(D0 ME) To New Strangers

[Kitsu Murato]

"A nice way of looking at my connection with Taiko. And a practical viewpoint is always appreciated by a career bureaucrat. Paperwork is rarely extreme in any sense of the word."

He nods at the refill then bows his head in thanks before having a sip.

"I think he'd mostly be annoyed with me for asking frivolous things. He's a very serious Lion ancestor, like most of them. But I might ask what kind of food or snacks you might prefer. He wouldn't realize that I'd be asking so that when I ask you to share a meal with me in the future I'll be able to make it's more memorable and pleasant."

[Kuni Yasu]

Yasu has a warm and unselfconscious laigh, loud enough to cut above the chatter of the busy sake house. “Ah. I see. I’ll be ready for the serious questions when your friend is watching then?”

Even a frivolous question gains a serious moment of thought though, accompanied by a careful sip of the house brew. “Honestly, I really like the fruits that are so hard to come by in our lands. Very little grows there. And the best fruits don’t survive the trip unless dried. Last summer, I took all advantage of my uncle’s orchards while I was visiting.”

“I guess I’ve accepted your invitation with that answer then? Is that the kind of clever they teach Lion bureaucrats then?”

[Kitsu Murato]

He sips with a confident smile.

"I may have created a certain expectation and suggested a course, but you can say no if you wish. But then you also potentially miss out on what you admitted to enjoying. So really, my question created a challenge for me to meet and you may judge me on because I accepted it in turn. So I've caught us both in the same trap. But I don't think I mind being caught in it with you at all."

He sips again.appreciating the house sake for the common and tasty enough drink it is. But his eyes showed a much greater appreciation for what seemed to be a rare Kuni. He hadn't heard her swear once. The few he had seen pass through his home had nearly constantly sprinkled expletives into regular speech.

[Kuni Yasu]

She shakes her head, smiling. "I won't say no. A meal's a petty thing to refuse. If it's a trap, least we'll come out of it fed." It really only took one trip to the Wall or into the Shadowlands to develop an appreciation for safe meals that are more than just fuel to keep moving, and sound sleep.

For a few moments Yasu looks thoughtfully into her cup, swirling it gently. With a nod that has that air of coming to a decision, she raises the cup and drinks before saying, "seems only fair I ought to have a challenge set as well." She lifts the cup, "not sure my budget would handle asking what sort of drinks' your favorite though. The good stuff can...well, let's just say I couldn't get that kind of thing without thinking of how much jade it could be instead, or armor repairs."

Another sip. It isn't having all that much effect yet, given her size, but there's something to the familiarity of the movement that eases the way for less familiar things. "But I've a scholarly focus in my work. So I guess I'm offering up hmm...a topic? What would you like to dig in someone's head about? If it's not something I know, I guess I'll have to be a quick study." She knocks back the rest of her cup, offering to fill both cups again, if needed.

[Kitsu Murato]

Murato nodded at the offer of conversation topic. "Ive never been that far south. Only ever gotten to read about the temples and traditions. I'd love to hear about them," he offers, guessing that a Kuni might be familiar.

He finished his own cup along with her, accepting the refill after. He watched as she did so with the warm feeling of the drink filling him.

"One of my grand dreams is to take a religious pilgrimage. We have many shrines and temples to Bishamon in Lion lands. I suspect they're pretty common in Crab lands too. Im curious how they might be different."

[Kuni Yasu]

While she'd intended the offer to provide a challenge for that eventual shared meal, that didn't seem to be where things were steering. There's an amused smile at trapping herself better than she'd planned. "A pilgrimage to Bishamon's temples? You'd see quite a few throughout our lands, yes. Also Jurojin. Both are mostly focused on their aspects of strength and endurance for the most part, but temples devoted to their wrathful aspects are not rare. I'm not sure how they're different though."

"I can tell you that the statues are sturdy and often contain a small bit of jade...laced through a weapon set in a hand, or some of the beads laid about a statue's neck. Removable and replaceable when needed." She didn't note that, if they needed replacing that meant that dark influences had made it far too close to such a place. That was the obvious takeaway. Bishamon bears his spear, but often has his other hand resting on a tetsubo standing at their side." She pauses to wet her throat, and also allow Murato to get a word in edgewise. The shrines of the Kuni wastes are a different kind of thing, and will take a bit of explaining.

[Kitsu Murato]

He had not been expecting an explanation right now, and was more suggesting a topic for discussion, but that was okay with him. Probably came across as too easy, but he sometimes got a bit excited about his passion and couldn't hold back. Much less with a bit of alcohol flowing.

"So visually, they're probably not so different," he agrees with a nod. "But the actual traditions in the temples likely vary significantly. With the differences in duties and likely a stronger shintao influence. The Crab even have monk traditions among the clan where the Lion do not so that may influence the temples as well. More active clan members tending them rather than mostly retired samurai I would guess?"

[Kuni Yasu]

That wasn't something she'd actually thought about that much at the time, but now that it's mentioned, she takes some time to look through memory as she drinks.. Finally she nods. "There are almost no retired Kuni. Hida and Kaiu who can't serve as they had been tend to teach until they drop. Yasuki tend to retire to more...hmm...influential? temples. So honestly, I think we rely far more on the monkly orders to tend them than active or retired samurai. Though the ones in charge of the larger temples I've been in samurai." She doesn't ramble to talk of the Kuni monks tending to the Damned. That wasn't exactly a secret, but even Yasu knew it was pretty grim for casual conversation.

"Of the lesser fortunes, we see a lot of temples to Osano-wo. Those are mostly handled by that order, so I'd guess they're pretty similar to those you'd find anywhere." This might not be a topic she's passionate about, but it's a comfortable one. And the questions alone awaken her own curiousity about the differences there might be. She didn't stop at any of the large temples on the journey here to know what they were like outside of Crab lands along the route.

"I'd imagine the festivals they focus on are different, since that varies even from town to town."

[Kitsu Murato]

"Festivals are probably different due to differences in weather too. North or south of the mountains makes a huge difference from my understanding," he says, wondering about that now.

He takes a drink of his sake.

"In the case of either of us being matched with someone that takes us to the other side of the empire, the weather will have a drastic difference that will take getting used to. You don't get too much snow during the winter do you?"

[Kuni Yasu]

Yasu shakes her head, the third-painted-eye seeming almost to track the man before her. "Snow's rare where I grew up, though you see a bit more in the northern provinces sometimes, and up in the mountains. I imagine that does make a big difference for winter festivals even happening, and our summer ones tend to have most of their activities happen as the sun is going down and into the night." Offering to top up his cup before her own, she smiles in memory. "Always liked the summer festivals better as a kid. Staying up late. Dancers in moon and firelight. All the people and light driving away any fears of the dark for a night."'

"I'd guess you see a lot more snow in Kitsu provinces, yes? Are there many winter festivals then?"