Rainblade-Ryalors Open Vulpinsula & Surroundings Westisle Cultural Appreciation Day

[Mileya Ryalor]

Mileya readily sat down beside Asta, beaming at the young marten's eagerness to play. "Fair warning," she offered, "I'm really bad at it. I was a terrible student, as Yūgure obasan could surely tell you. I did learn how to play 'Sakura, Sakura' though, so I'll teach you that." She nodded at the introductory booklet and added, "I'll bet it's in there. My understanding is it's basically to the koto what 'Chopsticks' is to the piano."

Daniil chuckled as he watched the pair bonding. He smiled as he looked over at Caden, warmth in his gaze. "Let's," he agreed, for a moment reaching for Caden's paw, then remembering himself and clasping his paws behind his back instead.

~~~

Marianna smiled as she watched Ivo carefully raise the hibachi to his lips, beaming at his joy as he experienced the dish for the first time. She chuckled at his kiss, wishing that she were holding her chopsticks with her other paw so she could squeeze his as they ate. At his comment about his age, however, her expression turned reflective. "I've only ever lived in Bully Harbor," she reflected. "Never set footpaw outside of it, of my own volition anyway. I don't think being born on the Hide should count. Everything I know, I learned either right here, or I learned from beasts far more well-traveled than I am. Some of them were todds," she admitted, "most of them older. Some of them a lot older. Never date someone twice your age," she advised.

She looked at him a bit more contemplatively as she continued. "You don't feel young to me, Ivo. I don't know if it's because you have an old soul, or that you're so accomplished for your age, or just that I like to feel younger than I am, but... I never feel unequal with you. If anything," she added, "sometimes you're too quick for me. I like it," she clarified. "I think the problem with the older beasts was I'd learn what they had to share, and then they'd bore me because they were stagnant. Nothing about you is boring to me."

She brought another sliver of pepper to her mouth and chewed on it carefully as she contemplated her next words. "I'm discovering the world with you," she finally stated. "I think that's the difference. We're teaching each other, and that just feels right." She gave him a small smile as she added, "Who knows? Maybe, after the heist, we can even take a little break. Go on a vacation to Alton Bay or the Tookumberry Keys or someplace, just see a sliver more of the world together."

~~~

Aramaeus started as somebeast addressed him, and he immediately put the book down, looking for all the world like a kit who had been caught searching through his mother's bedside table. For a moment he stared at the squirrel, aghast at being directly confronted with the very same work he had just been perusing; then, slowly, he remembered what Ivo and his pushy vixenfriend had said about femmes and such matters. Slowly he relaxed, though he didn't dare look to the page lest his face combust and steam shoot out of his ears. "It is certainly outside of the cultural guidelines established by the Ministry of Niceties for the promotion of traditional Vulpinsulan values," he allowed, trying and failing to clear the lump in his throat. "I was merely, ah..." He gestured vaguely with his uninjured paw, the one in a sling kept hugging his chest. "...browsing," he finally came up with, ending it somewhat lamely.

 

[Orina Emberkin]

@Aramaeus Lemon

Orina smirked at the uncomfortable todd. She leaned in to murmur conspiratorially. "I'll let you in on a small secret. I've heard from a reliable source that those guidelines are something of a joke within Niceties. Beasts always think Misanthropy would be the most deviant of the lot, but attend an after-hours Smudgie party, and you'll see just what Niceties thinks of certain 'traditional Vulpinsulan values'." Straightening, she flipped through the book, shrugging, before shelving it once more.

"I believe there's one happening this evening somewhere in this district, in fact, all in the spirit of cultural exchange. I feel like Vulpinsulans could learn a bit about sensuality, don't you think? Perhaps you might find it interesting yourself, even if you do simply browse. If you like books such as this, I'm sure there would be something there for you."

---

@Daniil Ryalor

Donning the tsume, Asta plucked at several strings, her ears forward and attentive as she listened to the notes. "Ja, I knowing 'Chopsticks'. Caden is learning piano and that being one of the first songs he playing."

Caden waved to the pair. "We're going to go get some lunch, but we'll be back soon."

As the todd and jack left, Asta briefly looked up and waved, then turned back to Mileya. She smiled at the vixen. "Thank you, again. You being very kind to me. Though, I noticing you very different from Daniil, less serious than him. More, um, I thinking open would be right to say?"

---

Though he wished to walk arm in arm with Daniil, Caden was happy enough to be strolling through the festival beside his lover despite the pit of guilt that had found its way into his gut that he was attempting to rid himself of. They followed their noses to a group of food stalls. A thin rat dressed in ill-fitting Westislander garb stood just outside the stalls with a table in front of him. Several beasts hovered around the table, watching closely as he shuffled three cups across the surface of the table in various patterns before stopping and looking up at the group. A weasel within the group rubbed at her chin and then pointed to one of the cups.

"That one, it's gotta be."

The rat lifted the cup. There was nothing beneath it. The group laughed.

"Ah, he got you again! Come on, mate, show us which one it was under."

The rat lifted another cup to reveal a marble. "See? You just gotta be quicker is all. Again?"

"Fine, fine, one more time." The weasel jill tossed down a gilder, which the rat quickly snatched up.

Caden stared at the rat, trying to remember where he had last seen the beast. Something about him made the jack feel uneasy. So intent was his attention on the rodent that he did not notice the much smaller and younger rat darting around the group before the pup ran directly into him and Daniil.