Far below the rolling tide [Open]

[zouichi]

Strangely enough, even after the events of the past few days, Zouichi had not developed an aversion to the ocean. Or axes! Or giant squid! It helped that he, unlike some of the other crew, hadn't been in imminent danger of drowning. He was, however, busying himself with preparing some of the food they'd bought on shore leave, as well as supplies

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[moms_temperment]

Free food? Hana is there!

Hana came bounding over to the inn. He'd heard Zouichi had just gotten back from a mission and was eager to know everything. It was just so much better hearing it from someone who was actually there, like listening to a book being read by its author.

The moment he stepped over the threshold the scent of food hit him and his stomach made a loud noise of complaint, causing Taro, who'd been nesting the halo of Hana's hair, to cock his head and peer down at his owner.

"Helloooooo! Anyone in?" Then a second later. "Do you have food?"

[zouichi]

He recognized that voice. "Come on in!" Zouichi called from his spot in the kitchen. "I'm in the middle of something, so I can't make it over right now."

Now, where did he put that plate? Fortunately, the kitchen had plenty of counter space. Although maybe he should start moving some of those dumplings into the freezer...

[moms_temperment]

Taro chriped from atop Hana's head, opened his wings and flew in the direction of the kitchen.

Hana followed, grinning as he entered. "Heh, I'm glad you've always got food."

[zouichi]

Zouichi smiled at him. "Well, we did just get off of a shore leave. What would you like? Gyoza? Some sushi? Or I could make some omurice for you, if you don't mind waiting a bit."

Just don't tell Howard, Hana! He'd probably disapprove of giving away food. "Taro's looking well. Are you out getting some exercise?"

[i_sell_drugs]

Howard's spent the last few days 'recuperating' from the mission (all missions, he's decided, should be followed by periods of recuperation, and all recuperating should be done with extensive cuddling of cats and creation of weird things at the Warehouse). Recently, he's put efforts into making a little harness out of of mini-carabiners and some woven belts to walk the new cat with. For some reason the idea of walking a cat around on a leash entertains him. It entertains the cat far less.

It seems that at least three noses have picked up on the smell of shrimp tempura, as Emergency Rations wanders into the kitchen, followed shortly by her owner. Howard's carrying the new cat, now saddled with the permanent name 'Sushi', in his arms.

"Please tell me one of those is for me." Because if not, Zouichi, you will never, ever hear the end of it.

[zouichi]

"One of these is for you," Zouichi said, setting a plate of the shrimp on the counter. He reached over, scratching behind the orange tabby's ears.

"Are you going to adopt this guy, too?" He was a little surprised at how much Howard had taken to cats, honestly -- when they'd first met, Howard hadn't really seemed the sort of person who would willingly accept responsibility for another. Although it didn't escape him that this cat was also apparently going to be named after food. But at least he hadn't been dubbed MRE or something.

[i_sell_drugs]

"Thanks, man. This is nice." Howard's going to go to the effort of not inhaling all this shrimp at once. Try to savor it.

"I think so. Someone has to take care of him and he seems to get along good with Emergency Rations." He places the tubby cat on the floor. Both cats pretty immediately set to begging at Zouichi's feet. Howard grabs his plate and takes a seat, ignoring the way the kitties' eyes trail after the food.

Hey, give him credit, Zou. He took responsibility for Orc for over a year. Granted, 'took responsibility' largely meant keeping Orc drunk and then flipping out when the guy rampaged and killed someone, but the intent was there!

"Besides, avoiding them both will give Alan exercise."

[zouichi]

Wow, Howard. That was impressive. Zouichi gave both cats a little piece of shrimp... but not too much. He was on to you, Emergency Rations!

Yes... about that keeping Orc drunk thing. That did not sound like responsible caretaking. He gave Howard a look. "Well, he looks like he's adjusting pretty well. How about you? Doing alright?"

He returned to the stove, flipping some dumplings as they reached a nice brown color on one side. Don't ask him what he was going to do with all of these.

[greatergone]

Kais drew in a deep breath through his mouth. The humorous thing about not having a nose meant that all the smell receptors chilled out inside his mouth.

Either way, it smelled like seafood. Not that he had any experience with that smell since he was completely used to eating rations. But he knew what it was and curiosity drove him a little further onward.

Yep, he couldn't help but take a peek.

[zouichi]

Zouichi thought he heard something, and looked up. "Someone out there? You can just come on in if you want; my hands are full right now."

Kais, you needed to live a little.

[greatergone]

He is living! Kais shows all the signs of being a life form, therefore, he is living.

But he does step in since he was told to. His eyes jump straight to the food in curiosity.

"Greetings."

[zouichi]

Zouichi put down the piece of shrimp he was working on, raising a hand briefly to Kais in greeting. "Hey. Is there any particular reason for this visit? Or are you just dropping in?"

Not that it mattered much. He motioned to a plate of tenpura on the counter. "Have a seat if you want. I just made those, so they'll be hotter."

[nobel_berserker]

The return from Deepstar 7 was one of the only times that Allenby had actually appreciated being on Stacy. Or maybe it was more like if she was going to be in a situation with untrustworthy authorities and hidden dangers, she would at least prefer not to be kilometers under the ocean. Since then she'd been spending a lot of time up on the roofs in the city, even bringing some of her mechanical projects up there to tinker with. She could stand to be out of enclosed spaces for a while.

But the Susono Inn was home, and sooner rather than later she felt drawn back there.

...And hey, didn't she have good timing! If that smell was anything to go by, she sure did. Allenby poked her head into the kitchen and grinned. "Heeey, looks like you've been busy!"

[zouichi]

Zouichi smiled at the sight of her, setting down a plate of fresh gyoza on the counter. "I guess you could say that. Hungry?"

He'd been about to take a break from actually cooking, anyway, to finish making some more of the dumplings. There was a big bowl of filling on the counter, in fact, along with a stack of gyoza skins. He sat down to start working on them. Might as well!

[nobel_berserker]

Now what kind of a question was that, Zouichi? "Hah, you bet!" She peered at some of the boxes he'd already finished. "Wow... these are real fancy!" She plucked a piece of broccoli out of one of them and took a bite.

She wandered over to the bowl of filling, feeling vaguely guilty about him having done all this cooking while she was off sulking in the city. "How much more of this stuff are you gonna make? I can give you a hand."

[zouichi]

"If you want," he said, demonstrating for her. He placed a small amount of the mixture in the middle of one of the skins, folding it into a semicircle and using egg white as a glue to seal it shut. Then he placed it on a tray with the others.

"It's going to take a while to make them all, though. You might as well eat before it gets cold."

[futureisclear]

Apparently Zouichi had too much food on hand. Perhaps Ildraniath could help him with that (maybe a little, anyway). In any case, he'd returned from another mission (safely). She paused in the kitchen doorway, her usual robe wrapped around her.

"I didn't realize you indulged in cooking."

[zouichi]

For a brief, absurd moment, Zouichi debated attempting to hide the apron he was currently wearing. But that would have been ridiculous, and Ildraniath had probably noticed it already, anyway. He settled for turning off the heat on the stove, slipping the apron off and folding it once or twice before depositing it neatly on the counter.

He was wearing more casual clothing today, no doubt obtained on their last shore leave. Not exactly battle dress... but then, the kitchen wasn't a battlefield. Generally speaking.

"I do, on occasion. More frequently now, since there's more time. I thought I'd mentioned it before." Or maybe he hadn't. In any case, he went to retrieve something he'd left sitting on the island counter -- a set of two stacked black, glossy boxes, wrapped carefully in colored cloth. "I was going to bring this to you," he said, looking perhaps the slightest bit sheepish.

[futureisclear]

Ildraniah, obviously, preferred her own Eldar style of dress. It was comfortable and it kept her firmly grounded and thinking of home. And thinking about what her objective was through all this. She gave Zouichi a small shrug and took a few steps into the kitchen, eyeing it over. She'd never been too much of a cook herself, although she could certainly feed herself without difficulty. Of course, she'd never gone down a 'chef' path either, so it wasn't as if she could turn out gourmet food.

"Well, that's something we all have now, isn't it? Free time..."

She smiled slightly at his sheepishness. She didn't totally understand it, of course.

"How thoughtful. Thank you..." She reached out to accept the boxes.

[zouichi]

Zouichi smiled a little. "True. In any case, I learned to cook before I came here, though I didn't have as much opportunity to practice as I might have. But I thought... well, it's a long time between planets, and the last world had some worthwhile supplies. Certainly better than the what the ship likes to provide, anyway."

Most likely by accident, his fingers brushed hers as he handed her the package. "Are you busy today?"