink as they head for the door. There's not a lot of formal etiquette around something as informal as sharing sake straight from the bottle, but where she's been, the one offering drinks first as a minor show that there's nothing wrong with the drink.The paint on her lips leaves its inevitable mark. Even tipsy, she hands it over each time so that bit isn't the intuitive spot to take a sip, much like turning the bowl before passing it in a tea ceremony.

"Close enough to add a line to that poem? Is that your meaning?" she says, with a teasing smile as they head into the night.

/exit

[Kitsu Murato]

Murato didn't pay enough attention to the bottle to care if he drank a bit of makeup. "I'm not going to write poetry... I'm gonna write a play," he says with a laugh. "So maybe close enough to be in the first act."

/scene