[D3, LM, open] But I might find a better...

[Matsu Ishioka]

Looking a bit comical as his broad shoulders fail to be protected from the rain by a standard size umbrella, the Stone Matsu seems completely unphased by the weather. This probably has to do with the intense focus he is using to peruse some artistic looking clothing accessories. A strange choice for a man wearing a very humble looking copper-colored kimono distinguished only by golden Matsu mons on the lapels?

[Moshi Shizuka]

Ah, the market. Shizuka remembered this place fondly, still remembering her antics on arrival day.

Paradoxically, Shizuka had decided to wear less clothing on this outing. The usual outfit would drag about on the rainy streets unduly unless she wore the appropriately tall geta with them and if she was going to twist her ankle or break her neck wearing those things, it was because she was going somewhere meaningful and not just shopping.

And so it was a rather normal kimono in subdued yellows and oranges today: A sun and clouds motif on the sleeves on an otherwise conservatively unadorned outfit that matched well with the umbrella, if not the rather heavy makeup that the Moshi still had on - damned if she was going to wash the stuff off only to put it back on later in the day. It had the rather unfortunate effect of making her seem geisha-esque, with the affect broken only by her hair worn loosely.

It was in that whole ridiculous getup that Shizuka looked at the closed stall where she had been hoping to requisition some more strings for her instrument. Of course, who would think any right-minded merchant would be selling such humidity-sensitive items on a day when it was coming down?

Shizuka, that's who.

"Really?" Shizuka asked rhetorically, umbrella resting against one shoulder as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "...Oh, whatever."

Accepting this setback, the Centipede went to the stall next door, checking out the season's hot Deer collection of netsuke. Maybe she wouldn't come back empty-handed.

"Oh. Lion-sama. Good morning." Shizuka greeted the Matsu, trying with some success to peer around his broadness at the goods on offer.

[Matsu Ishioka]

"Hrm?" The Lion grunts, only partly glancing up, but then straightening as he realizes he's directly in the path of a rather intense looking shugenja. "Oh, ah, excuse me, sama..." Maybe it was just the makeup, but for whatever reason, the Stone Matsu seemed rather more intimidated by the woman than a Matsu bushi with considerable size advantage should be.

Taking a steadying breath as he stood proudly and bowed, the Lion seemed to reset. "Good morning. This one is Matsu Ishioka, nikutai in the Lion embassy guard at Kyuden Hida." Now as he looks down at the woman, his face is politely neutral and impassive.

[Moshi Shizuka]

"Oh my. Is that so?" Shizuka asked languidly, as one does when observing a curious thing in a decadent parlor heavily scented with incense or smoke of a more opiate nature and not a rainy market street. But nonetheless, that was the tone the shugenja woman adopted almost without thought. "A military man, then? Though I would suppose all Lion are military persons, neh?"

Looking up at Ishioka past half-lidded eyes, Shizuka lost track of the netsuke she was trying to gawk about for. "I'm Moshi Shizuka, priestess of our Lady Amaterasu. Her blessings be upon you, even on this wet and dreary day. Were you...looking for something, just now?"

[Matsu Ishioka]

"Ah, I was, Moshi-sama," the Lion says, his deep bass voice a little more uneven than usual. "But I am afraid I have, uh, lost my path of thought... for the moment." He rumbles out a soft chuckle, and adopts a polite smile on his otherwise impassive face.

[Moshi Shizuka]

"Well, are you looking for -that-, then, Matsu-sama?" Shizuka asked, playfully in reference to the lost train of thought.

"After all, our families are known for certain things: mine for our piety towards our Lady. Yours for..." A pause, a knowing look. A single, huskily-voiced word. "Ardor."

[Matsu Ishioka]

The Lion's polite smile evaporates as he swallows audibly. Stoic facade mostly remaining in place while his brain is swimming, the Matsu exhales slowly.

"Ah, all quite true, Moshi-sama," Ishioka says, the act of talking giving him something to anchor to as he tries to process this priestess' manner. "The honorable Moshi are perhaps more, ah, similar to my cousins of the Kitsu family. This one is a humble soldier," he says, slowly stabilizing his inner thoughts.

[Moshi Shizuka]

"Hmm." Shizuka brushes her chin with a fingertip thoughtfully. "True. Your Kitsu cousins and my family are similar: we commune with our ancestors. Your cousins with honored ancestors and mine with the mother to us all."

"Similar, in a way, neh?"

Her eyes narrow in a vulpine manner. "Oh, but look at me. How rude to engage in such theological trifles when such a humble soldier like yourself is in search of something. Or, well, have you found what you were looking for, Matsu-sama?"

[Matsu Ishioka]

"Ahem. Moshi-sama's company is a, ah, most enjoyable diversion," the Lion says, his smile more genuine instead of just polite, "but I was, um, looking for a gift for someone. A, uh, an acquaintance," he clarifies, already foreseeing that the engaging Centipede may have... thoughts... about such things.

[Moshi Shizuka]

"An acquaintance, Matsu-san?" Shizuka narrowed her half-lidded eyes, the faintest twitch of a knowing smile at the edges of her lips. Just what do the Moshi even teach their priestesses over in their valley!?

"I have been such a bother to you this morning, I feel obliged to help. Perhaps, if you'd tell me of this acquaintance of yours, I could help you in your search for a fitting gift?"