His sincerity is unexpected but received in stride, and she tilts her chin and slices a coy smile his way. "I suppose I'll have to be patient then, pity," Hotaru tuts softly, but she's easily turned away from her prey to the posturing at hand. Really, men. They had been the bane of her existence as a ruler, and they remain that way even now. Women didn't have as much of a problem comparing 'sizes', not when they were hanging off the front of their chests. And of course none of the cowards would drop drawers in this particular weather and allow her to be a particularly enthusiastic, impartial judge.
They're a confused little bunch, and it's like herding cats to get them all on relatively the same page, but they end up where they need to be in the end. And oh, joy of joys, she gets the handsome man at her assistance not long after she finds her own tree. "You know what they say about two hands being better than one," she teases, but happily gestures for him to take the other side. The work is far faster with their swings syncing up, and soon enough the pine is felled and ready to be hauled out of the forest. Not that she can really help with that particular part, so she revels in the sweat she has worked up and catches her breath for a moment.
It's quiet, intensive work, but if Jigano feels the need to speak she certainly wouldn't snub him for it. Poor guy seemed like he needed the ego bolster after getting the twin stare-shakedown from earlier. Which she had admittedly found very amusing, but her alliance could be temporarily bought for the pretty and the powerful. With steady hands she swings her axe once more, beginning to cut the limbs off so it will slide easier on the snow when they haul it out.
They're a confused little bunch, and it's like herding cats to get them all on relatively the same page, but they end up where they need to be in the end. And oh, joy of joys, she gets the handsome man at her assistance not long after she finds her own tree. "You know what they say about two hands being better than one," she teases, but happily gestures for him to take the other side. The work is far faster with their swings syncing up, and soon enough the pine is felled and ready to be hauled out of the forest. Not that she can really help with that particular part, so she revels in the sweat she has worked up and catches her breath for a moment.
It's quiet, intensive work, but if Jigano feels the need to speak she certainly wouldn't snub him for it. Poor guy seemed like he needed the ego bolster after getting the twin stare-shakedown from earlier. Which she had admittedly found very amusing, but her alliance could be temporarily bought for the pretty and the powerful. With steady hands she swings her axe once more, beginning to cut the limbs off so it will slide easier on the snow when they haul it out.
