Ishiyo had paid for the private room for this occasion. It had been her own stubbornness that had caused her first dinner with Shokomaru to end so poorly. She owed him for that and for what had transpired between her and the Doctor.

She had donned her kimono for this, a beautiful blue with the scene of a pond. Embroidered willow branches ran down her back 'hanging' above the cranes in the water. Similarly embroidered water flowers rose up from around the cranes.

Shokomaru arrived looking proper as well. He was welcomed back by the staff for now the third time and told them it was someone else's reservation this time and the took him to the room where a Crane waited for him.

Entering, he bowed and with a clearly quite hungry smile he walked directly over to Ishiyo, like a man with serious purpose, but stopped just short of knocking her down and going for it.

"Beautiful", he said. Not in awe, but in appreciation.

Ishiyo looked up at him with a smile, "My fatheh says I look rather cute in this...betteh then dashing I hope." She dipped into a proper bow, "I owed you an apology for yesterday and I try not to do such things halfway."

Her hand extends toward the seat opposite her own, "You look quite handsome in you-eh yukata if I may say."

"You may", he said with a bit more melody than someone like him might indulge in. Taking the seat across from her, Shokomaru settled in. "Even men like compliments, I'll try and be graceful enough to be worth of you saying so."

Then he continued investigating her appearance. He seemed very pleased at the intricacy of her kimono, and even more how it fit her.

"What are we having for dinner, Daidoji-san?" he asked after they'd both completely settled.

"Chef's choice, I wanted to sample some of the offerings from the local food stocks." Ishiyo blushed a little, "Also I am terrible at planning meals. That was usually handled by my fatheh's people...then the navy."

"The kimono was a gift from my motheh, it is based on an old one from back when the family was confined to a single peninsula on the homeworld. I believe a distant ancestor wore it in the days of the Hantei dynasty." She ran a hand along the edge of the fabric, "Meticulously recreated from archival descriptions and with silk harvested in the traditional manner."

"I tend to find it a bit formal myself, makes me look too much like my motheh."

He gave that a thought for a moment and chuckled.

"Well, you seem have a lot of pride in your father, and he married her, so it looks like you get the best of both on that." He lightly brushed his shoulder, affecting some care for his own clothes. "I'm not a big fan of floor length kimono myself, so I had this yukata made a bit more dressy than usual. The silk is all traditional too, but the dyes are a mix of new techniques, under dimmer lighting you can see the spiders crawling all over it", he said. "Good show for when it's needed, but keeps them hidden in more proper settings."

Ishiyo chuckled at that, raising a hand to cover her mouth, "Well...seems a metaphoh foh what people say about you-eh clan in general. Acceptable in the daylight but all menace once the light goes out."

She dropped her hand, "Expectations and appearances," A sigh, "always expectations and appearances."

"Well", he straightened out the yukata a bit again. "Actually I wear it because it's comfortable."

He leaned on his elbow, kind of leering at her, but obviously being cheeky.

"If Daidoji-san likes expectations and appearances as much as I do, she is certainly free to shed a layer or two." He wiggled an eyebrow, then laughed a bit. "Or at least loosen what she wears on top with some subtle signs."

The double talk was big, but with Shokomaru it was usually a case of why not both?

Ishiyo pressed her lips into a line and crossed her arms, looking at the Shokomaru with an irritated expression. It was a little ruined by the red tinging her cheeks. "Can not help yourself with the double entendres can you, Dai-got-su-sa-ma."

She sighs and relaxes, "But fine, fine...I am not much of a demure Doji maiden anyway."

His mouth dropped a bit, but he had mostly recovered by the end of her reply. Shokomaru shook his head with a grin.

"My lady is indeed quite demure, and I wouldn't have anyone tell me otherwise, even herself", he said as honestly as he knew how. "I admit I'm quite the sucker for it though, so if you must maintain appearance that you are something other than the purest of souls do not let me stop you."

He leaned on both his hands now, elbows on the table, just looking at her with a cheeky smile.

"You know what I meant," Her cheeks reddened even more. Ishiyo uncrosses her arms and sets her hands back on her hips. "How is it you manage to be so charming, ingratiating, and infuriating all at the same time."

She fixed the Daigotsu with her blue eyed stare.

Now was a very good time for an answer to that question. He straightened up, brushing his sleeves some, pulling the front of his yukata straight and met her eyes very directly.

This marvelously blue, quite fierce and rather demanding eyes that betrayed Ishiyo almost every time they spoke.

He smiled.

"Who knows?"

You do.

Ishiyo looked back to the table, "You ass." There was remarkably little anger considering her words.

"So....how goes you-eh search foh a spouse? Diversified the playing field any?" She still did not look up at him and her attempt to divert the conversation was painfully obvious.

"Well, unfortunately, it's a lot like shopping for a pet", he said. "And I mean that, it's unfortunate." He reached into his yukata and dug out his cigarettes.

"We having a drink yet, by the way? This place is usually pretty quick on everything." he tapped a single cig on his lighter, shrugged then lit it.

"Putting that aside, what I mean is a miai like this is a dog show. You ask about pedigrees, you watch them jump through hoops and you pick the best on your allowed to and take it home to feed it and groom it. Eventually it gives you pups."

He shook his head.

"it's pretty shit, when you think about it. Pardon my sudden and utter frankness." he took a long drag. "I'd rather meet people for who they are, everyone has impressive ancestors. So here I am with you, I hope that says enough."

"Well...it is better then asking me to sit, rolloveh, or jump through hoops I suppose," Ishiyo looks back up at him, she presses a button on the table and requests some water and two glasses of the vintage of the night.

"You have a blunt way of putting things...when you are not trying to be smarmy." Her smile returned, "Though you still evaded my question, I doubt I am the only one to have caught you-eh eye."

He clearly wasn't making her blush enough if she noted he gave that one a dodge. He gave a rueful smile and nodded his head.

"I have a lot of interest in plenty of people here, my demure Daidoji maiden", he said in answer coolly. Then his eyebrows went up in feigned concern. "Though is it their names you want for a reason? Perhaps to tell them to back off your target, hmm?"

He then tilted his head down slightly, taking the cigarette from his mouth as his eyes looked up at her from beneath his brows.

"I don't need to know who else Daidoji-san has been courting, in any case. Her private matters are hers." It was probably the most apologetic he'd ever looked, perhaps the informality of their meeting helped.

"I was not asking for names Daigotsu-sama," Her cheeks flared up again, "And you are not the only one I have been speaking with." She looked away from him, "I just was curious if you had found any othehs."

She glanced back to him, "Besides you are at present more favored then I...if I read the opinions of our hosts properly. So you-eh list is more important then my own anyway."

The Crane crossed her arms again, she felt a little warm at the moment.

He sniffed the air slightly, was that t he drinks arriving? He hoped so.

To her comments he nodded along. "Well of course there are others, who do you think I am?" That was not a question. His smugness softened considerably after that, though. "Are they here with me now? No, there's only you. I don't care that you're my ally, I don't care that you're a rich bird from a posh family, what I care about is that you are here with me, presently, and also want to be. I would have asked you again, even if you hadn't felt this was owed."

Ishiyo looked at him, "...and I would have accepted. But I would have made you pay for it." She smiled mischievously, again with red cheeks. "Even if you are an ass."

She hoped the drinks were arriving as well...a little time to reorganize her thoughts. And as it happened they both got their wish. A few moments of servants laying out glasses and making a show of displaying the bottle and pouring the drinks. But all too soon Ishiyo was alone with the Spider again.

"As expected", he said, referring to everything said amd done there. He picked up his glass. "What shall we toast to? Luck in the field? To defeating glorious enemeis? Or to a quiet night that leads to better things?"