D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Kamiko --- (Lunch Day 12)

Kamiko smiled as everyone got a round of seconds. Kamiko knew her food wasn't as good as Kat's yet, but it seemed everyone enjoyed it at least. Granted that might be because they'd eaten pretty sparsely over the last few days, collapsed before eating, and snacked instead of eating a proper breakfast but it was fine really.

Meg had refused to do anything until Hunter took a nap so they'd put off leaving until after lunch. Which was fine really, it gave Kamiko the time to make some food for everyone and relax a bit.

Kamiko's sleep had been rather spotty. Even with Hunter on watch Kamiko found it hard to calm down. If she was to be honest she slept better on Meg's shoulders then she did last night.

Every time she started to relax she had this moment of panic 'WAIT I'M NOT MOVING' only to calm down once she remembered where she was, and that things were fine now they were inside the centre… only to worry that it wasn't actually fine.

It was a regular cycle and Kamiko didn't get the greatest sleep. She did nap a bit longer after everyone else was up but that didn't last long either. It was partially why she wanted to make something for everyone, the nervous energy had only accumulated during that nap rather then help calm her down.

Kamiko smiled as Hunter grabbed a third round of the food, a little surprised that Hunter needed to eat more after the excessive amounts she'd consumed… five days ago? *Ok never mind that makes some sense. Hunter did eat a lot but I doubt it was really enough for a week. She can just deal with the minor starvation better then the rest of us and eat more later to compensate.

Hmmm… I wonder how hard it is for Hunter to keep such a good figure? Then again it's not hard for demons to stay fit once our demonic fire awakens.*

Kamiko pushed that thought to the side as she glanced around again. Meg had burnt away a lot of the grass nearby to give them better sightlines, which was nice… but it did leave a bunch of ash around because she didn't burn everything just started a fire with her own and let it burn for a while. Perhaps it was a test of some kind?

The robots did jump up once the fire covered them but they didn't last long. Neither did the fire though as the grass managed to thin it out quickly.

Kamiko rolled forward a bit on her feet hands behind her back as she took another look around, trying to find some indication of what she should do but finding nothing sticking out. The food was done, everyone was enjoying it with food still on their plates. Everyone had enough to drink as well and no monsters were approaching from anywhere… which left Kamiko nothing to do.

She'd already cleaned up everything she could.

This is what I get for eating my parts while I was cooking… but I was hungry and planning to have jelly anyway so it just felt natural at the time. Now I'm left with nothing to do and I feel super nervous. Do I try to make small talk? Nobody else is, they're all just enjoying the food. Which is nice and gives me a bit of confidence but it means I'm doubly wary of interrupting that.

Hunter will probably be done first… but she might go for round four and clean up the last of the food and I wouldn't want her to think I'm trying to stop her. Plus she's not always the best conversationalist.

Kamiko had made up a big roast using one of the large cuts of meat they had. Kamiko didn't recognise what it was from, but the little bit she'd tasted to check if it was ready reminded her of beef. It wasn't quite beef, but it was close. Perhaps some sort of magical cow or a particularly well domesticated bison? Kamiko didn't know but it looked to be a hit with everyone so that's nice still.

Kamiko kept fidgeting for a while longer until Meg finally snapped and asked, "What's with you? I mean, the food isn't the best I've had but it's fine. Why are you looking around like someone is about to smack you or something?"

"Oh… um… I just… well I ate earlier and I'm glad everyone is enjoying the food but… I guess I'm just nervous because I've got nothing to do but I feel like I should be doing something. I don't know what that something is, because if I did I'd be doing it… but well… I guess I'm just nervous for no reason. And I didn't sleep that well? Maybe that has something to do with it… um…" mumbled Kamiko.

"Well I think the food is great," stated Hunter.

"You think anything filling and edible is great," countered Meg.

"I don't see how that makes me statement untrue. Sure I'm not picky but I find most people are overly fussy or obsessed with making something that looks good and tastes nice. I eat mostly for sustenance and if what's on offer doesn't provide that I can't enjoy it properly," confirmed Hunter.

"Bah, I just think you should be more reserved with your compliments. Wouldn't want anyone to get a big head over it," said Meg. Continue your saga on empire

Hunter rolled her eyes, "I doubt Kamiko is suddenly going to become arrogant because she's good at cooking. Besides it's still better then the last time you attempted to cook something,"

"Hey I've gotten better. I can make a perfectly fine meal these days," retorted Meg.

"How often do you eat your own cooking then?" asked Hunter.

"I don't see how that's relevant," answered Meg.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I…" Hunter started to speak but paused, "I have no idea how you were able to say that. Like… at all," Meg just sent a smug grin at Hunter for a few moments before realising that it was Hunter who said it and tried to dial back the smug a bit… and mostly failing.

Kamiko wasn't sure what to do when suddenly Bower started to slurp up what remained of the juice in his plate… extremely loudly. Suddenly all the focus was on him and based on the slight smile Kamiko could see it was likely intentional. "Personally I think this was a good meal. Nice and warm, filling, and it tasted quite good as well.

Perhaps I don't get to try the fancy stuff you demons do, but this is quite good. Not the best I've had ever but probably the best I've eaten on a hunt in a long time,"

"Oh? What was that?" asked Kamiko hoping that keeping the conversation going with Bower would stop the argument from starting back up. Hunter got up to grab more food, ignoring Meg's glare so it seemed to be working.

"Hmmm… probably that time we managed to catch this big peryton. We were resting at a lake just outside of the forest. We were chasing something else but I don't quite remember what it was… certainly not as good eating a peryton. Anyway, we ran passed this like and saw the thing there with a wounded wind and hind.

It clearly got attacked by something else but it either managed to kill whatever it was or get away. Might've been able to run fast enough, I've got not idea how fast they normally are on land.

"Anyway we saw it and I took the easy shot, straight through the eye of the beast and brought it down. This was on… second day of what we planned to be a week-long hunt. So with the lake right there, the group majorly off the planned route and not all that far from the town, we just called it early and headed back with the peryton.

"It was a big thing though, much larger then I'd seen before. It's legs were easily as big as I was so I've got no idea how it managed to fly even before the injury did it in. Normally peryton's are a bit smaller then the dear you see around but not this one. Tasted really nice too.

Normally I hand out my extra shares from a hunt to people who need it in town but I kept everything I could from that one. Surprisingly fatty, extra juicy. Hmm… makes me wonder if I'll ever eat anything like that again,"

Kamiko smiled as Hunter and Meg started to lick their lips, clearly quite interested in imagining the test of this peryton. Which… well Kamiko found that hard because she didn't really know what a peryton was. Clearly it had wings, but also just as clearly it could run so it wasn't really a bird. Kamiko debated if it was worth asking as everyone seemed distracted and she wanted it to stay that way.