D12 (MN, Open) One for the road!

[Yasuki Taraka]

While Grey Carp was the classy place to drink, all good places must come to a close. Tama Izakaya was open a bit later, and so seeking just one more for the road, expert drinker Taraka made her way to the izakaya.

[Yasuki Ayame]

There was a little bit of murmuring as the establishment saw an unexpected guest. Not that it was an important occasion, as the governor had been known to grace the Pink Lotus and parts of Lower Nakahama with her presence. Ayame inserted herself into the izakaya, dressed up a little more than usual (likely in a fashion that would require a temperator), and made her way to the bar to get a tall glass of Kinsenka GOLD lager.

[Yasuki Taraka]

There was a little bit of murmuring as the establishment saw an unexpected guest. Not that it was an important occasion, as the governor had been known to grace the Pink Lotus and parts of Lower Nakahama with her presence. Ayame inserted herself into the izakaya, dressed up a little more than usual (likely in a fashion that would require a temperator), and made her way to the bar to get a tall glass of Kinsenka GOLD lager.

Well that put would put Taraka on track for having spoken to all the named NPCs as well. Sadly, a couple were too dead to speak to.

"Good evening, Yasuki-sama. Congratulations on a successful series of events." she offered with a bar bow.

[Yasuki Ayame]

Well that put would put Taraka on track for having spoken to all the named NPCs as well. Sadly, a couple were too dead to speak to.

"Good evening, Yasuki-sama. Congratulations on a successful series of events." she offered with a bar bow.

After her initial entrance, people are the izakaya merely returned to their conversation, drinking, and eating. This wasn't her court, and there wasn't a line up to speak to the governor or the need to present to her any official proclamations. Ayame preferred that, considering that it would have gotten in the way of drinking a glass of cold beer. People left her to her own devices, which made it quite easy for Taraka to approach.

She stopped herself from taking a sip and returned with a short bow. "Thank you, Yasuki-san. The events were perfect, but I'd like to think that all of them went really well. It should give us a good idea of each delegation here. Yasuki..."

Now came the hard part of remembering every business owner on Shiawase Island, something that her sister was better at than her. Thankfully, Taraka did gift her that Flying Battle Carp, which sat somewhere in her estates. "...Taraka-san, right? Do you want to join me for a drink and a nibble?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Gov!

Taraka nodded.

"I would be honored to, Yasuki-sama." she said moving to join the governor.

She thought about her discussion with Iwane about bar food. It'd been awhile since she'd seen him, hopefully he was doing well.

"So what are you in the mood for?" she asked.

[Yasuki Ayame]

Taraka nodded.

"I would be honored to, Yasuki-sama." she said moving to join the governor.

She thought about her discussion with Iwane about bar food. It'd been awhile since she'd seen him, hopefully he was doing well.

"So what are you in the mood for?" she asked.

"Anything that goes great with a nice glass of beer," she smirked, holding off from drinking said beer until she can see a drink in Taraka's hand. "Well, I guess if I had to be specific, let's get some gyoza, a mentaiko omlet, some oden, oh, and some Tango Tuna sushi. Anything else you want to add? I'm game for anything."

Okay, it was more than a nibble, but considering that she had company, Taraka was her volunteered vassal for sharing now. "And how have you been doing in the last few days?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

"Anything that goes great with a nice glass of beer," she smirked, holding off from drinking said beer until she can see a drink in Taraka's hand. "Well, I guess if I had to be specific, let's get some gyoza, a mentaiko omlet, some oden, oh, and some Tango Tuna sushi. Anything else you want to add? I'm game for anything."

Okay, it was more than a nibble, but considering that she had company, Taraka was her volunteered vassal for sharing now. "And how have you been doing in the last few days?"

Taraka grinned. One last feast before negotiations wrapped up? Why not?

"Edamame for start, definitely with beer, and karage because I love it almost as much as I love a profitable day."

"Almost."

Two Kinsenka GOLD lagers came with a bowl of edamame.

She'd toast the governor before getting to the question, 'Kampai!'

"Overall, pretty good! Made connections throughout the clans, sold a good number of units, built up interest among our guests, and built some roads that will hopefully see flying battle carps moving beyond the island. We've got new investors coming to Nakahama, it looks like a high tide is coming."

She sipped her lager.

"Hmm. You know, Yasuki-sama, over the past few days...hell, longer than that, there's been a lot of talk about how good of a governor you are. People who've never managed so much as a 10 zeni stand having strong opinions about how you're alternatively saving or dooming us all. But I've never heard the opinion of the most important person when it comes down to that." she mused.

She looked back over at the governor.

"So, Yasuki-sama, how are YOU feeling about your performance as governor so far?" she asked, genuinely curious.


It was a question borne of genuine curiosity. Was the governor confident? Cautious? Boastful? Taraka honestly wasn't sure.

[Yasuki Ayame]

"Kampai!" Ayame would cheer to the toast, putting the maximum force in the clinking of glass possible without risking either chipping glass or potentially causing spillage of beer. She tossed her glass back to take one, maybe three gulps, before stopping. "Damn, really feels so much better when you're surrounded by people and the walls are stained with a little smoke! Okay, a lot of smoke. After a long day, it helps too."

"Good to hear, I would have hated myself if it were business as usual around here. If everyone were a hermit crab with this many visitors, something went wrong." She nodded approvingly at the tide of business, even if it wasn't entirely her realm.

"Psh," she said dismissively at first, wanting it to be like water on her back. "Words are only words, and I personally prefer having results speak for themselves. I guess there's been some gripes, sure..."

She said before pursing her lip in thought, finding herself at a personal road bump. "I know I'm good, but could be better, I guess. There are some blind spots."

[Yasuki Taraka]

"Kampai!" Ayame would cheer to the toast, putting the maximum force in the clinking of glass possible without risking either chipping glass or potentially causing spillage of beer. She tossed her glass back to take one, maybe three gulps, before stopping. "Damn, really feels so much better when you're surrounded by people and the walls are stained with a little smoke! Okay, a lot of smoke. After a long day, it helps too."

"Good to hear, I would have hated myself if it were business as usual around here. If everyone were a hermit crab with this many visitors, something went wrong." She nodded approvingly at the tide of business, even if it wasn't entirely her realm.

"Psh," she said dismissively at first, wanting it to be like water on her back. "Words are only words, and I personally prefer having results speak for themselves. I guess there's been some gripes, sure..."

She said before pursing her lip in thought, finding herself at a personal road bump. "I know I'm good, but could be better, I guess. There are some blind spots."

Taraka chuckled.

"And the days have been so long, and somehow also short these past couple weeks. Nor are we planning on slowing down, just shifting gears as we welcome new business partners to the island. We're going to see an explosion of colors from Friendship street covering Golden Shotengai and the harbourfront. Maybe a revitalized Azuma Beach, and if someone has more money than sense, another attempt at finishing Hotel Nakahama."

She finished her own beer. Fourth place in a drinking contest gave her courage.

"As for your personal review, as it's said, 'The Emperor is infallible, the rest of us are just trying to keep up.' You've got a lot of smart and clever people on your island. And as one of said smart and clever people, I'm happy to offer up whatever insights I can if you ever have need. After all, you protect us, we support you, ne?" she said, popping one of the edamame.

[Yasuki Ayame]

Well, Ayame didn't know Taraka wasn't that sort of typical Yasuki. The sort that the Crab would say were a bit lighter around drinking. Seeing that she finished her beer, that merely gave Ayame the opening...the challenge to gulp down her own in quick succession. After all, beer that less cool wasn't as tasty. "Bartender, another! Two more!" she would announce boldly with a raise of her empty glass for show.

"Hah! I was wondering if I was going to live through a Hotel Nakahama debacle during my lifetime. Maybe...tenth time is the charm? I don't think we had quite that many outside Clans looking at the hotel before, so maybe they'll do something different?" The excitement in the hotel was certainly the journey, rather than the impossible destination.

"I have some questions...I think I've been told that you've put a lot of your support behind the Scorpion Clan. If they never interacted with you during the whole stay, would you have done the same?" She would reach out with her chopsticks to get some kaarage chicken and pop one in her mouth.

[Yasuki Taraka]

Well, Ayame didn't know Taraka wasn't that sort of typical Yasuki. The sort that the Crab would say were a bit lighter around drinking. Seeing that she finished her beer, that merely gave Ayame the opening...the challenge to gulp down her own in quick succession. After all, beer that less cool wasn't as tasty. "Bartender, another! Two more!" she would announce boldly with a raise of her empty glass for show.

"Hah! I was wondering if I was going to live through a Hotel Nakahama debacle during my lifetime. Maybe...tenth time is the charm? I don't think we had quite that many outside Clans looking at the hotel before, so maybe they'll do something different?" The excitement in the hotel was certainly the journey, rather than the impossible destination.

"I have some questions...I think I've been told that you've put a lot of your support behind the Scorpion Clan. If they never interacted with you during the whole stay, would you have done the same?" She would reach out with her chopsticks to get some kaarage chicken and pop one in her mouth.

"So purely out of the goodness of my heart? Or because I'm just a really big fan of covered faces?" she joked.

She shook her head.

"No, no, it was...well, I'd like to say it was strictly business. But that's not true, is it? If the Spider showed up with a dump truck full of koku, I still wouldn't support them." she assured her.

It would take at least two dumptrucks of koku.

"Really, like all things in business, it's all in the timing. I had to make a decision. When it came time where I had to support one side or another, the Scorpion made a very convincing business case, the Mantis were asking for charity, the Phoenix offered only improbabilities hours after I needed to make a decision, and the Dragon didn't approach until a few days after." she explained.

She took up the new beer as it was served.

"I heard from Kaiu Nagisa-san that the Dragon have very nice plans. If they had approached me sooner, perhaps they'd have come out on top." she said.

"I've wondered if maybe the day after the introduction ceremony we should've just gathered all the clans up in the business center and had them give a talk on just what they thought it was they could offer the island. Then again, you'd probably just have them fighting over who got to present last, as they furiously tried to add in whatever was popular from the earlier presentations."

She lifted her glass.

"To what will be and what could have been."

[Yasuki Ayame]

"I don't know, are you?" Ayame would ask jokingly before hiding her own feelings about the Scorpion with a hearty two gulps of beer. She let out a sigh of relief afterwards, the sort of pleasure that only a cold beer right from the tap could bright. "...I was just kind of curious about your opinions on the Scorpions after your dealings. They've been obviously quite busy in the last two weeks."

"You mean nobody thought of that idea? I kind of assumed everyone would hit the ground running with their marketing after the first day, actually!" She said before a few bites of sushi and chased it down with some beer. "Maybe start a flyer campaign, rent a truck that drives in circles around the Harbourfront, blasting their benefits. Oh! Negotiate some local airtime so that they can run a fun commercial on the informator. Something with a catch jingle. Well, that's probably how the Yasuki would have done it if it were the other way around. I guess they played it pretty subtly and politely, huh?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

"I don't know, are you?" Ayame would ask jokingly before hiding her own feelings about the Scorpion with a hearty two gulps of beer. She let out a sigh of relief afterwards, the sort of pleasure that only a cold beer right from the tap could bright. "...I was just kind of curious about your opinions on the Scorpions after your dealings. They've been obviously quite busy in the last two weeks."

"You mean nobody thought of that idea? I kind of assumed everyone would hit the ground running with their marketing after the first day, actually!" She said before a few bites of sushi and chased it down with some beer. "Maybe start a flyer campaign, rent a truck that drives in circles around the Harbourfront, blasting their benefits. Oh! Negotiate some local airtime so that they can run a fun commercial on the informator. Something with a catch jingle. Well, that's probably how the Yasuki would have done it if it were the other way around. I guess they played it pretty subtly and politely, huh?"

"Exactly. Exactly!" Taraka agreed with the governor hard on this point. "You have to understand your target audience, right? I mean, I wouldn't drive a loudspeaker van around Golden Mirror, I'd come up with some...commercial that was full of incomprehensible symbolism with only the briefest mention of the name at the end. But if you're going to come to our island to do business, you need to speak our language. Scorpion at least got that right." she said.

She popped some karage. Mmmm, chicken.

"But....;there is probably advantage to this. as well. I've heard some people complaining about 'outsider' influence. 'Oh, Scorpion motorcycles, not Crab built ones, not in my shop.'" she said. "Worries that we'll lose what makes us us in exchange for coins. However, it need not be that way. Sure, they're going to provide money, tourists, and new products, and we'll provide the market...but we also know how to actually sell here. For example, when Bayushi Kazushi mentioned bringing his clothing lines here, I put forward the idea of a partnership with Koi. New customers for Koi, and more foot traffic for not just his products, but ours." she said.

Taraka's frustration at the lack of business savvy the other clans displayed was turning into excitement for just how much money they were going to make with partnerships and marketing consultation.

She lifted her glass.

"To Crab purses filled with everyone's coins." she offered in toast.