pawnstorm | housewarming ✿ open

Entry tags:

housewarming ✿ open

Who: Adra and all y'all
When: About a week after the dungeon; in the afternoon and going on until evening
Where: Adra & Gil's house
What: HOUSEWARMING MINGLE come eat the enchanted food
Rating: this is a family log

✿ THE HOUSE ✿

Adra's house is a cozy stone cottage on the outskirts of Caissa, close enough to the sea that one can hear the breaking waves throughout the day.

This afternoon, there's light, cool rain falling intermittently, tapping in a rhythm at the windows and roof. Fortunately, the kitchen is warm, bright, and welcoming. Its counters and tables are covered with freshly prepared foods of all kinds, and there are plenty of chairs for visitors who might like to sit and relax.

A door from the kitchen leads out into the garden, which is not quite yet fully landscaped, but which boasts a promising array of flowers (orchids, roses, lilies, tulips, etc) and herbs. Adra's also cultivating strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, and so on; the strawberries and cherries in particular are ripe for picking. Adra has strung enchanted, floating fairy lights all over the garden; they cast a soft, ethereal glow over the paths and carefully tended patches of greenery. At the garden's center, there's a clear pond filled with red and pink lotus blossoms.

Back inside, a visitor might like to rest in the den. There's a roaring fire in the hearth, and sitting near it for a short while offers a boost to the weary spirit. Soft, plush chairs and couches fill this room, making it ideal for lounging. The tables are covered with books borrowed somewhat indiscreetly from the library; they deal largely with the magic and history of Enprise.

Adjacent to the den is Adra's study. In here are half-empty bookshelves and antique rolling desk covered with neat stacks of papers, boxes of quills, and numerous pots of ink, each one in different, brilliant colors. His journal is somewhere here, too ...

Finally, down the hall one will find a half bathroom and, across from that, the door to the second bedroom--belonging to one Gilgamesh. The master bedroom, belonging to Adrasteius, is at the end of the hall. There's a full bath in there, but this room is definitively locked.

✿ THE SPREAD ✿

As usual, Adra's gone over the top in his preparations. For drinks, there's a sweet, refreshing punch; delicately pink and decorated with sprigs of flowers. There are pitchers of sparkling ice water, jugs of wine and spiced mead, and plenty of glasses to share.

Though Adra does not eat meat himself, he prepares it ably; there's a honey-glazed, roasted turkey in the center of the table, right beside a carving board heavy with seasoned, hand-carved slices of fresh beef. Red potatoes, bright with paprika and salt and glistening with pats of melting butter, are arranged in wedges around the turkey. There are woven baskets of steaming rolls, flaky and soft; platters of carrots and broccoli and asparagus; enormous bowls of belly-warming soup filled with thick wheat noodles, sliced egg, and shredded cabbage. At one end of the table, there's a plate of burgers, along with small dishes to fix them--bacon, crispy onions, sauteed mushrooms, and all the necessary condiments. He has plates of savory pies, filled with beef or pork or chicken; steamed and fried dumplings stuffed with meat and spring vegetables, plump and perfectly shaped.

The desserts are similarly extravagant: he has a plate of meticulously crafted flower and fruit cakes; some look like ripe, blushing peaches, others, he shaped into red orchids, lotus blossoms, or golden roses. He's made a chocolate tart so dark that its smooth, sugar-dusted surface shimmers reflectively in the overhead light. Cupcakes of all kinds are scattered here and there, as well as an extravagant, multi-tiered confection dripping with fudge sauce, encrusted with sliced strawberries and vibrantly colorful, fondant flower petals. There are loaves of warm banana bread; fruit tarts glittery with rainbow sugar crystals; and, under glass, an assortment of flavorful macarons baked to look like something plucked right from the starry sky.

But the most important thing about Adra's lavish banquet is this: all of the food is enchanted, laced with magic meant to inspire feelings of comfort and security. Eating it may conjure up familiar, welcome sensations or memories--nothing sorrowful or painful, and only as specific as you'd like. It could be something as simple as the feeling of a fuzzy blanket on a cold day, or as complex as a particular soothing memory. In all cases, the intended effect is meant to inspire calm and ease.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A: The Spread

[It's easier to choose drinks then food, it seems. She doesn't know about the mana in the food, though she is aware that it is possible. But...still. Adrasteius has out done himself, and she can praise him for the skill. But...it's so much choice. And she feels utterly unworthy of it.

She tries to, since it is polite, but in the end, she has to pass off the small thing she collected to another.]

Here. I'm not as hungry as I thought.

B: The Gardens

[It's quiet here.

It's one of the first things she notices as she looks around, her hands to herself. The lights are pretty, and she wonders...if she could do something similar. Really, light is the element that comes the easiest to her. It should be the opposite, she thinks. And yet...she sighs, and slowly opens one palm.]

The light shines in the darkness.

[And little balls of light, no bigger then marbles, float out to hover over the water's surface.]

C: The den

[The fire is warm and lively, and certainly a place to sit and have conversation. But, as the day wears on, there is a small bundle curled up in a ball, right in one of those comfortable chairs. A book has tumbled to her feet, and her hands are at rest under her head. This may be the only time that Caren looks sweet and vulnerable.

But if someone lays a hand on that book, her eyes may just snap open. It was a trap all along.]

D: Wildcard

[Caren is kind of exploring, reading books, glancing into things, listening to conversations even if she's not joining in or hanging out in the garden. Or checking out the hallways. Or somehow accidentally asleep somewhere who knows why.]

[ He's not exactly a heavy eater this evening himself, but when she offers what she's taken up to him... Levi stops her from reaching any closer with an upturned palm. ]

So eat it anyway. And be grateful for it.

[ Being wasteful is just unconscionable. ]

I'm graceful for it. But I can't.

[She frowns at him. This man...]

Consider this my way of ensuring it will not go to waste.

[ He could eat it, sure, but that wouldn't very much hold her to the principle. ]

You picked it up. It's not my responsibility.

It's not your responsibility. It's a potato.

Ah? [ hold on what does that have to do with ] I'm saying it's yours. Eat the damn potato.

Caren Ortensia | Open

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