Ala Carte Blanche

    It has been a while since Asuna has been seen about these parts. Not at all cause she's been shacking up with a fellow Samurai. She was busy being a mother and all that. Note: still no ring on her, either. But she will NOT talk about that right now.

    She doesn't need a ring! She has... pasta to make. Thing that few people have noticed: when Asuna is upset, she cooks. Not just a little. The smoke signal is up and she's set out enough food to cater a wed... a large event! None of that W word here. No sir! She has not made the best choice of her life at all. Yet.

    The problem today is, there's a lot of food. And it's like nine am. Timing matters. Asuna has none of that timing stuff right now. In fact, she has bags under her eyes.

    Every once in a while Fuka gets the bright idea to check in on those she likes, in case they're languishing under the impression she's too busy to pay attention to them or the like. This isn't always effective with people who wander, but for those who have fixed locations it's not at all uncommon whenever Fuka's Messenger profession (or various mercantilely-futile pursuits) brings her to their locations.

    When Fuka came here, for example, asking around brought her some interesting news. And so she knocks. "Oiiiii, I hear someone hasn't been sleeping and feeding themselves and bathing!" Fuka calls out for all to hear. Well okay she didn't hear exactly that, but she made assumptions. "THIS IS AN INTERVENTION! Your choice whether you get naked for bathing, get fed, or go to bed! I'm okay whichever you choose!"

    "Errr, hi?" Asuna gives Fuka a curious look. "Oh. I'm not doing that kind of thing."

    She pauses in thought, then grins. "I mean, not in one of those mood things. As for the rest... Fuka, are you suggesting we take a bath together? That's awfully forward! Hmm.. or backward? Or backside? Hm." As for the food part, she's kinda been hitting the ice cream already, it seems. She's a big time customer for that as of late. "I mean, lots of people probably want to do that with you, so I understand the draw and I am very flattered."

    She is kidding, it seems, with a playful smirk growing as she speaks. "Anyway, how have you been? Staying busy, I hope."

    Actually seeing Asuna, Fuka has to reassess her assumption about her being in a strange mood. She's no medic, able to inspect someone's health status, but she's perceptive about weirdness and obsession, not to mention other things. Her evaluation is quick, and her brain shifts tracks not so much smoothly as in a multi-rail drift sort of situation.

    Fuka grins fiercely. "Well, I certainly wouldn't say no to a hot bath! Bathing is one of the true luxuries after all!" she claims. There's not even suggestive sexiness behind this. Bathing is one of Fuka's pleasures, in company or otherwise, and ... well, a tub isn't the sort of place for shenanigans. Besides, she has no nudity taboo. She doesn't get worked up over such things. "What can I say? When I see something good, I want it in my mouth!" she smirks. She means food of course. Probably. Hopefully. She's not actually leering at least, but neither does she appear to be the least bit self-conscious about the topic.

    She sighs happily. "Oh you have NO idea. SO busy!" Fuka complains good-naturedly. As much as she pursues pleasure relentlessly, Fuka is at least a hard worker, pursuing work and excellence in much the same way as she pursues personal excess. "So... you're NOT in some sort of cooking strange mood? That's a shame. I would have enjoyed trying out something experimental. The last time I did I almost got poisoned!"

    It's not clear if Fuka's happy or complaining about the experimental food. Or the poisoning.

    "Well, no, I am not doing anything like that. Maybe later? But you can eat! There's... plenty?"

    Honestly, the array of food does lead to questions, since it's not a strange mood. Asuna has a nice table, where six can sit comfortably. Eight can squeeze in reasonably. It's covered with dishes. And judging from things, it seems there is more on the way. Perhaps she's expecting a visit. Or a raid party.

    "By the way. Ice cream. Good stuff. Well done."

    Asuna waves a spoon vaguely towards Fuka, then sets aside a very empty container that had previously held ice cream and now holds only air. She was thorough. There may have been licking involved.

    "What are you working on lately, though? I don't think I've seen you since the tournament."

    For all Fuka knows, Klein's a glutton. This sort of food prep may just be for him... or for the rest of the Samurai Squad. Or Yui. Fuka doesn't judge! She does take in the dishes however. Were she somewhat more inclined to emotional binging as opposed to just ordinary binging, or were she more aware of others who did so, she might have questions. As it is, she just inwardly shrugs. Weird, but well within her tolerances of weird. All is well. "Ice cream wasn't me, not exactly." she explains with casual grace. "That was all Pela. My only contribution was transporting it. Well, and maybe being a little pushy about it." she adds with a sly grin. It WAS her obsession after all! Pela was just inclined to help and skilled in the practical applications. And dessert.

    Fuka makes her way over to the table and takes a seat. "Been arranging supply runs for the war, mostly." she notes. "And looking into a few things for my own projects too." she adds. "Say, you don't know anything about Kirin do you? Or raccoon-crows?"

    "Of course Pela is part of it." Yes, Asuna says that name with reverence. Not in a 'hot for her' kinda way. That's just her dessert hero, so yeah, it's expected. "Her shop is the only reason I go to Shibuya so much! It's not exactly my pick of destinations usually, but Yui loves the cake there. And... yeah, I obviously do, too."

    The war talk makes her curious. She perks up for a moment at the mention of Kirin. "I have heard of Kirin, at least. It's one of those... what is the word for them? Divine Beast? It's a unique mob, right? Raccoon crows? That sounds odd! But I know the Palace Lands has all the market cornered on those animal mishmash things."

    Fuka nods agreeably to Asuna's assertions and questions. "Pela's shop is the best part of Shibuya." Fuka agrees without a trace of sarcasm. Gluttony is Fuka's indulgence of choice after all, which may come as a surprise to some who assume other preferences. Not that she objects to those, not as a matter of course, but she doesn't pursue such things and is merely amused by those who do.

    She sighs dramatically, resting her elbows on the table and propping her chin up. "Yeah, the unicorn-dragon." she nods, though with her posture it's more of a bob. "Met it a while back, and it was so enchanted by my pure spirit that ... well, seriously, yeah we're kind of spirit-bonded? I was thinking about seeking it out and ... you know, working on that bond. I'm pretty good with lightning, but I could become legendary! The lightning lady! Mistress of ... uh... mmmmelectricity?" she struggles to find the right word. This is a not-uncommon occurrence. "Frank's Flinger? Electrically Elegant? Zealous Zapstress? But yeah... Also want to go to the Palace Lands and seek out my spirit animal there too. Which sounds like a racoon-crow. Only not sure how much time I can spend, and I don't really want to trap one and start our friendship that way."

    "Well, I could see that, I think. Crows are clever and raccoons are.. well, adorable in their own way." Asuna laughs softly. She is looking over her table. A pause. Then a most keen observation: "I may have gone overboard."

    She will never be Batman!

    "So you are going to master wave artes related to lightning, then? That could be pretty handy. That's also going to help with storms and wind and all that, right? Can you control weather if you focus on it enough?" Cause she's like, really sick of rain lately.

    Without asking, she's handed Fuka a plate and gestures, "Might as well eat whatever you like. It seems I've made a huge feast at the crack of.. 9 am in the morning. Not exactly the best timing for that kinda thing."

    "Lightning seems appropriate. Racial skill, soul bond with Kirin." she says agreeably. "Not to mention Frank! Which I made in part because it's cool to discharge lightning right through an enemy's block, and partly because... it's cool!" she grins. "I'm no Sleep-Around Knight to dedicate myself to excellence in just one thing, but I do want to be amazing at what I do!"

    Yeah, Fuka probably means Sleeping Knight. Probably.

    "But yeah, I'm pretty good with a lot of wave artes, not as good as I am with just beating people with a big sword maybe, but a girl's got to have a few tricks up her sleeves right?" she grins. "I don't have the mana to do much to a storm, I suppose. Just not dedicated enough into artes. Storms are really REALLY big! But I can affect them, and handle winds and stuff! Might work on learning some sailing too, sometime." she muses.

    For now though, she'll work on... food! Not cooking though, because she's terrible at that. Eating, she's very skilled at! "I'm not one to refuse AMAZING food!" the little blonde states happily, reaching for what's held out to her and putting some effort into it. No, it doesn't disappear like she's an anime character with a mouth as big as he face. Well, not really. Her eating doesn't defy physics, and she takes time to enjoy... but she does commit to the experience!

    "Sleep A.. oh. Right." Asuna thinks she gets it. But one can never be sure. There have been a LOT of guilds forming lately. It would hardly be a surprise for one to dedicate itself to a different kind of drop.

    "So you'll be Fuka, Lightning Girl extraordinaire! And you'll have a spirit bond with animals and stuff. Kinda makes me miss going out and fighting in dungeons. It feels like I haven't slipped into a questionable spandex suit in eons!"

    That is, after all, what dungeons are all about!

    Asuna will ensure that Fuka gets a bit of everything. Pasta may all look the same at first, but the flavor of each dish is notably different, even when the ingredients appear to be the same.

    Fuka is a great audience, at least when it comes to food and entertainment. And entertaining with food. Appreciative and vocal, and not at all shy when it comes to moans. Still, it's not all about the food! "I must say, I do enjoy the costumes." Fuka agrees. "Why did you stop? Is it the motherhood thing?" she says, not without sympathy or understanding.

    Then, showing a complete lack of both, she continues. "I guess that's one of those consequences of, you know, THAT kind of fun." Fuka says knowingly. "Not being able to fit into your armor, worry about defending for two in battle... honestly it's enough to make a girl swear off relationships!" she complains. Then pauses. "With boys anyways. Oh sure they may be pretty, but IT'S NOT WORTH IT!" she exclaims dramatically.

    Wait, did Fuka actually assume Yui is Asuna's child, somehow grown to her current age in such a short span? Maaaaaybe?

"Well, I do really love spending as much time with Yui as possible, so that is a big part of it," admits Asuna. "But... I did go to Dragon Eye and tried to get that mist dragon thing to be my pet. It didn't work out though. It slipped right through my fingers!" Friggin' creature!

    She listens patiently to Fukaziroh's mention of fun and armor and relationships and Asuna simply says, "You know I didn't actually conceive Yui, right? I adopted her as my daughter. That being said, I do want to have more children. They are wonderful, and... I like being at home. I like seeing Yui grow and change and learn. Even if part of me worries that one day she's going to be a grown up and I'll have to watch her leave her bedroom for the last time."

    Fuka's expression seems quite puzzled at that, though there's no real telling if she's truly puzzled or she's faking it. It might be just a bit overemphasized though, particularly if Asuna is perceptive or just realizes Fuka enjoys clowning. "Are ... are you telling me that you and ...." she pauses, considers, eyes going wide.

    "I'd better not invite you with me to seek out Kirin!" Fuka finally blurts. "I wouldn't want you to steal my soul bond with it with your innocent purity!" she says, apparently appalled. Or shocked. Or just an idiot.

    "Sorry, umm.. what are you talking about, exactly?" asks Asuna. She knows Fuka well enough to know the answer is likely to be amusing. Or merely mind-boggling.

    She doesn't get too stuck on the answer, but she is curious. And she is eating. Sure, she had ice cream first, but hey, in some countries that she can't think of, they eat dessert first! So it's now time for pizza! A couple slices. She must really work out a lot to maintain that figure.

    "I mean, I'm not out to steal anyone's bonding..."

    "Well it IS a dragon-UNICORN." Fuka observes wisely. Or in a manner that passes for wise among the ignorant at least. "You know who can approach a unicorn right? Only the pure!" the little blonde claims, showing her lack of purity in, if nothing else, the roguish way she refers to purity. "Clearly it was drawn to my pure spirit and love of beasts. And divine... uh, divine something. Also lightning probably, and maybe because I was healing it at the time. And wanted to pat it even though it was throwing off enough sparks to kill an entire raid group."

    She pauses, "Where was I? Oh yes, well, maybe inviting people to find Kirin might be dangerous. I can probably make myself safe, more or less. I've got a lot of experience with channeling lightning. But if you like I can invite you and Klang and Yui when I go to find a raccoon-crow? Palace lands aren't exactly safe, but I don't expect us to need to be anywhere in enemy-controlled areas after all."

    "Ohh... I see. Well, yes, certainly I am too experienced for that kind of... 'expectation', you might say. I mean, I am trying to expand the family! There's only one way that is generally done. As my brother used to say, though, trying sure is fun!"

    How is Asuna somehow being this suggestive without a blush? The power of motherhood. She's so over it. She has a little girl who is constantly asking things about her mother's body and her own body that tore away any sense of fear in these topics.

    "I do generally like to avoid the Palace Lands. Even if they are slowly getting better. But if you know roughly where it is, maybe I can talk to ... Klang about it. You know how he difficult he can be about that kind of thing. And stealth is not in his nature, what with all that noise he makes."

    Fuka makes a face. "I could probably find some. They're not super rare or anything, and I'll just have to ask around a bit." she claims. "But ... knowing where to look and knowing how to actually befriend one, that's another matter entirely. I know they like shiny things, and they're curious and food motivated. So, you know, kind of like me! But it was so much easier as a kid, you know? Just go into the pet store and point!"

    Well, Fuka's first pet wasn't quite that easy. But it was surely easier than it'll be to pick out a creature she seriously wants as a companion. A pet is a commitment, but in this world Fuka's had to be quite responsible more than a few times. It's not as bad as having a child, only it kind of is.

    Not that Fuka's going to let Asuna off easily on the *ahem* other matter. "Too experienced, huh? Well, it's good to know my aspirations of maintaining my solitary bond with a unicorn are safe. I wonder ... what'll I have to do to corrupt Songbird sufficiently to be safe inviting her along? Oooh I know, you can tell her all about you and Klang and your... trying! That sounds like it'll be fun!"

    "Fuka, Uta is a nurse. She's delivered more babies than you can possibly imagined. I don't think there's much I can tell her about that she won't already know. If anything, she'll pull out a notebook and take notes to broaden her knowledge of the subject."

    Asuna does view Uta as her bestie, so they talk about all sorts of things! Plus she's a huge slime supplier for Uta. Probably the most prolific one, at that.

    "So yeah, we can help. I'm pretty good at working with animals, but I'm not the world's best at catching them. We may need some help on that front. I imagine that beating them up is not quite so great an approach."

    "Hmmmmm...." muses Fuka. "That might explain why she always understands my teasing. Or maybe she just blushes because she knows I'm teasing but not about what? This may require more research!" the little blonde states happily. She adores Uta and wouldn't change her for the world, but part of that adoration is a desire to be playful. And a playful Fuka is objectively not child-friendly, or at least tends not to have child-friendly conversations with anyone other than children!

    She does frown though, pensively. "Yeah no, I don't think I want to go the poke-man approach here and beat up my next child." Fuka complains. "I was thinking more luring one with food and shiny things, and maybe finding a spell to have a sort of conversation and make offers and stuff."

    "Luring is likely to be a good approach. You will almost certain have to set a trap, though. Few animals will approach humans. Unless they are so big they intend to eat us. And while they say that the stomach is the way to a man's heart, I don't think that applies to giant bears."

    Asuna pauses, having totally lost her train of thought. She covers this poorly by eating some lasagna. How did she get lasagna on her plate?! She was eating pizza. Huh. There are so many dishes on the table, though, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that it just fell onto her plate.

    "So yes, let's be nice to your new pet! Which is not actually your baby. Unless it can talk like a person and that would be weird."

Schneider makes his way into Asuna's restaurant. He's been told he can get anything he wants at Asuna's restaurant. Except Asuna. But that's OK with him, because some stir fry or tempura would really hit the spot right now. "Hello," he calls out on entering, and looks around. Today is Italian? That can work. He walks over, smiling, though it looks like he's arrived just as Asuna's mid-meal. "Is this a bad time?" he asks. His stomach rubles right on cue, because of course it does.

    The restaurant is in full swing! Or something like that. "Never a bad time, Schneider! Well, except when I'm sleeping. Or when I'm not here. That could cause issues." She holds a hand out, gesturing to the table, "You have come just in time, though! We are having... a lot of food. Which I made. For reasons unclear."

    It is, after all, around 10 AM now. So it does raise some questions. But Asuna is not in a strange mood. She's just behaving a bit strangely!

    Fuka doesn't mind her friends doing weird things. In fact she prefers it! She's currently eating with a certain clinical focus, only spoiled by the occasional sound of pleasure as she tastes something particularly worthy. "Hey Sniguy!" she waves a fork, currently containing something like lasagna. For breakfast. Because sure, why not?

Schneider comes over and takes a seat at the table, smiling widely to Asuna, and mmms at the sight of all the food. "Ah, yeah, that'd be no good, coming here if you're not here cooking," he agrees. He smiles to Fuka and mmmns, and will take a plate of lasagne and greet her, "Hey, Fuka. Good to see you. What's new?"

    "Fuka is off to prove her purity with a magical dragon unicorn thing. Which she thought I might steal from her. Fortunately, I have assured her that I am no longer.. virginal."

    Asuna keeps a straight face through this. At least mostly. She has to smirk a bit over the topic. Yui is not present, which may have something to do with the glib commentary on her umm.. status.

    "However, I am good enough to track down a flying trash panda that likes to filch shiny things. In the Palace Lands."

Asuna's resturant is a thing, or so Llyn has heard. Then more bits of info come out about it being her home, wait what? Well either way she's hungry and is coming here. What she does do though is she shows up with a crate of foodstuff on her shoulder.

"Supply delivery for Cafe Asuna!"

    "Delivery?" asks Asuna. She's a bit surprised in that she did not, in fact, order anything. Unless that's a box of ice cream. She always is ordering more of that. There may or may not be an empty container (perfectly cleaned) in view on the kitchen counter.

    "What have you brought?" She doesn't ask if it is ice cream. She just hopes it a lot. Cause ice cream is wonderful.

    Fuka scoffs at Asuna's disparagement. "Like I have to PROVE my purity." she states, gesturing at herself in apparent self-own. "I'm already bonded with a dragon-unicorn! My pure soul is plain for all to admire!"

    Mind you, that's purity of soul. Not of thought. Ahem. "And don't call my future child a trash panda! That's racist!"

Schneider looks skeptically at Fuka and quizzically at Asuna, but he makes no comments on those revelations. It's not a man's place to comment on that subject, he knows. It's almost more like girl talk at this point, so he quietly eats and pretends not to exist while they discuss unicorns and such, which he has no idea about, nor interest in. Nor ability to do anything with, though technically he qualifies. Or his player does. The character, RP'd appropriately, definitely does not.

    Schneider could always blow up unicorns. Perhaps the secret to mastering explosion?! Right there in front of everyone all along... amazing.

    "Anyway. Schneider!" See, subject change. Asuna is good at this. "Are you involved in this railroad stuff? I wonder if the expansion means we're going to be raiding again soon. Or if we're just staging things for after the Palace Landers are dealt with." That should have a capital D on it.

Llyn tilts he head a bit. "Mix of vegtables, various fish, flour...some butter." She notes a she looks about to see just what is going on at Cafe Asuna. She'll set the box where she might be directed too. She also stops and just stares at Fuka for a long moment. She takes a deep breath and looks over to Schenider for a moment. "Are you okay?"

    Snapping her attention back to Llyn, Asuna tilts her head. "So.. the usual. I wonder if Klein.. sorry, Klang ordered something." She gives Fuka a look. Major smirking there. "Cause you know /Klang/ is a very thoughtful boyfriend who helps me with these things." She wonders if Fuka somehow forgot Klein's proper name or if this is really just a game they are both playing at this point.

    "Anyway, if you can just set it in the kitchen, that'd be great! Umm, was that all paid for already?"

Llyn says "Klang?" She looks confused not getting it for a moment. She sight at that and will hustle to the kitchen with the food. "I already did, don't worry about it. ISn't it proper to either bring food or lead coin if your eating at someone's cafe?" She smirks a bit and will busy herself putting it away.

Schneider says to Asuna, "I am, I'm honchoing the expansion spur up to Eleven. I don't know if it means raiding soon, though I think we'll deal with the Palace Lander's first. That makes more sense to me. I think we're just setting up to be ready to shift when we can." Fireballing unicorns could be good. The secret of explosion has thus far eluded him.

Llyn says "I can not raid and should not be dungeon running muich until I can get my kingdom changed for the moment...I do not fancy to be a slave to the queen again." She makes a bit of a face at Schenider. "After though I think I should after all I hear you always need healers, right?"

    "Well, it is time for me to go do something, though... um. Fortunately, there is enough food here already. If anything starts to get cold, well, do what we always do and heat it up! But I have a little girl to go pick up. I'm taking her out of school a bit early today. I promised to take her to see the train they are making. She's been on the Scale Emblem One many times, but she just never gets over the excitement of seeing the big machines we can make. Plus I can start to poke my nose in on a few things. The restaurant may be having a new location! But that's for later... for now.. see you all later!"

    And with that, the Flash is gone in a.. yeah, a flash. It's lame but these are the jokes, people.

Llyn grins at Asuna nd will wave to he she will see about grabbing some food as Asuna vanishes in a flash! She sits down and just starts to dig in nomfing on it. "... she's as good as they say..."

Schneider shrugs to Llyn about needing healers, but he says, "We have player nobles that ought to be able to bring you into Yamato realms. You should ask Wake about that, she's like a ... some complicated western noble title for some reason. But yeah," he goes on, "you definitely don't want to get recaptured, that would be bad. Just dying is bad enough, what they do is worse." He waves to Asuna as she heads out, and chows down on lasagne.

Llyn takes aanother bite before replying. "Lose part of your mind or be ensalved yeah...I'll see what I can get done, right?" She also now will focus on the Lasgne as well for the moment.

    "Aunt Elly? She's a Marcheress." Fuka notes wisely. And wisely, one should never take Fuka's word on any name. "She got promoted from bomb-ass." Fuka observes, which should cement the previous wisdom in case there was doubt.

Schneider doesn't know Wake's title, now or previously, so just nods to Fuka about it. "I see," he says. "I don't know much about the lander titles or nobility, I just smile and bow to the ones that are in charge and go on blowing up bad guys." Because that's his reason for being here. Playing the game. "I don't even know how you'd join the nobility here. Though I guess you can marry a Lander if you're suave enough or bring something else to the table. More than I care to worry about."