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Hey, I know it’s a bit ‘off menu’, but could I get a bowl of Kitsune Udon? I’ve been craving some lately and I’d figure I’d get some. - Hana

“How was supposed to know that? I was asleep. I’m only getting enough for one bowl, alright? You better not mess it up,” Rio says to Ray.

In a short moment, she’s got her delivery box on top of her back with the ingredient list inside. Before she starts to walk down the street, she turns to you.

Rio walks down the street and turns a corner, away from view. Ray takes his whiteboard:

He remembers you, even if Rio didn’t. It seems like he’s eager to try to please, especially after the first bowl you had here was… well it was okay.

It’s strange, you don’t remember showing him this form when you were first here.

He turns around to start prepping the ingredients. It won’t be too long before Rio comes back. Before he turns around to go to work, he pauses for an uncomfortable moment as if he’s contemplating on a decision.

He picks the whiteboard up again.

Flan floats over to the young vulpix and circles around their head, marveling at their fur. "Oh your fur is so cool!!! I wish my fur glittered that often as a shiny, it makes you look soooo pretty!" She settles down and then looks at the beetle crawling around "So uhm, why are you here playing here by yourself with this bug? Do you collect…..them?"

Starflower

Big likes being outside, but he’s usually sleeping during the day and Small Dad says I’m not allowed to be outside at night because it’s not safe, so we go outside during the day sometimes.

Sometimes I’ll find some cool bugs and eat them. I like to collect them for my Bug Club

…

How come you smell like pie?

( @ask-enchantingdelights )

{ Previously… }

While the Arcanine was talking, Star had decided to roll themselves up off of the ground, shaking off the dust and taking a moment to relocate their pet beetle Big before picking them up and letting it crawl on their back. They were honestly getting very bored of these random strangers talking to them and a little hungry as well, thinking they should probably head back home for a snack.

…

Wait.

A Stink bug? What stink bug? Where???

Confused, Starflower looked around, then looked back at the Arcanine for a moment and followed his gesture to Big, who at this point was resting in their fur.

“St—“

“STINK BUG?!”

It was as if a switch had been flicked in that moment. One would’ve thought Star had used Hyper Voice with how loud they suddenly barked at the Arcanine! Whipping their tiny body around and huffing at the dog, they continued their barking in full force.

“BIG ISNT A STINK BUG, YOU BIG POOP-HEAD! STINK BUGS BELONG TO THE “PEN-TOMATO” FAMILY! BIG IS A HERCULES BEETLE AND THEY BELONG IN THE “DYE-NASTY” FAMILY!!”

They honestly couldn’t believe the nerve this dog had. The bugs were clearly two different species! They don’t even look alike! Aren’t they an adult? They’re supposed to know everything!

“BESIDES, BIG DOESN’T SMELL LIKE YOU DO, STINKY! HE DIDN’T CALL YOU NAMES SO YOU BETTER SAY SORRY!!”

Nearby, Stars’ screeching hadn’t gone unnoticed, quickly catching the ear of the older Vulpix as they whipped around toward the sound.

“Oh gods—“

Taking off towards the loud display, they clumsily burst through the brush and landed into the scene at a short distance, immediately focusing on the tiny kit in the middle of their tantrum apart from the dog sitting before them.

“STAR!!”

( @lustrous-dawn )

???

…uh…that’s a lotta games…

Small Dad says I sparkle because I’m “shiny”, but Grandma says I look mostly like Big Dad...

Grandpa says I look like the stars because that’s where babies come from, and that they’re born when they ride a falling star to earth from the heavens, and if you catch one and make a wish and eat it, you get a baby.

Grandpa says that’s also why my name is “Starflower”. Because I came from the stars and Small Dad likes flowers…

{ Starflowers’ Profile has been unlocked! }

{ @asktauros }

The Arcanine looked about. This was the last place... right? As he tried to recollect, a throbbing in his head made him grumble under his breath. That Vulpix, a bitter thought as he paused in his search. That Hana actually did something... nice, despite their first encounter. It would be best to quash- something caught his eyes, a small Vulpix kit with a unique fur pigment. A squint. Pink and stardust... "Hey kid where's your parent?"

Admittingly, the child wasn’t expecting the hulking figure of the dog to cast such a wide shadow over them. Had they not realized they were being spoken too, they could’ve mistaken him for a tree, compared to their relative size.

Huh???

Starting from his paws and eventually craning their neck upward until they eventually toppled over, the child would struggle to see who was addressing them, considering they sun shined just behind their shadowed glare. Not bothering to get up, they would give a snort.

“…”

“Why are you so big, and stinky? You smell like dirt poop…”

[ @lustrous-dawn ]

Previously: Hana ordered a bowl of Kitsune Udon and Ray asked a rather deep question to which Hana responded with clarity. @pokitsune

Ray listens attentively. But, as Hana takes a pensive stop to think, his hands sneakily shifts to the x-transceiver behind the counter away from their view.

Sounds easy enough...

His attention is brought back to Hana as they started to talk once more. Other than a slight twitch at the words "I hated it-", Ray gives Hana his full attention..

It wasn't long until Rio came back.

She trots off, shooting a thoughtful glance over to Hana to see if her presence bothered them any longer. Nevertheless, she continues to do some "book keeping" away from Hana’s area–most likely to give them the reprieve from the cynophobia she was informed about.

After unpacking the groceries, Ray takes stock of what he has in front of him.

Hana has already humored him with a deep response to a heavy question, so to keep them waiting without food would just be rude. He’s going to have to work with what he’s got and take short cuts.

Short cuts or not, this was a delicate operation. Skipping the steps to soak the seaweed to boil it might risk a bitter and slimy stock if boiled too long. Take time too little to twice fry the tofu and you’ll end up with a sad addition of soggy tofu. He has to time it right…

The broth shimmers with golden clarity. The noodles look like they are not too firm and not too soft. While there may be traces of some of the spice falling to the bottom of the bowl, it looks complete and carefully concocted.

A tasteful addition of the necessary toppings sit proudly on top. The Inari-Age looks like it's not typical of what you'd expect from Kitsune Udon, but reminiscent of the sweet and salty taste despite its hardened and crispy texture.

This is the type of a lunch that will have you ready to take on the afternoon without feeling too bloated. 

By all accounts, Ray thinks he did a pretty good job. He’s quite proud of himself for this one. 

I followed this recipe to do some research!

I gave myself the limitation of "ok there's a customer who needs their food asap." So 10-15 minutes max. Here's what I found:

The recipe is absolutely right in claiming that dashi powder isn't as good as homebrewed dashi. HOWEVER I live in a place where Japanese ingredients are hard to come by. I'm actually surprised I didn't find bonito flakes.

You can skip the soaking konbu part, but I hiiiighly recommend it. You'll end up with a broth that doesn't feel complete if you skip this part. Speaking of broth, udon noodles are also extremely filling--if you make a broth with it, it better not be heavy because you'll be a vegetable after you eat. But if you get all the ingredients right, you'll end up with a good meal that I totally forgot to take a picture of. Just imagine it's what I drew because that looks better anyway

I didn't read the instructions close enough--the inari-age is supposed to be a marinated/seasoned in dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. I just had bland tofu puffs... In my defense, there's a lot of Japanese terms thrown around and the recipe blog was un-intuitive to follow.

Granted, there's absolutely no way you can make inari-age in the span of 20 minutes, especially if you're making the tofu from scratch. One way to change that, however, would probably be in the process of combining the seasoning/marinating process with the frying process. I can't confirm this, I haven't tried it and I was getting too antsy to let this reply go unfinished.

???

Wh—??? Ninetales? I’m clearly a Vulpix? Well…mostly…

Uh, sorry, but I’m looking for my kit. Their name is Starflower. They’re small, and they have white fur with black markings that sparkle. I think they have their pet bug on them. They’re a little timid and might run away or attack if they’re scared, so I’d rather find them before something happens. They also don’t always respond to their name so this just…makes this even harder…

I’m…pretty sure they’re close by. I can smell them, but it’s kinda mixed up with other smells that it’s hard to focus. This part of the forest is usually pretty quiet with not a lot of others around, so I’m not sure where these other smells are coming from…

( Ugh…I’m so bad at this… )

( @pmd-paths-to-requiem @adventuresquadharvest )

???

Hm…?

The child pokes their head out from the bush, watching the other two Pokémon approach them. In their mouth, a large Hercules Beetle gently wriggles about.

…?

{ @askvekpa @ask-the-shiny-pokemons }

Starflower

Yeah, I love my dads. Small Dad’s at home while Big Dad’s at work.

Sometimes Big Dad’s gone for a while, but sometimes they’ll bring me snacks when they come back, or they’ll come home for lunch. Small Dad sometimes works at home but sometimes they’ll go into the city to work, so I’ll go to grandmas house so she can look after me.

I like to visit Big Dads’ job with Small Dad, it’s kinda like camping, but no bears…

{ @askadelcatty }

Angela@???: "Oh, you look so interesting, dear! I've never seen a Vulpix with a coat like yours. Where are your parents? Staying by yourself is quite dangerous for a kit like you."

Starflower

Big is here so I’m not by myself. He’s like Megaro, but Megaro is bigger and isn’t as strong as Gojira. He’s the king of pokemonsters so he has to be super strong.

…

Are you a bat? You kinda look like a “Crow-Bat” but bigger…and black…

…

I heard Crowbats need a lotta blood all the time or they feel bad, are you here to drink my blood?

It kinda looks like fruit juice, but it doesn’t taste the same…it’s supposed to be important though so you can’t have mine, okay?

Maybe they have some at the grocery store…

( @askwornhearts )