"Heh... well..." Yul gave Shoan a sidelong glance. "This might not be the best time to tell this story, but what the heck." Feeling the tension, Yul let his hand stay put. His hand was warm, but pleasantly smooth and dry.

With his free hand, Yul continued to guide the craft. "So... it was actually kinda similar to this, but with less rain. Mountains and cliffs, I mean. It's a bit of a flight, especially in the little cropduster we had, but hey, it was worth it to impress girls, teenage me thought. So, we were talking, she was laughing, things were going well. So well, in fact, that she put her hand on my knee."

Yul chuckled. "I promptly responded by swerving, clipping the cliff wall, and going into a spin. I managed to..." Yul pursed his lips. "I guess you could call it a landing. We weren't hurt. Broke the landing gear and wedged it up on some rocks." He sighed, smiling ruefully. "The door was stuck, too, so I had to radio for someone to come pick us up. That was awkward."

"Ah, it seems her advances were shot down. I am no expert, but that was probably not the reaction she was hoping for."
Shoan is just praying her own hands aren't getting sweaty, clearly the Unicorn with all their daily hand holding and hand bumping are at an advantage.

"I had a particularly bad date once, although before I tell you the story, you must promise not to laugh."

Yul grinned. "It was not. Believe me, it was an awkward couple of hours there in the cockpit." Fortunately, he didn't seem to have any trouble piloting the Ornithopter now.

"Ooh." Yul looked at her, a hint of a tease with his smile. "Asking me that makes me think it's really gonna be good. But okay." Yul let out a breath, doing his best to look serious. "I promise."

Her tone light
"I'll hold you to that, wouldn't want you to have to spend any more awkward hours in a cockpit."

Collecting herself
"I was not interested in relationships much when I was studying. They were a distraction and most of the other children there were not mature enough......in hindsight I believe I was holding them to unreasonable standards."
Shaking her head. They still could have tried to act like adults!

"But there was one boy who seemed to like me, and I thought he was nice enough. One day he asked me if I wanted to go to the club with him that evening since the base had leave to celebrate the birth of the emperor's grandson. I agreed and attended the specificed venue promptly and in appropriate clothes."
One can only imagine what Shoan's idea of 'dancing clothes' might be.

"Thankfully, he also attended. We talked, we drank a little, this being a time when alcohol was new and exciting and I did not know better, and then he asked me to dance with him. I told him I didn't dance and he said that was okay but...."
Running her free hand through her hair

"He did look very sad, and he'd been nothing but appropriate up until that point, so I relented and we, I believe the term was 'hit the dance floor to boogie to some sick beats'. Despite myself, I came to enjoy it and when a particularly 'groovy track' came on I cut loose a little, dancing more freely than I had before. I felt myself bump someone but thought little of it."

Wince
"When the track ended I looked around and found I'd elbowed my date in the head, knocked him down and then proceeded to dance over him in some bizarre display of dominance. I was mortified....then he asked me to do it again and I promptly called the evening to a close."

A little head shake
"If he had not been so short perhaps all this could have been avoided, but I will accept the majority of the blame."

Yul kept his promise. He definitely didn't laugh. He did, however, have to slow down enough to stare at Shoan. "Well. Yeah. That's... a story. Huh." Yul flew in silence for a few moment, looking out the front window again.

He looked back to Shoan, grinning. "Wow. I just have so many questions. So many. I just don't know where to start. Wow." He said again, shaking his head.

He looked back out the front window again. "I'm not quite sure if this means I should go dancing with you or not." He said, lips quirking.

"It probably means you should duck when required."
She gives his hand a gentle squeeze

"If you have questions, now is the time."

Yul smiled. "Ducking, I can manage."

He gave Shoan the briefest of glances at the squeeze on his hand. "Well, nothing really too serious." He said, smiling gently. "The first was exactly what this 'groovy track' was. The other was what counts as 'appropriate clothes'." He shook his head. "Like I said, nothing too serious."

The ornithopter was proceeding at a relaxed pace. Carefully, Yul let his thumb brush against the back of her hand.

"Ah yes, the track was 'Strolling Through a Dream' by Empire of Lady Sun. It was quite catchy at the time, although in hindsight the younger me probably would have danced to anything."

Shoan's eyes widen slightly, thumb, on a first date? Evidently she'll allow it.

"As for the appropriate clothes...it was my uniform, but I had unzipped my jacket and rolled up my sleeves, so it worked nicely. Although that meant the elbows were even pointier, so clearly there were risks involved too."

Clearly enjoying herself, the Lion sits back a little in her seat, relaxing
"You certainly seemed to have mastered the art of the Sky Date since your youth."

"Oh, sure." Empire of Lady Sun was an Imperial band, one of those universal cultural touchstones. "I'd give it catchy. Groovy... I don't know..." He cast her a teasing smile.

Circling slowly, Yul began to guide the vehicle out of the valley. "So he got the extra sharp elbow, huh? Yikes." The yikes was partially because he'd like it.

Yul gave her hand a tiny squeeze; no thumb, this time. "Thanks, Shoan-san. If nothing else, I've gotten better at keeping my flying steady, no matter what else happens." Yul gave her another sidelong glance. "Is this your first Sky Date? Seems like you might be a Sky Date natural."

"....They were groovy at the time, if indeed, anything without grooves can truly be groovy."
She waggles an eyebrow at him.

"Yes...I suppose this is my first Sky Date. I had no idea they were such an important tradition, although now I can see the attraction. It's good to know I have such skill in being flown around, or maybe the skill is finding the right person to fly me around."

She squeezes back warmly
"It's something I might have to recommend to others."

"First, hopefully not the last." Yul murmured, smiling gently. "But, yeah. I don't know what it is. I guess flying is already kinda an intense thing, especially in these smaller craft. Like it's just you and your partner, and the sky. You get the thrill of the flight, the thrill of each look, each touch..." Again, he let his thumb brush her hand, "-it's really something."

He smiled at Shoan as she squeezed his hand again. What did it mean, for a Lion to do that?

"Well, don't tell too many people." Yul smirked. "Just imagine, we come up here, and there's like twenty other ornithopters with couples in them. Would kinda ruin the moment."

"Ha!"
She quickly cover her mouth
"I mean, yes, that is an amusing image. I will do my best to keep things between just the two of us. Oh, speaking of which."

Turning in her seat to look at Yul face to face
"I should be plain with you Yul-san, you are on a list."
"...."
"...."
"It's a good list, in hindsight that sounded ominous. You are on the list of suitable partners for Lion samurai....I wanted to be upfront about that."

Yul grinned. "Does that count as a laugh? I think it does. A laugh from Murame Shoan. Well, there's an item off my bucket list."

Even behind the sunglasses, Yul's eyebrows went up visibly. "Oh? A list, huh." He chewed his lips, considering, as she explained. "Well... that sounds good. Now, is this a general Lion list, or a more specific Lion list?"

"...It may have been at most a snort, perhaps even a chortle. I cannot recall, it feels like it was long ago."
The Lion said, after laughing

"It's a little of both. All of my clanmates have been pleased with you, I think. I suspect you're on a great many lists."
A little more softly
"And yes...you are on the personal list."

"It was definitely a laugh, trust me." Yul said, laughing as well. "Hmmm, I wonder what's next. Maybe see if I can make you blush." He shot her a quick playful smirk.

"I see." Yul nodded. In fact, he was aware of the effect he tended to have on women. And men; this was the fourth millennium, after all. "Well, then, I should probably mention that your name has been discussed by the Unicorn." He shrugged. "And... I'm not saying I have a list, but if I did have a list, you'd be on it." His smile went from playful to gentle.

"It doesn't count if you cause it by wondering aloud."
Some people's Unicorn

...Damn it, his list thing almost made her blush. That was also clearly cheating
"Oh...well, just so we understand eachother. I know we both have obligations, nothing is definite of course. But it's better than not being on the list."

Yul shrugged. "Yeah. Exactly. And it's early days. And... it's not a one-name list." His smile grew wry; he seemed impressively expressive with his smiles.

"But... yeah." Yul said. "It's nice to know where a person stands. And, well, I happen to think you're pretty great. So..." Yul shrugged again, "-that's how it is."

Solemnly "That's how it is."
Shoan turns away and her voice ends up a little muffled, but it certainly sounded like she said "I think you're pretty great too."

Yul glanced at Shoan, smiling gently, but he didn't say a word. After a moment, he just gave her hand a squeeze, fingers gently enfolding it.

He turned the plane back towards the city, flying in a pleasant silence.