Birds, Bees, and Phoenixes (Day 5, LM, Yuki's Yurt)

[Asako Yuki]

Yuki sat quietly in her yurt, working on some poetry to keep her busy. She wasn't entirely certain what Hirase wanted to talk to her about. But it must be important, considering how eager he had been to set up the meeting. Blissfully unaware, the Phoenix maiden dipped her brush in ink and set about crafting a poem to keep her focus with.

[Asako Hirase]

As was usual this time of day, Hirase was just leaving his son for the day in the care of his nurse. Yuki could hear him bidding Ichiro farewell, and the boy's piping farewell, before the clearing of the throat that Hirase used in lieu of a knock.

[Asako Yuki]

"Hirase-san? Please, come in. I just finished eating." The call from inside the yurt came.

[Asako Hirase]

Inward came the elder Asako, his demeanor as calm as ever. He was wearing a rather faded set of robes today, the kind of outfit one kept because it was too comfortable to part with no matter that it was no longer quite as fine as it had once been.

"Ohayou, Yuki-san." He bowed, properly as always, and then looked for a place to sit. "You have been well these last few days I hope?"

[Asako Yuki]

"Hai, though I think I really need to schedule another meeting with Moto-san." She bit her lower lip a bit at that. "I don't want him to start thinking that I've forgotten him." She paused. "Oh! That Moto lady that was very rude to you. I think she was trying to set me up with another Moto. Moto al-Kalb. He seemed alright. Very... gruff, though." She frowned slightly. "Did you know that the Unicorn train war dogs? Apparently they use them to help on the battlefield and to protect their wounded."

Yuki managed to master her impulse to keep talking though. "How about you, Hirase-san? Any fruitful meetings yourself?"

[Asako Hirase]

"Moto Khulan's greeting was less than perfect but we've become friends since." The older Phoenix chuckled. "War dogs do not surprise me, though I had not known they existed before now, no. And, yes, you should invite Butaj out. If you haven't yet, ask him to play for you. His musical talent is excellent and he has songs that I'd never imagined." A tiny smile rose and fell. "If I was a woman, I would be fighting you for his favor for that alone."

[Asako Yuki]

Yuki smiled, completely missing that Hirase hadn't answered her question to him.

"I have,actually. That was how we met." She blushed a little. "I am torn though. I hope he can overtake me in points, but if I don't gain points, maybe someone else will want him that has more than me?"

[Asako Hirase]

"At least you have some." The older Asako's tone turned wry. "I am likely headed home disgraced, after all."

Then, more gently, he said, "You might give him a token of favor. Something that will mark him as wanted, if not quite beloved. I like to believe that other samurai would honor that sign when the time came for choices and would not take what another had already made Benten's claim to."

[Asako Yuki]

"Hirase-san..." Yuki spoke the words mournfully. "It's not fair. You're more eligible than half these people probably. Maybe another Unicorn maiden will catch your eye?" She looked hopeful, if not expectant of that.

She nodded at the idea of giving Butaj a token. "I do have a fan, maybe I can give him that?"

[Asako Hirase]

"It is not my eye that is problematic, is it?" The older man shrugged, clearly not wanting to brush on the more painful topic of 'another' just yet. "You should. And don't make it a lesson, no matter how much your Asako blood tells you to. This once, especially, embrace the openness of the Unicorn for the blessing it is."

[Asako Yuki]

Yuki decided that the painful topic was not one she was willing to broach further with the older Phoenix. She glanced down at her hands and wrung them slightly. "Hai. You're right. I'll... let him pick what to do. We can just, have fun?" She glanced up at the older Phoenix again

[Asako Hirase]

"I am certain you will manage. A sunset together, perhaps...it is romantic to view together, but public so there can be no complaints of impropriety. You got on so well the other day I doubt you will have any trouble at all finding something to talk about."

The topic of the prior meeting with the young Moto had gotten them neatly back to why Hirase had actually wanted to talk with her and he took the opportunity to get to it.

"Speaking of the other day...you mentioned where you think bastards come from." His tone grew carefully neutral and he looked at her sidelong. "Could you elaborate about that...theory?"

[Asako Yuki]

Yuki listened to Hirase's wisdom, nodding quietly as she committed all that to memory. The question got her to pause for a moment and she smiled.

"Surely Hirase-san already knows. He has a child of his own." When he didn't look convinced she sighed. "Children come from when a couple goes to a shrine and prays for a child. Then, when the Fortunes hear their prayer, they decide whether to bless the woman with a child or not. Bastards happen when a woman goes to the shrine and prays for a child by herself, without the husband there."

[Asako Hirase]

It was a good thing that Hirase had courtly training; surely, the laughter he wanted to let free would have hurt Yuki's feelings terribly. He settled for closing his eyes, briefly, and then he slowly shook his head.

"No, Yuki-san, that is not how children come to pass. Not in the slightest. Yes, those desiring children may petition the Fortunes as an extra way to try and ensure fertility, but the actual mechanics of the thing, the heart of it...that's physical, not spiritual."

[Asako Yuki]

Yuki tilted her head to one side. "Ano... my sister was very clear on the matter, and she's never lied to me."