childrenofbahamutlogs | 01 - Bake a Pretty Cake (ota)

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01 - Bake a Pretty Cake (ota)

WHO: Angeal and whoever wants to bother a man throughout a week
WHAT: Roosters and bread oh my
WHERE: Town
WHEN: The vague existence of October
WARNINGS: none planned

SUMMARY: As a practical man with goals, Angeal has a lot of things he wants to do to make sure his household is doing okay. This means things like re-establishing his bakery, and carrying a rooster. The rooster is important. Don't worry about it.

A - Agriculture

While the autumn air makes things somewhat cool, that doesn't seem to be a matter that's bothering Angeal as he pushes a wheelbarrow along the more residential streets, filled with dirt. He does take a break occasionally as he goes about his business constantly, sometimes carrying little bags on top of the dirt. "You would think dragons could have better timing, rather than right at fall," he says during such a break to anyon who joins him. There's the faint glimmer of gold up along his hairline, horns that are just starting to appear. He doesn't seem happy about it.

B - Bakery Remade

For those making their way through Town today, they may come across one of the empty not-residential buildings with its doors wide open. There are a variety of encounters to be had with this simple fact...

For example, early morning may find anyone passing directly in front of the doors having a face full of dust. Angeal's voice comes from inside. "Ah, shit, sorry. You alright? I was just cleaning this place out. Need something to get the dust out of your mouth?

By noon, a pleasant smell is wafting out of the newly cleaned out bakery. Anyone is welcome to step right inside, as the doors have been left open for the time being. It's not a big fancy place or anything, but there are a couple of tables for anyone who'd like to sit, and a good amount of space behind the counter. Angeal is hard at work kneading more dough as bread bakes in an oven, fairly content with how things are going for the time being.

When evening finally rolls around, Angeal can be found relaxing right outside the bakery with a decently sized piece of wood in his hands that he is making a commendable go of carving words into. "I should have asked for a smithy," he says casually to anyone who slows down enough to linger. "I don't know anything about woodcarving."

C - Cock

Angeal has a rooster tucked underneath his arms at the market.

None of the locals are batting their eyes about this.

Other people at the market, however, may have different reactions. They may especially have different reactions when the roster (otherwise being a pissy little football hisses at them.

"Sorry about that," Angeal says casually. "He's not happy about the situation."

D - Do Whatever

[The wildcard catch all option, for interacting with Angeal however you want]

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Another bakery? But different this time. Attuned to the very real needs of a populace seated within a world made real. That Angeal had wasted no time to do so speaks to who he is, and Themis cannot help the fond smile that creeps onto his face. Nor can he help leaning into the taller man's touch.

But that was a given.

Still, there are differences here, even between the two of them. At this distance Angeal will absolutely notice the dusting of something shimmering in Themis's hairline. A faint luminescence that previously had been absent. A closer look will show tiny scales - horns to be, perhaps - that catch the light. They shine like moonstones do, moondust blending in with that silvery-white hair.

"It was kind of Charlie to provide you with a space so easily." He dusts off his hands on his robes, "You will need hands to bake and to help set up the space, yes? Consider myself at your disposal."

It is wholly unsurprising that Themis is already offering his help, and yet Angeal still can't help the little smile pulling at his mouth. "With Mithrun and Erich here as well, we could get the whole thing up and running again simple as you please," he muses, stepping side to allow Themis an easier time inside.

"Just cleaning things up. I've already got the baking area itself done with, so we can get to making some things immediately, but the rest could uses a nice do-over. Maybe as things progress, we can even make it all a lil' fancy again."

Angeal wouldn't ask for too much - even the original Annie's Bakes was fancy mostly through the kind of equipment it had in the back. Anything else had been charming and cute as a nod to Annette's own original tastes, and that was it. But still. A little something here and there, right?

The smile is contagious, slipping on to Themis's face as well. "Between us all we will no doubt make short work of whatever we shall require in the future," Themis follows Angeal inside, just a step behind him. It is a nice space already. He can see where they may grow it, however, can see the potential that there is to work with.

It will be good, to have this once more. Especially when the food they make will be real, will be truly needed with the coming harsher months.

"We will have the finest bakery this side of the forest, there shall be no doubt about that. Have you more cleaning to do? If so, please direct me to what you consider most vital. I am more than happy to begin immediately."

"Well, I've got most of the front dusted up already," Angeal muses. "Want to finish up here, and I'll take care of our storage space?"

Maybe one day they'll have some expansion that will take a little more to get it cleaned up. For now, however, in reflecting the small size of town even with its small population boost, it's a small space of its own.

"Then we can get some fresh water, and see just what goods we can make. No point in wasting time, right?"

The dust that had landed full-on in his face, yes. But Themis refrains from mentioning, and only nods to Angeal. "I shall handle the rest here. Between the two of us it should not take too much time."

There was not a large amount of space, after all. Which is just as well. Great things tended to start small, after all.

Waving Angeal off to the storage area, Themis surveys exactly what else remains to be done. Humming a tune to himself - a simple, happy little thing - he gets to work. Nothing was particularly demanding, complex, or straining even with his diminished state. It's still an adjustment, to be made weaker in this way, but he handles it with grace. The efficiency he uses eats up the time in a very productive manner.

Eventually he runs out of obvious thing to do, and goes looking for Angeal in the storage area.

Not that it's particularly far.

"The front portion is completed. Do you need any help?"

Indeed, it's not particularly far at all. Maybe one day an expansion, in more ways than one...

But for now, they'll have to make do with a tiny little spare room that Angeal has put together in the back, cleaned up neatly and with a couple of mugs for their own personal use. He's in the middle of setting up a hammock in one corner - a little more reasonable than a bed for right now - when Themis comes in.

"Nope, things are pretty set in storage and here." Which is partially storage as well also, but sshhh. Angeal grins to him. "So want to break this place in with its first baked good?"

That hammock will get a great deal of use, Themis knows, can already picture it. He smiles at the thought of the bakery growing over time, through the efforts of those who work within, and it is a good feeling. Grounding. To have something solid to be able to turn to each day is something he had missed.

Clapping his hands together and grinning, Themis winks at Angeal. "I would love nothing more. Have you a recipe in mind?"

It hardly need to be said. Angeal grins right back. "Autumn is the time for apples, so we should definitely go with a bunch of apple tarts. Perfect to give out to anyone around for just a nibble. I doubt the ones around here will be as good as the Banora whites-"

Although he would say that. But everyone has to hold a little pride for their home.

"-but they'll no doubt be good enough. I've already got some in the back, thanks to Charlie... So, want to handle the dough, or the apples?"

"When it is the season, as they say," do they say that, Themis? Do they really? He carries on as if they do, regardless. "Have you more sweet or more tart tasting apples? I am bond of both varieties, myself, but you already know this."

A choice to be made. Themis does give it some thought, and ultimately is itching to work directly with his hands for the time being.

"The dough, I believe. With my piano yet unfinished, my hands and fingers are lacking in things to do."

"I made sure to get some sweet ones," Angeal says, pleased with how things are already kicking off even as he heads right to the back door. For a couple of materials, he's kept them outside during the cleaning, but now is a good time to get it all back inside if it's not already happened.

"I figure we'll want to save on sugar when we can, and there's some real good apples that have just the right balance there." Not too sweet, of course, but still the perfect balance.

A balance not too unlike how they both get to work together, him humming a tune as he starts to prepare the apples.

"I'm glad," he says after a moment, "that it was pretty easy to get somewhere to start this up again. Feels a bit more concrete in terms of what I can do."

"Natural sweetness is a sought-after thing, indeed. But especially so when one knows how to utilize that - a balance, just as you say."

He's gotten to work on starting the dough by the time Angeal brings everything back inside. Not too far along in the process, mixing flour in with a practiced eye. The motions come easy, born of experience, enough so that he's able to devote plenty of attention for the statement that comes next. And what it means, beneath the words.

"I am as well. Nothing quite replaces the feeling of using one's hands to help another, and few things make as much difference as a steady supply of good food."

"Get a steady supply of food in, and that's one worry for the winter taken care of." One thing handled, so that they can move past the important stuff. Things like this dragon business, just what has pulled them here from the simulation, all of that.

It's work. It's something to build off of. And honestly, while he misses the old Annie's Bakes already, it still feels good to actually be putting in the effort like this. Call him old fashioned.

And alternatively...

With a good couple of apples already sliced up, Angeal takes a piece and reaches over Themis's shoulder. "Besides," he says, waggling it a bit. "Senses are better out of a sim too, huh?"

The answering hum is coupled with a nod as his hands begin to knead, sleeves pushed up past his elbows. Food and warmth are indeed the largest concerns for the winter months for those with limited resources. To help one will leave time to find solutions for the other - and improve morale for all in the process.

From the periphery of his vision he spots the coming slice of apple and turns to take a small bite directly from Angeal's fingers. His lips brush skin before the taste of the fruit hits him and, oh, yes, these apples are sweet indeed. He turns his head just enough for Angeal to see the corner of his smile before he takes the remainder of the piece in his mouth and pulls it free.

He takes his time to chew. Swallow. "Each and every one of them, yes. I cannot begin to express my relief in that. Though, I imagine the same goes for you as well?"

Angeal grins at the way Themis savors the apple slice, even as he goes back to getting some more of the filling ready. There is just a slight pause at the question, however.

"...Mostly the same," he admits. "I can tell it's 'real'. There's a kind of depth and intensity to it that the sim never could manage to replicate." And he's glad for that, he really is. Just... "But I can tell there's still something held back. Almost like having a stuffy nose, but without the feeling behind it, you know? I think I'm still being held back somehow. Maybe as a consequence of being dragged here."

He has no idea, really. This is beyond his set of skills.

That's a familiar concept, that depth and intensity of sensation revealing what was real and what had been simulated. It went deeper for Themis, having felt what it was to not possess a physical body and the decrease in strength that caused. What Angeal speaks of, however, makes him think of somsething else entirely.

He continues working as he speaks. "Your increased senses are amongst your enhanced abilities, are they not? We have all been diminished in this place. Perhaps it is an extension of that, similar to a reduction in my physical strength or the depths of energy that I may wield."

It makes logical sense, at least. A dampener on everything, broad strokes rather than selective reduction.

"It makes sense." He can't deny it, after all. Even from a young age, he knew that not everyone else could smell as intensely as he did - just like they weren't as strong as he was. "I suppose it's just... been a part of my life for so long, even before I got involved in things like SOLDIER. It feels weird to think of it as something so special that it gets numbed down like a lot of other things."

A snort, fruits diced and organized neatly. "I know what the logic is, of course-" The scenting abilities are no doubt thanks to his rather unique birth. "-but it still throws me off kilter. I'll be glad to have it at proper working order again."

"It is as Creation magicks are to me and mine. Even as a small child I was practicing my most basic of concepts to bring into being, yet here I have barely the strength to transmute one material into another."

From the time he possessed enough energy to make things, he had done so. But feeling dampened is far preferable to feeling decidedly unreal. It's different from Angeal's experiences but similar enough to be able to empathize with rather easily. He keeps kneading the dough as they speak, adding a bit more flour from time to time. It's a tad too sticky yet.

"Do you think Charlie may be able to gift us with the bolstering of our abilities? If not the full strength, in cases such as my own, but a noticeable restoration?"

"I mean, you would think a god could do something like that." Despite his words, Angeal sounds just a little bit skeptical as he gets some sugar. "But I don't really know how all of that works. Not really a lot of religion on my world, and all that."

And there's probably a lot of fascinating reasons for that, but he's not a theologist either.

"We'll have to ask him."

"One would assume so, yes. It is my experience, however, that a god is not as powerful as a religion claims them to be, but by the rules of the world they exist within."

Now it's starting to get metaphysical. From what Elidibus can tell, this particular world seems to have different gods and planes of existence, and is not especially straightforward. Their additional status of being offworlders further complicates things. Better to ask a native.

"We must needs make our inquiries directly, it seems."

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01 - Bake a Pretty Cake (ota)

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