Paperwork done. Time for a break.

Well, a trip to the mall was only sorta a break. He had some things to pick up. Some more EZ-Reheat meals, but the fancy kind that the grocery store didn't sell. A fresh bottle of shochu to replace the one he'd finished last night. Perhaps he should stop by there first...

And so, wearing his casual modern work attire, Rei strolled casually in the direction of the liquor store, a place that would undoubtedly recognize him on sight. His pale brown eyes swept from side to side as he walked, watching the crowd, the flow of foot traffic... the people...

He'd lived here two years now. Was he a visitor, or was this home? And which did it feel like. He shook his head, declining to answer his internal question.

As Rei was contemplating his life and purpose in the city, as well as any peculiar missing voids in his relationship, there was a young woman who slightly stuck out from the crowds. She perhaps wasn't so distinct that would warrant that much attention in a Scorpion city but perhaps eye-catching enough to be worthy of a pause longer than a second, another Scorpion in street fashion. The woman was dressed in an oversized hoodie with thigh-high boots, black and crimson curls spilling from the hood over her head. She didn't wear a mask but still wore large sunglasses that served a similar purpose.

She would make her way into the liquor store where Rei was making his destination and picked up a basket with a lackadaisical grip.

Not everyone would pause upon spotting a young woman like that. But Rei certainly would. His pale eyes alighted on her, studying automatically, interested on several levels. Her obvious beauty was one thing, making Rei's lips curling up at the corners, just a little. But his trained eye caught other little details, like the hoodie and the dark sunglasses. On a Scorpion planet, everyone wore masks, but this seemed different. This seemed like someone trying to stay incognito.

It seemed like she was rather better at it than Yakumo or Hinata; he didn't recognize her right off. So who was she?

If she'd had been going a different way, the lovely young woman might have just been another mystery in a city full of them. But instead, their steps seemed to be going the same way. Coincidence, or planning? On this planet, one never knew. Rei pushed away the worry, leaving it in the back of his mind. Distracted as he was by his thoughts, when he retrieved his basket, it bumped into hers, gently but with an audible clack.

"My apologies." Rei said, flashing her a smile, one of his more charming ones. "I should have been paying more attention." He gave a bow. "Rei. Usagi Rei." He straightened, his pale eyes curious as he regarded the young woman.

"Tch!" She muttered in annoyance when she heard her basket clack against hers. While she was quite sure that she wasn't in the wrong and could just keep moving on without acknowledging the person behind her, she did spare a glance. Even with the sunglasses up, there was a scrunch of her brow to indicate that she was shooting a glare at Rei. She did let out a huff until he smiled at her and she relaxed in her demeanour just a tad. Okay, he was a cute one, she had to admit.

Her hands went up to her sunglasses but she hesitated for a moment before deciding she was just going to keep them on. At the very least, the fluorescent lights here were rather bright. "No, you're good. Guessing you're probably in a rush to pop in and pop out of here too, huh?" She asked as she moved one hand to hold the arm that has the basket.

"Mariko. Bayushi Mariko." She would greet him back in return. Not her greeting of choice and there was a likelihood she was just imitating his formatting.

Rei chuckled, his smile turning charmingly crooked. "That was the plan. In and out so fast the shopkeep just remembers me as a grey blur." He gave a shrug, the basket he held rising and falling with the motion of his broad shoulders. "I guess maybe it's better to be careful than to be fast."

His lips quirked with amusement as she echoed his greeting, even as one eyebrow went up, curiosity evident on his handsome features. That was certainly a name he'd recognize. "Well, by accident, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mariko, Bayushi Mariko-san." There was definitely a bit of a playful tease, there.

Pursing his lips, he stepped just a little closer, pitching his voice lower as he continued. "I'm sorry, I hate to say the most typical thing ever, but... the Bayushi Mariko?" The charming smile took on a hint of wryness.

Mariko smirked slightly on that note and gave a shrug of her shoulders, taking a few steps on the side from where they picked up their basket. There was no need to be bumping into everyone's basket and turning this into a party. "Hah, you're telling me that now. Still, I think I'd rather be in a basket fender bender than a car fender bender. Don't need another one of those this year..."

There was an awkward glance to the side on that note as if she was addressing an audience on the side before looking back at Rei.

She tilted her head a little at the question, likely staring right at him with her sunglasses still on with black lips open mid-though, wondering if this was going to be a confrontation of some sort. "I don't know how to answer that. Depends, you know. I know that I'm a Bayushi Mariko, that's for sure. Girl shopping for drinks, as you see here. Which Bayushi Mariko were you hoping to see?"

"My sympathies." Rei said, quite honestly as the two of them stepped to the side. "I've been here a few years, and I haven't even tried chancing the traffic yet. Just dashing across one of these busy streets is enough to get my heart racing a bit. Hope it wasn't too bad?" Her glance to the side made Rei's eyebrow arch just a little further. Did she expect... hmmm.

His suspicious were, if not confirmed, at least heightened by her reaction. Still smiling, he raised both his hands, palms more or less out, his basket swinging from side to side in the air. "Hey, don't worry. I'm just a guy doing some shopping. Nothing else going on with me."

Slowly, he lowered his hands, tilting his head, his pale brown eyes glinting at her. "Although, I'm kinda hoping that this might be a Bayushi Mariko that will let me buy her a drink some time. You know, as apology for the basket fender bender. It's the right thing to do." His lips twitched at the corners, just a little.

"No," she said with an air of indifference, seemingly already having long put the incident behind her. "I was only parking my car at the time. I felt pretty lousy when it happened and even more so after I sobered up. I'm sure the media had a field day with it but it was probably my luck that the brakes actually gave, so not entirely my fault."

Her hand dropped from holding her arm and she moved her glasses down somewhat to get a better look at him. Despite the 'incognito' look she was going for, she wouldn't truly laze out of looking good in public and her smoky eyeshadow was some indicator of that. She did look a bit tired, perhaps labouring through a late morning after the festival yesterday. "Gets your heart racing, huh? Are you some sort of adrenaline junkie or is that just something Hare do...Usagi-san?"

She slid her sunglasses back up and began strolling down the aisle as most people would do when shopping at a liquor store. "Oh, in that case...I'm very much that sort of Bayushi Mariko. I'm not going to say no, if makes you feel better about what you did. Not exactly an offer I get every day after bumping baskets."

"Hmmm..." For the first time since the conversation started, a frown flickered across Rei's face, if only for a moment. Brake failure activated the paranoid bit in his mind. "Bad luck." He said dryly, eyes narrowing. Rei wore no makeup himself, but was definitely the sort that spent forty-five minutes every morning getting the perfect casual look to his hair and clothing.

Well. Things were looking up. Rei's teeth flashed white as she agreed, a tiny thrill going through him. If this was a trap, well... it made sense to trip it anyway, right? Logic and other parts were currently in agreement. "Good. In that case, let me give you my card." It took a bit of shuffling about to manage to fish one out and hand it to her while holding his basket, but he managed. "Send me a message when you'd like to go. The Golden Frog would be my choice. It's nice, not too loud. Quiet." Discreet. He gave her a quick look, hoping he conveyed the concept well enough.

"As for the heart racing thing..." The shochu was on the other side; Rei crossed over, a chest high collection of liquor now separating him and the intriguing Bayushi. "Well, I won't deny that I like a bit of excitement from time to time. That rush, that thrill... yeah, it's a feeling I enjoy."

Selecting a bottle, he paused, looking over the shelf at Mariko. "Are you saying you feel differently, Bayushi-san?" He asked, smiling.

Mariko seemed to look at Rei at the mention of bad luck before giving a shrug and moving on casually about it. "Yeah, but in a way, I lucked out. Not like I was speeding down the highway or anything while this happened. That would have been another story." She gave a dismissive shake of her head, not even wanting to explore that avenue of thinking.

"Uh-huh." She would accept the presented card with a nod. While she could have been real formal about it, it didn't seem appropriate in this setting. If he was trying to sell something to her and her lack of manners threw him off, then it might have been a business opportunity worth missing. Again, if he was selling something. It's not like she couldn't see him as a trap, as the Scorpion here. "The Golden Frog? That's a nice place. I've been there a few times, funny I haven't run into you yet."

"What?" She asked with a tilt of her head. The shochu, while fancy, didn't seem to catch much of her interest. "Do you mean the drinks or the adrenaline? I don't think I'm looking to get a thrill, especially not in this city. Thrills are usually an easy way to end up on the bad side of something. Weaving through traffic is probably one way to get it but pretty stupid. You probably need to find another fix."

Rei shook his head. "I meant generally. Believe me, I don't get my fix from darting through traffic. More the little things, like hearing the right song at the right time." He smiled. "But maybe that sort of talk is better saved for when we're sharing a drink, eh?"

Another step down the aisle, matching her pace in this strange separated conversation. Rei selected another bottle, frowned thoughtfully at it, put it back. "Bad luck, I guess. I'm not there every night. I like to get a seat with the best view out the window. Something about watching the city..." Rei frowned a moment, trying to explain, and then shrugged. "I don't know, there's something fascinating about it. Billions of people, and that's before the visitors, different ones every day."

"Right." She let out a snicker at that thought as she casually walked down the aisle, keeping in view of Rei as they talked. Seeing as she had a conversation partner now, she wasn't exactly in a rush to get to where she need to be. However, she did glance a few times at the refrigerated section of the store. "Don't want to burn away all of your material for our date, huh?"

"You sound like the real bleeding heart romantic type." She smirked on that note as she placed a hand on her chest to highlight that. The empty basket she was holding was given a few casual swings. Thankfully, nobody was standing in front of her or behind her to land her in another basket incident. "It's just a place where everyone is living their life and going about their business, Usagi-san. You're probably wondering about them far more than they are you, they don't even know that you exist. Still, that's a few thoughts. It's a pretty sight, when you're not suffering migraine or hung-over, that's for sure."

Rei's grin flashed again at the confirmation that it was a date. "It's a Hare secret. Always hold a little something back for the sprint at the end." He let his eyes follow hers, over the shelf, before dropping to check another bottle. And then, noting her glance, Rei altered his own step, taking them back in the direction of the refrigerated items. It was a strange dance...

The next comment made him snort. "Yeah, I get that all the time." He said, smirking, eyes following her hand. He made a cross over his own heart with his free hand. "I was born on a cruiser with fewer than a thousand crew. I don't think all of them knew I existed, so I don't have any illusions about this place." He shrugged. "But maybe that's why it's interesting to me."

He glanced over, smiling. "That's why I'm always there at night. Although that's a good reminder to pick up another bottle of painkillers for the morning after this." He gave his basket a little shake.

That managed to get a chuckle out of Mariko at the very least and she bobbed her head in approval a few times afterwards. "That's pretty cute, I do like that. That said, it does make it a bit silly to buy drinks now when it's going to be your treat later. When were you thinking exactly? My schedule can be pretty full, depending on the day."

Okay, it might have been a small fib, as her schedule wasn't that busy but she needed to make herself sound important at least.

While she had no interest in the hard liquor, she did find herself looking down at Rei's basket and taking a note of what was picking up. She knew he had decent tastes at the very least or else he wouldn't have suggested the Golden Frog. "But, if you're anything like me, I'm guessing you need to do a little drinking before that at least. Do you typically have guests over? Hosting a big delegation gett together?"

"Life must have been far different on a cruiser, I can't imagine that's somewhere you can grow to be romantic. So then, do you sometimes get shocked when you looked outside and you see a sun or a moon up in the sky?" She smirked faintly at the slight jab.

"Tomorrow night? Night after that?" Rei smirked. "If that works with your schedule. I didn't realize that I was going on a date with a big shot."

The shelf ended, and they were walking side by side, letting Mariko see what Rei had selected. Two bottles of shochu, one a barley variety, the other sucarcane, both reasonably high end. Rei, likewise, cast a look into her basket as they reached the refrigerated section; the instinct of both a habitual flirt and an agent. "Company, sometimes." Rei said, brushing his hand back through his hair. "But I'm just replenishing my stock. It all runs dry eventually." No need to dwell on how quickly...

He waited, watching, as she selected her remaining items. "You'd be surprised. Lots of Hare are romantics. It's our drop troop advertisement videos." He chuckled, shaking his head. "And believe it or not, after years of living planetside, I've gotten used to a sky instead of bulkheads." He narrowed his eyes. "You a native Dreamer, or did you have to switch skies at least once?"

Mariko tapped her chin a few times in thought, potentially to put some suspense in the whole planning. She couldn't very let him think that she would with just anyone to a swanky bar just because they were cute, right? "Hm, well, we'll see. You're lucky that you caught me just like that. Nights do work best for me, actually. My mornings are pretty...occupied. Yes, let's go with that."

She gave a few nods when she got a better look at his basket before they reached the refrigerated section. There were a few offerings such as ice wines and cans of beer that were kept cold for the shopper's convenience if they were looking to consume them anytime soon, as well as some bottles of alcohol that had to be kept cold at all times to maintain their quality. They were likely made in part of some foreign flora in a remote world.

"Oh yeah?" She asked as she raised a brow past the thick frames of her sunglasses. "You must be a pretty popular diplomat or a courtier. Then again, I guess something like that wouldn't last a week at my place."

When she got the chance to browse through the refrigerated section proper, it seemed that she wasn't exactly shopping for something sophisticated but rather reached for a group of six cans that were bundled together. From what Rei could see on the label, it was a brand of sweet tea alcohol cocktail. She would plop the item into her basket before turning to look at Rei. "It's kind of hard to not switch skies in my line of work but I'd call the World of Dreams my home, kinda. As much of a home you can make of it, know what I mean?"

Rei waited patiently for Mariko to speak, smiling. He appreciated the game... "Alright. Tomorrow night or the night after. You've got my number." Rei said, still smiling playfully.

"Ataché." He said, making note of the drinks with a mental shrug. People liked what they liked. "Mostly diplomatic duties, some other." He shrugged again, bottles rattling in his basket. "There's just not enough embassy staff to give everyone a dedicated role." In fact, he did have a full Daisho, and a careful look could see the shape of a sidearm under his jacket.

Shaking his head, he smiled ruefully. "But what can I say, a week sounds about right to me, too."

Rei turned, angling back towards the front of the store, although he kept his attention on Mariko. "I know what you mean." He agreed. "I've lived here about two years now. I'd like to think that I know it as well as any non-native. I guess it's hope, but..." He shrugged again. "They say it's a great place to visit, right? They don't say it's a great place to live."

"You'll get a text chat sometime," she said on the matter, making it sound rather non-committal on the matter as she adjusted her sunglasses. At the moment, nothing was exactly guaranteed, so it wasn't exactly clear if this was an act or otherwise. However, she did offer a smirk at Rei. "I hope you don't spend all night waiting for my reply, then again...I don't want you to risk crossing traffic either."

"Attaché, huh? I hope that isn't just a fancy title for embassy mascot." She said as she turned her attention walking through the cool aisle of the refrigerated section. There were some cans of various beers that caught her attention, plucking a tall silver can from the Crab imports section. "Sorry, I'm not exactly in the world of diplomacy. It's important to work, I'm very sure."

"I can't say anything bad about the World of Dreams," she said as she changed her mind about a certain purchase and replaced a can back on the shelf before taking a canned fruit cocktail instead. This morning, she told herself no more sweet drinks but she can't say no to her favour poison sometimes. "I don't know how many worlds you've been to but sure beats...living in the sticks or living on some world where your sky is covered in glass. I think every I've ever wanted can be found here, it could be a heck of a lot better."

"Alright. I'll keep an eye out for it. And for incoming cars." Rei said, his tone casual, although the little twist of his lips betrayed a certain amount of interest. "You too, Bayushi-san."

Grimacing, Rei tugged his jacket a little more tightly around himself with his free hand. "Yep, mascot." He said blandly, nodding. "Costume was in the wash today, or I'd have been buying shochu in it." A beat, and then he flashed her a smirk, and a shake of his head. "Attaché describes the position, not the work. It just means I'm attached to the embassy, and that I have both diplomatic and potentially military duties." In the slightly coded world of espionage, an attaché was often a spy of sorts, but that was really a third date sort of conversation.

Gently, Rei shook his head. "I've been to a lot, but just the Hare holdings on most of them. It's like people who visit a planet but never leave the spaceport. Still, even then, I've seen a few, sticks and metal..." A few moments passed, with only the sounds of their steps. Well, and music and some sort of spoken advertisement audible from the mall. "It definitely has an allure, I can't deny that. Something that keeps me here."

Mariko scrunched her brows at Rei for a moment, looking like she was displeased by the comment. However, after a beat, she did let out a short chuckle and continued walking down the aisle casually with her heels clicking on the pristine ceramic floor. "Hah, I suppose I did set myself up for that, right? Sure, I'll be careful...I didn't drive here, by the way. I'm just going to call my ride after I'm done here. A shame you don't have a ride, huh?"

"And a shame you don't have your mascot costume either, I'm sure you would have looked pretty good in it." She said as she looked at Rei from head to toe. "But this meeting would have probably taken an entirely different tone. I would have been pretty sure that you were a part of my imagination. Yes, you did mention your duties, so you're good at a bit of everything, hm? Mm, yes, I think my father used to take on roles that he played as an attaché of sorts. The only diplomatic work they would do is running and getting into fistfights in the most unlikely of places."

"I'm sure you're here because your lord tells you have to be, let's not kid ourselves," she smirked. "But I'm guessing you could have sent in a request for transfer. Still, you don't seem like a country bumpkin...Some people run screaming from this place after a few weeks. Maybe an urban jungle isn't so different from bulkheads and hulls."