Drago Ryder

Gale was honestly a bit surprised by Midnight’s change in demeanor, though she did find his words to be rather effective at calming her nerves. Shaking her head, the dragon didn’t really need to think much about her answer. “Well, no. That hasn’t happened so far, if only due to this being the first time I’ve ever been around ponies, zebras, or any other sentient species for more than a few hours.“ Even then, she had never really participated in any form of conflict, preferring to run should something go wrong. It wasn’t like she had a stake in whatever politics might have been at play. It was perhaps a bit selfish on her part, but it just seemed like the best route to survival. With the experiences of the past day behind her and an opportunity to think things over, however, that way of living seemed more appropriate for a coward than anything. She may not have known much about the world outside of the land she grew up in, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t handle herself either. The fact it took her this long to realize such a thing lit a simmering rage in her chest, though perhaps her meeting with the pony before her was a way to atone for that part of her life. “I suppose everyone has to start somewhere.”

I can certainly see Nanami and Specter butting heads over certain things, but I can see her at least giving him a chance to prove himself. His quirk would certainly interest her, either way.

After a few minutes, Nanami exited the kitchen carrying a tray holding the items both of her co workers had ordered. For Robin, his eggs had been prepared to be slightly runny with small curds, no larger than an inch or two and set atop rye toast. Dill and a twist of pepper were used as seasoning, though the eggs themselves had been cooked in olive oil. Draco’s eggs had been prepared in a similar manner, though the bacon had a syrup goaxe with a touch of brown sugar. As for the tea, that had followed a more routine meathod of preparation. Setting the orders in front of their intended recipients, the moth looked between the two, finding herself pleased with what she was seeing. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having others become more acquainted with her. “Good to see that you two are behaving yourselves. I hope you enjoy the food.”

Nanami couldn't help but giggle slightly as a smile danced across her lips. A light tilt of her head also added to her rather cute appearance. "I suppose you could say that. I do own the shop, after all." Thankfully, his breakfast order seemed to be similar enough to Robin's own that they could both be made at the same time. Thankfully, the arrival of the latter gave her a means of exiting the conversation, simply disappearing back into the kitchen. After warding off any concerns that her employees might have about the two and apologizing for their behavior, the girl placed the order down, while also coming up with a rough estimate on how much it would cost. They might be coworkers, but this meal certainly wouldn't be on the house. Three eggs for each of them would probably cost around four dollars in the states, and the added bits for Draco's order would probably hitch his bill up by another three or four. Of course, that depened on how much was used, along with the side ingredients. Overall, she figured 750 yen for the both meals would suffice if the cook used some of the older, yet still viable ingredients.

@Bakugou is my Man Everything ok on your end?

@dragon4111 @Goat-kun While the order laid just a bit outside of the shop’s normal territory, Nanami figured that she could at least improvise for the time being. “Right, I’ll get that out as soon as I can, though I won’t be able to stay idle for much longer after that. I still have a shop to run, after all.” A gentle smile danced across her lips as she moved to stand and walk towards the kitchen. Given her wings, it wasn’t exactly safe for her to be around open flames, let alone cook, so she would probably relegate that task to someone a tad more experienced than her. Hopefully, when all was said and done, she would be able to try some of Ryu’s cooking once more. Well, that and a few other things. Of course, she had also taken note of Draco’s appearance as she made her way to the kitchen and could already feel a headache forming at the attention he might bring with him. Did everyone in the group knew where she worked? Either way, she had to stem her annoyance at his presence in order for her overall plan to work, at least for now. Figuring that she might as well kill two birds with one stone, she turned to head for his table. “I wasn’t expecting to see anyone else I knew today. What would you like this morning, Draco-san?”

After thinking about her response for a moment, Gale let out a light sigh as she felt a cold sensation wash over her, only just now realizing a few issues that might arise on her part in the next few hours. "Honestly, I'm terrified of what might happen. I know you said I wouldn't be right in the middle of all the fighting, but I haven't exactly fought against anything that wasn't specifically prey either. What if I mess up and hit an ally with my fire by accident or end up knocked out of the sky because I wasn't paying attention? I couldn't even kill that scout I was chasing earlier, and there's not telling what he did afterwards." The dragoness went silent for a moment after voicing her thoughts, waiting to see what her companion's response would be with baited breath.

While Gale was a bit concerned with the hatred in Midnight’s voice, she could also understand why such a thing might have been there in the first place. Honestly, they were going to attack the slavers at some point anyway, so this just shifted the odds more in their favor. Either way, she simply shook her head once he asked her to voice any concerns she might have. “It’s ok. It honestly feels good helping to free zebras.” At the very least, she wouldn’t be in any direct danger during the course of this plan, though she had to at least assume the slavers were using equivalent or better equipment. If she was hit, the ponies they would be fighting would have that much more control over the skies. “Either way, I should be able to provide some support.”

Gale felt a light sigh escape her muzzle as she watched the zebras leave, though the fact that their presence was required in just mere hours didn't exactly sit well with her. Turning her attention to the earth pony beside her, the dragon figured it would be best to get to the root of most of her concern. "I don't suppose that had anything to do with what you and Rorik were discussing, does it?" She was fine with freeing slaves, but there was certainly a limit to what they could do, even with the added ponypower provided by the zebras. If most of those following Rorik were to follow them into battle, however, that was a different situation entirely. Either way, she had certainly missed something important.

Nanami couldn't help but laugh along with Robin and nodded. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, and perhaps we could do something to celebrate in some form or another." The exact details could be discussed later, and if the worst came to pass, the man in front of her would simply be referred to as a friend. Figuring that Robin could at least be trusted for the time being, the moth took a sip from her own drink. It had a rather strange taste, most likely a result of Robin making it to suit his foreign tastes, but it was nice. Figuring that her clientele would rather traditional drinks over what Robin had made, this would just be something shared between the two of them. Now, the hard part was figuring out if this sweet, demure little girl was an actual mask for something darker, or if perhaps the reverse was true. "Either way, I would like to thank you for the advice. It was only after our group's first meeting that I realized how foolish I was being in my desire to keep everything about myself hidden away," Moving to take another sip of her drink, Nanami glanced at the clock and figured that they still had a good bit of time left before things got busy, though her two employees were making themselves busy around the shop, figuring that she was either talking business or with a friend. "Considering the time, I suppose some breakfast might do some good for the both of us. Did you have anything in mind?"

@Goat-kun Nanami rose a brow at Robin’s words, though it would be best to play it safe until his true intentions were revealed. “I suppose it is, though that little stunt was mostly our employer’s idea. I’ll simply either improve on what was already made or keep the status quo. I doubt either would be very difficult.“ After all, her return would most certainly lead to the continued production of the company’s more notable pharmaceutical products, at least after she got through all the paperwork that set out a distinct quota for her that could only be altered at her discretion. That would probably last until the R&D department figured out a way to actually replicate her silk with a substitute of equal performance. Either way, a few of their more questionable customers might be dropped, but such was required to rebuild a reputation for the company. Moving on to the second bit of Robin’s statement, Nanami felt her lips form into a light smirk at the offer, though not for the reasons he might think. “That does sound rather tempting, but I think it would be best to get to know my coworkers a bit more before accepting such an extravagant proposal. I don’t even have anything that would come close to meeting whatever standard was set by the dress code.” It wasn’t as harsh as most rejections would have been, but the last thing she needed was to end up kidnapped because she was too naive to trust Robin at his word. Even if he was telling the truth, the leeches known as paparazzi would have a field day if they learned she arrived at such a party with a man around eight years her senior, even if he looked younger than he actually was.

@Goat-kun Well, it was good to know that Robin wouldn’t waste any more time than was strictly needed on the lost art known subtlety. Narrowing her eyes as she glanced at the article, the girl sat down opposite of Robin. “I suppose they wouldn’t, though when has any business that sustains itself on grabbing the attention of the populace ever done sufficient research.” Her mother’s spouse had probably burned most of the incriminating evidence in some attempt to hide his tracks, though there was always a backup somewhere. She should know. Either way, the article itself didn’t seem to concerning, detailing how she won the rather drawn out case for emancipation against her own family. If she scrolled down any further, she might see some minor details as to the abuse she suffered, but not enough to get that man or the publisher itself in any legal trouble. It was quite a sad little story, really. Turning her attention back to the man in front of her, the teen relaxed into her chair, being careful to not damage her wings. She wasn’t going to even bring up the fact that the mercenary in front of her had been taken on by the vampire himself as well, at least not with him directly. “It seems you certainly do your research, if you are able to find my small corner of heaven. Now, what can I do for you, Robin-san?”

@Goat-kun Nanami had been in a decently sized office at the back of her teashop when she had received word of a rather... odd individual that had requested to see her almost immediately. While it wasn't exactly uncommon to have unruly customers that felt entitled to have their tea or food prepared in the most outlandish way possible, regardless of the cost it would take to actually get the ingredients in the first place, the general description of the customer in question did pique her curiosity. Thankfully, such instances were relatively infrequent, a result of the standardized tastes of the clientele that deemed her shop worthy of their presence. Arriving in the more public area of the teashop via a side hallway, it didn't take long for the owner of the store to see Robin, even if she didn't recognize him immediately. Even if she had, the best she could have hoped for was to have him not make too much of a scene with her employee, unsure of what exactly to do in the current situation. Once he had seen her, however, it wasn't long before he was making his way back to the kitchen in an attempt to clean up whatever mess Robin had made. The only concession that he had given her was to come in at a time where the morning rush wouldn't be in full swing just yet, so they were more or less alone. "I didn't expect to see a customer within these walls so early, though I did hear that you had a problem. Is there something I can help you with?"

Right. I’ll get the starter post to the ensuing conversation on the alt thread up today.

Sounds good to me. All of it would be more or less canon anyway, at least on the villian side of things. The same would apply for if the two threads do eventually merge. Now that I think about it, it probably wouldn't make sense for Nanami to travel outside of Japan, given both her age and current lack of interest in events outside of Japan, not unless she goes dimension hopping via Robin's quirk for a quick means of travel.