In the still of the night (Narook's)

[Shen Fàn]

Seeing that Chen was far too invested in his noodles to make any theft of them plausible, Shen instead decided to turn his attention to the game. Shiro Shinobi wasn’t one to mince his words when it comes to penalties that should have been called, and Shen knew that if the Wolfbats were up to anything fishy, they would hear about it immediately. As much as Shen hated to admit it, Tahno and his crew were all very good athletes. They moved in quick, precise motions, and knew how to capitalize on any failings in the opposition’s defense. To be honest, the Wolfbats would likely be an excellent team, in contention for the title, without any of their shady tactics. Would they have won said title for the last three years running? Probably not. But who knows?

Regardless, it seemed as if this time, the Wolfbats were playing as clean as they ever would. With a knockout occurring in the first round, Shen expected to have to endure celebrating and jubilation from everyone in the place, especially that waitress. However, glancing over at her, Shen found that the woman wasn’t doing much, and was rather sitting at the counter in a rather agitated manner. He couldn’t help but notice the authoritative way in which she held herself around her coworkers. He had to admit it was impressive, though she was likely just some uppity, better-than-everyone superskank. Still…

Turning back to Chen, Shen smiled in such a way as to unnerve him, and cast another foreboding glance at his food. Suddenly, in the midst of making a face that must have come from some horror story, some smell caught Shen’s attention. It smelled…sweet. No, it definitely had spice to it. Closing his eyes and sniffing a bit further, Shen decided that he was definitely going to get some of whatever that was when he left here, before realizing that the smell was, in fact, emanating from the kitchen. Glancing at the waitress once more, he decided that this must be the “special” she had ordered. Not one to contradict himself, Shen looked once more to Chen, smirking that self-satisfied smirk as he continued to insult the place.

”Jeez, smells like something died in here.” He said, just loud enough for the woman to hear.

[Sarika]

(I forgot I had meant for this thread to be like 1 am.. so I wrote the game as a replay on the wireless).

The oil sizzled on the heavy skilled as the shrimp were tossed around, bathed in the oil that had been used in the day's previously fish fries. The grey morsels slowly took on a pink coloring under the skilled hands of the cook while thick egg noodles boiled away. A thick mixture of soy sauce, garlic, lemon zest, and various other spices tossed together was stirred in with the shrimp and oil, then covered and left to simmer at a high heat. The noodles, wide and slightly crunchy, were piled up high in a shallow bowl, the sauce and shrimp poured over it. Sharp bits of scallops were chopped and thrown over it along with a scattering of sesame seeds . A piece of crunchy, half stale bread was tossed onto the side of the wide lipped dish.

Meanwhile, Sarika ignored the comment though she heard it loud and clear. She remained seated, with the side of her head resting on her fist. A pleased smile was on her face. This was still an exhibition game - the season hadn't truly started and true, hardcore game play wasn't to be expected but even so the wolf bats were playing as good as ever! The night was late.. it was simply a replay game that was on. She already knew the outcome.. the Wolfbats won.

There was a ding of a hanging bell from the kitchen and Sarika's head perked up. The sizzling plate was placed on the metal sheet in the window, the fires under it barely a glow at this time of Night. She swung her legs off the stool and strutted around the bar to grab the dish. She gave a wink to Ahtahka who was visible in the window, wiping his hands and his brow with a rag. "We'll see if this shuts him up about how disgusting we are." She mumbled quietly under the roar of the game. Putting on her best smile, Sarika turned and let her curled lashes do all the talking.

Her original patron was sleepily eating his meal, poking through the noodles of his rather simple, and in her mind, bland dish, for the last bits of fish when she brought over the second dish to his friend. Her hips swayed with each step, as she had taken note how the boy with the swept back hair had watched her earlier. Even in her restaurant uniform, Sarika had that classic hourglass shape every water tribe woman would kill for. The white ceramic clinked on the wooden table in front of the man, and she cooed through her painted lips. "On the house.. courtesy of Tahno and the Wolfbats."

[Shen Fàn]

Weighing facts and figures, Shen set his mind to the task of deciding the implications that this win would have on the season, as a whole. True, it was early in the season, but those who discounted games merely because they had the chance to make them up weren’t going to last very long in this league. His Eel Hounds had been playing well; not necessarily as good as the Wolfbats, but at a reasonable level. A nice bounce-back from last season, when being an Eel Hounds fan was like having a plague of some sort. An Eel Plague. Regardless, as he thought about things, he had to admit that the Wolfbats were shaping up to be the best team in the league. Again. Sighing, Shen could only hope that Nanuk hadn’t put money against them for the game tonight, though he supposed the man was a bit smarter than that. Still, money caused some people to make rash decisions. He resolved to check in with the older man the next day, to make sure everything was running smoothly. The sound of the bell indicating the order’s completion snapped him out of his string of thoughts. Glancing back at Chen, Shen once more engaged him in a bit of conversation.

”Looking tired. You should get some sleep before hopping in that Satomobile. I don’t want to be scraping you off the pavement later.”

Yawning, Shen quickly snatched up the glass of water that had been placed next to Chen, taking advantage of the man’s obvious lack of focus. Gulping down a significant portion of the glass, Shen let out a sigh of contentment and placed the glass back on the table, sliding it to his friend. One of life’s few joys could be found in causing aggravation, at least in Shen’s eyes. It was a nice change from the old life that he barely remembered. Nearly shuddering at the thought, Shen reminisced on his past life full of protocol, expectations, and arrangement. He would take chaos over a life of stagnancy any day. What decent fire-bender wouldn’t?

Noticing the waitress saunter over to them once more, this time carrying a plate, Shen rolled his eyes in a rather obvious manner, grinning playfully as she set said plate down. "On the house.. courtesy of Tahno and the Wolfbats." The woman cooed, as Shen sent a sideways glance down at the plate of surprisingly appetizing-looking food. Crinkling his nose and furrowing his brow a bit, Shen looked from the dish to the woman, and then back to the dish again, before finally raising his gaze back to make direct eye contact with her. “From the Wolfbats? Well, how thoughtful.” He commented, biting his lip as the aroma of the dish made its way through his olfactory system. He had to admit, in any other circumstance he’d at the very least give the food a try. However, Shen was a stubborn man. He wasn’t just going to admit that he’d been hasty in his judgment before…even if his judgment had been more for the sake of being difficult than anything.

”It seems almost too thoughtful. I’m a little worried. After all, you’re looking at the future Eel Hounds fire-bender. This could be sabotage.” He sat back, his head in his hand, as if pondering what to do. Suddenly sliding the plate to the edge of the table closest to the waitress, Shen’s reflective face turned into one of sudden faux-realization, as he nodded his head. ”But hey, this place is justifiably dead. No reason one of the wait staff can’t have a sit and sample some of the food for me. Maybe tell me a bit more about themselves, earn my trust.”

[Sarika]

Sarika put her hands on her hips and shifted her weight back, curves jutting out as the young man leaned in close to the dish she had laid down. His friend peered over curiously, his face coming close to the steam that rose up out of the dish. Deep furrows appeared in his high brow as he looked up to his friend only to silently slink back into the booth. He was going to let the two night owls remain at it while he continued to nurse his udon. The waitress's bright eyes darted from the dish of shrimp and lo mein to the firebender and then back again. A slight smirk raised her upper lip as she pondered a response. She didn't have one prepared for this case scenario, having expected the man to just dig right in.

"..I assure you. It's not poisoned. The Wolfbats have no reason to sabotage any Eel-hounds.. Their own training does that for them." She replied curtly, though inwardly cursing herself for not having a better response. She did however step around the table and allow herself a graceful, but heavy fall onto the booth's exposed seat. One arm stretched out across the edge of the table, her fingers in a loose fist as she wearily crossed her legs. "Seeing as it's dead in here.. Name's Sarika."