Of Sympathy and Scandals (D6, Late Eve, CLOSED)

[Moto Butaj]

"We can't marry other Unicorn, we are here to form alliances with the others." This much Butaj could confirm. "Lady Shinjo never married, but gave birth to five children. It looks like there are differences in how we see love. Another of many." He sighs. "The Moto maybe more so."

[Asako Hirase]

This was interesting and drew both of Hirase's brows up.

"Can you explain it? It might help me to understand, and in that understanding, help you to shift your behavior to better blend, if you wanted to."

[Moto Butaj]

"Like with abduction of future brides. It was legitimate not so long ago, to choose wife that way, and it was to ride out to make love under the stars before coming back and setting up marriage. If things didn't work out under the stars, they didn't, and all moved on. There is a saying among the Moto that it's better to ride a steed for an afternoon before riding it for a lifetime." He pauses. "Somehow, Butaj is grateful to fate that he's been born a bastard among the Unicorn than here in the East. In the Burning Sands, we all had to stick together no matter what. The children were for all to cherish and look after, not just their parents. As with the herd, and many other things. In the desert and against many evils we had to be together no matter what, or we would perish. Marriages have usually been respected, but those unmarried have often bonded. Like Khulun and Butaj have bonded here." He shrugs, suddenly galloping himself into an area that is no longer just conceptual.

[Asako Hirase]

So, Khulun and Butaj were lovers. It wasn't really a surprise. Slowly, Hirase nodded, brow furrowed in thought.

"Love is complicated in Rokugan. "

He settled in a bit more comfortably.

"Benten is a Fortune and so love must be respected. And yet, the ideal here is that your greatest love must be for your Lord and, by extension, your Clan. Because of that, love of a wife, even of your children, is expected to come second. You are expected, as a samurai, to be able to control your actions, even if you can't control your emotions. Just as fear must be answered with courage and ignored, so too love that distracts from your purpose must be put aside."

Hirase shook his head, bemused to be on this topic again.

"While you may display romance all you want, it is expected to be platonic. A system of proper courtly games has sprung up around this sort of public courtship, in fact, and accomplished players can win fame in court. And yet, for all that, the line is drawn and one is expected not to cross it. If you do take a lover, you must do so with utmost discretion. A visit, here and there, in silent halls or inns where one is not known and the staff known for discretion. Or a samurai can take one of the lower classes to satisfy the need when it arises; dalliances with half-people are generally considered not to count by most people."

[Moto Butaj]

Butaj listens. He tries to understand, he really tries. To sum it up somehow, make comprehensible.

"So... to the people of the East love is like an endless mild foreplay, and then you find a random pretty peasant?"

[Asako Hirase]

That surprised a laugh out of Hirase, even as he nodded.

"I suppose when you come down to it, hai. Not even foreplay...the flirting you engage in before you ever invite someone back to your tent." Smiling, he took up the skin for another pull. "You spend a season exchanging letters and poems with no signatures, inviting one another to public places where you walk together but never too close. You discuss music and art over tea. You find every chance you can to praise their eyes, or their skills, or their achievements. You even sometimes spread rumors of your own about how wonderful that person is, building their standing. At the very most, you might gift your season's chosen a fan or a netsuke or other token, the deepest sign of your affection and a momento for them to have, to remember you fondly. And then, at seasons end, you leave them. At most, there will be letters between you. Often, there is not even that."

[Moto Butaj]

"So it's a game. Love is no taken for what it is, but as a feed to have a game. This is... hmmm. Butaj has no words." And if he had, they would not be pretty. "Butaj is probably lucky he will be married soon and will not have to go through this in one of those court kurultais."

[Asako Hirase]

HE didn't know what a "kurultais' was, but he nodded. "You intend to cleave to monogamy, then?" There wasn't judgement there, only curiosity. "It certainly makes life easier. As for court, though, depending on who your bride is, you might need to go with her. Or else you might stay home and tend the family. That's what I did."

[Moto Butaj]

And again, Butaj is confused. "Butaj has never planned otherwise. To have a wife Butaj can love and to seek love elsewhere is very duplicitous, very against how Butaj feels things should be. Much of that is happening here that has made us discuss this is largely because of this miai and its strange points. So many women can make Butaj their husband without him having a say that he at least needs to try learn their true intentions. Otherwise he'd have already had a bride over his saddle."

[Asako Hirase]

"Very different indeed, I suspect, from what you are used to." Hirase sighed, sadly. "The truth is, many in Rokugan are married tot those they only tolerate. Some even hate their spouse and go out of their way to avoid them. If you think a woman will try for you that you don't wish, you need to act quickly to ensure that she knows how you will feel. Just be aware that an inadvertent slight in that explanation might lead to a duel or worse."

[Moto Butaj]

Butaj nods. "Butaj is aware of this, and he doesn't want to end up in a marriage that has more poison than love. He has talked honestly with women who could fancy him about their thoughts, and he has talked with his fellow Unicorn men about their thoughts and leanings. Butaj is not clueless how the knucklebones can fall. He is probably more aware than most." He sighs, takes a swig, and gives the skin back to Hirase.

[Asako Hirase]

Accepting, Hirase took a healthy pull.

"So you've a following, I take it? I'm not surprised." The older man smiled a crooked grin. "I told Yuki that if I was a woman I'd be after you myself. I love music, even though I don't have any talent with it, and you're gifted that way. If I were in higher standing, I'd be asking if you had any sisters with similar skill."

[Moto Butaj]

Butaj laughs at that and can't help but pat Hirase's arm.

"Butaj has a sister, Gortun, but she has married young into the Iuchi and is already with a child. She has always been jealous of Butaj as it is Butaj who has inherited mother's thing for music, not her. If Hirase loves music of the steppe so, he should meet Otaku Imane. She is good with morin khur and she is good with other things too. Butaj saw her meeting one Bayushi Suteichi but if what Butaj has heard is right he is more committed to one of Liu sisters now."

[Asako Hirase]

"I've heard the same about Liu Fei and Suteichi, hai." A good match, that, or so it seemed to Hirase. "I haven't seen that particular Otaku except in passing. I should meet her, then. Even if only to have the chance to hear another style of music from another Family. Besides, I should be able to tell my Lord honestly I did my best if they send me home. That means meeting as many of your ladies as I can, even the ones already smitten."

[Moto Butaj]

"Butaj could chaperone if you like. Is it how it is called, right? Maybe some good vibes from Butaj could help break new ground." Butaj suggests with a smile. He has a growing fondness of the man and he thinks he would be a great Otaku husband. "The Unicorn need men like you. With knowledge, curiosity and compassion, thought before judgement and ability to see the heart where others look only at fingers and frowns."