Rescue Hero (Day 3, EA, closed)

[Doji Misaki]

Having heard that the party had made it back early in the morning, Doji Misaki had sent a servant with a letter to Hantei Kinsen later in the morning, inviting the woman to a brunch in her room in an hour or two. Misaki had busied herself with cooking as soon as she'd received a reply in the affirmative. She'd gathered ingredients and tried to make something impressive and complex! Unfortunately...

She had gone overboard and tried a recipe she did not know enough about. The roast had been ruined due to her cooking it at too high a heat, and she had had to make due in making what she knew, a simple farmer's meal of dipping soup, noodles, and grilled pork with egg. Fortunately, since she knew how to make that stuff by heart, it had turned out really well despite it's simplicity.



So she sat down hurriedly and waited for her guest. ...along with a small bottle of warmed sake.

[Hantei Kinsen]

Kinsen was actually very close by, since she found some time to bathe herself proper after the hunt. Preened and painted with her usual cosmetics, the Lady of the Stag makes sure to wear her best and arrive in time. Doji-kami was very strict with poise and precision; those who bear her name deserve the same level of care.

Carefully rapping at the door with her golden fan, she waits until acknowledged. She does of course adjusts her hairpin, just to be extra sure wilds bangs wouldn’t fall over.

[Doji Misaki]

Being the sort who looked after herself typically, it was Misaki herself who answered the door, bowing to the taller woman after sliding open the door, stepping to one side. "Ah, good day Hantei-sama. You look as if you've recovered from the cold trip you and the others took this morning."

She motioned to a cushion near one of the two low table-trays that were in the middle of the room on the tatami floor, "Please though, feel free to sit at whichever position you would be more comfortable with and I will be right there to pour drinks."

For her part, Misaki was dressed very similar to how she had been at the ball, a different variation on simple but very crisp priestess' robes and hakama, socked feet peeking out a little from under those pants.

[Hantei Kinsen]

The Stag provides a bow to Misaki and enters her dormitories with a pleasant smile. Noticing all the very visual care and effort taken to prepare such a meal, Kinsen provides the Crane yet another bow before sitting. “Good morning, Doji-san! I hope you have gotten a warm sleep yesterday. I am grateful for your invitation. I was indeed looking forward for a meal after the hunt.”

Slowly getting herself in seiza at the best spot — as decorum calls due status — the blonde puts her hands on her lap and waits, mentioning, “Many don’t know, but I believe I was the first student Doji-kami-sensei had in her early classes at Otosan Uchi.”

[Doji Misaki]

Closing the door quietly before walking over quietly and taking a seat, Misaki looks a bit surprised after Kinsen adds the last part, "Early classes? The ones back around the time of the Tournament then?"

She still leans forward and pours some of the steaming sake into each cup as she asks this, making each motion careful and elegant as her training taught.

[Hantei Kinsen]

"Uhum!" Says Kinsen, enjoying the sound of the pouring as well as the aroma coming out from the steam. "I believe I was quite a challenge back then. Coming from the Noriaki. Captured after a battle."

[Doji Misaki]

"A challenge? What do you mean?"

Cups poured she turned it and sat it gently on Kinsen's tray, near the chopsticks that were laid on there.

[Hantei Kinsen]

Kinsen waves her fingers on top of her lap and waits for Misaki to get comfortable so she could pour the sake, in return. She chuckles, "I was... well... lacking in grace, in nearly all forms. Combs weren't a thing among the Noriaki woman, for one."

Shaking her head while dismissing the thoughts, she also shares a pleasant thought, "I am happy to see that others have followed her ways with such a splendid contribution. Speaking of which, we in the Stag are following with the gempukku ceremony and the name choosing she proposed."

[Doji Misaki]

"From everything I have heard of, Lady Doji-sama is remarkable, much like her siblings. That others have chosen to follow the rituals and the ways she has set out only bolsters that belief, even if I do not know her myself of course."

Everything finished being poured and set out Misaki clapped her hands together quietly and said a short blessing for the meal before speaking up again, "Everything is ready for you Hantei-sama. I must apologize at the small size of the meal and its simplicity. I... tried making a dish I had heard of from Noriaki traditions, something I looked up in the library. But I ruined the dish and thus had to settle for something smaller and more simple like this."

Misaki hung her head a little bit, still quite beaten up inside over both the wasting of food and the failure to provide what she saw as proper respect and a proper meal for the wife of one of the Kami themselves.

[Hantei Kinsen]

Kinsen grins and claps her hands in likewise fashion to provide her own prayers. Then, she fetches the warm sake cup with both hands and raises it for a cheer, "Kampai, Doji-san. Your effort is greatly appreciated. I am humbled by how far I am being treated, which is more than I truly deserve. Also, the only good taste the Noriaki had was in choosing the ladies they wanted to conquer."

With a giggle, she drinks.

[Doji Misaki]

Misaki blushed the deepest she'd blushed since she had come to the palace, picking up her cup as well in order to be part of the toast.

She drank her own cup slowly, the burning sensation and warmth just as potent in small sips, and she liked the way it trickled down like a shot of liquid sunshine.

"Am I being too much? I can certainly try to be more casual, if that is what you wish. But you are so well respected and experienced and beautiful, and your hosting of the ball the other day was so generous... With due respect, I wish to repay and pay respects to you for all those things. Your coming here and having a meal with me is the truly humbling thing, for a young woman with no status or fame to her name."

[Hantei Kinsen]

“I am in no position to require something from a subject to Doji-kami.” She replies in a sweet tone of voice. “I also take great pride in seeing others doing their best to be a better versions of themselves, both to their benefit and to others.”

Kinsen puts the cup back on the tray and fetches chopsticks to pick up the soft boiled egg with precision, dip it in the sauce and nom it.

A silent silent of appreciation makes her eyes close as she chews.

[Doji Misaki]

"Isn't that... well, isn't that what everyone does though? If we were so blessed to have the direction of the Children of Heaven themselves in order to better the lands and the lives of the people in them, isn't the least we can do to try to better ourselves in turn in order to better be worthy of that blessing?"

[Hantei Kinsen]

Kinsen nods happily. "Indeed, It has to be exactly that. Although I am unsure everyone actually does their best. Many are too much into their comfort zone, specially now days, that they forget there's still too much to be done."

She takes a deep breath, looks at all the preparation for the meal and reminds, "Which is obviously not applied to Doji-san. Now, what is applied is that her position, although being humble –– as she mentioned –– can definitely be improved. If she knows exactly what she wants, and conquers it with her own bare hands. The Fortunes will smile upon her."

[Doji Misaki]

"Hopefully the Fortunes will also smile on what I can do with parts other than my hands; I really am better at directing building than doing the actual building itself. Although... I suppose I would be using my hands to draw up architectural plans and such. And you are right, I can certainly still improve. Both in my cooking and otherwise. I still have much I can learn and much I know that can still be applied. For now though... perhaps I will take a little bit and be happy with what I have now, since you do at least seem to be tolerant of the meal here?"

[Hantei Kinsen]

Kinsen takes another bite and delights herself on the taste. It was enough to show satisfaction without the need to verbalize it and render Misaki flustered. Wrinkling her nose after savoring much, Kinsen adds, "It is important to be happy and give value to that which we have in hand. doesn't mean one cannot aim for more. The problem is when one foregoes what is already kept to seek that which might in the end leave them with nothing at all."

Another bite, and another nose wrinkle. "I would like to learn the recipe, if that's not a Clan secret."

[Doji Misaki]

Misaki shook her head, "It most certainly is not. I learned it from an innkeeper who made it to make a little soup stock go a long way. A little of this, a little of that..."

She took a bite herself finally, slurping up the noodles in a way that wouldn't flick said soup everywhere.

"And do not worry, Hantei-sama; I will not forgo the blessings that I have in order to chase my goals. One thing at a time, one step at a time."

The other unfortunate part about the ruined meal from an hour ago was the fact that it'd meant she never had time to make a dessert. So this really was it.

[Hantei Kinsen]

Kinsen chuckles, "Yes. Doji-san is quite right. One step at a time is something I often forget to remind myself to do. I often pounce rather too early."

[Doji Misaki]

Misaki looked at Kinsen with a slight blush, lowering her chopsticks to pick up an egg, her voice softer.

"But... your wildness and pouncing is just one of your charms at the same time, Hantei-sama. I know I find myself... intoxicated, by your passionate nature. Personally..."

She trailed off a bit before nibbling the egg demurely.

[Hantei Kinsen]

"Ara, ara." Kinsen lifts her chin up a bit and squints her eyes to look to Misaki from a different perspective. Then, she moves closer towards the pretty bird, putting knees to the floor and crouching forward like a hungry feline.

In a sudden snap, Kinsen 'steals' the egg from Misaki's chopsticks and noms on it with much gusto. Licking her lips, she says, "Were I not under oath to Lady Sun, I would have devoured a different delicacy."

The former beast bride of the Noriaki sniffs the air around Misaki and returns to her position while holding her stomach out of the many laughs she allowed to be heard.