Nozomi too dressed up in the most traditional garb that she could wear. It was a plain robe, fit for a priestess, it too rather warm for the occasion.

She rushed in not too soon after the message was sent. She hadn't even read it before sliding on it. "There you are. Uh, good morning!"

“Yup, here I am. Um, good morning to you as well Kitsu-san, you look....”
Shoan briefly searches her mind for the most polite word
“... Well. Very well. How.. are things? Good, I hope?”

The tea arrives and Shoan busies herself pouring them a cup each.

"Yes, you look well too," Nozomi said, a bit stilted. They were, after all, not completely in private. "I was thinking about our arrangement and... I haven't changed my mind. But I did have one thing on my mind."

She looked to the pouring of the tea. "Do you see yourself as less than me?"

There is nearly a brief tea catastrophe, the second for Shoan in as many days. Thankfully some merely runs down the saucer.

“My.... importance is less than yours, simply as a matter of birth.”
She focuses veeeery carefully on finishing the pouring before setting the kettle down

“It’s... I’m not sure how to....”
The pot gets a glare from Shoan, as if it were at fault
“I would give my life for you or any other priestess Kitsu-San. But that doesn’t mean I don’t see myself as a samurai in the same way you are, just different.”

Nozomi sighed. "Yes, I suppose there is that matter, isn't there?" She gazed idly upon the kettle and then the cups. "I simply want us to be equals in our arrangement... if it comes to pass, that is."

“That is.... very admirable Kitsu-san”
Deadpan with just the faintest hint she’s jesting “I was hoping to spend most of my time cleaning the house or providing foot massages but, if you insist I continue my career and treat you as an equal... well... I will try my best.”

Nozomi smiled faintly. "I don't know if you understand me. Not just in pursuing careers, just... I don't want you to think of me as the head lady of the house, if it comes to pass. It's a joint thing, like when two gunso... wait two gunso wouldn't command the same soldiers."

She sighed. "I'm getting my own words mixed up."

“I think I understand. It’s partnership, two samurai neither beholden to the other. Although I reserve the right, if it comes to pass, to spoil my wife.”

Shoan smiles ever so slightly back, although there’s a touch of tension
“There is one issue I... should raise. Uh...I... so I have my appointment to the Jade Legion. And if I miss my first tour of service because I’m carrying a child that might make it hard for me to return to service there.”
Looking at her napkin

“So if possible, and I mean, it’s not mandatory, but just... if it did happen, and we did want to have children. I... might be delayed a few years there, at least on my end.”

"Oh. Then expect the same, if it is to come," Nozomi said, a faint smile.

She listened to Shoan's explanation and looked down. Her hands went over her belly and she giggled slightly. "Ah. Yes. Well, we would need children, and you have an upcoming post that I do not."

The priestess coughed slightly. "Perhaps it is best that we go through with our arrangement than for you to marry a man."

“He would simply need to wait a year or two, I am sure I could persuade him if necessary.”
Anyone trained by the Matsu knows the ways

“I don’t want, if it does happen of course, it wouldn’t be fair for you to carry all the children. Although you would Cleary make a good mother. You’ll have your own prestigious postings in time.”

"I'm sure you would have no trouble, just as if you have had no trouble in convincing me," Nozomi said with a faint smile.

She smiled and sipped on her tea. "It may be beneath me, but I have accepted a more humble role in my life. I don't aspire to be the greatest priestess to have ever graced the navigators or the researchers."

“So long as that acceptance is a choice rather than from obligation. Besides, some Lion might feel you are one of the greatest, they might be biased though.”

Shoan goes to pick up her own tea and then pauses

“There is... one more thing. I’m... very honest, to the point where I can be too honest. This has caused some trouble for me in the past, I once shamed a sensei at the dojo... he deserved it, but it was still an unpleasant episode... I... just wanted to let you know.”

And she quickly sips her own tea.

"Some Lion might think that," Nozomi echoed with a small giggle.

She tilted her head. "Your honesty is what I appreciate most about you. I know that all you say, more than anyone else, is something true from your heart." Another short laugh. "If you had been trained a courtier, perhaps I would feel differently."

"If I was a courtier I would hope to be an art critic...at least then people would listen to me."
After a moment Shoan relaxes, sitting back in her chair and just looking across at Nozomi with a quiet smile.

"Well, you have soothed all of my concerns. I...feel if this does happen, which it may not...that it could be a very successful match for us both."

"I, for one, never listened to art critics," Nozomi commented with a grin. "Why would I care what they say when I can judge it for myself?"

The priestess finished her cup of tea and set it down. She took the kettle and made the effort to pour for Shoan's first before her own. "It seems we are in harmony on this... arrangement."

snorting slightly"Do not let the Crane know your insight, half their Clan would be out of a job."

Raising her cup in salte to Nozomi
"Yes...I think so.....this was so much easier than all the other attempts at similar things this Miai. If only most samurai were as sensible and right thinking as the Lion."

"That is why we have come to this agreement. The other clans weren't able to be so rational in their decision making," Nozomi murmured.

“Exactly. Perhaps if they had moved earlier and been more appropriate matches we would have had other options. Although I am not unfond of this agreement. Although...”

Shaking her head in amusement
“As Kitsu Shoan in the Jade Legion everyone will assume I am a shugenja. I am doomed to a life of correcting others now.”

"Perhaps I will be Murame Nozomi and surprise everyone with my talents."