[D3, MM] Welcome, welcome!

[Bayushi Senshuken]

The rain has been coming down since dawn, a steady percussion on the wide, grimy window of Bayushi Senshuken’s definitely-not-a-suite hotel room. Seventh floor, decent view of a neon sign advertising “24h soba and limited regret.” Not quite the romantic balcony brunch she had envisioned when she’d boasted, “Leave it to me. I’ll make something unforgettable.”

But she was a Scorpion. Improvisation was practically genetic.

So by mid-morning, the room has undergone a miraculous, chaotic transformation. Equal parts courtly fantasy and creative disaster.

First, she’d shoved her racing jacket, three helmets, and a suspicious number of energy drink cans under the bed. Then, she’d stolen two potted plants from the hotel corridor. They looked neglected anyway. Aaaand arranged them by the window to form what she generously called “a Zen garden of resilience.” Between them, she’d spread a towel and scattered exactly eight cherry blossom petals. Holographic, looping endlessly in midair.

To mimic the sound of a courtyard stream, she’d put her bike’s coolant system on idle mode. It gurgles threateningly but provides just enough ambience to count as “flowing water.” The air purifier blows a gentle breeze through incense smoke, occasionally setting off the smoke detector. A small price for atmosphere.

The table is set for two. Real food, because she is sentimental like that: eggs printed into perfect heart shapes, rice wrapped in seaweed with the Scorpion mon drawn in soy, and mimosas poured into mismatched glassware scavenged from the minibar. The entire display wobbled when the air conditioning kicked in, giving it a faintly theatrical trembling.

And the walls. Ah the walls.

She’d hacked the cheap hotel video screen to turn it into her grand opening act. A poetic greeting projected in ten foot high holographic calligraphy that pulsed like karaoke lyrics. The text shimmered crimson and gold as a slightly off tempo shamisen riff played in the background. It reads:

“Welcome, noble guest!
Please ignore the smell of coolant.
That’s just passion overheating.”

Then her own pre recorded face appears, wearing sunglasses indoors, holding a fan she’d borrowed from the front desk. She bowes with mock elegance and says in her best Doji accent:

“May this humble chamber of temporary lodging serve as a palace of courtly delight. Also, please don’t sit on the bed. It squeaks like it owes me money.”

When she finally steps back to survey her work, she looks absurdly proud.

The room still smells faintly of engine grease and triumph.

It isn’t traditional by any sane standard of Rokugani courtship. But it was hers. Half glamour, half rebellion, held together by sheer personality and a prayer to whichever kami handled last minute aesthetic disasters.

Bayushi Senshuken grins, checks her lipstick in the reflection of her mimosas, and mutters to herself:

“If this doesn’t impress her, I’ll just pretend it’s larp.''

[Susumu Sumiko]

Sumiko had been partway through script preparing when she got the message. There was a smile at that, and a replied 'see you soon'. She had finished off the work, closed down, and went to her carefully managed wardrobe to bring out one particular kimono she got recently on Longshore. It seemed perfect for this. Now just to shower and do her makeup...

A short while later, under her parasol, the girl moved the thankfully short distance from the embassy to Senshukens hotel. Entering with a smile and a bow to the desk clerk that had started wide-eyed as she passed through. Moving the distance she remembered from the plushie path before to the door in question. However she didn't knock on the door - she knocked gently on the doorframe, as they did in times past, and spoke softly through the door.

"Bayushi-sama, this one has arrived."

When Senshuken opens the door she's met with a girl dressed in a new looking kimono that could have been from 2 millennia ago starring at a Winter Court. Her face wasn't fully visible, hidden behind a fan so only her eyes could be seen. She bowed deeply once the door was opened.

"Thank you for your kind invitation Bayushi-sama, has Inari-no-kami blessed your day thus far?" She offered quietly.

Sumiko played the role perfectly: D1 MM acting like a courtier from olden times. Prodigy. 2 raises for fun | 7k4 ⇒ 29

[Bayushi Senshuken]

''Oh no!'' Senshu exclaims as soon as she opens the door. ''You are... a dream come true! Let me...'' She shakes her head and then the rest of her body in order to get in the role. Role playing! Kami! Roleplaying is the way to her heart! (and pants!)

The Bayushi isn't dressed according, but that doesn't stop her to offer a gracious and slightly playful bow. ''Welcome, my lady. Inari no kami has decided to withhold her blessings till I had a chance to witness the most beautiful sighytseeing of the planet.'' She looks at her. ''Now that I have, I can finally taste offerings of rice. And Spider.'' She winks.

[Susumu Sumiko]

There was a small laugh from behind the fan, and Sumiko fluttered her fan a little in approval.

"Bayushi-sama is too kind to this one. Holding Inari's blessing until my arrival is most honourable, may this one enter and partake in the blessing with yourself? It would be remiss of me to hold Inari-no-kami's gaze for longer than appropriate as he has many others to gaze upon with his blessing this day."

[Bayushi Senshuken]

"Yes, my lady." Another theatrical bow. "Honor is my own shield, as well, thus I cannot possibly refuse."

She lets her come in and closes the door behind them. "Please, make yourself at home. We shall feast and then take a walk at the gardens hoping that inspiration will hit and we will properly honor the fortunes."

[Susumu Sumiko]

Sumiko entered with slow graceful steps moving far enough in to take stock of the room while the door was closed. Fanning herself gently as she did so.

"Bayushi-sama has been diligent in her preparations" she commented quietly, waiting for the girl to approach before moving her fan over and offering a whispered "if I've gone too far I can tone it back, it was your suggestion of traditional at all" with a small giggle before standing up straight again and approaching the table before lowering herself into a perfect seiza seating beside it. Looking back to Senshuken after doing so, her hands perfectly folded in her lap holding her fan which would allow the other girl to see the careful makeup done. Lips slightly reddened, and cheeks lightened in colour a little to complete the look.

[Bayushi Senshuken]

''Go on. This is truly exciting.'' She whispers back and smiles broadly while looking at her sitting down.

She slowly, for once, approaches and receives her own seiza across the Susumu. ''Tell me. Does your guardian know that you are here? I had to put an elaborate plan in motion to get rid of my trusted yet strict handmaiden. My honor and my dignity are compromised, but I would do it a million times more for you.''

She leans over the table and she's the one to whisper this time. ''Too much? I thought that a doomed scenario would be fitting.''

[Susumu Sumiko]

"Oh Bayushi-sama, to go to such risks for this one! Thankfully one does not need concern themselves with my guardian, for they have been unexpectedly called for a meeting and will not return for a few hours" there was a giggle behind the fan that was quickly brought up and she fluttered her fan once more "more than enough time to share in these blessings and perhaps more?"

There was a wink, hidden slightly behind the fan, before she lowered it again and placed it in her lap before removing chopsticks from her robes. She brought her hands together with a quiet "Itadakimasu" and two claps, before moving to pick up some of the food with carefully practiced chopstick motion.

"Senshu-chan is doing a wonderful job of flattering this old soul and her love of times gone by" she added with a smile before eating.

[Bayushi Senshuken]

"Sumi chan is all the inspiration I need." She offers back and reaches for her own chopsticks. "Would you? Go back if it were possible?" She asks after a bite. "Without the technology? All the knowledge we now have? All the planetary systems we have discovered?"

[Susumu Sumiko]

"Hmm....that's a tough question. To be fully immersed in that time, a part of traditions. A part of history."

She picked up some food to eat, a thoughtful expression on her face as she considered it.

"It would be a simpler time, but I'm not sure I would want to give up everything I have now. There is so much of the universe still unexplored, so much still to see. To discover, to document and study. I would enjoy going back to the past but I don't think I could give up all we have now."

[Bayushi Senshuken]

She nods in agreement. "Just imagine life without electricity, fast travel and remote communication." She waves her hand. "Nope. Not for me." She looks at her and smirks. "Still a good scenario to rp. Next time we could also set roles if you want. Different personas, different clans, different... everything. You could be a kidnapped princess and the dashing warrior saves you. Or I could be the princess! Would such a thing be fun for you?"

[Susumu Sumiko]

Sumiko laughed.

"There was me thinking you were doing this for me, when it's really for your own enjoyment" she gave Senshuken a teasing grin "however I enjoy this. It's fun to be someone else for a time, and create a new life to live. I don't think I could be a princess though, I'm nowhere near pretty enough for that! Did Senshu-chan pick up her love of acting from her studies or another inspiration?"

[Bayushi Senshuken]

"Gaming." She replies and grins. "I'm a nerd at heart, but a very cool one." She relocates herself to sit next to Sumiko instead of across her and leans closer to whisper to her ear. "You are more beautiful than any princess I have ever imagined."

[Susumu Sumiko]

Thanks to the pale makeup on her cheeks, a small blush stood out more at the compliment.

"Flatterer" Sumiko looked over at Senshuken with a smile "you are indeed a cool and very hot gamer. To go with being a cool and very hot gamer, and a very hot lover~" she leaned in to place a kiss on the other womans lips "a whole gathering of beautiful people from all the clans in the galaxy and I get to be with you, I'm blessed for sure."

[Bayushi Senshuken]

"Flatterer." She offers the same response after licking her lips with her eyes still closed due to the kiss. She opens them and grins. "You taste so good. You deserve all the beauty of this world. And all the warmth and the playfulness because you are simply amazing. I just wish you didn't snore at night and that your feet weren't cold all the time." She jokes.

[Susumu Sumiko]

"I don't snore! You can't hold that one night after I stared down Gaki-do monsters against me" Sumiko playfully poked Senshuken in the side "I appreciate the effort you've gone to though, I mean it. You didn't need to either, but you've even tried to create a garden in this! I'm truly truly touched by the effort. I can't think of any that have ever gone to the efforts for me that you have."

She placed a hand on Senshukens, giving her a soft smile.

"Thank you Senshu-chan."

[Bayushi Senshuken]

"Don't thank me." She replies while nuzzling against the other woman's neck. "I'm not perfect. Far from it. I'm too flirty even with people that don't really interst me sometimes. But I like to give everything I have. To plan and offer. For this moment between us and mainly for you. I want to make an impression. For you to remember our moments with fondness. To get imprinted in your mind. Just not your heart. I don't play with hearts. Only minds."

[Susumu Sumiko]

Sumiko wrapped an arm around the other girl and rested her head on top of Senshukens.

"Someone could find their heart getting lost in such things you know" the girl said quietly, before nodding "I remember though what you said on the World of Dreams. Still, we managed to end up on assignment at the same time. Maybe there's a sign in all that? Unless you just followed me of course" she chuckled "which I'm also fine with."

[Bayushi Senshuken]

"Huh!" She exclaims. "Both of us are too cute to be stalkers. I don't know about signs and fate and kharma. I just know that we are here now. We can feel each other's touch against our skin and take in each other's scent. And that's as awesome as it gets."

She pauses for a moment, something that she rarely does. "Funny thing. I have a date later today. Totally by accident." A second smaller pause. "And another one tomorrow. By another different accident."

[Susumu Sumiko]

Sumiko gave her lover a look.

"Do you really expect me to believe 'by accident' Senshu-chan? I know how you work" she laughed, picking her chopsticks up again to eat "who did you accidentally end up in dates with? There is no shortage of cute people gathered here."