(D8, LA) Avian Tea

[Suzume Rin]

"Well, and I wouldn't know as much as either of you. But when it comes to being spiritual and really understanding things, I don't think there's a better clan for it than the Phoenix. I mean, every Phoenix I've met has already thought about all the big questions I'm only just getting round to."

Cocking her head at Jiro
"Oh, your house is just full of origami?..Ain't that risky if there's a big gust from outside? You ever get paper whirlwinds?"

[Isawa Natsuko]

"A little whirlwind of tiny animals sounds kind of pretty." Natsuko thinks a moment. "If they were hung from strings, they would not scatter everywhere. Animals and stars fluttering there. We should do that." A small nod affirms the intention of their someday decor including paper bits hung from all the ceilings.

Quietly turning to Rin she considers, "the big questions? Maybe. There are ways finding our space in the void is important to each of us, and it allows us to see some things we might not. But it does not feed us, or keep clans from war, or answer...why we can't seem to stop fighting. There are plenty of questions for everyone to consider."

[Suzume Rin]

"A little whirlwind of tiny animals sounds kind of pretty." Natsuko thinks a moment. "If they were hung from strings, they would not scatter everywhere. Animals and stars fluttering there. We should do that." A small nod affirms the intention of their someday decor including paper bits hung from all the ceilings.

Quietly turning to Rin she considers, "the big questions? Maybe. There are ways finding our space in the void is important to each of us, and it allows us to see some things we might not. But it does not feed us, or keep clans from war, or answer...why we can't seem to stop fighting. There are plenty of questions for everyone to consider."

"Well...that's just folks not behaving right, isn't it? If everyone acted sensible and honourable all the time, we'd probably not have much to do."
Rubbing the back of her neck
"Or is that me just making a big question a small one? Guess if folks aren't all gonna act right it's sorta a moot point."

[Shiba Jiro]

"I would like that. We'll put a flock of birds near the entrance," he says, smiling and nodding.

"Even if we acted properly, people would have differences of opinions. They would find something important enough to disagree on, with no other recourse but to fight. At least, that is my view, which I would love to be proven wrong on."

He continues working on the paper, his fingers careful so as to not crush the box he was forming.

[Isawa Natsuko]

Natsuko nodded, though it was hard to say to what. "There are misunderstandings enough, and times when honor is interpreted as being in conflict. I think there will always be fighting, but I am not sure that means entire clans need to be at war."

"But those decisions are well above all of us, I suppose. Nor is it likely we will find ourselves on opposite ends of a conflict." Clan of pacifists and a Minor Clan? That was a pretty safe bet.

[Suzume Rin]

"Oh Gosh!"
Rin sips her tea hurriedly

"I hadn't even thought of that. What if we end up on the other side of the battlefield to our friends?"
Looking between the artisan and the shugenja
"Well...I mean, I end up on the battlefield I guess. Neither of you two should be exposed to that sorta thing, it's unseemly."

[Shiba Jiro]

"It's a difficult idea I imagine. To be faced with an enemy that you call friend. I certainly hope you never have to face that situation."

His hands continue the steady pace, though they pause so he can sip the tea. His eyes move to the origami, to Rin, and to Natsuko before looking back down to the origami.

[Isawa Natsuko]

Natsuko says simply, "If my sort are called to the battlefield, everything has gone very wrong and is about to get worse. There are older stories of times before ...well I suppose there were fewer people to fight so maybe things were desperate?" She watches Jiro's hands folding, for a moment before blinking out of some slight reverie.

Picking up one of the seaweed snacks she asks Rin, "What do you think of the tea? Infusion really, as there is no actual tea leaf in it."

[Suzume Rin]

Rin had cocked her head but quickly blinks and re-orientates her thoughts

"Oh it's good! Kinda different, feels like I'm drinking mud...uh, like you know, the smell of fresh earth in the forest. Clean, earthy mud."

[Shiba Jiro]

The work finished for the top, he pulls another sheet to create the complementary bottom of a box. The description gets a nod of agreement.

[Isawa Natsuko]

Natsuko looks at the finished box with a small nod, reaching to trace the cleverly folded little bird. "Perfect, I can fill it with some tea for your throat before you go, Suzume-san."

And while she finds the subtle volatiles within the earthy flavors of the mushroom infusion delightful, the ishiken isn't deaf to the faint praise. She busies her hands with clearing the spend bits of fungus and preparing the pot for a different tea.

"If it is true that the Champion of this tournament can pick their assignment, do you have something in mind, Suzume-san? With the fortunes' favor, you could still win, after all."

[Suzume Rin]

Quietly
"Well ain't that just fabulous."
The Sparrow stares at the little paper box, clearly touched...she probably doesn't have a whole lot of nice things.

"I..it's too nice for me. What if it gets squashed on my way back home? I'd never forgive myself, not for a second."
It takes her a few seconds to process Natsuko's question

"Oh...trying not to think to hard about that. Still more than a longshot I say. But I've been thinking...magistrate's position ain't too bad a role? Traveling around, helping people. It's honourable work."

[Shiba Jiro]

He slips the lid off and slides the open box to Natsuko. "It is a small thing. But it is for you... from us. Please accept it along with our appreciation for your friendship and kindness. It pales in comparison to what you have shared with us. I am not certain I could create something that even remotely approaches the beauty of your friendship."

[Isawa Natsuko]

That was a courtier's reply for sure. Natsuko opens her satchel, rummaging through with clicks and clatters to pull out a canister of tea and three of her little packets of foraged bits.

She doesn't interrupt the next refusal as she sets the next pot of tea...actual tea...to steep and measures herbs into the little box.

But afterward she adds, "besides, it is medicinal. That doesn't entirely count as a gift, does it?"

[Suzume Rin]

The Phoenix were a formidable pair, Rin can only bow her head and mumble embarrassed thanks and accept the gift

"Well, I promise it'll go over the mantle back home and I won't let none of the little ones tough it, else they'll get dirt everywhere."
Permitting herself a smile as she looks between the two of them

"I'm really the one should be thanking you. You've both been so decent to someone who doesn't really matter much to anyone. I know a lot of samurai woulda just turned up their noses and focused on befriending fancier folk than me...so uh, thanks, really, means a lot."

[Isawa Natsuko]

Natsuko slips the lid on the little box, then shakes it to mix the tea. "Some things are carved of wood and stone and meant to last generation to generation. They make us think there is some permanence to the world. Art made of paper reminds us that this is not true. Let it get dirty, let it be paper, and remember that most of us can only experience each moment once."

"Like finding someone digging yams in the forest. I certainly won't see that moment again." She slides the little box across the table, before fussing with the tea so she can refill cups as needed. "Fate meant us to meet, and I am not one to deny such things. Besides, I feel that you might be more important than you guess. There is an imbalance in the world, and trouble coming. Maybe the Sparrow's wisdom can help."

[Suzume Rin]

Rin's eyes widen as her face pales

"I-I I...of course Isawa-sama. I shall do my best to honour that."
She bows her head, clearly shaken.

[Shiba Jiro]

The talk of him being decent... he hides it expertly but it stings. He had been for Rin, but it was not a universal truth. "Your best will be better than the best of most others by my observations."

Without busy hands, he finds himself now needing to focus elsewhere. Ah, what an interesting tea cup? He takes a sip and smiles warmly.

"Suzume-san will be returning home, but what of after? Have you been informed of where you will be assigned after the championship?"

[Isawa Natsuko]

Natsuko seems oblivious to the affect her words have had. Though with her perpetual apparent calm, it's hard to tell, though her eyes linger for a moment on the bowed head before she adds, "Boiling water, not just hot for this. Steep it until it's cool enough that you wouldn't mind splashing it on a child. Strain out the fluffy bits. It's soothing to a sore throat and strengthening regardless."

She leaves space for the answer to Jiro's question, watching him a bit, realizing how seldom she'd actually been able to see him conversing with others. "It would be good to know where to write."

[Suzume Rin]

Rin nods, memorising the shugenja's instructions as she responds to Jiro's question.

"Well, probably back home for a bit. I reckon. Nobody's told me what my duties are to be. So, if you wanna send stuff to Kyuden Suzume it'll find me eventually. Oh, then I gotta see about some travel, you know, for the wedding and such. Maybe see who else I can visit on the journey. But that all depends on if I'm needed or no. If I got urgent duties I'll definitely being doing that for a bit."