[b]Mizuko[/b] "... House's... special..." For a few moments, Mizuko stared blankly. Oh no. She'd... she had ingredients, yes, but there was... kind of no menu written up yet. It may have been a poor assumption, but Mizuko had assumed that orders would be quite a bit more specific until she got a menu written up. The hot plate was heated up, at least, so that wasn't an issue for her. It was now really just a matter of trying to figure out, on the spot, what the house special would even be. Mizuko's mind raced... and then it came to the most obvious conclusion. Of course she would cook the most delicious of meat to be her house special! "One shrimp-fried rice, coming right up ~[i]degeso[/i]!" The young squid girl swiftly set about pulling open the first container in sight, using her hands for this one. It was cool to the touch, her parents having invested in enchanted containers that would store food without allowing it to spoil. Within, were the familiar curled forms of shrimp tails. She had whole shrimp, as well, but this container was for shrimp tails. As she opened it up, her tentacles moved and placed containers of rice near the hot plate. It was prepared as well, as cooking the rice up was something she had wanted to handle beforehand. A portion was swiftly deposited in a bowl, and placed beside the hotplate, as two of her tentacles produced two eggs from the box beneath the counter. As she cracked them into another bowl to scramble them, her attention turned to the older girl who had arrived at the counter. She could keep preparing the shrimp-fried rice and still pay attention to further customers, she had free tentacles. A filet of fish? That would be easy enough to prepare alongside the fried rice, and she had plenty of sake. Mizuko smiled. "Of course, valued customer ~[i]degeso[/i]! And welcome to Aoika Mizuko's Sky-Blue Squid Market ~[i]degeso[/i]!" She seemed quite nice, as well. Nice and specific in her order, which did make things easier for Mizuko. As the woman moved her scarf down to reveal her smile, Mizuko's own smile grew, and one of her tentacles reached to the back of her stall. This... was the tricky part. The squid girl looked back over her shoulder, still trying to keep up preparation for the fried rice, as her tentacle wrapped around one of her bottles of sake. She didn't want to drop anything... and, slowly, she managed to retrieve the bottle, placing it on the counter. With that done, she quickly produced her cold box of filleted haddock, carefully taking out one of the fillets and inspecting it in her hands before preparing to place it on the hot plate. And... then she noticed she had yet another customer, peering around the huge, rocky man. "Ah... I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, valued customer ~[i]degeso[/i]! What would you like ~[i]degeso[/i]?" Deep down, Mizuko really hoped he wanted something pre-prepared. Or maybe he wanted something other then food... ---- [b]Emi[/b] This... was not quite what Emi had been prepared for. She shielded her eyes from the brilliant flash of light. It did not, at least, burn her eyes and blind her, as such lights often would do to her kind, but it still forced her to look away given how brightly it had burst. When she could return her gaze to the spot... she saw something else she had not expected. The old beggar man had been replaced by a much younger one, a human man in a mask clad in luxurious clothing. There were only a few people such a sight could prove to be, such a swift and excellent disguise. Naturally, he was a rumor, but there were plenty of rumors that did indeed prove to exist... After a few moments of stunned surprise, Emi managed to find her words. "So... You're... You're Lakan Ting, aren't you?" It was the Nem girl's first response after the man finished his speech. Well, that and a stunned 'thank you' as she took the gold pieces and the tickets. She was hardly about to pass that up, and seeing a performance in the Dream District was a fantastic way to spend a night. However, the real surprise was the fact that she really had no idea who this could be, other then the famed man of mystery. "I... I think I'll hear you out. After a performance like [i]that[/i], what else could I do?" She didn't have anywhere to be immediately, anyway.