Exploring Oxford [closed RP]

[areallperfect]

((adult content throughout.))

After a bit of wandering through the city and with some additional help from locals, Katsumoto and Tony had finally located a clothier shop and procured more suitable attire for the former chef, courtesy of Jordan College funds. It was clothing that wouldn't have looked out of place in the era Katsumoto came from, but

Comments

[areallperfect]

A few spare quilts had been borrowed, folded, and laid out over the floor of Katsumoto's room as a sort of makeshift tatami. It was as much for his own comfort as Tony's - kneeling too long on hard surfaces brought out an unpleasant ache in his knees, anymore. The sparse furniture had been rearranged and moved out of the way, and the window had been opened to help air out the slightly musty smell of the room.

One of the porters had been able to provide a portable writing desk, an ideal height for Katsumoto's purpose, and it was positioned so Tony could sit across from him. The inkstone had been carefully prepared, most of the stiffness worked out of each ink brush, and several characters written on a sheet of parchment to test the quality of each item. Katsumoto had attained an elegant hand through a lifetime of dedication to the art, but in spite of this there remained, in his own opinion, areas he could still improve upon.

The door was left open, while Katsumoto sat in seiza and continued writing.

[cheftonyb]

((You have a Katsu for every occasion. :D))

Tony tapped gently on the door frame and poked his head into the room. It was easy enough locating the kitchens and putting away the food. He'd found a bowl and picked out half of the strawberries and a paring knife to take back to Katsumoto's room.

"I brought back some strawberries," he said, seating himself crosslegged on the floor across from Katsumoto.

[areallperfect]

((Except for nakedtiems, sadfax.))

Yasu rolled off the bed like an over-sized house cat and went to greet Rose Lee at the door, as Katsumoto glanced up to likewise acknowledge Tony. "Thank you," he said, setting the ink brush aside and trading the parchment he'd been writing on for a blank sheet. "Do you remember what you were taught before?"

[cheftonyb]

"Not... really," Tony admitted. "And... it was Chinese anyway."

[areallperfect]

"Will you remember what I show you?" Katsumoto was smiling as he said it. The first 'lesson' wasn't going to have much practical purpose, and he didn't actually expect it to be remembered. But if Tony was serious about learning Japanese, more fundamental lessons could be devised and given in the future and probably offscreen, for convenience. With or without sexy flogging.

Katsumoto stood and moved to Tony's left, smoothing his hakama and holding the hilt of his wakizashi as he sank back into seiza beside him. His katana had been set atop the dresser earlier.

"It will be complicated," he said, dipping a brush into the ink. "And you will only find out what it means once you can write it correctly." He held the brush much like a pencil in his right hand, and drew the character very slowly so Tony would be able to follow each stroke: 裸. He repeated it a second and third time, re-inking the brush as needed, then offered it to Tony.

[cheftonyb]

((LOL, Katsu don't fuck around))

"I'll do my best," Tony said, accepting the brush. His first stroke was clumsy and too long, he grimaced and finished drawing the character, trying to remain mindful of the order Katsumoto had showed him.

"You make it look so easy."

[areallperfect]

((Hee, I thought it'd segue well into "now take off your clothes plz"))

The first attempt wasn't bad, even if it was incorrect. Learning how to achieve several line thicknesses in one fluid stroke would probably go a long way toward helping Tony, and Katsumoto made a note to show him how to next time.

"It will become easier, with practise," he said, taking the brush and re-inking it, then gave it back to Tony. "Grip loosely... but not too loose. Keep the strokes smooth." He reached in front of Tony and took his hand, guiding it for him through a few more repetitions.

"Now again." He let go and picked up the bowl of strawberries and knife.

[cheftonyb]

Tony shook out his shoulders and tried again, carefully tracing out the lines on the paper. The result was still clumsy, but better than before. "What does it say?" He asked, attempting the character again.

[areallperfect]

Katsumoto sliced and ate a strawberry as he watched Tony's very gradual improvement. The character was now readable, but still not particularly graceful or neat, and it partially reminded him of his youngest nephew's childish scrawl. Which was a dubious compliment at best, so he kept it to himself.

"Hadaka," he replied, trying not to smile. "Do you know this word?"

[cheftonyb]

Tony tumbled his very limited Japanese vocabulary over in his mind. "I don't," he said, attempting the character again.

[areallperfect]

Setting the bowl and knife aside, Katsumoto took another brush, dipped it in the ink, and added three more characters to the parchment: になる. They were much less complicated than the first had been.

"Ninaru," he explained, then wrote them next to one of the better looking characters Tony had done. "Hadakaninaru. Try writing this."

[cheftonyb]

Tony replicated the three new characters to the best of his ability.

"Like that?"

[areallperfect]

"Good. But... you could do better." Katsumoto smiled and tapped a finger against the parchment. "Keep practising. Then I will tell you the meaning."

[cheftonyb]

Tony stifled a noise of objection and put brush to paper. He wrote the characters again, several more times, looking up at Katsumoto for approval.

[areallperfect]

It wasn't meant to be an exercise in torment, so Katsumoto settled for what Tony felt like doing. He used the handle of his ink brush to underline a set of になる. "Ninaru. Becomes," he said, and pointed to a 裸. "Hadaka. Nude."

He underlined one of the full sets of characters. "Hadakaninaru. To... undress."

Gently lifting Tony's own ink brush away and setting it aside, Katsumoto looked at him, no longer trying to keep the mirth from his expression or voice. "Would you like to?"

[cheftonyb]

Tony smiled. "So, this is what you had in mind," he said, hands already going to the buttons on his shirt even as he spoke. "What about you?"