[D0 LM] Checking In

[Kitsu Murato]

Murato had already checked in to the Inn and was now sitting in the garden, enjoying the morning air.

[Aimi]

Murato had already checked in to the Inn and was now sitting in the garden, enjoying the morning air.

"It's rather pleasant here, isn't it, Kitsu-sama?"

The woman who emerges from the interior of the inn has clearly made a brief effort to freshen up - her cheeks are slightly red from a vigorous wash with cold water, and her clothing lacks the dust of the road - but she is still clearly nothing more than a humble ronin. Albeit one with a serene smile on her face and the quiet confidence to address a samurai of the Lion so freely.

"One finds gardens such as these across the Empire, and they always tell you a little something about the people who maintain them," she says after a moment, kneeling to brush a gentle hand across the nearest of the flowers. "I last saw blossoms like these far to the north, in the foothills of the Dragon lands. It cannot have been an easy task to bring viable seeds so far from home, nor to keep them happy in such a different climate."

[Kitsu Murato]

He looks to her and gives a soft smile. "For the opportunity to bring different parts of the empire to one's home, the effort would be worth it. I'm not nearly as versed in flora as yourself though. I recognize the visual elements from my home and appreciate the differences when away, but I couldn't tell you specifically what is different," he admits.

"I imagine you've traveled a great deal?" Since she knows about Dragon plants and that they're not the standard in this area... and because she is a ronin too, I guess.

[Aimi]

He looks to her and gives a soft smile. "For the opportunity to bring different parts of the empire to one's home, the effort would be worth it. I'm not nearly as versed in flora as yourself though. I recognize the visual elements from my home and appreciate the differences when away, but I couldn't tell you specifically what is different," he admits.

"I imagine you've traveled a great deal?" Since she knows about Dragon plants and that they're not the standard in this area... and because she is a ronin too, I guess.

"Tossed hither and yon on the waves of fate, as a more poetic acquaintance of mine once said," the ronin says with a nod, before rising to her feet and offering the Lion a courteous bow. "This humble one is known as Aimi, Kitsu-sama."

[Kitsu Murato]

"Fate is fanciful in it's decisions sometimes. I hope it has treated you fairly," he says as he does the same returning the bow. "I am Kitsu Murato. It is a pleasure to meet you Aimi-san."

[Aimi]

"Fanciful indeed," Aimi murmurs with a rueful smile, glancing about the garden for a moment, "To bring one such as I to a place like this. Still, the Deer Clan issued the invite, and I should not be so rude as to decline."

She pauses, looking over the Lion opposite her with a smile. "And yourself, Kitsu-sama? Here to attend the Miai as well, one would presume."

[Kitsu Murato]

"I am. My family didn't particularly know how to match me, so they entrusted the task to the Deer," he confirms. The comment that it would be rude to decline the invitation suggested to him that she may have actually thought about doing so. "Had you not planned on seeking a marriage or matchmaking, or at least not at this time?"

[Aimi]

"Ah... it was always a thought for the future, so to speak," Aimi says, ducking her head for a moment as though to hide her smile behind a fan she does not actually possess. "Ronin know love and marriage, of course, but to be invited to attend a Miai such as this, by the renowned Shika at that? Never in my most outlandish of dreams."

She smiles wryly. "I am, after all, a landless wanderer with no inheritance to bestow or bloodline to continue. Short of the spirits' gift, I have little to offer as a prospective spouse. So I suppose I shall content myself with watching others meet their matches... or perhaps fall into whatever web the Deer meant to weave when they invited me."

[Kitsu Murato]

"Lines and inheritances are not everything. Blood is important but not necessary. Which sounds a bit ridiculous from a Kitsu I imagine," he says.

[Aimi]

"Lines and inheritances are not everything. Blood is important but not necessary. Which sounds a bit ridiculous from a Kitsu I imagine," he says.

"I would never imply such a thing," Aimi replies smoothly, "What the honorable Kitsu family do or do not think about matters of blood and inheritance is not for humble ronin to comment on."

She shivers for a moment. "Can you even imagine the reaction, were I to be heard saying such things in the presence of... well, Seppun Yuzu-sama, governor of the Chisei District, for example? Wavemen have been convicted of treason for less."