Scene #7279: Fox Cafe

Owner	Pose
Tamamo	Tamamo no Mae has rented out an expansive, open-aired, but shade-covered cafe. This is made clear by the fact that she is the only humanoid patron, with the servers staying well into the background. They're likely not used to having to bring out VIP treatment, but a few words were enough to get the gist and, as it tends to be, people simply accept what Tamamo says without question. It's very difficult to do otherwise while in her presence. The lands of Summer are, of course, beset by Summer's heat. Tamamo's outfit has therefore changed to something appropriately breezy, long and white, with a wide-brimmed hat, presently unnecessary but still worn. She's already ordered an array of cold cakes and ice cream treats that forms a visually complex tapestry of colors on the table, though her progress through them is slow and thoughtful. As to the nonhumanoid patrons of the establishment, at present, there are a number of foxes. They appear to be entirely ordinary Vulpes vulpes, apart from their present, tame behavior. Some are drinking from water bowls set at floor level, but they all move away from anyone presently in motion. Tamamo, being seated, has a couple of them sitting at her sides.
Lilian Rook	Why foxes? "Why foxes?" No, seriously, why are there foxes everywhere. That's Lilian's first though and her actual question. "Obviously I see the relation, but, are these yours? Pets? Friends? Were they already here? Is this a fox cafe?" It is a legitimate question, as far as Lilian is concerned. One she would be able to argue as such quite convincingly. Since this is one of the rare occasions Tamamo had invited her out, rather than the converse, she'd been absolutely certain to show up on time (as much as that is a concept that applies), and dressed for the heat in something short and free, without sleeves and skipping legwear in favour of short, calf-strapped heel sandals. She seats herself across from Tamamo with singularly casual grace, certainly not dissuaded from eyeing the spread Tamamo has already ordered (and the wait staff, in a Situational Awareness sort of way), but her ears remain quite open for a good answer. "This is a rare treat, though. What's the occasion~?"
Tamamo	"There are many mysteries," says Tamamo, "as to the duties, exploits, and lineages of the divine. Among these, there is the question, 'Who is Inari?'" She takes a mouthful of something consisting of both chocolate cookies and ice cream, already beginning to melt together with what were frozen raspberries, and raises a cheek to her hand for a higher-pitched "Mmm!" and "It's sweet." Her spoon takes some still-chilled berries, and then dips, rolling it off and toward the floor--which is never reached, as the nearest fox snaps them up, licks its lips, and looks straight at Lilian. In fact, about half of them are staring straight at her. "You know as to the duties of O-Inari, yes? The god of foxes, sometimes the goddess of foxes... and rice and tea and fertility and other such good things, besides." That's meandering somewhere toward an answer, but instead of continuing, she gets on to to the next question. "Oh, there were some small thing, such as I expected we should make such time as would be needed for... recreational purposes. There was this question and that, and there is the changing of the seasons." Tamamo's spoon returns to scooping out some rainbow of frozen flavors. Whether it's a good idea to put that many creams in a row is a difficult culinary question. She tries it. "Mm, yes, and with the departation of Winter and its winds, should we not consider those more southerly traditions?" She smiles, a 2nd-degree Knowing Smile, before getting to the next point. "You would assist me well in choosing swimsuits, no? I should gladly return this favor, in the same span."
Lilian Rook	Lilian is far from bothered at being stared at by foxes. Animals are already prone to staring at things in general, and often especially people. She's had far stranger. It's more noteworthy that they're so well-behaved. "I'm somewhat familiar." she says, truthfully. "Possibly the most popular kami in Japan, even now. Certainly more relevant than he or she has been since just after the turn of the second millennium. I simply hadn't quite taken you for having that sort of appreciation for foxes more than incidentally. But then I suppose it's already a bit of a departure for there to be that kind of association between Amaterasu and kitsune." Lilian more or less muses to herself. It'd be slightly uncouth and scatterbrained in some company, but she knows perfectly well by now that Tamamo is the type who likes to prompt without closing. She leans over, propping her chin up on two curled fingers. "That's an interesting thought." She half-heartedly nibbles on a nail in thought, the corners of her lips turning up at further mention. "Of course~ I'm quite good at things like that, aren't I? Certainly one of the more enjoyable modern traditions, if you've an appreciation for the sun-soaked outdoors and 'not much in particular'. I'd certainly be interested in seeing what your 'thoughts' are~ Your taste in fashion so far has been impeccable." She picks up an appropriately sized spoon, and makes several seconds of twirling it between her fingers, up and down the length of her hand in needlessly complex silver arcs, before slicing a wedge of cake from its place for a taste test. "Are you simply that excited for summer? Of course, I have some plans you might be well excited about once I can talk about them more, but it seems as if you're looking to get away from something, here."
Tamamo	The fox that had eaten the berries looks between Tamamo and Lilian. Tamamo's rightmost tail, perhaps idle in its sway, brushes the fox's ear. It lays down. "I call O-Inari a mystery of a deity, even by my own standards, for those disagreements that extend far past whether they are male or female, and into whether they are one, three, five or more. Why, even Izanagi and Izanami have been held to be part of Inari. Such a fragmentary duty it has become, to be a god of foxes, that few are certain as to whom this duty should fall." That still sounds like a not-quite-finished story of an explanation, but one might guess the ending, at that point. Whether because it's more fun to leave it ambiguous, or because other items are immediately interesting, Tamamo moves on. Physically, she moves on to taking a bite out of the same cake as Lilian had touched. Verbally, she moves on the matter of Sun and swimsuits. "Oh, I shall look forward to your judgment. Do not think to hold back on my account, as I am quite certain I will find some swimwear as meets both our preferences, and there is hardly any need to settle upon the first 'merely acceptable' choices. Regretfully, I have yet little experience in such standards as these modern materials make available, but it would be such a waste if it were only I who partook in the opportunity, and so I will seek to do the same for you." She pauses for another bite, carefully savoring it despite the great quantity still available, and swallowing before she continues. "Ah, but of course, time for enjoying such choices, those days closest to the Sun and basking in its warmth, shall follow in whatever timing Fate should find. There is little rush, especially in such a place as this one." Partly aside, "Touching upon the reason for these little ones following me here." There's a hint of change in atmosphere as she gets to the lattermost question. "To get away, is it? Hm... no, I would not say it is simple excitement. A place a little far, yet somewhat close, serves well for some purposes. Warm days, cold treats, new company and old, these do come together as a painter's colors, forming pleasing scenery. Ah, but to the topic of the painting, these plans for the future remain, as such, in the future, however close they should be. For the present, there was a question you wished to ask me, was there not? One fortnight since, you had mentioned this, and the matter retains its relevance."
Lilian Rook	"Come to think of it, I'm not really sure what people wore when they went swimming back in those tmes." The fact that Lilian doesn't take the time to look it up, or quite pointedly, take no time at all to look it up, is telling in its own, silent way. "I have a difficult time imagining how comfortable it'd really be without those modern materials you're referring to. Though, even when they were first invented, people insisted on full-body onesies and the like, out of some puritanical sense of 'modesty'. You should see some of the old pictures. They're immensely silly-looking." she says, adopting a wry smile. "Oh? So they are yours. In a sort of fashion." Lilian siezes upon the briefly glossed subject of the foxes. "Well, I can't fault them for liking you~ They're foxes with good taste~" The way she taps her spoon agains the edge of one of her cleared small cups says something about what she's thinking. "Mmm, well that seems like an odd place and time to go over it. But I suppose there's nothing wrong with pleasant surroundings for a topic like that." She continues tapping away thoughtfully, though the tempo and carefully measured force changes subtly along with the temper of what she's thinking of. "I suppose it's not a complicated question. After you spent some time in that temple, you seemed extremely disinclined to take part in supporting the Oda or Hojo. Moreso than I would have expected. Seemingly not for simple reasons. What exactly changed or mind? Or, perhaps rather, what settled your opinion? Are you hoping to get something out of this? Do you have some sort of plan? Or can you not accept the daimyo?"
Tamamo	"Oh, what did one wear to swim...? Somehow, I remember nothing at all." Tamamo's smile suggests a second meaning to that phrasing. "There were certainly many who did swim, and dive, in the warmer climes, just as there were many fisherman, as I am sure you were aware." Again, the foxes stare, and a few suddenly bark, the sound fairly distinct, high and sharp, from anything well-known by domesticated animals. The outburst stops as quickly, as Tamamo's ear twitches. "Yes, yes. No, it is no matter. Off with you, now," she says, clearly speaking directly to the fox at her side, with its own head-tilted look of attention on her words, before it and its opposite fellow trot back toward the edges of the room. Spoon laid over a partially-emptied bowl, Tamamo shifts forward in her seat, leaning in that familiar, faux-conspiratorial manner, the levity in her tone balanced with care, as one might if they wished their words to be taken seriously without appearing, themselves, overly serious. "I would not call it 'complex,' in itself, as it is a most natural thing, though it may be yet outside the experience of most. It is less because of the Oda or the Hojo and their own actions that I thought to distance myself from this matter, than it is because of who and what I am." As if on cue, the constant, slow sway of her tails raises them behind her. "It is," she says, one slender finger curling rings in her hair, "one matter if I should travel among those who know nothing of myself, and do as I wish in each moment, behaving as the ignorant, if good-hearted, foreigner. It is another entirely if I should do the same among those who know and respect my name, and know that of which I am capable. I can, as you know, see into the future, through certain means. If I say that something shall come to pass, then those who know me will trust in that future. And yet, this binds my hands by that same token. If I should support a clan in a dispute, I cannot afterward say, 'ah, I had forgotten to scry the future beforehand.'" Tamamo taps her knuckles against her head, sticking out her tongue and winking. "'Oops!'" That particular expression ceases. "She was too great, in Her own, blinding way, to walk among humans, and so, I did arrive in place of Her. It does not please me to need affect Her own sense of distance from troubles at the level of the Earth, in which one would be as a giant sewing clothes for dolls, yet that same clumsiness would like affect me, should I proceed with as much hopeful recklessness as I would surely rather."
Lilian Rook	After this much time, Lilian knows better than to react all that seriously to casual goading of that calibre; not from Tamamo at least. She blows off a little sound of amusement over her fork, allowing herself a countenance of slightly conspiratorial humour. "Too right." she says when the foxes depart, having no idea what Tamamo told them at all, of course, but agreeing that nothing they have to talk about could be a fox's business, only sparing them the faintly interested stare of a repeat zoo-goer over a frozen treat. Seriousness must be reserved for the real answer to her query; many as the articles are, there is only one question in the end. It's fortunate that she can affect an extremely similar kind of amused detachment for the occasion, subtle differences stemming solely from discrepancies in culture. She doesn't even stop eating, though her eyes don't drift any further from Tamamo's than her lips the whole time. "Careful about sticking that out. You never know if someone might grab it~" The slightly rehearsed, almost sarcastic tone Lilian says that with, immediately implies she's repurposed the phrase from someone else, years ago. "So, it's certainly not a lack of interest. Perhaps even an overabundance of it that sadly cannot be sustained. But then, neither is it a matter of antipathy. That's relieving in of itself." Lilian thinks out loud. A tiny spoon tip tip taps on the edge of a glass that once held a more significant quantity of sorbet. "I suppose it's a bit like I warned Gawain, isn't it. Though in this case, I can see very few being inclined to look up to you as their model. It isn't that personal of an arrangement; perhaps I should say not that 'human' of one. You feel as if they can't possibly play so nicely with each other for the foreseeable future -- or rather, perhaps that it's already at that state, where enabling them in anything amounts to supporting them and their agenda, as far as it concerns anymore. The participation of the bunrei of the goddess Amaterasu is a portent of her will. An omen to read into, and divine who is favoured by heaven." Lilian begins drumming her fingers on the table, adding the perfectly rhythmic tapping of nails. "I'm basically familiar with the concept, in theory. It's not too dissimilar to those rippling interactions that come from people reacting to divinations, then people reacting to their reactions, and so on, until the divination itself becomes muddy. Actually, in a way, it's almost exactly like that, whether you scry anything at all. Tiresome." Leaving her sweets alone for the minute, Lilian puts her hands together with supporting her jaw instead, only moving her spoon in little circles through the air beneath them. "But you're still serious about it, aren't you? You can't help but get involved in what should be like your home country. Isn't that it? So then I suppose the question is thus." "Would it make you happier to have that knowledge of the future, and have to deal with them with that responsibility? Or would it make you happier to accept a measure of that distance, so you could pursue what it is that you want for yourself?"
Tamamo	"Ah, yes, I can see how some might look on gallant sir Gawain," Tamamo nods in agreement. "And as for myself, it is as you have said. Even should I profess a lack of particular talents, divination among them, I could not claim to be what I am, yet so act against myself as to admonish others for treating my actions with gravity." That former expression sliding off her face, she nurses a (formerly) frozen, ice cream-covered banana to take up time spent in thought. Eventually, she says, "Were I smaller than I am, and possessing but a single tail, I believe I would act thusly: I would forsake those descendants of familiarity, and focus only upon my own quest, thinking this all I might safely accomplish. It is because I am not quite so small that I feel such greed as brings me to ask for more. First, to find my very important answer for myself. Second, to pursue those desires of others as I find, in support of love, while committing no injustice. Third, to uphold a certain reputation," she brings a finger from each hand together to form an X, "and /not/, most assuredly not, such a reputation as some have recorded." The very memory is clearly offensive, by her tone, regarding some outrageous history. "Whether I shall be happy is beyond my own ability to foretell. With such foreknowledge of others, however, I can act upon my greed without shame." Curious, Tamamo tilts her head to one side. "Having asked this, have you some plan, or is it to say only, 'having decided, act'?"
Lilian Rook	There's no need to elaborate on 'that certain reputation'. Lilian doesn't even so much as chuckle or cough. Instead, what she does is put her spoon and and reach out across the table, taking one of those hands out of the X, and into her own. "Tamamo . . ." she says, idly running her thumb across the back of the woman's hand. "While it's true that I'm sometimes given to that sort of counseling, you should know I always have a plan~" Lilian smiles. "Even if were the case that I didn't at the time, one would come into existence the very instant I needed it~" "Of course I wouldn't ask questions like that for such a pointless reason. There'll be no shame here, and I'm sure there'll continue to be plenty of selfishness so long as I am. If that sort of guarantee, or at least being armed with that, is what would help, then that's what we'll do." "I'll make a few arrangements and gather together a few convenient individuals at hand, so we can see for ourselves, whatever it is that the Regional Director is happy to keep private between the clans. Of course I'll need to make some 'other preparations' so that it won't be so much a matter of hoping for the best, but I can have them done in short order." "How would you feel about a trip up to the top of that mountain?"
Tamamo	Tamamo, allowing one hand to be taken, leans forward onto the other. She smiles. "My, how reliable." It's said with sincere appreciation. "That is an old question, is it not? Whether to vacation to the mountain or to the sea. In this case, let us see... so long as you do accompany me on our promised shopping trip, I would certainly allow for the mountain to come first." They're already here, after all, in the lands of Summer. There could be no more convenient moment for finding appropriate, and appropriately flattering, clothing, even if the beach must wait.
Lilian Rook	"I'd consider myself pretty bad at this if you felt like you couldn't rely on me~" Lilian replies. "And you know how much I can't stand the thought of being bad at anything, right? Besides. It's important to you, therefore it's important to me too." A very brief pause. "And I'm curious as well." This time, though, she does laugh at the last bit of humour. "Really? Well then it must because I'm so used to the seaside that the mountains sound so exotic~" Lilian says. "How very spoiled for choice, to have both~ Of course, of course~ It'll be something to look forward to afterwards, right~?"