[D8 EE] Lanterns and Walls (Expecting)

[Kaikoga Koi]

Koi smiled warmly. "Thank you, Yasu-san. Your kindness touches me but it is an object at the end of the day, it has meaning yes but I can pass them to someone I like. Their memories, stories, romances.." She blushed at that..."Still sit in my mind, and I will never forget them. They will come to me in Yume-do forever."

Koi stepped to look Yasu in the eyes, her own callused fingers rising up to hover under Yasu's chin but not quite touching.

"My heart might be bruised, but it will recover and become capable of seeing beauty of life once more. It's happened before, it will happen again, I'm sure. When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive--I'll find love again." She said softly, lightly with a hushed tone. "By giving it to you, you get to touch my heart and carry it with you."

[Kuni Yasu]

Surely the painted blush must mirror a true one, given the light catch of breath and sharp realization in Yasu's eyes. She'd never expected these connections to happen so readily.

Scarcely a moment later, her eyes drop, she might have dipped her head as well were Koi's fingers not hovering right there, and her her eyes shift back after a heartbeat, remembering her own resolution to continue looking when emotion asks her to look away. "Oh, Koi-san I..." A long breath offers a moment to sort her words. "My heart's so well-tied to another...I don't want to hurt anyone else. Though I wouldn't think it was a bad match if the Deer paired us in the end."

[Kaikoga Koi]

Koi reminded still for perhaps eight long seconds, her jade eyes still and filled with thoughts, fears, anxieties but in those long seconds understanding and acceptance. "I understand, Yasu-san. I would not wish for you to tear your heart from your chest or to cause you any pain."

Her fingers hesitated and lingered before lowering. "I accept your words..."

"Perhaps, in another life." She smiled, perhaps deep inside it was pained but it did not show.

[Kuni Yasu]

"It's more that I seem good at causing others pain, and...I'm sorry to bring you to it." She sits back slightly, as Koi's hand drops, her own hands shifting to carefully fidget with the tie. "You should keep the ribbon though, even if it's just an object. It'll be something for that shared love when it comes."

"I already have so much to remember you by, it feels greedy. Like stealing from the future by keeping it." Her smile is careful, but genuine, and the offer as well.

[Kaikoga Koi]

Koi shook her once, her voice firm. "No, Yasu-san. I gave it to you out of my own freewill and I am not going to back away from that just because you and I are not going to anything. Genuinely, it is your's now. Look after it."

"Call it a sign of good luck in the coming days, it's all good." She said it kindly but firmly.

Koi looked around the pagoda before glancing at Genkai a bit away. "I think I am going too go, poor Genkai looks soaked through and I need to take him for his walk otherwise he will wet the bed." She joked, making an excuse at wanting to escape the awkwardness she felt growing.

[Kuni Yasu]

"Oh...of course." Yasu offers one small nod and a glance at the damp guard. "I'll take care of it as best I can, of course. It's a memory I wouldn't want to treat badly."

"I can take the tea set back for you, if that's a help?" She offers.

[Kaikoga Koi]

Koi looked at the tea set, it had been her grandmother's and she had brewed the last of her favourite tea from her homeland in it. It had steeped just long enough to be perfect.

Koi stood for about ten seconds with her eyes closed thinking ir at least trying to sort her emotions out.

"I think Genkai can wait at least for us to finish the pot, it is a very good brew and I would hate for it to go to waste." She said, softly contradicting herself. "Its the very last of my supply from my Clan's land."

[Kuni Yasu]

Yasu nods, smiling kindly. "A last taste of home? Wasting that would be pretty tragic." She moves to take a seat, catching the scent of the tea. "What sort of tea is it?" she asks, picking up the easy conversational thread. "Will you be able to get more?"

There's a bit of care from the Crab to keep her demeanor gentle. "There's something very cozy about tea in the rain, isn't there?"

[Kaikoga Koi]

Koi smiled happily. "Absolutely tragic, I would never forgive myself." She sat down and poured the tea, it was a different type of brew. It had scents of dried fruits, some spices with tea blended into it.

Koi laughed softly and allowed herself to just move on from the previous topic, it did not matter anymore she got the answer she expected. "Amusingly, it is called Memories of Home." She bent down to smell it. "It is a fruit based tea with a blend of cranberries, blackberries and cloudberries. Mixed with shavings of clove, juniper, allspice and oolong tea. I don't know if you know what a Cloudberry is, they are only native to very high attitude forests. These bright orange little berries that have quite a small yield but make delicious jams."

Koi winked. "I am friends with the grower, his wife is riddled with terrible dreams and insomnia. I have been assisting her make sense of what she dreams of, mostly she eats to much kimchi with her dinner but sometimes she astounds me with omens regarding the weather. Anyways, I digress the husband provides me with a suitable supply every harvest. I shall be able to get some sent to me no doubt, plus I have more at home just couldn't bring it. I did not have the pleasure of servant's to carry my belongings so I had to limit them."

Koi looked out to the evening rain, and smiled. "I have always loved the rain, and moments like this are so far and few."

[Kuni Yasu]

"So many interesting things come from high up in the mountains," Yasu says, inhaling the scented steam with obvious appreciation. It could have been a lovely bit of double-meaning compliment...from someone a bit less literal. "If they grow in the mountains down our way, I haven't heard of it.

Glancing out to the rain, dripping from a thousand leaves, Yasu's smile is soft. "The rain is much nicer here, though even at home, the sound is so gentle to listen to. Very good weather for study." She sips the tea with deliberate attention. "My family taught me to appreciate moments, because they're temporary and often you don't get many of them. I'm glad you have more of this tea, because it's something of home for you. I'm kind of glad to have it maybe only this once. Something I should pay attention to because it might be the only time."

"The miai is full of that kind of thing. People I'll only see here, and all this rain and greenery," she chuckles a bit, "and all the pointless seeming contests. Won't really miss most of those."