(Expecting)

Natsuko has chosen to eat in the common room this morning, absently poking the bits of fruit in her bowl into patterns with one chopstick, while reading a small scroll. A pot of the day's tea sits nearby, her cup steaming with the fragrant oolong.

It was a slightly ruffled-looking Hirame that entered the common room. From the looks of him, he'd dressed in a hurry. Still, his manner was cheerful, and his hazel eyes were bright as he collected his own bowl of honeyed porridge.

Spotting Natsuko, a thoughtful expression briefly flickered across his features, but then he smiled. "Good morning, Natsuko-san. How's the day treating you so far?" Hirame asked cheerfully as he knelt across from her.

The scroll is set carefully to the table, detailed bird sketches visible before it rolls up. "A fair day beneath Lady Sun, Hirame-san," she says as she looks up, tone and expression steady as always. Still lightly damp, her hair brushes at her shoulders, some of the curl pulled straight by the weight.

"I hope your morning has gone well so far," though the way her eyes fix on the uneven hang of his clothing indicate some slight doubts.

"It's been an adventure already." Hirame said, shaking his head with a smile. "Fortunately, it's already led to a mystery being solved. So, some good to go with some... excess excitement."

He frowned curiously, craning his neck a bit. "What are you reading?" He asked.

"A mystery?" With the lack of inflection that *might* have been a question tied to the one he solved, or an answer about her scroll's contents.

But she unrolls the scroll a bit and answers, "a text on bird identification. Written by Asako Kaemon who traveled up and down the Phoenix and Crane coasts documenting them." There are detailed ink drawings, notes beside each one, and further notes, in multiple hands, tucked along the edges. "I think I saw this little warbler yesterday."

"Uh... yes?" Hirame said. Wow, that was unclear. He cleared his throat. "Mine had to do with that doll I made. Someone made more of them as a prank. Two someones, actually." He grinned. "Ooh, I'll get them back for that..."

His eyebrows went up. "I see. Birds are cool, I guess." He nodded. "Is there something special about the warbler? Good luck, bad luck, something like that?"

"It is a pretty red, that you can't see here." She points to the description, characters citing the cherry red feathers. "And the song is said to be charming. There are myths about them helping lost travelers, since you can see that red from a ways off and follow it."

She scoops at her porridge. "that doll that ended up in my painting? Who would make those as a prank...." a small crease forms on her brow as she tries to figure out how a bunch of dolls create a prank.

Hirame had been frowning until the bit about lost travelers came up. "Ah, that makes sense." He nodded. "Some birds are that way for sailors, leading them back to land." He titled his head. "And the red does sound nice."

He cleared his throat. "Well... I made that awful doll. And I remembered you talking about spirits inhabiting objects. And then the doll went missing... I had the terrible thought that maybe a spirit entered the doll, or something. And I made the mistake of mentioning that to, uh, someone, and they came up with the idea."

Hirame shook his head. "But I should have known there's no such thing as murder dolls."

"No there are murder dolls. Nasty things with gaki stuck to them, mostly," Natsuko says calmly, before eating a bite of porridge.

It takes a moment to chew and swallow, letting the pieces drop together, "so...they wanted you to think your doll was one of those and scare you with...a bunch of them?" She shakes her head. "Good thing you don't command the kami, that could have ended badly." Nothing like ripping part of a building out of existence, or merely setting it on fire, when terrified to give one a healthy respect for the worst case scenario.

"... what?" Hirame blinked. "They're a real thing?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, I suppose. As it was, I just smacked one with my oar. The rest I figured out... but wait, what's a Gaki?" Hirame wasn't so concerned with what a Gaki was that he couldn't spoon up porridge with teenage boy energy.

"Hungry ghosts. Those who pollute themselves in life chasing material things, who are never satisfied, are often sentenced to do penance and learn the futility of desire before they can be reborn. They mostly remain in their own realm, constantly hungry for...something. Something they can't have because they are dead." Natsuko manages her porridge between bits of conversation with the skill of one used to carrying out theological conversations over breakfast. Important questions like...if you *were* in gaki-do for some reason and you tried to summon a stone, would you get a real stone or a ghost stone?

"Some slip through to ningen-do though, where they might find what they are hungry for...and usually kill people in the process. They are very dangerous."

She reaches for her tea as a detail occurs to her. "You have an oar? In your room?"

"Hmmm." Hirame frowned, even as he continued to nearly inhale his porridge. "Sounds bad. I guess it's important to know when enough is enough." He stirred the porridge for a few moments as he considered. "Is there something like that, but for ambitious people? Just, uh, curious."

Waving a hand, Hirame shrugged. "Yeah. Mantis house is on a dock, and I've got a little tub boat. But a good oar is expensive! I don't want it wandering off!" He grinned. "Besides, if there's some kinda trouble, an oar upside the head will discourage it. Worked on the paintbrush doll, not that it turned out to be any sort of danger."

She nods once. "Ambition can be born of desires, right? Yes, that too can create a gaki. You would not want to die with unfulfilled ambitions foremost on your mind." She aims her spoon to catch a particularly favorite bit of fruit. "The monks have actual discussions on the topic, since obviously some ambition is good. People should strive to better themselves, to be better samurai and leaders. But perhaps the son of a ji-samurai scheming to become governor is less pure, right?"

"I can honestly say that I have never considered the cost of oars, but I see your point as to their use against troublesome people, or creatures, or dolls."

"Yeah..." Hirame frowned. "I'll admit, in the Mantis, we don't know as much about that sort of things as other clans do." He chewed his lip a moment. "But hey, I'll try not to die until I fulfill my ambitions. I guess it's a reminder that there's such a thing as enough." He looked down at his bowl, frowning. When he resumed eating, it was a bit slower.

Hirame shrugged. "Ships are expensive. Every bit of it, from topmast to keel." He chewed his lip a moment. "As long as we're on the subject, ship captain has been an ambition of mine for a while. It's an ambition of a lot of Mantis sailors, actually. Not just mine."

Natsuko nods. "Definitely such a thing as enough. There are problems to clear up in a number of places that were caused by those who could not see that."

"I imagine there are a lot more sailors who want to be captain than there are ships to captain, right? Does being at a tournament like this give you a better chance to become one?"

"Very much." Hirame said, smiling. "If everything works out."

He shook his head. "But enough about me and my ambitions. What about you, Natusko-san? You've got ambitions too, right?" He looked at her eyes narrowed, as he took another bite, holding the spoon in his mouth for a moment. "We've talked a few times, but I feel like I haven't quite got you figured out yet."

She freezes for a moment at the question, not the surprised stillness of a frightened hare, more the shocked on of an acolyte asked a question on a test that they are utterly unprepared for. The spoonful of porridge in midair is slowly lowered. "I...have acceptance, rather than ambition. I wish to continue studying the mysteries of the void, but that is a simple expectation. A part of my nature that I would have difficulty turning away from if asked to do so."

"My betrothed is an artisan, and likely to be assigned to court delegations with some frequency, so it may be that I follow him there until my studies ready me for the sort of assignment only ishiken are suited for." She begins to attend to her porridge again, then lowers the spoon again. "Where would your betrothed be assigned if you captain a ship?"

"Acceptance rather than ambition..." Hirame echoed, frowning. His spoon, scraping the bottom of the bowl, paused. He set it down. "I guess, given what we've talked about, that could be good. But it doesn't exactly sound good. I don't know." Hirame said.

The question made his frown deepen. "As much as we could use her on a ship, I don't think she will be happy on one. Nor does she wish merely to attend to the household. So, probably she'd be in court somewhere. Hopefully I could visit often." Hirame pushed his bowl away.

"I suppose ambition and acceptance is a bit of a balance, huh?" Hirame said, returning to the first topic. Or perhaps bridging them.

"I had not thought of it in quite that way. I am...trying to focus a bit more on principles of activity and movement in the world, perhaps I should add ambition to that list." She sips her tea, considering."They do probably exist better in balance. I think...I needed and will still need acceptance of many things, but I should have the ambition to move, and...change things."

"And should you find yourself among the Crane instead, would it be harder to become a captain? They might have more ships, being a great clan, I suppose."

Looking at her, Hirame nodded slowly. "Yeah. If there's something you're not satisfied with, I think it's good to have the will to change it. If you can. Or..." Hirame pursed his lips, "-change yourself, I guess. A bit."

Hirame glanced quickly around, then back to Natsuko, frowning. "I don't know, honestly. That may be. But those are Crane ships, not Mantis ships." He shrugged. "So maybe I could become a captain more easily, but I don't know if it would be the same."