Reopening of the Tanuki Express - RPLOG
Participants
Date
15/1/479
Log
Tam is back in town! The big tanuki sailed in today on a merchant freighter with a happy smile and a whole new kitchen! He has decked out his old cart with new utensils and set himself up under a large, open awning in the marketplace for the day. Delicious smells waft from the cart that has been converted into a portable kitchenette. The tubby tanuki is just wiping his hands on his apron after setting up a sign that reads "TANUKI EXPRESS! Grand Reopening! First 10 Customers EAT FREE!"
Cirra is back in town as well, having been back in Cliffside to settle some affairs. She's been back a couple days, but has been laying lowkey in the Silver Lining Shipwrights' loft. When she heard about Tam's return, as well as the return of his food cart, she had to be there, even if she wasn't one of the first. Her mouth waters slightly as she heads towards the awning. She currently dressed in her regular outfit of a seaman's oilskin coat over a Creator wetsuit, sturdy boots on her feet and the mark of Hephestia on her caudal fin. She is without her custom swords today, but doesn't mean she is undefended.
A figure lands not too far out of the way on a pair of wings, landing quietly and shrugging on her usual robe, whilst revealed to be a bat as they make a proper entrance into the market square. Flying is not her usual mode of transportation, but who can turn down a properly free meal? They look at the food with hungry eyes, approaching the tanuki on the cart to make sure she actually got there in time. "Hello, there! Did I get here early enough for the free food?
Cara walks by wearing her red sleeveless vest and baggy white pants. As expected, her gauntlets and boots are still on her. Upon glancing to the side, the green runed feline turns toward the kitchenette, "Well, this is new, but free food is worth it." She casually strolls over to the cart and waits in line behind the bat and the nurse shark.
Rascal had wandered past this area earlier the same day, and had seen the odd sight of the Tanuki setting up some sort of stall but hadn't thought much of it at that time. It just so happened that, with his business now complete, sheer coincidence happened to bring him back to the location at only the most opportune of times. Rascal would never turn down free food - it violated the very essence of his being - and so with a brisk pace in conspicuous contrast to his formal attire and orderly appearance he resolved to investigate this scene in further detail, as a small band of other individuals had seemingly also resolved to do. He entered the queue behind the tiger, hoping that he was indeed amongst the first ten people entitled to a complimentary treat.
"Welcome! Welcome!" Tam calls out from his little cart kitchenette, "I'm fresh back from the Jadelands and ready to cook up a storm!" He waves a thick arm at Cirra, then turns his grin on Kilani. "You're right on time, lady!" he says, "You folks are my first customers since my tour of the old homestead!" Despite his talk of the Jadelands, a far off exotic locale, he sounds just about as home grown as they come. "Come and try the new and improved tanuki express!" he calls out, both to those in his little tent and to passers by, "I got the best Noodles, Dumplings and exotic foods this side of the Aqua Magna!" He gives Cirra, the first customer in line a conspiritorial wink. "And probably on the other side of it too! What's your pleasure, Miss Cirra?" The tanuki makes note of the beings lining up and bounces happily over to remove the FREE FOOD sign, leaving his other advertisements in place.
The nurse shark's eyes widen as she realizes she is the first in line. Cirra smiles toothily, looking over the spread. She signs quickly. <I'd like to try each type of dumpling if you don't mind. I'll get back in line to actually pay for a full meal afterwards.> She looks over the line, hoping it doesn't get too long. <Maybe add a second dumpling of each type and I'll pay for those.> She waves to the Bat behind her, vaguely recognizing her, though her memory for names is escaping her.
Cara rolls her eyes for a moment and waits patiently while deciding what to eat. The meat dumplings sounded good, but maybe they might have some spicy chicken. Then again, it is a noodle shop, so, why not? For now though, it's best to wait since while she could talk to Cirra, it would be rude to interrupt. She glances behind herself for a moment and grins, "Hey there."
Cara waves to the tanuki and shouts out, "May I have an order of meat buns and possible some chicken if that can be done?"
Rascal often considers himself fairly well-versed in the various foods and delicacies of Sweetwater and beyond, but never before had he heard of the 'tanuki express' nor sampled the delights that the tanuki alleged he could produce. As he waited in line patiently he did briefly consider asking for something particularly exotic but dared not to exploit the tanuki's generosity; he could investigate those dishes in his own time and at his own expense. Rascal reciprocates the feline's greeting cheerily before likewise attempting to catch the tanuki's attention. "A helping of your very best noodles, if you please!" He exclaims amiably, and returns his attention to the feline and the other customers. "I do not believe we are acquainted." He asserts, his hand extended in a gesture of courtesy. "Call me Rascal, there's no need for my formal nomenclature in this situation."
Kilani dips her head forward in a nod, before contemplating food choices, being that she hadn't exactly been to this specific place before, and, the Jadelands might as well be the moon for all she's head of it's culture. After yet another second of awkward hesitation, she asks, "Hrm.... What do you recommend, Mister Tanuki? Or, whatever your name is. I'll take one of those, please." The bat's attention turns to Rascal as they introduce themselves, an eyebrow raising minutely as they tilt their head to the side and stare at them curiously. "Well, hello, there! I am called... Kilani, yes. That's my name."
Tam laughs, a warm, pleasant sound. "Such an appetite!" he says, "Pop would be sorry he missed out on an appetite like yours!" The burly tanuki expertly takes a pair of little paper cartons in one hand and stacks four steamed dumplings on each before drizzling little helpings of several different colored sauces over the top and passing them to Cirra. "I'll have to name a special after you one of these days!" He points out the little tables and stump stools he has set out for his customers to sit on.
The chubby chef nods to Cara. "Sure thing, Miss," he says, "We got just about anything you could want. I got noodles and dumplings and even some of them fancy curries out of Shralesta! Best trip I ever took!" The tanuki thinks and then laughs. "Hell if it isn't the only trip I ever took!" He produces a paper carton and spoons in a large, white bun, then opens another hatch on his cart and forks out a chicken wing and breast skewered and apparently grilled from the rich, spicy smell that wafts from the open hatch.
Even as Cara's order leaves his hands, Tam has already produced a paper bowl and ladled in a healthy helping of thick noodles and spooned a hearty broth over them, along with a sprinkling of prawns and herbs. "No sooner said than done, Sir," he calls with a smile, passing the bowl over and waiting for the next order.
He gives Kilani a wink and whips out another noodle bowl, giving her a slightly smaller portion than he gave Rascal, but piling on a thick, white bun and a crackly skinned spring roll. "Give that a try," he offers, "I think you'll like it!"
Cirra quickly metes out the required coin for the second plate, grinning as she quickly responds. <I enjoy food. It will probably be the death of me someday. Not to mention it might make me soft before my adventuring days are over.> She grabs the pair of plates and sets herself down not to far from the stand, nibbling at her dumplings happily.
"Ah, excellent! Thanks!" Kilani stares helplessly at the bowl of food for a few seconds, before acquiring the required utensils and heading out to a nearby table, sliding into one of the nearby chairs and prodding at the spring roll with a fork, as if it were some kind of strange, pale-skinned worm. Eventually, the bat does take a bite, and seems quite delighted and suprised by the texture and taste! She keeps an ear out for conversation, however.
Cara turns around and raises an eyebrow for a moment, but shakes Rascal's hand anyway, "Formal nomenclature? Rascal, we just met." She glances back and happily accepts her chicken and meat buns, "That was surprisingly fast. Thank you. I'll have to come back and pay for another too." The red haired feline walks over to one of the tables with her meal and waves Rascal over.
Rascal is quite visibly impressed by his meal, punctuating his acceptance of it with a sincere expression of gratitude. He suspends his own conversation and carries his food over to the sitting area with the others, trying to assume a position which does not appear to neglect either individual. "Do you often have to think about your name... Kilana?" He smirks as he takes a seat, his speech an impish mimicry of the bat's own apparent hesitation. "It is, nonetheless, a pleasure to be of your acquaintance." Despite his best efforts to remain informal in this situations his voice is audibly that of a refined individual, nor is his vernacular particularly detached from his noble roots as aptly noted by the feline. "'Posh name'," he translates, "Rascal is a much less wordy designation, and I'm rather fond of it. I don't believe I happened to catch your name?" He allows the feline to introduce herself now away from the fray of ordering food, and in the meanwhile tucks into his noodles with ravenous resolution.
Fenris laughs warmly again at the silent shark's hand gestures and swoops her coin away to some hidden reserve, then goes back to serving the next customers in line. The business is brisk for a bit, keeping the Tanuki very busy with customers, both those coming in for a free lunch, and a bevy of what must be old customers, happy to see the tubby tanuki back from his travels. He does manage to keep an eye on his earlier patrons, watching their reactions to the food. He seems pretty pleased with himself so far.
Kilani tears into the bun in her bowl with renewed vigor and confidence in the foor, glancing up to Rascal with a roll of the eyes. She gets up from her table and moves to the one the is sitting at, for the sake of convienence and ease of conversation. One of the bat's ears twitches as they again, inspect Cara closely before actually saying anything of note, besides a veritable cacophony of 'hmms' and 'hums'. "I do believe I've met you before. Once. Somewhere. Wasn't... wasn't it at that village? You know, the one with the crazy, rhyming, juggling person?" She then, turns to look at the mephit once more with a roll of the eyes, shaking her head. "No, I do not. Just a temporary lapse in memory, see? I can recall my name just fine. Most of the time."
Cara shrugs for a moment and answers casually, "I'm Cara for the most part. Anyway, I've been around here for some time now. For the most part, I just try to do work as a member of the Freeswords and so far things have been going rather well." She picks up one of the meat buns with her hand and takes a large bite out of it before placing it down. She swallows, happy for the delicious taste. "These are delicious by the way." She turns to Kilani and nods, "Yes, we met there. How have things been, Kilani."
Even Rascal, the self-professed gourmet and otherwise hedonistic glutton, was taken aback by the taste of the noodles, acknowledging this fact with muffled expressions of contentment. He did his best to retain some level of decency, although that proved a tricky task indeed whilst simultaneously ravenously imbibing noodles at a remarkable rate. "Don't worry Kilani, I'll keep track of your name for you." He grins, reducing his eating pace as to better facilitate civil conversation. "Kilani and Cara. A pleasure to meet you both, I'll be sure to remember your names. Just 'Rascal' will suffice for now." Possessing eidetic memory, his statement was quite accurate indeed!
Tam gets orders taken and people fed in incredible time. The tanuki finishes up with a last customer, then saunters over to his early bird customers. "What do you think, folks?" he asks, smiling.
Kilani holds up a forkful of noodles in Tam's direction at the question, chewing on the remnants of her spring roll as she does. After actually, you know, swallowing the food, she notes, "Excellent! I've not had anything quite like it, in my travels. Quite tasty." The bat quickly consumes a length of noodles before nodding in Cara's direction, talking inbetween bites of food. The best things in life are free, after all. "Yeah. I've been doing fairly well, Cara! How've you been doing? Did your people's bug problem end well enough?" She considers for a second, before adding, "And, which idea did you finally end up going with?"
