won't you take me

[kokuyoyo]

Who: The Li Tieguai clusterfuck
What: Well, we're out of a shitty haunted forest, who wants dinner?
When: November 16, evening
Where: Li Tieguai's Temple

Usually, when there's some big nonsense in Heaven, Chikusa can be found out cold or "away" in his own head for most of the following couple of days afterwards... but that apparently only counts for event which involve people. Spending an entire day trekking through a possessed forest filled with violent plant-life and cultists is manageable.... somehow.

No matter how exhausted or injured anyone in the temple is, food still has to be made, and Hakka is in no condition to make it. Thus, dinner is being arranged by the other cook in the house, and invitations have been sent out to the relevant people Chikusa thinks care- namely Nanako and Ayumu, along with anyone they seek to bring. That doesn't mean people checking in on the Li Tieguai temple can't just waltz right into the dinner as well....

There's a lot to do in the time leading up to dinner, after all, depending on when people show up (or, you know, realize there's smells coming from the kitchen). Bon, the resident enormous Tibetan Mastiff, demands attention in the form of bodily flinging himself at people. There's a goat in the garden, tied away from all the important medical herbs. At least four different nekomata wander in and out of the temple ground whenever they please, including Pookie, the most permanent resident, and never shut up.... Not to mention that a Kung-Fu movie has been put on the television for people to watch.

There's also a sign on all entrances to the kitchen that says: CHO HAKKAI IS NOT ALLOWED TO COOK. Presumably Chikusa put it up while making direct eye contact with him.

Either way, mess around until dinner, have dinner, crash in the living room where another kung-fu movie has been put on again... Have fun.

Oh, and before it can be forgotten.... The dinner menu for the night is fritto misto, meaty Amatriciana sauce with bucatini noodles, and all the garlic bread in the world apparently. For dessert? Cannoli again. That... might be all he knows how to make on the dessert front.

Comments

[rockthemonkey]

Chikusa wouldn't let me have any either...

[Does Goku know that Chikusa is "Kakipi"? Does he think there's someone else cooking in there? Look, he's hungry, his brain isn't at 100%.]

I don't see what the big deal is. We're gonna eat it all anyway!

[junkyarddog]

Kakipi says I shouldn't eat the stuff raw, byon. [Is Goku that much of an animal, or is it just Ken?]

[rockthemonkey]

Some of the meat's cooked already! And vegetables are fine raw! Tomatoes are really tasty even before they're cooked!

[Goku isn't about to eat raw pork, he's not that bad. But fresh out of the oven is fine. As far as everything else goes, he could probably live out of a greenhouse if he had to.]

[junkyarddog]

I like meat best...and desserts. Vegetables are okay if they're mixed in with other stuff. [Ken's anything but picky about what he puts in his mouth, but he certainly has preferences.

Meanwhile, belatedly, a thought has surfaced, and he eyes Goku.] What's your name, anyway? I've smelled you around, but Hakkai-sama never told us who you are...

[rockthemonkey]

Meat's really good... Especially when it's cooked all nice like how Hakkai does it. [Unfortunately, most meat dishes require at least a little skill in the kitchen. Left to survive in nature, Goku ends up living off fruit and the work of others.] I think I could eat anything right now though...

[Ah, but wait, now they're talking about something else. Goku blinks and looks at Ken curiously.] ... Ah, right! I've smelled out around too. [Huh. He doesn't normally meet people who talk about smelling stuff like that. People always look at Goku funny when he does that.] I'm Goku, Hakkai's friend. You're his other shinki, right? Uh, I forgot your name, but he told me about you!

[junkyarddog]

Meat's good even when it's raw, but Kakipi says it's gross when I eat it like that. [Ken puffs.] But then it's okay when it's sashimi...what's the big difference, byon?

My name's Ken! Are you a shinki, too? [Ken doesn't look...entirely thrilled by the idea. Something's been gnawing at him for awhile, and the idea that Goku might be another shinki Hakkai's taken in sharpens its teeth.]

[rockthemonkey]

It's kinda gross. [Sorry, Ken. Goku is a civilised monkey.] Sashimi's just different.

[Don't ask him how it's different. He has no idea. But sashimi tastes good, most of the time, and the idea of eating raw pork sets off alarm bells in his mind.]

Nice to meet ya, Ken! Nah, I'm not a shinki. [Calling himself a god is still weird, so he won't do it. But if he's not a shinki, there's only so many other options.] Do I look like one?

[junkyarddog]

What's different about it, byon? It's all raw. [Ken wrinkles his nose.] And it's all cold and stuff most of the time. That's weirder than it being raw.

And I dunno. I don't think shinki really look like anything. [Ken tilts his head as he studies Goku.] But Ayumu and Gojyo are both shinki, and they're the other people Hakkai's brought here recently. I didn't know Hakkai-sama was friends with any gods.

[This in large part because Hakkai doesn't tell Ken much, rather than any actual indication of the company Hakkai keeps.]

[rockthemonkey]

You should ask Hakkai, he knows almost everything. 'Specially about food.

[Hakkai may be the kind of idiot who gets himself in dangerous situations regularly, just like all his friends, but if you want weird trivia then he's your man.]

I thought Hakkai had lots of friends. When I got here it seemed like everyone knew him. [It was kinda weird! Good, but weird.] Anyway, we're not friends because we're gods or anything dumb like that. I've known Hakkai for ages, way before either of us got here.

[Goku is a prior responsibility.]

[junkyarddog]

He does? [Ken knew Hakkai could cook, but this is the first time anyone's given indication that Hakkai is particularly knowledgeable in the area of food. He's rather intrigued.]

I know Hakkai knows lots of people...but I thought he was kinda like Kakipi. Kakipi knows lots of people but that doesn't mean he's friends with 'em, byon.

[But he perks up a bit at hearing Goku knew Hakkai when he was alive.] That's like me and Kakipi! [He pauses, tilting his head.] Does that mean you know Gojyo, too?

[rockthemonkey]

[In Goku's experience you can ask Hakkai about just about any topic and he'll have some weird, little known fact to impart. Food shouldn't be any different.]

Oh, yeah, that. Hakkai's kinda like that as well, I guess. But he seems to really like you and Chikusa!

[Even two new good friends is to be celebrated, honestly. Between the Kouten Brigade and now everyone here, Goku's starting to think they're on a roll.]

Like... [He freezes when Ken mentions Gojyo though and nervously looks around to make sure the cockroach isn't within earshot. Gojyo had remembered a little bit about Goku, though he's not sure how much, but...] ... Yeah, I know Gojyo. Don't say anything to him about it though, okay? I don't want anything bad to happen.

[junkyarddog]

Yeah, I know. [Ken scratches his cheek.] But Gojyo knows he knew Hakkai-sama while they were alive, right? So it should be okay if he knows he knew you while you were alive, too...he just can't know anything else about it.

[He frowns.] Gojyo was an asshole to Hakkai-sama for awhile 'cause he was scared Hakkai-sama would use those memories to hurt him or something, byon. Is he gonna be a jerk to you too?

[rockthemonkey]

I think he remembers somethin' about me and shrimp rolls, but I dunno how much. It should be okay, but I wanna be careful anyway.

[Gojyo's already accused him of trying to kill him by telling him his name and that he smells weird. Gojyo is a little paranoid and Goku doesn't want to take too many risks.]

Nah, Gojyo's a jerk to me all the time anyway. That's normal, you don't gotta worry.

[junkyarddog]

He's kind of a jerk in general, byon. [Ken huffs.] And dumb. He thinks not remembering everything is the same as being a totally different person.

[rockthemonkey]

Yeah, he's kinda a dumb cockroach. That's normal too.

[Gojyo is one of Goku's favourite people in all the world and he will happily insult him all night, Ken, don't you worry. He does pause for a second at that last sentence though.]

... Wow, that's really dumb. Even for Gojyo.

[junkyarddog]

He keeps saying he's not really Gojyo, just some guy shoved in his body or something. Which is stupid, byon. Kakipi and I hated sleeping in beds way before we remembered why. Just 'cause we don't have the same memories we did when we're alive doesn't mean we stopped being the same people. We just don't remember what made us the people we are, byon.

[rockthemonkey]

But he's still Gojyo. That's his name!

[There's some monkey logic in there, somewhere. Goku honestly looks bothered the more he thinks about it. Stupid Gojyo. He nods along with what Ken says, still thinking how stupid Gojyo is.]

When I forgot everything else, I still knew I was called Goku. So I was Goku before and Goku after. Anything else would be stupid.

[junkyarddog]

I dunno. He's really stupid, byon. [Ken and Goku are in full agreement on this.]

[rockthemonkey]

You just gotta punch him or kick him or something when he's being stupid. That's what we always do.

[Gojyo's friends all admire him and love him unconditionally and they're always 100% ready to beat the crap out of him at a moment's notice. Because that's what friends are for.]

[junkyarddog]

I did that already, byon! [Ken looks pleased to have accidentally found the correct solution already.] I bit him!

[Ken...]

[rockthemonkey]

Ah, biting's a foul!

[There are rules to rough-housing, Ken. Biting, scratching and pulling hair are all red cards. That said...]

But if he was being really stupid, it's probably okay.

[junkyarddog]

Well, I like biting, byon. [Ken huffs.] And it's not a foul, 'cause he could bite me back if he wants. And it's not my fault my teeth are sharper than everyone else's!

He was being really stupid, though. He thinks Hakkai-sama wants Gojyo, and that he's not really Gojyo. But whoever the hell Gojyo thinks he is now that's different from who the real Gojyo is, Hakkai-sama knows what he's like now and he still likes him anyway, so he obviously likes the new Gojyo, too, not just the old one. [The name 'Gojyo' is rapidly losing its meaning to Ken, saying it so many times in succession.] But he's all hung up on not being the right person or something, instead of just being whoever the hell is now...and instead of seeing that whoever he is, Hakkai-sama likes that person just fine.

[He huffs.] Anyway, Kakipi and I got some of our memories back, and the way I was before my memories came back matches what I remember being like. So I know us shinki are still the same people we used to be, byon. Gojyo's just hanging on to some dumb idea he came up with that doesn't even make sense.