Another afternoon, another time that Nishida had picked an ole spot in the park for tea. This time, besides Akechi and Himei, his Shiba Inu Mochi was also there.

Normally Nishida tried not to draw too much attention to his pet, on the one hand because he was afraid that someone would do something to him, on the other hand Haruto seemed to have taken a liking to Mochi and had him with him more often lately.

He had just put the water on to boil the tea and spent the waiting time by cuddling Mochi, while Akechi and Himei kept watch, while Himei, very close, stood next to Nishida and occasionally petted the dog.

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D3, MA, Tea Ceremony 2 / Void 3 | 5k3 ⇒ 19 (TN: 20)

Having spent a lot of time cooped up in her suite, working on new music and personal projects, Yakumo decided to drive over to the park for some proper sightseeing. Like the good tourist she was.

Dressed down but still nicely in a black outfit, colorful shawl as well as a hat to protect her from the sun, the Spider diva was enjoying a bit of fresh air and calm while she was taking pictures with her holorecorder. A picture of some of the colorful koi in the waters, and then trying to capture a picture of those cute little dragon-like creatures. Damnit, sit still you little... little something-something cute jerk.

There was some moving around to try to get a good shot of a pair of them, but it was pretty useless as she just ended up getting a picture of some Imperials and their dog. Realising she might've gotten a bit too close to the Imperials "personal-space bubble" (which in her experience could extend up to several feet around them depending on their status), so just to be on the safe side she put the camera down and bowed. "My apologies if I disturbed you."


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OOC: I don't need the Void point so it's not important for me, but I believe the TN for 1 to 2 people-Tea Ceremony is 15?

When conducting a tea ceremony, you must make a Tea Ceremony / Void roll (TN 15 + 5 for each participant after the second.

Akechi was the first to bow to the Diva while Himei and Nishida had to turn their attention to her.

Nishida adjusted his glasses and at first did not want to believe his eyes, but there really stood Susumu Yakumo. Apparently Himei seemed to recognize Yakumo as well, because she barely noticeably jumped up when she saw her. Mochi, the Shiba Inu that he was, just tilted his head and panted happily.

"It seems to be photo season. That or I have an undiscovered talent for modeling so far. Susumu Yakumo-san is not the first to take pictures of me here." he said, bowing slightly. "Miya Nishida, humble servant of the Imperial Revenue Service. A pleasure to meet you."

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OOC: It's 15, so if yes, Yakumo and Nishida get a VP, yay ^^

Another bow of her head. "Pleasure is mine, Miya-sama. I owe much of my success to the Miya for their sponsorship." She held up her camera to sneak a peek at the picture she shot of Nishida.

"Perhaps you have a future modeling? You cut an authorative figure - would look great for some fashion brands," Yakumo offered with a smile. "I was trying to capture a picture of those little dragon creatures though. Such unexpected little critters to see on this world really."


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OOC: Then I will happily take the Void. Om nom nom.

"Oh the spine drakes? Admittedly quite droll, I had to stop Mochi from chasing them around the park. Too bad the Scorpion put an embargo on them, I bet they'd be popular among the Dragon Clan." he said, scratching the Shiba behind the ears.

"My bodyguards are Seppun Himei-san and Akechi the Hemin. So don't be irritated by them. May I invite you to tea? It is rare that I meet with such a celebrity."

"Probably almost everywhere else too. People would practically be throwing money at the Scorpion to have a miniature dragon of their own." And once she found someone who was selling, she knew she was buying.

She gave a bow to the introduced Seppun, and a nod of acknowledgement to the servant. "A pleasure." Her face did light up a little over being invited to tea. "Proper tea? Oh my, I'd be delighted, Miya-sama. It's been a while since I've had tea outdoors like this."

Placing the camera back in her bag, she stepped closer to join in the little gathering. "As a Miya I would have thought you'd meet celebrities all the time. Fortunes know I've seen more Imperials in the past year than all my prior years."

"Well, as Susumu-san might imagine, few samurai are excited about having the Imperial Revenue Service in front of the Kyuden" he replied dryly, pulling another cup from a bag.

He looked at his pot and considered Yakumo's tea statement, "I'm surprised a woman of your caliber isn't invited to tea more often. The lords and ladies must fuss over you. Or has the rich tea tradition of our empire already been forgotten?" he said, puzzled.

That, or Nishida was old-fashioned.

She shrugged nonchalantly, just the way too rich people did when they also had very little responsibility for managing finances. "If something's wrong in my money-department, I can honestly say it's not my responsibility. I have people for that. Good people similar to yourself, Miya-sama."

As she sat down to join them, her gloved hands made sure to smooth out the fabric of her clothing. "Hm, it is more cocktail parties and the like these days. People prefer to get deep into their sake cups instead of their teacups when around celebrities, sadly. But I had the fortune of having an assistant travelling with me who was skilled in the tea ceremony, and I did appriciate when we had time to sit down for chado." There was a brief fondness in her smile. "I enjoy good spirits as much as the next person, but tea is much nicer."

At least the songstress seemed fond of something traditional, or old-fashioned. "Imperials have tea more often than cocktail-parties, I guess?"

"For the most part, I tend to visit..." he chose his words carefully, "More dishonorable samurai who seek to enrich themselves above all else and are opposed to the good of the Empire." Nishida would probably have choked had he been drinking, somewhere a Spirit was surely calling him a hypocrite.

"I'm not opposed to the idea of cocktail parties, it's just that I prefer tea," he had a brief flashback to the night before, "Alcohol clouds the mind too much and I can rarely take that luxury in the service of the Emperor."

He placed the cups next to each other and sprinkled in some tea. It was a classic matcha tea, a simple choice that would probably be appreciated throughout the empire.
He poured and swirled the matcha with a tea whisk, let the tea steep, gave Yakumo a cup, and took one for himself. "Here's to you," he said before taking a sip of the tea.

"Oof." Big oof. "My sympathies that you are stuck with a job like that, Miya-sama. I have a feeling that there are more such individuals than there should be."

She was of course not one such individual. No siree. Just an innocent singer.

In a sign that she was familiar with the intricacies of tea ceremony, when she accepted the cup she did turn it in her hands slowly to admire the craftsmanship of the cup. In her experience, the kind of tools used for tea ceremony could tell much about a person. Then having done that, she took first one sip to sample the taste. Then a second deeper drink to fully enjoy it. "It is good tea, Miya-sama. Is this art something you learned from when you were young, or a hobby you picked up as an adult...?"

Yakumo would notice that the cups had a remarkable engraving, in the porcelain were engraved carps and spiders, which seemed to dance with each other.

"When I was young," Nishida began, sipping some of the tea, "...like many samurai, I was busy with my training."
He placed the cup in front of him and adjusted his glasses, "I was a good student and worked hard to be one of the best. In this I was even quite successful, at least when it came to economic things. At that time I rarely got to see my father, but one day he took me to see a friend of his. Probably he wanted to give the first connections in my business life, but what fascinated me there..." Nishida looked over at Yakumo, "...was how he served the tea. It was artistic and determined, it gave the feeling of being part of something more, it was somewhat magical, if you want to call it that. I've been trying to copy him ever since."

He paused briefly to pick up the cup again, "The tea itself was good too."

Her eyes fell down to the cup once more as he spoke, brushing her thumb over the engravings.

"Good company, nice surroundings, it elevates everything, no? Food and drink tastes better in good company, as a bad movie becomes entertaining in good company." She remembered watching some bad movies that were definitively made better because of the company.

"It's an interesting patterning - carps and spiders. I feel like there's a history to it?" she held up the cup to indicate the motif for a moment, then brought it to her lips again for another sip.

"Company does enhance a lot of things, whether friend, or foe, every encounter has the potential to be an exciting and outstanding event," he agreed.

His gaze went to his cup, a slight smile forming on his lips, "I wasn't always Miya Nishida, once my name was Yasuki. The cups came from my father, it was a gift to him for his wedding to a woman named Susumu Kagawa."

"A Crab and a Spider union?" her brows rose, showing her surprise. "Goodness, that's not something I hear about everyday... in fact, it's the first such match I have heard of. Was it a love match then perhaps?"

Yakumo kind of wanted to hope it was a love match. It was so rare she got to hear about those, and the idea of a Spider and a Crab marrying for love seemed so... fantastical.

He held his teacup with both hands and looked slightly over the many holograms and plants that were in the park. "My lineage is quite prestigious, you must know, it can be traced back to the earliest Yasuki of Old Rokugan. It is therefore rare that a marriage is made for such simple reasons as love. The interests of the clan, the family, the lineage are more important than the feelings of the samurai. That was the case with my parents, that was the case with me," he said, closing his eyes briefly, and for a moment he saw the image of a woman who was now unattainable.

"Over the years, though, they seem to have found each other. They complement each other pretty well, if I do say so myself."

"I see," she nodded, a thoughtful expression forming on her pretty features. Important people had their marriages arranged in meticulous detail she knew, and then there were people like her father... well, she could at least assume he had some fondness for her mother in some way. If that was mutual, she didn't know.

"Marriage is more about partnership than love, I suppose. It's nice to have it, but you know how it is..." Yakumo shrugged, "people find love elsewhere a lot of the time. But I wish you happiness in your marriage, Miya-sama." There was a true sincerity to those words, mostly because Yakumo knew she'd too probably had to go through the whole marriage-thing herself one day soon.

For a while Nishida was silent, before he collected himself and continued with another topic, "I noticed that I didn't ask you what brings you here? Are you here for a concert?"

Of course she wouldn't make a fuss if an Imperial wanted to change topics. "No, not as such. The reasons are far more dull, to be honest - at the end of the year, contract is up for negotiations and alas that happens mostly without me as it falls to my superiors within the Spider and the Miya. So the Spider keep me busy by sending me here for the winter season to assist the clan's political efforts."

Yakumo chuckled softly. "Not a terribly fun reason to be here, I know. But, who knows... some musical event might happen."

"Ohh, so that's how it is. Then I guess we're just doing this dull politics that your clan expects of you." he replied, happy to talk about something else. "The Miya also sent me here for the Winter Court. Where we are most likely to act as mediators for the other clans. Of course, it is important to the Crown that peace and harmony returns to the realm." That even sounded almost honest.

"Peace and harmony is fine with me, to be honest."

It had been way too interesting times to be a Spider travelling with an Imperial retinue when the Emerald Champion had been at war with her clan. Way waaay too interesting.

"I would rather have peace so that people can enjoy music and such - I'm kind of out of my current job if there's an all out war. Would probably find myself back to singing only for Spider-propaganda to boost morale or something, like I did before my breakthrough."