[F01 - PP] Ghosts of Christmases Past

[Koga 0]

Spoiler

Koga
Level: 35
Health: 700
Energy: 70
DMG: 15 // EVA: 0 // MIT: 47 // ACC: 4
BRN: 24 // BLT: 24 // FALN: 4 // REGN: 10

Skills
>> Katana V
>> Light Armor II

Extra Skills
>> Familiar Master: Fighter III
>> Survival

Inventory
>> T2 Demonic Katana <<Tsuki no Hikari>> [Burn // Blight // Cursed // Fallen]
>> T1 Perfect Necklace <<White Owl Necklace>> [Accuracy // Accuracy // Accuracy]
>> T2 Demonic Light Armor <<Wrathful Bracers>>  [Cursed // Mitigation // Mitigation // Regen]

Battle-Ready Inventory
---

Koga opened up the pantry and coughed as a small amount of dust flew into his face. Empty. Well, not entirely empty. There were some cobwebs...too bad you couldn't eat those. Behind him, Okami whined pitifully. "Sorry bud," Koga said as he shut the pantry, "We got nothing."

Well, Yuki had successfully eaten Koga out of house and home. Almost literally. What had been a fully stocked kitchen was now little  more than an empty husk, luring in a weary traveler with the promise of rest, respite, a warm and full belly, only to tear away that illusion at the last second. Life really was just a cruel joke, wasn't it?

Koga crossed his arms as he turned to Yuki, a slight frown on his face. "Well...there's no Christmas feast now...not that I could keep up with you anyways, but..." Koga wasn't really all that unhappy. It's not like they actually needed to eat inside SAO anyways. It was more like a comfort and a habit. Still Christmas dinner would've been nice.

"Or wait..." that was when Koga got an idea. "Hey, maybe NIGHT'll take our sorry asses in for a night! Hope she doesn't have any guests over."

Oh, Koga if you only knew.

@Yukiro // @NIGHT

Edited December 27, 2020 by Koga

[NIGHT 0]

Oh, Koga. If only you knew, indeed.

When the duo had dropped by unattended, so too had the double within the confines of the estate. And it took a few messages from NIGHT to reassure her sudden guests of her presence in the household -- several minutes would have to pass before the woman opened the front door to her home.

"H-hey...! Sorry for the wait..."

Two of her closest companions. The people she felt she needed to owe the truth most to. Except, she'd slid out of the house to join her gathering of friends outside, closing off the entrance behind her, arms pressed against the wood of the door.

In the quiet eve, there was only the mild bustle of players about the Town of Beginnings. A cold breeze swept past her front yard -- strange, then, how NIGHT hadn't had her tracksuit donned on for the meet. Plain black shirt, signature silk choker and sport shorts; she didn't doubt to be feeling the cold soon, stepping outside in casual wear at the very heart of winter, but it was always difficult playing direct with words.

Best get to it then. Her tic came back into play, fingers twirling a strand of hair off the side of her head.

"Exactly what're you two here for, again...?"

@Yukiro

	| NIGHT   | HP: 1670/1670 | EN: 179/179    | ACC: 5 | DMG: 19 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 79 | BH: 79    | PRLYZ: 1 | ABS. ACC | LD: 5    | Stealth Detection: 5 | Stealth Rating: 7
| Using [Mega Slime Farm] for +2 SP at the end of this thread.
[Examine]  | equipment Cosmic Devourer -- [ Paralyze I | Natural successful attack rolls of 9-10 remove the enemy’s action on their next turn. Paralyzed opponents lose any evasion properties. ] -- [ Absolute Accuracy | +1 ACC. Attack rolls of 1 no longer automatically miss. ] -- [ Accuracy I | +1 ACC. ] Reinforced Black Tracksuit -- [ Mitigation I | +54 MIT. ] -- [ Evasion I | +1 EVA. ] Silver Crescent Necklace -- [ Accuracy II | +2 ACC ] -- [ Evasion II | +2 EVA ]  | battle-ready inventory - - - - - - - - -  | skills Skills Mod Count: 8/8 Two-Handed Straight Sword | Passive | RANK 5/5 > Ferocity, Precision, Finesse Light Armor | Passive | RANK 5/5  > Athletics, Sprint&Acrobatics Searching | Passive | RANK 4+1/5 Hiding | Passive | RANK 5/5 > Blindside, Vanish, Surprise Attack: Trickster Extended Mod Limit | Passive | RANK 3/3  Battle Healing | Passive | RANK 5/5 Energist | Passive Quick Change | Active Charge | Active | RANK 5/5   Extra Survival | Passive  Concentration | Active -- CD: 3 Familiar Mastery: Fighter | Passive | RANK 3/3  | consumed buffs Spoiler Bialas Statue | +TAUNT Mothra Statue | +1 EN Recovery Tanos Statue | +15 MIT Mōretsuna Statue | +50 HP Yamato-no-Orochi Statue | +1 LD Kumatetsu Statue | +1 DMG - - - - - -  | misc. buffs Spoiler Dimensional Backpack, Item Stash | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat.  Relaxed | +(5 * Tier) HP per out-of-combat post. Full energy restoration occurs after two turns out of combat. Squeaky Clean | -25% DoT damage taken from the first DoT applied to this player in a thread. Skylight: Searching | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cooldown of 30 days to reassign. Multipurpose | +1 LD/Prosperity/Stealth/Detection to one post per thread. Can be applied after a roll. Filling | +1 T1 slot to a food consumed by this player in a thread. Can exceed Cook enhancement caps. Col Deposit | +5% col from loot-minimum mobs, +10% col from treasure chests.

[Yukiro 0]

Those several minutes had felt extremely awkward to Yukiro. He already didn't relish the idea of asking to stay in someone else's house, especially when he had just been given a place to stay moments earlier. But the addition of the long wait made it feel like he and Koga were interrupting something important. What had NIGHT been doing that took so long? Not that it was his privilege to be asking, given what he and Koga were here for. 

Once their friend had finally opened the door, Yukiro bowed slightly. "It's fine, we came unannounced," he apologized, motioning for Koga to do the same. NIGHT's apparel also caught his attention, though he did his best to pay it no mind. "I'm sorry for the intrusion, but we were hoping to stay with you tonight. Um, we figured that since we were already together, we might as well come keep you company as well. It being Christmas eve and all, it might be nice to get together again..." 

He almost pointed out that most of the group was absent from the meeting, but then again, he probably didn't have to.

@Koga

[Koga 0]

The pair of players stood waiting outside in the cold. Koga pulled his jacket a little tighter around his body. "I wonder what's taking her so long?" he said to no one in particular. NIGHT was usually pretty prompt as far as Koga knew. And they knew she was home, she'd sent them a message when she apparently heard their knock...

The door swung open suddenly, and out stepped NIGHT...in clothing that didn't quite fit the weather. Wasn't she cold?

Prompted by Yuki, Koga gave a short bow before standing upright with a sheepish smile and nervously rubbing the back of his neck. Believe it or not, he actually wasn't entirely comfortable with just intruding on people's homes like this but...no one should spend Christmas alone. Especially not three friends who had been through far too much in the last year. "Yeah, sorry. Besides...it's been a long time since the three of us have been in the same room togeth-" Koga stopped short of finishing this sentence and gave NIGHT an uncharacteristically strange look. Like he was both confused and intrigued by her appearance. "Uhm, you feeling, okay NIGHT?" he asked, arm dropping back to his side. "You're looking a little flush...and sweaty...are you sick or...?" Suddenly realization dawned on Koga. Christmas. Gifts. Significant other possibly?

"OH SHIT!" the man cried out, perhaps a little too loudly, "Uhm, if we're interrupting something, we can just go, uh, wouldn't want intrude!" Koga frantically gestured with his hands as he spoke, doing nothing to lessen the attention he might be drawing.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

Shit.

The shout was jolting. She hoped no one else in the city would've turned to look at it. Though, she hadn't expected to have been caught out this quick by her guests, either. The back of her hand met the skin of her cheek; a poor estimate of minutes prior before, and NIGHT grimaced at her friend's outburst, pressing herself closing to the door.

"It's nothing," she tried to reassure her companions, though her eyes rapidly darted between the two men, wondering if she'd convinced them any. "Your presence is appreciated, in any case."

And she'd meant it in every sense of her words.

"Right, I totally forgot you two don't have places to stay," the player continued, starting to push open the door to her home. A vague memory of having promised a space for Yukiro crossed her mind, though she pushed it out of her thoughts for the moment, realizing her circumstances hadn't aligned well in the present. "Christmas eve? For one night? The best I've got is a single guest room, if either of you are comfortable to share."

One step inside. Main hall to the left, kitchen to the right. At first glance, the house was completely devoid of life.

 

 

The partially cut cake in the living room was a big give away that something was off, though.

[Yukiro 0]

Koga's sudden shout had made Yukiro jump. He hadn't dwelled on the thought that anyone had already been there, but Koga's words brought the idea right back to the forefront of his mind. Suddenly even more acutely aware of every tiny sound and movement he made, Yukiro tensely followed Koga through the door. 
"Sharing a room would be alright, I think," he agreed to NIGHT's offer, not pausing to think to hard about it, "Um, thank you again for letting us stay. If you need us to do or help with anything, you're welcome to ask."

A partially eaten cake on the table virtually confirmed that someone other than NIGHT was here. Yukiro had seen NIGHT eat; she wouldn't have had that whole thing alone, so there must be someone here. Torn between curiosity of who NIGHT might have over and the awkward nervousness keeping him from asking, he partially reverted back to old habits and stayed completely silent. 

@Koga

[Koga 0]

As NIGHT let the two men in, Koga was about to say he was fine with the couch or something if Yuki didn't want to share, but before the man could even open his mouth, his friend beat him to it. "Yeah, I don't mind sharing," he said instead, affirming the sleeping arrangements for the night.

Koga looked around the home, realizing it was the first time he had been in it. "Nice place you got here," he complimented before he noticed the cut cake on the table. So they were interrupting something. "Sorry for intruding," Koga said again, apologetically smiling. There was an awkward silence for moment between the three of them as they all stood in a circle. "So, what's with the cake?" Koga asked, finally cutting through the quiet, "Is it your birthday or something?" Come to think of it, Koga didn't know any of their birthdays. Nor did he think they knew his.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

Ah. Talk about getting caught again -- NIGHT looked at the cake like a deer in headlights. A few seconds passed by as she remained silent, frozen in fear; if she looked haggard before, that drained appearance of hers only seemed to amplify even more so now.

"That's..."

Like the player had any words for it. The player trudged closer to her tiny party hall, her dessert sitting on a stool in front of the couch. By the coffee table, there were a mess of wooden cutlery and paper plates. Two used dishes laid in opposition to each other; one on the floor, and one on the couch.

A finger tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she stayed quiet. In the back of her mind, she was trying, trying so hard to figure out how to lie her way out of this.

...But she also didn't want to ruin such a perfectly lovely cake.

Etching out the cocoa powder on the cake's cream would've done the trick, and yet...

NIGHT bit her lip before giving her house guests a glance. "Y-yeah," she admitted. A hand gripped the side of her shirt across her torso, feeling the cloth shift between her fingers. "The twenty-fourth; it is. N-no use hiding it, now..."

Exasperated, she gave her cake a glance before heaving out a sigh. How was she supposed to advance from here? "Uh, you guys can have some if you want. There's a knife in one of the drawers of the kitchen... and I could always use the help clearing out desserts in the fridge..."

[Yukiro 0]

Yukiro's family had never celebrated birthdays with a cake, so Yukiro couldn't quite figure out what had tipped Koga off to NIGHT's birthday. But in his time in Aincrad, Yukiro had at least learned that most people celebrated birthdays like a holiday, with gifts and such. That said, he'd never actually BEEN to a birthday party before... After a moment of consideration over what exactly he was supposed to do, Yukiro awkwardly gave NIGHT a slight bow. "Happy birthday, then. Congratulations... I think. And, um, I'm sorry we didn't bring any gifts." 
Since the boy was torn between voicing his thoughts and wanting to keep quiet, his speech was soft and somewhat weary. 
"I'm sure we can help with that, if you'd like us too." A slight pause. "Um, again, thank you for having us." 
Sticking to Koga's side, the boy tried to get a read on how he should be behaving. Then again, Koga might not be the best role model... Not that there was anyone else there to try and copy. He could only hope that he wouldn't bring the mood down too much. 

@Koga

[Koga 0]

With the look that NIGHT was giving the two men, Koga was beginning to think he'd said something wrong. He was just about to wave his hand in front of NIGHT's face to check that she was still responsive, and not lagged out or something when she finally spoke.

Koga shook his head at the offer of cake, "No, thank you, appreciate it though." He wasn't much for cake.

Silence.

Well...this was not how Koga had expected the night to go. He looked between his two friends and their somber expressions, as NIGHT offered them some cake. Usually, people who were alone for Christmas looked like this, not those spending it with their friends. There had to be some way to salvage the situation, though, right?

"I'm sorry we didn't bring any gifts."

Koga restrained himself from slapping Yuki in the back of the head. It's Christmas you fool! How did you forget gifts?!

"Uhm, actually-" Koga took a slight step forward, "It's Christmas and all. And, I mean, what do you do for your friends on Christmas? Get'em gifts right?" Koga chuckled a little awkwardly. This wasn't like him. "So...we," Koga nudged Yuki in ribs with his elbow. Forcefully. "brought some Christmas gifts." With a quick downward swipe of his finger, Koga brought up his menu, and quickly navigated to his inventory. He was nervous for some reason. Second thoughts about the gifts ran through his mind. It was so stupid, they weren't kindergartners, these were the dumbest gifts in existence.

Blue light appeared above Koga's outstretched hand, quickly dividing into two bright orbs. The orbs quickly became rectangle before solidifying into a stack of framed photos, tied into a bundle with red ribbon. Koga held them tightly to his chest for a moment, before taking a deep breath and holding them out to the others.

"We've made a lot of good memories, guys. So, uh...just so no one ever forgets."

As they untied the bundle of photos, and looked through them, they'd be greeted by a photo from the night they'd all met together for the first time. It was a tavern, and everyone was in the frame somehow. Lonzo, Nora, Noct, Yuki, NIGHT, and Cordelia. It was clear that the photo's subjects weren't paying attention, all except Koga, who was smiling as he evidently took the picture. Lonzo was flirting with Noct, while Yuki, Nora and NIGHT all appeared to be conversing next to a very annoyed Cordelia.

The next photo featured NIGHT running away from a giant wasp as Koga laughed.

Another showed Yukiro slashing a Troll with a sword art.

There was one with NIGHT, Yuki, Noct and Koga all in a hot pot restaurant. Yuki and the two girls had a terrified look on their face as Koga seemed to be trying to force feed Yuki.

Another, a group of cloaked figures in a desert re-entering a settlement, the sun rising behind them. They had all dropped their hoods, so it was easy to tell it was NIGHT, Noct, Yuki and Koga.

In the next, Tala seemed to be yelling at Koga and Yuki in the Nature's Treasure of Floor 1, both of whom looked dejected.

One in a ramen shop,with Noct, Tala, Yuki and Lonzo, from when both couples had announced their engagements.

There were some more recent photos as well. One was of NIGHT on guard in the dead of night, the lavalight of Floor Nine illuminating her form.

Another of Yuki, petting Okami in Koga's home.

The very last was Koga, NIGHT, Yuki, and Noct, all walking back to the settlement together. They seemed happy, and smiling, for the most part.

@NIGHT // @Yukiro

[NIGHT 0]

Christmas Eve; a wonderful time for one of her friends to admit that he'd been taking voyeur shots of basically everyone without their consent throughout all their time spent together. What a wonderful confession of perverseness, certainly one he would be condemned for.

 

— Just kidding.

Though the revelation had caught her off-guard, the player continued to examine the polaroids, fingers tracing out the figures, eyes eating away at the remnants of humanity captured and ensnared in the photos behind gloss and digital code. She paid attention to the different ghosts behind the white frames, studying their faces, barely capable of remembering her last memory with each of these players.

Were cherished moments like these meant to be fleeting? What even happened to each of these players when she wasn't looking towards the future?

They were lovely shots, albeit each of them carried a weight heavy enough to have broken through glass. Uncertain of what to say, NIGHT kept quiet, a hand wrung around the back of her neck whilst her lips were kept in a wry smile.

With a bit more time, she picked up the first image, holding it delicately between the pinch of two fingers. "I don't think I could forget," the player mentioned, before setting it aside, watching her friends reminisce about the past. In a jest, she picked up the one taken from the ninth, and simmered it into her inventory with an arrogant grin. "That's the best shot of me anyone's ever taken, though. I'll keep it, if you don't mind."

[Yukiro 0]

Though he was silently thanking Koga for saving what shreds of dignity the snow-haired boy had left, Yukiro couldn't help but be shocked by the gift Koga had presented. He'd never thought Koga to be so thoughtful in such things. Guilt swept through his chest like a wave. But, just as quickly, it was replaced; Yukiro was distracted by the various pictures. 

Yukiro leaned down a bit to look at them more closely. Though he didn't recognize every event, each and every photo seemed to call out with it's own kind of joy. Yukiro picked up one which featured Tala, Koga, and himself. The boys both looked crestfallen, and Tala was clearly giving them a piece of her mind. For only a split second, Yuki thought he would tear up. However, NIGHT's voice seemed to drag his mind back to reality before it had even left. 

Quickly setting the picture down, Yukiro let a small but steady smile creep out as he nodded in agreement with NIGHT. "Even if we won't forget, the reminder is nice," he said quietly, "Thank you, Koga." 

@Koga

[Koga 0]

The friends looked through the images one by one. It wasn't much, but at the same time, it meant everything to Koga. Hopefully, it meant something for them too. They were both some of the best times, captured in those photos. Oh, how much had they changed since then? Koga wasn't sure he recognized the people in the photos anymore, truth be told, but he cherished them nonetheless.

NIGHT picked up one of the pictures, a small smile playing at her lips. Yukiro picked up another, the one Koga figured he would.

NIGHT slyly dissolved one of the photos into her inventory, and act to which Koga quietly chuckled, "Yeah, go for it. All of these are for you guys, I made copies for both of you, after all."

The images were just bytes after all. A bunch of ones and zeros correlating to pixels and colors.

Koga nodded in Yuki's direction when he thanked him. He wasn't really sure what else he could say. Koga knew why Yuki had picked up the picture he had. It was the reason he'd included it in the little stack of photos in the first place.

Koga forced himself to return to the present, and not descend into memories of the past. This was Christmas! He should enjoy the company he had. "Anyways, so uh, now that that's outta the way...what do you guys wanna do?"

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

The rest of the album was quickly retrieved. Meanwhile, NIGHT sheepishly buried her fingers into her hair, too-- just as Yukiro had mentioned, it seemed as though Koga had been the only person prepared for their celebratory meeting.

How rude! If he'd had known sooner, the rest of the players deserved a heads up.

"Christmas dinner, Christmas..."

In truth, whilst NIGHT was more than capable of cooking feasts, there was also another matter she needed to tend to in order to see her meals through. As she mumbled under her breath about her guest's original goal, her glance went towards the stairs up her house, then towards the kitchen.

Why'd she have an open-concept home again...?

The woman let out a pained breath, before pulling up a tiny messenger window, tapping something on the light keyboard before letting it shut with a snap when her fingers disconnected from the screen. With two hands, she collected the cake by her knees. A nod of her head towards the dining table gestured her guests to follow.

"Sit."

The player proceeded to carry the cake to the fridge. Menus and a shove, and the dessert disappeared from reality.

"I doubt I have the traditional ingredients," NIGHT mentioned above the thumping of footsteps from the stairs, "but I'm sure I could put together a decent spread, at the very least."

(And if Yukiro were threatening to eat out of house and home -- surely the stock of Yuki's desserts would fend him off from demolishing her wallet. Right?)

A few more taps at the fridge brought forth a large swath of ingredients. Recipes she was familiar with, recipes she hadn't even found the time to try. The figure that crossed the table to her side -- golden locks, sapphire eyes -- only gave the two diners a glance as she trailed to NIGHT's side, peering over the player's shoulder in lack of formal greetings.

"Your cooking assistant is here," her counterpart replied, never losing a beat in her sentence.

NIGHT felt her lids droop for a moment, before looking back towards her friends, past her doppel, with as steeled an expression as she could muster.

By the fridge, two cursors hung lowly over two women's heads. One of them was green, and the other was yellow.

"I hope you two can wait a bit. Any requests?"

[Yukiro 0]

Softly thanking Koga once again for the photos, Yukiro lifted one of the items and took in it's scene for a moment. Koga was looking into the camera while Lonzo attempted to flirt with Noctua. Nora, NIGHT, and Yukiro were talking to Cordelia, who looked less than thrilled about the situation. Quickly adding the image to his inventory, Yukiro pulled his attention to what the others were saying. 

After following NIGHT up some stairs and into her kitchen, the boys were told to sit down at the table. Yukiro nodded, following the direction. He was about to offer to help but, before he could get the words out, an unfamiliar figure walked past him and directly to NIGHT's side. 
It wasn't her presence that surprised Yukiro; it was more the way she ignored the guests that had intruded on what Yukiro could only assume was her own intrusion. Half standing up, he gave a slight bow to the new comer then sat down. 

"I'm fine with waiting," Yukiro said calmly, "But may I request an introduction? Ah, it's nice to meet you," he quickly added to be polite. 

@Koga

[Koga 0]

The group sat in near silence for a little while as they all seemed to ponder what to do. After what appeared to be much internal debate and muttering, NIGHT stood and directed the two men to the dining table, an order to which both obliged. Yukiro said something or other that Koga didn't have enough of an attention span to hear. Instead, Koga's attention span was turned towards the newcomer. He reasoned that must've been who and what the boys had...interrupted. She was very pretty, he had to admit, but that wasn't what captured his attention. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but something felt off. Koga just couldn't quite put his finger on it, not until the blonde-haired woman stood next to NIGHT, and Koga spent an additional five or six seconds of observation. And then it hit him.

"Uh, NIGHT? Could I speak to you in private for a moment?" the man said, before standing and taking a few paces away from the dinner table.

When the woman joined him, Koga would say in a quiet voice, "Ok, so, maybe I'm just going crazy, but is that an NPC?"

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

—Of course she'd get the attention instead. NIGHT should have known.

The woman's jaw reflexively tightened, eyes narrowed at her companions' interest. An introduction placed the entity in their presence above other regular Cardinal units; frankly, she wasn't sure what had given away her housemate's apparent importance at her friends' first glance. With a huff and a glance to the fridge, the player first took in what ingredients were available to the chefs before turning around to face her guests, usual indifference returning to her image.

A hand landed on her Gemini's shoulder, clasping upon it in a firm grip. Her other didn't shudder – rather, the construct's eyes were settled upon the taller man who'd asked for a name.

"It's..."

 

...Barely a second passed before NIGHT realized just how embarrassing it was for her doppel to have a name in parallel to her own.

A few more passed before she realized that she hadn't actually introduced the Gemini before. To anyone. Officially. Even for ChaseR, the construct's name had just been used in passing – out of an apology – before he'd picked up on it without complaint.

In the moments of silence that passed, the host merely stood there dumbfounded.

"NIGHT."

The NPC returned a look out of concern to the player. And before NIGHT could register the words exchanged in passing through a glance to the former's visage, she batted her awareness back to her house guests. The woman cleared her throat.

"Uh... It's... just a cooking assistant. Their– Her name is..."

She stalled for a moment.

"Her name is... DAY– So, dinner...!"

The woman whirled back around to the fridge, half expecting to have carried the conversation onwards, but mostly to escape from her past wiles.

(Perhaps she would've made out of the scene unscathed, too, if Koga hadn't asked for her presence away from the kitchen for a brief moment.)

With lips pressed together, tight, she nodded and stepped to his side.

"Ok, so," he whispered as she got close, "maybe I'm just going crazy, but is that an NPC?"

"It'snotunusual!" NIGHT added in a rush, almost too loudly for their private conversation. Though, her volume was quickly toned down as the exasperation started to drain from her composure. "You can hire NPCs to look after your house and stuff, j-just so you know. So..."

 

Meanwhile, DAY watched her counterpart slip away from her side before glancing over to Yukiro. Easily, the smile she flashed him was once graced with warmth, her head raised slightly to match his sights. "It's nice to finally meet you. Christmas dinner, I take it?"

[Yukiro 0]

Casting a glance over at Koga and NIGHT as they moved to speak with each other, Yukiro sighed. Maybe it was a bad idea to come after all; not that he would have if he'd know someone else was already there. Perhaps a customary message should have been sent to ask..? 

Ah, well. Too late to worry about that much now. 

"It's nice to finally meet you. Christmas dinner, I take it?" 

"Ah, yes, something like that, I suppose," the boy affirmed awkwardly. He finished registering Day's words as he spoke. It seemed NIGHT had spoken to this girl of him..? "Day, was it? Thank you for allowing Koga and I to intrude, it's very kind of both you and NIGHT." 
Offering another slight bow, the boy's ruby eyes flashed between NIGHT and DAY. And after a short moment of confusion, it clicked. DAY was an NPC. 

Not that it mattered too much to him. After all, if she was with NIGHT then there was no cause for concern, right? 

"I'm sorry I can't help, but my skills in a kitchen are... shall we say, unfortunate." As he finished he returned the smile with one of his own, a grin radiant enough that it completely contradicted his previous moodiness. 

@Koga

[Koga 0]

The interactions between NIGHT and this NPC, and the implications of whatever they had been doing, already had Koga in a state of confusion. The rushed explanation of the NPCs presence in her home though during their private conversation only made it worse. The man's eyes slowly grew wide, and a single solitary eyebrow was raised. It was written all over Koga's face that he didn't believe NIGHT.

"Uh huh..."

Well...it wasn't quite worth pressing the topic any further.

"If you say so," he said, before indicating they probably shouldn't leave Yukiro alone with DAY for too long. The poor poor boy's head might explode.

Koga turned back to the other two in the room, catching only Yukiro's apology. "Yeah, sorry, I woulda sent a message ahead of time if I'd known," Koga said. Wait a second...why was he apologizing to an NPC?

"Uh, if you guys want any help cooking though, I'm pretty handy around the kitchen," he offered. It was the least he could do.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

"Thank you for allowing Koga and I to intrude, it's very kind of both you and NIGHT."

DAY locked her two hands together behind her back, adding a light smile to her lips before speaking. "Oh, the pleasure's all mine, really. It's not every day that I get to meet some of NIGHT's friends after all." Another tilt of her head, the entity's blue eyes scanned over the player with a peculiar focus before they bounced to the duo locked in secret conversation. In a volume that only Yukiro could hear, she added, "Maybe especially not you two, out of the others."

Koga's sights then bounced back towards the kitchen, cueing NIGHT to finally speed back to the fridge. "S-Sure, help would be appreciated," the player added, pulling out all that she could from memory to form on the counter and islands. It wasn't as though she couldn't have made dishes on her own (with the help of her cooking assistant, of course), but rather at the recollection that they had a literal gluttonous behemoth in their home, the apprentice chef would rather more hands on deck before they were all starved.

A few press of a buttons on a menu. In a few seconds, it seemed as though the woman had cleared her whole stock out -- but the item listings in the fridge continued to scroll anyway. NIGHT paused before the house started to flood with ingredients; somehow, there was just enough space for preparations to begin.

DAY watched with vague interest as the player beckoned Koga over to a cutting board, laid aside with a steel knife. "It'd be best if you could handle the cutting," she rushed, before flittering over to the construct's side for intel on recipe instructions.

(Most of the meats could be prepared, seasoned before being set into the oven, whilst the vegetables and sauces would need to be worked on with extra effort... Ah, and what about dessert...?)

Potatoes, carrots, baguettes and the like were shafted over to Koga's side of the workstation. "I'll handle the meats, then," NIGHT told her other, starting to grab a slab of beef. "Try the sauces this time around, I'm sure there's a lot to take care of for those..."

"... Are there no milder tasting dishes...?"

"I... I doubt it..."