Spreadsheet

[hat_and_dimples]

Sometimes, when life is terribly busy and hectic and everything is full of rage and panic, what you need to do is leave reality for a moment and work on a spreadsheet.

That's what Jin Guangyao is doing at the moment.

He slipped in through the door, behind which there was much more white than usual, brushing some light flakes of ash from his robes and carrying a long scroll under his arm. Sighing with relief at finding himself here, he took over a table big enough for six or eight patrons having dinner together, and spread his sheet of paper on it.

Now he is sitting at it, with a fresh ink stick, some fine brushes, and a pot of his favourite Clouds & Mist tea, and stares at the sheet. Sometimes, he takes hold of his right sleeve with his left hand and then carefully brushes a character into one of the little squares on it, or tallies a column with a charcoal stick.

He doesn't smile, but is botherable.



tinytag: jin guangyao

Comments

[mogget_cat]

It is entirely a coincidence that the thing shaped like a small, white cat settles upon a corner of the sheet of paper (helping hold that corner down, of course!) that Jin Guangyao won't need access to for... whole minutes of time.

Possibly whole fractions of an hour might pass before he would need to coax it to move.

[hat_and_dimples]

"Oh, hello you," Jin Guangyao says, holding his brush away from the white cat-like being. "Be careful you don't get ink on your fur."

[mogget_cat]

"Hello, Jin Guangyao," greets the creature, sniffing at the paper with interest and care. "May I ask what has your attention today?"

It looks finicky in a way Yrael likely would not enjoy.

[hat_and_dimples]

"Impromptu event planning," Jin Guangyao says. "So many people, so little time. Everything needs to happen at once. It's really absurd."

He puts down his brush, though, to skritch the white cat's ears.

[mogget_cat]

The cat purrs heartily at the skritches, leaning into the curve of Jin Guangyao's fingers. It does not offer answers or solutions, but possibly the sound helps in other ways, settling what has been riled up.

"Best to take as much time as you need, when maneuvering so many moving parts." Milliways is ideal for that. "Then when the event goes off without a hitch, aha, you've worked miracles."

[hat_and_dimples]

"I hope so," Jin Guangyao says. "That's why I'm doing this, here. I'm not going home before everything is i nits place, at least on that sheet."

[mogget_cat]

"Does the sheet help? No plan ever falls so neatly into boxes and stays there, in my experience. No human plan, anyway."

Unless they're dead, of course.

And even then, it's a pretty tall ask.

[hat_and_dimples]

"The sheet helps tremendously," Jin Guangyao says. "Who is invited, who has accepted, who can't stand each other, how many there will be altogether..."

Jin Guangyao sighs.

"It has to feel very sombre, absolutely spontaneous, and totally efficient -- no waiting around for things to happen, no time to gossip with your neighbour and be distracted from the solemn hour."

[mogget_cat]

"Crafting spontaneity can be like working with spun sugar. Fragile, time-sensitive, and likely to singe some fingers if one isn't careful." The cat eyes the spreadsheet. "It looks so neat upon the page, though I imagine it is akin to the difference between reading music and playing it."

[hat_and_dimples]

"That's about it," Jin Guangyao says, "if the music is to be played by an orchestra of about 500 high-strung virtuosos who all have their own agenda by the end of the day."

[mogget_cat]

"So many voices in one piece of music, each seeking to lead their own melody while leaving all else to go hang," the cat laughs - a strange sound. "That, I would like to see, for I have never known a virtuoso who was not high-strung."

[hat_and_dimples]

"I think the usual metaphor is 'herding cats'," Jin Guangyao says, and now he does smile, his hand buried in luxurious warm white fur.

[mogget_cat]

"Not a bad metaphor, to be sure. I imagine it takes a similar approach of tact, gentle persuasion, and letting them think plans were their idea in the first place. Cats are, at least, more honest about being susceptible to bribery."

"Pure entertainment, when you don't have a stake in it," purrs the white not'cat, leaning hard against the scritching fingers.

[yinyangwizard]

"Jin Guangyao!" Abe no Seimei approaches his table. "How fortuitous that I should find you writing, for I was thinking of you when I visited the calligraphy shop earlier today."

There is actually no chance involved in this meeting whatsoever, for Seimei's shikigami warning system told him of Jin Guangyao's arrival. And Seimei has a task to perform, which Jin Guangyao happens to be on the receiving end of.

[hat_and_dimples]

"Abe no Seimei!" Jin Guangyao says, with a pleasant smile, before he rises and bows, hands together. "Please, do take a seat and accept a cup of tea; it's Lushan Yunwu. I like it's clarity and gentle taste."

Whatever world Abe no Seimei had just come in from, it has to be loud and hectic for him to lead with an actual subject rather than easing himself into polite conversation.

[yinyangwizard]

“Oh! That is so kind of you.” Seimei bows. “And I apologize for being so brash, but I think you in particular would appreciate what I have brought with me.”

That’s one of the small sadnesses if their situation. Under other circumstances, they could have been genuine friends. But Jin Guangyao chose a bad path.

[hat_and_dimples]

Jin Guangyao pours tea for Seimei, and offers him the cup.

"I in particular?" he says, head askance.

[yinyangwizard]

“Yes. Thank you.” Seimei takes the offered cup of tea in hand and takes a sip. “This is very good.”

He puts the cup down carefully.

“Where I come from, most people do not use brushes for writing anymore, and have not for some time.” He reaches into his sleeve and pulls out a stationery card and a capped ballpoint pen. “For everyday use, people have things like these.” He holds up the pen.

“It does not permit artful calligraphy, but it is a remarkable innovation.” He uncaps the pen and starts writing some common kanji characters on the card. “No mixing ink. No dipping. The ink is inside the pen and is dispensed evenly as one writes.”

[hat_and_dimples]

Jin Guangyao watches the characters being written, observing closely. "Such a fine line, and no danger of smudging your sleeve!" he declares.

[yinyangwizard]

“Indeed, very practical! But it does not make for beautiful calligraphy. There is however a wonderful invention that splits the difference!”

Seimei takes another stationery card and a small case out of his sleeve - this time the opposite sleeve. He opens the case to reveal a fine-tipped brush fountain pen.

[hat_and_dimples]

"It's a brush?" Jin Guangyao asks, curious.

[yinyangwizard]

“Not just any brush! A brush pen! It holds its own ink in a small reservoir inside. Take a look.”

He uses the pen to write on the blank stationery card, but this time instead of writing kanji, he writes in Sanskrit. The written characters glow faintly, with an entrancing inner light.

[hat_and_dimples]

"You can write talismans with it!"

[yinyangwizard]

“Indeed! With a ballpoint pen as well, but it is less effective, at least for me.”

[hat_and_dimples]

"A ballpoint pen seems too much like the tool of a clerk, not a gentleman of powerful gestures," Jin Guangyao says. "Show me?"

He actually produces a sheet of talisman paper from his sleeve.