So. This was the House of Blooming Nightshades.

In fact, Rei had been here once before, as part of a mission... of sorts. The usual thing the embassy sent him on. This time, he was here on his own recognizance, so to speak. The hotel staff had been very polite, although they had insisted on searching the medium-sized pet carrier he carried. Earlier, tiny snores had been coming from it. Now it was quiet.

Finally, after riding a lavishly appointed elevator, and walking down a lavishly appointed hallway, Rei found the door he was looking for. He paused a moment, brushing one hand through his well-trimmed hair, straightening the fashionably daywear he wore in his usual greys. And to shift the pet carrier to his other hand.

Then, smiling, he reached out to ring the bell.

A few moments passed, then the door opened for Rei, with Yakumo standing on the other side. "Usagi-san, good afternoon. Please come in," she offered a polite smile and bow, as if this was a perfectly professional meeting. Compared to the designer wear and immaculate ensembles Rei had seen her in before, Yakumo was dressed comfortably, in a black short-sleeved sweater, with black shorts - and her trademark black gloves and thigh-high. "I took the liberty of preparing tea and having some fruit brought up. Hopefully Airi will like them? Not like I can order insects..." The scent of green tea came from a table in a low-seating area.

The suite was quite impressive. Families lived in smaller space on the planet, without even coming close to amenities and luxuries that was on hand here. Everything was kept neat and tidy, and separate doors led to what was likely the bedroom, bathroom, and a closet. A short staircase led up to a loft with a balcony, where there even was something like a miniature garden for the guest to enjoy, with a couple of plants and a little pool complete with a shishi-odoshi.

Overall, this was a spot of luxury in a cramped city, for those who had the money to afford it. And Yakumo had said she was staying here for the time being.

"Thank you, Susumu-san." Rei said, likewise bowing respectfully, understanding immediately. That didn't stop him from flashing her a smile though, his eyes crinkling just a little bit. As he straightened, his gaze flicked down and the back up, the smile growing just a little. And then, for the briefest of moments, his forehead creased. Gloves? They didn't seem to fit with the casual wear.

The crease faded. "Tea sounds great, thank you. And I brought some of her food, but fruit's even better. She'll love it." A quick glance, smiling down at the case he carried. For the moment, it was still silent.

He followed her in. Rei had seen luxury before, in other embassies, in one of the lesser suites here. Still... he did his best to maintain his suave demeanour, but his eyes did widen, blinking a few times. "Wow." He said, chuckling softly. "This is really something." He peered around, curious but polite.

Then he looked at Yakumo, smiling. "Well. Are you ready to meet Airi?" He tilted his head. "Perhaps a slightly less spacious room? If there is one here." He joked.

Already Yakumo was tilting herself slightly to the side to get a look at the cage and its occupant. It wasn't every day you saw a miniature dragon.

"Hmm... the garden-balcony. It's a closed balcony," as the air in such a big city wasn't the best, "so it can be closed off completely. But yes, I am quite ready to meet your little dragon companion."

She did in fact seem excited about it.

It was dark, and a bit difficult to see. The carrier had a dark mesh at the front, making it fairly opaque. However, peering carefully, Yakumo would get a glimpse of a dark brown snout, and the glint of golden yellow eyes. Even as she watched, the little snout twitched, sniffing enthusiastically.

Rei watched the little exchange with a small smile. "Very well. If you would lead the way?"

He started to turn, but then looked back at her. "Oh, by the way... you look very lovely today, Yakumo-san. Your high-fashion style suits you, but..." he smiled, "-this suits you very well, too."

"Oh, of course. It's right up the stairs here," she gestured to the staircase, and started to lead the way until Rei complimented her looks. In response, she gave a casual twirl to let him see all the angles. "Hm, even I like to be comfortable when I'm out of the public eye." Her smile was a little bit cheeky. Probably because he got to walk behind her as she climbed the stairs first.

It wasn't a long staircase, and upstairs there was a glassdoor leading out to the enclosed balcony, where there was a miniature garden with some plants and moss, along with a small stone-pool of water where the shishi-odoshi was currently being filled with water slowly until it would be full enough to tip over and make it's famous bamboo-clack sound.

Calling it a garden, even a miniature-garden, was probably a stretch, but it provided a sense of nature and calm in an otherwise busy city.

"We can just close the door, and it should be safe for Airi. Unless she decides to burrow in the moss and we're unable to find her...?"

"You wear it well anyway. Very well." Rei's voice could be heard from behind Yakumo. The note in his voice made it clear just how much he appreciated the view, following her up the stairs. Smiling as he walked, Rei loosened his collar, just a little bit.

Taking a few moments, Rei glanced around, taking in the various sights, before turning to Yakumo with a smile. "It's perfect." He said warmly. With great care, he shifted the bag from his shoulder, setting it down roughly in the middle of the area. "Okay. Here we go."

The bag unzipped smoothly, the front flap falling open. Rei stepped away, moving to stand next to Yakumo. For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the snout reappeared, unobscured this time. Then the eyes, and then, with a little hop forward, the whole spine drake. Big golden eyes blinked, peering this way and that. Eventually, the little creature's gaze settled on Yakumo and Rei. Her little nose began twitching once more, and her wings gave a single flap, almost as though she was stretching.

Yakumo dropped slowly down to her knees to sit in a simple seiza, watching with excitement for Airi to show herself. "Oh my kami... she is adorable." Mindful that the creature might be scared by unknown noises, she actually did keep her voice relatively low.

"Does she bite...?" she asked, slightly concerned as she was debating holding out her hand for Airi to sniff like one would do with most other pets.

As Yakumo knelt down, so did Rei, remaining next to her, his leg inches from hers.

"She won't." Rei said, his voice also low. Smiling, as he watched her watch Airi. "She's very gentle."

Airi hopped a bit closer, giving a little hiss. "It's okay." Rei assured Yakumo. "That's a happy hiss. Let her smell you." Indeed, Airi seemed to be stretching her neck forward, nose still twitching. Another sudden hop forward, a little sudden, but the happy hiss (?) came again.

I've never known anything to hiss when happy...

She was sceptical, but obliged, extending her hand to the adorable little critter. "Here girl..." she knew how to call cats, as you'd make that pspspsps-sound. But how did you call a dragon?!

Thankfully there was no biting as Airi got a whiff of the new person. "So, uh, if she hisses when she's happy, what does she do when she's angry?"

Rei brushed a hand through his hair. "Well, she also hisses then. But it's more like a screech. Don't worry. I can tell the difference." He looked at her, smiling gently. "I said I'd be your yojimbo if you needed one, remember. Don't worry. I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

Airi sniffed the extended hand for rather a long time, her little nose twitching, wings slowly flexing in and out. "It might be better without the glove." Rei murmured.

But just then, Airi gave another little hiss, this one with a bit of a gurgle. She shifted forward, stretching up on her rear claws, bumping her head against Yakumo's hand. "There you go." Rei murmured, smiling at the little scene.

As Airi seemed to approve(?) of her, Yakumo let out a breath of relief she hadn't been aware she was holding. "Aww," she giggled softly, "that is adorable."

"Who would have thought that World of Dreams would be the home to such cute little dragons like this. Let alone that they survived. We have nothing cute like this back on my homeworld - at least not cute and harmless."

Chuckling, she made an attempt to stroke Airi under the chin. "Do you have any animals like this where you're from?"

Chuckling, Rei shook his head. "I was born on a cruiser outbound from our holdings in Crane space. No animals there." He mulled on that for a moment. "But there were some when I was planetside, or on a station. I remember the family next door on the station had a ferret. That was fun. Could squeeze the air vents." Another chuckle. "But Airi is the first pet I've had."

Airi tilted her head up as Yakumo's hand went under her chin. The big golden eyes closed, and the little dragon made a rhythmic burbling sound. Sort of like a cat purring underwater.

"I think she likes you." Rei grinned. "No one told me Susumu Yakumo has a way with animals. I guess I'm learning all sorts of things about you."

"To be honest, I didn't know I had a way with them either," she confessed with a smirk, followed with a light-hearted chuckle. "I think she likes this more than me really. Who knew dragons liked to get scratches?"

Yakumo continued the motion, since the little dragon seemed so happy with it.

"I never had any pets either." There were some of the animals her uncle had, but they were... not pets. Rather more like test subjects. Though she remembered liking the furry ones. "Most Spider-worlds aren't very... kind. The native fauna is like survival of the fittest - a small creature like Airi would've had something like a poison-stinger or poisonous bite."

Indeed, for the moment at least, Airi seemed quite happy to absorb whatever scritches Yakumo was willing to give. Her neck was sinuous, and she bent it this way and that, encouraging Yakumo to scritch different parts of her. The happy dragon-purring continued.

"Yeah, I've heard that." Rei said, his voice gentle. "Susumu Yuji-sama has told me a little bit about that. Not much, though."

He shifted, leaning on one hand, turning to face her. Still close. "What was it like, growing up like that?" Rei asked softly.

Her shoulders rose with her sigh, and while her thoughts were distant her hand was at least focused on Airi. A shame she hadn't thought of bringing the tray of fruit up here to the balcony.

"... A lot of precautions. Locations you can go, even as a native, are much more restricted. Enforced curfews." Yakumo summarized a few of the things that came to mind for her, in comparison to her time with the Crane where she could practically go most places as long as they weren't restricted due to personnel reasons - rather than here be monsters. "The Spider do not exactly get to pick the worlds to settle on, but rather have to accept the scraps given to us. Every home we've made, we have carved out some miserable planet that would not have been worth the effort for other clans to make it hospitable."

Violet eyes glanced over at Rei over Yakumo's shoulder. "Many clans say we're monsters, but we know better we because we see the monsters where we live. Shiragiku - my homeworld - for example has intense spiritual activity from hungry and vengeful ghosts. But it's also the most bountiful planet we have in terms of agriculture, so... you just got to take the good with the bad."

A bit more scratching, and Airi turned. With a sinuous little walk, half-dash half-slither, she moved over to the little pond. A quick hop, flapping her wings, and she was up on the edge, hissing at the shishi-odoshi, her head moving up and down with its motion. Rei couldn't help but chuckle.

Rei listened, eyes interested and expression thoughtful, as Yakumo spoke. "You fight for what you have." He said, his voice soft. A flicker of realization flashed across his handsome features as he considered her. How much did Yakumo fight for her art and fame? Was there a cost, in energy in nothing else? In her?

His eyes met hers, unable to keep from smiling at the sight of those violet orbs. "I don't think you're a monster." Rei murmured, smiling. "And I know something about monsters, too." He paused a moment, taking a breath. "Taking the good with the bad... as much as some samurai pretend otherwise, life is messy. You have to take the good with the bad, or you're taking..." he held up his hand, closing it, "-nothing."

Airi's antics did bring a touch of levity to the conversation, and Yakumo found herself joining in the chuckle as she watched the spine drake hissed at the shishi-odoshi. It was going to be interesting once it reached it's tipping point...

"Mm... now I wonder what you know of monsters, Rei-san," she asked, looking between the drake and the Hare until settling on the Hare again. "If it's the humankind or something more unnatural."

Indeed, Airi bobbed her head as the shishi-odoshi went down. The sudden rush of water had her hiss and jump back, wings and claws extending, clearly in an attempt to look big. But then, as water began to fill it and make it go back up, she began to move back in...

Rei smiled wryly. "Both. Have you heard of the Usagi Witchfinders? We're trained specifically in non-human threats." He grimaced. "Which, all too often, end up being human anyway. The skills have a surprising amount of overlap."

He took a deep breath. "And some of the Scorpion... well, lets just say my skills haven't become rusty. Human or inhuman, I'm not sure which is worse sometimes."

It was too hard to hold back her laugh at Airi's interaction with the shishi-odoshi, and she had to cover her mouth to keep the laughter down as Airi assumed her BIG-AND-THREATENING-stance. Some trends transcended species it seemed. It would be some time until it would fill up again.

"Sorry, didn't mean to laugh at what you were saying, Rei-san," she giggled a little bit still, trying to sober up for the severity of the conversation. "I'm... not at all that a Scorpion-world would have lots of darkness in its shadows. People are too fond of just ignoring the dark problems of the daily life, because it's not a polite thing to acknowledge the existence of."

Yakumo shook her head and stood up, still keeping an eye on Airi. "Doesn't it get tiring for people like you, who hunt this darkness, knowing that if people just opened their eyes a little, it would have less space to find roots?"