D5 MM (expecting) Steamed and Soaked

[Suzume Hitomi]

After the frustrations of the market, Hitomi takes the advice she offered Yakura the other day and picks up a day pass to the spa. After a soothing massage and mani/pedi, she makes her way to the heated outdoor onsen. Hurrying through air that feels chilly compared to the usual heat, she gratefully slips into the hot water.

Using her towel as a pillow, she leans back and lets the attendant place cucumber slices on her eyes and pat a moisturizing serum across cheeks and forehead before leaving the Sparrow to relax.

[Kaiu Ryosei]

Snip

His fortunes at the days market were yet unknown but this writer can't imagine any outcome that would overly affect the man's mood.

Ryosei had been running around all week, busy as all hell and while a lot of it was a fun kind of busy it was busy all the same. He needed a couple of hours to decompress and get away from all the events and drama and politics. It wouldn't hurt to also get the smell of the market off him.

He purchased a day pass and took some time to bathe himself and then was lead to an outdoor onsen. Due to the number of visitors that day he would have to share though he didn't mind much. The cucumbered woman relaxing on the edge looked familiar but he didn't want to disturb her. He slipped into the pool with as little fuss as possible. Which would obviously still make some noise but he tried not to disturb the water much.

The engineer let out a soft sigh as his own head dipped back and rested on the edge.

[Suzume Hitomi]

Hitomi's hand lifts in a wave in the vague direction of the sounds at the onsen's edge. "Good morning, apologies if I don't offer a bow. I'm told these are supposed to stay in place for 10 minutes or so. Until then, I'm like a kappa, only my bowl is full of cucumbers instead of water."

"Suzume Hitomi. Don't let me disturb your soak."

[Kaiu Ryosei]

Hitomi's hand lifts in a wave in the vague direction of the sounds at the onsen's edge. "Good morning, apologies if I don't offer a bow. I'm told these are supposed to stay in place for 10 minutes or so. Until then, I'm like a kappa, only my bowl is full of cucumbers instead of water."

"Suzume Hitomi. Don't let me disturb your soak."

He smiled as his head stayed just above the water "Suzume-san it is a pleasure to see you again." Came a voice that she had heard before even if only briefly and infrequently. Its me Kaiu Ryosei. You also looking to wash the market away after this morning?"

[Suzume Hitomi]

She laughs, "Oh kami, yes! I swear the smell of that huge blob...thing...has been stuck to my hair or something. I am definitely not cut out to be a fishmonger."

"Ah, but that's hardly a greeting," she says, one hand lifting from the water with an apologetic wobble. "Good to hear you, Kaiu-sama. Did you get any good catches at the market?"

[Kaiu Ryosei]

She laughs, "Oh kami, yes! I swear the smell of that huge blob...thing...has been stuck to my hair or something. I am definitely not cut out to be a fishmonger."

"Ah, but that's hardly a greeting," she says, one hand lifting from the water with an apologetic wobble. "Good to hear you, Kaiu-sama. Did you get any good catches at the market?"

He laughs along with her "certainly, I do enjoy the island but there is definitely a reason I don't head down to the markets very often."

"I did about as well as I expected Suzume-san." Which didn't really answer her question but it was an answer "what of you? Was the smell worth it?"

[Suzume Hitomi]

snip

There's a small, theatrical groan. "Not remotely. Didn't manage a single successful bid. I hope the minor clans are not relying on this market alone." They almost certainly were not. Probably.

"Thank goodness my shop doesn't depend on my ability to bid on fish," she adds with a small laugh. "How has your business been? Doesn't seem the sort to be affected all that much by the influx of people here now."

[Kaiu Ryosei]

Snap

He smiles and nods, a small chuckle escaping his lips at her theatrics.

"Business has been good, I have had some increase actually a Mantis woman stopped by to have me check out her fleshcraft she was having issues with.

But other than that you are right, not too many people go on vacation and think 'hmm maybe I'll get a new leg while I'm here' though if they did they'd go home with the best damn leg this side of the stars." He said with a little laugh.

[Suzume Hitomi]

snip

"Need to send more of them out looking for greatsharks, you'd see more limb replacements then," she says dryly. Come to think of it though. "How *do* folks find you? Is there like an approved directory that those who need replacements can look up?"

It seemed even more niche than her work. "The Imperial Legions don't see enough action that many of the Sparrow serving there come back injured, and the farm accidents...well, we tend to see more traditional prosthetics used."

[Kaiu Ryosei]

Snip

"Perhaps a secondary business idea, I could run reef tours near great shark spots and then any accidents I could give discounts on replacements." He replied with a chuckle "A business that feeds my other business."

"As far as how people find me, some adverts online. Word of mouth mostly. I have a few connections in the Crab military and even though relations are strained my family connection still commands a good deal of sway in the industry. But my real money makers are custom jobs, rich people with more money than sense that want an extravagant fleshcraft, those are almost entirely referrals."

[Suzume Hitomi]

snip

Hitomi chuckles as the attendant lifts the cucumbers from her eyes, wipes away the serum with a hot cloth. "That is...actually awful, but would be a clever setup."

She sighs at the rest of the recitation, "seems a common story. So much of my custom relies and very rich people wanting very old things as decor. They can't have something that merely looks old, it needs to actually be old. I've had people sniff at the kintsugi for being repaired and cleaned up too well."

"Ah well, at least they exist, or I'd be back in a 12th century potter's studio playing to the tourists instead."

She sits up a bit now that she can see and verifies that the voice matches the face, and casts a curious glance along his limbs, wondering if he's done work on himself. "What distinguishes an extravagant fleshcraft from a standard one? I don't think I've seen many of either.

[Kaiu Ryosei]

Clip

She sees no sign of artificial limb so either he doesn't or it's something obscenely advanced that is indistinguishable. He watches her exam him and raises an eyebrow but makes no comment.

"Well could be functionality, adding in features that aren't among standard fleshcrafts. Could be cosmetic, adding in other metals or changing how it looks. Some might think of it as artistry but it's all engineering, balancing the weaker metals with the ones strong enough to stand up to the abuse most fleshcraft do. Can't just have a golden arm, metal is too soft and it will dent and bend and scratch. Have to make it an alloy or reinforce it in key places. Things like that usually."

[Suzume Hitomi]

snip

She nods, trying not to interrupt the attendants as they carefully comb something gelatinous through her hair and wrap it with another warm towel.

"So a golden arm might be possible as far as coloration, but it wouldn't actually be gold, unless someone didn't care if it was particularly functional. Gold's pretty heavy too, which seems like it would be a problem, yes?" Her look seems a bit pensive, "so ones that look identical to non-crafted hmm..limbs and such, aren't a thing? Hard to make metals look like skin, right?"

"As to artistry, aren't there decisions in the engineering to make that are," she pauses to consider how to describe it, "once you're past the main consideration, there are multiple ways to do a thing...and they'll tip one way or another with regard to other goals...I mean usually. Though, I have to say that's my experience with restoration of objects, not humans, where that kind of thing arises. There are practical considerations up to a point, and then it's kind of...up to the artisan." Her hands lift from the water, palms out with a small push, "not claiming to understand engineering at all, just fixing different things."