The girl described how she viewed the idea of godhood, to which Ryoga listened with the utmost of attention. Her thoughts weren't far from his own, on the inborn desinty or ambition of a being that obtained godhood, and Ryoga would be no different. "Than a creature born of war, raised in adoration and led by determination. A myth made flesh that can devour even humanity's greatest weapon. Would you call Orochi a God?" Of course she would, but this was a moment to really lay it on thick, to bask in his own words, might as well take it and explain to the girl just how unique he truly was.

By the end of his time here, Ryoga was sure this girl would be one of the many foreigners to learn respect for a Japanese God. Moving on though, perhaps Ryoga's thoughts on modesty were incorrect given the cultural differences. It wasn't that he believed you should be humble, because clearly a God shouldn't, but he felt like so much of America was...falsified. As if nothing was good enough as it was, it had to be altered to someone else's conditions. If something was born medicre, it did no good to slather it with glitter and gold. Even the most artificial of beauty would fail in comparison to natural allure.

"My Japanese heritage simply seems incompatible with this way of doing things. Why not simply enjoy one's natural beauty? The truly beautiful were born that way, just as I was born this way. I was meant to be seen, I need not beg for it!" Perhaps that was his real thought on this, the idea that one needed help to get attention, had to beg for it through effort. Ryoga believed in the natural affinity for power and pride. One didn't need extras to show off if they were already great.

Her description certainly fit how he viewed most Americans. All in a rush to be what someone else wanted, and then feel entitled once they'd met the standard put forth for them. Ryoga met no standard, he broke it.

So not the actual ear of an animal, but a sweet food? That made much more sense considering his company, women often loved sweet things, especially in Japan. Crepes were quite the rage as street food. "That certainly sounds like a food item for a woman. Mother also enjoys her sweets, especially crepes." Ryoga sat on his back legs to give Shelby time to fetch her sweet treat, his form clearly dwarfing everything around them and creating an easy opening for the girl to purchase food. After all, who else would be buying snacks when a thousand pounds of dragon was just sitting on the sidewalk?

She slid him a sidelong glance, the corners of her mouth quirking up in a smirk. "Haven't I already, your lordship?"

She hummed in response to his words at first, nodding her head slightly. A simple dip of the chin. "A question many feminists agonize over, i'm sure." She clutched her hands behind her, snagging one wrist in the other palm as she walked. "Humans are inherently insecure, though... probably have due to the natural way of things, and half because we constantly have to make sure everyone knows how superior we are to them. The better you look, the more successful people believe you to be, thus the more attention you garner from the opposite sex." Breathing deep as they neared the cart that held one of her most favorite treats, she licked her lips and held back the urge to skip forward the rest of the way.

"One such as yourself has no need for insecurity, therefore you also don't feel the need to change anything about yourself based on ideals of those around you. If I do say so myself, I wish more people were like you... I think the world would be a better place if we all cared less about our social standing and more about our actions."


His woman comment earned another sidelong glance, but she made no comment. "That would make an interesting study, i'm sure... which gender likes Elephant ears more."

She stepped forward, fishing her wallet out. Indeed, he had carved a path through the other hungry pedestrians... most of which either hurried away, or stood gawking like tourists. She withheld a giggle, purchased her snack, and hurried back to the dragon's side.

"...I know you don't eat... but are you sure you don't want to at least taste it? It's del~i~cious~" Throwing in her best pout, and a little sing-song toward the end, she held huge pastry out a little and wiggled it temptingly. Well, temptingly for her at least. And maybe any pigeons and crows within a half mile radius.

Ryoga smiled internally, pleased at Shelby's swift and excellent response. Even if the girl was merely sycophant or scared, to be seen as powerful was all his ego ever craved. "As you should little mortal." He said politely, his tone probably at it's friendliest when he was shown respect. She talked of her own opinion on the topic, bringing up how insecure mortals were, desperate to achieve things beyond their grasp, and though it might be futile for most, it was this ambition that had allowed man to evolve into the dominant ruler of the planet. Ryoga could respect that, even if he believed most humans were nothing more than sheep for the strong to make use of.

"A desperate need to hide when one is merely a commoner, once you acknowledge someone as above you, they'll never stop making use of you. As for the opposite sex, the lack of confidence in my own country is apparent. But I'm above finding a wife ultimately." He snorted as they continued, Shelby's enthusiasm for her treat clearly making her impatient.

It was odd that she might think Ryoga cared little for social status, after all he was a God, top of the ladder when it came to status. But perhaps it was more his confidence and presence she was respecting, rather than some assumed ideology.

She attempted to tempt him into trying some of her fried treasure, holding the pastry out as if to show him how great it was. His eyebrow raised a bit, and the dragon was sure if it wasn't for his divine status, or more likely his unique metabolism and very reduced stomach such an item would surely make him hungry.

"I care little for flavor aside from tea, but if tasting the ear will appease you, I shall do so." Ryoga however couldn't just pick a piece off with his hand, or even take a bit, considering the size of his jaw and the lack of fingers, instead she'd have to feed it to him, or at least tear off a piece and pop it into his massive maw.
"If you please, place some of your elephant ear into my mouth. Or perhaps it would be simpler to place it on my tongue, it has been some time since I last ate anything." He mused as he thought about the taste of her pachyderm pastry.

The grin that nearly split her face in two when he accepted was instantaneous. Everything else mattered little at the moment, because holy sh*t she was going to feed a dragon! Her five year old inner self hooted triumphantly, and somewhere deep inside she felt that a life gold had just been accomplished.

...Then people started to stare. Like, really staring. Some whispered behind hands and giggled, and she was instantly on high alert. Her grin lessened, eyes darting around from face to face.

A child nearby tugged his mom's hand, pointing enthusiastically and screamed about princesses and dragons from fairy tales. Shelby's cheeks darkened. There was way too much attention on her currently.

"O-of course!" She pondered arguing, or even just giving him the whole damn thing. Did he really want her gross human germs on his food? She knew plenty of mutants who'd reel back from there mere suggestion. Then again... the dragon wasn't your average mutant.

Mustering up some courage, she ripped a little bit of the paper off and a good sized chunk of the pastry. It was huge to her, but given his size it was the prefect taste test for him. She took a step forward and her cheeks darkened again when the same little boy loudly cooed about 'the dragon eating the princess!' and the small crowd chuckled collectively.

She barely resisted the urge to toss in a sarcastic 'open up and say awwww', when she held it out, and up, for him and waited.

Ryoga was perhaps the most conspicuous mutant on the planet currently, and this line of events was only making him into more of a spectacle, every eye in the area on him as the girl timidly tried to feed a mythical creature her street fair food. He'd have laughed if not for Shelby being right in front of him, and the one who didn't enjoy this spotlight he'd forced upon her. However she was doing well in his opinion, quickly ripping a piece of food off to feed him.

Ryoga's jaws were quite large, to the point that you could easily fit your entire head between them, or even your entire torso if you for some terrible reason wanted to. The dragon leaned his head down within her reach, and then opened his maw, revealing the inner workings of his mouth to Shelby. His teeth were like kitchen knives, and his tongue probably looked like a giant flat worm, but while you might expect him to have terrible breath, Ryoga instead had little scent to him. He ate almost nothing, which meant there were little to no bacteria to give him a dragon case of halitosis, his tongue slid past his fangs to where the girl could place the ear piece on it.

Having acquired his snack, the dragon pulled his tongue back and pulled his head back in an awkward movement, gulping down the morsel as it was both too small, and not nearly tough enough to require any sort of chewing or tearing. The first thing he noticed was the sweetness of powdered sugar, and the enjoyable kick of cinnamon. The texture itself was also interested, a rather puffy and fluffy food item that would easily be enjoyed by children or women. The dragon showed an irregular behavior as he finished the moment by licking his tongue around his mouth, clearing any flavor left from his mouth down into his stomach, before speaking.

"Oishii!" The God exclaimed in his native tongue before slipping back into English. "A sweet food but the contrast of cinnamon is enjoyable. Mother would surely love these. Thank you for sharing Miss Shelby." He said, bowing his head to the human girl once in appreciation before resuming his high stance and staring about at the various people looking at him. A little boy continued to essentially foam at the mouth from watching a real life dragon interact with a girl, and the dragon turned back to Shelby. "You may not enjoy their attention, but you did well considering the pressure. You would serve as an excellent attendant at the compound if you wished it." He said off handedly, imagining the girl as one of his servants, an enjoyable thought for Ryoga.

He had no foreign servants or believers within his compound, and Shelby just so happened to have the manners and the respect to earn the dragon's benevolence.

She flinched back at his exclamation, and made a mental note to look up what that word had been later. That...eh... 'Oy-she' he'd said. She was a little too distracted by watching him eat, and the people gawking, and them him bowing to her. Her flush darkened considerably from embarrassment. "You're welcome!"

She shoved the rest of the snack toward her face and nibbled furiously, about to turn and shuffle away from all the attention. However, his next statement caught her by surprise and she all but choked on her mouthful of food. Coughing, she whipped back around to angle a surprised, questioning expression at him, with one hand covering her mouth as she recovered.

"...P-pardon?" He he just offered her a job?! What was with visible mutants in New York throwing jobs at her all the sudden??

Her stream of thoughts paused suddenly, latching onto one word in particular, and she dropped her hand and cocked her head slightly. "...Compound?"

It was rare that Ryoga ate actual food, but he had enjoyed the little morsel given to him. He wouldn't actively seek such a thing, but to refuse the offer would have been disrespectful, and the dragon was loathe to dishonor himself in any such manner. His head rose again, watching as the girl before him blushed red, and fidget with embarassement. The dragon chuckled softly, a rumbly sound deep in his gut.

Women were far more enjoyable when they knew how to respect and behave, rather than the average mutant women he'd dealt with so far. Arrogant women were frustrating, but the dragon hated nothing more than disrespect towards others, which too many of these mutants were prone too. The girl seemed surprised though at something, coughing up her food and struggling to catch her breath.

"Are you alright?" He asked, unaware that his words had been the cause of her sudden stutter. She recoverd quickly enough though to put focus on a specific word he'd mentioned.

"But of course, would I live in anything less than a mansion? My home is the base of my worshippers in Japan, many live there and served me before I came here." His home had lost some of it's luster here, considering the mutant Mansion he currently called home couldn't really accommodate his size within, but the shrine built for him was functional enough. And living within a shrine sort of worked for Ryoga, it felt fitting to be a living God sitting atop his own shrine of worship, and the natural beauty of a Japanese structure brought some beauty to the western home.

Shelby blinked, eyes round and owl-like for a moment before she reigned her awe in. Of course he lived in a mansion! Where else had she expected he live? A tiny one bedroom apartment? Clearing her throat and fighting back her flush, she picked at her food and shifted her weight to her other foot.

The descriptor 'compound' though, had brought to mind images of a military bunker. And she'd be lying if she wasn't surprised to hear that his home across the big pond was where his worshippers lived. He had worshipers... actual, not made up worshipers? She blinked once more before she managed to get her mouth working again, "I-i can only imagine how beautiful it must be..." Was her lame attempt at a cover up.

Then again, she'd never been out of the country... so she could claim ignorance to the splendor of Japan's architecture easily.

"If I had the time, I think that would be a wondrous adventure. I've never had the pleasure of traveling abroad."

Her doe-eyed response made the dragon chuckle just a bit. It seemed his existence continued to strain the girl's mind, in an endearing way though. If he could show her the splender he came from surely she would break. A mansion like some mountain side temple, built to house a creature many times larger than a man, complete with a massive bed and customized tubs designed not to bath a person, but to house tea for a creature the size of a trailer.

Though it looked like a shrine, and Ryoga treated it as such, the reality was much darker, as the place served as the base for an up and coming branch of yakuza style mobsters, criminals whose firm belief in a living God made them quite ambitious and driven, all of it controlled by one man with an ego to match his divinely delusional son. However Ryoga's thoughts were not on what could be, but that of his home, the land of the rising sun."Japan is a beautiful place, with majestic mountains and lush plains the people use for farming. The cities are quite compact and over populated, but the country side is breath taking little mortal."

Shelby thought aloud how she'd like to travel out of the country as well, reminding Ryoga that he himself was traveling abroad at the moment, odd how while he was here, a native wanted to go to his home. He smiled internally a bit though, loving any attention given to him or his homeland alike. "You would fall in love you know." He said smugly, his words not referring to himself, but to Japan. "The appeal of Japan lies in it's simplistic but deep beauty. Perhaps one day I shall steal you away for my homeland." The dragon said with a laugh before his head rose up again and he continued to walk along.

If anything, her eyes widened further and she pointedly turned her face away lest he see the vibrant red that had suddenly overtaken her cheeks. Though she knew he meant nothing by it, the Romanticism that had come across with such a simple sentence was.. overwhelming. There was a reason she avoided all things romantic like the plaque... she was just such a sap for it all.

"I think I would most enjoy that, your excellency." Nibbling on her treat some more, she watched an errant child run past with a small foam sword, and thought to add, "...After i'm out of school, of course. I'm not a free person again for another two years." A dry chuckled followed, and she stuffed her mouth with more pastry.

Up ahead of them, on a little patch of inlay-ed brick along the various stalls and groups of people, a small stage was being set up. A backdrop of colorful curtains, with an elaborate renaissance-y castle scene made it glaringly obvious it was for some sort of play. Shelby was going to assume for the kids, until someone proved her otherwise.

Off to the right of the platform was a man selling the little foam swords she had seen, as well as plastic shields and helmets.

"Do you care much for theater, Orochi?"

Shelby reminded Ryoga of some of the women back home, perhaps that was why he continued to pick on her once he'd gotten her to blush, a fun way to pass the time with his mortal companion. Ryoga hadn't noticed them much as first, but it seemed more than one child had passed around or beneath him, stopping to glare at the storybook creature before being hurried off by a mother or passing distraction. He lowered his head and bit, looking too and fro, children weren't really something he dealt with often, but their admiration for the fantastic was rather appealing to his ego.

Ah yes, an education, Shelby was certainly old enough to be in some sort of schooling still. A God had no need of proper schooling, so Ryoga was mostly self taught or indulged by his Mother's various fancies. "Right, you study the science of thought I believe. Psychology or some similar concept." He'd remembered how they met and she'd been trying to question or interact with mutants, a difficult proposition for a normal human to do, especially within their home at the Mansion. "Do you enjoy your schooling? I understand the system here and back home in Japan is somewhat different." In Japan schooling was a little more focused, where students could spend their entire education within one facility, escalator schools they were called.

However Ryoga lost his train of thought as they came upon some sort of festival. Festivals were common enough in Japan, but he was unaware America ha anything similar. Ryoga stared at the various stalls and set up for a moment, ignoring Shelby briefly until he realize he was still with her. He turned and spoke. "Hmm? Oh do I enjoy watching theater? It's not something I've had much experience with, as I can't enter most facilities outside of my compound, but I imagine I would enjoy such a show."

Side-glancing at the dragon, she finished off her treat quickly and tossed the paper in a waste basket. "Actually, i'm majoring in Fine Art. The Psychology class if an elective I took to fill my schedule for this quarter."

She hummed at his question all the same though, tilting her head to the side in thought. "I suppose I like it enough. I mean, if given the choice i'd probably ignore the classes all together and just open my own studio... but these days you kinda need that little slip of paper for anyone to take you seriously."

Or, at least, that's what everyone she'd ever talked to said. There was probably a way to forge her own path while simultaneously giving her college the bird... but she was far too lazy and meek to attempt that. "It's kinda chaotic, really. You have to have so many credits in so many areas, and some of them don't even go together! There was one class back in Seattle, It was 'Underwater basket weaving'. I kid you not. You could get a degree to be an professional underwater basket weaver."

She scoffed, loudly, before her mind trailed off back toward the stage. "Oh." Duh. Of course he couldn't fit in your average play houses. But... wasn't he a god back there? Why hadn't they made him a theater?

"Well today's your lucky day then, Your Lordship! We seem to be just in time to witness the magic of a little outdoor theater~" A small surge of kids and parents hurried past, heading for an empty row of benches. Shelby shuffled out of the way slightly while her eyes were glued to the stage. A stagehand was bringing out props. A bush here, a foam rock there. It wouldn't be long until the show started.