Could Have Called It The Jasmine Dragon. [Skyward Stream]

Was it a little bit fancy? A little bit too froofy? Maybe. Okay, yes. Skyward Stream decided he liked the Pale Jasmine Teahouse immediately. Like a lady's underthings, it was soft and inviting - pleasant, enhanced by the frills and care. "Noriko! Whaddyi owe you for th' ride?" The Lunar asked as he pulled himself out of the bed of hay that was big enough to fill the bed of a merchant couple's wagon and poked his head over the side. The goat he'd been sharing the space with for a week or so gave a soft bleat of protest before claiming the large indentation in the middle that Stream himself had been filling for the bulk of the journey.

"Oh, Ken - your company was enough!" The rotund woman at the front promised with a laugh, pulling the wagon to a stop with a million-watt smile. Her husband laughed and nodded in agreement, throwing an arm over the back of the wooden seat at the front of the wagon. "The next time you're in the area, you just come on by."

"And if you bring some of that fried fish nonsense with you again, maybe we'll let you up in the front of the wagon!" Noriko's husband laughed, flashing a grin that was missing more than few teeth. An infectious grin, one of many years and even more stories.

Skyward Stream replied with a raucous bellow of laughter, swinging himself out of the wagon and setting his bare feet on the sand-dusted, hot-stone streets of Chiaroscuro for the first time in years. "For you two? I'll make sure to have my own wagon next time. I've never seen two people pack away that much tilapia - especially you, Deng!" The dusty, grinning man said, bits of hay still sticking out of his messy hair as he strode to the front of the wagon to shake Deng's hand and lean up to return Noriko's kindness with a hug. "You two take care, hear? I'm looking forward to dinner at your place next time."

After an immodest amount of pats on the back and well-wishing, Streams found himself standing outside of the Pale Jasmine teahouse with  most of the hay picked out of his hair and a broad grin on his weatherbeaten face. Yes, he liked this place. Who knew what lay inside?

Hopefully, they didn't have a no-shoes no-shirt policy, because he had neither on him.

---

Tea Houses - especially those who offered more than mere tea - tended to be quiet and demure places of contemplation, wise conversation, hushed flirting, and surreptitious touches. Ken's presence in the Pale Jasmine was about as subtle as the scent of the ocean rolling in behind him, the brazen tattoos on his chest, or the plodding gait of his steps. "This... this is a nice tea house." He declared after a moment of eyeing the place up, scratching his chin. "Almost feel out of place." If it weren't for his brightly-coloured trousers and the fact that his confidence was apparently entirely lucid, one might be mistaken for assuming he was a wandering madman or delzhan pushing his homeless luck. 

In the name of cleaning up, Streams produced a fine, alabaster hankerchief and wiped off his face a bit, striding past a likely mildly irritated employee while apparently sniffing the air. He knew what he was looking for, when he saw it. And they were supposed to be expecting him. Ahh - there. Private booth, faint and solitary outline behind it. Nobody with that kind of a silhouette drank her tea alone. 

Ken shifted the curtain aside to spot a heartbreakingly pretty young woman sitting properly among the cushions, apparently waiting for someone. Hopefully him - if she wasn't waiting for him, then his new Foster would have to wait a few minutes. But, hey. This had to be the one. "I don't know what kind of monster would keep a lovely thing like you waiting alone like this." He joked in a slightly gravelly tone, an aww-shucks grin on his face. "But I wouldn't mind keeping you company until the poor bastard shows up, if that's fine with you."

"Unless you're Len, in which case - I'm the poor bastard who showed up late. But you look like the forgiving sort of lass, eh?" He added for good measure, sinking down among the cushions and finery with a broad smirk. This was, apparently, great fun.

Subtlety was a wonderful thing. An important skill, in Ken's opinion, and deadly in the hands of a young woman with looks like these. Much like a dagger, it was a fine and delicate weapon when applied to the right situations, and much like a dagger he was familiar with it's use and potential even if he chose not to make obvious use of it himself. "Name's Ken - but you can call me anything you like, s'long as it brings you a smile when you say it." He rumbled playfully, absently turning the cup he was offered with his fingertips. Nice, warm tea. Expensive, by the smell of it. What a wonderful offering.

These places had curtains for a reason, though, and he wasn't here to gauge the little dereth's manners. Much like a dagger, subtlety was often found lacking in the face of a louder, larger force when wielded by the young and unseasoned.

Ken shifted smoothly over beside Len, throwing a muscled arm around the delicate young woman's shoulders as if he hadn't just met her - helping himself to her cup while he did so. "Must be tiresome, taking your ease in the same place you earn your living." He remarked cheerfully, lifting Len's cup to his lips with a playful twinkle in his eyes. This is mine. This is how this works. "I can only imagine. Used to avoid the places I worked like they were riddled with fleas, just in case I'd have guilt and glares thrown at me for taking my ease among folk I labored beside." Ken explained, before taking a sip. Not sweet enough for his tastes. 

"Suppose you must love what you do, or have a good rapport with who you do it with, though." The brawny wanderer speculated once he'd properly savored Len's tea and set it back down in front of the dereth. "More's the pity that you won't be back here for awhile."

That earned an echoing, raucous bit of belly laughter from the rugged Western man, the sort of merry sound better suited to the deck of a ship than a tea house. It fit the scene about as well as he did, which was to say as well as a patch of sandpaper belonged in a bin of fine satin. Oddly enough, it worked for him. Clearly, whatever Len had said was worthy of such a bellowing laugh. He rested a hand affectionately atop the young woman's immaculately coiffed hair, before giving it a gentle ruffle. "You don't have a thing to take care of." He corrected slyly. "Even if a clever little thing like you hasn't already put contingencies in place for this, chances are the things you need to take care of are already done, or nearly so."

Ken stretched one long leg out, pondered putting it up on the table, then decided that such a thing was crossing the line - even for him. He didn't waste the opportunity to shoot the woman at the front of the tea house a sly wink as he did so. I see you. Everything's fine. He was a man with more reputations than clothing, among as many organizations. None of those reputations were sullied with that most predictable and generally loathsome of sins when it came to conduct among pretty young ladies. 

"And if they aren't, then they deserve to be left unfinished." Ken added for good measure, scratching his cheek idly. It was an important lesson - anything worth doing was worth doing before it had to be done. "S'how I feel about it, in any case."

He swung himself upright, pulling out of the cushions with a wide grin, and finished the brown cup of tea off while it was still nice and hot. "You're about the right age to go off on adventures, so let's not waste any time - We've got a lot of ground to cover, and I mean to have you out of sight of Chiaroscuro by the time the sun sets. Finish your tea, little lady. I'm sure that lovely one up there wouldn't mind telling yer mother you've run off with some strange man." Ken chuckled, shooting Len a teasing, almost jaunty grin. 

The exchange was interesting to watch. Hell, any time a mortal - even as talented and connected as these - were defensive and protective of an Exalt, it was interesting. But then, the little bunny hadn't been put through her paces yet. Chances are she still thought of herself as human, but just a little more - which was fine. She was still a young spring hare. Getting her out of her comfortable little warren would do wonders to give her a little perspective.

And when she returned, as she no doubt would someday, it'd be interesting to see how the dynamic shifted.

Ken sat up and affectionately ruffled the hair of his little ward, offering a pleased smirk. "Alright, cub. Let's hit the road." There were places to see, trials to endure - and exciting new people to meet. Ken wasted no time in standing and striding towards the door - favouring Vey with a cheery grin as he ambled past. "Tea was great - thanks!"

Never hurt to be nice.

Once they were on the streets, Ken gave the bunny a broad grin, speaking in a conversational tone. "So - how much did they tell you about what's in store?" He asked, offering the dereth his arm.