Lunch Break (D2 MA)

[Thimacek]

A woman strolled leisurely through the beachside street, a small bento box on her left hand, the other one patting a small spiny black head poking out from her pocket. Another spiny head, this one fair-coloured, frolics around attacked to its small, but sturdy winged body, doing pirouettes and dancing around, then coming back from time to time to perch on the woman's shoulders.

Her eyes seem far away, but she has a calm smile on her lips.

After some time, she spots a kiosk with a smaller number of patrons, where she finds a calmer spot to sit. Whistling and extending her right hand to guide the two drakes to sit by the table, she fishes a small box from which she fetches a few dried fruits and small insects, which she spreads between both of the creatures. Seeing them get down to business with a tender smile, she finally opens the bento box, fetches a stylish, if traditional black and red pair of chopsticks, and stops to mutter a prayer.

The smile on her lips quickly fades. One looking directly at her might have the impression that she was fighting back... something. Whatever it is, it is quickly gone. She looks at the critters again, her eyes calm, and starts eating.

[Kaiu Setsu]

Setsu takes his densai from his pocket and checks another location from his list: the beach.

Definitely not his place. Uncomfortably wearing trunks, flip-flops and a t-shirt which he would never remove, the Crab strolls through the beachside until the ball he was carrying –– for some reason he didn't yet understood –– escapes from his arm and goes bouncing off somewhere else in an unpredictable way even the laws of physics wouldn't be able to calculate.

"Kami damn pre-made winds!" He curses as he runs after the ball before it lands on someone's plate.

[Soshi Kioku]

The woman's calm, almost ritual meal suddenly interrupted by the ball (...an Oshidama ball? But... should it dance like that in the wind??), her first reaction is to hold the ball so it doesn't fly off to continue its erratic journey, possibly finding someone else's food - or ice-cream, which would be even worse!

She then blinks, raising her eyebrows a bit. Just as she started working to get some of the rice and fish that had flown off the plate, though the two Drakes - whose meal had not been interrupted and was now over - started circling the ball, eyeing it somewhat as if it were prey.

Her serious expression melted away, she just nodded, then looked around.

"Ah... samurai-san? I think this is yours?"

[Kaiu Setsu]

"Mine?" He says as he lifts himself up from tripping while running after the ball. Then, he points at the ball, "Oh, that." The Crab scratches the back of his head, "Not mine, mine. I mean, I rented it. But not really mine. Thought about beach kemari... I looked online and they said could be fun and good to relieve stress and all."

He coughs, "I guess it is Scorpion propriety. But... I hope the ball didn't ruin much of your meal. May I compensate somehow? "

[Soshi Kioku]

The woman blinks a few times as she hears the businessman. The two creatures, at first clearly more interested in the ball, after some time turn around to look at him and get closer to sniff him.

"Ah... no, it's alright, really", she said. It was... more or less true. There would be some sand in the rice and vegetables, but... they should be ok otherwise. "No real damage", she says with a half-smile, "so no compensation needed, really".

"Were you... looking for a meal as well?" She asks, eyes on the t-shirt. He might have come back from the beach and now looking for something to eat...

She gestures around. "I... think the kiosks only sell ice-cream, but there are some restaurants in the next street."

[Kaiu Setsu]

"I am lactose intolerant. So, no ice cream. Also, it kind of looks bad for a crab to eat ice cream. Not that I care. Anyhow, I was actually looking for something to drink. Kind of hot around this area." He mentions while taking a sweat out of his brow with his forearm. "I am glad there's no damage. Relieved, in fact."

After paying attention to the odd creatures, he returns his eyes to the Soshi and bows, "I'm Kaiu Setsu. Nice to meet you."

[Soshi Kioku]

She bows back, although her raised eyebrow doesn't hide some surprise.

"My pleasure, Kaiu-san. Soshi Kioku"

She waves vaguely towards the Kiosk. "Well, drinks they'll certainly have here. Anything in particular you'd like?" Taking a look at what she seems on display from where she's sitting. "Ah... the yuzu sour is is a favourite of many tourists, I hear. Or... if you'd rather hold the alcohol, many enjoy our local dragon-fruit ramune as well."

Gesturing towards a free seat, she finally says what must have led to that raised eyebrow... which is still raised.

"The Crab.... you don't eat ice-cream, then? Not even in your warmer worlds?"

[Kaiu Setsu]

"Dragon-fruit sounds oddly interesting. I guess I'll go with a juice of that. Not a big fan of bubbly drinks, unless beer." He says with a thankful nod. "Do you want me to get something for you as I go there?"

He makes sure whatever she orders is also accounted for and returns to the gestured seat to, well, sit. Then, he replies, "We do eat ice cream. We just make fun at each other when we see someone eating it. Crab stereotypes of stoic and mean doesn't really match with the softness and sweetness of the ice cream, does it?"

[Soshi Kioku]

"Oh, I'm sure they have juice too", she says with a small smile. "And since you're offering... I suppose a blackberry smoothie wouldn't hurt", she adds, her smile widening just a small bit. "A small compensation for my crunchy rice balls, I guess".

Which the two drakes have now decided they'd like to sample as well. Noticing them, Kioku shakes her head and purses her lips in disapproval... and the pair quickly notices and scurry back, looking around for more of their own food.

As Setsu sits by her, she thanks him for the smoothie and, with a quick whistle, calls both drakes closer to her so they wouldn't bother by overly exploring the new face in the table.

"Oh!", she says with a silent chuckle. "I suppose you must go to great lengths to keep your image, ne?". She sounds serious enough, although there's a curve at the right side of her lips. "But I wonder... do sweet and strong never go well together?"

[Kaiu Setsu]

"We all gotta keep our On polished. Isn't that right?" He mentions before taking the straw away to drink from the glass proper. With a nod of satisfaction for the new flavor, he replies, "A Crab mother is both strong and sweet. So, yes, they get along well together... if one is a mother, I guess –– in this case, of course. There might be other examples, but they might run off the stereotypical figures. For the Crab, at least.”

[Soshi Kioku]

The woman takes a sip of her smoothie and a surprisingly - but pleasantly - not crunchy bite of her rice ball as she listens.

A half-smile grows in one side of her face again. "Un... that makes sense. I wonder if running off stereotypes is a bad thing, though."

If this was supposed to be a witty comment or something of the kind, the woman's eyes suddenly shifting to the drakes, then down at the table take off much of its effect.

"... mothers... must be strong, ne?", she then says simply, eyes still at the table, her face pensive.

[Kaiu Setsu]

"I mean. Wasn't easy being the mother of my siblings and me. Gotta respect that." He says nonchalantly as Kioku's eyes refocus somewhere else.

"How are they called?" Setsu asks as he sees the affection.

[Soshi Kioku]

"Oh?", she says, her eyes slowly refocusing on the present moment. As they look to the drakes after the Kaiu's question, a wistful look in her eyes slowly dissolves into a smile.

"They're Dawn and Dusk" she answers, extending her hand and petting one, then the other. With a low whistle to them, she calls their attention, then a flick of her wrist and they look at the Kaiu. "Dawn, Dusk, greet Kaiu-san properly!", she says, and they first look askance at him, then slowly - and in the lighter-hued one's case apparently not completely willingly - do a Practiced bow of their own to greet him.

"I take it Kaiu-san is not a local? Have you had the chance to meet Spine Drakes before?", she asks with a wider smile, although some of that wistfulness from before still hangs around her eyes.

[Kaiu Setsu]

"Those are really cool names with the matching colors. I saw some of these pets before, but never really this close." He says, providing a nod to the beasts with a surprising smile of delight to see they actually obey dutifully. "Not a local, local. I mean, I've been around for quite some time. Always into the office or the forges –– back and forth. There was a lot of work to be done to get everyone in line. Didn't have much time to, well, not work as much."

[Soshi Kioku]

"Oh", she says, apparently somewhat surprised, but only for a moment. "So you know your way around pretty well already! I'd thought you were one of the visitors here for the winter. Always many around..." she stops mid-sentence as she gestures for Dawn to come to her right before she started moving forward to try ans chew on the Crab's finger. "Well, you'll know that already, of course, ne?"

As she pets the bright-scales drake, her eyes seem to focus elsewhere for some time, a distant look in them. A moment ans a shake of her head and she comes back.

"Kaiu-san's with the Heavy Industries Incorporated, then? The KHII's been an important asset, from what I hear. From how much you've been working...R&D sector?"

[Kaiu Setsu]

The Crab retracts his hands in a low reflex to avoid being bitten. Thankfully his fingers are saved from injury with the Soshi's command. The man moves his chair a bit to the side as to gain more space, just in case.

Even if his eyes weren't focused on the question due the predatory attack, he replies to the Scorpion, "For quite some time now. After I graduated, my grandfather took me into his program as a trainee, and I've made my way up to management from there. What about you?"

[Soshi Kioku]

The other drake looks at the Crab a bit suspiciously as he moves away and stares at him for a while, but soon its attention is back to looking for any appetising pieces of food that might still be on the table.

The woman, meanwhile, had her attention on the crab. Well, most of it at least.

"Ah, you must be in a quite important position in the company by now then, ne, Kaiu-sama?" Her voice is more or less flat, but the change in address is noticeable.

"Myself, I'm currently working as a trainer and researcher at the Spine Drake Centre in the Tsukune Sanctuary. Having been here a while... you must have heard of our programme, I guess?"

Her eyes shift away for a moment again. "But... I was more closely involved in R&D before, that's why I asked". A wistful smile. "At Soshi GeneBioTech."

A long while.

"Before the accident, that is", she finally adds.

[Kaiu Setsu]

He scratches the back of his head again to comment with a slight blush, "I am really bad in following up with things I am not focused at. Can you tell me more about the program?"

Setsu leaves questions about Soshi GeneBioTech stored for the next round, as much as he's craving for that info.

[Soshi Kioku]

The wistful look is still there, but somewhat easened. Possibly by the man's apparent awkwardness?

"Oh! I suppose the programme must be less well-known than we think. Insider bias and all, ne?" She says with a slight smile.

"It's one of the most important and successful conservation efforts underway at the Sanctuary." She looks lovingly at Dawn curling up close to her and Dusk still nibbling pieces of food on the table. "These little guys went dangerously close to extinction, and the Sanctuary and other conservatories around the planet have been making efforts to keep them alive since then. Creating suitable areas for them, however small they may be, reproduction programmes... and no small amount of directed breeding, as it would be hard to keep a viable population alive with their ancestral behaviour."

She whistles and Dusk draws closer, a discarded piece of fish on one paw.

"I suppose you may have seen some of them as pets, around?", she adds looking at the Kaiu's face with a smile for a moment.

[Kaiu Setsu]

He nods, and inclines his head to look better at the glimmering scales as his previous defensive trigger soothes down. "Yeah. I saw a few to be honest. Never this close. They look really badass. Congrats on maintaining them, and actually changing their behavior like this."

He mulls over the though of changing behaviors and chuckles a bit.