No strangers here

It seemed the newcomer was willing to take her up on the suggestion that she didn't explicitly ask and she gave a smile and a nod in response. She was so used to everyone towering over her that it was a nice thought that maybe between encounters with others she might be able to pretend she was a normal height, like the rest of them.

“It's a long way, and winter on the mainland. I'll have to grab some extra provisions.” She was sure it would put her mother's mind at ease to know she wasn't going alone. She rose to her feet and turned down one of the bamboo corridors. “This way then, I'll show you where to go if you ever get injured. My mother is the Yakuzaishi, though her bedside manner is a bit rough, she knows what she's doing. My big brothers built our home, and ma has a workroom in the front.” Had she stopped to think about it, she might have grown hot under her fur. Whoever would have thought she'd be taking a boy to meet her parents the first day she met him?

“Speech”