Late It's-Not-July-Anymore Catch-All!

[rememberher]

Who: Lux Crownguard, and you!
When: Backdated to the later half of Delphine (post-dungeon)
Where: Caissa & Petrosian
What: Late month shenanigans and overflow for July's intro! Job listings that didn't make the last catch all (harvest soon, wonderwall), plus a few other prompts. If you want something specific, message me at sheepyton!
Ratings: PG for the most part, but will change this if need be.
Warnings: None currently


♕ o1. SEEING DOUBLE (HALL OF GLORY).

[ Walking around the dorms, you might find that your eyes are playing tricks on you. Did you just see something strange out of the corner of your eye? A trick of the light, maybe? A vague shimmering, just out of your peripheral vision. Blink and its gone, however. Or was it even truly there? Spooky. ]

Excuse me.

[ Yikes, where did that voice come from?! Suddenly from behind, Lux stands there, smiling as she almost always does, her head quirked slightly to one side. Curious, the bracelet on her wrist appears to be glowing..? ]

Could I borrow you for a moment?

♕ o2. "FINE" ART (CAISSA).

[ What... what was she looking at exactly? Wandering around the Lucena Museum, soaking in all of the grandeur that Gammonian art had to offer (a good magician surrounds herself in as many strange and wonderful things as she can, after all), Lux was left more confused than anything.

She just didn't get art. Not at all.

Great sculptures and paintings of heroes past, sure, she can get into that. But here, she was stumped. It was a bit too weird. So, attempting to look like a good connoisseur of art, turning her head this way and that to try to at least somewhat analyze each piece, she found herself looking more and more confused. What was she even looking at here? She wasn't sure... ]

♕ o3. SOMEONE STOP THIS CRAZY THING! (PETROSIAN).

[ So weeding? Not her thing. A noble city girl born and bred, she hardly knew what a day out on the fields were like, and after taking about an hour to get a small area of land weeded, some poor farm hand took pity upon her.

She could work a tractor, right? Sure she could! Anyone can! Seriously, just... go do something. Here, take the keys to that tractor over there. There was no way she could get into trouble with that, the darned thing hasn't worked in years— ]

WATCH OUT!

[ Judging from the giant cloud of shimmering black smoke careening forward on the horizon, she's "fixed" the tractor! Well, "fix" being a relative term, at least. It's running. Chugging and sputtering, bucking against the spell she placed on it to make it run, the machine managed to wrest dominance from the young mage's hands, and had a score to settle apparently.

Poor thing, she's holding on for her dear life. THIS WAS NOT WHAT SHE HAD IN MIND. ]

♕ o4. A HOME AWAY FROM HOME (CAISSA).

[ What started off as a routine shopping trip has taken a significant detour. She intended to only go out looking for a calendar—something simple that she could use to keep track of holidays (and perhaps a few birthdays, while she was at it), but managed to get sidetracked along the way. A bit of window shopping never hurt anyone, right?

...And her room was a bit barren, wasn't it?

Moving between shops, the blond would occasionally stop, looking at something, picking it up and turning it over, before inevitably putting it back. Was she looking for something specific? ]

♕ o5. HELL'S KITCHEN (CAISSA).

[ The farmers in Petrosian had been nice enough to gift any and all heroes that helped them with produce from their crops, and Lux was no exception. But what would she do with all of this? She couldn't eat it all herself, it would go bad before she got to it. And you know, it might be nice to share with others. Yeah!

Cooking didn't seem so hard, she could probably handle it. And after convincing a few of the maids that she wanted to make something in the kitchen, and no it was all right she could manage herself, Lux went to work.

At first, it seemed fine. But after a while, a strange smell began to waft through the cafeteria. Then strange noises—pots clanking, worried mumblings NO YOU GET BACK INTO THAT POT SO HELP HER. This is fine. Everything is fine. It didn't have to look perfect, right? I-it's the thought that counts, right?

If you choose to not intervene, she will continue her battle in the kitchen, for better or for ill.

Wandering out into the cafeteria, a large pot and lid in her arms, she looked harried. Like she had just seen a terrible crime take place in front of her. Her face somewhat smudged with... lord, what even was that, gravy? Were those scorch marks on her apron? Looking around, she spies a victim person. ]

Oh, hello. I made a little too much, would you like some?

[ Run. Dear lord, run. ]

Comments

3

[suzinkazan]

[It's not as though weeding is her thing, either. Being from a class similar to nobility herself, and from a society steeped in magic that greatly favors academic and magical prowess over the physical, Susan had never really done much in the way of physical activity herself. And the heat wasn't doing her any favors, either. Still, she was doing alright, with her small plot of land. But...]

Watch out for wh-

[That tractor, apparently. And while someone more used to physical combat (or physicality in general) might have been smart enough to simply roll out of the way, Susan instead...well.

She shrieked. And began running, directly from the tractor, which really solved nothing.]

CAN'T YOU STOP IT?!

[rememberher]

I DON'T KNOW HOW!

[ Well that was a thing. Barreling toward her at impossible speeds for a tractor, Lux must have done something to it to give this thing the get-up-and-go that it had. Judging from the flurry of smoke and glitter that it was spewing from its backside, magic was probably involved. ]

JUST—GET OUT OF THE WAY!

[suzinkazan]

W-WELL HOW DID YOU START IT... JUST.. DO THE OPPOSITE!

[Getting out of the way WOULD be the smart thing to do. But she's a bit panicked at the moment, and afraid even the slightest slowdown to move aside would get her run over.

Indeed, it does 'nip' at her heels occasionally, causing her to squeak and put more effort into running forward.]

[rememberher]

THAT'S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY!

[ Yes, that sounded so easy right now, thank you Susan for your sage advice.

But all right! Yes! What did she do? What can she do?!

Oh right, she could steer this thing. That might help. Turning the wheel hard to the right, it turned... kind of. Almost like a snail stuck in molasses, but it was something! She wasn't in immediate danger of running the other woman down. But now it was heading for a tree and, well

It was time to bail. Get ready to tuck and roll, Lux! Launching herself from the drivers seat, she curled in on herself, rolling to a stop as the tractor kept going, finally hitting aforementioned tree.

There. She stopped it. That poor tree. ]

I

[topkong]

[ 2spooky5him. ]

Yeah, sure. What's up?

[ Forgive him, Lux, but he has this feeling that such a smile and innocently-posed question does make his fur itch, and it's not bedbugs or fleas or anything like that. It's like he's walking into a trap. ]

I mean... you're not gonna play dress up with me or anything, right?

[ Incoming paranoia. ]

I

[rememberher]

[ Why so suspicious, Wukong? It wasn't like she was dripping malice or anything right now, in fact she looked to be in a fairly good mood. ]

No, no, nothing like that. Although...

[ Looking up and thinking for a moment, she shakes her head. ]

No, not this time. I just need you to be your usual energetic, fun-loving self and let me follow you around a bit.

[topkong]

[ Eh?! Not this time??? ]

... okay, I can be myself. That's easy. I'll be glad to do that, just for you!

[ BAM, BAM! Finger pistols. ]

I was actually about to go by the library, if you wanna follow. Not sure how fun that would be, but maybe you can help me do some researching!

[rememberher]

[ He wanted to be the best at everything, maybe she wanted to help him be the best dressed? ]

There!

[ Something about pistol fingers seemed to trigger something, and she held her hands out. ]

Stay just like that! That's perfect! Hold on!

[ The bracelet on her hand flaring to life, light collecting around it, it began to project it outward, weaving some sort of shape.

Hey, that kind of looked like him! ]

5 lux put the pot down and put your hands up

[guerrilla]

[Lux isn't the only one who's had to shoo the maids away today. In Robin's case, he has to do it every time he wants to eat anything, because he steadfastly refuses to eat anything he hasn't prepared himself - call it an old habit from his history of putting poison in food. Life as an outlaw means you have to take a lot more precautions in order to wake up alive the next morning, or night, or whenever you have enough time to sleep.

When he sees it's his new least favorite noble who's joining him in the kitchen, he makes it his solemn duty to completely ignore her, but that's difficult to do when she starts muttering to her pots. This is dire, and someone might actually get poisoned today if this keeps up.]

You've never cooked before, have you.

[This is a statement, not a question.]

5 make me

[rememberher]

[ Ugh, why did he have to be here too? Well, no matter, Lux could just ignore him and keep to herself. After all, she didn't need any prickly pears in this dish.

Hearing his statement, her shoulders twitched, held high, and the blond cast a hard glance at him. ]

Excuse me, what did you just say?

[ ........it was true, but even still! How rude are you?! ]

[guerrilla]

I'm pretty sure you heard me, so I'm not gonna bother repeating myself.

[He gestures to Lux's pot with the knife he's holding.]

I didn't see what you put in there, but if you feel like you have to tell anything to stay in a pot, you're either a novice or a lost cause.

[Or both? In any case, he jumped to the conclusion that it was her first time cooking because of her status.

where the hell is that screenshot from the arthur cartoon where muffy is like YOU'RE BEING RICHIST, that's what's going on here ]

[rememberher]

[ Okay no one asked for your sass, Robin. Take that shit out of her kitchen.

Ouch, someone hit the nail on the head, judging from how she sputtered. ]

Just because I'm inexperienced doesn't mean that I don't know what I'm doing!

[ Don't mind that bit that's boiling over. That's part of the recipe. ]

5

[cutiepanther]

[ It's worrying, perhaps only slightly more than usual, that there's such a ruckus coming from the kitchen. Maki's had her fair share of questions meals here (banana cauliflower mash why) but usually it doesn't come with what sounds like something destroying the kitchen.

So maybe she should know better (it's not like she knows anything about cooking, like at all) she winds up sticking her head into the kitchen. Of course, along with her, poking her head in too, is her black panther carrier too. ]

Um. H-Hello? Is everything alright?

5

[rememberher]

Yes, I'm fi—

[ ssss. The dish she was working on begins to boil over, its contents hitting the burner and letting out a monstrous hiss. Lux cries out, turning toward it again and flailing a bit. OH GODS WHAT NOW. ]

[cutiepanther]

Eh?!

[ Maki pulls back instinctively, bringing up a hand in front of herself as if to defend from some impending food-based explosion. What kind of warzaone has she just accidentally stumbled into back here?! ]

I-It's not supposed to do that is it?!

4 seems old fair since it's his fault...

[timplex]

[ Lux. Lux do you know what sounds like a somewhat heavy bird hovering by your ear except it's way better?

You get one guess.

Because Inspector, being ironically true to his name, might have floated over and is smushed up close so he can see whatever it is that just caught Lux's interest, too. Whatchoo lookin' at. ]

4

[rememberher]

[ Why did it sound like there was a giant bird struggling to fly near her ear? Turning to look, the blond nearly jumps out of her skin, seeing... wait, was that Allen's carrier practically smushed up against the glass? (How could it even see like that?)

Quickly putting a hand over her mouth to quiet a laugh, it catches in her voice. ]

You scared me! What are you doing there?

[ Removing the hand from her mouth, she offered it out to Inspector. Here, do you want to sit? Don't mind the annoyed squeaks from Poro from underneath her hair, he's the jealous type. ]

1/2

[timplex]

[ Oh. ♥ ]

2/2

[timplex]

[ Inspector hears you, Poro. And that's why he's going to absolutely relish ignoring every wheek as he casually slides on over and brushes Lux's hand. Not quite sitting there, but reaching out and—

—oh those are incredibly tiny hands he has, aren't they? Not horns like they might appear from a distance. Five very tiny little human fingers. Which he's going to use to anchor himself by grasping her finger lightly with a small pat-pat. Yes, hello. ♪ ]

2

[retains]

[Art has never really been among his interests, not really. It helped to define a culture and show the things they found beautiful and important, but he's never seen the importance of actually admiring it, when a culture was just as likely to destroy itself or others through war.

So, yes, art is not high on his list of things he appreciates. He's pretty much given up on analyzing the pieces on their artistic merit, but they are interesting to look at, at the very least.

He spots Lux looking just as confused as he feels, so he makes his way over, imitating the way she's tilting her at the piece.]

Hmmm... it kinda looks like a giraffe doing flips out of an exploding fruit bowl. What do you think?

2

[rememberher]

[ She was just about to pass by this work of art when Lavi decided to give his rather unique critique on it. Curling a hand over her lips, she forces herself not to laugh, taking in a deep breath. ]

Spoken like a true art critic.

[ Wow, you have such a way with words. Letting her hand fall, she smiles bemusedly at the painting. ]

You can really feel the desperation of that poor giraffe in this piece. Like it's tried everything to make sure that bowl doesn't explode.

[ ...Lux what? ]

[retains]

[He was so close to getting an actual laugh, so obviously he'll have to try harder in the future. For now he nods, a serious expression on his face as he points at a blob of color that probably represents something deep and artistic.]

Mhm, mhm, you generally don't wanna be near explodin' things anyway, but imagine trying to run away when you've got those knobbly legs and that kinda neck.

[He gestures at another random spot.] Plus, he doesn't even have thumbs, how much was he gonna get done anyway?

05.

[overextend]

[ Subaki does want to run. Run and cry. He hasn't seen a catastrophe in the kitchen this badly since someone thought it'd be a good idea to allow Felicia to cook. Were they siblings in another life?! It certainly feels that way.

He can't contain the amount of horror he feels as he surveys the landfill kitchen, wondering where to even start. Food is the last thing on his mind. Why would she do this?? ]

H-how did you... by yourself even? It looks like a pack of wild elephants came through here.

[ His eyes drift from the pot to where she was cooking then back to the pot. ]

I suddenly feel quite ill...

[ The smell is very unappetizing, and the presentation leaves much to be desired. ]

05.

[rememberher]

[ Some people are skilled in certain things. Just because she's a magical genius doesn't mean that Lux will be good at everything. It's not her fault that she's an absolute disaster in the kitchen!

Covered in flour and likely any other manner of things, her shoulders slump a bit. ]

You don't have to be so blunt...

[ Looking down at the pot, her spirits somewhat dashed, she frowned deeply. ]

Well, the farmers in Petrosian gifted me a few things after doing some work on their land, and it was far too much for me to eat by myself, so I thought... I just wanted to make something to share with others...

[ Good job, Subaki. You made her upset. ]

[overextend]

[ He does feel a little guilty. She's not Felicia-levels of bad, but he's also a genuine believer in not doing something unless it's done right. How could anyone make due with anything sub-par? At any rate, it'd be worse for him to ignore it and not assist. Lux had been nothing but rather kind to him since they met -if not a bit prickly about having him as a temporary date, but he can forgive that. It would have been terribly rude to leave in the middle of it, so he wouldn't have been the perfect date anyway. ]

This isn't a problem that can't be fixed. First, let us begin with the disaster area that is the kitchen.

[ Other people use it, so it would be unacceptable to leave it in this condition. At least, he's offering a spare set of arms to help since he happens to have a bit of free time. ]

Is this your first time cooking? Why didn't you seek out any assistance?

[ It'd have been easier if he'd just been here from the start to help her. At least, they wouldn't have to deal with the messy aftermath. ]