post palace hot pot party (week 7)

[townmusician]

[Yoon's Palace has faded away, but the fact the God of Conflict decided to show up and intervene again...

Well, that's! Not a good sign! To say the least! But there's nothing to be done about that right now, and Haruka isn't of the mind to really sit and wonder about divine conflicts and grandstanding and all of that, anyways. It's not his problem. The people who deal with that sort of thing on the regular can be in charge of all of that.

What he's in charge of (by virtue of being annoying) is... hot pot. Specifically rounding up everyone and dragging them out to a hot pot restaurant in the city.

He'll miss having money but... he'll just have to work hard to earn it back... Have fun, everyone. (Or maybe he can find a way to charge Mina for this?)]

Comments

[emptyself]

[ soon after the events of the palace, soujuurou had left in a rush when no one was looking. maybe he was upset?

but everyone comes in together, who else is peeking from the door of the kitchen other than— ]

Oh, hey guys! What are you here for?

[ what is a group of people doing in a restaurant? ]

[supherb]

Soujuurou?!

[He was wondering where Soujuurou went to, but...]

We're here to party, duh! Did you seriously have a shift here at the same time?

[emptyself]

Yeah, I figured I wouldn’t want to be late to a shift again after I called out a couple days ago.

[ he nods. ]

This is good, though, I think I can get you guys a discount too.

[destage]

Oh! Shizuki-kun--I was wondering where you went!

[Honestly, she was surprised that he didn't come along, but...honestly? She can sort of get it, though she gives him a quick grin.]

We're celebrating! Haruka-kun brought up the idea and got us all here, so--here we are! It's not like we could've taken the one that we actually made with us...

Is your shift going okay so far?

[emptyself]

Ah, that’s pretty smart of him.

[ he says this with a genuine tone, though quiet. the last thing he wants is to inflate haruka’s ego. ]

It really is a shame we couldn’t bring the one we made there, but this is definitely a lot easier, from what I’ve learned.

[ it’s not like he had ever paid much attention to hot pot as a dish until recently, but it is pretty convenient. ]

Mm, my shift is pretty quiet so far. It’s good to keep moving.

[destage]

[Sayaka can't help but giggle a bit at that--she doesn't know Haruka very well, but he can certainly be quite...bossy...it's a little intimidating...!]

It certainly is. It helps that we can all make it how we like, too--and that we don't have to worry about keeping an open flame going, heehee. I would've loved to have tried the one we made though...we'll have to find a way to do that again, maybe?

[Sayaka smiles, though.]

I'm glad to hear it! Hopefully nobody ends up giving you too much trouble. Oh--

[Sayaka's voice goes low, a slight whisper.]

This'll be a separate order from Haruka-kun's tab, so I can pay for it as soon as needed, but...do you know if they can make anything to-go? I wanted to bring back a couple things to the dorm, if they're okay with it!

[Something for Soujuurou, and something for Fray. If she can, maybe even something for Shalem.]

[emptyself]

They definitely do. I’m often on delivery duties, but nothing so far.

[ he gets the idea that she wants to keep this somewhat of a secret, so soujuurou maintains that low whisper, his notepad and paper ready. ]

It would be the raw items with the soup base and we would have to cook the ingredienrs in the dorm kitchen— is that fine with you?

[destage]

I'm glad to hear it. Hopefully it continues to be a nice shift then!

[Sayaka beams brightly, her tone continuing to be soft but grinning.]

That's completely fine! I can whip it up properly when we get back there, certainly then.

[Beat. Small smile while she lists off a small, reasonable variety of some ingredients--while she doesn't know what Shalem likes, she has cooked a little for Fray and he tends to clear his plate, so it's a little haphazard, but...]

Just make sure you pick out a few things you like too, okay? It's for you, too.

[emptyself]

[ soujuurou writes diligently, though it does take him a bit between listening to sayaka and putting down on paper.

but when she mentions this is for him, he stops, and looks at her with a blank expression. ]

For me? Why?

[destage]

Because you're here working so hard, and you should get to enjoy the fruits of all of this too, you know?

[...SHE KNOWS HE'S BEING ~BAD~ and frankly good for him, BUT ALSO--]

[emptyself]

Oh.

[ if only she knew that he doesn't really consider this to be hard work. it's work, sure, but hardly hard labor for him. ]

Well... if you're insisting. And I do agree Shalem and Fray deserve it, so I'll go prepare the ingredients.

[ now he has to think about what he likes? does he even have preferences? ]

[metagame]

Yo.

[Later in the night after everyone has finished eating, Atem tries to approach Soujuurou discretely. Which... given his hair... is a feat... but he's trying!]

Soujuurou, may I have two orders to go?

[There's something he still needs to do.]

[emptyself]

Oh, Atem.

[ he nods, pulling out his notebook. ]

What would you like?

[metagame]

Do you know what Jordi would have wanted..?

[Because looking at the menu is a little overwhelming.

He was a fish man. Fish???]

[emptyself]

Um, well he seemed to be part fish so… maybe something that has fish? Or some sort of seaweed…

[ he’ll point at the menu items that seem to fit that. ]

But is there something you plan to do with that? I mean he’s…

[ in no condition to eat any more, to say the least. ]

[metagame]

[Eh? Why'd Soujuurou trail off like that?]

He's what? Dead? Even the dead need to eat.

[emptyself]

Oh.

[ atem.








you’ve lost soujuurou. ]

Okay.

[ sure, the dead need to eat. must be one of those modern society things. ]

[metagame]

[Glad they cleared that up!]

So you recommend the seaweed? How about... [This is hard, he scans the menu again for anything else.] Salmon?

[idealies]

[ Huuuh? Why is he on that side? It takes Ai a moment to register that Soujuurou is on shift. ]

We're here to celebrate! So this is where you ran off to. I don't know how you have the energy to work after that.

[ Her knees still feel weak, but from relief that everything turned out for the better! ]

[emptyself]

Oh, well... I called off after people fought my Shadow a few days ago, and I figured I couldn't call off again.

[ such is the woes of a capitalist society. well, not that much different from the mountains in that sense. if soujuurou took a break one day, it only meant that work was piling up. ]

But it's alright, it's been quiet so far. You're my biggest group of people, and we're all closer, so I'm happy to serve you guys.

i'm sad i missed his shadow!!

[idealies]

You're so hardworking! I guess it would be hard to explain to your manager that we were out fighting shadows.

[ Especially fighting one's own shadow. She had heard of a commotion but to think Soujuurou had also been possessed like Yoon? Ai leans closer to look him in the eyes. ]

Hmm, nope, no yellow! [ She diagnoses him with a smile. ] Are you feeling 100% again?

she survived not having to potentially get her ass kicked by soujuurou 😭

[emptyself]

Ah--

[ soujuurou freezes as ai closes up on him, quite like a startled cat.

after she gives her diagnosis, he nods in dumb agreement. ]

O-oh. Huh. I never did see if my eyes turned yellow. [ ... ] Mm, I'm probably a bit weak at the arms and legs still. Not just from my fight, but from Yoon's as well. [ he SIGHS. ] These palace-things need to give us a break.

[idealies]

[ Ai pulls back and nods. She feels the exhaustion in her bones too. Stuffing herself with hot pot is helping to replenish her energy and she's riding the high of bringing Yoon back safe, but she'll probably crash once back at the dorms. ]

Get some good rest tonight! You deserve it! I feel like I could sleep for a week myself, but I should get back to my dance practice tomorrow...

[ The grind never ends. She's used to it though! ]

[townmusician]

[...]

Seriously?

[emptyself]

Hey, Haruka.

[ he nods. ]

Is that all the people?