Breakfast (day 7 late morning, Baatar's yurt)

[Moto Baatar]

After his morning practice at the dojo, Moto Baatar returned to the little hut that he had been assigned to put away his practice gear and have a light breakfast. He still had a few eggs left over from before, and Baatar thought they would go very well with a chunk of cheese and a bowl of rice gruel.

[Bayushi Hotaru]

And it seemed that Hotaru had also thoughts of breakfast this morning when she showed up at the entrance of Baatar's yurt with a basket in her arm. She looked around at which part of the yurt to knock on at first before she merely announced her presence with her chipper voice.

"Uhm...ohay-o! Moto-san. It is I, Bayushi Hotaru? The diviner, remember? I've managed grab plenty of food from the food tent amd I was wondering if you wanted to share some of it?" She giggled. "I think I might have taken too much by accident!"

[Moto Baatar]

"Of course! Come in, come in!" Baatar said, standing up and looking pleased at Hotaru's arrival. "Too much food? This sounds like a problem I can help you with!"

The young Unicorn's yurt was rather sparingly decorated. Baatar hastened to clear saddle tack off of a wooden stool for his guest, and set the food on top of an empty barrel that seemed to be used as a makeshift table. The front flap of the tent was left open to avoid any suggestion of impropriety.

"You look very nice today, Bayushi-san," Baatar said cautiously. That was safe to say... I think?

[Bayushi Hotaru]

Hotaru widen her eyes for a moment when she noticed the slight mess she walked into before quickly reapplying her warm smile once more. Maybe I should have let him know of my visit in advance, to better prepare next time...

She settled down on the wooden stool and smiled bashfully at the compliment as she averted her gaze downward. "Thank you, Moto-san! I dress to impress the kami...but it's only a bonus if I can impress others. Uhm, I brought some rice balls, rice cakes, fried tofu and some pickled vegetables! I hope you're hungry!"

With that, she began withdrawing the items from her basket and setting them on the empty barrel. "There's no way I can finish this on my own, thank you for helping!"

[Moto Baatar]

"Thank you for thinking of me," Baatar replied with obvious sincerity. "I just finished weapons practice, so I'm starving. I have some eggs and cheese I can share, too. This all looks really good. Rice balls and fried tofu sound great! Do you need a bowl and chopsticks?"

He hovered near Hotaru, trying to make sure the shrine maiden had everything she needed.

[Bayushi Hotaru]

"I do have my own chopsticks, thank you very much, but a bowl would be nice. Please! I think I might be fine without the cheese..." She mustered an open smile while saying that.

"Well, I was also thinking that it had been a while since we talked! It would be to catch up in much...Drier circumstances, ne? How have you been?"

[Moto Baatar]

"I've been doing well," Baatar replied as he handed Hotaru a simple wooden bowl. "I'm glad the rains stopped, too; I had a nice ride in the countryside. There are many wildflowers out in the western fields, have you had a chance to see them?"

Taking another wooden bowl, the young Moto piled up a tall mish-mash of rice balls, eggs, cheese and fried tofu for himself.

[Bayushi Hotaru]

Hotaru said a small thanks as she took the offered bowl and stuck to loading it up with more familiar items, certainly staying away from anything that was milk related. She gave a shake of her head. "No...I can't say I've seen them? Were they in a different part of the Western Fields? Or maybe around the pond of water? The tall grass there tends to make things easy to miss." She said with a sheepish smile. Although, I've seen a lot there..

Her gaze couldn't help but go to the monstrosity of a meal that Baatar was constructing. Ewww, so gross! "Oh, you weren't kidding when you said that you're pretty hungry! Was there something in particular you were planning to do today? Hunt for some bears, maybe?

[Moto Baatar]

"There's a gently sloping hill out past the croplands that's just covered with flowers," Baatar said, between bites of breakfast. "I could show you sometime, if you'd like. Do you like riding?" Seeming oblivious to Hotaru's disgust, the young Moto was quickly reducing the height of the mound of food in his bowl.

"Yah, gotta eat," he replied. "Just finished wrestling and I'm starving. Later today? Well, there's the singing circle in the afternoon. Did they tell you about that? It's tons of fun, but you need a lot of endurance in order to last. Better eat up now, so you aren't hungry later."

[Bayushi Hotaru]

"I wouldn't mind seeing the flowers for myself!" She said with an optimistic smile. "I've been riding a few times, but I could probably use more time on the saddle. It's a bit hard to get used to it, with the movement and the sitting up. In this case, you'll be riding and I'll be just riding with you, right?" Probably much safer...

"Ohhh...No, you didn't. I didn't know that you were a singer." She said as she took a few small bites from her food, looking more at Baatar than the food now. "Do most Moto take to singing...and is everything that you do endurance related?"

[Moto Baatar]

"I wouldn't mind seeing the flowers for myself!" She said with an optimistic smile. "I've been riding a few times, but I could probably use more time on the saddle. It's a bit hard to get used to it, with the movement and the sitting up. In this case, you'll be riding and I'll be just riding with you, right?"

"Sure, that sounds great!" Baatar enthused. "If you don't have a horse, we can ride together; my horse is strong enough to carry us both. I think you'd like it."

"Ohhh...No, you didn't. I didn't know that you were a singer." She said as she took a few small bites from her food, looking more at Baatar than the food now. "Do most Moto take to singing...and is everything that you do endurance related?"

"Well, anyone can sing... some are just bad at it," Baatar replied with an impish grin. "But among my people, it doesn't matter if you aren't great at singing - as long as you put your feelings into it, people will cheer."

"Oh, and not everything we do is endurance related," he said in reply to her last question. "I mean, for some things you need to be strong, or fast."

[Bayushi Hotaru]

"If your horse likes me enough, then sure!" Hotaru said with a chuckle, tinged slightly that the thoughts of her earlier mishap from her first time riding horse. "I do like feeling the wind in my hair, I admit."

"Ohh..." She said with a bit of momentary disappointment when it seemed that Baatar probably wasn't a secret artisan in the way that his cousin Butaj was. "I see, then I take it that you make it up at the gatherings with a lot of heart and enthusiasm in it, then?"

"What are some of the other Moto activities...actually, what do you like doing?"

[Moto Baatar]

"Well, I like riding," Baatar said. "There's nothing like galloping across the plains, with the wind rushing past you. I like animals. I do like singing and music, and listening to stories."

"I've been trying to learn some of the eastern arts and games while here at the miai," he admitted, a little shyly. "I figured it would be a good idea to pick some of those up. I learned a little poetry, and one of the other Scorpion taught me how to play Go. Do you like any of those things?"

[Bayushi Hotaru]

"Singing and music are good." She said with a few ready nods. "I'm not much of an animal person however, but I guess I like playing with animals. We have cats wandering in the temple, looking for attention from me or something." But they're probably just there for the mice... "They're pretty cute! Especially when you rub on their bellies. I tried petting a lamb, but that didn't end so well...Uhm, so, what's your favourite animal?"

"Arts and games are good," She gave a few more nods again. "I don't really play Go or do much poetry, really...Which Scorpion have you been spending time with?"

[Moto Baatar]

"Uhm, so, what's your favourite animal?"

"Well, horses," Baatar replied, to no one's surprise. "But all animals are good. The yaks are really interesting, I think; they're more intelligent than they look. Cats are good, too."

"Arts and games are good," She gave a few more nods again. "I don't really play Go or do much poetry, really...Which Scorpion have you been spending time with?"

"It was Soshi Bantu; he held a game night earlier in the week," Baatar replied. "What kind of games do you like to play? Oh... wait, I think I heard one of the Ide say that you like dancing? Is that true?"