housewarming ✿ open

[hymnals]

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.

Comments

a

[powerdriven]

[ 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. ]

[showsnopiety]

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.

[powerdriven]

[ 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.

[showsnopiety]

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

[powerdriven]

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

[showsnopiety]

[It's a potato, it has everything to do with it.] No. I'm putting it back.

[powerdriven]

[ Exactly, it's just a potato. It's not like it's that hard to eat even if you're not hungry. Which is why Levi reaches out to intercept before she walks away, grasping the end of it Caren's not holding and pulling it free. But instead of doing what a normal person would do and eating it himself, the real reason he takes it is so that he can physically direct it into her mouth. ]

Are you sick? Huh? There's no excuse. [ then why did he even ask... ] It's not like you couldn't use it.

[showsnopiety]

[That happened quickly.

She thought that he could just eat it if he was so interested and instead he stuffed her mouth with it. And she feels even more nauseated, just like she thought she would. But she doesn't do anything about spitting it out, for all she wants to. Instead she...bites down. On his fingers.

It's reflex.]

[powerdriven]

[ The moment he pushes the issue, he gets the feeling he may have pushed too far. Not for Caren's sake. Hell, she really could use a little meat on her bones. But for his own sake, there are too many ways this bit of insistence could go wrong. And it does, though not quite in the way he'd imagined at the last second. ]

Tch! [ Wincing, he retracts his hand the the remainder of the potato at once. ] So you're really this stubborn. Didn't anyone teach you to finish your plate?

[showsnopiety]

[She grumbles, and covers her mouth, before she chews and swallows. Then she checks her mouth for signs of potato around her mouth. Really, this was not how she expected her evening to go.]

I would apologize, but it is reflex.

[She drops her hand, and raises her eyebrow. Go on Levi. Try to feed her more potato.]

You would be surprised what I was and wasn't taught at a young age.

[powerdriven]

[ It's not like he was planning it either.

But that's fine. He's not going to hold her down and stuff it into her mouth. So he just kind of hangs onto the potato, not quite deciding what to do with it. ]

You're pretty young. [ Still, that is. There may still be time yet. ]

[showsnopiety]

Nineteen.

[She's completely fine with telling him this. What, is he going to teach her to eat all of her food like a good little girl? Please. She'll enjoy biting him again. ]

People commonly mistake me for even younger than that.

[powerdriven]

[ He may have guessed somewhere around there, give or take. If she doesn't want the manners lesson though, maybe she shouldn't play along. ]

Exactly. Adra really went to a lot of trouble to prepare this— [ but that's not strictly why he thinks it needs to be eaten. ] It's a privilege we can come up with such a feast in the middle of war.

[showsnopiety]

You're being rather strict with me.

[She says it casually enough. But while she understands he has a point, she's still rankled she was made to eat in the first place. She feels...weird.]

Are you going to punish me?

[powerdriven]

[ Forcing her to eat it is probably punishment enough, but... he sighs. Because despite his insistence, it isn't nor does he want it to be his responsibility. Neither the potato or Caren. ]

No. [ But there is one thing. ] At least tell me why you won't eat.

[showsnopiety]

[Ah Levi. It's hard to have potatoes responsibility.]

It's not for me.

[The teasing malicious tone is gone. For now at least. Instead it's...pensive.]

It's too much. I can't.

[powerdriven]

[ Huh? Of course it's for her. Maybe he isn't grasping what she's trying to say, which is why he answers plainly: ]

You don't have to eat it all.

[showsnopiety]

Don't I? Just a little, for the sake of manners?

[Contrary to what might be expected, her voice goes more and more quiet.]

And yet. All food is made with certain intention, is it not? It is made with something clearly in mind, even for the sake of curbing the yawning maw of ones stomach.

[powerdriven]

There's a big difference between "a little" and "all"...

[ A little should do just fine. Though they've already established that he's not going to force her further. He knows what she means in regards to the atmosphere, but... ]

I think our host's just that kind of guy. [ Personable? Magic happy? Who knows. ]

[showsnopiety]

'All'. Hah...I will leave that to the gluttons.

[Her mouth twists.]

Adrasteius is can not let himself live for happiness or pleasure. Only duty.

And yet he puts out a display, meant to soothe and welcome to his home. It may be a welcome for others. Maybe a celebration. But I know it does not apply to me.

I can not eat at his table.

[powerdriven]

[ She seems to know him. More than him, to be honest, because Levi doesn't know him well at all. That may be why the idea of him refusing her is so hard to imagine, but it's also reason why he can't determine whether or not it's true. ]

Why not? You're here, aren't you?

[showsnopiety]

[She sighs, long and low, closing her eyes briefly.]

So I am. But our relationship is...

How to phrase this.

You've met me enough times to be aware that I am not a good person, correct?

[powerdriven]

[ It's not like he hasn't noticed there's something strange about her... but you could say as much for a good chunk of these Heroes. Having her say this much is still a surprise to him. Enough so that he pauses, turning the potato over in his fingers as if he's trying to make sense of it. ]

That's not on me to judge.

[showsnopiety]

Then I will say it for you: I am not good. I enjoy the misery of others, including my own.

That is not to say that I am a murderer, because I haven't killed. Nothing human at least, and not yet.

Would you welcome someone such as I to your table?

[powerdriven]

[ It does explain their first confrontation, in a way, but he's not really sure whether he should be taking any of this at face value. As much as she might hate to know it, he finds it hard to take such a kid's morality seriously.

On the contrary, he thinks that she's probably struggling with something else. But he won't make it his business. Instead he makes up his mind and takes a bite of her discarded potato. ]

That depends. Are you gonna eat?