Steamed Baby Dragon Ribs (D4, EE)

[Togashi Satsuki]

It kind of felt like the hair tingled the senses of the fire kami that were always active. And it did look very flammable...

"Yeah... I think there's a touch of divinity in them, and with those similarly blessed. If it is from father, or from their own awakened powers, I'm not sure." She didn't know everything even if she liked to think she could one day. "It could be from Lady Doji. Or perhaps from what occurred before your memories were lost. But yes... there is something. An odd sensation, to be sure, but not one I understand. I feel the spirits of fire are very agitated."

Realising it would be rude to study his hair like it was a bug she had discovered under a rock, Satsuki politely lowered it back down into the water and untangled her finger from it.

"... Maybe? I know my brothers have a similar light to them. I see Genji of the Stag has a similar shine to him. Rei does not, but she's still... different." She looked thoughtful for a moment, as she realised Dojihime didn't seem to have quite that same feature to her? Maybe her siblings, Genji, and Rei were the outliers of the Kami's children?

"As for destiny, I certainly believe in destiny too! This could very well be a mark of destiny in some way, Hikaru-san. You seem the type to be a hero in a story of sorts, so I think you might have a great destiny in store!"

[Doji Hikaru]

"Are they?" Hikaru murmured. As she released his hair, he came up to reclaim it, the wake of his fingers brushing against hers. He tucked it back behind his shoulder, but Satsuki could still sense it. "Jiyo-sama looked upon me and saw nothing. I doubted then, but perhaps I should not." As Satsuki had drawn closer, Hikaru had sat straighter, more rigid. Slowly, he began to relax again.

He looked at her, lips shifting. A smile, a frown? It was hard to say. "Do you truly think so, Togashi-sama?" He asked, eyes on hers. "It is not just a joke? I grew up in the shadow of a Kami, and the man who won her heart. I met those who traveled to hell and returned triumphant. Sometimes I worry that it is hubris to think I might achieve similar deeds, and yet I must try..." That shadow fell over his face, the worry that his will wasn't enough to save Lady Doji...

A moment, and his lips quirked, definitely a smile this time. "Although I must wonder at your 'of sorts'."

[Togashi Satsuki]

"Maybe the fire kami had a part to play with this white lock of yours? Might explain it," she smirked with some interest, but she was kind enough to not subject him to being an object of study.

Wanting a bit more space to relax, Satsuki scooted back a bit to find a more comfortable position in the bath.

"Why would I joke about it? Just because there were heroes before us doesn't mean there won't be heroes again! There will always be a hero where there is a need for one," she spoke with a firm conviction to her words. "As for what I mean 'of sorts' - heroes in the stories always have a special trait to them; you have this lock of white hair that is very weird, so that's one. Heroes should be pretty or handsome, and well, I suppose you fill that criteria too. And then they must have a goal to help others! And you do have that!"

[Doji Hikaru]

With the Dragon princess once more at an appropriate distance, Hikaru shifted again, leaning forward to rest his arms on his submerged knees, black hair falling down now to frame his face. "I suspect they did." He said softly.

He took a deep breath. "Thank you. I pray that you are right. A hero is... very much needed, now." He would not fail Lady Doji.

Eyebrows going up just a little, Hikaru looked at Satsuki. "Of course, you are the daughter of a Kami, with glistening skin and intense eyes. You are beautiful..." He pursed his lips a moment. "That is two of the three. I must ask, what is your goal?"

[Togashi Satsuki]

"That's a very open-ended question!" she retorted a bit defensively, then... she wasn't quite sure why she was being defensive. Or rather, what she was defensive about.

"Uh... what I mean, is..." Satsuki averted her eyes, making sounds to clear her throat. "... I have goals. But like. Many goals. Some just take more precedence than others, as I adapt to the situation. I wanna protect and help my family - all of them - so that means your goal is also my goal! But then I also want to help my clan the best I can, so I'm working with my kin in trying to find something to unify the various magical practices that has come to the Dragon, into something more cohesive. I think it will give a stronger sense of community to us, to share something like that in common, and will also make us stronger."

There was a pensive sigh from her. "And... I want to break a curse that's been placed upon me. It's... why my stupid hair is like this," the princess gesture to it, "white. It was black. Anyway, that's not the important part. The important part is that I must find a way to end it, so that I don't hurt anyone." For all her usual confident talk, she sounded almost a bit afraid speaking those words.

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru's expression remained impassive, his eyes calm, through the defensiveness, and through the slight uncertainty. It was when she spoke about a curse that his attention became rather sharper.

"Curse...?" He breathed, frowning as his gaze swept her hair. "So your hair is marked by something as is mine. I didn't realize." His eyes went back to hers. "And so you want to help people, too."

He gave her a slow nod. "Would you tell me more about this curse?"

[Togashi Satsuki]

"Family is important," she said with a firm nod. "Even if you don't like them, you help family. Mother always say that." So she didn't quite get why some of her more distant family were such drama queens about stuff sometimes.

Asked about the curse, Satsuki seemed reluctant, grimacing slightly even as she debated with herself whether or not to share. "It's... you know the story of how the Kami came to our world, yes? About Lord Moon?" she wasn't sure if the Crane told the story the same way that they did back home.

When she knew he knew, she continued. "So... that kind of makes him," a finger pointed up, "my grandfather, yeah? And like... I don't think he likes his children very much still. Somehow, he made me lose control of myself on the night I came of age. Made me hurt my brother." Her entire body tensed with anger. "Ever since... every full moon is a battle for me to keep myself in control of myself. The full moon is when his power is the strongest."

[Doji Hikaru]

"I know it, yes." Hikaru nodded. Likely not so well as she did, but enough to instantly understand what she spoke of. His eyes widened slightly as he saw the anger in it, suffusing her body, but he did not flinch away.

"I see." He said as she finished. He took a breath. "I'm... sorry." Was it sympathy, or apologizing for drawing the story out of her? His eyes definitely held the former.

Then they brightened with resolve. "If there is anything I can do to assist you with this," he said, speaking softly, "-you have only to ask. I will not insist; it is your quest. But the offer is there."

[Togashi Satsuki]

She regarded the offer for a long time in silence, before dipping her head respectfully to him. "Thank you, but... I don't know. We'll see, neh? We have more important things to worry about right now, don't we?"

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru hesitated a moment, lips pressing together. "I will not deny that the issue of Lady Doji's health is paramount. And yet, as I traveled our Empire, I was sometimes asked for aid, as a samurai. I gave it willingly." He paused a moment, looking away. "I do not regret doing so."

Another moment, and he looked back to Satsuki. "Our stories are yet being written. Perhaps it remains to be seen how much each features in the other. Fate has a way of gathering people with destiny..."

[Togashi Satsuki]

"So it certainly does," she agreed, smiling a bit easily and nodding. "You're a good man, Hikaru. I can see why my aunt must have taken a liking to you, to take you in under her wing, and to trust you to be such a close and loyal retainer."

Her tone grew a bit firmer, a bit more like how she should sound like as a princess. Confident. "We will save her. On that you have my word."

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru took a deep breath. "Thank you, Togashi-sama." He said, real feeling evident in his voice. And in his pale eyes.

A moment passed, and he straightened, looking away. "Well. Perhaps sometime you might show me your guqin skills. And I might play the flute. I do enjoy music. Or painting. Do you paint, Togashi-sama?" A few more moments, and his eyes flickered back to her, a faint glint of emotion still visible in them.

[Togashi Satsuki]

"Paint...? Hmmmm... I don't have much talent for it, but I like it!" she said with a happy smile, already moving on from the serious topic. "Mother is much better at it than I am - at home, along with her written tale of Hisomu's rescue, we also have her paintings of the various vistas the expedition saw along the way. Painted by mother."

"I just like playing with the colors, to be honest, thinking more about capturing a feeling or a mood with colors than trying to portray something real and tangible. Taiyo on the other hand is good at it."

[Doji Hikaru]

"I would like to see Togashi Saruko's work some day..." Hikaru murmured.

Hikaru's eyebrows went up, expression interested. "I do more than play with the colors, but that is part of what I do when I paint. I do try to portray something real, but at the same time, I'm attempting to express something. A sunrise, or a beautiful woman, or a fallen tree, but also how I feel when I look at these things. It is perhaps hard to explain." Hikaru said, frowning. "Perhaps if I yet make a work that I feel truly captured what I intend, I will show you."

"Taiyo... a brother?" Hikaru ventured.

[Togashi Satsuki]

"Mm, yes," a nod, "Taiyo's my younger brother. The one who takes the most after mother. And if you come to visit sometime, I'll make sure that you get to see her paintings! There are many of them in Great Falls."

She regarded him with some curiosity about his method of painting. "So do you try to paint what you see, or what you see in your memory? Like, you're not asking a woman to model for you, or waiting for the sun to rise to paint as it is happening, or...?"

[Doji Hikaru]

A moment, and then Hikaru nodded. "I would like that." He said.

He pursed his lips as he considered. "I have done both of those things. But sometimes you must paint from memory. Or... where we first met, I was taking some sketches to remind myself."

He tilted his head briefly, as a sort of shrug. "But it is a balance. A woman may model, or you may wait to see the sunrise, but does it evoke the same feeling as the first time you saw her, or a particular sunrise? But feelings can be fleeting... some feelings, anyway."

[Togashi Satsuki]

"Maybe we don't get all the things right on the first look, so we must look again?" she asked innocently in a Dragon-like manner.

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru looked at her, the corners of his lips curling up, just a little. "Maybe. Some things are very much worth a second look."

His white lock had come loose again. This time, Hikaru's hand came up, catching it before it could continue its cross-bath journey towards Satsuki once more. He smiled again.

And then frowned. "I should probably go." He said neutrally.

[Togashi Satsuki]

"Hmmm yeah, probably a good idea." Satsuki looked at her hand. "Skin is starting to look like uncle Sora's. Wrinkly and weird."

"But we'll be in touch, yes?" the princess looked at Hikaru for a moment before she moved over to where she had left her towel.

[Doji Hikaru]

"Perfect." Hikaru said, smiling, yes, for real. "Just have a long bath before the play two days hence, and you'll be ready for the part."

He looked at Satsuki a long moment, lips parted, his pale eyes glinting.... "Yes." He finally said, shortly. Rising, he secured his towel around his waist. "Togashi-sama." He said, equally shortly, before turning and walking quickly from the bath area.

/dramaticexit!