Ugh, why was it so hot?

Yakumo had hoped a walk in the park would help her distract herself from the darkness that awaited later today, but it was just really hot. At least she had dressed casually, so she could slip off her jacket, revealing the short-sleeved top underneath... and the cropped gloves, of course.

Slipping on her cool sunglasses, she found a spot in the shade to cool down in with a bottle of water.

Not much mist on hot days like these. Kazumi walked the garden as they really had little else to do. Today was a rare off day with no plans, no Jobs, no parties to prepare for and Yurei was busy with other things so they simply figured they would enjoy the outdoors.

Kazumi wore a loose and flowing in a lighter red color than usual and some shorts given the heat showing off slender legs that looked almost dainty belying the thin whip cords of muscle underneath. Kazumi also sported some slightly oversized sunglasses to protect their eyes from the bright rays.

This of course also made their expressions unreadable as both eyes and mouth were covered. Therefore Yakumo would only have the subtle tones of amuesment in Kazumi's voice to go off of when she heard them approach her

"Well if I haven't discovered a Spider among the garden."

"Ahh! Oh... Kazumi-san, it's you," recovering from her initial surprise of not having noticed him approach, Yakumo broke into a chuckle and gave him a friendly bob of her head in greeting.

"A spider that might melt. Goodness, it's so hot." She fanned herself, which did help some. "Is this normal weather for World of Dreams?"

Kazumi chuckled in return with a nod "Hai, it's not uncommon for the temperature to climb on occasion. Though we are pushing the bounds of normalcy today." Though they seemed less adversely affected a few beads of sweat could be seen near their brow.

Kazumi gave her a quick look "Though, you make melting Spider look surprisingly good." The voice giving vague approval and appreciation "How have you been Yakumo-sama?"

"Really? I feel I probably look more like a melted ice cream in this weather... I think I've gotten too used to properly air-conditioned space," she chuckled at his praise. Shiragiku was a far more tepid world in comparison to this heat.

"Been... doing alright, I think. Keeping busy with the court and all - the Scorpion are hosts who make sure we don't get bored, that's for sure," Yakumo smirked knowingly, as she had been very well-entertained by at least one Scorpion. "And yourself? Been making music, or getting caught up in politics too?"

Kazumi may not know what she was smirking about in detailed terms but they could read between the lines and so their own smirk sprang up behind the mask "Well I'm glad you have found your visit to be so stimulating." They said with more than a little amuesment.

"As for me I've been keeping busy, parties and politics often go hand in hand here." Kazumi sounded as if they found the idea more than a little tiring "The raves in the Habitation district can get much more fun, though you have to be less picky about who is invited."

"I have found some time for making music but not as much as I would like. I Did record some sound bites at the wild life sanctuary a few days ago that I'm still tinkering with."

"Oh you went to that... weird matsuri too?"

Weird was the only explanation she had for it. Who would hide their festivities like that???

"Sound recordings from that... tiger squid-thing?" While she liked the sea creatures a lot, Yakumo had no idea what most of them were called. "I managed to capture a few sounds from it myself actually. Would some more samples help out your project?"

"Oh yes I should think having multiple spund profiles to work with will make it quite a bit easier. Or at the very least give me more options to work with."

Kazumi chuckled softly "but Yes some Scorpion festivals can have very, unique, aspects to them. Did you manage to enjoy yourself despite the 'weirdness'?"

"Mm, I'll have it sent over to you then." She hadn't thought of keeping those copies on her, unlike her own music. "Can't make much promise if the quality is any good though, as it was the first time I was capturing sound from an animal like that."

Thinking of the first festival that she had attended here, Yakumo wondered if Hinata ever found out about the Shosyushi-or-whatever name they thought he had heard. "Hmmm... the festival to honor your ancestors was interesting. Not something I had encountered before, as it's often more austere affairs to honor the dead."

She wasn't sure if she had liked the Tsukune matsuri. On one hand, those badgers were cute and she got a cute plushie out of it. On the other hand, she felt the staff had been way too handsy when they 'captured' her in that tunnel. "I think I didn't quite understand why the Tsukune Matsuri needed to hide its activites like so... I would have thought that place would have wanted visitors to see and interact with the animals, to draw more support. But I suppose overall it was enjoyable."

Her response drew another chuckle from the Scorpion as they removed their shades dark eyes surrounded by bright red eye make up in a bold wing that matched their shirt. The nearly black eyes glittered with amuesment "Yes well the Scirpion are nothing not overly complicated. They like their pageantry and they like their mystery. It can be exciting at times but mostly it just gets exhausting after a time."

"But they also love variety so no two balls or galas or festivals are usually alike. The variety does spice things up a bit."

"Doesn't that get a bit tiresome eventually though? How everyone always have to outdo or be even more clever than the previous one?" she asked with some curiosity. In her experience, it often led to people coming across as tryhards rather than doing something truly memorable.

Kazumi nodded "Oh it most definitely does and were it not court season you wouldn't have caught me at half of those parties. For a visitor it is likely a whirlwind of fun for a short time but when you see it year after year after year. Well you're right it does get tiring."

Kazumi shrugged "though someone must like it or others just have more ability to put up with it than I do since they keep happening."

"Hmm... I suspect it is more the competition of one-upping one another. At least that's what I've seen elsewhere." She laughed a bit and looked at him with some mirth in her eyes while she continued to fan herself, the motion making the loose-hanging strands of her hair flutter in its breeze.

"I thought DJs were all about parties? Or is it just not those type of parties?"

The loght in Kazumi's eyes implied the smirk that was hidden behind the mask "Different kinds of parties." They said, amuesment coming through in their voice "The parties I enjoy are more....free with their expression. As you might have seen, even the Scorpion parties that were all about enjoying yourself and indulging were rife with rules and subtext, unspoken procedure."

"I much more enjoy a rave where all sorts of people come together to just have a good time, enjoy themselves, let their hair down or relax. But they aren't always....sanctioned affairs." Kazumi said with a small chuckle

Her eyebrows rose a bit. "I... think I've heard of those," Yakumo's voice was a bit lower. "Places hidden from sight, where anything goes. Those kind of parties?"

Amusement turned into mischief as Kazumi looked to Yakumo "Well yes those exist too. Though surely no proper, honorable samurai would attend such a thing." Their eyes practically flashed with devilish delight

"Though I have heard such things exist in....degrees. most of the ones I have been involved in have just been dancing and drinking and maybe a few other substances that aren't strictly legal, and propriety is much less of a concern. Not everyone in attendace would be clan samurai or even samurai at all. Though it has been some time since those days."