In the dining hall sat Takurou. In front of him was a selection of dishes that he had carefully prepared. Although he tried hard, the result today was not satisfactory for him. However, it was no use crying over spilled milk and he simply accepted that today there was only average food.

Instead, he looked forward to the arrival of his guests and the conversation that was to come.

EDIT: cHanged to EM, cause i'm always confused

"Good morning, Takurou!" Satsuki greeted with warm cheer as she arrived, clean and ready for the day, dressed in a simpler outfit than at the wedding of pale yellow and white.

Her face lit up even more when she saw the food. "Did you cook this? Oh... right..." she composed herself, sitting down with her hands in her lap to avoid doing anything else, "we must wait for the others to join us. How are you today? Did you sleep well?"

The second arrival was a baby goat. An adorable, young, excitable and very jumpy baby goat. Barely inside the room it was already jumping on the seats, table, Takurou, other seat, desk, table again, Satsuki, floor, table and finally in the arms of Wu Zhe who arrived with some bread, milk and butter.
''Heh, sorry for that. The little one gets restless easily''

"Good Morning!" he said, reflecting the same warm smile. "My night has been the same as every night" he replied.
Some, maybe most of the Saru Family knew about his condition. Since the day he was accepted as an orphan in Great Falls, Takurou had been haunted by prophetic nightmares. Not all dreams came true, but it made little difference whether one was a nightmare or a prophecy.
He looked sad for a second, before the baby goat jumped through the room, wich made Takuoru laugh again.

"Oh you brought more food! Fresh produce i assume?" he asked.

''Bread, butter and milk, yes...not the goat though'' he said with a grin ''The little bugger will be part of a lesson on how to handle animals''

Satsuki felt bad for a moment for having asked. She understod how such gifts could be troublesome indeed, but she had hoped maybe some change of locale and new experiences had been good for him.

Likewise, she too was distracted from such thinking as they were viciously ambushed by a ferocious baby goat. Even being used as a springboard, the Godchild just laughed and seemed amused by the antics. "Ahhh! I'm being attacked by cuteness!" She laughed, giving the goat some head-pats once it was standing still.

"And no eating the cute goat, no," she agreed firmly. "He's too cute to be eaten... or is a she? How can you tell on goats?"

''She is a girl'' Zhe confirmed as he sat down then answered Satsuki's question ''You can identify them by lifting the tail and looking at their parts''

"So full of energy!" said Takurou, clapping his hands. "I pray that our harvests will be bountiful enough to give you a long life, little goat."

Being told how to check, Satsuki proceeds to do just that. What's the point in not testing out the method once supplied with it, right?

"Ah, I see. Fascinating! Now I might know more about the goats back home that climb all the way to the tallest mountains. Thanks, Zhe. Ah... Ko won't be joining us. She's not feeling well in the city, but don't let her know I said that." Her brow furrowed slightly. "And Yatsufusa was still sleeping even when I tried to wake him, so... I guess he must be tired from the wedding reception last night. It's probably best to let them rest up, yes."

Might be a hard task given the menagerie the Dragons had brought along.

"Did you both enjoy yourselves yesterday?" she asked with forced enthusiasm.

"I'm still struggling with etiquette, but so far I've come across some interesting things." He shrugged. "I'm trying to take in as many recipes and stories as I can!"

"Ah, yes... etiquette." She grit her teeth thinking back to last night.

"Mother taught me all of it, but ugh, back home no one is so strict with it. I bet the Crane here even think we're breathing uncouthly, right?" Satsuki snickered at that, hoping it would lighten the mood a little around that topic.

''It is so strange'' he agreed, thinking back on his observation ''They put more effort in seeming then beeing''

"It feels kind of,.... wrong? Not saying what you think or feel, I mean."

"Mm," Satsuki nodded vigorously in agreement. "Nothing wrong with being polite, but not on the cost of being insincere, right? We should continue to not be like that, I think. Be nice and polite, but also truthful and honest about who we are!"

''Yes, politeness used as a weapon...hell sometime as a code to demean others'' he shook his head ''I am glad these practices have not reached us yet. Still I fear we might need to strengthen our own cultural traditions to resist on the long term.''

"We would rather teach goats to write than let us dragons lose the way we are..." he replied thoughtfully.
Takurou stared at the food, the cheese, and then looked to the others, "Would you mind if we started eating?" he asked.

''Sure thing, let's eat!''