[BOND]

[voreaciously]

Who: 80H and you! Eat, drink, and be merry! It's a mingle.
When: Day 25, afternoon
Where: The Lounge

In Jasmine

[Within Jasmine's tremendous new kitchen is a flurry of activity, a storm of leashed chaos, and in the eye stands 80H, cooking and baking up a storm.

Ever prepared, however, she's cooked meals for the rest of the car so they do not have to worry about fending for themselves while she's taken over the space. It's all neatly labeled and delicious. She starts early evening and if you come down for a midnight snack or glass of water, she's still at it. Different times of day warrant different aromas. Savoury, sweet, herbal, blends of lavender and vanilla, citrus and cloves.

And the warmth.

It feels nice in here from all the baking, not oppressively hot, but looking at her, it's difficult to tell if she feels any of it at all. She seems like an icy singularity, divorced from her own reality even she carefully, delicately makes mille-feuille for it.]

In the Lounge

[80H is not in her uniform (shut up, Crow, it's still fucking legit) for the most part, instead wearing Jasmine's sweeping skirt, bunched top, and sandals, though she keeps her blindfold, tied in a bow at the side of her head with ribbons. Blue, silver, purple.

Marigold.

She wheels out a long cart made of crystal covered by a light blue tablecloth that dips oscillates between transparency and translucency, fading into nothingness at the edges. It reflects prismatic colours in crystalline shapes, but despite the edges of the reflections, it looks light as air and soft as silk.

Upon it sit myriad desserts on plates of various sizes, though many are single serve. They, too, are crystalline and clear, delicately shaped, but belying sturdiness. Creme brulee torched to perfection, tarts of all kinds, mille-feuille, delicately baked, round cheesecakes with a thick drizzle made of native berries, mousse made with the same, and thin biscuits dipped in dark chocolate and marbled with white.

In various crystal pots are tea. She would have liked to have more, but there's a fair selection all the same. The pots are transparent and so the colours are immediately visible and she's taken care to arrange them in a most pleasing away along the table.]

I would humbly suggest you try something.

[She will say this to anyone and everyone, and if she is not stopped, she will stand well away, but present.]

Comments

[voreaciously]

To be useful.

[bad_crowmance]

Yeah, but if you weren't good, how useful would it be?

[voreaciously]

[Her voice is subdued, a little.]

...Not at all.

[bad_crowmance]

Exactly! And you're not the kind of person who would do a thing if it were useless. So you might as well stand up and say, "Well yeah, of course I'm good at it!"

[voreaciously]

[She needs to be careful, she doesn't think about that fact, she just knows it.

Crow is not an idiot.

She likes that about him, but it's honestly inconvenient at times, too. She cannot tell him what he wants to hear easily, he will know she is lying, but she needs to have a care in her honesty, too. He does not want to know anything about her that does not serve his needs or purposes and she is fine with that.]

I would not, no, but I cannot...seem to please people who deserve it most. Can I truly call myself competent in that case?

[bad_crowmance]

[ He considers that seriously for a moment. ]

....I'd say that just means there's room to improve. But isn't there always? I know I'm good at fighting, but I'm not the best ever-- maybe not even the best on this train. That doesn't mean I'm not good at it. I'd say it's the same here, too.

[voreaciously]

...I suppose I will simply continue to improve, then.

[bad_crowmance]

Heh. Sounds like you've got the right idea.

[voreaciously]

[she does!

just not the one you are thinking.]

My apologies and thank you.

[bad_crowmance]

[ NO. BAD 80H. LISTEN TO CROW. ]

There's nothing to apologize for.

[voreaciously]

[ ]

It is not exactly pleasant afternoon tea discussion.

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow shrugs at that. ]

What are we gonna discuss, the weather?

[voreaciously]

Quite the pity that that storm did not last a while.

[Sure why not. Hard to tell if she is joking or not.]

[bad_crowmance]

Oh yeah, who doesn't love a good storm?

[voreaciously]

Plenty of people, unfortunately, especially those Bound to Fire, but then they seldom have taste.

[bias? nah.]

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow hums lightly. ]

Someone sounds biased~ ♪♫

[voreaciously]

All elements must exist in harmony and balance. [ A beat.]

Water is still the best one.

[bad_crowmance]

Definitely biased.

[ He sounds amused. ]

Well, I'm pretty fond of it myself.

lmk if this is okay

[voreaciously]

My opinion is objective and backed with indisputable facts.

[But he mentions his fondness and she brightens, very visibly.]

Yes! I have noticed something...not you, but on you. That ARCUS, it was called, no?

DEFINITELY OKAY

[bad_crowmance]

It's an opinion, there's no such thing as an objective one.

[ That's why it's not a fact? But he nods at what whe says next. ]

Yeah, my ARCUS-- water's one of my main elements.

[ He pulls it out and opens it up. ]

YAY

[voreaciously]

[She knows, she's only teasing, and she discreetly flicks him in the forehead.

How does one do this discreetly? Who knows, but she does it.

But she all but bounces on her feet when he pulls it out.]

You have good taste. So, this is how you perform feats of magic? You recall how it works?

Re: YAY

[bad_crowmance]

[ He knew she was teasing and was giving her shit, and makes a whining sound when she flicks him-- but quickly moves on with the topic at hand. ]

It's not magic, it's technology-- I don't remember the specifics, but it works because of the quartz. [ He taps next to a water quartz. ] Different ones give different abilities.

[voreaciously]

[Heheheh

but no this is interesting. She has to deal with a lot of technology in her work, she is an engineer and an artificer, the lines are often blurred, so her tone is no less interested.]

I see! Well, it approximates it, at least. There is a saying that sufficiently advanced technology is not unlike magic, in any case. Although is the source quartz not magic?

I suppose that makes it more accessible to those that can...[Hm, she ponders, wondering if it is a matter of cost or privilege, but she won't focus on it in the event that Crow doesn't remember.

Anyway, she's speaking a little quickly, but it's more that she's...vibrant with curiosity and excitement.

Watch out, we gotta nerd over here.]

--afford it? I am not certain who would have access to such technology. But this one...appears different than what I have previously seen. What sorts of abilities are accessible to you?

[bad_crowmance]

Yeah, different people would have different setups-- mine's tuned to me, so I've got these slots-- [ He points to them. ] --locked for "water" or "time" quartz, and any kind can go in the rest of them.

[ The quartz setup is not unlike this, but it's not exactly that because I'm waiting until TOCS3 comes out to get a proper idea of what his ARCUS looks like. ]

I don't remember exactly how common these are, but I don't think they're too unaffordable-- there was an entire military academy with students with battle orbments. Not all of 'em were this one, but...

[ He shrugs. ]

Anyway, quartz is refined from sepith which can be mined but... Again, I don't remember much beyond that.

[voreaciously]

You can manipulate time?

[It is not unheard of, but it's fascinating nonetheless.]

Thank you for indulging me. Perhaps I will purchase one and take it apart, along with a schematic so I do not cause any unwitting accidents. If it is not magic, what do you call it then?