milliways_bar | (no subject)

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Seimei is seated in a booth with a Mac laptop, a paper ledger and a disorganized layer of papers. They range from rather casually written missives inscribed with ballpoint pens on pages torn from legal pads to very formal documents printed on official-looking stationery emblazoned with seals to thick, more primitive varieties of paper written in various archaic forms of Japanese by means of calligraphy brushes.

The Obon Festival starts in about ten days, and just about everyone in the Land of the Rising Sun - including the gods themselves - is busy making preparations.

This particular god isn't too busy for a chat, though.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Saffron drapes herself over the opposite side of the booth, eyeing Seimei curiously.

"Working hard or hardly working?"

"Neither." Seimei rubs the bridge of his nose. "I am in fact being slowly nibbled to death by ducks. Of course I go through this every year: one would think I'd be used to it by now.

"But that is enough complaining from me. How is the universe treating you, Clara-san?" (Of course he knows her name's not Clara, but that's how she introduced herself to him, and it seems only polite to follow her lead in that regard.)

And she knows that he knows, so as far as she's concerned, she finds it rather endearing of him.

She draws her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them

"Very well, thank you. I have no complaints so far."

"Good. The fact that you are enjoying your work thus far reflects well on me, and brightens my mood in spite of the miserable task I am forced to perform." Seimei gestures melodramatically at the papers covering the table.

"I am not going to waste you on paperwork, of course, but I will have something for you to do soon. A sort of on-the-job learning experience. Tell me, what do you know about the Obon Festival?"

She's got a long strand of pearls around her neck, and she idly twines them around her fingers as he speaks.

The name certainly rings a bell, but in her world, it's called something else - or, at least, she's sure it is if they're on the same page.

"It's a custom of honoring one's deceased, is it not?"

Seimei nods. "In Japan it takes place in mid-August, at least in most regions of the country. Ancestral spirits who are usually...well, usually elsewhere are able to visit their families in the mortal world. Some bad things always try to sneak in with them - demons, ghosts from the Nine Hells, other things. So my colleagues and I must be on the lookout for them. You will be accompanying me as I make rounds of some of the riskier areas, though not to fight anything, if it comes to that. You're not quite ready yet."

Saffron wrinkles her nose.

"Sounds like messy business to me."

"It can be. If we do encounter something dangerous on patrol, get to safety. With you fox magic, you will be able to find sacred places where evil beings cannot go. If that isn't an option, just get as far away as you can.

"What you will be doing has the potential to be dangerous, but only if you are very unlucky or very foolish. Most of it will likely be dull, but potentially instructive. You will have to look like a nihonjin." By this Seimei means she will have to look like a native, not a foreigner. "I hope you have been practicing your shapeshifting. It's all right if you have fox eyes, ears, a tail or some combination of all those, but you must look mostly human."

She looks over at him, then nods slowly.

"Haven't exactly made it a top priority or anything, but I've been working on it."

"Good enough. On our rounds, we will be meeting individuals who will be assigned to watch specific problem areas. Some of them are mortals with great spiritual power, but others are kami. To them in particular I want you to seem like a mere attendant, someone who can be briefly noted and then ignored. That will give you the opportunity to observe and listen. You will learn about some of my colleagues, their relative ranks, and the appropriate etiquette when dealing with them.

"Also, you will be carrying my schedule, and if someone starts going on a little long you can ever-so-politely interject to remind me that I have an appointment at such-and-such a place." Seimei always brings someone along to do that.

She's good at that part: slipping away without being remembered, but obviously, she can make an impression if she needs to. And nudging him if they've got somewhere else to be? Well, that doesn't sound too hard.

"Works for me."

"Good. It will be an excellent way to learn proper etiquette: no doubt you've gathered that's important where I come from. It's even more important among denizens of the supernatural world. Even the appearance of disrespect can have dire consequences," he warns, in all seriousness.

"That reminds me, you should know how to bow properly. That is very important. Yuma the plum tree spirit can teach you. You can come find her at my house tomorrow, or I can send her to your apartment - whichever you would prefer."

"Bow properly?"

Saffron lifts an eyebrow - what remains of her Companion training should be enough to suffice in terms of most etiquette and protocol, but bowing? Well, that's the sort of thing that she most likely skipped out on.

"... if you say so."

"This is more complicated than it sounds, believe me," Seimei says. "My colleagues are very traditional, very old-fashioned. They go by the old, very formal rules. How one bows depends upon one's gender and their status relative to the person being addressed. When one bows also depends upon a number of things. You will be able to take your queues from me, but you can only do that if you know the rules.

"Yuma can train you better than I can - she's done this sort of thing before. And I am sure you will catch on quickly. You observe things well, and you have a natural grace."

(Of course Seimei knows that people rarely have 'natural grace': what they have is prior training. But it's easier and nicer to call it natural.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only