"Youwantgemsormetalstobethefocus?"

He said as they went further into glittery consumer land.

"Metal woks, gems get tacky pretty quick, i like something a little more elegant than sparkly", he said. "Well, I think that idea fits the intended fairly well, anyway."

"Rings,earringsorbracelets?"

The narrowing continued. Ha laughed at a gaudy Otori-shaped pendant.

Shokomaru was honestly surprised with all the fingus on this planet that there weren't a myriad of 'fertility' based jewelry thinly disguised as mushrooms.

"Earrings are nice, been considering those, but not sure all the orange here would match their skin tone and eyes...so maybe a bracelet works. Less intimate than a necklace, but still noticeable."

"Rightsonowwenarrowitfurther, silver,gold,platinum,chrome,oranalloy?"

The choices were obviously endless.

He thought about that. As much as he could understand anyway.

"Silver, I suppose. Maybe gold but not too tacky. Honestly I want it to also reflect who it came from, as I'm not giving something personal as you'd expect."

He looked at a few bracelets in the case. "And something clan neutral, if possible."

"Clanneutral . . . "

Well that ruled out three quarters of the entire shop in one fell swoop.

"WellIassumeplainbandsarenotwanted. Howaboutoneofthese?"

He stopped at a small display of bracelets, in various metals and patterned with elemental motifs.

"Hmm...maybe plants and animals." He kept looking, stopping at one with a gorilla swinging on vines. He shook his head. Not for this girl, maybe another though.

"Animalsbutclanneutral. That'sabitmoredifficult."

He pointed out what appeared to be two Otori headbutting . . . beakbutting?

"Somethinglikethat?"

"They'd remember this miai for certain whenever they wear it...", he admitted. "Though we'll come back if there's nothing better..."

He yawned a bit. "It's early for this...i can't begrudge my body for protesting, I'm surprised Kitsune-san is so energetic this morning. You went all out last night it seemed."

Izumi blinked.

"Wellthisisabitslowforme . . . "

Yes . . . this is tired and sedate Izumi.

"...I see..."

He poked around a bit more, but was mostly holding conversation.

"How late did you stay at the the club, anyway?"

"Leftwhentheyputthelightsonandthecleanerswerewaitingtoclearup."

Which probably meant around what passed for midnight here, or maybe later.

"And i thought i was the party animal, good times Kitsune-san", he seemed to approve. "You get to party like that often?"

"NotinKitsunelands. TherearesomegoodclubsintheLionpartsofInari'sCradle."

He made it sound like the Lion were guests on the Fox planet . . . rather than the other way around.

"You get along with them well? Lion I mean."

He was paying more attention to Izumi than the jewelry now.

"Someofthem. IkomamostlyandafewKitsu. TheAkodoareasbadastheCraneforbeingsticksinthemudandtheMatsu . . . . "

He paused and shrugged.

" . . . areMatsu. Sometimesfun, mostlyjustangry."

His mouth twitched, it didn't take long for him to start laughing.

"I suppose so...", another chuckle. "Well...I met a Lion on the way down, didn't seem that bad. Akodo Akihiko. You've met?"

"Don'trecognisethename. OnlyLionI'vemethereisMatsuHide."

"Matsu Hide...", he looked thoughtful but shook his head. "Ah... no, I've met Chiyoko too. Charming lady."