(Day 4, EA) Back In The Saddle Again

[Matsu Kogo]

She leans back into him. " I think that is something I can do Shinjo-san." She smiles, enjoying the sensation of safety she feels in this moment. "You are an honorable man and a honest one. I admire that greatly in you. "

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"You are both honorable and honest as well. Perhaps that's another reason we get on so well. Plus, you are a very curious woman that seeks to sate that curiosity. I find that to be a wonderful trait."

[Matsu Kogo]

She pauses. "You enjoy my curiosity? Why so?"

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"It's a sign of an active mind that wants to understand the world it resides in. It's the trait of one who is open to new experiences. It's something that shows you do not take everything most people assume for granted. A curios person is their own person. It means that you allow yourself to be changed by the world in accordance with your own beliefs, but accounting for the truths and realities you face without necessarily being set in those ways." His hands are still on hers, his fingers gently caressing.

[Matsu Kogo]

She thinks his words over, turning them for a brief moment. She feels his fingers caressing her own and hesitantly reaches back, to twine her own among his. It feels more dangerous than the first time she met Noburu's mother, but also exciting. She exhales. "You are a man of continuous surprise Shinjo-san. Each time, like a maze, I turn another corner in understanding you. It is...exciting."

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"I'll always be glad to have you in that maze, helping you to figure it all out in time." His fingers accept hers, smiling and feeling happy with this. "And I'll be hunting my own way through your own maze as well."

[Matsu Kogo]

She smiles. "Some say there are treasures to be found at the end of a maze. What would you hope to find, Shinjo-san?"

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"If I'm lucky I'll never reach the end of your maze. I think it would be better to find that no matter how much I learned there would always be more. Finding a life long adventure would be what I hope to find in the maze of Matsu Kogo."

[Matsu Kogo]

Her hands continue twining and she rests her head on him again during his answer. To be wanted for who I am...this is a novel experience. "I would like that as well Shinjo-san. It sounds like a worthy journey."

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"It's always a worthy journey to get to know someone. It expands the realm of your life's adventures to more than just the world you walk. Coming to understand another person can be just as rewarding an experience."

[Matsu Kogo]

She laughs. "Are you sure you are not a secret sage Shinjo-san? It feels as though pearls fall from your lips this afternoon, wisdom upon wisdom. "

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"Maybe I am and I just don't know it either," he replies. "Perhaps in a former life. Who knows. Or maybe it's just how my parents raised me."

[Matsu Kogo]

She smiles. "Well, whatever it is, I will be thankful for it. " She pauses. "Will you tell me more of your family?"

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"More of the Shinjo or more of my father and mother?" he asks.

[Matsu Kogo]

"Your father and mother, if that is all right with you. Though I will happy hear more of the Shinjo at any time."