#if its not clear they also referred to the lexicon for how to flirt back lmao

[unblot]

@igniida : "My sunflower. Being with you is just like pulling two SSR's in one day." Idia attempting to be romantic with Salem

“ ... ” At first it looks like the flirtation doesn't register with Salem, the redhead merely slow blinking in response. Despite being in proximity with Idia for so long, it can sometimes be difficult to remember what all his lingo means. In fact, in recent months they've started using a separate notebook full of definitions and descriptions of the things Idia says. Hopefully with that, they'll be able to keep up with him in due time.

Instead of saying anything in response, Salem wordlessly steps out of the room, briefly leaving Idia in perplexed panic. When they return, they have their Idia lexicon in hand. They open the page on gacha terms and skim the contents before promptly closing it again. When Salem's eyes meet Idia's again, their lips have curved upward in a minute smile. Without a word they lean forward to press a soft kiss to their boyfriend's flushed cheek, still smiling when they withdraw.

“ Thank you, Idia. You're my most prized UR card. ” They're not sure if that's the correct way to phrase it, but they hope Idia will still understand what they're trying to say.

[inflamedrosenkranz]

Come to think of it, it's possible that one of the reasons Bi-Han holds such a grudge against his father and the tradition he represents is his relationship with Sektor. Personnally, I'm not sure that Bi-Han's father looked kindly on his romance with his armorer's daughter. After all, Longwei, Sektor's father, essential though his role was; and Madam Bo, although considered one of the most powerful warriors of her time (as Sektor's bio makes clear), are probably not of aristocratic birth like Bi-Han's family, in which case Longwei would be more than just an armorer. Thus, it was probably customary for the future grandmaster of the Lin Kuei to marry a woman from his clan, or from one of its sub-clans, or from another clan altogether, but who was also of noble descent. What's more, Bi-Han appears to be in his thirties. Having reached such a decade of life, it would be astonishing if his late father hadn't already tried to find him a wife among the clan aristocracy at large. Could Bi-Han have managed to avoid this for years until, finally backed into a corner, he seized the opportunity of his father's accident to let him die and thus escape an imminent forced marriage? After all, Sektor is just one of his employees; hierarchically speaking, he's her boss, so they're not on the same level at all, and it would therefore be inconsistent for the Lin Kuei's aristocratic tradition to allow its grandmasters to take any woman as a spouse. And, for my part, I don't believe that Bi-Han and Sektor are married; it may be disingenuous of me to assert this, but I don't get the impression of a husband-and-wife dynamic between them, but rather of diabolical lovers and concubines (1). That's why, once rid of his father, Bi-Han was able to throw off the tradition the old man materialized, and, in so doing, maybe decree that he'll marry whomever he likes, that is, Sektor, the armorer's commoner daughter.

What's also interesting, on closer inspection, is this dialogue between Mileena and Kitana at the festival, where Mileena, after openly flirting with Tanya while the crowd's eyes were on them, is rebuked by Kitana about the risks of publicly flaunting such an affair:

Kitana: Careful, sister. Entanglements with Umgadi are forbidden. You know their vows. Mileena: Who told you? Kitana: No one. I have eyes. As do the snakes at court who would cheer your downfall. Mileena: The Umgadi's rules are ridiculous. Kitana: And you can change them when you are Empress. For now, you cannot jeopardize our ascension.

For the conflict between free impossible love and the tyrannic binds of tradition in which Mileena finds herself mirrors that in which Bi-Han may have found himself prior to his father's death.

(1) Which is a common trope and archetype in fiction. Also, for that matter, it's worth noting that General Shao refers to Sektor as Bi-Han's "woman", but not as his wife:

General Shao: Sub-Zero sends his woman after me? Sektor: He sends his most skilled warrior.

Admittedly, this choice of vocabulary could simply be part of Shao's crude and contemptuous way of speaking, especially as the word woman, in this context, could very well mean wife:

But this overlooks the fact that the word "wife" is used by other characters a total of 9 times in all the intro dialogues, so Shao could well have used it too (well, I'm not going to get into an analysis of MK1's lexicon, but I think you get my point…).

On the other hand, in MK1's story mode, Kuai Liang reminds a forgetful Tomáš that he won't be able to replace Bi-Han as grandmaster, because Cyrax and Sektor's "loyalty to Bi-Han is absolute", and for this reason, "they['d] sooner abet his corruption than follow [Kuai Liang]". Thus, if Sektor was officially married to Bi-Han, how could Tomáš not have remembered that, as the grandmaster's wife, she would have been perfectly legitimate to act as regent (provided the clan's rules allow it...), or simply oppose her brother-in-law's accession to the throne due to serious ideological differences, but also because it would be expected that she remains faithful to her husband and his vision? Therefore, the fact that Tom didn't even think of it in the first place would seem to indicate that Bi-Han and Sektor's relationship, while likely an open secret within the clan, was nevertheless neither really official; and even less sanctified by the bonds of marriage.