[Day 5, Early Afternoon] The Spice Must Flow (Expecting)

[Funegao no Hirame]

Pausing, chopsticks raised half to his open mouth, Hirame looked back and forth between the other two. The heat in the room wasn't just the curry.

"So... marriage, huh? How about that?" Hirame said, raising a fist in manufactured enthusiasm. "I'm definitely looking forward to some parts of that! Right? Let's hear it for marriage!"

[Shiba Jiro]

"Well, we'll have to see," he replied to Kasumi.

He looks to Hirame, and nods. "What parts are you looking forward to?" he asks.

[Funegao no Hirame]

Hirame had started to pick up a piece of the curry, but paused again. "Ummm... you know." He said. "She's hot?"

Smiling, shaking his head, and perhaps turning the slightest bit red, Hirame went on. "I mean, I quite like her, actually. I didn't expect that a Crane would have guts, but she's definitely got guts." He sighed. "I think she'd like being a Mantis in a lot of ways. She just doesn't seem to like some of our stuff."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Plenty'a that goin' 'round. An' y'gotta think our rep ain't th'best with th'Crane just now."

[Shiba Jiro]

He nods at that. "She definitely seemed slightly out of touch to me, but you got a pretty one. When we talked I had to tell her what a lumberjack does. Completely different lifestyles," he said with a smirk.

[Funegao no Hirame]

"Plenty'a that goin' 'round. An' y'gotta think our rep ain't th'best with th'Crane just now."

"Yeah..." Hirame mused. "And yet, we've got this place here." He waved a hand around. "Mixes messages, seems like."

He nods at that. "She definitely seemed slightly out of touch to me, but you got a pretty one. When we talked I had to tell her what a lumberjack does. Completely different lifestyles," he said with a smirk.

A quick grin flashed across Hirame's face. "Yeah, she's definitely a Crane. But at the same time, well, she tries stuff. She doesn't give up." He shrugged. "I feel like she could get used to life on a ship, and really love the sea." A brief pause, and then Hirame let out a sigh. "I hope so."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Well, whether she likes it hates it, she'd better learn t'love it."

Kasumi grinned.

"'Cause you're gonna win that bet, right?"

[Shiba Jiro]

"I think that it would be a huge shock to her. Like anyone, she would likely try to make the most of it, but something to consider... either of you make a potentially useful diplomat to your birth clan if married out. Might be they send you to support her at court."

He says with a devious teasing grin.

"You'll need to get a sharkskin kimono for her in that case."

He smiled at the thought of an entire kimono made of that material.

[Funegao no Hirame]

"Well, whether she likes it hates it, she'd better learn t'love it."

Kasumi grinned.

"'Cause you're gonna win that bet, right?"

Hirame smiled, but it was a bit crooked. "Sure thing. I hope... I hope." He concluded, his lips quirking.

"I think that it would be a huge shock to her. Like anyone, she would likely try to make the most of it, but something to consider... either of you make a potentially useful diplomat to your birth clan if married out. Might be they send you to support her at court."

He says with a devious teasing grin.

"You'll need to get a sharkskin kimono for her in that case."

He smiled at the thought of an entire kimono made of that material.

Hirame grimaced. "I wish. She doesn't actually care for it, though! I bet it would look great..." Hirame shook his head. "Is there something else at least water resistant that looks and feels good? That a Crane doesn't mind wearing? Silk kimonos make for poor shipwear..."

He tilted his head. "But I've thought about the diplomat thing. Hmmm..." He bobbed his head from side to side uncertainly. "I'd be an option, I guess. I don't know."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Th'very soul of courtly diplomacy, that's our hirame-kun, innit right?"

[Shiba Jiro]

"You might consider maybe using a light kimono and putting a coat of oil on it?" He suggests. "Like people do with tools to help prevent rust? Not sure how well it would work."

It was a serious suggestion.

[Funegao no Hirame]

"Th'very soul of courtly diplomacy, that's our hirame-kun, innit right?"

Hirame snorted. "Yeah, right. But hey, if the Crane send me to be a diplomat with the Mantis, at least there I'd fit right in!" But he frowned a moment later; something felt strange to him about the diplomat idea.

"You might consider maybe using a light kimono and putting a coat of oil on it?" He suggests. "Like people do with tools to help prevent rust? Not sure how well it would work."

It was a serious suggestion.

Hirame frowned. "Wouldn't she be all... well... oily?" His lips quirked. "I would rather my wife not be a walking fire hazard. For everyone's sake."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Not sure she'd wanna shine in society quite that way..."

[Shiba Jiro]

"Well, I imagine there are limited water protection options. But you two would know more than I would," he says with a shrug, then grins. "I guess you'll simply need to learn the best way to keep her happy if she gets wet, if she doesn't want to wear something more practical."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Eh, maybe she c'n sit ashore lookin' pretty?"

[Funegao no Hirame]

"Well, I imagine there are limited water protection options. But you two would know more than I would," he says with a shrug, then grins. "I guess you'll simply need to learn the best way to keep her happy if she gets wet, if she doesn't want to wear something more practical."

"That is the future I see for myself if she becomes a Mantis, yes." Hirame said, smirking. "I suppose I'll just have to apply myself." It was part innuendo, but also part not.

"Eh, maybe she c'n sit ashore lookin' pretty?"

"I guess..." Hirame grimaced, shaking his head. "But I think she has more drive than that. It might be easier if she didn't... but then I don't think I'd like her as much, either."

He made a face. "I hope I'm not monopolizing the conversation. Let me know if you'd rather talk about easier to solve problems, like upcoming tests. Or perhaps how to bring about a lasting peace between the Clans." He chuckled dryly.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"I think it should be clear t'anyone with eyes that I ain't got answers t'squat."

She grinned.

[Shiba Jiro]

"I don't know about that," he says to Kasumi, and his expression says that he intentionally didn't follow up with a really good innuendo.

"Maybe the answer is in her head? She might know exactly what she would want to try to do?"

[Funegao no Hirame]

"Yeah..." Hirame shifted as he knelt. "I could ask her, I guess."

A few moments, and he looked at Kasumi wryly. "You ever climb the mast in a thunderstorm, Kasumi-san? I bet you have. I find that I have no fear at all of doing something like that." Why did he get this nervous pit in his stomach when thinking about talking about that sort of thing with his future wife? Shaking his head, Hirame turned his attention back to his curry.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Well, yeah, worst that happens there is y'die."

She grinned.

"Y'screw up with your wife, an' you gotta live with th'consequences."