Eiji and Katsue (Harpy) are alone in a VIP viewing room. Screens are set around the room out round moon windows: right now, the 'window' screens are displaying different video angles of an ongoing fight between a man with a sword and a woman with a pair of metal fans. Eiji pours a drink for Katsue, the bottle prominently displayed nearby with a very expensive label.
"Are you going to drink with me?" Katsue watches one of the screens, but not very attentively, eyes meandering from the screen to Eiji's face as she brings the sake cup to her lips. There's a large swath of white gauze peeking out from under the collar of her clothes, looking as though it might be spread over her entire shoulder, but the movement of her arm doesn't seem any shakier or at all impeded.
"I would never decline a request from my betters, Katsue-kun." Eiji smiles at her as he puts the decanter back down beside the bottle, and takes his seat nearby hers.
"Eiji-san is always so courteous." There's a thinness to her smile, even though she doesn't seem or sound mad at him, exactly. Her eyes go back to the fight, but - "Ah, it's over." It's not actually over. The fight is still going.
He glances up and over at a screen as well. "We had him 9-2," he offers.
Even though those are terrible odds, Katsue answers, "Ehhh, that's generous. Did he do better in sparring tournaments? He's too weak mentally."
Eiji laughs, his eyebrows raised above his glasses. "I'll be sure to give your feedback to the book-maker. The competitor didn't do very well by the standards expected of his family name, you see."
"Involving myself with gambling is a bit..."
"I wouldn't be nearly so forward as to use your name without permission, of course. An anonymous tip, from an aficionado."
Katsue laughs. "It isn't really about how it looks, but aren't I close enough with Eiji-san that the source would be an obvious guess anyway?"
He hums and then shrugs. "I suppose that's true. There's no helping it then. I'll have the man fired for his poor assessment."
"It's fine either way. But I guess it matters more to Eiji-san than it does to me if the numbers are right or not. Hey, Eiji-san, what were my odds on the last fight?"
"Extremely short odds as always, Katsue-kun," he assures her. "You've been breathing so long I think the audience can scarcely imagine you stopping." He looks over at her bandaged shoulder. "Not when you've overcome such trials already."
She blinks owlishly at him, setting her emptied sake cup back down- "Eiji-san, are you calling me old? I'm still not even twenty."
"For as often as you fight in the ring, it may as well be thrice that." She laughs, dipping her head to him as he takes her cup and tops her off.
"Thank you." In the fight on the screen, the man they discussed like he was already dead gets disarmed, and a sweep of a fan slices his head clean from his shoulders. Katsue smiles at Eiji and doesn't even bother to watch. Eiji smiles back, bowing his head in an acknowledgment of her gratitude as he finishes pouring, then puts the jug aside again and looks up on hearing the distinctive shing of metal into flesh and is momentarily absorbed by the events on the screen. She takes another sip and lets him watch the other competitor heft the man's head up by the hair, but once it no longer feels like an interruption, she goes on, "It was my victory, but I’m sure Eiji-niisan must have made another profit while I've lost money again, right?"
"Are you in need of a loan?" he asks warmly. "Of course, I'm always more than willing to help."
She answers, still smiling, "If I paid off my debt with a loan, then I would just be in debt again."
"The desire not to be chained by such earthly things is a virtuous one," he lauds philosophically. With the fight properly over and done with, he turns the windows opaque with a flick of his wrist, dimming the room slightly as he dispenses with the distractions.
"Yes." She laughs again, thin and soft. "Although I should be striving to rid myself of all attachments, instead I am striving to attain one. But then, perhaps attaining that attachment is a necessary step towards freeing myself of it, in turn. Or is that nonsense?"
His lips quirk, and he quotes at her, "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful." Her smile goes out. He finishes the quote, and then resumes his more natural speech pattern to go on, "Would you not say the same applies to one's attachments in the world?"
For a deafeningly silent, drawn out moment, she stares down at him, unmoving, with a face of stone.
And then she tilts her head, eyes going round. "Sorry, I don't think I get it. Eiji-niisan, sometimes you say things as difficult as the guidance of a monk."
"I apologize to you most humbly as well. I have an unfortunate disease, where I am overly literate and can hardly disregard the opportunities to share such knowledge with the world. I meant no offense, and I hope I have inflicted none."
"No, not at all. I have always admired Eiji-san's wisdom."
"As have I always been fond of Katsue-kun's earnestness."
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year 18: why are Katsue and Eiji like this
"Are you going to drink with me?" Katsue watches one of the screens, but not very attentively, eyes meandering from the screen to Eiji's face as she brings the sake cup to her lips. There's a large swath of white gauze peeking out from under the collar of her clothes, looking as though it might be spread over her entire shoulder, but the movement of her arm doesn't seem any shakier or at all impeded.
"I would never decline a request from my betters, Katsue-kun." Eiji smiles at her as he puts the decanter back down beside the bottle, and takes his seat nearby hers.
"Eiji-san is always so courteous." There's a thinness to her smile, even though she doesn't seem or sound mad at him, exactly. Her eyes go back to the fight, but - "Ah, it's over." It's not actually over. The fight is still going.
He glances up and over at a screen as well. "We had him 9-2," he offers.
Even though those are terrible odds, Katsue answers, "Ehhh, that's generous. Did he do better in sparring tournaments? He's too weak mentally."
Eiji laughs, his eyebrows raised above his glasses. "I'll be sure to give your feedback to the book-maker. The competitor didn't do very well by the standards expected of his family name, you see."
"Involving myself with gambling is a bit..."
"I wouldn't be nearly so forward as to use your name without permission, of course. An anonymous tip, from an aficionado."
Katsue laughs. "It isn't really about how it looks, but aren't I close enough with Eiji-san that the source would be an obvious guess anyway?"
He hums and then shrugs. "I suppose that's true. There's no helping it then. I'll have the man fired for his poor assessment."
"It's fine either way. But I guess it matters more to Eiji-san than it does to me if the numbers are right or not. Hey, Eiji-san, what were my odds on the last fight?"
"Extremely short odds as always, Katsue-kun," he assures her. "You've been breathing so long I think the audience can scarcely imagine you stopping." He looks over at her bandaged shoulder. "Not when you've overcome such trials already."
She blinks owlishly at him, setting her emptied sake cup back down- "Eiji-san, are you calling me old? I'm still not even twenty."
"For as often as you fight in the ring, it may as well be thrice that." She laughs, dipping her head to him as he takes her cup and tops her off.
"Thank you." In the fight on the screen, the man they discussed like he was already dead gets disarmed, and a sweep of a fan slices his head clean from his shoulders. Katsue smiles at Eiji and doesn't even bother to watch. Eiji smiles back, bowing his head in an acknowledgment of her gratitude as he finishes pouring, then puts the jug aside again and looks up on hearing the distinctive shing of metal into flesh and is momentarily absorbed by the events on the screen. She takes another sip and lets him watch the other competitor heft the man's head up by the hair, but once it no longer feels like an interruption, she goes on, "It was my victory, but I’m sure Eiji-niisan must have made another profit while I've lost money again, right?"
"Are you in need of a loan?" he asks warmly. "Of course, I'm always more than willing to help."
She answers, still smiling, "If I paid off my debt with a loan, then I would just be in debt again."
"The desire not to be chained by such earthly things is a virtuous one," he lauds philosophically. With the fight properly over and done with, he turns the windows opaque with a flick of his wrist, dimming the room slightly as he dispenses with the distractions.
"Yes." She laughs again, thin and soft. "Although I should be striving to rid myself of all attachments, instead I am striving to attain one. But then, perhaps attaining that attachment is a necessary step towards freeing myself of it, in turn. Or is that nonsense?"
His lips quirk, and he quotes at her, "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful." Her smile goes out. He finishes the quote, and then resumes his more natural speech pattern to go on, "Would you not say the same applies to one's attachments in the world?"
For a deafeningly silent, drawn out moment, she stares down at him, unmoving, with a face of stone.
And then she tilts her head, eyes going round. "Sorry, I don't think I get it. Eiji-niisan, sometimes you say things as difficult as the guidance of a monk."
"I apologize to you most humbly as well. I have an unfortunate disease, where I am overly literate and can hardly disregard the opportunities to share such knowledge with the world. I meant no offense, and I hope I have inflicted none."
"No, not at all. I have always admired Eiji-san's wisdom."
"As have I always been fond of Katsue-kun's earnestness."