(D1, EE) Awkward Sinceritea

[Isawa Natsuko]

(expecting)

Natsuko enters the Tea House, slipping her sandals off and her hood back up since the wind can't mess with it inside the building...probably. She takes a moment to ask after a table since she had not seen Jiro within at first glance. Sharp eyes glance around the teahouse, focusing on the cups of tea of those they pass on the way to a seat as her shoulders ease a bit.

[Shiba Jiro]

Not long after, the Shiba enters and looks around. He spots the Isawa and takes a breath, approaching with a parcel under his arm. Each step is in time to a heavy beat of his heart, and it gets louder in his ears as he gets closer. When he stands across from her he bows in greeting, the blood pounding in his ears. "Isawa Natsuko-san, I am honored to meet you again. Thank you for joining me this evening. I..."

He takes another deep breath.

"I have brought my set and would be pleased to perform the tea ceremony with you, before conversation, if you would not be opposed."

[Isawa Natsuko]

She rises from her seat as she approaches. A proper bow seems...correct... and she offers one. There's a curious look at the parcel, but the question is answered before she can think to ask it. Her bright eyes fix upon the bundled set for a long moment before shifting to meet Jiro's. She nods once. "I am not opposed, Shiba Jiro-san. It will be..." there's a search for an accurate word, "instructive. Also calming before conversation." Another nod. "A good choice."

[Shiba Jiro]

Jiro's smile widens a bit as he indicates her seat so that she can take it once more. He goes about the task of setting up the tea set asking for the hot water that will be necessary from the staff.

When it is all set up, he nods to her awaiting a return nod before beginning. Once he receives it he begins going through the process, but seems somehow distracted. Steps are taken slightly out of order and timing off. Something is bothering him.

----

D1 EE, Tea Ceremony | TN: 2 | Success: 0 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 1


Strife: 1/8

Feel a chill down your spine, notice a sudden silence, or detect another sign of the supernatural if there is a spiritual disturbance in the scene. Extra gives an increasingly precise location for the supernatural occurrence.

[Isawa Natsuko]

She watches curiously, frowning slightly at the minor slips, the sense that something is off. There will be a bitter bowl of matcha to sip from, but none of the usual serenity that comes from the meditative motions. Wincing slightly at the not entirely rhythmic scrape of the whisk against the sides of the bowl, Natsuko shifts back slightly in her seat, eyes a bit to the side of the bowl.

_____
(not speaking while the ritual is ongoing and the potential spookiness is still to be addressed.

[Shiba Jiro]

Jiro, looks equally disappointed with himself, and frustrated at something he can't pinpoint. The tea was still tea, even if the process had not been as meditative as usual. The steaming cup was placed before Natsuko and she could see a minor flinch in his expression for a moment. He had hoped the tea would be calming but it had only served to make himself feel more stressed.

The embarrassment caused the pounding in his chest and ears to get worse, and his skin reddened in response. When he exhaled at the finish of the ceremony, it shook a bit. He waited for her to take her cup so they could sip at the appropriate times. While he had messed up the ceremony, in places he still seemed determined to follow the proper protocol for it until the end.

After that final step he looked to Natsuko, then away feeling a bit of shame. "I... am sorry."

[Isawa Natsuko]

She wraps her hands around the cup, maimed and whole, unflinchingly. Now her bright gaze rests on the tea, its green equally intense and she lifts it to sip, her lips twitching at the expected bitterness, tongue analyzing the slightly mineral water, the hints of seaweed and flint in the tea's flavor. Crane grown, almost certainly.

Lowering the cup, Jiro's apology catches at her attention, drawing thoughts away from wondering what an imbalance would taste like in the tea. "Why? Practice is necessary for mastery. Or did you think yourself a master already?" The question is only barely inflected, her tone oddly even, and a little cool.

[Shiba Jiro]

He shakes his head. "I did not think that. But I had offered the ceremony and did not perform it properly," he explained, admitting to his own failure. His embarrassment could be read by anyone that looked at him. And he honestly wanted to just not exist in that moment. Anything to make the feeling go away.

He reached into the parcel he'd been carrying and pulls out a sheet of paper from a folio of some sort. More origami paper. He knew origami. He knew the paper. It would calm him he hoped. He began folding while he spoke.

"I am not a fan of making early impressions by failing to do things I am trained to do. It sets a bad precedent."

[Isawa Natsuko]

"It is good we met last night then," Natsuko says quietly, eyes drawn to the movement of the paper. "Were you also trained to do origami? The star seemed to work well" There's no sense of comfort offered, but also no condemnation.

"The tea is fine, anyway." She taps the cup in emphasis.

There's a pause, her eyes still on the paper, and his hands manipulating it. "Did you have any choice in this?" Again there's not sense of strong feeling to the question, just uncommon directness.

[Shiba Jiro]

He looks at her, and her eyes drawn to the motion of his hands. "I am. Also with several other arts, but this tends to be the most convenient to do at any time," he explained. "I've also got my wood tools for both practical and artistic endeavors."

While she watches the paper he watches her, seeming to be put at least a little at ease by her shifted focus. "In a way I had some say, but I wouldn't say I chose. I am... not aggressive. Quite the opposite actually, and so I was seen as a bad fit for the bushi school that is traditional among most of my family. I didn't pick it, but the nature of what I am led to me being picked for it."

For a moment, he pauses, holding the origami in one hand while taking a sip with the other. The tea hand trembled gently, while the art hand was solid. "And what about you? Did you have any say in your schooling?"

[Isawa Natsuko]

"None." Her tone is carefully neutral. "The Isawa provided me training, and a new family, when my affinity for the kami and the void between was noticed. There is no choosing for us." She sips at the tea, nose wrinkling slightly again. Ice blue eyes meet his as the cup lowers. "My life and soul for the Phoenix." The familiar phrase sounds less like a pronouncement of loyal fervor in her flat tones, and more like a judgement.

But there is curiosity too. "I do not know most of the clan's schools. We were really only taught of the Shiba bushi who guard us. I had assumed..." A small frown creases her brow, though it doesn't seem angry. "What are you then?"

[Shiba Jiro]

He nods at that, though with the mention of the void there is a slight hint of understanding in his eyes. Not understanding of the void or the magic she deals with, but more of potentially why the match was made.

"I am an artisan of the Shiba Artist school. We learn how to bring peace and understanding through the arts," he says with a slight, but still embarrassed smile. His cheeks still a bit red. The feeling wouldn't go away, despite how much he wanted it to.

"You say you are connected to the void. It's not something I can say I am overly familiar with. But every few generations, that gift appears in our family line as I understand it." The implication that she was paired to his line for the potential to produce more children with such a gift was a bit awkward to him, but he also didn't let that sit in the air between them. "I believe my great grandmother was the most recent to be so blessed."

The origami was beginning to take shape once more, this time starting to take the shape of a butterfly from the black paper he was using.

[Ender]

Jiro's smile widens a bit as he indicates her seat so that she can take it once more. He goes about the task of setting up the tea set asking for the hot water that will be necessary from the staff.

When it is all set up, he nods to her awaiting a return nod before beginning. Once he receives it he begins going through the process, but seems somehow distracted. Steps are taken slightly out of order and timing off. Something is bothering him.

----

D1 EE, Tea Ceremony | TN: 2 | Success: 0 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 1


Strife: 1/8

Feel a chill down your spine, notice a sudden silence, or detect another sign of the supernatural if there is a spiritual disturbance in the scene. Extra gives an increasingly precise location for the supernatural occurrence.

The House of Red Lotus seems extremely active. The kami here definitely seem tinted to Fire, and the fierce passions that the arta inspire can be felt in everything.

The flame beneath the tea kettle flickers brightly, turning an azure hue, before reverting to the normal reddish orange.

[Isawa Natsuko]

The flame's flicker and shift correspond to her realization of what the match means to those who arranged it. Though she has little connection to fire, the void touches everything in some way and she feels a jab of *something* through the built-up blanket of acceptance she's wrapped herself in.

"Oh! That makes sense. But why you, and not your brother who might serve as my guardian on top of it all?" There's a hint of surprise to her tone, even a glance at the carefully muffled bitterness shaken loose by it. "That would be efficient. The choice requires more analysis..."

Trailing off in thought, she sips her tea, watching the butterfly emerge. "Understanding through art. More patterns, complex ones. That belongs in the analysis." Her eyes lift from the piece to Jiro's face. "What understanding do you find in folding papers?" The question is as blunt as everything else she's said.

[Shiba Jiro]

The changing flame received a surprised blink l along with the sensation of spiritual activity. He quietly offers a short appeasement prayer then focuses back on Natsuko.

Her words, and the hint of bitterness, are taken only slightly personally but not shown. He knows he shouldn't feel that way as the two of them barely know each other and it likely wasn't directed at him. It did not stop him from being a bit disappointed though. But this was part of his training... you can't bring peace to others if you can't project it yourself. The embarrassment at his own unexpected failure couldn't be helped, but this could be suppressed.

"I am unsure. Perhaps the expectation is that I would maintain the household and support you? That would be well within my skills and I would be happy to do so," he replied with a smile, the flush of embarrassment finally fading.

His hands never ceased their work despite emotional turmoil. It was simply second nature to him at this point.

"Understanding of self through reflection on art is something that has been practiced for a long time. But the Shiba learn to look at others and build their art around what is seen in them."

And then the butterfly emerges.



----

D1, EE, Origami | TN: 2 | Success: 3 / Opportunity: 0 / Strife: 2


Strife: 3/8

Shiba artist, remove 3 strife from butterfly origami

[Isawa Natsuko]

There is a long, silent breath. "Perhaps. I have no training for such things as running a house, so someone must need to..." There's a questioning quality to the words, a slow drawn out feel of thinking in motion. "I grew up at the Sanctuary, and have no experience with how a home operates. I'm not sure lessons on how to tend a shrine would be very useful for that." Another long pause, watching the butterfly taking shape. "Is it what you thought you would be assigned to do with your training?"

As the butterfly is finished..."Art seems to be very...present in my interactions here. I don't know how it creates understanding of the self though." She reaches to touch the butterfly, hand hovering just above it as her gaze catches Jiro's, brows lifting in with the unspoken question of whether it was ok to touch it.

[Shiba Jiro]

He nods with encouragement when she reaches for the origami. "When we look at the world, we see it in our own way, through our own perspective. Art is no different from the rest of the world in that regard. It has our own interpretation in our own perspective. I look at the black butterfly and the way shadows move, black on black within the folds, draws my eye. Why does that draw my eye rather than the shape? Why does it not immediately draw attention to my memories of butterflies? Why do I not first think of the geometric patterns used to create it? These are considerations and thoughts I have. But they are different from yours and other peoples'."

He shrugs at that before taking a sip, definitely becoming more comfortable with distance from his embarrassing tea ceremony. "And if a shrine feels more like home to you, then I would turn our home into a shrine. It's important to understand aspects of each other. I love to build, create, design and teach. So, if you ever want something made at all, I will make it for you. Even if it is something as small as tea and a bowl of rice or complex as a shrine or house. Anything you want will be a pleasure for me to create for you Isawa Natsuko-san."

He was very sincere about this. And the way he created origami just by feel suggested he was almost always doing so, testament to his love of art.

[Isawa Natsuko]

She picks up the butterfly, holding it as if it might be as fragile as a real one. "I do not understand. Shiba knelt to Isawa, but did not build him a house." The butterfly is flipped over, small fingers stroking the paper, the creased shadows. "I do not understand why you would offer so much with so little information."

"The tea grew through a wet year on hills facing sharp winds, and I know it, but this I do not understand." There's a puzzlement to the repetition, seeking to even wrap herself around understanding what it is that she can't grasp, what it is that falls into her calm and stirs it into confusion.

Eyes dropping to the butterfly, she finds a focus she can put words to. "I think of the butterflies within the forest near the school. The largest ones that are only around in the spring. But they're orange, not like this deep black."

[Shiba Jiro]

"I offer so much with so little information for a few reasons. First, because it is in my ability to do so and that will be how I can contribute most fully to our shared household. Second, selfishly because I hope that if you are comfortable with our home that you will be comfortable with me. Third, because I suspect you have not had many nice things granted to you. It seems like you have had a life of discipline and focus. I would like to offer a bit of beauty and comfort. I see absolutely no reason not to try to be enthusiastic in my attempts to build a pleasant and constructive relationship with the person I'll likely spend more time with than anyone else," he says, kind of spelling his thought process out somewhat awkwardly but totally honestly.

"Also, I have seen those butterflies. I wonder if I have seen those specific butterflies though. Each year the swarm passes by the house, except for the one year they actually stopped on it and swarmed it for a few hours." He smiled widely and pleasantly at the memory.

[Isawa Natsuko]

'A life of discipline and focus.' That was true enough. Natsuko smoothes a hand down the butterfly, as if petting it with the two whole fingers on that hand before setting it down between them again.

"I do not require much comfort, Shiba Jiro-san. Shiba-san. Nor do I much know how to offer it," she says quietly, fingers still on the edge of the paper, gaze settled there and a bit hidden as unruly hair falls forward across her eyes. "My needs are few. I...it is a comfort at least to learn this match is not just a way of assigning a closer minder when I leave the Sanctuary."

"Is your twin much like you? Since I imagine you...we...would see him often." It's a slow incorporation of what is, and what's to come. Wrapping words around things that thoughts might follow.