and it takes, and it takes, and it takes

[acherontiastyx]

[It... definitely takes a while for the weekly after-execution note to arrive, but it does --- kind of scrawly and on ripped paper rather than nice stationery.]

EY. YO. WE GOT EFFIGIES IN THE DINING ROOM AND WE'RE GONNA BURN EM.

FOOD TOO. THE USUAL AND HOT COCOA. GOOD FOR THE SOUL. GET SOME. MAYBE TAKE IT BACK TO YOUR ROOM IF YOU HAVE TO. JUST GET SOME.

[Anyway, in the dining room, there's plenty of mugs set out, with a janky looking arrow sign pointing into the kitchen to where you can get your hot cocoa. On the table, there's Vichyssoise, a pot of green tea, and some booze. There's also a cookie tray on the floor away from the table on which to burn the Wordsmith and Kimbley effigies, which are handily placed near the food on the table.

...also if you go in the kitchen without shoes on just. Watch the northern corner. There's no kidneys, but there's a lot of broken plates there for some reason...]

Comments

[foundfate]

At some point, sure.

[Eating on Fridays is always so difficult for him anyway.]

I'm just not up for cooking right now.

[neverheardofhim]

[At present, Varric wanted nothing more than to get to the dining room and drown his sorrows. But duty took precedent, and right now that duty was to Watanuki. It wasn't the first time he'd cooked for someone who had forgotten to care for themselves, first.]

C'mon then, kid. We've got dinner to make.

[foundfate]

[He can definitely be ushered in that direction, but he looks slightly grumpy.]

Didn't I just tell you that I wasn't up for cooking right now?

[neverheardofhim]

Then you can sit on your happy ass and Moo-gut-soo can help me. [He looks to the fluff for confirmation of this statement.] At least, he will if he wants alcohol.

[foundfate]

[Mugetsu nods vigorously, even before the booze is mentioned.]

What- Hey, you two can't gang up on me like that!

[He is absolutely scandalized, but he's not protesting the food anymore at least.]

[neverheardofhim]

[Mugestu is absolutely becoming Varric's favorite. Sorry, Daughter Squad..]

You know, I used to be able to fry up a decent fish. Sound good, Puff? [The comment is directed toward the fox-snake.]

[foundfate]

[Another nod of the head. Good choice, fellow short person!]

'Used to'? What, you don't go for fish much anymore?

[That's kind of a staple of Japan, Watanuki couldn't imagine giving it up.]

[neverheardofhim]

Haven't really been on the road to cook it, Goldie.

[Varric stepped into the kitchen and immediately moved to the fridge, pulling out a few filets that almost looked familiar to him. At least fish couldn't be that different across the universes.]

[foundfate]

[Wait until you've seen the weird fish-monsters from some of these worlds.}

You only cook it on the road? I'm from an island, it's pretty much the only meat we have access to that's not expensive.

[neverheardofhim]

Lately, if I'm not on the road, I'm back in a military stronghold. Our meals get cooked for us.

[No thank you, he'll pass. Alani was enough of a fish-monster for him.]

[foundfate]

What, the cooks don't go with you on the road?

[Hello, from a modern world with a modern military.]

[neverheardofhim]

[Hello from the other side...]

What kind of spoiled military company did you serve in? [He snorted.] If it wasn't me cooking, Sera would serve us up bear shit on a plank. [He wished he was joking.]

[foundfate]

I've never been in the military. But the missions they go on are always long ones, so they take every kind of person they would need. Cooks, technicians, equipment repairmen, that kind of stuff. It's not like they send five guys off into the woods for a month.

[neverheardofhim]

Sounds needlessly complicated. Not to mention obvious. We could manage anything and everything in a group of four.

Hell, kid, what about stealth missions?

[He hefted himself up to the stove and set the fish in a pan, then went to collect a handful of seasonings.]

[foundfate]

If it's for information-gathering, there's cameras strong enough to take detailed pictures of the moon. There's nothing they can't figure out at a distance.

And anything else that might require stealth... [His mind immediately jumps to assassination, for some reason.] ...I guess a small group would make more sense then, yeah.

[neverheardofhim]

Exactly. No cooks in a group. That means whenever we go galavanting off into enemy territory, we can't be expecting odon and dunburo.

[Varric that isn't even close to how you pronounce it.]

[He sets a pat of butter into a pan and lets it melt while he grabs a handful of spices. Returning to the fish, he rubbed the spices into the meat, then laid it in the pain.]

Puff here know how to make rice or anything?

[foundfate]

[Watanuki is just rolling his eyes at that. Sure, go mispronouncing the delicious food like that, he'll just silently judge you.]

I don't think he can cook. He doesn't really have to eat anyway.

[neverheardofhim]

[He probably doesn't know any better. Probably.]

Well, how else is he going to pull his weight, huh? [He directed a playful glare at the creature, before puttering over to grab both a pot and some rice. The pot was filled with water and then set to boil.]

[foundfate]

[Mugetsu makes a loud huffing noise, and then he leaves Watanuki's shoulder to go be helpful. He can at least twist his tail around things and stir food and add seasoning. Watch out for extra flavoring from his fur, though.]

He protects me, that's enough work from him. He stopped me from having my soul eaten once, did you know that?

[neverheardofhim]

Your soul? [He glanced down at the creature, and used a spoon to flick away some of that "extra seasoning." At least Varric was used to things getting into his food. Outdoor cooking and all.]

How the hell did that happen, and how did he manage to stop it?

[foundfate]

There's a kind of spirit in my world, they look kind of like angel wings with a bunch of tentacles, and they latch onto a person's back. Their tentacles dig in deep, and eventually they rip out a person's soul, leaving them as an emotionless husk of a person.

One of them tried to do that to me, and Mugetsu burned it to a crisp.

[Mugetsu looks pretty proud there too. He will always protect Watanuki, no matter what.]

[neverheardofhim]

Huh. [It sounded a bit too familiar for Varric's comfort. He quickly distracted himself by reaching over to pet the creature. Even if he was Maker only knew how late, the thing deserved some praise for saving Watanuki.]

Damn good of you, Puff. You can have extra booze tonight, just for that.

[foundfate]

[Mugetsu lets out a happy squeak at that.]

Yeah, he's pretty great. I owe a lot to him. Him and Doumeki, they're both always looking out for me.

[neverheardofhim]

You've got a lot of people protecting you then. That's... that's good, Goldie. I'm glad. [He would keep Watanuki safe as long as they were here, but like with Estelle, he was worried about what might happen once they all broke free]

[It wasn't like he could split himself between universes. Even if he could, it'd be a handful, trying to check in on everyone else.]

[foundfate]

Yeah, I do. I'd like to be able to protect them myself someday, though.

[He's thinking back to what that spider spirit said to him, about how he has a lot of power within him. If he does, then why is he so useless? All he can do is see ghosts and spirits, if he's really that powerful then he should be able to do more, right?]