Mumei finished the simple mercantile transaction for a set of UV glasses. She'd leave them in her Wisteria room when the miai was over most likely. No sense carrying too much stuff through life.

Chances were, they wouldn't show nearly as much at night, but that was a small matter. There was enough light to see the paths and enjoy the cooler air of evening and the smell of damp earth and plants.

Nishida strolled in casual clothing with Akechi and Mochi through the Xenobotanic Garden. Dusk was falling and he wanted to take a little break from all the bureaucratic madness he had to work through. He had Akechi keep an eye on Mochi to make sure he wouldn't accidentally eat one of the strange plants that grew here.

"I hope this whole paperwork is worth it in the end"

Akechi: "It surely will, Nishida-sama"

"If i cann pull this off, I can hopefully reap a substantial gain for the clan and the family"

Akechi: "Your mercantile talent has not disappointed the company so far, I trust that Nishida-sama can do this."

"Your too kind, Akechi"

He lit a cigarette and stretched himself a bit.

There were small glimmers among the flora, flowers that desired the embrace of night-flying moths and accidents of nature that attracted the even more valuable plant fanciers to care for and propagate the lovely things.

People and shiba inu were not in either category, but their dark non-reactive shapes were highly recognizable patterns on the pathway. Mumei slips the lenses to the top of her head, a wide smile spreading across her face. "How are there so many dogs on this world? What a handsome pupper, aren't you?!" Her attention and address are thus far, all for Mochi. Their humans are a distant afterthought.

Mochi, who noticed the strange woman first, began wagging his tail and barked exited. Meanwhile Nishida and Akechi turned to the woman and observed her. Nishida rememberd her from the Otori Event.

Seing that the woman rather adressed Mochi first he raised an eyebrow and ordered Mochi a little closer to his side.
"He is." he said. "I think i saw you today? My name is Yasuki Nishida, procurment specialist for YamdaCorp. With whom do i have the honor?"

She looks up with a grin. "Nakauchi Mumei, most recently off the New Winds trader. Pretty sure you...and I...saw everybody at the Otori paddocks. Well...everyone involved in this miai, neh? So I guess you're involved with it. Participant? Nakodo?" her head tilts slightly, letting the long half of her hair slide to hide shoulder and arm nearly to her fingertips, "you don't look old enough for concerned parent."

Popping back up, she dips into a bow, shaved nape exposed. "Regardless. Pleased to meet you Yasuki-sama, and..." she shifts toward the dog, still bowed, smile only visible to Mochi now.

He took a puff of cig an let Mochi go to her. "No, i'm participating, a pleasure to meet you Nakauchi-san."
He made a gesture toward Akechi "This is Akechi, my servant.".

Akechi gave her a deep bow and greeted her.

"I guess you also had the idea of a late evening stroll? Also New Winds Trader? Please tell me more about it"

"Hmm. They're a Unicorn trade ship coming out of Iron Home on that trip. I just talk to the machinery to see which spirits need a bit more attention, so I'm not full sure what they were carrying. Metals most likely."

She lets her arms drop as Mochi comes over and crouches to greet him, giving excellent behind the ear scritches. "You _are_ a fluffy sweet puppy, who probably has a name."

Looking up she returns to the human conversation. "I've been wanting to pick up some of the glasses for my next trip to the forest. Seemed a shame not to wander the grounds while I"m here. It's peaceful. I'll sit and commune a bit later, I think."

"Ohh so you're a shugenja?"

When Mochi was adressed he smiled "His name is Mochi." He gave him some scritches too. "He's been my companion for a long time, right buddy?" he, unintentionally, said in the last part in the silly voice people have when talking to their pet.
he cleared his throat and coughed into his fist, after realizing he did, in fact, do the voice

"I got him on my Gempukku" he added.

"The forest outside the city?" he inquired.

To the first question, she nods. It's reasonably apparent, after all. "Most Osprey are. Training toward Navigator."

"Then he's known you your whole, entire adult life? That's pretty special." She wraps her arms around Mochi to be sure he knows he's special to her too, even if she's only known him for five seconds. That's worth some silly dog talk voice now and then. "Havent' been able to really keep a pet hopping from ship to ship. Expensive to keep up with extra weight cost for them and their meals."

Standing, she chuckles, "which tells me YamDaCorp is probably doing ok by you."

"And yeah, the forests are fascinating. Giant mushrooms everywhere...like tree-sized giant, not dinner plate giant. Bugs this big," she holds her arms out indicated about three feet (or one meter if you're a metric samurai), "and toxic pollen storms."

After a pause she notes, "we sat that one out in the vehicle."

"It's an honor to meet a future navigator. It's a very honorable duty to the empire. I've traveled my fair share through the vast emptiness."

He nodded.

"He does. My Sensei gifted him to me, he was a puppy back then. He told me an analogy about business, back then. A good business starts with trust, but it also need to be cared, looked after and nurtured, only then it's a reliable one. "He said in a nosy voice.

"A toxic pollen storm?" he inquired.

The flora seems to be rather dangerous outside the city walls.

"Yep, just a bit drifting down at first, like rain." Her hands illustrate as she talks. "But these burned where they touched lips or if you breathed them in. Very unpleasant. The bug we saw started digging straight under the earth to get away, and we're less well protected than it was."

"Once back in the vehicle, we could just watch it come down heavier and heavier. Everything was covered with it, like sad yellow snow." She pauses. "Maybe spore storm, I think mushroom have spores, not pollen, actually. Not that we could see for sure where it was coming from."

Leaning down to pet Mochi again, she notes, "Well, if the business is cared for as well as this fluffy boy, I suppose it's in good shape. What's it do?"

"Xenobiolog is indeed very intersting, but also very dangerous, it seems. I'm glad you gt out of it unharmed." With a smile to Mochi he said. "In my line of business there's always a profit to make, but i've heard that i must've been blessed by Daikoku alot. I tend to say that's just the way Yasuki operate" he shrugged and drag a bit on his cig.

"Yeah, I don't recommend heading out without protections. Gas mask might have worked too...but I hear there are giant lizards. Vehicle is probably a better bet with those around." She considers. "I wonder if a mounted Otori can outrun them?" She has definite plans for some Otori excursions.

"But, what is your line of business, Yasuki-sama? I imagine something more popular than those weird living jelly bracelets someone tried to make a fad of a few years back. Diakoku did not bless the folks who came up with that idea." She shakes her head, remembering the discarded pile of the things she'd found oozing out of a dumpster. The things actually lived off of sweat and dead skin, which made them amazingly frugal pets, if anyone had gotten over the fact that they were kind of disgusting.

"Then i will most likely ask some of the locals to accompany me when i head out of the city, it seems like a dangerous idea to go alone." he said dry. Thinking about how successfull he was with Lucky he said: "Maybe they can, but the question is if you can keep on riding them when they run in full speed."

"Those Jelly braclets where indeed a horrible business idea." he shook his head in disgust.
He took a drag and said: "All the utilities our Bushi need to fulfill their duty. Weapon, Armor, Ammo, you name it" he said with a sly grin.

"Well that's a business that's done well since the dawn of the Empire. It'd be a delight if we suddenly didn't need all that, but I don't think that will ever happen." She seems pretty philosphical about the fact. "Can't say I've ever owned more than my honor and a knife." She pats her wakizashi as she says 'honor'

"But as to the Otori...yes, yes I can keep on them at full speed. It's the full speed coming to a full and sudden stop that I have trouble with. We raced them up and down the fields for a bit this afternoon. They're really amazing creatures."

"They are, even if i'm unsure how often i will actualy ride mine"

"We Yasuki say business is business, but that's not what i came here for, may i join your walk through the garden?"

"That'd be lovely. And not just because I assume Mochi's coming along," she teases.

"I have to imagine seeing what these visors show is more impressive in the dark when all the other color is normally leached away." After taking a moment to settle the goggles atop her head, she asks, "Have you been through the gardens already? Other than passing to the tents for the welcome feast the other night, that is?"

"Ahh, i regret not buying some. But no i haven't until today. I was fairly caught up with meetings here and meetings there. I wanted to come down a bit and relax. Also, Mochi needed a walk too" he said smmiling to the dog.

"Tch. A miai is supposed to mean leaving business to be handled by someone else for a few days. Finding a match is serious stuff, and requires focus." Her grin keeps the chiding in the realm of teasing still, as she finds her way down the dim pathway. Shadowed plants sway in the hint of breeze that moves here.

"Though honestly, why did you take the time to come here? Instead of just arranging something without all this fuss?" She seems genuinely curious.

"Hmmm" he pondered. "It was not a decision i took upon myself. My father sended me on this miai. I guess for him it is like a test, you know. I'm supposed to inherit the Corp some day, so i should prove that i can secure a good match that is profitable for the clan, the family and the company." he said, taking a drag from his cig.

He chukled. "I guess what my old man didn't think of was that they aren't searching for courtiers here. Like, since when is the phoenix know for their bushi?"