warmwood, evening 1; tsukiyama + siebold

[lasuaspada]

[Well, that was a trainwreck.

In all honesty, Tsukiyama isn't used to fighting battles like this; this isn't something he can solve by beating it into submission and the idea...frustrates him. He disappears back into the library once the trial is done with, though he doesn't select books for himself – he'd promised Siebold earlier that he would find references for him, and that's what he intends to do.

He's got a decent stack going before too long, settled on one of the tables in the middle of the room; it seems he's not paying it too much mind at the moment, however – he's taken to pacing, holding a book open in his hands and flipping through it idly while he thinks.

It's evident from the distance in his eyes that he's not really seeing what he's looking at; either way, he's horribly distracted. He'll probably snap out of it if anyone enters, however.]

Comments

[culinarian]

It's good to see you, too. Have you found those books for me yet?

[lasuaspada]

Enough to form a decent starting point, anyway.

[He gestures over toward that table, the movement broad.]

Hopefully you'll find something to your liking there; I've found a few that I'm partial to myself. I used to study the works of gourmets back home, you see; it got me through some dark times in my life.

[culinarian]

I'm positive I will. Thank you, Tsukiyama.

[ He wanders over to the table and picks up one of the books, studying the cover. ]

It is a blessing to be able to work with new raw materials in this village. And as a chef, it's my duty to keep honing my skills and draw out the good in them.

[lasuaspada]

I look forward to seeing what you come up with - perhaps I'll come see you again tomorrow.

[culinarian]

Please do. I will cook something for you.

[ c: ]

[lasuaspada]

[...Ah.]

You have my apologies, amore, but such a thing would be wasted on someone like me; I'm flattered, but I'll have to ask that you not.

[culinarian]

...Ah. I see. [ Emoting still isn't really his thing, but he seems disappointed. ]

We can discuss food instead, if you would prefer that.

[lasuaspada]

I'd like that.

[He's quiet for a moment, going back to flipping through that book he's still holding just to give his hands something to do.]

I didn't mean to offend you; it's not that I wouldn't love to experience what you're offering, it's just a bad idea.

[Flip. Flip. Flip.]

I've always been...fragile, in terms of health. I spent a good amount of my childhood and adolescence sick - those dark times I was telling you about - and my body is still a bit hypersensitive; I take care of myself as best I can, but it leaves a lot of things out of the question. I don't have very much experience interacting with other people, even, not in the way that I would like to; I've largely had to avoid it. So speaking to you so often means a lot to me.

It's possible that my condition will get bad here as well and I'll have to avoid the rest of you for a while, until I can get it under control again...but hopefully with the Lady's blessing, that won't happen.

[culinarian]

I understand. Thank you for explaining this to me; I cannot imagine what it must have been like.

[ That was a really good save, Tsukiyama. Well done. ]

[lasuaspada]

[That was figure-skater levels of grace there, if he does say so himself.]

Ah, don't worry about it too much!

[He smiles again, his hand coming up to alight against his chest as he does so.]

I've been feeling better here, and everyone has been lovely; Kazuichi-san looks after me as well. I'm more fortunate than most, really, despite what I've told you about.

I'll gladly discuss things with you whenever you'd like, though! It will be easier once the demonic threat is gone, but it might be good to have some normalcy in our lives even so, n'est-ce pas?

[culinarian]

...Indeed. Maintaining some normalcy is a key ingredient to dealing with this. We cannot spend every waking moment thinking about what will happen next.

[lasuaspada]

I'm willing to provide some of that normalcy for you, then, if you would want that.

[...says the guy who's been attending all of today's proceedings in that total disaster of a suit, but you know what, ~NORMALCY~]

[culinarian]

I'd appreciate that.

[ YOU NEED BOUTIQUE COUTURE AND ARCEUS ]

Thank you for speaking up during the trial. If you had not done that, then more people would likely have voted for Ling.

[lasuaspada]

[He returns his gaze to that book at that; that entire trial had been something of a disgrace.]

It's like I said then, Siebold-san - we didn't have enough to try to vote for anyone, it would have been a mistake.

[...]

How do you feel about Kimblee-san's claims?

[culinarian]

I'm not sure yet, to be frank. What is that man even thinking, doing something like that!?

[lasuaspada]

He's either arrogant or he's lying. Either way, I don't like it.

[culinarian]

I'm hoping it's the former, but one cannot be too sure about his true intentions. If he turns out to be lying... his lies will be exposed eventually.

[lasuaspada]

[Again, he goes quiet for a moment.]

...I'm also troubled by something Eliot-san brought up.

This could all be over tonight, you realize.

[culinarian]

...What do you mean?

[lasuaspada]

We don't know how many people the demons actually have - it's possible that all of them are soulbonded to one another. They have the power of seven, but they may number as many as fourteen.

In the worst-case scenario, the Maddened will strike one of ours, and they'll be bonded to someone, bringing our numbers down to thirty. The demons may strike another set, making it twenty-eight.

If the demons are all soulbonded to one another, fourteen would give them half our number. They could overtake tonight.

[culinarian]

[ He goes quiet for a few seconds. ]

We can only hope it won't come to that. We made the right choice in abstaining today; the odds of expunging a demon were too small.

[lasuaspada]

...I know we did, amore.

[Ugh. Just...let him try to shake it off a little, this is getting too depressing for his tastes; he'll make himself smile again quickly enough.]

Thank you for agreeing with me, by the way, and for bringing up the possibility of abstaining in the first place. I have no doubt that we've done the right thing.

[culinarian]

Don't mention it. Somebody had to say it, after all.

[ ... ]

It was you who convinced almost everyone else to abstain, however, and I don't think the demons liked that.

[lasuaspada]

[He laughs a bit at that, the sound quiet.]

Maybe they didn't. Or perhaps they're grateful that I spared one of theirs from the pyre; who can say?

[culinarian]

If they see you as a threat, they'll probably go after you. Please be careful.

[lasuaspada]

The most I've done is tell people not to vote, and I spoke out against Kimblee-san a little bit.

[Well, you know what.]

If I'm attacked tonight, go after Kimblee-san for me...?

[culinarian]

Still. They'd want a threat to be nipped in the bud.

[ Don't be put to sleep, he needs to talk food with you!! ]

I will go after him. You have my word.

[lasuaspada]

I'm glad to hear that, Siebold-san - and should you need anything from me, I'll do what I can.

[culinarian]

[ He nods and, having nothing else to add, begins to flip through one of the books. ]

...I don't see anything about what types these animals are.

[lasuaspada]

...Types?

[...son you are a chef

can you just not...recognize seafood for some reason]

[culinarian]

[ he can but sometimes you run into a Sudowoodo and you can't always assume what type something is. :|b ]

Types. [ should... this not be obvious... hold on, let him explain. ]

All Pokémon have either one or two types; Gyarados is a Water/Flying type, for example.

[lasuaspada]

...An...element of some sort, you mean? Ah, but "flying" isn't...

[He looks a bit confused for a moment before he brightens.]

Something that decides what sort of abilities they have, maybe? Is that it?

[culinarian]

Yes. Water-types specialize in Water-typed attacks, but they can use attacks of other types depending on the movepool the species has access to. Their typing also affects their strengths and weaknesses - Water resists Fire-type attacks but is weak to electricity.

[lasuaspada]

[Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, oh, all right! They're like kagunes. c: ]

Ah, dolce, I know what you're talking about, then! No, most animals don't have things like that, where I'm from - they don't have any sort of special powers or anything, and especially not livestock, those mostly just exist and mill around.

[culinarian]

...Your animals sound rather dull.

[lasuaspada]

They are, a little.

Tell me about yours, however; now I'm curious.

[culinarian]

Is there anything in particular you would like to know? [ because otherwise we might be here all day because pokémon are awesome c: ]

[lasuaspada]

Let's start with the types.

[culinarian]

Of course. There are eighteen types in total - Water, Grass, Fire, Normal...

[ He continues to list them all, good luck with memorizing this shit. ]

...Ghost, Steel and the recently discovered Fairy-type.

[lasuaspada]

...I see...

[...sir we have four types where he comes from

that is a lot of types]

Somehow I think I would like Steel; I'm guessing that's heavy on defense?

[culinarian]

Yes. They possess high defense, resist ten types and are completely immune to Poison. A friend of mine specializes in Steel-types.

[lasuaspada]

...That's probably what I would go with, then.

[He likes being able to out-tank everything; it's what his kagune does, after all.

...That thought is a bit of a strange one, however, given that he hasn't had any desire to use his kagune here; granted, he'd only just arrived, but hunting has been sort of far from his mind lately, whereas normally he would have been assessing people on arrival.

Huh.]

So from what you've told me you also eat these creatures - I imagine their typing makes that a bit interesting to work out.

[culinarian]

Yes. Rock and Steel are obviously not something anyone would try to eat; almost all species with either of those types are completely inedible. Poison-types are generally avoided as they can be dangerous to eat unless you know how to cook them.

[lasuaspada]

[Tsukiyama moves over toward that table with all the books on it, sitting down at a reasonably clear spot and gesturing for Siebold to join him as he does so.]

I can imagine so - tell me, then, what do you enjoy working with most?

[culinarian]

[ And join him he will! If you don't make him shut up eventually he might be here all day, um. ]

I'm rather fond of Fire-types. Emboar pork is comparable to Grumpig and Piloswine, but it's less soft and has a deeper flavor, with a natural smokiness that comes from being a Fire-type.

[lasuaspada]

[If no one stops him he's just going to chinhands at you until curfew, at which point we're having a sleepover.

...Banjou will probably be the voice of reason eventually. Maybe.

As it is, Tsukiyama just closes his eyes a bit while he listens, and he seems rather content with whatever he's picturing.]

That sounds lovely, actually; you're going to make me jealous as this rate, knowing I've never had it.