Koseki had spent very little time in the shared room at Wisteria, but it suddenly struck him that the poised Crane looked an awful lot like someone he was now officially bunk mates with. Her uniform was unexpected but impressive. He returned the nod and approached, bowing more deeply upon arrival.

"Fortunes' blessings to you Crane-sama, Sparrow-san. This one is Hotaru Koseki, of the Firefly Explorer Corps. It is an honour to meet you both."

That's it my boy. Be a good lad and don't go running your mouth off.

Mumei absolutely drifts through the red tent to pick up a cup of fungal sake before the smell of sizzling lizard drove her to seek fried mushrooms instead.

With this being the first official event, she's pulled out the outfit her clan sent her with for such things. It's nothing terribly fancy, but new and clean. A long, flowing, dress* in cornflower blue over wide-legged pants in a simple tan machine-embroidered with soaring birds. The skirt was split to the waist, allowing the pattern on the trousers to show as she moved. The bodice had no sleeves past the shoulder and a high collar with the mon of the osprey nestled between her shoulder blades, and that of the Navigators the left front side of the collar.

Carefully holding the skewer to avoid dripping mushroom juice on her new duds, she looks around the gathering, eyes dark in the gentle light. Supposed to meet people, chat. She sighs and finishes her sake, plucking a cup of amazake from the busy servants as soon as it's done.

(*reminiscent of ao dai)
(PM if coming up to chat. I get seriously lost in these giant threads)

Her eyes flicked over to the Firefly, "Ah....yes you did look familiah." Ishiyo returns the bow, "I believe we are sharing a room yes. My apologies fo-eh not having spoken with you sooneh."

"Daidoji Ishiyo, Nikutai and Fighteh pilot in the Crane Fleet Ai-eh Arm, last posted to the 312th Naval Fighteh Squadron aboard the light carrieh The Golden Heron." She repeated the greeting for the benefit of the new arrival.

Well that got his attention. He hid it quite well, but a sparkle appeared in his eyes as she finished her introduction.

"I am honoured to be sharing a room with you Daidoji-sama. Please, no need to apologise, I was hardly present all day." He smiled politely and went ahead with asking the question. "I hope it is not rude to ask if Daidoji-sama has seen much combat?"

The Hotaru had committed without his knowing it, a very grave tactical error. The calmly polite expression on Ishiyo's face shifted to one of excitement. "Combat? Why yes, yes I have!" Her smile grew, "Why I was just finishing a touh of duty when I was sent out here. One yeah aboard The Golden Heron, proactively hunting those nefarious villains who would hampeh Crane trade." She nods as she speaks, "Piracy was something of a problem, though it has...diminished as of late."

"Regardless my touh was very lively. Well for a touh, I mean...still a lot of time on patrol were little happened. Goes with the territory one might say. Anyway I had several run ins with pirates, you see The Golden Heron is a pride of the fleet. She is smalleh then most fleet carriehs but considerably fasteh, paih heh up with some fast escorts and you had a perfect little task force to hunt with. Now as I was saying, yes, yes I have seen combat. I am an Ace fighteh pilot in fact. Three good kills in my last action to earn me the title. That in itself is quite the story, one of many I have actually. I would be happy to regalia with any one or all of them. All of the good scraps."

She paused for a breath, then realized her mistake in just blurting out an answer in so undignified a manner. Ishiyo brushes some imagined dust from her jacket and more calmly continues. "Of course only if you would find such interesting."

No one deserved to be lost in a giant thread. A web perhaps, but not a thread. Tsugiharu looked at the.....samurai, not terribly familiar with what an Osprey was. Still, he also had duties to talk to people, even if he didn't recognize her colors.

"Good evening, I am Kuchiki Tsugiharu of The Hive." he offered with a bow. "Shall we chat for a bit? I've been told that one is expected to do that at these sort of affairs."

Mumei looked up quickly from her fascinating fried fungus, started to answer, remembered some kind of etiquette about talking with your mouth full of half-chewed mushrooms, and held up her amazake cup, index finger raised in the semi-universal, 'wait just a minute' sign.

After a few moments of chewing, swallowing and washing down the bready remnants with a sip of sweet wine, she offers a proper bow, somewhat deeper than necessary either out of caution when dealing with a great clan or in apology for the wait. "Sorry Kuchiki-sama, the mushrooms are awfully good. But...yeah, we're supposed to talk...about...something, I think."

"I guess maybe what you were doing before getting shipped to a miai's as good a chat as any?" Her wry smile has the sloppy edge of inebriation to it. That buzz is coming along nicely.

"Sure, that would be acceptable....samurai-san." he said, not getting a name yet. "I'm a medical researcher with the military. Each world in the never-ending expansion of the Empire poses it's own hazards. And while there are many that a legion of Daigotsu's finest can handle with superior firepower, the environment often holds hazards smaller than the eye can see. Being able to speak with the kami, and having medical training means I can help as we research how to turn some of the most inhospitable places in the Universe into the next piece of workable land."

He took a small sip of his drink.

"And yourself?"

Five different scenarios played through the young man's mind as he listened attentively to the Daidoji's response. It took a massive effort of will not to respond in kind. He really hated pirates, and loved spacecraft. Also she was *Crane* gorgeous. Best. Miai. Ever!

Somewhere behind Ishiyo a ghostly image that only Koseki could see face-palmed, hard. Fortunes teeth. She's not going to marry you, boy. She's class. You'll always be a dirty miner to them. Never. Going. To. Happen.

With a brighter smile than before he nodded politely. "I would be delighted to take you up on your kind offer, at the earliest convenient opportunity Daidoji-sama. I have had a few run ins with dastardly pirates myself, and I could happily discuss starship specs all day." A slightly apologetic smile was offered to the Sparrow.

The light inside the tent was becoming brighter than the light outside and Hakka blinked, trying to become more adjusted to the differences. As it cleared, she glanced around at those gathered within, while using her hands to straighten any wrinkles that had dared to appear on her outfit on the way over.

After accepting a cup of the cold barley tea from a servant, waving off the skewers of mushroom and meat from another, she began to make a circular path around the room.

"I talk to the machines and help figure out their problems, and...do whatever else someone might hire me for," she shrugs, "so I'm latest off the Far Winds Caravan ship out of Moto space. Training as a Navigator, but...needs a bit yet before I'm walking the way." There's a wistfulness to that last bit, longing for the new vistas within shugenja space.

She pauses, looking down and to the side in momentary concentration, then up with a nod. "Nakauchi Mumei, if you need a name," she offers offhandedly.

With more interest, she asks, "so you talk to the little hazards? Microbes and such as carry contamination and sickness?"

Kitsu Nozomi couldn't help but stare at the woman's exposed region of her thighs, between the skirt and stockings. It wasn't obvious on her face what her thoughts were but it was certainly obvious to anyone that watched Nozomi that she had been observing said thighs.

And then it came time to eat. She gleefully took the freely offered food to her and went to town on it. How often did she get to eat like this?

Still, the 'staring' was probably weird. She wiped away her lips and made way to make a nice, proper introduction of herself. "Good evening, Doji-sama. How have you found Asakaze thus far?"

He nods.

"That's certainly part of it, although they're fairly simple beings for the most part. They're driven to reproduce primarily which requires sustenance. The fact that they, for example, give the apes on one world a cough to help with their transmission, but can shut down a samurai's respiratory system in twenty four hours is wholly unintentional. Killing the host is not terribly useful with the exception of some very weird transmission vectors.
Still, it's one more diagnostic tool to try to figure out how to overcome those hazards either through medication or if it's something that'll require more drastic changes to the environment to eliminate the threat."

He smiled a bit.

"I dabble a bit in engineering. Mostly to better understand artificial limb replacements since that's another vector to consider in my field. Also, being able to find yourself among the stars is a handy talent as well, even if one is only looking to find their way back to base, rather than piloting a ship."

"Oh, hold on a second Hotaru-san." She retrieved her densai from a hidden pocket in her coat, very nearly damaging the buttons in her haste. "I have a picture of the class of fighteh I flew."



"The Naval Fighteh Model 3 Daisagi, top of the line...so I could not tell you its specs I am afraid, still classified." She nodded and held the densai up for both the minor clan members to see. "I will try to find some time tomorrow fo-eh such a meeting Hotaru-san, I would be very eageh to heah you-eh own experiences with those opportunistic vultures stalking the trade routes."

"Certainly something to behold," the teacup was raised, partially hiding her face behind it after speaking as Hakka took a delicate sip. "Though, I have had little time to visit more than a few places, which is a true pity. But, there will be time to explore more thoroughly starting tomorrow."

She gave Nozomi a smile, something polite, but there was warmth in its undertones, as if she smiled because she wanted to and not because it was expected at the moment.

"Oh! You were at the bathhouse. That was sure something," Nozomi commented. It was non-conclusive due to the time-space continuum demanding that it not be.

"I heard some others went outside sometimes. Is that what you were talking about or do you mean more parts inside of the city?"

Satoru had no inkling of which tent to join so he picked one at random and walked in. He wore robes that were on the traditional side of fashionable for a priest, they were of fine quality though made from spider silk black with a subtle, deeper black web pattern.

He adjusted his glasses as he walked in and surveyed they room, grabbing some refreshment and deciding to simply observe for now.

She routes solidly back to talking to bugs. "But, is it like..." she thinks, "are they more in line with kami, where one aligns with a given element to find their vibe, or is it like setting up to speak to an animal, where you're actually expecting a mind that is more than an element...that's wrapped around all of them with that spark of slippery void that you can't connect with..." She tilts her head, considering. "Unless you can. Do ishiken show up in the Spider?"

He considered that.

"I would say it's very similar to speaking to fire kami. There is a hunger and a need to spread and little else matters. Both can be very destructive as well, though again it's incidental. A forest fire burns until the woods gone. It doesn't think about the future."

He shakes his head.

"It's a very rare gift and one I do not possess. What about among your clan?"

The Sparrow bowed to the Crane and the Firefly as they approached, even if she was a bit surprised at the Great Clanner drawing close to her... but she had just taken another bite of the mushroom when they spoke, so she had to finish chewing it before speaking so as not to appear rude.

So she took a sip of the tea to make it easier. But as she did, they had started talking already, so she just placed her cup back at the table nearby, and waited for a bit. So... a pilot, then? Sounded dangerous. Fun too, in a way. Maybe.

She smiled politely at them. It wasn't a subject she could contribute much to, of course, and they seemed happy discussing it, so she didn't think could chip in much. Still, she took the chance to present herself.

"Daidoji-sama, Hotaru-san. I'm Suzume Shion. Work for the Miya Entertainment Network. So... a military and an... 'Explorer', then uh?" - she didn't really know what to call the Hotaru. 'Miner' was what came to mind when she thought about the Firefly, but it didn't seem proper...

"So... both pilots, then? That sounds interesting", she says, kinda believing what she said. Not that she thought she'd do it, but it sounded like an interesting life.