You Can Busk If You Want To

    It's a lovely January day in Alne. Which is to say, it's right proper freezing out there. Or, well, just above it, to be pedantic, but who really cares? At least it's not blowing snow here in town.

    What matters to Miyako, however, is not the cold. It's being out of the cold. And in the nice and homey atmosphere of the Hostess of Fertility, a lovely little pub-slash-tavern here in said Alne town.

             ./~ Livin' on the river was nice and easy
             ./~ People on the river just take their time
             ./~ The wind in the summer was warm and breezy
             ./~ Wind in the winter, it cut like ice.

    Yep, that's her, kicked back on a nice chair in the corner by the hearth, one foot propped against another chair, guitar in her lap as she sings. At least she has a decent voice.

Footsteps in the snow would the sound heard when the Nero Idol enters the bar. Heavy ones. Tired ones mostly. She sighs, holding her shoulders a bit to warm herself up, making her way through the tables to find a place to sit, and warm up some. Who's idea was it to make it so that they feel cold in a video game anyway? Realism?

Usually Reika sports a smile and a bounce in her step, but right now she looks drained, and in seek of a drink. Too bad they all taste pretty bad, but at least milk tastes something. So she takes a glass of hot milk from the bar, and slumps into a chair, shaking out the bits of snow that clung to her clothes on the way in.

    Mizuki is drawn to the bar when sensitive ears pick up someone singing. And a guitar! She didn't know Yamato had those. The cold doesn't bother her what with fur and all. She finds a seat and listens, smiling and waving to Reika when she spots her.

The cold never bothered anyone... or at least not BlackRose. The girl may be somewhat underdressed, but it doesn't seem to bother her as she trudges through the snow. A few moments later, the door to the tavern opens and she comes inside, casually dusting off the snow. The music draws her attention and she looks and sees a recent acquaintance playing. "Never knew you played, Miyako," BlackRose says with a slight smirk.

    "I have steamed potatoes!"

    The strange announcement comes from outside the bar. But soon enough Yuuki makes her way inside, carrying a large plate in her hands piled up with piping hot steamed potatoes, sprinkled with herbs and spices that really make the smell interesting as it begins to waft through the room.

    Yuuki shuffles over to a table before placing the large plate down, "Phew." She glances around at those present in the bar, "Come on, everyone dig in! A great way to stay warm in this weather. Courtesy of Plant Hwyaden!"

    Yuuki takes one of the potatoes, bouncing it between her hands and blowing on it for several seconds before she takes a bite, "Mmmmmmm! That's good!"

    While Shiroe is known for keeping his nose in the paperwork, even he needed to get out of the office sometime apparently. And by that, people kept nagging him in his office, and by people he means a certain Druid / Bard that was playing her music in the corner near the hearth. Right beside her also indulging in the warmth of the hearth is none other than a certain bespectacled enchanter. It was still so chilly outside that he found himself keeping his cloak on even indoors due to just how much heat it let him retain. Also snug, very snug.

    As Black Rose makes her way over to Miyako, Shiroe ends up interjecting with a detached voice. "She's a bard." Also yes, the Villain in Glasses is in fact here. He's still working on papers and documents by the fire, but he is in fact here. Though something does cause him to stop his work entirely when he gets a whiff of those spices. "Could that be...?" He turned towards the entrance as Yuuki arrives. His eyes go wide for a moment as he realizes what she brought. He gets up from his chair and starts heading over as quickly as possible. The others may not believe it yet but well he's already had terrible tea to prove that there exists flavors again!

    "Yuuki, we're not even on a quest this time and we spot you. So...What's the deal with those potatoes though? Is Plant Hwyaden just handing out free samples of food now or something?" Truth be told he is kinda wondering if there's suppose to be an angle for this or if Yuuki's just being Yuuki. Either are reasonable. He just wants to know before hand...

    The purple-haired girl from the duel the other day walks in. Mizuki's not even looking at her; she smells the food first, then looks around.

    She comes over to the table, looking at the food, then at Yuuki. "If this is a prank, I WILL deck you." She extends the claw on her right index finger and picks up a piece of potato with it. Sniffing it, then blowing on it, then putting it in her mouth.

    The catgirl's eyes go wide. She transforms to human, chews and savors the spiced potato, before finally swallowing. She looks at Yuuki, and Shiroe, and anyone else who isn't *surprised* by this revelation.

    "How did you do it?!"

    Yuuki blinks, but then smiles as the Enchanter addresses her, "Oh hey, Shiroe! I didn't know you were here. And why wouldn't I show up? This is only the most rocking bar in Alne!" Yuuki gives a thumbs up to Miyako in the corner.

    When the discussion switches to the food though, Yuuki shrugs, "I was hanging around the Olympus HQ when I noticed a bunch of the Plant folks cooking stuff. I think it was an experiment or something. They already had some stuff done so I thought it would be nice to share!"

    Pause.

    "I probably should have asked if I could take it... Ehhhh. It's fine. I'm a guild leader!"

    Yuuki grins at Mizuki as she digs in, "Welp, the way I understand it is... You just cook it! Like normal! Not with a menu, or anything." She taps her chin, "Though I think you need to have the right skill too. Like Cooking!"

Reika waves to Miyuki, smiling despite hwo she's feeling "Hey there, coming in to warm up too?" She's been working in the cold for a good part of the day, so it's been pretty rough on her. But the announcement of hot potatoes has her looking up "It's probably going to taste bland, but at least it's warm." She stands up to get herself one, following Mizuki by a step. She just stares at hers for a moment though "I wish it would taste as good as it smells."

She blinks though as Mizuki reacts strongly "What, do you suddenly like the taste of toothpaste?" She tilts her head... and takes a bite of hers finally.

Cut the angels singing and carrying the idol to heaven ^_______________^

Accepting a potato from Yuuki, BlackRose briefly gasps a little at how hot it is. "Wow, I should've had this when I was outside," BlackRose says with a slight laugh as she blows on the potato a little. Once it's cooled a little, she takes a small bite. "Not bad, actually," She comments before looking at Yuuki again. "Hey, didn't I see you recently? When we were doing that spider dungeon thing?" She raises an eyebrow with intrigue.

             ./~ Down around the bend by the railroad bridge
             ./~ Just wadin' through the shallows where the crayfish live
             ./~ Over by the cottonmill the catfish bite
             ./~ He'll be swimming in a skillet before tonight...

    The scent of the steaming potatoes does send Miyako's nose atwitch. There's something much more /there/ there than the usual run of 'soggy crackers'. Still, she's not going to let it drag her away from her music, not just yet.

    Oh who are you kidding, Miyako? Way the absolute hell too long living on crap. She sets her guitar down and hops up from her seat to join the crowd around Yuuki's dish. "Toothpaste is better than some things I've eaten. *cough* string beans *cough* But those potatoes smell heavenly." She flicks a handkerchief from somewhere, using it to insulate her hands a bit from the heat as she appropriates a bit of steamy spicy fluffy goodness. "Oh -wow-."

    He can't help but smirk as he takes one of the potatoes as well. "Well, you'd probably know better than I would if Nureha would be upset or not." He slowly takes a bite of the starch and when he does...He has to push up his glasses for a moment. It's not cause he's crying. It's definitely not cause he just had a tear that needed to be concealed by the sheen of his glasses. Nothing of the sort. Nope, nothing like that at all... "I-It's really good..."

    He takes a moment to sit at one of the nearby tables offering to pull up a chair for Yuuki to sit down as well. "Might as well, sit down and enjoy the food right? It's been what...A few weeks since people have been able to have something this flavorful? Actually, depending on what the recipe is I might see if we can get a few cooks from our end to try and whip this up. That'd be nice...Maybe if we can get this we can even make..."

    He lets out another soft gasp for a moment as his glasses shine again. "We're seriously going to need to figure this out..."

    Mizuki glances over BlackRose when she mentions she'd have liked hot food outside. "Don't you, um, get cold?"

    She nods to Shiroe and then back to the food... and realizes she has no silverware. Oh, fuck it. She'll just use her hands.

    Yuuki blinks as she is recognised. She stares at BlackRose for a few moments and then snaps her fingers as she remembers, "BlackRose, right? That's a cool name. And yeah, I'm Yuuki!" She grins, "Maybe next time we do that quest, I'll try taking on those spider guards instead of sneaking past!" Probably be more fun. Especially if catching them by surprise!

    Yuuki takes another tato and moves over to plop down into the offered chair. Though she's mid-bite when Shiroe brings up Nureha. Yuuki coughs for a moment before swallowing hard and sighing in relief, before looking pensive, "Riiiiight, Nureha..." Yuuki smiles, "I'm sure she'll be okay with sharing! It makes Plant Hwyaden look good!" Shin mentions as much, Yuuki pointing in his direction, "See? Bugman agrees!"

    Another bite, then Yuuki continues, "Unfortunately any recipes will have to be made without me. I haven't cooked anything in years!" She laughs, though then says, "But I'd be happy to make some requests!"

    Miyako groans softly as she experiences proper-tasting /food/ for the first time in... well, a while. Soooo good. "Mmmmf," she says, coherently, as she noms down on the potato. Then, once her mouth is less obstructed, "Marry me, woman!" she calls to Yuuki. "This is incredibly good."

    She gives Shiroe a nudge. "See? Simple enough. Time to find out if anyone in your lot can manage this. We need a competition! A tournament of taste!"

    A lady knight enters the establishment. Tall, blonde, solidly built, in rather fashionable paladin armor, sword at her side, she stands out in a crowd. She turns her head towards a gathering of Adventurers, noting the excitement and happiness as they eat something... That's new. Most people she has seen so far seem to just get depressed when they eat. Intrigued, she advances towards the group, and says, "Greetings. My name is Darkness. I apologize for intruding, but noticed that you seem to be enjoying your meal. May I inquire about that?"

After washing down her potato with a drink, BlackRose looks to Yuuki and nods wtih a smirk. "Nice name, Yuuki, and I'm glad you like mine. I'm sure we'll do a lot better next time!" She chuckles, then walks over to Miyako. "So, how long have you been playing the guitar for?" She asks with a look of intrigue on her face. "You've got quite the skills, I'll give you that."

A maid enters. "Brrr. It a bit chilly out there... Alot colder than it was back home..", Vepsa comments to herself. A sent lingers across her nose. Something smells good. She sits down content to be in someplace a bit warm. She looks around seeing a few familar faces..

    Shiroe raises a brow a bit when she it feels like he catches her off guard. "Hey, you alright? I know the food tastes good and all that but don't hurt yourself. I had that same issue the last time too. But uh, not that it was good. In fact it was overspiced tea. I'd tell you if she complains you could blame me, but frankly I don't think we're on that great of terms despite what you think..." He slowly munches into that potato again as he listens to her explain more about the recipes. "It's fine, you already did a huge favor to everyone here just deciding to bring some snacks out. Though..." He looks back at the Lander behind the bar, "I can't imagine they appreciate the food being brought in from outside..."

    As he says that he takes notice of a few of the new arrivals. The anime protagonist looking gentleman with glasses who honestly seemed like well...Well, if maybe Shiroe was a bit cooler looking, was a bit more creative with his character design maybe he'd look li- Yeah, no besides the glasses and the height he can't imagine himself being anything like this guy. "MMmm, it looks like one of your alliance leaders was kind enough to help promote some of your new food products."

    That's when he gets nudged by Miyako, "Aren't my people your people too? Anyway, it'll definitely be interesting to see what our cooks can make...In fact..." He starts pondering about a certain cook he hasn't seen but heard has been around. He shrugs at the thought though when it the thought passes and Darkness asks what's going on. Instead of answering, he ends up picking up one of the left over potatoes and tosses it her way. "Catch, and have a bite." HOT POTATO!

Reika noms on her potato pretty quickly, almost stuffing her cheeks like a squirrel in the process. "Something that TASTES, I almost forgot how that was!" She phews as she finishes swallowing the whole thing... pretty much not noticing who else is around, but at least she got some of her good mood back thanks to ACTUAL TASTY FOOD.

She sits back down "That's a bandaid on my day at least. Being outside most of the day recruiting has not been the most pleasant." She's talking about guild work of course, and most people know she's with Hamelin by now, after the recruitment fair.

    Yuuki waves to the newcomers, Darkness and Vespa, "Heyyyyy! We're just kicking back, having some fun. Feel free to grab a steamed potato. They're real good! Thanks to the good folks of Plant Hwyaden." Yes. A simple meal to make, made so much more wonderful by weeks of soggy crackers and raw fruits and vegetables.

    Yuuki laughs as she receives a marriage proposal, "Maybe make me a nice dinner first and I'll consider it!" She winks at Miyako

    Shiroe makes a good point though, Yuuki glancing over in the direction of the Lander bartender. Yuuki hmms, before jumping up from her chair. She grabs a few of the potatoes, before zipping over to the bar and handing them over to the Lander with a smile, "Here you go! Sorry for bringing food in... It's a special occasion!"

    Yuuki bounces back over and into her seat. With a happy sigh she leans back in the chair a bit and smiles, "This is better... Hmmm. Maybe I'll see if I can find someone that can make an apple pie."

    Mizuki looks over at Darkness as she chews her food. "Ey gaht ood ih tayshte" she explains.

    After some more chewing and swallowing, Shiroe mentions the Landers might be upset at food being brought into their shop. "Then they can learn how to make food we can taste. Law of supply and demand."

    "Ohh, apple pie would be so good..."

Vespa gets up and walks towads Yuuki. "So that what I was smelling.", she goes over and take a steam potato. "These smell great..", she pulls out a mug of tea out of her pocket in front of her apron. "It's only black tea for now. I have to experment more with different flavors. I have some cups if we need them.", she interjects. "Cookies be nice. ..If knew how to make them."

    Darkness is startled and lets out a small shriek of dismay as a steaming potato is thrown at her. She manages to catch it eventually after a juggling it for a few seconds, trying to get a grip on it, and eventually manages to capture the prized tater between her palms. "Geez... Throwing hot food at a woman with barely any warning... What if it had splattered all over my face... You truly are a beast, Shiroe-san." Darkness seems a bit red as she examines the food item, but not displeased as she decries Shiroe's methods. Perhaps she is embarrassed by her near-fumble but happy about the potential of eating food with flavor.

    She blows on it for a few seconds, listening to others sing the praises of the produce in her grasp. Miyako is a bit hard to translate, but Darkness gets the gist of it. Delicately, she bites into the potato. Her eyes widen in shock as the flavor hits her taste buds. "D-Delicious!" she calls out. Then remembers her image, and clears her throat into her free hand while looking away. "Truly, what a marvelous discovery! Although..." she shimies in place a bit as she continues taking bites out of the Potato of Legend. "...Being forced to subsist on flavorless food had its own appeal. B-because a Crusader has to have the fortitude to withstand hardship! It was a test of endurance!" she rushes to add on.

    Miyako chuckles lightly. "Yes, but I'm not the one in charge," she explains to Shiroe, then muffles anything else she might have said to him with another bite of potato. "Mmm. Soooo good to have real food again," she eventually says.

    The potato finished, she starts to retreat to her corner again, recovering her guitar and settling down again. "Tell you what, Yuuki, soon as I can figure it out, I'll make you my special sesame chicken." She grins and winks at the imp, then strums her guitar and considers for a moment. "How long?" she calls back to Blackrose. "About... let's see... carry the three... divide by seventeen... pretty much since I was big enough to pick up a ukulele."

             ./~ Here I am man, all alone again
             ./~ Anchored away, t'hell and gone again
             ./~ Another mile, from another town, the wind's nor'east, and the rain comin' down
             ./~ Home is the sailor, home from the sea... he's a home to the mildew, a friend to the flea...

             ./~ I don't care man! I'm happy!
             ./~ I got an old fat boat she's slow but handsome
             ./~ Hard in the chine, and soft in the transom
             ./~ I love her well, and she must love me
             ./~ But I think it's only for my money.

Vespa looks over at Darkness. "To each there own I guess. I'll takes tasty food anytime.", she pours a cup of tea offering it to Darkness. "Have a cup of tea. It's really hot."

Reika nods as everyone gives their suggestions for food "There's so many things that would be so nice, like cakes, ice cream, yokonomyakis, takoyakis..." She licks her lips just thinking about them "It's feels like forever since I ate those now."

She hmms as she considers "So we figured out how to make things tasty at least... finally. I mean, this is only the start I hope, soon we'll get much more." Wishful thinking, but positive thinking nonetheless.

    There's tea!? Oh!

    Yuuki bounces out of her chair again, stepping up next to Vespa, "I'll take some!" Yuuki bounces on her feet eagerly as she waits for it to be poured, "Beats water. Or milk. Or watered milk." She's not saying that the local bartender waters the milk...

    Yuuki points at Reika, "That's right! Although it's not going to be easy to make some stuff. It's not like we have huge factories and fancy equipment to make things for us... I mean does anyone even know how butter is made!? Cause I sure don't!"

Chuckling a little at the musician's mathematics, BlackRose comments, "Well, that's a good enough length of time I suppose." She looks at Yuuki who's going for tea and decides to join her. "A nice cup of tea would be good."

    Wynfei makes his way into the house, he was outside looking around before joining the others. "So what....potatoes?" he asks. "Do they taste like anything?" he asks as he looks to them. He stretches a little bit as he walks over with an apple in his hand eating it

    Mizuki gives Darkness a confused look. "Maybe. But don't you wanna be able to take a break from roleplaying that once in awhile?" She takes another mouthful of potatoes, chews, and closes her eyes, listening to Miyako's song.

Reika waves to Wynfei "They taste like potatoes, which is a whole lot more than we could say about anything for the last month." She takes her warm milk and sips quietly, relishing in the taste of her potato... although she's done eating it. She's looking forward to more things.

She nods to Yuuki "It doesn't need to be complicated, I'd be happy with rice right now. If I'm going to get sick of eating something, at least make it something tasty.

Gwen had paid the owner of the bar some gold to let her use the kitchen for a little bit and invited Shiruba to the bar. She'd been cooking for a while waiting for her friend to arrive. She had a plan here sure the cat was out of the bag but she'd planned something and she'll send a direct Message to Shiruba.

<<Oh Shiruba are you at the Pub yet? I got your present here...o/~>>

As luck would have it Shiruba is walking in the door at almost the same time Gwen is PMing her once again. <<Sheesh, Gwen, yes. I just got here. I told you I was doing a patrol around the town.>> The wolfgirl stops just past the pub doors to look around, but since her friend is back in the kitchen she can't spot her. Because otherwise an amazonian elf with that specific haircolor is hard to miss. "Not to mention it's busier in here than the fried chicken resturant on Christmas Eve in here," she adds in a mumble to herself.

             ./~ No more tobacco, no more cheese
             ./~ I'm sprung in the back, and lame in the knees
             ./~ It's a damn good thing I'm easy to please
             ./~ There ain't nothin' in town on a sunday

             ./~ I don't care man! I'm happy!
             ./~ I got an old fat boat she's slow but handsome
             ./~ Hard in the chine, and soft in the transom
             ./~ I love her well, and she must love me
             ./~ But I think it's only for my money.

    Miyako grins as she keeps on singing, her eyes bright with pleasure as the sound echoes through the tavern. She pauses long enough to take a quick sip of something that was allegedly beer, but tastes more like water.

             ./~ You know, I got milk, and I got ice
             ./~ A little home-made bread - a little old, but nice
             ./~ Everybody puts their cookin' hat on
             ./~ When you tell 'em you're leavin' in the morning ./~ I don't care man! I'm happy!
             ./~ I got an old fat boat she's slow but handsome
             ./~ Hard in the chine, and soft in the transom
             ./~ I love her well, and she must love me
             ./~ But I think it's only for my money.

             ./~ An' I don't mind stayin, And I don't mind goin',
             ./~ But I'm some damn tired of rowin'.
             ./~ Yes I don't mind stayin, And I don't mind goin',
             ./~ But I'm some damn tired of rowin'.

     (Mmmm. Fried chicken. Christmas Eve. That does sound nice....)

Kaydon had followed Shiruba, because that's kinda what he wound up doing most days. For someone who claimed to be a solo player and a mercenary, he sure seems to find himself hanging around with groups and doing stuff for free a lot.

"You made it seem like it was urgent. Hope Gwen's not in any trouble." He steps inside, looking around the tavern. To think this is where he spent the first night in this world, and how likely is it he's gonna spend another night here.

<<Well I don't want your present to get cold>>

Gwen will one be in light casual clothing and not full armour as she scoots out of the kitchen thanking the staff for letting her use it. She's grinning wildly as she does so.

"Still working on some of it but hey..."

She got a platter of Gyoza and they look fresh they smell right too, she's made a simple sauce to go with it. Sadly it's not soy. But it smells pretty decent. She sit down with the platter there's more than enough for just her to eat she made enough for like six people from the looks of it ad she waves over to Kaydon and Shiruba.

"Come eat!"

She's grinning widely at this as she waits.

"No, but she's really excited about something," Shiruba replies to Kaydon. "It's slightly unnerving... Oh hey, there's an actual performance playing." That's not just the resident Lander that provides the background music to the pub when no players are. "Sounds pretty good t--"

Shiruba trails off of the comment, tilting her head a bit. The heightened canine senses she now has picks up the aroma of something good just before Gwen parades it out of the kitchen. "... Wait, when did they have dumplings?" She takes one, dips it in a bit of sauce, and takes a tentative bite.

And the rest is gone a moment later. "When did they have REAL dumplings?!" she reiterates the previous question. "That deal about someone figuring out Cooking wasn't a bunch of fluff?!"

For now, BlackRose is simply sipping her tea and enjoying Miyako's singing. It's quite an interesting diversion to see someone singing like this in a place like this.

Vespa raised hand. "Guilty party right here.", she takes another bite of her potato. "Pizza."

    Mizuki opens her eyes when Shiruba shouts about dumplings. She looks over at... "Gwen? Did you make those?" She moves over and holds out a hand towards the dumplings, "May I?"

    Yuuki munches on another tasty steamed potato from another table, piping up at Shiruba's question, "Yup! Those geniuses actually figured out how to do it! THEY INVENTED FOOD!"

    Vespa then announces it was her, "Ohhhh? Nice work!" Yuuki flashes her a thumbs up.

    "Pizza huh. That would be neat. The cheese and the dough might be a bit tough though..."

Reika ooohs "Pizza sounds good, also pastas, I'd love to get spaghetti~" She chimes. The good mood is back thanks to actual tasty food. This definitely puts a bandaid on the rough month they went through since the apocalypse.

Kaydon loves gyoza, and the fact that someone made some surprises him. Especially because he was pretty sure it didn't exist in the crafting menu. But it could be like with his metalworking. He grabs one of them, dips it in the sauce and then pops it into his mouth.

He is shocked as he tastes it. Because he actually TASTES it, "Holy shit." He grabs another one and dips and eats it, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, "You made these, Gwen? Holy hell. It's amazing!" After all the time of eating that salty cracker crud, anything should taste amazing. But this legit tastes good even compared to what he's hade before.

            ./~ You know, I got coffee, I got tea
            ./~ I got the beans, and the beans got me
            ./~ I got tunafish, I got rum
            ./~ I got a two-pound splinter in my thumb

            ./~ So I'll take my toddy, and my vitamin C
            ./~ And the radio for some company...
            ./~ Oh, me...

    Miyuki adds a plaintive moan to the last line, leaning forward and eyeing that plate of gyoza.

            ./~ I got the hydrogen peroxide blues~

    And then it's right back to the semi-manic fun of the chorus.

             ./~ I don't care man! I'm happy!
             ./~ I got an old fat boat she's slow but handsome
             ./~ Hard in the chine, and soft in the transom
             ./~ I love her well, and she must love me
             ./~ But I think it's only for my money

            ./~ Well, mercy mercy, I do declare
            ./~ Half the fun of goin' is the gettin' there
            ./~ Mercy, Percy, you'd better start rowin'
            ./~ 'Cause the other half o' gettin' there is goin'!

    It would seem this song, at least, is done for now, since she sets aside the guitar to get up and hurry over. "Please, please, please tell me there's some left," she mutters as she closes in on the platter of dumlings. She scoops up a few, tossing the hot stuff from hand to hand before finding a plate to set it down on. "Pizza? Oh, gods above and below, please... yes. I repeat my earlier offer, Yuuki, you've just made my life worth living!"

"Vespa, you are officially the Best Maid Ever!" Shiruba stuffs a couple more in her mouth as her infamously voracious appetite kicks it up at having food that actually tastes like food.

It takes a moment to realize who Mizuki is, but once she does the wolfgirl passes the platter her way.

Just better be sure to grab some before she eats them all herself. Or hope Gwen has more in the back.

    Yuuki laughs some more at Miyako, but rubs the back of her neck, "As much as I would like to take credit, I just carried the food over here. The real heroes are those people with the Cooking skill! I think they've just become some of the greatest heroes in the land!"

    As Miyako approaches the plate, Mizuki turns towards her and goes for a handshake, looking her in the eyes. "Thank you. For a few moments, I could feel like I was home again... or at least in FM World."

    And then Shiruba gives her dumplings and she pops one in her mouth. "Mmmmm..."

    Wynfei walks over to Darkness, "Hey you doing alright?" he asks. He looks over to Miyako as she sings, "Hey Reika." he waves to her. There are quite a few familiar faces here. He remembers Yuuki from the her and Kirito did but he's not officially met her, same with Darkness. "I have the cooking skill too, though it looks like Gwen is on things for now."

Reika considers that "So you guys figured out the trick to it huh? That's good. Looking forward to what else people can make them." She smiles. She's not a crafter herself, so she wouldn't know where to start, but she can watch what others will come up with from here on. It's interesting in its own way.

Gwen is now digging into her cooking and making a very disturbingly happy face. She closes her eye snd is savouring her meal as she looks between her fiends and scarfs down stuff. She seems to be almost twittering at it. She's enjoying the music.

"Yes I did I had some things catch fire or turn to goop but this one I was able to pull off. Though Vespa was the one who had the light bulb go on to figure out how to do it."

She grins "If you head the news? How you do it like you would and have the right professional skills for it generally. Their workshop is open use you know for experimenting and the price the Plant is charging is pretty reasonable. I'm thinking of additional ideas for a shop also I can apply this to outfit-making."

Shiruba licks her fingers. "Alas, I don't have any particular crafting skills. Just hunting and exploring." Then sits back to just relax after finally having a proper meal in, what, almost four weeks? "But yeah, now you can finally start on that shop you keep dreaming about."

"My first few tires were not that great either.", Vespa says. "The first time I tired to make tea my teapot exploded!", she smiles a bit remembering that. "A bit of perserive paid off big time for everyone.", she hm. "If no when I figure out how to makes sweets I might open up a maid cafe..", she pauses. "What am i saying?"

    Miyako smiles and shakes Mizuki's hand. "My pleasure. Far as I can see it, a life without music isn't worth living." She grins and settles in to enjoy the gyoza. "Might do a few more songs after this."

    She looks up and over at Vespa and calls out. "Thanks for this!" Sometimes it's the little things that make it all worthwhile...

    He couldn't help but smirk when he saw Darkness fumble with the potato. Then just stare at her a bit judgingly as she started to make all those assumptions and then go as far as to call him a beast. "Huh, I've been called a lot of things but I don't think I've been called a beast before...Might need to add that one to the list. Also I just figured you'd end up catching it since you're a tank. Couldn't imagine a little heat was going to stop you. Also, don't have to force yourself to say that you know. It's fine to want to have food with flavor, having the taste of the same soggy crackers and water for weeks on end is enough to really throw someone off. I could imagine that having food with actual taste might even help everyone with their mental states about the game right now which is what we really need to see."

    He takes another bite of the potato as Miyako makes her argument about 'his people', "Actually they're not. The NWA is divided into four main guilds with several affiliate players and minor guilds as well. While I can help advise in regards to setting up things for the guild as a whole, it's not like I can exactly order another person's guild members to do things. Only reason I've been able to do so at the time being is because the rest of the other guild leaders have told the others for the time being to treat my words with some validity. It's the same with the other leaders. Though they have just as much right to deny what I wanna say if they don't feel it works for them and then it's up for their guild leader to decide." He pushes up his glasses for a moment, "You make it sound like I'm a dictator or something..."

"Well." Kaydon says, after eating several more pieces, "I'm gonna have to get back to work on my metalworking. Because if this works, then mine probably will too." He says, sitting back, "Thank you Gwen. That was great. Of course now you realize you're going to have to make food for us all the time."

Gwen looks "You get the mats I make the things. Beside there other things I could make and I'd even pay you on top of the food for modelling. Come on I can make the good stuff and with this, I can even help you look pretty cool. Oh I know I'm thinking of expanding my little shop to have a small cafe. I look forward to seeing what you end up making!"

Reika doesn't know Shiroe enough to really talk about him being a beast, a villain or a dictator. But he's getting attention from different girls anyway. "I want to see what you'll come up next for food~" She happily chimes. She ships on her warm milk "Good evening at least, after a day in the cold doing work for the guild, it was so cold. I want to flog who thought that'd be a good idea in a game. How about some better winter clothes for the characters?" Irritated sip.

    Mizuki nods to Miyako, then looks back at the plate of dumplings. "I tried that... but if I even do so little as try to peel a carrot it breaks. My profession is thief... does that mean all I can do is steal?"

    She scratches the back of her head. "Not that I was gonna do much crafting with IT and programming, anyway... but it woulda been handy to be able to at least cook food..."

Oh there it is. The bombshell that was bound to drop. It was hard to miss the way Gwen had been so eager to get Shiruba to stuff her face.

After a pause the wolfgirl wags a finger point at Gwen. "That's a bribe. I know it's a bribe... and I hate that we both know it's going to damn well work." Then scratchs behind one of her ears with a sigh. "Just as long as you're not reinventing flannel."

Vespa wonders what the heck is thinking. Opening up a shop? Ridclous. She want to leave this place, not open up a store. She sighs to herself now her mood darkened. She slumps in her chair a bit finishing up her potato. She really hopes someone makes beer soon.

    Miyako hmms softly as she considers Mizuki's question, and a mouthful of delicious delicious gyoza. "You'd be surprised at what you can manage, but... well. From what they're saying you need the skill... which is apparently not that easy to get." She sighs softly. "Not that I'm gonna let that stop be from trying."

    She shrugs at Shiroe's explanation. "As if they don't all listen to you anyway, Vigo." She chuckles lightly. "A benevolent dictator is still in charge of it all."

    Mizuki looks at Gwen. "Wait, you'd pay to make clothes for us? Exactly what kinda stuff are you making, better armor? Although... Why do you need a model, won't it automatically adjust itself to your body when you equip it?"

Gwen says "Yes I know and yes you do but you'll have fun. Flannel? It's coming someday I mean how else will you get max crafting and gathering gear. For anything wood related you know. Sides it's always looked good on you!"

She grins even more at this and goes back to eating. "Look we'll figure it out maybe we can find some gear that gives someone low-level cooking. For now, at least we have a means to food that has taste."

She looks to Mizuki for a moment and Miyako.

"Keep at it, you may learn something we with the skill might miss."

She also pays attention to Shiroe at this point.

"IT's been pretty sound to listen to you so far and besides you have the skill of cat herding, that's nearly impossible to get. Soggy soda crackers forever. It's a special sort of hell. There was an old ass anime where the aliens defect over many things but the most notable thing was food with taste."

    "Hey Gwen, you made actual food?" he asks as he joins her and Reika. "Hey how is everyone really doing, I know I'm starting to ask this a lot, just want to make sure we all are good." he says in general.

    He can't help but shake his head at the remark. "Hai, hai, whatever floats your boat." Truth be told he seemed more indifferent to this nickname than the last one that Miyako had given him. Even though this one did have a bit more...Interesting implications. "Anyway, we'll definitely need to try making a few dishes on our own. Even if it's just something as simple as making a glass of lemonade we need to see just how far we can go now that we know the crafting system isn't the end all be all within the game."

Gwen says "Focusing on quality of life clothing for the moment. Such as good socks, small clothes, basically casual things. As for that to show off what it is like. Besides both girls and even boys exist for a reason it draws customer interest."

"That we do," Miyako agrees with Shiroe around bites of gyoza. "And figure out how to glom onto that Cooking skill. Everyone's going to want it once they hear about this."

    She hmms softly, then looks over at Gwen. "Oh, my, that's ... I'm going to have to look you up, I will." She flips through her menu quickly and sends Gwen a friend invitation. And another for everyone here whom she hasn't already.

    Mizuki processes this. "So you have tailoring skill in the game and IRL, and rather than use it to focus on gear with amazing stats or elaborate cosplay or something, you're going to focus on restoring the mundane comforts of our old lives?"

    Mizuki looks at Gwen. "That's wonderful! After what's been, effectively, a three-week camping trip with, admittedly, the best LARP ever happening every day, I would love me some comforts! Sign me up!"

Reika hmms as she thinks "I never thought cooking would be an important thing until we got into this situation. Can anyone learn how to cook though? I mean, it still works as a game, can you learn new skills like that?"

Shiruba folds her arms and lays back her ears, skulking in her chair for a moment. She's not as instantly cute as some of the players around town in doing so, but she tries. "Flannel still sucks," she mutters under her breath.

Then after a moment of though perks up a little, rubbing her chin. "Though if manually crafting gets better results, I wonder if trying actual Hunting instead of just shooting random animal mobs would get better materials..."

    "If I recall, if we level up enough there was hinting at the possibility of a second profession in one of the updates. But I can't say for sure." It's a remark meant to answer both Reika and Miyako at once. "Either way, it does raise a lot of questions though. But uh...Nothing too crazy." For now at least. "Anyway, anymore of those potatoes left?" Gotta get the actual food while he could.

    Wynfei goes quiet and lets th others talk, he seems to ask only the same thing a lot, which he knows is annoying and something he needs to change for teh moment he moves out of the way and relaxes a bit and listens to the conversations.

Gwen pauses for a moment at this. "That could yield a lot more materials for everyone to work with." She muses at this seeming to like where this is going.

"Yes, I mean I can do gear later but right now this is also a good way to level up my tailoring as well."

SHe pause and grins.

"All right I'll hit you up, but I need to find a location to get a shop and personal workshop made eventually so I don't tie up the public one all the time."

    Mizuki nods to Gwen. She looks at Shiruba, "Hunting? I tried killing a beast once but it dropped a corpse, not meat. I didn't really know what to do so I sold it to a lander butcher, but once they did something to it the taste was gone from the meat... I've been hunting monsters to get meat drops."

    And so the evening goes on, with people celebrating the arrival at last of Real Food(tm), chatting and eating and having fun. And in the corner, Miyako plays her guitar and sings, songs of the sea and ships and far distant places, dreams and fantasies, and stranger things indeed.

    But let us leave them to their fun, and move on, for there are other things to see in this world. There will always be more. Happy Adventuring, all!