Clicking his tongue lightly Akito has a kind of conversation with his pet while they wait. Until of course suddenly his betrothed drops all the attention on to him. His body freezes and his eyes go a little wide against his will. Luckily he has a few extra seconds to compose himself as the emperor takes interest in their sleeping arrangement. That exchange however brings about whole new levels of tenseness in his middle but he's able to push it down and smile back at the empress when she once more compliments Hoko. “He's a rather healthy example of his kind.” he murmurs, the faint movements of his lips causing the rodent to paw at his mouth with his large paws.

Akito to blows on them to make him pull them back and the Empress giggles at the exchange. With a faint cough, his heart racing and his cheeks flushing lightly he looks to the food now being placed before he as he begins responding. “The tour was thorough and informative. There are a lot of wonderful things here in the palace I would like more time to look at, but his highness was very efficient in showing me most everything on the premises.” He clicks his tongue and motions to the second place, letting Hoko know he can start eating. [i]'So far so good I thin'[/i] he thinks to himself, licking his lips.

Looking up at the empress he notices a faintly curious look on her face but as she does not speak up right away he decides to continue. He doesn't even notice he's sitting rather stiffly, just as he would when delivering a report to the general. That is not what has her curious however, but he will find that out soon enough. He goes on to praise the gardens and the murals, the king having a few offhanded comments on how old most of the artwork in the palace is, until at last the empress asks the questions that just won't leave her mind. “Aki dear, what do you mean by 'most everything'?” The emperor looks a little surprised then thoughtful. After a moment he smiles at his wife, proud of her attention to detail.

For his part, Akito looks a little uncomfortable. Well, a little [b]more[/b] uncomfortable. [i]'Why is she asking? Does she think that I think that some things are being hidden from me and that I'm suspicious? Did I see something I wasn't suppose to? Why. . . .'[/i] He lets out a faint breath. “I just meant, we did not go down every hall, and we skipped the servant areas altogether.” he says softly. He can feel his body tensing even further as both the rulers look at him with great confusion.

[i]'Why would he want to see the servant areas? He's going to be a royal. Those areas are of no consequence'[/i] the empress thinks, tilting her head to the side. Her husband's thought mirror hers. When he'd come to this palace he'd been nervous for sure, and curious, but it never even crossed his mind to wonder about the servants and how they go about their day, save for getting done what needs to be done of course. Hoko senses how tense he is and begins looking around for danger, his lips pulling back to expose his needle sharp teeth. Not really knowing what to do now, Akito remains silent, staring at his hands.