The silence stretched out to the point of awkwardness, if any of the three of them were inclined toward awkwardness. Jingyi's tail twitched in a low curling sway back and forth, hovering above floor level.

Eventually, with a sigh that spoke to how much it pained him to have to take a higher road than these faceless cretins, he more or less answered. "This is so stupid... I'm Lan Zhi, courtesy name Jingyi, of Gusu Lan. I'm twenty-one years old according to my homeworld. I've been on train for what, a little more than a half dozen weeks of train time. Seven? Eight?"

He shrugged, keeping his arms crossed.

"Somewhere around that. What are your names?"