She does her best to school her face into appropriate pleasantness as she nods at his increasing nervous clarification. "Well, I wasn't going to suggest we go to either of our rooms on our own to play the game."

Akihiko smiles, swallows nervously, then forces a vaguely confident smile back on his face. "Right. Of course."

A flash of memory shows on Akihiko's face, and more confidence and ease settles over him. "We should do that soon, but I also want to give you something." From a small bag that the Lion must have awkwardly hidden in the sleeve of his kimono, he manages to withdraw an almost-one-foot-long plush phoenix. Gently setting the toy on the table, his smile beams with a combination of pride and silliness.

Oh kami, he's so cute when he's flustered.

She was slightly distracted, though, when he took out the phoenix plush. Her eyes lit up before she remembered an important part of it. "Oh my... That's one of the ones you could get at the arcade tonight? It was your efforts, I couldn't possibly."

"Effort inspired by one with a love of such games," he says pointedly. "A love far outpacing this one's meager skill."

Even though he was referring to something completely different, in the atmosphere of the miai, even hearing the term was enough to inspire a blush. "Enough skill to win something like this. I'm sure there are better choices to give this to."

"Skill is only valued by what it can achieve, and without proper motivation, skill achieves nothing. So," he says a little dramatically, "I believe there is no other choice." He reaches out and ever so slightly nudges the phoenix toward her.

She nodded and reached over, sliding the phoenix plush across the table to herself. She pauses, but finally can't help hugging it gently with a smile before putting it away. "Thank you, Akodo-sama. I'll treasure it."

Akihiko nods approvingly and smiles warmly, having clearly gotten the reaction he hoped for. He smiles at Shizuku for a bit longer without speaking aloud. Lucky little phoenix.

With a forceful breath, he brings himself back to conversation. "We should prioritize food at least briefly," he jokes, spotting a server and gaining their attention. "Glorious victories over arcade games generate a lot off hunger," he says seriously, just before the server arrives.

"True. Especially that dance game," she said, shaking her head. "They should be here with the food we ordered before any minute now, at least."

Akihiko politely engages the server as food arrives, but as quickly as possible they're sent on their way so her can get back to talking to the Crane.

"Ah, did you play the dance game? Dancing was never an encouraged skill in my family. My score on Castle Smasher, on the other hand," he says with mock seriousness, "would surely please my father."

"Yeah, it was fun! Probably my best game, though I don't have much actual skills at it," she replied. She smiled into her hand after she said her blessing, taken a bite, and swallowed. "I have the mental image of you giving a very serious and detailed description of the results of the assault on the castle, only to end with, 'but preventing the tilting strategy from being in play was totally hax.'"

"I'm certainly not skilled enough to say anything is 'hax,'" he laughs. "My original training was as a gunnery officer, just like my father wanted, so seeing angles of attack comes easily. Maybe easier if I could barrel roll the pinball machine like my Swiftclaw," he jokes, smiling widely.

She laughed, as well, then relaxed into a smile as she listened. She pushed her hand against her mouth to keep from breaking into another fit of laughter. "That would've been an impressive feat! You'd probably give the arcade owner a heart attack, though."