[D5, EA, expecting] Just a modest stroll

[Matsu Ishioka]

The Lion looks at her with a small touch of concern, then relaxes.

"I suppose we should talk about walls, but I can't believe you were oblivious," he says with a kind smile. "Surely you've had many people looking at you with interest..." He pauses. "I'm sorry, I..." He grimaces. "I suppose it's in poor taste to talk like that. I... I just think you are so obviously worth all the time that a man could find to spend with you, and then some more besides..."

[Usogawa Narumi]

I suppose we should talk about walls, he'd said, and she nodded in agreement--
and then tilted her head to look at him, noting the grimace, narrowing her eyes and just... not... processing? This was new.
"I haven't, I mean, I don't know? I'm used to a certain type of attention, as a matchmaker. Which is why I didn't realize the intent behind your gift, and took it at face value. I didn't think anymore to it? I haven't... hm,"
Said-walls were threatening to slam into place again without the salve of sake to keep them at bay, and he'd feel her tense under his touch at the internal quarrel.
"No one's looked at me with any interest the way you do, Matsu-san. Not that I've seen, not in a way my aunt would've allowed. This is uncharted waters for me, forgive me."

[Matsu Ishioka]

Ishioka looks at her with confusion, but his level head helps clear it and bring him back to an affectionate smile.

"I do not like to speak ill of people I don't know," he says, his volume kept low but the intensity of his voice increasing, "but if none of them have looked at you the way that I do, they were foolish and wrong. I do not understand how they could miss what I see so clearly, but perhaps it needed to be that way, so that we could have this time together."

He seems to hesitate a moment, not wanting to frighten her if his words are already too much, but he decides to let his hand slowly find hers, and cover it, gently and protectively.

[Usogawa Narumi]

"They say those who can't do, teach. Perhaps those who can't find love for themselves look for it for others instead," she says thoughtfully, with a hint of remorse. At his words though, she blushes some, enjoying their closeness.
"Perhaps everything I've missed has indeed led me to you."

[Matsu Ishioka]

She may feel a tiny tickle on her hand as Ishioka's finger tries to tap nervously, even though he mostly prevents it.

"So," he says, shifting back to his more usual voice. "A soldier and a nakodo in training meet at a miai and, although neither is inclined to trust their heart, they both seem to enjoy their time together very much. It sounds like a set up for one of the plays on offer this week," he says matter-of-factly. "Dare we talk about how it might end?" He asks, showing her a warm smile and his hand now calm over hers again. "I have one idea," he says mischievously, "if you'll indulge a nakodo-in-training-in-training."

[Usogawa Narumi]

She'd move to weave her fingers through his, glancing back at him once more. "Hopefully not another comedy?" Narumi countered. "This one listens with rapt attention."

[Matsu Ishioka]

He smiles, exhaling and relaxing a little at the pleasant feel of her fingers twined with his.

"No, not a laughing matter, I'd say, although trust a playwright to ruin an otherwise good story." He gives her an adoring look before beginning.

"What if our heroes navigate the whole miai, never sure where the raging seas of opportunity will take them, to find on the last day of the miai that the nakodo have seen their heart match is the one to make. The honorable soldier is thrilled to bring his betrothed to meet his parents and sisters back home, and they are pleased to welcome a new daughter to their family. The soldier, ordered home for a time to prepare a household and then reassigned closer to home after the wedding, can't wait to start a family with his new wife, and live happily ever after." He looks to her with a grin, raising his eyebrows to ask what she thinks.

[Usogawa Narumi]

"Happily ever after," she echoed, and her smile faltered, her expression grew thoughtful, drew inward.
"It's a fine story, Matsu-san, and one I very much enjoy... I think of the same, often," she offers a confession.
She considers heavily what to say next, and hugs his arm closer. "I don't know how much it's fantasy, and what could be reality. Would this one truly make you happy? Would she cause strife with your family, being of a minor clan with little history and less status?"

[Matsu Ishioka]

He purses his lips as he considers what she's asking. He won't just brush off what he knows is serious.

"Honestly, Narumi-san... Er, Usogawa-san... Um. My apologies," he says, bowing his head. "I don't mean to... be too familiar," he says quietly, wishing that he could be informal like that, at least here.

[Usogawa Narumi]

He bows his head in reflection, feeling the movement draws her to look back up at him, turning their faces dangerously close to one another. She takes the chance to search his eyes for their truth.
"Narumi is just fine," her smile is still tempered.
"I've just.. I've given it.. us, some thought, since last night, now that my ability to think clearly has returned to me. I want this. You and I, there's a force between us I've not felt before and i want to follow where it's course takes us. I don't know where that might be, but this one is an explorer at heart. But I'm also... I have reservations, about the validity of what might happen come the end of the miai and what that might mean."
She takes a deep breath, and her smile becomes something shy, a look Ishioka hasn't seen before from Narumi.