[open!] 🎶 want to be close

[orphne]

Who: Kotone Shiomi and you!
Where: various places around Aldrip, including Astralin's farmhouse, the club building, and Bar Lupin
What: Catch-all for Kotone for October! (log and network prompts inside)
Warnings: None yet!

[Things weren't exactly easy for Kotone in the maze, but... some of it had been necessary, too. Feelings she'd been holding inside for a long time had been screamed, shouted, or cried out. Honestly, she wouldn't have made it through the maze at all if it hadn't been with the help of her friends.

It would be way easier to stay in bed all day and sleep. She's tired enough that she could do it easily! But that just wouldn't be right after so many people had honestly helped her through it. So even though it's with difficulty every day, she manages to push herself out of bed to start her day. Most days, it seems like she can be found bouncing all over town!]

A. Mornings

[Most mornings, Kotone can be found at Astralin's farmhouse. Astralin never asked her to do chores, per se, but he also doesn't make her pay rent for living there, so ever since his short disappearance a few months ago, she's taken it upon herself to lend a hand. Well, mostly with the animals, brushing and milking the cows, feeding the chickens and cleaning their area, etc. Sometimes she's out in the fields, though that's less a genuine attempt to help and more her gathering fresh fruit or vegetables that she intends to use to cook with.

If you stop by at the right time, you might catch her making breakfast, or preparing herself some lunch for the day. She'll share! In fact, if you wander in, you're being shared with. That's non-negotiable.]

B. Afternoons

[A post over the tablets and charms goes out as the fog starts to retreat away from town.]

Hi, everyone! It's Kotone. I just wanted to remind everyone about Cooking Club and Sewing Club. I know things have been really, really difficult for a lot of us, so maybe it seems a little silly to advertise about something as ordinary as this, but I think it's really important to have something mundane to look forward to. Even though there are bad things happening, we still have to try to enjoy our time here as best we can.

Anyway, Cooking Club will be in the afternoon Mondays and Wednesdays, Sewing Club will be Tuesdays and Thursdays. Feel free to come to just one day, or all of them! I'll be there. Hope to see you, too.

p.s. if you want to start your own club, just let me know and I'll make space for you! Don't forget about Scott's Teens with Abilities and Talents club, either!

[And as promised, on all of those afternoons, she's in the promised building, working on something. It seems she always has to keep busy.]

C. Evenings

[Most evenings, she can be found at Bar Lupin. Usually she's working as a waitress, handling orders with a smile, but sometimes she can be found behind the bar, mixing drinks and chatting with the regulars. Some of the locals who'd been coming in don't carry a conversation quite like they used to, responding with uninterested grunts at her attempts -- which hurts, her smile staying fixed on her face but falling away from her eyes as she continues working and tries to keep up her positive attitude in spite of it all.

The sight of a fellow Chosen does at least make her smile a little more genuine as she sweeps by to take their order or prepare their drink. Really, she could use the company.]

D. wildcard!

[It's a catch-all, so there might be more prompts later in the month added in, but feel free to make your own. Kotone can be found flitting around Literally Anywhere in town doing her very best to keep busy enough so as not to get Sad. If you want to chat about something specific, feel free to contact me! 😊]

Comments

[orphne]

[Hmmm... she should have used video, that would have been way easier. But luckily, there aren't too many people heading in this direction, and when he addresses her by name, that removes any doubt. Wait, he's- he looks even younger than Ken was when he joined SEES. He's like Maiko's age.]

Selim-kun?

[Well, even if he's just a kid, she doesn't intend to treat him any differently than she treats anyone else. With a smile, she pushes the door open to lead him inside.]

It's nice to meet you! Ready to make some pies?

[shadowofpride]

It's nice to meet you too, and I'm so ready! [Boy is practically sparkling to get started, rushing on inside once Kotone opens the door.] What kind of pie are we going to make? Fruit pie? Meat pie? Vegetables? Actually, maybe not the last one.

[orphne]

[She laughs a little at his enthusiasm, falling in behind him. There's a little bit of a hallway with doors opening to a few other rooms meant for other clubs to use, but the main area is definitely the kitchen. Opening the door at the end of the hall reveals a surprisingly large area for cooking, with plenty of counter space and appliances (all typical for Aldrip's strange time period) and a large center island for even more surface to work on.]

I was thinking about doing hand pies. If you want, we can do both meat and fruit! [Not in the same kind, of course.] Oh, but that reminds me, I saw in the library here a recipe for a sweet potato or a pumpkin pie. Those are vegetable pies, aren't they?

[Not quite... what he meant...]

[shadowofpride]

[Selim is definitely poking his head into the other rooms out of curiousity as they're walking. When they arrive, he looks around in awe at what was available to them. This kitchen is soo much bigger than the one back home.]

This is awesome! And I'm ok with hand pies. [He stops bouncing around as she goes down the list of ingredients and get to vegetables.] Do they taste good? The sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie ones. [Pride, has no actual preference, but "Selim" probably wouldn't like veggies unless it taste good.]

[orphne]

Probably! I think anything in a pie automatically tastes better.

[She moves on ahead to start grabbing flour, sugar, and the other ingredients out of their respective cabinets, nodding toward the fridge.]

Can you pick the fruit you want? I've been freezing different kinds of berries since the summer. [And there are freshly picked apples in a bowl on the counter.]

[shadowofpride]

Ok! [Giving a child the option to choose? That's dangerous. He's quick to open the fridge and see what was inside. There were other ingredients and such being stored inside, but he has to focus on the fruits and vegetables inside. Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, other berries he didn't recognize-]

I don't know what to choose...! This one? Maybe this one...Oh! [A few minutes later, he returns to plop a bowl on the center island.] I picked all the berries. An all berries pie!

[orphne]

[Children get to have agency! At least she's not handing him a gun and telling him to fight, good luck.

But she peers into the bowl -- okay, the strawberries are the ones she'd already sliced, and the other berries look appropriate, so- sure! Why not!]

Awesome! Selim-kun's Special All-Berries Pies, coming right up!

[She sets down some measured sugar and corn starch, and then a whole lemon.]

Here, help me zest it? Like this. [And she shows him with the small grater before offering it. Do your best!]

[shadowofpride]

Zest? [He watches as she grates the skin from the lemon.] Ohh, got it! [He accepts the request with enthusiam. It's slow process as he gets used to the motion. At first, nothing is grated off the lemon, but all he had to do was put a little bit more pressure.] Is this okay?