![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
open | a merry meri mingle
Who: Meridians new & old!
What: Cookout mingle
Where: Alenroux
When: Mid-March, after Vander's rescue
Warnings: Potentially alcohol consumption and violence, for the rowdy
PREPARATION:
THE EVENT:
What: Cookout mingle
Where: Alenroux
When: Mid-March, after Vander's rescue
Warnings: Potentially alcohol consumption and violence, for the rowdy
After the initiation of Springstar's invasion plans for Alenroux, tensions among the Meridian-aligned might be a bit strained. The move comes as a surprise even for many of the shard-bearers within the faction itself, to say nothing of those whose livelihoods depend on the farms here. It's not yet clear what Highstorm's response will be, but one will certainly be coming; when that happens, someone is going to come out on the bottom, and their blood will be at least partially on Meridian's hands.
At times like this, the importance of maintaining morale can't be understated. A call goes out to the newest generation of those harmonized with Meridian's light: it's time to have a party!
PREPARATION:
Those who can are invited to help with the set-up. There are drinks to procure, foodstuffs to acquire and prepare, canopies to erect for shade, entertainments to organize. It's not meant to be a grand affair — the gathering is private, intended to foster camaraderie among the shard-bearers after long days and nights of work — but it will be a comfortable one, with edibles and enjoyments to offer to those taking solace in the company of their fellows.
It takes one of Alenroux's long days to make all the necessary arrangements — and then, late the following morning, after the night's monsters have slunk back into the woods, things are made ready. All that's left is for the guests to arrive.
THE EVENT:
Spring is still in the midst of taking hold over Alenroux, so a tall bonfire at the centre of the gathering place offers a toasty place to linger and chat throughout the day. Hot drinks and a variety of fire-roasted foods are on offer, including an entire deer helpfully supplied and prepared by Liem. Logs and stumps provide simple seating, and nearby canopies provide shade around the tables of food and drink. A little further away, sturdy tents provide more private gathering places for those wishing for a break from the hubbub.
And there will be hubbub. To break the ice between unfamiliar faces, a variety of contests have been set up over the course of the gathering. These range from simple arm-wrestling competitions, to three-legged races, to friendly sparring matches for those so-inclined. Gathered Meris are encouraged to spectate and bet amongst themselves on contest outcomes — and better yet, to volunteer to participate themselves during the next round.
For those who have already had a chance to relax and let off some steam, the gathering is a perfect opportunity to get to know one's fellow sect-mates a little better, and to reaffirm why Meridian called to them in the first place. Those gathered are encouraged to take the chance to tell a few tales about the place they came from, and to share the visions inside their Sunbeam with those from other worlds. A favourite place, a cherished person, an unkept promise, even an old enemy: all could be worth revisiting for a moment with new comrades in arms.
iv
There's no way for him to know who is cooking for themselves and who is cooking for others, but after watching this particular man for a while, Link has noticed that he seems to be concerned only with downing wine. In the meantime, he's doing a poor job cooking those vegetable skewers, as Link can smell the food burning from his vantage point a few yards away. Maybe he should say something? A grill like that is probably intended for meat, not raw vegetables. Wait, did he even coat them in oil first...?
Clearing his throat, Link moseys up to him, holding an empty plate. ]
Hello. Are those, ah... almost done?
no subject
[ Without mercy on a poor Hylian's stomach, Set immediately takes to the defensive. Protective of his food in a way that only an animal might be, the vague curling of his lip in Link's direction similar to the baring of fang by a hissy cat. The skewers, however, are suffering. He hasn't turned them at all, the vegetables are not in any sensible order, so everything is drying out and burning. There's no oil.
It's painfully obvious. This guy cannot cook. The way he looks into the distance, towards Diluc's method, sells that as fact. Help him, Link........ you know veggie dishes.... ]
no subject
[ He tips his plate back, holding it vertically against his chest. Gotcha. But his eyes linger on the food as it continues to blacken over the grill. He has too much sympathy for that poor food to step away so quickly. ]
Well... you know it's burning, right? Can't you smell it?
no subject
[ Immediately, he whips his attention back to the grill. To the food heaped upon it, thrown haphazardly upon the smoldering metal bars atop the coals without a care in the world as to spacing, as to turning the kebabs over. Everything screams inability, and Set is quick to reach his hand out to snatch one of the kebab sticks as half of the vegetables go up in flames. Blackened to ashes, and deeply unappetizing. ]
Is that — not what they are meant to smell like? This is how that man [ Diluc ] was doing it.
[ Not even close. ]
no subject
Well — at least where I'm from, no. [ Maybe this is normal in his world? Somehow, looking at the kebab-turned-torch, even that seems unlikely. ] If you're going to cook vegetables without any oil... [ a subtle hint at one of the handful of things wrong with this picture... ] you need to make sure to turn them frequently. And remove them once they start to blacken on the edges.
[ He hesitates. Then, he sets his plate down. ]
I could show you a special trick. From my world, I mean. [ The "special trick" is definitely going to be something very basic, okay. But he's trying to be polite!! ]
no subject
Show me.
[ Loftily, he thrusts the burning kebab towards Link. Thanks, Set, it's ruined. ]
You may have some of what you prepare, naturally. I will observe your methods.
no subject
...sure. That sounds like a deal, then.
[ The burnt kebab is set down on Link's plate from earlier. Then he starts to fold back his sleeves, an important safety precaution for working over an open flame. When you have sleeves, of course. Link can't help but give Set's relative lack of clothing a curious moment of silence.
It's in that moment that Link realizes something: that odd, supernatural sense of ... something that he felt when he met Cid Garlond in Highstorm. A peculiar familiarity with a person he has only just met. A strange, foreign intuitive concept of what kind of person this man is and what he might be thinking at any given moment... ]
Are you a Savant?
[ Link asks gently, aware of what a sharp change in conversation topic this is. He picks up a wire brush from beside the grill and starts to scrub its carbon-encrusted bars. (Cooking on a dirty grill being yet another thing he'd been doing wrong.) ]
no subject
Oh.
There is a reason he is being asked, after all. As Link questions him, he begins to become aware of the prickling within his Shard and mind, the strange little 'tell' that he has become cognizant of as a mark that he has found a fellow Savant, one of the Aspected variations of Shard-bearer. The idea of Aspects is interesting to him. It is like being assigned a domain, in a way, and that domain is shared among others.
Savants, he has found, seem to appreciate knowledge. A good puzzle, a mystery to explore. ]
I am.
[ As Link works, he hovers - watchful and stern-browed, even as he extends his right hand and spreads his fingers to reveal the full extent of the black, gear-like mark of his Aspect. To have been branded in such a way - it is like he is suddenly becoming aware of the fact that he has not questioned things related to his form. The Shard and the mark are not natural parts of him, and yet. He overlooks them.
It means he cannot hide from Link. Nor, it seems, can Link hide from him. ]
I suppose, then, that I cannot lie and say I am an able hand at cooking at all. I have never needed to eat as I do now, and to be so hungry that I must do so around any one of you at all is the worst experience.
[ There is a coil of shame in him, hidden behind the bluster. ]
no subject
It does take long for him to pause his scrubbing again, as Set says a whole bunch of incredibly enticing and intriguing things in the course of two short sentences. Link looks at him again, blinking. He has so many questions. ]
You didn't have to eat before now? [ He felt that pang of shame through their shared Aspect, so when he asks, it's with a gentle tone of voice. ] That's... amazing. May I ask why, or...?