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

[hoasen]

[Don't forget the time she threw him onto the ground when he tried to run away, or sent him threatening mail! But, that is why she is this agreeable. Because he, despite his own list of problems and her violent ways of handling it, always calms her down. He tries so hard, and she knows. And it endears him to her.

His honesty is the other part of him that she loves and appreciates. She know he's capable of being a filthy liar, or that he withholds information, but he's always been honest with her. Let her go even after he announced his intentions. It's that level of respect that settles her decision now.

Well, that and she's sure that had this been any other situation, she probably have already said yes. She straightens up, pressing her forehead to his.]

Show me, and I will let desire speak for me.

[Adra's going to kill them if this log reaches non-family friendly levels but what did he expect if Gilgamesh is here?!]

[babbylon]

[Agreeable to a fault, and undeniably well-aware of what she wants. Gilgamesh wonders if he was born to meet this woman, and why they couldn't have crossed paths earlier on, another world away. They would've had fun together, he thinks. They could've won his war together, he thinks, and maybe his freedom, too, even if his embittered nature would deny the possibility of it.

But already he'd begun to dream, and it was all her fault. He should be angry with her, for getting his hopes up. For, like Setsuna, causing to reveal more of himself than he ever intended. Yet looking upon her now, posed forehead to forehead, he can only find the greatest fondness for her, and the sincerest gratitude he was no longer alone so far from the home that wasn't.

Rather than lift her, Gilgamesh opts for a humbler gesture, standing to his feet and tugging her along by the hand.]

This way.

[He will lead her to his room with a quiet sense of purpose. Knowing it would've come to this eventually.]

[hoasen]

[If that is what he wonders, that they were destined to meet, then it was also because of his own fate. After all, would there be a Vietnam if not for Sumeria? She wonders this herself, after having met him. With him living for eternity, she knows she could find him, it is never too late. He may deny any possibility of freedom, and say that he lives a lonely road. But that is him alone. Vietnam cannot be controlled by Gilgamesh, his own denial cannot stop what she will set out to do.

So she will make those hopes and dreams come true. She helped do so for her own home, and she will do so for him. Hard work will always pay off. Even if you bleed for it. She wants to make it clear, that he will not regret believing in her. But that is for another time. For now, she will show him he can love a much more simpler life. Home is where the heart is, as cliche as that saying goes.

Silently she follows, hand in hand, as he leads her to his room. She clasps it warmly, watches as he leads. Surprisingly, she feels calm, even for someone who has loved for...yeah she can't even start counting. Gilgamesh really was the first one to teach her how to open up and just love. He can consider this some strange irony.]