An early bath

[Otomo Nobuko]

It took her a moment, but then she laughed. Not the soft sounds she had given earlier, more full and deep bellied. More real. A noise she quickly stopped by squeezing her lips together and lifting both hands to cover her mouth, though she could not hide the sparkle of humor in her eyes.

"I am sorry, Moto-san," she said after she manage to get a hold of herself. "I do not mean insult, but without a horse to ride, I could only envision you teaching me by putting me on your shoulders like one would a small child. As strong as you look, I do not think our Sensei would find such activity to be proper. But I would happily learn from you, if you would teach me."

[Moto Ichiro]

Ichiros eyes widened in surprise and then when she explained herself he couldn't help but join in with a boisterous laugh of his own a deep belly laugh.

He settled himself by taking a deep breath and sighing with a smile "Ahh Otomo-san you're welcome to try it but I'm a hard stallion to tame for sure." He said with a little chuckle.

"As for the horse situation, I'm sure there has to be some on the ground somewhere, not proper horses but proper enough to get the job done." He said with a smile, he had certainly seemed to loosen up a bit over the course of their conversation. "I make a poor sensei but like I said I should be able to make it so you don't fall out of the saddle."

[Otomo Nobuko]

She blushed visibly and looked away, still keeping her mouth covered at his stallion comment. Her eyes shut for a few moments before she cleared her throat and looked back at him, "Then we should find some time in the next few days, as our studies allow. I'm certain that with your help I can proudly say I was trained to ride by a Unicorn."

[Moto Ichiro]

Seeing her reaction he saw how she took his words and had she been looking at him she would have seen quite a blush run across his own cheeks "I uh..I didn't.." he muttered before decided it was better to leave it since she seemed to be ignoring it, even he had the grace to look a little embarrassed.

"But..uh yeah, its really not that hard to do at least it wasn't uh for me." The Moto boy was flustered, a feeling he didn't feel often and one he found he thoroughly did not enjoy.

[Otomo Nobuko]

She had chosen not to say anything on it in an attempt not to draw attention to the poor choice in wording, despite the inability to stop her own blush. So him dropping it was perfectly fine and much preferred.

"Unicorn are around horses their entire lives, I have been told. It would be like trying to have the sea legs of a Mantis without being born among them," she countered, trying to get back to that playful feeling they had going. "I am certain it will not be so easy for me, but not falling off when I have never ridden before would be enough of an accomplishment."

[Moto Ichiro]

His lips turned up slightly at the corners and perhaps for once he was glad for a courtiers grace.

He nodded at her point "Fair enough, might be a little harder for you but any horses they have around here will be right tame and docile. You want a real lesson in riding you'll have to visit my home in Khanbulak. I could show you how to ride a real horse, you learn how to stay atop a unicorn steed any other horse in the empire will be child's play." He said with a smile.

[Otomo Nobuko]

"That sounds like it would be a fine visit to attempt. Should we both make good showings at the Topaz Championship, and should I not be required to meet with a nakodo before the winter," she 'hmmmd' introspectively, "I may be able to convince my father to allow me a personal visit to a friend."

[Moto Ichiro]

"I think you would find it very......interesting." he said thinking of the right word to use "Its large, not quite so large as the capital but only a bit smaller. If you don't mind interacting with gaijin I could show you around the markets. The sand road that leads into the burning sands and the Ki-rin road that leads to the Ivory kingdoms both end at Khanbulak so we get tons of trade from places all over the world and merchants and caravans from foreign lands. You could also even see the Moto Palace which isn't actually a building at all but thousands of big tapestries hung over great stone pillars. We live very different but I think you would enjoy yourself."

[Otomo Nobuko]

The thought of interacting or being around Gajin absolutely frightened her. She did not let it show, however. She knew that both the Unicorn and the Mantis had dealings with Gajin and were allowed as such by the Imperial Throne. She also knew that a lot of trade flowed through those contact points and benefited the Empire even if it was through less than desirable means.

Still, the idea of a palace that wasn't a palace, but rather what sounded like a large tent was very interesting. She couldn't even begin to imagine that.

"Were you able to spend much time in the Capitol before we traveled here? I returned to my family's home and did not have time to explore and see in what ways it has changed or in what ways it has remained steadfastly the same. My father wanted to use the opportunity see me before my Gempukku, as he would not have otherwise had. I cannot say I was disappointed, but I did not explore my home much before joining everyone on the road."

[Moto Ichiro]

"Not too much really, though my fault more than anything else. I spent most of my time sulking by the bay rather than exploring the city. But what I did see was a little too, dense? For my taste. Too much, packed too tightly together and all that." He said settling back down a bit the embarrassment from the incident earlier subsiding quickly.

"It must be difficult to spend so much time away from your home, do you miss your family?"