"Look, social butterflies can take many forms," she said without knowing if that was true or not. However, it was correct in her books for whatever it was worth. "I'm not saying that you're some suave samurai or a courtly mastermind, just a social butterfly. You get around, you know places, and you how things spin around here. It's not your fault that things fall sometimes. Bam! A social butterfly, Matsu-san, done."

"Ah, really neat...other than the local fauna, did you catch glimpse of anything interesting? Like the terrain or whatever passes for mountains around here?" She asked the Nakauchi.

That made a lot of sense to Hide. And the Kuni just sounded so authoritative of it that it had to be true. “Ohhhh. Okay, that’s what that means then. Thank you for explaining.” She was surprisingly sheepish as she rubbed at the back of her neck. “Do you think that’s a good thing?”

Now Hide was just self-conscious. There must be some kind of brain fungus spores in the air here.

"What is the difference between social butterfly and night-club partylover?" Mumei blinks rapidly. "Perhaps...social moth? You, Matsu-san are a social moth." her emphatic nod seals the declaration.

"But yeah, it's pretty amazing out there. Didn't see mountains that time, the stalks were too thick and tall, and the smell...kind of funky but amazing. Like there's this high sour note that I bet would work in a drink if I could find the mushroom making it." Not as rapid fire as the Fox, but she's certainly speeding up. We all rented one of those little vehicles...four-seater? And took an MCA ex-ec-u-tive meeting. in the forest." She giggles and glances to Shion. "Sorry Suzume-san, Kitsune-san was in a hurry to move...as I bet you can imagine." Her eyes find the flailing Fox on the dance floor with some small longing to join in
____________
(ooc...we should do a room thread to meet the roomies at some point shouldn't we?)

Looking over to the stranger Tenma gave a nod; The man was obviously a samurai, though the lighting and such in here and the dress code made it hard to tell Clan and Family and such at a glance, "Whiskey often. Sometimes an Old Fashioned or a Whiskey Sour. Something about a nice rich alcohol with a bit of citrus that I find refreshing. What about you?"

She was genuinely interested in what his answer would be. And if he was buying.

Jin just nodded. "We're here to party, neh?" He shrugged. "Off-duty soldier. I am sure what Kitsune-sama drinking is lovely, but I was in the mood for something else." He smirked, then nodded at Mumei. "Hai. What we saw were mostly the mammoth fungi, and a giant centipede. Millipede? Something." He shrugged. "Wasn't dangerous, minus the sporestorm, so it's worth a visit."

He did put the try down on a conveniant place where he could. "I'm going to go join Kitsune-sama on the dancefloor, in case anyone else wants to join." He then moved and started doing a dance to match the Kitsune. Sort of.

"I tend to be not too picky." He replied, lifting his half empty glass so she could see. "Just been drinking some of the house cocktails honestly, though I admit most of them I avoid as they are a touch too sweet for me."

"Still you seem like a lady who knows her alcohol, so if you can make a good suggestion this next rounds on me." Hayato continued with a easy smile, perfectly willing it seemed to help someone else drink.

Akemi sipped her non-alcoholic cocktail while quietly listening to the conversations. The drink was in truth quite bad (a lot of drinks are bad when you remove the drunk juice from them) but the more she was surrounded by business partners, issues and wild cards, the less likely she was to let herself get loose.



She jumped on what was definitely her call:

"Haven't pushed far past the city walls yet, but I've got a nice two-persons bike and I would be happy to drive you there so you can see it with your own eyes Matsu-san."

"Being picky is one of the joys of being a samurai I feel, getting to choose what is good enough or not for our higher tastes. A suggestion though..."

She glanced over at the bottles before looking back, "Hm... the selection here is not what I'm used to, a lot of fungal beers... but they do seem to have a selection of whiskies, scotches, and bourbons. Have you ever tried a Penicillin?"

"Don't believe I have." At least it wasn't one he remembered every having; even if it was one of his players go to cocktails. "It sounds intresting though." He beckoned over the bartender and placed the order for the drink, motioning for Tenma to order whatever she wanted as well.

He finished off his current glass in a drink and pushed it away as he waited on the next. "I'm Tsuruchi Hayato, by the way."

Ruhe continued having fun at the dance floor alongside the Fox, counting on others joining them eventually. It's not like he recognised the other people there, and they seemed engrossed in their own conversations.

"Bayushi Tenma, charmed."

She usually added the Yoriki part on to that, but something about bars made her not do so. Maybe it was feeling like she needed to blend in. When the bartender came, she decided to order what the Tsuruchi had been having, one of the house specialties.

"So, you don't mind me talking about work a little bit perhaps?"

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, Bayushi-sama." Hayato replied smoothly.

When asked, the Scorpion was informed that the Mantis had been drinking a Sweet Lies by the bartender. It wasn't the most popular cocktail due to its bitter nature though it seemed.

"Talk about work?" He raised an eyebrow at that. "I suppose i don't mind."

"Color me interested I suppose; I've never met a Tsuruchi before, after all. And unlike some Families, your dojos have multiple traditions, no? Bushi, and magistrates... even a few duelists if I recall."

"Does that make you a magistrate then?" He asked as he accepted his drink from the bartender and took an experimental sip. Not bad, though it was pretty obvious that whatever citrus juice they used in it was fake. "Since you mentioned work." He added to explain himself.

"But yes, some of our dojo's practice multiple traditions. Though it's not really as common as it once was. Class sizes are larger then they used to be, so seperating the traditions into their own buildings can be quite practical. Mine own school for example only trained bushi."

With Jin joining him and Ruhe on the dance floor, Izumi just carried right on. No more Energiser needed yet.

"Social moth? I'll take that one," Eriko nodded easily in agreement to the new analogy. "You're drawn to the flame sometimes!"

She paused for a moment and wondered if that meant she got burnt but she just chose to take another sip of the drink. Eriko nodded soundly to Mumei's tale regarding the drive in the wild. "I guess I do need to see it for myself and bring a mask while I'm at it too. Good idea to go in a vehicle. If you see anything you don't like, you can speed out quickly."

"I suppose I would say I'm a magistrate. Though most magistrate traditions incorporate a lot of bushi training as well, even these days in a time of armchair detectives. Not that I don't appreciate the differences... just like the differences between a high class cocktail and a lesser one."

She held up her glass and took a sip. This... was not a high class cocktail. But it never paid to tell the person who mixed your drinks that.

"I would recommend it...though I had considered trying one of the hardeh drinks." She chuckled, "I may not look as such, but I do have the famous Daidoji constitution."

"Hmm I guess I should mention my otheh siblings. My eldest brotheh was trained in with the Kakita Artisans and has joined fatheh's company as a designer and engineeh. He is quite good at making things both functional and pleasing to the eye. My otheh sisteh has followed motheh into the courts, she is currently serving as a junioh aide to the Crane delegation on the homeworld. My youngest brotheh is more mercantile in his bent and helps plan the logistics of the company shipping and receiving. Boring work but complicated."

"You spoke of friends before, and I hate to bring business back into this, but have you found any prospects foh the miai?"

He grinned as he sipped his drink. Her family seemed right proper, as you'd expect. He imagined there was a lot to their dynamic and it wasn't something he'd grasp in a single comment. When she brought up friends and prospects he put his drink down and leaned on his elbow against the bar again.

He just looked at her.

Ishiyo pressed her lips into a line and gave him a really? look, "I mean besides me."

She wasn't stupid, her family connections meant pretty much every Spider was going to have her as a prospect for the alliance's sake if nothing else. A small measure of cynicism in her also assumed a few from other clans would be after her for daddy's money.

A sip was taken from her drink.