"I would say that the line is drawn where service and hospitality are negatively affected by your choice to obey the letter of the law as opposed to the spirit of it." Mahao'li folds his arms gently, tilting his head thoughtfully to the side. "In all your examples, Ruunte Qana'to, the cause of the issue is not on Cehn'to, but on the bhenah for failing to care for him adequately. Is it right and hospitable of him to shift that failure of care onto guests?" Mahao'li turns and casts his gaze over Cehn'to once more, tracing the faded but unmistakable lines of shonjate war paint with his eyes. He turns back to Qana'to, shrugging his shoulders slightly as he adjusts his stance before continuing.

"To use your example of food; to do many things on an empty stomach is difficult, especially services of the kind a Shonjate is know for. If someone were to arrive with an urgent petition for Cehn'to, say for protection on the road to Limsa Lominsa to catch the last ship before dusk, would it be right for him to deny them because the communal supper had yet to be prepared? If to do so would mean the guest had to depart without protection, because Cehn'to could not feed himself to be ready to provide that service, than I would say that Cehn'to had failed in his duties as a keeper." 

"Fine, then," Qana'to says, nodding approvingly and turning to head into the back area of the shrine. "You say we should judge by the impact on guests, and I agree. So, then, he can wait on you for the rest of the evening, and when I return from offering the evening's votive prayers with Rhaefi'a and Naoh'li, I will judge whether he was still able to perform service and hospitality befitting the bholbhenah based on how well you've been taken of. How's that sound?" He disappears around a corner before either of them get a chance to respond. In the distance, the nekhucte standing watch over the candle display giggles while studiously pretending to be looking elsewhere.

"Uh-oh," Cehn'to mutters under his breath. "That tone says he's fully intending to make me regret that little bargain in a moment." He looks back to the man to his right. "Well, I appreciate the support, satihr, so what do you say we get you fed and washed off before I spend the rest of my days beating rugs and chopping firewood until my arms fall off?"

Mahao'li chuckles softly, bumping the other keeper's shoulder and smiling at him reassuringly. "We'll just have to make sure he can't fault your hospitality so he can't make you regret it - which given I'm on your side, shouldn't be too hard." He flicks his ears quickly, widening his smile. "And of course I support you - I'm the reason you had to break the rules to be somewhat presentable in here, I won't let you take the fall for that alone."

He laughs. "You're sweet, stranger. Come on, are you hungry? We can find you snack if you want. There's probably some leftover eel if you want, downstairs."

A threatening hum pierces the quiet, and the nekhucte glares. "Okay, on second thought, Hrevna'a is supposed to be starting dinner soon and I shouldn't spoil your appetite," he says hurriedly. "Let's, uh, go wash first instead."

Mahao'li turns and grins playfully at the Nekhucte. "Well, I haven't actually eaten since I got here, not counting Rhaefi'a, so some eel in theory would be wonderful, and a good way to show Bholbenah hospitality..." He trails off, meaningully holding the pause a moment before continuing. "That said though, I did offer to Ruunte Qana'to to prepare dinner as a thank you for his services today, so I should do that before Hrevna'a gets too carried away." He glances down at his groin, where his cock, while having softened since his discussion with Qana'to, was still standing semi hard. "I guess you'll have to wait." He turns back to Cehn'to, smiling and beckoning him. "Why don't you show me where the kitchen is and help me with prep, and then we can wash up while the stew cooks?"  

"Well, surely you can cook tomorrow night just as well, right?" Cehn'to protests. "I'm pretty sure I'll never do anything but move logs if I don't keep you entertained and Qana'to catches a guest working." He suddenly bolts upright and stares after where the ruunte disappeared. "That wasn't his plan, was it? Is that why he was so willing to play along?"

Mahao'li raises an eyebrow at you, smiling and shaking his head. "I doubt it - I made the offer while we were still in Limsa Lominsa; long before we got back here. I'm sure you're safe."

"I wouldn't be so certain. He and the head hravnjate here like to play games. Though—not usually anything so malicious as... ohhh," he laughs suddenly. "Of course, I'm being selfish. The goal isn't to trick me into violating a promise. It's to prevent you from trying to repay us for what should be service freely given." His ears flick and he regards Mahao'li with renewed curiosity. "You must have made it explicit that you were trying to repay him for his help. He's both too polite to refuse you outright and too obstinate to just let you do it. He takes very seriously the idea that we should not seek benefit from the help we render to our visitors." He rolls his eyes. "And it doubles as telling me off for taking liberties with the shrine's rules, so he gets two apples off one graft."

Mahao’li purses his lips as he contemplates Cehn’to’s words. "I did explicitly say as much, yes; that I could make stew in return for his assistance." He smiles and shrugs at Cehn'to, elaborating. "In our village, that was the way of it - you gave thank you for assistance with assistance in kind. 'Everyone shares the burden of caring for each other.' To not do so was to put yourself above others; to be served as a Nuhn or King." Mahao'li shakes his head slightly and smiles at the other keeper. "Of course, if Ruunte Qana'to is insistent on playing this game, I will play along. There are other ways I can repay his favour in kind."

"Oh, have your evil plans, do you? Well, I'm sure his only consideration is keeping it from being promised, so whatever clever ways you have to offer thanks will be appreciated. It just cannot sound like a bargain. Veom'ra is strict about that on the grounds," he explains with a smile. "There is a loophole here, though, if you are bent on cooking. Hrevna'a is cooking for us, but somebody has to cook for him in turn. Usually he'd just eat uncooked greens and a salted haunch or similar on the days he's assigned to cook. Something he didn't need to cook, technically. But you could make him a meal and it wouldn't be directly benefiting Qana'to, so he couldn't complain." He shrugs. "Just saying."