Dark Edge Village

Finding a moment to socialise a bit more in the camp, Tomoe went to see how her fellow Hare was doing since it seemed like she had some time to seek her out for once.

"Tsukimi-san?" Tomoe called to Tsukimi as she neared her yurt.

"Hai? Who calls?" Tsukimi popped her head out of her yurt, and smiled at the sight of her cousin. "Come in, come in!"

"Thank you!" the other Hare smiled brightly as her cousin invited her in.

"How are you feeling? We've hardly had the chance to talk since we came here!"

"Would you care for some tea?" She asked, "Please, find a spot, my yurt is your yurt," Tsukimi grinned, and set about fetching her teapot and starting it up.
"I'm much better today- the cuisine the Unicorn brought did not agree with me, I had a reaction, felt very ill, the works." She frowned a little, wrinkled her nose a bit like their clan's namessake, then pushed some dark hair from her eyes.
"However, there is a silver lining, one of the Shinjo men has been tending to me, keeping me company and I like to think that maybe we're developing something of a report..." A touch of rose bloomed on the Hare's cheeks.
"And you, cousin? How are you enjoying the miai? How were your travels to get here?"

"If it's no trouble, tea would be lovely," the fox-rabbit sat herself down, happy to see her cousin was feeling better.

Her smile grew visibly as Tsukimi spoke of her romantic success. "Ooooh, how romantic!" she giggled. "A handsome Unicorn saviour to nurse you back to health... I am envious now. How I wish I had been as successful as you so far."

"My journey was uneventful, which is probably good, and the miai is... well, it is certainly interesting. Some of the men here are rather handsome and would be great husbands, I imagine, but none of them have expressed a specific interest in me other than friendliness so far. There was one I had my eyes on early on, but he said he was looking for a warrior to wed, so..." she shrugged. Not much she could do about that, as she was in a similar boat herself.

"So who is this handsome hero of yours?" Tomoe was clearly eager for a little bit of girly gossip.

Tsukimi busied herself with setting up for tea.
"A warrior? That's unfortunate, but they say there is someone for everyone, hopefully you find your match, cousin, I have faith the Fortunes will smile on you and you will be happy come the end of this miai!" she bopped her head, and twitched her nose.
And a blush of crimson bloomed upon her cheeks.
"Have you encountered Shinjo Monkhbaatar-san?"

"I have," she nodded, then shot her cousin a rather knowing grin. "He seems like a rather handsome fellow... and gallant enough to come to a maiden in need."

Tomoe rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she looked at Tsukimi. "My, do you fancy him, Tsukimi-chan?"

"I was in a haze, cheese-addled, and kind of loopy. Unwell, really, by all counts, and yet he sat by me all night, made sure I stayed hydrated, and checked on me yesterday morning.
I think I am taken, Tomoe-chan. But I am wary, it is early in the miai yet, and I will not put my heart in one basket, as it were. That could be disastrous, ne?"
The kettle sung, and Tsukimi poured the tea.

"It could be," she nodded thoughtfully. "But he seems like such a gentleman, I do not think he wants to break your heart... at least not on purpose."

And then there was the fact that there seemed to be many more eligible non-Unicorn women than eligible Unicorn men. Especially when factoring in that the Moto men seemed only eligible to marry their horses.

Tomoe accepted the cup of tea with a quiet word of thanks. "Have you met any of the other men, or is he the only one to hold sway in your thoughts?"

"It's still early. And I am nosy," Tsukimi smirked and picked up her cup. Then her eyebrows rose, and she looked at Tomoe.
"So the man you are interested in wants a warrior. But what do you want?"

"Hopefully a warrior, but a priest to bring home to the Hare would be good too," she said with a clever smile and sipped her tea. "I really don't have anyone in particular in mind, to be honest. Many of them are nice, but none have really shown an interest yet, so..." Tomoe shrugged.

"We'll just have to see. As you say, it's still early. I just hope I don't have to leave the Hare, to be honest..."

"Perhaps we should make a date to go husband-shopping, Tomoe-chan, though I think you are more desirable than I." she said humbly, and dropped her gaze to her cup, running her thumbpad along the rim before having a sip.
"You're wanting to stay with the Hare?" she echoed, curious.

"Nonsense... you're capable and clever, and not a... well, burden like I can be sometimes," she said a bit shamefully, knowing that not many would want an epileptic for a wife.

She nodded. "Hai... I like my home with the Hare, and I want to continue to prove myself there. But I understand if it's best for the clan if I marry out. Not sure if I would like being a Unicorn."

Sip sip.

"You're not burden. We all have our gifts, and you are brilliant." Tsukimi tries to make Tomoe feel better.

"What is it about the Unicorn that has you nervous, my sweet cousin?" she nudges closer, and looks on with concern and interest.

"Hmm... guess I'm a little concerned with what they're like. The ones here are just a small part of their clan, but what about the rest? Do they think we're weird or weak? Or are they even nice? How do they treat their wives and husbands?"

She sighed and gave Tsukimi a reassuring smile. "I'm just overthinking things."