[D2, LM] - The breakfast of champions [Open]

[Akuta]

"Listen, you're quoting koans to the monastery. But even as a little shit on the street, my parents told me that what people saw was sometimes more important than what they knew. If you buy into the lie long enough, it becomes true."

He shrugs slightly and takes another drink of his water, putting the cap back on.

"My dad used to say that a long time ago, there was a saying that 'If the Ikoma Historians didn't right it down, it didn't happen.' And people took that shit to heart, even if they knew it wasn't true."

[Yoritomo Seika]

"Well, I did spend a few months in a monastery here and there, so you'll have to excuse me." Seika's lips quirk.

"I dunno, you can tell all kinds of stories, sure, but not everything is just about what people think. Like, I have no idea if Yoritomo-senzo really said the thing about his twenty best men in exactly those words--probably a really different accent, at least." She leans forward in her seat, and the curve of her lips turns mischievous; saying this is after all a minor--okay, very minor--act of heterodoxy.

"But you can't make a busted roof stop leaking by telling stories about how there's no water on your floor. I mean, come on, right?" Shrugging, she props an elbow on the table. "I mean, you told me all this stuff. I've heard stuff from other people. And I've been on-planet like three days. Some cover-up."

"Unless you actually just know about this because you're an amazing detective, of course--then I'll have to eat my words." She grins wryly for a moment.

[Akuta]

"I'm sure you could spin me all sorts of interesting tales about the monks sometime," he said with a smirk and idly tossing the bottle of water in his hand, flipping it end over over several times, just to keep his hands busy.

"Nope, you sure can't. But if nobody talks about it, then does it really matter? And yeah, sure, it doesn't really do anything, but people do shit all the time that doesn't actually accomplish anything. You'd be amazed at how much willful ignorance you can abuse from stupid people to get what you want."

When she mentions the amazing detective bit, he barks a laugh and leans forward to look at her more directly. "I sure as shit aren't a detective, unless you count just having open eyes. But, then again, having the perspective from down in the shit might make it seem like I'm just awe inspiring."

[Yoritomo Seika]

"It'll matter when your tabi get wet and your floor starts to go squish, and then one day your roof falls right in on you." Seika shakes her head a little, the quirk of her lips turning distinctly dry. "I can tell you don't have a lot of love for your mask-wearing landlords around here, but you think a lot like them anyway, Akuta-san. Not everything's just about appearances, y'know?"

She rummages in a pocket and extracts... a packet of chewing gum? It's an offworld brand, Watanabe Confections Yuzu Burst!. "You ever think of getting out of Scorpion space?"

She holds the packet out across the table, offering him a stick.

[Akuta]

"Circumstances dictate I play the game otherwise I find myself in the trash heap and despite my namesake, I have no desire to end up there my space-faring friend."

When she offers the gum, he looks at it for a moment and then pulls out a slice, sticking it behind his right ear, still in the wrapping.

"Did Isawa shit in the woods?" Now this was blasphemy. "Every night when I was a pup, I looked up at the stars and wondered what was out there. What it would be like to see a new place every week, every month, every year. Find new and interesting things to see, eat, hunt..."

He drains his bottle of water and crushes the container in his hand before tossing it into a trash bin. His tone turns melancholic now, and a bit bitter. "Don't know if I could do it now though...too used to...all this," he says, gesturing to the squalor outside. "Here, in this shithole, I'm a guy who can find you things. I know the usual faces on the corners, the hidey holes. Know how to flush the rats out of the hidey holes and send them scurrying off to Jigoku. Out there? I'd just be another nobody."

[Yoritomo Seika]

((Oh, darn it, I missed this on my earlier rounds today! Sorry! Should we wrap up this one soon and maybe go for a new D6 or D7 scene?))

Seika wastes a couple of beats puzzling over Isawa. I don't know, did he? They must've had privies even back then, right? It's not like they would have just gone wherever and then used an invocation to vanish the mess, that'd be ridiculous. She shakes her head, banishing the train of thought.

"Don't underestimate being a nobody," she says lightly. "You can learn stuff you didn't know you were capable of, that way. And leave behind a lot you didn't like about yourself." She unwraps a stick of gum and pops it into her mouth. "I mean, I already know you're gonna ask what do I know about being nobody, and to a point you'd be right. But I've got enough experience to know that much."

[Akuta]

[OOC: Sounds good. Can have them meet up at the party maybe or something!]

"What if I just love myself so much that I want to stay, eh?" He smirks and rolls a shoulder before looking outside and catching sight of something. Tch. "Well, Watanabe-hime, as much as I'm enjoying our conversation, a spot of business just came up and I need to take care of it before the opportunity walks away."

He reaches over to the counter and grabs a strip of paper and a pencil from it, scribbling down a series of numbers before sliding it across towards her. "I'll think about flying the friendly skies...call me if you find yourself with a spare ticket, eh?"

[Yoritomo Seika]

"Sure. I'll keep your card on file and message your secretary." Seika grins and pockets the paper. "Don't get eaten out there before I run into you again, okay?"

With that, she'll wave as he makes his exit. Seika herself will stay a bit longer to drink some watery tea and chat up the proprietress, still following the questions that had brought her to the area that morning.