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]

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?]

[neverheardofhim]

Could always teach you, if you'd like. [He leaned back, trying to look casual. It was an action that was thwarted by the fact that he attempted to flex some. Subtle, Varric.]

I don't know if you've heard, but I'm good with a crossbow. I was trying to teach Judy how to use a bow but... [Obviously they didn't get far.]

[foundfate]

How heavy is a crossbow? I got this sword from the vending machine, but I think it's too heavy for me to use.

[neverheardofhim]

Bianca was a lot heavier than most, but she's special. There's a couple of more... modern crossbows upstairs. Could always try one on for size -- see how it fits you.

[foundfate]

That wouldn't be a bad idea, I guess. ...I'm not sure I could actually shoot it at someone, though.

[neverheardofhim]

Sometimes you don't need to shoot. You just need to to scare people off. [He glanced down at his fish, flipping it over.] After we're done eating, we can always head up there. Puff can drink and we shoot.

[foundfate]

Fine, fine, threats are something I can actually do.

[He feels like he would be dragged into it anyway.]

Is that what Bianca is for, then? Scaring people off?

[neverheardofhim]

Maker, no. Bianca is for shooting fools who think they can mess with my friends. [And other assorted things, but those were all unnecessary details, he figured.]

But not everyone is as acclimated to violence as me. It was the kind of world I grew up in, but that doesn't mean everyone came from the same background.

[foundfate]

Yeah, I definitely didn't. Where I grew up, weapons were only used by the military, or for sports like archery and skeet shooting. That's more Doumeki's thing too, I never learned any of it.

[neverheardofhim]

Plenty of time to learn now. [He winked.] We are in school after all.

[foundfate]

[His eyes, they are rolling.]

Fine, dad, I'll be a good kid and study at school.

[He meant that sarcastically. Probably. It's not like he actually sees Varric as a father figure or anything.]