Wise

The night before, Wise's mind haunted him with memories of Miyabi's kiss on his cheek. He thought that, if she'd wanted that much, maybe she'd wanted more and he hadn't given the right signals? Or had he failed to say the right things? Or did…? Well… whatever! A peck on the cheek was good, but… well… friends could get pecks on the cheek, too. But friends didn't get kissed on the lips!

Did he somehow mess up that date?

Now; Today; At the outer fringes of the Hoshimi Clan gardens: Miyabi grabbed his shirt again. This beautiful thiren woman was pulling his face down to hers, and there was nowhere else he wanted to go. He took his chance and reached for her, pulling her body into his, lowering his mouth down to hers, and she responded in kind.

Miyabi's mouth was warm and eager upon his. Her body's firm warmth was against his. Her scent and taste and feel washed every conscious thought from Wise's mind as he held her and kissed her and the tidal surge of need and desire blanked out everything in the universe except the movement of Miyabi's lips against his and the pressure of her body against his and-

Gravel crunched. Miyabi's ear twitched. Wise could feel the responsible muscle move under the hand he had gently placed behind Miyabi's head.

Wise's eye shot open. Miyabi's were already open, staring into his, their lips still connected, their noses touching. Like startled lightning, Miyabi disengaged and whipped around, her hands clenching at the blueprint case which held her sword.

Beyond them on the gravel path, Lycaon was standing calmly, his metallic legs and pocket watch chain gleamingly slightly in the afternoon sun. The wolf thiren was looking away from them, only the eyepatched side of his head visible in profile. He seemed to be pointedly not looking in their direction, and perhaps trying to seem like he had arrived by accident.

As if one could "accidently" traverse a hundred yards of garden without making a sound.

Wise was immediately sure the gravel crunch of Lycaon's foot on the path had been entirely deliberate. He had the sense that the butler for hire was attempting to manage a difficult tangle of proprieties.

"Lycaon!" said Miyabi sharply. "You will kindly keep your observation at greater distance."

Lycaon turned his head in their direction, his cyclopean eye gleaming slightly in the shade of the trees. His expression was placid. Or at least it seemed so to Wise. Full thirens had a different range of body language compared to full humans and hafu.

"Apologies, Lady Hoshimi, but the Lord-" began Lycaon.

Miyabi's voice changed to a tone Wise hadn't heard since Miyabi had found him back in that outer rim hollow. It was the voice for people who might be in a lot of trouble… Miyabi was not pleased.

"My father may order you in regards to my privacy, Lycaon, but this is also my house. I will now order you in regards to my proximity: Get. Away."

Wise wasn't sure how he himself had looked in the face of Miyabi's restrained wrath, but there was no way he'd been as dignified as Lycaon was now. The wolf thiren was motionless a moment, his tail twitching slightly, and then he bowed, one hand at his burly chest.

"Of course, Lady Hoshimi, Master Proxy" said Lycaon. "Pray forgive my rudeness."

And then to Wise's eye, Lycaon took a step into the bamboo grove on the side of the path and vanished from sight. It was slightly unnerving how someone so large could move around so quietly. Meanwhile, Miyabi's ear twitched but she relaxed.

Miyabi turned back towards Wise, her expression unreadable. They were alone again. -ish. But the mood which had brought them into their first real kiss was now gone.

"Miyabi," said Wise. "Your father is very worried about us being alone together."

"Yes," said Miyabi. She turned her head to gaze out over the small field of tamamono bushes. Her cheeks gained a very slight color. "He fears that we will mate."

Wise could only laugh lightly at the idea. "Mate? Like- sleep together?"

Miyabi's crimson eyes turned intently upon him. Wise felt himself under scrutiny. He instinctively knew he was suddenly in a situation with ramifications.

"Yes," said Miyabi. "Why do you find that idea amusing?"

"Uh," said Wise, caught off guard by the blunt question.. "B- because we are only on our second date.. And.. uh-"

"Is there a proper number of dates before mating may occur?" Miyabi's eyes bored into his. One of her ears twitched.

"Uh-" said Wise, scrambling to think of a proper answer. "That depends on the people involved, I think…"

Miyabi stared at him. Her left ear twitched.

Wise felt impelled to continue: "I suppose it would properly depend on whomever wanted to… uh… do it last? Latest? Um…"

He scratched the back of his head. He was butchering this moment! "Neither party should be rushed!"

After a moment, Miybai's eyes dropped slightly. "So, by your laughter, you think two dates is too soon."

"No! I'm good with anytime" said Wise immediately. Then he heard his own statement in his own ears. He smiled sheepishly and scratched lightly the side of his face. "I mean- I'm… flexible…"

Miyabi's eyes reconnected with his, cryptic in their emotion. Wise thought he was making a total ass of himself in front of her. He desperately wanted to change the subject now.

"H- how did we get started on this topic?" offered Wise.

"I told you that my father fears we will mate," said Miyabi, impassionately merciless.

"R- right…." said Wise. "Why does he fear that?"

Miyabi stared at him a few seconds more, then she turned from him and continued walking down the gravel path. Wise was unsure of her regard for him at the moment, but sprang into step beside her. They quickly passed the little bamboo grove into which Lycaon had vanished. Wise couldn't see him in there- or anywhere, for that matter. How did he do that?!

"I believe it is for two related reasons," said Miyabi with a clinical tone of voice. "The first is that I am betrothed."

Wise heart stopped in his chest. His feet stopped on the path, the crunch of gravel as good as his own soul grinding under the heel of Miyabi's statement. She was…already set to marry someone?

"Y- you're betrothed? Miyabi?" Wise managed to say.

She stopped and looked at him, her expression unreadable. "Yes. What of it?"

"W- when do you get- married?"

Miyabi's ear twitched. "Married? I currently do not have any plans regarding marriage, Wise."

A tiny gasp of life and hope re-entered Wise's heart. "Then- your betrothal…?"

"My father entered me into the arrangement when I was eight. It is one of his political ploys with the main clan line, Wise. I have no intention of honoring it."

Wise took a deep breath. So, he wasn't dead. That was a relief. "Oh! But your father expects you to? To honor the betrothal? I see."

"No. Of course he does not, Wise. He is not that sort of person." said Miyabi, her voice a bit harsher. She turned away and began walking again.

Wise blinked after her, feeling he had been yanked left and right emotionally in the last few seconds. He took quick steps to catch up with Miyabi's striding form. She did seem slightly miffed. Her ears were twitching actively.

"Sorry, Miyabi," said Wise. "I just assumed because you said your father was worried about your betrothal..."

"Yes. He can hardly keep up the false promise of my hand if I mate with you, Wise. Or with anyone, obviously. That is why he is concerned."

Wise blinked a few times as he tried to follow that logic. "So Lycaon being a chaperone… is just to make sure the family on the other side of your betrothal doesn't lose interest in the deal he plans to break?"

"Clan politics are a dirty circus, Wise," said Miyabi with a rise of her nose. "I detest it. But my father enjoys the game immensely."

Wise blinked a few times. "Why not just break off the deal yourself, then?"

Miyabi stopped and stared at him. Wise was really having difficulty in reading her emotions, but her ear was twitching. But what did that mean? There seemed to be good twitches and bad twitches. And sometimes it was the left ear, and sometimes the right. If there was a pattern, two short dates was not nearly enough time to decode them. So, all Wise had to work with was Miyabi's face, and she maintained a tight discipline on her expressions.

"Why would I want to ruin my father's plans?," said Miyabi. "It would hurt him a great deal."

Wise could only plaster a sheepish smile on his own face and try to suppress his own confusion. Well, all he knew of arranged marriages was from movies. Wasn't it foolish to expect that Miyabi's outlook on the situation should match the plot of a film? He was just digging himself into a hole here!

"Oh, right. I didn't think of that," said Wise. He wanted to change the subject again. "What's the second reason? That your father is worried?"

"My father thinks you have inferior genetics."

Wise's sheepish smile intensified. "Oh. Great."

"Do not take it personally," said Miyabi. "Father thinks all humans have inferior genetics."

Wise could only take a deep breath at that statement. "W- what genetics does he favor?"

"Hoshimi Clan genetics," said Miyabi, her voice again clinical. "He wants me to marry within the bloodline. On that, it is no game to him."

Oh, well, that did sound less personal to Wise, but Miyabi's delivery was not doing her father any favors. Was she even aware? Wise wasn't entirely sure, at this point. And he was beginning to be afraid of his own questions:

"Why?'

In answer, Miyabi unslung her blueprint case and withdrew her sword. She held the black sheath before her, the charm tassels dangling from the hilt. Wise instinctively recoiled slightly. That sword was more than a bit of sharp metal. There was something in it. Something that made his flesh prickle.

"Through pure Hoshimi lineage, my firstborn could also wield this sword," said Miyabi. "As I do. As did all my predecessors. If my child is of mixed lineage, it becomes a matter of chance. The sword could pass to a different branch of the clan."

Miyabi returned the blueprint case to her back, but held the sword easily in her left hand. Wise knew this was how she most commonly transported the weapon- ever in her grip. She rarely attached the hilt to her hip. Her crimson eyes drifted away from Wise and he followed her gaze.

They were lost somewhere in the gardens, Wise knew not where. The driveway was vanished, Lycaon was no where to be seen. Meanwhile, the budding leaves of a maple tree reflected in the still waters of a small pound. Wise's eye was drawn to movement in the water. Large white-orange koi moved sluggishly in the cold shallows.

"I intend to make a world where I do not need this sword," said Miyabi suddenly. He realized she was looking at him intently. "If I do not need the sword- neither will my child or my clan. And I might mate and have kits with whomever I choose."

Wise entire existence went hot under Miyabi's sudden gaze and blatant statement. "S- so you want to have kids someday, Miyabi?"

"Of course. A daughter," Miyiabi smiled softly. "My mother had a daughter. Do you want to have kids someday, Wise?"

"Someday," said Wise, quickly. Telling the truth. "Of course."

Miyabi stared at him emotionlessly. Wise could feel his heart thumping in his chest softly. Then she seemed to smile. A tiny upturn of the corner of her mouth.

"I see," said Miyabi, turning away from him. "The house is this way. If we are to allow Lycaon time to acquire your dinner clothes, we should be on our way."

They set off down the pond-side path, reeds and cattails swaying gently in the breeze beside them. Around the next bend, a cherry tree was beginning to bloom. The deep red leaflets were just beginning to pop out into light pink blossoms, a few brave early arrivals seeming to sun themselves in the mildly brisk wind of the day.

"Oh," said Miyabi, stopping to stare at the tree. "Father is also likely worried because it is springtime."

Wise looked at Miyabi and asked a silent question. For the first time today, Miyabi's eyes shyly slid away from his. A distinct blush entered her cheeks, a soft pink like those first blossoms on the cherry tree.

"Fox thirens… feel more impelled to mate… in springtime."

Wise blinked. He'd always thought that particular rumor was a vaguely racist stereotype. But apparently not.

"Oh," said Wise. Again unsure of what he should properly say.

Miyabi looked back at him, still blushing. "What was your dream about?"

"What? Dream?"

"You said you dreamed of me. In your text this morning."

"Oh! Oh, yeah," said Wise. And even though he could say anything at all and make Miyabi believe anything he wanted, the ambition never crossed his mind. He only thought to tell Miyabi the absolute truth:

"I dreamt that I was out for a jog. In Lumina Square. And I was running along the sidewalk by the river, you know? And this cat ran out in front of me. I barely avoided it, lost my balance, and I just ate it on the pavement. Scraped up my elbows. And when I looked up, you were on the balcony of Tin Master Coffee, staring down at me. Then: I woke up."

Miyabi stared at him. Her ear twitched.

"The house is this way, Wise."

"R- right.."