Wise
Wise watched Miyabi walk off and disappear behind a nearby wall. He was doing his best not to show it, but not having her near him within a few moments of entering the Hoshimi home was a bit unnerving. The place was huge and elegant and, to Wise's eye, absurdly fancy. It almost didn't feel right to stand on the polished wood floors because he would dirty them up, or something.
He was not standing in what he could call a room, exactly- and it was too small to be an atrium. The path out of the genkan room ran immediately into a wall of dark, slatted wood decorated by a single banner of the Hoshimi clan symbol. Below it, in a narrow alcove, was a large jade pot with two stalks of bamboo planted in it, one tall to the ceiling, and one about half that height. Robin-egg-like river stones served as the top layer of 'soil' in the pot.
There was symbolism here, Wise realized; but what it was… he would need to think about it. But there was something else to think on, too. Like… maybe Miyabi's apparent accidental proposition a few moments ago?
Wise? Would you like to sleep with me tonight?
I mean… this was just their second date! And this was her house! But… well… I mean… well… yeah!. Wise would definitely like to do that! The idea of Miyabi wrapping herself around him in the dark was a decidedly attractive fantasy.
But a fantasy only, Wise told himself. Miyabi had simply misspoke. He was sure of it. Almost. Almost totally sure of it. Lycaon seemed to have perfectly translated what Miybai meant. Right? Yeah. Miyabi wouldn't be that forward…
Well…? Actually. She was rather direct in much of what she said and did… and it was always so hard to figure out exactly what Miyabi was thinking; her stoic face was so unexpressive. So.. maybe?
No, no no. Don't expect such things. Thirst would make him act the fool. Wise needed to keep his head tonight. After all, Souichirou was around here somewhere, and encountering him without Miyabi around did not seem the most enjoyable prospect.
"Shall I show you to your guest room, Master Wise?" said Lycaon.
"Yeah, Lycaon," said Wise, thinking that the least likely spot to run into Miyabi's father for the moment. "Sounds good."
Meanwhile, the maids emerged from the genkan room, presumably having completed whatever tasks they had there, and they bowed to Wise and Lycaon slightly with their professional decorum perfectly replaced. Then they too went off into the house in the same direction as Miyabi. Perhaps one or both of them were to attend to their Lady in preparation for dinner.
Lycaon led Wise in the opposite direction. A short hallway opened up to a broad sort of… Wise didn't know what to call it- but a long gallery of various artifacts and artworks on columns, plus two clusters of small, comfortable looking couches. The forward wall was actually a massive window, not tinted on this side, and it gave a wide panorama of the Hoshimi gardens. The sun was well on its way down by now, so the plants and trees outside were grey shadows in the falling twilight, the sky with only a faint trace of pink in the east.
There were too many things to look at in the speed in which Lycaon was walking, so Wise could only gain a vague sense that most of the things on the pedestals were historical relics- extravagantly painted vases, porcelains, and a few lady's fans, hairpins and brushes. The Hoshimi jade green color scheme seemed prevalent on most items.
They turned inward to the right and passed through some sort of staff nook,it had a minibar and some packaged food items around a small sink- a convenient little spot for guests in the gallery to be served refreshments. This house, or at least this part of it, seemed designed more as a venue than a home. That was an odd sort of vibe in Wise's mind, but it wasn't his house, so…
Lycaon opened a traditional sliding door, more faux rice paper walls between more slatted wood, and led Wise out into what appeared to be an inner courtyard, or perhaps a backyard? An open-face patio ran down the length of the home to where it terminated at a sliding door at another section of the house itself. Outward was a garden, bamboo running along the borders of two symmetrical rock gardens, and a single giant wisteria drooped over all, somehow alluring in its slight asymmetry. Beyond the tree, along a stylistically meandering sequence of stepping stones between the gardens and bamboo, was a small cottage. Wise thought it all looked like something out of a fantasy movie. It was mildly stunning, actually.
"That's it?" said Wise, surprised by the novelty of this thing being within the estate itself. "That's the guest house?"
"Yes, Master Wise," said Lycaon, leading the way along the patio before stepping down onto the stepping stone path. "An isolate room, to be sure- but one of the most popular amongst guests of the Hoshimi Clan. A great number of flowers bloom about the house, so the evening and morning breezes can be delightfully fragrant."
Isolate was the key word there, thought Wise. It was separate from the home and, presumably, all passages inward to the main house could likely be locked at night. And Wise felt very sure that, tonight, they would be.
Was there a bathroom? There had to be, right?
Lycaon stepped up onto the porch of the cottage, removed his slippers from his metallic feet and left them on the tiny porch, and then led the way inside for Wise to follow suit. The cottage was small, but more than amble for Wise. Again: dark polished wood floors and walls in slatted design. Here and there hung a few tapestries of a roving floral pattern in pale gray and jade. The bedroom was tatami floored and a futon was already laid out. A sky blue yukata hung from a hook folded out from the side of a bedroom wall. There was indeed a bathroom, and- on the back porch, of all things, a carved bamboo onsen bathtub.
"Is that?" said Wise, eyes boggling slightly at the porch bath.
Lycaon looked up from a review of the hanging yukata. "Genuine? Yes. There is a geothermal spring on the estate grounds and the waters are made available in several rooms."
"Jeez!" said Wise.
"Indeed," agreed Lycaon, who perhaps was far more jaded to the extravagances of the mega rich. "Shall I fit this robe for you, Master Wise? I think only minor adjustments might be required."
"Yeah, okay, Lycaon," said Wise, stepping back into the bedroom. "Do what you think is best."
Lycaon helped Wise into the yukata that, presumably, had been arranged to be waiting for them both by Victoria Housekeeping in the time since they all had left Port Elpis about an hour ago. Talk about a capable service!
The wolf thiren's huge, furry hands proved gentle and deft in their movements. Critical tugs and smoothings of the robe around Wise's chest drew a thoughtful frown on Lycaon's face and a twitch of his tail.
"I need to loosen the chest a little, and tighten up the waist. You're slightly more muscular than I expected, Master Wise."
"Uh, thanks? Sorry?" said Wise. He did a daily exercise routine. Otherwise he would just… sit around all day.
"Nonsense," said Lycaon as he took the yukata off Wise and then sat down in a nearby chair. "Pray give me a moment.."
Wise watched Lycaon push some sort of button hidden on his cybernetic legs and a compartment popped out of the wolf thiren's metallic shin. Lycaon withdrew from within, of all things, a small sewing kit and thread scissors. It was readily apparent that Lycaon knew quite a bit about tailoring and he set about altering a few internal elements of the yukata that looked to Wise like snipping tiny strings and threading tiny needles.
"Master Wise," said Lycaon absently. "Due to our… professional relationship, I feel compelled to advise you of my assignment this evening."
That sounded mildly ominous. "Okay…" said Wise.
"I am to be posted in the garden outside this cottage until dawn," said Lycan, his single eye focused on his work on the clothing. "...specifically to act as a guard against a nighttime rendezvous between you and the Lady Hoshimi."
Wise blinked and then smiled sheepishly. That sounded absurd. Was he serious? "You're job is to guard Miyabi against… me?"
"Yes," said Lycaon. The red iris of his single eye met Wise's gaze seriously, and Wise felt an instinctive shiver of trepidation. "So please do not test me in this. I do not wish to use force against you, Master Wise."
As someone who had personally witnessed Lycaon leap fifteen feet into the air to rocket kick giant ethereals in the face- Wise did not want Lycaon to use force against him, either. Lycaon was what, almost seven feet fall and surely somewhere over three hundred pounds, and not an ounce of it was fat. Wise would have a far better chance against a literal brick wall.
"Yeah, me either, Lycaon," said Wise.
Lycaon nodded and refocused on his work. "But until then, you will be free to explore the estate at will, of course. But perhaps you should consider a bath?"
Wise blinked. He'd bathed this morning… but that was a long time ago. "Should I?" Wise pulled open the front of his shirt and sniffed, his male camaraderie with Lycaon enough to make him feel at ease. He didn't smell bad exactly, but a certain muskiness was mixing with his deodorant….
"Half-thirens do not smell as keenly as we," said Lycaon, his lupine snout lifting slightly, his eye flickering to Wise briefly before returning to his sewing. "But…"
The word hung in the air between them.
"I guess I'll have a bath."
"As you wish, Master Wise."
Wise decided to simply use the shower to wash up. He might do the garden onsen soak this evening after dinner and mellow for sleep that way. For now, he was far too ancy to be able to really relax. A formal dinner with Hoshimi Souichirou and Hoshimi Miyabi? Wise was seriously worried he was going to make a fool of himself, and while Miyabi would likely forgive him- Souichirou likely would not.
Lycaon was gone by the time Wise emerged from the bathroom. The sky blue dinner yukata was hanging from its hook, billowing gently in the cool breeze coming through the nearby window. Night was fallen and the temperature had dropped rather notably. Wise closed the garden window.
With nothing else to do, Wise dressed in the provided under-robe and his new blue yukata. It was a high-thread count cotton and felt quite nice to put on. Looking in the mirror, he looked something of the tourist, but so be it. Wise then wavered between waiting in the room until closer to dinner or venturing out. There was about an hour still till dinnertime.
He took a deep breath. Hiding in here was out of the question. If he was going to keep Miyabi interested in him, there was no room in his life for cowardice. And the only possible way Souichirou would come to approve of Wise personally was through them getting to know each other.
Wise left the room.
The garden outside was dark and a few of the brighter stars were visible in the sky above, those few that could be seen through the immense light pollution of New Eridu City. The stepping stones were softly illuminated with little squarish lanterns of the same faux rice paper and slatted wood thematic that most of the doors in the Hoshimi Estate seemed to share. Wise crossed the garden and tested the door directly into the main house from the exit of his guest hut- it opened smoothly.
He found himself back in the long gallery, the couches all in a comfortable and cozy golden light, the curiosity items on their pillars were lit up brightly with upward-facing lights. No one was here. Presuming that this was the meeting spot of the house, Wise wandered about and looked at all the artifacts. At some point, a maid walking the main hallway spotted him and immediately turned around and walked in the other direction- was she avoiding him or headed off to deliver news of his presence?
Not sure what to make of that and being out of new things to look at in the gallery, Wise wandered past the entrance and the Hoshimi clan banner and the bamboo in its jade pot and entered the part of the house into which Miyabi had vanished an hour ago. There was a sort of gallery here, too. A circular table on a black pole sat in the middle of an octagonal room that felt like the core of the entire complex. Exits went off in two other directions, and the five walls of the room were each dominated by large woven tapestries, again a sturdy jade thread sewn into a silvery grey background.
Wise stepped into the room and he was immediately captivated by the tapestry that asserted itself at the obvious central point of the room's overall design: an intimidating fox of enormous size gazed down at Wise with what seemed to him a calculating daze. Behind the fox, a multitude of its tails rose towards the ceiling, their fluffed tips appearing crownlike behind the fox-creature's noble head.
"Do you know what that is?" said a soft male voice.
Wise startled slightly and his head turned to find Miyabi's father, Souichirou, standing in the room nearby. The man walked quietly! Jeeze!
Souichirou had exchanged his bright leaf-green kimono with a thinner, indoor yukata of muted evergreen. He had a look of tolerant disapproval on his face, which gave Wise the impression that what Souichirou had actually said was: You don't even know what that is, do you?
Man, this guy wavered between approval and disdain like a metronome.
Well, if Wise was dating Miyabi, he was going to have to deal with her father. Wise's own soul was not particularly combative or proud, so there seemed nothing else to do but kill the man with kindness. But as it happened, Wise did know what this tapestry was. He'd watched hundreds of documentaries, not just because of Random Play, but also because he just personally liked them and liked learning new things. Some of his favorites were documentaries on thiren culture, history, and mythology.
"It's Lord Huxian," said Wise, and he was gratified to see Lord Hoshimi raise his eyebrows slightly. "Or it was sometimes called Inari Okami. It is the divine patron of the vulpine thirens.'
"Hoh," said Souichirou, seeming mildly amused. His face gained a sort of appraising look. "You're correct, of course."
Miyabi's father swept his hand in a vaguely circular motion, as if to indicate the rest of the room. "What about these others?"
Sensing a challenge set before him, Wise took in a breath and looked carefully around the room. The other tapestries seemed to be depicting scenes from some sort of legendary story. In one, Lord Huxian in full fox form was standing on a high cliff and gazing out at the Great Eye on the horizon, which was some sort of ancient demon. In the next, a man with a sword was standing in the grasp of a giant paw. The next, a sword fight with the Great Eye watching overhead. Finally, a fox thiren man with an expansive cloak was raising a curved sword at the Great Eye in obvious threat and dominance.
"It's the traditional creation story of vulpine thirens, sir. Lord Huxian's conquest of the Great Eye."
Souichirou pursed his lips and seemed begrudgingly impressed. "That's correct. Would you like a drink, Wise? …Vivian?"
At the call of the name, one of the thiren maids suddenly appeared in one of the doorways. "Yes, Lord Hoshimi?"
"Please bring Wise whatever he would like."
The maid's eyes transferred to Wise. Was there a wrong choice? Don't overthink it. Just ask for what you want. "Ah, a beer, please?"
"Of course," said the maid without a blink. "What kind, sir?"
Of course they would have more than one kind! "Uh, a red ale, if you have it."
The maid nodded and looked back to Souichirou. "And for you, Lord Hoshimi? Your usual?"
"No. I will have the same," said Souichirou gamely. "It's been a while since I had one of those. It sounds like just the thing."
The maid bowed slightly and left on her errand. Souichirou then entered into a sort of impromptu lecture about the tapestries and who had made them (apparently someone very famous) and their quality of fabric which, of course, resulted in their acquisition being a vast expense. The maid returned with the drinks, two frosted crystal mugs full of a red brown ale.
They accepted their drinks and Wise felt a mild companionship growing between him and Souichirou. No matter who you were or how rich you were, nothing really matched sharing a cold beer and mutually interesting conversation. Souichiro walked to stand next to Wise and look upon the primary Huxian tapestry again. They both sipped their beers.
A short silence, and then: "Have you heard of the Demi-Human Emergence theory? Wise?"
"Uh," said Wise, all ease evaporating as alarm bells went off in his head and his heart gave one big thud in his chest. "Yeah, I've heard of it."
That particular idea was the favorite talking point of people who thought humans were better than everyone else- the supremacist types. Wise did not hold to their philosophies but he was certainly aware of them. And why did he feel like Souchirou was stalking around him, even though the man was just standing still with his hands innocently holding a mug of red ale.
Souichirou's eyes narrowed slightly. "How would you describe it?"
…Where the heck was Miyabi?! How long did it take her to get ready?!
Wise swallowed. He'd rather not answer and talk about something else. But again, it was another direct challenge by Miyabi's father. He couldn't back down. Word choice was key.
"...It's the debatable idea that a long time ago, humans were the only people on earth. But through various… uh… circumstances, the various types of thirens split off from humanity."
Souchirou gazed at him stoically for a long, silent moment. "A very loose paraphrasing."
Wise smiled sheepishly. "That's the jist of it, though. Isn't it? I've never been very interested-"
Souchirou's eyebrow arched upward. "Oh? But you know enough, I think. What do you think of it? Do you think it might be true?"
Wise blinked and realized he'd walked into a trap. This was a very controversial subject with all sorts of prejudicial undertones. He would need to tread very carefully.
"Well- uh… I sure don't know who came first, sir; but- the general idea that humans and thirens are closely related does make sense when we consider how similar everyone is. Beast thirens, half-thirens, humans: in most cases, we are all very similar. More alike than different, in fact. That seems a strong indication that there's a connection between us all somewhere in the past."
Miyabi must have inherited her emotionless stare from her father, because Souichirou's dark brown eyes were not giving anything away. He didn't look mad, at least. Wise hoped he had managed to walk that tightrope well enough.
"There's another theory," said Souichirou. "That thirens came first and humans are the end result of a bloodline grown too dilute. A devolution, if you will. The genetic dead end of every thiren bloodline."
WIse recognized that as an intentionally racist statement. Whether Souichirou meant it as such, or if he was just trying to see if Wise had buttons to push, it didn't particularly matter to Wise. Racial superiority was not something Wise cared about at any level. He didn't view himself or Belle as superior to anyone. All people were equal and tails and ears and furs were but coincidental differences.
"I'm inclined to believe that," said Wise.
Souichirou blinked at Wise in surprise. He had a questioning look. "You are? Why?"
Wise decided it was time to gamble on the man's sense of humor. "Well, there's no doubt in my mind that your daughter is a superior being compared to a guy like me."
Souchirou's eyes widened and his expression froze there. Wise feared he'd made a terrible mistake. But then, to Wise's immense relief, Souchirou's expression thawed and he chuckled softly, his eyes even twinkling. Was this the real Souichirou? Had Wise shattered the man's armor? At least for a moment?
"You know, Wise: You're a smart kid."
"Ah ha," said Wise, rubbing the back of his own head sheepishly. "Thanks…"
"My daughter-" began Souchirou fondly.
"Yes?" said a sharp voice from the doorway. "What of me? What are you both talking about?"
Both Wise and Souchirou turned to find Miyabi glaring at them- well, not at them both. She was very clearly glaring at her father. Her body was overtly curvy inside a tight, sky blue yukata embroidered with patterns of almost cloud-like white peony.
Wise thought she was absolutely beautiful, but he still had the presence of mind to try and take some heat off Souichirou. Perhaps he could gain a few points with the man by showing Miyabi that he was enjoying his time with Soichirou. Something to indicated: your father was well behaved!
Even though he hadn't been. At all!
"I told Lord Hoshimi about how I liked the tapestries and he has very kindly entertained me with lots of great information," said Wise.
He looked at Souichirou with an appreciative nod, trying to show Miyabi that her father had genuinely been nice- but judging by Lord Hoshimi's return glare at Miyabi, Wise's effort was lost on both father and daughter. There was chill air in the room suddenly, Wise hadn't noticed it until now.
"Did you not see the new red yukata I bought you, Miyabi? Did the maids not set it out?" said Souichirou grimly, clear undertones in his voice- though Wise could not parse their meaning.
Miyabi raised her chin. "I saw it. It is lovely. But I chose to wear this one."
"Tch," went Souichirou's mouth. He was frowning in obvious displeasure. "Well, then. Dinner should be about ready. Let's go to table, yes?"
And Souichirou stalked from the room towards the west. Miyabi watched him go, then turned her expressionless face upon Wise. She had applied make-up to herself, he realized, and her hair was very elaborately braided around the top of her head.
Miyabi glided more than walked up close to him, her legs somewhat constrained by her tight yukata. And while she did not exactly smile, her face seemed to be on the verge of one, all the same. "Hello again, Wise. Shall we join father at table?"
"Sure," said Wise. "You look really beautiful, Miyabi." And she very much did.
Miyabi's ear twitched and she gained a faint blush to her cheek. She stepped to his side and wrapped her arm into his elbow, linking their arms like they had done in the garden. They would walk to the family table as a couple, apparently.
Wise realized suddenly that Miyabi's yukata was the exact same shade of blue as his own…