"We're holding another celebration... for those who have used, and got stuck in, the Japanese server. I've done as much research as I could, seeing as we don't really have the access to that sort of thing like we did before." Marielle exclaimed in excitement as Henrietta just heavily sighed, knowing there would be as much, if not more, preparation and paperwork for it as the last event. Maybe this time the People of the Land will behave themselves... maybe. As they both turned to the strategist, he half smiled as he turned to the members of his guild. Nyanta seemed to be the only one really smiling, and it was probably the brightest the male had seen in quite some time.
"I figure since it's almost spring, this would be around the time for chocolate and... Easter I think it's called that's coming up, nya?" Not taking his eyes away from Shiroe, he directs the question for the guild leader of the Crescent Moon Alliance to answer. All the while, he seemed like he was deep in thought.
Happily bouncing, the green eyed elf was grateful that someone knew what the holiday was called, so she wasn't putting up a festival for something she had no name for. "Thank you, Nyanta-san... um... I was also wondering something else too, about that..."
"Would you like to help with the baked goods? Apparently this particular holiday involves a lot of chocolate and other sorts of sweets. We need all the chefs we can get in order to have this ready in time for the festival and we know how great you are at that sort of thing." Henrietta said, slightly cutting Marielle off as she nodded her head and turned to face the cat person, who turned his focus towards them this time.
"It would be a pleasure, baking is much more of a delicate process than any other kind of cooking, nya. I have started gathering a few ingredients for these sort of things I could make sure to point some of the locations if necessary, nya." emerald eyes began sifting through his inventory for the map Shiroe had given him to help remember the location of certain ingredient items. "The things you find in this world, are quite a bit different from that of the real world Japan, quite an exquisite variety to choose from, nya."
It was Naotsugu's turn to pipe up. "The other day, I found what looked to be things that you'd normally see in places like Africa... it's unusual I'll agree there. Also a lot easier for us to make the different things at least... until those boats are finished and we can start finding our way to other continents."
Smiling at the thought of yet another grand festival, the elf sighed with ease, knowing everything was in place and the main people of her choice were actually agreeing to what she was planning, and willing to help prepare everything.
"Um... Marielle-san? I've been improving and levelling my scribe class. Would I be of some help to the festival?" Minori looked at the guild leader of the larger guild as she tried her best to look confident in her abilities, since she kept on getting compared to her teacher, Shiroe.
As a huge grin spread across the blond's face, she pushed her glasses as she spoke. "This would be a perfect opportunity for you to level up your sub-class, Minori-chan. We will need all the help we can with the paperwork. Willing members would be greatly appreciated, thank you for the offer."
"I will be staying, in a safe distance, by my lord's side." Akatsuki said nonchalantly as everyone gave her the thumbs up to do just that. Her tracking and assassin combination made her the best body guard for their strategist, along with the best person to catch things no one else could possibly get close to doing. The only person who thought of something else she could be doing, was none other than Shiroe himself.
"Don't make me the reason you can't go out and enjoy yourself. We should be able to do something, kind of like last time, except this time... no food places..." Shivering at the thought of how much he had to eat for the last festival they had in Akihabara... luckily the game didn't have the same affects to eating that much that the real world did.
"Maybe a guild celebration, perhaps, nya?" Adjusting his gloves, Nyanta looked around the room for a visual response from their guild. It seemed like most agreed to it.
"Come to think of it..." Tohya started, "We haven't really gotten together to do anything celebratory... really, as a whole yet..."
His sister joined in on the idea, "Take advantage of the festival, and maybe possibly give Shiroe-san a better reputation than the last one... the whole... bringing two girls thing." Shiroe bowed his head down at the comment, knowing she was still concerned about his reputation, which wasn't going to change, hence "Villain in Glasses" and whatnot for nicknames. Henrietta just chuckled to herself at the comments passed back and forth between the two siblings.
Handing the girls the ingredient listings for all the product he was experimenting with, the were-cat decided to make a quiet exit as he explained that if it was only a week away, he'd need to start making some sort of preparations. Nodding in agreement, the Log Horizon guild wandered back towards the exit. "Well, time for Shiroe to disappear into his mount of paperwork for the next week in preparation for at least three people forcibly removing him from such places." Naotsugu teased as the group made their way back the the place where they all lived.
Noticing the short distance between the two, the leader kept to himself as he was ready to call it a night and sleep the night away... paperwork awaits him the next day... all in favour of the Easter festival. This time they were way more organized for it, thankfully, so a lot of the stuff was handled by the Crescent Moon Alliance. The only real thing they needed to worry about, was the deserts, and the people attending, and what they were bringing. Nyanta would handle the food portion, he did accept the offer. As they made their way inside, the group parted ways towards their corresponding rooms. Before Nyanta could fully turn his attention towards the kitchen, he was stopped.
"With all the food preparation you have to do, are you sure we can all do a group activity? Most of us will be participating behind the scenes it looks like..." the blue haired male said contemplating whether or not it was a good idea to assume they'd be able to all get together... this made the older male smile.
"Don't worry so much about it now, it's a week away and with enough preparation at a good and steady pace, we should all be able to take a break, even if only for a half hour period, nya." Crossing his hands behind his back, Nyanta began walking towards the kitchen before realizing that everyone, including Shiroe, was off to bed for the night. "Good night Shiroe-chi."
"Don't stay up too late cooking, rest might not be too important here, but it's better to have it than not." Shiroe said as he walked off to his room to finally let his brain rest some before he had to use it for the purpose of burying his face into a pile of papers. Though it did take him quite sometime just staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom, to actually close his eyes and fall to sleep. The conversations and festival planning just wouldn't leave him alone... so he used it to his advantage and kept deep enough in thought that he eventually fell to sleep.
-Next Day-
Springing himself awake as quickly as he could, the dreams that followed the deep planning before sleeping didn't have any sort of connection, so the confusion continued to brew as he made his way to his morning bath. On his way to said bathing area, a concerned chef tapped his shoulder, noticing almost instantly noticing the slight change in the strategist's behaviour. "How was your sleep, you seem tired, nya?"
Almost ready to jump out of his skin, the blue haired male turned his attention towards the were-cat that managed to sneak up behind him while not even trying in the slightest. "For whatever reason, I couldn't get to sleep, so I planned until I eventually fell asleep... I guess I must have stayed up later than I thought..." He lied as he continued to make his way towards the place of which the bath is located. "I think I made some pretty good progress... probably means less paperwork to sit and ponder for the day."
Patting him on the head, Nyanta smiled, emerald eyes curiously scanning Shiroe for anything else, like a cold, that he seemed to try and hide from practically everyone in the guild. "Don't push yourself, wouldn't want to find out Elder Tales has a way to start sickness through something that's supposed to be relaxing, nya." Teasing the boy about how even though they are stuck, it was once a game they all played.
"I should be fine, I'll be inside resting all day anyways, whether there are papers in front of me or not, Marielle really didn't give us long to prepare something that's she's comparing to our first festival. I'll be in the bath area if you need me, I feel like I need one." Scratching his head as more of a nervous tick than anything, he realized he definitely needed his glasses, because he could not tell what was happening around him all too well, 'Well they definitely incorporated my horrible sight into this as well...' He thought as he waved Nyanta a farewell as he made his way finally, into the bathroom area.
As he turned on the water to let it run, he couldn't help but ponder what could have possibly brought up something... like that? Considering how he really... just isn't like Naotsugu in the way of perversion. But... that doesn't necessarily mean he's not interested... does it? He didn't have any ideas as to his real interest, since he never actually dated or anything along the lines. He just assumed he was interested in the opposite sex, since well... that was the norm, right? Shaking his head, he tried to look past his lack of social activity outside Elder Tales... found no real evidence of a plausible answer.
Thinking of nothing else, he just sat there, and concentrated on washing his hair and body, to avoid any awkward thoughts while bathing.
-Meanwhile-
"Hey Chief, up to the food plans already? Isn't it a little early?" Naotsugu yawned as he walked past the kitchen only to get a waft of the smell that emitted from the oven. "Smells delicious!"
Nyanta smiled. "Most of it is for the festival yes, but I am only experimenting, Naotsugu-san, nya. I've made sure there will be enough for everyone to sample... we'll be able to do that after dinner tonight, sound good, nya?" As he walked towards the oven to pull the delicate pastries out, he made sure the melted chocolate on the stove was more than ready for the drizzle to be added on top. As he began to drizzle the home-made melted chocolate onto the croissants, Minori walked in, noticing how good the kitchen smelled of chocolate.
"Are those chocolate croissants I smell, Nyanta-san?"
"I'm hoping that they taste like I remember, I've had yet to try anything in this form here in Elder Tales, nya." Smiling brightly, emerald eyes drifted past the priestess towards the towelled figure in the hallway. "Hopefully the sampling goes well, let me know what you think of them, all criticism would be greatly appreciated for adjustment that will need to be made for the deserts at the festival, nya." As he spoke, he found himself having to focus more on the food than the two guild members standing just outside the kitchen perimeter.
Noticing the sudden change in behaviour, Minori decided to ignore it, they're finally in the place together at the same time... which never happens nowadays. "Good thing everyone seems to be here today, usually it's just Shiroe-san, Akatsuki-san and I... sometimes my brother... but it's weird seeing this place full of people..." The thought made her smile as she made her way upstairs to explain to Shiroe about the sample plans Nyanta had for everyone. Walking up the stairs, it didn't dawn on her that he might not actually be awake yet... or... something even more embarrassing...
"Um... Shiroe-sa... OH SORRY!" Closing the door quickly, she didn't notice him stepping out of the bath. Blushing profusely, Minori apologized once again before going to the washroom to splash some cool water, take away some of the redness that decided to follow the moment that she had done to herself, really.
Hearing the door open, she took a deep breath and went back out to find the guild leader fully clothed, like she thought he would have been when she tried to enter just moments before. "Don't worry about it... at least I had something on... umm..." Scratching his head and pushing up his glasses, he looked quite flushed from what she saw... it seemed like it wasn't just her little appearance that caused it, something further seemed to be on his mind.
"I just... saw nothing on top and immediately assumed... well... um... I should have knocked..." bowing her head down, she couldn't look him in the eye for the fact that her face felt like it was being burnt off. If she didn't think she had some sort of feelings for this man before, she definitely saw it now... which she wasn't too fond of having, since it looked as though Akatsuki was on the same boat as she was... and... the assassin had a better chance than she did. Plastering a smile to her face, she went to try looking him in the eye again when she found him a lot closer than she remembered him being.
"Really, don't worry about it so much. Not like a bathing suit isn't close to the same thing..." Patting her on the head, he smiled as he realized she probably had something to tell him, she seemed excited about something. "So, was there something wrong? It seemed like something quite urgent that you wanted to tell me."
"Oh no..." Minori exclaimed, "Not thing bad, just that Nyanta-san has made some of the desert dishes he plans to make for the festival and wants us to sample them after dinner. By the way... have you noticed anything strange with everyone? It seems like it's almost a tense atmosphere, even you look slightly pale..." Staring straight into his very soul, the priestess could see right through his "I'm okay" act.
He didn't realize how obvious it was... was it really the dream that caused it... or did he really not get a whole hell of a lot of sleep the previous night? Having the question somewhat catch him off guard, he had to think of a good enough answer for her, because most of the time, she knew something else was up... and she tended to worry about him, more than he thought she should. "I couldn't get to sleep last night... don't even know how late I was up for." He started, "it seemed like I was up planning just to have some form of sleep... I should be fine though... there's a lot of work to be done today, and for the next week there'll be a lot more if I don't get started."
Nodding her head, she didn't quite think that was all, but Shiroe looked like nothing else was wrong in her eyes, so she left it alone, maybe it was none of her business what caused him to look so... sickly. "Good luck with the paperwork, I might actually make my way over to see Marielle-san and Henrietta-san just to go over some things that I'll need to file for the event. Might lighten your load a bit hopefully." She said smiling.
With a warm look, he looked a little more relaxed than before, for that, Minori was grateful. "Thank you for that, I hope it's not too much to handle, for anything that seems too difficult, just contact me and I'll see what I can do to help, Minori-chan."
"Thank you! Well, I'll be on my way, contact me when Nyanta-san starts actually getting dinner started and I'll start making my way back here then, I really want to try some of the experiments that he's been making. The kitchen smells wonderful." She said happily as she skipped down the hallway and, while waving everyone else farewell, walked out the door not looking like she had ran a couple miles.
As he made his way downstairs, he realized just how hungry he was for lunch, since apparently he missed breakfast. Getting an orange from the inventory items, he walked into the kitchen while peeling his brunch item that'd get him through until this dinner extravaganza became readily available to eat. Noticing the strategist walking into the cooking area, the cat person smiled. "You look a little better now, did you have a nap, nya?"
"No..." he started, "I just rested in the bath for a few... I guess that was what I needed," He lied again. He didn't do it without reason. Because after all, the reason he wasn't saying the real reason, was that damn dream that crept into his mind every few minutes or so. What was he going to say 'Oh yeah, I had this really erotic dream... and for whatever reason, you were the main person involved in said dream...' yyeeaaah, not exactly going to go over well that way. He decided it was best to keep that kind of thing, to himself until he found someone who wouldn't say something outrageous about it.
"So... enough about me, I hear your experimenting with food today for the Easter festival... how about some orange zest to help?" He handed Nyanta the orange peel which he took with a smile and with caring eyes he tried not to show concern for his closest friend in Elder Tales. He felt bad that the two of them lived far enough away not to have met in real life before they became absorbed into the game, but it seemed like they talked about things like they've known each other for quite a bit longer than they had in reality.
"Thank you, Shiroe-chi... this will definitely come in handy for some of my pastries, nya." Turning away from the leader, Nyanta slowly started making orange zest from the peel he was given. It would create a flavour that has yet to be made in the world their in.
"I think I'm going to get a good start on my paperwork today... I have the thoughts, I just need to write them down before I forget again... Feel free to give me a shout when you've started dinner, maybe I can be of some assistance..." Trying to sound as normal as usual, he had nothing else really to do other than bury his face in more work.
"You could write down the recipes for the chefs at Crescent Moon Alliance, I'm sure Marielle and Henrietta would appreciate that, nya. First though, we need to see just how well these pastries taste in this world, just in case we have to make any changes, nya. Like I was explaining earlier, don't push yourself too hard today, Shiroe-chi, and best of luck with the mounts of work to be done, nya." with a half smile, the were-cat gave Shiroe a sincere farewell as he made his way back upstairs to begin the task he wanted to have completed before dinner that very evening.
-Couple of Hours Later-
Having to set things back down several times, it seemed like the chef was more than a little distracted. Humming a tune to himself, he decided music might help him begin the preparation for dinner, and just as he realized what he was started, he knew a certain someone, who wanted to help out this time. Instead of using telepathy, he just made his way to the strategist's bedroom. As he began making his way up the stairs, there was no sign of anyone else in the building as silence filled each and every crevice of the Log Horizon building. Knocking on the door once he got in front of it, he quickly realized that it was still slightly open, and tapping on it only gave way to Shiroe, fast asleep on the desk. Smiling to himself, he knew the younger male needed the rest and was glad he was finally getting it, despite the fact that he wasn't actually in bed. Grabbing a little blanket, Nyanta gingerly approached him with the blanket ready to lay it on him, keep him at least warm if not comfortable, when he heard Shiroe mumble something slightly under his breath... talking in his sleep.
Wanting to have clarification on what he just heard, Nyanta's cat-like curiosity struck him down as he waited there beside the heavy sleeper. After about five minutes, he decided it'd be best if he left before Shiroe woke up... then he remembered why he was in there... to wake him up in time for dinner. As he went to go tap the strategist on the shoulder, his name was clearly worded by the sleeping male... curiosity quickly turned into confusion... but that wasn't the case for too much longer as various other phrases were said... slowly.
Taking a deep breath, the chef regained composure and tapped the blue haired male on the shoulder with a light whisper of the information that Shiroe asked him to relay once it was time. "Shiroe-chi, dinner's starting... if you're interested still, nya..."
Within moments of that happening, it seemed as though the male was the lightest sleeper as he almost immediately rose to his feet... before falling back into his chair... getting up too fast can do that. "I actually fell asleep... I didn't even notice..." Looking at his paperwork... he noticed he did manage to get most of what he wanted done for the next few days. "Well... at least... that's accomplished, thank you for getting me up Chief, I'll be down there in a moment." He smiled at the chef as he slowly tried getting himself to standing position again.
"Not a problem, you look a lot better now, not as pale... and I thought you were going to catch the first cold any of us have seen in this world thus far, nya." Heavily sighing in relief, Nyanta made his way back downstairs to start on dinner, and maybe take his mind off whatever events he thought was going on through Shiroe's head while resting.
Noticing something strange, the strategist couldn't quite piece the two and two together for sometime. Calling up Minori, he made sure she was notified that dinner would be ready soon. After hanging up with her that's when he realized as the vivid imagery came rolling from the back of his mind, to the very front, not only sending shivers up and down his spine, but another feeling... like Nyanta had been there... long enough to hear something. Taking off his glasses, the palm of his hand met with his face pretty hard as he could feel a slight tingling sensation on his face. Knowing all too well from Akatsuki and Naotsugu that he does in fact, talk in his sleep, he knew. He didn't even get the chance to figure out whether or not it was just some really weird reoccurring thing that wasn't anything serious. Walking down the stairs, he immediately noticed the chief's presence in the kitchen from the aroma slowly making it's way towards him, filling his nose with the fragrance of dinner.
"Thanks again for calling me down, is there anything I can help with, aside from writing the exact measurements for ingredients?" Shiroe asked as he entered the room with a few blank pages, a pen and some ink, and as much of a clear mind as he could possibly muster with the circumstances.
Turning around, the cat person smiled warmly. "I've already got most of it together, although I did leave an example of what measurements I used for the pastry dishes over there which shall make your recipe a little easier to write, nya." Pointing to the counter beside him, the younger male noticed the measured cups filled with all sorts of different ingredients. Examining every last cup and bowl on the counter, Shiroe started writing things down for this creative pastry dish.
As they conversed back and forth about how to go about making this kind of dish, the scribe kept close attention to the finer details of the desert instructions, to get it as close to Nyanta's perfection as possible in this world. Slowly, he got as much of it done as he could, less paperwork for the days to come... maybe they'll be able to have that group meeting that the chief mentioned in that meeting with Marielle and Henrietta. Though he liked his solitude, the strategist definitely liked the idea of everyone getting together in a light hearted, festive celebration. Remembering that most of them should be home tonight for dinner, he smiled as he realized his glasses seemed to be sliding down. Pushing them back up as he made the table and got everything ready, despite Nyanta just telling him to write things down. Not really paying much attention to his surroundings, he didn't consider those emerald eyes peeking over his shoulder ever few moments. Unaware who was behind him, he went to go turn around to ask a simple question, only to meet almost face to face with the one he wanted to ask the question to...
Feeling his face burn, he decided it would be best to turn back around and play it cool. "I was just about to inform you that dinner is basically ready when you turned around... maybe I should have warned you first, nya?" Patting the blushing male on the shoulder, the were-cat made his way to the door just in time for Minori, Tohya, and Akatsuki to walk through the door.
"I smell something good! I wonder what's on the menu for dinner tonight..." The samurai smiled just in time to walk in the kitchen to see Shiroe, of all people, setting the table, with a face to match the tomatoes on the counter. "Well, better than the lack of colour before... but are you sure you're okay today Shiroe-san?"
Hearing her brother's comment, Minori walked towards the kitchen... it looked as though he was blushing. What could of happened while they were gone to have caused that... "You look well rested." She said giggling to herself as Shiroe took a deep breath and chuckled to himself. 'Wow... what's gotten in to me today? Of all people to be stupid and flighty, it's me... I'm probably an open book to them too... great...' was the only thought that flooded his mind as he regained his composure the best he could.
"The onion is still bothering him from earlier I guess, nya." Nyanta feeling like he needed to help his flustered friend get over whatever seemed to be troubling him today. Although judging by the soft whispers in the bedroom earlier, he had a pretty good estimate as to what that could be. He didn't seemed to be too good at the whole 'hiding afflicting emotions' especially with this, or so the chef thought as he showed everyone to their spots as he laid down all the dishes on the table for people to pick and choose just in time to hear the sound of clanking armour.
"Don't start without me, that smells fantastic!" Seating himself right beside his partner in crime, Naotsugu couldn't help but notice something was slightly off about the strategist sitting next to him. "Was it Akatsuki-chan... or maybe Marielle-san this time...?" At this comment, Shiroe looked beside him in shock as a cup bounced off the guardian's head... Akatsuki's way of dealing with the crude comment.
"I'm pretty sure that it was okay for me to do that... right?" she said, clearly still glaring at the male in armour sitting across from her, rubbing his head. "I almost put my tea in it... too..."
"And I will say it again... ask beforehand. ANYWAYS... I was asking an honest question for the closet pervert to answer." He stated nudging him on the shoulder as Shiroe stuffed his face with the burger, making sure that he had an excuse not to answer his friend's question of perversion. "You'll have to finish that eventually.." Still only playing around, he laughs as the leader looks the other way, as he decides just not to speak until his friend is done asking "who was in the erotic dream today?" kind of questions.
Keeping his mouth shut about that particular topic, Nyanta just shook his head at Naotsugu... fully aware of how crazy it sounded that the guardian actually knew what was going on inside the strategist's mind. "Or... Did you have a change in character today... oh don't go on telling me about your new thing with the chef." Only joking around, Naotsugu was not expecting to get the kind of reaction he got from Shiroe. Maybe a few mumbles or apologies to Nyanta, but instead he turned just in time to see him spit out his drink in surprise.
"Excuse me?" Akatsuki exclaimed as Shiroe almost choked on the remainder of his drink.
"It's just a joke, geez. Shiroe-san are you okay?" Patting the boy beside him on the back, he made sure his friend was done choking before partially laughing. "What was that about?"
Realizing that Naotsugu was spot on what was constantly going through his brain. He tried taking a couple of deep breath to try and distract him from what the guardian poked fun at. "I'm sorry, I really wasn't expecting that at all... usually it's about panty shots and whatnot..."
"Oh I was trying to see if I could appease a different side of you... nothing more." This time it was Nyanta's turn to cough, though he quickly covered it up to make sure no one would suspect it was the one man's speech that did it.
"Um... I don't think this is good table talk Naotsugu-san, nya." The cat person piped up just as the enchanter was about to say something. Taking a huge sigh of relief, it seemed like he wanted to say something similar.
"Thanks for the laugh though, I kind of needed that, this day has been a little weird..." Tohya chuckled, not realizing what anyone's reaction really meant.