[D5 LA] Thank the Fortunes It's Raining

[Kitsu Murato]

Murato arrived to a meeting place at the appointed time and place. He was starting to feel a bit of exhaustion, but hadn't broken down yet. He had not slept since about this time yesterday. But there was an air of excitement around him for this meeting. He expected it would be some discussion on what the Crab's duties entailed, some playful flirting with some song and poetry. And would make the rain seem like it was not even there. He was as excited to see Yasu as any of the other lovely women at this miai... more even.

[Kuni Yasu]

For her part, Yasu was excited and nervous. Still unsure in the social and romantic circles she'd had so little training for, and knowing that there were pitfalls waiting to open up in this particular meeting. There really were half a dozen conversations she was excited to have with the Lion, and one, probably required, topic that she wasn't looking forward to.

She had to admit that getting out into the forest in the rain had been a good idea though. The greens were even more vibrant, the damp, mossy scents were calming. Soaking her socks and the hems of her traveling clothing was well worth it.

Borrowed umbrella barely keeping the rain from her painted face, and failing entirely at guarding her broad shoulders, Yasu spotted Murato at the agreed upon meeting spot and headed over with a small lift of the umbrella in place of a wave. Her smile was unfeigned, genuinely glad to see him, and hidden a moment as she bowed a proper greeting, rainspots appearing as darker blue spots across her back in that moment of exposure.

[Kitsu Murato]

Mura was heartened to see her once more. He was glad that she had decided to wear the netsuke gift he had given. The Kitsu had been a little concerned that the mundanity of an apricot pit would make it seem silly. But he had hoped that the meaning behind it would be well received. Little things popped into his head, visions of potential events in the future. Brushing it with his finger while he reached to touch her hand, placing it in a small hole dug by hand, standing near it with children and telling the story... all completely the cart before the horse territory. They were possibilities not assurances. He knew that as he brought himself back to the moment, where he needed to be.

Her bow was returned with one of his own, his umbrella handled carefully so as to do no eye poking as he bent at the waist. He smiled as well, and it was clear that he felt something strong. It was there in his eyes that seemed to... literally... shimmer. Had they been like that before? Reacting and changing in slight ways?

"Good afternoon Yasu-san," he finally greets. "It is a lovely afternoon for a walk. I hope you have been well since our dinner and I must admit to feeling like a weight has lifted with your arrival that seemed to have settled with your previous departure."

[Kuni Yasu]

The gift had been received with such a mix of emotion the day before. Elation, embarrassment, fondness, concern. She'd chosen to keep it out of sentiment, a reminder of connection and warning about impulsiveness. There was also the pragmatic fact that it was a useful little thing. She hadn't yet considered the other messages it might send.

Direct as the Kuni is, she meant to speak right off..apologize, make clear that she couldn't be so forward again, but his eyes caught her attention with that shimmer. Was that the influence of the woods? Something else?

She starts slightly as his greeting breaks her silent thoughts and she realizes she hasn't said a single word since spotting him here. Her smile shifts a bit apologetic. "It is, and I have been. The rain was starting to feel a little oppressive huddling indoors in this heat, but out here?" She looks to the verdancy all around, "it's almost magical how it brightens the thinner bits of the woods, and makes the darker spaces feel private a peaceful. I appreciate the invite."

Her hand brushes the netsuke, "Thank your for the thoughtful gift. Hmm..unless I'm supposed to refuse it, now that we're able to finish that little ritual? I'm never quite sure of how it works when something is passed along with a note like this."

[Kitsu Murato]

He seemed to not be concerned about the rain at all. And even though he carried an umbrella, his kimono was already fully soaked through, like he had been out earlier without one, apparently only carrying the umbrella to keep water out of his eyes. The water slicked his hair, and the wet kimono hugged his body revealing a thicker and more fit body than one would probably expect of any bureaucrat. He did indeed work out, though not to gain bulk.

"No, there's no game involved," he says, his smile remaining. "It is as I called it in my note, a promise and a memory, not a gift. Shall we walk?" he asks, sweeping his arm to indicate a direction and waiting for her to change her heading before joining at her side.

"I am honestly curious about where we begin on the subject of Crab duty. I would hear all of it, but I suspect there is not enough time in the miai even if we simply sat down and discussed it non-stop during all waking hours."

[Kuni Yasu]

She notes the waterlogged hair and clothing with a creased brow and some confusion in her tone. "been out soaking in the rain? I suppose it's warm enough not to risk an illness that way." His physique was noticed, though not overtly. With that sword and that spirit to carry around, Yasu thinks that it makes sense that he would need to train a fair bit.

"Then thank you again." She pauses a moment, considering. "Might be bittersweet, with how the matchmakers chose." She follows the sweep of his arm, beginning to walk beside him. "But either way, it reminds me of impulsiveness...risk." Almost, she adds 'reward,' but that's a little to close to following previous footsteps that she can't retrace.

"Impulse doesn't have much place in our duty. So that's a warning of sorts," she says thoughtfully, piecing things together as she speaks. Her tone shifts to something more solid, practiced or simply so ingrained that the ideas become words, easy as breathing, "the core of our Duty's not that long to tell though. Stand against the horrors and corruption from the South, keeping it away from the rest of the Empire, for as long and as well as you can. Try not to swell their strength when you die."

She brushes a branch aside as they go, shivering a mini-rain of drops to the path and along her sleeve. "The specifics of how to fight it are a little more detailed, but that's the meat of it."

[Kitsu Murato]

"Ah, I was trying to help someone with a bit of a hunt. I'm not very good at it, but we don't improve if we don't practice," he says. "And when I seek to learn something I don't give up on it. Adversity is life."

He continues the stroll, his sandals occasionally sucking to a particularly soft patch of dirt.

"And you are quite welcome. The Deer may make the decisions, but they also are observing interaction as much as the tests they provide. If people are well suited for each other, that likely strongly influences their decisions." He looks at her with a warmth that speaks to what he thinks of her.

The overview of what the Crab do, most of which was relatively common knowledge to anyone that studied the clans and their purposes. "And what would one expect if they were to become a Kuni?" he asked, clearly not phased by the idea.

[Kuni Yasu]

Painted eyebrows lift. "Hunt? What sort of game were you after?" She can imagine plenty in the forest, but hadn't expected the Deer to welcome hunters. His tenacity though, there's a soft smile at the thought, once again, that she'd grow into the match pretty easily if this was the direction the matchmakers chose, even if her heart is set elsewhere.

Though, if life among the Crab sounded awful enough, he might be less content with that outcome.

"LIfe among the Kuni..." Even in the mud, her sandals tend to find sure footing, though the friendly earth threatens to suck them from her feet more than once. She pays little attention to the occasional little pull. "To start, it's the opposite of this. Nothing much grows there as a long ago attack has left the land spiritually dead. So it's grey, grey, and dust." She holds her hand out into the rain. "And this would make an ocean of mud. Grey and sticky, except where it's snot-slick and stinking."

"And while it's not south of the Wall kind of dangerous, pretty much any live creature out there has developed some odd ways to survive, and will be hungry."

[Kitsu Murato]

He nodded at that. "So... Generally unpleasant environment. And dangerous creatures. Doesn't sound so terrible yet. No pollen to cause hay fever, and I'm sure I've seen just as off-putting and dangerous spirits. Mokumokuren I helped deal with was my natural enemy, since my ability to sense spirits is in my eyes. Creepy things. Only killed 3 people before we patched up or destroyed all the Shoji."

His footsteps were steady squishing sounds. His eyes had become keen with interest. The idea of creepy monsters and spirits seemed to be a pleasant topic for him.

"You ever had one?"

[Kuni Yasu]

If she were actually the at all crafty sort, Yasu might be dismayed by the gleam of interest in Murato's eyes. But the chance for the scholarly Kuni to talk shop like this was far too welcome.

"Yeah, actually one of my earlier solo investigations. Abandoned village was just lousy with them. Just at the foot of the Twilight Mountains." She shakes her head. "Apparently one of the scouts patrolling there was the kind of idiot who sleeps in abandoned shacks at the foot of the Twilight Mountains. Got lucky and only lost one eye before getting out."

She shrugs a bit. "Burned the entire thing." Frowning, she adds, "it was bad work all around, really. It should have been noted as abandoned and dealt with well before, but everyone's short-handed. So there was a Dorotabō to put down as well. Would have been better having some Toritaka there to maybe settle that one to pass on properly, but..." She offered a bit of a 'what are you going to do' shrug, while remembering the squelching noise of the Dorotabō lifting from the old rice fields. It was a lot like the sound of sandals squelching in mud.

Pulling a pair of onigiri from her sleeve as they walk, she passes one to him with no thought whatsoever that someone might not want to eat while talking about eyeball-eating demons and the like. "Some kind of pickle inside, they said at the kitchen"