driftfleet | [ you can't do that right now. ]

Entry tags:

[ you can't do that right now. ]

Who: Belthazar and you!
Broadcast: Y
Action: The Goldstone.
When: After the shuffle

[action; bridge]
[This is kind of old hat to Belthazar by now, but he's still startled to be deposited on yet another ship. He hasn't been on this one before. Two long pointy ears stick straight out of his messy hair, just as strange as his glowing eyes. It's weird to have all his memories suddenly there, and he's a bit disoriented by that.

He also hates dealing with change. Dreadfully so. He takes a moment to straighten his collar and regain his composure.]

It appears I'm your new cook. You're welcome to the pudding, but a word of warning: even rats won't eat that, if given the chance.

[action; kitchen]
[One of his first acts as the new cook is to completely reorder the kitchen. However people were eating before, that is about to change. Walking in, it looks like something out of Matilda-- flour, sugar, and starch all marching along to their assigned spaces in the cupboards; pots and pans neatly slotting together and sliding into yet another cupboard; and the beginnings of a stew simmering warmly on the stovetop. Belthazar dictates all of this with one hand while the other measures some spices into the broth.

Whatever he's making smells really good, but the cook himself doesn't seem to notice anyone else walking in. He's a little too engrossed in enchanting the colanders and cake pans.]

-----

[broadcast; video]
[Once he's had dinner started (because Light knows these people have probably never had a decent meal in their lives), he sorts out his new room and his personal shopping list. If he's going down to whatever planet they're docked at, he wants to make sure he gets the necessities-- cooking utensils, meat for the freezer, fresh vegetables, spices, and whatever else they can possibly grow on their own.

As always he's doing twenty things at once, but he pauses because he really needs to see how much time has passed and if anyone he knows is still here. He fidgets a little with the device until he can turn it on again.

He hasn't grown up too much since he was last here, with a healthy amount of baby fat still in his cheeks, but his eyes are a bright gold instead of their old radioactive green.]

My name is Belthazar. I was here, once, but between all the time that's passed at home and coming back, I haven't figured out how long it's been. The food still tastes like a different four-letter word, so I suppose things haven't changed all that much.

... I feel as if I'm waking from a very long dream, but I'm not sure which one's the dream. [He runs a hand through his bangs.] Er, right, my list. [He fumbles a bit with a pen and paper and tries to pretend he isn't a graceless creature.]

Does the Iskaulit still have a greenhouse? And, is there a place in this system where I can shop for a kitchen?

[He has more questions, but food is always a good place to start.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The source is pretty close, and once he calls out a voice from beyond the bar responds:]

Hang on!

[There's the gentle tinkle of shifting glass, and within a minute Mikleo emerges from the kitchen, his hair done up tightly at his back to keep it out of the way while he cooks. He carries a tray with him, and on it are a pair of teacups, a small kettle, and a plate of fruit pastries. He smiles brightly, glad for a familiar face.]

Hah, you really did grow. We can stand eye to eye now.

[Belthazar's ears perk in Mikleo's direction. He turns to see where the seraph is coming from, but the sight surprises him. Mikleo had still been struggling with cooking somewhat when he last remembered.]

Oh, those tarts look wonderful!

[The best thing is Mikleo's smile though. Any doubts he might've had evaporate just like that. Belth can't help grinning himself, bigger than he's smiled in a while.]

So we can! I thought I'd never catch up to you. Do you want me to take that from you?

[It doesn't seem right to make Mikleo carry everything.]

No need, it's light enough. Have a seat and we can enjoy them together.

[He's had enough practice by now that he's not even worried about their taste, though he had tested the crumbs of pastry from the pan. Quite delicious, if he's allowed a humble brag.

He sets the tray down on one of the restaurant's tables, going to fetch some sugar and milk powder from the counter.]

All right.

[Belthazar makes himself comfortable at that table. While Mikleo's fetching sugar and powdered milk for creamer, the small mage has had some practice with a tea setting. He doesn't bother checking the temperature of the tea; he's sure that a water elemental can make the proper kind of tea. He pours both cup, and neatly arranges them in some kind of semi-polite formation, so that reaching for the fruit pastries won't cause them to elbow the teapot over or something else disastrous.

Belth is so excited he's practically vibrating. It's a good thing that his foot isn't against the table.]

Thank you for this, Mikleo. Your food is a treat I didn't expect.

Edited 2018-08-27 04:40 (UTC)

I guess you could say it's a long-overdue payback for all the times you left food for us. I went for such a long stretch without wanting to eat anything at all... once I got over most of those fears, I went a little overboard learning new recipes.

[He hangs up his apron and lets his hair down before returning to the table at last.]

I still have to watch pastry like a hawk, or it'll burn. My instincts are all wrong when it comes to heat, as you can probably imagine.

There's nothing wrong with not wanting to eat, especially if you don't have to. But... I'm glad, regardless, because I get to taste your cooking. And-- and cooking for people is often the only thing I can do for them, so...

[He clears his throat a little. He always gets a little flustered when talking about feelings. That hasn't changed.]

I only have a good feeling for baking after burning several dozen cookies myself. You'll get there with practice, or at least a reliable thermometer. The appliances on the ships tend to be somewhat inconsistent, too. On the Bishop I had to learn how to bake around an inexplicable cold spot in the--

-- your hair! I-it's so long and it's-- it's beautiful, Mikleo. It looks like clouds, or waves--

[KILL HIM RIGHT NOW HE KEEPS SAYING DUMB SHIT]

[NO PLEASE CONTINUE

Mikleo smiles with the decency to look at least a little embarrassed, brushing a hand through his hair so it drapes just so over his shoulder. Cooking conversation can continue later, do go on waxing poetic about this vain little asshole.]

Not you, too. I couldn't get Sorey to stop talking about it when he saw it for the first time.

[Mikleo's vanity is nothing compared to living in a city full of pretentious bigoted elves. So yeah, Belth is happy to go on a little longer.]

I don't blame him. I've seen all kinds of adornments and beauty spells, but I've never seen hair like yours. Light forbid you ever set foot in Silvermoon; you'd cause a high society catastrophe in the form of a curler shortage.

The texture looks similar to mine, but yours obviously has more of a twist. Mine's always slipping out of a ribbon if I don't wind it tight enough.

[what a good.]

Mm, it's not curlers or enchantments or anything like that. A lot of seraphim have hair that echoes their element in some way- by colour or by style. I can't think of a better explanation than that.

[Seriously, he has yet to meet a seraph who didn't have great hair. Even Gramps' old locks were smooth, his style lightning-sharp.]

[Belth's gold eyes widen at the explanation.]

That's incredible. It must have something to do with your... form. You know, how you manifest. Is that why your hair is bright blue at the ends? I always thought that would be interesting to imitate, though difficult. It's not unheard of to get highlights or another color artificially woven into one's hair, though the chemicals smell terrible. This one time I turned myself ginger because of a bad potion, too, though that was only for an hour.

A ginger potion? That's a new one.

[Mikleo grins, stifling a little laugh behind his hand.]

But yes, the highlighting is natural. Some of us end up with a full head of hair that aligns with our element- most of the seraphim in Elysia were like that, and plenty more out in the world. I'm not really sure what causes one or the other. Origin, perhaps?

It was meant to be a growth potion, too! I didn't want to use ogre blood, and of course that happened.

[He looked terrible with red hair. Absolutely terrible. But he's happy to see Mikleo laugh, and of course for the explanation.]

Could it have something to do with power? I imagine you all have to be quite skilled in order to support Sorey with... whatever he's doing. [Purifying is a big deal but he's not sure that's everything.]

Gross, I wouldn't want to do that, either.

[Who wants to put blood in a potion? Bad enough that some of the weirder ones require some... unusual ingredients.]

I would agree, except that my hair's been this way since I was a baby, and I barely had any power back then. It hasn't changed as I grow, either.

Oh... interesting. [It must be Background Character Syndrome that makes the other seraphim like that. Clearly the most logical explanation. Belth isn't meta enough for that, though.]

Whatever the cause, the results are obviously good. Do you ever wish it was more neutral, though? I feel like you'd look good in red, but it's also kind of risky.

[Mikleo's brows furrow at that, and he absently reaches down to toy with a tail of his hair, fingers weaving through the blue highlights.]

No, um... I think it would be too distracting. [And he does noooooot want to share any more resemblance to his uncle, thanks.] I think it's only natural that we'd be drawn to the colours that coincide with our element... I'm not sure what you mean by "risky", though.

[Belthazar's eyes follow the movement, but only briefly.]

It could clash badly if it was the wrong shade of red. But you do have a point; it's easier to wear something that already has the color of your hair in it, too. I'm partial to black for that reason.

[Even if he's wearing red right now, he has a black shirt underneath it.]

It looks good on you. Red is more Lailah's style than mine. We may just be too set in our ways, but I'm fine with my colour scheme.

Ah, thank you! [Getting a compliment from Mikleo is a big deal.] There's certainly nothing wrong with that.

I'll just wear all the red clothes that look nice, and you can wear the blue. Seems simple enough to me.

Sounds like a plan to me. Although, speaking of colour, if you don't mind my asking...

[He points to his own eyes, hoping the implication is evident.]

What happened here?

[Belthazar blinks for a moment. He'd been so taken with the conversation that he forgot.]

Ah! Did I ever talk about the Sunwell? It's the fountain of mana that nourishes my people. When it was reborn a few years ago, it contained holy energy as well as the normal arcane. We knew it would eventually purify the demonic taint but we weren't sure how long it would take. About ten years, it seems.

I never practiced fel magic myself but it's the kind of thing that seeps into the environment and corrupts everything around it. It's insidious poison. I was so furious at the magisters who gave into the temptation and made the choice that doomed the rest of us. If they hadn't fed on demonic crystals in the middle of the damn city, we would have stayed pure.

My eyes used to be blue, believe it or not.

It's not ringing any bells. Sunwell, I mean. I do remember your eyes being a different colour, though.

[Were they blue? It's been a while, both here and back home going by his memories, so he honestly can't recall.]

Does it... hurt you, at all?

[Because all of that sounds real bad.]

You are what you eat, I suppose.

[His expression flickers. There was certainly a toll, and it did hurt, but not in the way one would assume. He didn't wake up and feel like he was dying because of the fel energy. It was always because of the endless arcane thirst.

He turns his eyes downward.]

No. All of this was a gradual process, from start to finish. People who feed on demonic crystals tend to want more of it, as it's even more addictive than normal magic, but I wasn't one of them. [His voice drops a notch.] It was... offered to us when we were under the orphan matron's care. I didn't want to take it so I left.

[And that's how he ended up sucking mana out of rats.]

Even if the difference is only cosmetic, it still... makes a difference. I hated being corrupted. And I hated that other people could sense it. I was always afraid that it'd make me more susceptible to demonic influence if I was unlucky.

[His hands curl around his cup, breathes out slowly.]

... I feel a little lighter now.

Edited 2018-11-03 07:47 (UTC)

[This seems... complicated. Very complicated, and not something Mikleo easily understands. At the very least it seems a source of discomfort, but if he feels lighter for it, maybe talking helps? Either way it's not as if it's hard work to listen. Mikleo hums quietly, brows furrowing.]

...Mm... well.

[He reaches out to set both hands on the teapot, the water swirling gently within- cooled to an easily drinkable temperature. He lifts it to pour a fresh brew into Belth's cup before idly lifting his own to sip.]

I'm sure it's just the tea.

[The tea that is now gently buffed with a bit of his mana. He doesn't get it, but he remembers what he's been told before. He figures at the very least if it's something meant to be consumed, then it's not much different than what adding sugar would do for anyone else.]

[Belth murmurs a thanks as Mikleo refills his cup.]

Your tea is very good. I wouldn't be surprised, really.

[He eases into a soft smile, just a little one, and lifts the cup to his lips. He takes a moment to breathe in, eyes closed, really savoring it, and then he takes a sip.

Gold eyes pop open, followed by a soft noise of surprise.]

Wait--

[He sets it down, his other hand still touching his lips.]

That's... it tastes like... [It tastes like Mikleo's mana feels, and he realizes that is probably not the best thing to say.] D-did you infuse this?

[One look and Mikleo's confidence falters, his own eyes widening, one hand lifted hesitantly.]

I'm sorry, I should have asked. Is that okay? It didn't harm you, did it? I thought...

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