[D5 EE] Notadate

[Hantei Genji]

Genji seemed to be taken back, by her statement, though his eyes idly tracked her facial ticks, still.

"Thank you." His reply came slower, while his smile...didn't waver, but seemed somrhow different?

[Bayushi Kogi]

“Only being honest,” she says with a soft laugh, fingertips brushing a barely noticeable loose strand of hair back into place above her temple.

[Hantei Genji]

"Well....thank you."

He fell silent, a pause that was between heavy and normal settling in on him.

Before it got awkward (or after, really), he smiled again. "You know....sometimes I forget that. I have a god and a hero for parents. My grandparents are the sun and the moon" He shrugged. "Sometimes I get lost in my past and my future, and lose myself in it."

[Bayushi Kogi]

"I can..." Kogi starts to say, then has to pause and parse how to actually express the thought without overstepping herself. "I think I can understand that. Not from the inside, of course, I could never. But... I can try to imagine from outside."

She leans forward a little, resting her elbows on the tea table and wrapping her hands around her cup. "Do you ever talk about that, with your cousins? They also seem very much, um, themselves, even though they have great ancestors."

[Hantei Genji]

"Arigatou." HE smiled, then shook his head. "Not in detail no. Then again..." He shrugged. "Rei-san's situation I feel is a bit different, Satsu-chan is not an heir, and Hime-chan is...Hime-chan."

His eyes glanced down on the table. "I feel...I can be honest with you Kogi-san. Or at least, I can be honest with myself with you."

[Bayushi Kogi]

When Genji's gaze lowers, Kogi becomes a bit bolder, for that moment, in openly watching his face and his change of expressions.

"My lord--your uncle says that honesty is a knife with two edges," she says softly. "Keen and beautiful, sometimes needful, not always safe." Her fingers tighten a little around the teacup. "I don't want you to be hurt."

[Hantei Genji]

When Genji's gaze lowers, Kogi becomes a bit bolder, for that moment, in openly watching his face and his change of expressions.

"My lord--your uncle says that honesty is a knife with two edges," she says softly. "Keen and beautiful, sometimes needful, not always safe." Her fingers tighten a little around the teacup. "I don't want you to be hurt."

His gaze remained low. "And lo. you have cut me open." He glanced up briefly at her. "I don't feel hurt. Naked, in a way. But it's...welcome." He smiled at her.

[Bayushi Kogi]

"So... I shouldn't apologize, then?" she says, a strange mixture of caution and appreciation in her voice. "That sound comfortable, but... if you're happy..." She tilts her head a little, still watching him. "Then that is good. Um. Is honest Genji-sama so different from... everyday Genji-sama?"

[Hantei Genji]

"So... I shouldn't apologize, then?" she says, a strange mixture of caution and appreciation in her voice. "That sound comfortable, but... if you're happy..." She tilts her head a little, still watching him. "Then that is good. Um. Is honest Genji-sama so different from... everyday Genji-sama?"

"Why would you need to apologize Kogi-san?"

There was some confusion in his voice as his golden gaze retufned full force again.

"Your question...it opened me up, but for mysekf? If that makes srnse?" He shrugged. "I appreciate it. Then again, here we are talking about me. I must be a bore."

[Bayushi Kogi]

“Usually a samurai is not supposed to cut people open without some higher command.” Kogi almost laughs but isn’t quite sure it’s really funny, exactly. “Nor lurk around fully dressed by the hot springs where everyone else is... unclothed.”

She’s caught by his eyes and doesn’t look away. “I don’t think you’re boring, though.”

[Hantei Genji]

“Usually a samurai is not supposed to cut people open without some higher command.” Kogi almost laughs but isn’t quite sure it’s really funny, exactly. “Nor lurk around fully dressed by the hot springs where everyone else is... unclothed.”

She’s caught by his eyes and doesn’t look away. “I don’t think you’re boring, though.”

"Usually, true." He winked at her. "But I know my uncle's ways are mysterious..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You lurk around the hot springs? Any particular reason?"

He blushed at her final comment.

[Bayushi Kogi]

Kogi also flushes at the question about hot springs. “No, I—that was—“ and then the rest of her brain catches up and she giggles helplessly, pressing a hand to her mouth even though there’s already a veil in the way. Of course he was just teasing her a bit, not actually misinterpreting her metaphor.

“I—“ she swallows another giggle, semi-successfully. “I hear the hot springs here are very nice, but no.”

[Hantei Genji]

"Oh? You haven't been Kogi-san?" His eyes seemed to shine as they settled on her once again.

She had a nice laugh. Maybe he should tell her that. Or would that be too forward?

[Bayushi Kogi]

“Well… no.” She looks down at her hands, a bit awkward (again). “I um. I don’t usually bathe with other people. But! It seems like everyone who’s been, enjoys the springs here. I wonder if that is part of why this place was chosen for the capital?” At this point she’s clearly babbling a little.

[Hantei Genji]

“Well… no.” She looks down at her hands, a bit awkward (again). “I um. I don’t usually bathe with other people. But! It seems like everyone who’s been, enjoys the springs here. I wonder if that is part of why this place was chosen for the capital?” At this point she’s clearly babbling a little.

Genji nodded, his silence was...well, he tried to be understanding, and not awkward. He gathered that she may have reasons she doesn't want to be seen, the veils were kinda a hint, and he did not want to make her uncomfortable.

"Perhaps!" He replied enthusiastically.. "To be honest, my history knowledge is..not as good as it could be." He seemed sheepish. "Which is a bit silly when my parents made quite a big chunk of it, but still."

[Bayushi Kogi]

“Is that even history?” Kogi shakes her head, chuckling.

“My own parents… were no one in particular to anyone outside the village. My lord’s household has been my only family for a long time now, though. Hearing the stories from people who were there at the Tournament and when my lord came west to claim his lands, like Sasori-san’s mother, it all feels more like a family tale. But for you, Genji-sama, and for Lord Bayushi, I suppose history and family tales are nearly the same thing.”

Kogi reaches for her teacup after this relatively long and personal bit of speech.

Incidentally, Genji might be starting to get the impression, at this point, that she speaks of his uncle Bayushi in a way that’s deeply reverent but not distant, as though she has spent a fair amount of time in his presence.

[Hantei Genji]

Genji nodded. "It seems that Uncle Bayushi has certainly skill in locating talented individuals." He hesitated for a moment.

"Have you...can I ask how long have you been with my uncle? And well..what is your role exactly?"

[Bayushi Kogi]

Kogi meets Genji’s eyes a little shyly. Usually she serves his uncle by… not talking about herself, and letting others do so instead.

“I’m his emissary. One of them, of course,” she clarifies quickly. “For all his wisdom, my lord can’t actually be in more than one place at once. I carry his words in his lands, and sometimes out of them… observe things, solve problems when I can. It’s the best service I can offer, since I’ve never been strong enough to master the sword.”

She shakes her head, slightly ruefully. “I did try, when I first came to my lord’s house, but in seven winters I haven’t made it past the basics. I learned some medicine instead, which is useful in its own way…”

[Hantei Genji]

"Oh? Well, please tell my uncle, that he chose wisely." His eyes settled on hers, once again. "Medicine is useful. Warriors are always needed, but.." he shrugged. "My uncle's Empire is about stepping past that, neh? Your skills matter as much as mine, if not more so. I just know how to swing a sword, and picked up a few ways to say nice things."

[Bayushi Kogi]

“The sword is meant to be the token of the samurai,” Kogi counters, the corners of her eyes crinkling in a smile-ish way above her veil. “But my lord was generous enough to teach me other sides of his learning instead.”

She cocks her head. “Anyway, not just swords and nice sayings. You can also write poetry. And dance. And all sorts of other arts, I will guess.”