Moonspear it's real quiet here

Perhaps not.

She was too distracted by Katmai’s evident bashfulness to feel too disappointed by the potential being nipped in the bud. Her head cocked and, despite herself, Tiuttuk fought a smile. He clearly cared deeply for the young woman she considered a cousin. It was rather endearing to watch him fumble his words a bit. Pie felt a little envy hit her. Would a man ever stutter talking about her?

Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, she said, still smiling. I don’t know you well, but I think Kinusi is lucky to have caught your eye. And of course I know you’re lucky if you catch hers in turn.

Would either one of them be open to sharing? Tiuttuk couldn’t stop the thought before it ran through her mind with all the grace of a bull moose. She had been raised to accept both monogamy and polygamy as normal. But she’d always sort of liked the idea of finding one true love herself, so she wasn’t even sure why she was thinking about this. This was an impasse; he wasn’t an option.

All the same, Pie figured she might put him at ease by sharing an intimate fact about herself: I’m too young for all that too. But being an anaa one day is my greatest dream. She sighed. I should probably find someone to be their taataa first though, she admonished herself with a self-deprecating laugh.