Scene #9162: So I Heard You Were A Spider

Owner	Pose
Natsuki Nuki	Natsuki Nuki of the Concord, a Partner, had risen from the internal Acquisition Division at meteoric speed. After becoming a Partner - and the onboarding exercises of becoming 'important to her mentors and fellows', Natsuki had drifted for a short while. Adventures on foreign planets and ''catching up'' with her sister and family in Osaka had not advanced her plans. She needed... power. Something inspiring, something driving, something wicked, something sublime. Like grief, like regret, the hanging cloud of her negative experiences with her father led her to seek out other Partners - the 'true cream' of the Multiverse, to gain inspiration and further powers. That is, at least, what Natsuki would say to someone asking her what she was doing. Something austere, self-interested, fully considered and wholly intelligent. Which, of course, was not exactly what she was endeavoring to do. Instead, the little impulsive whispers of her colocational partner had captured her as soon as she flipped through the profiles of the 'Active Partners' page on the internal e-Card site. Really, the whole Concord intranet was designed by several entire Partners whose Special Interest was making the most overwrought shrinepage to each particular Partner, inclusive, and that recognition was their grand ideal, but one very particular part lept out at the Osakan woman: "Oh, this one's a spider! I've got to meet them." And so they do. Arranging a meeting off in one of the Dorado's many high class and circumspect cafes and eating establishments, selecting a 'Butler Cafe' and finding a corner booth seat to wait. There's a subtle but not unpresent social calendar addition to the Partner meeting schedule, and then, a more specific invitation. Sending a message to White for the meeting personally and specifically, Natsuki composes. Miss White, As your Partner and fellow, I am extremely interested in meeting you at your earliest convenience to speak on simple matters of mutual interest. Please reply with available times at your leisure. -N. Natsuki At the table, Natsuki is a moderately tall Japanese woman of darker-than-average complexion. Across her eyes is an implied 'mask' like a raccoon of darker-tone, and her face is softened by a faint brown fuzzing. Her white-blonde hair has been swept back into a loose low ponytailed fall, and she wears a black jacket, a tiger orange shirt with a black tie, and a pencil skirt with leggings. It'd be almost businesslike if she didn't wear the tie loose and the first button of her collar open. She has already ordered appetizers - a set of butter-crusted scallops and a bottle of white wine, with only one glass poured.
White	White has been doing a lot of socializing for her norm, lately. Mostly through her phone, through an artificial voice that helps blunt the pressure on her. It almost makes her feel powerful, like she's grown past her previous limits as a lifestyle shut-in! Then, she's invited to another meeting in person. One person hosting, implicitly casual but framed with the potential for something more serious. She remembers her limits over the course of the couple of hours it takes her to respond, having to argue herself out of blowing it off. This is normal, though. When she does respond, it's brief, more or less states that she is available at any time until the year's end, and that she looks forward to it. Regardless of whether it's the same day or several out, White arrives exactly ten minutes before the stated time. She appears suddenly and almost noiselessly at the establishment's front, silently greets the staff, points to Natsuki if she's asked for any specifics about her table or arrangements, and then walks over with her hands folded in front of herself. She still hasn't broken from her normal look for the most part, wearing her favorite style of dress, her boots and the lot, eyes closed but fully confident in her small stride. The only real difference to spot between now and the pictures most likely to have been online is the way her hairbraid is arranged; instead of hanging loosely behind her, she's wrapped it around her neck a couple of times like a scarf. She stands beside the table for a few moments, and once Natsuki has noticed her for certain she offers a small headbow and a bend of the knees, just a mild suggestion of a curtsy. And then she remains there! Standing. Silent. Blank-faced but expectant, as she tries to figure out from body language whether she's invited to sit without having to ask. She certainly doesn't look like a spider at first glance, but more magical intuitions might be more effective on first meetings.
Kukuru	After hearing so many of the younger employees in Grand Dorado gossiping about their experiences at various cafes scattered throughout the multiverse, Kukuru's curiosity has been sufficiently piqued. Cat cafes, owl cafes, cheese cafes, all of them sound like wonderful experiences! But the one she's truly curious about today is... Butler cafes (and maid cafes, but this scene isn't about that). Although she's paid rather well as a member of the Concord and has the almighty Dorado Black card at her disposal, actually hiring butlers to spoil and pamper her is not in her budget nor would it be something that she'd ever let herself be seen enjoying. Even someone like Kukuru has to worry about the image she puts forth sometimes, and if someone saw her living it up in such a decadent way... Well, they'd probably understand. Even someone like her enjoys being spoiled every now and then, after all, and the Concord's been nothing but understanding about everything else thus far. Still, it's her job to worry about everyone else rather than the other way around, so she'll just have to keep this visit on the downlow. That's why Kukuru doesn't look like Kukuru today, having actually done up her hair in a high ponytail that still somehow manages to reach her hips. She's wearing circular shades instead of her usual sharp-looking (but fake) glasses, a brown flatcap, and a blue denim jacket with a black shirt and slacks that certainly don't look like anything she would ever wear. With the disguise complete(ly failing to hide her hair), Kukuru arrives at the calendared time, greeting the employees with a more subdued smile and wave before tugging the front of her cap down and shuffling further along to find Natsuki's table. Her walking posture certainly hasn't changed one bit, and- "He-llo, Nat-su-kiiii~" Her usual way of speaking hasn't been changed one bit. "Oh, you look suuuper different today. It's real nice... Ah. Have you been waiting long? Aaand how does this place work?" She asks, waving a finger around and glancing about the cafe with wide-eyed curiosity that also isn't any different from her usual look. Spotting White, Kukuru's usual smile creeps back onto her face as well, and she beckons her food with a slightly less animated wave than usual. "Come, come, dear. Don't be shy! We're not gonna biiite~" She pauses, then smacks a fist into her open palm. "Unless you want us to, because you look lovely enough to eat. Right. Up!"
Angela	Angela has not been invited out to a Butler cafe and frankly it would be something of a faux pas to invite her out to a Butler Cafe or, really, invite her out. However... Today is Ceri's day off. Ceri doesn't get many days off. When she isn't working at Trideag she is expected to work at Lobotomy Corp and it's only thanks to her pulling two jobs she even gets 'a day off' where she can 'go outside' in the first place. And frankly, Ceri is exhausted. While Lilian can handle much of the work involving running Trideag, Ceri has to go over everything to make sure it's City legal and she has to help run training seminars and she has to still do Works at Lobotomy Corp and she has to take a long route between them because Trideag isn't connected to Lobotomy Corp and she really really needs this day off. She wants to be catered to a little and Angela doesn't USE the invitations she gets to enjoy the Grand Dorado's features and so... She has sat herself (conveniently) near Natsuki's booth but she is mostly here to pamper herself. Ceri is a woman with hot pink hair and bright green eyes. She is not in any of her uniforms today, so she's wearing a long pink dress with some flower patterned embroidery and long pink gloves. She leans back in her chair and closes her eyes. She breathes in the environment, she breathes out and immediately her purse starts vibrating. vrrrrrr. Vrrrrrr. With dread, Ceri reaches to open up her bag and remove one of the Lobotomy Corp video pads. She sees who is calling. And she groans. "Noooooo...." And her head thumps against the table. "I was going to get a foot massage..." She complains before, with another enlongated sigh, clicks the accept call button. A black and rust red box-shaped robot appears on the screen with a singular glowing redeye in its midsection with black robotic limbs. The name Gebura is written on her forehead. "Ceri. We're gonna need you back. We're running final Meltdown drills." "Well I..." Ceri looks around before settling her eyes on Kukuru. An idea occurs to her. "I am speaking to Kukuru about ... triage plans. It could help out a lot, I know it's my own intiaitive but..." She mutes her microphone and then whispers, "Please play along I need this." to Kukuru before unmuting. "She's right here!" She carefully angles the pad away from White and Natsuki to center Kukuru which is tough since she went up to talk to them so... "Isn't that Natsuki? And the new Concord partner?" Gebura asks. "Well, we could use more allies...?" Ceri tries.
White	White is a little surprised at the presence of more people than just Natsuki. She hadn't considered that the meeting being on a public schedule might mean anything, and all of her mental drills for this only prepared her for an individual conversation! So when Kukuru greets her, White almost doesn't seem to have heard at first. It takes a few more moments to show that she has (since her covered eyes are turned to look but her head isn't) before she repeats her weakling curtsy and faintly murmurs "It's nice to see you again." to Kukuru. Inside her head, her personal performance troupe is much louder. 'Oh come on, you were supposed to figure out how to talk to her again anyway! Coward! Weakling!' 'Oh buzz off, I'm trying over here! We've talked to sooooo many weirdos already!' Ceri, still a stranger to her, could've gone fully ignored normally. Once she's noticed by the person on the other end of the call, though, she can't quite help but turn to look. She waits a beat, slowly lifts one hand to wave at the phone, and uses the moment of distraction to slide herself into the booth, trying to leave just a little bit of space between herself and Kukuru while she sits across from Natsuki. It's easier to see her face this way! She'll just ignore that thing about biting, for now. White's heard enough about devouring on the radio that she's already starting to imagine something of a fixation on it...
Natsuki Nuki	A 'butler cafe' is like a maid cafe except instead of pleasantly attired women serving food, there are sharply dressed men! Of course, every taste must be catered to among the brilliant, and sometimes themed cafes got very specific and very themed to accommodate specialist desires. With a periphery of high powered executive-types primarily leaning one way but definitely not solely that way, the entrance of White is met without even a shock of misplacement or more than an entrance-glance of the interested. Natsuki herself, upon approach, feature a pair of tiger-orange fuzzed round ears atop her head, which shift quite animatedly to turn towards White's approach before the Osakan woman's head. No, that is tasked with the taking of her thumb and middle fingers lifting a warmly-dripping scallop whole to her mouth to slurp-snap over in a single bite and smile-'mmmhuhuhu' pleasedly. She's also twenty or thirty minutes early herself - long enough to arrive, get drinks and an appetizer, and settle in before her meeting. The punctuality only assists in bringing more interested folks to their table, but first up to plate and seat is White herself. Natsuki, tracking a sharp red eye across to White, smirks from the corner of her mouth, sharp-toothed and more humored than any other emotion. "Should I wear a more easy to recognize head, miss White? Or should I call you something else?" The chimera woman asks, gesturing across from her towards the empty seat with wine glass and plate already set. In fact, there's four place settings already placed out and the hovering aura of Butlers attend the meeting of Partners and assorted with great and grave interest. "I certainly don't hate those that stand on respect," Natsuki continues. "But aren't we partners? I wanted to ask you--" But Natsuki doesn't get the chance to get her question out as more people arrive! Kukuru in her Mom Jeans Alternate Costume calls out her name and again, like White's arrival, her ears move first -- and then two more eyes shine out, at the booth-seat level, while her tail stares up at the approaching Kukuru. "Super different?" Natsuki asks, chuff-laughing and stroking her cheek with the slide of a thumb as she feels the skin she's wearing specifically. "I was more used to there being mostly yokai like me. The Concord, though..." She doesn't finish the thought, not that she might have to. Like White, she can clip a response and imply the rest: namely, that it was 'easier to communicate' when she wore the tiger-eared head of a human than a Rakshasa-like mien of a tiger-that-walked. The tail is a constant, though, a tell of truth. 'Isn't that Natsuki? And the new Concord partner?' And, more movingly. 'please play along, I need this'. As if Ceri spoke the words of a magic spell, a change comes over Natsuki's tone - at the same time sweet and precise. "We were just about to order entrees and discuss plans, in fact." Natsuki leans over the microphone to add on, glancing up at White if the opposite woman would add on, and, not seeing any indication immediately, scoots aside to allow Ceri into the booth seats. A butler comes over to begin adding three glasses of white wine for the table as well as ice water poured with the 'looking at the client and not the drink' precision of a professional butler. Natsuki barely pays attention. "I didn't think Partners got harried that much by their minders, miss...?" Natsuki begins, indicating Ceri.
Angela	Gebura waves a hand to White. She isn't a socially awkward person but she is still Gebura--relatively curt and to the point. She doesn't know what to say to White and so she is happy to leave it at a wave. Gebura isn't an idiot either even if she's not particularly booksmart. She frowns thoughtfully like she doesn't quite believe Ceri but when Natsuki plays along, Gebura relaxes slightly. If a Partner says they're discussing plans, then they're discussing plans even if they aren't. Her instinct is to treat Partners like heads of Wings which means her job here is the same either way. "Aha... I'm not a Partner, Miss. that's Angela and Ayin--I'm just an asset." Though that dress couldn't have been cheap. "But I appreciate the vote of confidence." Gebura has her own answer to that. "Most Agents don't get to 'go outside', usually--not until after the ... 'Union?' made that deal with Petra. We've made exceptions largely to accomodate the Partners so we could provide back to those we have sought the aid from. It's gonna get quick and busy here soon so I'm just trying to make certain we're all prepared." Ceri looks at Natsuki like she just saved her life. And considering work exhaustion is real--well, she wasn't at karsohi, but it is good for her. Gebura said 'Union?' like she doesn't really know what it is, like it's some sort of strange fantasy creature. Gebura watches a Butler pass into view and she remarks, mildly, "Still into sharply dressed men and women, are you?" "Butlers are incredible people, that is all I have to say about that.ansi+pink,") Ceri bristles. "Um. Ma'am." And immediately caves. For a moment she forgot she was talking to Gebura. "Ah, Commander White, right? Good to meet you in person." Ceri adds. "You too, Miss Natsuki."
White	White still doesn't quite get the choice of location, herself. She knows about places like this, but for the most part hasn't paid their existence any mind. She might seem oppressively uninterested as the well-dressed staff pour the wine, quite literally looking through them at Natsuki behind her eyelids. She shakes her head softly at the questions. She could probably find Natsuki however she looked, if she had to. And she's familiar enough with 'Miss White', too. The more substantial matter, of course, is what Natsuki invited her here to ask, and White is doing her level best to selectively ignore whatever she can around herself and spare all of her concentration for the inevitable moment of having to answer it. The mention of Yokai doesn't surprise her too much. She's not an expert on them, but she was technically Japanese once, and she's beyond the point of being startled by whatever kinds of creatures or people might exist now. Seeing her respond to a plea for cooperation, White resolves to stay out of the way more than anything else; she just has to lean on her sheer discomfort with speaking until the strange machine on the other end of the call hangs up! How hard can that be? With wine in front of her, she does end up staring at the glass as if in deep contemplation though. She's going to have to drink some to fit in here, right? Surely she can get away with just a glass. She's a god for crying out loud! She only gets as far as fingertips wrapped around the stem of the glass for now, though, and has to pay Ceri at least a small nod of acknowledgement. "You too." She thinks a little longer about it, and slightly more quietly (almost inaudibly really) adds, "Unionizing? Good for you, Angela." Eventually, she's going to have to take a drink not to look weird, if that call continues too long.
Kukuru	Wait, was Ceri supposed to be here, too? Oh no, what if she brings news of Kukuru being here back to Lob Corp? What if Gebura thinks she's too soft-hearted for her to expect anything from because of this? Wait, Ceri's talking about triage, and maybe it's not obvious that this is a butler cafe at all. For all Gebura knows, maybe Kukuru's just trying a new look! Yes, that can work. Giving Ceri a thumbs-up from off-camera, Kukuru nods exaggeratedly to the boxbot on-screen. "Mhm! He-llo, Geburaaaa. Mhm, Ceri's taking good charge on this one, and I'm giving whatever advice I know about all this, too." She explains, gesturing at Ceri helpfully before nodding towards Natsuki as well. Good thing she's on the ball, too! White's quiet greeting, of course, gets an amused little titter from Kukuru, and she smiles sweetly as ever at the spidery lady while scooching behind a seat at the table. "Hehe... Ah, don't worry. You'll get used to all this soon enough, I'm suuure. Just take it one day at a time, okay?" She pipes in reassuringly, gesturing at the food and drink that's already been prepared courtesy of Natsuki. "Have you eaten yet todaaaay?" Seeing Natsuki's tail staring at her, meanwhile, has Kukuru pausing in mid-sit with her own tail flicking sideways once in return. She tilts her head curiously at Natsuki's tail, then giggles softly after a moment to reach out and give it a light pat on the tail-head. "Super different, mhm. Business-y today... I think it fits real nice on you, too. Veeery fancy." She affirms with a quick nod, looking away for just a moment to hide a yawn behind her hand without hiding any of the actual sound. That, however, is also partially forced if only so she can get a better look around the cafe while trying to hide the fact that she wants to take a look around. She's starting to get a better idea of how this place works just seeing the men at work, but she does look back towards White before long with a light clap of her hands. "Oh! I know just how to help get things started..." She pauses, to see if Gebura's still listening. She totally is. Still, maybe she won't think too much about why Kukuru's here, too. "Whi-iite. Let's call one over, hmm? Then we can both find out how this works, tooo~" Is she even trying to hide her identity anymore?
Natsuki Nuki	Though the booths are generous for two to a side, there's a bit of a squeeze for three, especially on Natsuki's side if you're avoiding her tail. Perhaps White will sqonch herself into a smaller size - but Ceri or Gebura (or Kukuru!) will have to attempt such an arrangement. As the table becomes more complicated and Natsuki leans and reaches for another buttery scallop upon the tray, it's a slightly surprised look that she offers Ceri. 'Not a Partner?' Natsuki mouths, and Ceri explains, and... Her tail immediately becomes deeply disaffected by Ceri, where once it had coldly beheld her from the seat. Instead, it curls over Natsuki's lap and rests feigning sleep. The 'woman herself' seems less effected, but Ceri's entreatment had strummed upon the deep heartstrings of the yokai woman and since she was among friends and allies and student councilmembers of the soul - she persevered with a sharp-toothed smirk. "Well, assets are good too. Without them, how would anything get done? Everything ourselves? Hustling's a race for rats." Natsuki purrs, though Gebura's words draw attention. "Not allowed to 'go outside'?" She asks, a baffled puff of breath escaping her as the Agents and Kukuru slide into the dining arrangement. "... Well I'm glad you've addressed that." She asides, still looking to the L-Corp agents with a narrowing but not narrowed eye. "If things are about to be quick and busy, it's the perfect time for the Partners to buy you all some food! Dig in, it's on me." Natsuki claims, raising a hand to snap her fingers loudly. Their server re-appears, with a menu, and Natsuki just reaches over to offer her card already. "Whatever the chefs are inspired by." She orders. While the kitchen handles orders and Natsuki's card is sedately marched off to be scanned by the impeccably unhurried yet immaculately prepared staff to precisely step away -- but not before bowing to everyone at the waist, including Ceri and Gebura. "Now, Miss White - as soon as I learned of you I was curious, I must admit." Says Natsuki, in no position for anyone to be making real demands of her honesty yet expressing all the same. She's schmoozing! A little. "One of my friends in university was a spider yokai - the talespinner at the head of the school's newspaper club. Ah, she was the best..." Natsuki recalls with grand cheer, lips turning up as she puts both her eyes on White and full attention. "I was hoping to find a similar partnership among the Concord - small P, as the Yankees say!" Natsuki giggles as she pinches fingers in gesture, settling back. "I was interested in your background - and your abilities. How did a woman," And not 'a spider', but Natsuki is a woman and not just the Nue or a cursed two-headed beast. "-such as yourself, come to such a pretty wrapping? No leaf, no twist, and you are -- like this!" A razzle of fingers indicates White. "Cute." Kukuru reaches over to pat the disaffectedly intelligent tail and like a very grumpy child who's playing 'I'm not paying attention to youuu' tongueflicks the air and does not turn -- but does shift, slightly, under-touch. "Well, of course I'm fancy. I own a club! You've just seen me thugging around because I can. All that priestess and mistress stuff gets me worn down too day-in, day-out. I won't be trapped by 'one thing' again, so, I have a lot of styles. Don't you, Kukuru? Or..." The chimeran Osakan gives Kukuru's new looooong hairstyle a glance and a chuffing smirk. "Is this just changing your hair, for you?"
Angela	Ceri isn't NOT supposed to be here. It's her day off! Getting to have a day off HERE is a benefit she gets from working TWO JOBS. But if she can't get rid of Gebura this will end up a work meeting for everyone so Ceri has to figure out a way to make this only a group chat between the Partners here and her. Gebura watches White and marvels at her composure. Gebura, for a moment, wonders if White has found perfect oneness of self and cosmos and misses her murmuring about the Unionization because her pad is just that far away and Ceri's mic input isn't at its peak. "It was a bit of a story, you've got Unions too?" Ceri asks of White. "I don't think any of us really knew what one was until Father Berislav brought it up. Our bosses included." "Asking to see sunlight once in a while isn't a big ask. And our work is almost over. Some of the rules ... maybe weren't as fitting once we unified..." Gebura murmurs, but not too quietly, before settling her gaze on Kukuru. 5r''He-llo, Geburaaaa.'' Gebura stares at Kukuru. Kukuru jumping in to support Ceri's claims does not move the needle at all on Gebura's Suspicion-Meter but it does mean this is something where it's easier to just let it slide. Besides, Gebura thinks, she needs to ease off a little anyway. She learned htat much. "Alright. Let me know how it goes, then." Gebura says, the image blinking out shortly after. Ceri is immediately more at ease. "Thanks. If I don't have this day off I'll go crazy and Nonon can be a little enthusastic when getting people to calm down..." She slides the pad back into her purse. "Our work was--well, it still is--but we have to keep quiet or the government--the one that oversees all the Wings--would really crack down hard on us. But the multiverse has let us ease off a bit, even if I'm the only agent that gets to visit The City without too much fuss because of my work with Lilian and Trideag." At this point, Ceri knows Angela's plans. Angela told her. Angela told her specifically because she was selected by Lilian Rook. But Ceri doesn't bring them up here. Loose lips sink ships and she honestly just doesn't want to talk about it too much. 5r"But if you're treating, don't mind if I do...!" Ceri smiles, remembering the bonds she used to have when she was in the Cinq Association. The sort of bonds she left her own family for. Ceri has not heard of the Petra Covered In Spiders incident but she relaxes back in her chair, no doubt checking out a menu. "You picked this spot out right, Miss Natsuki? You are a lady of taste."
White	White thinks to herself. 'Have I eaten today? I mean yeah, but...' Another her in a slightly different tone pipes up like a tattling child, a self-made heckler. 'Chips! You just ate chips!' Well, this would be a good time to fix that. If she could get the conflicting reflexes in her body to cooperate. She wants to drink so she won't have to speak, but if she drinks she might lose her focus! And if she doesn't eat, that'll just be rude, but if she's eating then it doesn't look like a proper business meeting! She really couldn't be sparing those poor butlering fellows less of her attention if she tried, and it's not even deliberate at this point. Which, of course, leaves her ill-prepared for Kukuru's suggestion, cleverly made to strike her blindspot. 'Call over one of those guys? For what? They've already been pouring drinks and stuff. What, do they do tricks? Do they sing? Do they kill on command?! Scary! Who goes to places like this?!' She takes a slightly large sip of wine without a shift in her expression. 'Okay, no, that's dumb. At least the last part. But geez, trying to push little old me into the swamp like this? How cruel, senpai...' She allows herself internally to wrap up the bit, and shamelessly throws Kukuru under the bus. "You first." she pressures while lowering her glass. She needs to gather intelligence before she can confront this new social threat, after all. Not having to pick what to order suits White fine, it turns out, when Natsuki asks the chefs to figure it out for them and pays in advance. With her own plate and a dwindling number of reasons not to indulge, she goes through the motions of trying to eat politely- covering her mouth and such as she takes a bite- but slightly fast-forwarded. She wants to have the appetizer finished before the plate is replaced or moved. She's listening, taking note of Natsuki's tail-behaviors too, only really showing her attentiveness with very faint obligatory nods between bites for a little while. Then, she sets her fork back down once her plate is as clean as she can politely make it, returning her hands to her lap before gathering the tremendous willpower needed for everyday conversation. It still sounds like she's having to push herself not to whisper. "Information..." she confirms to herself, turning over the comparison Natsuki makes with another acquaintance as she thinks. 'She hasn't asked me to do something specific, yet. Maybe she's testing me?' is the thought she has, though it's halfway an excuse to skip asking for details yet and make Natsuki elaborate on her own. The actual question that follows it might not be the main focus, she imagines, but it's not something she's too guarded about. Just not accustomed to discussing. "I wasn't always." is the preliminary admission, both explanatory and also sort of agreeing with the compliment. "I wasn't lucky like that." She pauses, listening to the comment to Kukuru as she considers saying more, and when she does it might not be clear if it's still going somewhere personally relevant, or merely curiosity. "Were you born with those faces?" White misses the impressions she might be making on Ceri or Gebura, though. Asking if she had a union is met with a shake of her head. 'It's the demon army after all! Of course there's no union, Ariel would turn them into soup. Though, I guess I helped make it even more of a black company...' she thinks, feeling just the ittiest bittiest bit of guilt over falling into such a socially unloveable position as Evil Demanding Boss. Only briefly, though. She's still not as evil as her fujoushi classmates, when all is said and done.
Kukuru	"Assets, Agents, everyone's got something they can help with, no matter how small, espe-ecially if it means not having to do everything ourselves." Kukuru nods lightly in agreement with Natsuki, sampling one of those scallops herself and letting out a high-pitched happy noise at the richness hitting her all at once. "Trying to do eeeverything yourself is easier for making sure stuff's done right, sure, but we're the Concord. We don't need to resort to something like that, because we're all waaay more than capable of spreading the load and still doing it right." With Natsuki buying for everyone, Kukuru looks a bit lighter in her seat, although she's still behaving and not gobbling up whatever she can reach. She's been taught better than to do that, and she still needs to set a good example to everyone here! Otherwise, they might pick up on her bad habits. The question of wrappings, leaves, and twists in the context of White does get a curious look from Kukuru, though, but she avoids the urge to just ask what that means right away. Instead, she tries to think up what that ACTUALLY means in context, slowly glancing from White to Natsuki and back again several times before giggling again at the cute comment. "Very~ Both of you, even." Grinning up at Natsuki, Kukuru leans over to pat her on the hand gently a few times before doing the same to White. Natsuki's tail can't get all the attention, after all, although she does let out another amusd noise at her tail's standoffish reaction to the patting earlier. "Adorable..." She murmurs to herself, pauses briefly, then makes sure to give Ceri and the video pad some of that same affection as well. "Being trapped by stuff can get real tiring, that's for sure. Or not seeing sunglight ever..." She nods again, glancing over at the Gebura-pad. "And that's why I was really looking forward to this." Kukuru starts to answer Natsuki, realizes her flub that definitely wasn't repeated several tiems already, then coughs into her hand. "I mean, for White's first time at a place like this, you knooow? Ah... Having a varied wardrobe is real important, mhm. Yeah, I've got this for..." She can't just say it's a disguise. "Fooor... Being more subtle." Smooth. "And the usual comfy clothes at home, work stuff, the more serious work stuff, the fancy work stuff... Oh. That last one's kinda like what you have on now, I thiiink? Changing my hair...?" Another pause, to fiddle with her big poofy ponytail. "Oh, this was part of that.. Um. Subtle-stuff, mhm." There is nothing subtle about it. It's so fluffy. She's also not subtle about getting excited again at White being new to this, too, and she doesn't cathc on at all when she's pushed to call over a butler first. "Okay~ Aah... Excuuuse me!" Kukuru waves over one of the butlers, completely unaware of what's in White's head as she tries to make a good first impression of totally knowing what to do here. "Hello, dear. Can yoooou... Um." She really has no idea what she's doing here, and she can't just ask him to dote on her, right? No, she needs to be subtle about that, or ease into it through something simpler to accomplish. Her brain shorts out after trying to come up with something, though, and she ends up giving up on trying to come up with something clever. "... Oh! Can you do one of those fancy little coffee pictures? Something cute and tasty, like aaaa... Shark?" Kukuru's pretty sure she heard about that being popular before, at least.
Natsuki Nuki	Natsuki, quite genuinely, is trying to provide Ceri an out -- that it's on the feelings of a Yakuza officer treating all their minions with a big rich dinner for morale and a sprig of sister-in-circumstance for garnish. The inability to escape - the screaming need to do so or to break otherwise... Is one Natsuki knows. She smiles less composedly when Gebura signs off. "'Getting people to calm down', huh? I don't think I'd like a beating after breaking down from stress." Natsuki asides in a gusty cavalier that she moves past fast enough it might leave several kinds of impressions. "I've heard people talk about the work, but Acquisitions wasn't involved in the City projects. I've brushed up on that Association run by the Paladin commander, even, but it's not something that I've..." Thoughtful, and favoring Ceri a little even though White was who she called to the meeting, Natsuki ends with a considering rumble-'hmm'. "Taken the time to really invest in yet." That thoughtfulness is cut short by the arrival of the first wave of food - a ringed drizzle of sweet fruit sauce around a butter-foam anointed filet that mixes savory and sweet for each person at the table and an accompanying umami-forward and cream smooth custard cup in a ceramic eggshell. At the center of the table is also added a gourmet charcuterie platter with sashimi cuts of salumi and dry-aged meats besides salty olives, dried figs, spreads of jam, and slices of cheese. It's a brief return trip for Kukuru's espresso art, featuring a handsomely gilled shark in a hollow-white heart, placed and turned Just So before Kukuru's plate by a precise turn of a butler's gloved hand, a further bow, and a crisp step away. Pure service, at a premium rate, for Partners. Natsuki slides her scallops out of the way, picking up a spoonside to gently part the beyond-tender meat and run it through the jam too prepare a bite swiftly followed by a spoonflick of custard and a closed-eyed enjoyment. "Perfect." She sighs, and only opens her eyes slowly-calm after, more contented. "Highly reviewed too, but some things have to be felt!" 'I wasn't always.' This, Natsuki takes delicately-considered and nods after barely a moment. "Me either." Natsuki softly replies, then breaks out into laugher. "But now we're wrapped like this! Each of us," Ceri, even, but certainly Kukuru and White and the Nue herself. "-and I wonder..." Eager for a second, it's dashed by 'I wasn't lucky like that.' "No?" Natsuki turns spoontip against the top of her white plate and turns it faint-scraping as she thinks. "I was born with this face." She admits, then gestures up to her tiger-orange ears. "But not these. I could have them when I wanted, but they weren't me as much as..." Her hand shifts down to the darker eyemask about her eyes. "This." Hand falling, Natsuki slouches and settles elbow on table-end to lean cheek against it and keep reflecting on those across from her. "It was part of escaping, for myself. Now, well, now it's my treat to treat you all." "Have you worked with-" A pause, as 'other' is begun and aborted. "-yokai, before, Miss White?"
White	White ends up a little confused in an easily-missed way when Kukuru pats her hand, but doesn't make a fuss about the harmless gesture. While she's absorbing the other topics of conversation as an outsider, she does break from the silent wallflower role now and then, like to lean slightly closer for a look when Kukuru's espresso-art shows up. It seems neat. Petra didn't do anything that cute, maybe she should have her live-in spy-der suggest it to her for her next butlery occassion. She, of course, is unaffected whether Kukuru's indulgences with the staff allow her to sink or swim. 'Though... Maybe if I get Meramera over to this side for that meeting... That might make an excuse to invite her..? Hmm." The food gets plenty of her hard-to-notice attention when it shows up. If anything she's a little frozen with choice paralysis, different parts of her wanting to reach in different directions at once before she's able to settle on trying the fillet first. She eats in relatively small bites, still trying to be well-mannered about it but trying to compensate for size with speed to some extent. It's a deliberate thing to put down her fork when she decides to respond to Natsuki, perhaps a self-control requirement. First is a nod of confirmation at Natsuki's puzzled 'no?', and a slow couple of nods as she listens. She's almost tempted to speak when she hears 'escaping', but she's slow enough at this kind of jump-in to catch the rest before she can manage it, and a binary question is simple to address first. There's the start of a 'no' on her own lips that goes unvoiced, then she holds to reconsider. Two, three seconds, then a single nod. "One." She almost looks surprised; she hasn't had to apply the label of 'yokai' to anything in a while. "An Oni. But he wasn't always, either." She hangs in relative silence again, and almost goes for more fish to nibble, before looking up again from the table. "His name is Wrath, but he's a good kid."
Angela	Lobotomy Corp's first introduction to Demon Lord's was Shougo but don't worry--pretty much all of Lobotomy Corp's companies are black companies even though none of them are designated as such because a horrifying workplace is the norm not the exception! ... ... Well, more horrifying than usual. ... ... Really! Ceri quirks her head curiously at 'born with those faces?' and asks, "You usaully...grow into yuor faces don't you?" but then remembers Tommorow's Expression. "Though I guess you can get new ones if you know what to do or where to go..." She is oblivious to White's guilt. ''We're all waaaay more than capable of spreading the load and still doing it right.'' "I'm pretty sure everyone's got their hands full at Lobcorp." Ceri says. "...Though compared to the average Agent I'm definitely working harder... But I owe the Dame Commander so it's natural that I do what I can to assist her." And assist those the Commander says she should assist. When she gets an opportunity to ask for a butler, Ceri asks for a savory crepe, ham cheese spinach, with maybe a bit of sugar on top. ''I don't think I'd like a beating after breaking down from stress.'' "Well thanks to Petra that doesn't happen much anymore but ... Well, when agents have a breakdown they tend to have a weapon in hand and well..." She mimes taking a swing with her hand. "...That was my job too, though Nonon uh--enjoys it? The most? But I don't think she really thought things as through as you have. She enjoys it when people clobber her too." ''It's not something I've taken the time to really invest in yet.'' "Honestly, I prefer you being patient rather than rushing in to help. People gotta know The City before they can really ''help'' The City. And if it's not something you're up for doing and know it and choose not to involve yourself because of that? I respect that much more than trying to force it, you know?" Ceri realizes she's ended up talking about work anyway but at least it's with a sympathetic ear. Most agents think it's all normal. And it is normal, but Ceri has experienced a life of leisure before she abandoned it. So she knows it can be a little ... off. Especially to multiversals. ''His name is Wrath, but he's a good kid.'' Ceri smiles at her hands. "It's easy to be absent of anger when you have no heart, but good people often have the most to be enraged about." She pauses. "Ah, but I'm sure it's just a name."
Kukuru	It's time for the first wave! Already, there's so much wonderful food on display, and the individual plates for each person means Kukuru doesn't have to worry about anyone going hungry. She needs to be patient, though, as she can't just start digging in before anyone else does. No, she has to wait for everyone else to be ready to eat, and for the coffee artwork she asked for so she can give whoever brings it out her undivided attention! Even the coffee looks too good to drink, when it does come out and is presented with all the style she couldn't have expected before coming out here. "Thank you, dear! Oh, this all looks and smells so amazing. So lovely... This is just the kind of thing I was hoping for~" With pretenses for coming here all but forgotten by now, Kukuru starts munching away herself! Each bite is followed with a hand on the cheek, or a turn to somebody to make sure they're not missing out on eating too. The espresso art is a little harder to handle, since she really doesn't look like she wants to disturb the art. She'll have to settle for taking a picture of it on her phone (and turning it carefully for White to get a good look herself) so she can savor the memory whenever she likes just as she's savoring the flavor of it today. She's not big on coffee, but she holds it in well. "I wasn't always." "Me either." "But now we're wrapped like this!" Once she connects the dots, Kukuru finally chuckles softly and nudges her glasses up lightly. "Mmmhm. I used to be like almost anybody else at home, too, until the Concord helped me become better than I was. My face didn't change, but..." She holds up a hand, letting some green lights swirl out of it for a moment. "I was lucky, mhm. A looot of stuff changed, and for the better. Now I can take care of my family back home, my family here, and aaaall of you here!" A beat, and then she looks over at White. "Would you do it again, if you had the choice? Uuum.... To go back to your old face. Would you..." She pauses to take another small bite of the cream and fruit, followed by another squeak. "Would you recognize your old face anymore, afterrrr... However long it's been?" "His name is Wrath, but he's a good kid." "Ah, but I'm sure it's just a name." "It's a neat name. Nice and short, but veeeery... What's the word. Um..." Kukuru pauses again for several seconds, then tilts her head. "Punchy? Like... It'd be easy to recognize if you just shouted it out. Was he like that?"
Natsuki Nuki	The service at the location is up to the level of 'casual enjoyment of the most powerful people in the entire Multiverse'. Someone is on hand to snap to any want, and yes, they do tricks. However, nobody's asking the butlers to do their best Tuxedo Mask act or produce a rose from their sleeves. They're equipped for these requests, but have not been asked. This cafe features True Butlers. Natsuki is used to dealing with varying kinds of people, from common folk to C-suite executives, and has a harder time getting a read on White than most other types. The closed-eye act doesn't leave many openings, and neither does the pretty woman's quiet answers. Much less bold than Natsuki, and much less warm-soft than Kukuru, and much less run-down than Ceri, and... Down? Natsuki scrunches her nose slightly and dips her eyes to her plate and chuffs - at herself - and nods into a lift of the head as White gets into her answer. Pleased, and less-worried as White is getting deep into the food, Nue and Spider meet gaze at midpoint. "You know an oni..." Natsuki rolls through, surprise flashing anew and then dipping to 'oh, of course, of course' upright sitting and nodding. "And you think they're a good kid? Well, some are! But they're usually also named correct for things like 'Wrath'." Natsuki admits, the palpable look of Reputation Up on the chimera-woman's face as White's casual admittance is then upread to 'oh, she must either be incredibly powerful or some sort of saint or both'. Natsuki understood extreme power and saints roughly equally. Roughly. "Do people become things in your world, White? Where I'm from, yokai are born like humans are. There's even some half-bloods around! Undergoing change like that, though..." A shrug. "Well, let's say I'm very curious." Natsuki decides, leaning in. Orders continue to arrive with a little delay for the actual cooking of the food. Thanks to the latest techniques and no expense spared for the achievement of luxurious cuisine, Ceri can enjoy her own meal swiftly when she orders separately, though it's not quite as fast as espressofoam art. Still - Ceri's food comes quickly, restrained in proportion but bursting with restaurant flavor and craft. It's Ceri that Natsuki is blind-sided by in the moment after. 'Honestly, I prefer you being patient rather than rushing in to help.' 'My my my!!' Natsuki almost-says just with her eyes, her tail even lifting and shifting in her lap to resettle and stare up the Agent anew. "Well of course," Natsuki exhales a fluttering birdsong laugh, and nods as if seeing someone who Finally Understands. "Investment means research and care. If I'm making it my own, or putting myself into it, I shouldn't - I wouldn't - skimp on something like that. Really, I'm pleased to hear someone as worked as you saying that." It means she's made correct choices to 'not', yet, to blindly start spending. "Though... If you," Ceri. "Would like personal help, ppplease let me know. Even if it's for a beating!" Natsuki insists. Perhaps especially if it's for a beating. 'I used to be like almost anybody else at home, too,' Kukuru brings Natsuki back around to finishing her filet and custard idly while nodding. "That story is why I knew the Concord was for me. Even the programs are what the me-before would have needed. Good company, hmm?" Says the red-eyed yokai woman. She's ignoring the question on if she really had the face she had when she was Literally Born.
White	White continues to be just a little surprised at how often people seem to understand her, away from home. Even relative strangers seem much less perplexed by things she'd come to imagine nobody would understand without an entire lecture, but... Well, sometimes being wrong isn't a bad thing. If she can relax a little and count on them picking up what she's putting down, maybe it won't be so hard to have more meetings like this. Though, it's not like they're reading her mind like Persephone did. To Ceri, White does her usual tiny, sporadic nods. She feels similarly about her own situation at home, after all. Some things are too volatile to just throw more people at. Her read on Wrath is fairly solid too, and White only has one correction to offer. "... He did choose it himself. He used to have a different one." She nods at Kukuru's Wrath-related question next, putting off the one aimed at her for a few thoughtful seconds longer to admit "I didn't know him well as a human. But he seemed like that." She can't stall forever though, and she already has a couple of answers she could give... That's a bit of an issue in itself though. She tries to hedge it with a little wobble of her hand to indicate uncertainty? It's really just the closest gesture she can think of to 'it's complicated' though, so it might not help interpret her. "I had this face before. But it isn't 'mine'." she starts, taking a silent but deep breath before adding, "The one I had between wasn't human at all though. I could go back a step. Sometimes I do." The 'I wouldn't go further than that' is deeply implicit. If White could read minds, she'd probably find Natsuki's impression relatively amusing. As it stands, she simply nods again. It's easier to talk about people who she's very familiar with in specific terms, and while her tone doesn't sound sentimental it doesn't seem like anything that reflects on the relationship itself. She's pretty clearly just Like That. "Wrath is... Probably the most 'good' of us. The army commanders. He's a justice freak. He's hard on himself. He likes to make things. He's a smith." Each detail comes bookended with a small pause like it's its own complete statement that will stand on its own, but she keeps finding new ones to add, slowly but surely. "If any of us could have a good future after the war, it would be him. But he won't let himself have it. Probably." She spends a little longer eating, likely finishing her fishy dish before she comes up for air again. One could imagine her distracted, and with the way her mind works that's probably fractionally true. The question about the world is fairly uncomplicated at least, provided she doesn't make it moreso. "They aren't supposed to. We weren't from that world. Even then, only Wrath and... Myself. Maybe Sophia. Were 'born wrong'. Someone found it amusing, is all." Her tone dips, and for a moment she almost doesn't pass enough breath through the syllables to be heard at all. She has someone specific in mind, when she says 'someone'.
Angela	''Though... if you...'' Ceri opens her mouth to say, sure, she is willing to accept some personal help if in a casual personal way since it would be nice and it has been a long time, at least for the outside world, but then Natsuki gives an example, a ''beating''. Ceri thinks it over again, comes to the same conclusion as the first time, but then thinks it over a third time and starts to suspect that not responding too quickly may have saved her from an embarrassing misunderstanding. "Well," Ceri says, "Gotta admit haven't had a noffer like that since I was a Section Director." She is certain she would have died had Petra not come to her aid that day. She'd have been a name on that wall. "Well... I don't have any enemies that need a beating, but if you can get me a good deal on a massage, my shoulders have been ''dire''." This is mostly true. Ceri could certainly think of a few people she dislikes (Sarracenia) but she doesn't think she needs a beating (she already gave one and the Cinq Association never held grudges after winning a duel). And, well, she did kill most of her old enemies and everyone else is more just at a ... philisophical impasse with her. They never actually harmed HER. And she's a vice director of an Association right now, she can't exactly ask Natsuki to beat the face in of a Cinq Association director, someone Trideag might one day make their own deal with.
Natsuki Nuki	"Choosing a name . . ." Natsuki begins, thoughtfully distant. It's something she had considered, herself. Re-branding, changing herself completely and becoming something and someone else entirely. A difficult thought, and one that now seemed 'too late'. It wasn't her name she wanted to erase. If anything, it was her name she wanted exulted - just not the whole family alongside it, alongside her. Just not... Reaching for her glass of wine with a slow close of her hand and a quick lift to her lips, Natsuki drinks half the portion in two gulps and holds the glass under her nose after, breathing in the glass's alcoholic afterglow from the retreat of liquid. "It sounds like you know your friend well," Friend, and not any title or role. "and it would be... Better, if some wars ended." Natsuki works through, chewing her words more than her earlier food. "For Oni, though, sometimes the war's within. A 'justice freak' who's 'hard on themselves'..." Both parts put together paint a picture. "... If the war stops, will your friend Wrath stop fighting, do you think? As..." She tests, slightly. "A fellow commander?" White moves to momentary distraction with her food. Natsuki moves to momentary distraction with Ceri. 'Gotta admit haven't had an offer like that since I was a Section Director.' "Not one?" Natsuki asks, aghast now in a new way. "You haven't had anyone even offer to help you beat someone? Since you were director level? As a director, I'd expect you to have -- minions for that!" "Goons!" Natsuki repeats, with a different country word that is being translated through feeling and statement. "What kind of gang makes the boss fight?" Natsuki leans over right then, hands extending to take Ceri's shoulders in rubbing positions and guiding Ceri into opening up her chest and sitting up with just the roll-back of palms and the pressure of her thumbs. With a roll of palm pressure, she goes right into searching out the tension spots on Ceri's neck as soon as she's invited, oozing just besides the agent. Her tail, even, slides behind Ceri's back and loops around the Agent's back like a hugging limb and stares up at Ceri from the curl-about. "All this tension, too... The beating that should happen is these tight spots out entirely." The nue woman declares, easing off after a few seconds of working Ceri's shoulders and back over with kneading hands. "Just relax, and let me handle it." She purrs to the woman's ear, and then looks over Ceri's shoulder to get back on White. "Aren't supposed to?" She asks, head tilting and ponytail falling besides her outer shoulder. "Born wrong..." She repeats, and then, with a cooling sigh, closes her eyes and nods. "I won't apologize for the circumstances of your birth, or your becoming, White. I can't go all the way back to what I was before, and, I also wouldn't want to. I don't fit, any more, into what I was." Smirking and chuffing, once more in joking, Natsuki adds. "But I can smush down far enough for all the useful parts. If I squeeze. But I'd rather spread out more!"
White	White still has a hard time with the word 'friend', but she's heard it enough times and been told what it means by enough people to have a general idea, at least. She doesn't have many friends, as far as she can tell, but... Well, Wrath is probably one of them. She'd like if that were the case, but she's never asked. The only sign of how distracting this particular thought is ends up being the wineglass suspended at her lips, tilted just shy of actually pouring into her mouth at all for far too long. So much for seeming normal, on that front. She ends up setting it down again after ten whole seconds of sip-edging. "... He should." doesn't sound like a 'yes', to that question about his intentions. "Maybe we've relied on him too much." Watching Natsuki get all cozy with Ceri across the table and put her hands to work, White is perhaps a little too focused on trying to figure out what's so appealing about a massage. She can't exactly stare, with her eyes closed, but it certainly is the next closest thing. 'Wouldn't it just tickle? Actually, isn't that kind of scary? She looks strong. I haven't looked at her stats though... But she's-', and White snaps back to reality again, not so much as even a little embarrassed. The statement, the non-apology and all the rest around it, earn a simple nod like many others so far. 'I'd rather spread out more', itself, is something with a stronger resonance. She finally takes another small sip of wine, tempted to finish the glass for some hard-to-pin-down reason. Instead, she hazards a rare guess and a question. "So you can't be... trapped?" She arrives at that phrasing after considering 'tamed', 'stopped' and plenty of other similar words, but not many felt like they fit the same feeling. It would be nice, she thinks, to keep meeting people who understand.
Natsuki Nuki	While Natsuki quite deliberately and quite skillfully elicits soft pops and aligning crunches in the quickly-jellying (normal, relaxed) into a puddle Ceri, she continues to look past the Agent's shoulder and, mostly be besides and not behind. Mostly! It might be easier that Natsuki can't read White's mind - the Nue has ascribed many of the general traits of spider yokai towards White, so the deliberate tone and timing of the words, the slightly pondered phrases coming in a row, all line up with generally to exactly Natsuki's experiences with her own narrow group of 'fellow Four Heavenly Kings of the Student Council'. . . '''friends'''. "Oni need direction in their lives. I'd bet your friend Wrath wouldn't say you've relied too much. But, before your war ends, White - I'd find things that make your friend want to move on from it too. If it ever will." "If it can." Natsuki draws out quieter, as her thumbs do a rub-and roll and her palms work the outside of Ceri's shoulders. "I... hope it can." "... For your friend." Natsuki's eyes hide, momentarily, behind Ceri, turn away, and it's more telling than her trying out a few seconds of White's closed-eye style. 'So you can't be... trapped?' It's an unexcited somberness, the stone sober-despite-the-wine hang of her chin, and she pulls from Ceri to let the Agent rest with a palm-brush across back and a return to her spot. "I was born a yokai - but not 'the Nue'. That was something I claimed for myself. I could shrink down -" She makes a gesture above the table - perhaps at child height. "But," The same gesturing hand moves to pull the black-scaled muscle of her tail off of Ceri's waist and lifts it up in fingers while the limb slips down into her own lap. "But this doesn't 'come off'. A step back, for me, would be being... less than a third of what I am now. The least third of it." "And I wouldn't take two steps back, either." She admits, looking up. "So I won't be denied, like I was before. It's a kind of trap. And steps forward take me away from it." After a moment, Natsuki shifting tail-slipped hand to her waterglass and thumbs the condensate on the side. She doesn't look right at White -- the glass takes one set of eyes' attention and her tail is beneath the tableline. "Are you the same, White?" No 'miss' this time.
White	White's a little overwhelmed by the idea that, among everything else, perhaps Wrath's future is also her responsibility. She'd always felt a little responsible, for him, for Sophia too, but only to the extent she ever felt so sentimental about others. There had often been times where she couldn't square her own actions with how she thought she felt, though. Still, if it's just another thing to put on her Sidequest-slash-Wishlist... She can do that. It's that kind of overwhelmed, low-expectation casual committment that makes it easier for her to nod her agreement to Natsuki, even if she only answers the part that she's certain of aloud. "I'm going to make sure of it. Even if..." Her mouth forms the 'I', but then halts. It's something a little too dramatic to say in present surroundings, on a pleasant outing. That's a bit much even for her. The more Natsuki-specific matters, though, are easier to focus on. She's never been a strong support for others' emotions, as far as she knows, but that's mostly for how hard it is to relate to most people. She knows why, of course, but she still has to remind herself that she's Trying Harder, now. At least, where it seems worthwhile. Where she can justify it with gains or losses, or take example from elsewhere. She doesn't smile or frown at the explanation, and it'd be easy to believe she weren't even listening, but her response comes just the same as it has up until now. Carefully, quietly, and a little late. "Good," she starts, where someone more pretentious might claim that 'running away isn't the answer' or whatever else. Then "It's close." she follows after the question. Just 'White' is perfectly fine. "I still have to risk being trapped again. I don't want to, but I need to." she follows, and the last word doesn't sound quite as conclusive this time, as she reaches under the table as if to get something from a purse she isn't carrying. While Natsuki has her eyes turned aside, White places one of her (hopefully) iconic little watch-spiders on the table, and slides it across like she's passing the bill with a faint scratch of its legtips on the surface. "You can be the second one. Let's get along, Miss Natsuki."
Natsuki Nuki	Despite causing the overwhelming idea of 'being responsible for someone else', Natsuki seems as cavalier about that as prior - something she's not just used to, but swallowed down and owned. 'I'm going to make sure of it. Even if...' "Even if." Natsuki agrees, perhaps-shockingy gentle. "... As Partners, I'm sure we can work out the details." Shifting in her seat, changing her lean and bringing a hand up to brush back a forelock that had flipped down in the shifting and commotion, tucking it back across the top of her head and flattening an ear around the blade of her palm before sitting forward, elbows on the table. The forelock drops again, unstuck immediately, but Natsuki doesn't really seem to mind. "Good, huh?" Natsuki asks, not sure what White was referring to specifically at first but not unpleased with the read. As it develops, she realizes - or at least surmises - that it must either be about what she did herself or the plans to end the war, and how it goes. Both, in essence, proper in place. "There's plenty of risk in the world - you can't be totally insulated from risk without accepting it. But there's also a lot more to be gained by going out and getting it than staying still, or taking steps back. Even a poison is medicine in the proper quantities, for the proper purposes." White's spider isn't as iconic as she'd hope, but also, Natsuki is a reader of profiles and a researcher of allies and... Called White over to talk about spider stuff. Really! Perhaps even show off her 'cool tattoo', if the closed-eyed woman was interested... And not have a full meeting with multiple Partners, offer out a backrub, or, well, Accept a small spider onto her palm, turning it over for the little spiderling to climb into her black-nailed hand by doing a little lever scoop as it's slid off the table. "Oh! This is..." Natsuki's thumb moves to gently pat-stroke the little spider's head. "Yours? Well, of course I'd have preferred to be the first - but I'm still pleased with being the second. When I was brought into the Partner program, I asked my mentor, the Demon King, to trade things with me so that we could form a stronger bond." Shifting up to look, still stroking little spiderling steadily, Natsuki rests her eyes on White's face and contemplates. "Would you like to, as well, White? If you'd like to, think about what you might desire from me -- or desire help with. You don't have to answer now, but," The tiger-eared woman smiles broadly-sharp. "I'd be very interested in doing so." "In any case - let's get along, Miss White."