✿ 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.
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[She raises her eyebrows.]
Consider it an empathic overture.
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[ He's all jolly good demeanour as he addresses her, brimming with contentment.
Of course, he is. He's in a warm home, surrounded by people that he likes, sampling great food. His mood is ridiculously cheerful. ]
So you do like me? [ Staring right at her. ] Are we friends?
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She huffs softly, before leaning back a little.]
What do you think we are Bolin?
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Maybe, co-workers? [ Of the army type, like his friends back in Kuvira's army.
But that's not all, and he juts out a hand, fingers held straight a karate chop going forward. ]
On the way to becoming friends.
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It may be accurate. Though you don't want to be a friend like myself. That's treacherous.
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[She eyes his plate for a moment. It would have been a pity if she knocked it over but...no. She wouldn't get much from it. The consequences weren't worthwhile.]
At least, no more than I have with telling you about myself. I might have killed any crush you were forming. Pity.
1/2 thanks caren
What? What—no.
[ Great. ]
No, that wouldn't. What?
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I didn't have a crush on you. I thought maybe... you were hot... [ WHICH SOUNDS AWFUL but c'est la vie. ] I mean! You still are. But I couldn't feel attracted to you after what you said about sex, it made me feel guilty.
[ Then, composure fully regained, he rolls his eyes. ]
I don't think you're an awful person, c'mon.
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Well, I am hot.
[She normally wouldn't have put it like that, but WHATEVER. She knows this, other people know this, it's pretty much a given.]
Like I said, I haven't been that awful around you, not yet. Though...you know, I am capable of enjoying it.
[Her smile widens slightly.]
Did you want to see how much?
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Then, he realises she's talking about sex. He raises an eyebrow. ]
I dunno, do you want to be my girlfriend?
[ He knows for a fact that she doesn't, which is why he can ask so easily. She'd already told explained to him the unlikelihood of her entering a relationship, and he hasn't forgotten, nor is he interested in changing her mind. It's just a way to answer her question while explaining his opinion on the matter: even if he found her attractive, he's not interested in casual sex. ]
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It would be fun to torment you daily.
[She muses this, as if actually considering the matter. Thankfully for them both, she shakes her head.]
No. Too bad. I could have gotten you a customized collar and a leash. It would have been fun.
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I'll pass. I've already been there and done that with one of my exes.
[ Though to be fair, proposal necklaces are a real thing in the Water Tribes, but the one he'd received from Eska had really felt more like a collar than a proposal.
He shakes his head, determined to put that in the past. ]
We should focus on our friendship.
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[Is she making fun of him again? Yeah, she's totally making fun of him again. Sorry Bolin, Caren can't help herself.
Or she can, but this is too much fun.]
But, very well. We'll focus on what we have instead of fantasies.
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It's all in good fun anyway. ]
Yeah. [ But they're talking about friendship. ] So, what's your favourite colour? What position do you sleep in? If you could pick one animal to start talking like a human which one would you pick!
[ These questions are exciting. ]
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Give her a second.]
You're a strange man.
[But what the heck.]
Silver or red, on my back, and I have no idea. I've never given that one any due consideration.
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I'd probably say a bird or something. [ In response to that last question. ] Something that would make a good spy.
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There are birds like that. There's a few species of that in my world.
[She considers. Taps her finger on the chair. And:]
And it may be possible that there are a few familiars like that in my world as well. But I don't know. I don't know much about magic.
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Well, he is, to the extent that he's training in it and Korra's a great teacher. He's learning more about manipulating mana, controlling its flow to keep from burning through it all.
But at a party, he's not going to talk about work. ]
It'd be so easy to get gossip from it... Though I guess then we'd be spying on our friends, and that's kind of rude.
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Like gossip. Caren raises her eyebrows.]
Well yes, that would be spying.
You could always spy on them yourself. And ask. Don't be lazy with your gossip Bolin.
[She...might be joking.]
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No! I take it back. [ A little embarrassed now, he rubs the back of his head. ] I guess that was my evil side talking, I wouldn't spy on my friends or anything though.
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[It's not that much of an evil side, thinks the evil one. That's like the diet coke of evil.]
Who would you spy on?
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There's this guy named Sasuke, maybe him. [ Though he wonders what kind of wrath the man would rain down on him. ] He's really quiet, dark, mysterious—that kind of thing. I wonder what he's like at home.
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[Interesting. Wonder what he looks like.]
Maybe he's a quiet, dark and mysterious murderer for hire?
[Or you know, he could be an angsty duckbutt. WHO KNOWS. ]
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[ ... Though he did try to kill his best friend. Is that something he's allowed to talk about? It's not like he knows Sasuke all that well, and the other man had told him fairly easily.
Still, he shouldn't say anything. ]
Even though I think he has experience killing people... He's missing an arm.
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