(Moon 14, Evening, aft-deck, open) Outings.

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

Not that the Unicorn would have refused.

"So where did you acquire it then, if I may ask?" He asked anyway, smiling to the Asahina. Foreign products, when imported to local markets, could be a way more than they were close to the place of the origin. This was the cold hard truth that kept the economy running. A simple fact even a budding merchant patron knew.

[Asahina Narumi]

"I got it in a small city known as Two Creeks that is about midway between Kyuden Doji and Shiro Daidoji. I was assigned as a caretaker for a temple devoted to Benten there. Several merchants carried it, but I don't know how popular it was. Sometimes Arata-sensei would smoke with me, but a monk enjoying something is hardly and indication of popularity," she says, her mind obviously wandering off towards the monk with a slight smile on her face.

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

Sounds like pretty local then... Mental note of her background was taken, and stored for a later use. Learned woman, then.

"Hmm, that may be so." he agreed with her, nodding slowly. The again, it was possible that she was wrong, and that the brand could actually sell well in the Unicorn lands. As long as they didn't call it 'Crane Blend'.

"Did the merchants have some specific name for that blend, then?" he asked, curious.

[Asahina Narumi]

"I don't believe so. They just called it by the flavor as far as I remember: melon, orange, mint, grape..." she said again. She was now barely catching on that he might be interested in more than just acquiring it for personal use. It's not that she was slow or daft, just that she rarely paid mind to mercantile exploits. Not that she had anything against merchants or their patrons.

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

Must have been Yasuki merchant then. How unimaginative. Now... 'Breath of Spring'... or 'Touch of Benten...' Holy man or no, koku were koku.

"Ah, I see." he nodded, concluding the topic. He'd have to look into the matter of scented tobacco later. Now all he had to do was to secure a sample.

"Asahina-san mentioned divination... What kind of divination you practise? It's a field I have always had interest in, but never had the time to learn." the man kept talking, smiling as he did so. The nice perfume he worse just for an occasions as this, was unfortunately overwhelmed by the scent of the tobacco.

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Hoshi nodded. "Mm...That sounds familiar to what I heard the Mantis do with their tea blends. 'Strawberry blend' seems just that ne?" She interjected in the middle of the discussion with a soft tone, not really wanting an answer as it moved to another topic.

She recalled the methods the Asahina mentioned she used but allowed her to do the explaining.

(* missing some words!)

[Asahina Narumi]

Narumi nodded her appreciation to Hoshi for confirming that her memory and understanding didn't seem to be too far from the truth.

"Ahh, I mostly throw kawaru coins, but on occasion I like to read the stars. They offer information in different ways and keeping different perspectives helps in understanding how to read the, sometimes very vague, portents offered," she offers as an explanation as to her preferences. "If you are interested I'd be glad to give a lesson one of these days. Unfortunately I have no tomes or scrolls with me that could provide help on the subject."

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"I have heard of such teas as well, Bayushi-san." Xiao Hua replied, nodding to Hoshi. "Such blends are not exactly rare, even though some more traditional tea houses seem to... prefer less... adventurous flavours."

Iuchi nodded few times as the Asahina explained, his smile widening. Seemed like the cloud had a silver lining. Escaping his marriage, stuck aboard a military ship, he had found a scholarly teacher. Well, the be precise, he had also found the person he was supposed to marry, a fact that didn't please him, as nice as she seemed to be. Sometimes, nice just didn't cut it. He still missed her.

"If you were so kind, I would love to." he bowed to her, ever so slightly. "Unfortunately, I think I may not have any way to repay such kindness." he added, smiling. "As for the books and scrolls, I am sure Asahina-san could teach me the basics well without aides,no?"

[Asahina Narumi]

"We can figure out how to go about such teachings once the duty roster is posted. It would be hard to promise anything if we are on different shifts after all." She takes a drag from her kiseru and slowly exhales the smoke away from the others. It's so nice after nothing but dried fish and rice. Bringing so much along was a wonderful idea.

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Of course." the man nodded. "Duties should come first."

[Yoritomo Kaito]

Kaito had set back lazily smoking as the conversation progressed perfectly fine to let the two chat about tobacco and what not. Though we was curious about the flavored blends of tobacco none of the one's mentioned really touched his fancy now if they could flavor it with shochu.... He might have to buy some.

Glancing over at the Bayushi and seeing the conversation come to a presumed stopping point the mantis offered forth another conversation topic. "So how are you all findin the life on a ship so far Minna-san?"

[Asahina Narumi]

"It is very different than I expected. It is much more difficult to walk around than I expected and I'm glad that I've been physically active most of my life. That balance has saved me from falling on my face more than a few times." The priestess replies.

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"It's... a bit more demanding that I expected, to be honest. But, it's not too bad."

Barring that blasted, ever-wailing sea.

[Bayushi Hoshi]

"I still think it's early to draw an opinion but it shares a pretty close similarity to my earlier days of being a guard, a highly regimented life with little room for mistakes. Being on a ship is different...but their ways are not entirely foreign for me really. Mm, well, save for the closer relationship with the heimen here we seem to have."

[Yoritomo Kaito]

The Mantis nodded as everyone commented. "Hai you generally get pretty close with most of the people on a ship because like it or not you're aren't likely to meet many others for weeks to months on end depending on the trip you're making."

"Course not everyone can get along all the time that's likely the reason for teh fishing boats. Give's ya some time to be mostly alone and a task to do to get ya busy."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

"In the situation where one is really at odds with another on this ship, it seems unpractical to have a skiff following the ship for the entirety of the trip..."

[Yoritomo Kaito]

"Well generally speaking the gunso's and occasionally the capn will make sure that sort of thing is handled. You got to be able to trust those ya work with on a ship or it could mean the death of ya all." He said glancing over at the scorpion. "The skiffs are more just a means for ya to cool your head for a bit. It's not like there's really any place for you to walk after all."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

"Hai. You're bound to run into somebody else and start a new alternation walking on deck." She agreed with a glance on both sides of the ship. "I'll assume that there was always good judgment on a ship to never allow two persons with disagreements on the same skiff too."

[Yoritomo Kaito]

Not unless you wanted one of the two of them to end up drowning. The mantis thought as he confirmed the scorpions suspensions. "Separate skiffs sometimes if ya have the means for it but aye never the same one. Like it or not though all of us will probably find our self's on a skiff before this trip is over for various reasons of course. So I hope ya know at least a little bit about fishing."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Hoshi laughed softly at that and glanced to the length of the ship, she didn't go under the impression that she would get along with everyone on this ship. In the circumstances that anyone was actually going to waste their time being at odds with her, she did find that rather amusing. Perhaps it'll mean that she found some degree of success here. "Hai Yoritomo-san, for various reasons. I know a bit about fish but little about fishing unfortunately, so being on a skiff would serve as a good time to learn."