"Thanks." Shin set the plate down near the burner. With all the care in the world, he used the spatula in his left hand to scrape the fried egg off the pan. Metal slid against metal, his tongue jut out between his teeth in concentration, aaaaaand-- there! The egg was on the plate! The egg was on the plate! He turned back to Nika with a victorious smirk. "I have to say, my favorite food in the world is probably curry. The spicy flavor, the texture, the fact it has veggies and rice and meat... I remember coming home from cram school late in the night. Mom was cooking the curry on the stove. I'd kick off my shoes by the front door and just get floored by the aroma. Yes, I'd have to say curry is pretty much the ultimate food."

He tore his attention back to the other egg. "Of course, bacon and ice cream fight a race for close second." And then there were the New York Aquarium's famous Sea Dogs. Dang, but those were good. And that one Chinese restaurant down by Time's Square, and the Thai place he'd gone with Aurum and Ghost, and... once Shin got to listing all the places in New York with good food, he ran short on his mental capacity to discuss much else.

The slices of bacon and the egg found their way onto the plate as Shin finished up his thought. “Yo, have you been shopping around in New York for good restaurants lately? I’ve got a friend whose family's restaurant makes some of the best fish.”

Some of the best fish.

Nika leaned back against the counter while watching Shin cook and listening to him. The food he cooked did smell good. If she hadn't of had her snack then her stomach would be calling out to taste some of that food. Thankfully her tummy was nice adn content.

Curry? She never had that before. In fact she had never had any asian food before. The description Shin gave of the curry sounded pretty good. Then he listed his next favorite foods. Nika reponded with what most people might just call a 'blonde moment'.

"You eat ice cream with bacon?"

Nika knew what both tasted like seperately and she agreed that they were very good, but for the flavors to be mixed kind of turned her stomach.

Saving her from further thoughts of a disgusting topic she focused on Shin's question.

"No...I haven't been out looking for places to eat. I eat mostly here at the mansion, but I might want to try something new."

Shin mentioned having a friend who's family's restaurant made some really good fish and Nika jumped on it. Not literally of course.

"Do you think your friend would let us eat there sometime?"

>>"You eat ice cream with bacon?"

"... uh, yeah. Sure!" Shin laughed. He did his darnedest not to glance back at her, lest she catch the smirk on his face. Ice cream and bacon? Was she serious? Who in their right mind would eat bacon for dessert!? ... Though as he thought about it, the combination of sweet and salty didn't sound all too unpleasing. He made a personal note to try it one day when he was feeling particularly brave.

He finally tore his focus away from the plate to settle on Nika as she replied to his question about restaurant-hopping.

>>"No...I haven't been out looking for places to eat. I eat mostly here at the mansion, but I might want to try something new. Do you think your friend would let us eat there sometime?"

"Aurum? Oh, definitely. He loves it when friends visit. He gets to nudge them to try all the new menu items he's too scared to try himself... living vicariously through the customer base. The nerve." Shin smirked as he weaved his way to the table and set his plate down. He got back up and grabbed a glass of orange juice casually. He pondered aloud “I wonder if he has any bacon ice cream ideas of his own…”

Nika shook the idea of bacon ice cream from her head.

"I'd like to try the fish if possible first then I'll move on to other things."

Thinking of trying new foods was a bit exciting. Hopefully she would find new things she liked. Her thoughts were slightly ruined when Shin brought up the bacon ice cream again. In response Nika made a sick face and stuck out her tongue then shook her head.

Okay, okay. She didn't like the idea of bacon ice cream. Maybe there were other foods she'd be more willing to consider? "I remember Aurum talking about trying out some new Thai recipes last time we went to Bangkok Gardens. That'd be a bit tamer than other things. And I know there are some nice seafood curries. I'm sure you could find something nice on the menu."

He paused to sit down and take a sip of his orange juice. After setting the glass down, he worked to cut the egg with his knife. "So, fish exactly. What kind of fish is your favorite? Is it any kind of sea food, or just fresh water things like trout? Because back in Japan, I had all sorts of weird things, like fried octopus, and yellowtail, and squid... takoyaki," He turned to sculpt his left hand into a fist."It's a fried ball of octopus and all sorts of good vegetables. Very yummy."

Nika kept watching Shin as he started to eat as well as continue their conversation. He mentioned his friend finding some other good things to make. More and more it was starting to sound like some place she wanted to visit.

When Shin asked what kinds of fish or seafood Nika liked she tried to think of what all she had eaten. In the mean time Shin listed off some suggestions as well as some things he had eaten before. She wasn't sure about the thought of squid but who knows, she might like it if she tried it.

"Well, I like tuna and I've had salmon, lobster, crab legs, cod, scallops."

Nika paused and tilted her head in thought. She even went so far as to close her left eye and squint her right as if thinking was that much of a challenge. A brief moment later she straighted up and opened both eyes fully.

"Yeah, that's about it really."

She said with a smile.

"Scallops, huh?" Shin hadn't had scallops. Or prawns. Or lobster. "I've had more types of fish than I've had sea creatures..." Shin realized with a dropped jaw. He took the moment to fill dropped jaw with bacon and eggy, then closed.

And chewed it over. Hmm... He swallowed the topic. "Guess you win on the seafood scale. The most I can boast are the few I mentioned, and whatever I caught when I went camping those few times with the host family way back when."

He paused to yawn. It really was early. The image of a cat yawning popped into his head. Which reminded him... hmm. He glanced towards Nika. "Have you ever met a girl named Sara? She's also a bit cattish. Furry ears, tail..." As example, he wiggled his hands by his ears. It didn't work when one hand was encased in cast... and he really didn't need to give her an example, did he? Shin stopped.

Nika smiled at Shin. He seemed like a good guy from what she could tell. He definitely liked food from what she could gather as well.

His change of topic pulled at Nika's curiousity. Another catgirl? She only remembered Daria as being the only other one. Nika really liked Daria, but the other catgirl left long ago.

"I don't know any other catgirls and I don't know anyone named Sarah. Is she hear at the mansion too?"

"Sometimes..." Shin replied cautiously. "Although I think she lives off-campus. I don't see her that often. Anyways... point was, catgirl." Shin shrugged. "I thought maybe you knew her. Anyways. It doesn't matter. Back onto food."

He set down his fork, and turned in his chair to face her. Chair legs grated a bit. Shin leaned forward earnestly. "You mentioned earlier you wanted to try something new? What if I invited you to my friend's family's restaurant. Maybe invited some other friends. You could meet some new people. Sound alright?"