"The soft paws do hide sharp claws, which can be useful at times," Jin Guangyao says, after taking about three blinks of his eyes to allow his perception of reality to readjust. Okay, so this happened.

He smiles.

"It is good to meet you yet again."

Wen Ning blinks owlishly and takes his tray back, once everyone is through the door and the apron has vanished -- somewhere.