It was not a good day for flying. Except, when you're a Skyrider, every day is a good day for flying.

Yul waited, dressed in his usual outfit; leather jacket, uniform pants, tank top, aviators. The thought of dressing up a bit more had crossed his mind, and been dismissed. He needed to be comfortable, and, well, he knew the look definitely worked for him.

As he waited, he ran a hand over the ornithopter he'd rented. It was almost a spiritual thing, becoming familiar with the vehicle he would be flying. His expression was distant as he slowly walked around it, hand extended, fingers gently brushing the metallic exterior.

A tall figure makes their way through the rain towards him, moving with the careful ever so slightly wobbly gait of someone unused to tall shoes tall shoes. An umbrella and long collar to ankle length raincoat were fighting valiantly to keep the storm away while a pair of raised geta had thus far sacrificed themselves for the hem of whatever was beneath the coat.

Shoan's tempted to wait a few minutes to watch Yul with the ornithopter, if only to work out which of them he was really planning to entertain that afternoon. But the sheer amount of rain on display makes more than a few moments of contemplation impractical before she steps into the cover of the hanger and bows, a pair of shiny earrings in the shape of arcade cabinets glittering in the light from bulbs above.

"Shinjo-san, we've picked a wonderful day to go flying."

Yul's eyebrows went up as he spotted her. "Right?" He called. "Hopefully it won't spoil the views too much." He shrugged. "The lightning's happening on a different atmo level than we'll be at, anyway. Shouldn't have to worry about it."

He smiled, looking Shoan up and down. Not many clues yet. "Nice earrings. You get those from the games last night? Pretty good."

He stopped at the side of the ornithopter, gripping a handle. With a twist and a pull, the door opened, outward and upward. "Come on in." Yul said. "Make yourself comfortable." The interior was spacious; he'd gotten a larger model. But, of course, there was a little less space up front where pilot and copilot sat.

"I'm the champion of the arcade Shinjo-san, now I have a whole cabinet to my name."
She peers into the ornithopter curiously for a moment noting the layout before turning back to the Unicorn

"Would you mind holding this?"
And without further ado she thrusts her umbrella into Yul's hands and begins unbuttoning her raincoat

Yul's eyebrows went up. "No kidding. Murame Shoan, arcade champion." Chuckling, he shook his head. "Which one did you get?"

Quick reflexes mean that Yul was holding the umbrella before he quite realized what was happening. "Uh... of course." He agreed. Yul was gentlemanly enough to hold it open, angling it to better shield Shoan; between the cover from the ornithopter and the umbrella, she wasn't getting any more rain, anyway.

He wasn't so gentlemanly as to look away as she took off her outer layer, but really, that would be above and beyond. Yul smiled gently at Shoan as he waited, the very picture of patience.

Shoan takes her time before bundling the raincoat into Yul's arms as well.
The Lion is clad in an adaption of a traditional dress that wouldn't have looked out of place in Rokugan's distant past, a form hugging gold ensemble whose line is only slightly ruined by a thigh holster sporting her usual sidearm. With a hint of a smirk that was gone in a flash she steps daintily up into the ornithopter.

"Why thank you Shinjo-san, you may take me up now."
Shoan was having a great time.

Yul did a fairly good job of playing it cool, smirking gently. Still, he did jump a little as the raincoat was placed in his arms; clearly his attention was on other things. He watched, brown eyes glinting, lingering, as she stepped onto the ornithopter, a soft appreciative breath escaping his lips.

He grinned. "As you wish, Murame-san." He gave raincoat and umbrella a shake before stepping inside, pulling the door shut behind him.

Inside, there was plenty of space to stow the rain gear, and, after a moment's thought, his leather jacket, leaving Yul in tank top, his arms bare. With the easy grace of familiarity, even in a strange vehicle, he moved to the cockpit, settling into the pilot's seat. "Alright. Almost time to see what this thing can do. Better strap yourself in." Yul cast Sloan a quick smile as he began flipping switches, readouts humming to life in response.

Shoan peers curiously at the pre-flight checks, some of it vaguely familiar to her but most of it remained a complete mystery.
"Of course, safety first."
There's a slow look at his tanktop and then at her own dress before looking back to the pilot with amused eyes.

"Don't feel the need to go slow on my account, I've flown in storms before."
She straps in as lightning arcs overhead.

Yul cleared his throat, feeling that scrutiny. "Didn't want to fly an unfamiliar vehicle in my dress uniform." He explained, his smile turning slightly apologetic. Even with the amusement in her eyes, it almost felt as though she were mentally marking on some imagined pros and cons paper, frostily writing 'informal dresser' in the cons column.

"Alright. I'm gonna hold you to that, Murame-san." Focused as Yul was, he didn't even flash her another smile. A few more switches, and the rotors overhead began to turn. Yul half-studied a readout, half listened as the whine of the engine, and the steady thump of the blades grew louder...

"Okay, here we go!" Yul called, his voice audible over the sound of the Ornithopter. He pulled back on the stick easing the craft smoothly into the air. There was a strange sort of excited tension in his handsome features as he guided the craft up and out. Before long, they'd cleared the city, the small craft heading out towards the mountains.

"I wouldn't want your biceps to feel constricted should evasive maneuvers be necessary."
There's the barest sudden intake of air as they take off, but the Lion relaxes quickly, clearly enjoying the new vantage point as the ornithopter soared over the darkened city below

"Very smooth Shinjo-san, or is it Captain-san, or even Cricket-san when aboard?"
Shoan calmly pulls out her densai and takes a few photos out the window before tabbing over to her Yul page and adding 'informal dresser' underline and bolded in her notes section.

Yul just grinned in response, even as he piloted the vehicle.

It took another few minutes before some of the tension left Yul's (bare) shoulders. He shrugged. "Shinjo-san is fine. Or... I don't know, if you wanted, you could call me Yul-san. If that's not too informal." He gave her a sidelong glance.

His lips quirked. "I guess Cricket-san would be okay, too, even if you're not in my wing." As they flew, Yul glanced out the window, down at the ground. The wipers had to work furiously to keep ahead of the rain, but the fungal forest was visible below. "It really does look different up here." He murmured.

“Yul-san?”
Shoan lets a pause stretch as she follows his gaze down to the forest
“... That seems reasonable. You may address me by my chosen name as well, if you wish. You can call me other names as well, but I’m less likely to respond to them.”

The lion squints as a flash of lightning illuminates some gigantic creature stomping through the fungi
“There are benefits to height sometimes.”

"Alright, Shoan-san." Yul shot her a quick glance and a nod.

He glanced out the window, but didn't quite catch the beastie, whatever it was. "There are, hah." Yul shot her another glance, this one with a smirk. "You look great in those shoes, but now you're even taller than me."

He looked back out the window. "But... yeah. Up here, everything's different. I mean, look at how all the land fits together. How the city turns into farmland, into the forest. And on from there, into mountains." Yul shrugged. "I don't know. I just feel like there's something special about all of this."

The ornithoper moved on, steadily approaching the mountains he mentioned.

“I’m glad you appreciate the shoes, they are both uncomfortable and impractical. But that is fashion.”
She wiggles her toes as if to demonstrate
“I can do little about the height though, it’s a shame there are no high shelves in here that I could assist with.”

Shoan listens in silence as Yul talks about his passion.
“Hai. It is special. The wind roars around us, the whole world is chaos, and yet we’re in this tiny bubble above it all soaring faster than any samurai. It’s... easy to see why you enjoy even this more sedate flying.”

Yul gave Shoan a quick smirk. "Oh, well, I'll make sure to see if I can have you stop by the next time I need to reach something." The toe wiggle made him chuckle.

"Sedate, huh?" Yul turned to look at her, eyebrows going up. "Wow, first the height, and then you call my flying sedate?" He shook his head, although he was clearly smiling. "Seems like you're in a teasing mood today, huh? Or is this just my first sight of date-Shoan?" He continued to look at her, hands on the controls, but eyes definitely on her as the Ornithopter flew closer to the mountains.

Drily “Cleary you have been a bad influence on me Yul-San. Or maybe I’m just in a good mood, or perhaps both?”

She looks back, her On Quietly relaxed given it was just the two of them.
“Besides, you are easy to tease, you take it well, even managing to fly an ornithopter at the same time. That and this obi is cinched extremely tight and it feels appropriate you feel some of that pain.”
There’s a hint of a smile.

Yul considered that for a moment. "I'd like to think both." He nodded.

"Hmmm..." Yul let his gaze trail downward for a moment. It did look tight. Yul breathed. "Well, that's only fair, then." He smiled back at her, openly and honestly, as he usually did.

He glanced again, pulling back on the controls until the Ornithopter began to hover in place. "Mountains are tricky. If we're gonna let you take a turn, we're gonna want to do it before you get to them. What do you think?" He looked at Shoan, one eyebrow raised.

“It would probably ruin the mood if I piloted is directly into a cliff. If now is the time I would be.... very interested in attempting to steer the ship.”

If she’d noticed certain unicorn looks there is no sign, other than perhaps some slightly exaggerated breathing.

"Okay." Yul nodded encouragingly. "Luckily, one of these is pretty easy to fly, just so long as you don't let it get ahead of you. But I'll be here if things get out of hand."

He nodded to her set of controls. "Go ahead and put your hands on the stick. Then, when you're ready, I'll flip this switch-" Yul pointed, "-to engage them. Keep it very slow, steady. Just a touch to get it moving. When you get a feel for it, then maybe try taking us forward a bit."

Yul put his finger on the switch. "Ready?" He asked, smiling gently.

When she said yes, he flipped it...

Shoan squares her shoulder and follows the directions fingers wrapping and unwrapping around the controls.
“Ready”
She gingerly judges the stick forward.