She laughed, warmly:

"Mechanical mounts I'll take then.

What are your own stories about riding? Mine are mostly about sneaking out at night and stepping on it so I could go wherever I wanted and still be back before dawn."

"Mine are about going full throttle on cliff's edges and not killing myself somehow!" He laughed back.

"I used to do that... And I still do have the urge to do it again from time to time... But less so since the incident."

She raised her fleshcraft:

"Guess my brain has awoken to the idea a bit of caution is sometimes not a bad thing."

"It makes sense if the goal is some longer-term survival." Ruhe smirked. "But it looks good on you. Metal, you know."

Akemi blinked a few times.

"This is not a thing I hear every day. A lot of people are interested in it from a technological point of view, some might have described it as beautiful... But you're the first I looked good with it."

Embarrassed:

"Uh, thanks I guess?"

"I have my own way of looking at such things. It's something you've gone through, have incorporated into who you are and how you go about stuff, carry it with pride, and so on. A visible experience. Same why scars are something to dig, you arm is just even more metal." He grinned.

"What don't kill ya, make ya more strong." He intoned.

Akemi clapped, metal on flesh at the end:

"Incredible, as always."

She tilted her head:

"If I may ask... Now that you've charmed everyone on this planet down to our Phoenix hosts... Do you have your eyes on someone already?"

"Have I?" He chuckled with a tone of disbelief. He never looked at it like that. But onto the question. "Hmmm, can't say I do. Maybe a little, but nothing's set yet, just some nice impressions. Though I suppose I'll have to make some calls soon enough." He rubbed his chin in thought, then looked at her with a teasing smirk. "Are you like volunteering?"

"Well, the Crab and the Unicorn are allies, so might be a good match. Definitely not an option that can be discarded.

But to be perfectly honest, at the very moment... I'm mostly worried you'll turn into a dangerous rival. I have my eyes on several high status Lion and Scorpion, that you might also be interested in too, so trying to learn if I should be ready for quite the fight."

She tilted her head and grinned after the last sentence.

Ruhe's brow rose. "Unless you tell me exactly who you have on mind, I'll keep you hanging on my end. Also because my mind is not made up and I don't want any unnecessary bad blood between you and yours and me and mine. In the end, I'll choose someone I will have built enough affinity with while staying true to my Clan's interests." He wasn't misleading her, just not ready to put up any boundary posts. "It'll be better if you ask me this question a few days from now." He grinned back.

Akemi went for her densai, looked at her chart and frowned:

"I too am not exactly sure who my prime target is yet honestly. Thought my data was more complete than that but the last days have been kind of hectic and it's still full of question marks where it should be words. Even the card about my roommate is mostly blank even though she's no less than the legendary Matsu MAXIMUM RANGE Chiyoko.

Might have got more sidetracked than I thought. Should focus back on main mission. Grandpa will kill me if I end with a subpar spouse."

"I can tell you that I have no interest whatsoever in that one, though other Unicorn might!" Ruhe relaxed a bit. "Subpar? I wonder who qualifies as such in that roster of yours." He was amused by her keeping tabs of that.

Akemi answered absentmindedly, still focused on her densai:

"Well, grandpa has made it very clear I was to find a mate that would shower good reputation on our family, preferably of the military kind. His end goal is for the family to be remembered for its exploits on the battlefield and other similarly honorable achievements in his lifetime. He kind of has an issue with the fact his own status is from mercantile origin."

"I can't match against such grand demands, so I won't even try." Ruhe smirked. "Good luck finding someone like that though, it makes sense why you've been thinking about a Lion spouse."

"Thanks. Thought I'm starting to feel like I should also prepare a backup plan, just in case. It's one thing to want to marry upward, it's another to succeed. I don't have much arguments to persuade big shots to look at me outside my family's money and my natural charm."

She smiled.

"Maybe I should learn a few metal songs myself? Might prove effective."

"I can assist in that!" Ruhe laughed. "Can't go wrong with this strategy."

"Would you happen to have a suggestion that might seduce a maybe too serious to even blink Lion war hero then?"

"I might..." Given time, he'd introduce the repertoire of Bannerverse Sabaton to Akemi.

Akemi listened enthusiastically to the Unicorn demonstration of the martial/glorious side of his repertoire, vigorously clapping her hands in rhythm, flesh on metal.

/fade to metal