"Ah....Well, that is understandable."
Shifting slightly
"Most samurai would have those worries, they are reasonable. Hmmm, you want a partner who will...."
Shoan realises she isn't quite sure what sort of samurai Nozomi is looking for
"Bring you honour....but also be a companion? Someone you can read with?"

"These are all good things," Nozomi said, "I have thought about it much. Very much." She tapped her densai and then shrugged. "It's a little embarrassing to talk about it though."

Shoan nods
"I understand, if you wish to keep it private, well, I have embarrassed myself enough for the both of us tonight."

"Thank you." Nozomi folded her hands. "Did you do well with those bird things today? It was more more challenging than I had anticipated."

"Well I....participated in wrangling. And then I, at one point, was violently deposited from one of the giant birds onto the ground, I believe to some laughter. So, well would be a stretch, quite a stretch."
Wince

"Ah. That is about how well I did," Nozomi said with a neutral, polite tone. But it didn't last long; it was broken by her classic smirk. "I hope future events are more... suited for our skills!"

"I certainly hope so, unless non-Lion samurai have a fascination with people hitting the ground repeatedly."
Shoan rubs her shoulder, finally well enough to now feel sore.

"I'm not sure my personal skill set is well suited to a miai, but I am told Asako-sama enjoys physical efforts more than most samurai, so I may be wrong."
Sounding slightly amused
"Perhaps a romantic shooting competition will be in order."

"They just might," Nozomi said with a jesting smile.

"It does not seem the events are particularly romantic. Maybe he just wants us to be impressed by, as you said, physical feats."

"What's next, a romantic biathlon?"
Surely even the Governor would not go so far.

"Maybe the theory is that adversity will breed familiarity? I have gotten to know you better because of the ikebana, for example."

"What could a romantic biathlon consist of?" Nozomi pondered out loud. Her eyes widened and she took off her glasses out of reflex to wipe them.

"But the ikebana wasn't part of the miai, was it? Like officially, that is."

“Presumably romantic running and romantic shooting. Just lots of samurai in their exercise gear, probably not overly interesting.”

Shoan frowns, they’d certainly encouraged the ikebana but
“Huh.... they made it sound official but I guess Strictly it wasn’t. That seems strange?”

"Oh. That makes sense," Nozomi murmured in regards to the running and shooting.

"It didn't seem to gain any more favor for the miai itself though. But maybe it did in some ways?"

“I’m sure many samurai view mushroom ikebana as a valuable skill.”
Shoan said with a straight face

“Perhaps it was a good way for samurai to signal to one another?”

"Isn't it a little early to be signalling to each other though? We talked about this back at the meeting," Nozomi mused.

“I think it might be more.... generic signalling. A gift of flowers might as you say be a pretty... direct gift. But simply showing that flowers are something you value might signal to other samurai with the same interests that you are a good option. I think.”
Eyeing her bucket and then the city

“I may well be wrong, I’m definitely not an expert.”

"Oh. I didn't even think to do that," she admitted, "Then again, art isn't really my thing either."

Nozomi tilted her head. "Do you think showing that flowers are not your thing is a good sign to some people?"

“Absolutely”
“...”
“...”
“Not they there is anything wrong with flowers. But I would say many samurai are just not interested in flowers. And they might be able to bond with others over not liking flowers.”

"I see. I never really thought of it myself." Nozomi shrugged. "I suppose I am neutral on the matter of flowers. What about you?"

“...I may be anti-flower. They are nice, but all the nuances of shape and colour and what they mean? It does not appeal to me. Perhaps I am displaying my ignorance”
She supposed some samurai had made nice floral arrangements

“I’ll be on the look out for other neutral flower samurai to send your way Kitsu-san.”

"So you would be upset if a samurai gave you a bouquet of flowers?" she asked, trying to get to the root of it. She closed her eyes and then shrugged. "It would not bother me. So yes, I suppose someone 'neutral on flowers' would be a good match.'