Bed Intruder (D4, EE)

[Otaku Kitakuhime]

After the cracking thunder, the skies seemed to have been shattered and it poured down heavily upon the mortals underneath. Kitauhime was about to take Gekko to the stables, but the wall of water made it nearly impossible to move. Soaked wet, she decides to wait within her yurt. Forgetting to close the entrance in her rush, Kitakuhime starts to light up a fire to heat things up a bit.

[Moto Butaj]

And right in the entrance a wild Butaj appears! Dripping wet, soaked to the bone, bent... and sheltering a roasted lamb! A skin of kumis dangles at his side, and the horsehead fiddle on his back sticks diagonally out. He may not even be seeing whose yurt he has just entered!

"Ha! Saved the dinner!"

[Otaku Kitakuhime]

Stopping midway, the girl covers up her partially naked skin with the wet clothes she was about to dismiss. She slowly turns her head to the door, and the unsettling raised eyebrow denounces her surprise. "N-nani... d-dinner?"

[Moto Butaj]

"Crispy, succulent lamb! The rain would..." He is in the process of turning when he catches a glimpse of Kitakuhime's desperately covered skin and sharply turns away. He realises his shameless intrusion "...waste her. The lamb." He bows his head to look into the ground and starts to step back into the rain. "Butaj is sorry, Sayyeda."

[Otaku Kitakuhime]

Butaj hears the sound of a wet sash unlacing itself, some steps and the familiar sound of the silk being laced back up. Finally, he hears her voice –– a it louder, due to heaviness of the rain outside, "No need to be sorry, Butaj-san. Please, enter. Let's not waste a succulent lamb."

The girl waves for him to sit, showing both a tray to lace the food and come dry clothes at the corner of the yurt.

[Moto Butaj]

Drenched and dripping, Butaj walks in checking with a glance if it is safe to look at Kitakuhime. "Thank you, Sayyeda." He lays the lamb on the tray and wipes hands at his wet cotton shirt. Putting the instrument and the skin of kumis aside, he squeezes his hair dry by the entrance. And then removes his soaked top, staying topless for now. His leather pants stay, still wet but not as much since they were tanned to sustain foul weather. He then sits by the hearth, rubbing the warmth up his arms. "Butaj would roll it once or twice over the fire before eating."

[Otaku Kitakuhime]

Before she sits in front of her to look at the fire, Kitakuhime walks behind the tall man, gently laying a fur mantle over his strong shoulders and back.

After taking her place, she produces some cups, two of those she fills with water.

[Moto Butaj]

"Shukran." He smiles gently wrapping himself tighter in the mantle, then fits the skewered lamb on the forks over the hearth after some adjustment. He rolls it systematically to steam off a bit of humidity from the meat. "Butaj wonders what this storm is about. There was a humid wind from the east but Butaj did not expect this big a downpour."

[Otaku Kitakuhime]

"The heavens surely looked somewhat different today." The Otaku lays down a knive to cut the lamb. "The heat had to be eventually cooled down a bit, don't you think?"

[Moto Butaj]

"The weather of our new lands is not strange maybe, just unknown for now." Butaj shrugs, stopping the roast so she can take a slice and check if the lamb is done. "Like many other things."

[Otaku Kitakuhime]

Kitakuhime slices a crunchy crust and pierces it, offering the succulent meat to Butaj's satisfaction. "Well. Things are clearing up a bit. Any luck with the girls?"

[Moto Butaj]

Butaj takes it, slices off a bit of the slice, nods in contentment, then take out his own knife and chooses one of the best parts for Kitakuhime before passing another plate to her. "Butaj has had several meetings. The conversation was mostly nice, the Crane was the most difficult, the Phoenix and the Dragon have taken keen interest in our culture. There are also some girls of those strange little clans. They kept Butaj's company last evening, but Butaj does not know what to make of them." He looks up at Kitakuhime, wondering about the intent behind the question. "The best time Butaj has had so far was with Sayyeda Khulun and Sayyeda Chi-pu, but it is always like that among kin, when kumis flows and songs are sung."

[Otaku Kitakuhime]

"Butaj-san. If I could offer my thoughts: you should focus your attention elsewhere. Khulun-san, Chi-Pu-senpai and myself are from your Clan. You already have us by your side. Allow yourself to know the many wonders the other Clans have to offer. Your skills and charisma can become legendary throughout the Empire, where you'll have a much grander chance to shine in service to your lord."

The girl takes the kumis bag and pours a bit for him, sitting back dow to her place. "Your position with the Moto –– in my honest opinion –– is just a passing moment. Like this rain. Tomorrow it will pass, we'll have to fix the damage it left, but we'll also have to begin anew."

[Moto Butaj]

He nods after a sip of kumis and a bite of lamb. "Butaj knows he has to accept his future is in another Clan, among people unlike Butaj. He is just very much of a Unicorn at heart and he doesn't know if he can still feel himself after leaving it. Butaj has heard from a Crane maiden he would be a poor Crane unless he would give up much of what is Butaj." Some water, some meat. "Butaj wants to have good memories to live on with, at least that." He raises his gaze from the fire onto Kitakuhime. "Sayyeda Kitakuhime sharing a meal with Butaj will be a very good memory though."

[Otaku Kitakuhime]

She opens a genuine smile at his delightful comment and replies, "Likewise, Butaj-san. I so far have only good memories of you. You truly inspire the Clan. I am sure you'll be able to inspire others outside the Clan –– given you understand how to adapt yourself a bit."