One of the tables set for the feast, for any of the young samurai to gather. It is exquisitely laid out with drink and food, dropped by serants who stay out of sight when they aren't serving. The low cushions are comfortable, and plush.

Tea and poetry was a bit out of Hirame's wheelhouse. Food and drink, though, that was more what Hirame was used to. He was just surprised that it wasn't more boisterous. Normally, something like this would have a cacophony of sound, with a dozen instruments playing half a dozen tunes, voices raised in merriment, maybe a few friendly fistfights.

Well, this was alright too. Hirame glanced around, and then tore into his food with the appetite of... well, of a teenager who hadn't quite finished adjusting to his latest growth spurt. Another glance around, hazel eyes narrowed, and he slowed. A little. Taking a long drink helped.

A shorter teenager soon occupied the place next to him.

"Hi. I'm Nekoma Seto. The Crane know how to put a spread, eh?"

He matched his approach to what he expected the Mantis to like, so no flowery words and straight to the point.

Kaori carefully surveyed the battlefield of nutrition, her eyes criss-crossing like an expert commander.

"Greetings minna-sama, Kaeru Kaori." She eyed the closest section. "Do I see it right that there is some rice and vegetables over there?"

The cushions are plush enough to muffle the 'Thwumpf!' of Natsuko's knees hitting one dead center as she drops unceremoniously into her place. No designated seating? The universe knows differently, and this is where she's to be right now, lumpy satchel clattering with the sudden movement, and again as she slips it from her shoulder to her lap.

It's open and both hands are sunk inside, rummaging purposefully through with a rattle and slither that speaks of all manner of materials inside. The perceptive might have noticed that she's a few fingers short of a full set in the moment before her hands disappeared. After a moment, there's a pause, and a pair of simple chopsticks emerge, held in a full five fingers; her head coming up at the same time.

Only then does she seem to notice her tablemates--bright, blue eyes wide in seeming surprise as they shift from person to person as Natsuko freezes, chopsticks held just above the table.

Well, well! This was already an interesting collection of folks!

"Funegao no Hirame. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Hirame said, smiling brightly. "And yeah, what can I say? I'm impressed! I guess the Crane don't have a reputation for being good hosts for nothing, even if you mostly hear about the tea and art."

With a smirk of acknowledgement, he passed the indicated bowl over to Kaori. "Anyone else want anything? Nekoma-san? Phoenix-san? There's plenty to go around!"

"Oh pass the fish over please."

He produced his own chopsticks from his satchel a good deal more gracefully than the Phoenix had, and then matched her blue eyed stare.

"Hi!"

With a little wave of the non chopstick'd hand.

"Ah, Arigatou...Funegao-san?" She asked uncertainly.

She waved back towards the Nekota. "Hi." She answered, a bit lamely. This seems to be the weirdo table so far.

Ah well.

"Please, feel free to take all the fish Nekoma-san."

Hirame shrugged. "Funegao-san, Mantis-san, Hirame-san. Whatever you prefer. It's usually other crews that call me Funegao-san."

He chuckled, smirking again. "Hey, I don't know about all the fish." He liberated a portion for himself before passing the plate over to Seto. "Good choice, Nekoma-san. This looks great!" A brief pause was all he needed to get a few more bites, medium-gracefully.

Natsuko freezes, eyes caught by the Cat and squeaks slightly. After a pause, she clears her throat and waves, chopsticks still in hand, offering something like a seated bow at the same time, which does break the staring contest. "Hello, Nekoma-san," she says slowly, feeling out the name before casting around the rest of the table to complete the greeting in a low voice with little intonation. "umm...red-hair-san...and...what's the right name really, Mantis-san? For now. It will change."

She'll accept the fish as it passes around the table, taking a healthy portion carefully and arranging it tidily on the plate as rice, pickles, slimy seaweed salad, are all added one by one, no dish touching another, the lines between them unnaturally straight for piles of not-at-all straight food.

"This one is Isawa Natsuko today."

Seto's food was just tipped wherever it went on his plate. Rice lumped in the bowl. That was where the carelessness ended though, as he was all prim and proper with the actual eating.

"Nekoma Seto."

He repeated as only the Mantis had been here when he originally introduced himself.

"Not liking the fish then, Kaeru-san? I think there's some shrimp over at the end of the table."

Natsuko wrinkles her nose at the mention of shrimp, not reaching for that dish, watching closely as the servant pours her tea. The scent is sharply green with a hint of something floral, no oddities in the water to muddy it. The Crane have a reputation to maintain, after all.

"You're a Cat?" Seeming to remember her hands, Natsuko sets the chopsticks down and sets about closing her satchel without really looking at it, maimed hand dexterous enough for something so simple despite the pair of missing fingers.

"Yes. Yes I am."

Replied the Cat, grinning lopsidedly.

"Arigatou Nekoma-san, but I would prefer to stick to something land based today." And tomorrow. And the future, really. She had share of bad experiences there.

"Today? What were you yesterday Isawa-sama?" She felt irked at being Red-Hair-san. Really. She introduced herself. She had a mon (kinda) for kami's sake!

"Cat, and how many years have you?" The satchel is tucked away.

While her eyes remain fixed on the Cat, she turns slightly toward Kaori. "I bore the same name yesterday, but I was not born with it and will shed half of it before we leave this town and the other half sometime in the next year."

"Yeah, I guess we all will, eh?" Hirame said, smiling cheerfully. "I mean, the tournament's only half of it. Even the person who places last'll become an adult." He said

He shrugged. "I mean, not like I'm planning on keeping score. I'm just here to do my best." Hirame said, medium-modestly to match his medium-grace.

Sudden Phoenix interrogation, especially with those eyes, was not what Seto had been expecting . . . but he'd been told to behave himself in Tsuma by his mother . . . and Mother Cat must be obeyed.

"Sixteen years, Isawa-san."

He kept smiling despite the unnerving stare, using the excuse of eating to break the eye contact.

Isawa Natsuko wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 31, 2021 11:05 pm

"Cat, and how many years have you?" The satchel is tucked away.

While her eyes remain fixed on the Cat, she turns slightly toward Kaori. "I bore the same name yesterday, but I was not born with it and will shed half of it before we leave this town and the other half sometime in the next year."

Kaori frowned. "The...other half?" Wow, weird Phoenix chick is a go.

She decided to continue eating instead.

Her eyes drop to her plate at Seto's words. "Hmm. Too young. But what's it like, growing up on an island so far from most everyone else?" The words make the question apparent, so the quiet monotone doesn't need to shift at the end.

She nods once to the Mantis. "I suppose some might keep the names they now bear, but they won't be the same." Picking up her chopsticks, she starts to eat between bits of conversation, the movements careful and rarely graceful.

Hirame considered that a moment. "I guess a lot of stuff will change when we're adults, yeah." That was only a guess as to what she meant, but, well! Bold and confident, that was the only way to do things!

He glanced around, choosing to ignore the staring contest. "Anyone know where they're gonna be assigned? I've been promised a position on my ship. Unless, well, destiny intervenes." Hirame made a face, and then fiercely snatched up an overlarge piece of fish.