Beautiful Pain [Day 1, EN, Red Dragon]

[Kuni Koyuki]

"I understand," she says, taking a gander at the food in the itnerim to make a judgement on how it turned out before she even set to thinking about eating it. Which was perhaps a strange thing to do when she lived off Crab rations at one major point of her life, and far worse than that at another, and yet she was always cautious. Cautious in a way like something might jump out and bite her, yet it never did. She wasn't even a picky eater, just didn't trust it.

"Main station rests in space, not on a planet. It's a majesty of a station, and my mother often came home just to come show me something awe inspiring in the city, the gardens, walk ways. There was always something to marvel at. I didn't see my first planet until I'd joined the corps. Before that, all four walls of my world were large bulwarks of steel floating through space. Crab engineering is perhaps the most amazing thing I've seen in all of my life. But as much as I loved home, I always wanted to see the galaxy before I settled anywhere. Which.." she shook her head, "you can piece together where it goes from there."

"Shall we eat?" she asks, looking to the food and waiting before approaching it.

[Hotaru Tsuyo]

The food is simple grilled onigiri with mysterious insides. But the outer ball of rice is neatly packed into the shape of a fish, unevenly browned with crispy darker marks where it had settled on their grill. Yasuyo nods before prying off a chunk of the 'fish' with her chopsticks, rightly divining that it was a bit hot to just pick the whole thing up. She speaks with it just held there, steaming itself a bit cooler. "I've seen a bit of Crab engineering since they helped build their own embassy at Tadaka...the Phoenix having enough to do with their terraforming and so on. But always wanted to see one of the flying fortresses. There's a lot to learn from construction on that scale."

Popping the bite into her mouth, she necessarily pauses for a bit to enjoy the crisped outer rice and soft interior of starchy manufactured rice-like material. Getting an entire ball of real rice on a world with such limited farmland? Well that was for the higher end places...and no doubt some of the court functions. It was still far tastier than ship rations.

"So you've seen some galaxy then. Is it enough yet to settle down?" She doesn't say it's hard to guess age with a thick layer of face paint but...

[Kuni Koyuki]

"Not yet," she said, shaking her head as she focus' down by her own plate. Following Tsuyo's example she pries off her own pieces of her own rice, but not following Tsuyo's example she simply blows on it a few breaths and then pops it into her mouth. By the slight wincing of her eyes it was probably too hot still but she soldiered through. "After my service in the corps I've taken up duty with our diplomatic wing. I bump around between planets, offering what expertise I can to the local diplomatic corps. My last two years have been spent hoping around Crab worlds, but never for too long. This, however, is my first assignment in a foreign field."

"Though.. I'm not sure I'll ever be ready to settle down," she says, working at some more of her 'rice'.

[Hotaru Tsuyo]

"First foreign postin' and they toss ya at World of Dreams?" Lifting her cup with a smirk, she adds, "Dunno, is that meant as a reward or a punishment? I mean, there's lots to do and find here, but lots of danger too."

Looking at her cup, she adds, "well, here's to not gettin' stuck to this planet then," before taking a solid sip of the middling quality brew.

[Kuni Koyuki]

"I am a woman who can handle the challenge, Hotaru-san. Though," she says, poking at her food thoughtfully. Taking a few bits into her mouth she used the chewing time to sit and think. A swallow played preamble to the response, "it could be that it was a gift, of sorts. One of my superiors perhaps took pity on me. I have wanted to come to Scorpion territory for a long time."

[Hotaru Tsuyo]

Just trading stories with a fellow traveler, but that pulls up her attention. The cup settles to the table with a thunk as the Firefly casually works another bit of 'rice' free. "Why for? I mean, I'm here for the exposure...and a nice credit balance to the Firefly while we get our one and only planet up and running."

"But most folks seem to either avoid them, flock to their vices, or...hmm, I guess flock to reavealin' their vices is a way ta put it."

[Kuni Koyuki]

"I'm not one for vices," she says, separating a few bits of the food first so that they could be consumed a little more rapidly later. "I know someone here, a Scorpion. I'm.. I've been hoping for a chance to find them again for many years. Not sure where they'd be, but maybe.." she says. Eyes narrowing she looks away from Tsuyo, into the space just off one of her shoulders. Sitting there she toys at one of the bites she'd set aside for herself before claiming it as if a punctuation on that very thought.

[Hotaru Tsuyo]

There's solid interest in the look Tsuyo throws her way, something in the eyes, even as she keeps her tone casual. "Sounds like a pillowbook. Chasing down old lovers, rivals, folks lost to the sketchy spaces, and all that..." Even with the interest, something else moves behind her eyes, chopsticks absently, and invisibly sketching.

"Anythin' you'd want ta share about them? Been here a year myself, and we just adopted one of the local wolves who's still got an ear to the pavement."

[Kuni Koyuki]

Focusing on her meal for a moment, she drifts into thought. That contemplative expression worn, but more in the eyes than the rest of the face. Sitting with it for nearly half a minute before she said, "Which of the wolves do you have.. adopted?" It was a strange term to use, or at least Koyuki thought so.

[Hotaru Tsuyo]

Washing down her rice, the Firefly answers easily, not missing the lack of answer on the more interesting topic. "Likely to see her around the court. Hotaru Harumitsu-sama offered Hotaru Sakura fealty around six months back. She's been acting as an embassy aide ever since and doin' well. Might come across a bit odd for a Firefly, not bein' raised in the mining clusters. But...we need more planetbound folks goin' forward, so that's fine."

[Kuni Koyuki]

"Strange.." she said. Strange to still refer to her origin as a wolf, but- well, who was Koyuki to judge something like that? Wasn't her family. Wasn't her clan. Wasn't even someone she knew. With another bite of food the topic, and strangeness of that initial understanding were both rendered moot. "Considering that she was not raised as a Firefly, I would expect such a thing. It is good that you have the help in your number if it is so needed. For a clan with such limited resources you certainly offer them quickly enough, on a stranger no less?" she asks, looking up to Tsuyo with a quirk of her brow.

[Hotaru Tsuyo]

"Not my offer," she raises up a hand in negation, but with a smile that says she doesn't really disagree with the outcome. "She pulled Hotaru-sama's toes out of a fire out in the Desolation, so she's got some kind of courage and talent that he saw value in. Roomin' with her, she hasn't given me a reason to doubt it was a good decision."

Tsuyo shrugs, "granted...I guess we should look suspicious at everythin' on this world and all. But that's Hotaru-sama's job and he's been here long enough that I hope he'd sniff a trap if she were one, you know?"

[Kuni Koyuki]

"Not what I had meant. Of your offer to search for.." she shakes her head, why bother dredging it back up if she didn't want to go there. Looking down at her food once more, there was a sizeable portion yet left of both dishes. Which gave way and time for plenty more conversation.

"Do you have any stories to share? Perhaps you might earn some out of me in kind. If Desolation is a place where members of your clan have been known to venture I am certain you have more than a few at least?"

[Fade to dinner convo?]