The festival was over, and that meant that it was a time to return to work. And while for Rei that meant a certain amount of hanging around in bars or attending diplomatic functions, it also meant a certain amount of paperwork...

There was always more paperwork...

As a senior attaché, Rei had his own (tiny) office... sorta. He shared it with the night shift guy. But with the festival throwing everything out of whack, the night shift guy was in there now, and Rei was in the common area. Well, at least it was a nice common area.

Rei sat at one of the terminals, casually slouched in his chair. He wore one of his short-sleeved modern style shirts in grey, Hare mons on the sleeves. A cup of tea sat next to the terminal, Rei taking sips from time to time in between casual strokes from his stylus.

Under the desk, near his feet, some sort of quiet snoring could be heard.

The Detective entered the common area by himself, finding his way to the Hare and staring up at him.

Kitsune Kiyoshi wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 02, 2022 3:05 pm

The Detective entered the common area by himself, finding his way to the Hare and staring up at him.

Rei turned, staring back... although, acting on a vaguely remembered piece of information, not into the eyes.

"Detective." He greeting the creature with a nod. He'd at least met the visiting Kitsune, so Rei wasn't too surprised.

Underneath the desk, the snoring stopped. A few moments later, a tiny dragony snout peeked out, sniffing cautiously in the direction of the monkey. Ape. Whatever.

The Detective gave a nod, then turned towards the entrance.

"So, here you are." Kiyoshi said as he walked in. He made a quick gesture to the monkey before offering Rei a bow. "Good morning, Usagi-sama."

Rei was already seated, so he gave a nod and a vague sort of wave instead. They were all casual here, right? "Hey, Kitsune-san. I was just enjoying a conversation of sorts with your friend, here." He nodded to The Detective. "I've seen people travel with pets before, but not usually this big. Is he, uh, work related?"

The dragon snout stuck out a little farther, gave a little snuff, and then retreated. Smiling, Rei reached under the desk, giving Airi a little pat. "Hope you got out to see the festival yesterday."

"We were coworkers." he nodded.

The monkey scampered over and climbed up to the shugenja's shoulder. He was large, but Kiyoshi seemed accustomed to the weight.

"I had a lot of fun at the festival. I definitely need to see more of the planet."

On the World of Dreams, you could find anything... but Rei still blinked as the big monkey climbed atop the small man.

Shaking his head, he swiped on his screen, temporarily dismissing his paperwork. Smiling, he swiveled in his chair to face Kiyoshi. "That's good." He said. "I mean, it's mostly just yelling, but it's kinda fun, and the street food and drink is a surprisingly good experience."

He tilted his head, regarding the other man. "What sort of things would you like to see?"

"I haven't been to the sanctuary yet." he answered. "We'll go there this afternoon. Beyond that and some other sightseeing, I'll check with the clubs to see about scheduling a few performances."

"We?" Rei asked, smiling politely. "You and one of the other staff? Or have you met a..."

Oh.

"Oh right, we." Rei chuckled. "Mostly I just bring Airi to and from work, but I guess that makes us a 'we', then." He chuckled again, shaking his head. "I can recommend some clubs. Uh... do you perform with the Detective?" Rei frowned, considering the implications of that. Would it help or hurt his status as a regular to introduce a show with a monkey?

"It depends on the audience." he shrugged. "He only joins me when I do Mystery Five songs. Most audiences expect that, but not all."

With the Festival officially kicking off court season, and only a few last-minute details needed to have the installation in orbit ready for showing, Tsuyo felt vaguely vacation-y. The mild dehydration and headache from last night's celebrations only accentuated the mood as she clomped her way into the lobby for her now-traditional morning tea. The selection wasn't fancy, but there was a reasonable supply of Light the Fuse--a highly caffeinated, tightly-rolled leaf tea from some Crab world. Most Firefly ships stocked a supply of it.

Wide-legged pants woven with a bright geometric pattern in gold, blue, and violet, soft-edged gold tunic, and long, dove-grey vest presented a much brighter front than her pre-caffeinated mood warranted. The pale purple 'necklace' draped around her collarbones would, upon closer inspection, become obvious as Ume's tail, as the little drake draped across her shoulders and rested its reptilian head in her unruly nest of red hair.

Spotting the others, Tsuyo pauses and offers quick bows to them both. "Usagi-sama, Kitsune-san. Morning's blessing to you, an' I hope the night held you all safe and quiet after all the excitement." The Detective gets a nod, though Ume, catlike, pointedly looks away from the not-human primate that's way too large to eat.

Her cane taps are sharp on the smooth floor as she heads to the cabinets to find tea and the mug she's claimed through constant use over the past year--a tasteful navy blue with the logo of some Scorpion corp who'd gifted it to some ambassador long enough ago that the corp didn't exist as far as Tsuyo'd been able to find. "Either of you want tea?"

"Morning, Hotaru-san." Rei said cheerfully. "I... oop!" He paused a moment as Airi suddenly and unexpectedly jumped up into his lap.

He paused a moment, petting her. "Ah... yeah, I was just about to get up, but-" he gestured downwards. "I've just been drake-lapped. Could you pour me a fresh cup?" He held up his mug.

"How about you? Get any inspiration at the festival?" He asked, still smiling.

"Tea would be great. But, none for the Detective." Kiyoshi smiled.

One of the meeting room doors opened and Katsutoshi walked out stifling a yawn. Pausing for a long stretch of his back and neck he threw a suitable bow to the assorted MCAers.

"Fiiiiinally the deal is done!" He flashed a smile at Tsuyo. "Needed a power nap after that one. Okay, so who's ready to hit the festival?"

A few moments passed before he started to realise it was morning already. The big smile faded.

Rei stared at the man a moment. Then, slowly, he pressed his face into the palm of his hand.

"Tea, Hotaru-san?" He asked blandly, after waiting a few moments.

Somewhat deflated he nodded. "Thank you, yes. I would appreciate that Usagi-sama."

He pulled out his Densai and started pressing buttons. His mouth twitched when he saw the alarm hadn't triggered. Some sort of error message he was going to have to dig into.

A lopsided grin greets the drake's antics, as she sets her mug on the counter, step-clomps over to take his, leans her cane against the counter, and begins to set up water to heat. "Wouldn't wanna disturb the lil beastie." She reaches up to scritch her own on that spot between its eye ridges.

"Spotted some sophisticated lighting and holography tech I ought to use some of this down time to research. But yeah, there's somethin' about the floats fulla ephemeral visions of heroes set against tha city's darkness and branded dango that's latched inta my head. Might hatch into a real idea next spring with the baby. Lot's of things about family and ancestors to think about there, right?"

She quietly pulls out another mug as her fellow Hotaru comes in.

"So...at least that deal's done. Good start to the season, yeah?"

The densai was placed on a table where he could glare at it later. Summoning up some more enthusiasm he accepted the mug from Tsuyo.

"Yes, I suppose I can't complain. That could have gone either way but Daikoku showers us with his blessings already."

He looked around the group. "I hope that each of you were able to enjoy the festival?"

Tsuyo nods and settles against the counter once everyone's got their tea. "I'll shoot you a com later. Want to track down who did the lights for one of the floats. Makes pretty pretty pictures, but had some tricks that'd be useful lighting up the inside of a rock when folks are working too." No mention of the pile of Scorpion ancestors she only dimly knew about, although she could remember all of their names after last night.

"Oh...got some pictures too, if you want to see what you missed..." There's a pause as she remembers. "Oh right! And I picked up a box of dango for the embassy." She points to the unobtrusive fridge. "Crammed between the drinks in there."

"The dango was quite tasty." Kiyoshi smiled. "Everything I sampled yesterday was. Th floats were amazing. But, it was the crowds that I found most invigorating."