In the Den of a Lioness (LE D3)

[Makime Ayano]

Ayano was slumped at her writing desk, snoozing softly with a half written letter in front of her. She had heard of this 'game of letters' and had hoped to take park. And perhaps she would when the Lioness awakens. For now she was just having dreams. Pleasant perhaps, or perhaps not...

[Akodo Kawauso]

A polite-ish but insistent scratching at the door signals an unexpected guest. After less pause than is really appropriate, a soft but insistent voice that Ayano may or may not recognize calls, "Makime Ayano-sama? Are you available?" The shadow on the door is rather large, making the voice seem strangely small and gentle if they are related.

[Makime Ayano]

Ayano mumbled and lifted her head up, how long had she been asleep. "Yes, yes...what is it?" Her words were harsher then she meant but the noise was not ceasing and she rather wished it would.

Realizing the context and where she was, Ayano snapped up and straightened her kimono...thank goodness she had not been preparing for bed. "Enter." This time her voice was much more polite.

[Akodo Kawauso]

The tall shadow turns out to be a very familiar looking clanmate, as Akodo Kawauso enters in a pretty plain tan kimono. The mild voice that had been calling was gentler than Ayano typically associates with the rough spun Lion from the far west.

"Good evening, Makime Ayano-sama," Kawauso says, more formal than usual. "My apologies for bothering you unexpectedly." As she bows, her long, long ponytail slides off one side of her back.

[Makime Ayano]

Ayano studies the other Lion with bleary eyes, "...Akodo-san." She picks up the papers on her small table, "Please take a sit, no point in you standing there like I am my mother."

"How have you been settling into the Emperor's court?"

[Akodo Kawauso]

Kawauso doesn't exactly smile, but she quietly notes, "Like Lady Makime, so too my father. I believe he likes to keep emissaries standing to shorten their audiences as much as possible."

The tall woman folds her legs to cross over each other, then takes a deep breath before answering. "Makime-sama, I... I have no idea if I'm settling in or not." Her head slowly tips forward so she's staring at the floor. "This is all... so much more different even than at school..."

For the usually unimpressed and impatient Akodo to look so defeated is a new experience for Ayano.

[Makime Ayano]

"To be fair...it's not something that was planned for." Ayano resisted the urge to rub her eyes, "In truth I am surprised you came here at all, it does not strike me as something that would interest you. I thought at first Lady Makime had sent you to watch me, but given this is the first time you have sought me out...and her usual methodology...I doubt that assumption."

[Akodo Kawauso]

"No, I had business for my father. I gathered," she says, sounding like that means 'was coerced,' "that it would be... inappropriate... to avoid the wedding and other events." She looks to the side like she's uncomfortable admitting to something.

"This place is very different than school or home. I don't like it. There are even more rules, and... even more things I don't understand," she finishes quietly.

[Makime Ayano]

Ayano almost laughed, more rules...then her mother's capital....

"I think, you would find them less more rules and more different rules." She responded instead, "As for the wedding...well of course, it is not everyday the grandchild of Lady Sun is married. And of course the Crane have the potential to be allies." Her green eyes study the Akodo, "What in particular are you finding difficult?"

[Akodo Kawauso]

Kawauso nods as Ayano speaks, then sighs as she gets the question.

"I presented a gift, and it went well even though I was sure I would mess up. I almost got in a fight with a Spider, but then made friends including a Scorpion. I went to the Stag Ball, with a great mask, and I danced... well, I thought it was really good. But it looked like everyone thought I was just crazy. But when I went to hide, the Scorpion found me, and then my dance partner came to chat and was very nice, and the Stag heir gave me one of his pins. Then, this morning, I went out with the party to hunt, and we find this giant white bear -- and then we talked to it. No hunting, no fight at all, I just... reached out a hand, and said calming words..." Kawauso looks like she's reliving the experience in her mind, her voice slightly surreal.

She stops speaking for a time, then finally says, "Nothing goes as I expect it to here."

[Makime Ayano]

Ayano stared at her, "I also utterly failed to impress any at the ball, not even earning the notice of Hantei-sama." She raises a brow at that, "And still managed to have a pleasant enough night." Her mind flashed to Lady Raven and for a moment her cheeks reddened a tiny fraction, "Such things happen and how one adapts to failure matters just as much as success. And it seems you did well enough to hear you speak on it."

"As for the gifts, it is unusual and you sound like you were not prepared? My own went well but I was also sent for the wedding and had the advantage of my mother's prior interaction with Lord Nanzi." She blinks, "And you were not the only, or worse, if I recall to not impress the couple."

A sigh, "Please don't antagonize the wild life Akodo-san." Then her mind processes the situation, "Oh...so it was a bear that had the guards concerned. A bear. In winter. And you say you calmed it with a touch?"

[Akodo Kawauso]

Kawauso bows her head. "I am sorry, Makime-sama, I do not mean to complain. I just... Your honored mother's technique. We train, we practice, we learn to use what advantages we have at hand to overcome a challenge. Here, somehow, when the simple country girl formally presents a gift, she speaks with the smooth words of a courtier. When the athlete goes to dance, she impresses with the mask she has carved. When the bushi goes to hunt a dangerous animal, no blows are struck and she faces it down with just strong spirit and soothing voice." She pauses and looks up, clearly frustrated. "This is all... nonsense," she says quietly.

[Makime Ayano]

"My mother first impressed a god by laying with tiny wooden figures better then any other," Ayano remarked dryly, "And another god was plucked straight from the realm of evil. These are strange times with strange events, maybe your experiences were just the first steps of a new legend."

"But about this bear. It's winter Akodo-san. Should the bear have not been sleeping the season away? Had someone disturbed it?"

[Akodo Kawauso]

Kawauso processes Ayano's point slowly, but it does register and finally she says, "My friend makes a good point."

After being brought back to the bear, Kawauso shares, "It was a mother bear, with cubs in a nearby cave. We stayed away from the immediate vicinity of the cave, and that seemed to be tolerable to her -- after we showed we weren't afraid and weren't a threat. Others in that situation... I'm sure there have been bad results."

[Makime Ayano]

"Considering their was a request to deal with the problem...I imagine so," Ayano nods slowly, "But...still, why was it awake. Did someone blunder into the cave and disturb it?"

She sighs and waves it off, "And does it even really matter. Just an oddity."

[Akodo Kawauso]

Kawauso makes a face like a grumpy otter, one that Ayano has seen plenty of times around school, triggered by various topics.

"But Makime-sama," the river girl politely but firmly objects. "You just said we could be living some new legend. A great bear that's not hibernating... I think you are right that there is more going on than just a territorial mother bear." She pauses respectfully to see if Ayano wants to comment on that. Regardless, her heart isn't in that topic, so sooner or later she moves onto, asked in an almost timid voice, "Makime-sama? What do you know about marriage?"

[Makime Ayano]

"It's when two individuals become one, beautiful and inspiring," Ayano remarks wistfully, then adds in a more serious tone, "Or something of a legal contract to bind alliances, land inheritance, and produce heirs. I guess it depends on your views. Why, does Akodo-san wish to marry? I do not believe I have the power to negotiate on your behalf but I can possibly start movement in that direction."

[Akodo Kawauso]

There's a moment of a warm smile at the thought -- then reference to a contract, and Kawauso's eyes go wide in horror.

"Oh, no, no, I mean, I just..." Her hands wave in front of her to somehow help slow things down. "I'm not... hoping, or anything, but just... When there's a wedding, it's natural to think about such things, right? And I haven't, really, ever before, so... I don't even know what people look for in 'a match,'" she says, chuckling a little like it's silly, but also watching Ayano's reaction very closely.

[Makime Ayano]

"Is it?" Ayano considered this, "I haven't thought about marriage for myself yet." She smiled wryly, "but then again I am the daughter of Lady Makime...it is likely my marriage will be on her whims and not my own."

"As for what to look for...well that seems like it would depend on what you wanted out of marriage. Wealth, power, love, duty?" She shrugged.

[Akodo Kawauso]

Kawauso makes a face at another reference to parents deciding. Does father even know he's... supposed to? I guess?

When the direct question comes, Kawauso looks skeptical. "I... I want for nothing, Makime-sama," she says, seeming puzzled at the idea that marriage is a way of gaining anything.