Shoan opens her mouth to begin refusing...and then the Osprey is already gone, clever girl.

It doesn't take the Lion long to find a stool to perch on as she waits. One or two other patrons try to make conversation with her but get absolutely nowhere and quickly search for less glary pastures.[/quote]

Mumei weaves expertly back through the crowds. She doesn't have Shoan's deflector shield glare, and instead is just quite good and not being where other people are about to be.

The glasses are set down, and Mumei immediately picks hers up and takes a solid slug of it. "Ok..only fair you should know. That um...lizard, pretty near killed him. He's fine," she quickly says. Just in case it looks like she's cavalier enough to go dancing while the guy she's gotten this attached to is lying in a Phoenix hospital or something.

Shoan sits quietly for a few moments.
Seemingly unperturbed "That's good. Yul-san is a warrior, his place was between you and the...giant lizard. I'm sure he would not have hesitated and now he has demonstrated a little of his honour and courage."
She takes a small sip from her own glass "And you? Are you fine Nakauchi-san?" With the polite but unspoken implication that the Ospry was maybe more of a lover/dancer than a fighter

She takes a long moment to consider the question, more than she'd taken since slamming the ornithopter door shut. "I...could be better? Part of me was sure I was carrying a lifeless body that would slow me enough to die there too."

She drinks again. "Part of me thought that meant I should drop him. And if it really did mean I got away when I otherwise wouldn't, I know full well he'd say that's the choice I should make. I don't know that I could."

The 5'4" Osprey does not look like she ought to be able to carry someone Yul's size, but Shoan had felt some of the dancer's musculature. She might be stronger than she looks.

Then she frowns. "And he _was_ brave. He also was..." she takes a deep breath.."the thing would never have noticed us if we simply left as soon as we spotted it." A hint of anger, or at least exasperation tinges her voice.

“Perhaps I should correct myself then. You-“
Shoan points across the table
“-were brave. And he-“
Going to point straight up
“-was an idiot.”
Another longer sip
“He probably turned the whole thing to his advantage somehow.”

She laughs. Doesn't deny the bravery though. Or the idiocy. "Advantage?" She takes a drink to consider that. "I suppose it's going to become a dashing story to share."

"I am not certain he'd be willing to repeat that sort of date, even if requested though."

“Ah, I could perhaps bring some kind of dinosaur plushie and make growling noises?”
Rueful
“It would have been nice to right a monster alongside him... although probably nicer in hindsight.”

"I think...though this is my first experience with nearly getting eaten by a giant lizard...that has to always be better in hindsight." Mumei shakes her head. "And, I'm still not seeing a lot of fun even then." She lifts her glass in a small toast. "But I don't think you can go wrong with plushie dinosaurs"

"You would find fighting a giant dinosaur fun? I'm very curious about that."

“Well, dinosaurs cannot dance.” Deadpan “Yet.”

Saluting the osprey right back
“Well, I would not say that I find the act of fighting or killing particularly fun. But if I have to slay something, better it be a man eating monster than another human. And better it be something that challenges my skills and wits than one I feel shame to combat. If I slay a giant dinosaur then it is a testament to my training and my skills.”
Plus, the skill would look great on an arcade cabinet
“I take satisfaction in a job well done.”

Mumei almost does a spit take. But she'd feel bad about the waste of alcohol.

"Okay...I am not brave enough to teach a dinosaur to dance!" That doesn't mean she doesn't start thinking of some dinosaur related choreography.

She considers the rest. "So...more like, if you have to fight, you'd rather it was a good fight? I think I get some of that." She nods to the floor. "It's better to have a chance to stretch your skills and talent than be asked to perform at a lower level. Like...I love that Kitsune-san takes joy in his unrestrained form, but I'd have trouble enjoying the same."

“Exactly. If it is worth doing then it must be done right. To lower yourself is to waste the skill you have and the years your sensei spent building it up.”
Slightly darkly
“Besides, you don’t want to look back at your life and see you’ve spent it punching down. When you’ve got the talent to dance like you do, you don’t waste that destroying children in dance competitions.”
Shoan regards her glass for a moment and then has a long drink

"Oh...that would be mean. I guess, I've known the sort who'd do that if they could...some are sensei, sadly. And...I guess some are strong enough to learn under that kind of instruction, but it's not ideal." She shakes her head and sips at her drink.

"Thank you very much for staying to talk, Murame-sama," she says with an earnest sincerity. "I've been feeling a bit strange with such day where so much goes on as normal after all that. Having someone else know about it just, helps it all fit better, you know?"

Shoan dips her head and gently taps one of Mumei’s fingers. Probably the Lion equivalent of a hug.

“You mean going from life, death and love to having to walk back around the city like it never happened? It’s always strange when a day ends like that.”
Gesturing to the rest of the club
“They don’t know what it’s like. Not really. And it’s... hard to explain it to them. Just, and... I mean. I’m no expert. But just remember that you’re not different for feeling different. You’re not separated from something because you’ve experienced something others there have not. And find someone you can talk about it with, although I hope this will be your last encounter with man eating dinosaurs.”

The tap definitely focused her attention, eyes watching over her cup as she drains it. There is a dawning light in her eyes as Shoan goes on. "Oh..I'm used to one kind of that..being different in being able to touch the spirit realms, but still being part of.." she waves at the room "All this. I should have realized this is just...well new to me, but the same not-normal that becomes normal. Ah...not that I intend that kind of encounter to become normal."

She considers the 'it's strange when a day ends like that' as if it's a common occurrence. "I guess...does that kind of thing happen much for you? I always imagined most battles being kind of separate and," she waves vaguesly up toward the sky, "out there somewhere and never thought of people going straight from that to 'oh are you coming over for dinner.'"

“Hai. My last tour was counter-insurgency. Every day we’d leave the barracks, patrol through somewhere like this club and... normally nothing would happen. We’d see the locals, make the rounds and head back. But some days, you get shot at. Or a bomb goes off. Or you have a sniper somewhere.”

The lion purses her lips at the memory
“And those days? They were just like the rest. It gets normal after a while, a couple weeks go by and samurai start getting fidgety. Why haven’t they been shot at yet? Is something worse coming? Then you come back to somewhere safe and stable and...”

Now her expression includes a frown
“It’s normal. Their normal. But not your normal. Not for a while, until you get used to it. Once you’ve been shot in your bed it takes a while to sleep soundly again.”

Mumei is quiet, listening to worlds she's never actually glimpsed. She expects the Kitsu are better trained to know what to say given the traditional focus of the Lion.

"Ouch. And..yeah. I hadn't even given that thought yet, but communing will be tough out on this world now. I can't even imagine what that does to you, being attacked while you sleep instead. And then everyone else's normal is just...'go to bed, sleep. Maybe dreams,' but it's not your normal anymore." She shakes her head in unconscious negation of the thought.

After a moment, she offers, "so...that got kind of darker than I planned the night to be. One, maybe a lighter note, I'm kind of waiting for the bathhouse to ban me since I recognized at least two of the attendants there today when I went to clean up. They pretty definitely recognized me from out water fight."

“Personally, I blame the giant lizard. I think it started everything.”
stupid dark thoughts giant lizard.

“They won’t ban you, that look they gave you? That was fear and respect. You have demonstrated your splash prowess to all and they now live in awe... awe and janitorial work. Hmmm, maybe next time I should find more samurai... have a splash battle. “