D7EA Yin and Yang (expecting)

[Usogawa Narumi]

Shit.

Narumi was the picture of calm, waiting by the massive, ancient cherry blossom tree, her arms crossed and hands disappeared in sleeves. Her dark hair is tied back in a braid that's looped up and held in place with a deer bone simple ornament. She wears a kimono in cool blues, her lightweight silk obi a deep warm shade of brown.
She waited for the Dragon samurai-ko she'd heard more about than actually knew, herself, and struggled not to begin a downward spiral already. But it was hard to be optimistic.
So she simply waited in silence, and prepared.

Shit.

[Agasha Inoshishi]

Inoshishi, being her usual chipper, relaxed self, hadn’t noticed the shift in the sun and is, predictably, late. She’s made up fairly well today, wearing a utilitarian Dragon green kimono bordered in a golden yellow. Her smile is sparkling and definitely distracts from whatever is going on with her hands. Yup yup yup, no one is noticing that! Her obi is a braid of yellow, gold, and brown.

Seeing the cool blue Otter waiting under the cherry tree, Inoshishi’s eyes positively sparkle and she picks up her pace, waving and calling out across the courtyard like the gracious, understated samurai she is. The flow of her words carry her to easy talking range.

“Hello Usogawa-san! It was so marvelous running into you at the Seer’s event yesterday. I’d seen you around and confess I’d even watched you as you went through some our gatherings. So elegant! So refined! Which would you like to do first, show me this divination technique you were speaking of or sit under this marvelous cherry tree like the old friends we will one day be? I’m so excited! I don’t think I’ve ever spent time with an Otter before. I bet you know all kinds of stories, but there’s time enough for those later.” Well that’s new. “I want to know just everything about you and you me!”

[Usogawa Narumi]

Hit by the veritable whirlwind that is Inoshishi, Narumi keeps a cool but friendly expression as she takes in the sight of the Dragon- noting the green, bordering on yellow, isn't it?- and catching glimpses of hands that move so, so fast.
"Ohayo, Agasha-san.. I.. ah.." she tries to get words in but the Dragon-ko just won't stop talking. Narumi smiles genuinely and decides to wait.
"This one is looking forward to her friendship with the breath-taking Agasha-san blossoming as well, and in time becoming as strong as Musabi-no-kami's cherry blossom tree." Assessing dark eyes consider this lie. "Why don't we sit for a time and break the proverbial ice, before finding solace with a fortune?" she imagines a bit of talking- more from the Dragon, less from herself- will lead to needing a break... eventually...

[Agasha Inoshishi]

Inoshishi’s eyes narrow slightly at the ice comment, noting something she can use for some chatter. Chatter was necessary to keep this slippery Otter pinned down, after all, until she could see the beauty of Inoshishi’s plan and Inoshishi herself.

“I love sitting in the shade of a great tree like this! We don’t have many of them up the mountain, you know. It’s hard for trees to grow, I guess, in an area so strong in Earth and Air. But you mentioned breaking the ice! Do you know what the most interesting thing about Dragon lakes is? Well, one of the most interesting.”

Yup, she’s not stopping to wait for an answer.

“No one knows how deep they are nor what’s in them when the ice is over them. The smallest puddle could be capable of swallowing a man, the biggest lake little more than a wet patch. Sometimes, the ice will burst, like something is trying to get out, but that’s only in lakes where no fish live at that smell bad.”

Her eyes are still sincere and open, her mouth still drawn into her customary bright grin. Yet there’s a tightness as she tries to make her point circumspectly. Very odd for the little Dragon.

She sits, hands clasped in front of her, then she glances down at them, blushes and shifts, sitting on them instead.

[Usogawa Narumi]

Keeping her expression light and airy, the Dragon's apparent nattering on still stung. Just a little. But she didn't fault Inoshishi, not really. They were dancing around each other as expected, sussing one another out.
Narumi keeps tab on what the Dragon shows her versus what her words mean.
Hm. She sits as well, keeping a polite distance.
"It sounds beautiful. Except for the smelly lakes part, of course," she tried on another smile and it sat comfortably. "I admit, I'm most comfortable on moving waters as opposed to the stillness of lakes, no matter how beautiful they seem on the surface, instead travelling the winding rivers of Rokugan where you never know what's around the next bend, instead of seeing everything a lake has to offer all on display at once. No matter what the weather, our yakatabune and Izakayas are purposely designed to weather any storm without risk of sinking, staying upright and displaying a strength they might not seem to have at first glance."
Except... sometimes they did sink. And upend everything in their wake.

[Agasha Inoshishi]

Inoshishi laughs quite genuinely at the smelly lakes comment, trying to cover her mouth politely before realizing she's sitting on her hands. So then she just blushes. The whole process has shifted her slightly towards the young Otter. She tilts her head as Narumi finishes, her eyes sad.

"Are you alone? That would seem...lonely, all by yourself, on a moving river. Which I suppose means you're never in the same place twice, since the water is always moving. It seems...sad. But I suppose in your boats, there's more than just the one of you? Sisters? Partners? Or perhaps on a boat whoever is on it is family. That would seem to make more sense. If you're close enough, how can anyone help but be your brother or sister? If you share everything as a sister should, then you're family!" Her eyes are still faintly haunted because of the tremendous storytelling of Kitsu Murato, that nice jerk, but there's an overall expression of having just figured out a conundrum that's been bugging her. It's false, of course. She's had this figured out for quite awhile.

"But back to your wonderful yakakayas and Izabunes," What? Why would a Dragon know the words for boats? "While I'm sure they weather the storm quite well, what about drops? That's the reason we don't use out rivers often. They're very nice and flat, and then all of sudden, BWOOSH, you fall 100 feet onto rocks. I don't think many boats could go down that. Or up that. Which is probably why I've never met an Otter before I came down the mountain!"

[Usogawa Narumi]

"You're not wrong," Narumi starts when she can get a word in, watching the Dragon-ko, assessing her assessment. "It's rarely lonely, though. Otters make friends in every port- and we're all family, whether by blood or not. We're a small clan yet, but united.
A boat is never solitary on the water. We carry each other, and build certain trust and implacable friendship to our allies, loving them as we would one of our own. At the end of the day, everyone is a friend of the Otters.
It must be difficult, living in the mountains? They're beautiful from a distance, striking even- but harsh and unyielding, ready to strip the unsuspecting bare... I imagine."

Then Inoshishi inadvertently hits a nerve that never quite healed, and Narumi stiffens. Inner walls are built higher and higher. Her gaze drops to the floor and her lips twitch to one side. "We're resilient, if nothing else. It takes more than difficult terrain for us to drown."

[Agasha Inoshishi]

Then Inoshishi inadvertently hits a nerve that never quite healed, and Narumi stiffens. Inner walls are built higher and higher. Her gaze drops to the floor and her lips twitch to one side. "We're resilient, if nothing else. It takes more than difficult terrain for us to drown."

Inoshishi had been listening attentively and was clearly preparing to go into another spiel. Then the bump in the road. Having become adept at reading small shifts in body language thanks to the stone Matsu, she sees the tightening and the twitch. The smile and happy eyes vanish as if they had never been there, a trick she'd picked up from the Ikoma long ago.

"I have said the wrong thing. I am sorry. I had...not considered what might happen to...if there was a.."

Her hands mimic her explosion noise, slipping out from under her and staying present in their mottled glory.

"I had hoped to put you at ease and now I fear I have done the opposite. How may I salvage this conversation, Usogawa-sama?"

While that last could be seen as too much or as mocking in other voices from other people, from Inoshishi, with her sincerely sad eyes, it's clear that she is deeply sorry, with the honorific more the cherry on top of a sundae of regret. Which is just the worst kind of sundae, but at least it's sincere!

[Usogawa Narumi]

Defenses threaten to slam into place as Narumi resettles her On into something impassive. As if she wasn't reliving... things.
She takes a moment to glance at Inoshishi and notes the remorse written all over the Dragon-ko's features. Narumi takes a breath.
"The rivers are dangerous, as much as they're my home. I can clearly see you didn't know, how could you? It's a fact of life that there will be losses, some before we're ready for them. All we can do is honour the memory of who we've lost, and try to make them proud of who we become after they're gone, knowing that they continue to watch over and guide us." She offers a lukewarm smile, ready to start over.
"Hm. Tell me more about what led you here, Agasha-san? What adventures have you encountered that led you to this miai and our fortuitous crossing of paths?"

[Agasha Inoshishi]

Defenses threaten to slam into place as Narumi resettles her On into something impassive. As if she wasn't reliving... things.
She takes a moment to glance at Inoshishi and notes the remorse written all over the Dragon-ko's features. Narumi takes a breath.
"The rivers are dangerous, as much as they're my home. I can clearly see you didn't know, how could you?"

Fuck.Fuck.Fuck.

It's a fact of life that there will be losses, some before we're ready for them. All we can do is honour the memory of who we've lost,

Whelp, might as well throw in the towel, this goose is cooked.A: Mixing metaphors. B: You're stupid.Shut the fuck up, let me get a handle on this!

and try to make them proud of who we become after they're gone, knowing that they continue to watch over and guide us." She offers a lukewarm smile, ready to start over.

Well, maybe this'll be okay?A: See B above. B: Also see B above, dumbassOkay, you can do this, on point, on target, You can do it.

"Hm. Tell me more about what led you here, Agasha-san? What adventures have you encountered that led you to this miai and our fortuitous crossing of paths?"

Inoshishi stays quiet for a moment or two as she recovers her On and tries to regain the momentum of the conversation. Turns out the when the Unstoppable Force hits the Unbreakable Wall, the wall wins. Which any Crab could have told her. She tosses her head slightly, knowing she's stalling in her own mind. She unconsciously crosses her legs underneath her, trying to regain her balance still.

"Well, that all depends on who you are or who you believe. According to my sensei, my adventures are more perambulations and my life little more than a vagabond, but he felt I did good work, so I continued. Then he sent me a letter while I was at the Castle of the Centipede saying that I need to do my duty to my clan and find an acceptable partner, whether that meant marrying in or out."

She pauses, face mostly blank as she speaks about her sensei. Then her eyes get more mischevious, darting to the Otter's in an attempt to reforge the connection they'd started.

"Would you like to hear my side of that story?"