Pine Garden

[Bern]

Lily

"Master, if I called you that too much I'd be spoiling you tehe-" She did however snuggle closer, and she did let up on grinding her butt on his crotch as she noticed the squirrel girl sit down next to them and proclaim that she too wanted to join this eating challenge.

"Look girl, you may throw a mean punch. But I'm part Elemental Succubus, and this guy here is so focused hes had me humping him for the past 15 minutes and he hasn't even popped a boner once, what chance do you think you have of beating either of us huh?" She didn't want to deal with sending this knuckleheaded girl to the hospital in the middle of their date.

"Are you that mad I knocked you out with a pebble?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

Vega shrugged, far too focused on ingesting every last inch of the spicy concoction and sweating like an intense inferno - despite all that he seemed utterly unphased, and didn't show any pain at all. In fact, he looked like he enjoyed it.

"Oh, it's you. Sur- wait, a *pebble*? Pffffffffffffffft! I.. pfftt... pfftwahahahahahah! Oh my god, oh god! Really? Is that true Lily? My... ohohohohoho! A pebble. A pebble! I just, I... hahahahaha!" He rubbed his temple and snuggled with the smol demon, but if anything it was more of a distraction to keep himself from guffawing any harder at the squirrel-girl. The alcohol may have helped a bit, his mood was exuberantly great. But why wouldn't it be? "Sure, sure. Aaah, gosh, just imagining it made my day. You're paying for your meal though, this isn't a charity."

A pebble.

And that's when a daint finger trailed down her back with a pleasurable stroke - almost touching her tail's base, but trailing around the thin line where the back ended and the appendage started. "Now then... who exactly do you think you are? I can sing my own praises just fine missus, but if you talk on my behalf again I will tie you up and hang you upside down the tower whence you came. And that is an irrevocable promise." He said that with unmistakeable affection, to the point it didn't sound like a reproach at all - but an excuse to spank her thick butt right in front of everyone.

Its not even like it was beneath him. Any who dealt with him long enough knew he tended to be quite eccentric when it came to his pleasures. He gulped down another shot of sake greedily and laughed. "Ahhh, life is too short to bore yourself with restraint. Wouldn't you agree, friend Nanako?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Luthien

The tanned elf crossed her shapely legs in an attempt to be seductive. Instead, she hiccuped, and glowed with the brilliance of the sun for a moment in embarrasment. "Ahem–that all sounds very nice. I'm actually out here to do some networking for my mother. To make connections, as well as to find myself within the walls of this city." Lu flicked the tips of her ears with some degree of interest.

She leaned in and smiled. "If that would be acceptable, I'd have to say this young elf is interested."

Marc

"Of course it's acceptable, you silly goose! And don't sweat it, I figured it had to do with something like that." He took a friendly swing down his drink and grinned amiably, before folding his hands together in front of his face. He was deep in thought for a moment.

"However, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like a small favor in exchange. It's no biggie, but I'd like to meet that person you speak of so much. Would you let me see her today? I'd like her blessing to proceed with this business transaction."

[Panda]

Nanako

The squirrel girl gave Lily a strange look when she brought up a thing about a pebble, thinking back for a moment before figuring it didn't really matter much whether that had happened or not. Not with Vega laughing up a storm about it.

"I don't see any pebbles around here, just our spoons," Nanako shot back, "And we're using them to eat, so let's see how this goes."

"And yeah, of course I'm paying my own way here," the squirrel girl continued, turning to Vega, "I came here for a competition, not charity, so come on!"

With that, she started on the bowl of mapo tofu soon as they started with their dishes.

[SINIB]

Marc

"Of course it's acceptable, you silly goose! And don't sweat it, I figured it had to do with something like that." He took a friendly swing down his drink and grinned amiably, before folding his hands together in front of his face. He was deep in thought for a moment.

"However, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like a small favor in exchange. It's no biggie, but I'd like to meet that person you speak of so much. Would you let me see her today? I'd like her blessing to proceed with this business transaction."

Luthien

Luthien's ears trembled with mirth; she began to laugh at Marc's demand. "Heh. Hehehe—I'll see what I can do. You're acting like I can just order her around. I believe she's busy right now, but I can promise that your proposals will at least get heard." Luthien replied with a wink and a cheeky stuck-out tongue.

She stretched her arms out and cracked her knuckles. "Whether she agrees depends both on what you can offer and what sort of impression you make."

[Bern]

Lily

The rising heat was the best indicator that his teasing affected her, more so than her attempt at a composed look. A look that was then completely ruined by how happily her tail swishing. "You know who I am master, I will continue to speak my mind no matter what  and if I think you deserve praise then I will praise you. And I'll keep praising you no matter how harshly you punish me. Now be a good boyfriend and kick her butt!"

She turned her attention to Nanako and eyed her quickly. "A competition has bets, what are you even bringing to the table? You aren't that smart, I guess you're strong and you got a smoking bod, but you're nowhere near as hot as me of course~"
 

[Kotomine_Rin]

Luthien

Luthien's ears trembled with mirth; she began to laugh at Marc's demand. "Heh. Hehehe—I'll see what I can do. You're acting like I can just order her around. I believe she's busy right now, but I can promise that your proposals will at least get heard." Luthien replied with a wink and a cheeky stuck-out tongue.

She stretched her arms out and cracked her knuckles. "Whether she agrees depends both on what you can offer and what sort of impression you make."

Marc

"Ah, then I better try to look the part of a reliable handsome devil..." He rubbed his temple. "Hey, since you know her, you must have a bit of advice! Sooo... I'm all ears!" He hopped right next to her with his chair glued to his butt, and sat riiight next to her.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

His beauteous eyebrow twitched at the challenge. Wordlessly, he leaned closer to the massive bowl and ate spoonful after spoonful of the hotpot. Elegantly, silently, but with no mistake, he picked up the pace and started eating - looking at Nanako right in the eye the whole time.

The intensity of his look was like a pair of searing stars.

He started eating even faster

[Panda]

Nanako

Nanako's eyes were drawn to Vega's as he stared at her. Whatever Lily said just then faded away as she found herself drawn in by the man's silent challenge. Without a word, Nanako answered in kind, downing spoonful after spoonful of mapo tofu. She matched him spoonful for spoonful, the spice burning at her in ways she hadn't enjoyed in a while, each mouthful encouraging her on to the next.

[Bern]

Lily

Sigh.

"You two are like children, fuck the spoon, and fuck table manners. If you want to win you have to assert your dominance, like this."

She didn't even fill her bowl, no she did something far more shrewd, something simple mortals like them would never in a million years think off...

She cast away the notions of eating from a bowl and just grabbed the burning hot pot filled with the even hotter sauce, turned it upside down and dumped all of it, every single drop down her mouth.

It was oh so simple and that's why it was so delightfully devilish.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

But something stopped him, or someone rather. He stared incredulously as she grabbed the entire bowl, with shellfish included, and ingested the entire hellish concoction. His mouth gaped open, and for a moment, he stared wide in disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

He was paralyzed for a moment. When he spoke, it was without the usual candor. If Lily was warm and brazen, his tone was cold enough to chill.

"I misjudged you, I apologize. To think you'd be so bold... how putrid." Without caring for her body sitting on his lap, he got up with a disgusted expression and even took a towel to wipe whatever filth would be caught on his hands. "Manners are everything. And whatever power is gained by forfeiting aesthetics is no strength at all, but the brute expression of a mad beast. Mother would never stand for such a thing."

He wiped his hand and shook his head in disapprovel. "I'll have to think on what manner to make you pay for this. But know that vengeance will be mine."

And that's when his expression turned brighter. He looked at her tail, this time with affection. He smiled. "But congratulations on the victory nonetheless. Now, where shall we head?"

[Panda]

Nanako

Driven as Nanako was in the competition, even she had a double-take as Lily chose the most direct solution and downed the whole hotpot in one go. The squirrel girl paused with another spoonful of mapo tofu halfway to her mouth for a long moment, then went back to eating. Already, she found herself thinking about what the Elemental might lay out for her stakes on the contest.

The squirrel girl's tail swished lazily behind her as Vega switched from scolding to praise again, and her curiosity was piqued all the same.

"Welp, certainly one way to win," Nanako admitted, "Guess I owe you something too, if ya don't mind me sticking around."

[Bern]

Lily

"Ohoho.." Lily haughtiness peaked as she was dropped by her current master, such simple movement couldn't make her fall though and she landed on her feet. More importantly his inexperience was flaring up in a rather worrisome manner and ut fell on her to educate in the ways in which he had gone wrong.

"It seems you still have much to learn master, if you cannot find the ephemeral beauty in the lives of beasts, then can truly claim to be a connoisseur of it?"

The redhead was completely spotless, not a single drop of the hot pot had been spilt not was there even any need for her to clean herself. It was elegance worthy of the finest of families, yet it was displayed in such a shocking manner.

"True strength is knowing how and when to surpass the little box society has placed on us, and in doing so soar free like the birds." Her own tail swisher behind her now that she was no longer seated and it was matching the pace of Nanako's, creating a symphony that told her that she hadn't forgotten about her.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

Vega looked at the burning daemon intently and his eyes fluttered for a bit. Were they the words she spoke, or was it the way her elegant form carried herself, uncared and unburdened by her surroundings? For a second, a mere moment, his world was challenged by an outsider.  It was naught but a sickening sensation that made him retch to the core.

"I see. I'll... keep your words in mind."

To soar free like a bird, there would be no greater beauty. The man smiled and nodded, even if her point of view had been so contrary to the beliefs he spoke of - the one's mother ingrained into him - he felt like he could be forgiven.

Haha, goodness me. It seems I have much to learn.

He never cared how much he had to dirty his own hands. From assassinations to underhanded jobs, he did everything to survive and thrive. To grow and mature into a more perfect self. There was only one act that still perturbed him at the time, a kill dealt for no reason at all.

And yet, her words resonated with his heart at the time. Like the dear friend he met a month back, it made him feel like everything was alright. For his own sake, anything was alright. Like when Lily talked about her past feats, his expression and manhood showed the closest thing to true, genuine joy he'd ever shown.

"I think hiring you may be the best decision I've made yet." He then turned to the curious beastgirl from then. "But oh my, I must admit I'm curious as well. Since it is my dear girlfriend that turned out victor, even I'm not sure what she'll claim." He then turned his gaze back to Lily, expectantly perhaps. But mostly with curiosity and fascination, and a feeling he couldn't quite describe yet.

[Panda]

Nanako

Nanako finished off the last bits of her mapo tofu as Lily said her piece and Vega took it in. It seemed obvious to her, the benefits to living freely, but she supposed she couldn't blame him for not getting it. She'd probably had entirely different experiences from the man, in that regard. Well, it wasn't really her place to tell him to embrace one or the other, he could make that decision for himself watching them.

"Hm, even you don't know? How exciting~" Nanako smirked, popping up out of her seat to join them, tail swishing excitedly behind her before she noticed Lily's tail doing the same. Moving on a whimsical impulse, the squirrel girl's fluffy tail suddenly struck out, tangling up with the little Elemental's new tail as she gave the redhead a curious look, anticipation already building with everything she'd said.