I'm Here for Business, and some Pleasure~ [Temaki, Karukaya, or Invite]

Okay, apparently the Rakuenkage wanted everyone drunk. Drunk was fine, drunk was fine. Jayr was a rather nice drunk so long as no one bothered to press specific buttons. Of course, she doubted she had to worry about that in this case. Thankfully though their food had arrived which meant it would become slightly harder, though not impossible for Jayr to end up shit faced.

Cana's steak was put in front of her and the wolf finally removed her head from Jayr's lap to eat after a reassuring pat. Jayr downed the rest of her rum and coke before turning her focus back to her own food: two glasses of mixed drinks on her already empty stomach had her face likely a pink color, and her cheeks warm. But, it was whatever.

Jayr cut a portion of her steak and took a bite, an enjoyable sound escaping her at the deliciousness of the food: it certainly hit the spot. She would let Temaki do the shot pouring, as she was more interested in the steak then making her liver tap out.

Temaki listened to the conversation between Coen and Karukaya as she positioned a plate in front of Blast who had gone from being lazy and borderline asleep to awake and paying strict attention when the food arrived. It never ceased to amaze her how much food could motivate someone. Temaki simply chuckled and shook her head before turning towards her own plate. She took several bites before catching out of the corner of her eye the waitress returning with several bottles of alochol and six shot glasses.

”Ah good, they remembered I like to pour two at a time...” Temaki said with a grin: she had never of course drank with Jayr, and this was the first time she had drank around Karukaya, so it would definitely be an interesting experience. Of course the whole point of this was to loosen everyone up: you never knew someone well until you spent a night getting drunk with them.

The waitress set the shot glasses down, the bottles, and then left again. Temaki picked one, cracked it open, and filled six shots skillfully and quickly. She passed them around with a slightly wicked grin on her face. ”I kind of like to drink with the mentality of go big or go home.”, Temaki decided to explain as she ensured that everyone had two filled shot glasses in front of them; well, the humans at least. No alcohol for their fuzzy companions~

With the shots passes out Temaki picked up one of the tiny glasses and downed it...~

Two? Oh hell, he was going to get destroyed by this. He wasn't even sure that he cared; this was gunna be a fun night anyway, might as well make it worth it. If they where going to throw their drinking ability around, he might as well hold his own as long as he could. Thankfully, his training kept him in peak condition, so he could afford to wreck his liver every so often, and his body was good and ready to handle the alcohol in his system. His brain, less so; but whatever. If he got too shitfaced, Coen knew the way home and could carry him; although he more than trusted Temaki not to let him try to walk home drunk; she'd at least get someone to make sure he got there, or to the ANBU barracks nearby. Yeah, he knew about that, if only cause he'd made a wrong turn and the only reason he didn't get wrecked was 'cause he was her student and hadn't seen anything important.

He lifted one of his cups in a classic toast, "To a good time and good company.~"

Aaaaand that was gone in a flash; no hesitation, nor any real thought to it. He routinely did rounds of shots with his friends, so the first 5 or so, even doubled, wouldn't be too horrible.

WC: 234

234 + 2858 = 3092

Jayr couldn't help but grin as she saw Temaki pour out two shots for each of them. This was indeed going to be a night to remember, or not to remember as the case was likely going to be. Still, she'd hold her own until she couldn't anymore: she never was one to turn down a challenge. ”Indeed.” She toasted and then downed both shots, ignoring the typical burn of the throat that the alcohol gave.

Yup, that was all going straight to her brain. But, that was alright. She was supposed to be on vacation, so why not enjoy herself a little?

She turned her attention back ot her food, downing another couple bites while something in the back of her mind told her that Temaki was likely going to be pouring shots after shots for them.

Temaki grinned: neither of them objected about the double shots which she took as a sign that she was good to go. She cut several pieces of her steak, ate them quick enough, and then eyed the open bottle of liquor. She knew that depending on how strong of a drinker the other two were she would likely end up taking at least one of the three bottles home with her, but time would surely tell on that note.

Once she was finished with another few bites of her food she removed the lid from the liquor and poured six more shots; two for each of them. Before she lifted another glass however she glanced down at Blast who had finished his steak and was eyeing what was left of Temaki's. ”Blast, you're in charge of making sure we all get home if we get too hammered, kay?”

”Only if I get the rest of your steak...”, Blast responded, jokingly. Temaki knew she was in safe hands, or paws rather, with Blast as were the rest of them. Chuckling she slid the plate towards him.

”You drive a hard bargain, but alright.” Temaki then downed the shots, slowly beginning to feel the alcohol start to take effect.

That worked for him, he trusted Blast with his life, and had put that trust to the test enough to know it was well founded. That had him relaxing a lot; well, that and the first blast of alcohol to his brain. That was strong stuff; good too. Better than he normally bought; and he didn't buy the cheap shit. But even then, he wasn't rich, so he rarely got more than one or two top shelf drinks ever, and stuck to the good, but better priced, stuff.

Enjoyment level was rising quickly.

Not one to be left behind, he slammed both shots, rather enjoying that burn and the start of the heat in his blood. He loved heat in his blood, and this was just another kind of heat to enjoy. His high body temperature worked for him, too; it helped burn off the stuff in his system and let him drink that much more when he wanted to.

His skewers where grabbed, a hunk of roasted cartilage pulled off and plopped into his mouth. He loved the chewey bits; he was strange like that. Not huge on meat itself, but he loved the bits other people wouldn't touch. The same treatment was given to a skewer of the gizzards, those where like pure meat candy to him. He'd eat them for years, in all forms. Even raw, if cleaned right. He was a gizzard whore, food wise.

He reached for the open bottle, being a little bold again, and dropped fresh shots for himself, then lit them on fire. Ready to pour for them when they where ready, "Anyone else wanna try flaming shots?~"

WC: 283

283 + 3092 = 3375/3250 REA B0-B3

125 WC remaining

Four shots down and another two to go? Well, at least Jayr was going to be in good hands, or paws. Or whatever. The relationship and the trust that Temaki had for Blast reminded her of how she felt when dealing with Cana: it allowed her to relax a great deal which meant there would be no holding back and no saying no.

Jayr turned her attention to Karukaya and nodded. “I'll give it a try. I've seen it done before, but never did it myself.” Fire and her drunken ass never seemed like a good idea to mix, however she wasn't trashed as could be now – though she'd be there soon enough.

Cana looked up, her plate completely clear of steak: she too was interested in seeing this.

Temaki couldn't help but chuckle as she watched Blast go to town on what was left of her steak. She was quite surprised that he hadn't just stolen it when she wasn't paying attention – he had done that before and feigned innocence despite having half of it hanging out of his mouth. She shook her head at her wolf and then turned her attention onto her favorite and only student.

”Oh, sure. I'll give that a try. Always willing to try something at least once.” She too had seen this done though she had never bothered trying it: normally Temaki just drank straight from a bottle unless, in cases like right now, she was with other people. Then it was just hammering back shots until she got good and proper drunk.

Blast too looked up, obviously curious. He had seen fire plenty of time, but never on a shot. ”Do you drink the fire? That sounds like some nasty heartburn right there...”, he commented curiously.

"You can, if you want to risk it. Most people blow it out then slam it down; but if you know the trick to fire eating you can easily swallow the fire. It goes right out anyway. Worst damage you'll do is scorching the top of your mouth." He demonstrated both ways; the first he puffed out, the second he just downed straight as is. He couldn't scorch his mouth with fire that weak, it was literally impossible for it to happen, so he just did not care at all. He preferred the fire still lit, but that was just him. Blowing it out gave you the same smokey overtone and enhanced warmth, but it lacked the deliciousness of the fire; and that was just sad to him. Fire was tasty, fire was good. Biased fire ninja.

"Try both ways. With it on fire, tilt your head all the way back and knock it back straight down; the fire won't touch anything that way before it goes out. It's all about knowing the tricks to how fire works.~"

WC: 188

188 + 125 = 313

Well, Jayr was willing to try everything once. So the idea of downing a shot while on fire, given she did it right, wasn't too far out of the ball park of what she would and wouldn't do. Jayr blew the first shot out and downed it, and then while following Karu's instructions carefully she downed the second while it was on fire: not bad, not bad at all.

Of course, this would lead to many more shots. Bottles being emptied until, after so long, there was no way they were going to get back to separate buildings. Cana was simply willing to help get them to where-ever it was that Blast decided they were going – he knew the village, not her, after all.

Cana couldn't help but snicker and poke fun though...

Temaki had downed both of the shots while they were on fire: she wasn't afraid of a little fire considering that's what helped make her preferred element; fire and wind made her explosions after all. So, a little fire wouldn't hurt her. She saw that Jayr tried the first after blowing it out, and then followed with the second while it was on fire. She took it like a champion, with no complaints. This of course led to more shot pouring, and with the fact that they were pouring doubles each round that led to the bottles being emptied relatively quickly. Of course, Temaki had bought three of them from the top shelf, so that was a thing too. It meant not only were they getting the best of the best, but a lot of it considering the three bottles.

Of course, by the end they would all be too drunk to make it home. Not an issue of course, as Blast was more then willing to patiently lead the way out of the bar. Only, he had no intentions of taking them all home. Instead, he led the way back to Temaki's apartment: it was spacious for being an apartment, but nothing too grand – she didn't like grand after all, she liked comfortable. Being a Kage didn't make her a God, and she knew that, so she felt no reason to act like she was one.

Of course, this night wasn't going to end 'well'. Or, perhaps what should be said was that it was going to end better then 'well'. Three exceptionally drunk people? One apartment? By the end of the night there wouldn't be any 'secrets' between them, that much was clear...

Of course, Blast would be doing his diligent duty; keeping both Coen and Cana occupied and keeping the three of them well away from the other three, giving them their space and privacy. Blast, being the ever gracious host, would ensure that the other two were quite comfortable too, just as the humans were.

Flaming shots where a go. Excellent. Well then, he'd keep those coming, in between whatever other drinking games they tossed out. To his credit, he actually managed to hold his own for a LONG time before they just kicking his ass, but at the same time, this wasn't a bad thing. At the end of the day, this wasn't so much a competition to see who could could last longer, this was a fun time. And the fun times came after they stumbled out of the bar, being carried by or leaning heavily on their respective partners.

Oh yeah. That was a fun time. He didn't remember much of it... but he did definitely remember enough to know what they did. And it was... well, not safe for work didn't cover it. Even given his lack of experience... yeah. Well, he wasn't inexperienced anymore.

To say he was very okay with this entire situation was an understatement. It continuing would be all kinds of fine with him, too. He was the last person to have any kind of issues when it came to what happened in the bedroom; he already swung both ways, and he'd yet to come across anything outside of say... snuff films or pedophilia that bothered him. So long as it was consensual and didn't hurt anyone, have fun.

The sun in his face woke him up; for a moment he thought it was morning, but then he realized it was closer to later afternoon, given that the window flashing him faced west. Not that bad.

Until his eyes focused enough to notice the date on the clock.

A week?

Holy damn.

Well then. Might as well settle back down and rest a bit; it would explain why his lower body was basically numb in the best kind of ways. There was no way Blast, Cana, and Coen would starve; Coen had hands that could cook and such, so even if there wasn't enough food for them for a week, he could get more for them. It was going to be interesting explaining what had happened to him; but whatever. It was worth it.

For the moment, he just snuggled deeper into the massive pile of blankets, pillows, sheets, and limbs; returning to comfortable paradise. Weeeee.~

WC: 390

390 + 313 = 703

Jayr shifted slightly; at first she thought her arm was numb because she was laying on it wrong. That was, until her shifting brought her fully to focus: it wasn't her laying on her arm, it was someone else. Oh well, she could deal with the numbness for now if that was the case. She yawned softly and looked towards the clock: it took her a moment or two to remember exactly where it had been. The date on the thing indicated that a full week had passed; well then. That was all she could think of to comment about it mentally. It hadn't been a bad thing by any means, though how she was going to explain this situation to her father? She had no clue, but it was going to be a 'funny' situation. She had gone on vacation and ended up sleeping with not only the Rakuenkage but her student. Of course, she wouldn't have had it any other way.

Yawning again she returned to the cuddle pile; not caring whose limbs where whose and where they were. Comfortable was comfortable after all. Even her stomach roaring to life now that she was properly awake did little to actually make her want to move: as much of an eater as she was she couldn't bring herself to risk waking either of the other two if they weren't awake already.

In the back of her mind she found herself wondering exactly what Cana had likely done in the past week or so she had been otherwise occupied: she just hoped that the rest of the village was still standing as a bomb could have gone off and she wouldn't have realized it with how previously distracted she had been. Cana did, after all, have a tendency to get out of hand once in a while when she got bored. But, then again, she had been with Coen and Blast...

Sleeping; that's what the Rakuenkage had been doing despite the shifting of the other two in the pile that they, the blankets, sheets, and pillows created. Of course, she woke up as her hyper sensitive senses picked up on the growling that was coming from the belly she was practically using as a pillow. Her eyelids opened and she blinked several times, forcing her vision to clear. ”Either you're starving or there's a bear in the room...”, Temaki commented softly, before yawning.

With a groan she sat up; stretching her arms up skyward. She had been all for remaining in the comfortable pile, but Jayr was obviously hungry, and Temaki was nothing if not a good host. Therefore, food would definitely be provided... if there was any left. She was well aware of the amount of time that passed – thankfully though her secretary had been able to handle everything in her absence; there had been no disturbances and she hadn't heard the village fall around them. Therefore, it was still standing. Quiet was good, quiet was needed.

Temaki stood up and finished stretching. ”I hope y'all are hungry.. I plan on making anything remaining in the kitchen to eat...” Her own appetite was returning and she quickly slipped into some clothing: Coen might be a ninja pet, but she still thought of him the same as a child, which mean clothing was a must. Once decent she exited the room and into the kitchen, fully planning on getting her chef on.... Yup, no awkwardness for the kage; she had fully enjoyed what they had done, and was hardly the shy type after all.

Food? Not passing that up. "I'm alive. I think." He was attempting to move his toes and such now; finding that while they where there, and did move, it was slow and heavy and meeeeh. He'd been in worse shape over worse reasons. He rather liked how this felt. He could get used to doing this once in a while. He was pretty sure it was his shirt by his hand by the feel of the fabric; it was that slightly rougher, but strong, fabric that taijutsu users liked to wear; plus it was acceptable as part of his uniform when he was doing stuff with the center.

"If there's not food, then we have to worry. Coen's good about going to the market when he eats everything; and by now I can see the three of them emptying even a well stocked kitchen. " He managed to lift himself into a sitting position and stretched his legs and arms, a satisfying serious of pops and cracks signalling things settling back into proper alignment. Oh, there was his nervous system. Must have just been lack of blood flow (weeee!~) and joints out of place that had him so heavy and numb. "Actually slightly surprised they didn't come in an stop us or something. Or the cops, for that matter. I seem to remember lots of loud noises and..." He looked up at the ceiling for a second, "Yeah, some explosions going off."

WC: 258

258 + 703 = 961

Food. Right. She needed that. The mention of it had her stomach roaring even louder then before. “You're going to make a meaty breakfast, right?”, she called after Temaki as she shifted around on the bed so that she was actually on her back. She glanced down at herself: complete and utterly tangled in the sheets. A little wiggle here, a wiggle there, and she was free. Once free she was up and out of the bed, not bothering to stretch until she was clothed: shorts, and a shirt. Easy enough.

She stretched as she walked, practically on the tips of her toes as her fingertips brushed against the top of the door frame – height for the win. Just as she was beginning to yawn though an all white ball of giant fur came running at her. Jayr, too tired and lazy feeling to move, was all but tackled to the ground. ”Oh god, why?!”

”Missed you!”, was about all she got as a response before Cana was practically eating her face with 'kisses'.

”Oh god, you need a toothbrush.”, she responded playfully, pushing at Cana's head while the wolf continued to attempt to lick her face.

”So do you!”, Cana responded as she all but stuck her tongue up Jayr's nose.

”You little...” Annnd the two were out the doorway, wrestling playfully. Thankfully, there was nothing nearby that could be easily broken.

Temaki glanced backwards as she heard Jayr call out; a grin spreading across her face. ”Course meat will be involved... I think I'd die without it at this point. Plenty of meat, fruit, and I'll even throw in some biscuits and hash browns.” She talked while she walked, which she should have known better about. As it was she bumped into a box that was positioned poorly at the end of the counter, knocking it to the floor.

Blinking she bent down, picked it up, and flipped it over as Jayr and Cana got to wrestling around... oh! Oh! She had forgot about this. Well, now was as good a time as any, right? She tore open the box, and peered inside: oh yes, it was exactly what she requested, and it looked perfect. Keeping it wrapped in the white cloth she turned and turned around. ”Oi, Karu. Got a present for ya...”

She would wait for him to come into the kitchen before presenting him with the wrapped kangaroo mask: it's symbolism one she would figure he would instantly guess. Temaki hadn't bothered herself with ANBU in a while, but it was about time.. and Karu was damn perfect for the job if he'd take it.

Pants, if nothing else. It wasn't like anyone was going to care, he slept naked fairly often so it wouldn't be that out of the ordinary for Coen to see him like that, but in context with the women... yeah, let's not make that weirder. So he hunted down his pants and tossed them on, moving to follow out and find the aforementioned kangaroo. Let's see...

Yep, napping on the couch. He was horrible for taking naps this time of day, but in the 'roo's defense, it was normal for his kind to sleep off the later half of the day like that; so it was basically a biological response, and he didn't hold it against him.

Present? It wasn't his birthday, nor any kind of holiday, and they hadn't done anything particularly insane recently, so he couldn't wrap his brain around why she'd be giving him something.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh shit.

He'd opened the box and unwrapped the paper far enough to see the painted ceramic mask and just froze. That's an ANBU mask. That's a kangaroo ANBU mask.

That was his ANBU mask.

Oh.

"You want me to be ANBU?"

He'd just been thinking about that, recently. He'd been working with the patrols outside of town, running basic deliveries and reporting bandit activity; so the concept of ANBU in general had come up a few times.

Did he really want to take that step yet? Coen was young, but he was no baby anymore; he was nearly fully grown now, and well trained; he could handle himself and handle working with him at this level... so was there anything stopping him?

He finished unwrapping the mask and pulled it out of the box, setting said box down on a small table and just staring at the mask. He ran fingers over the face, memorizing the tiny imperfections and such in the surface. The coloration was perfect; it was painted using the appropriate symbols and colors of the tribal peoples from the plains. It was tastefully done, and he'd be able to wear it proudly anywhere.

Did he really deserve it, though?

He looked up and had to take that moment to reality check himself.

She trusted in him enough to go this far; she'd taken him as student, they'd become friends, they'd fought side by side, and now... this.

She believed he was ready. She believed he'd earned it.

He trusted her enough to trust her judgement. He was confident in his skills, and in Coen's abilities.

ANBU...

Damn, this was one hell of a ride.

He slid a hand behind the mask and felt for the strap, it was a strong band that would never break, and had plenty of give for him to do this. His slipped the mask on, just... he had to try it out, once.

Damn, that felt right. That felt very right.

Well then. He was going ANBU.

Lifting the mask up so that it was sitting on his hair and his face was exposed, "Well, this is a thing now, then."

WC: 542

542 + 961 = 1503

Jayr and Cana were both still in the midst of wrestling around on the floor when the word ANBU caused them both to pause: it wasn't all that long before coming here that Jayr had been raised to that status – well, not ANBU but Hanagakure's own version, the Wolfpack. Both turned their heads to look at Karukaya, and Jayr took that moment to push Cana off of her – as the wolf had had her pinned – and get to her feet. “ANBU, eh? My father offered me the same type of position before I came here; though... it's not exactly the same. No masks.” She found herself not thinking she'd mind having to wear a mask so much; at least if it was something cool – perhaps a wolf or something.

Given that Cana was finished trying to take her down and eat her face – at least for the moment – she went over to the counter and leaned comfortably.

Cana watched her, the wolf's tail swaying back and forth rapidly – a sign that she hadn't got all of the playfulness out of her system yet. ”.. I'm watching you Cana. I know what you're thinking.”

”Can't watch me all the time. I'm gonna getcha! You just watch!”

Temaki nodded, grinning. When she watched him put the mask on she clapped excitedly. “It looks good on you! I'm glad you're accepting it. I couldn't think of anyone else in the entire village that deserved that more so then you. You've really worked hard, Karu.” Ah yes, one of those moments of Temaki's truthful honesty.

She then looked over towards Jayr. ”Oh? You got the same promotion? Well, after what you told me about taking on that mud thing I'd say your father thought you deserved it too.”

Temaki then turned to the fridge which was surprisingly still stocked. Blast wandered over, pulling the puppy act as he attempted to follow her as she moved back and forth. She paused several times as she got things onto the stove and started the oven to scratch the top of his head. ”Oh I know you're not starving... “

”Coen fed us while you were.. in disposed of.” Blast let out a chuckling sound.

Temaki laughed. ”Hush you, or I'll feed you a salad.”

Blast promptly made a face and then proceeded to flop over dramatically and play dead; eyes closed and tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"I do what I can, that's all." That was his way of accepting the complement, and it was honesty as well; he was only doing what he could to make the village safe, and be a useful member of society. If he got a lot done in the process, that was fine too.

Mud thing... he wasn't even sure he would have been happier taking on a mud thing versus that fast fucker they'd handled. The reports from the autopsy had been a nightmare, and shown just how lucky they'd been; the team had found traces of sound and smoke chakra in the body, and those where not something you wanted to deal with as taijutsu users. Granted, smoke could work to his advantage, but that still wasn't something he'd have been happy handling.

He made his way over to the dozing kangaroo and shook him awake, "Up, child. Food time."

"Hnnn? Oh, hi Daddy. You where sure in there a long time. Blast wouldn't tell me what was going on..."

"I'll... explain that later. For now, come hang out. We're going to be spending a lot more time with them, kay?"

"Yay.~ Jayr and Cana too?"

"Yes, dear. Both of them."

Coen all but exploded for joy and shot like a bolt off the couch, bounding with surprising agility around everything to tacklehug Blast, then Cana, then Jayr. The only reason he didn't finish with Temaki was because he recognized someone cooking, and wasn't about to interrupt. He would however, offer to help, because Karu had taught him manners, and he liked being helpful. "I can help!"

"He actually is pretty good in the kitchen. He's always begging me to teach him how to cook things. He's lucky I'm a decent cook too; but you kind of have to learn when you leave home at 14." He moved back toward the kitchen, grabbing a chair at the table and settling down, "So, Jayr; mud beast? Ours was... pretty nasty too. But it was already rotting and half dead when we fought it, if that smell was any indication."

WC: 390

390 + 1503 = 1893

Jayr couldn't help but grin as she heard Coen's comment about them being in the room for a long time: thankfully she didn't have to try and explain anything to Cana, that topic had come up and been discussed quite a while ago. As it was the wolf simply let out a sound that would have been snickering had she been human. Jayr just shook her head, bit her lip, and grinned more. And then Coen was excited and Cana and she were being hugged; that was fine, Jayr was a hugger too and she didn't mind the idea that Coen was very excited about her and Cana sticking around; if anything it'd be easier since their companions all seemed to like each other and get along.

She watched Temaki begin cooking, shifting further down so that she was out of the way: she was starving and didn't want to prolong the cooking process any longer then it had to be.

At Karu's question she turned her attention onto him. “I don't even know how to begin to describe this thing. It looked like it was just entirely made out of mud. I got lucky, we got hit with a fire demon that kept increasing our usual wild fires not even a month before that, so there was plenty of ash and soot around. I had the wind users in my village blow the ash towards the beast; thickening the mud and essentially suffocating it, while I kept it's attention on me.” She paused, rubbing the back of her neck as she thought about the close call she had with Captain Yen. “Damn thing liked to shoot nasty bullets to; almost hit Captain Yen with one of them --- damn girl wasn't paying attention and had her back to it, helping someone else. I barely got them out of the way. Anyway, I thought the beast was pretty much dead and then wouldn't you know it, the damn thing looked like it was trying to come back to life or something... blew it up and put it down for good though.”

Temaki listened to the excitement now that Coen was awake; working quickly to get things started on the stove – the fastest it was cooked the faster they could all eat and she was making more then enough for humans and animals alike. Blast was all for the hugs, and even gave his own equivalence back; a one armed return of a hug. Temaki always thought that hugging Blast and being hugged back was likely akin to what it would feel like to probably hug a bear – he was as big as after all, bigger in fact.

At Coen's offer she nodded. ”Aye, help would be appreciated. She would then direct Coen to what she needed help with; glad that the offer had come. There were plenty of mouths to feed after all, and plenty of appetites to settle.

As she worked she listened to Jayr talk, a frown forming on her face. She didn't like hearing Jayr had had such a close call: a mud beast sounded tricky enough to have to deal with with pure explosion release as your only go to element. But to add in a careless individual who was putting their back to an enemy? Helping someone or not you had to be careful, more so really. Temaki found herself quickly hoping that she didn't end up meeting this Captain Yen when she went to Hanagakure, because she was damn sure she would have some choice words for her: Temaki after all had no filter between what she thought and what she ended up saying.

"So wait, you had a fire demon and a mud beast that close together?" He knew all about the wildfire seasons, the plains brush fire season overlapped with the forest fire season down in their country; so he knew that the attacks had to have been extremely close together. Shit, they'd had what... a week? Two weeks? of downtime between attacks; so this was starting to sound like a pattern was forming.

"We had that rotting mutation out on the plains... but we had an incident with the circus; their matriarch... how to explain this... it was like something had possessed her and was turning her into a monster even as we fought her; but we where able to save her life. Thank the Gods, too; she didn't deserve to die like that, and loosing her would have been a massive blow to the herd and the circus in general."

While he was talking, Coen moved into the kitchen and helped wherever he could. He was really good with prep-work, and fast with a knife thanks to his boxing training. His arms, though small, short, and oddly positioned in relation to a human's, worked just fine for this. Prepping meat, even if he didn't eat it, was something he was good with too; so he was able to do anything needed.

WC: 232

232 + 1893 = 2125

Jayr glanced over to Coen, watching him help Temaki as they began to cook. Her stomach kept grumbling, and she felt her mouth already beginning to water in anticipation. Cana wandered over and sat to her side; she too was hungry.

At Karu's question she focused her attention back onto him and nodded. ”Yeah. We thought it was odd they they happened so close together like that. That's part of why I was sent here, to see if anyone else was having the same issues. Makes me wonder though where all of these crazy creature are coming from....”

She listened as Karu described what had happened with the elephant and frowned deeply: a strange beast was one thing, but a possessed one? That was on a whole new level of intense. ”She never showed signs of acting like that before? That's... damn.” Cana whined suddenly and shifted closer. Jayr's hand automatically went down, scratching at Cana's ears in a comforting manner. It relaxed Cana who obviously hadn't liked the idea of an animal being able to be possessed like that.