"Hm, I haven't tried apples together with walnuts before..." and with that thought, she scooped up some of the apple cinnamon together with the maple walnut. A bold move, but it paid off. None of the flavors clashed with the other. "Mm, that is good," she nodded approvingly, eyes closed to savour the flavors.

There was a brief downturn at the corner of her mouth from disappointment, but Hyeon-ju recovered soon enough. "That's a shame. I will miss places like Tian's... and milk tea, bubble tea, and cheese..." she sighed with a wistful tone. "I will manage of course."

So Tsuruchi-sama and Tsuruchi-sama it would be, depending on how well things would go. "Oh. You better be prepared for more traditional Unicorn greetings. Shaking hands that is. And hugs - it's much more common in our clan as a gesture of friendship and appriciation. And mom is a hugger."

He was rather happy she liked it, he'd tried to pick according to what he knew she liked. It seemed he got it right at least this time.

There was the disappointment he was expecting and he reached over a hand to give her a playful pinch. "That was something I was getting at earlier Hyeon-ju. Zuriyu may be my families home but it doesn't need to be our home. It's not really near where I'm stationed after all, and its out of the way of everything. My Father likes how quiet it is."

"We do have other options though, on Blue Pearl for example. It's closer to where I'm stationed and Unicorn space as well. It's a Condo, and not some huge luxurious home. It's a place to start though until we can find something more permanent of our own. You'll find It's much easier to find milk tea, and bubble tea, and cheese there. If you're interested."

"I've never done much of shaking hands, is that related to the butt slapping I've heard one of my squad mates talking about?" Hayato asked with a thoughtful expression. "Hugs i don't mind though. The Mantis aren't really as wary about touching as some of the others clans." He offered her a playful wink. "We don't mind things like holding hands for example."

The pinch solicited a surprised sound of 'nya'. "Ah..." she flushed a little, "... Blue Pearl sounds interesting. I've just... not read much about the different Mantis worlds, except for military purposes." And if it was nearer to where he was stationed, as well as closer to Unicorn territories, it coud make things easier to work out. "Is it too an ocean-world with many floating cities, islands, and archipelagos?"

She had to stop herself from choking on the ice cream when he mentioned the butt-slapping. "That's," Hyeon-ju cleared her throat, "that's mostly a soldier-thing. When celebrating, such as scoring or winning in a game of oshidama. You do high-fives and, yes, sometimes the butt-slap too. Sheesh, where'd you hear about these things? Was it Yul?" she asked with a somewhat amused tone.

He smiled at the sounds that had been a bit cuter then he expected. "It's a lot more metropolitan the Zuriyu, but like most Mantis worlds it has It's fair share of ocean." Hayato explained. "So yes it has more then it's far share of cities, islands, and archipelago. More then enough for beach activities and some lovely vistas."

"Now i wonder how many people got away with slapping your butt over the years." Hayato offered his tone teasing. "But no, I didn't hear it from Yul. A squad mate of mine had a cousin that trained with the Shinjo. So I've heard a few stories of the Unicorn from him." He smirked and chuckled softly. "Though I can't say I actually believed them."

"Something more metropolitan sounds nice. Not that Zuiryu probably isn't without its own beauty too, but I think that's what I'd probably feel more comfortable with. And... if Blue Pears is also closer to your station, that's good." She smiled a bit more with ease now. "Might be easier for us too to get used to married life on our own. Your family sounds wonderful, don't get me wrong, but it will probably be nice to have some time for ourselves."

And while living in a huge luxurious home didn't sound too bad, a condo was just fine with her to start with. A bigger home when it was time for children, seemed better perhaps.

"Now I am curious what sort of other stories you've heard," she chuckled. "But not many have gotten away with that. Only in oshidama, really, to be honest. No one's really done that outside of playing, at least not with me." Her stern gaze probably stopped such ideas in their tracks before they could be seen through.

Speaking of her gaze, it did wander to Hayato's dessert. "How's your ice cream, by the way?"

"I was thinking the same." He agreed with a chuckle, looking her way and offering the Utaku a mischievous smile. "The less unexpected visitors when we're alone the better i think." Hayato liked his family too, but he did want to spend time with his wife just them. Still that was something decided or at least it seemed so.

"I wouldn't think so." It didn't seem to be the thing she would normally allow. "Though I admit now I'm curious if I could get away with it." The young man continued with a light laugh. Though sitting as they were, it wasn't exactly the right time.

"Good." He replied picking up a bit of hazelnut and chocolate and offering it her way. "Want to try it?"

She knew some of her family members could certainly learn to respect privacy more instead of just walking in. So thankfully they wouldn't have to worry about that... mostly. "You'll have to tell me more about what kind of beach activities you have. Oshidama I know, but I've never gone swimming in a big ocean before. Do you do things like surfing, or sailing?" The ancient Mantis were sailors, she recalled from history lessons.

Her expression was a bit more serious as she looked at him. "You can try..." she said with a mostly-straight face, though there was a humor in her tone.

At least it softened at the offer of ice cream. "Mm, yes. Please." Nodding, she leaned forward for a sample.

"Yeah, I'm not the greatest sailor but I know my way around a surf board." No ocean kid really didn't. "Usually it was motorized vessels I was on when we'd go out fishing or just to enjoy the weather." Sailing took a skill set he hadn't studied much. "You named diving and snorkeling, there are a few other things as well. Like grilling beachside, and cracking watermelons. Not all of it is just games." Though there were those too. "Swimming in the ocean is nothing like swimming in a pool though, it's a lot different experience." He tried to put it into words. "You kinda have to do it to really understand."

"Mmm..." His eyes sparkled with a bit of mischief. "I'll have to see about finding a good time."

The mischief remained in his gaze as he fed her the icecream, though there was no call for aaaahhhhh this time. That kinda of cuteness didn't need to be repeated all the time. "Is it bad that I considered putting it in my mouth and trying to feed it to you that way?" Hayato teased, though he knew such a thing wouldn't work too well with icecream.

Were she not a Unicorn, the thought of swimming in the open ocean could've been a scary one. But she was a Unicorn, and exploring the unknowns was not something to shy away from.

"I look forward to trying all of those. And more. It sounds like a very different world than Golden Fields that's mostly agriculture on a world of plains, and mountains, with lakes and rivers in between. I suppose the Mantis don't eat a whole lot of red meat, hm?" The talk of grilling made her think about the food served at the first day of the miai - there had been some really great grilled meat then. And other things she didn't know what was but had eaten it anyway. Goodness, she was so full but here she was thinking about food already.

The glint of mischief in his eyes didn't go unnoticed, so she knew she'd have to be on her guard for that. But for now, she could instead focus on the ice cream offered to her. "Mm..." His teasing forced her to cover her lips with the back of her hand to contain her laugh, and to not grin with ice cream in her mouth. "That..." she swallowed and composed herself a little, "that's going a bit too far with ice cream."

She chuckled, cheeks flushed red. "... Maybe with strawberries, or something like that?"

"Some of us do?" Hayato offered with a shrug. "It's not always readily available on all of our planets though. You don't really see many cows on floating islands after all. So usually it's fish, or other types of seafood. I've got nothing against red meat though, it's a nice change of pace."

His eyes shifted towards the signal to call the servants. "Now I want to see if they have some strawberries here." He murmured thoughtfully. He didn't call the servant though, instead shifting his eyes to his blushing betrothed. Lacking his lips he hesitated for a few moments before asking. "Perhaps we should buy a variety of fruits sometime soon, and take the time to figure out what works best?"

"I figured as much. But seafood is good too." Really, the dairy was much more important than the meat. "Still, I'm glad to hear that. Means visiting my family will be much easier for your stomach if you're used to it, and will probably earn you some points with them as well."

It wasn't uncommon for Unicorns to subject outsiders to unknown foods to see how well they could handle it.

The suggestion made her smile grow thoughtful. "Ah... that sounds like something to do for our next date, when we meet again after this? Golden Fields is very bountiful, and we could probably get fresh fruits and berries of various sorts."

"That's a bit of my school kicking in too honestly, we rangers are supposed to be able to add to out food supply through foraging when out in the field." Not that they commonly did so. "So we were introduced to all kinds of different foods in training. Mind you I don't have a iron stomach or anything, but most common foods aren't a problem."

"Still." He grinned. "It's good to know it will get me some points with your family."

He'd expected a bit of embarassment from her, and was a bit surprised when she wasn't. Of course he wasn't gonna to commplain abou tthe suggestion. "I like the way that sounds. Maybe we can find a place out of the way where we can enjoy our time together. I imagine you must have a place or two you like that you would want to show me."