Nozomi, nose deep in her densai, certainly did not notice the beam above. Fortunately, she wasn't walking too fast, so the resulting ding was only somewhat painful and mainly embarrassing.

She looked around at the others. Two twins and a Bayushi. "Hello mina-sama," she piped with all the joy of someone who had not just hurt herself in clumsiness.

A polite bow and that was all for the time being. She dumped her bag underneath her seat and went back to her reading.

"Yeeesss," Moriko cheered, bouncing on the balls of her feet with the promise of dinner. At the sound of a new voice, she twirled, her loose hair swinging about her shoulders. Bowing quickly, "good afternoon, Lion-san," she piped cheerfully.

"Indeed, I wouldn't have guessed that either," Akagi said with a grin. "I was just becoming acquainted with your sister and Ren." With the two sisters side-by-side, the Bayushi found it easier to tell them apart. He nodded thoughtfully, committing the differences to memory so as to hopefully avoid a breach of etiquette in the future.


"Oh, hello there," the Scorpion replied, returning Nozomi's bow. "Hmm... could it be that we are all going to Shiro Yoake?"

"Such a conclusion is sensible," Nozomi mused, "We are all about the right age for what I am going to."

Her eyes went to the twins. "Then again, it is a Phoenix planet."

"I believe it is the correct conclusion." she nodded.

Ten had a paw wrapped around Ren’s neck and was chewing on his litter-mate’s ear. “All, like,” she indicated to the small group, “yeah. All,” the Phoenix waved in the direction of the shuttle arrivals and shrugged, “a lot of the off-worlders probably are.”

Asako Ryo heard about this. Today was the day that Asakaze would see a large influx of visitors. They usually were content to stay in the port to do their transfers and trading. He should be excited, if they didn't the events schedule didn't create a hassle for some of the locals. Maybe more hassle for him as the events poked holes in his routine.

The tall Phoenix strolled in dressed in deep orange compression pants and a long sleeve shirt. He carried a small one-strap backpack where he stuffed all of his things included a baseball bat, worn over his chest.

Hoshiko looked over the Lion and the Scorpion for a moment, wondering about the days ahead. She looked away when Ren wrestled free of Ten's hold and scampered off, followed by the other dog. The pair began chasing one another around the passing Asako.

"Ren! Stop that!"

Akagi tried to hide a chuckle behind one hand as the dogs got loose.

"They certainly seem energetic," he remarked. "Do you think they'll be all right on the trip to Shiro Yoake?"

"Oh my," Nozomi murmured, watching the dogs go at it. She looked back at her densai with a look of intent. After a few moments of reading, she looked back up. "Oh, hello, Asako-sama."

"They're good dogs, the best." Hoshiko said. "They just haven't seen each other in some time."

"They seem like a good sort," Akagi said agreeably. "I bet they're good company to have around. I'd love to get a pet someday myself; sadly, my shipboard quarters are a little too small to allow it."

Moriko snapped her fingers, and Ten stopped abruptly, looking at his mistress with a wide, panting grin. Out in the forests, it could be a matter of life or death for the dog if it didn't pay attention, and the pair had developed something of an understanding without really trying. She pointed done at the ground beside her, and the shiba inu galloped to her side.

"We could catch you a screamer," the young woman cooed excitedly, "some of those only grow up to be pocket-sized."

"Why, that would be most kind of you," Akagi said, beaming. "Pocket sized would be just right. Um.... what's a screamer, anyway?"

"Yeah," Moriko wriggled, looking rather like her dog did when he wagged his tail, "they are the cutest little gliders. They're little and fluffy, with these big eyes, they live in the forests here."

"They're adorable." Hoshiko agreed. "We'll have to find him one, Mori-chan."

"That sounds perfect," Akagi gushed. "I should very much like to get one! What do they eat? Are they hard to care for? Would they be okay living on a starship instead of a forest? Um...do they really scream a lot?"

Moriko clasped her hands together, "okay, okay, so they eat insects and they're really good at catching them, you'd definitely have to find live insects for them every now and then. I mean—" the Phoenix was in full swing, excited words tumbling out in a rush. "You could definitely feed one dead insects," a thoughtful expression crossed her face, "you would need calcium powder, it's a supplement, they make them for pet reptiles." Her mind quickly chasing down the new tangent, "oh, and a UV lamp."

"More like a rodent with teeth, almost like a bat but...with bigger goggly eyes and larger teeth," the tall Asako interjected as he strolled up to the group. It seems that he was too early for the early rush of visitors but the locals already caught one of them, at least.

Moriko gasped in fake horror, "are you saying rodents aren't cute, Asako-san?"