Yul heard that flippancy, and understood it; he'd used it frequently enough for one reason or another. He held her gently against him, murmuring softly as she squeezed him, his hand running soothingly down her back.

"I guess everyone has to choose their own path." Yul said, speaking softly, his lips not far from her ear. "To me, this feels like freedom. Being with you..." It was his turn to brush his lips against her cheek. "Well, let's just say I'm glad that our paths have come together like this." Would it be a single path, going on? He dared to hope.

Yul shifted a little, settling beneath Mumei. The weight of her, the closeness, was a joy. "I'll get the chance to meet your mother though, yeah? What's she like?"

She moves with him, slumping a little to rest her head on his shoulder, shifting her weight till he seems comfortable, and letting her hands move without a purpose other than contact as she speaks. Her voice is quiet, and she pauses here and there, kissing his neck about half of those times where she's thinking of what she wants to say. "A bit aloof, as you might expect. Not with me, till I started training at least. Dignified and professional. A lot of contacts, but not a lot of friends. I look a lot like her, I'm told by my uncles...have her eyes. I don't have her height though. Maybe my father was shorter."

Another long breath, blown out with enough force to breeze along his collarbones. "And your folks?," there's a smile he can't see, but can hear in her voice. "What are they like?"

Sitting up again, her eyes on his face in the dim light, she doesn't even consciously realize that she needed to see his response. Her own expression and voice aren't troubled by the thin thread of worry her question reveals. "They won't mind you bringing home someone with such a fuzzy pedigree?"

The kisses on his neck were certainly pleasant, Yul arching slightly against her. He settled again, smiling gently. "They're... simple, but in a good way, if that makes sense. They're both hard workers, they both like what they do. They revere the Fortunes, they take good care of their kids... oh, did I mention I've got five sisters and two brothers?" Yul chuckled softly. "They're a lot alike in a lot of ways, too. Cheerful, and friendly, and open. My mom's the funny one, though. But they're both happy to live out their lives on Shinjo's Grace." Funny, how both of them seemed to have differences from their parents.

He sat up a little as Mumei did, meeting her gaze with a gentle smile. The smile grew as she spoke. "They won't." Yul said, shaking his head gently. "I promise." He leaned forward, kissing her gently, almost soothingly, as good a response as his words, Yul hoped.

Yul sat back again, his forehead creasing just a little. "In fact..." He chewed his lip a moment, "-I've never told anyone this before. But I never knew my grandfather, on my father's side. I mean, I've told people that." His eyes met hers again. "What my parents have told me, I can't put my finger on it, but something's not right. Over the years, I've noticed more and more inconsistencies, little things here and there." The smile he gave her was slightly crooked. "So... hey. Maybe a fuzzy pedigree is just one more thing that you and I share?"

Yul's smile was more reassuring than any words could be, and as her lips meet his, she finds herself thinking about being able to see that smile every day. Within the relief, and joy, there's something nagging at the back of her mind though...

It stays there as she listens to his own confession of something odd in the family line. It wasn't the sort of thing the Osprey put a lot of stock in. Bloodlines were more important to great clans, and...

She sits up a bit straighter, blinking. "Wait...5 sis...7 siblings?! Hoo... If I ever hear you say a single unkind thing about your mother I'm going to ..." ok there weren't a lot of threats she could make that would carry much weight there. Punching him was a joke, and it was definitely dishonorable to ask the kami to burn his eventual new favorite jacket. "tell her exactly what you said," She finally finishes with a sharp nod and surprised laughter.

"Ok...Ok. So whereabouts are you in that long sequence of kids? Oldest? Youngest? Someplace in between?

With Mumei sitting up straighter, this time Yul can bury his face into her shoulder, shaking with quiet laughter. "Oh, wow." He said, his voice muffled against her; he straightened again, grinning. "You know, even as I said it, I was thinking that it was probably gonna be the biggest surprise. But don't worry. Pretty sure they'll all think you're great, too." Some of that might have been optimism; he loved her, so what problem could there be? "And you're not gonna have to follow through on that threat, either. I'm closer to my mom. My dad's a little more... stiff."

Gently, Yul eased Mumei back against him, his hands on her back gently urging. "For six years, I was the youngest. Then Geriel was born. She and I used to get along really well, growing up." Leaning against him, Mumei would be able to feel the slight tension in his form. "We were a bit more alike than the others. I guess maybe because we both had some practice at being the youngest? And she, well, she doesn't have quite the same thrills as I do, but she's probably a better rider than I am by now."

Yul sighed softly, slightly mixed emotions, running his hands up and down Mumei's back.

Only the least urging is needed, and Mumei wraps herself around him, one hand coming up to stroke his hair, nearly cheek to cheek. "Used to be? Is it ok to ask what happened?" she asks gently, concerned.

Yul nodded his head, rubbing his cheek against hers. "Yeah. It's okay." His voice had only the lightest hint of strain in it; Mumei was doing a very good job of soothing his worries.

A deep breath, inhaling that scent of hers. "It's just, well, we were always close. And then I left. She knew I wanted to, but I think she didn't think it would ever happen. I didn't think it would happen. So..." He spread his hands; not visible, but of course Mumei would feel it. "I think she understood, but I'm not sure she forgave me anyway."

He kissed Mumei's cheek. "I think she'll like you, though. That might help."

She sits back, pushing gently, pleasantly, against his hands, chuckling softly, and shaking her head. "You know..." It's just a matter of offering a hair less resistance to find herself pulled closer again, to offer a soft kiss. "There are easier..." And another, staccato punctuation as she teases. "souvenirs...to bring home...to impress her...than an Osprey..."

The Otori are burbling quietly to themselves in the background. The air is about as pleasant as it ever seems to be. Mumei feels like she's collecting all the contact and conversation to store in the days ahead of only seeing one another briefly. Thankfully, there's plenty of time before they need to return and sleep.

And the scene can fts/(fade to stars)