Not so far from her rests another, a woman without her usual defining feature. Bare faced Koyuki sat at the edge of the pool with her head rested back against a few collected towels and stared up at the ceiling from behind her lidded eyes. A slight look of consternation on her brow as she fought the tumbling headache of the drinking from the prior night. Welling pressure throbbing with that 'I just want to not be here' vibe that really settles in and consumes the senses. The hot water helped.

It was enough, actually, that she hadn't quite noticed Yurei enter the pool until the wave hit her side. However, even then Koyuki was far too preoccupied to care. Instead just rattling off a half-groaned, "Good morning, Samurai-sama," and continued about her self-loathing.

Koyuki, in all her glory, had one distinct feature that was hard to ignore in the baths. On each of her wrists sat a dragons head facing her palm. From there the dragons curled up her arms, briefly around her shoulders on her back and then down her chest. Journeying through her middle until just above her stomach where the two dragons wrapped around one another and then parted again to their respective sides like curtains hanging over her stomach. These long bodies continued along and onto her back where the tails eventually intertwined with one another mid-way up her lower back.

Kuni Koyuki wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 05, 2022 4:32 pm

Snip

"Blessings upon you Samurai-sama."
Yūrei had recovered from the same thing in the same way enough to know to keep her voice low. Although the dramatic dragon tattoos do catch the ronin's eye as she spends a few seconds following them. Impressive.

She winces.

And probably also painful at the time.

Yūrei's most noteworthy tattoo is a small light blue kestrel over her heart.

"If you don't mind me saying this, your dragons are very impressive."

A small waves nudges the two of them as some other bathers enter the pool down a ways.

Raising her head, Koyuki winced with the pain that came from the rocking motion of the rocks inside of her head. Half thinking to shake the pain out her head tilted slightly and then she stiffened like a board to stop herself from being so foolish. Letting the wave pass she slowly opens her eyes and looks over to Yurei, "Thank you, I am quite proud of them," her voice has a distinct distance to her tone as she recovers.

Blinking, once, twice, she starts getting a clearer image of Yurei herself, but continues, "I received them less than a full year- no maybe a full year? They are somewhat recent additions. I find carrying them with me reminds me of some of my convictions."

Kuni Koyuki wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 05, 2022 10:11 pm

Snip

"That's a very fine reason to get a tattoo. I hope they have served you well ever since."
Yūrei smiles politely before splashing some water over her face with a yawn, feeling her muscles starting to relax.

"The Gokuraku is a wonderful way to rejuvenate from a...busy day, neh?"

"I try to treat myself when I can, samurai-sama. I do not often find the opportunity," she admits. Settling somewhat, she slowly starts to figure out how to operate like a human again while still nursing that headache. Subtle movements, stiffness, it all added up to that larger picture. Now taking the time to really get a look at Yurei, she does eventually focus on most of her tattoos given their relevance to the topic and settles upon the blue kestrel.

"That is a interesting placement, samurai-sama. A place of importance. I recognize it as a bird but I'm.. I cannot place it further," she admits.

Kuni Koyuki wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 05, 2022 11:35 pm

Snip

"It's a kestrel, a bird of prey, but a little one."
She slowly runs a finger over the design.

"Symbolically it shows my devotion to a group, but practically it meant people stopped trying to kill me. Well, mostly."
With a smile.
"I must beg you though, I am unworthy to be 'samurai-sama' to anyone. Most just call me Yūrei, but I also answer to 'you!' and 'hey asshole!'."

"Ah, I understand. Kuni Koyuki, attached here to the embassy. Don't worry too much, I am not so important that you have been granted deference by someone so unbelievably your better. I have worked with my share of ronin in the past," she offers, in a somewhat softer manner than seemed like it might have come from someone who wore her features the way she did. "And now the great mystery is solved for us both," she says, speaking up into the air above them more than to Yurei.

"So, Kestrel. I have not met one of yours before. Would you want to enlighten me of them more with a pitch?" she asks, and then comfortably rests her head back against her makeshift pillow.

Kuni Koyuki wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 06, 2022 12:53 am

Snip

"It is an honour Kuni-sama."
Yūrei nods her head languidly

"As for the Kestrels, they-we are a group of professionals. People know where to find us, they know they can rely on us. We've helped everyone from the most illustrious lords down to those nobody else would deign to."

Hand over her heart
"I would say we're good people. But we're also effective. You don't survive for long in the slums if you aren't."

"Relatively new to them then," she says, with the slight raise of her brow that almost looked like a smirk, almost. "I find your language a bit vague. Though, I suppose you might be able to speak for all of the Kestrels. Having such a group that takes work from so many does sound illustrious, but also potentially dangerous. I would say the mark of which would best be revealed in what kind of work do the Kestrels do? What do people rely on you for?"

Kuni Koyuki wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 06, 2022 2:30 am

"Relatively new to them then," she says, with the slight raise of her brow that almost looked like a smirk, almost. "I find your language a bit vague. Though, I suppose you might be able to speak for all of the Kestrels. Having such a group that takes work from so many does sound illustrious, but also potentially dangerous. I would say the mark of which would best be revealed in what kind of work do the Kestrels do? What do people rely on you for?"

Yūrei looks innocent.
"Retrieval, mostly. We're very good at making sure things are returned to their rightful owners. That can be things, information, even people. A few months back I helped locate some lost Imperial scions, for instance. Easy to get lost and into trouble in the slums. But our neighbours rely on us for a lot of things, protection, support, sometimes even food if it's been hard."

She feels a knot in her leg and starts slowly untangling it with a little pained expression. Maybe too much running recently.
"We aren't cleaners though, that's not how we operate."

"Sound like you are quite the loyal friends to have walking these streets. I am certain this city is far better for your like performing your duty, in such a case," she says, but there's that added weight to the words as if additional meaning was caught up within the words themselves. Something that perhaps gained evidence when Koyuki lay that thought out alone for enough time for Yurei to massage her leg out to a deal more comfort.

"What do you think of the other groups in the area? I believe I may have met one from the Devout recently, and I am curious of your gauge of them."

Kuni Koyuki wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 06, 2022 4:03 am

Snip

"The Devout?"
Her brow furrows slightly.

"They do well enough, I suppose. Many of them are outcasts even by our standards. And I have always found the Spider...predatory in their behaviour towards ronin. Still, they're better than the Reavers, they're animals."

Still looking a little concerned
"I am sure Kuni-sama's new acquaintance will prove themselves, one way or the other."

"They are no such acquaintance of mine," she says, with an even tone perhaps noting upon whatever concern might have infected Yurei's voice. Sighing with no displeasure, she lets the warmth of the soak overtake her senses for the moment. Just enjoying it.

"I'm allergic to being stabbed in the back, and will likely avoid him if I can best manage it. That he is aligned with the Spider only makes it all the easier to do," she says, and her thoughts drift to a pair of violet eyes. Causing Koyuki to grimace as she chides herself for being an idiot once more. A fool, really.

Kuni Koyuki wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 06, 2022 4:24 am

"They are no such acquaintance of mine," she says, with an even tone perhaps noting upon whatever concern might have infected Yurei's voice. Sighing with no displeasure, she lets the warmth of the soak overtake her senses for the moment. Just enjoying it.

"I'm allergic to being stabbed in the back, and will likely avoid him if I can best manage it. That he is aligned with the Spider only makes it all the easier to do," she says, and her thoughts drift to a pair of violet eyes. Causing Koyuki to grimace as she chides herself for being an idiot once more. A fool, really.

"I've always taken front stabbings the worst, something about them just rubs me the wrong way."
Glancing over
"Kuni-sama is intimidating, it is hard to imagine anyone surviving such a betrayal."
Cocking her head slightly, causing the toweled up do to lean dangerously
"If I may, many Clanners find it difficult to interact with ronin, who to trust, who to avoid, who to reward and who to punish. But most of us know better than to cross someone with a family behind them."

It was said as a compliment, and yet it stung like a blade thrust into her chest. Something only the recuperative silence that followed might have conveyed as Koyuki took measured steps to conceal her recovery as a relaxing wait in the water. Inhale long, exhale twice. It softened her breath enough that she could calm herself through the maintenance of it.

"I have come to understand ronin a great deal. You can be certain of that, Yurei-san."

Kuni Koyuki wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 06, 2022 4:47 am

It was said as a compliment, and yet it stung like a blade thrust into her chest. Something only the recuperative silence that followed might have conveyed as Koyuki took measured steps to conceal her recovery as a relaxing wait in the water. Inhale long, exhale twice. It softened her breath enough that she could calm herself through the maintenance of it.

"I have come to understand ronin a great deal. You can be certain of that, Yurei-san."

Bowing her head
"As you say."
On Yūrei's end the silence is long and a little awkward, despite the hushed murmur of the other conversations taking place around them.

Finally though, the ronin carefully offers
"I like your hair."

There was silence for a moment following the compliment, unexpected as it was. A smile might have crawled onto her expression if she was anyone else but it still had the same effect. "Thank you, Yurei-san. You should see it when the braid is still in," she says, there is no hint of the humor to her tone but yet it seems evident anyhow.

Raising her head up again, she looks across the way to Yurei and takes her measure. "You are different than many ronin, but I suppose that is just fate conspiring to put such different ronin upon my path. Two oddities met in almost as many days."

Kuni Koyuki wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:36 pm

Snip

"Really?"
Yūrei meets her gaze for a moment before politely looking away.
"I am currently wearing less clothes than most, but I suspect you mean something deeper?"

"Yes, I do," she says, Koyuki's gaze doesn't shift in the slightest. Just focused exactly in the same position when their eyes met that brief moment. Shifting forward in the pool slightly she manages to maintain the position of her focus. Arms coming up to rest upon the cross of her legs just by where the thigh meets the knee. "And I think, Yurei-san. You have a much better idea of what I actually mean."