Rei wasn't normally out at this hour. Heck, he wasn't usually up at this hour.

But the situation demanded it. He'd returned home early that morning to face an accusing stare from Airi. Yes, he'd made sure she had plenty of food and water before he left, but she was accustomed to a certain amount of attention, too.

And so Rei found himself, disposable cup full of tea in his hand, watched as Airi scampered about, clearly enjoying herself. He rubbed a hand over his face, bleary if cheerful.

Tsuyo had more sleep, but similar ideas. After her months spending most of her time out at the installation, and thus farming a certain amount of drake entertainment duties onto a servant hired for the task, she'd been enjoying a few weeks with more time on her hands...and then court started in earnest.

After finding a pair of work boots gnawed down to the steel toes, she'd decided an outing was in order before the critter started in on Sakura's cluttered wardrobe.

Her cane thumps a bit more firmly than usual along the path as the lizard perches along that arm, wings spread lightly to enjoy the movement while expending zero effort. Ume was a tad lazy, even for a fruit predator.

Spotting her embassy-mate, Tsuyo waves with her free hand. "Mornin' Usagi-san. How's court life treatin' you this year?"

Airi, on the other hand was anything but lazy. A nearby bush shook as she did... something within the privacy of its leaves. Probably climbing, possibly battling part of it. Her little snout stuck out to sniff as Tsuyo and Ume approached.

Always alert, Rei turned as well. "Good morning, Hotaru-san." He grinned. "It's been a rather good week, actually. Very exciting, but Winter Court always is."

He inclined his head politely. "And yourself?"

"Less busy than crunch time at the installation, but I don't think I've ever been this busy planetside before...though by busy, I mean, So. Many. Parties." She chuckles, leveraging to a seat on one of the garden benches as Ume's attention snaps to the rustling bush. A short chirp accompanies their attention, muscles bunching in preparation before leaping to the air and gliding the short distance toward...whatever was making so much fuss in that bush.

"Ow...claws, kiddo!" Tsuyo exclaims as she drops the cane against the bench and examines the scratches left along her arm. "Judging by the rumors, Usagi-san's excitement involves some celebrity, neh?" she says a bit too casually.

Rei laughed at that. "Yes. It's like a two-week siege on your liver. I've started putting a double-dose of painkillers with the glass of water next to my bed for the morning." Safely in a container, of course.

A territorial hiss turned into a welcoming hiss as Tsuyo recognized the familiar Ume. Fortunately, spine drakes weren't all that aggressive. She vanished back into the bush, perhaps to show him whatever she'd been doing battle with.

Pursing his lips, Rei considered. "Well... as it happens, I did encounter both Susumu Yakumo and Asahina Hinata. I was actually able to assist a little bit with the concert." He smiled. "A small favor. You're going, yeah?"

Tsuyo's eye crinkle in a bit of empathetic wincing. It had been a while since she'd had enough to need morning pharmaceuticals, but not everyone had a Firefly's stamina. "I think I've drunk more in the past week than the past year combined. The sake distributors probably make most of their yearly over these few months." Which could really, really mess one up if they were deemed no longer court season quality or something.

Ume hisses back before slithering into the shrubbery after Airi, some sort of warbling chirp afterward sounding...approving? Friendly at least. They may be primarily fruit eaters, but if they'd found an entertaining bug, it would probably wish they'd just kill and eat it before they were done playing.

"The concert? Definitely going. Dechen would be annoyed if I didn't at least try gettin' Asihina-sama's autograph. Anyone dropping something new for the court season there?" It would be so modern to stealth drop new work at some nightclub that happened to be a winter court hotspot. "I guess you've talked to them a bit then if you've done 'em a favor. Got me curious for sure."

"I'm sure they do." Rei agreed with a chuckle. He looked at the bush, shaking as it was, and shook his head, smiling.

Rei shrugged. "I don't know if they're doing anything new. I think so." He nodded. "And Asahina-san will definitely give you his autograph if you ask for it. He's..." Rei pursed his lips, not adding any adjective. "But he's also extremely nice. And energetic. Very energetic." Rei chuckled.

Then he frowned. "And Susumu-san is... complex." Rei said. "And I mean that as a compliment. Layers and depths. It's hard to explain." Shaking his head, he smiled at Tsuyo. "She'd also give you her autograph, I'm sure."

She gives a small, dismissive wave. "I've never been much for autographs. Bit of ink on a page is...dunno, kind of silly compared to what they're already givin' with their art, you know? But Dechen likes 'em. I think it's more've a ...status thing, maybe? Like being able to say you were right there talkin' to them says somethin'. Or holding somethin' they had to touch means...?"

"Buuut..." she grins, "won't say no to an introduction sometime. Hard ta trust a Spider, but I've gotta respect the artist. Besides, she's Imperial sponsored now, so we're kinda hangin' on the same dock and all." There's a softer look as she continues. "Just... be careful, neh? I know you're used to playin' around here, so you're used to the danger, but she's got so many more folks watchin' her. Makes the possible scandal bigger. Dangerous for us small clans, yeah?"

"I'll see what I can do." Rei smiled.

"Aha..." Rei brushed a hand back through his well-trimmed hair. "Well, Hare are trained to leap right into danger, you know?" He grinned, then inclined his head. "But I promise. I'll be careful." And hey, not one mention of a Hare in the tabloids since he slept with her!

He looked at Tsuyo, one eyebrow going up. "Just how much playing do you think I do exactly, Hotaru-san?"

She shrugs with a bit of a smile. "Probably less than rumors'd have it? But...young, successful widower on a world that's constantly got people comin' and goin', and an obvious flirt? Hopefully enough to enjoy being assigned here."

Another rustle and Ume emerges from the base of the bush at speed, scuttling around and into another which shivers in a way that suggests they've continued that scurry up into the branches.

Rei paused a moment to laugh at the two spine drakes. "Well, they're having a good time." He murmured.

And he laughed again at her assessment. "I do enjoy being assigned here, actually. Very much." A brief pause, then, as he considered her words, the smile turning into a frown.

He cleared this throat. "Actually... I'm not technically a widower. She's missing. Not dead." His frown deepened. "I don't think so, anyway."

It takes a moment for that to sink in. "What? Oh...I ...you'd said lost and I assumed but...wow. I'm so sorry." Confusion, embarassment, shock, and a hint of anger chase across her face in rapid succession as her words echo those she'd said upon learning that he'd had a wife--past tense--back when she was new to the embassy. "This is actually kind of worse all around though, right? Like...not knowin'." She glances away. "And, well...that playin' we were mentionin'."

"But...what happened?"

"So far as can be told, she left." Rei shook his head. "It was the day after the wedding. It was nothing I'd done. I'm sure of it." He sounded fairly sure. Not entirely sure.

He looked at Tsuyo. "Maybe it's worse. I don't know." He thought so, though. "It's certainly stranger, though. And puts me in a rather strange position. A little longer, anyway."

She considers the year she's been here plus a few months, plus however many months it had been to erase any sign or feel of the woman from the embassy. "Runnin' out the clock now? That's..." there's a slight head shake, "that's rough. I know most matches aren't for sentiment. But if you're gonna run, at least fake your death and free everyone up without messin' up the contracts that went along with the weddin'." Just thinking about anything of the sort happening to her own wife curls cold around her heart and her hand lifts, unthinkingly to press against the ache there. Absently, she notes the rustles and cheery lizard noises that mean the drakes are still safe and entertained.

"What was...sorry, is...her name?"

Rei laughed at that. "Right? That would have been the polite thing to do." The black humor was as effective as anything, the laughter continuing until he had to brush his hand across his face.

He sighed. "And yeah. Two years from the date, and it's dissolved. Not including the contracts that went along with it." He chewed his lip a moment. "Yuria was her name. Or, at least that's how I knew her."

Shaking his head, he looked at Tsuyo. "I hope I'm not bringing you down too much, Hotaru-san. Really, I'm over it." It was fairly obviously not true... but he had been getting better, really.

The Firefly shakes her head. "No worries. Sorry ta tease about the rumors and all." She pauses and says more quietly. "Been hard being on my own these past months and that's *knowin'* I'll see Dechen again, so I can only imagine."

"Been holdin' up your end of the embassy well, for all that," she says with what she hopes is an encouraging tone. Much quieter...though you had to assume the Scorpion heard pretty much everything if you weren't sitting in a bubble of anti-spying equipment...and with a bit of conspiratorial concern to her tone, she asks, "think our hosts had anythin' to do with it?"

Rei smiled gently at her. "Yeah? I'll bet. Any big plans for the reunion? I can't imagine you get more leave time than I do, but our lords know we need at least some time." If nothing else, to help with samurai birth rates.

"Thank you..." Rei went quiet as Tsuyo's voice dropped to a whisper. His smile faded, lips pressing together. The silence stretched on.

"I have no idea." Rei finally said, his tone firm.

Tsuyo sits back a bit at the tone. That...wasn't a 'no' which was a bit disturbing. But also very, very definitely not something to follow up on.

Instead...After an apologetic nod, she answers his questions. "Well, she'll be about on leave to prepare for the baby, and I should have some time, even if I leave court with new commissions. So a few weeks at the carrier, and then we'll head to Amanoseki. Some of the recent prospecting data... Well I think there might be an interesting cave complex to visit. Bring a picnic out for kind of one last thing that's just ours before there's three of us."

Rei smiled. "I know I've told you congratulations before, but... congratulations again." He said.

He brushed a hand through his hair. "Amanoseki... what sort of world is that? It's a prospecting one, right?" He chuckled. "I hope you take no offense when I say that we have different ideas of a fun outing. I'd tend towards private beach vacation myself, not cave. But I suppose you must see things in caves that I don't." He inclined his head, honest respect for an artist.

"It's not the nicest place yet. A looooot of work needs doing to make it liveable outside of things like the shared administration dome. But Firefly are used to bein' in ships and tunnels, so a beach is kinda....too open." She waves overhead. "The trees make this kinda space bearable. Dechen's planetborn and fine with all this. But she's also a geologist and loves mucking around in old caves. Won't go deep exploring when she's carryin' all that extra weight though."

"Someday, we'll be able to sit outside watchin' sunsets there. Maybe our grandkids'll see that."