The Way of Sensei Wu

There would be enough frigid river bathing on her journey home, Naoko wanted one warm one after the days of observing and performing. The village didn't have much, but there was trade enough for a small market, and a forest full of fuel, and a village of aching muscles, and so...there was a simple bathhouse. The Soshi paid a few coins, scrubbed in the chilly buckets of cleaning water, and sank into the warmed tub with a sigh.

Soshi Naoko wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 09, 2022 6:10 pm

There would be enough frigid river bathing on her journey home, Naoko wanted one warm one after the days of observing and performing. The village didn't have much, but there was trade enough for a small market, and a forest full of fuel, and a village of aching muscles, and so...there was a simple bathhouse. The Soshi paid a few coins, scrubbed in the chilly buckets of cleaning water, and sank into the warmed tub with a sigh.

A proper bath was in order before the long trip back to the capitol. Akimitsu was pointed toward a small bath house. Unimpressive but functional. He cleansed himself briefly before stepping into the bath area proper.

He saw another already submerged in the waters and gave a slight bow "Soshi-san, it is good to see you again. It seems we are of like mind as we prepare to depart." He said Simple as he unwound the towel and hung it up.

Clearly a soldier trained and body hardened by a lifetime of exercise he stepped into the warm waters a small sigh escaping his lips.

The mask rests with her own towel. Perhaps some Scorpion wear their masks in public at all times, Naoko isn't sure. Steaming the wood of this one didn't seem wise, though.

So it's easy to see her eyes open beneath a wide and untroubled brow, glancing down a moment--perhaps in deference--before traveling up to focus somewhere just beneath his eyes. "Seppun-sama! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you found this place. It's as much luxury as you'll find out here."

"Wanted one warm bath before the cold road, you know?" She pats the water, "Well pull up a spot and tell me how much better the baths are in the capitol? Is it true they have hot waterfalls and a dozen attendants each to buff your heels and knead sore muscles every day?"

The stoic mask he wore so often was no so easy to set aside he inclined his head to her greeting sitting near her where she indicated.

His brow furrowed a bit at her description and he shook his head "Nothing like that I'm afraid Soshi-san. Certainly nicer than this" He said bluntly "though I am sure the village has done what it can with what it has." From others this might come off as haughty or condescending but it just seemed like raw honesty coming from the Seppun.

"The baths at my home are larger and there are servants though they usually only fetch warm water when needed or fresh towels. Some places do have ones that will tend to cosmetic matters and do massages but I do not frequent such places."

He looked to her his dark eyes meeting her lighter ones "and what of the baths from your home Soshi-san?"

There's mirth in those green eyes, and a smile as she hears that life is a smidge less wildly luxurious in the capital than her imagination may have painted it. "Still sounds a good bit comfier than anything around here."

"The villages of the Scorpion's mountains," she waves vaguely in a a direction that's kind of toward that clan's lands, not bothering to be sure of her orientation, "aren't much different from the ones here, so there's a lot like this, and then there's the ones that take advantage of the heat under the mountains for naturally heated pools. Those smell like eggs gone bad, but are usually carved stone instead of wood tubs, so nicer."

She pauses, looking thoughtful, sinking a bit, her chin just above the water. "Before that, home was more woodland than forest, so ponds or lakes, but not heated ones...but I don't really have a home in the sense of a building with doors on it." Straightening, shaking off the moment of introspection her smile returns, eyes crinkling at the edges. "Bet your home has lots of doors. Doors all over the capitol, right? Some of them probably worth more than this whole village."

"Do you have a favorite?"

There was a lot in there to respond to and think about "Wait you don't have a home? You are a great clan samurai, providing a home to you is the least of your lord's duties." He said with a frown "even if you travel often for your duties you should still have a home somewhere." He was very perplexed by her words here.

The frown deepened "and are you asking me about my favorite door? I suppose there is one to the library that has a nice work of art across it. But I had never thought in terms of if it was my favorite or not."

Perhaps with some actual courtly training, she'd have taken an offended tack--how dare someone imply her lord wasn't providing properly or managing his underlings appropriately? Instead there's the crease of a confused frown, a nervous pressing back against the waterlogged wood of the tub. "He..but...why would he set up a home to stand empty? I serve in mountains like these, checking the remote shrines and temples and villages. I only ever see any given place a couple, maybe three times in a year." She'd never asked that other traveling priest if he had a home someplace. Maybe he did. Maybe Naoko did and it just...sat empty since...when?

Ducking her head, she scratches absently behind one ear, uncertain. "There's always room made for me in the villages and such. I'm sure there would be too if I went to my lord's...home...um, castle? But I haven't been called."

She brightens a little as he answers her question, offering a quick nod and affirmation. "Yes, a favorite door. I know people don't think about them a lot, and most of them are plain, pragmatic. But some are not. And they all are gateways, so the spirits have to pay some attention to them." The hand scratching pauses, palm resting along her cheek as she thinks a moment. "Like there's one that's the inner door to this shrine to Bishamon carved into a cliff. There's two on account of the winds tearing the outer one off from time to time. Nothing special but very well crafted. It's a little bit awake now, after 100 years of guarding from the winds. You can't even smell the incense in that hallway because the air kami are a bit intimidated by the grumbly old spirit there and won't slip out that way." She pauses a moment, then clarifies, "not that it's my favorite, just...an example of how they can be special. Do you like that one for the art..or because it's the library door?"