(Day 5, EA) Sweet Dreams Are Made of This (Ameka's Tent)

[Doji Ameka]

"I need to make two more, so I will have to wait 10 minutes. It would be a shame to waste the sugar. Do you mind?"

[Moto Butaj]

Butaj shakes his head, smiles, takes the tsur from the bag near the saddle and sits down cross-legged to fill the waiting time with music. At the same time, he watches the proceedings of the confectioner with keen interest.

(Tsur Music)

[Doji Ameka]

Ameka quickly finishes what she's doing. He get to watch as she gathers the hot sugar directly from the plate in front of it and stretches and kneads it a few times before forming it into a ball. From there, she takes a pair of clippers and begins to clip bit of sugar to separate slightly but not entirely from the main form, using her fingers and the side of the clipper to form one ball of sugar into a rose and another goes through the same process to become a chrysanthemum.

Once she's finished, she places the sticks each one is on into a board with small holes made for them, rinses her hands off, and stands up. "All right, I'm all finished. And thank you for the lovely musical accompaniment, Moto-san."

[Moto Butaj]

"Butaj always plays in free moments." He grins, looking at her work. "Oooh, you have made the Moto mon! How nice of you." He pats Huludai. "We can go both on horseback, or both on foot. What would Doji Ameka prefer?"

[Doji Ameka]

She subtly looked back and forth between his outfit and the candy. So she had. "Your family has a very positive image," she observes. "Ah... I should probably practice at least being on a horse. Let's go that way."

[Moto Butaj]

"Good!" Butaj beams. "So a small bribe for Huludai first. You can try a loose sweet if you have such, if not Butaj has an apple for the occasion."

[Doji Ameka]

"An apple is probably better for him," she suggests.

[Moto Butaj]

"Men don't always want what is best for them, but the sweet things that may be bad for them!" Butaj chuckles as he hands Ameka an apple for Huludai. The horse bares teeth and neighs, shifting weight from leg to leg.

[Doji Ameka]

She chuckles and holds her palm out flat to the horse with an apple on it. She had her own, so she knew some about them... the very basics... but had no skill or practice. "There we go."

[Moto Butaj]

Huludai noms the apple in a wet nuzzle and laps with his tongue over Ameka's fingers right after.

I like the blue-sweet. She has good apples.

[Doji Ameka]

She giggles a little and strokes the horse's neck before she steps back to get on. "All right, I think we're ready?"

[Moto Butaj]

"We are!" Butaj agrees with a broad smile as he pats Huludai, but then wonders how to do it, looking down her form. Does she even have a split hakama?

[Doji Ameka]

Ameka, fortunately, has some experience riding her own pony and did, indeed. "Um... Give me a couple of minutes. Sorry." She'd made the decision to ride, so she wasn't going to go back on that. She disappeared into the yurt, letting the flap fall, and a few moments of shuffling later, she emerges in a split hakama. "Got it." She steps and and looks at the horse with determination before getting on.

[Moto Butaj]

Butaj senses the riding spirit in the little form and smiles broadly. Ameka is the ultimate proof that big or small, a steed is your friend! Hopefully. "Front or back?" He asks patting the saddle and the extended saddlecloth behind it.

[Doji Ameka]

"Well... I understand my own limitations, so better go front," she assesses with surety.